Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quaestio-it.com: a social intelligent debating platform

Information sharing between online users has altered the way we seek and find information. Users have at their disposal a wide range of tools for exchanging opinions and engaging in discussions. This creates a vast amount of information and the need for a more strict structure and semantics in order to take full advantage of the information and automatically extract useful conclusions to support decision-making. In this paper we describe a framework, based on computational argumentation, for modeling and analysing social discussions, and demonstrate a question-and-answer web application, based on this framework, offering debating infrastructure for opinion exchanges between users and providing support for extracting intelligent answers to user-posed questions.
TO THE EDITOR.

their frequency in the two studied groups. Severity of neurological involvement can therefore differ between the two groups. It is quite possible that the more severe neurological cases are operated with IOM, while the so-called routine cases or those considered low risk might not have been thought suitable for IOM. Resolving the issue of the utility of IOM is not a straightforward task. False positives are quite common as we also found out during spinal osteotomy procedures. Nevertheless, a complete loss of signal does usually demand some action, which in itself could perhaps be determinant for the neurological outcome. Even if the cost of IOM could be as high as 1 million USD/yr as mentioned in the Discussion section, such a cost might be warranted by the high societal and human cost of severe neurological damage. We feel that the conclusions of the paper namely that IOM does not prevent neurological injury is not necessarily supported by data presented. The risk of such a statement would be to see a further decline in IOM on the basis that there is no direct benefit. Although admittedly the parallel may sound extreme, one could hardly imagine anesthesia without an electrocardiogram even though not many studies have looked at its utility in preventing intraoperative deaths!
New Strategy for Rapid Detection of the Simulants of Persistent Organic Pollutants Using Gas Sensor Based on 3-D Porous Single-Crystalline ZnO Nanosheets

It is significant to detect the persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in an environment for both human health and environmental risk assessment. However, most of the current analytical techniques require complicated and tedious processes and are time consuming. Semiconducting metal-oxide sensors are predominant solid-state gas detecting devices for domestic, commercial, and industrial application. Here, combing both the advantages of instrument analytical methods and the metal-oxide sensors, a gas chromatography column was placed in front of a metal-oxide sensor to separate POP simulants from a mixture. The metal-oxide sensor was used to detect the separated sample. To improve the sensitivity, 3D porous single-crystalline ZnO nanosheets (PSCZNs) were synthesized by a one-pot hydrothermal method followed by an annealing treatment. Then, the as-prepared 3D PSCZN-based sensors were exploited to couple with gas chromatography column. The simulants of POPs were used to assess the as-prepared sensor and chromatography column coupled measurement method. The experiment results showed a promise for rapid detection of POPs by metal-oxide sensors.
Mice with Disrupted Type I Protein Kinase A Anchoring in T Cells Resist Retrovirus-Induced Immunodeficiency

Type I protein kinase A (PKA) is targeted to the TCR-proximal signaling machinery by the A-kinase anchoring protein ezrin and negatively regulates T cell immune function through activation of the C-terminal Src kinase. RI anchoring disruptor (RIAD) is a high-affinity competitor peptide that specifically displaces type I PKA from A-kinase anchoring proteins. In this study, we disrupted type I PKA anchoring in peripheral T cells by expressing a soluble ezrin fragment with RIAD inserted in place of the endogenous A-kinase binding domain under the lck distal promoter in mice. Peripheral T cells from mice expressing the RIAD fusion protein (RIAD-transgenic mice) displayed augmented basal and TCR-activated signaling, enhanced T cell responsiveness assessed as IL-2 secretion, and reduced sensitivity to PGE2- and cAMP-mediated inhibition of T cell function. Hyperactivation of the cAMP–type I PKA pathway is involved in the T cell dysfunction of HIV infection, as well as murine AIDS, a disease model induced by infection of C57BL/6 mice with LP-BM5, a mixture of attenuated murine leukemia viruses. LP-BM5–infected RIAD-transgenic mice resist progression of murine AIDS and have improved viral control. This underscores the cAMP–type I PKA pathway in T cells as a putative target for therapeutic intervention in immunodeficiency diseases.
GABARAP: Lessons for Synaptogenesis

The clustering of neurotransmitter receptors at the postsynaptic terminals is a critical requirement for efficient neurotransmission and neuronal communication. This process is facilitated by adaptor proteins, which bridge the postsynaptic receptors and the underlying cytoskeleton. One such molecule, the GABAA receptor-associated protein, GABARAP, was identified as a potential linker between GABAA receptors and microtubules. GABARAP belongs to an expanding family of proteins that are implicated in a variety of intracellular transport processes. GABARAP has been shown to interact with myriad binding partners, including the γ2 subunit of the GABAA receptor, tubulin and microtubules, the N-ethyl maleimide sensitive factor, gephyrin, and the transferin receptor. The recent determination of the GABARAP crystal structure has revealed individual GABARAP domains, motifs, and surface regions involved in specific protein-protein interactions. Currently, a more general role is emerging for GABARAP, including shipping GABAA receptors to and from the cell surface, organizing them into postsynaptic clusters, and regulating the steady-state receptor density.
A novel glycogen‐targeting subunit of protein phosphatase 1 that is regulated by insulin and shows differential tissue distribution in humans and rodents

Stimulation of glycogen‐targeted protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) activity by insulin contributes to the dephosphorylation and activation of hepatic glycogen synthase (GS) leading to an increase in glycogen synthesis. The glycogen‐targeting subunits of PP1, GL and R5/PTG, are downregulated in the livers of diabetic rodents and restored by insulin treatment. We show here that the mammalian gene PPP1R3E encodes a novel glycogen‐targeting subunit of PP1 that is expressed in rodent liver. The phosphatase activity associated with R3E is slightly higher than that associated with R5/PTG and it is downregulated in streptozotocin‐induced diabetes by 60–70% and restored by insulin treatment. Surprisingly, although mRNA for R3E is most highly expressed in rat liver and heart muscle, with only low levels in skeletal muscle, R3E mRNA is most abundant in human skeletal muscle and heart tissues with barely detectable levels in human liver. This species‐specific difference in R3E mRNA expression has similarities to the high level of expression of GL mRNA in human but not rodent skeletal muscle. The observations imply that the mechanisms by which insulin regulates glycogen synthesis in liver and skeletal muscle are different in rodents and humans.
Thrombin-activated Human Platelets Release two NAP-2 Variants that Stimulate Polymorphonuclear Leukocytes

Summary Thrombin-activated human platelets release substance(s) of a prote-ic nature which induce an increase in the intracellular calcium concentration in polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN). Aim of this study was to characterize the platelet released product(s) responsible for PMN stimulation. PMN-stimulating activity was isolated from platelet supernatant by FPLC and HPLC. The N-terminal sequence analysis revealed that the purified fractions consisted in 90% of a peptide of 73 amino acids and in 10% of a peptide of 74 amino acids; both are truncated forms of the connective tissue-activating peptide III (CTAP-III), a platelet a-granule product, and have 3 and 4 additional amino acids at the N-terminus compared with the neutrophil-activating peptide 2 (NAP-2): Asp-Leu-Tyr and Ser-Asp-Leu-Tyr, respectively. Treatment of platelet supernatant (previously depleted of PMN-activating nucleotides) with Affi-gel heparin resulted in the disappearance of PMN-stimulating effects, suggesting that NAP-2 variants, which are heparin-binding proteins, account for ATP-independent PMN-stimulating activity of the supernatant. Cross-desensitization between rNAP-2 and the platelet supernatant and inhibition by the anti-NAP-2 antibody are in agreement with this conclusion. Although NAP-2 and its variants are reportedly generated from the inactive precursors, CTAP-III and platelet basic protein, through a proteolytic cleavage, NAP-2 variants were not generated in our system by proteases deriving from platelets or contaminating leukocytes. Indeed, treatment of intact platelet suspensions with different protease inhibitors failed to modify the calcium stimulating activity of the resulting supernatants. In conclusion, thrombin-activated platelets release NAP-2 variants which are not generated outside the platelets by proteolytic processing but are released in an active form. This finding enhances our understanding of platelet-PMN interaction in thrombosis and inflammation.
The management of diabetic emergencies.

Loss of glucose homeostasis carries the risk of emergencies at opposite extremes of dysregulation. Hypoglycemic crises arise from high exogenous insulin levels and counterregulatory deficiencies. Conversely, hyperglycemic crises arise from insulin depletion and heightened counterregulation. Emergency treatment aims to identify and reverse the imbalance.
ALLELES' FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF TWO STR LOCI IN EGYPTIAN POPULATION

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) typing is widely used for personal identification. The allele frequency distribution of two STR loci (CSF1PO and TPOX) was studied in Egyptian population. A sample of 100 unrelated individuals inhabiting Dakahlia governorate (in Delta region) in Egypt was chosen randomly. Blood samples were collected after obtaining an informed consent. The DNA was extracted by using the standard phenol-chloroform extraction method and then amplified using the HYBAID Thermal Cycler. Four alleles were identified at each locus with frequencies 0.34 to 0.18 for CSF1PO locus and 0.37 to 0.085 for TPOX locus. By studying MP, PE, PD, PIC and TPI parameters; CSF1PO locus has the highest MP, PE and TPI values (0.227, 0.033 and 0.63 respectively). Meanwhile PD and PIC have the highest values in TPOX locus (0.807 and 0.69 respectively). It is concluded that the presence of certain alleles and absence of others only in the studied population compared to other presented studies on Egyptians, Arabs and Israeli populations can be specific. TPOX locus was found to be highly polymorphic and could be used in forensic investigations and issue of identity. Meanwhile both CSF1PO and TPOX loci are less informative in paternity testing.
Functional status and comorbidities are associated with in-hospital mortality among older patients with acute decompensated heart failure : a multicentre prospective cohort study

Background: among patients admitted for acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF), half are aged 75 years or over. The high prevalence of co-morbidities and functional impairments in this age group may affect patient outcomes. Objective: to assess the association between co-morbidities, functional status and in-hospital mortality in patients with ADHF aged ≥75 years. Design: a prospective, multicentre cohort study. Setting: five French hospitals. Subjects: five hundred and fifty-five patients aged ≥75 years admitted to the emergency department with ADHF. Methods: baseline clinical data and co-morbidities were recorded at admission. Functional status and cognition were assessed using the Katz index and Mini-Mental Status Examination score, respectively. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. Results: we found high prevalences of co-morbidities and functional impairments including hypertension (74.0%), atrial fibrillation (40.2%), prior acute coronary syndrome (32.3%) and diabetes (18.2%). The average creatinine clearance was 56.3 ml/min/ 1.73 m (interquartile range, 39.2–77.0). In-hospital mortality was 67/555 (12.1%; 95% confidence interval, 9.4–14.8). In 225 Factors associated with in-hospital mortality in acute decompensated heart failure
Aplicación de técnicas metaheurísticas a un problema de diseño de rutas de reparto en Galicia

La presente comunicacion presenta el trabajo realizado en el desarrollo de una herramienta informatica para el diseno de rutas de reparto a lo largo de una geografia dada y mediante unos determinados vehiculos, buscando minimizar el numero de kilometros recorridos, pero de modo que la carga de cada camion no rebase nunca su capacidad. Se logra un modelo de optimizacion que permite gestionar y racionalizar las actividades de reparto de una forma agil y automatica, sin necesidad de que un operador humano aporte su know-how en cada ocasion en que sea necesario efectuar los calculos.
A Highly Flexible Trajectory Model Based on the Primitives of Brownian Fields—Part I: Fundamental Principles and Implementation Aspects

A fundamental drawback of synthetic mobility models is that the spatial configuration of the path is determined by the temporal features of the mobile station (MS), such as its speed. This is, however, not true in reality. This first part of our paper establishes a new approach for generating fully spatial random trajectory (mobility) models to which different speed scenarios can be applied. We employ the new approach to the proposal of a highly flexible trajectory model based on the primitives (integrals) of Brownian fields (BFs). We construct a drifted partial random bridge from a given starting point to a random terminating point in the 2D plane. If the bridge is partially established, a target zone with a predefined radius and center can be reached via random paths. If the bridge is fully established, a certain destination point can be achieved by means of random bridges. For the broken bridge, completely random terminating points are obtained. The smoothness of the path can be controlled by the primitives of the employed BF. The implementation aspects of the path model in simulation environments are discussed. In wireless communications, the model can be used for tracking (estimating) the location of the MS, performance analysis of mobile ad hoc networks, and channel modeling under non-stationary conditions.
An initial evaluation of the psychosocial dimensions of the American Society of Addiction Medicine criteria for inpatient versus intensive outpatient substance abuse rehabilitation.

OBJECTIVE The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) criteria were developed as guidelines for the placement of substance abuse patients in appropriate levels of care. Although the ASAM criteria are widely used, little is known about their validity. In this study, we evaluated the predictive validity of the psychosocial dimensions of the ASAM criteria for inpatient versus intensive outpatient rehabilitation. METHOD The psychosocial dimensions of the ASAM criteria were first operationalized with instruments with proven reliability and validity. The criteria were then used to determine whether cocaine (n = 159) and alcohol (n = 133) dependent male patients in inpatient and intensive outpatient rehabilitation programs were correctly "matched" to the level of care they received. The patients were followed up at 3, 6 and 12 months postrehabilitation, and outcomes of "matched" and "mismatched" patients were compared in a number of ways. RESULTS Alcohol and cocaine patients who were correctly matched to treatment according to ASAM did not have significantly better outcomes than those who were mismatched. Furthermore, a more focused analysis generated no evidence that alcohol patients who met ASAM criteria for inpatient care had better outcomes in that setting than in intensive outpatient treatment. Among cocaine patients who met ASAM inpatient criteria, inpatient care produced marginally better short-term outcomes on most measures, although these results did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that the psychosocial dimensions of the ASAM criteria for inpatient treatment are probably too broad and are therefore in need of further refinement, particularly for alcohol patients. However, all patients were male veterans without acute medical problems serious enough to warrant inpatient care or histories of psychosis, and the majority were of lower socioeconomic status. It is not clear to what extent the results would generalize to substance abusers with other characteristics.
Observations on the somatodendritic morphology and axonal trajectory of intracellularly HRP‐Labeled efferent neurons located in the deeper layers of the superior colliculus of the cat

Efferent neurons of the deeper layers of the cat's superior colliculus were stained with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) to demonstrate patterns of somatodendritic morphology and axonal trajectory. A combination of somatodendritic and axonal features of the HRP‐labeled cells revealed the existence of three major groups of tectal efferent neurons (X, T, and I). X neurons are mostly large and multipolar and participate in the crossed descending and ipsilateral ventral ascending projections of the superior colliculus. The X group includes multipolar radiating (X1), tufted (X2), large vertical (X3), medium‐sized vertical (X4), and medium‐sized horizontal (X5) neurons. T neurons participate in one or two of the major tectofugal bundles (medial descending ipsilateral, lateral descending ipsilateral, medial dorsal ascending, crossed descending) besides providing a commissural branch. They also issue recurrent collaterals distributed within a more or less restricted area of the deeper layers. The T group includes medium‐sized, trapezoid, radiating (T1) and small or mediumsized, ovoid, vertical (T2) neurons. I neurons participate in the ipsilateral descending projection of the superior colliculus. They are small, triangular or ovoid, sparsely ramified cells that provide long, varicose collaterals irregularly distributed within the deeper layers. The majority of T neurons are located in the ventral stratum opticum or dorsal stratum griseum intermedialem, X3 and X5 neurons are situated immediately below in the dorsal stratum griseum intermediale, while X1, X2, X4, and I neurons are indiscriminately distributed within the deeper layers. The polythetic classification presented here provides a conceptual framework for the description of tectal efferent neurons. It is open‐ended and can thereby accomodate new cells types as indicated by the disclosure of a small horizontal (A) and a small radiating (unclassified) neuron. Moreover, it does not preclude the construction of alternate taxonomies. A dendro‐architectonic classification into four groups [vertical (X3, X4, T2, I), horizontal (X5, A), radiating (X1, T1, I), and tufted (X2)] can be made and would relate to the mode of integration of various tectopetal inputs. A classification based on the dorsoventral location of tectal efferent neurons is also possible and would relate to the dorsoventral distribution of neurons with specific response properties.
AUGMENTED REALITY-BASED GUIDANCE FOR INDOOR PARKED-CAR SEARCH USING OMNI-VISION TECHNIQUES

Many people have the experience of getting lost in large parking lots when trying to find their parked cars. To solve this problem, an augmented reality (AR)-based automatic guidance system is proposed to help a user to find his/her parked car quickly. With multiple fisheye cameras affixed to the ceiling of the parking lot for image acquisition, the proposed system includes four major functions: user detection, user tracking, path planning, and AR-based guidance for parked-car search. To detect a user entering the parking lot, a dynamic background construction method is proposed to segment the foreground regions in a fisheye image and a dynamic thresholding method is proposed to refine the user region in the segmented regions. To track the user continuously in a large parking lot, a multiple-camera handoff method is proposed, which transfers monitoring responsibility among the cameras according to a criterion of minimizing the distance between the user’s location and the image center. Also proposed is the use of Kalman filtering for generating a smooth human track shown on the top-view parking-lot map. For path planning, a method based on the Dijsktra algorithm which yields a shortest guidance path from the entrance to the user’s parked car. To guide the user, an AR-based guidance method is proposed, which updates and overlays a guidance arrow on the screen of the user-held mobile device by utilizing the reading of the electronic compass built in the mobile device as well as the location of the next guidance path node. Good experimental results are also included to show the feasibility of the proposed system.
Qst Meets the G Matrix: The Dimensionality of Adaptive Divergence in Multiple Correlated Quantitative Traits

Abstract The QST–FST comparison has become an increasingly common method for inferring adaptive quantitative trait divergence among populations. For cases in which there is divergence in multiple traits, most studies have applied the method by performing multiple univariate QST–FST comparisons. However, because traits are often genetically correlated, such univariate analyses are likely to paint a simplified picture of adaptive divergence. Here we show how the multivariate analogue of QST, FSTq, which accounts for genetic correlations among traits, can be used to supply a more detailed picture of multitrait divergence. We apply the method to naturally occurring genetic variation for a suite of sexually selected display traits in Drosophila serrata. The analyses suggest the operation of divergent multivariate selection that has influenced multiple independent axes of genetic variance in a sex-specific manner. Finally, we show how a comparison of the components of FSTq, the average within and among population genetic variance–covariance matrices, GW and GB, can be used as an additional test of the null expectation of neutral divergence, and allows for an investigation of whether natural populations have diverged along major or minor axes of genetic variance.
52 Procedures in 52 Weeks: An Innovative Curriculum for Emergency Medicine Residents

The specialty of Emergency Medicine (EM) requires that providers are as competent in rare procedures as they are in common ones. This creates a challenge for EM educators, who are charged with graduating competent physicians who have the mental and technical expertise to perform such a breadth of procedures. To facilitate this instruction, we have created a weekly procedure curriculum that utilizes videos coupled with hands on instruction to teach 52 EM procedures. We have found this curriculum to be very effective and easy to implement into our residency training schedule.
On the priority approach to hidden-surface algorithms

The task of eliminating invisible parts when generating an image is one of the central problems in computer graphics. One approach achieves the desired obscuring effect by assigning priority numbers to the faces of an object. Image generation can be speeded up significantly in these priority schemes if priority information of the faces can be partly computed in advance, before a viewing position is specified. These observations were first made by Schumacker and are utilized to advantage in simulation applications. However, the priority calculations are usually done manually, for lack of an adequate theoretical understanding. In this paper we study the underlying mathematical structure of these priority orders, and present efficient algorithms for handling some special classes of geometrical configurations.