Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Efficient Non-dominated Sorting Method for Evolutionary Algorithms

We present a new non-dominated sorting algorithm to generate the non-dominated fronts in multi-objective optimization with evolutionary algorithms, particularly the NSGA-II. The non-dominated sorting algorithm used by NSGA-II has a time complexity of O(MN2) in generating non-dominated fronts in one generation (iteration) for a population size N and M objective functions. Since generating non-dominated fronts takes the majority of total computational time (excluding the cost of fitness evaluations) of NSGA-II, making this algorithm faster will significantly improve the overall efficiency of NSGA-II and other genetic algorithms using non-dominated sorting. The new non-dominated sorting algorithm proposed in this study reduces the number of redundant comparisons existing in the algorithm of NSGA-II by recording the dominance information among solutions from their first comparisons. By utilizing a new data structure called the dominance tree and the divide-and-conquer mechanism, the new algorithm is faster than NSGA-II for different numbers of objective functions. Although the number of solution comparisons by the proposed algorithm is close to that of NSGA-II when the number of objectives becomes large, the total computational time shows that the proposed algorithm still has better efficiency because of the adoption of the dominance tree structure and the divide-and-conquer mechanism.
Complications of pharyngeal myotomy for alaryngeal voice rehabilitation

Over the eight-year period to May 1991,256 patients were referred for post-laryngectomy voice rehabilitation. Videofluoroscopy identified 81 (32 per cent) who required pharyngeal myotomy for a spastic pharyngooesophageal segment. Forty-two of these (37 male, 5 female and average age 63 years) had their surgery performed at this unit with a complication rate of 17 per cent and an average post-operative stay of 10 days (range 4–41 days). The place of the operation for pharyngeal myotomy in post-laryngectomy voice rehabilitation is discussed.
Heuristics for Video Games Evaluation: How Players Rate Their Relevance for Different Game Genres According to Their Experience

This paper reports a study evaluating the relative relevance of evaluation heuristics for different game genres and players. 120 players (amateur or e-Sport players) were invited to assess the relevance of 47 heuristics for different game genre (Real Time Strategy, Massively Multi-player Online Role-Playing or First-Person Perspective Shooting). Results show that the relevance of heuristics varies according to game genres and player types. These results have implication for both the design and evaluation processes of games. Implications of these results and future research directions are discussed.
Array expansion

A common problem in restructuring programs for vector or parallel execution is the suppression of false dependencies which originate in the reuse of the same memory cell for unrelated values. The method is simple and well understood in the case of scalars. This paper gives the general solution for the case of arrays. The expansion is done in two steps: first, modify all definitions of the offending array in order to obtain the single assignment property. Then, reconstruct the original data flow by adapting all uses of the array. This is done with the help of a new algorithm for solving parametric integer programs. The technique is quite general and may be used for other purposes, including program checking, collecting array predicates, etc.
Leader-following Consensus Problems with a Time-varying Leader under Measurement Noises

In this paper, we consider a leader-following consensus problem for networks of continuous-time integrator agents with a time-varying leader under measurement noises. We propose a neighbor-based state-estimation protocol for every agent to track the leader, and time-varying consensus gains are introduced to attenuate the noises. By combining the tools of stochastic analysis and algebraic graph theory, we study mean square convergence of this multi-agent system under directed fixed as well as switching interconnection topologies. Sufficient conditions are given for mean square consensus in both cases. Finally, a numerical example is given to illustrate our theoretical results.
Rose geranium essential oil as a source of new and safe anti-inflammatory drugs

Background Since the available anti-inflammatory drugs exert an extensive variety of side effects, the search for new anti-inflammatory agents has been a priority of pharmaceutical industries. Aims The aim of the present study was to assess the anti-inflammatory activities of the essential oil of rose geranium (RGEO). Methods The chemical composition of the RGEO was investigated by gas chromatography. The major components were citronellol (29.13%), geraniol (12.62%), and citronellyl formate (8.06%). In the carrageenan-induced paw edema, five different groups were established and RGEO was administered orally in three different doses. Results RGEO (100 mg/kg) was able to significantly reduce the paw edema with a comparable effect to that observed with diclofenac, the positive control. In addition, RGEO showed a potent anti-inflammatory activity by topical treatment in the method of croton oil-induced ear edema. When the dose was 5 or 10 µl of RGEO per ear, the inflammation was reduced by 73 and 88%, respectively. This is the first report to demonstrate a significant anti-inflammatory activity of Algerian RGEO. In addition, histological analysis confirmed that RGEO inhibited the inflammatory responses in the skin. Conclusion Our results indicate that RGEO may have significant potential for the development of novel anti-inflammatory drugs with improved safety profile.
A supervised approach to hierarchical metrical cycle tracking from audio music recordings

A supervised approach to metrical cycle tracking from audio is presented, with a main focus on tracking the tala, the hierarchical cyclic metrical structure in Carnatic music. Given the tala of a piece, we aim to estimate the aksara (lowest metrical pulse), the aksara period, and the sama (first pulse of the tala cycle). Starting with percussion enhanced audio, we estimate the aksara pulse period from a tempogram computed using an onset detection function. A novelty function is computed using a self similarity matrix constructed using frame level audio features. These are then used to estimate possible aksara and sama candidates, followed by a candidate selection based on periodicity constraints, which leads to the final estimates. The algorithm is tested on an annotated collection of 176 pieces spanning four different talas. Though applied to Carnatic music, the framework presented is general and can be extended to other music cultures with cyclical metrical structures.
Association of two tumour necrosis factor gene polymorphisms with the incidence of severe intraventricular haemorrhage in preterm infants

3-7 The extent of TNFa expression has been shown to be associated with the overall allele frequency and genotype distribution of the NcoI restriction fragment length polymorphism in the first intron of the TNFb locus. 89 In an in vitro endotoxin stimulation model, the extent of TNF expression has been correlated to the genotype of a single base polymorphism in the 2308 promoter region of the TNFa gene. 10 In contrast to this finding, the clinical importance of polymorphisms in the TNFa gene remains controversial. Survival in severe sepsis 11 has not been associated with genotype distribution of single base mutation in the 2308 promoter region of the TNFa gene. Focussing on neonatal morbidity, neither the development of chronic lung disease of prematurity 12 nor necrotising enterocolitis 13 were correlated to genotype distribution of the TNFa gene, whereas the development of intraventricular haemorrhage (IVH) was correlated to the 2308 promoter region polymorphism of the TNFa gene. 12 Genetic determina-
Introduction de la sémantique d'un document sous le modèle de langage

RESUME. La plupart des systemes de recherche d’information classiques se basent sur une indexation par termes simples. Cependant, ces derniers delivrent beaucoup de resultats en reponse aux requetes des utilisateurs. Ceci est du en partie au fait que le contenu semantique d'un document (ou d'une requete) ne peut pas etre capture precisement par un simple ensemble de mots cles independants. Deux directions sont explorees pour incorporer la semantique dans les modeles de langage. La premiere se base sur l’exploitation des liens entre termes tout en utilisant une meme unite d’indexation. La seconde se base sur l’utilisation d’unites d’indexation plus complexes en plus de l’utilisation de termes simples. Dans ce papier est detaillee l’approche que nous proposons pour incorporer la dimension semantique de document, et qui rentre dans le cadre de la seconde direction.
Being There : Concepts , effects and measurement of user presence in synthetic environments

Presence, the experience of ‘being there’ in a mediated environment, has become closely associated with VR and other advanced media. Different types of presence are discussed, including physical presence, social presence, and co-presence. Fidelity-based approaches to presence research emphasize the fact that as media become increasingly interactive, perceptually realistic, and immersive, the experience of presence becomes more convincing. In addition, the ecological-cultural approach is described, pointing out the importance of the possibility of action in mediated environments, as well as the role that a common cultural framework plays in engendering a sense of presence. In particular for multi-user or collaborative virtual environments (CVEs), processes of negotiation and community creation need to be supported by the CVE design to enable communication and the creation of a social context within the CVE.
Vocabulary normalization improves IR-based concept location

Tool support is crucial to modern software development, evolution, and maintenance. Early tools reused the static analysis performed by the compiler. These were followed by dynamic analysis tools and more recently tools that exploit natural language. This later class has the advantage that it can incorporate not only the code, but artifacts from all phases of software construction and its subsequent evolution. Unfortunately, the natural language found in source code often uses a vocabulary different from that used in other software artifacts and thus increases the vocabulary mismatch problem. This problem exists because many natural-language tools imported from Information Retrieval (IR) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) implicitly assume the use of a single natural language vocabulary. Vocabulary normalization, which goes well beyond simple identifier splitting, brings the vocabulary of the source into line with other artifacts. Consequently, it is expected to improve the performance of existing and future IR and NLP based tools. As a case study, an experiment with an LSI-based feature locator is replicated. Normalization universally improves performance. For the tersest queries, this improvement is over 180% (p <; 0.0001).
Dietary Conjugated Linoleic Acid and Hepatic Steatosis: Species-Specific Effects on Liver and Adipose Lipid Metabolism and Gene Expression

Objective. To summarize the recent studies on effect of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) on hepatic steatosis and hepatic and adipose lipid metabolism highlighting the potential regulatory mechanisms. Methods. Sixty-four published experiments were summarized in which trans-10, cis-12 CLA was fed either alone or in combination with other CLA isomers to mice, rats, hamsters, and humans were compared. Summary and Conclusions. Dietary trans-10, cis-12 CLA induces a severe hepatic steatosis in mice with a more muted response in other species. Regardless of species, when hepatic steatosis was present, a concurrent decrease in body adiposity was observed, suggesting that hepatic lipid accumulation is a result of uptake of mobilized fatty acids (FA) from adipose tissue and the liver's inability to sufficiently increase FA oxidation and export of synthesized triglycerides. The potential role of liver FA composition, insulin secretion and sensitivity, adipokine, and inflammatory responses are discussed as potential mechanisms behind CLA-induced hepatic steatosis.
Xylene Induced Apoptosis of Renal Tubular Cells by Suppressing Methylation of Bax

Xylene is used as a solvent with wide areas of application. The mechanism of xylene induced injuries has not been well documented. It has not been reported whether xylene could result in cell apoptosis by DNA modification. Our results showed that xylene could significantly suppress the methylation of Bax promoter in HK-2 cells. Xylene induced the increase of Bax mRNA in a dose dependent manner. Bax protein expression was significantly increased while the level of Bcl-2 was not affected. Xylene could significantly induce the apoptosis of HK-2 cells. Our results suggested that xylene could cause apoptosis of HK-2 cells by suppressing DNA methylation of Bax promoter.
Artificial antigen-presenting cells expressing AFP158-166 peptide and interleukin-15 activate AFP-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes

Professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs) are potent generators of tumor antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) for adoptive immunotherapy; however, generation of APCs is cumbersome, expensive, and subject to the tumor microenvironment. Artificial APCs (aAPCs) have been developed as a cost-effective alternative to APCs. We developed a cellular aAPC that efficiently generated alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)-specific CTLs. We genetically modified the human B cell lymphoma cell line BJAB with a lentiviral vector to establish an aAPC called BA15. The expression of AFP158-166-HLA-A*02:01 complex, CD80, CD86, and interleukin (IL)-15 in BA15 cells was assessed. The efficiency of BA15 at generating AFP-specific CTLs and the specific cytotoxicity of CTLs against AFP+ cells were also determined. BA15 cells expressed high levels of AFP158-166 peptide, HLA-A2, CD80, CD86, and IL-15. BA15 cells also exhibited higher efficiency in generating AFP-specific CTLs than did dendritic cells. These CTLs had greater cytotoxicity against AFP+ hepatocellular carcinoma cells than did CTLs obtained from dendritic cells in vitro and in vivo. Our novel aAPC system could provide a robust platform for the generation of functional AFP-specific CTLs for adoptive immunotherapy of hepatocellular carcinoma.
The Relation of Grammar to Cognition–a Synopsis

A sentence (or other portion of discourse) is taken to evoke in the listener a meaning complex, here called a "cognitive representation". The lexical elements of the sentence, to simplify, by and large specify the content of the cognitive representation, while the grammatical elements specify its structure. Thus, looking systematically at the actual notions specified by grammatical elements can give us a handle for ascertaining the very makeup of (linguistic-) cognitive structuring. We accordingly examine a number of grammatically specified notions, observe the categories and systems in which they pattern, and speculate on broader cognitive connections.Some provisional findings have already emerged. Grammatical specifications for structure are preponderantly relativistic or topological, and exclude the fixed or metrically Euclidean. The categories in which grammatical notions pattern include:plexity perspectival modestate of boundedness level of synthesisstate of dividedness level of exemplaritydegree of extensionality axial characteristicspattern of distribution scene-breakup"Grammatical specification of structuring appears to be the same, in certain abstract characteristics, as the structuring of visual perception.
Promoting computational thinking and creativeness in primary school children

This paper presents the preliminary results of the project "Computational Thinking for children education", aimed at promoting computational thinking, creativity and learning amongst primary school children. The didactic activities of the project focus on computer programming and, in particular, the development of video games. The paper introduces also a teaching model based on narrative learning where the screenplay of the game has a key role. A preliminary analysis of the project results highlights how children's perception of computer programming is influenced by practical coding sessions; furthermore, these results suggest that some individual features (e.g. gender; math and language competencies), and the socio-economics familiar context can significantly impact on development of computational thinking skills.
Monitoring Clathrin-Mediated Endocytosis during Synaptic Activity

To visualize clathrin redistribution during endocytosis in hippocampal boutons, we used a fusion protein of clathrin light chain with enhanced green fluorescent protein. Both high potassium and electric field stimulation lead after a stimulus-dependent delay to a transient increase of fluorescence in synapses, but a slight and transient decrease in adjacent axonal segments. We conclude that the rise and fall of the signal in boutons, with decay kinetics remarkably similar to previous estimates of the endocytic time course, reflects coat assembly and disassembly. Thus, we could selectively measure clathrin-mediated endocytosis and separate its kinetics from other modes of membrane retrieval in CNS synapses. A long-lasting delay preceding the fluorescent transients shows that endocytosis during the first few seconds of continuing stimulation cannot be mediated by newly formed clathrin-coated pits. Therefore, a fast mode of endocytosis is either clathrin-independent or involves preassembled (easily retrievable) clathrin lattices at sites of endocytosis.
Topological defect dynamics in operando battery nanoparticles

Watching defects during battery cycling Dislocations affect the mechanical properties of a material. Ulvestad et al. studied the influence of dislocations on a nanoparticle undergoing charge and discharge cycles in a lithium ion battery. The defects influenced the way the material expanded and contracted during cycling. In the future, it may be possible to tune the properties of a material through controlled defect engineering. Science, this issue p. 1344 Coherent x-rays image structural transformations in battery nanoparticles during electrochemical operation. Topological defects can markedly alter nanomaterial properties. This presents opportunities for “defect engineering,” where desired functionalities are generated through defect manipulation. However, imaging defects in working devices with nanoscale resolution remains elusive. We report three-dimensional imaging of dislocation dynamics in individual battery cathode nanoparticles under operando conditions using Bragg coherent diffractive imaging. Dislocations are static at room temperature and mobile during charge transport. During the structural phase transformation, the lithium-rich phase nucleates near the dislocation and spreads inhomogeneously. The dislocation field is a local probe of elastic properties, and we find that a region of the material exhibits a negative Poisson’s ratio at high voltage. Operando dislocation imaging thus opens a powerful avenue for facilitating improvement and rational design of nanostructured materials.
Hypoperfusion of the Adventitial Vasa Vasorum Develops an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm

The aortic wall is perfused by the adventitial vasa vasorum (VV). Tissue hypoxia has previously been observed as a manifestation of enlarged abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs). We sought to determine whether hypoperfusion of the adventitial VV could develop AAAs. We created a novel animal model of adventitial VV hypoperfusion with a combination of a polyurethane catheter insertion and a suture ligation of the infrarenal abdominal aorta in rats. VV hypoperfusion caused tissue hypoxia and developed infrarenal AAA, which had similar morphological and pathological characteristics to human AAA. In human AAA tissue, the adventitial VV were stenotic in both small AAAs (30–49 mm in diameter) and in large AAAs (> 50 mm in diameter), with the sac tissue in these AAAs being ischemic and hypoxic. These results indicate that hypoperfusion of adventitial VV has critical effects on the development of infrarenal AAA.
Picture naming and verbal fluency in children with cochlear implants.

PURPOSE In the present study, the authors examined lexical naming in children with cochlear implants (CIs). The goal was to determine whether children with CIs have deficits in lexical access and organization as revealed through reaction time in picture-naming and verbal fluency (VF) experiments. METHOD Children with CIs (n = 20, ages 7-10) were compared with 20 children with normal hearing (NH) matched for age and nonverbal IQ. Lexical abilities were examined using two naming tasks: a timed picture-naming task and a phonological and semantic VF naming task. Picture naming taps into lexical access capabilities and the VF task elucidates lexical organization. RESULTS No group differences were found between children with CIs and children with NH on the timed picture-naming task. Children with CIs generated significantly fewer words than the children with NH on the VF tasks. Larger group differences were found for the phonological VF task compared with the semantic VF task. CONCLUSIONS Limited early linguistic and auditory experiences may affect lexical representations and organization (lexical-semantic connections) in school-age children with hearing loss who use CIs. Further analyses and studies should continue to examine these underlying linguistic deficits. The present results suggest a need to emphasize not only increasing the size of children's vocabularies during therapy, but also expanding and increasing the semantic and phonological richness of their lexical representations.
Recommender systems - : beyond matrix completion

Recommender systems are web-based applications that aim at helping customers in the decision making and product selection process (Resnick & Varian, 1997). The most prominent example is the online bookstore amazon.com, where collaborative filtering techniques are used to exploit similarities in the user profile which is based on the navigation and buying history: The main idea is to identify users who presumably have similar preferences and recommend those items which were bought by other users with a similar interest profile. Another technical approach is content-based filtering which builds on the hypothesis that the preferred items of a single user can be extrapolated from her preferences in the past, thus recommending "more of the same". The third principle approach is to use deep domain knowledge and to base the recommendations on a thorough understanding of the user’s current needs, comparable to real-life sales situation. Knowledge-based recommender systems elicit user preferences explicitly, i.e. they provide dynamic personalized and potentially persuasive sales dialogues (Burke, 2000), (Jannach, 2004). The recommendations are the result of a reasoning process on the domain knowledge which also forms the basis for explaining to the user why an item is proposed. Furthermore, hybrid approaches (Burke, 2002) are used to overcome some of the shortcomings such as cold start problems for new users and new products when using collaborative filtering, lack of serendipity for content based filtering applications or a high knowledge acquisition effort when employing an explicit model of the domain (Adomavicius & Tuzhilin, 2005).