Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Arab Women in Arab News: Old Stereotypes and New Media

This book addresses east-west understandings of Arab women as portrayed through translated media. The vast majority of media studies on Arab women are western-based. They study the effect of western stereotypes in western media depictions of Arab women. There is a vast scholarly literature tracing western stereotypes of Arab women from medieval times to the present. From 1800, the dominant western stereotype of Arab women depicts them as passive and oppressed. Thirty years of social science media research in the west has shown that media images of Arab women reinforce this two hundred year old stereotype. Much of this research has studied silent "image bites" of Arab women, where women are pictured in veils and their own voices are replaced by western captions or voice-overs. This book sets out to answer this question. To answer it, we contracted with a global news translation service from the Middle East to collect and translate a sample of 22 months of new summaries from 103 Arab media sources belonging to 22 Arab countries. Filtering the summaries that contained one or more female keywords (e.g., woman, mother, aunt, sister, she) yielded 2, 061 summaries between September 2005 and June of 2007. Using the 2,061 summaries as input data, a coding scheme was developed for "active" and "passive" female behaviors based on verb-phrase analysis and conventions of English-language news-reporting.
Simultaneous single-molecule measurements of phage T7 replisome composition and function reveal the mechanism of polymerase exchange

A complete understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the functioning of large, multiprotein complexes requires experimental tools capable of simultaneously visualizing molecular architecture and enzymatic activity in real time. We developed a novel single-molecule assay that combines the flow-stretching of individual DNA molecules to measure the activity of the DNA-replication machinery with the visualization of fluorescently labeled DNA polymerases at the replication fork. By correlating polymerase stoichiometry with DNA synthesis of T7 bacteriophage replisomes, we are able to quantitatively describe the mechanism of polymerase exchange. We find that even at relatively modest polymerase concentration (∼2 nM), soluble polymerases are recruited to an actively synthesizing replisome, dramatically increasing local polymerase concentration. These excess polymerases remain passively associated with the replisome through electrostatic interactions with the T7 helicase for ∼50 s until a stochastic and transient dissociation of the synthesizing polymerase from the primer-template allows for a polymerase exchange event to occur.
Context Driven XML Retrieval

This paper presents a data-centric approach to XML information retrieval which benefits from XML document structure and adapts traditional text-centric information retrieval techniques to deal with text content inside XML. We implement our ideas in a configurable, general purpose XML retrieval library which can be tuned to operate on multilingual XML resources with different structure and can be used to extract relevant document fragments with different granularity according to user preferences. We present a rich query format and an algorithm for indexing and query processing.
Bisphosphonates Induce Breast Cancer Cell Death In Vitro

Breast cancer frequently spreads to bone and is almost always associated with osteolysis. This tumor‐induced osteolysis is caused by increased osteoclastic bone resorption. Bisphosphonates are used successfully to inhibit bone resorption in tumor bone disease and may prevent development of new osteolytic lesions. The classical view is that bisphosphonates only act on bone cells. We investigated their effects on breast cancer cells using three human cell lines, namely, MCF‐7, T47D, and MDA.MB. 231, and we tested four structurally different bisphosphonates: clodronate, pamidronate, ibandronate, and zoledronate. We performed time course studies for each bisphosphonate at various concentrations and found that all four compounds induced a nonreversible growth inhibition in both MCF‐7 and T47D cell lines in a time‐ and dose‐dependent manner. The MDA.MB. 231 cell line was less responsive. Bisphosphonates induced apoptosis in MCF‐7 and cell necrosis in T47D cells. The inhibition of MCF‐7 cell proliferation could be reverted almost completely by the benzyloxycarbonyl‐Val‐Ala‐Asp(OMe)‐fluoromethyl ketone (z‐VAD‐fmk) inhibitor of caspases, suggesting that the apoptotic process observed in the MCF‐7 cell line is mediated, at least partly, by the caspase system. Caspase activity was little changed by bisphosphonates in T47D cells and the inhibitor of caspase did not modify bisphosphonates effects. In summary, we found that bisphosphonates inhibit breast cancer cell growth by inducing cell death in vitro. Such effects could contribute to the beneficial role of bisphosphonates in the treatment and the prevention of tumor‐induced osteolysis.
Should Intranasal Corticosteroids Be Used for the Treatment of Ocular Symptoms of Allergic Rhinoconjunctivitis? A Review of Their Efficacy and Safety Profile

Allergic rhinoconjunctivitis (ARC) presents as nasal symptoms, eye watering and additional signs of ocular allergy (e.g. itchy/burning eyes). Intranasal corticosteroids (INSs) are the most effective treatment for the nasal symptoms of seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR; based on 4 meta-analyses) and are considered first-line therapy when nasal congestion forms a substantial component of the patient’s rhinitis symptoms. Clinical trial evidence shows that INSs also provide some relief from ocular symptoms of SAR and seasonal ARC in adults. INSs probably alleviate eye watering, the main ocular symptom of SAR, by relieving nasal congestion. Other ocular symptoms also improve with INSs. The mechanism for this effect is unknown, but might relate to naso-ocular reflex reduction. There are limited data on ocular safety with INSs. However, the literature supports the use of INSs over several months as there appears to be no considerable increase in the risk of ocular hypertension or glaucoma.
Neurite regeneration by Aplysia neurons in dissociated cell culture: modulation by Aplysia hemolymph and the presence of the initial axonal segment

Neurons from the abdominal ganglion of the mollusc Aplysia californica regenerate neurite processes in dissociated cell culture. Both the nature of neurite outgrowth and the morphology of the cells are influenced by the presence of adult Aplysia hemolymph in the growth medium and the presence of a portion of a cell's original axonal process. Aplysia hemolymph enhances cell survival, the initiation of neurite outgrowth from multiple sites on the cell body surface, the linear growth of the processes, and the amount of branching by those processes. Hemolymph also decreases the diameter of the outgrowing neurite fascicles and the diameter of the individual neurites within the fascicles. The presence of a cell's original axon reduces the time required for the initiation of neurite outgrowth and restricts the formation of multipolar processes. In addition, the presence of an initial axonal segment is essential for neurite regeneration from large adult neurons.
A fast implementation of the ISOCLUS algorithm

Unsupervised clustering is a fundamental building block in numerous image processing applications. One of the most popular and widely used clustering schemes for remote sensing applications is the ISOCLUS algorithm, which is based on the ISODATA method. The algorithm is given a set of n data points in d-dimensional space, an integer k indicating the initial number of clusters, and a number of additional parameters. The general goal is to compute the coordinates of a set of cluster centers in d-space, such that those centers minimize the mean squared distance from each data point to its nearest center. This clustering algorithm is similar to another well-known clustering method, called k-means. One significant feature of ISOCLUS over k-means is that the actual number of clusters reported might be fewer or more than the number supplied as part of the input. The algorithm uses different heuristics to determine whether to merge lor split clusters. As ISOCLUS can run very slowly, particularly on large data sets, there has been a growing . interest in the remote sensing community in computing it efficiently. We have developed a faster implementation of the ISOCLUS algorithm. Our improvement is based on a recent acceleration to the k-means algorithm of Kanungo, et al. They showed that, by using a kd-tree data structure for storing the data, it is possible to reduce the running time of k-means. We have adapted this method for the ISOCLUS algorithm, and we show that it is possible to achieve essentially the same results as ISOCLUS on large data sets, but with significantly lower running times. This adaptation involves computing a number of cluster statistics that are needed for ISOCLUS but not for k-means. Both the k-means and ISOCLUS algorithms are based on iterative schemes, in which nearest neighbors are calculated until some convergence criterion is satisfied. Each iteration requires that the nearest center for each data point be computed. Naively, this requires O(kn) time, where k denotes the current number of centers. Traditional techniques for accelerating nearest neighbor searching involve storing the k centers in a data structure. However, because of the iterative nature of the algorithm, this data structure would need to be rebuilt with each new iteration. Our approach is to store the data points in a kd-tree data structure. The assignment of points to nearest neighbors is carried out by a filtering process, which successively eliminates centers that can not possibly be the nearest neighbor for a given region of space. This algorithm is significantly faster, because large groups of data points can be assigned to their nearest center in a single operation. Preliminary results on a number of real Landsat datasets show that our revised ISOCLUS-like scheme runs about twice as fast.
Orthopaedics in the Developing World: Present and Future Concerns

Half of the world's population lack access to adequate primary health care, and two thirds lack access to orthopaedic care. Globally, the need for health care outstrips the available resources. This problem is compounded in the developing world by a lack of trained medical personnel, a lack of medical facilities, and, in many regions, an inability to access existing facilities. There is little specific epidemiologic data about the exact burden of musculoskeletal disease in these countries, but most agree that it is reasonable to assume that it will increase. In the least developed and developing nations, problems with access are related to fundamental issues such as infrastructure, physical facilities, equipment, and trained personnel. There are a number of ways in which the orthopaedic community can become involved in ameliorating the burden. Education is the most effective method of providing a sustainable solution. The objective of educational organizations should be to train local health‐care workers at all levels in their own environment to provide sustainable and appropriate care so that the programs become self‐sufficient and ensure a continued supply of competent medical personnel.
Degassing explosions at Karymsky Volcano, Kamchatka

During the summer of 1997, Karymsky Volcano produced summit explosions about six times each hour. Typical explosive episodes lasted between 30 seconds and three minutes, produced gas and ash columns several hundred meters high, and ejected some incandescent material. To better understand the physical source mechanisms responsible, we recorded hundreds of explosions with a three component broad‐band seismometer and microphone located 1650 meters from the active vent. Nearly every explosion is recorded as an emergent yet identical seismic wavelet which is followed 4.15 s later by an impulsive acoustic arrival. We interpret the signals as a near‐surface gas volume burst which fractures the vent ‘plug,’ lowers the lithostatic pressure within the magma column, and often induces further degassing. When degassing continues, it is generally manifested as either a series of regular one second ‘chugging’ explosions, steady higher frequency ‘jetting’, or a hybrid combination. We believe that the seismic signature for ‘chugs,’ short duration harmonic tremor with integer overtones, is the result of repeated gas volume bursts at the vent. In contrast, seismograms for jetting are non‐harmonic and contain higher frequencies. We believe that the competing degassing behaviors are influenced by the gas flux as well as the plug/conduit characteristics. We propose that a plug exists due to a viscosity gradient caused by volatile depletion in the upper conduit.
Towards Efficient Processing of RDF Data Streams - Short Paper

In the last years, there has been an increase in the amount of real-time data generated. Sensors attached to things are transforming how we interact with our environment. Extracting meaningful information from these streams of data is essential for some application areas and requires processing systems that scale to varying conditions in data sources, complex queries, and system failures. This paper describes on-going research on the development of a scalable RDF streaming engine.
Solar wind control of density and temperature in the near‐Earth plasma sheet: WIND/GEOTAIL collaboration

A statistical survey of GEOTAIL observations reveals the following properties of the near‐Earth plasma sheet (−15 < XGSM′ < −50 Re): During the periods when the northward IMF dominates, (1) the plasma sheet becomes significantly cold and dense, (2) the best correlations between the plasma sheet and the IMF parameters occur when the latter quantities are averaged over 9−4+3 hours prior to the plasma sheet observations, and (3) temperatures diminish and densities increase near the dawn and dusk flanks of the plasma sheet. We suggest that during prolonged northward IMF periods (∼ several hours) there is a slow diffusive transport of the plasma from the solar wind into the plasma sheet through the the magnetotail flanks.
How fail-stop are faulty programs?

Most fault-tolerant systems are designed to stop faulty programs before they write permanent data or communicate with other processes. This property (halt-on-failure) forms the core of the fail-stop model. Unfortunately, little experimental data exists on whether or not program failures follow the fail-stop model. This paper describes a tool, based on the SimOS complete-machine simulator that can trace how faults propagate through memory, disk, and functions. Using this tool on the Postgres database system, we conduct a controlled experiment to measure how often faulty programs violate the fail-stop model. We find that a significant number of faults (7%) violate the fail-stop model by writing incorrect data to stable storage before halting. We then apply Postgres' transaction mechanism to undo recent changes before a crash and find that transactions reduce fail-stop violations by a factor of 3.
Support Vector Algorithms for Optimizing the Partial Area under the ROC Curve

The area under the ROC curve (AUC) is a widely used performance measure in machine learning. Increasingly, however, in several applications, ranging from ranking to biometric screening to medicine, performance is measured not in terms of the full area under the ROC curve but in terms of the partial area under the ROC curve between two false-positive rates. In this letter, we develop support vector algorithms for directly optimizing the partial AUC between any two false-positive rates. Our methods are based on minimizing a suitable proxy or surrogate objective for the partial AUC error. In the case of the full AUC, one can readily construct and optimize convex surrogates by expressing the performance measure as a summation of pairwise terms. The partial AUC, on the other hand, does not admit such a simple decomposable structure, making it more challenging to design and optimize (tight) convex surrogates for this measure. Our approach builds on the structural SVM framework of Joachims (2005) to design convex surrogates for partial AUC and solves the resulting optimization problem using a cutting plane solver. Unlike the full AUC, where the combinatorial optimization needed in each iteration of the cutting plane solver can be decomposed and solved efficiently, the corresponding problem for the partial AUC is harder to decompose. One of our main contributions is a polynomial time algorithm for solving the combinatorial optimization problem associated with partial AUC. We also develop an approach for optimizing a tighter nonconvex hinge loss–based surrogate for the partial AUC using difference-of-convex programming. Our experiments on a variety of real-world and benchmark tasks confirm the efficacy of the proposed methods.
Differences in Xylan Degradation by Various Noncellulolytic Thermophilic Anaerobes and Clostridium thermocellum

Hemicellulose fractions with a predetermined distribution of xylose, xylooligomers, and xylan fractions were obtained through steam explosion of wood by the steam explosion-extraction process of BFA-Hamburg, Hamburg, Federal Republic of Germany. A differential utilization of various molecular-weight fractions by several thermophilic anaerobic bacteria was determined during their growth on the hemicellulose preparations. Clostridium thermocellum (60°C) first utilized the high-molecular-weight fractions (polymerization degree of 15 to 40 xylose units). Xylose and xylooligomers of n = 2 to 5 accumulated while C. thermocellum was not growing, as evident from the fermentation products formed. Whereas the xylan was hydrolyzed and the small oligoxylans were utilized after more than 100 h of incubation, xylose was not significantly utilized. In contrast to this, C. thermohydrosulfuricum (70°C) and Thermoanaerobium brockii (70°C) utilized xylose first and then xylooligomers of n = 2 to 5, but xylooligomers of n greater than 6 were only slowly utilized. Thermoanaerobacter ethanolicus (70°C), Thermobacteroides acetoethylicus (70°C), and C. thermosaccharolyticum (60°C) utilized xylose preferentially. Xylooligomers of n = 2 to 5 and n = 6 and greater were apparently concomitantly utilized without significant differences. In contrast to C. thermocellum, the non-cellulolytic organisms grew during xylan hydrolysis, producing ethanol, lactate, acetate, CO2, and H2.
Round-tripping between XML and RDF

This paper addresses the issue of lifting XML data into a common representational framework , namely RDF. The context of this work is the modeling of HP web-services, including message content exchanged with the provider agent. This is not Yet Another Serialization Syntax for RDF, but an approach to using RDF in a way that is complementary with XML.
Predictions of Hot Spot Residues at Protein-Protein Interfaces Using Support Vector Machines

Protein-protein interactions are critically dependent on just a few ‘hot spot’ residues at the interface. Hot spots make a dominant contribution to the free energy of binding and they can disrupt the interaction if mutated to alanine. Here, we present HSPred, a support vector machine(SVM)-based method to predict hot spot residues, given the structure of a complex. HSPred represents an improvement over a previously described approach (Lise et al, BMC Bioinformatics 2009, 10:365). It achieves higher accuracy by treating separately predictions involving either an arginine or a glutamic acid residue. These are the amino acid types on which the original model did not perform well. We have therefore developed two additional SVM classifiers, specifically optimised for these cases. HSPred reaches an overall precision and recall respectively of 61% and 69%, which roughly corresponds to a 10% improvement. An implementation of the described method is available as a web server at http://bioinf.cs. ucl.ac. uk/hspred. It is free to non-commercial users.
Reasoning about Permitted Announcements (extended Abstract)

Four players are playing the french game ”la belote”. All the 32 cards are dealt, each player starts the game with eight cards and she knows them, and all of this is common knowledge. We can formalize this situation using epistemic logic (see [8] for more details): the set of propositional atoms of our language is {(V C)i|V ∈ {7, 8, 9, 10, J,Q,K,A}, C ∈ {♣,♥,♦,♠}, i ∈ {1, 2, 3, 4}}. The model of ”la belote” has four epistemic (equivalence) relations, a world corresponds to a deal, and we say that M, s |= (10♠)3 if player 3 has the ten of spades in the deal s. Then we can express sentences like ”player 2 knows that player 3 has the queen of hearts” (K2(Q♥)3). What is happening when the game starts? Player one playing the 7 of diamonds can be seen as the public announcement that player one has the 7 of diamonds. But she may be able to do such an announcement, because she actually has the 7 of diamonds, without having the permission to do it, because the rules of the game may forbid it to her. Which are the announcements that are permitted in this game, depending on the actual situation? This paper will try to answer this question. Our goal is to formalize the concept of ”having the permission to say”. The way we choose is to adapt the semantics considered in [11] in the particular case where actions are replaced by public announcements. Thus, for α in van der Meyden’s ♦(α,φ) we take an announcement ψ! such that ♦(ψ! , φ) now means ‘it is permitted to announce ψ, after which φ is true’. The primitive of our language is in fact somewhat different, as it also takes sequences of announcements into account, but we will be able to define such ♦(ψ! , φ) as a special case (see section 4.1). The logic of public announcements (PAL) proposed by Plaza in [9], which is an extension of epistemic logic, permits to express the way agents update their knowledge after public announcements of true propositions. We can for example write in this language 〈ψ〉φ which means that after the truthful public
The effect of FR167653 on cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury after retrograde cerebral perfusion in a canine model

Retrograde cerebral perfusion (RCP) has recently been reported to be useful for the repair of aortic arch aneurysms. However, there is a possibility that RCP supplies a limited amount of blood to the brain [1] and ischemia-reperfusion injury may occur after RCP. FR167653 (FR) is characterized as a potent suppressant of interleukin-1β and tumor necrosis factor-α. We investigated the role of FR in preventing cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury after RCP in a canine model. A total of 12 mongrel dogs was divided into two groups: in the FR group (n=6), FR167653 (1 mg/kg/hour) was continuously administered during the period of RCP and rewarming; in the control group (n=6), a physiological saline solution was administered at the same dosage as the FR167653 during the same period. Following hypothermia (20°C) using cardiopulmonary bypass and circulatory arrest, RCP was performed by infusing oxygenated blood via the bilateral internal maxillary veins for 60 minutes at a perfusion pressure of 25 mmHg. The cerebral blood flow (CBF), cerebral metabolic rate for glucose (CMRGlu) and oxygen (CMRO2), and excretion of carbon dioxide (ExCO2) were measured. These results were expressed as the percentage of change from baseline values established immediately after anesthesia. CBF was significantly (p<0.05) higher in the FR group than in the control group at 40 (159±25% and 82±21%, respectively) and 60 minutes (177±30% and 83±14%, respectively) after RCP. The lactate/pyruvate ratio of blood returned from the brain tissues was significantly (p<0.05) lower in the FR group than in the control group at 40 and 60 minutes after RCP. CMRGlu was significantly (p<0.05) higher in the FR group than in the control group 60 minutes after RCP. There was no significant difference in CMRO2 and ExCO2 between the two groups. It is concluded that FR167653 appears to be effective in protecting the brain from ischemia-reperfusion injury after RCP.