Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A multisensory approach for the design of food and drink enhancing sonic systems

Everyday eating and drinking experiences involve multiple, interrelated, sensory inputs. However, when it comes to human-food interaction design (HFI) research, certain senses have received more attention than others have. Here, we focus on audition, a sense that has received limited attention in such context. In particular, we highlight the role of food/drink-related eating sounds, as a potential input for human-food interaction design. We review some of the few systems that have built on such sounds within food and drink contexts. We also present a multisensory design framework and discuss how the systematic connections that exist between the senses may provide some guidelines for the integration of eating sounds in HFI design. Finally, we present some key prospects that we foresee for research in technology design in HFI.
The Data Envelopment Analysis Method in Benchmarking of Technological Incubators

This paper presents an original concept for the application of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) in benchmarking processes within innovation and entrepreneurship centers based on the example of technological incubators. Applying the DEA method, it is possible to order analyzed objects, on the basis of explicitly defined relative efficiency, by compiling a rating list and rating classes. Establishing standards and indicating “clearances” allows the studied objects - innovation and entrepreneurship centers - to select a way of developing effectively, as well as preserving their individuality and a unique way of acting with the account of local needs.
Dynamic Programming for Optimal Control Problems with Delays in the Control Variable

We study a class of optimal control problems with state constraint, where the state equation is a differential equation with delays in the control variable. This class of problems arises in some economic applications, in particular in optimal advertising problems. The optimal control problem is embedded in a suitable Hilbert space, and the associated Hamilton--Jacobi--Bellman (HJB) equation is considered in this space. It is proved that the value function is continuous with respect to a weak norm and that it solves in the viscosity sense the associated HJB equation. The main results are the proof of a directional $C^1$-regularity for the value function and the feedback characterization of optimal controls.
Factorized Hidden Layer Adaptation for Deep Neural Network Based Acoustic Modeling

In this paper, we propose the factorized hidden layer (FHL) approach to adapt the deep neural network (DNN) acoustic models for automatic speech recognition (ASR). FHL aims at modeling speaker dependent (SD) hidden layers by representing an SD affine transformation as a linear combination of bases. The combination weights are low-dimensional speaker parameters that can be initialized using speaker representations like i-vectors and then reliably refined in an unsupervised adaptation fashion. Therefore, our method provides an efficient way to perform both adaptive training and (test-time) adaptation. Experimental results have shown that the FHL adaptation improves the ASR performance significantly, compared to the standard DNN models, as well as other state-of-the-art DNN adaptation approaches, such as training with the speaker-normalized CMLLR features, speaker-aware training using i-vector and learning hidden unit contributions (LHUC). For Aurora 4, FHL achieves 3.8% and 2.3% absolute improvements over the standard DNNs trained on the LDA + STC and CMLLR features, respectively. It also achieves 1.7% absolute performance improvement over a system that combines the i-vector adaptive training with LHUC adaptation. For the AMI dataset, FHL achieved 1.4% and 1.9% absolute improvements over the sequence-trained CMLLR baseline systems, for the IHM and SDM tasks, respectively.
Many Saccharomyces cerevisiae Cell Wall Protein Encoding Genes Are Coregulated by Mss11, but Cellular Adhesion Phenotypes Appear Only Flo Protein Dependent

The outer cell wall of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae serves as the interface with the surrounding environment and directly affects cell−cell and cell−surface interactions. Many of these interactions are facilitated by specific adhesins that belong to the Flo protein family. Flo mannoproteins have been implicated in phenotypes such as flocculation, substrate adhesion, biofilm formation, and pseudohyphal growth. Genetic data strongly suggest that individual Flo proteins are responsible for many specific cellular adhesion phenotypes. However, it remains unclear whether such phenotypes are determined solely by the nature of the expressed FLO genes or rather as the result of a combination of FLO gene expression and other cell wall properties and cell wall proteins. Mss11 has been shown to be a central element of FLO1 and FLO11 gene regulation and acts together with the cAMP-PKA-dependent transcription factor Flo8. Here we use genome-wide transcription analysis to identify genes that are directly or indirectly regulated by Mss11. Interestingly, many of these genes encode cell wall mannoproteins, in particular, members of the TIR and DAN families. To examine whether these genes play a role in the adhesion properties associated with Mss11 expression, we assessed deletion mutants of these genes in wild-type and flo11Δ genetic backgrounds. This analysis shows that only FLO genes, in particular FLO1/10/11, appear to significantly impact on such phenotypes. Thus adhesion-related phenotypes are primarily dependent on the balance of FLO gene expression.
American Ginseng Suppresses Colitis through p53-Mediated Apoptosis of Inflammatory Cells

Ulcerative colitis is a dynamic, chronic inflammatory condition associated with an increased colon cancer risk. Inflammatory cell apoptosis is a key mechanism regulating ulcerative colitis. American ginseng (AG) is a putative antioxidant that can suppress hyperactive immune cells. We have recently shown that AG can prevent and treat mouse colitis. Because p53 levels are elevated in inflammatory cells in both mouse and human colitis, we tested the hypothesis that AG protects from colitis by driving inflammatory cell apoptosis through a p53 mechanism. We used isogenic p53+/+ and p53−/− inflammatory cell lines as well as primary CD4+/CD25− effector T cells from p53+/+ and p53−/− mice to show that AG drives apoptosis in a p53-dependent manner. Moreover, we used a dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) model of colitis in C57BL/6 p53+/+ and p53−/− mice to test whether the protective effect of AG against colitis is p53 dependent. Data indicate that AG induces apoptosis in p53+/+ but not in isogenic p53−/− cells in vitro. In vivo, C57BL/6 p53+/+ mice are responsive to the protective effects of AG against DSS-induced colitis, whereas AG fails to protect from colitis in p53−/− mice. Furthermore, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase–mediated dUTP nick end labeling of inflammatory cells within the colonic mesenteric lymph nodes is elevated in p53+/+ mice consuming DSS + AG but not in p53−/− mice consuming DSS + AG. Results are consistent with our in vitro data and with the hypothesis that AG drives inflammatory cell apoptosis in vivo, providing a mechanism by which AG protects from colitis in this DSS mouse model. Cancer Prev Res; 3(3); 339–47
Repressing Notch Signaling and Expressing TNFα Are Sufficient to Mimic Retinal Regeneration by Inducing Müller Glial Proliferation to Generate Committed Progenitor Cells

Retinal damage in teleosts, unlike mammals, induces robust Müller glia-mediated regeneration of lost neurons. We examined whether Notch signaling regulates Müller glia proliferation in the adult zebrafish retina and demonstrated that Notch signaling maintains Müller glia in a quiescent state in the undamaged retina. Repressing Notch signaling, through injection of the γ-secretase inhibitor RO4929097, stimulates a subset of Müller glia to reenter the cell cycle without retinal damage. This RO4929097-induced Müller glia proliferation is mediated by repressing Notch signaling because inducible expression of the Notch Intracellular Domain (NICD) can reverse the effect. This RO4929097-induced proliferation requires Ascl1a expression and Jak1-mediated Stat3 phosphorylation/activation, analogous to the light-damaged retina. Moreover, coinjecting RO4929097 and TNFα, a previously identified damage signal, induced the majority of Müller glia to reenter the cell cycle and produced proliferating neuronal progenitor cells that committed to a neuronal lineage in the undamaged retina. This demonstrates that repressing Notch signaling and activating TNFα signaling are sufficient to induce Müller glia proliferation that generates neuronal progenitor cells that differentiate into retinal neurons, mimicking the responses observed in the regenerating retina.
Characterization of Conditionally Expressed Mutants Affecting Age-Specific Survival in Inbred Lines of Drosophila melanogaster

The specific genetic basis of inbreeding depression is poorly understood. To address this question, two conditionally expressed lethal effects that were found to cause line-specific life span reductions in two separate inbred lines of Drosophila melanogaster were characterized phenotypically and genetically in terms of whether the accelerated mortality effects are dominant or recessive. The mortality effect in one line (I4) is potentially a temperature-sensitive semilethal that expresses in adult males only and is partially dominant. The other line (I10) responds as one would expect for a recessive lethal. It requires a cold shock for expression and is cold sensitive. Flies exhibiting this lethal condition responded as pupae and freshly eclosed imagoes. The effect is recessive in both males and females. The expression of the lethal effects in both lines is highly dependent upon environmental conditions. These results will serve as a basis for more detailed and mechanistic genetic research on inbreeding depression and are relevant to sex- and environment-specific effects on life span observed in quantitative trait loci studies using inbred lines.
Hedonic-Based Price Indexes for the Housing Market in Italian Cities: Theory and Estimation

We adopt the hedonic approach to develop a price index for the housing market in Italy. The hedonic approach allows to separate the price variations due to qualitative changes of housing attributes from pure price changes, that is the intrinsic real estate price variations. As a result, it produces an index much more robust and accurate than those based on mean prices, which are commonly developed by real estate professionals. Using data from the "Osservatorio del mercato immobiliare" we develop transaction-based indexes for the housing markets of the three largest Italian cities (Rome, Milan and Naples) over the period 2004-2006. Our results confirm at large the general trend of housing prices shown by the simpler indexes currently available in Italy: dwellings in all three cities display prices increasing at a rate largely higher than the general price index with Rome appreciating on average more than Naples and, to a larger extent, Milan. Nevertheless the comparison among indexes points out differences sometimes remarkable in temporal patterns of housing price evolutions.
Novel Nickel Resistance Genes from the Rhizosphere Metagenome of Plants Adapted to Acid Mine Drainage

ABSTRACT Metal resistance determinants have traditionally been found in cultivated bacteria. To search for genes involved in nickel resistance, we analyzed the bacterial community of the rhizosphere of Erica andevalensis, an endemic heather which grows at the banks of the Tinto River, a naturally metal-enriched and extremely acidic environment in southwestern Spain. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis of rhizosphere DNA revealed the presence of members of five phylogenetic groups of Bacteria and the two main groups of Archaea mostly associated with sites impacted by acid mine drainage (AMD). The diversity observed and the presence of heavy metals in the rhizosphere led us to construct and screen five different metagenomic libraries hosted in Escherichia coli for searching novel nickel resistance determinants. A total of 13 positive clones were detected and analyzed. Insights about their possible mechanisms of resistance were obtained from cellular nickel content and sequence similarities. Two clones encoded putative ABC transporter components, and a novel mechanism of metal efflux is suggested. In addition, a nickel hyperaccumulation mechanism is proposed for a clone encoding a serine O-acetyltransferase. Five clones encoded proteins similar to well-characterized proteins but not previously reported to be related to nickel resistance, and the remaining six clones encoded hypothetical or conserved hypothetical proteins of uncertain functions. This is the first report documenting nickel resistance genes recovered from the metagenome of an AMD environment.
Determination of cut-off cycle threshold values in routine RT–PCR assays to assist differential diagnosis of norovirus in children hospitalized for acute gastroenteritis

SUMMARY Norovirus (NV) is an important cause of acute gastroenteritis in children, but is also frequently detected in asymptomatic children, which complicates the interpretation of NV detection results in both the clinical setting and population prevalence studies. A total of 807 faecal samples from children aged <5 years hospitalized for acute gastroenteritis were collected in Thai Binh, Vietnam, from January 2011 to September 2012. Real-time RT–PCR was used to detect and quantify NV-RNA in clinical samples. A bimodal distribution of cycle threshold (Ct) values was observed in which the lower peak was assumed to represent cases for which NV was the causal agent of diarrhoea, whereas the higher peak was assumed to represent cases involving an alternative pathogen other than NV. Under these assumptions, we applied finite-mixture modelling to estimate a threshold of Ct <21·36 (95% confidence interval 20·29–22·46) to distinguish NV-positive patients for which NV was the likely cause of diarrhoea. We evaluated the validity of the threshold through comparisons with NV antigen ELISA results, and comparisons of Ct values in patients co-infected with rotavirus. We conclude that the use of an appropriate cut-off value in the interpretation of NV real-time RT–PCR results may improve differential diagnosis of enteric infections, and could contribute to improved estimates of the burden of NV disease.
Homocysteinemia and early outcome of acute ischemic stroke in elderly patients

Plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) is a risk factor for ischemic stroke (IS) but its relationship with IS outcome is uncertain. Moreover, previous studies underrepresented older IS patients, although risk of both hyperhomocysteinemia and IS increases with age. We investigated whether, in elderly patients with acute IS, tHcy measured on admission to the Stroke Unit (SU) is an independent predictor of SU discharge outcomes.
Automated functional testing of web search engines in the absence of an oracle

A software product is functionally correct if it behaves according to the functional specification. Compared with other quality aspects of Web search engines such as performance and capacity, functional correctness is more fundamental but its verification suffers from the oracle problem: It is often difficult or impossible to decide whether outcomes of test case executions are correct. For example, how can testers decide whether the results returned by a Web search engine are actually correct and complete? In this paper, we present an approach to help alleviate the oracle problem in testing search engines. The testing process is fully automatic, including test case generation, execution, output collection, and verification. A tool has been developed to implement the approach and detected failures in popular search engines including Google, Yahoo! , and Microsoft’s Live Search. The failures are illustrated using screenshots, and more experimental results are analyzed.
Ecological Effects of Roads on the Plant Diversity of Coastal Wetland in the Yellow River Delta

The 26 sample sites in 7 study plots adjacent to asphalt road and earth road in coastal wetland in the Yellow River Delta were selected to quantify plant diversity using quadrat sampling method in plant bloom phase of July and August 2012. The indice of β T and Jaccard's coefficient were applied to evaluate the species diversity. The results showed that the plant diversities and alien plants were high in the range of 0–20 m to the road verge. There were more exotics and halophytes in plots of asphalt roadside than that of earth roadside. However, proportion of halophytes in habitats of asphalt roadsides was lower than that of earth roadside. By comparing β-diversity, there were more common species in the asphalt roadsides than that in the earth roadsides. The similarity of plant communities in studied plots of asphalt roadsides and earth roadsides increased with increasing the distance to road verge. The effect range of roads for plant diversity in study region was about 20 m to road verge. Our results indicate that the construction and maintenance of roads in wetland could increase the plant species diversities of communities and risk of alien species invasion.
Prognostic benefit of beta-blockers in patients not receiving ACE-Inhibitors.

AIMS Beta-blockers (BBs) confer significant prognostic benefit in patients (pts) with systolic chronic heart failure (CHF). However, major trials have thus far studied BBs mainly in addition to ACE-Inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) as background therapy. The magnitude of the prognostic benefit of BBs in the absence of ACE-I or ARB has not as yet been determined. METHODS AND RESULTS We performed a meta-analysis of all placebo-controlled BB studies in patients with CHF (n>200). Trials were identified via Medline literature searches, meeting abstracts, and contact with study organizations. Results for all-cause mortality and death or heart failure hospitalization were pooled using the Mantel-Haenszel (fixed effects) method. The impact of BB therapy on all-cause mortality in CHF, in the absence (4.8%) and presence (95.2%) of ACE-I (or ARB), was determined from six trials of 13 370 patients. The risk ratio (RR) for BBs vs. placebo was 0.73 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.53-1.02] in the absence of ACE-I or ARB at baseline, compared with a RR of 0.76 (95% CI 0.71-0.83) in the presence of these agents. When ACE-Inhibitors were analysed in the same way (pre-BB), a RR of 0.89 (0.80-0.99) vs. placebo was observed in studies of >90 days. The impact of BB therapy on death or HF hospitalization in systolic CHF, in the absence and presence of ACE-I, was determined from three trials of 8988 patients. The RR for BBs vs. placebo was 0.81 (95% CI 0.61-1.08) in the absence of ACE-I or ARB at baseline, compared with a RR of 0.78 (95% CI 0.74-0.83) in the presence of these agents. When ACE-Is were analysed in the same way (pre-BB), a RR of 0.85 (95% CI 0.78-0.93) vs. placebo was observed in studies of >90 days. CONCLUSION The magnitude of the prognostic benefit conferred by BBs in the absence of ACE-I appears to be similar to those of ACE-Is in systolic CHF. These data therefore suggest that either ACE-Is or BBs could be used as first-line neurohormonal therapy in patients with systolic CHF. Prospective studies directly comparing these agents are required to definitively address this issue.
A Plea for (Good) Simulations: Nudging Economics Toward an Experimental Science

In this article, the author argues that simulation is an undervalued technique to draw conclusions about empirical phenomena in economics. If the aim is to learn about the behavior of socioeconomic systems of interest, simulations have a variety of advantages relative to alternatives such as mathematical (pen and paper) modeling and laboratory experimentation. Therefore, the author has a good prima facie reason to exploit this method more fully. The author proceed by demonstrating that frequently heard arguments against simulations are wrong, and finally the author discusses a number of more specific empirical phenomena, criticisms of one type of simulation methodology used in economics.
When Regional Policies Fail: An Evaluation of Indonesia's Integrated Economic Development Zones

Throughout the developing world, many countries have created special economic zones to attract investment and spur industrial growth. In some cases, these zones are designed to promote development in poorer regions with limited market access and lower quality infrastructure, an example of a "big push" development strategy. In this paper, we study the effects of Indonesia's Integrated Economic Development Zone (KAPET) program. This program provided substantial tax-breaks for firms that locate in certain districts in the Outer Islands of Indonesia, a country with large regional differences in per-capita income and a history of policies to promote inclusive growth. We find that along many dimensions, KAPET districts experienced no better development outcomes, and in some cases fared even worse, than their non-treated counterparts. If anything, the strongest finding is that firms in KAPET districts paid lower taxes, but these tax reductions neither encouraged greater firm entry, increased migration, nor raised local measures of output or welfare. Overall, the KAPET program does not appear to have achieved the intended outcome of promoting growth in lagging regions. While there are many possible reasons that the KAPET program failed, our findings suggest caution in spending scarce resources to subsidize development in lagging regions.
SPARC is a possible predictive marker for albumin-bound paclitaxel in non-small-cell lung cancer

Objectives Nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel (nab-paclitaxel) produced good tumor response in cases with lung squamous cell carcinoma, one of the most difficult cancers to treat. Secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC) binds to albumin, suggesting that SPARC plays an important role in tumor uptake of nab-paclitaxel. There is as yet no predictive marker for cytotoxic agents against non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and hence we believed that SPARC expression might be associated with tumor response to nab-paclitaxel. Patients and methods We studied stromal SPARC reactivity and its association with clinicopathological characteristics in 200 cases of NSCLC using a custom tissue microarray fabricated in our laboratory by immunohistochemical staining. We also investigated the relationship between stromal SPARC reactivity and tumor response to nab-paclitaxel using biopsy or surgical specimens obtained from advanced or recurrent lung cancer patients. Results High SPARC stromal reactivity (>50% of optical fields examined) was detected in 16.5% of cases and intermediate SPARC reactivity (10%–50%) in 56% of cases. High expression in cancer cells was rare (five cases). Stromal SPARC level was correlated with smoking index, squamous cell carcinoma, and vessel invasion. Furthermore, patients with high stromal SPARC reactivity in biopsy specimens such as transbronchial lung biopsy or surgical specimens tended to respond better to nab-paclitaxel. Conclusion Stromal SPARC was detected by immunohistochemical staining in ∼70% of NSCLC cases, and good tumor response to nab-paclitaxel was correlated with high stromal SPARC reactivity. SPARC may be a useful predictive marker for selecting patients likely to respond favorably to nab-paclitaxel treatment.