Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Real-Time and Cost-Effective Limitation of Misinformation Propagation

Online Social Networks (OSNs) constitute one of the most important communication channels and are widely utilized as news sources. Information spreads widely and rapidly in OSNs through the word-of-mouth effect. However, it is not uncommon for misinformation to propagate in the network. Misinformation dissemination may lead to undesirable effects, especially in cases where the non-credible information concerns emergency events. Therefore, it is essential to timely limit the propagation of misinformation. Towards this goal, we suggest a novel propagation model, namely the Dynamic Linear Threshold (DLT) model, that effectively captures the way contradictory information, i.e., misinformation and credible information, propagates in the network. The DLT model considers the probability of a user alternating between competing beliefs, assisting in either the propagation of misinformation or credible news. Based on the DLT model, we formulate an optimization problem that aims in identifying the most appropriate subset of users to limit the spread of misinformation by initiating the propagation of credible information. Through extensive experimental evaluation we demonstrate that our approach outperforms its competitors.
Living with robots: investigating the user acceptance of social robots in domestic environments

Over the most recent decades, the field of social robotics has advanced rapidly. There are a growing number of different types of robots, and their roles within society are expanding. This dissertation has argued that investigating the long-term acceptance of social robots in home environments is necessary for the successful diffusion of these types of robots within society. The findings of this dissertation indicate that usefulness is a requisite for social robot acceptance and that certain additional important acceptance variables may further explain why people continue to use a social robot in their own homes. These additional acceptance variables show that the acceptance of a social robot for domestic use increases when future users believe that they possess the necessary skills to use a social robot, when they perceive that having such a robot enhances their status, and when they expect that such a robot provides more enjoyable interactions, behaves less sociably, and causes fewer privacy concerns. However, when examining the long-term use of social robots in home environments, it appears that the importance of the acceptance variables in explaining social robot acceptance changes over time, shifting from control beliefs to attitudinal beliefs. It is believed that the importance of the acceptance variables depends on the development stage in which the technology is located (Peters, 2011). When people gain experiences with a social robot, other acceptance variables explain people’s intention to continue using it compared to the acceptance variables that explained their initial adoption. Concerning human-robot relationships, the studies presented in this dissertation indicate that people are initially reluctant to build a relationship with a robot and deny the possibility that such a relationship will occur for them. However, after people have adopted a social robot and have begun to use it in their own homes, some people acknowledge that they have established some type of relationship with the robot. However, not all people seem to appreciate a robot’s social behavior, and it seems that people remain unfamiliar with the possibilities of human-robot relationships and that the actual use and interactions with social robots reveal what types of relationships people are willing to establish with these robots. The findings of this dissertation may help both researchers and developers of social robots to further develop an integrated theory or model of social robot acceptance that can describe and explain this acceptance in more real-world contexts, such as the home.
Data and methods

Canada in the mid-1980s, we know virtually nothing about contraceptive use among Canadians during the 1990s. 2 The 1995 General Social Survey (GSS-95) collected detailed information on contraceptive use, as well as fertility and union histories, from a nationally representative sample of Canadian women and men aged 15 and older. The main objective of this article is to use these data to update our knowledge of contraceptive use in Canada in the 1990s. Thus, we provide a descriptive account of contraceptive practices among women and men of all marital statuses and focus on changes in their contraceptive choices over the past decade. Moreover, as few fertility surveys have collected information on men's contraceptive use, the GSS-95 provides a rare opportunity to study men's contraceptive behavior. Data The 1984 CFS was the only in-depth national fertility survey conducted in Cana-da. The target population was all women aged 18–49, regardless of their marital status. The survey excluded women living in the Yukon and Northwest Territories,* institutionalized women, women living C ontraception should meet the physical , mental and social health needs of individuals throughout their lives. 1 While the wide availability and low cost of contraception have contributed to the decline in Canadian fertility over the past two decades, recent concerns regarding sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV and AIDS, have complicated contraceptive issues. Thus, contemporary contraceptive practice is often undertaken both to regulate fertility and to provide protection from STDs. There has been relatively little scientific scrutiny of Canadian contraceptive practices , however. The 1984 Canadian Fertility Survey (CFS) was the first national study of the fertility of women in their childbearing years in Canada. Prior to this survey, patterns of contraceptive use had not been extensively researched in Cana-da, nor had the issues of HIV and AIDS been brought to general public attention. While the 1984 CFS provided an extensive account of women's contraceptive use in in households without telephones and those unable to speak either English or French. Telephone survey methods were used to collect the data. A total of 5,315 women aged 18–49 completed interviews, a 70% response rate. In the CFS, women were asked to provide detailed information about their childbearing intentions and experiences, contraceptive practices and other socioeconomic characteristics. Information regarding sexual activity was not collected, as it was deemed too sensitive for telephone interviews. 3 The GSS-95, which was administered by Statistics Canada, was the …
A Smart Decision Model for Vertical Handoff

As mobile computing increases in prevalence and popularity, it is becoming increasingly important to have a vertical handoff solution, which can perform a vertical handoff seamlessly and smartly. In this paper, we propose a Smart Decision Model to decide the “best” network interface and “best” time moment to handoff. A score function is utilized in the model to make the smart decision based on various factors, such as the properties of available network interfaces, the system information, and the user preferences. A USHA based testbed is created to evaluate this model in various scenarios, and the results show that our model is feasible and helpful in mobile computing scenarios. Additionally, this model is simple and also applicable to other vertical handoff approaches. Key-Words – seamless handoff, vertical handoff, smart decision, policy-based handoff, mobile computing
Host stage preference and parasitism behaviour of Aenasius bambawalei an encyrtid parasitoid of Phenacoccus solenopsis

ABSTRACT In Pakistan, the cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Sternorrhyncha (Homoptera): Pseudococcidae), is a serious pest of many cultivated plants. A parasitoid, Aenasius bambawalei Hayat (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), is associated with P. solenopsis. In order to mass rear A. bambawalei for a biological control programme, it is important to investigate the parasitoid’s host stage preference and its parasitism behaviour for P. solenopsis in order to optimise production. The present study showed that under both choice and no-choice conditions, the parasitoid preferred third instar and pre-reproductive host stage mealybugs for parasitism. Parasitoid larva developing inside the host exhibited a greater longevity, shorter developmental period and longer body size in these preferred host stages. Our study also confirmed that A. bambawalei showed no attraction to male mealybugs and no host feeding on any host stage was recorded. The ability of the parasitoid to effectively discriminate between suitable and non-suitable stages means that it is feasible to rear it on a mixed population.
GnRH agonist as novel luteal support: results of a randomized, parallel group, feasibility study using intranasal administration of buserelin.

BACKGROUND The study objective was to investigate whether repeated intranasal administration of a GnRH agonist could provide convenient and safe luteal support. METHODS Twenty-four patients with unexplained infertility were enrolled. All patients were treated with an aromatase inhibitor. When ovulation trigger criteria were met, patients were randomly allocated to either 5000 IU hCG (group A), or 200 microg intranasal buserelin followed by 100 microg every 3 days (group B), 100 microg every 2 days (group C), or 100 microg every day (group D), up to day 14 of the luteal phase. All patients underwent intrauterine insemination. RESULTS Follicular development was similar in all groups with 1.1 +/- 0.3 follicles > or = 16 mm, 229.4 +/- 95.2 pg/ml estradiol (E2) and 0.8 +/- 0.5 ng/ml progesterone (mean+/-SD). The luteal phase duration (median; 95% confidence interval) was 15 (14.1, 15.0), 14 (12.5, 15.5), 15 (11.8, 18.2) and 15 (14.4, 15.6) days in groups A, B, C and D respectively. From luteal phase day 7 onwards, progesterone levels tended to be higher in group D compared with A. On day 14 of the luteal phase, progesterone levels were 3.0 (0.8, 5.2), 1.7 (-0.5, 3.9), 3.9 (-0.7, 8.5) and 7.7 (3.4, 11.9) ng/ml in groups A, B, C and D respectively (P = 0.045). No pregnancy was recorded in group A, but there was one biochemical pregnancy in group B, one biochemical and one singleton clinical pregnancy in group C, and two singleton clinical pregnancies in group D. CONCLUSION Intranasal administration of buserelin could be effective to provide luteal support. This treatment was associated with a good pregnancy rate (5/18, 28%).
Extracting three-way gene interactions from microarray data

MOTIVATION It is an important and difficult task to extract gene network information from high-throughput genomic data. A common approach is to cluster genes using pairwise correlation as a distance metric. However, pairwise correlation is clearly too simplistic to describe the complex relationships among real genes since co-expression relationships are often restricted to a specific set of biological conditions/processes. In this study, we described a three-way gene interaction model that captures the dynamic nature of co-expression relationship between a gene pair through the introduction of a controller gene. RESULTS We surveyed 0.4 billion possible three-way interactions among 1000 genes in a microarray dataset containing 678 human cancer samples. To test the reproducibility and statistical significance of our results, we randomly split the samples into a training set and a testing set. We found that the gene triplets with the strongest interactions (i.e. with the smallest P-values from appropriate statistical tests) in the training set also had the strongest interactions in the testing set. A distinctive pattern of three-way interaction emerged from these gene triplets: depending on the third gene being expressed or not, the remaining two genes can be either co-expressed or mutually exclusive (i.e. expression of either one of them would repress the other). Such three-way interactions can exist without apparent pairwise correlations. The identified three-way interactions may constitute candidates for further experimentation using techniques such as RNA interference, so that novel gene network or pathways could be identified.
Blood gene expression profiling of neurologic diseases: a pilot microarray study.

BACKGROUND Tissue gene expression profiling with arrays measures the transcription of thousands of genes. However, this approach cannot be readily used to guide clinical neurologic practice. OBJECTIVES To determine whether clinical neurologic diseases are associated with unique patterns of up- and down-regulated genes in whole blood and to explore the possibility of using peripheral blood as a surrogate tissue in these diseases. DESIGN Case-control study. SETTING University-based pediatric and adult neurology clinics. PARTICIPANTS Patients with neurofibromatosis type 1, epilepsy, or Tourette syndrome diagnosed using traditional clinical criteria; controls without disease; and controls with neurologic disease. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Blood gene expression levels of greater than 12,000 genes, measured using U95A arrays. RESULTS Neurofibromatosis type 1 and childhood epilepsy treated with carbamazepine or valproic acid are associated with distinct patterns of blood gene expression. Patients with valproic acid-responsive vs valproic acid-refractory epilepsy formed distinct subclusters. Tourette syndrome was characterized by several gene expression clusters. In 1 cluster, 6 genes-all associated with immune cell function-were overexpressed. CONCLUSION Blood gene expression profiling can provide surrogate markers for neurologic diseases without obvious blood phenotypes.
Multi-objective evaluation for distribution network reconstruction basing on hierarchical data envelopment analysis

Studying the optimal subsection of distribution networks feeders, a subsection scheme synthesizing load and the length of subsections is presented. Hierarchical data envelopment analysis (DEA) method is proposed for multi-objective evaluation of subsection schemes. First, the scientific assessment system is established by using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and the weights of assessment criteria are derived from the judgment matrix. Secondly, the actual index data is used to structure DEA model, the schemes are evaluated quantificational with regard to different assessment criteria. Finally, each scheme is evaluated comprehensively. Using this method and the evaluation system to evaluate the subsection schemes, the evaluation results show that the assessment method is scientific and effective; the subsection method presented in this paper can better meet the economic and reliability requirements and is simple and practical.
Enhanced Privion Privacy Protection Context-Aware Architecture

Privacy is the ability of an individual to keep related information, out of public view, traditionally, privacy enhancing techniques have been used as a tool for hiding and control disclosure. It is necessary to think about how technology can be used to create visibility and awareness of information. We proposed an architecture in which a user can configure his personal preferences for privacy preservation functionalities and services, once he enters an UbiComp environment. The design is based on an analysis of various approaches to privacy protection for UbiComp settings. A composite entity called “privon” is introduced to encapsulate related information based on their privacysensitivity levels. A privon allow users to understand how their personal information may be used by others. Keywordsprivon, privacy, Ubiquitous computing, contextinformation, USE tool.
Adaptive Channel Allocation for IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN

Today, IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs (WLANs) are widely deployed throughout the world. It is known that static channel assignments are not sufficient for these networks due to traffic variations. However, in order to maintain compatibility with the existing protocol standards, it is not possible to employ dynamic channel allocation methods to handle traffic-load fluctuations. Rather, adaptive assignment schemes seem to be appropriate. In this paper, we enhance the MinMax algorithm for static channel assignment for 802.11 networks proposed earlier. Based on the enhanced MinMax algorithm, we propose here a centralized adaptive channel allocation scheme for 802.11 networks. Computer simulation using the ns2 software reveals that our proposed adaptive scheme achieves a noticeable improvement of data throughput over fixed assignment algorithms, while only a relatively small number of APs require channel changes as a means to reduce service interruption to users under the existing protocol standards. Keyword: IEEE 802.11, channel assignment, channel utilization, interference.
Agreement, Disputes and Commitments in Dialogue

This paper provides a logically precise analysis of agreement and disputes in dialogue. The semantics distinguishes among the public commitments of each dialogue agent, including commitments to relational speech acts or rhetorical relations (e.g. Narration, Explanation and Correction). Agreement is defined to be the shared entailments of the agents' public commitments. We show that this makes precise predictions about implicit agreement. The theory also provides a consistent interpretation of disputes and models what content is agreed upon when a dispute has taken place.
Survey of residual solvents in natural food additives by standard addition head-space GC

Residual levels of 12 solvents in 87 natural food additives (66 samples of food colours, 19 samples of natural antioxidants and two natural preservatives) collected between 1997 and 1999 were determined by automated head-space GC using FID, with a porouspolymer (PLOT) column. Calibration curves were prepared by the method of standard addition. Confirmation was by manually injected head-space GC using mass spectrometric detection. 1,2-Dichloroethane was found in turmeric colour (natural food colour) collected in 1997 at the concentrations of 8.6 µg g-1, but was not found in samples collected in 1998 and 1999. Hexane was found in three samples of dunaliella carotene (11, 72 and 75 µg g-1), and in chlorophyll at 93 µg g-1 (both natural food colours). Acetone was found in turmeric colour, annatto colour, dunaliella carotene, kaoliang colour, cacao colour at a concentration between 8.7 and 42 µg g-1 (all natural food colours).
Impact of EUS-guided fine-needle aspiration on lymph node staging in patients with esophageal carcinoma.

BACKGROUND Preoperative identification of lymph node metastases associated with esophageal carcinoma may influence treatment. EUS is the most accurate method for locoregional staging of these tumors. The impact of EUS-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) on lymph node staging in esophageal carcinoma is unclear. METHODS From May 1996 to May 1999, 74 patients with esophageal carcinoma underwent preoperative EUS. After October 1998 EUS-guided FNA was performed on nonperitumoral lymph nodes greater than 5 mm in width. The results of EUS with and without FNA were retrospectively reviewed and compared. Final diagnosis was based on surgical results or EUS-guided FNA malignant cytology. Ten of the 74 patients had to be excluded for lack of lymph node stage confirmation. Final diagnosis was obtained in the remaining 64 patients (33 from the EUS only group and 31 from the EUS-FNA group). RESULTS The results of EUS versus EUS-FNA for lymph node staging were sensitivity 63% versus 93% (p = 0.01), specificity 81% versus 100% (not significant), and accuracy 70% versus 93% (p = 0.02), respectively. Complications comprised 1 patient who developed self-limited bleeding after dilation that did not preclude completion of the EUS (1%, 95% CI [0%, 7%]). CONCLUSIONS EUS-FNA is more sensitive and accurate than EUS alone for preoperative staging of locoregional and celiac lymph nodes associated with esophageal carcinoma. EUS-FNA of nonperitumoral lymph nodes in patients with esophageal carcinoma is safe and should be routinely performed when treatment decisions will be affected by nodal stage.
Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults

INTRODUCTION 1. Brad, June, and Amanda 2. The Cultural Worlds of Emerging Adults 3. Emerging Adult Religion in Life Course and Historical Perspective 4. Religious Affiliations, Practices, Beliefs, Experiences, and More 5. The Cultural Structures of Emerging Adult Religion 6. : Six Major Religious Types 7. Religious Trajectories from the Teenage Years 8. Religious Faith and Emerging Adult Life Outcomes (SES story in here) 9. Soul Searching Teenagers 5 Years Later 10. Making Sense of it All
A simple proof that random matrices are democratic

The recently introduced theory of compressive sensing (CS) enables the reconstruction of sparse or compressible signals from a small set of nonadaptive, linear measurements. If properly chosen, the number of measurements can be significantly smaller than the ambient dimension of the signal and yet preserve the significant signal information. Interestingly, it can be shown that random measurement schemes provide a near-optimal encoding in terms of the required number of measurements. In this report, we explore another relatively unexplored, though often alluded to, advantage of using random matrices to acquire CS measurements. Specifically, we show that random matrices are democractic, meaning that each measurement carries roughly the same amount of signal information. We demonstrate that by slightly increasing the number of measurements, the system is robust to the loss of a small number of arbitrary measurements. In addition, we draw connections to oversampling and demonstrate stability from the loss of significantly more measurements.
HIV-Infected Dendritic Cells Present Endogenous MHC Class II–Restricted Antigens to HIV-Specific CD4+ T Cells

It is widely assumed that CD4+ T cells recognize antigenic peptides (epitopes) derived solely from incoming, exogenous, viral particles or proteins. However, alternative sources of MHC class II (MHC-II)–restricted Ags have been described, in particular epitopes derived from newly synthesized proteins (so-called endogenous). In this study, we show that HIV-infected dendritic cells (DC) present MHC-II–restricted endogenous viral Ags to HIV-specific (HS) CD4+ T cells. This endogenous pathway functions independently of the exogenous route for HIV Ag presentation and offers a distinct possibility for the immune system to activate HS CD4+ T cells. We examined the implication of autophagy, which plays a crucial role in endogenous viral Ag presentation and thymic selection of CD4+ T cells, in HIV endogenous presentation. We show that infected DC do not use autophagy to process MHC-II–restricted HIV Ags. This is unlikely to correspond to a viral escape from autophagic degradation, as infecting DC with Nef- or Env-deficient HIV strains did not impact HS T cell activation. However, we demonstrate that, in DC, specific targeting of HIV Ags to autophagosomes using a microtubule-associated protein L chain 3 (LC3) fusion protein effectively enhances and broadens HS CD4+ T cell responses, thus favoring an endogenous MHC-II–restricted presentation. In summary, in DC, multiple endogenous presentation pathways lead to the activation of HS CD4+ T cell responses. These findings will help in designing novel strategies to activate HS CD4+ T cells that are required for CTL activation/maintenance and B cell maturation.