Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Experiences on the Belief-Theoretic Integration of Para-consistent Conceptual Models

Viewpoint-based conceptual modeling is concerned with the identification of a complete and coherent set of software models that have been developed with the involvement of various analysts. The contribution of multiple analysts in this process will provide a rich and comprehensive final product. One of the major concerns in any process requiring the direct involvement of human analysts is the introduction of uncertainty and inconsistency. In this paper, we employ a formal model based on belief theory that attempts to capture the degree of analysts' uncertainty towards their specifications and builds on these information to create a unique integrated model. The model is employed in the process of developing a conceptual model for the Pet Store application. The results show that the formal framework provides suitable tools for formal negotiation, belief revision, consensus building, belief recommendation and expert reliability evaluation.
Morphologies and ages of star cluster pairs and multiplets in the Small Magellanic Cloud

An isophotal atlas of 75 star cluster pairs and multiplets in the Small Magellanic Cloud is presented, comprising 176 objects. They are concentrated in the SMC main body. The isophotal contours were made from Digitized Sky Survey images and showed relevant struc- tural features possibly related to interactions in about 25% of the sample. Previous N-body simulations indicate that such shapes could be due to tidal tails, bridges or common envelopes. The diameter ratio between the members of a pair is preferentially in the range 1 2, with a peak at 1. The projected separation is in the range 3 22 pc with a pronounced peak at 13 pc. For 91 objects it was possi- ble to derive ages from Colour-Magnitude Diagrams using the OGLE-II photometric survey. The cluster multiplets in general occur in OB stellar associations and/or HII region complexes. This indicates a common origin and suggests that multiplets coalesce into pairs or single clusters in a short time scale. Pairs in the SMC appear to be mostly coeval and consequently captures are a rare phenomenon. We nd evidence that star cluster pairs and multiplets may have had an important role in the dynamical history of clusters presently seen as large single objects.
Cochlear Function in Mice Lacking the BK Channel α, β1, or β4 Subunits*

Large conductance voltage- and calcium-activated potassium (BK) channels are important for regulating many essential cellular functions, from neuronal action potential shape and firing rate to smooth muscle contractility. In amphibians, reptiles, and birds, BK channels mediate the intrinsic frequency tuning of the cochlear hair cell by an electrical resonance mechanism. In contrast, inner hair cells of the mammalian cochlea are extrinsically tuned by accessory structures of the cochlea. Nevertheless, BK channels are present in inner hair cells and encode a fast activating outward current. To understand the role of the BK channel α and β subunits in mammalian inner hair cells, we analyzed the morphology, physiology, and function of these cells from mice lacking the BK channel α (Slo-/-) and also the β1 and β4 subunits (β1/4-/-). β1/4-/- mice showed normal subcellular localization, developmental acquisition, and expression of BK channels. β1/4-/- mice showed normal cochlear function as indicated by normal auditory brainstem responses and distortion product otoacoustic emissions. Slo-/- mice also showed normal cochlear function despite the absence of the BKα subunit and the absence of fast activating outward current from the inner hair cells. Moreover, microarray analyses revealed no compensatory changes in transcripts encoding ion channels or transporters in the cochlea from Slo-/- mice. Slo-/- mice did, however, show increased resistance to noise-induced hearing loss. These findings reveal the fundamentally different contribution of BK channels to nonmammalian and mammalian hearing and suggest that BK channels should be considered a target in the prevention of noise-induced hearing loss.
Multilocus Genotypes of Relevance for Drug Metabolizing Enzymes and Therapy with Thiopurines in Patients with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Multilocus genotypes have been shown to be of relevance for using pharmacogenomic principles to individualize drug therapy. As it relates to thiopurine therapy, genetic polymorphisms of TPMT are strongly associated with the pharmacokinetics and clinical effects of thiopurines (mercaptopurine and azathioprine), influencing their toxicity and efficacy. We have recently demonstrated that TPMT and ITPA genotypes constitute a multilocus genotype of pharmacogenetic relevance for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) receiving thiopurine therapy. The use of high-throughput genomic analysis allows identification of additional candidate genetic factors associated with pharmacogenetic phenotypes, such as TPMT enzymatic activity: PACSIN2 polymorphisms have been identified by a genome-wide analysis, combining evaluation of polymorphisms and gene expression, as a significant determinant of TPMT activity in the HapMap CEU cell lines and the effects of PACSIN2 on TPMT activity and mercaptopurine induced adverse effects were confirmed in children with ALL. Combination of genetic factors of relevance for thiopurine metabolizing enzyme activity, based on the growing understanding of their association with drug metabolism and efficacy, is particularly promising for patients with pediatric ALL. The knowledge basis and clinical applications for multilocus genotypes of importance for therapy with mercaptopurine in pediatric ALL is discussed in the present review.
Extensive genomic variation within clonal bacterial groups resulted from homologous recombination

Due to divergence, genetic variation is generally believed to be high among distantly related strains, low among closely related ones and little or none within the same classified clonal groups. Several recent genome-wide studies, however, revealed that significant genetic variation resides in a considerable number of genes among strains with identical MLST (Multilocus sequence typing) types and much of the variation was introduced by homologous recombination. Recognizing and understanding genomic variation within clonal bacterial groups could shed new light on the evolutionary path of infectious agents and the emergence of particularly pathogenic or virulent variants. This commentary presents our recent contributions to this line of work.
Lipoprotein-Associated Phospholipase A2 Adds to Risk Prediction of Incident Coronary Events by C-Reactive Protein in Apparently Healthy Middle-Aged Men From the General Population: Results From the 14-Year Follow-Up of a Large Cohort From Southern Germany

Background—Chronic inflammation represents an essential feature of the atherosclerotic process. Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2), an enzyme mainly produced by monocytes/macrophages, generates potent proinflammatory products. Methods and Results—Plasma concentrations of Lp-PLA2 were determined by ELISA in 934 apparently healthy men aged 45 to 64 years sampled from the general population in 1984 and followed up until 1998. During this period, 97 men experienced a coronary event diagnosed according to the MONICA (MONItoring of trends and determinants in CArdiovascular disease) protocol. Baseline levels of Lp-PLA2 were higher in subjects who experienced an event than in event-free subjects (295±113 versus 263±79 ng/mL, P<0.01). Lp-PLA2 was positively correlated with total cholesterol (R=0.30, P<0.0001) and age (R=0.12, P=0.001), was only slightly correlated with HDL cholesterol (R=0.09, P=0.005) and C-reactive protein R=0.06, P=0.06), but was not correlated with body mass index or blood pressure. In a Cox model, a 1-SD increase in Lp-PLA2 was associated with risk of future coronary events (hazard ratio [HR] 1.37, 95% CI 1.16 to 1.62). After controlling for potential confounders, the HR was attenuated but remained statistically significant (HR 1.23, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.47). Further inclusion of C-reactive protein in the model did not appreciably affect its predictive ability (HR 1.21, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.45). Conclusions—Elevated levels of Lp-PLA2 appeared to be predictive of future coronary events in apparently healthy middle-aged men with moderately elevated total cholesterol, independent of CRP. This suggests that Lp-PLA2 and CRP may be additive in their ability to predict risk of coronary heart disease.
An Infrared Search for Star-forming Galaxies at z > 2

We report the cumulative results of an ongoing near-infrared search for redshifted Hα emission from normal galaxies at z > 2. An infrared search reduces the bias due to reddening. Using narrowband imaging with the Near Infrared Camera on the Keck I 10 m telescope, a survey area of almost 12 arcmin2 has been covered. Target regions were selected by matching the redshifts of QSO emission and metal-line absorptions to our available filters. The survey depth is 7 × 10-17 ergs cm-2 s-1 (3 σ) in Hα and K' ≃ 22. Eleven Hα emitters plus two Seyfert I objects have been discovered. The high density of galaxy detections, corresponding to a comoving volume density of 0.0135±0.00550. 0035 Mpc-3, makes it unlikely that all of the Hα flux in these objects is the result of active nuclei. There is a strong suggestion of clustering in the environments of metal-line absorbers. Each candidate galaxy lies typically within a projected distance of 250 kpc of the QSO line of sight and is resolved but compact. The average star formation rate inferred for the galaxies from the Hα flux is 50 M☉ yr-1, significantly higher than present-day star-forming galaxies but consistent with other estimates for galaxies at high redshift.
Automatic counting of microglial cell activation and its applications

Glaucoma is a multifactorial optic neuropathy characterized by the damage and death of the retinal ganglion cells. This disease results in vision loss and blindness. Any vision loss resulting from the disease cannot be restored and nowadays there is no available cure for glaucoma; however an early detection and treatment, could offer neuronal protection and avoid later serious damages to the visual function. A full understanding of the etiology of the disease will still require the contribution of many scientific efforts. Glial activation has been observed in glaucoma, being microglial proliferation a hallmark in this neurodegenerative disease. A typical project studying these cellular changes involved in glaucoma often needs thousands of images - from several animals - covering different layers and regions of the retina. The gold standard to evaluate them is the manual count. This method requires a large amount of time from specialized personnel. It is a tedious process and prone to human error. We present here a new method to count microglial cells by using a computer algorithm. It counts in one hour the same number of images that a researcher counts in four weeks, with no loss of reliability.
Combining scan and trace buffers for enhancing real-time observability in post-silicon debugging

Scan is a known design-for-test technique in manufacturing test that has been successfully applied also to aid post-silicon debugging on testers. However, to achieve real-time observability in-field, embedded trace buffers are needed. In this paper, we discuss how in the presence of enhanced scan chains, trace buffers can be utilized efficiently for real-time debug data acquisition in-field.
Differences in elite showjumping performance between male and female riders

Equestrianism is one of very few sports where men and women compete on equal terms, offering the opportunity to perform comparable studies of male and female sporting performance within the same competition. The aim of the current study was to investigate the proportion and relative performance success of males and females competing at international elite level (FEI Rolex World Cup™) Show Jumping Competition in 2008/2009. Results from 15 leagues and 810 individual competitors (male=566; female=233; unknown=18) were analysed. Non-parametric statistics were used to investigate differences between numbers of males and females competing, final ranks and number of points achieved within the total population and individual leagues. Most important findings showed that significantly more men competed in all leagues (p<0.01); with the exception of three North American leagues where no significant differences was observed. However, no statistically significant differences between male and female riders across the whole population were found for final ranking (Male M=31.0, Female M=31.5, U=62670.500, z=-0.443, p=0.658) or points (Male M=17, Female M=28, U=133.50, z=-2.468, p=0.014). In conclusion, the sport of showjumping the differences in physiology, morphology and psychology between male and female riders are unlikely to affect final performance results.
INPUT VS. OUTPUT PRACTICE IN EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE FOR SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

This paper presents an experiment concerning the relative effectiveness of computer assisted comprehension practice and production practice in the acquisition of a second language. Two computer programs were developed: (a) an input-focused program providing students with explicit grammatical instruction and comprehension exercises and (b) an output-focused program providing the same grammatical instruction together with production exercises. The results of the study show that the output-focused group performed significantly better than the input-focused group for the production of Japanese honorifics and equally well for the comprehension of these structures. The study supports Swain's argument that there are roles for output in second language acquisition that are independent of comprehensible input.
Identification of functional surfaces of the zinc binding domains of intracellular receptors.

Transcriptional regulatory factor complexes assemble on genomic response elements to control gene expression. To gain insights on the surfaces that determine this assembly in the zinc binding domains from intracellular receptors, we systematically analyzed the variations in sequence and function of those domains in the context of their invariant fold. Taking the intracellular receptor superfamily as a whole revealed a hierarchy of amino acid residues along the DNA interface that correlated with response element binding specificity. When only steroid receptors were considered, two additional sites appeared: the known dimer interface, and a novel putative interface suitably located to contact regulatory factors bound to the free face of palindromic response elements commonly used by steroid receptors. Surprisingly, retinoic acid receptors, not known to bind palindromic response elements, contain both of these surfaces, implying that they may dimerize at palindromic elements under some circumstances. This work extends Evolutionary Trace analysis of functional surfaces to protein-DNA interactions, suggests how coordinated exchange of trace residues may predictably switch binding specificity, and demonstrates how to detect functional surfaces that are not apparent from sequence comparison alone.
Greedy Basis Pursuit

We introduce greedy basis pursuit (GBP), a new algorithm for computing sparse signal representations using overcomplete dictionaries. GBP is rooted in computational geometry and exploits equivalence between minimizing the l1-norm of the representation coefficients and determining the intersection of the signal with the convex hull of the dictionary. GBP unifies the different advantages of previous algorithms: like standard approaches to basis pursuit, GBP computes representations that have minimum l1-norm; like greedy algorithms such as matching pursuit, GBP builds up representations, sequentially selecting atoms. We describe the algorithm, demonstrate its performance, and provide code. Experiments show that GBP can provide a fast alternative to standard linear programming approaches to basis pursuit.
Image Compression Using Hybrid Vector Quantization

— In this paper, image compression using hybrid vector quantization scheme such as Multistage Vector Quantization (MSVQ) and Pyramid Vector Quantization (PVQ) are introduced. A combined MSVQ and PVQ are utilized to take advantages provided by both of them. In the wavelet decomposition of the image, most of the information often resides in the lowest frequency subband. MSVQ is applied to significant low frequency coefficients. PVQ is utilized to quantize the coefficients of other high frequency subbands. The wavelet coefficients are derived using lifting scheme. The main aim of the proposed scheme is to achieve high compression ratio without much compromise in the image quality. The results are compared with the existing image compression scheme using MSVQ.
A Framework for Top-K Queries over Weighted RDF Graphs

The Resource Description Framework (RDF) is a specification that aims to support the conceptual modeling of metadata or information about resources in the form of a directed graph composed of triples of knowledge (facts). RDF also provides mechanisms to encode meta-information (such as source, trust, and certainty) about facts already existing in a knowledge base through a process called reification. In this thesis, an extension to the current RDF specification is proposed in order to enhance RDF triples with an application specific weight (cost). Unlike reification, this extension treats these additional weights as first class knowledge attributes in the RDF model, which can be leveraged by the underlying query engine. Additionally, current RDF query languages, such as SPARQL, have a limited expressive power which limits the capabilities of applications that use them. Plus, even in the presence of language extensions, current RDF stores could not provide methods and tools to process extended queries in an efficient and effective way. To overcome these limitations, a set of novel primitives for the SPARQL language is proposed to express Top-k queries using traditional query patterns as well as novel predicates inspired by those from the XPath language. Plus, an extended query processor engine is developed to support efficient ranked path search, join, and indexing.
How extra-linguistic goals affect common ground formation

The formation of common ground between interlocutors relies on their linguistic cooperation, manifesting as shortened references produced during a given conversation. However, people have goals for their conversations, and these extra-linguistic goals can influence a variety of linguistic choices. If extra-linguistic goals do affect the formation of common ground, then reference production length may vary with speaker cooperativeness. The present research addresses in three experiments: 1) the effect of extra-linguistic goals on reference productions, 2) the relationship between informativity of the reference productions and their length, and 3) how goal habituation affects references produced under different goal states. Consistent effects of condition on the reference production lengths are not observed, however, across Experiments 1a and 2, and the effects of goal habituation are inconsistent. Experiment1b demonstrates that the length of reference productions is not related to informativity within the dialogue. However, consistent effects of round and instance are observed, as would be expected if the interlocutors were sharing conceptual pacts.
Broadly hysteretic H2 adsorption in the microporous metal-organic framework Co(1,4-benzenedipyrazolate).

Reaction of Co(CF3SO3)2 with the new molecule 1,4-benzenedi(4'-pyrazolyl) (H2BDP) in N,N'-diethylformamide (DEF) at 130 degrees C generates the metal-organic framework Co(BDP). 2DEF.H2O (1). X-ray analysis reveals the structure of 1 to contain chains of tetrahedrally ligated Co2+ ions linked through BDP2- ligands to generate a three-dimensional framework with 10 x 10 A2 channels. Thermogravimetric data shows the framework to have a high thermal stability, and complete desolvation occurs upon heating at 170 degrees C under dynamic vacuum for two days to afford 1d. X-ray powder diffraction data indicates that 1d possesses a substantially different structure, but converts back to 1 upon exposure to DEF, consistent with the presence of a flexible framework. Nitrogen adsorption isotherms measured for 1d at 77 and 87 K reveal an unprecedented five-step adsorption process and a Langmuir surface area of 2670 m2/g. In addition, high-pressure H2 adsorption data reveal hysteretic uptake and release, with hysteresis loops of width 1.1, 3.8, 13, and 27 bar that shift to higher pressures as the temperature increases from 50 to 65, 77, and 87 K, respectively. The high H2 uptake capacity of 5.5 excess wt % at 50 K suggests that such materials could potentially find utility for hydrogen storage via a kinetic trapping mechanism. Variable-temperature kinetics measurements have also allowed the first study of H2 diffusion within a metal-organic framework, revealing an energy barrier of 0.62 kJ/mol for H2 diffusing within the pores.
Prefrontal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Changes Connectivity of Resting-State Networks during fMRI

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been proposed for experimental and therapeutic modulation of regional brain function. Specifically, anodal tDCS of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) together with cathodal tDCS of the supraorbital region have been associated with improvement of cognition and mood, and have been suggested for the treatment of several neurological and psychiatric disorders. Although modeled mathematically, the distribution, direction, and extent of tDCS-mediated effects on brain physiology are not well understood. The current study investigates whether tDCS of the human prefrontal cortex modulates resting-state network (RSN) connectivity measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Thirteen healthy subjects underwent real and sham tDCS in random order on separate days. tDCS was applied for 20 min at 2 mA with the anode positioned over the left DLPFC and the cathode over the right supraorbital region. Patterns of resting-state brain connectivity were assessed before and after tDCS with 3 T fMRI, and changes were analyzed for relevant networks related to the stimulation–electrode localizations. At baseline, four RSNs were detected, corresponding to the default mode network (DMN), the left and right frontal-parietal networks (FPNs) and the self-referential network. After real tDCS and compared with sham tDCS, significant changes of regional brain connectivity were found for the DMN and the FPNs both close to the primary stimulation site and in connected brain regions. These findings show that prefrontal tDCS modulates resting-state functional connectivity in distinct functional networks of the human brain.
Use of the Web by Visual Artists: An Exploration of How Online Information Seeking Informs Creative Practice

Visual artists’ information-seeking behavior takes place in a broad context, involving interaction with a range of visual, textual, environmental, process-related and interpersonal sources. The World Wide Web (or Web) is one such resource that artists turn to within this vast information setting, but to-date, no known studies have examined how artists interact with information online. The present study addresses this gap by exploring non-academic visual artists’ use of the Web as it relates to their creative activity. Diaries and interviews were used in order to understand participants’ artistic practices and related information needs, as well as their sources, search strategies, and motivations for Web use.