Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
UniWireless: a distributed open access network

In this paper we describe the UniWireless framework, a nationwide distributed Open Access testbed that involves different research units collaborating in the TWELVE national project. The Uni-Fy AAA system, used to manage the collection of involved hotspots, is also discussed.The most important aspect of the UniWireless framework is its compatibility with different authentication mechanisms; while most access networks enforce a particular authentication protocol upon their users, in the UniWireless system different mechanisms coexist, and each client can in principle use the one that it considers most suitable. Two different, independent and coexisting authentication protocols (capive portal and a SIP-based technique) have been implemented and are described in this paper.Besides its academic and scientific value for demonstrating results and supporting research activities, the UniWireless framework is actually used to grant access to nomadic users that belong to different research units in all the hotspots related to the project. Every nomadic user can access network resources from every hotspot in the testbed by his usual authentication credentials. Experience gathered from more than one year of continuative use of the system is also discussed.
The most primitive metazoan animals, the placozoans, show high sensitivity to increasing ocean temperatures and acidities

Abstract The increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) leads to rising temperatures and acidification in the oceans, which directly or indirectly affects all marine organisms, from bacteria to animals. We here ask whether the simplest—and possibly also the oldest—metazoan animals, the placozoans, are particularly sensitive to ocean warming and acidification. Placozoans are found in all warm and temperate oceans and are soft‐bodied, microscopic invertebrates lacking any calcified structures, organs, or symmetry. We here show that placozoans respond highly sensitive to temperature and acidity stress. The data reveal differential responses in different placozoan lineages and encourage efforts to develop placozoans as a potential biomarker system.
The radial velocity of the companion star in the low-mass X-ray binary 2S 0921–630: limits on the mass of the compact object

In this paper we report on optical spectroscopic observations of the low-mass X-ray binary 2S 0921–630 obtained with the Very Large Telescope. We found sinusoidal radial velocity variations of the companion star with a semi-amplitude of 99.1 ± 3.1 km s−1 modulated on a period of 9.006 ± 0.007 d, consistent with the orbital period found previously for this source, and a systemic velocity of 44.4 ± 2.4 km s−1. Owing to X-ray irradiation, the centre of light measured by the absorption lines from the companion star is probably shifted with respect to the centre of mass. We try to correct for this using the so-called K-correction. Conservatively applying the maximum correction possible and using the previously measured rotational velocity of the companion star, we find a lower limit to the mass of the compact object in 2S 0921–630 of MX sin3i > 1.90 ± 0.25 M⊙ (1σ errors). The inclination in this system is well constrained since partial eclipses have been observed in X-ray and optical bands. For inclinations in the range 60° < i < 90° we find 1.90 ± 0.25 < MX < 2.9 ± 0.4 M⊙. However, using this maximum K-correction we find that the ratio between the mass of the companion star and that of the compact object, q, is 1.32 ± 0.37, implying super-Eddington mass-transfer rates; however, evidence for that has not been found in 2S 0921–630. We conclude that the compact object in 2S 0921–630 is either a (massive) neutron star or a low-mass black hole.
Cognitive Theories, Paradigm of Quantum Behavior Change, and Cusp Catastrophe Modeling in Social Behavioral Research

Advancing social work research on human behaviors for HIV prevention and control calls for new paradigms and analytical methods to characterize the nonlinear behavioral dynamics within complex systems. However, most HIV-related behaviors cannot be adequately investigated with commonly used methods because the dynamics of HIV-related behaviors are quantum, consisting of both continuous and discrete processes. Achievements in nonlinear and discrete modeling methods—particularly cusp catastrophe modeling—enable researchers to characterize the quantum nature of these behaviors. We describe the research and developments in analyzing social behavior with conventional and new paradigms and methods, and we review cognitive and behavioral theories that provide guidance to cusp catastrophe modeling, including the dual-system theory and the construal-level theory. The latter describes concrete and context-dependent cognitive processes at low construal levels for rapid and discrete changes vs. abstract and viewpoint-dependent cognitive processes at high construal levels for gradual and continuous changes. Achievements in HIV behavior research—including the paradigm of quantum behavior change, cusp catastrophe modeling methodology, and cognitive theories—can be used to study social behaviors to advance social work research and practice.
Fifty Shades of Grey in SOA Testing

Testing is undisputedly a fundamental verification principle in the software landscape. Today's products require us to effectively handle and test huge, complex systems and in this context to tackle challenging traits like heterogeneity, distribution and controllability to name just a few. The advent of Service-Oriented Architectures with their inherent technological features like dynamics and heterogeneity exacerbated faced challenges, requiring us to evolve our technology. The traditional view of white or black box testing, for example, does not accommodate the multitude of shades of grey one should be able to exploit effectively for system-wide tests. Today, while there are a multitude of approaches for testing single services, there is still few work on methodological system tests for SOAs. In this paper we propose a corresponding workflow for tackling SOA testing and diagnosis, discuss SOA test case generation in more detail, and report preliminary research in that direction.
Synthesis and Biological Activity of Some New 1,3,4-Thiadiazole and 1,2,4-Triazole Compounds Containing a Phenylalanine Moiety

New 1,3,4-thiadiazole, 6, 7 and 1,2,4-triazole derivatives, 8, 9 containing a phenylalanine moiety have been synthesized by intramolecular cyclization of 1,4-disubstituted thiosemicarbazides, 4, 5, in acid and alkaline media, respectively; the thiosemicarbazides were obtained by reaction of hydrazide 3 with appropriate aromatic isothiocyanates. The toxicity of the synthesized compounds was evaluated and the anti-inflammatory study of the triazole compound 9 established an appreciable anti-inflammatory activity that is comparable with that of other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents.
Recognizing and modeling non-rigid human body actions in space-time

This paper presents a new method to recognize and restructure the human motions in space-time using the tracking information of human joints. A specific posture can be recognized in actual frame by finding the correspondence between actual frame and key frame. Within key frame prototype information has been extracted to represent defined posture (one step of action). By recognizing some person's postures in order, it is possible to map body locations from the key frames to actual frames in long video sequence and confirm the posture-sequence (action). The proposed method is tolerant to substantial deformation between image and prototype and recognizes qualitatively similar joints moving traces that compose human action. The proposed method is achieved by using a KLT feature tracker approach to track joints in key frames and actual frames. Then, the factorized sampling method is applied to replace one tracker with tracker-set to enhance the joints tracking accuracy. The experiments results demonstrate that accuracy and efficiency of recognizing non-rigid human actions.
Multichannel Blind Separation and Deconvolution of Images for Document Analysis

In this paper, we apply Bayesian blind source separation (BSS) from noisy convolutive mixtures to jointly separate and restore source images degraded through unknown blur operators, and then linearly mixed. We found that this problem arises in several image processing applications, among which there are some interesting instances of degraded document analysis. In particular, the convolutive mixture model is proposed for describing multiple views of documents affected by the overlapping of two or more text patterns. We consider two different models, the interchannel model, where the data represent multispectral views of a single-sided document, and the intrachannel model, where the data are given by two sets of multispectral views of the recto and verso side of a document page. In both cases, the aim of the analysis is to recover clean maps of the main foreground text, but also the enhancement and extraction of other document features, such as faint or masked patterns. We adopt Bayesian estimation for all the unknowns and describe the typical local correlation within the individual source images through the use of suitable Gibbs priors, accounting also for well-behaved edges in the images. This a priori information is particularly suitable for the kind of objects depicted in the images treated, i.e., homogeneous texts in homogeneous background, and, as such, is capable to stabilize the ill-posed, inverse problem considered. The method is validated through numerical and real experiments that are representative of various real scenarios.
Changes in the Expression and Distribution of Claudins, Increased Epithelial Apoptosis, and a Mannan-Binding Lectin-Associated Immune Response Lead to Barrier Dysfunction in Dextran Sodium Sulfate-Induced Rat Colitis

Background/Aims This animal study aimed to define the underlying cellular mechanisms of intestinal barrier dysfunction. Methods Rats were fed 4% with dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) to induce experimental colitis. We analyzed the sugars in 24-hour urine output by high pressure liquid chromatography. The expression of claudins, mannan-binding lectin (MBL), and MBL-associated serine proteases 2 (MASP-2) were detected in the colonic mucosa by immunohistochemistry; and apoptotic cells in the colonic epithelium were detected by the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick-end labeling method assay. Results The lactulose and sucralose excretion levels in the urine of rats with DSS-induced colitis were significantly higher than those in the control rats. Mannitol excretion was lower and lactulose/mannitol ratios and sucralose/mannitol ratios were significantly increased compared with those in the control group (p<0.05). Compared with the controls, the expression of sealing claudins (claudin 3, claudin 5, and claudin 8) was significantly decreased, but that of claudin 1 was increased. The expression of pore-forming claudin 2 was upregulated and claudin 7 was downregulated in DSS-induced colitis. The epithelial apoptotic ratio was 2.8%±1.2% in controls and was significantly increased to 7.2%±1.2% in DSS-induced colitis. The expression of MBL and MASP-2 in the intestinal mucosa showed intense staining in controls, whereas there was weak staining in the rats with colitis. Conclusions There was increased intestinal permeability in DSS-induced colitis. Changes in the expression and distribution of claudins, increased epithelial apoptosis, and the MASP-2-induced immune response impaired the intestinal epithelium and contributed to high intestinal permeability.
Dynamic interoperability of software agents with Semantic Web languages

The flourishing idea of semantic Web being realized as extension of the World Wide Web infrastructure has rehabilitated interest in semantic interoperability between various semantic languages. Semantic languages like OWL, WSML and FIPA SL formalize WWW into machine process able and understandable, by their ability to represent machine interpretable content on the Web. These semantic description languages differ in syntax and semantic representation, resulting in mismatches that hamper semantic information exchange and interoperability for cross service utilization among the resulting information systems. In this paper we propose techniques to facilitate translation among heterogeneous contents while preserving the semantics. We then propose the architecture to realize the system in a middleware that enable dynamic semantic interoperability between FIPA compliant software agents and semantic Web languages including OWL and WSML. We also develop a prototype application through which a software agent invoke and use a Web service published in OWL or WSML and vice versa.
Combining RDF and SPARQL with CP-theories to reason about preferences in a Linked Data setting

Preference representation and reasoning play a central role in supporting users with complex and multi-factorial decision processes. In fact, user tastes can be used to ﬁlter information and data in a personalized way, thus maximizing their expected utility. Over the years, many frameworks and languages have been proposed to deal with user preferences. Among them, one of the most prominent formalism to represent and reason with (qualitative) conditional preferences (CPs) are conditional preference theories ( CP-theories ). In this paper, we show how to combine them with Semantic Web technologies in order to encode in a standard SPARQL 1.1 query the semantics of a set of CP statements representing user preferences by means of RDF triples that refer to a “preference” OWL ontology. In particular, here we focus on context-uniform conditional (cuc) acyclic CP-theories [44]. The framework that we propose allows a standard SPARQL client to query Linked Data datasets, and to order the results of such queries relative to a set of user preferences.
The role of SNP-loop diuretic interactions in hypertension across ethnic groups in HyperGEN

Blood pressure (BP) is significantly influenced by genetic factors; however, less than 3% of the BP variance has been accounted for by variants identified from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of primarily European-descent cohorts. Other genetic influences, including gene-environment (GxE) interactions, may explain more of the unexplained variance in BP. African Americans (AA) have a higher prevalence and earlier age of onset of hypertension (HTN) as compared with European Americans (EA); responses to anti-hypertensive drugs vary across race groups. To examine potential interactions between the use of loop diuretics and HTN traits, we analyzed systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood BP from 1222 AA and 1231 EA participants in the Hypertension Genetic Epidemiology Network (HyperGEN). Population-specific score tests were used to test associations of SBP and DBP, using a panel of genotyped and imputed single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for AA (2.9 million SNPs) and EA (2.3 million SNPs). Several promising loci were identified through gene-loop diuretic interactions, although no SNP reached genome-wide significance after adjustment for genomic inflation. In AA, SNPs in or near the genes NUDT12, CHL1, GRIA1, CACNB2, and PYHIN1 were identified for SBP, and SNPs near ID3 were identified for DBP. For EA, promising SNPs for SBP were identified in ESR1 and for DBP in SPATS2L and EYA2. Among these SNPs, none were common across phenotypes or population groups. Biologic plausibility exists for many of the identified genes, suggesting that these are candidate genes for regulation of BP and/or anti-hypertensive drug response. The lack of genome-wide significance is understandable in this small study employing gene-drug interactions. These findings provide a set of prioritized SNPs/candidate genes for future studies in HTN. Studies in more diversified population samples may help identify previously missed variants.
Regulation of Stomatal Tropism and Infection by Light in Cercospora zeae-maydis: Evidence for Coordinated Host/Pathogen Responses to Photoperiod?

Cercospora zeae-maydis causes gray leaf spot of maize, which has become one of the most widespread and destructive diseases of maize in the world. C. zeae-maydis infects leaves through stomata, which is predicated on the ability of the pathogen to perceive stomata and reorient growth accordingly. In this study, the discovery that light was required for C. zeae-maydis to perceive stomata and infect leaves led to the identification of CRP1, a gene encoding a putative blue-light photoreceptor homologous to White Collar-1 (WC-1) of Neurospora crassa. Disrupting CRP1 via homologous recombination revealed roles in multiple aspects of pathogenesis, including tropism of hyphae to stomata, the formation of appressoria, conidiation, and the biosynthesis of cercosporin. CRP1 was also required for photoreactivation after lethal doses of UV exposure. Intriguingly, putative orthologs of CRP1 are central regulators of circadian clocks in other filamentous fungi, raising the possibility that C. zeae-maydis uses light as a key environmental input to coordinate pathogenesis with maize photoperiodic responses. This study identified a novel molecular mechanism underlying stomatal tropism in a foliar fungal pathogen, provides specific insight into how light regulates pathogenesis in C. zeae-maydis, and establishes a genetic framework for the molecular dissection of infection via stomata and the integration of host and pathogen responses to photoperiod.
An Application of Latent Topic Document Analysis to Large-Scale Proteomics Databases

Since the advent of public data repositories for proteomics data, readily accessible results from high-throughput experiments have been accumulating steadily. Several large-scale projects in particular have contributed substantially to the amount of identifications available to the community. Despite the considerable body of information amassed, very few successful analysis have been performed and published on this data, levelling off the ultimate value of these projects far below their potential. In order to illustrate that these repositories should be considered sources of detailed knowledge instead of data graveyards, we here present a novel way of analyzing the information contained in proteomics experiments with a ’latent semantic analysis’. We apply this information retrieval approach to the peptide identification data contributed by the Plasma Proteome Project. Interestingly, this analysis is able to overcome the fundamental difficulties of analyzing such divergent and heterogeneous data emerging from large scale proteomics studies employing a vast spectrum of different sample treatment and mass-spectrometry technologies. Moreover, it yields several concrete recommendations for optimizing proteomics project planning as well as the choice of technologies used in the experiments. It is clear from these results that the analysis of large bodies of publicly available proteomics data holds great promise and is currently
Analysis of the interaction between digital art and traditional art

The great art form is accomplished from constant accumulations in life, it needs generalization and refining rather than pure imagination. We only have to absorb and integrate the advantages of various art forms in order to create more outstanding works of art that facilitate the audience to accept and recognize. Therefore, digital art and traditional art will obtain better development if they integrate and learn from each other. Especially as the form of new digital art, it should be open-minded to the traditional art of learning, so as to continuously strengthening their creative energy.
Endogenous Adenosine Mediates the Presynaptic Inhibition Induced by Aglycemia at Corticostriatal Synapses

Energy deprivation, as a result of aglycemia, leads to depression of the central synaptic transmission. Endogenous adenosine has been implicated in this depressant effect. We have studied the possible involvement of endogenous adenosine in the depression of corticostriatal excitatory transmission induced by glucose deprivation by using intracellular recordings in brain slices. After stimulation of corticostriatal fibers, EPSPs were recorded from striatal spiny neurons. Adenosine (3–300 μm) or brief periods (5–10 min) of aglycemia reduced the EPSP amplitude but did not alter the membrane potential and the resistance of the recorded cells. These inhibitory effects were not associated with an alteration of the postsynaptic sensitivity to exogenous glutamate but were coupled with an increased paired-pulse facilitation, suggesting the involvement of presynaptic mechanisms. A delayed postsynaptic membrane depolarization/inward current was detected after 15–20 min of glucose deprivation. The presynaptic inhibitory effects induced by adenosine and aglycemia were both antagonized either by the nonselective adenosine receptor antagonist caffeine (2.5 mm) or by the A1 receptor antagonists 8-cyclopentyl-1,3-dimethylxanthine (CPT, 1 μm) and 1,3-dipropyl-8-cyclopentylxanthine (CPX, 300 nm). Conversely, these antagonists affected neither the delayed membrane depolarization/inward current nor the underlying conductance increase produced by glucose deprivation. The ATP-sensitive potassium channel blockers tolbutamide (1 mm) and glipizide (100 nm) had no effect on the aglycemia-induced decrease of EPSP amplitude. Our data demonstrate that endogenous adenosine acting on A1 receptors mediates the presynaptic inhibition induced by aglycemia at corticostriatal synapses, whereas ATP-dependent potassium channels do not play a significant role in this presynaptic inhibition.
Approximating acceptance probabilities of CTMC-paths on multi-clock deterministic timed automata

We consider the problem of approximating the probability mass of the set of timed paths under a continuous-time Markov chain (CTMC) that are accepted by a deterministic timed automaton (DTA). As opposed to several existing works on this topic, we consider DTA with multiple clocks. Our key contribution is an algorithm to approximate these probabilities using finite difference methods. An error bound is provided which indicates the approximation error. The stepping stones towards this result include rigorous proofs for the measurability of the set of accepted paths and the integral-equation system characterizing the acceptance probability, and a differential characterization for the acceptance probability.