Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Coordinating Spatially-Situated Pervasive Service Ecosystems

Technology evolution is providing new pervasive service scenarios characterised by a huge number of distributed and dynamic devices. Accordingly, a new generation of services and infrastructures are emerging which support situatedness, adaptivity and diversity. In this paper we model the overall world of services, data and devices, as a distributed computational ecosystem. Each entity will be modelled as an autonomous, spatially-situated individual of the ecosystem, whose existence is reified by an LSA (Live Semantic Annotation). Ecosystem’s behaviour is controlled by coordination rules called eco-laws, which are sort of chemical-like reactions evolving the population of LSAs. We describe an architecture supporting this vision, a formal model of eco-laws, and finally show their usefulness in a scenario of crowd steering through pervasive displays.
Vitis vinifera L. cv Pinot noir pomace and lees as potential sources of bioactive compounds

Abstract Food and agricultural industries generate substantial quantities of phenolic-rich by-products that could be valuable natural sources of antioxidants. The aim of this study was to identify and quantify the phenolic compounds and radical scavenging activities of two by-products (pomace and lees) from Vitis vinifera L. cv Pinot noir. We found a different distribution of phenolic classes (flavanols, flavonols, phenolic acids and stilbenes) and singular scavenging activity against free radicals (hydroxyl, superoxide and peroxyl radicals). The major class of phenolics in pomace was flavanols and in lees was flavonols, with catechin (117.9 ± 2.5 μg g−1) and quercetin (42.4 ± 1.2 μg g−1) being the most abundant individual compounds. We also found high potential on scavenging activity against superoxide radicals in pomace (80% of scavenging activity) and radical peroxyl (67% scavenging activity). These results show the possibility of using Pinot noir by-products as promising additives or as a source for the development of new products in different segments of the food and cosmetic industries.
HEXTAC: the Creation of a Manual Extractive Run

This article presents an attempt to establish an upper bound on purely extractive summarization techniques. Altogether, five human summarizers composed 88 standard and update summaries of the TAC 2009 competition. Only entire sentences of the source documents were selected by the human “extractors”, without modification, to form 100-word summaries. These summaries obtained better scores than any automatic summarization system in both linguistic quality and overall responsiveness, while still doing worse than any human abstractive summarizer.
Phonological encoding in speech production

Language production comprises conceptual, grammatical, and word form encoding as well as articulation. This paper focuses on word form or phonological encoding. Phonological encoding in speech production can be subdivided into a number of sub-processes such as segmental, metrical, and syllabic encoding. Each of these processes is briefly described and illustrated with examples from my own research. Special attention is paid to time course issues introducing behavioural and electrophysiological research methods such as LRPs and ERPs. It is concluded that phonological encoding is an incremental planning process taking into account segmental, metrical, and syllabic encoding.
Altered Patterns of Fractionation and Exon Deletions in Brassica rapa Support a Two-Step Model of Paleohexaploidy

The genome sequence of the paleohexaploid Brassica rapa shows that fractionation is biased among the three subgenomes and that the least fractionated subgenome has approximately twice as many orthologs as its close (and relatively unduplicated) relative Arabidopsis than had either of the other two subgenomes. One evolutionary scenario is that the two subgenomes with heavy gene losses (I and II) were in the same nucleus for a longer period of time than the third subgenome (III) with the fewest gene losses. This “two-step” hypothesis is essentially the same as that proposed previously for the eudicot paleohexaploidy; however, the more recent nature of the B. rapa paleohexaploidy makes this model more testable. We found that subgenome II suffered recent small deletions within exons more frequently than subgenome I, as would be expected if the genes in subgenome I had already been near maximally fractionated before subgenome III was introduced. We observed that some sequences, before these deletions, were flanked by short direct repeats, a unique signature of intrachromosomal illegitimate recombination. We also found, through simulations, that short—single or two-gene—deletions appear to dominate the fractionation patterns in B. rapa. We conclude that the observed patterns of the triplicated regions in the Brassica genome are best explained by a two-step fractionation model. The triplication and subsequent mode of fractionation could influence the potential to generate morphological diversity—a hallmark of the Brassica genus.
Scale invariant gravity and the quasi-static universe

We highlight the fact that the lack of scale invariance in the gravitational field equations of General Relativity results from the underlying assumption that the appropriate scale for the gravitational force should be linked to the atomic scale. We show that many of the problems associated with cosmology and quantum gravity follow directly from this assumption. An alternative scale invariant paradigm is proposed, in which the appropriate scale for General Relativity takes the Universe as its baseline, and the gravitational force does not have any fixed relationship to forces that apply on the atomic scale. It is shown that this gives rise to a quasi-static universe, and that the predicted behaviour of this model can resolve most of the problems associated with the standard Big Bang model. The replacement of Newton's gravitational constant in the quasi-static model by a scale-dependent re-normalisation factor is also able to account for a number of astronomical observations that would otherwise require ad-hoc explanations. Some of the implications of scale invariant gravity for Planck scale physics, quantum cosmology, and the nature of time are discussed.
Network component analysis: Reconstruction of regulatory signals in biological systems

High-dimensional data sets generated by high-throughput technologies, such as DNA microarray, are often the outputs of complex networked systems driven by hidden regulatory signals. Traditional statistical methods for computing low-dimensional or hidden representations of these data sets, such as principal component analysis and independent component analysis, ignore the underlying network structures and provide decompositions based purely on a priori statistical constraints on the computed component signals. The resulting decomposition thus provides a phenomenological model for the observed data and does not necessarily contain physically or biologically meaningful signals. Here, we develop a method, called network component analysis, for uncovering hidden regulatory signals from outputs of networked systems, when only a partial knowledge of the underlying network topology is available. The a priori network structure information is first tested for compliance with a set of identifiability criteria. For networks that satisfy the criteria, the signals from the regulatory nodes and their strengths of influence on each output node can be faithfully reconstructed. This method is first validated experimentally by using the absorbance spectra of a network of various hemoglobin species. The method is then applied to microarray data generated from yeast Saccharamyces cerevisiae and the activities of various transcription factors during cell cycle are reconstructed by using recently discovered connectivity information for the underlying transcriptional regulatory networks.
Volumes of the components of the hippocampus in the aging F344 rat

Much of the recent data on cells, synapses, and other structures in the dentate gyrus and hippocampus as a function of age are packing density or volume fraction data. In order to estimate total numbers, volumes, or surface areas of cells, synapses, vessels, etc., as a function of age, the total volumes of the subregions of the dentate gyrus and hippocampus must be known. The volumes of these subregions, visualized with the Timm stain, have been determined in 24 F344 rats from 4 to 37 months of age. Volumes of the various structures showed age‐related increases which were statistically significant for the perforant path zone of the dentate gyrus molecular layer, as well as the total molecular layer, the hilus, and regio inferior and total mossy fiber systems. If the 4‐month age group is eliminated from consideration, only the ratio of the volume of the mossy fiber zones to the volume of the perforant path zones of the dentate molecular layer increases significantly with age. Our general finding of lack of volumetric reorganization of the subdivisions of the hippocampal region between 12 and 37 months suggests that studies of the packing densities of structures in most of these zones may be considered comparable across ages, assuming comparability of sampling regions.
Temperature‐gradient gel electrophoresis for the detection of polymorphic DNA and for quantitative polymerase chain reaction

In order to detect mutations in a gene, either known mutations from human diseases or artifical ones in transgenic animals, or to screen for not yet identified mutations in patients, a method is required which guarentees detection of mutations which might occur in every single position of the whole open reading frame (ORF). It will be shown that a combination of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TOGE) fulfills these requirements. By thermodynamic calculations the shift in the gel electrophoresis due to a mutation can be calculated in dependence on the position of the mutation. The theoretical results were tested with the mutations known so far. The quantitative determination of the copy number of a specific DNA or RNA sequence in a biological specimen (quantitative PCR) can be performed precisely and easily by combining PCR and TGGE. The system uses a quantification strategy of a new type of internal standardization. TGGE is applied to separate homo‐ and heteroduplexes which correspond respectively to standard and template sequences. The accuracy of this quantification strategy is very high, with a variability of <15 %. In addition to quantification, PCR/TGGE detects PCR artifacts and template mutants.
Prevalence and Risk Factors Associated with Human Taenia Solium Infections in Mbozi District, Mbeya Region, Tanzania

Background Taenia solium cysticercosis/taeniosis is emerging as a serious public health and economic problem in many developing countries. This study was conducted to determine prevalence and risk factors of human T. solium infections in Mbeya Region, Tanzania. Methods and Findings A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 13 villages of Mbozi district in 2009. Sera of 830 people (mean 37.9±11.3 years (SD); 43% females) were tested for circulating cysticerci antigen (Ag-ELISA) and antibody (Ab-ELISA). A subset of persons found seropositive by Ag-ELISA underwent computed tomography (CT) scan of the brain for evidence of neurocysticercosis. Stool samples from 820 of the same participants were tested for taeniosis by copro-antigens (copro-Ag-ELISA) and formol-ether concentration technique. Cases of T. solium taeniosis were confirmed serologically by EITB assay (rES38). A questionnaire was used for identification of risk factors. Active cysticercosis by positive Ag-ELISA was found in 139 (16.7%) persons while anti-cysticercal antibodies were detected in 376 (45.3%) persons by Ab-ELISA. Among 55 persons positive for Ag-ELISA undergoing CT scan, 30 (54.6%) were found to have structures in the brain suggestive of neurocysticercosis. Using faecal analysis, 43 (5.2%) stool samples tested positive for taeniosis by copro-Ag-ELISA while Taenia eggs were detected in 9 (1.1%) stool samples by routine coprology. Antibodies specifically against adult T. solium were detected in 34 copro-Ag-ELISA positive participants by EITB (rES38) indicating T. solium taeniosis prevalence of 4.1%. Increasing age and hand washing by dipping in contrast to using running water, were found associated with Ag-ELISA seropositivity by logistic regression. Gender (higher risk in females) and water source were risk factors associated with Ab-ELISA seropositivity. Reported symptoms of chronic severe headaches and history of epileptic seizures were found associated with positive Ag-ELISA (p≤0.05). Conclusion The present study indicates T. solium infection in humans is highly endemic in the southern highlands of Tanzania.
Context-aware mobile services adaptation to dynamic resources. Application to mHealth

Advanced mobile devices increasingly provide innovative services and applications that can be accessed anywhere and anytime. The actual challenge is to take into account the dynamically changing conditions of the heterogeneous resources (equipments, data sources, services, etc) required for providing in ubiquitous environments an optimized, self-adaptive and personalized task management according to the context of use. In addition, the constantly changing availability and capabilities of these distributed resources make the discovery and mobilization of the appropriate resources required by user tasks difficult. In this paper, we propose a framework based on ontological models, object oriented components, a rule base, and an inference engine, to support services and applications operation in mobile systems. We also present an application example from the mobile health (mHealth) field to demonstrate how the proposed framework can support resources discovering according to user tasks specifications and environment conditions as well as to the accessibility and usability of the discovered resources.
Stem Cell Assays: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed

Numerous assays exist that measure the function of stem cells. In this article, we review in detail the history and future of existing stem cell assays. Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are historically the most well studied, but new developments in stem cell research, including the claim of stem cell plasticity, have caused controversies related to technical issues, as well as to semantics. Stem cell research requires proper definitions, and utilization of stem cell assays, especially since research on non‐HSCs that lack solid stem cell assays, is rapidly evolving. These emerging fields may benefit from what has been learned from HSC assays: most important, that the true potential of stem cells can only be assessed retrospectively. This also relates to new developments in HSC research, when limiting numbers of in vitro–manipulated stem cells are transplanted. The most conflicting results arise when cells express stem cell characteristics in one assay but not in another. Should we adjust our definition of a stem cell? If so, when do we decide a claim of stem cell activity to be justified? We therefore recommend using multiple stem cell assays, preferably at least one in vivo assay. These assays should measure functionality of the putative stem cell population.
Enteric Glial Cells: A New Frontier in Neurogastroenterology and Clinical Target for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Abstract:The word “glia” is derived from the Greek word “&ggr;&lgr;o&igr;&agr;,” glue of the enteric nervous system, and for many years, enteric glial cells (EGCs) were believed to provide mainly structural support. However, EGCs as astrocytes in the central nervous system may serve a much more vital and active role in the enteric nervous system, and in homeostatic regulation of gastrointestinal functions. The emphasis of this review will be on emerging concepts supported by basic, translational, and/or clinical studies, implicating EGCs in neuron-to-glial (neuroglial) communication, motility, interactions with other cells in the gut microenvironment, infection, and inflammatory bowel diseases. The concept of the “reactive glial phenotype” is explored as it relates to inflammatory bowel diseases, bacterial and viral infections, postoperative ileus, functional gastrointestinal disorders, and motility disorders. The main theme of this review is that EGCs are emerging as a new frontier in neurogastroenterology and a potential therapeutic target. New technological innovations in neuroimaging techniques are facilitating progress in the field, and an update is provided on exciting new translational studies. Gaps in our knowledge are discussed for further research. Restoring normal EGC function may prove to be an efficient strategy to dampen inflammation. Probiotics, palmitoylethanolamide (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor–&agr;), interleukin-1 antagonists (anakinra), and interventions acting on nitric oxide, receptor for advanced glycation end products, S100B, or purinergic signaling pathways are relevant clinical targets on EGCs with therapeutic potential.
Integrating Spatial Data Mining Technique to Identify Potential Landsat Data using K-Means and BPNN Algorithm

Spatial Data mining is one of the challenging field in data mining. The explosive development of spatial data and common use of spatial databases highlight the need for the automated detection of spatial knowledge. Computing data mining algorithms such as clustering on massive spatial data sets is still not feasible nor efficient today. In this research first we elaborate a study on data clustering, particularly on spatial data clustering. Here we introduce a k-means algorithm that is based on the data stream paradigm. Some of the existing classical clustering algorithm and the proposed BPNN were tested with UCI repository datasets for spatial data clustering and classification. Several tests were made on the system and overall significant results were achieved. Proposed method is an influential tool for the classification of multidimensional spatial data sets.
Kernels for Measures Defined on the Gram Matrix of their Support

We present in this work a new family of kernels to compare positive measures on arbitrary spaces $\Xcal$ endowed with a positive kernel $\kappa$, which translates naturally into kernels between histograms or clouds of points. We first cover the case where $\Xcal$ is Euclidian, and focus on kernels which take into account the variance matrix of the mixture of two measures to compute their similarity. The kernels we define are semigroup kernels in the sense that they only use the sum of two measures to compare them, and spectral in the sense that they only use the eigenspectrum of the variance matrix of this mixture. We show that such a family of kernels has close bonds with the laplace transforms of nonnegative-valued functions defined on the cone of positive semidefinite matrices, and we present some closed formulas that can be derived as special cases of such integral expressions. By focusing further on functions which are invariant to the addition of a null eigenvalue to the spectrum of the variance matrix, we can define kernels between atomic measures on arbitrary spaces $\Xcal$ endowed with a kernel $\kappa$ by using directly the eigenvalues of the centered Gram matrix of the joined support of the compared measures. We provide explicit formulas suited for applications and present preliminary experiments to illustrate the interest of the approach.
Automatic Generation of Challenging Distractors Using Context-Sensitive Inference Rules

Automatically generating challenging distractors for multiple-choice gap-fill items is still an unsolved problem. We propose to employ context-sensitive lexical inference rules in order to generate distractors that are semantically similar to the gap target word in some sense, but not in the particular sense induced by the gap-fill context. We hypothesize that such distractors should be particularly hard to distinguish from the correct answer. We focus on verbs as they are especially difficult to master for language learners and find that our approach is quite effective. In our test set of 20 items, our proposed method decreases the number of invalid distractors in 90% of the cases, and fully eliminates all of them in 65%. Further analysis on that dataset does not support our hypothesis regarding item difficulty as measured by average error rate of language learners. We conjecture that this may be due to limitations in our evaluation setting, which we plan to address in future work.
Upregulated Expression of B-Cell Antigen Family Tandem Repeat Proteins by Leishmania Amastigotes

ABSTRACT Proteins with tandem repeat (TR) domains have been found in various protozoan parasites, and they are often targets of B-cell responses. Through systematic analyses of whole proteomes, we recently demonstrated that two trypanosomatid parasites, Leishmania infantum and Trypanosoma cruzi, are rich in antigenic proteins with large TR domains. However, the reason that these proteins are antigenic was unclear. Here, by performing molecular, immunological, and bioinformatic characterizations of Leishmania TR proteins, we found two possible factors affecting the antigenicity of these proteins; one factor is their fundamental composition as TR proteins, and the other is regulation of their expression by parasites. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) using recombinant proteins revealed that the copy number of the repeat affects the affinity of binding between antigens and antibodies, as expected based on thermodynamic binding kinetics. Other than containing TR domains, the TR proteins do not share characteristics, such as sequence similarity or biased cellular location predicted by the presence of a signal sequence(s) and/or a transmembrane domain(s). However, the TR proteome contained a higher percentage of proteins upregulated in amastigotes than the whole proteome, and upregulated expression of a TR protein seemed to affect its antigenicity. These results indicate that Leishmania parasites actively utilize the TR protein family for parasitism in mammalian hosts.
CIMWOS: A Multimedia Archiving and Indexing System

This paper describes a multimedia, multilingual and multimodal research system called CIMWOS (Combined IMage and WOrd Spotting). CIMWOS incorporates an extensive set of multimedia technologies, integrating three major subsystems (text, speech, and image processing). It produces a rich collection of XML metadata annotations following the MPEG-7 standard. These XML annotations are further merged and loaded into the CIMWOS Multimedia Database. An ergonomic and user-friendly Web-based interface allows the user to efficiently retrieve video segments by a combination of media description, content metadata and natural language text. Currently the system is under evaluation and contains broadcast news and documentaries in three languages (English, Greek, and French), while the open architecture allows for more languages to be incorporated in the future.
ORIGINAL ACUTE EFFECTS OF EXERCISE ON MOOD AND HRV EFECTOS AGUDOS DEL EJERCICIO FÍSICO SOBRE EL ESTADO DE ÁNIMO Y LA HRV

The aim of this study is to analyse the acute effects of exercise on mood and heart rate variability (HRV) in both active and sedentary people. The project was carried out with 30 students classified as either Active or Non-active. In a single session, participants performed a submaximal exercise test (UKK), which consist in a Profile of Mood States (POMS) and HRV test at rest, before and after exercise. The results showed an improvement in mood with increases in the Vigour and Fatigue factors and decreases in Tension and Depression after exercise. Moreover, Active participants presented a significantly higher decrease in Depression after exercise in comparison to Non-active participants. HRV analysis also showed differences between Active and Non-active participants in the parameters of frequency domain, LFnu2 and HFnu2.