Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adaptive behaviors of intelligent agents based on neural semantic knowledge

This paper presents a new approach that combines the neural network technology with the semantic network-based knowledge representation in realizing the intelligent, emotional, adaptive and believable behaviors of consulting personal agents. This knowledge representation framework is deployed in the CyMON agent platform to develop intelligent assistant, consultant and marketing agents for a variety of application areas. In this context, semantic network-based knowledge representation is regarded as a natural way to simulate the human conception of world and entities, resulting in intuitive and explicit representation of concepts and relations that can be subject of dynamic agent learning. Neural network technology is used to simulate a belief network which reflects the dynamic adaptive agent behaviors. The network-oriented representation of the knowledge enables the relatively straightforward integration of semantic and neural network technologies.
Supine and exercise systolic blood pressure predict cardiovascular death in middle-aged men

Aim and methods The outcome of 1999 apparently healthy men, aged 40–59 years, initially investigated in the period 1972–1975, has previously been ascertained at 7 and 16 year follow-ups. This has now been repeated after 21 years, to determine whether seated systolic blood pressure (BP) during a bicycle ergometer exercise test adds prognostic information on cardiovascular (CV) mortality beyond that of systolic BP measured after 5 min of supine rest. Results After 21 years, 41 979 years of observation, 470 patients had died, 255 from CV causes. Supine systolic BP [2 SD increase: relative risk (RR) 1.6, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.3–2.0, P < 0.0001], 6 min exercise systolic BP (2 SD increase: RR 1.6, 95% CI 1.3–2.0, P < 0.0001) on the starting workload of 600 kpm/min (≈ 100 W , 5880 J/min) and maximal systolic BP (2 SD increase: RR 1.5, 95% CI 1.2–1.9, P = 0.0005) during work were all related to CV mortality when adjusting for a large number of variables measured in the present study including age, exercise capacity, heart rates, smoking habits, glucose tolerance and serum cholesterol. When including other systolic BPs in the continuous multivariate analysis, supine systolic BP (2 SD increase: RR 1.4, 95% CI 1.04–1.9, P = 0.029) and 6 min systolic BP at 600 kpm/min (2 SD increase: RR 1.4, 95% CI 1.06–1.9, P = 0.017) were independent predictors of CV death but not maximal systolic BP during exercise (2 SD increase: RR 1.0, 95% CI 0.7–1.2, P = 0.95). Conclusion These results are different from the mortality data at 16 years, when the independent predictive effect of supine systolic BP was cancelled out by 6 min exercise systolic BP at 600 kpm/min. Twenty-one years of follow-up of 1999 apparently healthy men disclose independently predictive information on CV death, of both supine systolic BP and 6 min exercise systolic BP taken at an early moderate workload. The influence of maximal exercise systolic BP on CV death is however cancelled out by the two other systolic BPs.
Defining the Role of the Escherichia coli Chaperone SecB Using Comparative Proteomics*

To improve understanding and identify novel substrates of the cytoplasmic chaperone SecB in Escherichia coli, we analyzed a secB null mutant using comparative proteomics. The secB null mutation did not affect cell growth but caused significant differences at the proteome level. In the absence of SecB, dynamic protein aggregates containing predominantly secretory proteins accumulated in the cytoplasm. Unprocessed secretory proteins were detected in radiolabeled whole cell lysates. Furthermore, the assembly of a large fraction of the outer membrane proteome was slowed down, whereas its steady state composition was hardly affected. In response to aggregation and delayed sorting of secretory proteins, cytoplasmic chaperones DnaK, GroEL/ES, ClpB, IbpA/B, and HslU were up-regulated severalfold, most likely to stabilize secretory proteins during their delayed translocation and/or rescue aggregated secretory proteins. The SecB/A dependence of 12 secretory proteins affected by the secB null mutation (DegP, FhuA, FkpA, OmpT, OmpX, OppA, TolB, TolC, YbgF, YcgK, YgiW, and YncE) was confirmed by “classical” pulse-labeling experiments. Our study more than triples the number of known SecB-dependent secretory proteins and shows that the primary role of SecB is to facilitate the targeting of secretory proteins to the Sec-translocase.
Pain in hemodialysis patients: prevalence, cause, severity, and management.

BACKGROUND There is growing evidence that dialysis patients have a high burden of symptoms, including pain. However, the prevalence, cause, severity, and management of pain in dialysis patients have not been described. METHODS This prospective cohort study of 205 Canadian hemodialysis (HD) patients describes the prevalence, cause, severity, and management of pain in this population. A chart review for demographic and clinical data was conducted, and patients completed a questionnaire that incorporated the Brief Pain Inventory, followed by the McGill Pain Questionnaire. RESULTS One hundred three patients (50%) reported a problem with pain. Patients with pain had been on HD therapy longer (52.2 months) than those without pain (37.7 months). Causes of pain were diverse, and 18.4% of patients had more than a single cause of their pain. Musculoskeletal pain was most common (50.5%) and equal in severity to pain associated with peripheral neuropathy and peripheral vascular disease. Fifty-five percent of patients with pain rated their worst episode in the previous 24 hours as severe. Thirty-two percent of patients with pain were administered no analgesics, 29.1% were administered nonopioid analgesics, 26.2% were administered weak opioids, and 9.7% were administered strong opioids. The Pain Management Index describes the effectiveness of pain management and was negative in 74.8% of patients, indicating ineffective management. CONCLUSION Pain is a significant problem in more than 50% of HD patients and is not being effectively managed. The development of effective pain management strategies, underpinned by appropriate training and education, is necessary to improve the quality of life for dialysis patients.
Nonlinear optimal control for Synchronous Reluctance Machines

A nonlinear H-infinity (optimal) control approach is proposed for the problem of control of Synchronous Reluctance Machines (SRMs). Approximate linearization is applied to the dynamic model of the Synchronous Reluctance Machine, round a local operating point. To accomplish this linearization Taylor series expansion and the computation of the associated Jacobian matrices are performed. The robustness of the control scheme assures that the modelling error due to truncation of higher order terms from the Taylor expansion will be compensated. Next, an H-infinity feedback controller is designed. After solving an algebraic Riccati equation at each iteration of the control algorithm, the feedback gain is computed. Lyapunov stability analysis proves that the control loop satisfies an H-infinity tracking performance criterion. This in turn signifies elevated robustness to model uncertainty and external perturbations. Moreover, under moderate conditions it is proven that the control loop is globally asymptotically stable.
The use of the interactive whiteboard for creative teaching and learning in literacy and mathematics: a case study

This paper considers the ways in which the interactive whiteboard may support and enhance pedagogic practice through whole-class teaching within literacy and numeracy. Data collected from observations of whole-class lessons, alongside individual interviews and focus group discussions with class teachers and Initial Teacher Education students, has provided opportunities to consider the potential of such technology to facilitate a more creative approach to whole-class teaching. The data suggests that, in the first instance, the special features of information and communications technology such as interactivity, ‘provisionality,’ speed, capacity and range enhance the delivery and pace of the session. This research seems to indicate that it is the skill and the professional knowledge of the teacher who mediates the interaction, and facilitates the development of pupils' creative responses at the interface of technology, which is critical to the enhancement of the whole-class teaching and learning processes.
Chemo-electrical transduction in insect olfactory receptors.

Insect behavior can be controlled by a single odor compound or by a blend of a few components in an exact ratio of concentrations. These odor compounds or odor mixtures are called pheromones if used for intraspecific communication. Each of the pheromone components is perceived by a particular type of receptor cell that is specifically tuned to its "key compound" and may respond to single odor molecules by firing single nerve impulses. The entire response range of a receptor cell may cover many decades of stimulus intensities. Each olfactory receptor cell is a bipolar neuron. Its dendrite innervates a specialized cuticular structure, usually a hollow cuticular hair that captures the stimulus molecules. The axon runs directly to the deutocerebrum-the first synaptic relay station of the central nervous system. Chemo-electrical transduction in these organs comprises the processes leading from the adsorption of odor molecules on the cuticular surface via stimulus transport to the generation of receptor potentials and nerve impulses and, eventually, to the inactivation of the stimulus molecules. The interconnections of these processes and their influences on the ultimate impulse response of the receptor cells are largely unknown. This review covers electrophysiological investigations of cellular response charac­ teristics as well as biophysical and biochemical work, much of which is based on radiolabeled pheromone compounds. These studies employed a few species of insects, mainly of moths with olfactory organs that are relatively large and accessible for experimental work. The olfactory hairs of
Differential cellular expression of the human MSH2 protein in normal and myelodysplastic haematopoiesis

Loss of human MSH2 (hMSH2) protein might be involved in the multistep pathogenesis of haematological malignancies associated with genetic instability. Here, we examine cellular hMSH2 expression in bone marrow samples from 10 haematopoietically normal individuals in comparison with nine patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) [one refractory anaemia (RA), two RA with ringed sideroblasts (RARS), four RA with excess blasts (RAEB) and two RAEB in transformation (RAEB‐T)]. HMSH2 protein was predominantly expressed in myeloblasts and promyelocytes. Blast cells from three patients with RAEB and one with RAEB‐T displayed absent or very low hMSH2 expression. As no correlation between hMSH2 expression and chromosomal aberrations was observed, further genetic events seem to be required to induce karyotype instability.
Context inference and prediction modeling in ubiquitous health GIS

The ever‐increasing population in cities intensifies environmental pollution that increases the number of asthmatic patients. Other factors that may influence the prevalence of asthma are atmospheric parameters, physiographic elements and personal characteristics. These parameters can be incorporated into a model to monitor and predict the health conditions of asthmatic patients in various contexts. Such a model is the base for any asthma early warning system. This article introduces a novel ubiquitous health system to monitor asthmatic patients. Ubiquitous systems can be effective in monitoring asthmatic patients through the use of intelligent frameworks. They can provide powerful reasoning and prediction engines for analyzing various situations. Our proposed model encapsulates several tools for preprocessing, reasoning and prediction of asthma conditions. In the preprocessing phase, outliers in the atmospheric datasets were detected and missing sensor data were estimated using a Kalman filter, while in the reasoning phase, the required information was inferred from the raw data using some rule‐based inference techniques. The asthmatic conditions of patients were predicted accurately by a Graph‐Based Support Vector Machine in a Context Space (GBSVMCS) which functions anywhere, anytime and with any status. GBSVMCS is an improved version of the common Support Vector Machine algorithm with the addition of unlabeled data and graph‐based rules in a context space. Based on the stored value for a patient's condition and his/her location/time, asthmatic patients can be monitored and appropriate alerts will be given. Our proposed model was assessed in Region 3 of Tehran, Iran for monitoring three different types of asthma: allergic, occupational and seasonal asthma. The input data to our system included air pollution data, the patients’ personal information, patients’ locations, weather data and geographical information for 270 different situations. Our results showed that 90% of the system's predictions were correct. The proposed model also improved the estimation accuracy by 15% in comparison to conventional methods.
Dietary citrate and plasma ionized calcium: Implications for platelet donors

Platelet donors receive 40 mmol or more of IV citrate anion during donation. When plasma ionized calcium ([Ca2+]) falls by ∼20%, half of the donors report symptoms of hypocalcemic toxicity. Citrus juices contain clinically relevant amounts of citrate anion. We asked whether citrus juice can lower [Ca2+] thus potentially contributing to hypocalcemic toxicity.
Hereditary colon cancer syndromes: an in vitro study

Assays of in vitro biological properties associated with cellular transformation revealed differences in cultured skin cells within the heritable colon cancer syndromes with and without polyposis coli. Such evidence suggested that an in vitro panel of biological assays could be used to recognize genotypes which increase the risk of colon cancer prior to clinical expression and supported the concept, long assumed on clinical differences, of genetic heterogeneity within the heritable colon cancer syndromes.
A population-based analysis of incentive payments to primary care physicians for the care of patients with complex disease

Background: In 2007, the province of British Columbia implemented incentive payments to primary care physicians for the provision of comprehensive, continuous, guideline-informed care for patients with 2 or more chronic conditions. We examined the impact of this program on primary care access and continuity, rates of hospital admission and costs. Methods: We analyzed all BC patients who qualified for the incentive based on their diagnostic profile. We tracked primary care contacts and continuity, hospital admissions (total, via the emergency department and for targeted conditions), and cost of physician services, hospital care and pharmaceuticals, for 24 months before and 24 months after the intervention. Results: Of 155 754 eligible patients, 63.7% had at least 1 incentive payment billed. Incentive payments had no impact on primary care contacts (change in contacts per patient per month: 0.016, 95% confidence interval [CI] −0.047 to 0.078) or continuity of care (mean monthly change: 0.012, 95% CI −0.001 to 0.024) and were associated with increased total rates of hospital admission (change in hospital admissions per 1000 patients per month: 1.46, 95% CI 0.04 to 2.89), relative to preintervention trends. Annual costs per patient did not decline (mean change: $455.81, 95% CI −$2.44 to $914.08). Interpretation: British Columbia’s $240-million investment in this program improved compensation for physicians doing the important work of caring for complex patients, but did not appear to improve primary care access or continuity, or constrain resource use elsewhere in the health care system. Policymakers should consider other strategies to improve care for this patient population.
HOMING PROPERTIES OF THYMUS‐INDEPENDENT FOLLICULAR LYMPHOCYTES

Cell suspensions highly enriched for primary follicle small lymphocytes obtained from lymph nodes of “B” mice were 87–94% immunoglobulin-positive. Such cells, after 3H-uridine or 61Cr labeling, were infused into normal recipients and their homing properties determined by autoradiography or total organ radioactivity. The sites of entry into lymphoid tissues of these follicular lymphocytes are identical to the entry sites of “T” cells. However, these cells home in a highly selective manner to follicular regions of lymph nodes and spleen in preference to thymus-dependent regions of recipient lymphoid tissues. It is suggested that lymphoid primary follicles are an in vivo site of localization of B cells.
Alpha‐fetoprotein: Immunochemical Purification and Chemical Properties. Expression in Normal State and in Malignant and non‐Malignant Liver Disease

Alpha fetoprotein (AFP) is a major plasma protein of the early human fetus (Bergstrand & Czar 1956). In addition to the embryonal and fetal periods, AFP has been found in the serum of mice carrying transplantable hepatomas and in patients with primary liver cancer (Abelev et al. 1963, Tatarinov 1965) and terato-carcinomas (Abelev et al. 1967). Assay of AFP is widely used as a diagnostic test in these malignancies and the oncofetal expression of AFP has made it an important model system for studies concerning the expression of fetal antigens in cancer (Abelev 1971, Masseyeff, 1972). The fetal liver is the major site of AFP synthesis. Incorporation of labeled amino acids into alpha fetoprotein has been found to occur in tissue cultures of human fetal liver (Gitlin & Boesman 1967) and yolk sac (Gitlin & Perricelli 1970). Immunofluorescenct studies have shown an intracellular localization of AFP in fetal and malignant hepatocytes (Linder & Seppala 1968, Goussev et al. 1971). Perfused fetal livers release AFP at a rate of 19-26 /^g/min. between 14 and 20 weeks' gestation (Kekomaki et al. 1971). During the embryonal period in humans, the highest AFP concentrations in fetal serum occur around weeks 12-15 of gestation, where the levels may
The Endocytosis and Signaling of the γδ T Cell Coreceptor WC1 Are Regulated by a Dileucine Motif

WC1 proteins, which are specifically expressed by bovine γδ T cells from a gene array containing 13 members, are part of the scavenger receptor cysteine-rich family. WC1 cytoplasmic domains contains multiple tyrosines, one of which is required to be phosphorylated for TCR coreceptor activity, and a dileucine endocytosis motif. Like the TCR coreceptor CD4, WC1 is endocytosed in response to PMA. Because WC1 endocytosis may play a role in the activation of γδ T cells, we examined WC1 endocytosis in the adherent cell 293T and Jurkat T cell lines using a fusion protein of extracellular CD4 and the transmembrane and cytoplasmic domain of WC1. Individual mutation of the two leucine residues of the endocytic dileucine motif in the WC1 cytoplasmic domain significantly reduced PMA-induced endocytosis in both cell types and enhanced IL-2 production stimulated by cocross-linking of CD3/TCR and CD4/WC1 in Jurkat cells, suggesting that the sustained membrane coligation of CD3/TCR with WC1 caused by a decrease in endocytosis increases T cell activation. Mutation of two serines upstream of the endocytic dileucine motif affected endocytosis only in adherent 293T cells. Although the two upstream serines were not required for WC1 endocytosis in Jurkat cells, the pan–protein kinase C inhibitor Gö6983 blocked endocytosis of CD4/WC1, and mutation of the upstream serines in WC1 inhibited IL-2 production stimulated by cocross-linking of CD3/TCR and CD4/WC1. These studies provide insights into the signaling of WC1 gene arrays that are present in most mammals and play critical roles in γδ T cell responses to bacterial pathogens.
Visual Receptive Field Heterogeneity and Functional Connectivity of Adjacent Neurons in Primate Frontoparietal Association Cortices

The basic organization principles of the primary visual cortex (V1) are commonly assumed to also hold in the association cortex such that neurons within a cortical column share functional connectivity patterns and represent the same region of the visual field. We mapped the visual receptive fields (RFs) of neurons recorded at the same electrode in the ventral intraparietal area (VIP) and the lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) of rhesus monkeys. We report that the spatial characteristics of visual RFs between adjacent neurons differed considerably, with increasing heterogeneity from VIP to PFC. In addition to RF incongruences, we found differential functional connectivity between putative inhibitory interneurons and pyramidal cells in PFC and VIP. These findings suggest that local RF topography vanishes with hierarchical distance from visual cortical input and argue for increasingly modified functional microcircuits in noncanonical association cortices that contrast V1. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Our visual field is thought to be represented faithfully by the early visual brain areas; all the information from a certain region of the visual field is conveyed to neurons situated close together within a functionally defined cortical column. We examined this principle in the association areas, PFC, and ventral intraparietal area of rhesus monkeys and found that adjacent neurons represent markedly different areas of the visual field. This is the first demonstration of such noncanonical organization of these brain areas.
Using a Commercial Framework to Implement and Enhance the IEEE 1451.1 Standard

In 1999, the 1451.1 std was published defining a common object model and interface specification to develop open, multi-vendor distributed measurement and control systems. However, despite the well-known advantages of the model, few have been the initiatives to implement it. In this paper, we describe the implementation of a NCAP - network capable application processor, in a well-known and well-proven infrastructure: the Microsoft . NET framework. The choice of a commercial framework was part of our strategy: to take advantage of several "of the shelf" technologies and adapt them to produce a NCAP prototype, called NCAP/XML. In addition, a solution to enhance the 1451.1 Std is presented by proposing a new format for inter-NCAP communication based on XML (extended markup language)