Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Data Warehouse Design for Chinese Intelligent Question Answering System Based on Data Mining

According to the defects of current Chinese question answering system database, a set of scheme about data warehouse design based on data mining was put forward. An improved association rules algorithm based on keywords was applied to compute the correlation value between words in order to get the similarity of questions. After the similarity is calculated, the best answers could be extracted and the k-means clustering algorithm could be performed on the database. Experiments showed that the scheme had many merits such as intelligence, continuous self-renewing ability and improving answering executive efficiency etc.
Notice of RetractionApply data mining to predict teachers' position settlement: A case study of university

Data mining has attracted a great deal of attention in higher education in recent years, not only in student's management, but also teacher's management, such as individualized personnel training, prediction and comparison on students' achievement, online teaching, teaching effectiveness evaluation, and so on. However, the research and application of data mining technology to teachers' position settlement have not yet carried out. This paper utilizes the famous data mining software SPSS Clementine to two-step cluster analyze teachers' position settlement, and shows through an example. This paper can provide strong information support for administrators to set positions, thus deepen reformation.
How generalisable to community samples are clinical trial results for treatment of nicotine dependence: a comparison of common eligibility criteria with respondents of a large representative general population survey

Objective To examine the generalisability of findings from clinical trials of individuals with nicotine dependence to a large general population sample. Methods Eligibility criteria were drawn from typical criteria of clinical trials for nicotine dependence. The National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), a large national sample of the US population, was used to assess how many potentially eligible people would fulfil the eligibility criteria. NESARC interviewed more than 43 000 adults aged 18 years and older. We applied a standard set of eligibility criteria representative of smoking cessation clinical trials to all the 4962 adults with nicotine dependence in the past 12 months, and then to a subgroup of participants motivated to quit (n=4121). Results We found that approximately six out of 10 participants (65.89%) with nicotine dependence were excluded by at least one criterion. In the subgroup of nicotine-dependent participants motivated to quit, more than half (58.60%) were excluded by at least one criterion. For the overall sample, smoking 10 cigarettes per day or less and lack of motivation to quit were the two criteria leading to exclusion for the greatest percentage of individuals (32.02% and 17.60%, respectively). For the sample motivated to quit, smoking 10 cigarettes or fewer per day and current depression led most frequently to exclusion (33.79% and 15.71%, respectively). Conclusions Further studies and interventions should explore the efficacy of tobacco treatment interventions in a larger segment of the population, notably in the subpopulations of people with nicotine dependence who smoke fewer than 10 cigarettes per day or who have comorbid depression.
Identification of a Peptide-Pheromone that Enhances Listeria monocytogenes Escape from Host Cell Vacuoles

Listeria monocytogenes is a Gram-positive facultative intracellular bacterial pathogen that invades mammalian cells and escapes from membrane-bound vacuoles to replicate within the host cell cytosol. Gene products required for intracellular bacterial growth and bacterial spread to adjacent cells are regulated by a transcriptional activator known as PrfA. PrfA becomes activated following L. monocytogenes entry into host cells, however the signal that stimulates PrfA activation has not yet been defined. Here we provide evidence for L. monocytogenes secretion of a small peptide pheromone, pPplA, which enhances the escape of L. monocytogenes from host cell vacuoles and may facilitate PrfA activation. The pPplA pheromone is generated via the proteolytic processing of the PplA lipoprotein secretion signal peptide. While the PplA lipoprotein is dispensable for pathogenesis, bacteria lacking the pPplA pheromone are significantly attenuated for virulence in mice and have a reduced efficiency of bacterial escape from the vacuoles of nonprofessional phagocytic cells. Mutational activation of PrfA restores virulence and eliminates the need for pPplA-dependent signaling. Experimental evidence suggests that the pPplA peptide may help signal to L. monocytogenes its presence within the confines of the host cell vacuole, stimulating the expression of gene products that contribute to vacuole escape and facilitating PrfA activation to promote bacterial growth within the cytosol.
Multisensor data fusion for autonomous vehicle navigation in risky environments

This paper describes a multisensor data-fusion system for driving an autonomous earthwork vehicle operating in a sanitary landfill. The system acquires data from a set of ultrasonic sensors, a laser range finder, and several charge-coupled device cameras, and produces, as output, alarms that indicate potentially dangerous situations, e.g., the presence of fixed or mobile obstacles in the vehicle working area. The proposed system adds to the vehicle important functionalities such as avoiding terrain holes or down slopes or discriminating between heaps of waste to be compacted and other man-made obstacles. Data fusion allows the system's reliability to be increased and compensation to be made for the inaccuracies and limited operating ranges of individual sensors. Experimental results shows how the system functions both under normal operating conditions and in the presence of dangerous situations. Moreover, the performance of the system in bad environmental situations (e.g., rain, low lighting) have been evaluated.
Performing Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity Assays with Synergy TM HT ORAC Antioxidant Tests

Introduction The antioxidant capabilities of foods, cosmetics, supplements and pharmaceutical agents has become of particular interest. This is the result of the evidence demonstrating the relationship of reactive oxygen/nitrogen species (ROS) with aging and pathogenesis. [1,2]. Living organisms: use of a fuel (ATP) whose production results in the formation of toxic compounds, and requires that a balance be maintained between the oxidants and the antioxidants. ROS (reactive oxygen species) are generally held in check by a combination of antioxidant enzymes, proteins, and antioxidants provided by the diet. A breakdown or reduction in antioxidant capability has been associated with a number of chronic diseases. Conceivably, the ingestion of foods or supplements that contain antioxidant activity could provide some protection towards this affect.
The Nature of Real and Perceived Bias in Chilean Media

News consumers expect news outlets to be objective and balanced in their reports of events. However, there is a body of evidence of bias in the media caused by underlying political and socio-economic viewpoints. Previous studies have tried to classify the partiality of the media, sometimes giving a quantitative evaluation, but there is little reported on its nature. The vast amount of content in the social media enables us to quantify the inclination of the press to either side of the political spectrum. To describe such tendencies, we use tweets to automatically compute a news outlet's political and socio-economic orientation. We show that the media have a measurable bias, and illustrate this by showing the favoritism of Chilean media for the ruling political parties in this country. We also found that the nature of the bias is reflected in the vocabulary used and the entities mentioned by different news outlets. A survey conducted among news consumers confirms that media bias has an impact on the coverage of controversial topics and that this is perceivable by the general audience. Having a more accurate method to measure and characterize media bias will clarify to the readers where outlets stand within the socio-economic landscape, even when a self-declared position is stated. This will empower readers to better reflect on the content provided by their news outlets of choice.
Untreated Type 2 Diabetes and Its Complications Are Associated With Subcortical Infarctions

OBJECTIVE To investigate the association of type 2 diabetes with subcortical infarctions. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We investigated this association in subjects with type 2 diabetes (case subjects; n = 93) and without type 2 diabetes (control subjects; n = 186), matched by age, sex, and years of education. Participants were a subset of the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging (median age 79 years) who had undergone magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS The frequency of subcortical infarctions was 39% in case subjects and 29% in control subjects (odds ratio 1.59 [95% CI 0.91–2.75]). The association was stronger in case subjects without treatment (2.60 [1.11–6.08]) and in case subjects with diabetes-related complications (1.96 [1.02–3.74]) compared with control subjects. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that untreated type 2 diabetes and type 2 diabetes with complications are associated with subcortical infarctions.
Protein folding in the cell: competing models of chaperonin function

The long‐standing view that polypeptide chains newly synthesized inside cells fold spontaneously to their functional conformations in an energy‐ independent fashion derives from the observation that many pure denatured proteins will refold spontaneously in vitro when the denaturant is removed. This viewT is being challenged by the alternative proposal that in vivo many chains need to be helped to fohl correctly by preexisting proteins acting as molecular chaperones, some of which hydrolyse ATP. The need for molecular chaperones arises because the high concentrations of transiently interacting protein surfaces inside cells permit the formation of incorrect nonfunctional structures. The best‐studied family of molecular chaperones are called the chaperonins, the archetypal examples being the GroEL and GroES proteins of Escherichia coli. The chaperonins increase the yield of correctly refolded polypeptide chains, both by decreasing their propensity to aggregate with one another and by allowing polypeptides kinetic ally trapped in incorrect conformations to make fresh attempts to refold into the functional conformations. The mechanisms by which the chaperonins achieve these remarkable results are currently under debate. This review surveys competing models for chaperonin action, and emphasizes the importance when evaluating these models of considering the intracellular environment in which the chaperonins have evolved to function. —Ellis, R. J., Hartl, F. ‐U. Protein folding in the cell: competing models of chaperonin function. FASEB J. 10, 20‐26 (1996)
Cutaneous extranodal NK / T-cell lymphoma : a clinicopathologic study of five caucasian cases with array-based comparative genomic hybridization

RUNNING HEAD TITLE: CUTANEOUS EXTRANODAL NK/T-CELL LYMPHOMA WITH ARRAY-CGH Emilio Berti, Sebastiano Recalcati, Valentina Girgenti, Daniele Fanoni, Luigia Venegoni, Pamela Vezzoli. Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy; U.O. Dermatologia, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Dipartimento di Anestesiologia, Terapia Intensiva e Scienze Dermatologiche, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Sebastiano Recalcati, via Pace 9 20122 Milan, Italy Email: immunopatologiacutanea@unimi.it Phone number: +39-02-55035107 Fax: +39-02-50320784 SCIENTIFIC CATEGORY: LYMPHOID NEOPLASIA Blood First Edition Paper, prepublished online April 19, 2010; DOI 10.1182/blood-2009-11-252957
Inflammatory Biomarkers in Ischemic Heart Disease

The importance of inflammation in the pathogenesis of IHD, such as, acute myocardial infarct (AMI) and coronary artery disease (CAD), has long been established. A large body of evidence suggests that inflammation plays a key role in CVD, however, the mechanisms in the various stages of the pathological process is not completely understood (Carden and Granger, 2000). Inflammation is a complex of defensive mechanisms reacting to the entry of harmful agents into the organism or cells, in order to eliminate or repair damaged cells or tissue and to restore homeostasis. This broad definition indicates that inflammation does not only accompany infectious diseases, but also other conditions causing cell, tissue or organ damage.
Endogenous and exogenous insulin responses in patients with cystic fibrosis.

Eight male patients with cystic fibrosis, normal nutrition, normal physical activity, relatively mild pulmonary disease, no evidence of liver disease and no family history of diabetes mellitus underwent a series of carbohydrate tolerance tests in comparison with a group of 18 normal male subjects matched for age and body weight. Compared with the normal group, the patients with cystic fibrosis had significantly impaired glucose tolerance and significantly lower serum immunoreactive insulin levels during oral and intravenous glucose tolerance tests; serum insulin levels were also significantly lower after intravenous administration of tolbutamide in the patients with cystic fibrosis, but the reduction in blood glucose concentration in each group was not significantly different. During an intravenous insulin test, the decrease in blood glucose concentration was the same for both groups, in spite of significantly lower serum insulin levels in the patients with cystic fibrosis . The percentage fall in plasma free fatty acids was at least as great in the patients with cystic fibrosis as in normals during the test procedures; while a significant decrease in plasma alpha-amino nitrogen after intravenously administered insulin was seen only in the patients with cystic fibrosis. These studies suggest that the carbohydrate intolerance of cystic fibrosis is consequent upon an impaired insulin response to glucose, but that this insulin deficiency is partly compensated for by increased peripheral tissue sensitivity to insulin.
Dynamics modelling of a Stewart-based hybrid parallel robot

Matrix relations for kinematics and dynamics analysis of a spatial two-module Stewart-based hybrid parallel robot are established in this paper. Knowing the relative motions of two moving platforms, the inverse dynamics problem is solved based on a set of recursive explicit equations. Finally, compact results and graphs of simulation for the input forces and powers of all actuators are obtained.
ΔIK17 Antigen: A Possible Early Marker of Cancer Development

ΔIK17 is a 44 kD molecule located on the surface of T, B and NK cells in normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) (1). The portion of PBMC expressing ΔIK17 was determined in 52 patients with benign breast diseases, 182 patients with breast malignancies and 132 healthy individuals. The percentage of ΔIK17'-positive cells was significantly lower in the early stages (I-IIA) of malignancy compared to that of healthy donors. However, the percentage of PBMC expressing ΔIK17 tended to increase as the stage of the disease advanced. ΔIK17 seems to be the only antigen among the other cellular markers tested (CD2, CD4, CD8, HLA-DR) with a statistically significant correlation between a low percentage of positive cells and the early stages of malignancy and between a high expression and advanced disease. Its potential use as a tumor marker in breast cancer is discussed here.
Biophysical Factors, Land Use, and Species Viability in and around Nature Reserves

Abstract: Many nature reserves are located in landscapes with extreme biophysical conditions. We examined the effects of interactions between biophysical factors and land use on bird population viability inside and outside of Yellowstone National Park. Our hypotheses were as follows: (1) biophysical factors constrain bird species richness and bird reproduction at higher elevations; (2) nature reserves are located at higher elevations, whereas private lands and more intense land use occur mostly at lower elevations with more mild climates and fertile soils; and (3) intense land use at lower elevations favors nest predators and brood parasites and thereby reduces reproductive output for some bird species. We used simulation models to evaluate whether favorable habitats outside reserves are population source areas and whether intense land use can convert these habitats to population sinks and reduce population viability within reserves. Bird species richness and abundance were high in small hotspots in productive, low‐elevation habitats. Length of breeding season—and opportunity for renesting—was greatest at the lowest elevations for both American Robins ( Turdus migratorius) and Yellow Warblers ( Dendroica petechia). Nature reserves were higher in elevation than private lands, so hotspots for bird richness and abundance occurred primarily on or near private lands, where rural residential development was concentrated. Brown‐headed Cowbirds ( Molothrus ater) were significantly more abundant near rural homes, but nests of American Robins were not parasitized and their nest success did not differ with home density. Nests of Yellow Warblers were commonly parasitized by cowbirds, and their nest success was significantly lower near rural homes. Estimated intrinsic population growth ( λ) for American Robins suggested that low‐elevation hotspots were population source areas for this species. Estimated λ for the Yellow Warbler suggested that the entire study area was a population sink, likely due to the effects of intense land use at lower elevations and climate constraints at higher elevations. Removing the effect of land use from the simulations revealed that high‐elevation hotspots were population sinks, whereas low‐elevation hotspots were source areas. Our results are consistent with the possibility that bird‐population source areas outside nature reserves can be converted to population sinks by intense human use, thereby reducing the viability of subpopulations within reserves.
Unsupervised object of interest discovery in multi-view video sequence

This paper presents a novel algorithm in unsupervised object of interest discovery for multi-view video sequences. We classify a multi-view video sequence based on the degree of movement in a video sequence. In a video sequence with movement, we first group video frames along and across views as a group of picture (GOP). Key points or feature vectors representing textures existing in video frames in GOP are extracted using Scale-Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT). Key points are clustered using K-mean algorithm. Visual words are assigned to all key points based on their clusters. Patches represented small areas with textures are generated using the Maximally Stable Extremal Regions (MSER) operator. One patch can contain more than one key point, which leads to more than one visual word. Therefore, the patch can be represented by different visual words in different degrees. Motion detection algorithm is used to determine movement regions in video frames. Patches in the movement regions have higher likelihoods to be parts of the object of interest. With the developed spatial modeling and appearance modeling as well as the motion detection, we compute the likelihood which patches will belong to the object of interest. The group of patches with high likelihoods is clustered and indicated as the object of interest. When there are no or not significant movement, we assume that the human subjects are the most important objects in video sequences. A face detection algorithm is used to determine the location of the object of interest. When there are no human subjects in video sequences, the frequencies of visual words occurring in video sequences are used to identify the object of interest. This can be done because patches, which will be parts of the objects of interest, can be derived from the visual words. The experimental results in various types of multi-view video sequences show that our proposed algorithm can discover the objects of interest in multi-view video sequences correctly over 80% by average.
A synthetic glucagon-like peptide-1 analog with improved plasma stability.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is the most potent endogenous insulin-stimulating hormone. In the present study the plasma stability and biological activity of a GLP-1 analog, [Ser]GLP-1(7-36)amide, in which the second N-terminal amino acid alanine was replaced by serine, was evaluated in vitro and in vivo. Incubation of GLP-1 with human or rat plasma resulted in degradation of native GLP-1(7-36)amide to GLP-1(9-36)amide, while [Ser]GLP-1(7-36)amide was not significantly degraded by plasma enzymes. Using glucose-responsive HIT-T15 cells, [Ser]GLP-1(7-36)amide showed strong insulinotropic activity, which was inhibited by the specific GLP-1 receptor antagonist exendin-4(9-39)amide. Simultaneous i.v. injection of [Ser]GLP-1(7-36)amide and glucose in rats induced a twofold higher increase in plasma insulin levels than unmodified GLP-1(7-36)amide with glucose and a fivefold higher increase than glucose alone. [Ser]GLP-1(7-36)amide induced a 1.5-fold higher increase in plasma insulin than GLP-1(7-36)amide when given 1 h before i.v. application of glucose. The insulinotropic effect of [Ser]GLP-1(7-36)amide was suppressed by i.v. application of exendin-4(9-39)amide. The present data demonstrate that replacement of the second N-terminal amino acid alanine by serine improves the plasma stability of GLP-1(7-36)amide. The insulinotropic action in vitro and in vivo was not impaired significantly by this modification.
Autonomous Collaborative Mobile Manipulators: State of the Art

In order to extend the workspace of manipu- lators, the use of mobile platforms represents a good solu- tion. This is the idea behind the concept of Mobile Manip- ulator (MM). In spite of their progresses, MMs have limita- tions, that can concern control or mechatronic design, the former being often covered in literature. Up to now, MMs are limited to specific applications and not widely spread in industry. One of the possible breakouts of these machines into industrial applications can be the collaborative way of performing some tasks. In this paper, a literature overview of different researches on collaborative MMs is presented to help understand the advantages of these machines, their background, the ongo- ing developments and their limits. A classification of these systems is presented along with definitions of each of their mechatronics components. The paper includes a focus on experimental architectures of MMs and a review of the lim- its of the current state of the art and finishes with possible enhancements and research topics that could be considered for future projects. This work will help in the project of designing and controlling new collaborative MMs for in- dustrial and service applications.