Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Coalitional games for abstract argumentation

In this work we address the issue of the uncertainty faced by a user participating in multiagent debate. We propose a way to compute the relative relevance of arguments for such a user, by merging the classical argumentation framework proposed in [5] into a game theoretic coalitional setting, where the worth of a collection of arguments (opinions) can be seen as the combination of the information concerning the defeat relation and the preferences over arguments of a " user ". Via a property-driven approach, we show that the Shapley value [15] for coalitional games defined over an argumentation framework, can be applied to resume all the information about the worth of opinions into an attribution of relevance for the single arguments. We also prove that, for a large family of (coalitional) argumentation frameworks, the Shapley value can be easily computed.
Advantages of using the multiple case method at the clinical stage of medical education

The multiple case method is an uncomplicated form of discussion learning. Its primary objective is to make students familiar with knowledge already presented to them in lectures and written material. For each session, a large number of situations within a theme are described in handouts. After individual preparatory work, a group of 20-40 (-60) students cooperates to reach understanding and acceptable handling. The main tasks of the teacher are to stimulate the discussion and detect misunderstandings. In a course on infectious diseases, we have successfully used this method of teaching on a large scale for more than a decade. During 24 consecutive runs of the course, with a total of ~500 students over a 6-year period, the method was consistently rated high by the students. The long-term persistence of this method can be attributed not only to its learning value but also to the fact that it is simple and easy to practise with relatively large groups of students, thereby decreasing the risk of teachers' burnout.
A patient with paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria in whom granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor administration resulted in improvement of recurrent enterocolitis and its associated haemolytic attacks

Summary. We report an elderly patient with paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria (PNH), having recurrent enterocolitis and haemolytic attacks associated with cellular immunodeficiency. On admission, the patient had normal neutrophil count and function but a decreased T‐cell count, decreased mitogenic reactions, and a negative tuberculin test. Granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor (G‐CSF) was administered, resulting in an increased T‐cell count, normalization of T‐cell function, increased blood levels of helper T cell (Th)1 and Th2 cytokines and improvement in the enterocolitis and haemolytic attacks. This suggests that G‐CSF may be useful in the treatment of elderly PNH patients with cellular immunodeficiency.
The Regulation of Sustainability Information–The Contribution of Directive 2014/95

The Directive 2014/95, in force in 2017, is the first European step that requires mandatory non-financial information to undertakings (all “public interest entities” with more than 500 employees). The regulation is concerning sustainability information as environmental, social and employee, human rights and anti-corruption and bribery matters and disclosure of diversity policy for board members. The study, in the strand of the regulation of accounting, part of the broader field of research into accounting regulation, contributes to the debate on the quality of regulation, in this specific case referred to sustainability disclosure. The regulation of sustainability matters is studied in literature broadly in a post-implementation phase and at national level. This research, instead, aims to analyse, through the causal chain of regulatory policy, in the ex-ante stage, the quality of the regulation and, at least, the usefulness of the normative pressure. The Oil & Gas sector is chosen as sample of the study, because it is one of the most advanced sectors in sustainability disclosure. The examination of the law, in terms of content requirements (what) and location of information (where), is the basis to apply the disclosure-scoring system, a partial form of content analysis, to the reports of the sample. The findings reveal a good level of completeness of non-financial information, however, there are some areas that have to be improved to reach the requests of the Directive. Results show also the presence of overlap between financial reports and sustainability ones. In conclusion, the regulation is useful to prompt undertakings to reflect on their reporting and so doing improve their sustainability approach.
Associations of Perceived Neighborhood Physical and Social Environments with Physical Activity and Television Viewing in African-American Men and Women

Purpose. Few studies have assessed how attributes of neighborhood environments contribute to sedentary, in addition to active, behaviors. This study investigated associations of perceived social and physical aspects of neighborhood environments with television (TV) viewing and physical activity (PA) in African-American adults. Design. Cross-sectional analysis of self-reported survey. Setting. Large mega-church in Houston, Texas. Subjects. A total of 1374 African-American men and women. Measures. Outcomes included log-transformed daily TV viewing and participation in medium/high levels of PA, measured by the short version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Neighborhood perceptions were assessed with the Social Cohesion and Trust and the Neighborhood Problems scales. Analysis. Multivariable models that controlled for clustering within neighborhoods. Results. Reporting more neighborhood problems was significantly associated with greater log-transformed TV viewing in women (β = .017, SE = .006, p = .003), and social cohesion was positively associated with PA in women (odds ratio = 1.06, 95% confidence interval = 1.02, 1.11, p = .006). Concerns about litter and walking after dark and a lack of places to shop were associated with increased TV viewing among women, and concerns about traffic and walking after dark were associated with reduced PA among men. Conclusion. Physical and social neighborhood conditions were associated with TV viewing and PA, particularly in women. Neighborhood-based strategies to reduce sedentary behaviors and enhance PA should include attention to social as well as physical aspects of neighborhood environments.
Social comparison and risky choices

Theories (and experiments) on decision making under risk typically ignore (and exclude) a social context. We explore whether this omission is detrimental. To do so we experimentally investigate the simplest possible situation with both social comparison and risk: participants choose between two lotteries while a referent faces a fixed payoff. Participants are more risk averse when they can earn at most as much as their referent (loss situation) than when they are ensured they will earn at least as much as their referent (gain situation). Prospect theory with a social reference point would predict the exact opposite behavior. These results show that straightforward extensions of existing theories to allow for social comparison do not provide accurate predictions.
Antifibrotic effects of tetrandrine on hepatic stellate cells and dimethylnitrosamine-intoxicated rats

Tetrandrine (C38H42O8N2, molecular weight: 622, Tet), an alkaloid isolated from the Chinese medicinal herb Stephania tetrandra, has been shown to elicit anti-inflammatory activity in pulmonary diseases and anti-fibrotic effects in various cell types. In this study, we investigated the in vitro and in vivo effects of Tet on hepatic fibrosis. A cell line of rat hepatic stellate cells (HSC-T6) was stimulated with transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) or tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α). The inhibitory effects of Tet (0.5 – 5.0 μM) on IKKα expression, IκBα phosphorylation, NFκB transcriptional activity, the mRNA expression of intercellular adhension molecule (ICAM-1), and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) secretion, were assessed. Fibrosis was induced by dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) administration in rats for 4 weeks. Fibrotic rats were randomly assigned to one of the four groups: vehicle (0.7% Carboxyl Methyl Cellulose, CMC), Tet (1 mg/kg), Tet (5 mg/kg), or silymarin (50 mg/kg), each given by gavage twice daily for 3 weeks starting after 1 week DMN pre-treatment. Tet (0.5 – 5.0 μM) concentration-dependently inhibited NFκB transcriptional activity induced by TNF-α. Tet reduced IKKα expression, TNF-α-induced IκBα phosphorylation, and attenuated TNF-α-stimulated the mRNA expression level of ICAM-1 in HSC-T6 cells. In addition, Tet also inhibited TGF-β1-induced α-SMA secretion and collagen deposition in HSC-T6 cells. Fibrosis scores of livers from DMN-treated rats with high dose of Tet (1.3 ± 0.3) were significantly reduced in comparison with DMN-treated rats receiving saline (2.0 ± 0.2). Hepatic collagen contents of DMN rats were significantly reduced by either Tet or silymarin treatment. Double staining results showed that α-SMA positive cells with NFκB activation were decreased in the fibrotic livers by Tet and silymarin treatments. The mRNA expression level of ICAM-1 was attenuated by Tet and silymarin treatment. In addition, the mRNA expression levels of α-SMA, TGF-β1 were only attenuated by high dose of Tet, but not silymarin treatment. Moreover, levels of plasma AST and ALT activities were reduced by Tet and silymarin treatment. In conclusion, our results showed that Tet exerted anti-fibrotic effects in both HSC-T6 cells and in rats with DMN-induced fibrosis.
Integrating the Spina Bifida Patient Into the General Dental Practice

Neural tube defects, including spina bifida, affect one out of every 1,000 newborns each year. Due to advances in medical technology, the life expectancy of these patients is rising annually, and the dental community should be pre-pared to treat them. This article discusses how, with proper precautions and a little effort, patients with spina bifida can be treated in the general dental practice.
On the valence of surprise

While surprise is a common emotion in everyday life, some of its fundamental characteristics are still unclear. For example, what does surprise feel like, positive or negative? The emotion literature has been somewhat unclear about the experiential valence of surprise. Surprise has been depicted as a pre-affective state, or as an emotion that can be both positive and negative, depending on the goal conduciveness of the surprising event. Based on recent work on cognitive consistency and neuroscientific/psychophysiological studies on surprise, we explored the possibility that surprise may be a (mildly) negative emotion in a study of autobiographical recall of unexpected and surprising events (Experiment 1) and in two studies of facial expressions of surprise (Experiments 2 and 3a/b). The studies show that experience of surprise and the perception of surprise in others may indeed be initially negative. We furthermore show how linguistic features of surprise and the temporal dynamics may have contributed to previous confusion regarding its valence.
Antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of Shigella isolates in Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) sites, 2000-2010.

BACKGROUND Treatment of shigellosis with appropriate antimicrobial agents shortens duration of illness and bacterial shedding, but resistance to commonly used agents is increasing. METHODS We describe resistance patterns among Shigella isolates in the United States with use of linked data from the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) and National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS). FoodNet sites send every 20th Shigella isolate to the NARMS laboratory for susceptibility testing. RESULTS During 2000-2010, the NARMS laboratory tested 1376 Shigella isolates from FoodNet sites. Of 1118 isolates (81%) linked to FoodNet, 826 (74%) were resistant to ampicillin, 649 (58%) to streptomycin, 402 (36%) to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX), 355 (32%) to sulfamethoxazole-sulfisoxazole, 312 (28%) to tetracycline, 19 (2%) to nalidixic acid, and 6 (0.5%) to ciprofloxacin. The proportion of Shigella isolates with resistance to TMP-SMX was 40% among white persons, 58% among Hispanic persons, and 75% among persons with a history of international travel. Resistance to at least TMP-SMX and ampicillin was present in 25% of isolate, and 5% were resistant to ampicillin, TMP-SMX, and chloramphenicol. Overall, 5% of isolates showed multidrug resistance to ampicillin, chloramphenicol, streptomycin, sulfamethoxazole-sulfisoxazole, and tetracycline, including 49 Shigella flexneri (33%) and 3 Shigella sonnei (0.3%) isolates. Male individuals were more likely than female individuals to be infected with a multidrug-resistant strain (7% versus 3%; P < .01). CONCLUSIONS Antimicrobial resistance differed by race, ethnicity, age, travel, and species. Resistance to commonly used antibiotics is high; therefore, it is important to look at the susceptibility pattern before starting treatment.
Experiences of Women With Physical Disabilities During the Perinatal Period: A Review of the Literature and Recommendations to Improve Care

Although pregnancy and childbirth have significant identity and health implications for all women, perinatal research has focused primarily on nondisabled women. In this article, I provide a review of literature regarding the perinatal care experiences of women with physical disabilities. I found that many women with physical disabilities encounter attitudinal, informational, physical, and financial barriers during the perinatal period that contribute to poor care experiences and may subsequently affect health outcomes. In an effort to improve perinatal care experiences and outcomes, I offer recommendations to address the barriers identified in the literature, including increased disability content in medical school curricula.
Estimates of the Absolute and Relative Strengths of Diverse Alcoholic Drinks by Young People

ABSTRACT Background: Evidence suggests that college students are often unclear about how much alcohol is present in different drinks. Objectives: To evaluate the abilities of students to estimate the alcohol contents of drinks, both in relative and absolute terms, and to examine how alcohol strength informs behavior. Methods: For 10 popular drinks that varied by alcohol content, beverage and volume, 209 UK university students rank-ordered the drinks according to total alcohol content and then estimated, for each drink, the number of UK “units” of alcohol contained and its percentage alcohol-by-volume (% ABV). Participants also reported the importance of drink strength as a factor in drink choice, and its influence in different scenarios. Results: There was low but significant concordance between participants’ rank-orderings of drinks by strength, and the correlation of mean ranks with correct ranks was also significant. However, their explicit estimates of the numbers of “units” in the drinks, and their % ABV values, often diverged dramatically from actual values. Participants tended to overestimate the unit contents of spirit-based drinks but underestimated the unit contents of beers and wine; women were consistently less accurate than men, typically making greater underestimates for commonly-consumed drinks. Over one-third of the sample reported that strength influenced drink choice, but its importance ranked below flavor and cost; drink strength might contribute to drink choice depending on the drinking situation. Conclusion/Importance: Young drinkers (women especially) have a poor awareness of the alcohol contents of different drinks, particularly wines and beers, but they make better judgments of relative strength.
A comparison of Linguistic Skills between Persian Cochlear Implant and Normal Hearing Children

Objectives: A large number of congenitally deaf children are born annually. If not treated, this will have destructive effects on their language and speech development, educational achievements and future occupation. In this study it has been tried to determine the level of language skills in children with Cochlear Implants (CI) in comparison with Normal Hearing (NH) age-mates. Methods: Test of Language Development was administered to 30 pre-lingual, severe-to-profound CI children between the ages of 5 to 8. The obtained scores were compared to a Persian database from scores of normally hearing children with the same age range. Results: Results indicated that in spite of great advancements in different areas of language after hearing gain, CI children still lag behind their hearing age-mates in almost all aspects of language skills. Conclusion: Based on the results, it is suggested that children with average or above average cognitive skills who use CI have the potential to produce and understand language comparable to their normally hearing peers.
Trends in head and neck cancer incidence in Denmark, 1978–2007: Focus on human papillomavirus associated sites

The aim of our study was to assess the overall trends in the incidence of head‐and‐neck cancer (HNC) among Danish men and women in 1978–2007, to describe the distribution and incidences of HNCs at different anatomical sites, and to determine whether the incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV)‐associated cancers is increasing. Data were extracted from the nationwide Cancer Registry database. To assess the possible impact of HPV infection, the sites of squamous cell carcinomas were categorized as HPV‐associated, potentially HPV‐associated or HPV‐unrelated. In total, 26,474 incident cases were identified and the overall incidence increased throughout the period. Significantly increasing incidence rates were notably seen for tumors in the oral cavity (2.2% per year), tonsils (4.8% per year), oropharynx (3.5% per year) and hypopharynx (4.4% per year). A significantly decreasing incidence of lip cancer was observed among men (–5.0% per year). Cancers at HPV‐associated sites (n = 3650) showed strongly increasing incidence rates, primarily in individuals < 60 years. In contrast, HNCs at sites not related to HPV infection showed a significant decrease (in men) or virtually no change in incidence (in women). Our results suggest a marked impact of HPV infection on the epidemiology of HNCs in Denmark. HPV16 is the type most often found in HNCs; thus, the recent introduction of vaccination against HPV may in the future prevent HPV‐associated cancers of the head and neck.
A portfolio approach to maintenance: a case study of a residential estate

The choice between repairing and replacing a defective piece of equipment is an economic decision that is faced by all maintenance managers, including housing estate managers. Such decisions need to be made within the limits and constraints set by maintenance expenditure budgets and by manpower availability. Our particular problem is concerned with the development of a maintenance policy for a residential estate of the Hong Kong Housing Authority. Our approach is to treat the numerous housing systems as a portfolio and to exploit flexibilities in performing or delaying the repair/replacement of these systems. The cost of a repair/replacement plan for the portfolio is formulated as an integer programme and genetic algorithms (GAs) are employed to generate optimal and sub‐optimal solution plans. The novel features of the approach are the model developed and use of GAs in this particular optimization context. The results and discussion of the case study will help practitioners to better understand the difficulties involved in collecting relevant cost data and in formulating repair/replacement plans for a group of buildings. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Collision Free Communication for Energy Saving in Wireless Sensor Networks

A Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) distinguishes from other wireless or wired networks through its capability of interaction with the environment. Such networks have been proposed for various applications including search and rescue, disaster relief, smart environments, and localization systems. These applications require a large amount of battery-powered wireless sensors, and are generally designed for long-term deployments with no human intervention. Consequently, energy efficiency is one of the main design objectives for these sensor networks.
Acute-phase responses in cattle infected with hydatid cysts and microbial agents

Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of hydatid cysts and microbial agents on the acute-phase response in cattle. Twenty-seven cattle with hydatid cysts and eight apparently healthy cattle comprised the study and control groups, respectively. Parasitological, microbiological, histopathological and immunohistochemical examinations of the liver and lungs were undertaken, and 49 of these organs were infected with cysts. In 14 of 31 (45.1%) livers and 10 of 18 (55.5%) lungs microbial growth was observed. The most frequent species occurring in the liver were Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Corynebacterium spp. and Campylobacter spp. , whereas in the lungs the most common species was Candida spp. , followed by Streptococcus spp. , Mannheimia haemolytica, Corynebacterium spp. , Micrococcus spp. and S. aureus. The concentration of serum interleukin (IL-6) in infected cattle, 455.35 ± 39.68 pg/ml, was significantly higher than that of 83.02 ± 17.87 pg/ml in the control group (P< 0.001). The serum amyloid A (SAA) level of infected cattle was 7.51 ± 0.41 μg/ml, and 4.84 ± 0.51 μg/ml in the control group (P< 0.001). The serum haptoglobin level of infected cattle was found to be 2.08 ± 0.65 ng/ml, while that of the control group was determined as 3.87 ± 0.91 ng/ml (P>0.05). The highest concentrations of IL-6 were detected in serum of the cattle where microbial growth had been detected, followed by cattle infected with bacteria + Trichostrongylus sp. (P< 0.001). Consequently, SAA showed an important increase in the group infected with hydatid cysts, whereas haptoglobin level decreased. It was noticed that IL-6, like SAA, had a significant role in hydatid cyst infection. Therefore IL-6 and SAA appear to be major markers in the detection of infection of cattle with hydatid cysts.
Inhibitory potential of the leaves and berries of Myrtus communis L. (myrtle) against enzymes linked to neurodegenerative diseases and their antioxidant actions

The dichloromethane (DCM), acetone, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of the leaves and berries of Myrtus communis L. were screened against acetylcholinesterase (AChE), butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) and tyrosinase (TYRO), the enzymes linked to neurodegenerative diseases, at 200 μg ml− 1. Antioxidant activity was tested using radical scavenging activity against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and N,N- dimethyl-p-phenylenediamine (DMPD) radicals, metal chelation capacity, ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and phosphomolybdenum-reducing antioxidant power (PRAP) assays. Total phenol and flavonoid quantification of the extracts was calculated spectrophotometrically. The extracts showed a moderate AChE (17.49 ± 3.99% to 43.15 ± 1.55%) and TYRO inhibition (4.48 ± 1.50% to 40.53 ± 0.47%). The leaf extracts were ineffective against BChE, while the berry extracts displayed inhibition between 21.83 ± 3.82% and 36.80 ± 2.00%. The polar extracts exerted remarkable scavenging effect against DPPH and DMPD and also in the FRAP assay, where the DCM extract of the berries had the best metal chelation capacity (79.29 ± 1.14%). This is the first study that demonstrates in vitro neuroprotective effects of myrtle.