Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relationship between Perception and Production of Intonation of French in Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) causes impairments in both perception and production of speech. The link between perception and production disorders in PD is, however, not well known. In this study, we examined whether there is a relationship between perception and production of intonation in French in PD individuals. Fifteen PDs and fifteen age-matched controls discriminated questions and statements in auditory-only, visual-only and audiovisual modalities. They were also asked to produce these utterances while their voice was recorded. Participants had to process intonation cues to discriminate between yes-no questions and statements in the perception task and to mark these utterances in the production task. Our results showed that PDs marked their questions and statements less than controls: the F0 rise at the end of the questions was smaller in PDs and contrary to controls, no F0 fall was observed at the end of the statements produced by PDs. Importantly, PDs who were more impaired in marking questions and statements were poorer at discriminating between these utterances in the perception task. These findings suggest that dysprosody in PD weaken the performance of PD individuals in processing prosody cues during speech perception.
Potential and costs of carbon dioxide removal by enhanced weathering of rocks

The chemical weathering of rocks currently absorbs about 1.1 Gt CO2 a−1 being mainly stored as bicarbonate in the ocean. An enhancement of this slow natural process could remove substantial amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere, aiming to offset some unavoidable anthropogenic emissions in order to comply with the Paris Agreement, while at the same time it may decrease ocean acidification. We provide the first comprehensive assessment of economic costs, energy requirements, technical parameterization, and global and regional carbon removal potential. The crucial parameters defining this potential are the grain size and weathering rates. The main uncertainties about the potential relate to weathering rates and rock mass that can be integrated into the soil. The discussed results do not specifically address the enhancement of weathering through microbial processes, feedback of geogenic nutrient release, and bioturbation. We do not only assess dunite rock, predominantly bearing olivine (in the form of forsterite) as the mineral that has been previously proposed to be best suited for carbon removal, but focus also on basaltic rock to minimize potential negative side effects. Our results show that enhanced weathering is an option for carbon dioxide removal that could be competitive already at 60 US $ t−1 CO2 removed for dunite, but only at 200 US $ t−1 CO2 removed for basalt. The potential carbon removal on cropland areas could be as large as 95 Gt CO2 a−1 for dunite and 4.9 Gt CO2 a−1 for basalt. The best suited locations are warm and humid areas, particularly in India, Brazil, South-East Asia and China, where almost 75% of the global potential can be realized. This work presents a techno-economic assessment framework, which also allows for the incorporation of further processes.
Attachment Orientation, Obsessive Beliefs, and Symptom Severity in Patients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

The present study was aimed to determine the predictors of twelve symptom dimensions of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Following cross-sectional research design, 90 patients with OCD (Men = 43; Women = 47) were taken with the age range of 18-50 years through nonprobability purposive sampling technique. The assessment measures included Demographic Questionnaire, two subscales of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Symptom Checklist (Jabeen, 2008), Screening Questionnaire for Psychiatric Disorders (Kausar, 2013), Urdu version of Revised Adult Attachment Scale (Kausar, 2014) and Obsessive Belief Questionnaire-44 (Obsessive Compulsive Cognitions Working Group, 2001). Results revealed that attachment anxiety and avoidance had nonsignificant relationship with OCD symptom dimensions. Moreover, obsessive beliefs of overimportance/need to control thoughts and overresponsibility/overestimation of threat had significant positive relationship with sexual and blasphemous obsessions as well as control compulsions. Attachment avoidance and over importance/need to control thoughts belief emerged as significant predictors of sexual obsessions; whereas, blasphemous obsessions were only predicted by overimportance/need to control thoughts belief after controlling for gender, age of onset of OCD, duration of illness, and depression. Overresponsibility/overestimation of threat belief was significant predictor of control compulsion. Research findings may help cognitive therapists in identification of obsessive beliefs underlying specific symptom dimensions of OCD subsequently leading to improved treatment outcomes.
Cone-Beam Computed Tomography and Deformable Registration-Based “Dose of the Day” Calculations for Adaptive Proton Therapy

Abstract Purpose: The aim of this work was to evaluate the feasibility of cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) and deformable image registration (DIR)–based “dose of the day” calculations for adaptive proton therapy. Methods: Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and proton therapy plans were designed for 3 head and neck patients that required replanning, and hence had a replan computed tomography (CT). Proton plans were generated for different beam arrangements and optimizations: intensity modulated proton therapy and single-field uniform dose. We used an in-house DIR software implemented at our institution to generate a deformed CT, by warping the planning CT onto the daily CBCT. This CBCT had a similar patient geometry to the replanned CT. Dose distributions on the replanned CT were considered the gold standard for “dose of the day” calculations, and were compared with doses on deformed CT (our method) and directly on the calibrated CBCT and rigidly aligned planning CT (alternative methods) in t.
Antitumor potential of herbomineral formulation against breast cancer: Involvement of inflammation and oxidative stress

Breast cancer, the most frequently diagnosed cancer is a leading cause of death in females worldwide. Here, we evaluated the effect of herbomineral formulation [Cruel capsule (CC), an ayurvedic proprietary medicine] on DMBA-induced mammary carcinogenesis in rat. Fifty days postpartum female Sprague-Dawley rats were grouped into control, control treated with herbomineral formulation (30 mg/kg/day, p.o.), disease control, disease treated with herbomineral formulation (30mg/kg/day,p.o.). Breast cancer was induced by dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) (60 mg/kg, p.o). Animals were palpated twice weekly for the incidence and tumor size. After 48 h of last dose, blood was collected for estimations of LDH, GGT, C-RP & ESR. Animals were sacrificed and tumors isolated for histopathological examinations and antioxidant studies. Treatment with formulation showed significantly decreased LDH, GGT, CRP & ESR compared to disease control group. Histopathological examinations showed hyperplastic and well demarcated tubular inflammation which was improved by treatment with the formulation. Treatment also showed significant decrease in MDA and increase in GSH and SOD levels in breast homogenate as compared to the disease control group. From the present investigations, we can conclude that the herbomineral formulation (CC) inhibits the tumor progression and the mechanism for the chemopreventive potential of formulation may be due to its anti-inflammatory, antiangiogenic and antioxidant potential.
THE COEVOLUTION OF SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES AND MASSIVE GALAXIES AT HIGH REDSHIFT

We exploit the recent, wide samples of far-infrared (FIR) selected galaxies followed up in X-rays and of X-ray/optically selected active galactic nuclei (AGNs) followed up in the FIR band, along with the classic data on AGNs and stellar luminosity functions at high redshift z ≳ 1.5, to probe different stages in the coevolution of supermassive black holes (BHs) and host galaxies. The results of our analysis indicate the following scenario: (1) the star formation in the host galaxy proceeds within a heavily dust-enshrouded medium at an almost constant rate over a timescale ≲ 0.5–1 Gyr and then abruptly declines due to quasar feedback, over the same timescale; (2) part of the interstellar medium loses angular momentum, reaches the circum-nuclear regions at a rate proportional to the star formation, and is temporarily stored in a massive reservoir/proto-torus wherefrom it can be promptly accreted; (3) the BH grows by accretion in a self-regulated regime with radiative power that can slightly exceed the Eddington limit L/LEdd ≲ 4, particularly at the highest redshifts; (4) for massive BHs, the ensuing energy feedback at its maximum exceeds the stellar one and removes the interstellar gas, thus stopping the star formation and the fueling of the reservoir; (5) afterward, if the latter has retained enough gas, a phase of supply-limited accretion follows, exponentially declining with a timescale of about two e-folding times. We also discuss how the detailed properties and the specific evolution of the reservoir can be investigated via coordinated, high-resolution observations of star-forming, strongly lensed galaxies in the (sub-)mm band with ALMA and in the X-ray band with Chandra and the next-generation X-ray instruments.
Investigation of airborne fungi and their ability to grow on formalinfixed human cadavers

The problem of fungi growing on formalin-fixed human cadavers kept in the Gross Anatomy Laboratory at the Faculty of Health Science, Srinakharinwirot University (SWU) is reported after the flood subsided in 2011. This laboratory is located on the ground floor, with an entrance that is subject to the flow of outside air. It is suspected that airborne fungi may be the cause of those microbes growing on aforementioned cadavers. This study is to test the assumption that airborne fungi are the source of the contamination. Seventeen fungal species were identified with two unidentified aerial fungi. Two types of fungi were found growing on the formalin-fixed human cadavers and are different from those previously reported. In a previous study, it was reported that there were three types of fungi that could grow on formalin-fixed human cadavers within different types of environments and conditions. Certain environments can foster the growth of specific fungi on formalin-fixed human cadavers.
Retos de la evaluación en Lengua Castellana y Literatura para el siglo XXI

espanolEste articulo analiza los diversos componentes de la evaluacion y relaciona su importancia con los ultimos cambios legislativos y, por tanto, de objetivos y contenidos en una de las areas primordiales de cualquier curriculo, el area de Lengua Castellana y Literatura. En estas paginas, se aborda la problematica de la evaluacion desde un punto de vista critico, ya que pensamos que el profesorado de esta materia necesita una mayor orientacion para realizar la evaluacion. Se analiza tambien el nuevo contexto que vive esta area para dar respuesta a profesores en activo, futuros profesores e investigadores, sobre algunos de los principales problemas que se puede encontrar el profesorado en su funcion docente, en aras de producir una necesaria reflexion en torno a la evaluacion y, tambien y en la medida de lo posible, promover innovaciones que produzcan una mejora necesaria en torno a este tema en Lengua Castellana y Literatura, aplicable asimismo a otras areas. EnglishThis article analyzes the diverse components of evaluation and relates its importance to recent legislative changes and, therefore, changes in relation to objectives and contents in one of the core areas of any curriculum, the area of Spanish Language and Literature. In these pages, we examine the issue of assessment from a critical standpoint, as we believe that teachers of this subject need further guidance to develop assessment. It also analyzes the new context where this area is located to respond to teachers, future teachers and researchers about some of the major problems teachers may find in their teaching, in order to produce a necessary reflection on assessment and, also, as far as possible, to generate innovations that lead to a required improvement about this topic in Spanish language and literature, also applicable to other areas.
Association of the CDKN 2 BAS 1 genetic polymorphisms with coronary artery disease

The impacts of the interactions between the susceptibility genes rs10757274 and rs1333049 of coronary artery disease (CAD) and clinical factors on CAD susceptibility of the Han CAD population were investigated. We selected 1061 CAD patients of Han nationality as the subjects. The two SNP sites rs10757274 and rs1333049 were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The differences of the alleles of each SNP site and the corresponding frequencies between the CAD and control group were analyzed. Age, BMI, smoking, hypertension, dyslipidemia and traditional risk factors related to diabetes mellitus were counted statistically, and their correlations with the onset of CAD were analyzed. The relationships between CAD and genes and various clinical factors were explored via multiple stepwise regression analysis. The rs10757274 AG/GG genotypes and the rs1333049CG/CC genotypes correlated with CAD susceptibility of the Han population in Kunming region (rs10757274-GG OR=2.887; rs1333049-CC OR=1.527). The homozygotes of the two genes both increased CAD susceptibility compared with the heterozygotes. Smoking, hypertension, dyslipidemia and diabetes mellitus remarkably increased the incidence of CAD (P<0.05). No significant age or BMI difference was observed between the two groups (P>0.05). The interactions between the single-nucleotide polymorphism of rs10757274 and rs1333049 and clinical factors impacted the susceptibility to CAD.
Draft Baswilic Acid Disable Signal Transduction of IL-6 / STAT3 in Ehrlich Tumor Bearing Irradiated Mice

Journal: Biochemistry and Cell Biology Manuscript ID bcb-2015-0169.R2 Manuscript Type: Article Date Submitted by the Author: 07-Mar-2016 Complete List of Authors: Moustafa, Enas Mahmoud; Atomic Energy Authority, Radiation Biology Department Thabet, Noura; Atomic Energy Authority, Radiation Biology-Atomic Energy Authority Azab, Khaled; Atomic Energy Authority, Radiation Biology Department Keyword: Baswilic acid, gamma radiation, IL-6R, STAT-3
Contractions: To Align or Not to Align, That Is the Question

This paper performs a detailed analysis on the alignment of Portuguese contractions, based on a previously aligned bilingual corpus. The alignment task was performed manually in a subset of the English-Portuguese CLUE4Translation Alignment Collection. The initial parallel corpus was pre-processed and, a decision was made as to whether the contraction should be maintained or decomposed in the alignment. Decomposition was required in the cases in which the two words that have been concatenated, i.e., the preposition and the determiner or pronoun, go in two separate translation alignment pairs (e.g., [no seio de] [a União Europeia] | [within] [the European Union]). Most contractions required decomposition in contexts where they are positioned at the end of a multiword unit. On the other hand, contractions tend to be maintained when they occur in the beginning or in the middle of the multiword unit, i.e., in the frozen part of the multiword (e.g., [no que diz respeito a] | [with regard to] or [além disso] [in addition]. A correct alignment of multiwords and phrasal units containing contractions is instrumental for machine translation, paraphrasing, and variety adaptation.
Experiences with the LVQ Algorithm in Multilabel Text Categorization

Text Categorization is an important information processing task. This paper presents a neural approach to a text classifier based on the Learning Vector Quantization (LVQ) algorithm. We focus on multilabel multiclass text categorization. Experiments were carried out using the High Energy Physics (HEP) text collection. The HEP collection is an highly unbalanced collection. The results obtained are very promising and show that our neural approach based on the LVQ algorithm behaves robustly over different parameters.
HUMAN NATURE THROUGH THE PERSPECTIVE OF EVOLUTIONARY THEORY OF STEVEN PINKER

The theory of human nature plays an important role in life. It acts as a trigger as well as a purpose for human life itself. Theories of human nature presented by Religion and Empirical Theory are widely believed to date. Nonetheless, it seems like they have reach an absolute point, thus closed the possibility for new questioners to find novelty in their explanation. This research is made by conducting critical analysis on two classical notions that explained human nature, namely religious explanation and the empirical (the blank slate theory) explanation. Through critical analysis, it is found that new explanations are needed in the conception of the theory of human nature, with the research questions: What kind of human nature theory can embrace human being as of today? Therefore, through the alternative explanation method, the author offers an alternative conception of the human nature. Human Nature is a combination of the innate mechanism and the environment. This conception was born through a critical analysis towards some works with the evolutionary theory perspective, primarily the work of Steven Pinker, who believed that there were innate mechanisms in human beings, as a result of evolution so far.
ON THE USES OF THE TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION PROGRAM IN PSYCIDATRY

A series of case studies is presented in which the Transcendental Meditation program has been used as part of the treatment for various mental disorders at the Institute of Psychophysiological Medicine, San Diego, California. The Transcendental Meditation program proved to be a useful therapy for anxiety neurosis, obsessive-compulsive neurosis, depression, drug abuse, and psychosomatic disease. In general, patients practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique were found to improve at an unusually fast rate and to benefit more from each of their therapy sessions. A review of the use of the Transcendental Meditation program with in-patients of a psychiatric hospital indicates that this program was a successful adjunct to therapy in this setting also. Finally, the value of the Transcendental Meditation program for therapists and for the mental health field is discussed.
Universal algorithm for exercise rate estimation in walking, cycling and rowing using triaxial accelerometry

A technique that can reliably monitor exercise intensity plays an important role for the effectiveness and safety of an exercise prescription. A universal algorithm for the recursive estimation of exercise rate during a variety of aerobic exercises using measurements from a body-mounted triaxial accelerometer (TA) is proposed. Information about the type of exercise is not required by the algorithm and the TA can be mounted at the same location regardless of the exercise type. The algorithm involves period detection and data fusion. Experimental results demonstrate that the algorithm is effective for common aerobic exercises.
SoC Yield Improvement - Using TMR Architectures for Manufacturing Defect Tolerance in Logic Cores

—Manufacturing processes in the nanoscale era are less reliable leading to lower yields. As memories are the most important contributor to SoC (System-on-Chip) yield, fault tolerance techniques based on redundancy are generally used to improved memory yield. Conversely, logic cores embedded in SoC usually do not have these important features and manufacturing defects affecting these cores decrease the yield of the entire SoC. Therefore, meaningful techniques for SoC yield improvement must also consider logic cores. In this paper, we propose and investigate the use of TMR (Triple Modular Redundancy) architectures for logic cores to increase the overall SoC yield. We also propose to improve the defect tolerance capabilities of TMR architectures by partitioning logic cores and adding voters on logic core’s cuts. Results show that this improvement of the TMR architecture is very fruitful to improve its tolerance capability with a low overhead in term of silicon area. Results obtained on SoC examples (ISCAS’85 and ITC’99 benchmark circuits as logic cores merged with memory cores with different rates) demonstrate the interest of using TMR architectures for logic cores for SoC yield enhancement.
Tempered exponential behavior for a dynamics in upper triangular form

We consider the problem of whether the existence of a tempered exponential dichotomy for a linear dynamics can be deduced from the same property for the dynamics restricted to each diagonal entry. More generally, we consider this problem for a dynamics in block upper triangular form. We also obtain corresponding results for a strong tempered exponential dichotomy and for a discrete time dynamics.
Improving biodegradability of polyvinyl alcohol/starch blend films for packaging applications

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was blended with starch (S) in presence of glacial acetic acid as crosslinking agent. The effect of blend ratio and molecular weight of PVA on the physical, thermal and mechanical properties of PVA/S blends were investigated using various techniques such as DSC, TGA, SEM, tensile strength, and solubility tests. Furthermore, biodegradability of the blend films was also studied. In addition, FTIR spectroscopy was used to check the hydrogen bonding interaction between PVA and S in the blends. The obtained results showed that the physico-mechanical properties are strongly dependent on the molecular weight and PVA content in PVA/S blends. DSC and SEM analyses of PVA/S blend showed a single glass transition temperature indicating the formation of completely miscible blends with a single phase due to the formation of hydrogen bonds between the hydroxyl groups of PVA and starch. In addition, PVA/S blend films exhibited good mechanical properties, thermal stability as compared with the pure PVA. More interestingly, the results showed enhancement in biodegradability of PVA/S blend films and particularly in moist soil, which can be exploited for manufacturing of biodegradable and environmentally friendly packaging materials at low cost. Keywords : Blends, Starch, PVA, Biodegradability, Mechanical Properties.
The Role of Dedication-Based and Constraint-Based Mechanisms in Consumers’ Sustainable Outcomes in the Coffee Chain Industry

Given the increase in consumers’ preferences for coffee, it is becoming important to understand their decision-making processes in the coffee chain context. To deepen the understanding of sustainable outcomes in this context, this study investigates the role of dedication- and constraint-based mechanisms in forming consumers’ repurchase and positive word-of-mouth (WOM) intentions, two critical sustainable outcomes. We examined the effects of coffee quality, the quality of the physical environment, and service quality in accelerating the formation of dedication-based factors. Moreover, this study offers an in-depth understanding of the enablers of perceived switching costs. Data collected from 238 university students that frequently visit coffee chains were empirically tested against the proposed theoretical framework by using structural equation modeling. The results confirm that both dedication- and constraint-based factors substantially predict consumers’ sustainable outcomes in the coffee chain context. Brand image and perceived switching costs play an important role in enhancing consumers’ repurchase and positive WOM intentions compared with customer satisfaction. Coffee quality is significantly associated with both customer satisfaction and brand image, whereas the quality of the physical environment and service quality are only significantly associated with brand image. Habit is found to be the key enabler of perceived switching costs, while loyalty programs have no significant impact on perceived switching costs.