Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Are similes and metaphors interchangeable?: A case study in opinion discourse

Since Aristotle, scholars have regarded similes and metaphors as equivalent figures of speech sharing very similar comprehension, interpretation and usage patterns. By analysing the use of similes in real discourse, the aim of this study is to show that these two analogical figures reflect different cognitive processes, as well as different discursive functions, using as a framework cognitive models. To this end, this work presents, first, the main differentiating features of the two figures existing in the literature. And, second, it analyses 100 natural-occurring similes in English opinion discourse (news, interviews and commentary sections) in order to explain the conceptual-semantic and formal-syntactic factors which explain why similes and metaphors are not interchangeable in the discourse type under study; that is, why metaphors can usually be transformed into similes by adding like , whereas the opposite process seems to depend on specific conditions of structure, use and interpretation.
Polilactofate microspheres for Paclitaxel delivery to central nervous system malignancies.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to demonstrate that surgically implanted, controlled-release, biodegradable polilactofate microspheres (Paclimer) can be used safely to bypass the blood-brain barrier and deliver paclitaxel to malignant brain tumors. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN The rate of paclitaxel release from Paclimer microspheres submerged in PBS was measured in vitro by high-performance liquid chromatography. In vivo studies of Paclimer were performed as intracranial implants in Fischer 344 rats in the presence or absence of 9L gliosarcoma. Mantel-Cox statistics were used to assess the efficacy of Paclimer at extending survival of tumor-bearing animals compared with control implants. Paclimer implants tagged with [(3)H]paclitaxel were used to measure biodistribution of paclitaxel from the Paclimer implant. RESULTS Paclimer released paclitaxel at a constant rate for up to 3 months in vitro. In vivo, Paclimer implants placed intracranially in rats released active drug for up to 30 days after implantation and doubled the median survival of rats bearing established 9L gliosarcomas (median survival of paclitaxel-treated animals = 35 days; median survival of control-treated animal = 16 days; P < 0.0001). Active drug was distributed throughout the rat brain based on liquid scintillation counting and TLC. Rats implanted with Paclimer demonstrated no overt signs of neurotoxicity and exhibited local cytopathological changes consistent with exposure to an antimicrotubule agent. CONCLUSIONS Paclimer extends survival in a rodent model of glioma with minimal morbidity and optimal pharmacokinetics.
Heterogeneity of Gene Expression in Murine Squamous Cell Carcinoma Development—The Same Tumor by Different Means

Transformation is a complex process, involving many changes in the cell. In this work, we investigated the transcriptional changes that arose during the development of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in mice. Using microarray analysis, we looked at gene expression during different stages in cancer progression in 31 mice. By analyzing tumor progression in each mouse separately, we were able to define the global changes that were common to all 31 mice, as well as significant changes that occurred in fewer individuals. We found that different genes can contribute to the tumorigenic process in different mice, and that there are many ways to acquire the malignant properties defined by Hanahan and Weinberg as “hallmarks of cancer”. Eventually, however, all these changes lead to a very similar cancerous phenotype. The finding that gene expression is strongly heterogeneous in tumors that were induced by a standardized protocol in closely related mice underscores the need for molecular characterization of human tumors and personalized therapy.
Mechanism of Recurrent Ischemic Mitral Regurgitation After Annuloplasty: Continued LV Remodeling as a Moving Target

Background—Patients who undergo ring annuloplasty for ischemic mitral regurgitation (MR) often have persistent or recurrent MR. This may relate to persistent leaflet tethering from left ventricle (LV) dilatation that is not relieved by ring annuloplasty. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that recurrent MR in patients after ring annuloplasty relates to continued LV remodeling. Methods and Results—Serial echoes were reviewed in 30 patients (aged 72±11 years) who showed recurrent MR late (47±27 months) versus early (3.8±5.8 months) after ring annuloplasty for ischemic MR during coronary artery bypass grafting without interval infarction. Patients with intrinsic mitral valve disease were excluded. Echocardiographic measures of MR (vena contracta and jet area/left atrial area) and LV remodeling (LV dimensions, volumes, and sphericity) were assessed at each stage. The degree of MR increased from mild to moderate, on average, from early to late postoperative stages, without significant change in LV ejection fraction. Changes in MR paralleled increases in LV volumes and sphericity index at end-systole and end-diastole. The only independent predictor of late postoperative MR was LV sphericity index at end-systole. Conclusions—Recurrent MR late after ring annuloplasty is associated with continued LV remodeling, emphasizing its dynamic relation to the LV.
On the Spin Surface of RSSR Mechanisms With Parallel Rotary Axes

Due to Cayley’s theorem, given by Fichter and Hunt [1], the line s ∈ Σ (= moving system) spanned by the centers of the spherical joints of an RSSR linkage generates a surface of degree 8. In the special case of parallel rotary axes of the R-joints the corresponding ruled surface is only of degree 6. Hunt [2] proved by means of algebraic connection theory that the spin surface Φ generated by the rotation of a point X ∈ Σ \ {s} about s is of order 2× 8 = 16 (general case) and 2× 6 = 12 (special case), respectively. Moreover Hunt [3] suggested that the circularity of the spin surface is 8 which was later proved by Merlet [5]. We demonstrate that the circularity of the spin-surface for the special case is 4 instead of 6 as given in the literature (cf. Lazard and Merlet [4], Merlet [7]). As a consequence generalized TSSM manipulators (rotary axes must not be coplanar) with two parallel rotary joints can have up to 16 solutions (as the general case; cf. Merlet [6]) instead of 12. We show that this upper bound cannot be improved by constructing an example for which the maximal number of assembly modes is reached. Moreover we list all parallel manipulators of this type where more than 4× 2 = 8 points are located on the imaginary spherical circle.
Promoting medical self-care: evaluation of a family intervention implemented in the primary health care by pharmacies.

BACKGROUND Medical self-care is the range of behaviours undertaken by people to promote or restore health when dealing with a medical problem. OBJECTIVES The aim of the study was to evaluate medical self-care effects of a family intervention implemented in primary health care by pharmacies, in terms of non-professional and professional involvement. METHODS The intervention was implemented in one of two primary health care areas during a 4-month period and involved consecutive families acting as an intervention (IG, n = 94) or a control (CG, n = 93) group. Eight telephone interviews were conducted with each family. The families were asked about complaints of illness, how long they prevailed and how they were treated. RESULTS The results showed (P < 0.05-0.0001) that the IG had more medical problems (931 versus 621) compared with the CG, were less hospitalized (4 versus 10), stayed at home more to take care of sick children (84 versus 40), read more medical brochures (121 versus 31), tried more non-medical treatments (228 versus 116), and had fewer visits to the department of paediatrics but more visits to primary health care (69 and 98 versus 90 and 68). CONCLUSIONS Due to the non-randomization procedure, some caution with regard to generalization of the results must be taken, but they are in concordance with established knowledge of the usefulness of medical self-care. The results indicate that a brief intervention for families can change the use of health authorities. It therefore seems meaningful to implement the intervention in a more comprehensive way in the primary health care setting, while at the same time trying to implement it as a large-scale randomized experimental study, comprising aspects such as the individual's need for care, the use of the right organization level and the assessment of economic costs and savings.
Effective OLAP Mining of Evolving Data Marts

Organizations have been used decisions support systems to help them to understand and to predict interesting business opportunities over their huge databases also known as data marts. OLAP tools have been used widely for retrieving information in a summarized way (cube-like) by employing customized cubing methods. The majority of these cubing methods suffer from being just data-driven oriented and not discovery-driven ones. Data marts grow quite fast, so an incremental OLAP mining process is a required and desirable solution for mining evolving cubes. In order to present a solution that covers the previous mentioned issues, we propose a cube-based mining method which can compute an incremental cube, handling concept hierarchy modeling, as well as, incremental mining of multidimensional and multilevel association rules. The evaluation study using real and synthetic datasets demonstrates that our approach is an effective OLAP mining method of evolving data marts.
Guest Editorial : Special Issue on Software for Soft Computing

The term Soft Computing refers to a family of techniques (Fuzzy Logic, Neuro-computing, Probabilistic Reasoning, Evolutionary Computation, etc.) endowed with the ability to work in a cooperative way, taking profit from the main advantages of each other, thus tackling with complex real-world problems really hard to solve otherwise [6]. In the last years, many software tools have been developed for Soft Computing. This special issue is focused on software for Soft Computing with special attention to fuzzy systems software [7] and open source software [10]. Open tools have already reached a high level of development being ready to play an important role for industry and academia research. This special issue is made up of 5 papers devoted to recent and outstanding developments in the field of software for Soft Computing. The issue originated from presentations selected in the special session “Software for Soft Computing” at “2012 IEEE International Conference on Fuzzy Systems (Fuzz-IEEE 2012)” held in Brisbane (Australia), June 10-15th, 2012, together with invited papers from well recognized researchers in the topic. Six papers were submitted to the special issue, every paper was revised by at least two referees and finally five of them were accepted according to the referees’ evaluations. The first paper, “NIP An Imperfection Processor to Data Mining Datasets” is devoted to techniques that can work with low quality data [8, 9]. Cadenas et al. present a software tool developed in Java, called NIP, which allows improving the creation and management of low quality datasets. This tool lets us transform a dataset by adding low quality data, constructing a fuzzy partition of the attributes, etc. The authors think this tool can be used as a common framework to create low quality datasets and so, for testing and comparison of data mining techniques and algorithms. The second paper, “Soft Computing-Based Decision Support Tools for Spatial Data” is devoted to the integration of georeferenced and temporal data into decision making support systems. Guillaume et al. present an open source framework designed for modeling and decision making from expert knowledge and georeferenced data. This framework is based on specialized open source toolboxes and software, and its design is inspired by the fuzzy software capabilities developed in FisPro [5] for ordinary non-georeferenced data. The third paper, “Fuzzy Logic in KNIME Modules for Approximate Reasoning” is focus on the wellknown software tool KNIME [3]. Berthold et al. describe the integration of fuzzy concepts and classic fuzzy learning algorithms in KNIME. The fourth paper, “Quest for Interpretability-Accuracy Trade-off Supported by Fingrams into the Fuzzy Modeling Tool GUAJE” is devoted to the use of fuzzy inference-grams (fingrams) for understanding the structure and behavior of fuzzy systems in terms of rule co-firing [2]. Pancho et al. present a new module
Making the T-type even tinier - CRF mediated inhibition of low voltage activated calcium channel activity

T-type calcium channels are important for a variety of physiological processes such as brain and heart function. Proper regulation of these channels by second messengers is fundamental, however, our knowledge of the molecular pathways that regulate T-type calcium channels is limited in comparison with other voltage-dependent calcium channels. In this issue of Molecular Pharmacology, Tao and colleagues demonstrate that Cav3.2 is regulated by activation of the corticotroprin-releasing factor receptor 1 in a Gβγ-dependent manner. This article has not been copyedited and formatted. The final version may differ from this version. Molecular Pharmacology Fast Forward. Published on March 7, 2008 as DOI: 10.1124/mol.108. 046961 at A PE T Jornals on M ay 1, 2017 m oharm . aspeurnals.org D ow nladed from
Online memories of 1980s–2000s lifestyle and consumption politics in Greece during the current economic crisis (2009–2015)

Lifestyle media very successfully promoted (conspicuous) consumption as a major referent in the social and cultural convergence between Greece and Western Europe between the mid-1980s and the late 2000s. Perceiving the Internet as a crucial component of the contemporary public sphere where testimonial cultures abound, this article explores how during the current economic crisis particular communities of web users dealt with the breakdown of previous consumer certainties, placing emphasis on the downfall of the lifestyle media industry and on how and why publisher Petros Kostopoulos is discussed as a metonym of this media field. Using comments published below articles about the collapse of lifestyle in popular media and posts in a popular men’s forum, the article examines the uses of contemporary history in the construction of arguments about the origins of the current crisis and explores how the dismantlement of recent consumer utopias echoed questions of Europeanization and often carried traumatic loads.
An overview of using directional antennas in wireless networks

Compared with omni‐directional antennas, directional antennas have many merits, such as lower interference, better spatial reuse, longer transmission range, and improved network capacity. Directional antennas enable numerous emerging outdoor and indoor applications, which have been addressed in many recent studies. Despite the advances in wireless networks with directional antennas (DAWNs), there are many research challenges in all layers of DAWNs. This paper presents a detailed study on recent advances and open research issues on DAWNs. Firstly, we briefly introduce the classification of directional antennas, antenna radiation patterns, antenna modes, and the challenges in the physical layer of DAWNs. We then present research issues on the medium access control (MAC) layer, followed by the current solutions as well as open research problems on the MAC layer of DAWNs. In addition, we also discuss the research issues on the routing layer and the transport layer. Moreover, other research challenges on the performance evaluation of DAWNs and a brief introduction of indoor DAWNs are given in this paper as well. In conclusion, we summarize the current research issues on DAWNs as well as prospects in the future. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Integrating Trust in technology and Computer Self- Efficacy within the Post-Adoption Context: An Empirical Examination

This work in progress examines the roles that Trust in Technology (TRIT) and Computer Self-efficacy (CSE) play in predicting post-adoptive usage behavior. Under the umbrella of social cognitive theory, it uses attribution theory and the trust literature to develop an integrative model of trust and self-efficacy. Specifically, we posit that TRIT impacts users’ CSE and that these beliefs lead to post-adoptive information technology (IT) usage. To examine our model, we propose a study that brings CSE, TRIT, Deep System Usage, and Trying to Innovate with IT into a single articulated model. Using data from 372 students, we use PLS to examine the hypothesized relationships. We conclude with a discussion of findings.
A novel emotion recognition approach based on ensemble learning and rough set theory

Emotion recognition is very important for applications of human-computer intelligent interaction. It is always performed on facial or audio information with such method as ANN, fuzzy set, SVM, HMM, etc. Ensemble learning is a hot topic in machine learning and ensemble method is proved an effective pattern recognition method. In this paper, a novel ensemble learning method which is based on selective ensemble feature selection and rough set theory is proposed, and it meets the tradeoff between the accuracy and diversity of base classifiers. Moreover, the proposed method is taken as an emotion recognition method and proved to be effective according to the simulation experiments.
Effizienz und Effektivität eines 3D-Telekonferenz-Systems

Conducting a teleconference is not the same as holding a real meeting. For instance, sometimes it may be difficult to figure out who is talking. Therefore a teleconferencing system is being developed at the Institute for Data Processing at TUM, that utilizes spatial sound. Hence the question is whether such a “3D-system“ is advantageous compared to a conventional “Mono-system“. To draw such a comparison one can ask users for their preference (Quality of Experience) – or use other measures. One might ask whether the cognitive load of interlocutors is lower and the communication consequently is more efficient and effective. This thesis makes two contributions: First, the meaning of cognitive load is elucidated and means of measurement are presented. Second, a listening test is conducted to show possible advantages. In this test participants listen to conference recordings and subsequently answer questions about the topic and about their percieved listening effort. Results show significant improvements over the mono-system. Participants have to concentrate less and are able to identify the current speaker more easily. Afterwards they also have a better picture of who said what.
Negative BOLD in the visual cortex: Evidence against blood stealing

The positive BOLD (blood oxygen level‐dependent) response elicited in human visual cortex by a localized visual stimulus is accompanied by a reduction in the BOLD response in regions of the visual cortex that represent unstimulated locations in the visual field. We have suggested previously that this negative BOLD reflects attention‐related suppression of neural activity, but it might also be explained in terms of “blood stealing,” i.e., hemodynamic changes that have no neural correlate. We distinguish two possible hemodynamic effects of this type: (1) blood flow reduction caused by locally reduced pressure in vessels that share their blood supply with nearby dilated vessels; and (2) blood flow reduction caused by active constriction of vessels under neural control. The first is ruled out as an explanation of negative BOLD by showing that a visual stimulus that stimulates primary visual cortex in one hemisphere can cause extensive suppression in the other hemisphere i.e., it is not a local phenomenon. Negative BOLD most likely reflects suppression of neural activity, but could also reflect an active blood flow control system. Hum. Brain Mapping 21:213–220, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Automated Detection of Reference Structures in Law

Combining legal content stores of different providers is usually time, effort and money intensive due to the usually 'hard-wired' links between different parts of the constituting sources within those stores. In practice users of legal content are confronted with a vendor lock-in situation and have to find work-arounds when they want to combine their own content with the content provided by others. In the BSN project we developed a parser that enables the creation of a referential structure on top of a legal content store. We empirically tested the parsers' effectiveness and found an over 95% accuracy even for complex references.
Opbrengstgericht werken in het primair onderwijs: een effectieve weg naar onderwijsverbetering?

Does data-driven teaching lead to better learning outcomes? Better learning outcomes for language and math education is a central aim of the agenda of the Education Department in the Netherlands. The implementation of data-driven teaching (in Dutch: opbrengstgericht werken) has been chosen as the vehicle to realize this goal. In this article we evaluate this policy from two different points of view: a. is there consensus on the meaning of data-driven teaching and the constituent elements and b. is there sound empirical evidence that data-driven teaching leads to raised learning outcomes? The answers to both questions are negative: data-driven teaching has been given different interpretations by different parties concerned, and the effectiveness of datadriven teaching as a means to raise national standards does not withstand critical scrutiny. It is recommended to set up small-scale experiments to learn more about the effectiveness of specific operationalizations of data-driven
Differential Expression of mRNA Encoding Cytokines and Chemokines in the Reproductive Tract after Infection of Mice with Chlamydia trachomatis

Infection with Chlamydia trachomatis targets epithelial cells within the genital tract which respond by secreting chemokines and cytokines. Persistent inflammation can lead to fibrosis, tubal infertility and/or ectopic pregnancy; many infections are asymptomatic. Most studies have investigated the inflammatory response in the initial stages of infection, less is known about the later stages of infection, especially with a low, potentially asymptomatic, bacterial load. Our objective was to determine the inflammatory mediators involved in clearance of low-grade infection and the potential involvement in chronic inflammation. Six to eight week old C3H/HeJ mice were pretreated with 2.5 mg medroxyprogesterone acetate on day -10 and -3 before infection. Mice (n=3 for 28 d, n=3 for 35 d) were infected with 5 × 102 inclusion-forming units of C. trachomatis, serovar D; vaginal cultures were obtained weekly to monitor infection. Control mice (n=3 for 28 d, n=3 for 35 d) were sham infected. Mice were killed on day 28 (experiment 1) and day 35 (experiment 2) post-infection and vaginal tissue, uterine horns and oviducts collected for analysis of mRNAs encoding inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. Total RNA was isolated and a superarray analysis performed using mouse Cytokines and Chemokines PCR arrays (Qiagen, Valencia, CA). Statistical differences in gene expression were determined using a paired Students t-test. At 28 days after infection, the expression of mRNA encoding 6, 35 and 3 inflammatory genes differed from controls in vaginal, uterine and oviductal tissues, respectively (P<0.05). At 35 days after infection, the expression of mRNA encoding 16, 38 and 14 inflammatory genes differed from controls in vaginal, uterine and oviductal tissues, respectively (P<0.05). Understanding the mechanisms involved in the inflammatory response at later stages of infection should aid in the development of treatment options that minimize the development of asymptomatic, chronic inflammation-induced infertility.