Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Enthymemes in Dialogue: A micro-rhetorical approach

In dialogue we frequently present arguments which are based on commonly accepted non-logical inferences. In rhetorical theory, this type of argument is called an enthymeme, and a pattern of reasoning that it is based on is called a topos. The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate the role that enthymemes play in natural language dialogue. The analyses focus on authentic dialogue material, and informal theories from linguistics and language philosophy are combined with formal theories in what can be considered a micro-rhetorical approach. This approach focuses on function in language, and the idea is that linguistic phenomena of the type studied by linguists are the micro-end of rhetorical phenomena. Formalisation is an important method in this thesis. The information state of a dialogue participant is modelled as a dialogue gameboard showing her current take on the dialogue and the cognitive resources currently activated. The formalisations are done in the semantic frame work Type Theory with Records. The first part of this thesis focuses on the linguistic and philosophical context of enthymeme and topos. In chapters 3–4 the formal model is developed, and in chapter 5 it is applied to a number of cases. Some of the main contributions of this thesis are that it points out that underpinning patterns of resoning are necessary to make pragmatic inferences, and suggests a precise way of formalising these patterns. Also, the concept of Accommodation is associated with enthymemes and topoi. Accommodation of enthymemes explains how agents can infer some types of rhetorical relations based on accessed topoi. Accommodation of topoi offers an explanation to some types of misunderstandings as well as a way of looking at learning of new topoi.
Young People's Experiences of Crime: an Investigation into the Victimisation and Offending of Inner-City Dublin Youth

This project is one of the first empirical investigations into youth victimisation and offending in Ireland and is one of three research projects that were established under the Youth Crime Research Project: Young People’s Experiences of Crime. Victim surveys are of particular interest to this study, as they help to illuminate the 'dark figure' of crime through ascertaining individual's experiences of victimisation, while simultaneously collecting pertinent information regarding their own level of criminality. A common failure among the majority of victim surveys, however, is that they do not investigate the experiences of young people. This project seeks to address this deficiency. Through the use of a victim survey, structural equation models, and focus groups, this research will also analyse the extent and nature of youth victimisation and offending in inner-city Dublin, possible correlations between victimisation and offending behaviour, the role parental supervision and routine activities/lifestyle choices play in determining the risk of victimisation and offending, and the role gender plays in young people’s experiences of crime. Previous research has shown that victimisation is a strong indicator of likely participation in delinquent behaviour. However, many young people have been victimised, yet do not pursue a delinquent lifestyle as a result, suggesting a strong similarity between victimogenic and criminogenic risk factors, such as age and environment. The control that guardians exert over youth is also paramount in determining what type of lifestyle youth can pursue in the first place. As youth cannot be supervised at all times, the lifestyle choices they make regardless of parental influence, will also be investigated. Finally, this research aims to be instrumental in the future development of a nationwide survey of youth experiences of crime in Ireland.
Evaluation of Conceptual Models - A Structuralist Approach

The quality and thus the validation of conceptual models are of high economic importance. However, only little empirical work has focused on their evaluation so far. This raises the question whether a holistic approach to determining the quality of conceptual models is available yet. In order to describe the current state of research and to expose the so far neglected research fields we develop a two dimensional framework. With the help of this framework we can identify a notable shortcoming on conceptual model evaluation. Contrary to models on theories a lot of empirical work has been performed. Therefore we apply the structuralist approach from philosophy of science in order to develop an inner structure of conceptual models. Based on these findings we deduce the structural requirements that conceptual models shall meet. We explain the practical implications of our proposal and sketch an outlook to future scientific inquiries.
The magnitude, time course and spatial distribution of current induced in salamander rods by cyclic guanine nucleotides.

1. Cyclic GMP was introduced into isolated salamander rods through a tight‐seal electrode attached to the inner segment while the outer segment was held in a suction electrode; nucleotide‐induced membrane current was recorded by both electrodes. After 3‐15s of nucleotide exposure the cells were stimulated with intense, brief flashes, which suppressed 90‐95% of the induced membrane current. 2. The magnitude of the induced light‐sensitive current depended little on the pipette cyclic GMP concentration in the range 10‐20 nM: the mean whole‐cell current magnitude was 1256 +/‐ 160 pA (mean +/‐ 2 S.E.M., n = 41). 3. Experiments and analyses addressed hypotheses about the nature of the magnitude limitation on the induced current. It was shown that the spatial distribution of nucleotide, the residual series resistance of the whole‐cell electrode, and the diminution of the ion gradients driving the induced current did not limit the current magnitude by more than 20%. 4. In contrast, the hypothesis that outer segment internal longitudinal resistance severely limits the magnitude of the cyclic GMP‐induced current was supported by experiments in which various lengths of the outer segment were drawn into the suction electrode. These showed that the ratio of nucleotide‐induced light‐sensitive current collected by the suction electrode to that collected by a whole‐cell electrode decreased steeply as a function of outer segment length excluded from the suction electrode, having an apparent space constant of 5‐7 microns. 5. A cable model of the rod was developed and used to analyse the magnitude of the nucleotide‐induced currents. The data are consistent with an outer segment longitudinal resistance of 1‐4 M omega microns‐1, and a maximum (space‐clamped) light‐sensitive current density of 313 pA microns‐1, equivalent to a total induced current of 7200 pA (23 microns outer segment). 6. A diffusion model was developed and combined with the non‐linear cable model to provide an account for the time course of the induced membrane currents. The results are consistent with an effective longitudinal diffusion coefficient of cyclic GMP in the outer segment of 3‐10 microns2 s‐1, and Hill coefficient of 2‐3 for the cyclic GMP gating of the light‐sensitive conductance. 7. 8‐Bromo‐cyclic GMP also caused the light‐sensitive membrane current to increase to about the same magnitude as did cyclic GMP. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Mixed Pro- and Anti-Oxidative Effects of Pomegranate Polyphenols in Cultured Cells

In recent years, the number of scientific papers concerning pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) and its health properties has increased greatly, and there is great potential for the use of bioactive-rich pomegranate extracts as ingredients in functional foods and nutraceuticals. To translate this potential into effective strategies it is essential to further elucidate the mechanisms of the reported bioactivity. In this study HepG2 cells were supplemented with a pomegranate fruit extract or with the corresponding amount of pure punicalagin, and then subjected to an exogenous oxidative stress. Overall, upon the oxidative stress the gene expression and activity of the main antioxidant enzymes appeared reduced in supplemented cells, which were more prone to the detrimental effects than unsupplemented ones. No differences were detected between cells supplemented with the pomegranate juice or the pure punicalagin. Although further studies are needed due to the gaps existing between in vitro and in vivo studies, our results suggest caution in the administration of high concentrations of nutraceutical molecules, particularly when they are administered in concentrated form.
Initial Experience of the Feasibility of Single-Incision Laparoscopic Appendectomy in Different Clinical Conditions

Introduction. Single-incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS) is a new technique developed for performing operations without a visible scar. Preliminary studies have reported the use of the technique mainly in cholecystectomy and appendectomy. We evaluated the feasibility of the technique in various appendicitis conditions including children, fertile women and obese patients. Materials and Methods. SILS technique was used in a random sample of patients hospitalised for suspected appendicitis. The ordinary diagnostic laparoscopy was performed and the appendix was removed if needed. The ligation of appendix was performed by thread loop, absorbable clip or endoscopic stapler. The details regarding the recovery of patients were collected prospectively. Results. Ten SILS procedures were performed without conversions or complications. The patient series included uncomplicated and complicated appendicitis patients. The mean age of the patients was 37 years (range 13–63), mean BMI was 26 (range 18–31), mean operative time was 40 minutes (range 18–31), and mean postoperative stay was 2 days (range 1–5). Conclusions. SILS technique is feasible for obese patients, uncomplicated and complicated appendicitis as well as for exploratory laparoscopy. Most common methods to ligate appendix are feasible with SILS technique. The true benefit of the technique should be assessed by randomised controlled trials.
Signature Based Intrusion Detection for Zero-Day Attacks: (Not) A Closed Chapter?

A frequent claim that has not been validated is that signature based network intrusion detection systems (SNIDS) cannot detect zero-day attacks. This paper studies this property by testing 356 severe attacks on the SNIDS Snort, configured with an old official rule set. Of these attacks, 183 attacks are zero-days' to the rule set and 173 attacks are theoretically known to it. The results from the study show that Snort clearly is able to detect zero-days' (a mean of 17% detection). The detection rate is however on overall greater for theoretically known attacks (a mean of 54% detection). The paper then investigates how the zero-days' are detected, how prone the corresponding signatures are to false alarms, and how easily they can be evaded. Analyses of these aspects suggest that a conservative estimate on zero-day detection by Snort is 8.2%.
Evaluating clone detection techniques

In the last decade, several researchers have investigated techniques to detect duplicated code in programs exceeding hundreds of thousands lines of code. All of these techniques have known merits and deficiencies, but as of today, little is known on where to fit these techniques into the software maintenance process. This paper compares three representative detection techniques (simple line matching, parameterized matching, and metric fingerprints) by means of five small to medium cases and analyses the differences between the reported matches. Based on this experiment, we conclude that (1) simple line matching is best suited for a first crude overview of the duplicated code; (2) metric fingerprints work best in combination with a refactoring tool that is able to remove duplicated subroutines; (3) parameterized matching works best in combination with more fine-grained refactoring tools that work on the statement level.
SALICYLIC ACID PROTECTS PHOTOSYNTHESIS AGAINST CADMIUM TOXICITY IN PEA PLANTS

In the present study we have investigated the possible mediatory role of salicylic acid (SA) in protecting photosynthesis against cadmium (Cd) toxicity. The exposure of pea plants to increasing Cd concentrations (0.5, 1.0, 2.0 and 5.0 µM) during early stages of their establishment caused a gradual decrease in shoot and root fresh weight accumulation, the rate of CO 2 fixation and the activity of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (RuBPC, E.C. 4.1.1.39), the effect being most expressed at higher Cd concentrations. In vivo the excess of Cd induced alterations in the redox cycling of oxygen evolving centers and the assimilatory capacity of the pea leaves as revealed by the changes in the thermoluminescense emission after flash illumination. Seed pretreatment with SA alleviated the negative effect of Cd on growth, photosynthesis, carboxylation reactions, thermoluminescence characteristics and chlorophyll content and led to a decrease in the oxidative injuries caused by Cd. The data suggest that the beneficial effect of SA during an earlier growth period could be related to avoidance of cumulative damage upon exposure to Cd, thus reducing the negative consequences of oxidative stress caused by heavy metal toxicity. In addition, the observed high endogenous levels of SA after treatment with 134 Popova et al.
Structure Learning of Bayesian Networks Using Dual Genetic Algorithm

A new structure learning approach for Bayesian networks (BNs) based on dual genetic algorithm (DGA) is proposed in this paper. An individual of the population is represented as a dual chromosome composed of two chromosomes. The first chromosome represents the ordering among the BN nodes and the second represents the conditional dependencies among the ordered BN nodes. It is rigorously shown that there is no BN structure that cannot be encoded by the proposed dual genetic encoding and the proposed encoding explores the entire solution space of the BN structures. In contrast with existing GA-based structure learning methods, the proposed method learns not only the topology of the BN nodes, but also the ordering among the BN nodes, thereby, exploring the wider solution space of a given problem than the existing method. The dual genetic operators are closed in the set of the admissible individuals. The proposed method is applied to real-world and benchmark applications, while its effectiveness is demonstrated through computer simulation.
Effects of Acellular Amniotic Membrane Matrix and Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Improving Random Skin Flap Survival in Rats

Background The necrotic skin flap represents a great challenge in plastic and reconstructive surgery. In this study, we evaluated the effect of bioscaffolds, acellular amniotic membranes (AAMs), and bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) on random skin flap (RSF) survival in rats by applying a cell-free extracellular matrix scaffold as a supportive component for the growth and proliferation of BM-MSCs on RSFs. AAM matrix scaffolds were created by incubating AMs in ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid 0.05% at 37°C, and cell scrapers were used. Objectives The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of AAM as a scaffold in TE, and combined with transplanted BM-MSCs, on the survival of RSFs and on the biomechanical parameters of the incision-wound flap margins 7 days after flap elevation. Materials and Methods BM-MSCs and AAMs were transplanted into subcutaneous tissue in the flap area. On the 7th postoperative day, the surviving flap areas were measured using digital imaging software, and the flap tissue was collected for evaluation. Forty rats were randomly divided into four groups of 10 each: group 1 received an AAM injection; group 2 underwent BM-MSC transplantation; group 3 received both AAM injection + BM-MSC transplantation; and group 4 was the control group, receiving only saline. Results The survival area in the AAM/BM-MSC group was significantly higher than in the control group (18.49 ± 1.58 versus 7.51 ± 2.42, P < 0.05). The biomechanical assessment showed no significant differences between the experimental groups and the control group (P > 0.05), and there was no correlation with flap survival. Conclusions Our findings showed that the treatment of flaps with BM-MSC and AAM transplantations significantly promoted flap survival compared to a control group. The viability of the flap was improved by combining BM-MSCs with AAM matrix scaffolds.
Visual Search of Neuropil-Enriched RNAs from Brain In Situ Hybridization Data through the Image Analysis Pipeline Hippo-ATESC

Motivation RNA molecules specifically enriched in the neuropil of neuronal cells and in particular in dendritic spines are of great interest for neurobiology in virtue of their involvement in synaptic structure and plasticity. The systematic recognition of such molecules is therefore a very important task. High resolution images of RNA in situ hybridization experiments contained in the Allen Brain Atlas (ABA) represent a very rich resource to identify them and have been so far exploited for this task through human-expert analysis. However, software tools that may automatically address the same objective are not very well developed. Results In this study we describe an automatic method for exploring in situ hybridization data and discover neuropil-enriched RNAs in the mouse hippocampus. We called it Hippo-ATESC (Automatic Texture Extraction from the Hippocampal region using Soft Computing). Bioinformatic validation showed that the Hippo-ATESC is very efficient in the recognition of RNAs which are manually identified by expert curators as neuropil-enriched on the same image series. Moreover, we show that our method can also highlight genes revealed by microdissection-based methods but missed by human visual inspection. We experimentally validated our approach by identifying a non-coding transcript enriched in mouse synaptosomes. The code is freely available on the web at http://ibislab.ce. unipr.it/software/hippo/.
Detection rate and clinical impact of respiratory viruses in children with Kawasaki disease

Purpose The purpose of this prospective case-control study was to survey the detection rate of respiratory viruses in children with Kawasaki disease (KD) by using multiplex reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and to investigate the clinical implications of the prevalence of respiratory viruses during the acute phase of KD. Methods RT-PCR assays were carried out to screen for the presence of respiratory syncytial virus A and B, adenovirus, rhinovirus, parainfluenza viruses 1 to 4, influenza virus A and B, metapneumovirus, bocavirus, coronavirus OC43/229E and NL63, and enterovirus in nasopharyngeal secretions of 55 KD patients and 78 control subjects. Results Virus detection rates in KD patients and control subjects were 32.7% and 30.8%, respectively (P=0.811). However, there was no significant association between the presence of any of the 15 viruses and the incidence of KD. Comparisons between the 18 patients with positive RT-PCR results and the other 37 KD patients revealed no significant differences in terms of clinical findings (including the prevalence of incomplete presentation of the disease) and coronary artery diameter. Conclusion A positive RT-PCR for currently epidemic respiratory viruses should not be used as an evidence against the diagnosis of KD. These viruses were not associated with the incomplete presentation of KD and coronary artery dilatation.
Age differences in adult personality: findings from the United States and China.

This study used samples of adults from the United States (n = 285) and the People's Republic of China (n = 450) to examine age, gender, and culture differences in personality. Participants in both samples ranged from 20 to 87 years of age and responded to the California Psychological Inventory (CPI). Factor analyses of the CPI resulted in 4 personality factors (i.e., extraversion, control/norm orientation, flexibility, femininity/masculinity), with high congruence across cultures after targeted rotation. Multivariate analyses of variance with scale scores revealed significant Age Group 3 Culture and Gender 3 Culture interactions, and significant main effects of age, gender and culture. Specifically, negative age differences were found for scales that loaded on extraversion and flexibility, with older adults having lower scores on these scales. In contrast, positive age differences were found for scales indicative of control/norm orientation. In general, age differences were more pronounced for Chinese adults than for U.S. adults.
Advantages Of Active Steering For Vehicle Dynamics Control

Yaw and roll dynamics of vehicles can be controlled eeciently by individual wheel braking or by active steering. Both approaches are compared on the basis of physical and application considerations. Two vehicle dynamics control concepts based on active steering are summarized. One of them focusses on the attenuation of yaw disturbances on the vehicle by robust unilateral decoupling of yaw and lateral mode. The other approach aims at rollover avoidance of road vehicles. There, in continuous operation, active steering improves the roll dynamics. In case of emergency an eecient strategy applies simultaneous steering and braking control. 1 EEciency of braking and steering Driver assistance systems for vehicle dynamics primarily produce a compensating torque for yaw disturbances. Such control systems can react faster and more accurately than the driver, when an unexpected deviation from the desired yaw rate occurs. The deviation is taken between the desired yaw rate (generated by a preelter from the steering wheel input and the velocity) and the actual yaw rate (measured by a rate sensor). Also critical rollover conditions may be measured and fed back into a driver assistance system. The actuation in such control systems is mostly by distribution of the brake force and in some cases also motor torque over the four wheels, ESP 1] is an example. The braking approach uses the existing ABS. Therefore only little additional hardware is required. The question now arises: Is it worthwile to consider active steering as an alternative or in combination with an active braking system? We will rst discuss the potential of both systems for yaw disturbance attenuation in terms of physical limits. Three simplifying assumptions are made for this discussion: The total force F max which is transmittable by the tires does not depend on the direction in which the force acts (Kamm's circle). The center of gravity (CG) is assumed to be midway between the front and rear axles of the vehicle.
Towards E-Learning in Higher Education in Libya

The growing influence of technologies on all aspects of life, including the education sector, requires developing countries to follow the example of the developed countries and adopt technology in their education systems. Although relatively late, the Libyan government has eventually responded to this challenge and started investing heavily in the reconstruction of its education system, and initiating national programs to introduce information and communication technology (ICT) into education. In addition, there are plans to establish virtual campuses in many universities and colleges to provide an advanced platform for learners and instructors. This paper presents the higher education context in Libya and outlines the applications of ICT and e-learning in Libyan higher education to date. It discusses the issues that need be considered and addressed in adopting ICT in the learning and teaching processes including technological infrastructure, curriculum development, cultural and language aspects, and management support. The paper also outlines the prospects for the integration of e-learning into Libyan higher education and concludes with proposing an integrated approach to advancing the introduction of e-learning in Libya.