Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
HedgePeer: A Dataset for Uncertainty Detection in Peer Reviews

Prague, Czech Republic Uncertainty detection from text is essential in many applications in information retrieval (IR). Detecting textual uncertainties helps extract factual information instead of uncertain or non-factual information. To avoid overprecise commitment, people use linguistic devices like hedges (uncertain words or phrases). In peer reviews, reviewers often use hedges wherever they are unsure about their opinion or when facts do not back their opinions. Usage of hedges or uncertain words in writing can also indicate the reviewer’s confidence or measure of conviction in their reviews. Reviewer confidence is important in the peer review process (especially to the editors or chairs) to judge the quality of evaluation of the paper under review. However, the self-annotated reviewer confidence score is often miscalibrated or biased and not an accurate representation of the reviewer’s conviction of their judgment on the merit of the paper. Less confident reviewers sometimes speculate their observations. Here in this paper, we introduce HedgePeer, a new uncertainty detection dataset of peer review comments, which is more than five times larger than the existing datasets on hedge detection in other domains. We curate our dataset from the open-access reviews available in the open review platform and annotate the review comments in terms of the hedge cues and hedge spans. We also provide several baseline approaches, including a multitask learning model with sentiment intensity and parts-of-speech as scaffold tasks to predict hedge cues and spans. We make our dataset and baseline codes available at https://github.com/Tirthankar-Ghosal/HedgePeer-Dataset. Our dataset is motivated towards computationally estimating the reviewer’s conviction from their review texts. CCS CONCEPTS • Computing methodologies → Information extraction; • Information systems → Information extraction.
A Multi-Modal Approach to Creating Routines for Smart Speakers

Smart speakers can execute user-defined routines, namely, sequences of actions triggered by specific events or conditions. This paper presents a new approach to the creation of routines, which leverages the multi-modal features (vision, speech, and touch) offered by Amazon Alexa running on Echo Show devices. It then illustrates how end users found easier to create routines with the proposed approach than with the usual interaction with the Alexa app.
Monodromy substitutions and rational blowdowns

We introduce several new families of relations in the mapping class groups of planar surfaces, each equating two products of right‐handed Dehn twists. The interest of these relations lies in their geometric interpretation in terms of rational blowdowns of 4‐manifolds, specifically via monodromy substitution in Lefschetz fibrations. The simplest example is the lantern relation, already shown by the first author and Gurtas (‘Lantern relations and rational blowdowns’, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 138 (2010) 1131–1142) to correspond to rational blowdown along a−4 sphere; here we give relations that extend that result to realize the ‘generalized’ rational blowdowns of Fintushel and Stern (‘Rational blowdowns of smooth 4‐manifolds’, J. Differential Geom. 46 (1997) 181–235) and Park (‘Seiberg–Witten invariants of generalised rational blow‐downs’, Bull. Austral. Math. Soc. 56 (1997) 363–384) by monodromy substitution, as well as several of the families of rational blowdowns discovered by Stipsicz, Szabó, and Wahl (‘Rational blowdowns and smoothings of surface singularities’, J. Topol. 1 (2008) 477–517).
The Value of Cooperation

The well-known Additive Increase-Multiplicative Decrease (AIMD) abstraction for network congestion control was first published by Dah-Ming Chiu and Raj Jain in their seminal work [4] in 1989 and soon played a prominent part in TCP algorithm design for the Internet. The ingenuity of AIMD lies in the abstraction of Internet congestion control, and ever since its inception has also been a staple part of teaching curriculum for performance evaluation and computer networking courses at universities worldwide. In this paper, we describe teaching examples for university students to appreciate the AIMD abstraction from the theoretical aspects such as convex optimization and Perron-Frobenius theory to the data science aspect. The essence of cooperation encompassed by AIMD reverberates even in teaching networks formed by students and educators, giving rise to online classroom flipping teaching tools and data analytics to close the gap between teachers and students.
A New Approach to the Analysis of Pitch-Positions in Professional Soccer

Abstract The purpose of the study was to examine how various playing positions affected the number of (and percentage breakdowns for) physical and technical activities of soccer players in the Germany’s Bundesliga. A further objective was to identify and present features distinguishing between the activities of players within the Defender, Midfielder and Forward formations. The study sample comprised 4426 individual match observations of 473 soccer players competing in the Bundesliga during the 2016/2017 domestic season. Data from the Impire AG motion analysis system, and the so-called ”heat maps” it supplies, revealed areas in which players spent most time during a match, with 22 different playing positions on the pitch identified in consequence. Players in the formation comprising Defenders did not differ significantly in relation to the number of accelerations, the number of shots or the percentage of duels won. Furthermore, there were no significant differences among Midfielders in regard to total distance covered, mean running speed, the number of accelerations, the number of duels and the percentage of duels won. Likewise, Forwards did not differ in distances covered at ≥24 km/h, average running speed, the number of sprints, the number of shots, the proportion of on-target passes, the number of duels, or the percentage share of duels won. Irrespective of the formation or position on the pitch, today’s game of soccer also pays great importance to the number of accelerations, as well as the number of duels engaged in, and their effectiveness.
Copper-Nanocoated Ultra-Small Cells in Grain Boundaries Inside an Extinct Vent Chimney

Chemosynthetic organisms flourish around deep-sea hydrothermal vents where energy-rich fluids are emitted from metal sulfide chimneys. However, microbial life hosted in mineral assemblages in extinct chimneys lacking fluid venting remains largely unknown. The interior of extinct chimneys remains anoxic where the percolation of oxygenated seawater is limited within tightly packed metal sulfide grains. Given the scarcity of photosynthetic organics in deep seawater, anaerobic microbes might inhabit the grain boundaries energetically depending on substrates derived from rock-water interactions. In this study, we reported ultra-small cells directly visualized in grain boundaries of CuFeS2 inside an extinct metal sulfide chimney from the southern Mariana Trough. Nanoscale solid analyses reveal that ultra-small cells are coated with Cu2O nanocrystals in grain boundaries enriched with C, N, and P. In situ spectroscopic and spectrometric characterizations demonstrate the distribution of organics with amide groups and a large molecular organic compound in the grain boundaries. We inferred that the ultra-small cells are anaerobes because of the fast dissolution of Cu2O nanocrystals in oxygenated solution. This Cu2O property also excludes the possibility of microbial contamination from ambient seawater during sampling. It is shown by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis that the chimney interior is dominated by Pacearchaeota known to have anaerobic metabolisms and ultra-small cells. Our results support the potential existence of photosynthesis-independent microbial ecosystems in grain boundaries in submarine metal sulfides deposits on the early Earth.
Key Repairing Node Identification in Double-Layer Logistic Networks

As important infrastructure, logistic networks need to be designed not only for robustness but also for transportation efficiency. In order to improve transportation efficiency, different types of logistic networks integrate to form a double-layer coupled network. When some nodes fail in this double-layer coupled network, especially in the case of limited repair resources, how to evaluate the node that needs to give priority to repair is of great significance. In this study, an evaluation method of key repairing node is proposed to find the key node which should be repaired first to restore the network performance. By comparing with traditional evaluation methods of key nodes, the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified.
Case Report: Bilateral Biportal Endoscopic Open-Door Laminoplasty With the Use of Suture Anchors: A Technical Report and Literature Review

Background Unilateral biportal endoscopy (UBE) is a newly developed technique for spine surgery. Owing to the convenience of nerve decompression and compatibility with open surgical instruments under endoscopic guidance, this technique has seen widespread global use. In this study, we first used modified UBE with suture anchor fixation for cervical laminoplasty in a 65-year-old female patient with good clinical outcomes. Methods We used bilateral biportal endoscopy (BBE) for cervical laminoplasty with suture anchor fixation in a patient with cervical stenosis. Under endoscopic guidance, a bilateral approach was used to make the gutter and lift the lamina door. After the lamina doors were opened, sutures were tied tightly using facia cannula and knot pusher. After confirming the solidarity of the open-door status, the drainage tube was inserted and the incisions were closed. The patient’s pre- and postoperative radiological and clinical results were evaluated. Results Postoperative Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) and Neck Disability Index (NDI) scores were improved clinically, and cervical canal was decompressed radiologically. Conclusions BBE laminoplasty combined with suture anchor fixation showed a favorable clinical and radiological result and appears to be a safe and effective technique for cervical stenosis.
Limbic Responses Following Shock Wave Exposure in Male and Female Mice

Blast traumatic brain injury (bTBI) presents a serious threat to military personnel and often results in psychiatric conditions related to limbic system dysfunction. In this study, the functional outcomes for anxiety- and depressive-like behaviors and neuronal activation were evaluated in male and female mice after exposure to an Advanced Blast Simulator (ABS) shock wave. Mice were placed in a ventrally exposed orientation inside of the ABS test section and received primary and tertiary shock wave insults of approximately 15 psi peak pressure. Evans blue staining indicated cases of blood-brain barrier breach in the superficial cerebral cortex four, but not 24 h after blast, but the severity was variable. Behavioral testing with the elevated plus maze (EPM) or elevated zero maze (EZM), sucrose preference test (SPT), and tail suspension test (TST) or forced swim test (FST) were conducted 8 days–3.5 weeks after shock wave exposure. There was a sex difference, but no injury effect, for distance travelled in the EZM where female mice travelled significantly farther than males. The SPT and FST did not indicate group differences; however, injured mice were less immobile than sham mice during the TST; possibly indicating more agitated behavior. In a separate cohort of animals, the expression of the immediate early gene, c-Fos, was detected 4 h after undergoing bTBI or sham procedures. No differences in c-Fos expression were found in the cerebral cortex, but female mice in general displayed enhanced c-Fos activation in the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) compared to male mice. In the amygdala, more c-Fos-positive cells were observed in injured animals compared to sham mice. The observed sex differences in the PVT and c-Fos activation in the amygdala may correlate with the reported hyperactivity of females post-injury. This study demonstrates, albeit with mild effects, behavioral and neuronal activation correlates in female rodents after blast injury that could be relevant to the incidence of increased post-traumatic stress disorder in women.
Impact of Torulaspora delbrueckii During Fermentation on Aromatic Profile of Vidal Blanc Icewine

Non-Saccharomyces yeasts usually have a positive effect on improving the diversity of wine aroma and increasing the differentiation of wine products. Among these non-Saccharomyces yeast species, Torulaspora delbrueckii is often studied and used in winemaking in recent years, but its application in icewine has not been reported yet. In this study, indigenous T. delbrueckii strains (TD1 and TD2) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains (commercial yeast SC1 and indigenous icewine yeast SC2) were sequentially inoculated for icewine fermentations; meanwhile, pure S. cerevisiae (SC1 and SC2) fermentations were used as the control; TD1, TD2, and SC2 strains used were screened from spontaneous fermentations of Vidal blanc icewine. The aim was to investigate the effect of T. delbrueckii on the aroma complexity of icewine, which is of great significance to the application of T. delbrueckii in icewine production. The results showed that T. delbrueckii was completely replaced by S. cerevisiae at the middle and later fermentative stages in mixed culture fermentations. Compared with the icewine fermented with pure S. cerevisiae, mixed culture fermented icewines contained lower acetic acid and ethanol, and higher glycerol. The inoculation of T. delbrueckii greatly impacted the levels of several important volatile compounds, and more 2-phenylethyl alcohol, isoamyl acetate, linalool, D-limonene, p-cymene and cineole were produced, and the fruity, flowery, and sweet characteristic was intensified. Moreover, the relevance of strain-specificity within T. delbrueckii to aroma compound differences was shown. To our knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the application of T. delbrueckii in Vidal blanc icewine fermentation, and volatile aroma compounds in the icewine fermented by T. delbrueckii and S. cerevisiae.
Molecular determinants of TRAF6 binding specificity suggest that native interaction partners are not optimized for affinity

TRAF6 is an adaptor protein involved in signaling pathways that are essential for development and the immune system. It participates in many protein–protein interactions, some of which are mediated by the C‐terminal MATH domain, which binds to short peptide segments containing the motif PxExx[FYWHDE], where x is any amino acid. Blocking MATH domain interactions is associated with favorable effects in various disease models. To better define TRAF6 MATH domain binding preferences, we screened a combinatorial library using bacterial cell‐surface peptide display. We identified 236 of the best TRAF6‐interacting peptides and a set of 1,200 peptides that match the sequence PxE but do not bind TRAF6 MATH. The peptides that were most enriched in the screen bound TRAF6 tighter than previously measured native peptides. To better understand the structural basis for TRAF6 interaction preferences, we built all‐atom structural models of the MATH domain in complex with high‐affinity binders and nonbinders identified in the screen. We identified favorable interactions for motif features in binders as well as negative design elements distributed across the motif that can disfavor or preclude binding. Searching the human proteome revealed that the most biologically relevant TRAF6 motif matches occupy a different sequence space from the best hits discovered in combinatorial library screening, suggesting that native interactions are not optimized for affinity. Our experimentally determined binding preferences and structural models support the design of peptide‐based interaction inhibitors with higher affinities than endogenous TRAF6 ligands.
Tactile attention modulates occipital alpha oscillations in early blindness

Alpha oscillatory activity is thought to contribute to the cueing of visual attention through the engagement of task-relevant occipital regions. In early blindness, occipital alpha oscillations are systematically reduced, suggesting that occipital alpha depends on visual experience. However, it is still unknown if alpha activity could serve attentional cueing in non-visual modalities in blind people, especially considering previous research that showed the recruitment of the occipital cortex for non-visual processing. To test this idea, we used electroencephalography to answer whether alpha oscillations reflected a differential recruitment of task-relevant regions between expected and unexpected conditions in two (texture and shape discrimination) haptic tasks. As expected, time frequency analyses showed that alpha suppression in parieto-occipital sites was significantly reduced in early blind individuals. The source reconstruction analysis revealed that group differences originated in the middle occipital cortex. In that region, expected trials evoked higher alpha desynchronization than unexpected trials in the EB group only. Our results support the role of alpha rhythms in the recruitment of occipital areas also in early blind participants, and for the first time we show that even if posterior alpha activity is reduced in blindness, it is however sensitive to task-dependent factors. Our findings therefore suggest that occipital alpha activity may be involved in tactile attention in blind individuals, maintaining the function proposed for visual attention in sighted population but switched to the tactile modality. Altogether, our results indicate that attention-dependent modulation of alpha oscillatory activity does not depend on visual experience. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Are posterior alpha oscillations and their role in attention dependent on visual experience? Our results show that tactile attention can modulate posterior alpha activity in blind (but not sighted) individuals through the engagement of occipital regions, suggesting that in early blindness, alpha oscillations maintain their proposed role in visual attention but subserve tactile processing. Our findings bring a new understanding to the role that alpha oscillatory activity plays in blindness, contrasting with the view supporting that alpha activity is rather task unspecific.
Antimicrobial Peptides Can Generate Tolerance by Lag and Interfere with Antimicrobial Therapy

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are widely distributed molecules secreted mostly by cells of the innate immune system to prevent bacterial proliferation at the site of infection. As with classic antibiotics, continued treatment with AMPs can create resistance in bacteria. However, whether AMPs can generate tolerance as an intermediate stage towards resistance is not known. Here we show that treatment of Escherichia coli with different AMPs induces tolerance by lag, particularly for those peptides that have internal targets. This tolerance can be detected as different morphological and physiological changes, which depend on the type of peptide molecule the bacterium has been exposed to. In addition, we show that AMP tolerance can also affect antibiotic treatment. Genomic sequencing of AMP-tolerant strains shows that different mutations alter membrane composition, DNA replication, and translation. Some of these mutations have also been observed in antibiotic-resistant strains, suggesting that AMP tolerance could be a relevant step in the development of antibiotic resistance. Monitoring AMP tolerance is relevant with a view to eventual therapeutic use of AMPs and because cross-tolerance might favor the emergence of resistance against conventional antibiotic treatments.
NOS2 and COX2 Blockade Limits TNBC Disease Progression and Alters CD8+ T Cell Spatial Orientation and Density

Anti-tumor immune polarization is a key predictor of clinical outcomes to cancer therapy. An emerging concept influencing clinical outcome involves the spatial location of CD8+ T cells, within the tumor. Our earlier work demonstrated immunosuppressive effects of NOS2/ COX2 tumor expression. Here, we show that NOS2/COX2 levels influence the polarization and spatial location of lymphoid cells including CD8+ T cells. Importantly, elevated tumor NOS2/COX2 correlated with exclusion of CD8+ T cells from the tumor epithelium. In contrast, tumors expressing low NOS2/COX2 had increased CD8+ T cell penetration into the tumor epithelium. Consistent with a causative relationship between these observations, pharmacological inhibition of COX2 with indomethacin dramatically reduced tumor growth of the 4T1 model of TNBC in both WT and Nos2-/- mice. This regimen led to complete tumor regression in ∼20% of tumor-bearing Nos2-/- mice, and these animals were resistant to tumor rechallenge. Th1 cytokines were elevated in the blood of treated mice and intratumoral CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were higher in mice that received indomethacin when compared to control untreated mice. Multiplex immunofluorescence imaging confirmed our phenotyping results and demonstrated that targeted Nos2/Cox2 blockade improved CD8+ T cell penetration into the 4T1 tumor core. These findings are consistent with our observations in low NOS2/COX2 expressing breast tumors` proving that COX2 activity is responsible for limiting the spatial distribution of effector T cells in TNBC. Together these results suggest that clinically available NSAID’s may provide a cost-effective, novel immunotherapeutic approach for treatment of aggressive tumors including triple negative breast cancer.
Spatiotemporal recruitment of inhibition and excitation in the mammalian cortex during electrical stimulation

Electrical stimulation has emerged as a powerful and precise treatment in which to modulate aberrant neural activity patterns common in neural dysfunction and disease; however, the physiological process involved in microstimulation is poorly understood, particularly regarding the contributions of inhibitory neurons to shaping stimulation-evoked activity. To address this issue, we used 2-photon imaging of transgenic mice to measure the widespread responses of inhibitory and excitatory neurons to electrical stimulation through a chronically-implanted cortical microelectrode. We found that increasing stimulation amplitude both raised the fraction of neurons that responded to a stimulus and increased the distance at which inhibitory and excitatory neurons were significantly modulated by stimulation; however, the lateral spread of inhibitory activity preceded that of excitatory activity. By 50 µA, a significantly larger fraction of inhibitory neurons vs. excitatory neurons were modulated by stimulation. Increasing amplitude also shifted the temporal response properties of the population — towards longer-latency excitation close to the electrode tip and strong inhibition of more distant neurons. Animal behavior, specifically their locomotion patterns, strongly correlated with trial-to-trial variability in stimulation-evoked responses. We conclude that changing electrical stimulation amplitude can shift the balance of excitation to inhibition in the brain in a manner that interact with ongoing animal behavior.