Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Metadata-Based Modeling and Querying of Information Resources on the Web

This paper deals with the problem of modeling web information resources using expert knowledge and personalized user information, and querying them in terms of topics and topic relationships. We propose a “web information space” metadata model for web information resources, and demonstrate how this metadata model helps web users to reach easily and effectively the information that they need. The web information space model is composed of web-based information resources (XML or HTML documents on the web), expert advice repositories (domain-expert-specified metadata for information resources as XTM documents), and personalized information about users (captured as user profiles, that indicate users’ preferences as to which expert advice they would like to follow, and which to ignore, etc., as XML documents). Expert advice is specified using topics and relationships among topics (called metalinks), along the lines of the recently proposed topic maps. Experts attach importance values and domains to topics, metalinks, and their sources. Users declare to accept, reject or “don-t-care” about the choices that experts make. Using the metadata information provided in expert advice repositories and embedded in information resources, it is possible to query the web-based information resources effectively, and employing user preferences enable query outputs to be further refined. Our metadata model allows ranked query outputs with respect to the (expert-judged and user-preference-revised) importance values of requested topics/metalinks/sources. The query output is limited to either top n-ranked objects/tuples, or objects/tuples with importance values above a given threshold, or both. It is confirmed through experimental evaluation that, metadata-based web querying produces highly relevant and semantically related responses to user queries within short amounts of time.
'Veto the war but let no French head fall': Linguistic avoidance strategies in Jacques Chirac's pre-Iraq war interview transcripts

The eve of the ongoing Iraq war was a decisive moment for world leaders since they, given American pressure, had to choose between being with US or with the enemies. It meant treading on potentially threatening issues that could harm inter-national alliances and friendships. This paper illustrates using transcripts of Jacques Chiracs (then French president) interviews the linguistic avoidance strategies used to avoid, redefine, recontextualise, reframe, and reassess concepts and topics considered threatening to the position held. The answers Chirac gives to the rather direct questions show his desire to avoid projecting the false idea that France is hindering American foreign policy. It is therefore not only his face that is at stake, but also that of his people, his political party, and the nation. Placing the analysis within the broader concept of multimodal communication, the paper adopts some of the findings made by Caffi & Janney (1994) and Janney (1999) to emphasise that strategies of avoiding implicative and threatening concepts in speech follow similar patterns of escaping from or avoiding harmful objects in the physical world.
The communicating company

Research on behalf of the IABC into the potential links between business success and communication competence has suggested strongly that the communication function(s) can only contribute significantly to short‐ or long‐term business goals if it is focused on improving the communication competence of the organisation as opposed to that of the function itself. The implications of this research are considerable and have led researchers to begin to develop a body of theory, upon which further research will be based, around the concept of the communicating company. The communicating company is defined as “an organisation that actively integrates communication systems and processes across and between all its significant activities, with the intention of achieving competitive advantage”. This paper aims to explore: what the communicating company might look like and how it differs from today’s organisations; what structures and systems might underlie the communicating company and help it achieve/sustain competitive advantage; how the debate around this emerging topic and the future of the communication function might be progressed.
Simultaneous analysis of mutant and normal alleles for multiple cystic fibrosis mutations by the ligase chain reaction

The ligase chain reaction (LCR) involves repetitive cycles of ligation of two adjacent pairs of oligonucleotides to form longer ligated products in a template‐dependent manner. This study demonstrates the application of LCR for analysis of multiple small mutations. We adapted the technology for the simultaneous determination of the normal and mutant alleles in a competition format, as well as multiple mutations in a multiplex format. For these purposes, we used mutations causing cystic fibrosis, namely the ΔF508, W1282X, and G551D mutations. Blunt ligation was compared to a strategy with a single base gap on one or both strands to be filled by thermostable polymerase prior to ligation. Blunt or gap strategies worked well for detection of the ΔF508 mutation. Detection of the W1282X mutation worked well with a blunt strategy when high K+ concentration (180–220 mM) was used to reduce template‐independent ligation. For reliable detection of the G551D mutation, we used mismatches in the oligonucleotes 2–5 bp away from the ligation site and hot start of the reaction to achieve allele specificity. Excellent discrimination of mutations was achieved using competitive LCR with six oligonucleotides (two common on one side of the mutation plus two wild type and two mutant on the opposite side with the mutation site at the end adjacent to the common oligonucleotides) and with multiplex‐Competitive LCR using 12 oligonucleotides to detect both alleles for two mutations in a single tube. LCR offers many advantages for simple and potentially automated detection of small mutations; these results represent an important intermediate toward the development of LCR as a diagnostic method for this application. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The tuning fork as sensor for dynamic force distance control in scanning near‐field optical microscopy

The dynamic force distance control for scanning near‐field optical microscopy on the basis of a tuning fork as piezoelectric force sensor is remarkably sensitive. In order to gain a better understanding of this sensitivity the vibrational properties of the tuning fork are modelled within the framework of two coupled harmonic oscillators. As a result, the effective force constant of the tuning fork at resonance frequency is determined. Furthermore, the influence of the additional mass by the attachment of the near‐field probe is investigated.
Symbolic self‐completion in academia: evidence from department web pages and email signature files

Symbolic self-completion theory proposes that individuals use symbols of attainment to define themselves as accomplished in self-defining areas and to communicate their accomplishments to others. The goal of the present research was to examine whether individual professors and academic departments strive for symbolic self-completion when communicating through the Internet. We hypothesized that publications, citations, and departmental rankings by the National Research Council (NRC) represent important indicators of attainment for professors, whereas professional titles (i.e., “doctor,” “professor,” or “Ph.D.”) may serve as alternate symbols of attainment. We predicted that a lack of important indicators of attainment would motivate the display of professional titles in web pages and email signature files. In Study 1, academic departments with less prestigious NRC rankings listed more professional titles on their departmental web pages compared to departments with more prestigious rankings. In Studies 2 and 3, professors with lower annual rates of publications and citations displayed more professional titles in their email signatures compared to professors with higher publication and citation rates. These results suggest that self-completion motives help to shape naturalistic Internet communications. The results further suggest that analyses of Internet communications can provide externally valid tests of theories concerned with motivation and self-processes. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
miR‐200c/Bmi1 axis and epithelial–mesenchymal transition contribute to acquired resistance to BRAF inhibitor treatment

Resistance to BRAF inhibitors (BRAFi) is one of the major challenges for targeted therapies for BRAF‐mutant melanomas. However, little is known about the role of microRNAs in conferring BRAFi resistance. Herein, we demonstrate that miR‐200c expression is significantly reduced whereas miR‐200c target genes including Bmi1, Zeb2, Tubb3, ABCG5, and MDR1 are significantly increased in melanomas that acquired BRAFi resistance compared to pretreatment tumor biopsies. Similar changes were observed in BRAFi‐resistant melanoma cell lines. Overexpression of miR‐200c or knock‐down of Bmi1 in resistant melanoma cells restores their sensitivities to BRAFi, leading to deactivation of the PI3K/AKT and MAPK signaling cascades, and acquisition of epithelial–mesenchymal transition‐like phenotypes, including upregulation of E‐cadherin, downregulation of N‐cadherin, and ABCG5 and MDR1 expression. Conversely, knock‐down of miR‐200c or overexpression of Bmi1 in BRAFi‐sensitive melanoma cells activates the PI3K/AKT and MAPK pathways, upregulates N‐cadherin, ABCG5, and MDR1 expression, and downregulates E‐cadherin expression, leading to BRAFi resistance. Together, our data identify miR‐200c as a critical signaling node in BRAFi‐resistant melanomas impacting the MAPK and PI3K/AKT pathways, suggesting miR‐200c as a potential therapeutic target for overcoming acquired BRAFi resistance.
Perioperative care of the elderly

In the Western population, 15% are >65 yr old, and half will undergo surgery within the remainder of their lifetime. There are few anaesthetic techniques that are used in younger adults that cannot be used to anaesthetise the elderly patient. However, even in the absence of a specific organ-based disease process, anaesthesia for the elderly may require an alteration in technique to take account of age-related changes to normal physiology. It is vital to consider the effects that the ageing process, the active disease process and any residual effects of previous illness have had on the elderly patient and tailor the anaesthetic technique accordingly. The following comments relate to elective elderly patients, or emergency patients who have been appropriately resuscitated after admission. There are very little data to support the attempt to achieve optimal resuscitation using assessment of cardiac output and oxygen delivery. Several studies with small numbers of patients have been quoted, but the very heterogeneous nature of the elderly makes extrapolation from these difficult.
Regulation of putative muscle-derived neurotrophic factors by muscle activity and innervation: in vivo and in vitro studies

The normal embryonic development of spinal cord motoneurons (MNs) involves the proliferation of precursor cells followed by the degeneration of approximately 50% of postmitotic MNs during the period when nerve-muscle connections are being established. The death of MNs in vivo can be ameliorated by activity blockade and by treatment with muscle extracts. Muscle activity and innervation have been suggested to regulate the availability of putative muscle-derived neurotrophic agent(s), and MNs are thought to compete for limited amounts of these trophic agents during normal development. Thus, activity and innervation are thought to regulate MN survival by modulating trophic factor availability. We have tested this notion by examining MN survival in vivo and ChAT development in spinal cord neurons in vitro following treatments with partially purified muscle extracts from normally active, paralyzed (genetically or pharmacologically), aneural, denervated, slow tonic, and fast-twitch muscles from embryonic and postnatal animals. Extracts from active and chronically inactive embryonic avian and mouse muscles were found to be equally effective in promoting the in vivo survival of MNs in the chick embryo. Similarly, extracts from fast-twitch and slow tonic postnatal avian muscles did not differ in their ability to promote both MN survival in vivo and ChAT activity in vitro. Although aneural and control embryonic muscle extract had similar effects on ChAT development in vitro, aneural muscle extract contained somewhat less MN survival-promoting activity when tested in vivo. By contrast, denervated postnatal muscle extract was more effective in promoting both MN survival in vivo and ChAT activity in vitro than age-matched control muscle extract.
Defective Neutrophil Mobility in the May‐Hegglin Anomaly

Summary. A case of May‐Hegglin anomaly is reported in which functional studies of PMN cells showed abnormalities consisting of impairment of chemotactic and chemokinetic responses, random mobility being otherwise normal. These abnormalities seem unrelated to microtubule system dysfunction or to abnormal cell deformability, since no defect was observed in the concanavalin A (Con A) surface receptors and no improvement of directional movement resulted when filters of larger pore size were used in the assays. Other possible mechanisms of the functional defect, such as abnormal membrane receptors to kinetic signals or metabolic abnormalities cannot be excluded. PMN function should be studied in additional cases in order to ascertain if these findings are a constant feature in the May‐Hegglin anomaly, a syndrome in which undue susceptibility to infection has not been reported.
Practical OFDM signalling for visible light communications using spatial summation

Visible light communication (VLC) channels leverage solid-state illumination devices to provide a dual role as high-speed communication links. These channels are bandwidth-limited and can have high SNRs. Bandwidth-efficient intensity-modulated/direct-detection (IM/DD) orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) has been considered for VLC systems. Key drawbacks of OFDM in IM/DD channels are its high peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) as well as the difficulty of implementing power efficient, high current, wideband drivers. In this paper, we propose a new form of IM/DD OFDM termed spatial optical OFDM (SO-OFDM) in which multiple narrowband OFDM signals are transmitted simultaneously from different LEDs and allowed to sum in space. In this way, a conventional OFDM receiver can be employed while having a series of lower power transmitters, each with improved PAPR. Simulation results show that in comparison with conventional IM/DD OFDM, SO-OFDM is more robust to amplifier nonlinearities and can be implemented with more efficient line driver topologies.
No hoof, no horse! The clinical implications of modelling the hoof capsule.

Horses stand on the tips of their middle fingers and toes. In each forelimb, they bear their weight on an adapted fingernail which forms the hoof wall. This hoof wall is strongly attached to the last bone (third phalanx) which, in turn, is tied into the column of support in such a way that the complex locomotory forces received through the hoof capsule are directed up into the limb in alignment with the long axis of the limb. Analysis of the hoof during exercise i n vivo is limited, due to the complexity of the interaction between the numerous anatomical structures involved in this support of the hoof wall. In this issue (p 719), Thomason e t a l. (2002) pursue the subject of analysis of strains in the hoof capsule, employing a finite element model. Why is such a model of potential interest to clinicians and farriers? The treatment of debilitating hoof conditions, such as cracks, infections, bruises, abscesses, navicular syndrome and laminitis, as well as their prevention in the first place, still depends on the skill and experience of the farrier in visualising the best shape of each hoof within a particular horse. The farrier has to guess where and how to trim the hoof and, perhaps, how to form and place the shoe, so that the hoof might be loaded in such a way that it is comfortable, effective and stimulated to grow into the best possible shape. This is an art. Attempts to assist this skill with particular measurements and rules to follow have led to the temporary adoption of many different methods. The horse industry is notorious for its reliance on tradition as well as the many methods of trimming and shoeing that follow a cycle of increasing and decreasing popularity. Why is this so? Perhaps an explanation can be found in our insufficient understanding of how the locomotory system of the horse actually works. This deficient understanding is not from any lack of effort in that direction. Scientists have been trying to elucidate the mechanics of the gait of horses since antiquity (van Weeren 2001). Instead, the lack of a coherent description of the mechanics of the distal forelimb is due to the complexity of the problem of predicting the effects of tiny changes in a system that is under a high degree of local feedback control. Despite being tied together by strong ligaments …
Zero-Crossing Based Time-Frequency Masking for Sound Segregation

This paper presents a new method of zero-crossing based binaural mask estima- tion for sound segregation under the condition that multiple sound sources are present simul- taneously. The masking is determined by the estimated sound source directions using the spatial cues such as inter-aural time differences (ITDs) and inter-aural intensity differences (IIDs). In the suggested method, the estimation of ITDs is utilizing the statistical properties of zero-crossings detected from binaural filter-bank outputs. We also consider the estimation of ITDs with the aid of IID samples to cope with the phase ambiguities of ITD samples in high frequencies. As a result, the proposed method is able to provide an accurate estimate of sound source directions and a good masking scheme for sound segregation while offering significantly less computational complexity compared to cross-correlation based methods.
Field Experiment on a “Star Type” Metropolitan Quantum Key Distribution Network

Quantum key distribution (QKD) networks have recently attracted growing attention. The topology of the local QKD network is the basis of the next-generation global secure communication network. In this letter, we report a realization of a wavelength-routing star type QKD network which can span a metropolis using a commercial backbone optical fiber network without trusted relays. The longest and the shortest fiber lengths between two geographically separated nodes are 42.6 and 32 km, respectively, and the maximum average quantum bit-error rate is below 8%. A novel analysis model with experimental validation is also proposed to evaluate the user's performance in this network under the condition of maximum multiuser crosstalk.
From Food Crisis to Food Sovereignty.: The Challenge of Social Movements.

The current global food crisis — decades in the making — is a crushing indictment against capitalist agriculture and the corporate monopolies that dominate the world's food systems. The role of the industrial agrifood complex in creating the crisis (through the monopolization of input industries, industrial farming, processing, and retailing) and the self-serving neoliberal solutions proposed by the world's multilateral institutions and leading industrial countries are being met with skepticism, disillusion, and indifference by a general public more concerned with the global economic downturn than with the food crisis. Neoliberal retrenchment has met growing resistance by those most affected by the crisis — the world's smallholder farmers.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.
Increasing Student Learning: Factors influencing hospitality students' intention to engage in community service

Service learning is a blend of academic learning, service to community, and civic responsibility. It offers the opportunity for hospitality students to develop skills, such as communication, leadership, and time management. College students majoring in hospitality management were recruited and participated. Community Service Attitudes Survey (CSAS) was used to investigate the perceptions and attitudes of college students toward community service. Regarding the intention to engage in community service, perceptions and moral obligation were significant factors of engagement intention in community service. Among the components of significant factors community connectedness and norms made significant contributions to explaining variance in the hospitality students' intention for engaging in community service.
Personalized search using identity-based hashing

This paper presents a method to retrieve shared information on tagging systems more easily using ordinary search engines. This paper focuses on sharing multimedia data, such as photos and videos, and describes a method of personalized searches with privacy protection by using an identity-based hashing function. Secure implementation and seamless integration into current search services, without any changes, are also described. That is, this method can be used in the current computing environment. Evaluations showed that the additional storage requirement is only 10% and that the system responds in 10 seconds with 1000 dummy results for anonymization.
An improved SDN-based fabric for flexible data center networks

Data centers play an important role with the fast growth of cloud computing used in our daily life. Traditional data center networks based on the fat-tree topology have their own drawbacks and limitations which prevent them from providing high performance to satisfy the increasing demand for cloud services. In this paper, we first design a new flexible network fabric for data center networks based on the concept of Software Defined Networks (SDN). Then, we also propose a simple yet efficient route calculation algorithm for this architecture. Simulation results show that the improved SDN-based switch fabric topology can support more hosts, provide more bandwidth and the shortest paths are found in a smaller amount of time.
Filipino masculinity and psychological distress: A preliminary comparison between gay and heterosexual men

This article reports on a study that compared Filipino gay (N = 43) and heterosexual (N = 767) men on measures of male role attitudes and behavior, depression, and anxiety. The authors used the Filipino Adherence and Conflict with Expectations of Masculinity Questionnaire to assess 7 male role dimensions, as well as the Mehrabian Trait Anxiety and Depression Scales and the Social Avoidance and Distress Scale. Analyses indicated that Filipino gay men conformed less to, and experienced greater conflict with, norms for family orientedness and for respectful deference to spouse, women, and elders. Gay men’s anxiety was associated with less conformity to the male role prescription to be strong. Heterosexual men’s depression was associated with less conformity to the role prescription to be family oriented. The discussion explores the divergent attitudes of gay and heterosexual men regarding family life, as well as implications for clinical practice and public policy.