Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sub Graph Approach In Iterative Sum-Product Algorithm

A new scheduling algorithm to the iterative sum-product algorithm, which is called sub-graph scheduling, will be presented in this paper. The propesed algorithm provides a schedule which has a higher convergence rate than the iterative sum-product algorithm while keeping the complexity of one iteration withot degrading the performance. Our method also gives an explanation to the fact that turbo decoders have faster convergence rate than LDPC decoders.
Teaching assistant robot, ROBOSEM, in English class and practical issues for its diffusion

Various studies on robot assisted learning have proven them to be effective tools for language education because robots are remarkably successful in eliminating the affective filter. This study demonstrates ROBOSEM with class content for sustaining long-term interaction with students in English classes of elementary schools as a teaching assistant, not a teacher. We close with some practical considerations for the continuous process of improving technology and its diffusion throughout society, such as in elementary schools, through interviews with developers and observations from field trials.
Software Analytics for MDE Communities

The MDE research community has grown significantly in size and maturity in the last decade. During these years, a plethora of languages and tools has been proposed to address different challenges of the MDE approach to software development. As the community continues to broaden its expertise, it is worthwhile to assess its practices in order to identify areas of improvement. To this end, we propose to apply software analytics techniques on open source MDE tools and languages. In this paper, we describe how such an analysis can take place, and we present a set of preliminary results on analysing the newsgroup activity of 10 Eclipse modelling projects.
Bladder injury secondary to obturator reflex is more common with plasmakinetic transurethral resection than monopolar transurethral resection of bladder cancer

Introduction Transurethral resection (TUR) is the most common surgical technique for the diagnosis and initial treatment of bladder cancer. In this study, we evaluated two surgical techniques in terms of bladder injury due to obturator reflex in patients that underwent TUR for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). Material and methods 93 patients who underwent TUR for bladder cancer were analyzed. Fifty patients underwent monopolar resection and 43 patients underwent plasmakinetic resection. Standard TUR were performed with conventional Storz monopolar resection using a U-shaped cutting loop, 120V cutting/80 V coagulation settings, 5% mannitol fluid was used for irrigation. For bipolar resection, an Olympus ESG-400 plasmakinetic loop bipolar device using a U-shaped cutting loop, 160V cutting/80V coagulation settings and normal saline for irrigation was used. Results In the monopolar resection group; obturator reflex was seen in 4 (8%) patients. Bladder perforation caused by the obturator reflex was seen in 4 (8%) patients, but hemorrhage and other major complications were not seen in this group. In the bipolar resection group; obturator reflex was seen in 15 (34%) patients. Bladder perforation caused by the obturator reflex was seen in 10 (23%) patients. Conclusions Bipolar transurethral resection of bladder tumor was not superior to monopolar resection with respect to obturator reflex and bladder perforation. We conclude that we do not yet have enough experience concerning the long-term complications and major complications associated with bipolar resection of bladder cancer.
Chapter 1 THE SAT PROBLEM OF SIGNED CNF FORMULAS

Signed conjunctive normal form(signed CNF) is a classical conjunctive clause form using a generalised notion of literal, called signed literal . A signed literal is an expression of the formS : p, wherep is a classical atom and S, its sign, is a subset of a domain N . The informal meaning is “ p takes one of the values in S”. Signed formulas are a logical language for knowledge repres ntation that lies in the intersection of the areas constraint programming(CP), many-valued logic (MVL), and annotated logic programming(ALP). This central r̂ ole of signed CNF justifies a detailed study of its subclasses including al gorithms for and complexities of associated satisfiability problems (SAT probl ems). Although signed logic is used since the 1960s, there are only few systematic i nvestigations of its properties. In contrast to work done in ALP and MVL, our prese nt work is a more fine-grained study for the case of propositional CNF. We high light the most interesting lines of current research: (i) signed versions of som e main proponents of
Combining Structural Analysis and Computer Vision Techniques for Automatic Speech Summarization

Similar to verse and chorus sections that appear as repetitive structures in musical audio, key-concept (or topic) of some speech recordings (e.g., presentations, lectures, etc.) may also repeat itself over the time. Hence, accurate detection of these repetitions may be helpful to the success of automatic speech summarization. Based on this motivation, we consider the applicability of music structural analysis methods to speech summary generation. Our method transforms a 1-D time-domain speech signal to a 2-D image representation, namely (dis)similarity matrix and detects possible repetitions within the matrix by using proper computer vision techniques. In addition, the method does not transcribe speech signal into words, phrases, or sentences. Hence, it can be generalized as speech-to-speech summarization method, in which summarization results are presented by speech instead of text. Furthermore, the method does not need a prior knowledge about the language or grammar of speech signal. Experiments show that, our method can capture the main theme of speech signals compared to the ideal transcription sections defined by experts and computational analysis shows our proposed method has a good performance.
Food Security and Safety using advanced Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are playing a vital role in today's world which is witnessing huge change in its urban landscape attributed to a continuous upwards increase in factors such as globalization, urbanization and industrialization. Smarter technologies are seen, by the global administrators (governments etc), as recourse to inclusive growth, resulting in an increase in development of 'e-villages', 'smart cities' with an increasingly aware and technologically savvy consumer population. One important aspect where the role of ICTs can be best seen is to ensure the availability of safe and quality food to cater to growing population. The incorporation of smarter, IT/Telecom driven technologies, in the prevailing Food Supply Chain (FSC), can contribute towards ensuring a feasible and sustainable, 'farm to fork' model of food delivery. The paper presents a conceptual framework for ensuring food security and safety through an effective and efficient distribution of food using advanced information and communication technologies.
Protective Effects of Crocin on Ischemia-reperfusion Induced Oxidative Stress in Comparison With Vitamin E in Isolated Rat Hearts

Background: Myocardial Injury caused by ischemia-reperfusion leads to cardiac dysfunction, tissue injury and metabolic changes. The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and lipid peroxidation are accompanied by ischemia-reperfusion injury. Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the cardio protective potential effects of crocin in comparison with vitamin E on antioxidant capacity in ischemia-reperfusion of isolated rat hearts. Materials and Methods: Seventy male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into seven groups, including: sham, control and experimental groups treated with different doses of crocin (10, 20 and 40 mg/kg) or vitamin E (100 mg/kg) and a combination of crocin (40 mg/kg) with vitamin E (100 mg/kg) that were administrated orally for 21 days. The heart was quickly excised, transferred to a Langendorff apparatus at constant pressure and subjected to 30 minutes of global ischemia followed by 60 minutes of reperfusion. Cardiac damage markers and antioxidant enzymes were measured. Results: The results showed that superoxide dismutase and catalase enzyme activities increased and Mallon de aldehyde (MDA) decreased in animals pretreated by crocin (40 mg/kg) and vitamin E (100 mg/kg). Moreover, there was a significant improvement in post ischemic recovery of antioxidant capacity during reperfusion in rats receiving a combination of crocin (40 mg/kg) and vitamin E (100 mg/kg). Conclusions: The results demonstrated the protective role of crocin on antioxidant capacity, which may partially be related to stability or amplification of antioxidant systems. Like vitamin E, crocin may be beneficial for prevention or treatment of cardiac dysfunction and myocardial infarction in patients with ischemic heart disease.
Male microchimerism and HLA compatibility in French women with sclerodema: a different profile in limited and diffuse subset.

OBJECTIVES Male microchimerism (Mc) persisting from pregnancy has been found at greater frequencies and/or higher quantities in women with scleroderma (SSc) compared with controls, suggesting a possible role in disease development. Moreover, women with an HLA-compatible child have a higher risk to develop SSc. We tested the hypothesis, on our French SSc cohort, that women with lcSSc and dcSSc, two distinct clinical subsets, have a different profile in terms of Mc and HLA compatibility in families. METHODS We studied 98 women (52 lcSSc and 46 dcSSc) for male Mc, by real-time PCR, in their whole blood and/or peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Similarly, 91 matched healthy women were analysed. Complete HLA-DRB1 typing was obtained for 58 SSc and 68 control families (proband/children). RESULTS Women with lcSSc (N = 50) had male Mc more often in their whole blood than women with dcSSc (N = 40, 20 vs 5%, P = 0.038), but not significantly more than controls. By contrast, women with dcSSc (N = 36) hold Mc more often in PBMC (25 vs 9%), but not significantly and have greater quantities than controls (N = 82, P = 0.048). This contrast is also visible in feto-maternal HLA-DRB1 compatibility, which was increased only among women with lcSSc (N = 33) compared with controls (N = 68, P = 0.003). CONCLUSION For the first time, we showed that women with lcSSc and dcSSc hold male Mc in different blood compartments. Furthermore, a distinct pattern between the two SSc subtypes is observed for feto-maternal HLA-DRB1 compatibility. These results suggest a different mechanism behind each type of disease.
Privacy-preserving Attribute Based Searchable Encryption

Attribute Based Encryption (ABE) is a promising public-key cryptographic primitive that can be used for cryptographically enforced access control in untrusted storage. Storing data on untrusted storage not only requires data security for data owners but also poses data protection from untrusted storage server. To address this important requirement, Anonymous Attribute Based Encryption (AABE) is a suitable primitive that provides users to access data from untrusted storage without revealing their identities. At the same time user data can be stored in untrusted storage in an encrypted form. While storing data in an encrypted form, keyword-based query search (and data retrieval) is a challenging research problem. In this paper we present an anonymous attribute based searchable encryption (ASBE) scheme which facilitates user to retrieve only a subset of documents pertaining to his chosen keyword(s). User can upload documents in public cloud in an encrypted form, search documents based on keyword(s) and retrieve documents without revealing his identity. The scheme is proven secure under the selective ciphertextpolicy and chosen plaintext attack (IND-sCP-CPA) model and selective ciphertext-policy and chosen keyword attack (IND-sCP-CKA) model. The scheme requires small storage for user’s decryption key and reduced computation for decryption in comparison to other schemes.
Rapid axonal transport of the neural cell adhesion molecule

The neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) is a cell-surface glycoprotein that mediates cell-cell interactions in the nervous system during development. In the present study, we demonstrate that NCAM is axonally transported in 3-d-old chick retinal ganglion cells and that it travels within the fast component of axonal transport (FC). Proteins were radiolabeled in retinal ganglion cell bodies after intraocular injection of 35S-methionine. The presence of radiolabeled NCAM in the optic nerves and contralateral tecta was detected by specific immunoadsorption to a monoclonal antibody. Major radioactive polypeptide bands at relative mobilities of approximately 200,000, 150,000, and 120,000 Mr (after SDS-PAGE) were recognized by the anti- NCAM antibody. These bands comigrated in 1-dimensional gels with components of purified NCAM from chick brain. The 2 largest NCAM polypeptides (at 200,000 and 150,000 Mr) were found to be transported in this system, while the 120,000 Mr form was apparently not transported. The ratio and electrophoretic profiles of the 2 transported forms of NCAM remained similar in the retina, optic nerve, chiasm, tract, and tectum, suggesting that there is no interconversion of the 2 major polypeptides. The fraction of NCAM in the 35S-labeled FC proteins appears to be at least an order of magnitude less than in the plasma membrane, suggesting that the turnover rate of NCAM at this age is slower than for other membrane proteins of the CNS.
Mutual funds: temporary problem or permanent morass?

The improprieties in the mutual fund industry that surfaced in the fall of 2003 prompted the passage and drafting of legislation and regulations that cover nearly every facet of mutual fund pricing and operations. While this regulatory flurry is clearly intended to protect shareholders’ interests, the question remains: How will these scandals and regulatory changes ultimately affect mutual fund investors? ; When considering the problems inherent in mutual fund management and the best ways to address them, it is important, the author stresses, to understand current business practices in the industry, who these benefit, and why they exist. ; Mutual fund investors, the author explains, are legally considered owners of a company that pools the investment capital of many investors. In practice, however, investors are often viewed (and often view themselves) as customers of a management firm that acts as an investment adviser. ; Regardless of which view is taken, inherent conflicts exist between investors and advisers because the two parties have differing objectives: Investors want to receive higher returns on their investment while minimizing risk, and advisers want to maximize their own profits without exerting undue efforts (costs). ; The author reviews a number of possible solutions to these conflicts of interest, including compensation-based fee structures, a separation of functions, proposed regulatory and legislative changes, and monitoring and information disclosure. ; By far the strongest weapon investors have in resolving these conflicts is their own demand, the author concludes. “When unfettered and free of frictions, a competitive marketplace will supply the products and services investors demand at the lowest possible price,” she notes.
Exploring the Selection of Galaxy Clusters and Groups: An Optical Survey for X-ray Dark Clusters

Data from a new, wide field, coincident optical and X-ray surv ey, the X-ray Dark Cluster Survey (XDCS) are presented. This survey comprises simultaneous and independent searches for clusters of galaxies in the optical and X-ray passbands. Optical cluster detection algorithms implemented on the data are detailed. Two distinct optically selected catalogues are constructed, one based on I-band overdensity, the other on overdensities of colour-selected galaxies. The superior accuracy of the colour-selection te chnique over that of the single passband method is demonstrated, via internal consistency checks and comparison with external spectroscopic redshift information. This is compared with an X-ray selected cluster catalogue. In terms of gross numbers, the survey yields 185 I-band selected, 290 colour selected and 15 X-ray selected systems, residing in �11deg 2 of optical + X-ray imaging. The relationship between optical richness/ luminosity and X-ray luminosity is examined, by measuring X-ray luminosities at the positions of our 290 colour-selected systems. Power law correlations between the optical richness/ luminosity versus X-ray luminosity are fitted, both exhibiting approximately 0.2 dex of intrinsic scatter. Interesting outliers in these correlations are discussed in greater detail. Spectroscopic f ollow up of a subsample of X-ray underluminous systems confirms their reality.
File Parsing Vulnerability Detection with Symbolic Execution

Symbolic execution simulates program execution by replacing concrete values with symbolic variables for inputs. It could be used in software behavior analysis, vulnerability detection and software security assessment. In this paper, we analyze the path explosion problem encountered in vulnerability detection with the state-of-the-art symbolic execution technology for large scale file parsing programs. We also propose 4 alleviations to ease the problem, i.e. loop controlling, irrelevant path elimination, path selecting and parallel symbolic execution. Based on these alleviations, we implemented a prototype tool to detect file parsing vulnerability in large scale programs automatically, and evaluate it with a suit of benchmarks chosen from open source programs. Our tool detected not only all reported vulnerabilities of memory overflow in the benchmarks, but also some unreported vulnerabilities. The evaluation results show these alleviations could effectively ease the path explosion problem while analyzing large scale file parsing programs.
Neurofilament‐light increases the cell surface expression of the N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate receptor and prevents its ubiquitination

NMDA (N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate) subtype of glutamate receptors are core components of dendritic spine postsynaptic densities (PSDs), in which they are anchored via their carboxy‐terminal tails to cytoskeletal proteins. In this study, we examined the role of the neuronal intermediate filament protein, neurofilament‐light (NF‐L), also a component of the PSD, in the regulation of NMDA receptor (NMDAR) expression and function in a heterologous system. Coexpression of NF‐L with NR1 or NR2B subunits of the NMDAR in HEK293 (human embryonic kidney 293) cells did not result in surface expression as measured by surface biotinylation and cell ELISAs, whereas the combined expression of the three elements resulted in a 20% increase in the surface abundance of NR1, along with a concomitant increase in NMDAR‐mediated cytotoxicity. Investigating the origin of this increase, we found that the NR1 subunits are ubiquitinated in HEK293 cells, and that the coexpression of NF‐L antagonizes this process. These results suggest a possible means of stabilization of NR1 via its association with NF‐L.
Exploiting web reviews for generating customer service surveys

Traditional customer satisfaction analysis relies on the work of designing, distributing, collecting and analyzing surveys. Surveys that are designed by humans may be subjective, and it is hard to know what service aspects are the most important for customers. To address this issue, this paper proposes a method of automatically generating service surveys through mining Web reviews. Candidate service aspects are extracted using simple extraction rules. Then we rank candidate service aspects in terms of their weights generated by combining co-occurrence method and linear regression method together. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
COMMUNITY‐WIDE IMPACTS OF HERBIVORE‐INDUCED PLANT RESPONSES IN MILKWEED (ASCLEPIAS SYRIACA)

The effects of early-season herbivory and subsequent induced plant responses have the potential to affect the diversity of herbivorous insect communities. We investigated the seasonal development of the herbivore fauna on common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) to understand the effect of early-season herbivory by different species on insect growth, natural colonization, and community composition. First, we showed that damage by an early-season stem-feeding weevil (Rhyssomatus lineaticollis) reduced growth of monarch larvae (Danaus plexippus) and leaf beetle larvae (Labidomera clivicollis), suggesting that plant quality is reduced by weevil damage. To better understand the potential for initial herbivore damage to affect subsequent colonization by herbivores in the field, we compared undamaged controls to plants experimentally damaged with one of three herbivores: weevils, monarchs, or leaf beetles. We counted seven species of naturally colonizing herbivores on all plants for the next two months to assess colonization, damage, and insect community richness. Our results showed that initial herbivory by different species altered host plant use by herbivores in two years of experiments. Similarly, induced resistance and suscep- tibility occurred in both years, but due to different initial damaging species on individual plants. Treatment effects also scaled up to alter herbivore community richness. Initial treatments varied in their persistence through the season. For example, in 2001, the influence of initial monarch damage dissipated due to subsequent damage by colonizing herbivores, but the impacts of initial weevil treatment were unaffected. This result suggests that, al- though induced responses to weevil feeding persisted through the season, monarch herbivory was more likely to affect the herbivore community via a cascade of indirect effects. In 2002, plant and insect responses were more specific, depending on the identity of both initial and colonizing herbivore species. Despite year-to-year variation, considerable con- sistency in many responses to our treatments indicates that the identity of the initially colonizing herbivore can affect subsequent plant use and community structure. Given the preponderance of influential early-season herbivores, the effects of induced plant responses similar to those presented here may be widespread and may strongly contribute to the structure of phytophagous insect communities.
SCOOP - The Social Collaboratory for Outcome Oriented Primary Care

Many primary care clinics have transitioned from paper-based record keeping to computer-based Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems. This transition provides opportunities for computer-based data analytics in support of practice improvement and more evidence-based clinical research. Unfortunately, the data in primary care EMRs is often not readily accessible to researchers, who often have to overcome significant political, organizational and technical hurdles before gaining access to such data. As a consequence, knowledge discovery and translation has been slow and burdensome in this area. Primary care research networks (PCRN) have been proposed as a way to addressing these limitations. This paper reports on the development of a PCRN in British Columbia, referred to as SCOOP (The Social Collaboratory for Outcome Oriented Primary Care). We describe its technical architecture and draw comparisons to related and previous initiatives.