Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A resource based framework for planning and replanning

We discuss a rigorous unifying framework for both planning and replanning, extending an existing logic-based approach to resource-based planning. The primitive concepts in this action resource framework (ARF) are actions and resources. Actions consume and produce resources. Plans are structures composed of actions, resource facts and an explicit dependency function specifying their interrelationships. In this framework, both planning and replanning are conceived as plan transformation processes accomplished by applying sequences of operations on plans. For this, we introduce operators for plan transformation and define the concept of a plan library. Using a refinement planning template, we show how some existing (re)planning methods and heuristics can be described as special cases of this framework. The advantage of the framework is that it offers a unifying view on planning and replanning.
Transforming growth factor-β2 increases extracellular matrix proteins in optic nerve head cells via activation of the Smad signaling pathway

Purpose Transforming growth factor-β2 (TGF-β2) is associated with glaucomatous neuropathy, primarily via the increased synthesis and secretion of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins and remodeling of the optic nerve head (ONH). Here, we investigated the signaling pathways used by TGF-β2 to stimulate ECM expression by ONH astrocytes and lamina cribrosa (LC) cells. Methods TGF-β2 localization and secretion was examined in human donor tissues and ONH astrocytes and LC cells. To examine TGF-β2 signaling, ONH astrocytes and LC cells were treated with recombinant TGF-β2, and phosphorylation of Smad and non-Smad signaling proteins were examined by western blot analyses and immunostaining. Results TGF-β2 is significantly increased in the LC region of the ONH in glaucomatous eyes compared to age-matched normal eyes (n=4, p<0.0013). ONH astrocytes and LC cells secrete TGF-β2, indicating that these cells may be an in vivo source of TGF-β2 in the human ONH. In addition, treatment of ONH astrocytes and LC cells with exogenous TGF-β2 increased ECM protein synthesis and secretion. With respect to TGF-β2 signaling, recombinant TGF-β2 induced phosphorylation of canonical signaling proteins Smad2/3 but did not alter phosphorylation of non-canonical signaling proteins extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK)1/2, p38, and c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK)1/2 proteins in ONH astrocytes and LC cells. Exogenous TGF-β2 increased co-localization of pSmad2/3 with Co-Smad4 in the nucleus of ONH astrocytes and LC cells further indicating activation of the canonical Smad signaling pathway. Furthermore, inhibition of TGF-β I receptor activity by SB431542 or inhibition of Smad3 phosphorylation by SIS3 blocked TGF-β2 stimulated ECM expression as well as activation of downstream canonical pathway signaling molecules. Knockdown of either Smad2 or Smad3 via small interfering RNA (siRNA) reduced TGF-β2 stimulated ECM proteins in ONH astrocytes and LC cells. Conclusions These studies indicate that TGF-β2 utilizes the canonical Smad signaling pathway to stimulate ECM synthesis in human ONH cells. Our studies also indicate that pSmad2/3 is required for TGF-β2 stimulation of ECM remodeling.
Inherited Thrombophilia and Recurrent Pregnancy Loss

Background: Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) is a common health problem. The polymorphisms G20210A of prothrombin gene (FII G 20210A), and G 1691A of factor V gene (Factor V Leiden, FVL) are the most extensively studied thrombophilic mutations in association to recurrent miscarriage. Objectives: To determine the frequency of FII G20210A and FVL polymorphisms as well as protein C and protein S deficiency in a series of patients with RPL compared with control group. Patients and Methods: The study group included 90 randomly selected patients with three or more consecutive miscarriages with the same partner in <20 weeks gestation in 2012. The control population consisted of 44 age-matched women with at least one live born children and no history of pregnancy loss. Functional activity of protein C and S, activated protein C resistance, FVL assay by polymerase chain reaction and prothrombin gene mutation were assessed. The polymorphism frequencies were recorded for each group and comparisons were made. Results: The mean functional activity of protein C and protein S were not significantly different between case and control groups (P >0.05). Frequency of protein C deficiency was also not significantly different between the case and control groups (P=0.906), but frequency of protein S deficiency was significantly higher in patients than controls (P=0.03). Genotype pattern of the patients and healthy individuals were not significantly different with regard to either FVL or Prothrombin G20210A (P > 0.05). Conclusions: We determined a significant higher frequency of protein S deficiency in patients with RPL compared with controls. But the frequency of protein C deficiency and the frequency of two common thrombophilic mutations (Factor V Leiden and Prothrombin G20210A), were not significantly different between patients with recurrent miscarriage and healthy women.
An Investigation into the Validity of Some Metrics for Automatically Evaluating Natural Language Generation Systems

Abstract There is growing interest in using automatically computed corpus-based evaluation metrics to evaluate Natural Language Generation (NLG) systems, because these are often considerably cheaper than the human-based evaluations which have traditionally been used in NLG. We review previous work on NLG evaluation and on validation of automatic metrics in NLP, and then present the results of two studies of how well some metrics which are popular in other areas of NLP (notably BLEU and ROUGE) correlate with human judgments in the domain of computer-generated weather forecasts. Our results suggest that, at least in this domain, metrics may provide a useful measure of language quality, although the evidence for this is not as strong as we would ideally like to see; however, they do not provide a useful measure of content quality. We also discuss a number of caveats which must be kept in mind when interpreting this and other validation studies.
The International HIV Dementia Scale: a new rapid screening test for HIV dementia

Objective:HIV dementia is an important neurological complication of advanced HIV infection. The use of a cross-cultural screening test to detect HIV dementia within the international community is critical for diagnosing this condition. The objective of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of a new screening test for HIV dementia, the International HIV Dementia Scale (IHDS) in cohorts from the US and Uganda. Design:Two cross-sectional cohort studies designed to evaluate for the presence of HIV dementia. Methods:Sixty-six HIV-positive individuals in the US and 81 HIV-positive individuals in Uganda received the IHDS and full standardized neurological and neuropsychological assessments. The sensitivity and specificity of varying cut-off scores of the IHDS were evaluated in the two cohorts. Results:In the US cohort, the mean IHDS score for HIV-positive individuals without dementia and with dementia were 10.6 and 9.3 respectively (P < 0.001). Using the cut-off of ≤ 10, the sensitivity and specificity for HIV dementia with the IHDS were 80% and 57% respectively in the US cohort, and 80% and 55% respectively in the Uganda cohort. Conclusions:The IHDS may be a useful screening test to identify individuals at risk for HIV dementia in both the industrialized world and the developing world. Full neuropsychological testing should then be performed to confirm a diagnosis of HIV dementia.
Fluctuations of 10‐hydroxy‐carbazepine during the day in epileptic patients

Oxcarbazepine (OCBZ) is a new antiepileptic drug with a chemical structure similar to carbamazepine. We investigated the daily fluctuations of 10‐OH‐carbazepine (monohydroxy derivative, MHD), the clinically relevant metabolite of OCBZ, in patients with or without comedication. Twenty‐two profiles of (total) serum concentrations of MHD from 18 epileptic patients on a b.i. d. OCBZ regimen were determined at 8.00, 11.00, 14.00, 17.00, 20.00 h (and 22.00 h/23.00 h). A patient was only considered twice if his comedication or OCBZ dosage had been changed. The maximal MHD concentrations were about 33%±14% higher than the minimal MHD concentrations during the day. The free MHD concentrations were determined in 17 profiles. The mean free fraction of MHD was 56.7%±5.5%. In combination with valproic acid the free fraction (64.0%±1.4%) was slightly, but significantly higher (p < 0.05) than in monotherapy (52.3%±0.9%) or in combination (58.0%±2.6%) with other antiepileptic drugs (2 × phenobarbital, 2 × methsuximide, 1 × sulthiame). Further studies are necessary to clarify if the observed fluctuations of MHD are of clinical importance.
Minimizing human infection from Escherichia coli O157:H7 using GUMBOS.

OBJECTIVES Reduction in faecal shedding of Shiga toxin-producing enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) in food-producing animals is a viable strategy to minimize human disease initiated by exposure to these microorganisms. To this end, an intervention strategy involving the electrostatic hybridization of two commonly used anti-infective agents for veterinary practice (i.e. chlorhexidine and ampicillin) was evaluated to curtail EHEC-transmitted disease from ruminant sources. Chlorhexidine di-ampicillin is a novel group of uniform material based on organic salts (GUMBOS) with inherent in vitro antibacterial activity that comes from its parent antimicrobial ions, chlorhexidine and ampicillin. METHODS Antibacterial activities for chlorhexidine diacetate, sodium ampicillin, chlorhexidine di-ampicillin and stoichiometrically equivalent 1 : 2 chlorhexidine diacetate : sodium ampicillin were assessed using the serial 2-fold dilution method and time-kill studies against seven isolates of E. coli O157:H7 and one non-pathogenic E. coli 25922. Further studies to investigate synergistic interactions of reacted and stoichiometrically equivalent unreacted antimicrobial agents at MICs and possible mechanisms were also investigated. RESULTS Synergism and in vitro antibacterial activities against EHEC were observed in this study, which suggests chlorhexidine di-ampicillin could be a useful reagent in reducing EHEC transmission and minimizing EHEC-associated infections. Likewise, chlorhexidine di-ampicillin reduced HeLa cell toxicity as compared with chlorhexidine diacetate or the stoichiometric combination of antimicrobial agents. Further results suggest that the mechanisms of action of chlorhexidine di-ampicillin and chlorhexidine diacetate against E. coli O157:H7 are similar. CONCLUSIONS Reacting antimicrobial GUMBOS as indicated in this study may enhance the approach to current combination drug therapeutic strategies for EHEC disease control and prevention.
Should liver transplantation in patients with model for end‐stage liver disease scores ≤ 14 be avoided? A decision analysis approach

Studies have shown that liver transplantation offers no survival benefits to patients with Model for End‐Stage Liver Disease (MELD) scores ≤ 14 in comparison with remaining on the waitlist. The consensus of a 2003 transplant community national conference was that a minimum MELD score should be required for placement on the liver waitlist, but no minimum listing national policy was enacted at that time. We developed a Markov microsimulation model to compare results under the present US liver allocation policy with outcomes under a “Rule 14” policy of barring patients with a MELD score of ≤14 from the waitlist or transplantation. For probabilities in the microsimulation model, we used data on all adult patients (≥18 years) listed for or undergoing primary liver transplantation in the United States for chronic liver disease from 1/1/2003 through 12/31/2007 with follow‐up until 2/1/2008. The “Rule 14” policy gave a 3% improvement in overall patient survival over the present system at 1, 2, 3, and 4 years and predicted a 13% decrease in overall waitlist time for patients with MELD scores of 15 to 40. Patients with the greatest benefit from a “Rule 14” policy were those with MELD scores of 6 to 10, for whom a 17% survival advantage was predicted from waiting on the list versus undergoing transplantation. Our analysis supports changing the national liver allocation policy to not allow liver transplantation for patients with MELD ≤ 14. Liver Transpl 15:242–254, 2009. © 2009 AASLD.
Transgenic songbirds offer an opportunity to develop a genetic model for vocal learning

Zebra finches are widely used for studying the basic biology of vocal learning. The inability to introduce genetic modifications in these animals has substantially limited studies on the molecular biology of this behavior, however. We used an HIV-based lentivirus to produce germline transgenic zebra finches. The lentivirus encoded the GFP regulated by the human ubiquitin-C promoter [Lois C, Hong EJ, Pease S, Brown EJ, Baltimore D (2002) Science 295:868–872], which is active in a wide variety of cells. The virus was injected into the very early embryo (blastodisc stage) to target the primordial germline cells that later give rise to sperm and eggs. A total of 265 fertile eggs were injected with virus, and 35 hatched (13%); 23 of these potential founders (F0) were bred, and three (13%) produced germline transgenic hatchlings that expressed the GFP protein (F1). Two of these three founders (F0) have produced transgenic young at a rate of 12% and the third at a rate of 6%. Furthermore, two of the F1 generation transgenics have since reproduced, one having five offspring (all GFP positive) and the other four offsping (one GFP positive).
Shielding Voices: The Modulation of Binding Processes between Voice Features and Response Features by Task Representations

Vocal events offer not only semantic-linguistic content but also information about the identity and the emotional-motivational state of the speaker. Furthermore, most vocal events have implications for our actions and therefore include action-related features. But the relevance and irrelevance of vocal features varies from task to task. The present study investigates binding processes for perceptual and action-related features of spoken words and their modulation by the task representation of the listener. Participants reacted with two response keys to eight different words spoken by a male or a female voice (Experiment 1) or spoken by an angry or neutral male voice (Experiment 2). There were two instruction conditions: half of participants learned eight stimulus-response mappings by rote (SR), and half of participants applied a binary task rule (TR). In both experiments, SR instructed participants showed clear evidence for binding processes between voice and response features indicated by an interaction between the irrelevant voice feature and the response. By contrast, as indicated by a three-way interaction with instruction, no such binding was found in the TR instructed group. These results are suggestive of binding and shielding as two adaptive mechanisms that ensure successful communication and action in a dynamic social environment.
Feasibility of Interference Alignment in the Time-Frequency Domain

In this paper, we study the feasibility of the interference alignment (IA) scheme for the selective fading interference channel with time-frequency selective links. Unlike the frequency selective channel case, we show here that, for the scalar time-frequency (TF) selective underspread channels, there is no need to scale the bandwidth as the number of users. However, a constraint on the delay-Doppler spread of the channel itself is required. A physical interpretation of this condition in the time-frequency domain is provided and is shown to be easily satisfied in practical system. Our results are based on the polynomial channel decomposition that we derive for the TF channel with large signal duration and bandwidth.
Cross-Language Record Linkage using Word Embedding driven Metadata Similarity Measurement

Aiming to link the records that refer to the same entity across multiple databases in different languages, we address the mismatches of wordings between literal translations of metadata in source language and metadata in target language, which cannot be calculated by string-based measures. In this paper, we propose a method based on word embedding, which can capture the semantic similarity relationships among words. The effectiveness of this method is confirmed in linking the same records between Ukiyo-e (Japanese woodblock printing) databases in Japanese and English. This method could be applied to other languages since it makes little assumption about languages.
Optimal task scheduling policy in energy harvesting wireless sensor networks

Ambient energy harvesting for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is being pitched as a promising solution for long-lasting deployments in various WSN applications. However, the sensor nodes most often do not have enough energy to handle application, network and house-keeping tasks because amount of energy harvested highly varies spatially and temporally. Moreover the ambient source cannot be assumed to be continuously available. When harvested energy is in excess, it is desirable that the nodes take up higher loads. The nodes should switch to highly energy efficient schemes when the energy is not sufficient. Hence harvesting-aware scheduling of tasks is required. The two most important challenges for harvesting-aware scheduling are (a) to determine the amount of energy to be expended in a time slot, and (b) to utilize this energy for execution of tasks maximally. To increase energy utilization for task execution, we decompose application level tasks into subtasks, some of which can be executed concurrently. In this article, we propose a dynamic optimization model, based on Markov Decision Process (MDP) that takes into account priorities and deadlines of the tasks, and stored and harvested energy to derive an optimal scheduling policy. Since the complexity of the MDP is intractable in realtime, we propose a greedy scheduling policy. We compare its performance with the optimal policy.
AISeL ) All Sprouts Content Sprouts 11-1-2008 Mobile Payment Market and Research-Past , Present and Future

The mobile payment market is currently under transition with a history of numerous tried and failed solutions and a future of promising but yet uncertain possibilities with contactless RFID and other new potential technologies. At this point of the development we take a look at the current state of the mobile payment market, review prior literature on mobile payment services, analyze the different factors that impact the market, and give directions for future research on this still emerging field. To facilitate the analysis, we propose a framework of four contingency and five competitive factors, and organize the contemporary mobile payment research under the proposed framework.
An EPC class-1 generation-2 anti-collision protocol for RFID tag identification in augmented systems

RFID is one of the most pervasive technologies in contemporary societies. Modern RFID applications require efficient tag identification mechanisms to improve performance. Recently, a new approach has arisen to enhance the identification process in an RFID network. This new approach considers the inclusion of an additional device in the RFID network, which leads to an augmented RFID system. Up to date, the are only few proposals taking such approach into account, being the most interesting those that extend the interrogation zone of an RFID reader. However, the performance of such proposals has not been evaluated yet. In this paper, we review an augmented RFID system to evaluate its performance and study its advantages and limitations. Moreover, we design an anti-collision protocol for such system taking advantage of such features. Our proposed protocol is EPC Class-1 Generation-2 standard compliant. We evaluate an augmented RFID system along with our proposal in terms of identification delay to find that it is able to highly reduce such parameter, with gains of up to 40% when compared with a well known multi-reader scheme.
The Tangent Search Engine: Improved Similarity Metrics and Scalability for Math Formula Search

With the ever-increasing quantity and variety of data worldwide, the Web has become a rich repository of mathematical formulae. This necessitates the creation of robust and scalable systems for Mathematical Information Retrieval, where users search for mathematical information using individual formulae (query-by-expression) or a combination of keywords and formulae. Often, the pages that best satisfy users' information needs contain expressions that only approximately match the query formulae. For users trying to locate or re-find a specific expression, browse for similar formulae, or who are mathematical non-experts, the similarity of formulae depends more on the relative positions of symbols than on deep mathematical semantics. We propose the Maximum Subtree Similarity (MSS) metric for query-by-expression that produces intuitive rankings of formulae based on their appearance, as represented by the types and relative positions of symbols. Because it is too expensive to apply the metric against all formulae in large collections, we first retrieve expressions using an inverted index over tuples that encode relationships between pairs of symbols, ranking hits using the Dice coefficient. The top-k formulae are then re-ranked using MSS. Our approach obtains state-of-the-art performance on the NTCIR-11 Wikipedia formula retrieval benchmark and is efficient in terms of both index space and overall retrieval time. Retrieval systems for other graphical forms, including chemical diagrams, flowcharts, figures, and tables, may also benefit from adopting our approach.
Investigation of Linearity in the High Electric Field Region for SiGe HBTs Based on Volterra Series

In this paper, avalanche breakdown operation has been demonstrated to have a positive impact on RF linearity performance for silicon germanium (SiGe) heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) due to a nonlinear cancellation mechanism between a breakdown inductance and a base-collector capacitance according to the presented Volterra analysis results. As nonlinearity of breakdown inductance increases, linearity can be improved due to its contribution to nonlinear cancellation when variation of an avalanche multiplication factor (M-1) enlarges. In addition to collector current dependence on M-1, collector-base voltage dependence on M-1 is further taken into account to investigate linearity of SiGe HBTs. Linearity at breakdown can be characterized and presented here in a region no matter whether a multiplication factor increases or decreases. The presented analysis results can be beneficial to the reliability investigation for SiGe HBT linearity in the breakdown region.
Memory Efficient Loss Recovery for Hardware-based Transport in Datacenter

Limited by the small on-chip memory, hardware-based transport typically implements go-back-N loss recovery mechanism, which costs very few memory but is well-known to perform inferior even under small packet loss ratio. We present MELO, an efficient selective retransmission mechanism for hardware-based transport, which consumes only a constant small memory regardless of the number of concurrent connections. Specifically, MELO employs an architectural separation between data and meta data storage and uses a shared bits pool allocation mechanism to reduce meta data on-chip memory footprint. By only adding in average 23B extra on-chip states for each connection, MELO achieves up to 14.02x throughput while reduces 99% tail FCT by 3.11x compared with go-back-N under certain loss ratio.