Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Proportioning documents over categories based on word embeddings

News articles, even in the same category, often interweave with multiple stories and topics. In fact, exploring semantic components of textual documents is challenging, and assigning a document to one single category may appear inadequate. This paper employs word embeddings techniques to proportion documents over categories via semantic vector operations. Word embeddings are useful in capturing word semantics. The proposed method first prepares keyword collections for each category by identifying representative words from training set; calculates the semantic similarity between each new document and the word collections of each category; and analyzes the category distribution of the document using percentages. In the distribution, larger values indicate higher similarities between the category and document. The proposed method is evaluated by comparing categories yielding top values in the distribution of a document with its original category. Experimental results show that the proposed method can efficiently analyze the semantic components of news articles.
Linkage Maps of Microsatellite DNA Markers for the Pacific Oyster Crassostrea gigas We dedicate this study to the memory of Will Borgenson, who reared and cared for the parents of the mapping families.

We constructed male and female consensus linkage maps for the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas, using a total of 102 microsatellite DNA markers typed in 11-day-old larvae from three families. We identified 11 and 12 linkage groups in the male and female consensus maps, respectively. Alignment of these separate maps, however, suggests 10 linkage groups, which agrees with the haploid chromosome number. The male linkage map comprises 88 loci and spans 616.1 cM, while the female map comprises 86 loci and spans 770.5 cM. The male and the female maps share 74 loci; 2 markers remain unlinked. The estimated coverages for the consensus linkage maps are 79% for the male and 70–75% for the female, on the basis of two estimates of genome length. Ninety-five percent of the genome is expected to lie within 16 and 21 cM of markers on the male and female maps, respectively, while 95% of simulated minimum distances to the male and female maps are within 10.1 and 13.6 cM, respectively. Females have significantly more recombination than males, across 118 pairs of linked markers in common to the parents of the three families. Significant differences in recombination and orders of markers are also evident among same-sex parents of different families as well as sibling parents of opposite sex. These observations suggest that polymorphism for chromosomal rearrangements may exist in natural populations, which could have profound implications for interpreting the evolutionary genetics of the oyster. These are the first linkage maps for a bivalve mollusc that use microsatellite DNA markers, which should enable them to be transferred to other families and to be useful for further genetic analyses such as QTL mapping.
Laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty for snoring: does it meet the expectations?

The high prevalence of habitual snoring (35% of the general population) and the increasing demand for an effective treatment have led, in the last decade, to the generalisation of laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty (LAUP). However, acceptable studies on its effectiveness are lacking. The present randomised, placebo-controlled study included 25 nonapnoeic and mild obstructive sleep apnoea snorers to evaluate LAUP effectiveness for snoring. Group I received a one-stage LAUP treatment and group II a placebo (simulated snore surgery followed by an oral placebo). Before each treatment and 3 months after, the variables and procedures assessed were: body weight; sleepiness (Epworth sleepiness scale); quality of life (SF‐36); subjective snoring intensity (0–10 analogue scale); objective snoring intensity (average decibel intensity); snoring index (number of snores per hour); and apnoea/hypopnea index. No differences were observed in body weight, sleepiness, quality of life, subjective and objective intensity, and frequency of snoring, and apnoea/hypopnea index between the groups before and 3 months after treatment. In conclusion, this study provides evidence of the lack of effectiveness of one-stage laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty for snoring in nonapnoeic and mild obstructive sleep apnoea patients, with the result that it does not meet the expectations generated by the procedure.
Modeling the Effect of Chlorine Emissions on Ozone Levels over the Eastern United States

Abstract This paper presents model estimates of the effect of chlorine emissions on atmospheric ozone concentrations in the eastern United States. The model included anthropogenic molecular chlorine emissions, anthropogenic hypochlorous acid emissions from cooling towers and swimming pools, and chlorine released from sea-salt aerosols. The release of chlorine emissions from sea-salt aerosols was modeled using heterogeneous reactions involving chloride ions in aerosols and three gas-phase species. The gas-phase chlorine chemistry was combined with the Carbon Bond Mechanism and incorporated into the Community Multiscale Air Quality modeling system. Air quality model simulations were performed for July 2001 and the results obtained with and without chlorine emissions were analyzed. When chlorine emissions were included in the model, ozone concentrations increased in the Houston, Texas, and New York–New Jersey areas. The daily maximum 1-h ozone concentrations increased by up to 12 parts per billion by volume .
Nerve growth factor processing and trafficking events following TrkA-mediated endocytosis.

UNLABELLED We expressed the high affinity nerve growth factor receptor TrkA in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) fibroblasts to study nerve growth factor (NGF) trafficking and processing events following receptor-mediated ligand internalization in a nonneuronal and p75 minus cell line. These stable clonal cell lines express approximately 2.5 x 10(5) TrkA receptors and bind 125I-NGF with high affinity (Kd = 4 x 10(-10) M). The TrkA receptors are autophosphorylated on tyrosine residues upon NGF stimulation and are capable of tyrosine phosphorylating downstream signaling molecules. The t1/2 of 125I-NGF internalization is 5 min, and the probability of an occupied TrkA receptor internalizing within 1 min at 37 C is 9.8%. By 2 h following endocytosis, less than 10% of internalized 125I-NGF is degraded, as determined by TCA precipitation. Thirty minutes following ligand endocytosis, endocytosed 125I-NGF is delivered back to the cell surface and released by the cell (retroendocytosis), possibly by remaining associated with recycling TrkA receptors. We measured the effect of acidification on 125I-NGF-TrkA association and found that, at pH 6, 40% of 125I-NGF remains bound. Thus, NGF may remain associated with the TrkA receptor at low pH conditions in the endosome and can thereby be targeted back to the plasma membrane for release by the cell. IN CONCLUSION 1) TrkA, in the absence of p75, is fully capable of mediating 125I-NGF endocytosis; 2) internalized 125I-NGF is slowly and inefficiently degraded; 3) following internalization, 125I-NGF is retroendocytosed; and 4) the ability of 125I-NGF to remain receptor-associated during acidic conditions may provide a mechanism for its retroendocytosis via recycling TrkA vesicles.
Control-scheduling codesign of real-time systems: The control server approach

The paper presents the control server, a real-time scheduling mechanism tailored to control and signal processing applications. A control server creates the abstraction of a control task with a specified period and a fixed input-output latency shorter than the period. Individual tasks can be combined into more complex components without loss of their individual guaranteed fixed-latency properties. I/O occurs at fixed predefined points in time, at which inputs are read or controller outputs become visible. The control server model is especially suited for codesign of real-time control systems. The single parameter linking the scheduling design and the controller design is the task utilization factor. The proposed server is an extension of the constant bandwidth server, which is based on the earliest-deadline-first scheduling algorithm. The server has been implemented in a real-time kernel and has also been validated in control experiments on a ball and beam process.
HOW FAR AWAY ARE GAMMA-RAY BURSTERS?

The positions of over 1000 gamma-ray bursts detected with the BATSE experiment on board of the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory are uniformly and randomly distributed in the sky, with no significant concentration to the galactic plane or to the galactic center. The strong gamma-ray bursts have an intensity distribution consistent with a number density independent of distance in Euclidean space. Weak gamma-ray bursts are relatively rare, indicating that either their number density is reduced at large distances or that the space in which they are distributed is non-Euclidean. In other words, we appear to be at the center of a spherical and bounded distribution of bursters. This is consistent with the distribution of all objects that are known to be at cosmological distances (like galaxies and quasars), but inconsistent with the distribution of any objects which are known to be in our galaxy (like stars and globular clusters). If the bursters are at cosmological distances then the weakest bursts should be redshifted, i.e., on average their durations should be longer and their spectra should be softer than the corresponding quantities for the strong bursts. There is some evidence for both effects in the BATSE data. At this time, the cosmological distance scale is strongly favored over the galactic one, but is not proven. A definite proof (or dis-proof) could be provided with the results of a search for very weak bursts in the Andromeda galaxy (M31) with an instrument ~10 times more sensitive than BATSE. If the bursters are indeed at cosmological distances then they are the most luminous sources of electromagnetic radiation known in the universe. At this time we have no clue as to their nature, even though well over a hundred suggestions were published in the scientific journals. An experiment providing ~1 arc second positions would greatly improve the likelihood that counterparts of gamma-ray bursters are finally found. A new interplanetary network would offer the best opportunity.
Towards an agile feature composition for a large scale software product lines

Modern applications tend to be cross-industry and to cover simultaneously different domains. Feature models need then to be composed in order to build domains with much larger scopes. Many approaches have been proposed by researchers to address this composition issue. Though, an overview of these compositional approaches shows that there are several areas for improvement especially in terms of automation tool support and agility. Our proposal in this doctoral paper is to discuss the feasibility of bringing the agility and the dynamism of software oriented computing techniques to the feature models composition relevant to different domains throughout a mashing up of their cooperating services.
A Model for Competence E-Assessment and Feedback in Higher Education

This chapter presents a non-conventional formative initiative which considers the e-assessment and feedback of project management competences in higher education. The proposed model is built upon a virtual learning environment (VLE) that offers opportunities for students to experience situations that are similar to what they will encounter in the working world. More specifically, the simulation environment is used to recreate the reality of an organization dedicated to direct, manage, and organize projects. The designed VLE enables the e-assessment and feedback of individual project management competences by considering a set of performance indicators for each participant in the simulation. That is, the performance and contribution of each student is measured through different pieces of evidence that are pertinent to each assessed competence. Additionally, the analysis and process of the information gathered from the VLE allows to deliver varied and detailed information to the learners with the intention of modifying their thinking or behavior and improving their learning process.
An excess of very bright stars in the inner bulge

From an analysis of the stars remaining in central regions of the Galaxy after subtracting those belonging to the disc and the bulge, we deduce that the inner bulge must have an extra young population with respect to the rest of the bulge. It is shown that there is a higher ratio of very bright stars in the central bulge than there is in the outer bulge. This is interpreted as being an additional young component due to the presence of star formation regions near the Galactic Centre which is absent in the outer bulge.
Medial axis approximation from inner Voronoi balls: a demo of the Mesecina tool

We illustrate a simple algorithm for approximating the medial axis of a 2D shape with smooth boundary from a sample of this boundary. The algorithm is compared to a more general approximation method that builds on the same idea, namely, to approximate the shape by a union of balls. While not as general, our algorithm is simpler, faster and numerically more stable. Both algorithms are visualized using the Mesecina tool, which is also described.
Semi-Streamed Index Join for near-real time execution of ETL transformations

Active data warehouses have emerged as a new business intelligence paradigm where data in the integrated repository is refreshed in near real-time. This shift of practices achieves higher consistency between the stored information and the latest updates, which in turn influences crucially the output of decision making processes. In this paper we focus on the changes required in the implementation of Extract Transform Load (ETL) operations which now need to be executed in an online fashion. In particular, the ETL transformations frequently include the join between an incoming stream of updates and a disk-resident table of historical data or metadata. In this context we propose a novel Semi-Streaming Index Join (SSIJ) algorithm that maximizes the throughput of the join by buffering stream tuples and then judiciously selecting how to best amortize expensive disk seeks for blocks of the stored relation among a large number of stream tuples. The relation blocks required for joining with the stream are loaded from disk based on an optimal plan. In order to maximize the utilization of the available memory space for performing the join, our technique incorporates a simple but effective cache replacement policy for managing the retrieved blocks of the relation. Moreover, SSIJ is able to adapt to changing characteristics of the stream (i.e. arrival rate, data distribution) by dynamically adjusting the allocated memory between the cached relation blocks and the stream. Our experiments with a variety of synthetic and real data sets demonstrate that SSIJ consistently outperforms the state-of-the-art algorithm in terms of the maximum sustainable throughput of the join while being also able to accommodate deadlines on stream tuple processing.
Chapter 17 PARETO-FRONT EXPLOITATION IN SYMBOLIC REGRESSION

Symbolic regression via genetic programming (hereafter, referred to simply as symbolic regression) has proven to be a very important tool for industrial empirical modeling (Kotanchek et al., 2003). Two of the primary problems with industrial use of symbolic regression are (1) the relatively large computational demands in comparison with other nonlinear empirical modeling techniques such as neural networks and (2) the difficulty in making the trade-off between expression accuracy and complexity. The latter issue is significant since, in general, we prefer parsimonious (simple) expressions with the expectation that they are more robust with respect to changes over time in the underlying system or extrapolation outside the range of the data used as the reference in evolving the symbolic regression. In this chapter, we present a genetic programming variant, ParetoGP, which exploits the Pareto front to dramatically speed the symbolic regression solution evolution as well as explicitly exploit the complexity-performance trade-off. In addition to the improvement in evolution efficiency, the Pareto front perspective allows the user to choose appropriate models for further analysis or deployment. The Pareto front avoids the need to a priori specify a trade-off between competing objectives (e.g. complexity and performance) by identifying the curve (or surface or hyper-surface) which characterizes, for example, the best performance for a given expression complexity.
Development of ROWA-MSTS in Distributed Systems Environment

Replication in distributed environment has become increasingly popular due to its high degree of availability, fault tolerance and enhance the performance of a system. These advantages of replication are important because it enables organizations to provide users with access to current data where and when user needed at anytime or anywhere, even if the users are geographically remote. However, this way of data organization introduces low data consistency among replicas when changes are made during transactions. Therefore, a system to monitor data replication in distributed system environment arises. Read-One-Write- All Monitoring Synchronization Transaction System (ROWA-MSTS) has been developed to solve this problem. By using this system, it helps to monitor the replicated data distribution over multiple sites while maintaining the data consistency.
Symmetry Groups of a Class of Spherical Folding Tilings

A spherical folding tiling, or f-tiling for short, is an edge-to-edge decomposition of the sphere by geodesic polygons, such that all vertices are of even valency and the sums of alternating angles around each vertex are π. A f-tiling τ is said dihedral if every tile of τ is congruent to either two fixed sets T and Q. In this case T and Q are the prototiles of τ . F-tilings are related to the theory of isometric foldings of Riemannian manifolds. See [11] for the foundations of this subject. Isometric foldings can be seen as locally isometries which send piecewise geodesic segments into piecewise geodesic segments of the same length. These maps are continuous but not necessarily differentiable. The points where they fail to be differentiable are called singular points. For surfaces, the singularity set gives rise to a two-coloured graph whose vertices fulfill the angle-folding relation, i.e., each vertex is of even valency and the sum of alternating angles is π. For a topological view of this theory see [12]. In [10], Lawrence and Spingarn show that the angle-folding relation is generalized for isometric foldings of the Euclidian space R. Farran et al. [9] present a study which involves a partition of a surface into polygons.
The impact of lianas on tree regeneration in tropical forest canopy gaps: evidence for an alternative pathway of gap‐phase regeneration

1 Regeneration in forest canopy gaps is thought to lead invariably to the rapid recruitment and growth of trees and the redevelopment of the canopy. Our observations, however, suggest that an alternate successional pathway is also likely, whereby gap‐phase regeneration is dominated by lianas and stalled in a low‐canopy state for many years. We investigated gap‐phase regeneration in an old‐growth tropical forest on Barro Colorado Island (BCI) in Panama to test the following two hypotheses: (i) many gaps follow a pathway in which they remain at a low canopy height and are dominated by lianas and (ii) the paucity of trees in this pathway is a function of liana density.
Dynamic average consensus under limited control authority and privacy requirements

This paper introduces a novel continuous‐time dynamic average consensus algorithm for networks whose interaction is described by a strongly connected and weight‐balanced directed graph. The proposed distributed algorithm allows agents to track the average of their dynamic inputs with some steady‐state error whose size can be controlled using a design parameter. This steady‐state error vanishes for special classes of input signals. We analyze the asymptotic correctness of the algorithm under time‐varying interaction topologies and characterize the requirements on the stepsize for discrete‐time implementations. We show that our algorithm naturally preserves the privacy of the local input of each agent. Building on this analysis, we synthesize an extension of the algorithm that allows individual agents to control their own rate of convergence towards agreement and handle saturation bounds on the driving command. Finally, we show that the proposed extension additionally preserves the privacy of the transient response of the agreement states and the final agreement value from internal and external adversaries. Numerical examples illustrate the results. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Analysis of the expression of BAX, BCL2, BIRC6, CASP3, CASP9 apoptosis genes during the first episode of schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVES The aim of the study was the analysis of (1) the level of BAX,BCL2,BIRC6,CASP3, CASP9 apoptosis genes expression in schizophrenic patients and in the control group, and (2) the relationships between the genes expression level and the morphological and biochemical parameters, as well as the severity of psychopathological symptoms. METHODS The study included 21 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia according to ICD-10 and 26 healthy subjects. The following parameters were assessed: genes expression in peripheral blood lymphocytes, laboratory parameters and severity of psychopathological symptoms (using the PANSS). RESULTS The expression of the BCL2 gene and the CASP3 gene was significantly higher in schizophrenic patients compared to the controls. A significant positive correlation was found between the BAX gene expression level and neutrophil, lymphocyte and monocyte counts as well as the severity of negative symptoms (PANSS-N), between BCL2 and CASP9 genes expression and the monocyte count, and between the CASP3 gene expression and the lymphocyte count. CONCLUSIONS (1) Significantly higher expression of BCL2 and CASP3 genes in schizophrenic patients compared to the controls proves the intensification of the apoptosis process, fitting in the theory of increased apoptosis in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. (2) Significant correlations between the BAX gene expression and differential blood count parameters (leucocyte, neutrophil, lymphocyte, monocyte count) in the group of schizophrenic patients suggest a relationship with immune dysregulation and confirm the presence of apoptosis in peripheral blood lymphocytes. (3) The BAX gene expression may be indicative of the severity of negative symptoms in schizophrenia. (4) The analysis of the intercorrelation of studied genes expression indicates that BAX and CASP3 genes were the most active in the apoptosis process in the study group.