Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Disambiguation of Verbal Shifters

Negation is an important contextual phenomenon that needs to be addressed in sentiment analysis. Next to common negation function words, such as not or none , there is also a considerably large class of negation content words, also referred to as shifters , such as the verbs diminish , reduce or reverse . However, many of these shifters are ambiguous. For instance, spoil as in spoil your chance reverses the polarity of the positive polar expression chance while in spoil your loved ones , no negation takes place. We present a supervised learning approach to disambiguating verbal shifters. Our approach takes into consideration various features, particularly generalization features.
Do land transfers to international investors contribute to employment generation and local food security? : Evidence from Oromia Region, Ethiopia

Purpose - – Like many countries in the developing world, Ethiopia has leased out a huge amount of land to foreign investors. However, empirical evidence on the contribution of international investments to employment generation and food security is limited. The purpose of this paper is to examine the contribution of large-scale farms to local-level food security in Bako Tibe District, Oromia Region. Design/methodology/approach - – Primary data were collected from 200 randomly selected households from two purposefully selected villages in the district. Secondary data were collected from government offices and the literature. Propensity score matching was used to match households based on observable characteristics. Using the World Food Programme (WFP) approach, the food consumption score (FCS) of households was calculated. Finally, the Average Treatment effect for the Treated was determined. Findings - – Findings indicate that foreign land deals increase the odds of households falling into food insecurity and that the employment opportunities are both temporal and marginal. Furthermore, these land deals result in a decline of households’ FCS and thus have a negative effect on households’ food security. Research limitations/implications - – The result is based on a case study which is not generalizable to the whole of Ethiopia. Practical implications - – The result implies that future endeavours should resort to substantial changes in the principles of investment as well as the design and enforcement of contracts on land transfers so that international investors can commit to objectives beyond private profit. Originality/value - – It examines the effect of large-scale land transfers commonly termed as land grabbing on local food security. The paper makes an important contribution to the current policy debates regarding land grabbing in Ethiopia as research about the contribution of land deals to the food security is limited.
Task Recommendation in Crowdsourcing Platforms

Task distribution platforms, such as micro-task markets, project assignment portals, and job search engines, support the assignment of tasks to workers. Public crowdsourcing platforms support the assignment of tasks in micro-task markets to help task requesters to complete their tasks and allow workers to earn money. Enterprise crowdsourcing platforms provide a marketplace within enterprises for the internal placement of tasks from employers to employees. Most of both types of task distribution platforms rely on the workers' selection capabilities or provide simple filtering steps to reduce the number of tasks a worker can choose from. This self-selection mechanism unfortunately allows for tasks to be performed by under- or over-qualified workers. Supporting the workers by introducing a task recommender system helps to solve such deficits of existing task distributions. In this thesis, the requirements towards task recommendation in task distribution platforms are gathered with a focus on the worker's perspective, the design of appropriate assignment strategies is described, and innovative methods to recommend tasks based on their textual descriptions are provided. Different viewpoints are taken into account by analyzing the domains of micro-tasks, project assignments, and job postings. The requirements of enterprise crowdsourcing platforms are compiled based on the literature and a qualitative study, providing a conceptual design of task assignment strategies. The demands of workers and their perception of task similarity on public crowdsourcing platforms are identified, leading to the design and implementation of additional methods to determine the similarity of micro-tasks. The textual descriptions of micro-tasks, projects, and job postings are analyzed in order to provide innovative methods for task recommendation in these domains.
Cell penetrating thiazole peptides inhibit c-MYC expression via site-specific targeting of c-MYC G-quadruplex

Abstract The structural differences among different G-quadruplexes provide an opportunity for site-specific targeting of a particular G-quadruplex structure. However, majority of G-quadruplex ligands described thus far show little selectivity among different G-quadruplexes. In this work, we delineate the design and synthesis of a crescent-shaped thiazole peptide that preferentially stabilizes c-MYC quadruplex over other promoter G-quadruplexes and inhibits c-MYC oncogene expression. Biophysical analysis such as Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) melting and fluorescence spectroscopy show that the thiazole peptide TH3 can selectively interact with the c-MYC G-quadruplex over other investigated G-quadruplexes and duplex DNA. NMR spectroscopy reveals that peptide TH3 binds to the terminal G-quartets and capping regions present in the 5′- and 3′-ends of c-MYC G-quadruplex with a 2:1 stoichiometry; whereas structurally related distamycin A is reported to interact with quadruplex structures via groove binding and end stacking modes with 4:1 stoichiometry. Importantly, qRT-PCR, western blot and dual luciferase reporter assay show that TH3 downregulates c-MYC expression by stabilizing the c-MYC G-quadruplex in cancer cells. Moreover, TH3 localizes within the nucleus of cancer cells and exhibits antiproliferative activities by inducing S phase cell cycle arrest and apoptosis.
Characterisation of the rhizoremediation of petroleum-contaminated soil: effect of different influencing factors

Abstract. Pilot experiments were conducted to analyse the effect of different environmental factors on the rhizoremediation of petroleum-contaminated soil. Different plant species (cotton, ryegrass, tall fescue and alfalfa), the addition of fertilizer, different concentrations of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) in the soil, bioaugmentation with effective microbial agents (EMA) and plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and remediation time were tested as influencing factors during the bioremediation process of TPH. The results show that the remediation process can be enhanced by different plant species. The order of effectiveness of the plants was the following: tall fescue > ryegrass > alfalfa > cotton. The degradation rate of TPH increased with increased fertilizer addition, and a moderate urea level of 20 g N (Nitrogen)/m2 was best for both plant growth and TPH remediation. A high TPH content is toxic to plant growth and inhibits the degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons. The results showed that a 5% TPH content gave the best degradation in soil planted with ryegrass. Bioaugmentation with different bacteria and PGPR yielded the following results for TPH degradation: cotton+EMA+PGPR > cotton+EMA > cotton+PGPR > cotton > control. Rapid degradation of TPH was found at the initial period of remediation caused by the activity of microorganisms. A continuous increase of degradation rate was found during the 30–90 days period followed by a slow increase during the 90–150 days period. These results suggest that rhizoremediation can be enhanced with the proper control of different influencing factors that affect both plant growth and microbial activity in the rhizosphere environment.
Template-Free Synthesis of Zinc Oxide Hollow Microspheres in Aqueous Solution at Low Temperature

A novel template-free hydrothermal method is developed to prepare large-scale ZnO hollow microspheres. The key strategy for the successful realization is that we employ a high concentration of trisodium citrate to control the nucleation and growth rate of ZnO crystal forming microspheres with core/shell structures and the proper pH of an alkaline solution to remove the cores generating hollow microspheres. The morphology, structure, and composition of the microspheres have been investigated with field-emission scanning electron microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy for the growth mechanism. A series of controlled experiments have also been carried out to better understand the formation mechanism of ZnO hollow microspheres and the function of reactants used in the experiments. The infrared absorption spectra indicate that annealing can lead to the decomposition of impurity groups in the as-prepared sample. Both room-temperature Raman and photoluminescence results demonstrate that the annealed ZnO microspheres are of good crystalline wurtzite structure with high optical quality.
A Multi-layer Annotated Corpus of Argumentative Text: From Argument Schemes to Discourse Relations

We present a multi-layer annotated corpus of 112 argumentative microtexts encompassing not only argument structure and discourse relations (Stede et al., 2016), but also argument schemes — the inferential relations linking premises to claims. We propose a set of guidelines for the annotation of argument schemes both for support and attack relations, and a new user-friendly annotation tool. The multi-layer annotated corpus allows us to conduct an initial study of dependencies between discourse relations (according to Rhetorical Structure Theory (Mann and Thompson, 1988)) and argument schemes. Our main contribution is that of offering the ﬁrst resource for the combined study of (argumentative) discourse relations and inferential moves.
Positive Shifts : HIV and Changes in Contraceptive Practices among Young Women in Malawi

A number of clinic-based studies have examined changes in condom and hormonal contraceptive use following HIV testing. However, clinic populations are subject to a number of limitations that may affect the validity of these findings. We use eight waves of data from the Tsogolo la Thanzi study in rural Malawi to examine changes in young women’s use of condoms, modern contraceptives, and abstinence following positive and negative HIV tests, with a consideration for women’s prior perceived HIV status. Fixed effects models show that following a surprise HIV positive result, women increase their condom use. Following a HIV negative result (whether a surprise or a confirmation of prior perception), women reduce their use of modern contraceptives, and following a surprise negative result increase their use of abstinence. We reflect on the implications of these findings for the integration of HIV and family planning programs and the expansion of HIV testing in high prevalence settings. Prepared for presentation at the 2014 Meetings of the Population Association of America Please do not cite without permission from the authors
Total Ionizing Dose Effects on TiN/Ti/HfO2/TiN Resistive Random Access Memory Studied via Electrically Detected Magnetic Resonance

We observe a gamma-irradiation-induced change in electrically detected magnetic resonance (EDMR) in TiN/Ti/HfO2/TiN resistive random access memory (RRAM). EDMR measurements exclusively detect electrically active defects, which are directly involved in the transport mechanisms within these devices. The EDMR response has an isotropic g value of 2.001 ± 0.0003. The response increases dramatically with increased gamma irradiation. We tentatively associate this EDMR response with spin-dependent trap-assisted tunneling events at O2− centers coupled to hafnium ions. Although our study cannot fully identify the role of these defects in electronic transport, the study does unambiguously identify changes in transport defects caused by the ionizing radiation on defects involved in electronic transport in RRAM devices. This paper also contributes more broadly to the RRAM field by providing direct, though incomplete, information about atomic scale defects involved in electronic transport in leading RRAM systems.
Xenon Induces Late Cardiac Preconditioning In Vivo: A Role for Cyclooxygenase 2?

BACKGROUND:Xenon induces early myocardial preconditioning of the rat heart in vivo, but whether xenon induces late cardioprotection is not known. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) has been shown to be an important mediator in the signal transduction of myocardial ischemic late preconditioning (i-LPC). We investigated whether xenon induces late preconditioning (Xe-LPC) and whether COX-2 activity and/or expression are involved in mediating this effect. METHODS:Anesthetized male Wistar rats were instrumented with a coronary artery occluder. After 7 d of recovery, animals were randomized to 1 of 5 groups each containing 8 animals. The i-LPC group underwent 5 min of coronary occlusion to induce i-LPC. Xe-LPC was achieved by administration of xenon (70 volume%) for 15 min. Additional rats were pretreated with the COX-2 inhibitor NS-398 (5 mg kg−1 body weight i.p.) with and without Xe-LPC. A group of sham operated animals not undergoing i-LPC or Xe-LPC served as controls (Con). After 24 h, all animals were anesthetized and underwent 25 min of myocardial ischemia induced by tightening of the coronary artery occluder followed by 2 h of reperfusion. Myocardial infarct size was assessed by triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining. In additional experiments, hearts were excised at different time points after preconditioning to investigate COX-2 mRNA and protein expression by polymerase chain reaction and infrared Western blot, respectively. RESULTS:Both i-LPC and Xe-LPC reduced myocardial infarct size (% of the area at risk) compared with Con (i-LPC: 29 ± 7%; Xe-LPC 31 ± 8%, both P < 0.05 vs Con 64 ± 6%). NS-398 abolished the cardioprotective effect of Xe-LPC (61 ± 6%, P < 0.05 vs Xe-LPC). COX-2 mRNA and protein expression was only increased in the i-LPC group, but not in the Xe-LPC group. CONCLUSION:Xenon induces late myocardial preconditioning that is abolished by functional blockade of COX-2 activity. In contrast to i-LPC, Xe-LPC did not lead to an increased expression of COX-2 mRNA and protein. These data suggest differences in COX-2 regulation in i-LPC and Xe-LPC.
Performance evaluation of strain field measurement by digital image correlation using HEVC compressed ultra-high speed video sequences

The tremendous growth of imaging applications for mechanical engineering increases the amount of image and video data used to capture the microstructural characteristics or mechanical behavior of materials as a sequence of frames. In this paper, we evaluate the performance of the new state-of-the-art High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard to compress efficiently video sequences of materials under tensile testing captured with ultra-high speed camera. Different lossless and lossy coding modes are considered and the compression ratios as well as reconstructed video quality are studied. Preliminary simulation results show that HEVC offers high coding efficiency and excellent reconstructed video quality expressed in terms of PSNR as well as SSIM while preserving data accuracy for the prediction of material tensile behavior at high loading speed. We also propose a discussion on the consequences of HEVC compression on image content analysis. We show that material strain's measurements are not affected by HEVC compression in a significant way.
An echo to Choosing Wisely® in Switzerland

Background Inspired by the US Choosing Wisely®, in 2016 the Swiss Society of General Internal Medicine released a list of five treatments or diagnostic tests used in the hospital and considered unnecessary based on not improving patient care and adding to health care costs. These “Smarter Medicine” recommendations were implemented in the Department of Internal Medicine, Uster Hospital, in August 2016. They were supported by lectures and weekly email communications. We analyzed the number of blood draws before and after implementation of the recommendation aimed at reducing blood tests. Methods This retrospective analysis was conducted in the Department of Internal Medicine, Uster Hospital, Canton of Zurich, Switzerland. Patients hospitalized in the 3 months before and after implementation were analyzed. Results A total of 2023 hospitalizations were analyzed. There was a significant decrease in the number of blood draws after introduction of the recommendation: before implementation, the median number of blood draws per patient was 4 (interquartile range [IQR], 2–7); after implementation, the median was 4 (IQR, 2–6; P = 0.002). Indeed, since 46% of the patients in the first group had more than four blood tests, this ratio decreased to 39% after implementation. Discussion Inappropriate blood draws may lead to anemia, patient discomfort and false-positive results. The simple and low-cost interventions used to implement “Smarter Medicine” have changed physician behavior by reducing the number of blood orders. These results are promising. Whether such recommendations will impact patient and clinical outcomes remains unknown; hence, further studies are needed to clarify this issue.
Prenatal maternal stress induces visceral hypersensitivity of adult rat offspring through activation of cystathionine-β-synthase signaling in primary sensory neurons

Irritable bowel syndrome is a disorder of unknown etiology characterized by widespread, chronic abdominal pain associated with altered bowel movements. Increasing amounts of evidence indicate that stressors presented during gestational periods could have long-term effects on the offspring’s tissue structure and function, which may predispose to gastrointestinal diseases. The aim of the present study is to determine whether prenatal maternal stressis a adverse factor affecting gastrointestinal sensitivity and to investigate possible mechanisms underlying prenatal maternal stress-induced visceral hypersensitivity in adult offspring. Prenatal maternal stress was induced in pregnant Sprague–Dawley rats by exposure to heterotypic intermitent stress from gestational day 7 to delivery. Prenatal maternal stress significantly increased visceromotor response to colorectal distention in adult offspring from the age of 6 weeks to 10 weeks. Prenatal maternal stress also enhanced neuronal excitability including depolarization of resting membrane potentials, reduction in rheobase, and an increase in the number of action potentials evoked by 2× and 3× rheobase current stimultion of colon-specific dorsal root ganglion neurons. Prenatal maternal stress remarkably enhanced expression of cystathionine-β-synthase and Nav1.7 in T13-L2 thoracolumbar dorsal root ganglions both at protein and mRNA levels. Intraperitoneal injection of aminooxyacetic acid, an inhibitor of cystathionine-β-synthase, attenuated prenatal maternal stress-induced visceral hypersensitivity in a dose-dependent manner. A consecutive seven-day administration of aminooxyacetic acid reversed the hyperexcitability of colon-specific dorsal root ganglion neurons and markedly reduced Nav1.7 expression. These results indicate that the presence of multiple psychophysical stressors during pregnancy is associated with visceral hypersensitivity in offspring, which is likely mediated by an upregualtion of cystathionine-β-synthase and Nav1.7 expression. Prenatal maternal stress might be a significant contributor to irritable bowel syndrome, and cystathionine-β-synthase might be a potential target for treatment for chronic visceral hypersensitivity in patients with irritable bowel syndrome.
Galectin-3 interacts with the cell-surface glycoprotein CD146 (MCAM, MUC18) and induces secretion of metastasis-promoting cytokines from vascular endothelial cells

The galactoside-binding protein galectin-3 is increasingly recognized as an important player in cancer development, progression, and metastasis via its interactions with various galactoside-terminated glycans. We have shown previously that circulating galectin-3, which is increased up to 30-fold in cancer patients, promotes blood-borne metastasis in an animal cancer model. This effect is partly attributable to the interaction of galectin-3 with unknown receptor(s) on vascular endothelial cells and causes endothelial secretion of several metastasis-promoting cytokines. Here we sought to identify the galectin-3-binding molecule(s) on the endothelial cell surface responsible for the galectin-3-mediated cytokine secretion. Using two different galectin-3 affinity purification processes, we extracted four cell membrane glycoproteins, CD146/melanoma cell adhesion molecule (MCAM)/MUC18, CD31/platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (PECAM-1), CD144/VE-cadherin, and CD106/Endoglin, from vascular endothelial cells. CD146 was the major galectin-3-binding ligand and strongly co-localized with galectin-3 on endothelial cell surfaces treated with exogenous galectin-3. Moreover, galectin-3 bound to N-linked glycans on CD146 and induced CD146 dimerization and subsequent activation of AKT signaling. siRNA-mediated suppression of CD146 expression completely abolished the galectin-3-induced secretion of IL-6 and G-CSF cytokines from the endothelial cells. Thus, CD146/MCAM is the functional galectin-3-binding ligand on endothelial cell surfaces responsible for galectin-3-induced secretion of metastasis-promoting cytokines. We conclude that CD146/MCAM interactions with circulating galectin-3 may have an important influence on cancer progression and metastasis.
Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli–blood group A interactions intensify diarrheal severity

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) infections are highly prevalent in developing countries, where clinical presentations range from asymptomatic colonization to severe cholera-like illness. The molecular basis for these varied presentations, which may involve strain-specific virulence features as well as host factors, has not been elucidated. We demonstrate that, when challenged with ETEC strain H10407, originally isolated from a case of cholera-like illness, blood group A human volunteers developed severe diarrhea more frequently than individuals from other blood groups. Interestingly, a diverse population of ETEC strains, including H10407, secrete the EtpA adhesin molecule. As many bacterial adhesins also agglutinate red blood cells, we combined the use of glycan arrays, biolayer inferometry, and noncanonical amino acid labeling with hemagglutination studies to demonstrate that EtpA is a dominant ETEC blood group A–specific lectin/hemagglutinin. Importantly, we have also shown that EtpA interacts specifically with glycans expressed on intestinal epithelial cells from blood group A individuals and that EtpA-mediated bacterial-host interactions accelerate bacterial adhesion and effective delivery of both the heat-labile and heat-stable toxins of ETEC. Collectively, these data provide additional insight into the complex molecular basis of severe ETEC diarrheal illness that may inform rational design of vaccines to protect those at highest risk.
Retrofitting Word Representations for Unsupervised Sense Aware Word Similarities

Standard word embeddings lack the possibility to distinguish senses of a word by projecting them to exactly one vector. This has a negative effect particularly when computing similarity scores between words using standard vector-based similarity measures such as cosine similarity. We argue that minor senses play an important role in word similarity computations, hence we use an unsupervised sense inventory resource to retroﬁt monolingual word embeddings, producing sense-aware embeddings. Using retroﬁtted sense-aware embeddings, we show improved word similarity and relatedness results on multiple word embeddings and multiple established word similarity tasks, sometimes up to an impressive margin of +0 . 15 Spearman correlation score.