Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Acknowledging insufficiency in the evaluation of legal knowledge-based systems: strategies towards a broadbased evaluation model

This paper considers the need for evaluation of knowledge-based systems in general and legal knowledge-based systems in particular. Some special features of legal knowledge-based systems pertinent to their evaluation are presented. The expected benefits of such evaluations are discussed. and some of the difficulties likely to be encountered are outlined. The proceedings of four International Conferences on Artificial Intelligence and Law are analysed to determine the rate of reporting evaluations in non-theoretical papers. These papers had a low rate of consideration of evaluation issues reflecting common practice in research biased development environments. These results confirm that more attention to evaluation is needed in the legal knowledge based systems domain. This paper foreshadows the development of an evaluation methodology tailored specifically for legal knowledge-based systems. Evaluation strategies beyond verification and validation are drawn upon, both from the international ISO/IEC 14598 and 9126 standards and also from previous work on evaluation models for knowledge-based systems.
Substance use and misuse in the Croatian Army Special Forces: prevalence and influencing factors

ObjectivesIn addition to being a serious health-hazard, substance-use-and-misuse (SUM) in military forces negatively influences physical fitness and army readiness. The aim of this study was to define the prevalence of SUM, which includes cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, and multiple SUM (i.e. practice of daily smoking and harmful alcohol drinking), and factors influencing SUM in the Croatian Special Army Forces (SAF). Materials and MethodsWe studied 73 SAF members. A self-administered validated questionnaire was used to gather socio-demographic and military-profession-related data, and SUM factors. The associations between studied variables were established by the Chi2 test, and forward conditional logistic regression (FCLR). ResultsWith less than 40% of daily smokers, smoking was within expected values. Almost 80% of the examinees reported no binge drinking, while 54% reported harmful drinking according to the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test scale. Paternity and education level were negatively associated with daily smoking, while higher incidence of daily smoking was found for privates and those who practiced harmful drinking (all at p < 0.05). The FCLR demonstrated a higher risk of harmful alcohol consumption for younger commissioned officers (OR for military rank = 5.54, 95% CI: 2.19–13.99; OR for age = 0.85, 95% CI: 0.76–0.95). ConclusionAlthough SUM incidence was not alarming compared to the overall population and the previously reported military data, additional efforts are necessary in order to decrease cigarette consumption. The study showed that protective/risk structure of the substance misuse in the military should be investigated specifically with regard to particular military services, corps, and socio-cultural environment.
Aborting tasks in BDI agents

Intelligent agents that are intended to work in dynamic environments must be able to gracefully handle unsuccessful tasks and plans. In addition, such agents should be able to make rational decisions about an appropriate course of action, which may include aborting a task or plan, either as a result of the agent's own deliberations, or potentially at the request of another agent. In this paper we investigate the incorporation of aborts into a BDI-style architecture. We discuss some conditions under which aborting a task or plan is appropriate, and how to determine the consequences of such a decision. We augment each plan with an optional abort-method, analogous to the failure method found in some agent programming languages. We provide an operational semantics for the execution cycle in the presence of aborts in the abstract agent language CAN, which enables us to specify a BDI-based execution model without limiting our attention to a particular agent system (such as JACK, Jadex, Jason, or SPARK). A key technical challenge we address is the presence of parallel execution threads and of sub-tasks, which require the agent to ensure that the abort methods for each plan are carried out in an appropriate sequence.
Context-aware Camera Planning for Interactive Storytelling

In the application of 3D interactive narratives, virtual camera is a crucial element for appropriate presentation of scenarios happening dynamically. In this work, we have designed a virtual cinematographic system to generate appropriate camera plans automatically in a 3D virtual environment for interactive storytelling. In such a system, not only the story line but also the relative positions between the actors may be changed at run time due to interaction with the user. Therefore, a camera plan that can reflect the changes in dynamic scenarios needs to be generated automatically at run time. We have also designed a scripting language to describe the directive details of the story and implemented a camera planning system to generate camera configurations according to the scenario descriptions. We will use an example to illustrate the idea of interactive narratives in 3D environment and how appropriate camera motions can be generated according to the result of interaction.
Paracellular transport of insulin‐like growth factor‐I (IGF‐I) across human umbilical vein endothelial cell monolayers

Insulin‐like growth factors (IGFs) are well defined mitogens and growth promoters, which are found in blood associated with high affinity IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs). In vivo, the endothelium is potentially the primary site of uptake of IGFs or IGF‐IGFBP complexes from blood for transport to the extravascular space. However, the pathway and mechanisms by which IGFs cross the endothelial cell barrier are not known. The presence of high affinity receptors for IGF‐I and IGF‐II on human umbilical vein endothelial (HUVE) cells was demonstrated by (i) radio‐receptor assays using both IGF‐I and IGF‐II and (ii) affinity label cross‐linking studies. In addition, Western ligand blotting and immunoblotting revealed that IGFBP‐2, ‐3, and ‐4 are secreted into serum‐free media conditioned by confluent HUVE cell monolayers. To study transendothelial migration of IGF‐I, HUVE cells were grown on microporous membranes in a bichamber system. When compared with membranes without cells, HUVE monolayers restricted the passage of 125I‐IGF‐I and [3H]inulin, whereas the control Madin Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cell line virtually excluded all passage of these molecules. Transport of 125I‐IGF‐I across HUVE cell monolayers was not significantly different to that of [3H]inulin, a paracellular probe. Moreover, 125I‐IGF‐I transport was not inhibited by either excess unlabelled IGF‐I or a monoclonal antibody to the type I IGF receptor at a concentration shown to inhibit 125I‐IGF‐I binding to HUVE cell monolayers. Our findings show that the movement of free IGF‐I across HUVE cell monolayers occurs via a paracellular route and not by a receptor‐mediated, transcellular pathway. J. Cell. Physiol. 170:290–298, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Finding Clusters of Different Sizes, Shapes, and Densities in Noisy, High Dimensional Data

Finding clusters in data, especially high dimensional data, is challenging when the clusters are of widely diering shapes, sizes, and densities, and when the data contains noise and outliers. We present a novel clustering technique that addresses these issues. Our algorithm rst nds the nearest neighbors of each data point and then redenes the similarity between pairs of points in terms of how many nearest neighbors the two points share. Using this denition of similarity, our algorithm identies core points and then builds clusters around the core points. The use of a shared nearest neighbor denition of similarity alleviates problems with varying densities and high dimensionality, while the use of core points handles problems with shape and size. While our algorithm can nd the \dense" clusters that other clustering algorithms nd, it also nds clusters that these approaches overlook, i.e., clusters of low or medium density which represent relatively uniform regions \surrounded" by non-uniform or higher density areas. We experimentally show that our algorithm performs better than traditional methods (e.g., K-means, DBSCAN, CURE) on a variety of data sets: KDD Cup '99 network intrusion data, NASA Earth science time series data, two-dimensional point sets, and documents. The run-time complexity of our technique is O(n 2 ) if the similarity matrix has to be constructed. However, we discuss a number of optimizations that allow the algorithm to handle large data sets ecien tly.
Itraconazole antagonizes store‐operated influx of calcium into chemoattractant‐activated human neutrophils

We have investigated the effects of itraconazole (0·1–10 µm), an antimycotic which is often used prophylactically in primary and secondary immunodeficiency disorders, including chronic granulomatous disease, on mobilization of Ca2+ and restoration of Ca2+ homeostasis following activation of neutrophils with FMLP or PAF. Transmembrane fluxes of Ca2+, as well as cytosolic concentrations of the cation were measured using a combination of spectrofluorimetric and radiometric procedures. The abruptly occurring increases in cytosolic Ca2+ following activation of the cells with either FMLP (1 µm) or PAF (200 nm) were unaffected by itraconazole. However, the subsequent store‐operated influx of the cation was attenuated by itraconazole at concentrations of 0·25 µm and higher. The itraconazole‐mediated inhibition of uptake of Ca2+ was not associated with detectable alterations in the intracellular concentrations of cyclic AMP, ATP or inositol triphosphate, and appeared to be compatible with antagonism of store‐operated Ca2+ channels. Although a secondary property, this anti‐inflammatory activity of itraconazole, if operative in vivo, may be beneficial in conditions associated with dysregulation of neutrophil Ca2+ handling such as CGD.
Demonstration of Mother-to-Child Transmission of Streptococcus mutans Using Multilocus Sequence Typing

A new reliable genotyping method, multilocus sequence typing (MLST), was used to evaluate vertical transmission of the cariogenic pathogen Streptococcus mutans. A total of 136 S. mutans strains were isolated from saliva samples of 20 Japanese mother-child pairs, including 5 girls and 5 boys with primary dentition, and 5 girls and 5 boys with mixed dentition. The nucleotide sequences of 8 partial housekeeping genes, aroE, murI, gltA, glnA, glk, tkt, lepC, and gyrA, were analyzed and a similarity for all of those sequences between strains from a mother-child pair was regarded as indicating transmission, which was shown in 70% of the pairs. Interestingly, the rate of transmitted strains from mothers was significantly higher in the girls (90%) than in the boys (p = 0.001). Furthermore, the S. mutans sequence type (ST) with the highest distribution percentage in each maternal saliva sample was found to be transferred to their children. In addition, variations in two large conjugative-transfer associated regions, TnSmu1 and TnSmu2, were determined and compared with the STs defined by MLST. No variations in those two regions shown by PCR patterns were present in any of the strains isolated from the same families with the same STs, though isolates of some STs from different families showed distinct patterns for TnSmu2. Our results indicate that mothers are the main source for transmission of S. mutans to their children, while the present MLST method was also shown to be useful for investigating bacterial transmission.
Measuring Language Divergence by Intra-Lexical Comparison

This paper presents a method for building genetic language taxonomies based on a new approach to comparing lexical forms. Instead of comparing forms cross-linguistically, a matrix of language-internal similarities between forms is calculated. These matrices are then compared to give distances between languages. We argue that this coheres better with current thinking in linguistics and psycholinguistics. An implementation of this approach, called PHILOLOGICON, is described, along with its application to Dyen et al.'s (1992) ninety-five wordlists from Indo-European languages.
Role of Adaptor Proteins in Secretory Granule Biogenesis and Maturation

In the regulated secretory pathway, secretory granules (SGs) store peptide hormones that are released on demand. SGs are formed at the trans-Golgi network and must undergo a maturation process to become responsive to secretagogues. The production of mature SGs requires concentrating newly synthesized soluble content proteins in granules whose membranes contain the appropriate integral membrane proteins. The mechanisms underlying the sorting of soluble and integral membrane proteins destined for SGs from other proteins are not yet well understood. For soluble proteins, luminal pH and divalent metals can affect aggregation and interaction with surrounding membranes. The trafficking of granule membrane proteins can be controlled by both luminal and cytosolic factors. Cytosolic adaptor proteins (APs), which recognize the cytosolic domains of proteins that span the SG membrane, have been shown to play essential roles in the assembly of functional SGs. Adaptor protein 1A (AP-1A) is known to interact with specific motifs in its cargo proteins and with the clathrin heavy chain, contributing to the formation of a clathrin coat. AP-1A is present in patches on immature SG membranes, where it removes cargo and facilitates SG maturation. AP-1A recruitment to membranes can be modulated by Phosphofurin Acidic Cluster Sorting protein 1 (PACS-1), a cytosolic protein which interacts with both AP-1A and cargo that has been phosphorylated by casein kinase II. A cargo/PACS-1/AP-1A complex is necessary to drive the appropriate transport of several cargo proteins within the regulated secretory pathway. The Golgi-localized, γ-ear containing, ADP-ribosylation factor binding (GGA) family of APs serve a similar role. We review the functions of AP-1A, PACS-1, and GGAs in facilitating the retrieval of proteins from immature SGs and review examples of cargo proteins whose trafficking within the regulated secretory pathway is governed by APs.
INTERRELATIONSHIPS AMONG INTERNATIONAL STOCK MARKET INDICES: EUROPE, ASIA AND THE AMERICAS

In this paper, we investigate the price interdependence between seven international stock markets, namely Irish, UK, Portuguese, US, Brazilian, Japanese and Hong Kong, using a new testing method, based on the wavelet transform to reconstruct the data series, as suggested by Lee [11]. We find evidence of intra-European (Irish, UK and Portuguese) market co-movements with the US market also weakly influencing the Irish market. We also find co-movement between the US and Brazilian markets and similar intra-Asian co-movements (Japanese and Hong Kong). Finally, we conclude that the circle of impact is that of the European markets (Irish, UK and Portuguese) on both American markets (US and Brazilian), with these in turn impacting on the Asian markets (Japanese and Hong Kong) which in turn influence the European markets. In summary, we find evidence for intra-continental relationships and an increase in importance of international spillover effects since the mid 1990s, while the importance of historical transmissions has decreased since the beginning of this century.
Reliability of Pb-free solders for harsh environment electronic assemblies

Abstract Since 2006 and the implementation of environmental regulations, the electronic industry has moved to Pb-free solders. Harsh environment industries that were exempted from the regulations will soon have to follow suit. However, a suitable replacement solder for use in harsh environments still has to be validated and reliability models are yet to be established. In this review, research that led to the selection of currently used Pb-free alloys and the continuing search for high reliability alloys are described. Sn pest and Sn whiskers, potential major threats for electronics operating in harsh environments, are highlighted. This review also focuses on the microstructure, mechanical properties and deformation mechanisms of Pb-free alloys. Emphasis is placed on Sn–Ag–Cu alloys, now considered to be the alloys of choice for replacement of Sn–Pb solders. The reliability of Pb-free electronic assemblies is studied, focusing on thermal fatigue, believed to be the main source of failure through creep–fatigue mechanisms. The validity of models for Pb-free solder joints life time prediction is assessed and the lack of cohesiveness among the available reliability data is examined.
Distributed inference and query processing for RFID tracking and monitoring

In this paper, we present the design of a scalable, distributed stream processing system for RFID tracking and monitoring. Since RFID data lacks containment and location information that is key to query processing, we propose to combine location and containment inference with stream query processing in a single architecture, with inference as an enabling mechanism for high-level query processing. We further consider challenges in instantiating such a system in large distributed settings and design techniques for distributed inference and query processing. Our experimental results, using both real-world data and large synthetic traces, demonstrate the accuracy, efficiency, and scalability of our proposed techniques.
Nearly Linear-Work Algorithms for Mixed Packing/Covering and Facility-Location Linear Programs

We describe the first nearly linear-time approximation algorithms for explicitly given mixed packing/covering linear programs, and for (non-metric) fractional facility location. We also describe the first parallel algorithms requiring only near-linear total work and finishing in polylog time. The algorithms compute $(1+\epsilon)$-approximate solutions in time (and work) $O^*(N/\epsilon^2)$, where $N$ is the number of non-zeros in the constraint matrix. For facility location, $N$ is the number of eligible client/facility pairs.
Imprecise probability assessment of tipping points in the climate system

Major restructuring of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, the Amazon rainforest and ENSO, are a source of concern for climate policy. We have elicited subjective probability intervals for the occurrence of such major changes under global warming from 43 scientists. Although the expert estimates highlight large uncertainty, they allocate significant probability to some of the events listed above. We deduce conservative lower bounds for the probability of triggering at least 1 of those events of 0.16 for medium (2–4 °C), and 0.56 for high global mean temperature change (above 4 °C) relative to year 2000 levels.
Host-Plant Species Conservatism and Ecology of a Parasitoid Fig Wasp Genus (Chalcidoidea; Sycoryctinae; Arachonia)

Parasitoid diversity in terrestrial ecosystems is enormous. However, ecological processes underpinning their evolutionary diversification in association with other trophic groups are still unclear. Specialisation and interdependencies among chalcid wasps that reproduce on Ficus presents an opportunity to investigate the ecology of a multi-trophic system that includes parasitoids. Here we estimate the host-plant species specificity of a parasitoid fig wasp genus that attacks the galls of non-pollinating pteromalid and pollinating agaonid fig wasps. We discuss the interactions between parasitoids and the Ficus species present in a forest patch of Uganda in context with populations in Southern Africa. Haplotype networks are inferred to examine intraspecific mitochondrial DNA divergences and phylogenetic approaches used to infer putative species relationships. Taxonomic appraisal and putative species delimitation by molecular and morphological techniques are compared. Results demonstrate that a parasitoid fig wasp population is able to reproduce on at least four Ficus species present in a patch. This suggests that parasitoid fig wasps have relatively broad host-Ficus species ranges compared to fig wasps that oviposit internally. Parasitoid fig wasps did not recruit on all available host plants present in the forest census area and suggests an important ecological consequence in mitigating fitness trade-offs between pollinator and Ficus reproduction. The extent to which parasitoid fig wasps exert influence on the pollination mutualism must consider the fitness consequences imposed by the ability to interact with phenotypes of multiple Ficus and fig wasps species, but not equally across space and time.
Connecting Brains to Robots: An Artificial Body for Studying the Computational Properties of Neural Tissues

We have created a hybrid neuro-robotic system that establishes two-way communication between the brain of a lamprey and a small mobile robot. The purpose of this system is to offer a new paradigm for investigating the behavioral, computational, and neurobiological mechanisms of sensory-motor learning in a unified context. The mobile robot acts as an artificial body that delivers sensory information to the neural tissue and receives command signals from it. The sensory information encodes the intensity of light generated by a fixed source. The closed-loop interaction between brain and robot generates autonomous behaviors whose features are strictly related to the structure and operation of the neural preparation. We provide a detailed description of the hybrid system, and we present experimental findings on its performance. In particular, we found (a) that the hybrid system generates stable behaviors, (b) that different preparations display different but systematic responses to the presentation of an optical stimulus, and (c) that alteration of the sensory input leads to short- and long-term adaptive changes in the robot responses. The comparison of the behaviors generated by the lamprey's brain stem with the behaviors generated by network models of the same neural system provides us with a new tool for investigating the computational properties of synaptic plasticity.
Calibration of Phone Likelihoods in Automatic Speech Recognition

In this paper we study the probabilistic properties of the posteriors in a speech recognition system that uses a deep neural network (DNN) for acoustic modeling. We do this by reducing Kaldi's DNN shared pdf-id posteriors to phone likelihoods, and using test set forced alignments to evaluate these using a calibration sensitive metric. Individual frame posteriors are in principle well-calibrated, because the DNN is trained using cross entropy as the objective function, which is a proper scoring rule. When entire phones are assessed, we observe that it is best to average the log likelihoods over the duration of the phone. Further scaling of the average log likelihoods by the logarithm of the duration slightly improves the calibration, and this improvement is retained when tested on independent test data.
Water activities, densities, and refractive indices of aqueous sulfates and sodium nitrate droplets of atmospheric importance

Water activities, densities, and refractive indices over extended concentration ranges at 25{degrees}C are reported for solution droplets containing a single salt of either (NH{sub 4}){sub 2}SO{sub 4}, NH{sub 4}HSO{sub 4}, (NH{sub 4}){sub 3}H(SO{sub 4}){sub 2}, Na{sub 2}SO{sub 4}, NaHSO{sub 4}, or NaNO{sub 3}, which are common constituents of atmospheric aerosols. The extensive data reported are obtained from experiments using the single-particle levitation technique recently developed for measuring the thermodynamic and optical properties of microdroplets. These data should find application in mathematical models predicting the dynamic behavior, visibility reduction, and radiative effects of atmospheric sulfate and nitrate aerosols. 32 refs., 13 figs., 3 tabs.