ALEXSIS-PT: A New Resource for Portuguese Lexical Simplification

Lexical simplification (LS) is the task of automatically replacing complex words for easier ones making texts more accessible to various target populations (e.g. individuals with low literacy, individuals with learning disabilities, second language learners). To train and test models, LS systems usually require corpora that feature complex words in context along with their candidate substitutions. To continue improving the performance of LS systems we introduce ALEXSIS-PT, a novel multi-candidate dataset for Brazilian Portuguese LS containing 9,605 candidate substitutions for 387 complex words. ALEXSIS-PT has been compiled following the ALEXSIS protocol for Spanish opening exciting new avenues for cross-lingual models. ALEXSIS-PT is the first LS multi-candidate dataset that contains Brazilian newspaper articles. We evaluated four models for substitute generation on this dataset, namely mDistilBERT, mBERT, XLM-R, and BERTimbau. BERTimbau achieved the highest performance across all evaluation metrics

Constraint-based generation of database states for testing database applications

Testing is essential for quality assurance of database applications. To test the quality of database applications, it usually requires test inputs consisting of both program input values and corresponding database states. However, producing these tests could be very tedious and labor-intensive in a non-automated way. It is thus imperative to conduct automatic test generation helping reduce human efforts. The research focuses on automatic test generation of both program input values and corresponding database states for testing database applications. We develop our approaches based on the Dynamic Symbolic Execution (DSE) technique to achieve various testing requirements. We formalize a problem for program-input-generation given an existing database state to achieve high program code coverage and propose an approach that conducts program-input-generation through auxiliary query construction based on the intermediate information accumulated during DSE's exploration. We develop a technique to generate database states to achieve advanced code coverage criteria such as Boundary Value Coverage and Logical Coverage. We develop an approach that constructs synthesized database interactions to guide the DSE's exploration to collect constraints for both program inputs and associated database states. In this way, we bridge various constraints within a database application: query-construction constraints, query constraints, database schema constraints, and query-result-manipulation constraints. We develop an approach that generates tests for mutation testing on database applications. We use a state-of-the-art white-box testing tool called Pex for .NET from Microsoft Research as the DSE engine. Empirical evaluation results show that our approaches are able to generate effective program input values and sufficient database states to achieve various testing requirements

Exploring the Dose-Response Relationship between Acute Resistance Exercise Intensity and Cognitive Function

The primary purpose of the present research was to explore the dose-response relationship between acute resistance exercise intensity and cognitive performance. A secondary purpose of this study was to use directly statistical techniques to explore the role of exercise-induced arousal as a mediator of the relationship. Sixty-eight participants were recruited and randomly assigned into rest, 40%, 70% or 100% of 10 repetition maximal (10-RM) groups. One-way ANOVA was computed for demographic variables and baseline measures, and regression analyses were computed to examine the effect of exercise intensity as well as exercise-induced arousal on cognitive performance. In addition, mediation analysis was applied to examine exercise-induced arousal as a mediator of this relationship. The results indicated that a 30-minute bout of resistance exercise has a positive impact on both information processing speed and executive function. Specifically, there is a significant linear relationship between exercise intensity and information processing speed. On the other hand, a significant quadratic trend for both exercise intensity and exercise-induced arousal was observed for executive function measures that assess inhibition, selective attention, working memory and attentional flexibility. Exercise-induced arousal was a significant mediator when tested using one of the heart-rate indexes and for one measure of executive function performance. Thus, an acute bout of resistance exercise benefits cognitive performance and there is a dose-response effect of both exercise intensity and exercise-induced arousal on cognitive performance. Future research should explore other potential mediators of the relationship to further our understanding of mechanisms

rac-Methyl 2-(2-formyl-4-nitro­phen­oxy)hexa­noate

In the racemic title compound, C14H17NO6, the plane of the ester group of the methyl hexa­noate side chain makes a dihedral angle of 80.0 (2)° with the benzene ring, while the nitro group is approximately coplanar with the benzene ring [dihedral angle = 10.3 (2)°]. In the crystal, mol­ecules form weak aromatic C—H⋯Onitro hydrogen-bonding inter­actions, giving inversion dimers [graph set R 2 2(8)]

Lexical complexity prediction: an overview

The occurrence of unknown words in texts significantly hinders reading comprehension. To improve accessibility for specific target populations, computational modeling has been applied to identify complex words in texts and substitute them for simpler alternatives. In this article, we present an overview of computational approaches to lexical complexity prediction focusing on the work carried out on English data. We survey relevant approaches to this problem which include traditional machine learning classifiers (e.g., SVMs, logistic regression) and deep neural networks as well as a variety of features, such as those inspired by literature in psycholinguistics as well as word frequency, word length, and many others. Furthermore, we introduce readers to past competitions and available datasets created on this topic. Finally, we include brief sections on applications of lexical complexity prediction, such as readability and text simplification, together with related studies on languages other than English

5-Methyl-N-[2-(trifluoro­meth­yl)phen­yl]isoxazole-4-carboxamide

In the title compound, C12H9F3N2O2, the benzene ring is nearly perpendicular to the isoxazole ring, making a dihedral angle of 82.97 (2)°. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked by N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds into a supra­molecular chain running along the c axis

6-Methyl­pyridin-3-amine

In the mol­ecule of the title compound, C6H8N2, the methyl C and amine N atoms are 0.021 (2) and 0.058 (2) Å from the pyridine ring plane. In the crystal structure, inter­molecular N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds link the mol­ecules

Effect of acute aerobic exercise on cognitive performance: Role of cardiovascular fitness

Objectives: To determine whether fitness and cognitive task type moderate the relationship between acute exercise and cognition. Methods: Thirty-six healthy college-aged adults completed a maximal graded exercise test and were categorized as low, moderate, or high in cardiovascular fitness. Participants then performed the Stroop Test prior to and after an acute bout of cycling exercise that consisted of a 5-min warm-up, 20 min of exercise at moderate intensity (65% VO2max), and a 5-min cool-down. Results: Individuals of all fitness levels improved in cognitive performance following exercise. With regards to fitness, while no differences were observed on the congruent condition as a function of fitness, high fit individuals showed the longest response time on the Stroop incongruent condition.ConclusionThe beneficial relationship between performance of an acute bout of exercise and cognitive performance were observed for both cognitive task types and for participants of all fitness levels. However, a curvilinear relationship was observed between fitness and cognitive task type performance such that participants who were moderately fit performed the best on the incongruent trials, implying that maintaining fitness at a moderate level is associated with better executive functio

5-Bromo-N-methyl­pyrimidin-2-amine

In the title mol­ecule, C5H6BrN3, the pyrimidine ring is essentially planar, with an r.m.s. deviation of 0.007 Å. The Br and N atoms substituted to the pyrimidine ring are coplanar with the ring [displacements = 0.032 (1) and 0.009 (5) Å, respectively], while the methyl C atom lies 0.100 (15) Å from this plane with a dihedral angle between the pyrimidine ring and the methyl­amine group of 4.5 (3)°. In the crystal, C—H⋯N, C—H⋯Br and N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds link the mol­ecules into a two-dimensional network in the (011) plane

(Methyl­enedinitrilo)tetra­acetonitrile

The mol­ecular structure of the title compound, C9H10N6, exhibits four cyano­methyl groups around a central N—CH2—N unit. In the crystal structure, mol­ecules are connected via inter­molecular C—H⋯N hydrogen bonds, forming a three-dimensional network