Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cross-lingual RDF Thesauri Interlinking

Various lexical resources are being published in RDF. To enhance the usability of these resources, identical resources in different data sets should be linked. If lexical resources are described in different natural languages, then techniques to deal with multilinguality are required for interlinking. In this paper, we evaluate machine translation for interlinking concepts, i.e., generic entities named with a common noun or term. In our previous work, the evaluated method has been applied on named entities. We conduct two experiments involving different thesauri in different languages. The first experiment involves concepts from the TheSoz multilingual thesaurus in three languages: English, French and German. The second experiment involves concepts from the EuroVoc and AGROVOC thesauri in English and Chinese respectively. Our results demonstrate that machine translation can be beneficial for cross-lingual thesauri interlinking independently of a dataset structure.
Relative Frequencies of Non-homogeneous Markov Chains in Simulated Annealing and Related Algorithms

We consider a class of non-homogeneous Markov chains arising in simulated annealing and related stochastic search algorithms. Using only elementary first principles, we analyze the convergence and rate of convergence of the relative frequencies of visits to states in the Markov chain. We describe in detail three examples, including the standard simulated annealing algorithm, to show how our framework applies to specific stochastic search algorithms—these examples have not previously been recognized to be sufficiently similar to share common analytical grounds. Our analysis, though elementary, provides the strongest sample-path convergence results to date for simulated annealing type Markov chains. Our results serve to illustrate that by taking a purely sample-path view, surprisingly strong statements can be made using only relatively elementary tools.
Bacterial Composition, Genotoxicity, and Cytotoxicity of Fecal Samples from Individuals Consuming Omnivorous or Vegetarian Diets

This study analyzes the composition of viable fecal bacteria and gut toxicology biomarkers of 29 healthy volunteers, who followed omnivorous, lacto-ovo-vegetarian, or vegan diets. In particular, the research was focused on the prevalence of some representative viable bacteria from the four dominant phyla (Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria) commonly present in human feces, in order to evaluate the relationship between microorganisms selected by the habitual dietary patterns and the potential risk due to fecal water (FW) genotoxicity and cytotoxicity, considered as biomarkers for cancer risk and protective food activity. The relative differences of viable bacteria among dietary groups were generally not statistically significant. However, compared to omnivores, lacto-ovo-vegetarians showed low levels of total anaerobes. Otherwise, vegans showed total anaerobes counts similar to those of omnivores, but with lower number of bifidobacteria and the highest levels of bacteria from the Bacteroides–Prevotella genera. FW genotoxicity of lacto-ovo-vegetarians resulted significantly lower either in relation to that of omnivores and vegans. Lacto-ovo-vegetarians also showed the lowest levels of cytotoxicity, while the highest were found for vegans. These results highlighted that lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet was particularly effective in a favorable modulation of microbial activity, thus contributing to a significant reduction of the genotoxic and cytotoxic risk in the gut.
Resurrecting the sigmoid in deep learning through dynamical isometry: theory and practice

It is well known that the initialization of weights in deep neural networks can have a dramatic impact on learning speed. For example, ensuring the mean squared singular value of a network's input-output Jacobian is $O(1)$ is essential for avoiding the exponential vanishing or explosion of gradients. The stronger condition that all singular values of the Jacobian concentrate near $1$ is a property known as dynamical isometry. For deep linear networks, dynamical isometry can be achieved through orthogonal weight initialization and has been shown to dramatically speed up learning; however, it has remained unclear how to extend these results to the nonlinear setting. We address this question by employing powerful tools from free probability theory to compute analytically the entire singular value distribution of a deep network's input-output Jacobian. We explore the dependence of the singular value distribution on the depth of the network, the weight initialization, and the choice of nonlinearity. Intriguingly, we find that ReLU networks are incapable of dynamical isometry. On the other hand, sigmoidal networks can achieve isometry, but only with orthogonal weight initialization. Moreover, we demonstrate empirically that deep nonlinear networks achieving dynamical isometry learn orders of magnitude faster than networks that do not. Indeed, we show that properly-initialized deep sigmoidal networks consistently outperform deep ReLU networks. Overall, our analysis reveals that controlling the entire distribution of Jacobian singular values is an important design consideration in deep learning.
Identification of Indole Derivatives Exclusively Interfering with a G Protein-Independent Signaling Pathway of the Prostaglandin D2 Receptor CRTH2

The anti-inflammatory drugs indomethacin and ramatroban, the latter showing clinical efficacy in treating allergic asthma, have been shown to act as a classic agonist and antagonist, respectively, of the G protein-coupled chemoattractant receptor-homologous molecule expressed on Th2 cells (CRTH2 receptor). Here, we report the identification of two indole derivatives 1-(4-ethoxyphenyl)-5-methoxy-2-methylindole-3-carboxylic acid and Nα-tosyltryptophan (hereafter referred to as 1 and 2, respectively), which are structurally related to indomethacin and ramatroban but which selectively interfere with a specific G protein-independent signaling pathway of CRTH2. In whole-cell saturation-binding assays, 1 and 2 both increase the number of [3H]prostaglandin D2 (PGD2)-recognizing CRTH2 sites and the affinity of PGD2 for CRTH2. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays show that they do not alter the total number of CRTH2 receptors on the cell surface. Analysis of their binding mode indicates that unlike indomethacin or ramatroban, 1 and 2 can occupy CRTH2 simultaneously with PGD2. On a functional level, however, 1 and 2 do not interfere with PGD2-mediated activation of heterotrimeric G proteins by CRTH2. In contrast, both compounds inhibit PGD2-mediated arrestin translocation via a G protein-independent mechanism. In human eosinophils endogenously expressing CRTH2, 1 selectively decreases the efficacy but not the potency of PGD2-induced shape change, unlike ramatroban, which displays competitive antagonistic behavior. These data show for the first time that “antagonists” can cause markedly dissimilar degrees of inhibition for different effector pathways and suggest that it may be possible to develop novel classes of specific signal-inhibiting drugs distinct from conventional antagonists.
Hemodynamic and metabolic responses to interstitial angiotensin II in normal weight and obese men

Objective The expression of the AT1 receptor in adipose tissue is not decreased or even increased in obese subjects despite systemic activation of the renin–angiotensin system. Therefore, we hypothesized that peripheral tissues of obese subjects are hypersensitive to angiotensin (Ang) II. Methods We characterized the effect of locally applied Ang II in skeletal muscle and subcutaneous adipose tissue of healthy non-obese (n = 12) and obese (n = 11) men using the microdialysis technique. Tissues were perfused with Ringer's solution + ethanol and incremental doses of Ang II (0.01, 0.1 and 1 μmol/l). Dialysate ethanol, glycerol, glucose, lactate, and pyruvate concentrations were measured to assess changes in blood flow (ethanol dilution technique), lipolysis and glycolysis, respectively. Results In adipose tissue, basal ethanol ratio was significantly higher and dialysate metabolite concentrations were significantly lower in obese versus non-obese men. In muscle, basal dialysate glycerol was significantly higher in obese versus non-obese men. Ang II elicited small increases in ethanol ratio and decreases in dialysate glucose in adipose tissue and skeletal muscle in both non-obese and obese men. Dialysate lactate increased significantly in both tissues of obese, but not non-obese men. Dialysate glycerol increased in adipose tissue of non-obese (+ 40%) but not of obese and remained almost unchanged in muscle of both groups. Conclusions Interstitially applied Ang II elicits subtle changes in tissue perfusion and metabolism. However, we did not find a major increase in interstitial Ang II responsiveness in obese men.
SHED repair critical-size calvarial defects in mice.

OBJECTIVE Stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED) are a population of highly proliferative postnatal stem cells capable of differentiating into odontoblasts, adipocytes, neural cells, and osteo-inductive cells. To examine whether SHED-mediated bone regeneration can be utilized for therapeutic purposes, we used SHED to repair critical-size calvarial defects in immunocompromised mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS We generated calvarial defects and transplanted SHED with hydroxyapatite/tricalcium phosphate as a carrier into the defect areas. RESULTS SHED were able to repair the defects with substantial bone formation. Interestingly, SHED-mediated osteogenesis failed to recruit hematopoietic marrow elements that are commonly seen in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell-generated bone. Furthermore, SHED were found to co-express mesenchymal stem cell marker, CC9/MUC18/CD146, with an array of growth factor receptors such as transforming growth factor beta receptor I and II, fibroblast growth factor receptor I and III, and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor I, implying their comprehensive differentiation potential. CONCLUSIONS Our data indicate that SHED, derived from neural crest cells, may select unique mechanisms to exert osteogenesis. SHED might be a suitable resource for orofacial bone regeneration.
Hot cracking characterization in dissimilar welds of C-Mn steel and Ni-base alloy

This thesis is about the characterization of the microstructural cracks by the EDS and EBSD technique. This investigation has been done by depostion a layer of Ni-base alloy and then a C-Mn steel layer in order to understand the physial and chemical compatibility of these two dissimilar materials. This project is designed based on the welding application in the cladding pipes.
Efficient and decentralized PageRank approximation in a peer-to-peer web search network

PageRank-style (PR) link analyses are a cornerstone of Web search engines and Web mining, but they are computationally expensive. Recently, various techniques have been proposed for speeding up these analyses by distributing the link graph among multiple sites. However, none of these advanced methods is suitable for a fully decentralized PR computation in a peer-to-peer (P2P) network with autonomous peers, where each peer can independently crawl Web fragments according to the user's thematic interests. In such a setting the graph fragments that different peers have locally available or know about may arbitrarily overlap among peers, creating additional complexity for the PR computation.This paper presents the JXP algorithm for dynamically and collaboratively computing PR scores of Web pages that are arbitrarily distributed in a P2P network. The algorithm runs at every peer, and it works by combining locally computed PR scores with random meetings among the peers in the network. It is scalable as the number of peers on the network grows, and experiments as well as theoretical arguments show that JXP scores converge to the true PR scores that one would obtain by a centralized computation.
Components of the nuclear signaling cascade that regulate collagenase gene expression in response to integrin-derived signals

We have shown previously that the expression of collagenase is upregulated in rabbit synovial fibroblasts cultured on a substrate of antibody to the alpha 5 chain of the alpha 5 beta 1 integrin fibronectin receptor or on the 120-kD cell-binding chymotryptic fragment of plasma fibronectin, but remains at basal levels in cells plated on intact plasma fibronectin. We now have identified some of the components of a signaling pathway that couples the fibronectin receptor to the induction of collagenase transcription. We studied the control of collagenase gene expression in cells adhering to the 120-kD fragment of fibronectin, to antifibronectin receptor antibody, or to plasma fibronectin by transiently introducing promoter-reporter constructs into rabbit synovial fibroblasts before plating cells on these matrices. The constructs contained segments of the human collagenase promoter regulating transcription of chloramphenicol acyl transferase. Expression of constructs containing the -1200/-42-bp segment or the - 139/-42-bp segment of the collagenase promoter inserted upstream from the reporter gene was induced to similar extents in cells plated on the 120-kD fragment of fibronectin or on anti-fibronectin receptor antibody, relative to that in fibroblasts plated on fibronectin. The expression of the construct containing the -66/-42-bp segment of the promoter was not regulated and was similar to that of the parent pBLCAT2 plasmid, suggesting that the -139/-67 region of the collagenase promoter, which contains PEA3- and AP1-binding sites, regulates the transcription of collagenase caused by integrin-derived signals. Expression of a reporter construct containing only the PEA3 and AP1 sites in the collagenase promoter (-90/-67) also increased in cells plated on the 120-kD fragment of fibronectin or on anti-fibronectin receptor antibody, relative to that in cells plated on fibronectin. Mutations in either the AP1 or PEA3 site of this minimal promoter abrogated its activity in cells plated on these inductive ligands. Expression of c-fos mRNA increased within 1 h of plating cells on the 120-kD fibronectin fragment or on anti-fibronectin receptor antibody, relative to that in cells plated on fibronectin. c-Fos protein accumulated in the nuclei of fibroblasts within 10 min of plating on the 120-kD fibronectin fragment. The increase in c-Fos was required for the increase in collagenase in cells plated on the 120-kD fibronectin fragment: incubation of cells with antisense, but not sense, c-fos oligonucleotides diminished both basal and induced expression of the - 139/-42 collagenase promoter-reporter construct and decreased expression of the endogenous collagenase gene. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Impact on mortality following first acute myocardial infarction of distance between home and hospital: cohort study

Objective: To investigate the effect of distance between home and acute hospital on mortality outcome of patients experiencing an incident myocardial infarction (MI). Design: Cohort study using a record linkage database. Setting: Tayside, Scotland, UK. Patients: 10 541 patients with incident acute MI between 1994 and 2003 were identified from Tayside hospital discharge data and from death certification data. Main outcome measures: MI mortality in the community, all-cause mortality in hospital and all-cause mortality during follow-up. Results: 4133 subjects died following incident MI in the community (that is, were not hospitalised), 6408 patients survived to be hospitalised and 1010 of these (15.8%) died in hospital. Of 5398 discharged from hospital, 1907 (35.3%) died during a median of 3.2 years of follow-up. After adjustment for rurality and other known risk factors, distance between home and admitting hospital was significantly associated with increased mortality both before hospital admission (adjusted odds ratio (OR), 2.05, 95% CI 1.00 to 4.21 for >9 miles and 1.46, 1.09 to 1.95 for 3–9 miles when compared to <3 miles) and after hospitalisation (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 1.90, 1.19 to 3.02 and 1.27, 0.96 to 1.68). However, there was no effect of distance on in-hospital mortality (adjusted OR 0.95, 0.45 to 2.03 and 1.02, 0.66 to 1.58). Conclusion: The distance between home and hospital of admission may predict mortality in subjects experiencing a first acute MI. This association was found both before and after hospitalisation. Further studies are needed to explore the reasons for this association. However these data provide support for policies that locate services for acute MI closer to where patients live.
Modelling of Tree Cross Sections from Terrestrial Laser Scanning Data with Free-form Curves

A method to estimate cross sections of tree branches and stems using closed free-form curves is presented. The data is gathered in the form of unstructured point clouds from terrestrial laser scanning of the standing tree in the forest. A method to compute a model for each branch, also applicable to the stem, is presented first. This model describes the branch surfaces with a sequence of overlapping cylinders. In slices orthogonal to these cylinder axes points are selected from the data set and closed B-Splines are fitted to those cross section points. Fitting accuracy of ±1cm can be achieved. The measurement of branch ovality based on these B-Splines is illustrated.
A human mitochondrial poly(A) polymerase mutation reveals the complexities of post-transcriptional mitochondrial gene expression

The p.N478D missense mutation in human mitochondrial poly(A) polymerase (mtPAP) has previously been implicated in a form of spastic ataxia with optic atrophy. In this study, we have investigated fibroblast cell lines established from family members. The homozygous mutation resulted in the loss of polyadenylation of all mitochondrial transcripts assessed; however, oligoadenylation was retained. Interestingly, this had differential effects on transcript stability that were dependent on the particular species of transcript. These changes were accompanied by a severe loss of oxidative phosphorylation complexes I and IV, and perturbation of de novo mitochondrial protein synthesis. Decreases in transcript polyadenylation and in respiratory chain complexes were effectively rescued by overexpression of wild-type mtPAP. Both mutated and wild-type mtPAP localized to the mitochondrial RNA-processing granules thereby eliminating mislocalization as a cause of defective polyadenylation. In vitro polyadenylation assays revealed severely compromised activity by the mutated protein, which generated only short oligo(A) extensions on RNA substrates, irrespective of RNA secondary structure. The addition of LRPPRC/SLIRP, a mitochondrial RNA-binding complex, enhanced activity of the wild-type mtPAP resulting in increased overall tail length. The LRPPRC/SLIRP effect although present was less marked with mutated mtPAP, independent of RNA secondary structure. We conclude that (i) the polymerase activity of mtPAP can be modulated by the presence of LRPPRC/SLIRP, (ii) N478D mtPAP mutation decreases polymerase activity and (iii) the alteration in poly(A) length is sufficient to cause dysregulation of post-transcriptional expression and the pathogenic lack of respiratory chain complexes.
Wiener chaos and the Cox–Ingersoll–Ross model

In this paper we recast the Cox–Ingersoll–Ross (CIR) model of interest rates into the chaotic representation recently introduced by Hughston and Rafailidis. Beginning with the ‘squared Gaussian representation’ of the CIR model, we find a simple expression for the fundamental random variable X∞. By use of techniques from the theory of infinite–dimensional Gaussian integration, we derive an explicit formula for the nth term of the Wiener chaos expansion of the CIR model, for n = 0,1,2,…. We then derive a new expression for the price of a zero coupon bond which reveals a connection between Gaussian measures and Ricatti differential equations.
Micropatterned ECM substrates reveal complementary contribution of low and high affinity ligands to neurite outgrowth

Growth and guidance of developing or regenerating axons require sensing of environmental cues (EC) by the growth cone. To explore the role of a spatially defined distribution of ligands on guidance, extension, and branching, we used a microcontact‐printing technique allowing to deposit ligands as discrete spots of a size smaller than a cell body. Micropatterned substrates (MS) were created with varying distance between spots and two different ligands (laminin (LN) and fibronectin (FN)). Dissociated dorsal root ganglion neurons were seeded on either monocomponent MS made from LN or FN alone, or multicomponent MS made from alternating lines of LN and FN spots. On monocomponent MS the high‐affinity ligand LN not only stimulated neurite extension, but also provided guidance and branching control, associated with marked cytoskeleton remodeling. The latter was assessed by evaluating the increase in rigidity of the distal neurite segment by Atomic Force Microscopy. In contrast, FN alone acts as a low‐affinity ligand which dramatically limits neurite outgrowth. Surprisingly, observation of growth cone dynamics on multicomponent MS revealed that FN constitute a transient support for neurite progression, facilitating exploration of other EC present within a certain distance. Such a mutual contribution of high and low affinity ligands to neurite outgrowth is consistent with a recent theory of force regulation of dynamic adhesion sites showing cell's sensitivity to EC properties would actually depend on the rate of change of the reacting force, the latter controlling the otherwise instantaneous chemical binding process. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.