Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A strategy to develop adaptive and interactive query brokers

This paper focuses on the software architecture and components for supporting core adaptive and interactive query processing. The architecture permits the reuse of most of the existing adaptation techniques and facilitates the development of new ones. Developers will use it to program adaptable and interactive query evaluators, called Query Brokers. Three adaptability levels are considered: (i) static adaptability, achieved at query broker building time, (ii) personalization, achieved for each (user) query having specific needs, and (iii) dynamic adaptability, achieved during query evaluation. The paper first proposes to leverage on the large amount of work done on query processing through a set of component interfaces, abstracting functions of brokers. Then, along with these abstractions, it presents our partial implementation of the main components for optimization mechanisms and observation, notification and rule management useful for dynamic adaptation. This partial implementation defines a toolbox facilitating the instantiation phase of a Query Broker development.
Anxiety and selective attention to angry faces: An antisaccade study

Cognitive models of anxiety propose that anxiety is associated with an attentional bias for threat, which increases vulnerability to emotional distress and is difficult to control. The study aim was to investigate relationships between the effects of threatening information, anxiety, and attention control on eye movements. High and low trait anxious individuals performed antisaccade and prosaccade tasks with angry, fearful, happy, and neutral faces. Results indicated that high-anxious participants showed a greater antisaccade cost for angry than neutral faces (i.e., relatively slower to look away from angry faces), compared with low-anxious individuals. This bias was not found for fearful or happy faces. The bias for angry faces was not related to individual differences in attention control assessed on self-report and behavioural measures. Findings support the view that anxiety is associated with difficulty in using cognitive control resources to inhibit attentional orienting to angry faces, and that attention control is multifaceted.
Using Gene Expression Analysis to Examine Changes in Loneliness, Depression and Systemic Inflammation in Lonely Chronically Ill Older Adults*

Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of LISTEN (Loneliness Intervention) on loneliness, depression, physical health, systemic inflammation, and genomic expression in a sample of lonely, chronically ill, older adults. Methods This was a prospective, longitudinal randomized trial of LISTEN, a novel intervention based on theories of narrative and cognitive restructuring to target specific aspects of loneliness. Twenty-three older, lonely, chronically ill adults were recruited from a family medicine clinic in West Virginia. Participants were randomized to two groups, 13 in LISTEN group (Loneliness Intervention) and 10 in attention control (healthy aging education). Participants attended an enrollment session where they completed consent, survey data (including sociodemographics and chronic illness diagnoses), baseline physical measures, and blood sampling for gene expression analysis. After completing the 5 weekly sessions, all participants attended a 12 week post data collection meeting (17 weeks post-baseline) for survey completion, physical measures and blood sampling. Results The results of this study show that the LISTEN intervention improves measures of physical and psychosocial health. Specifically, subjects enrolled in LISTEN showed reductions in systolic blood pressure, as well as decreased feelings of loneliness and depression. These changes may be due, in part, to a reduction in systemic inflammation, as measured by interleukin-2. Conclusion This study provides support for the use of LISTEN in reducing loneliness in chronically ill, older adults. Further, while some of our results are inconclusive, it provides rationale to expand our study population to evaluate the relationship between loneliness and systemic inflammation. In the future, enhancing knowledge about the relationships among loneliness, chronic illness, systemic inflammation, and gene expression of these particular targets, and how these relationships may change over time with intervention will inform translation of findings to clinical settings.
A century of ecosystem change: human and seabird impacts on plant species extirpation and invasion on islands

We used 116 years of floral and faunal records from Mandarte Island, British Columbia, Canada, to estimate the indirect effects of humans on plant communities via their effects on the population size of a surface-nesting, colonial seabird, the Glaucous-winged gull (Larus glaucescens). Comparing current to historical records revealed 18 extirpations of native plant species (32% of species historically present), 31 exotic species introductions, and one case of exotic introduction followed by extirpation. Contemporary surveys indicated that native species cover declined dramatically from 1986 to 2006, coincident with the extirpation of ‘old-growth’ conifers. Because vegetation change co-occurred with an increasing gull population locally and regionally, we tested several predictions from the hypothesis that the presence and activities of seabirds help to explain those changes. Specifically, we predicted that on Mandarte and nearby islands with gull colonies, we should observe higher nutrient loading and exotic plant species richness and cover than on nearby islands without gull colonies, as a consequence of competitive dominance in species adapted to high soil nitrogen and trampling. As predicted, we found that native plant species cover and richness were lower, and exotic species cover and richness higher, on islands with versus without gull colonies. In addition, we found that soil carbon and nitrogen on islands with nesting gulls were positively related to soil depth and exotic species richness and cover across plots and islands. Our results support earlier suggestions that nesting seabirds can drive rapid change in insular plant communities by increasing nutrients and disturbing vegetation, and that human activities that affect seabird abundance may therefore indirectly affect plant community composition on islands with seabird colonies.
Listeria monocytogenes as a Short-Lived Delivery System for the Induction of Type 1 Cell-Mediated Immunity against the p36/LACK Antigen of Leishmania major

ABSTRACT Listeria monocytogenes has been used as an experimental live vector for the induction of CD8-mediated immune responses in various viral and tumoral experimental models. Susceptibility of BALB/c mice to Leishmania major infection has been correlated to the preferential development of Th2 CD4 T cells through an early production of interleukin 4 (IL-4) by a restricted population of CD4 T cells which react to a single parasite antigen, LACK (stands forLeishmania homologue of receptors for activated C kinase). Experimental vaccination with LACK can redirect the differentiation of CD4+ T cells towards the Th1 pathway if LACK is coadministrated with IL-12. As IL-12 is known to be induced by L. monocytogenes, we have tested the ability of a recombinant attenuated actA mutant L. monocytogenes strain expressing LACK to induce the development of LACK-specific Th1 cells in both B10.D2 and BALB/c mice, which are resistant and susceptible toL. major, respectively. After a single injection of LACK-expressing L. monocytogenes, IL-12/p40 transcripts showed a rapid burst, and peaks of gamma interferon (IFN-γ)-secreting LACK-specific Th1 cells were detected around day 5 in the spleens and livers of mice of both strains. These primed IFN-γ-secreting LACK-reactive T cells were not detected ex vivo after day 7 of immunization but could be recruited and detected 15 days later in the draining lymph node after an L. major footpad challenge. Although immunization of BALB/c mice with LACK-expressing L. monocytogenes did not change the course of the infection withL. major, immunized B10.D2 mice exhibited significantly smaller lesions than nonimmunized controls. Thus, our results demonstrate that, in addition of its recognized use for the induction of effector CD8 T cells, L. monocytogenes can also be used as a live recombinant vector to favor the development of potentially protective IFN-γ-secreting Th1 CD4 T lymphocytes.
Adaptive Residual Interpolation for Color and Multispectral Image Demosaicking

Color image demosaicking for the Bayer color filter array is an essential image processing operation for acquiring high-quality color images. Recently, residual interpolation (RI)-based algorithms have demonstrated superior demosaicking performance over conventional color difference interpolation-based algorithms. In this paper, we propose adaptive residual interpolation (ARI) that improves existing RI-based algorithms by adaptively combining two RI-based algorithms and selecting a suitable iteration number at each pixel. These are performed based on a unified criterion that evaluates the validity of an RI-based algorithm. Experimental comparisons using standard color image datasets demonstrate that ARI can improve existing RI-based algorithms by more than 0.6 dB in the color peak signal-to-noise ratio and can outperform state-of-the-art algorithms based on training images. We further extend ARI for a multispectral filter array, in which more than three spectral bands are arrayed, and demonstrate that ARI can achieve state-of-the-art performance also for the task of multispectral image demosaicking.
SPoID: Do Not Throw Meaningful Incomplete Sequences Away!

Industrial databases often contain a large amount of unﬁlled information. During the knowledge discovery process one processing step is often necessary in order to remove these incomplete data either by deleting or assessing them. When the data mining task consists in mining for frequent sequences, incomplete data are, most of the time, deleted, which leads to an important loss of information. Extracted knowledge then becomes less representative of the database. Therefore we propose a method that uses the partial information contained in incomplete records, only temporary ignoring the missing part of the record. Experiments run on various synthetic datasets show the validity of our proposal as well in terms of quality as in terms of the robustness to the rate of missing values.
The Prevalence and Price Sensitivity of Altruism Two Field Experiments with Dictator Games Among a Random Sample of the Dutch Population

This paper presents two field studies of altruistic behavior among random samples of the Dutch population using modified versions of the dictator game. In the ordinary dictator game, university students devide an endowment received at the beginning of the experiment between themselves and an ‘anonymous other’. In study 1, a large, representative sample of the Dutch population (n=1,964), played an ‘All-or-Nothing’ version of the dictator game with earnings instead of endowments, and charities identified as recipients. An overwhelming majority of 95% kept the earnings for themselves, although only a single blind procedure was used. Study 2 investigates the price sensitivity of giving in a wider variety of dictator games, reducing the costs of a donation under two different framing conditions among a subsample (n=1,036) of the participants in study 1 two years later. Price reductions strongly increase donations, but framing the subsidy as a matching mechanism increases generosity more strongly than framing the subsidy as a (mathematically equivalent) rebate. JEL
On-line waveform monitoring system for the design and characterization of MIMO RF PAs

A measurement system capable of relative waveform measurement and on-wafer power de-embedding is presented in this paper. A comprehensive description and calibration mechanism of the developed measurement system is reported. The calibration methodology has been implemented on a two-port Microwave Transition Analyzer (MTA) but is readily applicable to multiport receiver system. The calibration strategy is based on reflection measurement using open-short-load (OSL) calibration standards at each port of the measurement system. The proposed calibration algorithm is fast, simple and accurate for power de-embedding and waveform monitoring. This kind of on-wafer power de-embedding and waveform monitoring is helpful in the design of switching mode power amplifiers (PAs). Finally, the relative waveform measurement of a 3W GaAs FET demonstrates that the developed system is capable of accurately monitoring the input and output ports of multiport microwave devices.
Cyclin D3 Immunoreactivity in Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors Is Independent of Cyclin D3 Gene Amplification and Is Associated with Nuclear p27 Accumulation

An abnormal expression of cyclin D3, a key regulator of the cell cycle, has been documented in a variety of human malignancies, and the cyclin D3 gene, mapping to 6p21, may be deregulated in human tumors as a result of the t(6;14)(p21.1;q32.3) translocation or gene amplification. In the current study, we for the first time investigated by immunohistochemistry and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) the prevalence of cyclin D3 abnormalities in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs), comparing the results with traditional pathological characteristics, p27 immunoreactivity (IR), and Ki-67 labeling index (LI). All the tumors showed nuclear cyclin D3 IR, with a percentage of immunostained neoplastic cells ranging from 10 to 95% (mean, 67.3 ± 22.9%). In 4 (40%) of the 10 cases analyzed by FISH, cyclin D3 extrasignals were detected. Cohybridization with probes specific for the centromeric region and the long arm of chromosome 6 indicated trisomy in one case, whereas in the remaining three cases the pattern was highly suggestive for the occurrence of an isochromosome 6p. There was no association between the cyclin D3 gene copy number and IR for the encoded protein. Cyclin D3 IR was positively associated with p27 IR (P = .004) but not with Ki-67 LI or tumor malignant potential. On the contrary, p27 IR was inversely associated with Ki-67 LI (P = .004) and was more prevalent in tumors of low or intermediate malignant potential, though at a borderline level of statistical significance (P = .066) only. These data suggest that cyclin D3 expression in GISTs is independent of gene amplification and that this protein may be involved in the pathogenesis of GISTs by counteracting the inhibitory activities of p27.
E.coli Fis protein activates ribosomal RNA transcription in vitro and in vivo.

An upstream activation region (UAR) contributes to the extremely high activity of the Escherichia coli ribosomal RNA promoter, rrnB P1, increasing its activity 20‐ to 30‐fold over that of the same promoter lacking the UAR. We have used DNase footprinting to define three specific sites in the rrnB P1 UAR that bind Fis, a protein identified previously by its role in recombinational enhancer function in other systems. We find that purified Fis activates transcription from promoters containing these sites 10‐ to 20‐fold in vitro at concentrations correlating with the filling of these sites. Three approaches indicate that Fis contributes to the function of the UAR in vivo. First, there is a progressive loss in the activity of rrnB P1‐lacZ fusions as Fis binding sites are deleted. Second, an rrnB P1 promoter with a mutation in a Fis binding site has 5‐fold reduced transcription activity in vivo, dramatically reduced Fis binding in vitro, and shows no Fis dependent transcription activation in vitro. Third, upstream activation is reduced 5‐fold in a Fis‐ strain. We show that rRNA promoters derepress in response to the loss of Fis in vivo in accord with the predictions of the negative feedback model for rRNA regulation. We find that fis is not essential for the function of two control systems known to regulate rRNA, growth rate dependent control and stringent control. On the basis of these results, we propose roles for Fis and the upstream activation system in rRNA synthesis.
Minding the gap: Elucidating the disconnect between arts participation metrics and arts engagement within immigrant communities

A growing gap between national metrics of arts participation and the many, evolving ways in which people participate in artistic and aesthetic activities limits the degree to which such data can usefully inform policy decisions. The National Endowment for the Arts’ Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA) is the primary source of arts participation data in the USA, but this instrument inadequately evaluates how members of minority and immigrant communities participate in the arts. As the USA nears a historic demographic shift to being a majority–minority nation – non-Hispanic White individuals will no longer be a demographic majority by about 2041 – obtaining more accurate measures of artistic activities that are meaningful to a more diverse population will be of increasing importance for public policy-making. To better understand the extent to which the SPPA's questions capture the range of artistic activities engaged in by members of immigrant communities, we cognitively tested a subset of the survey's questions with Chinese immigrants to the USA as a pilot case. We found that interviewees participate in a range of culturally specific and non-culturally specific arts activities that they did not report in response to the survey's questions. In this article, we draw upon these interviews to discuss the reasons underpinning the gap and suggest implications for updating research tools and future research. A better understanding of the gap between measured and actual “arts participation” will lead to improved measures and information to support artistic expression and arts more reflective of contemporary society.
The HLTCOE Approach to the TREC 2012 KBA Track

Our team submitted runs for the TREC KBA Cumulative Citation Recommendation task. This task involves labeling over 300 million documents for whether they are relevant and/or central to particular entities already in a database. For this task, we used an SVM classifier that uses unigrams and named entities as binary features. In this paper, we describe our work for the 2012 evaluation and the results we obtained.
Prevalence of PCR Ribotypes among Clostridium difficile Isolates from Pigs, Calves, and Other Species

ABSTRACT PCR ribotypes were obtained for 144 Clostridium difficile isolates from neonatal pigs. Porcine isolates comprised four PCR ribotypes, but one, ribotype 078, predominated (83%). This was also the most common ribotype (94%) among 33 calf isolates but was rarely identified in other species.
Studying the galactic outflow in NGC 1569

We present deep WIYN H alpha imaging of the dwarf irregular starburst galaxy NGC 1569, together with WIYN SparsePak spatially resolved optical spectroscopy of the galactic outflow. This leads on from our previous detailed analyses of the state of the interstellar medium (ISM) in the central regions of this galaxy. Our deep imaging reveals previously undetected ionized filaments in the outer halo. Through combining these results with our spectroscopy we have been able to redefine the spatial extent of the previously catalogued superbubbles, and derive estimates for their expansion velocities, which we find to be in the range 50-100 kms(-1). The implied dynamical ages of less than or similar to 25 Myr are consistent with the recent star and cluster formation histories of the galaxy. Detailed decomposition of the multicomponent Het line has shown that within a distinct region similar to 700 x 500 pc in size, roughly centred on the bright super star cluster A, the profile is composed of a bright, narrow [full width at half-maximum (FWHM); less than or similar to 70 km s(-1)] feature with an underlying, broad component (FWHM similar to 150 kms(-1)). Applying the conclusions found in our previous work regarding the mechanism through which the broad component is produced, we associate the faint, broad emission with the interaction of the hot, fast-flowing winds from the young star clusters with cool clumps of ISM material. This interaction generates turbulent mixing layers on the surface of the clouds and the evaporation and/or ablation of material into the outflow. Under this interpretation, the extent of the broad component region may indicate an important transition point in the outflow, where ordered expansion begins to dominate over turbulent motion. In this context, we present a multiwavelength discussion of the evolutionary state of the outflow.
Processing by SVM of Haar Wavelet Transforms for Discontinuity Detection

This paper describes a new approach to discontinuity detection involving the processing by support vector machine (SVM) of Haar wavelet transforms of local image windows. The method labels each pixel in an image as a pixel of discontinuity or otherwise by processing the Haar wavelet transform of the image in a window about the pixel using an SVM. The pixel labeler is trained using software for labeling training images by a human operator. As a pixel classifier, to within a moderate morphological tolerance, the discontinuity detector has an accuracy of 99% on the images for which it has been tested.
Urinary excretion of flavonoids reflects even small changes in the dietary intake of fruits and vegetables.

BACKGROUND Due to the random and systematic measurement errors associated with current dietary assessment instruments, there is a need to develop more objective methods of measuring the intake of foods of importance to human health. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to test whether urinary excretion of flavonoids could be used to identify subjects who are meeting Norwegian recommendations for fruit and vegetable intake (5 servings per day) from individuals who are consuming the national average amount of fruits and vegetables (2 servings per day). DESIGN Twenty-four-hour urine samples were collected in a strict crossover controlled feeding study. Forty healthy subjects (19-34 years) were included in the study. After a 1-week run-in period, one group was given a controlled diet that included 2 servings (300 g) of fruits and vegetables daily for 14 days, while the other group was given a diet containing 5 servings (750 g) per day. Following a 2-week washout and a 1 week run-in period, the regimens were switched between the groups. RESULTS An increased intake of mixed fruits and vegetables from 2 to 5 servings per day significantly enhanced urinary excretion of eriodictyol, naringenin, hesperetin, quercetin, kaempferol, isorhamnetin, and tamarixetin. The citrus flavonoids naringenin and hesperetin showed a steep dose-response relationship to dietary intake of fruits and vegetables, whereas the association to eriodictyol, quercetin, kaempferol, isorhamnetin, and tamarixetin was more moderate. CONCLUSION The present study indicates that urinary excretion of dietary flavonoids may be used to assess changes of mixed fruit and vegetable intake corresponding to an increase from the present national intake in Norway to the recommended amount of 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily.