Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Distributed Nonmonotonic Multi-Context Systems

We present a distributed algorithm for computing equilibria of heterogeneous nonmonotonic multi-context systems (MCS). The algorithm can be parametrized to compute only partial equilibria, which can be used for reasoning tasks like query answering or satisfiability checking that need only partial information and not whole belief states. Furthermore, caching is employed to cut redundant solver calls. As a showcase, we instantiate the MCS framework with answer set program contexts. To characterize equilibria of such MCS, we develop notions of loop formulas that enable reductions to the classical satisfiability problem (SAT). Notably, loop formulas for bridge rules between contexts and for the local contexts can be combined to a uniform encoding of an MCS into a (distributed) SAT instance. As a consequence, we can use SAT solvers for belief set building. We demonstrate this approach by an experimental prototype implementation, which uses an off-the-shelf SAT solver.
Perceived behavioral control among non-pregnant women: a study of two behaviors related to fetal alcohol spectrum disorders

Maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy is a public health concern due to the possible lifelong physical and cognitive effects in offspring. Prevention of alcoholexposed pregnancies (AEP) should begin preconceptionally, either by preventing unintended pregnancies or by discouraging alcohol consumption in women who are atrisk for pregnancy. The purpose of this dissertation is to utilize the Theory of Planned Behavior’s construct of perceived behavioral control (PBC)—including perceived power and control beliefs—to guide the measurement and understanding of two behaviors related to AEP among non-pregnant women: birth control use and binge drinking. For the first specific aim—to estimate the prevalence of alcohol-exposed pregnancies—a secondary data analysis was conducted using surveillance data from North Dakota and South Dakota women who have had a child with FAS. The FAS prevalence estimates (per 1,000 live births) in both states (ND=0.8/1,000; SD=0.9/1,000) were found to be higher than that calculated from national averages (0.7/1,000) using a comparable surveillance methodology. The goal of Specific Aim 2 was to determine risk for AEP among a random group of women, while Specific Aim 3 determined the control beliefs and perceived power to using birth control and decreasing binge drinking levels, and Specific Aim 4 focused on relating PBC of these two behaviors to behavioral intentions. Data for aims 2-4 were derived from a mailed, cross-sectional survey of 190 non-pregnant women randomly chosen from an electronic health records system in the upper Midwest. Of the 190 women included in the analyses, eight (6.6%) were binge drinking while being at-risk for pregnancy (i.e., being sexually active but not always using an effective form of birth control) (Specific Aim 2). This is lower than national estimates. For Specific Aim 3, there were high direct PBC scores for both birth control and binge drinking, and there was a positive correlation between birth control direct and indirect scores (although a negative correlation between binge drinking direct and indirect scores). Finally, Specific Aim 4 uncovered high intentions to both use birth control and to not binge drink. Also, the direct birth control PBC measure was significantly associated with birth control intention when controlling for other variables, although neither PBC nor intention appeared to be associated with actual birth control behavior. For binge drinking, the intention score and the direct measure of PBC were significantly associated with one another; as well, the direct measure of PBC and intention were both significantly associated with actual binge drinking behavior. Therefore, the relationship between PBC and intention was validated for both behaviors, and the association between PBC, intention, and actual behavior was indicated for binge drinking. Overall, the study both supported and disagreed with previous research, indicating that additional research with this theory and topic matter is necessary. 2
Aggregation substance of Enterococcus faecalis mediates adhesion to cultured renal tubular cells

The sex pheromone system of Enterococcus faecalis is a unique, highly efficient plasmid collection mechanism for this species. A crucial role in this system is played by an adhesin called aggregation substance which enables the cell-cell contact between donor and recipient strains. The existence of the amino acid motif Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser in the adhesin prompted us to look for a possible binding of E. faecalis cells expressing aggregation substance to eucaryotic cells. We were able to show that the adhesin mediated binding to cultured renal tubular cells (porcine cell line LLC-PK1) via light microscopic, electron microscopic, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay-based studies. Synthesis of the adhesin was induced by some component(s) of serum. These data are interpreted to mean that aggregation substance is an adhesin mediating not only cell-cell contact between different E. faecalis strains but also binding of E. faecalis to eucaryotic cells, and therefore it might contribute to virulence.
Thermal instability of effective work function in metal/high-/spl kappa/ stack and its material dependence

Thermal instability of effective work function and its material dependence on metal/high-/spl kappa/ gate stacks is investigated. It is found that thermal instability of the effective work function of metal electrode on a gate dielectric is strongly dependent on the gate electrode and dielectric material. Thermal instability of a metal gate is related to the presence of silicon at the interface, and the Fermi-level pinning position is dependent on the location of silicon at the interface. The silicon-metal or metal-silicon bond formation by thermal anneal at the metal/dielectric interface induces the donor-like or acceptor-like interface states, causing a change of effective work function.
Improving Native Language Identification with TF-IDF Weighting

This paper presents a Native Language Identification (NLI) system based on TF-IDF weighting schemes and using linear classifiers - support vector machines, logistic regressions and perceptrons. The system was one of the participants of the 2013 NLI Shared Task in the closed-training track, achieving 0.814 overall accuracy for a set of 11 native languages. This accuracy was only 2.2 percentage points lower than the winner’s performance. Furthermore, with subsequent evaluations using 10-fold cross-validation (as given by the organizers) on the combined training and development data, the best average accuracy obtained is 0.8455 and the features that contributed to this accuracy are the TF-IDF of the combined unigrams and bigrams of words.
Developmental instability of the Drosophila wing as an index of genomic perturbation and altered cell proliferation

Summary We experimentally induced different levels of instability affecting the development of specific wing regions of Drosophila melanogaster using the UAS–GAL4 system. A common index of developmental instability is fluctuating asymmetry (FA), that is, random differences between body sides of single individuals. We studied the FA in transgenic strains carrying random genomic insertions (UAS strains), as well as insertions in the regulatory region of genes involved in the organization of wing development (GAL4 strains). In addition, the expression of genes that increase (dp110 and 3622) or decrease (dPTEN) cell proliferation was ectopically induced. Our results are related to different levels of perturbation. Through the first kind of perturbation, genome integrity was compromised by the insertion of foreign DNA. In all cases, we observed a general increase in FA, although it was rarely found significant. The second kind of perturbation involved a modification of genes controlling wing development through the insertion of a GAL4 sequence in their promoter region. The third kind involved the ectopic expression of genes controlling cell proliferation. Our results show that (i) the level of FA is connected with the level of morphological perturbation induced, (ii) FA increase was higher in the wing regions that were the target of the genetic perturbation, and (iii) developmental instability was also observed in regions that were not directly addressed by the perturbation. The results were discussed on the basis of the running models about Drosophila wing development.
Genotypic diversity of the cotton-melon aphid Aphis gossypii (Glover) in Tunisia is structured by host plants

Abstract The study of intraspecific variation with respect to host plant utilization in polyphagous insects is crucial for understanding evolutionary patterns of insect-plant interactions. Aphis gossypii (Glover) is a cosmopolitan and extremely polyphagous aphid species. If host plant species or families constitute selective regimes to these aphids, genetic differentiation and host associated adaptation may occur. In this study, we describe the genetic structure of A. gossypii collected in six localities in Tunisia on different vegetable crops, on citrus trees and on Hibiscus. The aim was to determine if the aphid populations are structured in relation to the host plants and if such differentiation is consistent among localities. The genetic variability of A. gossypii samples was examined at eight microsatellite loci. We identified only 11 multilocus genotypes among 559 individuals. Significant deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, linkage disequilibria and absence of recombinant genotypes, confirmed that A. gossypii reproduces by continuous apomictic parthenogenesis. Genetic differentiation between localities was not significant, whereas a strong differentiation was observed between host plant families (0.175<FST<0.691). The great majority of aphids exhibited one of three predominant multilocus genotypes that were repeatedly and respectively associated to the three plant families, Cucurbitaceae, Solanaceae and Rutaceae, demonstrating host specialization in A. gossypii. These specialized genotypes were simultaneously found with other clones on Hibiscus, suggesting that this perennial host could act as a refuge plant between two vegetable crop seasons.
Salt-sensitive blood pressure--an intermediate phenotype predisposing to diabetic nephropathy?

BACKGROUND Family studies point to important genetic determinants of diabetic nephropathy (DN). Blood pressure (BP) is higher in offspring of patients with type 2 diabetes and DN, but the pathomechanisms involved have not been elucidated. METHODS We examined the salt sensitivity of BP after 5 days equilibration on a low (20 mmol/day) vs high salt diet (220 mmol/day) in three matched groups of 15 subjects each: (i) control individuals; (ii) offspring of type 2 diabetic parents without DN (DN-); and (iii) offspring of type 2 diabetic parents with DN (DN+). Ambulatory BP and hormones involved in sodium homeostasis [plasma renin activity (PRA), aldosterone and atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP)] as well as the tetrahydrocortisol + 5-allotetrahydrocortisol/tetrahydrocortisone (THF + 5alphaTHF)/THE) ratio in the urine as an index of 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (11betaHSD2) activity were analysed. RESULTS In offspring of DN+ patients on a high salt diet, systolic and diastolic BP was 137/82+/-10/8 mmHg vs 125/77+/-12/8 mmHg in offspring of DN- patients (P<0.01 for systolic BP). The salt-induced difference in mean BP between high and low salt diet was 5.2+/-3.3 mmHg in offspring of DN+ patients vs 0.7+/-4.7 mmHg in offspring of DN- patients (P<0.002). The proportion of 'salt-sensitive' individuals was 67% in offspring of DN+ patients vs 20% in offspring of DN- patients (P<0.05). In all groups, a high salt diet caused a comparable decrease of PRA and p-aldosterone accompanied by an increase in ANP. The urinary (THF + 5alphaTHF)/THE ratio was 1.23+/-0.36 in salt-sensitive individuals and 0.99+/-0.33 (P<0.03) in salt-resistant subjects, consistent with increased activity of 11betaHSD2. CONCLUSIONS BP is more salt sensitive in offspring of type 2 diabetic patients with diabetic nephropathy. The salt sensitivity of BP may be an intermediate phenotype in individuals with a high risk of future diabetic nephropathy.
The inhibitory effects of camptothecin (CPT) and its derivatives on the substrate uptakes mediated by human solute carrier transporters (SLCs)

Abstract 1. Camptothecin (CPT) and its derivatives are potent candidate compounds in treating cancers. However, their clinical applications are largely restricted by severe toxicities. 2. The solute carrier transporters (SLCs), particularly the organic anion transporting polypeptides and organic anion/cation transporters (OATs/OCTs) are widely expressed in human key organs and responsible for the cellular influx of many substances including endogenous substrates and many clinically important drugs. Drug–drug interactions through SLCs often result in unsatisfied therapeutic outcomes and/or unexpected toxicities. 3. This study investigated the inhibitory effects of CPT and its eight derivatives on the cellular uptake of specific substrates mediated by the essential SLCs in over-expressing Human embryonic kidney 293 cells. 4. Our data revealed that CPT, 10-hydroxycamptothecin (HCPT), 10-methoxycamptothecin (MCPT) and 9-nitrocamptothecin (9NC) significantly inhibit the uptake activity of OAT3. 9NC also inhibited the substrate transport mediated by OAT1. The substrate uptakes of OAT1, OCTN1 and OCTN2 were significantly decreased in the presence of CZ112, while CPT-11 potently down-regulated the transport activity of OCT1 and OCT3. 5. In summary, our study demonstrated that CPT and its eight derivatives selectively inhibit the substrate uptakes mediated by the essential SLCs. This information contributes to understanding the localized toxicity of CPTs and provides novel molecular targets for the therapeutic optimization of CPTs in the future.
A hybrid computational chemotaxis in bacterial foraging optimization algorithm for global numerical optimization

This paper first proposes a simple scheme for adapting the chemotactic step size of the Bacterial Foraging Optimization Algorithm (BFOA), and then this new adaptation and two very popular optimization techniques called Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Differential Evolution (DE) are coupled in a new hybrid approach named Adaptive Chemotactic Bacterial Swarm Foraging Optimization with Differential Evolution Strategy (ACBSFO _DES). This novel technique has been shown to overcome the problems of premature convergence and slow of both the classical BFOA and the other BFOA hybrid variants over several benchmark problems.
Inadequate Gestational Weight Gain, the Hidden Link Between Maternal IBD and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes: Results from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study

Background: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are in general prone to weight loss. We explored the risk of inadequate gestational weight gain (GWG), and the impact of GWG on adverse pregnancy outcomes, among mothers with IBD in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). Methods: The MoBa with 95,200 mothers enrolled from 1999 to 2008, comprised 217 mothers with ulcerative colitis and 166 with Crohn's disease. Demographics were ascertained through a basic questionnaire before the first ultrasound visit and an IBD history and disease activity during pregnancy through a questionnaire mailed out in 2013. Inadequate GWG was based on the US Institute of Medicine recommendations. The associations between IBD and inadequate GWG or adverse pregnancy outcomes were explored, adjusted for diabetes, hypertension, smoking, maternal age, education, and disease activity. Results: Mothers with Crohn's disease (34.3%) and ulcerative colitis (26.7%) were more frequently exposed to inadequate GWG compared with non-IBD mothers (19.4%) (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 2.02, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.42–2.86 and aOR = 1.46, 95% CI, 1.04–2.05, respectively). Mothers with IBD with inadequate GWG (exposed) had a 2-fold risk of small for gestational age infants compared with exposed non-IBD mothers (aOR = 1.93, 95% CI, 1.13–3.29). Exposed mothers with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis had a several-fold increased risk of small for gestational age compared with nonexposed IBD mothers (aOR = 4.5, 95% CI, 1.3–16.2, aOR = 5.5, 95% CI, 1.6–18.5). Disease activity was associated with reduced GWG (<13 kg compared with >17.5 kg) (aOR = 3.34, 95% CI, 1.33–8.38). Conclusions: Inadequate GWG should be considered as a risk factor for adverse pregnancy outcomes or as a marker of disease activity.
Supporting Quality-of-Service Scheduling in a TT-FR WDM System

In this paper, our recent work interval-based orderly scheduling strategy (IOSS) is extended by adding quality-of-service (QoS) provisioning. A revised medium access control (MAC) protocol is introduced, which supports priority-based QoS in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) networks with star topology. The proposed interval-based prioritized orderly scheduling strategy (IPOSS) operates in a distributed manner, and has the capability of handling channel collision and destinations conflicts in order to provide a collision-free scheduling scheme. Each node in the network is equipped with a tunable transmitter and a fixed receiver, assuring that the scheme is scalable with respect to the number of nodes and channels. Also, each node may accept high- and low-priority packet arrivals. IPOSS favors high-priority packets, without regarding packets' length or packets' destination. Moreover, the proposed scheme differentiates the packet's schedule order by prioritizing the long-length over the short-length packets. It is found that the adopted access control scheme achieves a critically high throughput-delay performance for real-time traffic. Furthermore, IPOSS presents a little bit improved throughput performance than IOSS scheme, since it handles in a different way the case in which two or more requests demand the same amount of transmission time. The traffic involved in the simulation results follows Bernoulli and Poisson distribution, regarding the arrival of the requests.
ApoTransferrin: Dual Role on Adult Subventricular Zone-Derived Neurospheres

Neural stem and progenitor cells (NSC/NPCs) are multipotent self-renewing cells that are able to generate neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes (OLs) within the adult central nervous system. We cultured NSC/NPCs from the rat subventricular zone as neurospheres (NS) and studied apoTransferrin (aTf) effects on oligodendroglial specification and maturation. Our findings suggest that aTf acts at different stages during progression from NSC to mature oligodendrocytes. On the one hand, an early event associated with the activation of NSC/NPCs proliferation and commitment toward the oligodendroglial fate, as indicated by increased BrdU incorporation, larger neurospheres production, and higher ability to generate OL precursors (OPCs) from undifferentiated cultures. On the other hand, aTf exposure during differentiating conditions favours OL maturation from OPCs by promoting OL morphological development. This evidence supports a key role of Tf on the generation of OL from NSC/NPCs and highlights its potential in demyelinating disorder treatment.
Designing Meaning with Multiple Media Sources: A Case Study of an Eight-Year-Old Student's Writing Processes.

This case study closely examines how John (a former student of mine, age eight, second grade) composed during an informal writing group at school Using qualitative research methods, I found that John selectively took up conventions, characters, story grammars, themes, and motifs from videogames, television. Web pages, and comics. Likening his writing process to assemblage, I used the multiliteracies design framework (New London Group, 1996/2000) to understand how John took up various pieces from popular-cultural sources and redesigned them into a unique whole by assembling parts of previously mediated meanings into a new set of meanings (rather than replicating already-available stories from popular culture). This case study highlights the highly situated character of student compositions that incorporate popular culture, and the influence of specific media conventions, genres, and story grammars. Johns case also provides a metalanguage for understanding, appreciating, and interacting pedagogically with the potential complexity of students composing processes that incorporate popular media.
Influence of behavioral determinants on deviation of body mass index among 12-15 years old school children of Panchkula

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the body mass index (BMI) and factors related to BMI in 12-15 years old adolescents attending school in the Panchkula district of Haryana, India. METHODS: Our multistage sampling method enrolled 810 adolescents. Demographic data and dietary history data over 5 days were recorded. Height and weight were measured to calculate BMI, which was further categorized according to the World Health Organization classification system. Diet was analysed using the Nizel criteria and socioeconomic status (SES) was assessed using Prasad’s socioeconomic classification. The chi-squared test and analysis of variance test were performed, and a multinomial regression analysis was performed to find significant correlates with BMI. RESULTS: The prevalences of underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obesity were 13.6, 58.4, 22.7, and 5.3%, respectively. The prevalence of both overweight and obesity was higher among males than that among females. The overall food group, nutrient, sweet, and oral health diet scores were higher among overweight and obese adolescents. Adolescents attending public school were 2.62 times more likely than private school adolescents were to be underweight. Private school adolescents were 2.08 times more likely than public school adolescents were to be overweight. Those with a high SES, vegetarians, and those aged 15 years were highly likely to be obese. CONCLUSIONS: We found 41.6% of these adolescents to have a BMI that deviated from the norm. Important factors related with BMI were age, gender, socioeconomic score, mean daily diet score, and the type of school.
Mass Distributions of Hubble Space Telescope Galaxy Clusters from Gravitational Arcs

Although N-body simulations of cosmic structure formation suggest that dark matter halos have density profiles shallower than isothermal at small radii and steeper at large radii, whether observed galaxy clusters follow this profile is still ambiguous. We use one such density profile, the asymmetric Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW) profile, to model the mass distributions of 10 galaxy clusters with gravitational arcs observed by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). We characterize the galaxy lenses in each cluster as NFW ellipsoids, each defined by an unknown scale convergence, scale radius, ellipticity, and position angle. For a given set of values of these parameters, we compute the arcs that would be produced by such a lens system. To define the goodness of fit to the observed arc system, we define a χ2 function encompassing the overlap between the observed and reproduced arcs, as well as the agreement between the predicted arc sources and the observational constraints on the source system. We minimize this χ2 to find the values of the lens parameters that best reproduce the observed arc system in a given cluster. Here we report our best-fit lens parameters and corresponding mass estimates for each of the 10 lensing clusters. We find that cluster mass models based on lensing galaxies defined as NFW ellipsoids can accurately reproduce the observed arcs and that the best-fit parameters to such a model fall within the reasonable ranges defined by simulations. These results assert NFW profiles as an effective model for the mass distributions of observed clusters.