Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A content-focused method for re-engineering thesauri into semantically adequate ontologies using OWL

The re-engineering of vocabularies into ontologies can save considerable time in the development of ontologies. Current methods that guide the re-engineering of thesauri into ontologies often convert vocabularies syntactically only and ignore the problems that stems from interpreting vocabularies as statements of truth (ontologies). Current reengineering methods also do not make use of the semantic capabilities of formal languages like OWL in order to detect logical mistakes and to improve vocabularies. In this paper, we introduce a content-focused method for building domain-specific ontologies based on a thesaurus, a popular type of vocabulary. The method results in a semantically adequate ontology that does not only contain a semantically rich description of the entities to be modeled, but also enables non-trivial consistency checks and classifications based on automated reasoning, and can be integrated with other ontologies following the same development principles. The identification of membership conditions, the alignment to a top-level ontology and formal relations, and the consistency check and inference using a reasoner are the central steps in our method. We explain the motivation and sub-activities for each of these steps and illustrate their application through a case study in the domain of agricultural fertilizers based on the ACROVOC Thesaurus. Foremost, our method shows that simple syntactic conversions are insufficient to derive an ontology from a thesaurus. Instead, considerable structural changes are required to derive an ontology that corresponds to the reality it represents. Our method relies on a manual development effort and is particularly useful where a highly reliable is-a hierarchy is crucial.
A Network Model of Automatic Gain Controlin the Electrosensory

In the electrosensory systems of weakly electric sh, descending pathways to a rst-order electrosensory nucleus have been shown to innuence the gain of its output neurons. To explain this gain control capability, we have previously proposed a neural mechanism involving the regulation of total membrane conductance via synaptic background activity. We have now incorporated this proposed neuron-level mechanism into a network-level model of automatic gain control. The model is based on the known circuitry of the electrosensory lateral line lobe (ELL) and associated brain regions in the brown ghost knife sh, Apteronotus leptorhynchus.
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) Prosodic Aspects of Information Structure in Discourse

This chapter presents an overview of different methods of discourse analysis. Three approaches based on textual representation of discourse are evaluated: Rhetorical Structure Theory, Cognitive constraints of information flow, and Assumed Familiarity. On the basis of, and inspired by, these approaches a new text-based method is introduced, which is suitable to analyze different features of spontaneous discourse, to be related to prosodie measures afterwards. This is followed by the presentation of a pilot experiment, in which the proposed method is tested by comparing the text-based discourse segmentation (text only) with a segmentation on the basis of listeners ' judgements (text plus prosody). The results of this experiment prompted us to modify the proposed method on some points. These modifications are discussed, and the current version of the framework is presented. This framework is called Information Structure In Discourse (ISID). This chapter is a substantially revised and extended version of Van Donzel (1994) and Van Donzel & Koopmans-van Beinum (1995a and 1995b).
A probabilistic approach to hybrid role mining

Role mining algorithms address an important access control problem: configuring a role-based access control system. Given a direct assignment of users to permissions, role mining discovers a set of roles together with an assignment of users to roles. The results should closely agree with the direct assignment. Moreover, the roles should be understandable from the business perspective in that they reflect functional roles within the enterprise. This requires hybrid role mining methods that work with both direct assignments and business information from the enterprise. In this paper, we provide statistical measures to analyze the relevance of different kinds of business information for defining roles. We then present an approach that incorporates relevant business information into a probabilistic model with an associated algorithm for hybrid role mining. Experiments on actual enterprise data show that our algorithm yields roles that both explain the given user-permission assignments and are meaningful from the business perspective.
A feature extraction technique for online handwriting recognition

The paper presents a feature extraction technique for online handwriting recognition. The technique incorporates many characteristics of handwritten characters based on structural, directional and zoning information and combines them to create a single global feature vector. The technique is independent to character size and it can extract features from the raw data without resizing. Using the proposed technique and a neural network based classifier, many experiments were conducted on UNIPEN benchmark database. The recognition rates are 98.2% for digits, 91.2% for uppercase and 91.4% for lowercase.
Rationale for full-season dosing for passive antibody prophylaxis of respiratory syncytial virus

Palivizumab monthly injections throughout the RSV season prevent severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) disease in preterm infants ≤ 35 wGA. However, some RSV guidelines currently recommend stopping palivizumab after 3 months of age in the midst of the RSV season. This article evaluates the need for full-season dosing by reviewing the pharmacokinetic properties of palivizumab and RSV hospitalization (RSVH) risk as a function of chronologic age. Precise human palivizumab protective levels are not established. Clinical trials show significant interpatient variability in palivizumab serum trough concentrations. Partial season dosing is associated with increased risk of RSVH. For late-preterm infants, data suggest that the risk of RSVH remains elevated through at least 6 months of age. Monthly, full-season palivizumab dosing provides the only empirically proven protection from RSVH. In conclusion, late-preterm infants are at significant risk for RSVH through at least 6 months of age and would benefit from dosing throughout the RSV season.
Effect of domestic compatabilizer on the performance of polypropylene-sawdust composites

Greater concern for environmental safety and fuel economy has increased interest in the use of renewable resources for development of new materials. Wood–plastic composites, made of recycled plastic and wood wastes, are very attractive in this respect, making this one of the most dynamic areas of new developments in the plastics industry in the past decade. This paper presents the preparation and characterization of polypropylene-sawdust composites by compression molding using maleated polypropylene (MAPP) produced in Brazil by reactive extrusion, with different amounts of two types of peroxides. The MAPP was characterized for thermal properties, melt flow index, and chemical structure, while the composites containing both uncoated and MAPP-coated sawdust were characterized for mechanical properties to understand the effect of coating as well as to compare these properties with those of composites prepared with commercial MAPP. The MAPP was efficient as a compatabilizer for polypropylene/sawdust composites. Better impact and tensile properties were observed in composites prepared with medium and high melt flow index compatibilizer concentrations, respectively.
Impact of patient training patterns on peritonitis rates in a large national cohort study.

BACKGROUND Ideal training methods that could ensure best peritoneal dialysis (PD) outcome have not been defined in previous reports. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact of training characteristics on peritonitis rates in a large Brazilian cohort. METHODS Incident patients with valid data on training recruited in the Brazilian Peritoneal Dialysis Multicenter Study (BRAZPD II) from January 2008 to January 2011 were included. Peritonitis was diagnosed according to International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis guidelines; incidence rate of peritonitis (episodes/patient-months) and time to the first peritonitis were used as end points. RESULTS Two thousand two hundred and forty-three adult patients were included in the analysis: 59 ± 16 years old, 51.8% female, 64.7% with ≤4 years of education. The median training time was 15 h (IQI 10-20 h). Patients were followed for a median of 11.2 months (range 3-36.5). The overall peritonitis rate was 0.29 per year at risk (1 episode/41 patient-months). The mean number of hours of training per day was 1.8 ± 2.4. Less than 1 h of training/day was associated with higher incidence rate when compared with the intervals of 1-2 h/day (P = 0.03) and >2 h/day (P = 0.02). Patients who received a cumulative training of >15 h had significantly lower incidence of peritonitis compared with <15 h (0.26 per year at risk versus 0.32 per year at risk, P = 0.01). The presence of a caregiver and the number of people trained were not significantly associated with peritonitis incidence rate. Training in the immediate 10 days after implantation of the catheter was associated with the highest peritonitis rate (0.32 per year), compared with training prior to catheter implantation (0.28 per year) or >10 days after implantation (0.23 per year). More experienced centers had a lower risk for the first peritonitis (P = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS This is the first study to analyze the association between training characteristics and outcomes in a large cohort of PD patients. Low training time (particularly <15 h), smaller center size and the timing of training in relation to catheter implantation were associated with a higher incidence of peritonitis. These results support the recommendation of a minimum amount of training hours to reduce peritonitis incidence regardless of the number of hours trained per day.
Swift UVOT Observations of X-Ray Flash 050406

We present Swift UVOT data on the optical afterglow of the X-ray flash of 2005 April 6 (XRF 050406) from 88 to ~105 s after the initial prompt γ-ray emission. Our observations in the V, B, and U bands are the earliest that have been taken of an XRF optical counterpart. Combining the early-time optical temporal and spectral properties with γ-ray and simultaneous X-ray data taken with the BAT and XRT telescopes on board Swift, we are able to constrain possible origins of the XRF. The prompt emission had a FRED (fast-rise, exponential decay) profile with a duration of T90 = 5.7 ± 0.2 s, putting it at the short end of the long-burst duration distribution. The absence of photoelectric absorption redward of 4000 Å in the UV/optical spectrum provides a firm upper limit of z ≤ 3.1 on the redshift, thus excluding a high redshift as the sole reason for the soft spectrum. The optical light curve is consistent with a power-law decay with slope α = -0.75 ± 0.26(Fν ∝ tα) and a maximum occurring in the first 200 s after the initial γ-ray emission. The softness of the prompt emission is well described by an off-axis structured jet model, which is able to account for the early peak flux and shallow decay observed in the optical and X-ray bands.
Evolvable Hardware

Systems whose architecture evolves over time are called Evolvable Systems [1]. The research area of Evolvable Hardware consists mainly of the evolution of analog and digital circuits [5]. Each individual of the evolving population represents a particular circuit. The individuals are either evaluated in simulation (extrinsic evolution) or directly in hardware (intrinsic evolution). The time needed to manually build the circuits is prohibitive. Therefore, dynamically reconfigurable chips such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are used to evaluate the individuals. Usually, the individuals are evaluated one after the other on a single reconfigurable chip. The topology of the circuit is determined by the genetic material of the individual. We will first address evolution of analog circuits and then turn to evolution of digital circuits.
Arteriovenous Shunts in the Human Lung.∗

Summary Arteriovenous shunts, many times the accepted diameter of capillaries, were demonstrated in isolated human lungs with little or no pulmonary pathology, by the passage of glass spheres from the pulmonary artery to or through the pulmonary veins. Injection of these vessels with liquid latex or vinyl acetate indicates that the shunts are located at the apex of and within the lobular divisions of the lungs.
To Dash or to Dawdle: Verb-Associated Speed of Motion Influences Eye Movements during Spoken Sentence Comprehension

In describing motion events verbs of manner provide information about the speed of agents or objects in those events. We used eye tracking to investigate how inferences about this verb-associated speed of motion would influence the time course of attention to a visual scene that matched an event described in language. Eye movements were recorded as participants heard spoken sentences with verbs that implied a fast (“dash”) or slow (“dawdle”) movement of an agent towards a goal. These sentences were heard whilst participants concurrently looked at scenes depicting the agent and a path which led to the goal object. Our results indicate a mapping of events onto the visual scene consistent with participants mentally simulating the movement of the agent along the path towards the goal: when the verb implies a slow manner of motion, participants look more often and longer along the path to the goal; when the verb implies a fast manner of motion, participants tend to look earlier at the goal and less on the path. These results reveal that event comprehension in the presence of a visual world involves establishing and dynamically updating the locations of entities in response to linguistic descriptions of events.
Integrin αIIb-Subunit Cytoplasmic Domain Mutations Demonstrate a Requirement for Tyrosine Phosphorylation of β3-Subunits in Actin Cytoskeletal Organization

Using truncated or mutated αIIb integrin cytoplasmic domains fused to the αV extracellular domain and expressed with the β3 integrin subunit, we demonstrate that the double mutation of proline residues 998 and 999 to alanine (PP998/999AA), previously shown to disturb the C-terminal conformation of the αIIb integrin cytoplasmic domain, prevents tyrosine phosphorylation of β 3 integrin induced by Arg-Gly-Asp peptide ligation. This mutation also inhibits integrin mediated actin assembly and cell adhesion to vitronectin. In contrast, progressive truncation of the αIIb-subunit cytoplasmic domain did not reproduce these effects. Interestingly, the PP998/999AA mutations of αIIb did not affect β3 tyrosine phosphorylation, cell adhesion, or actin polymerization induced by manganese. Exogenous addition of manganese was sufficient to rescue β3 phosphorylation, cell adhesion, and actin assembly in cells expressing the PP998/999AA mutation when presented with a vitronectin substrate. Further, induction of the high affinity conformation of this mutant β3 integrin by incubation with either Arg-Gly-Asp peptide or exogenous manganese was equivalent. These results suggest that the extracellular structure of β3 integrins in the high affinity conformation is not directly related to the structure of the cytoplasmic face of the integrin. Moreover, the requirement for β3 phosphorylation is demonstrated without mutation of the β3 subunit. In support of our previous hypothesis of a role for β3 phosphorylation in adhesion, these studies demonstrate a strong correlation between β3 tyrosine phosphorylation and assembly of a cytoskeleton competent to support firm cell adhesion.
The issue of plasma asymmetric dimethylarginine reference range – A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) is an endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase, marker and mediator of endothelial dysfunction. Several studies have demonstrated its value in cardiovascular risk stratification and all-cause mortality prediction. The aim was to determine the reference range of plasma ADMA in healthy adults. Methods and results Taking into account the most widely used ADMA measurement methods, only studies using either high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) -with fluorescence or mass spectrometric detection-, or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to quantify plasma ADMA concentrations were enrolled. 66 studies were included in the quantitative analysis (24 using ELISA and 42 using HPLC) reporting a total number of 5528 non-diabetic, non-hypertensive, non-obese adults without any medication (3178 men and 2350 women, 41.6 ± 16.9 years old). The reference range of ADMA (in μmol/l with 95% confidence interval in parenthesis) was 0.34 (0.29–0.38)– 1.10 (0.85–1.35) with a mean of 0.71 (0.57–0.85) (n = 4093) measured by HPLC and 0.25 (0.18–0.31)– 0.92 (0.76–1.09) with a mean of 0.57 (0.48–0.66) (n = 1435) by ELISA. Conclusions Numerous publications suggested that asymmetric dimethylarginine is not only an outstanding tool of disease outcome prediction but also a new potential therapeutic target substance; the reference range provided by this meta-analysis can become of great importance and aid to further investigations. However, developing a standard measurement method would be beneficial to facilitate the clinical usage of ADMA.
The Prognostic Value of Peripheral Benzodiazepine Receptor in Patients with Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Background: The peripheral benzodiazepine receptor (PBR) has previously been reported as an oncogene in prostate, breast and colorectal cancers, but its prognostic value, biological behavior and function in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) has not been investigated. Methods: qRT-PCR, western blotting and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were used to detect PBR expression in ESCC and matched non-cancerous tissues. Based on all of the significantly independent factors, a nomogram was established to predict the prognosis of ESCC patients. In addition, we performed comprehensive in vitro experiments to study the functions of PBR in cell growth, colony formation, and migration ability, as well as its relationship with epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) related proteins in ESCC cells. Results: The mRNA and protein expression levels of PBR in ESCC were higher than those in adjacent non-tumor esophageal epithelial tissues. The IHC results demonstrated that PBR expression was an independent prognostic factor in ESCC survival, patients with higher PBR expression had a poorer survival than those with low expression, and PBR expression was significantly associated with lymphoid nodal status. Furthermore, a nomogram was established to reliably predict the probability of death in ESCC patients, with a Harrell's c-index of 0.696. In the vitro experiments, knocking down the expression of PBR inhibited proliferation, colony formation and migration of ESCC cells, and regulated EMT-associated proteins (up-regulation of E-cadherin, ZO-1 and β-catenin and concomitant with down-regulation of Fibronectin and N-cadherin). Conclusions: PBR is an independent prognostic factor in ESCC, and it promotes ESCC progression and metastasis. Basing on PBR expression level, a nomogram is established and performs a well in predicting survival of ESCC patients.
Realistic, hardware-accelerated shading and lighting

With fast 3D graphics becoming more and more available even on low end platforms, the focus in hardware-accelerated rendering is beginning to shift towards higher quality rendering and additional functionality instead of simply higher performance implementations based on the traditional graphics pipeline. In this paper we present techniques for realistic shading and lighting using computer graphics hardware. In particular, we discuss multipass methods for high quality local illumination using physically-based reflection models, as well as techniques for the interactive visualization of non-diffuse global illumination solutions. These results are then combined with normal mapping for increasing the visual complexity of rendered images. Although the techniques presented in this paper work at interactive frame rates on contemporary graphics hardware, we also discuss some modifications of the rendering pipeline that help to further improve both performance and quality of the proposed methods. CR Categories: I.3. 1 [Computer Graphics]: Hardware Architecture—Graphics processors; I.3. 3 [Computer Graphics]: Picture/Image Generation—Bitmap and frame buffer operations; I.3. 6 [Computer Graphics]: Methodology and Techniques— Standards I.3. 7 [Computer Graphics]: Three-Dimensional Graphics and Realism—Color, Shading, Shadowing and Texture
Two Periods of Early Ventricular Arrhythmia in the Canine Acute Myocardial Infarction Model

The time course of ventricular arrhythmias in the early period (0-30 minutes) after ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery was studied in 41 open-chest mongrel dogs anesthetized with pentobarbital sodium (Nembutal). ECGs and seven single and composite electrograms from various regions in and around the ischemic zone were recorded throughout the experiments. Two periods of ventricular arrhythmias were clearly seen. The first occurred 2-10 minutes after coronary ligation, peaking at 5-6 minutes, and was designated as immediate ventricular arrhythmias (IVAs). There was a distinct correlation between incidence, severity, onset and termination of IVA and the degree of local delay and fragmentation of the normal sinus activation spread in the ischemic subepicardial zone. The second wave of ventricular arrhythmias occurred 12-30 minutes after ligation independently of the previous increased delay and fragmentation of activation in the ischemic subepicardium. Delayed ventricular arrhythmias (DVAs) were as severe as IVAs there were nine instances of ventricular fibrillation during DVA and seven during IVA. While the mechanism of IVA is most probably related to reentry accompanied by delay and fragmentation of ischemic subepicardial activation, the mechanism of DVA remains unclear. Our evidence suggests that DVAs are also reentrant, with the reentry pathways located in deep myocardial structures or involving microscopic pathways at the Purkinje muscle junction.
DO DIFFERENCES MAKE A DIFFERENCE? THE IMPACT OF HUMAN CAPITAL DIVERSITY AND SPECIFICITY ON FIRM PERFORMANCE IN ENGINEERING CONSULTING Theme D: Absorptive Capacity and Learning Strategies

Differences in competences are widely believed to be an important source of enduring competitive advantage. However empirical studies investigating the sources of firm differences in terms of both human resource types, levels and degrees of heterogeneity remain sparse to date. Because firm competence rest on human resources and their relation, this study demonstrates with a uniquely comprehensive data set that human resource types, levels, and heterogeneity in engineering consulting firms are empirically separable constructs that have significant and yet different influences on firm performance in terms of productivity and profitability. Our results indicate that educational diversity matters more for explaining performance differences than levels of experience and tenure of human resources.