Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Formalisation de la description d'un environnement naturel. Application à la géo-localisation d'un individu. (A semantic and language-based representation of an environmental scene. A support for the geo-positionning of an individual)

Les recents outils dedies aux Sciences de l'Information Geographique s'attachent principalement a visualiser, analyser voire interpreter une information dite quantitative, c'est-a-dire issue de donnees cartographiques. Malgre une utilisation exponentielle voire quotidienne de ces systemes, ces derniers ne correspondent pas a la maniere dont un individu percoit l'espace. Le mecanisme de perception spatiale est en effet dependant de nos propres connaissances, du contexte ou de la tâche a realiser. Il entraine une representation cognitive de l'environnement qui est caracterisee par une absence de formalisation des concepts manipules. Cette representation n'est pas une reproduction fidele de la realite, mais un assemblage d'objets aux formes et aux echelles exagerees qui est structure par des relations spatiales approximatives. Ce travail est ne du paradoxe suivant : comment peut-on utiliser des systemes informatiques dont les fondements reposent sur des donnees quantitatives, alors que la perception de l'espace et son expression par le langage naturel sont par definition absentes de toute formalisation, et ainsi tres eloignees de la precision metrique recherchee par les outils geo-informatiques actuels ? L'objectif de cette these consiste a associer une representation cognitive issue de la perception d'un environnement naturel, aux donnees quantitatives provenant d'une base de donnees geographiques. Le scenario associe a cette approche s'attache a identifier les positions geographiques d'un individu a partir de la description de ses environs : un randonneur ou un pecheur perdu ne disposant pas d'outil de geo-positionnement, decrit de maniere spontanee son environnement a un interlocuteur qui s'appuie sur les propositions d'un systeme informatique pour le localiser. Une modelisation de la description linguistique puis de la scene environnementale percue est proposee. Cette "carte conceptuelle" est contrainte par quatre espaces de proximite et deux a quatre cones directionnels qui ordonnent et orientent les objets percus par rapport a la position fixe de l'individu. Une telle representation ne permet cependant pas de distinguer les entites saillantes, des entites ne favorisant pas le geo-positionnement de l'observateur. Nous avons donc propose deux criteres de saillance linguistique et spatiale fondes sur un algorithme de renforcement mutuel. Les positions geographiques possibles de l'individu sont alors calculees a partir de l'interpretation de la configuration spatiale fournie par la carte conceptuelle. Les zones de visibilite des objets percus sont calculees puis les relations spatiales sont interpretees sous la forme de contraintes spatiales. Chaque nouvelle contrainte reduit au fur et a mesure l'espace solution, et le resultat exploitable pour lancer les operations de recherche de l'individu est fourni par l'intersection des differentes regions.
Convergence of the Gradient Sampling Algorithm for Nonsmooth Nonconvex Optimization

We study the gradient sampling algorithm of Burke, Lewis, and Overton for minimizing a locally Lipschitz function $f$ on $\mathbb{R}^n$ that is continuously differentiable on an open dense subset. We strengthen the existing convergence results for this algorithm and introduce a slightly revised version for which stronger results are established without requiring compactness of the level sets of $f$. In particular, we show that with probability 1 the revised algorithm either drives the $f$-values to $-\infty$, or each of its cluster points is Clarke stationary for $f$. We also consider a simplified variant in which the differentiability check is skipped and the user can control the number of $f$-evaluations per iteration.
Mindfulness-Based Interventions: An Antidote to Suffering in the Context of Substance Use, Misuse, and Addiction

The cultivation of mindfulness as an approach to human perception through the practice of meditation has become an increasingly popular treatment for medical and psychological symptoms and as a topic of scientific investigation. Substance user programs are also increasingly embracing this treatment strategy as either a stand-alone therapeutic modality or a complement to ongoing treatment. In this article, I supply an introduction to the special theme issue concerning mindfulness and substance use intervention by first providing a brief historical account of the secular Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program to introduce new readers to the more general topic of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs), and to contextualize historical publishing trends observed in mindfulness research across the past four decades. I then examine the implications of MBIs for substance use, misuse, and addiction, especially in areas related to craving and suffering. To conclude, I outline the empirical and conceptual compendium of contributions offered in this special issue.
Studies of catalysis by -glucuronidase. Active site.

Abstract In an attempt to understand the structure of the active center of β-glucuronidase (EC 3.2.1.31), the behavior of the kinetic parameters of the liver lysosomal enzyme as a function of pH was examined. The pH optimum of the enzyme in the presence of 0.65 m NaCl is 5.1. This dependence of maximal velocity on pH suggests that two dissociable groups are involved, for which the pK values 4.14 and 6.21 were calculated. These values, and those of the heats of dissociation calculated for these two groups, are suggestive of the participation of a carboxylate group and perhaps a carboxyl group in the catalysis. The inactivation of the enzyme by a carbodiimide and by isoxazolium salts is compatible with this hypothesis. The interaction between β-glucuronidase and phenolphthalein-β-d-glucopyranosiduronic acid was found to involve ionic forces, as suggested by the absence of substrate activity or inhibitory effects of p-nitrophenyl-β-d-glucopyranosiduronamide, by the greater inhibitory activity of an isoxazolium salt bearing a sulfonate group than of one that did not contain this group, and by the effect of ionic strength on the kinetic constant Vmax/Km. It was inferred from these findings that a cationic group at the active center of the enzyme is probably involved in attacking the substrate. That this cationic group is probably an imidazolium group was suggested by the inactivation effected by photooxidation, which was pH-dependent, and by diazonium salts.
The benefits of using small supervisor-initiated groups to supervise master's research

This article is based on an autoethnographic study I carried out between 2004 and 2015 to explore the benefits of group supervision. I obtained my data from self-observations and self-reflections, documents and artefacts of my supervision practice, observations, and field notes on both the context and the students. I also collected external data from my (mostly master's) students through interactive interviews, informal conversations, e-mail exchanges and recordings of group supervision sessions. Most group supervision practices rely on highly structured faculty-wide implementation systems. My finding was that both student and supervisor benefitted significantly from group supervision even though the implementation was on a supervisor level. The benefits observed were enhanced when the group consisted of a small number of diverse students.
Dynamic Capital Structure Adjustments and Business Group Affiliations: Indian Evidence

Abstract This study examines the asymmetries in capital structure adjustment speed depending on firms’ affiliation to business groups. Using partial adjustment framework on a dataset of 2001 listed Indian non-financial firms over the period of 2005–2013, it was found that Indian firms annually adjusted about 37 percent of their deviation from target leverage. Groups firms, in general, adjust their leverage ratio slower than the stand-alone firms, suggesting lesser net benefits of adjustment for the former than the latter. The results are persistent irrespective of firms’ extent of deviation from their target leverage. However, the net benefits of adjustment and consequently the adjustment speed for both the groups of firms, irrespective of their extent of deviation from target leverage, seem to be alike, when they are over-levered and lower for group firms than the stand-alone firms, when they are under-levered. These findings indicate that both group and stand-alone firms face identical threats, when they are over-levered, whereas group firms possibly have alternative arrangements to reduce the owner–manager agency conflicts and tax liability, when they are under-levered. These findings are expected to prove helpful for financial managers in designing their capital structure based on ownership structure, and the nature and extent of deviation from the target leverage.
Business Ethics and Cost Management in SMEs: Theories of Business Ethics and Cost Management Ethos

This chapter illustrates aspects of business ethics and cost management applicable to small and mediumsized entities. The main objectives of this chapter are to identify and clarify ethical issues and business ethics theories applicable to small and medium-sized entities as well as to identify the functions and principles underpinning the cost management of small and medium-sized entities. Based on the literature, the authors also identify the factors that generate the ethical behavior, the organizational culture, the factors that influence the cost management of small and medium entities. There are also highlights of sustainable development and corporate social responsibility through which small and medium-sized entities align with the expectations and requirements of customers, the population and investors. Through the authors’ contribution, a new conceptual and empirical framework is created to discuss other issues encountered in the business environment of small and medium-sized entities.
Clathrin-Dependent Entry of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus into Target Cells Expressing ACE2 with the Cytoplasmic Tail Deleted

ABSTRACT The penetration of various viruses into host cells is accomplished by hijacking the host endocytosis machinery. In the case of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) infection, viral entry is reported to require a low pH in intracytoplasmic vesicles; however, little is known about how SARS-CoV invades such compartments. Here we demonstrate that SARS-CoV mainly utilizes the clathrin-mediated endocytosis pathway for its entry to target cells by using infectious SARS-CoV, as well as a SARS-CoV pseudovirus packaged in the SARS-CoV envelope. The SARS-CoV entered caveolin-1-negative HepG2 cells, and the entry was significantly inhibited by treatment with chlorpromazine, an inhibitor for clathrin-dependent endocytosis, and by small interfering RNA-mediated gene silencing for the clathrin heavy chain. Furthermore, the SARS-CoV entered COS7 cells transfected with the mutant of ACE2 with the cytoplasmic tail deleted, SARS-CoV receptor, as well as the wild-type ACE2, and their entries were significantly inhibited by treatment with chlorpromazine. In addition, ACE2 translocated into EEA1-positive early endosomes immediately after the virus attachment to ACE2. These results suggest that when SARS-CoV binds ACE2 it is internalized and penetrates early endosomes in a clathrin-dependent manner and that the cytoplasmic tail of ACE2 is not required for the penetration of SARS-CoV.
Mobile Cloud Computing: Academic Services for Palestinian Higher Education Institutions

Recently, Many Palestinian higher education institutions had a successful experience in utilizing e-Services and e-learning. Most of University services are currently applied as an electronic application web. Services such as lecture schedule, exams schedule, viewing the academic information, grades report, library services, Email services, eLearning services, News and Announcements, but these services are only supported by web based applications or desktop application which restrict the access of the users using computers or laptops. Users need to access the University services anytime and anywhere as mobile services, so in this paper we present a system called Mobile Cloud Computing Academic Services at Palestinian Higher Education Institutions (MCCAS) which is a mobile application to facilities access. MCCAS serve the students and the lecturers of Palestinian higher education institutions. According to a study we have done, there is a strong evidence on the readiness of academic staff and students to accept and use Academic Services on Mobile in their education environment. Also most institutions of higher education in Palestine have a suitable infrastructure, as wireless network or Wi-Fi. The study shown that students had an adequate knowledge and awareness to use technology in their education environment. Furthermore, this will support the utilization of technology in Palestinian higher education institutions. Agile methodology was adapted to develop MCCAS application. It incorporates the SDLC phases starting from the Planning, analysis, design, implementation, test and evaluation up to the Maintenance phase in each iteration. The evaluation was conducted on 220 students and 51 person from the academic staff at 8 universities from Gaza strip and west Bank, to determine users’ perception on MCCAS to measure the usability, ease of use, satisfaction. Also the results showed that MCCAS success in helping the users doing their transactions successfully and accurately any time anywhere. It is hoped that the result of this study will encourage the universities to engage MCCAS in their services. The system is evaluated by using SPSS T-independent test, Cronbach alpha and average method, the system's acceptance was 90.05%.
Human inhibitory receptors Ig-like transcript 2 (ILT2) and ILT4 compete with CD8 for MHC class I binding and bind preferentially to HLA-G

Ig-like transcript 4 (ILT4) (also known as leukocyte Ig-like receptor 2, CD85d, and LILRB2) is a cell surface receptor expressed mainly on myelomonocytic cells, whereas ILT2 (also known as leukocyte Ig-like receptor 1, CD85j, and LILRB1) is expressed on a wider range of immune cells including subsets of natural killer and T cells. Both ILTs contain immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory receptor motifs in their cytoplasmic tails that inhibit cellular responses by recruiting phosphatases such as SHP-1 (Src homology 2 domain containing tyrosine phosphatase 1). Although these ILTs have been shown to recognize a broad range of classical and nonclassical human MHC class I molecules (MHCIs), their precise binding properties remain controversial. We have used surface plasmon resonance to analyze the interaction of soluble forms of ILT4 and ILT2 with several MHCIs. Although the range of affinities measured was quite broad (Kd = 2–45 μM), some interesting differences were observed. ILT2 generally bound with a 2- to 3-fold higher affinity than ILT4 to the same MHCI. Furthermore, ILT2 and ILT4 bound to HLA-G with a 3- to 4-fold higher affinity than to classical MHCIs, suggesting that ILT/HLA-G recognition may play a dominant role in the regulation of natural killer, T, and myelomonocytic cell activation. Finally, we show that ILT2 and ILT4 effectively compete with CD8 for MHCI binding, raising the possibility that ILT2 modulates CD8+ T cell activation by blocking the CD8 binding as well as by recruiting inhibitory molecules through its immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory receptor motif.
Privacy and Security in Mobile Health (mHealth) Research

Research on the use of mobile technologies for alcohol use problems is a developing field. Rapid technological advances in mobile health (or mHealth) research generate both opportunities and challenges, including how to create scalable systems capable of collecting unprecedented amounts of data and conducting interventions—some in real time—while at the same time protecting the privacy and safety of research participants. Although the research literature in this area is sparse, lessons can be borrowed from other communities, such as cybersecurity or Internet security, which offer many techniques to reduce the potential risk of data breaches or tampering in mHealth. More research into measures to minimize risk to privacy and security effectively in mHealth is needed. Even so, progress in mHealth research should not stop while the field waits for perfect solutions.
Biological Control of Crystal Texture: A Widespread Strategy for Adapting Crystal Properties to Function

Textures of calcite crystals from a variety of mineralized tissues belonging to organisms from four phyla were examined with high-resolution synchrotron x-ray radiation. Significant differences in coherence length and angular spread were observed between taxonomic groups. Crystals from polycrystalline skeletal ensembles were more perfect than those that function as single-crystal elements. Different anisotropic effects on crystal texture were observed for sea urchin and mollusk calcite crystals, whereas none was found for the foraminifer, Patellina, and the control calcite crystals. These results show that the manipulation of crystal texture in different organisms is under biological control and that crystal textures in some tissues are adapted to function. A better understanding of this apparently widespread biological phenomenon may provide new insights for improving synthetic crystal-containing materials.
Effect of Levels of Buttermilk on Quality of Set Yoghurt

The effect of different levels of buttermilk and storage period on quality of set yoghurt was investigated. Four batches of set yoghurt were prepared using; fresh cow milk and 3% skim milk powder (control), fresh cow milk, 2.5% skim milk powder and 5% buttermilk (sample A), fresh cow milk, 2.0% skim milk powder and 10% buttermilk (sample B), fresh cow milk, 1.5% skim milk powder and 15% buttermilk (sample C) and stored at 4°C for 15 days. The stored samples were examined for quality changes at 15 days interval. The results indicated that, the total solid, protein, fat and pH values of set yoghurt decreased significantly (P ≤ 0.05) as levels of buttermilk increased and storage time progressed. Organoleptic quality of set yoghurt revealed that, 5% buttermilk scored the best appearance, texture, flavour and over all acceptability, followed by 0.0%, 10% and the worst was recorded for sample contains 15% buttermilk. Storage period significantly (P ≤ 0.05) affected the organoleptic quality of set yoghurt. The best score was obtained at the beginning of the storage period while the worst at the end.
Kinase selectivity profiling by inhibitor affinity chromatography

As new drugs rapidly advance into clinical trials, comprehensive identification of their intracellular targets becomes fundamental for the full understanding of the molecular basis of their efficacy and toxicity. This is particularly important when the targets belong to a large family and the inhibitors recognize a conserved site among different members of the class. A typical example is the kinase family, where efforts are aimed at the development of inhibitors of distinct kinases for therapeutic applications in oncology, inflammation and other disease areas. In this case, inhibitors targeting the ATP pocket may cross react with different kinases, as well as with other proteins that bind ATP. This review critically discusses the available approaches for kinase selectivity profiling. It also reviews some examples of inhibitor affinity chromatography applied to inhibitors of kinases and other protein families as a tool to identify and characterize their intracellular targets.
Channel-Aware Device-to-Device Pairing for Collaborative Content Distribution

With the increasing penetration of smart devices, device-to-device (D2D) communications offer a promising paradigm to accommodate the ever-growing mobile traffic and unremitting demands. The redundant storage and communication capacities of smart devices can be exploited for collaborative content caching and distribution. In this work, we study the D2D pairing problem, which appropriately pairs a device requesting a content file with a nearby device which caches the requested file. First, we formulate the D2D pairing problem as an integer linear program (ILP). Due to the complexity of the problem, we further develop a heuristic channel-aware D2D pairing algorithm. Computer simulations are conducted to compare the channel-aware algorithm with the optimal solution, as well as a minimum distance-based algorithm and a random algorithm. We consider both the static scenario and the dynamic scenario with arrivals and departures of requesting and caching devices. The simulation results demonstrate that the channel-aware algorithm outperforms the random algorithm in terms of the total number of served D2D pairs and the average latency of served pairs.
Active multiple kernel learning of wind power resources

Wind power resources in mountainous regions are conditioned on a vast variety of factors influencing air flow. Complex topography causes various phenomena such as localised thermal winds, acceleration due to tunneling and Foehn winds interfering at a range of spatial scales and varying in time due to weather seasonality. It increases the dimensionality of parameter space and adds additional complexity to sampling strategies and monitoring network design for wind resource assessment and location allocation for wind turbines. This work explores an active learning approach to multiple kernel learning (MKL) to explore the highdimensional space of topographic features influencing wind speeds. MKL allows handling spatial heterogeneity and non-stationarity while providing physically interpretable data-driven models useful for decision support. Our results on real data from the Swiss Alps suggest the efficiency of MKL both for feature selection, predictive modelling and sampling design, also showing that care has to be taken to avoid over-fitting by over-localised terms in kernel dictionaries.
Directional changes in sexual size dimorphism in shorebirds, gulls and alcids

The Charadrii (shorebirds, gulls and alcids) are one of the most diverse avian groups from the point of view of sexual size dimorphism, exhibiting extremes in both male‐biased and female‐biased dimorphism, as well as monomorphism. In this study we use phylogenetic comparative analyses to investigate how size dimorphism has changed over evolutionary time, distinguishing between changes that have occurred in females and in males. Independent contrasts analyses show that both body mass and wing length have been more variable in males than in females. Directional analyses show that male‐biased dimorphism has increased after inferred transitions towards more polygynous mating systems. There have been analogous increases in female‐biased dimorphism after transitions towards more socially polyandrous mating systems. Changes in dimorphism in both directions are attributable to male body size changing more than female body size. We suggest that this might be because females are under stronger natural selection constraints related to fecundity. Taken together, our results suggest that the observed variation in dimorphism of Charadrii can be best explained by male body size responding more sensitively to variable sexual selection than female body size.