Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Venetan to English machine translation: issues and possible solutions

In this paper we describe a prototype of a Venetan to English translation system developed under the Stilven project financed by the Regional Authorities of Veneto Region in Italy. The general approach is a statistical one with some preprocessing operations both at training and translation time (ortographic normalization and POS tagging to make use of factored models) which are needed especially to overcome two main problems: the scarcity of Venetan resources (our Venetan-English corpus is made up of only 13,000 sentences, amounting to 128,000 Venetan tokens) and the diasystemic nature of Venetan, which really represents an ensemble of varieties rather than a single dialect. We will present in detail the problems related to Venetan, our ideas to solve them, their implementation and the results obtained so far.
Influence of uridine diphosphate (UDP)-glucuronosyltransferases and ABCC2 genetic polymorphisms on the pharmacokinetics of mycophenolic acid and its metabolites in Chinese renal transplant recipients

The aim was to investigate the effect of UGT1A9, UGT1A8, UGT2B7 and ABCC2 polymorphism on the pharmacokinetics of mycophenolic acid (MPA) and its metabolites phenolic glucuronide (MPAG) and acyl glucuronide (AcMPAG) in Chinese renal transplant recipients. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in UGT1A9-118(dT)9/10, UGT1A9 T-440C/C-331T, UGT1A8*3, UGT2B7 G211T, UGT2B7 C802T, ABCC2 C-24T, and ABCC2 G1249A were detected. A total of 46 recipients were enrolled in the pharmacokinetics study at day 30 after kidney transplantation. Differences in the MPA pharmacokinetic profiles confirmed large inter-patient variation of MPA exposure. A statistical significant increase in the dose-adjusted AUC6–12 level of MPA was found in patients bearing the -118(dT)10 allele of the UGT1A9 gene (T9 = 7.34 ± 4.11 mg h ml−1 g−1; T9/T10 = 11.54 ± 7.62 mg h ml−1 g−1; and T10 = 11.89 ±8.76 mg h ml−1 g−1, p = 0.041). A similar trend was also observed for the dose-adjusted AUC0–12 and AUC6–12 of MPAG. Patients carrying the heterozygous mutant alleles of ABCC2 G1249A exhibited higher AUC6–12/D of AcMPAG than those with wild-type genotype (p = 0.016). The other SNPs that were genotyped did not cause any significant variation in MPA and MPAG pharmacokinetic parameters. In conclusion, the enterohepatic recirculation of MPA in the patients seems to be more extensive in UGT1A9-118(dT)10 allele carriers, and the exposure of AcMPAG is higher in patients carrying ABCC2 G1249A genotype than those with wild-type genotype.
Evolutionary Design of Morphology-Based Homomorphic Filter for Feature Enhancement of Medical Images

In this paper, a new morphology-based homomorphic filtering technique is presented to enhance features in medical images. The homomorphic filtering is performed based on the morphological sub-bands, in which an image is morphologically decomposed. An evolutionary design is carried to find an optimal gain and structuring element of each sub-band. As a search algorithm, Differential Evolution scheme is utilized. Simulations show that the proposed filter improves the contrast of the interest feature in medical images.
Precursor-T Lymphoblastic Lymphoma After Unrelated Bone Marrow Transplantation in a Patient With Fanconi Anemia

Lymphoid malignancies are rare in patients with Fanconi anemia (FA), particularly after bone marrow transplantation. A boy, who was diagnosed with FA at the age of 5; underwent successful bone marrow transplantation at the age of 11. One year later, he presented with fever and dry cough, and was found to have an anterior mediastinal tumor. Biopsy of the tumor revealed precursor-T cell lymphoblastic lymphoma. Human leukocyte antigen analysis confirmed that the tumor cells were derived from the patient's own cells. He received mild chemotherapy for lymphoma, but his condition deteriorated rapidly and he died from excessive chemotherapy-related toxicity. The literature contains no reports of successful chemotherapy for lymphoid tumors in patients with FA, and therefore, alternatives to chemotherapy should be considered in the treatment of such patients.
Tomographic velocity estimation with planewave synthesis imaging

In areas with structurally complex geology, tomographic velocity analysis is required to estimate velocities. This paper describes a tomographic velocity analysis algorithm which uses planewave synthesis imaging as a prestack migration. In reflection tomography, prestack migration is required for both event picking and traveltime error computation. Traveltime errors are often measured in the form of residual moveout (RMO) velocity in common surface location (CSL) gathers after prestack depth migration. It is shown that we can measure the residual moveout (RMO) velocity accurately with the help of reflector-dependent planewave synthesis imaging.
Extensive Investigation of Time-Dependent Breakdown of GaN-HEMTs Submitted to OFF-State Stress

This paper reports the experimental demonstration of time-dependent dielectric breakdown in GaN-based high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) submitted to OFF-state stress. Based on combined breakdown measurements, constant voltage stress tests, and 2-D simulations, we demonstrate the following relevant results. First, GaN-based HEMTs with a breakdown voltage higher than 1000 V (evaluated by dc measurements) may show time-dependent failure when exposed to OFF-state stress with VDS in the range 600-700 V. Second, time-to-failure (TTF) is Weibull-distributed, and has an exponential dependence on the stress voltage level. Third, time-dependent breakdown is ascribed to the failure of the SiN dielectric at the edge of the gate overhang, on the drain side. Fourth, 2-D simulations confirm that-in this region-the electric field exceeds 6 MV/cm, i.e., the dielectric strength of SiN. Finally, we demonstrate that by limiting the electric field in the nitride through epitaxy and process improvements, it is possible to increase the TTF by three orders of magnitude.
Effects of the State Children's Health Insurance Program Expansions on Children With Chronic Health Conditions

Objective. To estimate the effects of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) expansions on insurance coverage, use of health care services, and access to care for children with chronic health conditions. Methods. The primary source of data was the National Health Interview Survey. Children with chronic health conditions were identified primarily through reported diagnoses of common chronic conditions (eg, asthma, attention-deficit disorder, mental retardation, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, sickle cell disease, diabetes, arthritis, heart disease) and on the presence of activity limitations caused by a health problem lasting at least 12 months. We examined changes in a broad array of outcomes for children with chronic health conditions who gained eligibility under SCHIP or who were already eligible for coverage under Medicaid, comparing the periods before and after implementation of the program. Changes for these treatment groups were compared with children with slightly higher incomes, who should not have been affected by the eligibility expansions. Comparisons were made with adjustment for child, family, and other characteristics that might have independent effects on the outcomes of interest. Outcomes included health insurance coverage, use of general and specialty services, access to care, and out-of-pocket spending on health care. Selected analyses were conducted for children not identified as having chronic health conditions. Results. The SCHIP expansions resulted in a 9.8 percentage point increase in the proportion of children with chronic conditions reporting public insurance and a 6.4 percentage point decline in the proportion uninsured. Unmet need for health care decreased by 8 percentage points, with most of the decline found for dental care. Increases in specialist, eye care, and dental visits and decreases in out-of-pocket spending and emergency-department and mental health visits were observed but did not meet standards of statistical significance. Estimated reductions in unmet need were greater for children with chronic conditions than for other children. Conclusions. Recent expansions in public insurance eligibility under SCHIP have improved coverage for children with chronic conditions, with selected improvements in access to care. However, some eligible children with chronic conditions remain uninsured, and the impact on access to care and service use were limited. Additional progress may require targeted outreach to children with chronic conditions and improvements in Medicaid and SCHIP service-delivery systems. Given the current fiscal environment and the fact that children with chronic conditions have not generally been protected from cutbacks, the recent progress documented in this study may be reversed.
Cortical Columnar Organization Is Reconsidered in Inferior Temporal Cortex

The object selectivity of nearby cells in inferior temporal (IT) cortex is often different. To elucidate the relationship between columnar organization in IT cortex and the variability among neurons with respect to object selectivity, we used optical imaging technique to locate columnar regions (activity spots) and systematically compared object selectivity of individual neurons within and across the spots. The object selectivity of a given cell in a spot was similar to that of the averaged cellular activity within the spot. However, there was not such similarity among different spots (>600 μm apart). We suggest that each cell is characterized by 1) a cell-specific response property that cause cell-to-cell variability in object selectivity and 2) one or potentially a few numbers of response properties common across the cells within a spot, which provide the basis for columnar organization in IT cortex. Furthermore, similarity in object selectivity among cells within a randomly chosen site was lower than that for a cell in an activity spot identified by optical imaging beforehand. We suggest that the cortex may be organized in a region where neurons with similar response properties were densely clustered and a region where neurons with similar response properties were sparsely clustered.
Face Recognition Using Novel LDA-Based Algorithms

Facial feature extraction with enhanced discriminatory power plays an important role in face recognition (FR) applications. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) is a powerful tool used for dimensionality reduction and feature extraction in FR tasks. However, the classification performance of traditional LDA is often degraded, due to two factors: 1) their classification accuracies suffer from the small sample size problem (SSSP), which widely exists in FR; 2) their Fisher discriminant criteria are not directly related to the classification ability. Recently, so-called direct fractional-step LDA (DF-LDA) algorithm has been proposed to solve this problem. In this paper, the limitations of DF-LDA are discussed and a novel DF-LDA has been proposed to solve those problems. The novel DF-LDA has been tested, in terms of classification accuracy, on two face databases. Results reveal that the proposed method outperforms the existing methods, including: the Eigenfaces, Fisherfaces, D-LDA, previous DF-LDA, and EFM methods.
ICSV 14 Cairns • Australia 9-12 July , 2007 IN-CAR SPEECH ENHANCEMENT USING ENSEMBLE EMPIRICAL MODE DECOMPOSITION

The performance of the human-machine dialogue at in-car environment is considerably deteriorated by background noises and other disturbances. In this paper, the authors present an in-car speech enhancement (ICSE) method to improve quality of speech signals suffering the in-car noises. The method is based on a novel signal processing technology called the ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD). By using EEMD, the noisy speech signals are decomposed as a set of intrinsic mode functions (IMF). Then, the nonlinear least-square estimation and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) are employed to find out the optimal weighting coefficients of those IMFs dominating the speech signals. Finally, the enhanced speech signals, where in-car noises are suppressed, are obtained by the reconstruction technique based on the weighting IMFs. Results of the work show that, EEMD is an effective technology of separating pure speech from in-car noises, and the weighting coefficients proposed in this study are also effective for noises reduction as considering the similarity of the signal waveform.
Interaction between the NH2-terminal Domain of eIF4A and the Central Domain of eIF4G Modulates RNA-stimulated ATPase Activity*

The eukaryotic translation factor 4A (eIF4A) is a member of DEA(D/H)-box RNA helicase family, a diverse group of proteins that couples ATP hydrolysis to RNA binding and duplex separation. eIF4A participates in the initiation of translation by unwinding secondary structure in the 5′-untranslated region of mRNAs and facilitating scanning by the 40 S ribosomal subunit for the initiation codon. eIF4A alone has only weak ATPase and helicase activities, but these are stimulated by eIF4G, eIF4B, and eIF4H. eIF4G has two eIF4A-binding sites, one in the central domain (cpC3) and one in the COOH-terminal domain (cpC2). In the current work, we demonstrate that these two eIF4G domains have different effects on the RNA-stimulated ATPase activity of eIF4A. cpC3 stimulates ATP-hydrolytic efficiency by about 40-fold through two mechanisms: lowering KmRNA by 10-fold and raising kcat by 4-fold. cpC3 also stimulates RNA cross-linking to eIF4A in an ATP-independent manner. Studies with eIF4G and eIF4A variants suggest a model by which cpC3 alters the conformation of the catalytic site to favor RNA binding. cpC2 does not stimulate ATPase activity and furthermore increases both KmATP (at saturating RNA concentrations) and KmRNA (at subsaturating ATP concentrations). Both cpC3 and cpC2 directly interact with the NH2-terminal domain of eIF4A, which possesses conserved ATP- and oligonucleotide-binding motifs, but not with the COOH-terminal domain.
Individualized Comprehensive Lifestyle Intervention in Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy with Curative or Palliative Intent: Who Participates?

Objective Knowledge about determinants of participation in lifestyle interventions in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, particularly with palliative intent, remains poor. The objective of the present study was to identify determinants of participating in a 12 month individualized, comprehensive lifestyle intervention, focusing on diet, physical activity, mental stress and smoking cessation, in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy with curative or palliative intent. The secondary objective was to identify participation determinants 4 months into the study. Methods Newly diagnosed cancer patients starting chemotherapy at the cancer center in Kristiansand/Norway (during a 16 month inclusion period) were screened. Demographic and medical data (age, sex, body mass index, education level, marital status, smoking status, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG), diagnosis, tumor stage and treatment intention) was analyzed for screened patients. Results 100 of 161 invited patients participated. There were more females (69 vs. 48%; P = 0.004), breast cancer patients (46 vs. 25%; P = 0.007), non-smokers (87 vs. 74%; P = 0.041), younger (mean age 60 vs. 67 yrs; P < 0.001) and fitter (82 vs. 64% with EGOC 0; P = 0.036) participants vs. non-participants included. In multivariate logistic regression analyses, age (Odds Ratio 0.94, 95% Confidence Interval 0.91, 0.97) and smoking (0.42, 0.18, 0.99) were negatively associated with participation. After 4 months, 63 participants were still participating. Cancer type, smoking and age increased the probability of dropping out. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that age was the only significant determinant of 4 month participation (0.95, 0.91, 0.99). Patients aged >70 years were less likely to participate at baseline and 4 months. Conclusion Individualized lifestyle interventions in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy appear to facilitate a high participation rate that declines with increasing age; both during the enrollment process and completing the intervention. Neither oncologic nor socioeconomic variables deterred participation.
Adolescents' School Enrollment and Employment: Effect of State Welfare Policies. JCPR Working Paper.

This study hypothesizes that stringent state welfare policies may promote enrollment and reduce employment through four mechanisms taking place in the larger society, the local labor market and the family, particularly for adolescents from low-income families. We conduct a rigorous and robust analysis using a dynamic model and separating out the welfare policies from non-welfare state policies, youth-specific state labor market conditions, and unobserved state characteristics and period effects. Using longitudinal data from the NLSY97, we have tested the welfare policy effects over a period across welfare waivers and welfare reform (1994-1999) for adolescents aged 14-18. We find that welfare reform may change the behavior of teenage students by encouraging full engagement in schooling and reducing employment while in school. If focusing entirely on schooling is the best way for low-income youth to build human capital, these possible effects of welfare reform could be beneficial. However, if low-income youth obtain "soft skills" from a formal job and if "soft skills" turn out to be decisive for low-income youth? s economic future, these welfare policy effects could be harmful. In addition, stringent state welfare policies appear to have a detrimental effect on teenage dropouts from low-income families.
Selectivity of Agonists for the Active State of M1 to M4 Muscarinic Receptor Subtypes

We measured the intrinsic relative activity (RAi) of muscarinic agonists to detect possible selectivity for receptor subtypes and signaling pathways. RAi is a relative measure of the microscopic affinity constant of an agonist for the active state of a GPCR expressed relative to that of a standard agonist. First, we estimated RAi values for a panel of agonists acting at the M4 muscarinic receptor coupled to three distinct G-protein pathways: Gi inhibition of cAMP accumulation, Gs stimulation of cAMP accumulation, and Gα15 stimulation of phosphoinositide hydrolysis. Our results show similar RAi values for each agonist, suggesting that the same active state of the M4 receptor triggers the activation of the three G proteins. We also estimated RAi values for agonists across M1 to M4 muscarinic subtypes stably transfected in Chinese hamster ovary cells. Our results show selectivity of McN-A-343 [4-I-[3-chlorophenyl]carbamoyloxy)-2-butynyltrimethylammnonium chloride] for the M1 and M4 subtypes and selectivity of pilocarpine for the M1 and M3 subtypes. The other agonists tested lacked marked selectivity among M1 to M4 receptors. Finally, we estimated RAi values from published literature on M1, M2, and M3 muscarinic responses and obtained results consistent with our own studies. Our results show that the RAi estimate is a useful receptor-dependent measure of agonist activity.
Hardware/software co-design of a Java virtual machine

We discuss the initial results of research into the development of a hardware/software co-design of the Java virtual machine. The design considers a complete Java virtual machine with full functionality expected to run with the same capabilities as a fully software Java virtual machine. We address issues such as why a partial hardware implementation is suitable, the challenges in realizing this goal, propose an initial partitioning of the virtual machine between hardware and software, discuss the desired hardware requirements and discuss some details of the hardware and software design.
Pediatric and Adult High-Grade Glioma Stem Cell Culture Models Are Permissive to Lytic Infection with Parvovirus H-1

Combining virus-induced cytotoxic and immunotherapeutic effects, oncolytic virotherapy represents a promising therapeutic approach for high-grade glioma (HGG). A clinical trial has recently provided evidence for the clinical safety of the oncolytic parvovirus H-1 (H-1PV) in adult glioblastoma relapse patients. The present study assesses the efficacy of H-1PV in eliminating HGG initiating cells. H-1PV was able to enter and to transduce all HGG neurosphere culture models (n = 6), including cultures derived from adult glioblastoma, pediatric glioblastoma, and diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma. Cytotoxic effects induced by the virus have been observed in all HGG neurospheres at half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) doses of input virus between 1 and 10 plaque forming units per cell. H-1PV infection at this dose range was able to prevent tumorigenicity of NCH421k glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) “stem-like” cells in NOD/SCID mice. Interestingly NCH421R, an isogenic subclone with equal capacity of xenograft formation, but resistant to H-1PV infection could be isolated from the parental NCH421k culture. To reveal changes in gene expression associated with H-1PV resistance we performed a comparative gene expression analysis in these subclones. Several dysregulated genes encoding receptor proteins, endocytosis factors or regulators innate antiviral responses were identified and represent intriguing candidates for to further study molecular mechanisms of H-1PV resistance.
Melanogenesis Inhibitory Activity of Two Generic Drugs: Cinnarizine and Trazodone in Mouse B16 Melanoma Cells

More than 200 generic drugs were screened to identify the inhibitory activity on melanogenesis in mouse B16 melanoma cells. Cinnarizine and trazodone were identified as melanogenesis inhibitors. The inhibitory effects of the two drugs on cell survival, melanogenesis, and tyrosinase activity were investigated. The results showed that both cinnarizine and trazodone inhibited melanogenesis in B16 cells by a dose-dependent manner at the non-cytotoxic concentrations. Based on the results of the present study, seeking new melanogenesis inhibitors from generic drugs is an alternative approach to developing new depigmenting agents in cosmeceuticals. Moreover, cinnarizine and trazodone were proven to be good candidates as skin-whitening agents for treatment of skin hyperpigmentation.