Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Contrastive analysis of verdicts, cognitive activity, reasoning and information- processing in judicial judgements.

This study assesses the performance of two Panels of Spanish judges by analysing the judicial judgements. A content analysis was undertaken to determine the impact of informal reasoning in the judgements through the presence of bias and heuristics (Perkins, 1989). The results reveal evidence of bias and heuristics in 80.3% of the judgements. Moreover, an interaction between the sources of bias and the Panel of judges was observed. Furthermore, there was a significant relationship between guilty verdicts and some sources of bias. As for informationprocessing, the analysis of cognitive activity showed that the Panels employed different cognitive strategies. Finally, the results are discussed in the light of strategies designed to mitigate the negative effects of bias and heuristics in judicial judgement-making.
Lecture 2 — September 20, 2015

Estimating a complicated integral numerically is a problem which is ubiquitous in applied mathematics. Often we have to deal with functions for which the integral has no simple closed form. Even worse, often we do not even have a formula for the function we are integrating, and instead can only query its value at specific points, for example by performing an experiment. We might, however, have some knowledge about the function, for example that it is bounded or somewhat smooth.
Multi-Tensor Field spectral segmentation for white matter fiber bundle classification

We present an algorithm for segmenting the white-matter axon fiber bundles from HARDI images. We formulate the segmentation problem as a Multi-Tensor Field segmentation problem in which the compartments of each Multi-Tensor may belong to different classes, allowing the algorithm to handle crossing fiber tracts. Experimental results on two publicly available synthetic datasets and the fiber-cup phantom show that fiber crossings can be effectively separated by using this approach, and preliminary results on real data show that the segmentation obtained is consistent with known anatomical structures.
Using Virtualization Software in Operating Systems Course

Virtualization technology has been developing for years. Nowadays, it is revived with a large scale of different software applications. One of the methods of virtualization technology appliance is in the creation or virtual network laboratories. Virtual network laboratories are used for networking research and experiments, and as well as for education of engineers at universities. The question is, can virtualization be used in other courses in higher education. This paper presents an approach of using virtualization software as a simulation tool for virtual laboratory in operating system course. This work is the first phase of ongoing research in adopting virtualization technology usage in high education.
An MDA Approach to Byte Code Level Cross-Compilation

The model driven architecture (MDA) offers a more efficient software engineering process by raising the level of abstraction. Tool support for the MDA is usually limited to generating code from UML diagrams. Most MDA examples in scientific papers are limited to relatively simple use cases that help the understanding of the MDA, but are not suited to demonstrate the powers and flexibility of the MDA. In this paper we show an MDA approach to cross-compile byte code instructions from Microsoft's Common Language Runtime (CLR) to Sun Microsystem's Java Virtual Machine (JVM). We introduce an XML-based representation of byte code we call XMLVM. Based on XMLVM we define XSL stylesheet transformations which can map certain features from the CLR to the JVM. Besides providing a specific cross-compilation approach between the byte code of two different virtual machines, we also show how XML technologies can be used within the context of the MDA.
Comparison of sample sequences of the Salmonella typhi genome to the sequence of the complete Escherichia coli K-12 genome.

Raw sequence data representing the majority of a bacterial genome can be obtained at a tiny fraction of the cost of a completed sequence. To demonstrate the utility of such a resource, 870 single-stranded M13 clones were sequenced from a shotgun library of the Salmonella typhi Ty2 genome. The sequence reads averaged over 400 bases and sampled the genome with an average spacing of once every 5,000 bases. A total of 339,243 bases of unique sequence was generated (approximately 7% representation). The sample of 870 sequences was compared to the complete Escherichia coli K-12 genome and to the rest of the GenBank database, which can also be considered a collection of sampled sequences. Despite the incomplete S. typhi data set, interesting categories could easily be discerned. Sixteen percent of the sequences determined from S. typhi had close homologs among known Salmonella sequences (P < 1e-40 in BlastX or BlastN), reflecting the proportion of these genomes that have been sequenced previously; 277 sequences (32%) had no apparent orthologs in the complete E. coli K-12 genome (P > 1e-20), of which 155 sequences (18%) had no close similarities to any sequence in the database (P > 1e-5). Eight of the 277 sequences had similarities to genes in other strains of E. coli or plasmids, and six sequences showed evidence of novel phage lysogens or sequence remnants of phage integrations, including a member of the lambda family (P < 1e-15). Twenty-three sample sequences had a significantly closer similarity a sequence in the database from organisms other than the E. coli/Salmonella clade (which includes Shigella and Citrobacter). These sequences are new candidate lateral transfer events to the S. typhi lineage or deletions on the E. coli K-12 lineage. Eleven putative junctions of insertion/deletion events greater than 100 bp were observed in the sample, indicating that well over 150 such events may distinguish S. typhi from E. coli K-12. The need for automatic methods to more effectively exploit sample sequences is discussed.
A Numerical Approach for Solving Optimal Control Problems Using the Boubaker Polynomials Expansion Scheme

In this paper, we present a computational method for solving optimal control problems and the controlled Duffing oscillator. This method is based on state parametrization. In fact, the state variable is approximated by Boubaker polynomials with unknown coefficients. The equation of motion, performance index and boundary conditions are converted into some algebraic equations. Thus, an optimal control problem converts to a optimization problem, which can then be solved easily. By this method, the numerical value of the performance index is obtained. Also, the control and state variables can be approximated as functions of time. Convergence of the algorithms is proved. Numerical results are given for several test examples to demonstrate the applicability and efficiency of the method.
Assessment of Reductive Acetogenesis with Indigenous Ruminal Bacterium Populations and Acetitomaculum ruminis

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of reductive acetogenesis as an alternative H2 disposal mechanism in the rumen. H2/CO2-supported acetogenic ruminal bacteria were enumerated by using a selective inhibitor of methanogenesis, 2-bromoethanesulfonic acid (BES). Acetogenic bacteria ranged in density from 2.5 × 105 cells/ml in beef cows fed a high-forage diet to 75 cells/ml in finishing steers fed a high-grain diet. Negligible endogenous acetogenic activity was demonstrated in incubations containing ruminal contents, NaH13CO3, and 100% H2 gas phase since [U-13C]acetate, as measured by mass spectroscopy, did not accumulate. Enhancement of acetogenesis was observed in these incubations when methanogenesis was inhibited by BES and/or by the addition of an axenic culture of the rumen acetogenAcetitomaculum ruminis 190A4 (107 CFU/ml). To assess the relative importance of population density and/or H2 concentration for reductive acetogenesis in ruminal contents, incubations as described above were performed under a 100% N2 gas phase. Both selective inhibition of methanogenesis and A. ruminis 190A4 fortification (>105CFU/ml) were necessary for the detection of reductive acetogenesis under H2-limiting conditions. Under these conditions, H2 accumulated to 4,800 ppm. In contrast, H2accumulated to 400 ppm in incubations with active methanogenesis (without BES). These H2 concentrations correlated well with the pure culture H2 threshold concentrations determined forA. ruminis 190A4 (3,830 ppm) and the ruminal methanogen 10-16B (126 ppm). The data demonstrate that ruminal methanogenic bacteria limited reductive acetogenesis by lowering the H2partial pressure below the level necessary for H2utilization by A. ruminis 190A4.
Online The Open University ’ s repository of research publications and other research outputs Enabling management oversight in corporate blog space Conference Item

When a modern corporation empowers its staff to use blogs to communicate with colleagues, partners, suppliers and customers, the role of management in exercising oversight and guidance over the public speech of staff becomes dramatically challenged. This paper describes a computational solution to the interpretation of human-readable blog publishing policy documents into semi-automatic disconformance checking of corporate blog entries. The disconformance interpretation is regarded as an abductive reasoning, which is operationalized by information flow computations. Using a socio-cognitively motivated representation of shared knowledge, and applying an appropriate information flow inference mechanism from a normative perspective, a mechanism to automatically detect potentially non-conforming blog entries is detailed. Candidate non-conforming blog entries are flagged for a human to make a judgment on whether they should be published. Experiments on data from a public corporate blog demonstrate an encouraging performance of the proposed methodology.
Chitooligosaccharide Induces Mitochondrial Biogenesis and Increases Exercise Endurance through the Activation of Sirt1 and AMPK in Rats

By catabolizing glucose and lipids, mitochondria produce ATPs to meet energy demands. When the number and activity of mitochondria are not sufficient, the human body becomes easily fatigued due to the lack of ATP, thus the control of the quantity and function of mitochondria is important to optimize energy balance. By increasing mitochondrial capacity? it may be possible to enhance energy metabolism and improve exercise endurance. Here, through the screening of various functional food ingredients, we found that chitooligosaccharide (COS) is an effective inducer of mitochondrial biogenesis. In rodents, COS increased the mitochondrial content in skeletal muscle and enhanced exercise endurance. In cultured myocytes, the expression of major regulators of mitochondrial biogenesis and key components of mitochondrial electron transfer chain was increased upon COS treatment. COS-mediated induction of mitochondrial biogenesis was achieved in part by the activation of silent information regulator two ortholog 1 (Sirt1) and AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK). Taken together, our data suggest that COS could act as an exercise mimetic by inducing mitochondrial biogenesis and enhancing exercise endurance through the activation of Sirt1 and AMPK.
Multi-modal Relevance Feedback for Medical Image Retrieval

Medical image retrieval can assist physicians in nding information supporting their diagnosis. Systems that allow searching for medical images need to provide tools for quick and easy navigation and query renement as the time for information search is often short. Relevance feedback is a powerful tool in information retrieval. This study evaluates relevance feedback techniques with regard to the content they use. A novel relevance feedback technique that uses both text and visual information of the results is proposed. Results show the potential of relevance feedback techniques in medical image retrieval and the superiority of the proposed algorithm over commonly used approaches. Future steps include integrating semantics into relevance feedback techniques to benet of the structured knowledge of ontologies and experimenting on the fusion of text and visual information.
PCS network survivability

Research and development on the survivability of networks has largely focused on public switched telecommunications networks and high speed data networks with little attention on the survivability of wireless access networks supporting cellular and PCS communications. This paper provides an overview of the survivability issues in PCS networks with emphasis on the unique difficulties presented by user mobility and the wireless channel environment. A multi-layer framework for the study of PCS network survivability is proposed. Metrics for quantifying network survivability are identified at each layer. It is shown that user mobility significantly worsens the network performance after even small failures, as disconnected users move among adjacent cells and attempt to reconnect to the network. Thus survivability strategies must be designed to contend with spatial as well as temporal network behavior. Possible survivability strategies and restoration techniques for each layer in the framework are also discussed.
Helping and hindering user involvement — a tale of everyday design

The importance of an early and on-going focus on users in interactive system design is widely accepted. However, in practice, involving users poses many problems and requires designers to balance conflicting demands. Various factors can hinder or ease the involvement of users. This paper reports a case study involving the design of a bespoke application and gives a detailed account of the obstacles and facilitators to user involvement encountered during the design activity. The obstacles and facilitators are presented in terms of issues such as contacting and selecting users, motivating users, facilitating and mediating meetings and offering points of focus for user contributions. We report and contrast the views of various stakeholders in the design process, and supplement these with our own observations as non-participant observers. Finally, we discuss issues raised by the study and draw out a number of lessons for the CHI community.
Differential Methylation of the HPV 16 Upstream Regulatory Region during Epithelial Differentiation and Neoplastic Transformation

High risk human papillomaviruses are squamous epitheliotropic viruses that may cause cervical and other cancers. HPV replication depends on squamous epithelial differentiation. Transformation of HPV-infected cells goes along with substantial alteration of the viral gene expression profile and preferentially occurs at transformation zones usually at the uterine cervix. Methylation of the viral genome may affect regulatory features that control transcription and replication of the viral genome. Therefore, we analyzed the methylation pattern of the HPV16 upstream regulatory region (URR) during squamous epithelial differentiation and neoplastic transformation and analyzed how shifts in the HPV URR methylome may affect viral gene expression and replication. HPV 16 positive biopsy sections encompassing all stages of an HPV infection (latent, permissive and transforming) were micro-dissected and DNA was isolated from cell fractions representing the basal, intermediate, and superficial cell layers, each, as well as from transformed p16INK4a-positive cells. We observed fundamental changes in the methylation profile of transcription factor binding sites in the HPV16 upstream regulatory region linked to the squamous epithelial differentiation stage. Squamous epithelial transformation indicated by p16INK4a overexpression was associated with methylation of the distal E2 binding site 1 leading to hyper-activation of the HPV 16 URR. Adjacent normal but HPV 16-infected epithelial areas retained hyper-methylated HPV DNA suggesting that these viral genomes were inactivated. These data suggest that distinct shifts of the HPV 16 methylome are linked to differentiation dependent transcription and replication control and may trigger neoplastic transformation.
Application of Directional Antennas in RF-Based Indoor Localization Systems

A simple technique to estimate the position of a given mobile source inside a building is based on the received signal strength. For this methodology to have a reasonable accuracy, radio visibility of the mobile node by at least three access points is required. To reduce the number of required access points and therefore, to simplify the underlying coverage design problem, a new scheme is presented that takes into account the distribution of RF energy around the receiver. In other words, it is assumed that the receiver is equipped with a circular antenna with beamforming capability. In this way, the spatial spectrum of the received power can be measured by rotating the antenna beam around the 360-degree field of view. This spatial spectrum can be used by the receiver as a means for estimating the position of a mobile transmitter. In this thesis, the feasibility of this methodology is investigated, and the improvement achieved in the positioning accuracy is shown.
A Collaborative Filtering Recommender Algorithm Based on the User Interest Model

To cope with the transfer of user interest and improve the accurate of prediction in recommender system, this paper proposes a Dynamic User-Interest-Model (DUIM). The model adopts the memory curve equation to address the influence of time factor. Users' long term interest and short term interest can be embodied clearly in this model. Based on the model, the paper presents a novel collaborative filtering recommender algorithm (Model-based Collaborative Filtering Recommender Algorithm, MCF). Experiments prove that MCF gets better prediction and higher time efficiency compared with other similar algorithms.
DoS packet filter using DNS information

A DoS (denial of service) attack is one of the most serious threats in the Internet. It is important to protect the resources and services from the DoS attack, but it is difficult to distinguish normal traffic and DoS attack traffic because the DoS attackers generally hide their true identities/origins. In this paper, we propose a technique to reduce the influence of the DoS attack without disturbing the demand of the regular users by allocating the information, when DoS attack occurs, to the filtering rules. This can be done by using DNS request replies.
A FPGA-Based High Performance Acceleration Platform for the Next Generation Long Read Mapping

To compare the newly determined sequences against the subject sequences stored in the databases is a critical job in the bioinformatics. Fortunately, recent survey reports that the state-of-the-art aligners are already fast enough to handle the ultra amount of short sequence reads in the reasonable time. However, for aligning the long sequence reads (> 400 bp) generated by the next generation sequencing (NGS) technology, it is still quite inefficient with present aligners. Furthermore, the challenge becomes more and more serious as the lengths and the amounts of the sequence reads are both keeping increasing with the improvement of the sequencing technology. Thus, it is extremely urgent for the researchers to enhance the performance of the long read alignment. In this paper, we propose a novel FPGA-based system to improve the efficiency of the long read mapping. Compared to the state-of-the-art long read aligner BWA-SW, our accelerating platform could achieve better performance. Experiments demonstrate that for reads with lengths ranging from 512 base pairs up to 4096 base pairs, the described system obtains a 10×-48× speedup for the bottleneck of the software. As to the complete mapping procedure, the FPGA-based platform could achieve a 1.9×-3.2× speedup versus the BWA-SW aligner, reducing the alignment cycles from weeks to days.
Akt-Dependent Potentiation of L Channels by Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 Is Required for Neuronal Survival

The insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1)/receptor tyrosine kinase recently has been shown to mediate neuronal survival and potentiate the activity of specific calcium channel subtypes; survival requires Akt, a serine/threonine kinase. We demonstrate here that Akt mediates the IGF-1-induced potentiation of L channel currents, but not that of N channels. Transient expression of wild-type, dominant–negative, and constitutively active forms of Akt in cerebellar granule neurons causes, respectively, no change in IGF-1/L channel potentiation, complete inhibition of potentiation, and a dramatic increase in basal L currents accompanied by the loss of ability to induce further increases. In no case is the IGF-1 potentiation of N currents affected. We additionally find that IGF-1 partially mediates granule neuron survival via L channel activity and that Akt-dependent L channel modulation is a necessary component. Interestingly, very brief exposure (1 min) to IGF-1 triggers nearly complete survival and requires L channel activity. These results strongly suggest that neuronal receptor tyrosine kinases can control long-term calcium-dependent processes via the rapid control of voltage-sensitive channels.
Energy Characterization of a RTOS Hardware Accelerator for SoCs

During the last decadeseveral Real-Time Operating System(RTOS)hardwareacceleratorshavebeenproposed. The accelerators perform operating systemfunctionality traditionally implementedin software. While their effects on predictabilityandspeedupshavebeenstudied,their impact on systemenergy consumptionis still unknown.As a first steptowardscomparisonof energy efficiencybetween HW-RTOSsand SW-RTOSs,this paperpresentsan energy characterizationof the different operating systemcalls offered for an in-housedevelopedRTOShardware accelerator calledRealTimeUnit (RTU). Theobtainedresultsshow thata RTUconsumesabout0.16mW/MHzfor a 1.8V0. 18micron processand that thepowerconsumtionis independent of the function it performs. The power consumtion variancesare within 4 percentof the average value. Even duringtheidle periodshugeamountof poweris wasteddue to unwantedactivity triggeredby theclock. We believethat if a HW-basedRTOSis to beata SW-RTOSbasedsystemin termsof energyconsumtion, poweroptimizationtechniques such as gatedclocking needsto be usedfor the hardware accelerator.
WinARM-Simulating Advanced RISC Machine Architecture

This paper discusses the design and implementation of the WinARM, a simulator implemented in C for the Advanced RISC Machine (ARM) processor. The intended users of this tool are those individuals interested in learning computer architecture, particularly those with an interest in the Advanced RISC Machine processor family. WinARM facilitates the learning of computer architecture by offering a hands-on approach to those who have no access to the actual hardware. The core of the simulator is implemented in C with and models a fetch-decode-execute paradigm; a Visual Basic GUI is included to give users an interactive environment to observe different stages of the simulation process.