Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Rule Extraction From Artificial Neural Networks Under Background Knowledge

Labaf, Maryam. M.S, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Wright State University, 2017. Rule Extraction From Artificial Neural Networks Under Background Knowledge. It is well-known that the input-output behavior of a neural network can be recast in terms of a set of propositional rules, and under certain weak preconditions this is also always possible with positive (or definite) rules. Furthermore, in this case there is in fact a unique minimal (technically, reduced) set of such rules which perfectly captures the inputoutput mapping. In this dissertation, we investigate to what extent these results and corresponding rule extraction algorithms can be lifted to take additional background knowledge into account. It turns out that uniqueness of the solution can then no longer be guaranteed. However, the background knowledge often makes it possible to extract simpler, and thus more easily understandable, rulesets which still perfectly capture the input-output mapping.
The Productive Infection of Alveolar Macrophages by Simian Immunodeficiency Virus

Alveolar macrophages obtained from healthy rhesus monkeys were infected with SIV in vitro as documented by the appearance of reverse transcriptase activity in the cell‐free supernatant, electronmicroscopy, and immunohistochemical methods detecting SIV‐related core protein. The results demonstrate permissive infection of alveolar macrophages with SIV in vitro and define a system for studying macrophage‐SIV interactions.
SunB, a novel Sad1 and UNC‐84 domain‐containing protein required for development of Dictyostelium discoideum

A gene, sunB, encoding a novel class of Sad1 and UNC‐84 (SUN) domain, was isolated from a cDNA screen for suppressors of a mutation in Dd‐STATa – a Dictyostelium homologue of metazoan STAT (signal transducers and activators of transcription). The SunB protein localized in the area around the nucleus in growing cells, but in the multicellular stages it was predominantly found in prespore vacuoles (PSVs). A disruptant of sunB was multinucleated in the vegetative phase; during development it formed mounds with multiple tips and failed to culminate. The mutation was cell autonomous, and showed reduced expression of the prespore marker gene pspA and elevated expression of marker genes for prestalk AB cells. Interestingly, the level of SunB was abnormally high in the prestalk cells of Dd‐STATa mutants, which are defective in culmination. We conclude that SunB is essential for accurate prestalk/prespore differentiation during Dictyostelium development and that its cell‐type dependent localization is regulated by a Dd‐STATa‐mediated signaling pathway.
Resolution of Single Deviant Intervals in Periodic Stimuli by Auditory Cortex Neurons: Comparison of Intracochlear Electric Pulse and Acoustic Click Stimulation

Responses of neurons in the primary auditory cortex were compared in gerbils receiving intracochlear electric or acoustic stimulation. Stimuli were trains of periodic electric pulses or of acoustic clicks. Interspersed between intervals of equal length were single intervals which were longer, by some Δt. The Δt and the repetition rate of these prolonged intervals were varied. The degree of synchronization of spikes to the regular occurrences of prolonged intervals was quantified. While thresholds for synchronized responses to Δt (at Δt repetition rates of 4–6 Hz) were about a hundredfold higher for electric (about 5–10 ms) than for acoustic stimulation (about 30 s), Δt repetition rate response functions were similar for both types of stimulation. The results suggest the feasibility of coding brief acoustic transients by prolonged intervals in electric pulse trains with high pulse repetition rates, which could be another useful strategy for cochlear implants.
Using Life Cycle Approaches to Enhance the Value of Corporate Environmental Disclosures

As the focus of environmental policy and management shifts from cleaner production at the process level towards greener products as a whole, stakeholders ask for transparency throughout the entire value chain. This article assesses the comprehensiveness and the value of currently reported quantitative environmental disclosures of 97 listed companies from the automotive, banking, pharmaceutical and electronic hardware sectors. Findings indicate that quantitative environmental disclosures have many limitations, including incompleteness and inconsistency regarding corporate activities and sites, and limited internal data coherence. For many sectors, corporate disclosures only cover a very small share of the total environmental burden of products. A stepwise procedure is proposed to verify and improve the quality and completeness of reporting using life cycle approaches. We present simple data quality tests, and we introduce the concept of the environmental influence matrix, which provides a solid basis for the identification and prioritization of key performance indicators and areas of action. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
Two open states and rate‐limiting gating steps revealed by intracellular Na+ block of human KCNQ1 and KCNQ1/KCNE1 K+ channels

KCNQ1, the first member of a new K+ channel family, associates with the small KCNE1 subunit to form the slow cardiac delayed rectifier current, IKs. Mutations in both genes encoding these channels lead to cardiac arrhythmia. We studied the block by intracellular Na+ of human homomeric KCNQ1 (homomers) and heteromeric KCNQ1/KCNE1 (heteromers) expressed in CHO cells (Chinese hamster ovary cell line) using whole‐cell patch recording. In the nominal absence of extracellular K+ and with 65 mm intracellular K+, the replacement of 65 mm intracellular N‐methyl‐d‐glucamine (NMDG+) by 65 mm Na+ induced a decay of outward (K+) currents through homomers after maximal activation reminiscent of an inactivation process. The decay had a time constant in the hundreds of milliseconds range. The inactivation process of homomers was, however, not directly dependent on [Na+]i, as evidenced by unaltered biphasic deactivation at negative voltages. An instantaneous voltage‐dependent Na+ block of homomers was revealed using tail current protocols with activating prepulses that saturated the gating processes of the channel. The instantaneous block was partially relieved at very large positive voltages (≥ 60 mV) and in 20 mm extracellular K+. The instantaneous block of homomers was much less pronounced if the tail currents were measured after short activating prepulses, demonstrating the presence of (at least) two open states: a first, relatively [Na+]i‐insensitive and a subsequent [Na+]i‐sensitive open state; the current decay reflects the transition between the two open states. Heteromers exhibited a very similar instantaneous block by Na+i independently of the prepulse duration. Heteromers did not show a Na+i‐induced current decay. Our results demonstrate the presence of two open states of KCNQ1 channels with different [Na+]i sensitivities. The rate‐limiting step of homomeric KCNQ1 gating at positive voltages is the transition between these two open states. The rate‐limiting step of the gating of KCNQ1/KCNE1 channels appears to be the entry into the first open state.
Cigarette smoking and glomerular filtration rate in insulin‐treated diabetics without manifest nephropathy

Abstract. A sample of 120 insulin‐treated diabetics, 20‐40 years of age, with a glomerular filtration rate (GFR) exceeding −2 SD of the age‐adjusted value and without albuminuria > 300 mg 24 h−1, and with a diastolic blood pressure not > 90 mmHg, were studied in order to evaluate the possible effect of smoking on glomerular filtration rate. The patients reported their smoking habits, use of oral snuff, use of alcohol, physical exercise and heredity for hypertension in a simple questionnaire. GFR was assessed with 51Cr‐EDTA‐clearance and glomerular hyperfiltration was defined as a value exceeding + 2 SD of the age‐adjusted normal value. We found a significantly higher prevalence of glomerular hyperfiltration in smokers than in non‐smokers (41% vs. 18%), but no increased prevalence in users of oral snuff. In cigarette smokers a multivariate analysis revealed that GFR was positively related to body mass index (BMI), and negatively related to the number of cigarettes smoked per week and the mean blood pressure. In non‐smokers GFR was dependent only on age. We conclude that in insulin‐treated diabetics glomerular hyperfiltration is related to smoking, and that the GFR in smoking diabetics is directly dependent on the smoke doses. As glomerular hyperfiltration is regarded as a risk factor for diabetic nephropathy, our findings should be relevant to preventive measures in clinical work.
Building a Movie Recommendation System Using Neo4j Graph Database: A Case Study of Netflix Movie Dataset

Recommendations for movies can help discover new and enjoyable movies. This study uses the Neo4j Graph Database to create a recommendation system using the Netflix Movie Dataset. The objective of this research is the development of a movie recommendation algorithm using the k-NN similarity algorithm and FastRP node embedding machine learning. The results have provided recommendations based on similar attributes, such as actors, directors, country, type, and rating. In this research, we used a similarity scale of 0–1 so that we found 200 pairs of movies that were similar between each other and there were 62070 movies that were less similar between each other.
Improving Pharmacy Student Communication Outcomes Using Standardized Patients

Objective. To examine whether standardized patient encounters led to an improvement in a student pharmacist-patient communication assessment compared to traditional active-learning activities within a classroom setting. Methods. A quasi-experimental study was conducted with second-year pharmacy students in a drug information and communication skills course. Student patient communication skills were assessed using high-stakes communication assessment. Results. Two hundred and twenty students’ data were included. Students were significantly more likely to have higher scores on the communication assessment when they had higher undergraduate GPAs, were female, and taught using standardized patients. Similarly, students were significantly more likely to pass the assessment on the first attempt when they were female and when they were taught using standardized patients. Conclusion. Incorporating standardized patients within a communication course resulted in improved scores as well as first-time pass rates on a communication assessment than when using different methods of active learning.
Differential distribution of AMPA receptors and glutamate during pre‐ and postnatal development in the visual cortex of ferrets

Immunohistochemical methods were used to study the distribution and time‐course of appearance of cells expressing glutamate and α‐amino‐3‐hydroxy‐5‐methyl‐4‐isoaxazole propionic acid (AMPA)‐type glutamate receptors (GluR1 and GluR2/3) during development of the ferret visual cortex. Glutamate is present in many neurons in the ventricular zone, intermediate zone, developing cortical plate, and marginal zone as early as embryonic day (E) 34 (birth is at E41 in ferrets). Glutamate attains its adult distribution coincident with the completion of cellular migration. By contrast, GluR1 immunoreactivity emerges more slowly. By birth, GluR1 immunoreactivity is present only in a few neurons in the marginal zone and ventricular zone but is abundant in the marginal zone and subplate, where synaptogenesis commences. The number and staining intensity of GluR1‐positive cells increases dramatically during the first two postnatal weeks and is maximal between the second and third week, before slowly declining to adult levels. Cortical cells immunopositive for GluR2/3 follow a similar pattern, although their distribution differs: GluR2/3‐positive cells are mainly pyramidal cells. During the first postnatal week, GluR2/3 is also transiently present in fibers in the intermediate zone, which at this stage contains many thalamocortical and callosal and corticofugal axons. The abundance of glutamate at fetal stages, especially in the ventricular zone, is consistent with the previously proposed role of glutamate in mediating trophic effects in vivo, as previously demonstrated in vitro. The expression of AMPA receptors, as well as their transient overexpression, confirms the results of in situ hybridization studies and may imply a developmental role in neuronal differentiation for these receptors, in addition to their mature role in mediating cortical transmission. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Gradual Transition Detection in Digital Videos using Area Correlation

Different research groups proposed numerous advancements in the field of video segmentation during last decade. Comparison of their work can be seen from TRECVID 2005. Most of the proposed methods are either computation intensive or too much false detection reduces their efficiency. In this work, a method based on region matching using area correlation is proposed. It can be used in prior to any other method to reduce the false detections. In this method, video frames are divided into different regions based on their statistical similarity. An area correlation energy function for each region in consecutive frames is used to detect the similarity among the regions. Weighted sum of correlation function in all the mismatched regions and location of these are used to classify the shots of video into different types such as hard cuts, fades, wipes etc,. This method is tested on different videos and reasonable performance is achieved
A novel intelligent decision support tool for average wind speed clustering

The utilization ratio of wind energy, which is one of the renewable energy sources, is increased around 25% since last 15 years. However, the parameters such as performance of wind turbines and climate features are not analyzed adequately. At the analysis stage of these parameters, data mining techniques are required to be used. In this study, the agglomerative hierarchical clustering method which is one of the data mining techniques is used to analyze the provinces located in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey in terms of average wind speed. Nearest neighbor algorithm is used as the clustering algorithm. Euclidean, Manhattan and Minkowski distance metrics are used determine the optimum hierarchical clustering results in this algorithm. The achieved clustering results based on Euclidean distance metric provide the optimum inferences to expert according to other distance metrics.
Psychosocial and sociodemographic correlates of benefit‐finding in men treated for localized prostate cancer

Background: Prostate cancer (PCa) treatment involves decrements in quality of life such as decreased sexual functioning and urinary/bowel incontinence. Prior work in other cancers has identified positive consequences (e.g. personal growth) following diagnosis and treatment, a phenomenon that has been referred to as benefit‐finding (BF) and positively related to quality of life.
Differential effects of PD98059 and U0126 on osteogenesis and adipogenesis

PD98059 and U0126 are considered as specific inhibitors of the p42/44 mitogen‐activated protein kinases (MAPK) pathway, which affects osteogenesis and adipogenesis. Here, we show unexpected differential effects of PD98059 and U0126 on osteogenesis and adipogenesis as well as on estrogen (E2)‐induced actions in osteoprogenitor KS483 cells. PD98059 dose‐dependently inhibited osteogenesis indicated by cellular alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and nodule formation, but stimulated adipogenesis shown by the number of adipocytes. In contrast, U0126 slightly decreased osteogenesis but had no effects on adipogenesis, although it inhibited p42/44 MAPK more potently than PD98059. Furthermore, PD98059, but not U0126, counteracted E2‐induced osteogenesis and adipogenesis. Transfection experiments showed that PD98059, but not U0126, had estrogenic transcriptional activity. Interestingly, both PD98059 and U0126 potentiated E2‐induced estrogenic transcriptional activity in KS483 cells, which is opposite to the response in MCF7 breast cancer cells. Our data indicate that the cross‐talk between growth factors and estrogen receptor (ER)‐mediated pathways in KS483 cells is different from that in MCF7 cells. In summary, the differential effects of PD98059 and U0126 indicate their actions are not exclusively due to an inhibition of MAPK pathway. Caution should be taken in the interpretation of the results obtained using these inhibitors. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Implicating Exudate Macrophages and Ly-6Chigh Monocytes in CCR2-Dependent Lung Fibrosis following Gene-Targeted Alveolar Injury

The alveolar epithelium is characteristically abnormal in fibrotic lung disease, and we recently established a direct link between injury to the type II alveolar epithelial cell (AEC) and the accumulation of interstitial collagen. The mechanisms by which damage to the epithelium induces lung scarring remain poorly understood. It is particularly controversial whether an insult to the type II AEC initiates an inflammatory response that is required for the development of fibrosis. To explore whether local inflammation occurs following a targeted epithelial insult and contributes to lung fibrosis, we administered diphtheria toxin to transgenic mice with type II AEC–restricted expression of the diphtheria toxin receptor. We used immunophenotyping techniques and diphtheria toxin receptor–expressing, chemokine receptor-2–deficient (CCR2−/−) mice to determine the participation of lung leukocyte subsets in pulmonary fibrogenesis. Our results demonstrate that targeted type II AEC injury induces an inflammatory response that is enriched for CD11b+ nonresident exudate macrophages (ExM) and their precursors, Ly-6Chigh monocytes. CCR2 deficiency abrogates the accumulation of both cell populations and protects mice from fibrosis, weight loss, and death. Further analyses revealed that the ExM are alternatively activated and that ExM and Ly-6Chigh monocytes express mRNA for IL-13, TGF-β, and the collagen genes, COL1A1 and COLIIIA1. Furthermore, the accumulated ExM and Ly-6Chigh monocytes contain intracellular collagen, as detected by immunostaining. Together, these results implicate CCR2 and the accumulation of ExM and Ly-6Chigh monocytes as critical determinants of pulmonary fibrosis induced by selective type II AEC injury.
A Comparative Study for Sentiment Analysis on Election Brazilian News

A midia brasileira tem sido acusada ao longo dos anos de favorecer algumas entidades politicas e suas campanhas. Avaliar a verdade dessa afirmacao nao e uma tarefa simples dado o grau de subjetividade de quem avalia. Em periodos de eleicao, essa controversia se torna mais acentuada visto a influ encia que a midia exerce na opini ao publica. Analise de Sentimento pode ser uma ferramentautil na avaliacao de noticias pol iticas. Este trabalho propoe um estudo comparativo de desempenho de tres algoritmos de aprendizagem (Na¨ive Bayes, SVM e MaxEnt) e de tr es metodos de selecao de atributos (Qui Quadrado, CPD e CPPD) para classificacao textos relacionadosas eleicoes de 2014 para presidente e governador de Sao Paulo.
What makes speech sound fluent? The contributions of pauses, speed and repairs

The oral fluency level of an L2 speaker is often used as a measure in assessing language proficiency. The present study reports on four experiments investigating the contributions of three fluency aspects (pauses, speed and repairs) to perceived fluency. In Experiment 1 untrained raters evaluated the oral fluency of L2 Dutch speakers. Using specific acoustic measures of pause, speed and repair phenomena, linear regression analyses revealed that pause and speed measures best predicted the subjective fluency ratings, and that repair measures contributed only very little. A second research question sought to account for these results by investigating perceptual sensitivity to acoustic pause, speed and repair phenomena, possibly accounting for the results from Experiment 1. In Experiments 2–4 three new groups of untrained raters rated the same L2 speech materials from Experiment 1 on the use of pauses, speed and repairs. A comparison of the results from perceptual sensitivity (Experiments 2–4) with fluency perception (Experiment 1) showed that perceptual sensitivity alone could not account for the contributions of the three aspects to perceived fluency. We conclude that listeners weigh the importance of the perceived aspects of fluency to come to an overall judgment.
Studies with Brugia pahangi 8. Infections in Macaca mulatta

Abstract Five Macaca mulatta were each inoculated with 200 larvae of Brugia pahangi. One monkey showed no microfilariae and the other 4 only low and transient microfilaraemias. Another group of 5 monkeys were each given an original 200 larvae and 11 further infections with 50 larvae but no better microfilaraemias were obtained. These monkeys were killed between 176 and 185 days later and no adult worms could be found. A few adult worms were found in two further monkeys killed 60 days after infection. Brugia pahangi infects mammalian hosts of several orders but the only primate found naturally infected is Nycticebiis coucang (Laing et al., 1960, Ash and Riley, 1970). Edeson et al. (1960) tried to infect Macaca inis, M. nemestrina, M. mulatta and N. coucang but were only able to detect microfilariae in N. coucang. On the other hand, B. malayi (sub-periodic strain) infects primates much more readily (Laing et al., 1960) in nature. Fredericks and Ramachandran (1968) successfully infected 26 of 27 M. mulatta with B. malayi.
Inhibition of monoclonal antibody binding and proteolysis by light-induced phosphorylation of rhodopsin.

Light-induced phosphorylation of rhodopsin in bovine rod outer segment disk membranes inhibits the binding of three carboxyl-terminal-specific anti-rhodopsin antibodies and the cleavage of the carboxyl-terminal region of rhodopsin by trypsin and Staphylococcus aureus V-8 protease. Two monoclonal antibodies, rho 3A6 and rho 1C5, which previously have been shown to preferentially bind to the 8'-12' and the 9'-18' carboxyl-terminal segments of rhodopsin, respectively, are both highly sensitive to phosphorylation. When an average of one phosphate is incorporated per rhodopsin, the binding reactivity of rhodopsin for these antibodies decreases to 30% that of nonphosphorylated rhodopsin as measured in radioimmune competition assays. Reactivity of the rho 1D4 antibody whose primary binding site is localized in the 1'-8' C-terminal segment of rhodopsin is unaffected at this level of phosphorylation but decreases to 30% when three phosphates on average are incorporated per rhodopsin. Direct binding studies using 125I-labeled antibodies indicate that phosphorylation of rhodopsin decreases the maximum extent of rho 3A6 and rho 1C5 binding to rhodopsin. For rho 1D4, the maximum extent of binding is unaffected by phosphorylation, but the dissociation constant is increased by 10-fold. Phosphorylation of rhodopsin also inhibits cleavage of the 1'-9' and 1'-7' carboxyl-terminal peptides by trypsin and S. aureus V-8 protease, respectively. When an average of one phosphate per rhodopsin is incorporated, cleavage decreases to 40% that of nonphosphorylated rhodopsin as measured by high-performance liquid chromatography. Phosphorylation of rhodopsin had no effect on S. aureus cleavage of rhodopsin into the F1 (Mr 25 000) and F2 (Mr 12 000) fragments. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)