Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efficient and Robust Fully Distributed Power Method with an Application to Link Analysis

Methods for link analysis are a key component in search engines for hyperlinked document networks. Documents are assigned an importance score based on the graph structure of the hyperlinks among the documents. At the heart of link analysis protocols we find the problem of calculating the principal eigenvector of a suitable matrix that is defined based on the hyperlink graph. In this paper we introduce a fully distributed method, inspired by the power method, for the calculation of the principal eigenvector of generic matrices, focusing on link analysis as an application. Theoretical results are given that support the correctness of the approach, and experimental validation is presented based on subsets of the WWW. Unlike other proposals, our protocol matches the sequential power method in speed and accuracy for generic matrices even in extremely hostile failure scenarios. This allows for better scalability, fault tolerance and load balancing. Most importantly, it represents an important step towards a flexible, cheap and fully peer-to-peer search method in networks of hyperlinked documents. 1. Authors are listed in alphabetical order. This work was partially supported by the Future and Emerging Technologies unit of the European Commission through Project BISON (IST-2001-38923) and DELIS (IST-2002-001907). 2. Telenor R&D, N-1331 Fornebu, Norway 3. University of Bologna, Mura Anteo Zamboni 7, I-40126 Bologna, Italy, and MTA RGAI, SZTE, Szeged, Hungary
The Slovenian version of the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation Scale ñ Preschool Edition (OLSP): the second preliminary validation

The contribution presents the first part of the second validation study on the Slovenian version of the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation Scale n Preschool Edition (OLSP). The study was implemented with a sample of 95 Slovenian kindergarten children aged from 2;6 to 6;5 years, uniformly sampled by age and gender. OLSP was filled out by the childrensi kindergarten teachers as well as their assisstants. The obtained results show that internal consistency and interrater reliability of the eight basic and the four composite scales of OLSP are satisfactory. No significant gender differ- ences were obtained for any of the scales. The Dependent-Autonomous scale was positively related to the childrensi age, while the Internalizing Problems and General Adaptation composite scales related to age in the expected direction with medium effect sizes. However, the age differences on the latter did not reach statistical significance mainly due to small sample size.
Instance Selection for Machine Translation using Feature Decay Algorithms

We present an empirical study of instance selection techniques for machine translation. In an active learning setting, instance selection minimizes the human effort by identifying the most informative sentences for translation. In a transductive learning setting, selection of training instances relevant to the test set improves the final translation quality. After reviewing the state of the art in the field, we generalize the main ideas in a class of instance selection algorithms that use feature decay. Feature decay algorithms increase diversity of the training set by devaluing features that are already included. We show that the feature decay rate has a very strong effect on the final translation quality whereas the initial feature values, inclusion of higher order features, or sentence length normalizations do not. We evaluate the best instance selection methods using a standard Moses baseline using the whole 1.6 million sentence English-German section of the Europarl corpus. We show that selecting the best 3000 training sentences for a specific test sentence is sufficient to obtain a score within 1 BLEU of the baseline, using 5% of the training data is sufficient to exceed the baseline, and a ~ 2 BLEU improvement over the baseline is possible by optimally selected subset of the training data. In out-of-domain translation, we are able to reduce the training set size to about 7% and achieve a similar performance with the baseline.
Relevance in XML Retrieval : The User Perspective

Although research on XML element retrieval is steadily gaining popularity, it is not clear if and in what form element retrieval can be useful in real-world scenarios. In this paper, we compare the XML element retrieval models used in the INEX workshop with the search interfaces of two online digital library services. We demonstrate that element retrieval is indeed useful for digital libraries and that there is a lot of room for improvements in this field.
Gener: a minimal programming module for chemical controllers based on DNA strand displacement

Summary: Gener is a development module for programming chemical controllers based on DNA strand displacement. Gener is developed with the aim of providing a simple interface that minimizes the opportunities for programming errors: Gener allows the user to test the computations of the DNA programs based on a simple two-domain strand displacement algebra, the minimal available so far. The tool allows the user to perform stepwise computations with respect to the rules of the algebra as well as exhaustive search of the computation space with different options for exploration and visualization. Gener can be used in combination with existing tools, and in particular, its programs can be exported to Microsoft Research’s DSD tool as well as to LaTeX. Availability and implementation: Gener is available for download at the Cosbi website at http://www.cosbi.eu/research/prototypes/gener as a windows executable that can be run on Mac OS X and Linux by using Mono. Contact: ozan@cosbi.eu
Physiological Profiles of Elite Wheelchair Basketball Players in Preparation for the 2000 Paralympic Games

The purpose of this study was to examine the physiological changes in elite wheelchair basketball players leading up to the 2000 Paralympics. Twelve male players attended regular physiological assessments on six occasions; averaged data of two sessions for each year were used. Physiological measures included body mass, skinfold measurements, peak oxygen uptake and peak power obtained during maximal sprinting. VO2peak significantly increased from 2.65 to 2.83 L·min-1 prior to the Paralympics. Training had little influence on the anthropometric measurements or maximal sprinting data. In conclusion, the GB wheelchair basketball players appeared to have high levels of aerobic and anaerobic fitness. The longitudinal physiological profiles leading to the 2000 Paralympics suggest that players improved their aerobic base while maintaining other fitness prerequisites.
An embedded energy monitoring circuit for a 128kbit SRAM with body-biased sense-amplifiers

Embedded energy monitoring of critical system components can be used to enable better power management by capturing run time system conditions such as temperature and application load. In this work, an energy sensing circuit that provides digitally represented absolute energy per operation of a 128kbit SRAM is presented. Designed in a 65nm low-power CMOS process, SRAMs can operate down to 370 mV. Energy sensing circuit consumes 16. 7μW during sensing at 1.2V (only 0.28% of SRAM active power at the same voltage). For improved performance, SRAMs utilize body-biased PMOS input strong-arm type sense amplifiers that can achieve 45% tighter input offset distribution for only ~3.5% of total SRAM area overhead.
Identification of the Oxidized Low-Density Lipoprotein Scavenger Receptor CD36 in Plasma: A Novel Marker of Insulin Resistance

Background— Macrophage CD36 scavenges oxidized low-density lipoprotein, leading to foam cell formation, and appears to be a key proatherogenic molecule. Increased expression of CD36 has been attributed to hyperglycemia and to defective macrophage insulin signaling in insulin resistance. Premature atherosclerosis is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in type 2 diabetes. Here, we report the identification of a soluble form of CD36 (sCD36) in plasma and hypothesize that sCD36 would be elevated in patients with type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance. Methods and Results— sCD36 in plasma was demonstrated by immunopurification and Western blotting. We established ELISA assays to determine sCD36 in plasma and measured sCD36 in obese type 2 diabetic patients, obese nondiabetic relatives, and obese and lean control subjects. sCD36 was markedly elevated in type 2 diabetic patients compared with both lean (5-fold) and obese (2- to 3-fold) control subjects. There was a strong, inverse correlation between sCD36 and insulin-stimulated glucose disposal and a direct correlation with fasting plasma glucose, fasting insulin, and body mass index. Conclusions— Our study demonstrates sCD36 in plasma for the first time. sCD36 is highly related to risk factors of accelerated atherosclerosis in type 2 diabetes such as insulin resistance and glycemic control, and we propose that sCD36 might represent a marker of the metabolic syndrome and a potential surrogate marker of atherosclerosis.
Primary sequence and site‐selective hydroxylation of prolines in isoforms of a major peanut allergen protein Ara h 2

The Ara h 2 proteins are major determinants of peanut allergens. These proteins have not been fully studied at the molecular level. It has been previously proposed that there are two isoforms of Ara h 2, based on primary structures that were deduced from two reported cDNA sequences. In this report, four isoforms have been purified and characterized individually. Mass spectrometric methods have been used to determine the protein sequences and to define post‐translational modifications for all four isoforms. Two pairs of isoforms have been identified, corresponding to a long‐chain form and a form that is shorter by 12 amino acids. Each pair is further differentiated by the presence or absence of a two amino acid sequence at the carboxyl terminus of the protein. Modifications that were characterized include site‐specific hydroxylation of proline residues, but no glycosylation was found, in contrast to previous reports.
Constrained optimal selection for multi-sensor robot navigation using plug-and-play factor graphs

This paper proposes a real-time navigation approach that is able to integrate many sensor types while fulfilling performance needs and system constraints. Our approach uses a plug-and-play factor graph framework, which extends factor graph formulation to encode sensor measurements with different frequencies, latencies, and noise distributions. It provides a flexible foundation for plug-and-play sensing, and can incorporate new evolving sensors. A novel constrained optimal selection mechanism is presented to identify the optimal subset of active sensors to use, during initialization and when any sensor condition changes. This mechanism constructs candidate subsets of sensors based on heuristic rules and a ternary tree expansion algorithm. It quickly decides the optimal subset among candidates by maximizing observability coverage on state variables, while satisfying resource constraints and accuracy demands. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach selects subsets of sensors to provide satisfactory navigation solutions under various conditions, on large-scale real data sets using many sensors.
Imaging blood flow in human port-wine stain in situ and in real time using optical Doppler tomography.

BACKGROUND Optical Doppler tomography (ODT) combines laser Doppler flowmetry with optical coherence tomography to obtain high-resolution images of blood flow in human skin in situ and in real time. OBSERVATIONS We present a case in which ODT was used on a patient with a port-wine stain (PWS) birthmark to document the change of blood flow in response to laser therapy. It might be possible to use ODT blood flow measurements in situ to assist in assessing the efficacy of laser PWS therapy. If partial restoration of flow occurs immediately or shortly after laser exposure, indicative of reperfusion due to inadequate blood vessel injury, the PWS can be retreated using higher light dosages. Retreatment is continued until the measured Doppler shift is zero due to a permanent reduction in blood flow, indicative of irreversible microthrombus formation in the PWS vessels. CONCLUSIONS We have demonstrated that ODT may be used for noninvasive imaging of blood vessels in PWS skin. Moreover, ODT will potentially allow laser therapy to be optimized on an individual patient basis by providing a fast, semiquantitative evaluation of the efficacy of PWS laser therapy in situ and in real time.
Head-to-head comparison of subcutaneous abatacept versus adalimumab for rheumatoid arthritis: two-year efficacy and safety findings from AMPLE trial

Objectives To compare over 2 years the safety, efficacy and radiographic outcomes of subcutaneous abatacept versus adalimumab, in combination with methotrexate (MTX), in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods AMPLE is a phase IIIb, 2-year, randomised, investigator-blinded study with a 1-year primary endpoint. Biologic-naive patients with active RA and an inadequate response to MTX were randomised to 125 mg abatacept weekly or 40 mg adalimumab bi-weekly, both with a stable dose of MTX. Results Of 646 patients randomised, 79.2% abatacept and 74.7% adalimumab patients completed year 2. At year 2, efficacy outcomes, including radiographic, remained comparable between groups and with year 1 results. The American College Rheumatology 20, 50 and 70 responses at year 2 were 59.7%, 44.7% and 31.1% for abatacept and 60.1%, 46.6% and 29.3% for adalimumab. There were similar rates of adverse events (AEs) and serious adverse events (SAEs). More serious infections occurred with adalimumab (3.8% vs 5.8%) including two cases of tuberculosis with adalimumab. There were fewer discontinuations due to AEs (3.8% vs 9.5%), SAEs (1.6% vs 4.9%) and serious infections (0/12 vs 9/19 patients) in the abatacept group. Injection site reactions (ISRs) occurred less frequently with abatacept (4.1% vs 10.4%). Conclusions Through 2 years of blinded treatment in this first head-to-head study between biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs in RA patients with an inadequate response to MTX, subcutaneous abatacept and adalimumab were similarly efficacious based on clinical, functional and radiographic outcomes. Overall, AE frequency was similar in both groups but there were less discontinuations due to AEs, SAEs, serious infections and fewer local ISRs with abatacept. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT00929864.
Chapter 3 Evolving Fuzzy Systems — Fundamentals , Reliability , Interpretability , Useability , Applications

This chapter provides a round picture of the development and advances in the field of evolving fuzzy systems (EFS) made during the last decade since their first appearance in 2002. Their basic difference to conventional fuzzy systems (discussed in other chapters in this book) is that they can be learned from data on-the-fly (fast) during on-line processes in an incremental and mostly single-pass manner. Therefore, they stand for a very emerging topic in the field of soft computing for addressing modeling problems in the quickly increasing complexity of real-world applications, more and more implying a shift from batch off-line model design phases (as conducted since the 80s) to permanent on-line (active) model teaching and adaptation. The focus will be placed on the definition of various model architectures used in the context of EFS, on providing an overview about the basic learning concepts, on listing the most prominent EFS approaches (fundamentals), and on discussing advanced aspects toward an improved stability, reliability and useability (usually must-to-haves to guarantee robustness and user-friendliness) as well as an educated interpretability (usually a nice-tohave to offer insights into the systems’ nature). It will be concluded with a list of real-world applications where various EFS approaches have been successfully applied with satisfactory accuracy, robustness and speed.
Personality Traits of Coronary Heart Disease Patients: A Study of Female Young Adults

The present research aimed to explore personality traits of young female adults (32-45 years of age) with coronary heart disease. Ten participants who had been diagnosed with a kind of coronary heart disease for at least one year and resided in Bangkok or nearby provinces were the informants in this study. Data were collected by using McAdams’ key scenes narrative interview, in-depth interview, scenarios, and participatory observation. Extended information was gained from some of the informants’ family members. All ten informants were born and raised in a conventional Thai or Chinese-Thai cultural context and reported having at least one source of excessive stress in their lives. The findings showed 2 patterns of personality traits. The pattern I personality traits were submissiveness, proneness for anxiety and depression, insecurity, lack of self-confidence, frequent emotional inhibition, and discomfort when involved in social situations without support. These were all compatible with Denollet’s Type D personality construct, while the pattern II personality traits were excessive competitive drive, impatience and hostility which relatively compatible with Friedman and Rosenman’s Type A personality construct. Moreover, most informants with pattern I personality traits came from a lower socio-economic status background, had limited education, and suffered from inequality in social opportunities comparing to those with pattern II personality traits.
Enhancing Motor Network Activity Using Real-Time Functional MRI Neurofeedback of Left Premotor Cortex

Neurofeedback by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a technique of potential therapeutic relevance that allows individuals to be aware of their own neurophysiological responses and to voluntarily modulate the activity of specific brain regions, such as the premotor cortex (PMC), important for motor recovery after brain injury. We investigated (i) whether healthy human volunteers are able to up-regulate the activity of the left PMC during a right hand finger tapping motor imagery (MI) task while receiving continuous fMRI-neurofeedback, and (ii) whether successful modulation of brain activity influenced non-targeted motor control regions. During the MI task, participants of the neurofeedback group (NFB) received ongoing visual feedback representing the level of fMRI responses within their left PMC. Control (CTL) group participants were shown similar visual stimuli, but these were non-contingent on brain activity. Both groups showed equivalent levels of behavioral ratings on arousal and MI, before and during the fMRI protocol. In the NFB, but not in CLT group, brain activation during the last run compared to the first run revealed increased activation in the left PMC. In addition, the NFB group showed increased activation in motor control regions extending beyond the left PMC target area, including the supplementary motor area, basal ganglia and cerebellum. Moreover, in the last run, the NFB group showed stronger activation in the left PMC/inferior frontal gyrus when compared to the CTL group. Our results indicate that modulation of PMC and associated motor control areas can be achieved during a single neurofeedback-fMRI session. These results contribute to a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of MI-based neurofeedback training, with direct implications for rehabilitation strategies in severe brain disorders, such as stroke.
Cytotoxicity of in vitro produced podophyllotoxin from podophyllum hexandrum on human cancer cell line

Podophyllotoxin was produced by cell culture of Podophyllum hexandrum under in vitro culture conditions. A maximum of 4.26 mg/L of podophyllotoxin was produced when P. hexandrum was cultivated in 3 L stirred tank bioreactor. The compound extracted from the cell culture was applied to the human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) and 1 nM podophyllotoxin was able to inhibit the growth of the cancer cells by 50%. The most profound inhibitory effect of podophyllotoxin was observed when it was applied in the beginning of cell growth.
The First Surface Realisation Shared Task: Overview and Evaluation Results

The Surface Realisation (SR) Task was a new task at Generation Challenges 2011, and had two tracks: (1) Shallow: mapping from shallow input representations to realisations; and (2) Deep: mapping from deep input representations to realisations. Five teams submitted six systems in total, and we additionally evaluated human toplines. Systems were evaluated automatically using a range of intrinsic metrics. In addition, systems were assessed by human judges in terms of Clarity, Readability and Meaning Similarity. This report presents the evaluation results, along with descriptions of the SR Task Tracks and evaluation methods. For descriptions of the participating systems, see the separate system reports in this volume, immediately following this results report.
Radiation Enhancement by Gemcitabine-Mediated Cell Cycle Modulations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the exact dose dependency and time dependency of the radiation-enhancing effect of gemcitabine (2′,2′difluoro desoxycytidine [dFdC]) in in vitro experiments (HeLa cells: cancer of the uterine cervix, #4197 cells: oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma), and to correlate this effect with the underlying changes in cell cycle distribution. Cell viability was determined fluorometrically after exposure to dFdC (0–20.0 &mgr;mol/l), irradiation (0–37.5 Gy), and both modalities. Combining both therapies, cells were exposed to dFdC (0–10.0 &mgr;mol/l) for 24 hours before further treatment and irradiated (0–30 Gy) immediately afterwards with or without removal of dFdC. For cell cycle analysis by flow cytometry, cells were irradiated (0–40 Gy) or treated with dFdC (0.012–1.0 &mgr;mol/l, 24–48 hours). Additionally, cells were exposed to dFdC (2.0 &mgr;mol/l, 0–4 hours). Cell cycle kinetics were evaluated using bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) (10 &mgr;mol/l) S-phase labeling, given either 30 minutes before or in the last hour of dFdC treatment (2.0 &mgr;mol/l, 0–6 hours). The fluorometric assay revealed that dFdC enhances radiation-induced cytotoxicity at marginally toxic or nontoxic concentrations (<37 nmol/l). Radiation resulted in the anticipated G2/M arrest already at 2 Gy. DFdC induced concentration and exposure time-dependent cell cycle changes that were better resolved using BrdU, demonstrating a pronounced S-phase arrest already at 12 nmol/l. BrdU-pulse labeling revealed that the cell cycle block occurred at the G1/S boundary. Our data reconfirm the already known radiation enhancement, the S-phase specific activities of dFdC, and the relevance of the synchronized progression of cells through the S-phase with regard to the radiosensitizing properties of low-dose dFdC. However, we could demonstrate that before progressing in the S-phase, cells were blocked and partially synchronized at the more radiosensitive G1/S boundary. Furthermore, cells progressing past the block might accumulate proapoptotic signals caused by both radiation and dFdC, which will also results in cell death.