Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Grid: an application of the semantic web

The Grid is an emerging platform to support on-demand "virtual organisations" for coordinated resource sharing and problem solving on a global scale. The application thrust is large-scale scientific endeavour, and the scale and complexity of scientific data presents challenges for databases. The Grid is beginning to exploit technologies developed for Web Services and to realise its potential it also stands to benefit from Semantic Web technologies; conversely, the Grid and its scientific users provide application pull which will benefit the Semantic Web.
The University of Maryland Statistical Machine Translation System for the Fourth Workshop on Machine Translation

This paper describes the techniques we explored to improve the translation of news text in the German-English and Hungarian-English tracks of the WMT09 shared translation task. Beginning with a convention hierarchical phrase-based system, we found benefits for using word segmentation lattices as input, explicit generation of beginning and end of sentence markers, minimum Bayes risk decoding, and incorporation of a feature scoring the alignment of function words in the hypothesized translation. We also explored the use of monolingual paraphrases to improve coverage, as well as co-training to improve the quality of the segmentation lattices used, but these did not lead to improvements.
A New Electrospray Aerosol Generator with High Particle Transmission Efficiency

A new single-capillary electrospray (ES) aerosol generator has been developed for monodisperse particle production with maximal transmission efficiency. The new generator consists of both a spray chamber in a point-to-orifice-plate configuration and a charge reduction chamber that can hold up to 4 Nuclespot ionizers (Model P-2042, NRD Inc.). The 2 chambers are partitioned by an orifice plate. To optimize the particle transmission efficiency of the prototype, a systematic study was performed on the generator by varying the system setup and operation. Two key dimensions of the generator setup, the orifice diameter and the distance from the capillary tip to the orifice plate, were varied. Fluorescence analysis was applied to characterize the loss of ES-generated particles at different locations of the prototype. It was found that particle loss in the generator could be reduced by either increasing the orifice diameter or decreasing the distance between the capillary tip and the orifice plate. Increasing either the total radioactivity of the ionizers or the flowrate of the particle carrier gas also further decreased the particle loss in the system. The maximum particle transmission efficiency of 88.0% was obtained with the spray chamber fully opened to the charge reduction chamber, the capillary tip at the same level as the orifice plate, and 4 bipolar ionizers installed.
Iteration Algebras for UnQL Graphs and Completeness for Bisimulation

This paper shows an application of Bloom and Esik's iteration algebras to model graph data in a graph database query language. About twenty years ago, Buneman et al. developed a graph database query language UnQL on the top of a functional meta-language UnCAL for describing and manipulating graphs. Recently, the functional programming community has shown renewed interest in UnCAL, because it provides an efficient graph transformation language which is useful for various applications, such as bidirectional computation. However, no mathematical semantics of UnQL/UnCAL graphs has been developed. In this paper, we give an equational axiomatisation and algebraic semantics of UnCAL graphs. The main result of this paper is to prove that completeness of our equational axioms for UnCAL for the original bisimulation of UnCAL graphs via iteration algebras. Another benefit of algebraic semantics is a clean characterisation of structural recursion on graphs using free iteration algebra.
The view from space: Theory-based time-varying distances in the gravity model

I compute distances used in the gravity model of international trade that improve the existing measures along multiple lines and help remedy the border puzzle by up to 50%. I derive a trade cost aggregation that is agnostic to the underlying gravity framework while taking into account the economic geography of countries. Using this method I compute bilateral and internal country distances, making use of nightlight satellite imagery for information on the economic geography of countries.
Application of auto-disturbance rejection control for a shunt hybrid active power filter

To eliminate the total disturbance effect to the active power filter (APF) performance, a new nonlinear control method called auto-disturbance rejection control (ADRC) is proposed. The unique feature of ADRC controller is that it has strong robustness, stability and adaptability against the internal perturbation and external disturbance. The control theory, structure of ADRC are presented, the controller design is based on the proposed APF model. MATLAB/Simulink is used for modeling, simulation and analysis of the dynamic system. The simulation and experiment results prove that the proposed APF system can compensate the different kinds of loads; unity power factor and low input current distortion can be realized. In addition, the control system has simple structure, which can eliminate the need of sensing the three-phase load current and calculating the harmonics and reactive current components. The proposed system has a theoretical and practical significance.
The S3D-UI designer: creating user interface prototypes for 3D displays

In this paper, we present the S3D-UI Designer --- a tool to create prototypes for 3D displays. Stereoscopic (S3D) displays are quickly becoming popular beyond cinemas and home entertainments. S3D displays can today already be found in mobile phones, public displays, and car dashboards. A benefit of such UIs is that they can group and structure information in a way that makes them easily perceivable for the user. At the same time, prototyping these UIs is challenging, as with traditional techniques, UI elements cannot easily be rendered and positioned in 3D space. In contrast to professional 3D authoring tools, we present a tool targeted towards non-experts to quickly and easily sketch a S3D UI and instantly render it on a 3D display. We report on the design of the tool by means of a workshop and present an evaluation study with 26 participants assessing its usabilty.
Evidence of Impaired Brain Activity Balance after Passive Sensorimotor Stimulation in Multiple Sclerosis

Objectives Examination of sensorimotor activation alone in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients may not yield a comprehensive view of cerebral response to task stimulation. Additional information may be obtained by examining the negative BOLD response (deactivation). Aim of this work was to characterize activation and deactivation patterns during passive hand movements in MS patients. Methods 13 relapsing remitting-MS patients (RRMS), 18 secondary progressive-MS patients (SPMS) and 15 healthy controls (HC) underwent an fMRI study during passive right-hand movements. Activation and deactivation contrasts in the three groups were entered into ANOVA, age and gender corrected. Post-hoc analysis was performed with one-sample and two-sample t-tests. For each patient we obtained lesion volume (LV) from both T1- and T2-weighted images. Results Activations showed a progressive extension to the ipsilateral brain hemisphere according to the group and the clinical form (HC<RRMS<SPMS). Significant deactivation of the ipsilateral cortical sensorimotor areas was reduced in both patient groups with respect to HC. Deactivation of posterior cortical areas belonging to the default mode network (DMN), was increased in RRMS, but not in SPMS, with respect to HC. The amount of activation in the contralateral sensorimotor cortex was significantly correlated with that of deactivation in the DMN in HC and RRMS, but not in SPMS. Both increased activation and decreased deactivation patterns correlated with LV. Conclusion In RRMS patients, increased cortical activation was associated with increased deactivation of the posterior cortex suggesting a greater resting-state activity in the DMN, probably aimed at facilitating sensorimotor circuit engagement during task performance. In SPMS the coupling between increased sensorimotor activation/increased DMN deactivation was not observed suggesting disorganization between anticorrelated functional networks as a consequence of a higher level of disconnection.
First Results from the CHARA Array. II. A Description of the Instrument

The CHARA Array is a six 1 m telescope optical/IR interferometric array located on Mount Wilson, California, designed and built by the Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy of Georgia State University. In this paper we describe the main elements of the Array hardware and software control systems, as well as the data reduction methods currently being used. Our plans for upgrades in the near future are also described.
Dealing with occlusion in a probabilistic object tracking method

This paper presents an extension of a previously reported method for object tracking in video sequences to handle object occlusion. The new tracking method is embedded in a system that integrates recognition and tracking in a probabilistic framework. Our system uses object recognition results provided by a neural net that are computed from colour features of image regions for each frame. The location of tracked objects is represented through probability images that are updated dynamically using both recognition and tracking results. From these probabilities and a simple prediction of the apparent motion of the object in the image, a binary decision is made for each pixel and object. The new features of the proposed tracking method include the automated detection of occlusion and the adaptation of the motion prediction to the cases of entering occlusion, full occlusion and exiting occlusion. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the method except when the target object is occluded by an object with a similar appearance.
Collaborative learning from Mobile Crowd Sensing: A case study in electromagnetic monitoring

Personal mobile devices are nowadays so pervasive that a broad range of novel learning practices and paradigms can profitably exploits them. Mobile Crowd Sensing (MCS) is one of them. In MCS, mobiles act as data sources for monitoring tasks (e.g., traffic planning, air pollution monitoring, emergency management), thanks to their computational capability and their embedded sensors. From a pedagogical perspective, MCS offers continuous learning experiences that increases students' skills and expertise by engaging them directly into practical activities and on-the-field analyses. However, the wide diffusion of mobiles requires a reliable wireless coverage, to guarantee proper Quality of Service levels, thus potentially increasing the electromagnetic field levels in a given geographical area. Therefore, we propose a complete data warehouse solution that exploits MCS paradigm to pursue three main research purposes. Firstly, motivating students from engineering courses to acquire a better knowledge in wireless communication topics by offering them experiential and collaborative learning approaches. Secondly, performing a preliminary screening of the signals received by mobiles for 3G/4G standards (e.g., UMTS, LTE), since this domain did not benefit from MCS solutions so far. Thirdly, identifying prospective areas where more detailed measuring campaigns must be addressed. A deep analysis of the achievable pedagogical benefits as well as the thorough description of both design and implementation phases is provided. Evaluation results and preliminary users' feedback complete this research work.
Regulated expression and RNA processing of transcripts from the Srp20 splicing factor gene during the cell cycle

Eukaryotic splicing factors belonging to the SR family are essential splicing factors consisting of an N-terminal RNA-binding region and a C-terminal RS domain. They are believed to be involved in alternative splicing of numerous transcripts because their expression levels can influence splice site selection. We have characterized the structure and transcriptional regulation of the gene for the smallest member of the SR family, SRp20 (previously called X16). The mouse gene encoding SRp20, termed Srp20, consists of one alternative exon and six constitutive exons and was mapped to a 2-centimorgan interval on chromosome 17. When cells are transfected with SRp20 genomic DNA, both standard and alternatively spliced transcripts and corresponding proteins are produced. Interestingly, in starved (G0) cells, the amount of SRp20 mRNA containing the alternative exon is large, whereas the amount of the standard SRp20 mRNA without the alternative exon is small. When starved cells are stimulated with serum, the alternative form is lost and the standard form is induced. These results suggest that splicing could be regulated during the cell cycle and that this could be, at least in part, due to regulated expression of SR proteins. Consistent with this, experiments with synchronized cells showed an induction of SRp20 transcripts in late G1 or early S. We have also characterized the promoter of SRp20. It lies within a GC-rich CpG island and contains two consensus binding sites for E2F, a transcription factor thought to be involved in regulating the cell cycle. These motifs may be functional since reporter constructs with the SRp20 promoter can be stimulated by cotransfection with E2F expression plasmids.
Genetic Based Optimization Models for Enhancing Multi- Document Text Summarization

Extractive multi-document text summarization – a summarization with the aim of removing redundant information in a document collection while preserving its salient sentences – has recently enjoyed a large interest in proposing automatic models. This paper proposes two models for extractive multi-document summarization based on genetic algorithm (GA). First, the problem is described and modeled as a discrete optimization problem with two candidate expressions and a specific fitness function is designed to effectively cope with each candidate. Then, a binary-encoded representation together with a heuristic mutation and a local repair operator are proposed to characterize the adopted GA. The semantic roles of similarity of sentence to sentence, sentence to center of document collection and center of summary to center of document collection are exploited in the proposed model formulations. Experiments are applied to ten clusters from DUC2002 datasets (d061j through d070f) and compared with another state-of-the-art model. Results clarify the effectiveness of the proposed models. Moreover, the injection of several levels of text similarity in the model formulation shows a positive impact on enhancing the overall performance of the proposed GA
Concepts Are More than Percepts: The Case of Action Verbs

Several regions of the posterior-lateral-temporal cortex (PLTC) are reliably recruited when participants read or listen to action verbs, relative to other word and nonword types. This PLTC activation is generally interpreted as reflecting the retrieval of visual-motion features of actions. This interpretation supports the broader theory, that concepts are comprised of sensory–motor features. We investigated an alternative interpretation of the same activations: PLTC activity for action verbs reflects the retrieval of modality-independent representations of event concepts, or the grammatical types associated with them, i.e., verbs. During a functional magnetic resonance imaging scan, participants made semantic-relatedness judgments on word pairs varying in amount of visual-motion information. Replicating previous results, several PLTC regions showed higher responses to words that describe actions versus objects. However, we found that these PLTC regions did not overlap with visual-motion regions. Moreover, their response was higher for verbs than nouns, regardless of visual-motion features. For example, the response of the PLTC is equally high to action verbs (e.g., to run) and mental verbs (e.g., to think), and equally low to animal nouns (e.g., the cat) and inanimate natural kind nouns (e.g., the rock). Thus, PLTC activity for action verbs might reflect the retrieval of event concepts, or the grammatical information associated with verbs. We conclude that concepts are abstracted away from sensory–motor experience and organized according to conceptual properties.
Techniques for Analyzing Empirical Visualization Experiments Through Visual Methods

Analyzing data collected in empirical visualization experi- ments is a time consuming task. In order to support visualization design- ers analyzing the data collected during such experiments, we intend to develop an analysis model. This analysis model will automatically choose appropriate visual analysis methods according to an analysis task to eval- uate a new visualization technique. We will contribute an idea how this analysis model can look like, and what steps need to be taken to define the model. Furthermore, we investigate which visual analysis methods are available or have to be developed first, and how analysis tasks can be defined.
Analysis of the myogenin promoter reveals an indirect pathway for positive autoregulation mediated by the muscle-specific enhancer factor MEF-2

Transcriptional cascades that specify cell fate have been well described in invertebrates. In mammalian development, however, gene hierarchies involved in determination of cell lineage are not understood. With the recent cloning of the MyoD family of myogenic regulatory factors, a model system has become available with which to study the dynamics of muscle determination in mammalian development. Myogenin, along with other members of the MyoD gene family, possesses the apparent ability to redirect nonmuscle cells into the myogenic lineage. This ability appears to be due to the direct activation of an array of subordinate or downstream genes which are responsible for formation and function of the muscle contractile apparatus. Myogenin-directed transcription has been shown to occur through interaction with a DNA consensus sequence known as an E box (CANNTG) present in the control regions of numerous downstream genes. In addition to activating the transcription of subordinate genes, members of the MyoD family positively regulate their own expression and cross-activate one another's expression. These autoregulatory interactions have been suggested as a mechanism for induction and maintenance of the myogenic phenotype, but the molecular details of the autoregulatory circuits are undefined. Here we show that the myogenin promoter contains a binding site for the myocyte-specific enhancer-binding factor, MEF-2, which can function as an intermediary of myogenin autoactivation. Since MEF-2 can be induced by myogenin, these results suggest that myogenin and MEF-2 participate in a transcriptional cascade in which MEF-2, once induced by myogenin, acts to amplify and maintain the myogenic phenotype by acting as a positive regulator of myogenin expression.
Rapid disassembly of dynamic microtubules upon activation of the capsaicin receptor TRPV1

The transmission of pain signalling involves the cytoskeleton, but mechanistically this is poorly understood. We recently demonstrated that the capsaicin receptor TRPV1, a non‐selective cation channel expressed by nociceptors that is capable of detecting multiple pain‐producing stimuli, directly interacts with the tubulin cytoskeleton. We hypothesized that the tubulin cytoskeleton is a downstream effector of TRPV1 activation. Here we show that activation of TRPV1 results in the rapid disassembly of microtubules, but not of the actin or neurofilament cytoskeletons. TRPV1 activation mainly affects dynamic microtubules that contain tyrosinated tubulins, whereas stable microtubules are apparently unaffected. The C‐terminal fragment of TRPV1 exerts a stabilizing effect on microtubules when over‐expressed in F11 cells. These findings suggest that TRPV1 activation may contribute to cytoskeleton remodelling and so influence nociception.
Comparsion of TRMM Precipitation Satellite Data over Central Java Region – Indonesia

Abstract This research aims to compare precipitation data derived from satellite observation and ground measurements through a dense station network over Central Java, Indonesia. A precipitation estimate from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) 3B42 Version 7 are compared with precipitation data from interpolated rain gauge stations. Correlation analysis, mean bias error (MBE), and root mean square error (RMSE) were utilized in the analysis for each thee-monthly seasonal statistics. The result shows that the 3B42 products often estimate lower rainfall than observed from weather stations in the peak of the rainy season (DJF). Further, it is revealed that the 3B42 product are less robust in estimating rainfall at high elevation, especially when humid environment, which is typical during the rainy season peak, are involved.
Coding and Decoding with Adapting Neurons: A Population Approach to the Peri-Stimulus Time Histogram

The response of a neuron to a time-dependent stimulus, as measured in a Peri-Stimulus-Time-Histogram (PSTH), exhibits an intricate temporal structure that reflects potential temporal coding principles. Here we analyze the encoding and decoding of PSTHs for spiking neurons with arbitrary refractoriness and adaptation. As a modeling framework, we use the spike response model, also known as the generalized linear neuron model. Because of refractoriness, the effect of the most recent spike on the spiking probability a few milliseconds later is very strong. The influence of the last spike needs therefore to be described with high precision, while the rest of the neuronal spiking history merely introduces an average self-inhibition or adaptation that depends on the expected number of past spikes but not on the exact spike timings. Based on these insights, we derive a ‘quasi-renewal equation’ which is shown to yield an excellent description of the firing rate of adapting neurons. We explore the domain of validity of the quasi-renewal equation and compare it with other rate equations for populations of spiking neurons. The problem of decoding the stimulus from the population response (or PSTH) is addressed analogously. We find that for small levels of activity and weak adaptation, a simple accumulator of the past activity is sufficient to decode the original input, but when refractory effects become large decoding becomes a non-linear function of the past activity. The results presented here can be applied to the mean-field analysis of coupled neuron networks, but also to arbitrary point processes with negative self-interaction.
WiSeNet: building a wikipedia-based semantic network with ontologized relations

In this paper we present an approach for building a Wikipedia-based semantic network by integrating Open Information Extraction with Knowledge Acquisition techniques. Our algorithm extracts relation instances from Wikipedia page bodies and ontologizes them by, first, creating sets of synonymous relational phrases, called relation synsets, second, assigning semantic classes to the arguments of these relation synsets and, third, disambiguating the initial relation instances with relation synsets. As a result we obtain WiSeNet, a Wikipedia-based Semantic Network with Wikipedia pages as concepts and labeled, ontologized relations between them.