Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A robust approach for finding conceptually related queries using feature selection and tripartite graph structure

The information explosion on the Internet has placed high demands on search engines. Despite the improvements in search engine technology, the precision of current search engines is still unsatisfactory. Moreover, the queries submitted by users are short, ambiguous and imprecise. This leads to a number of problems in dealing with similar queries. The problems include lack of common keywords, selection of different documents by the search engine and lack of common clicks etc. These problems render the traditional query clustering methods unsuitable for query recommendations. In this paper, we propose a new query recommendation system. For this, we have identified conceptually related queries by capturing users’ preferences using click-through graphs of web search logs and by extracting the best features, relevant to the queries, from the snippets. The proposed system has an online feature extraction phase and an offline phase in which feature filtering and query clustering are performed. Query clustering is carried out by a new tripartite agglomerative clustering algorithm, Query-Document-Concept Clustering, in which the documents are used innovatively to decouple queries and features/concepts in a tripartite graph structure. This results in clusters of similar queries, associated clusters of documents and clusters of features. We model the query recommendation problem in four different ways. Two models are non-personalized and personalized content-ignorant models. Other two are non-personalized and personalized content-aware models. Three similarity measures are introduced to estimate different kinds of similarities. Experimental results show that the proposed approach has better precision, recall and F-measure than the existing approaches.
Centro de Competência de Ciências Sociais Mestrado em Educação Pré-escolar e Ensino do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico Ano Letivo - 2012/2013

This report has been written to obtain the degree of Master of Preschool Education and Basic School Education. The same reflects the pedagogical internship developed in the context of Preschool Education, in the Escola Básica do 1.o Ciclo com Pré-Escolar da Lombada, and in the context of the First Cycle of Basic Education, in the Escola Básica do 1.o Ciclo com Pré-Escolar da Pena. On the process of development of pedagogical action, children were involved in learnings based in the pedagogic differentiation, in cooperative work, in constructive assumption and in significant strategies, giving focus to the game, to the Technologies of Information and Communication, to the didactic materials and the experimental teaching of the sciences. These were the principles that built educational purpose which privileged the group and each child's individuality. Due to the need to promote the quality teaching-learning, the investigation-action methodology was adopted to stimulate research, reflexive and the teacher's change attitude. It presented solutions to the evidenced problems. Finnally, the relevance of pedagogical praxis for the initial formation and the development of the professional identity were confirmed, being recognized that this results, therefore, of a long and continuous process.
Delay interval based controller design for Networked control system

This paper studies the problem of interval state feedback controller design for Networked control system(NCSs) with networked induced time-delays via Markov jump system(MJS) method. First, in order to reduce the negative influence of random delay to network real-time control and performance, networked induced delays are classified into theirs corresponding intervals. Then, model those intervals as markov chain and design corresponding controllers. In course of controller design, by using Jensen inequality, the numerical complexity is reduced greatly. Finally, a numerical example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of proposed method.
Gene Transfer in the Gastrointestinal Tract

ABSTRACT The maximum in vivo transfer rate of plasmid pAMβ1 in the gut was 0.03 transconjugant per recipient cell, and this rate could be simulated in vitro only by forced filter mating. Transfer was not detected in liquid culture matings. Our findings demonstrate that in vitro methods, such as forced filter mating and liquid mating, underestimate the in vivo rates of gene transfer.
An efficient method for gender classification using hybrid CBR

With the advancement in hardware for face recognition, the research focus has shifted towards gender classification. In the recent years, gender classification has become an integral part of many commercial applications. It has been noted to generate monumental revenue for corporate industry among other things. Nevertheless accuracy is a case in point. In this paper, we have experimentally analyzed the accuracy and reliability of state of the art techniques for recognition and gender identification of still facial images. CBR has been used as the underlying model. The idea is to use various distance measures within, individually. Finally we have proposed a hybrid approach taking into account the pros and cons of the known experimented techniques in terms of their efficiency and accuracy.
Sex-related differences in bronchial epithelial changes associated with tobacco smoking.

BACKGROUND Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death in North American women. Because smoking-related changes in the bronchial epithelium and in lung function have not been studied in detail in women, we used fluorescence bronchoscopy-directed biopsy to determine the prevalence of high-grade preinvasive lesions in former and current smokers of both sexes. METHODS Spirometry, white-light bronchoscopy, and fluorescence bronchoscopy were performed in 189 women and 212 men older than 40 years of age who had smoked 20 pack-years or more (pack-years = number of packs of cigarettes smoked per day x number of years of smoking). RESULTS Carcinoma in situ was found in 1.8% of the subjects, severe dysplasia was found in 6.5%, and moderate dysplasia was found in 14% (all preinvasive lesions). Compared with men, women had a lower prevalence of high-grade preinvasive lesions in the observed airways (14% versus 31%; odds ratio = 0.18; 95% confidence interval = 0.04-0.88), and women with preinvasive lesions had fewer such lesions (two-sided P = .048). The prevalence of preinvasive lesions did not change substantially for more than 10 years after cessation of smoking. Lung function was associated with the prevalence of preinvasive lesions, but the association was weaker in women than in men. If the presence of airflow obstruction was defined by an FEV1/FVC (forced expiratory volume in 1 second/forced vital capacity) value of 70% or less, only 56% of the men and 44% of the women with preinvasive lesions had abnormal lung function. CONCLUSION In developing strategies for chemoprevention or early detection of lung cancer in high-risk populations, it is important to consider the effect of sex and arbitrarily chosen lung function values on the prevalence of preinvasive airway lesions.
Cystinosin, the protein defective in cystinosis, is a H+‐driven lysosomal cystine transporter

Cystinosis is an inherited lysosomal storage disease characterized by defective transport of cystine out of lysosomes. However, the causative gene, CTNS, encodes a seven transmembrane domain lysosomal protein, cystinosin, unrelated to known transporters. To investigate the molecular function of cystinosin, the protein was redirected from lysosomes to the plasma membrane by deletion of its C‐terminal GYDQL sorting motif (cystinosin‐ΔGYDQL), thereby exposing the intralysosomal side of cystinosin to the extracellular medium. COS cells expressing cystinosin‐ΔGYDQL selectively take up L‐cystine from the extracellular medium at acidic pH. Disruption of the transmembrane pH gradient or incubation of the cells at neutral pH strongly inhibits the uptake. Cystinosin‐ΔGYDQL is directly involved in the observed cystine transport, since this activity is highly reduced when the GYDQL motif is restored and is abolished upon introduction of a point mutation inducing early‐onset cystinosis. We conclude that cystinosin represents a novel H+‐driven transporter that is responsible for cystine export from lysosomes, and propose that cystinosin homologues, such as mammalian SL15/Lec35 and Saccharomyces cerevisiae ERS1, may perform similar transport processes at other cellular membranes.
Rethinking the role of older workers: promoting older worker employment in Europe and Japan.

Concern about the sustainability of public pension and health care systems in the face of aging populations has policymakers in developed countries looking to the contributions that older workers might make to economic growth and the alleviation of rising support burdens. Governments in countries throughout Western Europe, where employment rates often fall sharply after age 55, have recently introduced a number of measures designed to increase employment rates and prolong working life. For many countries, an acknowledgment of older workers as a resource represents an effort to reverse well-entrenched policies promoting early retirement with generous pension benefits.
Analytical Modeling of Channel Potential and Threshold Voltage of Double-Gate Junctionless FETs With a Vertical Gaussian-Like Doping Profile

This paper proposes an analytical 2-D model for the channel potential and threshold voltage of double-gate junctionless FETs with a vertical Gaussian-like doping profile. The 2-D Poisson equation has been solved by using the evanescent-mode analysis to obtain the potential distribution function in the channel. The position of the conduction path also has been modeled to calculate the potential at different positions of the conduction path. The validity of the proposed 2-D potential and threshold voltage models is shown by comparing the results with the simulation data obtained by a 2-D TCAD ATLAS device simulator.
Characterization of high-voltage-sic-devices with 15 kV blocking voltage

This paper presents component characteristics of various 15 kV High-Voltage-SiC-devices for future medium voltage power electronics. Switching and conduction behaviour of an IGBT, a MOSFET, its intrinsic diode and a JBS-diode have been determined. Therefore a test bench was built up, which enabels switching measurements up to 20 kV and 300 A. For switching the devices at high and fastly changing electrical potentials, a highly isolating gate driver power supply was developed. The measurement results show very low losses compared to silicon devices but also very high voltage slew rates. The low losses and the much higher possible blocking voltages of SiC-devices will allow it to built medium voltage power electronic converters with switching frequencies above 10 kHz and with a direct connection to the medium voltage distribution grid.
Fast-converging neural equalizers for broadband QAM microcell systems

Many equalizers based on neural networks have been proposed across the literature. Unfortunately, the complexity and the slow convergence still have to be overcome for neural equalizers to be implemented in real time. This paper presents neural equalizers suitable for multi-level QAM constellations, and trained using complex extended Kalman and RLS algorithms, which makes them more robust against severely dispersive channels, like broadband outdoor or indoor mobile communication channels. The activation function is optimized to obtain good performance for large size signal constellations (i.e. up to 256-QAM). Extensive simulations show the benefits and limitations of these neural equalizers over traditional decision-feedback equalizers.
Climate variables explain neutral and adaptive variation within salmonid metapopulations: the importance of replication in landscape genetics

Understanding how environmental variation influences population genetic structure is important for conservation management because it can reveal how human stressors influence population connectivity, genetic diversity and persistence. We used riverscape genetics modelling to assess whether climatic and habitat variables were related to neutral and adaptive patterns of genetic differentiation (population‐specific and pairwise FST) within five metapopulations (79 populations, 4583 individuals) of steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in the Columbia River Basin, USA. Using 151 putatively neutral and 29 candidate adaptive SNP loci, we found that climate‐related variables (winter precipitation, summer maximum temperature, winter highest 5% flow events and summer mean flow) best explained neutral and adaptive patterns of genetic differentiation within metapopulations, suggesting that climatic variation likely influences both demography (neutral variation) and local adaptation (adaptive variation). However, we did not observe consistent relationships between climate variables and FST across all metapopulations, underscoring the need for replication when extrapolating results from one scale to another (e.g. basin‐wide to the metapopulation scale). Sensitivity analysis (leave‐one‐population‐out) revealed consistent relationships between climate variables and FST within three metapopulations; however, these patterns were not consistent in two metapopulations likely due to small sample sizes (N = 10). These results provide correlative evidence that climatic variation has shaped the genetic structure of steelhead populations and highlight the need for replication and sensitivity analyses in land and riverscape genetics.
O IDOSO HOSPITALIZADO E O SIGNIFICADO DO ENVELHECIMENTO

Trata-se de estudo de natureza qualitativa descritiva, cujo objetivo foi interpretar o significado do envelhecimento para o idoso internado em hospital de grande porte de Curitiba-PR. As informacoes foram coletadas por meio de um roteiro de entrevistas com questoes abertas e analisadas pela tecnica do Discurso do Sujeito Coletivo. Dos discursos emergiram as seguintes ideias centrais: a) o envelhecimento e um ciclo natural da vida; b) e triste, porque se perde o “pique” e a saude. Os idosos afirmam que e preciso saber envelhecer, compreender e enfrentar o envelhecimento, porque faz parte do ciclo natural da vida humana, no entanto, relacionam o envelhecimento as situacoes depreciativas da vida. Declaram perceber a diminuicao da capacidade fisica e mental do proprio corpo e o aparecimento das doencas os fez sentir a velhice com mais intensidade. Enquanto livres de patologias, nao se percebiam “velhos”. Conhecer o significado de envelhecimento destes idosos possibilitou melhor compreensao sobre como percebem esta fase da vida, e assim, direcionar o cuidado de enfermagem para as reais necessidades deles.
Clinical and radiological pictures of hepatocellular carcinoma with intracranial metastasis

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with extrahepatic spreading is not uncommon. In order to delineate the clinical and radiological pictures of HCC with intracranial metastasis, 33 documented cases were analysed. Eighteen had brain parenchymal metastasis without skull involvement; the other 15 cases disclosed skull metastasis with brain invasion. The underlying HCC are mainly of expanding (13/33, 39.4%) and multifocal (13/33, 39.4%) types. Eighteen cases (18/33, 54.5%) had mental changes not related to hypoglycaemia or hepatic encephalopathy. Eighteen cases (18/20, 90%) disclosed hyperdense mass lesions by non‐contrast computed tomography (CT) scans and 17 cases showed homogeneous enhancement (17/22, 77.3%) by post‐contrast CT images. In the non‐skull involved group, five cases (5/12, 41.7%) disclosed ring‐shape enhancement and 14 cases (14/16, 87.5%) had perifocal oedema, which were not seen in the skull involved group. Eight cases (8/33, 24.2%) presented as intracerebral haemorrhage. Twelve (12/33, 36.4%) died of brain herniation. Most (14/18, 77.8%) non‐skull involved cases had simultaneous lung metastasis without bony metastasis, while the skull involved group often (10/15, 66.7%) disclosed extracranial bony metastasis without lung metastasis. The difference in extracranial metastasis was statistically significant (P<0.05). The multivariate survival analysis disclosed that lower lactate dehydrogenase level (≤316 U/L, P= 0.029) and treatments (surgery or radiation, P= 0.001) were positively associated with longer survival.
Characteristics of N-Face InGaN Light-Emitting Diodes With p-Type InGaN/GaN Superlattice

The N-face blue InGaN/GaN light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with specific design of p-type InGaN/GaN superlattice (SL) are investigated numerically, and the Ga-face LED with the same structure is simultaneously simulated for comparison. The proposed N-face LED with p-InGaN/GaN SL exhibits significant improvement for the light output power and carrier injection efficiency when the applied voltage surpasses certain value compared with the Ga-face LED with p-InGaN/GaN SL. The enhanced performance for N-face LED is explained by the simulated energy band diagrams, distribution of electric field, carrier concentration, and radiative recombination rate in the quantum wells.
Comparison of quality of life between asthmatic and healthy school children

There are only a few studies which have assessed the impact of asthma on the quality of life (QoL) compared to healthy children. In this study we wanted to compare QoL between asthmatic and healthy children in a population based setting. We surveyed 2159 children aged 11–15 yr with a Child Health Questionnaire; a generic QoL measure for children. This method gives a profile of the QoL consisting of 11 scales giving a range from 0 to 100. Asthma was defined based on the ISAAC questionnaire on asthma and asthma symptoms. In all, 192 children (8.9%) reported to have asthma diagnosed by a doctor and 61 of them (2.8% of all children) had been symptomatic during the previous month. Among these symptomatic children significantly impaired QoL was observed in 8 of the11 scales compared to non‐asthmatics. The most affected scales were those defining the physical part of child's QoL: Mean General Health scores were 60 for asthmatic and 74 for non‐asthmatic children and mean Bodily Pain scores 71 and 86, respectively. Symptoms during longer periods were associated with an overall decreased QoL. In conclusion, a child's asthma impairs the QoL and especially the physical dimensions.
The short-time fractal scaling of heart rate variability to estimate the mental stress of driver

Traffic accidents happen everywhere, especially if the car driver cannot concentrate when he/she is under mental stress. The main purpose of this research is to utilize the method of the nonlinear dynamic system for analyzing the driver's mental stress. In physiology, the autonomic nervous system, including sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, controls the cardiovascular system. Human's heart rate and blood pressure violently fluctuate while under mental stress. Therefore, the short-time fractal scaling of the heart rate variability (HRV) is analyzed to estimate the driver's mental stress. In our virtual-reality lab, a subject sat on a 6-D motion platform designed to emulate a driver-vehicle environment. The electrocardiogram of the subject was recorded. It was found that the Lyapunov exponent could effectively represent the HRV. Therefore, we conclude that the nonlinear dynamic system can be applied to analyze the driver's HRV under mental stress.
Low‐Back Pain in 40− to 47‐Year-Old Men: Work History and Work Environment Factors

The relationship of low-back pain (LBP) to work history and work environment factors was studied in a randomized sample of 940 men from 40 to 47 years of age. The life-time incidence of LBP was 61% the prevalance 31%. In a univariate analysis ten of the variables studied were found to be correlated to the occurrence of LBP: less overtime work, diminished work satisfaction, decreased potential to influence the work situation, lesser demand on concentration, monotonous work, physically heavy work, a high degree of lifting, to a lesser degree sitting, and to a greater standing and walking work posture. When a covariance analysis was applied to these variables, only three had a direct association to LBP. They were less overtime work, monotonous work, and a high degree of lifting.
Arabidopsis type B cytokinin response regulators ARR1, ARR10, and ARR12 negatively regulate plant responses to drought

Significance Cytokinin regulates plant drought adaptation via a multistep component system consisting of histidine kinases, histidine phosphotransfer proteins, and type A and B response regulators (RRs). The functional dissection of individual members of cytokinin signaling and identification of their downstream targets in drought responses are of high importance to provide a complete picture of how cytokinin controls plant drought adaptation. Previous studies have identified functions of several histidine kinases, histidine phosphotransfer proteins, and type A RRs in drought responses of Arabidopsis; however, the roles of type B RRs remain elusive. This comprehensive functional analysis of three type B RRs provides further insight into how cytokinin signaling regulates plant drought adaptation through the proposed yin-yang strategy, enabling efficient application of cytokinin biology in stress tolerance-oriented plant biotechnology. In this study, we used a loss-of-function approach to elucidate the functions of three Arabidopsis type B response regulators (ARRs)—namely ARR1, ARR10, and ARR12—in regulating the Arabidopsis plant responses to drought. The arr1,10,12 triple mutant showed a significant increase in drought tolerance versus WT plants, as indicated by its higher relative water content and survival rate on drying soil. This enhanced drought tolerance of arr1,10,12 plants can be attributed to enhanced cell membrane integrity, increased anthocyanin biosynthesis, abscisic acid (ABA) hypersensitivity, and reduced stomatal aperture, but not to altered stomatal density. Further drought-tolerance tests of lower-order double and single mutants indicated that ARR1, ARR10, and ARR12 negatively and redundantly control plant responses to drought, with ARR1 appearing to bear the most critical function among the three proteins. In agreement with these findings, a comparative genome-wide analysis of the leaves of arr1,10,12 and WT plants under both normal and dehydration conditions suggested a cytokinin (CK) signaling-mediated network controlling plant adaptation to drought via many dehydration/drought- and/or ABA-responsive genes that can provide osmotic adjustment and protection to cellular and membrane structures. Expression of all three ARR genes was repressed by dehydration and ABA treatments, inferring that plants down-regulate these genes as an adaptive mechanism to survive drought. Collectively, our results demonstrate that repression of CK response, and thus CK signaling, is one of the strategies plants use to cope with water deficit, providing novel insight for the design of drought-tolerant plants by genetic engineering.
DNA demethylation and cancer metastasis: therapeutic implications

Background: DNA methylation is a covalent modification of DNA, which plays a critical role in regulation of gene expression. Methyl marks in critical regulatory regions of genes silence gene expression. Two contrasting changes in DNA methylation were documented in cancers: regional hypermethylation of tumor suppressor genes and global hypomethylation. Objective: Most of the attention in the field has been directed toward the phenomenon of hypermethylation and silencing of tumor suppressor genes. Hypermethylation indeed plays an extremely important role in cancer and cancer progression. Nevertheless, hypomethylation is emerging now as a mechanism that might lead to activation of prometastatic genes in cancer. Conclusion: Both methylation and demethylation could be pharmacologically modulated. It is argued here that inhibition of hypomethylation might provide a new therapeutic approach to antimetastatic therapy.