Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
FEDERATED RDF REPOSITORIES FOR INTEGRATED HYBRID MUSEUMS

(EN) The Resource Description Framework (RDF) is a standard for the semantic web that allows describing web resources by means of metadata, providing " interoperability between applications that exchange machine-understandable information on the web ". Using RDF to describe resources in a distributed environment like the web or a grid needs a framework to enable distributed RDF specifications. On the one hand such specifications require mechanisms that allow the access to interrelated semantic information about resources no matter where this information is stored. In this way, this framework would avoid semantic islands creation by providing navigational support to reach in a transparent way remote metadata resources specified in a RDF model. On the other hand, it is likely that distributed RDF specifications are owned by different organizations or stakeholders which may store their RDF models in heterogeneous repositories. Thus, a framework providing the communicating layer that allows interoperability between several kinds of RDF repositories by means of a RDF models federation is also a requirement. In this paper, we present a federation architecture for distributed RDF models supporting the two requirements listed above: transparent navigation irrespective of the locations where resources are stored and support for heterogeneous repositories. Firstly, we discuss a particular RDF repository that has been used to prove the feasibility of our approach and the correctness of our federation architecture design. Secondly, we show the advantages of using the . NET technology to implement a framework requiring integration and interoperability between heterogeneous components. Next, we discuss the communicating technology that has been used in order to guarantee remote access between distributed repositories and finally, we present the RDF models federation architecture, including the management of federation members and the distribution mechanism to establish links between remote RDF models that can be navigated transparently. The proposed models and implementation is the core persistence layer for a Hybrid Museum project known as MoMo.
A Historical Population in a Coevolutionary System

The use of memory in coevolutionary systems is considered an important mechanism to counter the Red Queen effect. Our research involves incorporating a memory population that the coevolving populations compete against to obtain a fitness that is influenced by past generations. This long term fitness then allows the population to have continuous learning that awards individuals that do well against the current populations, as well as previous winning individuals. By allowing continued learning, the individuals in the populations increase their overall ability to play the game of TEMPO, not just to play a single round with the current opposition.
Intrinsic/extrinsic measurement: I/E-Revised and single-item scales.

Factor analyses of traditional and age-universal measures of intrinsic and extrinsic religion have identified two subcategories of extrinsicness, suggesting the original scales need revision. In this study, confirmatory multiple group factor analyses confirmed this suspicion, identifying extrinsic items concerned with social relationships ("Es") and with personal benefits ("Ep"). The analyses resulted in a revised intrinsic scale which is now partially counterbalanced for acquiescence, an Es scale, an Ep scale, and three single items which may also be used for measuring these constructs. These scales, labeled I/E-R, have reliabilities equal to or better than those of the original scales.
Evolving Personifications: The Contribution of Interpersonal Theory to an Understanding of Development

Abstract The author draws upon the application and integration of systems theory with Interpersonal theory by Levenson in making the argument that development and change depend on the breakdown of the rigid, unidimensional experience of a personification, a breakdown that results in the formation of a fresh, multidimensional experience of how the person is represented inside the mind. The author argues that the “interpersonal field” between patient and analyst, and the process of coming to subjectively know more about the analyst as a person—with his or her own motivations, intentions, thoughts, and feelings—opens pathways leading to an understanding of one's personifications.
Avermectin exerts anti‐inflammatory effect by downregulating the nuclear transcription factor kappa‐B and mitogen‐activated protein kinase activation pathway

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) can induce mouse macrophages to produce a number of cytokines and other inflammatory mediators. Immunopharmacological studies can provide new information on the immunomodulatory activities of some drugs, including their effect on cytokine productions. For this reason, we first investigated the efficacy of avermectin on cytokine levels induced by LPS in vitro, and we found that avermectin can significantly regulate tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin (IL)‐1β and IL‐10, but has no significant effect on IL‐6. We further investigated the effects of the drug on the major signal transduction pathways associated with inflammation: nuclear transcription factor kappa‐B (NF‐κB) and the mitogen‐activated protein (MAP) kinases, extracellular signal regulated kinase, p38 and c‐Jun N‐terminal kinase (JNK). RAW 264.7 cells were pretreated with 0.625, 1.25 or 5 mg/L avermectin 1 h prior to treatment with 1 mg/L LPS. Thirty minutes later, cells were fixed, and NF‐κB activation was measured by immunocytochemical analysis, or cells were collected and MAP‐kinase activation was measured by western blot. Signal transduction studies showed that avermectin significantly inhibits NF‐κB p65 translocation into the nucleus and inhibits JNK and p38 phosphorylation protein expression. Therefore, avermectin may inhibit LPS‐induced production of inflammatory cytokines by blocking NF‐κB and MAP‐kinase in RAW 264.7 cells.
CHOICE AND THE INTERNET : FROM CLICKSTREAM TO

The authors discuss research progress and future opportunities for modeling consumer choice on the Internet using clickstream data (the electronic records of Internet usage recorded by company web servers and syndicated data services). The authors compare the nature of Internet choice (as captured by clickstream data) with supermarket choice (as captured by UPC scanner panel data), highlighting the differences relevant to choice modelers. Though the application of choice models to clickstream data is relatively new, the authors review existing early work and provide a two-by-two categorization of the applications studied to date (delineating search versus purchase on the one hand and within-site versus across-site choices on the other). The paper offers directions for further research in these areas and discusses additional opportunities afforded by clickstream information, including personalization, data mining, automation, and customer valuation. Notwithstanding the numerous challenges associated with clickstream data research, the authors conclude that the detailed nature of the information tracked about Internet usage and e-commerce transactions presents an enormous opportunity for empirical modelers to enhance the understanding and prediction of choice behavior.
Mechanical Analysis of Single Myocyte Contraction in a 3-D Elastic Matrix

Background Cardiac myocytes experience mechanical stress during each heartbeat. Excessive mechanical stresses under pathological conditions cause functional and structural remodeling that lead to heart diseases, yet the precise mechanisms are still incompletely understood. To study the cellular and molecular level mechanotransduction mechanisms, we developed a new ‘cell-in-gel’ experimental system to exert multiaxial (3-D) stresses on a single myocyte during active contraction. Methods Isolated myocytes are embedded in an elastic hydrogel to simulate the mechanical environment in myocardium (afterload). When electrically stimulated, the in-gel myocyte contracts while the matrix resists shortening and broadening of the cell, exerting normal and shear stresses on the cell. Here we provide a mechanical analysis, based on the Eshelby inclusion problem, of the 3-D strain and stress inside and outside the single myocyte during contraction in an elastic matrix. Results (1) The fractional shortening of the myocyte depends on the cell’s geometric dimensions and the relative stiffness of the cell to the gel. A slender or softer cell has less fractional shortening. A myocyte of typical dimensions embedded in a gel of similar elastic stiffness can contract only 20% of its load-free value. (2) The longitudinal stress inside the cell is about 15 times the transverse stress level. (3) The traction on the cell surface is highly non-uniform, with a maximum near its ends, showing ‘hot spots’ at the location of intercalated disks. (4) The mechanical energy expenditure of the myocyte increases with the matrix stiffness in a monotonic and nonlinear manner. Conclusion Our mechanical analyses provide analytic solutions that readily lend themselves to parametric studies. The resulting 3-D mapping of the strain and stress states serve to analyze and interpret ongoing cell-in-gel experiments, and the mathematical model provides an essential tool to decipher and quantify mechanotransduction mechanisms in cardiac myocytes.
Nonuniform sampling in polar coordinates with applications to computerized tomography

We consider the problem of reconstructing a 2D bandlimited signal from its nonuniform samples taken in polar coordinates. We introduce two nonuniform sampling strategies in polar coordinates and develop algorithms for reconstructing the signal from these samples. The proposed methods collect nonuniform samples along concentric circles or radial lines, where the circles or lines are nonuniformly distributed. We then apply these methods to the problem of reconstruction of tomographic images and show through simulations that they result in a higher quality of reconstruction with respect to the traditionally used algorithms.
Continuous Semantic Topic Embedding Model Using Variational Autoencoder

This paper proposes the continuous semantic topic embedding model (CSTEM) which finds latent topic variables in documents using continuous semantic distance function between the topics and the words by means of the variational autoencoder(VAE). The semantic distance could be represented by any symmetric bell-shaped geometric distance function on the Euclidean space, for which the Mahalanobis distance is used in this paper. In order for the semantic distance to perform more properly, we newly introduce an additional model parameter for each word to take out the global factor from this distance indicating how likely it occurs regardless of its topic. It certainly improves the problem that the Gaussian distribution which is used in previous topic model with continuous word embedding could not explain the semantic relation correctly and helps to obtain the higher topic coherence. Through the experiments with the dataset of 20 Newsgroup, NIPS papers and CNN/Dailymail corpus, the performance of the recent state-of-the-art models is accomplished by our model as well as generating topic embedding vectors which makes possible to observe where the topic vectors are embedded with the word vectors in the real Euclidean space and how the topics are related each other semantically.
Population-Based Study of Cerebral Microbleeds in Stroke-Free Older Adults Living in Rural Ecuador: The Atahualpa Project

Background and Purpose— Prevalence of cerebral microbleeds (CMB) in white and Asian populations range from 4% to 15%. However, there is no information from indigenous Latin American people. We aimed to assess prevalence and cerebrovascular correlates of CMB in stroke-free older adults living in rural Ecuador. Methods— Of 311 Atahualpa residents aged ≥60 years identified during a door-to-door survey, 258 (83%) underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging. Twenty-one were further excluded for a diagnosis of overt stroke. Using multivariate logistic regression models, adjusted for demographics and cardiovascular risk factors, we evaluated whether CMB were independently associated with silent strokes, white matter hyperintensities, and global cortical atrophy. Results— Twenty-six (11%) of 237 participants had CMB, which were single in 54% of cases. CMB were deep in 11 patients, cortical in 9, and located both deep and cortical in 6. In univariate analyses, CMB were associated with age, systolic blood pressure, moderate-to-severe white matter hyperintensities, silent lacunar infarcts, and cortical atrophy. Mean (±SD) values for systolic blood pressure were 155±27 mm Hg in patients who had CMB versus 142±26 mm Hg in those who did not (P=0.017). In the adjusted models, moderate-to-severe white matter hyperintensities (P=0.009), silent lacunar infarcts (P=0.003), and global cortical atrophy (P=0.04) were independently associated with CMB. Conclusions— Prevalence of CMB in stroke-free older adults living in Atahualpa is comparable with those reported from other ethnic groups. There is a strong relationship between CMB and increased age, high systolic blood pressure, silent markers of cerebral small vessel disease, and cortical atrophy.
Neural Network Based DTC IM Drive for Electric Vehicle Propulsion System

This paper deals with a neural network based direct torque control (DTC) of an induction motor (IM) for electric vehicle (EV) propulsion system. In this scheme the traditional switching lookup table is replaced with a multi-layer neural network. The complete neural network (NN) based DTC scheme of IM drive is simulated using MATLAB. The obtained results demonstrate the effectiveness of the NN based DTC scheme of IM drive. The proposed NN based DTC scheme reduces torque and current ripples to a great extent in IM drive.
Control of a Quadrotor Helicopter Using Dual Camera Visual Feedback

In this paper we propose a vision-based stabilization and output tracking control method for a model helicopter. A novel two-camera method is introduced for estimating the full six-degrees-of-freedom pose of the helicopter. One of these cameras is located on-board the helicopter, and the other camera is located on the ground. Unlike previous work, these two cameras are set to see each other. The pose estimation algorithm is compared in simulation to other methods and is shown to be less sensitive to errors on feature detection. In order to build an autonomous helicopter, two methods of control are studied: one using a series of mode-based, feedback linearizing controllers and the other using a backstepping-like control law. Various simulations demonstrate the implementation of these controllers. Finally, we present flight experiments where the proposed pose estimation algorithm and non-linear control techniques have been implemented on a remote-controlled helicopter.
IPSAS adoption by the World Food Programme: an application of the contingency model to intergovernmental organisations

This paper intends to contribute to the body of literature that explores the drivers and reasons for public sector organisations' accounting reforms. In 2009, the World Food Programme (WFP) became the first United Nations system organisation to successfully implement International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) and full accruals accounting. This paper reviews the applicability of the contingency model (Lueder, 1992) and its subsequent version (Financial Management Reform model; Lueder, 2002) to intergovernmental organisations such as those making up the United Nations system. The WFP's case is presented through the conceptual lens of the contingency framework and the case study findings are then used to further develop the contingency model for application to accounting reforms in intergovernmental organisations.
Processive DNA synthesis observed in a polymerase crystal suggests a mechanism for the prevention of frameshift mutations

DNA polymerases replicate DNA by adding nucleotides to a growing primer strand while avoiding frameshift and point mutations. Here we present a series of up to six successive replication events that were obtained by extension of a primed template directly in a crystal of the thermostable Bacillus DNA polymerase I. The 6-bp extension involves a 20-Å translocation of the DNA duplex, representing the largest molecular movement observed in a protein crystal. In addition, we obtained the structure of a “closed” conformation of the enzyme with a bound triphosphate juxtaposed to a template and a dideoxy-terminated primer by constructing a point mutant that destroys a crystal lattice contact stabilizing the wild-type polymerase in an “open” conformation. Together, these observations allow many of the steps involved in DNA replication to be observed in the same enzyme at near atomic detail. The successive replication events observed directly by catalysis in the crystal confirm the general reaction sequence deduced from observations obtained by using several other polymerases and further refine critical aspects of the known reaction mechanism, and also allow us to propose new features that concern the regulated transfer of the template strand between a preinsertion site and an insertion site. We propose that such regulated transfer is an important element in the prevention of frameshift mutations in high-fidelity DNA polymerases. The ability to observe processive, high-fidelity replication directly in a crystal establishes this polymerase as a powerful model system for mechanistic studies in which the structural consequences of mismatches and DNA adducts are observed.
Students as learning experience designers: the effect of student-driven approaches in a Hong Kong study

Abstract Student-driven approaches have generated positive results in student development. This study reports a Students as Learning Experience Designers (Student-LED) Project as one example of employing student-driven approaches to develop learning abilities, leadership skills and reflective habits, in the context of the new senior secondary curriculum reform in Hong Kong. In such reform, schools are encouraged to offer other learning experiences (OLE) to facilitate students’ all-round development. This Student-LED project can be seen as pioneering in its cultural context and for the target participants. Students in Hong Kong were traditionally described as lacking independence, which seemed to contradict the premise of student-driven approaches. The present study as a pilot shows that Hong Kong secondary school students could potentially benefit from a student-driven approach. Sense of autonomy and positional leadership opportunities were found to be important factors to student learning. The concerns of students and teachers during the process were also identified through reflective statements. This study provided some insights into the use of student-driven approaches with Hong Kong learners.
A second-order cone deflation approach to joint multiuser downlink beamforming and admission control

Multiuser downlink beamforming under quality of service (QoS) constraints has attracted considerable interest in recent years, because it is particularly appealing from a network operator's perspective (e.g., UMTS, 802.16e). When there are many co-channel users and/or the service constraints are stringent, the problem becomes in- feasible and some form of admission control is necessary. We advocate a cross-layer approach to joint multiuser transmit beamforming and admission control, aiming to maximize the number of users that can be served at their desired QoS. The problem is NP-hard; we propose and motivate a deflation approach based on second-order cone relaxation. For a moderate number of users, we benchmark the proposed algorithm against the optimal enumeration-based solution and a simpler approach, using both simulated and measured channel data. Our results indicate that the proposed algorithm yields consistently close to optimal performance at an affordable complexity cost.
Role of tyrosine phosphorylation in the regulation of Burkholderia cell physiology

Burkholderia cepacia complex bacteria are opportunistic pathogens, causing severe lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients. Many clinical isolates produce the exopolysaccharide cepacian, believed to be an infection persistence determinant. Little is known about cepacian biosynthesis regulation, but our studies showed the importance of post-translational mechanisms mediated by tyrosine phosphorylation, namely through the tyrosine autokinase BceF, which affects EPS biosynthesis. Indeed, insertion mutants on bceF and bceE genes, this last one encoding an outer membrane porin, caused an exopolysaccharide deficient phenotype, confirming their essential role in EPS biosynthesis. Assessment of biofilm formation showed a stronger reduction in biofilm thickness by the bceF mutant when compared to bceE mutant and the parental strain B. cepacia IST408. Transcriptome analysis suggests that BceF may regulate other cellular functions as indicated by the high number of differentially expressed genes when its transcriptome was compared to the one of the parental strain and the bceE mutant.
Compressive Parameter Estimation with Emd

COMPRESSIVE PARAMETER ESTIMATION WITH EMD FEBRUARY 2014 DIAN MO B.Sc., BEIHANG UNIVERSITY M.S.E.C. E. , UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Marco F. Duarte In recent years, sparsity and compressive sensing have attracted significant attention in parameter estimation tasks, including frequency estimation, delay estimation, and localization. Parametric dictionaries collect signals for a sampling of the parameter space and can yield sparse representations for the signals of interest when the sampling is sufficiently dense. While this dense sampling can lead to high coherence in the dictionary, it is possible to leverage structured sparsity models to prevent highly coherent dictionary elements from appearing simultaneously in a signal representation, alleviating these coherence issues. However, the resulting approaches depend heavily on a careful setting of the maximum allowable coherence; furthermore, their guarantees apply to the coefficient vector recovery and do not translate in general to the parameter estimation task. We propose a new algorithm based on optimal sparse approximation measured by earth mover’s distance (EMD). Theoretically, we show that EMD provides a better metric for the performance of parametric dictionarybased parameter estimation and K-median clustering algorithms has the potential
They married for love but keep it quiet: Same sex partners in Iceland

Iceland is one of a few countries where the recognition of same sex relationships has been practised since the 1990s. This article is based on a mixed method study among civil partners in Iceland and explains why people choose to marry. Whilst the questionnaire data signalled that most people marry for love, love marriages were difficult to explore in the face-to-face interaction, as was the multiple understandings of security. Claiming citizenship rights, in contrast, was generally framed as marrying for the ‘right’ reasons, readily articulated by everyone involved in this study. I argue that this hesitance may partly be explained by the campaign for same sex partnership itself, which promoted security discourses rather than emotional freedom, and consequently hindered the flow of love narratives.