Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multi-Paradigm and Multi-Lingual Information Extraction as Support for Medical Web Labelling Authorities

Until recently, quality labelling of medical web content has been a pre-dominantly manual activity. However, the advances in automated text processing opened the way to computerised support of this activity. The core enabling technology is information extraction (IE). However, the heterogeneity of websites offering medical content imposes particular requirements on the IE techniques to be applied. In the paper we discuss these requirements and describe a multi-paradigm approach to IE addressing them. Experiments on multi-lingual data are reported. The research has been carried out within the EU MedIEQ project.
Immunolocalization of Fascin, an Actin‐Bundling Protein and Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein in Human Astrocytoma Cells

Fascin is a 55‐kDa globular protein that functions to organize filamentous‐actin into parallel bundles. A role for fascin in cell migration has led to its study in many tumor types. In this report, we investigate fascin in astrocytomas. We show that fascin is expressed in astrocytes and in a panel of human astrocytoma cell lines. Immunofluorescence analysis demonstrates that fascin and the intermediate filament protein, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), are both expressed in the perinuclear region and within cytoplasmic processes of astrocytes and astrocytoma cells. Amino acid residues within the NH2 terminus of GFAP can undergo phosphorylation; these modifications regulate intermediate filament disassembly and occur during cytokinesis. We show that fascin and specific phosphorylated species of GFAP colocalize within dividing cells. Finally, we demonstrate that fascin co‐immunoprecipitates with GFAP and that immunocomplex formation is preferential for GFAP phosphorylated at serine residues 8 and 13. These data show that fascin and GFAP are immunolocalized regionally within cells and tumors of astrocytic origin and suggest that their binding may occur during dynamic reorganization of intermediate filaments.
Occurrence and potential activity of denitrifiers and methanogens in groundwater at 140 m depth in Pliocene diatomaceous mudstone of northern Japan.

Anaerobic microbial activity has a major influence on the subsurface environment. We investigated the denitrification and methanogenesis in anoxic groundwater at a depth of 140 m in two boreholes drilled in a sedimentary geological setting, where the redox potential fluctuated. The average maximum potential denitrification rates, measured under anaerobic conditions in the two boreholes using an (15) N tracer, were 0.060 and 0.085 nmol (30) N2 mL(-1) h(-1) . The deduced NirS amino acid sequences obtained from in situ samples were similar to those of isolates belonging to the α-, β-, and γ-Proteobacteria, and the Firmicutes (72-100% similarity). Based on the nirS gene, the same operational taxonomic unit dominated incubated samples from each borehole. Methanogenesis candidates were detected by 16S rRNA gene analysis, but no sequence was detected using primers for the functional methanogenesis gene mcrA. Although the stable isotope signatures suggested that some of the dissolved methane was of biogenic origin, no potential for methane production was evident during the incubations. The groundwater at 140 m depth did not contain oxygen, had an Eh ranging from -144 to 6.8 mV, and was found to be a potential field for denitrification.
Multiagent Learning of Coordination in Loosely Coupled Multiagent Systems

Multiagent learning (MAL) is a promising technique for agents to learn efficient coordinated behaviors in multiagent systems (MASs). In MAL, concurrent multiple distributed learning processes can make the learning environment nonstationary for each individual learner. Developing an efficient learning approach to coordinate agents' behaviors in this dynamic environment is a difficult problem, especially when agents do not know the domain structure and have only local observability of the environment. In this paper, a coordinated MAL approach is proposed to enable agents to learn efficient coordinated behaviors by exploiting agent independence in loosely coupled MASs. The main feature of the proposed approach is to explicitly quantify and dynamically adapt agent independence during learning so that agents can make a trade-off between a single-agent learning process and a coordinated learning process for an efficient decision making. The proposed approach is employed to solve two-robot navigation problems in different scales of domains. Experimental results show that agents using the proposed approach can learn to act in concert or independently in different areas of the environment, which results in great computational savings and near optimal performance.
Reflections on the first Joint European MA on Comparative European Social Studies (MA CESS) Een terugblik op de MA Comparative European Social Studies: de eerste ‘joint master’ op dit terrein

The establishment of MA CESS 10 years ago (1994–95) by higher education academics from different European countries and scholarly traditions has also highlighted the role of comparative social research in the social professions in higher education. Whilst it is an established programme in terms of longevity, this short paper reflects upon the gradual development of MA CESS which occurred without losing sight of the ambition to search for solutions to social problems in comparative, intercultural ways and as experienced by social professionals in Europe.
In vitro evaluation of valproic acid as an inhibitor of human cytochrome P450 isoforms: preferential inhibition of cytochrome P450 2C9 (CYP2C9).

AIMS To evaluate the potency and specificity of valproic acid as an inhibitor of the activity of different human CYP isoforms in liver microsomes. METHODS Using pooled human liver microsomes, the effects of valproic acid on seven CYP isoform specific marker reactions were measured: phenacetin O-deethylase (CYP1A2), coumarin 7-hydroxylase (CYP2A6), tolbutamide hydroxylase (CYP2C9), S-mephenytoin 4'-hydroxylase (CYP2C19), dextromethorphan O-demethylase (CYP2D6), chlorzoxazone 6-hydroxylase (CYP2E1) and midazolam 1'-hydroxylase (CYP3A4). RESULTS Valproic acid competitively inhibited CYP2C9 activity with a Ki value of 600 microM. In addition, valproic acid slightly inhibited CYP2C19 activity (Ki = 8553 microM, mixed inhibition) and CYP3A4 activity (Ki = 7975 microM, competitive inhibition). The inhibition of CYP2A6 activity by valproic acid was time-, concentration- and NADPH-dependent (KI = 9150 microM, Kinact=0.048 min(-1)), consistent with mechanism-based inhibition of CYP2A6. However, minimal inhibition of CYP1A2, CYP2D6 and CYP2E1 activities was observed. CONCLUSIONS Valproic acid inhibits the activity of CYP2C9 at clinically relevant concentrations in human liver microsomes. Inhibition of CYP2C9 can explain some of the effects of valproic acid on the pharmacokinetics of other drugs, such as phenytoin. Co-administration of high doses of valproic acid with drugs that are primarily metabolized by CYP2C9 may result in significant drug interactions.
Cover crop root contributions to soil carbon in a no‐till corn bioenergy cropping system

Crop residues are potential biofuel feedstocks, but residue removal may reduce soil carbon (C). The inclusion of a cover crop in a corn bioenergy system could provide additional biomass, mitigating the negative effects of residue removal by adding to stable soil C pools. In a no‐till continuous corn bioenergy system in the northern US Corn Belt, we used 13CO2 pulse labeling to trace plant C from a winter rye (Secale cereale) cover crop into different soil C pools for 2 years following rye cover crop termination. Corn stover left as residue (30% of total stover) contributed 66, corn roots 57, rye shoots 61, rye roots 50, and rye rhizodeposits 25 g C m−2 to soil. Five months following cover crop termination, belowground cover crop inputs were three times more likely to remain in soil C pools than were aboveground inputs, and much of the root‐derived C was in mineral‐associated soil fractions. After 2 years, both above‐ and belowground inputs had declined substantially, indicating that the majority of both root and shoot inputs are eventually mineralized. Our results underscore the importance of cover crop roots vs. shoots and the importance of cover crop rhizodeposition (33% of total belowground cover crop C inputs) as a source of soil C. However, the eventual loss of most cover crop C from these soils indicates that cover crops will likely need to be included every year in rotations to accumulate soil C.
Joint intra coding of video and depth maps

The paper describes a technique for compression of a stereoscopic video pair together with the corresponding two depth maps. The proposed encoder produces a joint bit-stream for two viewpoint video sequences and two depth maps. Thus the headers with the control information is shared for all 4 video items. Moreover mutual correlation between these items is exploited by use of the multiview compression tools from MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 coding technology. The performance of the proposed technique is evaluated and compared to the performance of independent coding of video and depth maps.
Sustainable Load-Balancing Scheme for Inter-Sensor Convergence Processing of Routing Cooperation Topology

Recent advancements in Information Technology (IT) have sparked the creation of numerous and diverse types of devices and services. Manual data collection measurement methods have been automated through the use of various wireless or wired sensors. Single sensor devices are included in smart devices such as smartphones. Data transmission is critical for big data collected from sensor nodes, such as Mobile Sensor Nodes (MSNs), where sensors move dynamically according to sensor mobility, or Fixed Sensor Nodes (FSNs), where sensor locations are decided by the users. False data transfer processing of big data results in topology lifespan reduction and data transfer delays. Hence, a variety of simulators and diverse load-balancing algorithms have been developed as protocol verification tools for topology lifespan maximization and effective data transfer processing. However, those previously developed simulators have limited functions, such as an event function for a specific sensor or a battery consumption rate test for sensor deployment. Moreover, since the previous load-balancing algorithms consider only the general traffic distribution and the number of connected nodes without considering the current topology condition, the sustainable load-balancing technique that takes into account the battery consumption rate of the dispersed sensor nodes is required. Therefore, this paper proposes the Sustainable Load-balancing Scheme (SLS), which maximizes the overall topology lifespan through effective and sustainable load-balancing of data transfer among the sensors. SLS is capable of maintaining an effective topology as it considers both the battery consumption rate of the sensors and the data transfer delay.
Nonparametric bayesian multitask collaborative filtering

The dramatic rates new digital content becomes available has brought collaborative filtering systems to the epicenter of computer science research in the last decade. One of the greatest challenges collaborative filtering systems are confronted with is the data sparsity problem: users typically rate only very few items; thus, availability of historical data is not adequate to effectively perform prediction. To alleviate these issues, in this paper we propose a novel multitask collaborative filtering approach. Our approach is based on a coupled latent factor model of the users rating functions, which allows for coming up with an agile information sharing mechanism that extracts much richer task-correlation information compared to existing approaches. Formulation of our method is based on concepts from the field of Bayesian nonparametrics, specifically Indian Buffet Process priors, which allow for data-driven determination of the optimal number of underlying latent features (item characteristics and user traits) assumed in the context of the model. We experiment on several real-world datasets, demonstrating both the efficacy of our method, and its superiority over existing approaches.
The HIT-SCIR System for End-to-End Parsing of Universal Dependencies

This paper describes our system (HIT-SCIR) for the CoNLL 2017 shared task: Multilingual Parsing from Raw Text to Universal Dependencies. Our system includes three pipelined components: tokenization, Part-of-Speech (POS) tagging and dependency parsing. We use character-based bidirectional long short-term memory (LSTM) networks for both tokenization and POS tagging. Afterwards, we employ a list-based transition-based algorithm for general non-projective parsing and present an improved Stack-LSTM-based architecture for representing each transition state and making predictions. Furthermore, to parse low/zero-resource languages and cross-domain data, we use a model transfer approach to make effective use of existing resources. We demonstrate substantial gains against the UDPipe baseline, with an average improvement of 3.76% in LAS of all languages. And finally, we rank the 4th place on the official test sets.
“I’m Here to Do Business. I’m Not Here to Play Games.” Work, Consumption, and Masculinity in Storage Wars

This essay examines the first season of Storage Wars and suggests the program helps mediate the putative crisis in American masculinity by suggesting that traditional male skills are still essential where knowledge supplants manual labor. We read representations of “men at work” in traditionally “feminine” consumer markets, as a form of masculine recuperation situated within the culture of White male injury. Specifically, Storage Wars appropriates omnivorous consumption, thrift, and collaboration to fit within the masculine repertoire of self-reliance, individualism, and competition. Thus, the program adapts hegemonic masculinity by showcasing male auction bidders adeptly performing feminine consumer practices. Whether the feminine is assimilated into the male body or represented as its Other, we contend that the expressions of masculinity in Storage Wars render women obsolete and subjugated in the marketplaces of the 21st-century economy and contribute to the mediation of the contemporary crisis in masculinity.
Workload Consolidation using VM Selection and Placement Techniques in Cloud Computing

Cloud computing provides a consumer pay-per-use computing model over the Internet using numerous data centers across the globe. Power consumption by the huge data centers in Cloud environment has attracted the attention of research community. Efficient usage of energy in Cloud can be addressed in many facets. Virtual Machine (VM) consolidation is one of the techniques to save or reduce energy in virtualized data centers. VM Migration in Cloud also provides us an opportunity for reducing energy consumption. In this research, we intend to study various VM placements & selection policies and VM migration algorithms for underloaded and overloaded hosts to reduce energy consumption and SLA violation. We propose a novel method using combination of two methods, Least Increase Power (LIP) consumption with Host Sort and Minimum Correlation Coefficient (MCC) for consolidation of VM placement, placing a migratable VM on a host based on utilization thresholds. The results show performance of each combination of algorithms varies with the changing value of the parameters brings better in terms of energy consumption, VM migration time and SLA violation. The reader may plunge the appropriate method for energy consumption.
The problem with self-monitoring: a two-sided scale and a one-sided theory

Analysis of Snyder's Self-Monitoring Scale identifies a reliable factor structure that does not correspond to the theoretical structure. Not only do the factors bear little resemblance to the attributes subsumed by the construct, but some of the items appear to assess a protective self-presentation style that is incongruent with the "shrewd and pragmatic" self-monitoring style. Confirmatory factor analysis of Snyder's Self-Monitoring Scale suggests that it contains orthogonal higher-order factors that are best interpreted as acquisitive and protective self-monitoring. The results suggest the need for broadening self-monitoring theory to include a protective mode of self-presentation.
The UC3M team at the Knowledge Base Population task

The UC3M team participated in the two subtasks proposed in the Knowledge Base Population (KBP) task at TAC09. We adapted open-source systems to propose initial solutions to both tasks, Entity Linking and Slot Filling. In Entity Linking we have indexed entities and related documents in the Knowledge Base using Lucene. We experimented with different entity representations and TF-IDF similarity measures as a baseline. For the Slot Filling task, we reused Open-Ephyra QA system and combined several extraction strategies and sources like the Web. Our experiments confirm that the Web may be useful to locate more slot values in a local collection, but more accurate confidence estimation methods are needed to avoid updating the KB with spurious values.
Interaction Among Heme Iron, Zinc, and Supplemental Vitamin C Intake on the Risk of Lung Cancer: Iowa Women's Health Study

Abstract: Redox-active iron present at physiological levels in the pulmonary epithelial lining fluid may lead to damage of lung tissue under some circumstances. For example, factors that increase potential for oxidative stress, such as higher intake of heme iron or higher intake of vitamin C in the presence of high intake of iron, might increase the risk of lung cancer, whereas higher intake of the antioxidant zinc might decrease that risk. During 16 yr of follow-up, 34,708 postmenopausal women, aged 55-69 yr at baseline who completed a food-frequency questionnaire for the Iowa Women's Health Study, were followed for 700 incident lung cancers. When subjects were stratified by intake of vitamin C supplements, among women who took vitamin C supplements of >500 mg/day, after adjusting for age, total energy intake, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, and dietary zinc or dietary heme iron intake, relative risks across categories of dietary heme iron intake were 1.0, 0.85, 0.93, 1.32, 1.70, and 3.77 (P for trend = 0.05; P for interaction = 0.08), whereas corresponding figures for dietary zinc intake were 1.0, 1.15, 0.71, 0.84, 0.61, and 0.11 (P for trend = 0.12; P for interaction = 0.04). The strength of the associations of heme iron and zinc intake with lung cancer appeared to be stronger with increasing levels of vitamin C supplement intake. Our results suggest that high dietary heme iron intake may increase the risk of lung cancer, whereas high dietary zinc may decrease the risk of lung cancer among postmenopausal women who consume high-dose vitamin C supplements. This finding may be of particular importance to smokers, for whom vitamin C supplementation is a common recommendation.
Adaptive fuzzy priors for Bayesian inference

A fuzzy rule-based system can model prior probabilities in Bayesian inference and thereby approximate posterior probabilities. This fuzzy technique allows users to express prior descriptions in words rather than as closed-form probability density functions. Learning algorithms can tune the expert rules as well as grow them from sample data. The learning laws and closed-form approximations have a tractable form because of the convex-sum structure of additive fuzzy systems. Simulations demonstrate the fuzzy approximation of priors and posteriors for the three most common conjugate priors. An approximate beta prior combines with binomial data to give a new approximate beta posterior. An approximate gamma prior combines with Poisson data to give a new approximate gamma posterior. An approximate normal prior combines with normal data to give a new approximate normal posterior.
A structural model of information system quality: an empirical research

Assessing the quality of a delivered system has been one of the major challenges for researchers as well as for the practitioners (organizations). There is the need of a multidimensional instrument capable of measuring the quality of an information system, that instrument would provide valid information that helps an organization to take decisions in order to improve and assure the quality of its information systems. On the other hand, the majority of IS researchers are still not sufficient validating their instruments and there is the need of empirical findings. This research-in-progress paper proposes a model to measure the quality of an information system and uses the statistical approach Partial Least Squares (PLS) for its validation.
Conservation Volunteers’ Connection to Nature

Abstract A better understanding of conservation volunteers' motivation can provide insight into the relationship between humans and nature and help conservation programs increase their effectiveness. We used surveys and interviews of Minnesota Master Naturalist volunteers to explore conservation volunteers' psychological connection to nature. Almost all volunteers felt a connection to nature, and for most of them, this connection began in childhood. Their desires to learn about, benefit, and teach others about nature were important motivators in their decision to take part in conservation volunteer programs, and volunteering helped them to stay connected to nature. Their volunteer activities addressed these motivations and also provided other personal benefits, including stress reduction, relaxation, and exercise. It is important that conservation volunteer programs share information about the environmental benefits that result from volunteers' work, helping them understand the results of their collective.
Finite-State Parsing of German

There has been a remarkable revival of finite-state methods in linguistics over the last twenty-five years. This renewed interest is a direct consequence of the pioneering work on two-level phonology and morphology by Kimmo Koskenniemi (Koskenniemi, 1983) and of the independently developed approach to finite-state morphology by Ron Kaplan and Martin Kay (Kaplan and Kay, 1994). Based on mathematically rigorous models of finite-state transduction, there are now wide-coverage finite-state accounts of an impressive range of typologically diverse languages available. Inspired by these successes, research of finite-state models for syntactic analysis was revived in the early nineties, notably by Stephen Abney (Abney, 1991) and by Fred Karlsson and his associates (Karlsson et al., 1995)1. Their research ended a period of more than three decades of little or no research on finite-state models of syntax under the influence of Chomsky’s claim that finite-state automata are inadequate due to their inability to account for center-embedding construction in natural languages (Chomsky, 1963). The two alternative models of finite-state syntax developed by Abney and Karlsson reflect in an interesting way two leading paradigms for representing syntactic structure. Abney’s chunk parser is designed to provide a partial bracketing of an input text. This bracketing identifies non-recursive phrases, so-called chunks, which span from the left periphery of a phrase to its phrasal head. The resulting bracketing is partial in that it leaves any structural rela-