Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A heuristic calculus for transformative reasoning about social information

Social computing needs a capability to reason with qualitatively fuzzy relations and analogy if it is to be capable of pattern matching using commonsense reasoning. The paper proper begins with an introduction to the first-order predicate calculus and heuristics. Using everyday simple examples, it shows where heuristic reasoning can be invaluable and where deductive reasoning falls short. The ∀ qualifier is replaced with Ψ (i.e., for most) and the ∃ qualifier is replaced with E (i.e., for some). That is, the realization of a heuristic calculus necessarily fuzzifies the predicate calculus. Moreover, computational analogy is shown to be possible through the use of multiple analogies. These may be defined by way of a (non-square) matrix, which serves to explain the predicates in terms of one or more disjoint predicates - including various permutations of arguments. These predicates are also subject to composition. Union and intersection operations are used to define predicates in terms of other predicates having common defining heuristic matrices. Finally, an introductory heuristic calculus is defined and exemplified. In particular, context-sensitive left and right-hand transformations are developed for the creation of knowledge, which is open under deduction. Local knowledge is validated through constraint checking and converges just short of validity.
Pretreatment With Fragments of Substance-P or With Cholecystokinin Differentially Affects Recovery From Sub-Total Nigrostriatal 6-Hydroxydopamine Lesion

The neuropeptide substance P is known to have mnemogenic and reinforcing actions and can exert neurotrophic and regenerative effects in vitro as well as in vivo. Furthermore, our previous work in the rat showed that either pre- or post-lesion treatment with substance P can promote functional recovery in cases of partial nigrostriatal dopamine lesions. Other work has provided evidence that the effects of substance P might be differentially encoded by its C- and N-terminal fragments. The C-terminal fragment was found to be reinforcing, whereas the mnemogenic as well as neurotrophic properties have been ascribed to the N-terminal sequences. Given these relations, we asked here whether pre-lesion treatment with either a C- or an N-terminal fragment of substance P might differentially affect the behavioral and neurochemical outcome of nigrostriatal dopamine lesions. Therefore, either substance P1−7 or substance P5−11 (37 nmol/kg each) was administered intraperitoneally daily for eight consecutive days before unilateral 6-hydroxy-dopamine lesions of the substantia nigra. Control rats received prelesion treatment with vehicle. Furthermore, we investigated the effects of pre-treatment with Boc-cholecystokinin-4 (0.91 nmol/kg), as we had found an increase in dopamine metabolism in animals that were pre-treated with cholecystokinin-8 in a former study. In accordance with our previous work, drug treatment effects were observed when excluding animals with most severe dopamine lesions: In animals with partial lesions (residual neostriatal dopamine levels of more than 10%), lesion-dependent asymmetries in turning behavior were observed in animals that were pre-treated with vehicle-, substance P1−7 , or Boc-cholecysto-kinin–4,. whereas turning after pre-treatment with substance P5−11 was not significantly asymmetrical. Furthermore, the ipsi- and contra-lateral neostriatal dopamine levels did not differ significantly in this group. Moreover, pre treatment with substance P5−11 affected dopamine metabolism in the neostriatum and in the venral striatum, as indicated by increased ratios of dihydroxyphenyllic acid to dopamine. The data provide the first evidence that the promotive effects of substance-P treatment in the unilateral dopamine lesion model might be mediated by its C-terminal and might depend on actions on residual dopamine mechanisms.
Effects of a food-based intervention on markers of micronutrient status among Indian women of low socio-economic status

Intakes of micronutrient-rich foods are low among Indian women of reproductive age. We investigated whether consumption of a food-based micronutrient-rich snack increased markers of blood micronutrient concentrations when compared with a control snack. Non-pregnant women (n 222) aged 14–35 years living in a Mumbai slum were randomised to receive a treatment snack (containing green leafy vegetables, dried fruit and whole milk powder), or a control snack containing foods of low micronutrient content such as wheat flour, potato and tapioca. The snacks were consumed under observation 6 d per week for 12 weeks, compliance was recorded, and blood was collected at 0 and 12 weeks. Food-frequency data were collected at both time points. Compliance (defined as the proportion of women who consumed ≥ 3 snacks/week) was >85 % in both groups. We assessed the effects of group allocation on 12-week nutrient concentrations using ANCOVA models with respective 0-week concentrations, BMI, compliance, standard of living, fruit and green leafy vegetable consumption and use of synthetic nutrients as covariates. The treatment snack significantly increased β-carotene concentrations (treatment effect: 47·1 nmol/l, 95 % CI 6·5, 87·7). There was no effect of group allocation on concentrations of ferritin, retinol, ascorbate, folate or vitamin B12. The present study shows that locally sourced foods can be made into acceptable snacks that may increase serum β-carotene concentrations among women of reproductive age. However, no increase in circulating concentrations of the other nutrients measured was observed.
Abiotic Stresses: Insight into Gene Regulation and Protein Expression in Photosynthetic Pathways of Plants

Global warming and climate change intensified the occurrence and severity of abiotic stresses that seriously affect the growth and development of plants, especially, plant photosynthesis. The direct impact of abiotic stress on the activity of photosynthesis is disruption of all photosynthesis components such as photosystem I and II, electron transport, carbon fixation, ATP generating system and stomatal conductance. The photosynthetic system of plants reacts to the stress differently, according to the plant type, photosynthetic systems (C3 or C4), type of the stress, time and duration of the occurrence and several other factors. The plant responds to the stresses by a coordinate chloroplast and nuclear gene expression. Chloroplast, thylakoid membrane, and nucleus are the main targets of regulated proteins and metabolites associated with photosynthetic pathways. Rapid responses of plant cell metabolism and adaptation to photosynthetic machinery are key factors for survival of plants in a fluctuating environment. This review gives a comprehensive view of photosynthesis-related alterations at the gene and protein levels for plant adaptation or reaction in response to abiotic stress.
Host Plants Affect the Foraging Success of Two Parasitoids that Attack Light Brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)

The light brown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana is a key pest of wine grapes in Australia. Two parasitoids, Dolichogenidea tasmanica and Therophilus unimaculatus, attack the larval stage of this pest. D. tasmanica is dominant in vineyards, whereas T. unimaculatus is mainly active in native vegetation. We sought to understand why they differ in their use of habitats. Plants are a major component of habitats of parasitoids, and herbivore-infested plants influence parasitoid foraging efficiency by their architecture and emission of volatile chemicals. We investigated how different plant species infested by E. postvittana could affect the foraging success of the two parasitoid species in both laboratory and field experiments. Four common host-plant species were selected for this study. In paired-choice experiments to determine the innate foraging preferences for plants, both parasitoid species showed differences in innate search preferences among plant species. The plant preference of D. tasmanica was altered by oviposition experience with hosts that were feeding on other plant species. In a behavioral assay, the two parasitoid species allocated their times engaged in various types of behavior differently when foraging on different plant species. For both parasitoids, parasitism on Hardenbergia violacea was the highest of the four plant species. Significantly more larvae dropped from Myoporum insulare when attacked than from the other three host-plant species, which indicates that parasitism is also affected by interactions between plants and host insects. In vineyards, parasitism by D. tasmanica was significantly lower on M. insulare than on the other three host-plant species, but the parasitism rates were similar among the other three plant species. Our results indicate that plants play a role in the habitat preferences of these two parasitoid species by influencing their foraging behavior, and are likely to contribute to their distributions among habitats.
Scrambling for Anonymous Visual Communications Frederic Dufaux and Touradj Ebrahimi Emitall S

In this paper, we present a system for anonymous visual communications. Target application is an anonymous video chat. The system is identifying faces in the video sequence by means of face detection or skin detection. The corresponding regions are subsequently scrambled. We investigate several approaches for scrambling, either in the image-domain or in the transform-domain. Experiment results show the effectiveness of the proposed system.
Transfer learning for cross-lingual automatic speech recognition

In this study, two instance based transfer learning phoneme modeling approaches are presented to mitigate the effects of limited data in a target language using data from r ichly resourced source languages. In the first approach, a maximum likelihood (ML) learning criterion is introduced to learn t he model parameters of a given phoneme class using data from both the target and source languages. In the second approach , a hybrid learning criterion is introduced using the ML of the target data and the maximum mutual information (MMI) of the training data and the phoneme class labels. This not only tak es into account increasing the ML estimates of the models using data from both target and source languages but also improves the discriminative ability of the estimated models using incorrect phoneme class labels.
Curcumin Induces Apoptosis of Upper Aerodigestive Tract Cancer Cells by Targeting Multiple Pathways

Curcumin, a natural compound isolated from the Indian spice "Haldi" or "curry powder", has been used for centuries as a traditional remedy for many ailments. Recently, the potential use of curcumin in cancer prevention and therapy urges studies to uncover the molecular mechanisms associated with its anti-tumor effects. In the current manuscript, we investigated the mechanism of curcumin-induced apoptosis in upper aerodigestive tract cancer cell lines and showed that curcumin-induced apoptosis is mediated by the modulation of multiple pathways such as induction of p73, and inhibition of p-AKT and Bcl-2. Treatment of cells with curcumin induced both p53 and the related protein p73 in head and neck and lung cancer cell lines. Inactivation of p73 by dominant negative p73 significantly protected cells from curcumin-induced apoptosis, whereas ablation of p53 by shRNA had no effect. Curcumin treatment also strongly inhibited p-AKT and Bcl-2 and overexpression of constitutively active AKT or Bcl-2 significantly inhibited curcumin-induced apoptosis. Taken together, our findings suggest that curcumin-induced apoptosis is mediated via activating tumor suppressor p73 and inhibiting p-AKT and Bcl-2.
In Vitro Antimetastatic Effect of Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase Inhibitor ZSTK474 on Prostate Cancer PC3 Cells

Tumor metastasis is the main cause of lethality of prostate cancer, because conventional therapies like surgery and hormone treatment rarely work at this stage. Tumor cell migration, invasion and adhesion are necessary processes for metastasis. By providing nutrition and an escape route from the primary site, angiogenesis is also required for tumor metastasis. Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases (PI3Ks) are well known to play important roles in tumorigenesis as well as metastasis. ZSTK474 is a specific PI3K inhibitor developed for solid tumor therapy. In the present report, antimetastatic activities of ZSTK474 were investigated in vitro by determining the effects on the main metastatic processes. ZSTK474 exhibited inhibitory effects on migration, invasion and adhesive ability of prostate cancer PC3 cells. Furthermore, ZSTK474 inhibited phosphorylation of Akt substrate-Girdin, and the secretion of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP), both of which were reported to be closely involved in migration and invasion. On the other hand, ZSTK474 inhibited the expression of HIF-1α and the secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), suggesting its potential antiangiogenic activity on PC3 cells. Moreover, we demonstrated the antiangiogenesis by determining the effect of ZSTK474-reduced VEGF on tube formation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). In conclusion, ZSTK474 was demonstrated to have potential in vitro antimetastatic effects on PC3 cells via dual mechanisms: inhibition of metastatic processes including cell migration, invasion and adhesion, and antiangiogenesis via blockade of VEGF secretion.
Membrane-Associated Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycan Is a Receptor for Adeno-Associated Virus Type 2 Virions

ABSTRACT The human parvovirus adeno-associated virus (AAV) infects a broad range of cell types, including human, nonhuman primate, canine, murine, and avian. Although little is known about the initial events of virus infection, AAV is currently being developed as a vector for human gene therapy. Using defined mutant CHO cell lines and standard biochemical assays, we demonstrate that heparan sulfate proteoglycans mediate both AAV attachment to and infection of target cells. Competition experiments using heparin, a soluble receptor analog, demonstrated dose-dependent inhibition of AAV attachment and infection. Enzymatic removal of heparan but not chondroitin sulfate moieties from the cell surface greatly reduced AAV attachment and infectivity. Finally, mutant cell lines that do not produce heparan sulfate proteoglycans were significantly impaired for both AAV binding and infection. This is the first report that proteoglycan has a role in cellular attachment of a parvovirus. Together, these results demonstrate that membrane-associated heparan sulfate proteoglycan serves as the viral receptor for AAV type 2, and provide an explanation for the broad host range of AAV. Identification of heparan sulfate proteoglycan as a viral receptor should facilitate development of new reagents for virus purification and provide critical information on the use of AAV as a gene therapy vector.
"La promoción de ventas en el diario impreso: debilidades y oportunidades. Comparativa de cuatro cabeceras de Málaga y Alicante".

The sales promotion sold together with the newspaper have become a fundamental element of the sales strategy of most journals. However, in recent years, due to saturation between products in the newsstand, and the lack of strategy after its launch, among other factors related to the crisis of traditional media, the tool begins to show signs of failure to motivate sales. To conclude the extent to which sales promotion launched by the marketing departments of the headers are a strategic rightly or ineffective, this research analyzes the developments served in 2010 by four local headers of Alicante and Malaga. The provincial press offers some variation of interest concerning the use of sales promotion strategy to bring the reader closer to the products of the local idiosyncrasies common to the publication itself. The study is complemented with opinions of marketing managers headers to provide an overview of the tool features both real and what is expected of it. While it provides a snapshot of the use of this technique for other sectors outside the journalistic world that allows the comparison of the shares. This multidisciplinary approach allows us to point out certain shortcomings that prevail in the implementation of sales promotion that accompany the local daily and offer proposals for action to revitalize the strategy.
Relapse among Recovering Addiction Professionals: Prevalence and Predictors

In 2013–2014, a cross-sectional, exploratory, survey design was used to obtain a conservative estimate of relapse among a sample of recovering addiction professionals in the United States and to identify potential predictors for relapse. The sample (n = 265) was drawn from the International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium. The relapse rate for the sample was 14.7%. Two predictors for relapse were identified in the stepwise logistic regression. The more mutual-aid group meetings respondents attended per month, the less likely they were to have experienced relapse (Wald = 7.956, p = .005), and the longer participants had been in recovery when their careers began, the less likely they were to have experienced relapse (Wald = 4.366, p = .037). The authors provide suggestions regarding the recovery health of recovering addiction professionals as well as recommendations for future research.
Functional Imaging Reveals Working Memory and Attention Interact to Produce the Attentional Blink

If two centrally presented visual stimuli occur within approximately half a second of each other, the second target often fails to be reported correctly. This effect, called the attentional blink (AB; Raymond, J. E., Shapiro, K. L., & Arnell, K. M. Temporary suppression of visual processing in an RSVP task: An attentional blink? Journal of Experimental Psychology, Human Perception and Performance, 18, 849–860, 1992], has been attributed to a resource “bottleneck,” likely arising as a failure of attention during encoding into or retrieval from visual working memory (WM). Here we present participants with a hybrid WM–AB study while they undergo fMRI to provide insight into the neural underpinnings of this bottleneck. Consistent with a WM-based bottleneck account, fronto-parietal brain areas exhibited a WM load-dependent modulation of neural responses during the AB task. These results are consistent with the view that WM and attention share a capacity-limited resource and provide insight into the neural structures that underlie resource allocation in tasks requiring joint use of WM and attention.
Optimal Allocation of Dispersed Energy Storage Systems in Active Distribution Networks for Energy Balance and Grid Support

Dispersed storage systems (DSSs) can represent an important near-term solution for supporting the operation and control of active distribution networks (ADNs). Indeed, they have the capability to support ADNs by providing ancillary services in addition to energy balance capabilities. Within this context, this paper focuses on the optimal allocation of DSSs in ADNs by defining a multi-objective optimization problem aiming at finding the optimal trade-off between technical and economical goals. In particular, the proposed procedure accounts for: network voltage deviations; feeders/lines congestions; network losses; cost of supplying loads (from external grid or local producers) together with the cost of DSS investment/maintenance; load curtailment; and stochasticity of loads and renewables productions. The DSSs are suitably modeled to consider their ability to support the network by both active and reactive powers. A convex formulation of ac optimal power flow problem is used to define a mixed integer second-order cone programming problem to optimally site and size the DSSs in the network. A test case referring to IEEE 34 bus distribution test feeder is used to demonstrate and discuss the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.
Distributed Innovation in Classes of Networks 1

Rapid developments in digital technologies have brought to force new challenges in innovation. In this paper, we propose a taxonomic framework of innovation networks in order to identify new challenges. Innovation networks form socio-technical systems that exist in a distributed cognitive space. The generative processes in these innovation networks involve both cognitive and social translations. At the same time, the rapid developments of digital technologies have reduced communication costs and allow integration of previously unconnected activities and artifacts due to digital convergence. These two forces of digitization – reduction in communication cost and digital convergence – stretch the innovation networks in two dimensions. On one hand, we see an increasing distribution of control and coordination among actors participating in innovation networks. On the other hand, we also see an increasing heterogeneity in knowledge resources that are mobilized during an innovation. These two dimensions allow us to conceptualize four types of innovation networks that result from pervasive use of digital technologies: singular innovation, open source innovation, internal markets of innovation, and doubly distributed innovation networks. We discuss the implications of our conceptual framework for the evolution of information infrastructures, future innovation research based on network analyses, and the new interlacing of ontology and epistemology of innovations.
Towards a behavior-oriented specification and testing language for multimodal applications

Initiated by the ubiquity of mobile devices, human computer interaction has evolved beyond the classic PCs' mouse and keyboard setup. Smartphones and tablets introduced new interaction modalities to the mass market and created the need for specialized software engineering methods. While more and more powerful SDKs are released to develop interactive applications, specifying user interaction is still ambiguous and error-prone, causing software defects as well as misunderstandings and frustration among project team members and stakeholders. We present an approach addressing this problems by demonstrating how to incorporate multimodal interaction into user acceptance tests written in near-natural language using Gherkin and formal gesture descriptions.
Performance Measurement System (PMS) In Small Medium Enterprises (SMES): A Practical Modified Framework

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a crucial role in the Malaysian New Economic Policy (NEP). The SMEs mostly operate in a fiercely competitive environment and; therefore, it is important to ensure that business is practiced more efficiently and effectively. It is believed that performance measurement tools can help to identify weaknesses, clarify objectives and strategies, and improve management processes. While many theories on performance measurement and performance management have been developed for large organizations over the past two decades, few have been tailored for SMEs. In addition, research highlights that these tools are difficult to adapt for SMEs. This paper aims to review the literature of performance measurement systems of SMEs, and in doing so, develop a new modified performance measurement system framework that is able to effectively measure SMEs performance, especially in a competitive environment.
Relations between cognitive psychology and computer system design

is ever less feasible to count on the existence of experienced operators . Unlike typewriters and automobiles , it seems unlikely that information machines of the future will stay the same long enough for public school training to prepare people for lifelong careers based on their use. Thus easy learning or self-evident operations are critical . Second, and equally important , the tasks for which computers are the tools are generally ones in which the human's thought process es themselves are being aided. The ,maturation of computer applications is taking us ever farther in this direction . The first jobs for computers involved routine information tasks like