Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Web Exploitation for Definition Extraction

We present a system to extract definitions from a term using the Web. Definitions are organized according to a typology and its context. The structural and functional design is described; emphasizing its relevant components: the extractor of definitional context to candidates using the Yahoo! ’s BOSS API; the extractor of definitional contexts and a clustering module based on textual energy as a measure of similarity.
Bektashism in Albania: Political history of a Religious Movement

Heterodox mystics and heretics of any kind become sometimes dangerous and other times reliable, depending on political situations, as was the case with the Bektashis. The system of beliefs and practices related to Bektashism seems to have corresponded to a kind of liberation theology, whereas the structure of Bektashi groups corresponded more or less to the type of religious organization conventionally known as charismatic groups. It becomes understandable therefore that their spiritual tendency could at times connect with and meet social, cultural and national perspectives. In turn, when members of the previously persecuted religious minority will acquire a degree of religious and political respectability within society at large, the doctrines of heterodoxy and liberation theology fade into the background. In the end, the heirs of the heterodox promoters of spiritual reform and social movement turn into followers and faithful defenders of a legitimate authority. They become the spokespeople for an institutionalized orthodoxy whose support is sought by the political regime.
Information Rates Subject to State Masking

We consider the problem of rate-R, channel coding with causal/noncausal side information at the transmitter, under an additional requirement of minimizing the amount of information that can be learned from the channel output about the state sequence, which is defined in terms of the mutual information between the state sequence and the channel output sequence. A single-letter characterization is provided for the achievable region of pairs {(R, E)}. Explicit results for the Gaussian case (Costa's dirty-paper channel) are derived in full detail.
Air‐sea flux of oxygen estimated from bulk data: Implications For the marine and atmospheric oxygen cycles

We estimate the annual net air‐sea fluxes of oxygen for 13 regions on the basis of a steady state inverse modeling technique that is independent of air‐sea gas exchange parameterizations. The inverted data consist of the observed oceanic oxygen concentration after a correction has been applied to account for biological cycling. We find that the tropical oceans (13°S−13°N) emit ∼212 Tmol O2 yr−1, which is compensated by uptake of 148 Tmol yr−1 in the Northern Hemisphere (>13°N) and by uptake of 65 Tmol yr−1 in the Southern Hemisphere (<13°S). These results imply that the dominant feature of oxygen transport in the combined ocean‐atmosphere system is the existence of a closed circulation cell in each hemisphere. These two cells consist of O2 uptake by the ocean in the middle and high latitudes of both hemispheres and transport in the ocean toward the tropics, where O2 is lost to the atmosphere and transported in the atmosphere back toward the poles. We find an asymmetry in the two cells involving O2 uptake in the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere versus loss of O2 in the temperate regions of the Southern Hemisphere. There is an additional asymmetry between the Atlantic basin, which has a net southward transport at all latitudes north of 36°S, in agreement with independent transport estimates, versus the Indian and Pacific Oceans, which have a strong equatorward transport everywhere. We find that these inverse estimates are relatively insensitive to details in the inversion scheme but are sensitive to biases in the ocean general circulation model that provides the linkage between surface fluxes and ocean interior concentrations. Forward simulations of O2 in an atmospheric tracer transport model using our inversely estimated oxygen fluxes as a boundary condition agree reasonably well with observations of atmospheric potential oxygen (APO ≈ O2 + CO2). Our results indicate that the north‐south asymmetry in the strength of the two hemispheric cells coupled with a strong asymmetry in fossil fuel emissions can explain much of the observed interhemispheric gradient in APO. Therefore it might not be necessary to invoke the existence of a large southward interhemispheric transport of O2 in the ocean, such as proposed by Stephens et al. [1998]. However, we find that uncertainties in the modeled APO distribution stemming from seasonal atmospheric rectification effects and the limited APO data coverage prevent the currently available APO data from providing strong constraints on the magnitude of interhemispheric transport.
Reversal of Muscle Atrophy by Zhimu-Huangbai Herb-Pair via Akt/mTOR/FoxO3 Signal Pathway in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Mice

Skeletal muscle atrophy is one of the serious complications of diabetes. Zhimu-Huangbai herb-pair (ZB) is widely used in Chinese traditional medicine formulas for treating Xiaoke (known as diabetes) and its complications. However, the effect of ZB on reversal of muscle atrophy and the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. In this research, we investigated the effect and possible mechanisms of ZB on skeletal muscle atrophy in diabetic mice. Animal model of diabetic muscle atrophy was developed by high fat diet (HFD) feeding plus streptozotocin (STZ) injection. After oral adminstration of ZB for 6 weeks, the effects of ZB on reversal of muscle atrophy and the underlying mechanisms were evaluated by biochemical, histological and western blot methods. The skeletal muscle weight, strength, and cross-sectional area of diabetic mice were significantly increased by ZB treatment. Biochemical results showed that ZB treatment reduced the serum glucose level, and elevated the serum insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and insulin levels significantly compared with untreated diabetic group. The western blot results showed that ZB activated the mTOR signal pathway, shown as increased phosphorylations (p-) of Akt, mTOR, Raptor, S6K1 and reduced Foxo3 expression compared with the model group. ZB could reverse muscle atrophy in diabetic mice. This may be through activation of mTOR signaling pathway that promotes protein synthesis, and inactivation foxo3 protein that inhibits protein degradation. These findings suggested that ZB may be considered as a potential candidate drug in treatment of diabetic muscle atrophy.
Long-Term Exposure to Primary Traffic Pollutants and Lung Function in Children: Cross-Sectional Study and Meta-Analysis

Background There is widespread concern about the possible health effects of traffic-related air pollution. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is a convenient marker of primary pollution. We investigated the associations between lung function and current residential exposure to a range of air pollutants (particularly NO2, NO, NOx and particulate matter) in London children. Moreover, we placed the results for NO2 in context with a meta-analysis of published estimates of the association. Methods and Findings Associations between primary traffic pollutants and lung function were investigated in 4884 children aged 9–10 years who participated in the Child Heart and Health Study in England (CHASE). A systematic literature search identified 13 studies eligible for inclusion in a meta-analysis. We combined results from the meta-analysis with the distribution of the values of FEV1 in CHASE to estimate the prevalence of children with abnormal lung function (FEV1<80% of predicted value) expected under different scenarios of NO2 exposure. In CHASE, there were non-significant inverse associations between all pollutants except ozone and both FEV1 and FVC. In the meta-analysis, a 10 μg/m3 increase in NO2 was associated with an 8 ml lower FEV1 (95% CI: -14 to -1 ml; p: 0.016). The observed effect was not modified by a reported asthma diagnosis. On the basis of these results, a 10 μg/m3 increase in NO2 level would translate into a 7% (95% CI: 4% to 12%) increase of the prevalence of children with abnormal lung function. Conclusions Exposure to traffic pollution may cause a small overall reduction in lung function and increase the prevalence of children with clinically relevant declines in lung function.
Social Interaction Enhances Motor Resonance for Observed Human Actions

Understanding the neural basis of social behavior has become an important goal for cognitive neuroscience and a key aim is to link neural processes observed in the laboratory to more naturalistic social behaviors in real-world contexts. Although it is accepted that mirror mechanisms contribute to the occurrence of motor resonance (MR) and are common to action execution, observation, and imitation, questions remain about mirror (and MR) involvement in real social behavior and in processing nonhuman actions. To determine whether social interaction primes the MR system, groups of participants engaged or did not engage in a social interaction before observing human or robotic actions. During observation, MR was assessed via motor-evoked potentials elicited with transcranial magnetic stimulation. Compared with participants who did not engage in a prior social interaction, participants who engaged in the social interaction showed a significant increase in MR for human actions. In contrast, social interaction did not increase MR for robot actions. Thus, naturalistic social interaction and laboratory action observation tasks appear to involve common MR mechanisms, and recent experience tunes the system to particular agent types.
Chemokines in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Uncontrolled activation of mucosal effector cells has been identified as the main pathogenic mechanism involved in the initiation and perpetuation of mucosal inflammation in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). The sustained activation of these cells leads to the aberrant production of various pro-inflammatory mediators, which co-ordinated action amplifies the inflammatory process. In this setting a network of tissue-specific chemoattractant cytokines (chemokines) and their corresponding receptors have been implicated as main contributors in the initiation and perpetuation of the inflammatory reaction in IBD. They are produced by a variety of inflammatory cells present in IBD lesions, as well as endothelial and epithelial cells. Chemokines not only control the multistep process of leukocyte adhesion to and migration across the endothelium, but also the release of lipid mediators and oxygen radicals from leukocytes, the modulation of tumorigenesis, release of matrix metalloproteinases and tissue fibrosis. Numerous data indicate that that intestinal chemokine expression is non-selectively up-regulated in IBD and correlates with disease activity. The development of selective inhibitors for chemokines or chemokine receptors, based on a more complete understanding of the immunopathogenic role of chemokines in intestinal inflammation, will be of great interest as potential novel therapeutic strategies in IBD.
Utility of preoperative in vitro platelet function tests for predicting bleeding risk in patients undergoing functional endoscopic sinus surgery

Background It is necessary to predict the bleeding risk in patients undergoing functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS). To evaluate the adequacy of primary hemostasis, preoperative hemostatic screening tests are used. In the present study, we determined whether there is a positive correlation between prolonged closure time (CT) with collagen/epinephrine (CT-epi), prothrombin time (PT), international normalized ratio (INR), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) and bleeding during FESS. Patients and methods We reviewed the medical records of 90 patients without bleeding histories who had undergone FESS from March 2013 to June 2014. More than 200 mL of blood loss was defined as moderate bleeding during surgery. With respect to bleeding during surgery, we determined the sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value (NPV) and positive predictive value (PPV) of CT-epi, PT, INR and aPTT. Results Of the 90 patients, 17 (18.9%) patients had preoperative prolonged CT values and three (17.6%) patients had bleeding. In comparison, five (6.8%) of the 73 (81.1%) patients who had undergone FESS with preoperative normal PFA values experienced bleeding (P=0.171). On the other hand, patients with prolonged PT values (2, 2.2%), prolonged INR values (3, 3.3%) or prolonged PTT values (1, 1.1%) had no bleeding episode. Preoperative CT had low sensitivity (44.4%) and PPV (23.5%). Conclusion During preoperative period, the hemostatic screening may not be helpful to detect the bleeding tendency in adult patients undergoing FESS. Routine measurement of CT-epi, PT, INR and aPTT for preoperative screening may not be recommended for FESS patients.
Defective ubiquitination of cerebral proteins in Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by the presence of neurofibrillary tangles (NFT), senile plaques, and cerebrovascular deposits of amyloid‐β. Ubiquitin has also been shown to be present in some of the inclusions characteristic of this disease. To obtain further insight into the role played by the ubiquitin pathway in AD, we investigated the capacity of postmortem samples of cerebral cortex from normal and AD patients to form high‐molecular‐weight ubiquitin–protein conjugates. Activity of the ubiquitin‐activating enzyme (E1) and ubiquitin‐conjugating enzymes (E2) involved in the ubiquitin pathway was also determined. In normal samples, the amount of high‐molecular‐weight ubiquitin–protein conjugates (HMW‐UbPC) in cytosol increased with incubation time, whereas, in samples of AD cases, these were almost undetectable. The addition of an adult rat fraction, enriched in ubiquitinating enzymes, restored the capacity of AD brain cytosolic fraction to form conjugates. The trypsin‐like proteolytic activity of the 26S proteasome was found to be decreased in AD cytosol brain. Assay of the activity of E1 and E2 by thiol‐ester formation revealed a significant decrease in AD samples. Moreover, Western blotting using a specific antibody against E1 showed a dramatic drop of this enzyme in the cytosolic fraction, whereas normal levels were found in the particulate fraction, suggesting a possible delocalization of the enzyme. Our results suggest that a failure in the ubiquitination enzymatic system in brain cytosol may contribute to fibrillar pathology in AD. J. Neurosci. Res. 62:302–310, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Multimodel ensemble simulations of present-day and near-future tropospheric ozone

Global tropospheric ozone distributions, budgets, and radiative forcings from an ensemble of 26 state-of-the-art atmospheric chemistry models have been intercompared and synthesized as part of a wider study into both the air quality and climate roles of ozone. Results from three 2030 emissions scenarios, broadly representing optimistic, likely, and pessimistic options, are compared to a base year 2000 simulation. This base case realistically represents the current global distribution of tropospheric ozone. A further set of simulations considers the influence of climate change over the same time period by forcing the central emissions scenario with a surface warming of around 0.7K. The use of a large multimodel ensemble allows us to identify key areas of uncertainty and improves the robustness of the results. Ensemble mean changes in tropospheric ozone burden between 2000 and 2030 for the 3 scenarios range from a 5% decrease, through a 6% increase, to a 15% increase. The intermodel uncertainty (±1 standard deviation) associated with these values is about ±25%. Model outliers have no significant influence on the ensemble mean results. Combining ozone and methane changes, the three scenarios produce radiative forcings of -50, 180, and 300 mW m-2, compared to a CO 2 forcing over the same time period of 800-1100 mW m-2. These values indicate the importance of air pollution emissions in short- to medium-term climate forcing and the potential for stringent/lax control measures to improve/worsen future climate forcing. The model sensitivity of ozone to imposed climate change varies between models but modulates zonal mean mixing ratios by ±5 ppbv via a variety of feedback mechanisms, in particular those involving water vapor and stratosphere-troposphere exchange. This level of climate change also reduces the methane lifetime by around 4%. The ensemble mean year 2000 tropospheric ozone budget indicates chemical production, chemical destruction, dry deposition and stratospheric input fluxes of 5100, 4650, 1000 and 550 Tg(O 3 ) yr-1, respectively. These values are significantly different to the mean budget documented by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Third Assessment Report (TAR). The mean ozone burden (340 Tg(O 3 )) is 10% larger than the IPCC TAR estimate, while the mean ozone lifetime (22 days) is 10% shorter. Results from individual models show a correlation between ozone burden and lifetime, and each model's ozone burden and lifetime respond in similar ways across the emissions scenarios. The response to climate change is much less consistent. Models show more variability in the tropics compared to midlatitudes. Some of the most uncertain areas of the models include treatments of deep tropical convection, including lightning NO x production; isoprene emissions from vegetation and isoprene's degradation chemistry; stratosphere-troposphere exchange; biomass burning; and water vapor concentrations. Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union.
Whose race problem? Tracking patterns of racial denial in US and European educational discourses on Muslim youth

ABSTRACT In this paper, the authors focus on everyday narrations of the nation as they are taken up by educators in schools in the United States, Denmark and Spain. As the primary institutions within which children from im/migrant communities are incorporated into the nation-state, schools are the key sites within which young people learn the languages and practices of national belonging and citizenship. Comparing ethnographic case studies in the United States, Denmark and Spain, the authors trace the nationalist storylines that serve to frame Muslim youth as particular kinds of racialized and “impossible subjects”. Across national contexts, the authors document similar, often almost verbatim, stories that educators narrated about the disjuncture between liberal ideals of the nation, and what they imagined to be true of Muslim im/migrant youth. They theorize that, despite differences in US and European approaches to immigration, there are consonances in the ways that Muslims are positioned as racialized Others across liberal democracies because of the very ways that western liberalism has constructed notions of individualism and tolerance. These seemingly benign discourses of liberalism in schools provide the conditions of possibility for schools’ imposition of exclusionary nationalist values while keeping a safe distance from charges of racism. Thus, we show how liberalism's imbrication with nationalism, and its promotion of goals conceived of as inherently humanist and universal, occlude the racial logics that ultimately restrict human freedom for Muslim youth.
EVALUATIVE RESPONSES IN MODERN ENGLISH FICTION

The process of communication implies information exchange, mutual influence, and evaluation of speakers. An addressee is an important participant of this process, yet little is known about him as a person who receives and evaluates an addresser’s utterance. This is particularly significant because the addressee influences the further course of communication by his/her own responses due to the rules of turn taking. An evaluative response is thus an evaluative speech act that serves as the perlocutionary effect of an addresser’s utterance and simultaneously expresses some intention concerning an interlocutor. The present paper aims to identify, classify and analyse the types of evaluative responses from a pragmatic perspective. The empirical material consists of 30 modern American and British novels, or 3400 dialogues containing evaluative responses. The theoretical basis of the investigation integrates the main principles of pragmalinguistics and speech act theory. In view of this, we suggested a pragmatic typology of evaluative responses based on an addressee’s speech reaction to the received stimulus. The study claims the universality of an evaluative response as a speech act. It may provide not only emotional perception of reality but also contribute to its adequate comprehension and even exert direct or hidden influence on verbal and nonverbal actions of an interlocutor.
Interchange Fees and Payment Card Networks: Economics, Industry Developments, and Policy Issues

In many countries around the world, electronic card-based payments have been replacing older types of payments at a rapid rate. In the United States, use of both debit cards and credit cards has been rising rapidly, while check volumes have been declining. The increased use of electronic payment methods has generated a number of public policy debates. One prominent debate concerns interchange fees. This paper is intended to provide background for understanding the interchange fee debate. The paper describes the operation of a typical payment card system, presents a summary of the economic theory underlying interchange fees, and discusses various developments in the U.S. payment cards industry, as well as legal and regulatory developments abroad. The paper concludes with a discussion and critical evaluation of a number of potential policy interventions.
Memory Impairment With Reference to Alzheimer’s Disease: An Update

Dementia or memory loss is the hallmark symptom of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The exploration of AD helps to identify the problems involved in neural structures such as the default network and role of genetic factors. Episodic memory (EM) directly deals with the memory system that allows an individual to consciously retrieve an old experience or an episode of life. EM plays an important role in AD. The World Health Organization predicts that, by 2025, about 75% of the estimated 1.2 billion people aged 60 years and older will reside in developing countries. It is estimated that the number of people living with dementia will almost double every 20 years to 42.3 million in 2020 and 81.1 million in 2040. In India, there are lesser number of good quality scientific studies/researches that deal with the real trend of the disease and determine the mechanism involved, risk factors, investigations on dementia, decline in awareness, and inadequate availability of social benefit. India is a country with varied cultures, and, therefore, conducting a genetic epidemiological study here has greater advantage. The goal of this review is to provide knowledge and increase the awareness of dementia associated with AD, as well as to understand the mechanism involved and its treatment, which can be useful for researchers or scientists in the near future.
Cheap Talk with Two Audiences

These problems have in common a simple structure: an informed "sender" says something to two interested but uninformed "receivers," who then take actions based on their beliefs; these actions affect the sender as well as the receivers. In this paper we study how costless, nonverifiable claims (cheap talk) can affect these beliefs (and hence the actions), and how the incentives for truthful revelation to one receiver are affected by the presence of the other. We then ask how welfare is affected by whether claims are made in public or in private. As some of the above examples suggest, public messages may be more credible than private messages addressed to either audience. One possibility is that the presence of one audience can discipline the sender's relationship with the other; we call this one-sided