Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Metaphors in Cognitive and Neurosciences Which impact have metaphors on scientific theories and models ?

In this article, I am going to explain how the most frequent metaphor types used in cognitive and neurosciences – reification and spatial metaphors, personification, and technological metaphors – are connected to theoretical problems that occur in these scientific disciplines. These theoretical problems include the idea of memory as space, which is connected with the difficulty of a realistic description of the mental lexicon, the problem of free will, and the mind-body problem. Because of some obvious parallels between metaphorical language and arguments made in the scientific description of the mind, I will argue that certain metaphors used in scientific language are not merely linguistic problems but deeply rooted in scientific arguments. This holds for metaphors that scientists are aware of as well as for unconsciously used metaphors. My observations are intended to highlight some characteristics of metaphors in science. Furthermore, they provide a possible approach to investigating the connection between linguistic and conceptual metaphors in complex cases as scientific models. Ich werde in diesem Artikel beschreiben, wie die häufigsten Metapherntypen in den Kognitionsund Neurowissenschaften – Reifikation und Raummetaphern, Personifizierung und Technikmetaphern – mit theoretischen Problemen dieser Disziplinen verknüpft sind. Diese theoretischen Probleme sind die konzeptuelle Verbindung von Gedächtnis und „Raum“ (oder auch „Platz“), welches mit der Schwierigkeit einer realistischen Beschreibung des mentalen Lexikons verknüpft ist, das Problem des freien Willens und das Leib-Seele-Problem. Da es einige offensichtliche Kohärenzen zwischen metaphorischer Sprache und wissenschaftlichen Beschreibungen von Kognition und Gehirn gibt, werde ich zeigen, dass bestimmte Metaphern in der Wissenschaftssprache nicht nur sprachliche Probleme darstellen, sondern grundlegend mit entsprechenden wissenschaftlichen Argumenten verknüpft sind. Das gilt sowohl für von Wissenschaftlern bewusst eingeführte als auch für unbewusst verwendete Metaphern. Meine Beobachtungen sollen einige Charakteristika von Metaphern in der Wissenschaft deutlich machen. Außerdem zeigen sie eine Möglichkeit, die Verbindung von sprachlichen und konzeptuellen Metaphern in komplexen Fällen wie wissenschaftlichen Modellen zu untersuchen.
CHROMOSOME TRANSFER IN BACTERIAL CONJUGATION.

The transfer of chromosomal material from one bacterial cell to another by direct cell-to-cell contact was discovered in 1946 by Lederberg and Tatum (35). This process, called conjugation, has since been shown to occur in many gram-negative bacteria. Most of our knowledge of the mechanisms of conjugation, however, comes from the work of numerous investigators on the organism first used by Lederberg and Tatum, Escherichia coli strain K-12. Unless otherwise stated, the data discussed below have all been obtained with this strain and its derivatives. The first real clue to the mechanism of conjugation was provided by the discovery that chromosome transfer requires the presence in the donor cell of an autonomous, transmissible genetic element (19, 34). This element was called F, for fertility. Since then, a number of other genetic elements have been discovered in bacteria which, like F, promote chromosome transfer. These elements include the several different resistance transfer factors (RTF) which carry a number of genes controlling resistance to antibacterial agents (2, 53), and certain colicinogeny factors, such as Col E and Col I (50), and Col V (31). The latter factors confer on the host cell the property of synthesizing colicines (toxins which are highly specific for strains of E. coli other than the colicinogenic host). Following the terminology proposed by Clark and Adelberg (11), we will refer to all genetic elements which promote chromosome transfer as sex factors, regardless of whether or not they
Proviral DNA integration and transcriptional patterns of equine infectious anemia virus during persistent and cytopathic infections

The structure and integration patterns of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) proviral DNA and the patterns of viral transcription were examined in persistent and cytopathic infections of cultured cells. The results of Southern blot analyses indicated that, in persistently infected cells, about 30% of the EIAV provirus exists as randomly integrated DNA, while the remaining 70% is equally divided between unintegrated linear and closed circular forms. The cytopathic infection, in contrast, is characterized by levels of integrated provirus ranging from 65 to more than 90% of the total proviral DNA, depending on the extent of cytopathology exhibited by the virus strain employed. In both persistent and cytopathic infections, extensive Northern (RNA) blot analyses have revealed the presence of two major virus-specific transcripts, an 8.2-kilobase (kb) full-length genomic mRNA and a 3.5-kb single-spliced mRNA. A low-abundance 1.5-kb mRNA, presumably formed by a double-splicing event of the full-length RNA, was also detected in the cytopathic EIAV infection. The two major viral transcripts are present in approximately equal quantities in persistently infected cells, while the cytopathic infection reveals nearly a 30-fold higher level of viral transcripts in which the 3.5-kb species constitutes over 75% of the total viral mRNA. The relatively high proportion of proviral DNA integration and the simple pattern of viral transcription observed during EIAV infections appeared to be different from the generally observed patterns of predominantly unintegrated proviral DNA and multi-spliced viral mRNAs in cells infected with other lentiviruses such as visna virus or human immunodeficiency virus type 1. Moreover, the data suggested that the cytopathology of EIAV may be correlated in part with the degree of proviral DNA integration and levels of viral mRNA in infected cells, particularly that of the spliced 3.5-kb mRNA.
APACHE: um ambiente de pré-autoria de cursos hipermídia estendidos.

Na atualidade, uma das mais frequentes aplicacoes da tecnologia de sistemas hipermidia e no contexto educacional. Isto tem incentivado um grande numero de pesquisas, visando desenvolver novas tecnicas e metodos capazes de criar um ambiente favoravel para busca de conhecimentos, remodelando, assim, as formas de aprendizagem. Dentre os ambientes hipermidia de aprendizagem interativos, destacam-se os assim chamados cursos hipermidia, onde os conteudos didaticos relativos a um dado assunto sao organizados na forma de roteiros. Para facilitar o planejamento e desenvolvimento de cursos hipermidia, uma atividade aqui denominada de pre-autoria, faz-se uso de ferramentas de apoio. SICH (Sistema de Implementacao de Cursos Hipermidia) e um exemplo de um ambiente de apoio a pre-autoria de projetos de hiperbase de cursos hipermidia. Este trabalho apresenta um ambiente grafico e interativo que permite desenvolver todas as etapas da pre-autoria de cursos hipermidia. O ambiente, denominado APACHE (Ambiente de Pre-autoria de Cursos Hipermidia Estendido), incorpora as funcionalidade do SICH, com algumas mudancas e adaptacoes, para a edicao dos objetivos do curso e a construcao da hiperbase, adicionando a edicao de roteiros e avaliacao segundo os objetivos definidos pelo autor do curso hipermidia. Alem disso, oferece recursos que facilitam a navegacao e orientacao global no espaco de modelagem, evitando a sobrecarga cognitiva e visual do autor do projeto de roteiro. No APACHE a construcao de projetos de roteiros esta baseada nos nos da hiperbase e nos instrucionais, considerando aspectos didaticos, pedagogicos e motivacionais do autor. Neste ambiente, as operacoes com arquivos sao feitas de forma automatica e proporciona-se, adicionalmente, a facilidade de reusar os componentes do projeto da hiperbase na geracao de novos cursos.
Structure and Evolution of Hot Gas in 30 Dor

We have investigated the structure and evolution of hot gas in the 30 Dor nebula, based on recent X-ray observations. Our deep ROSAT HRI image shows that diffuse X-ray emission arises in blister-shaped regions outlined by loops of H II gas. X-ray spectroscopic data from ASCA confirm the thermal nature of the emission and indicate that the temperature of the hot gas decreases from the core to the halo of the nebula. The structure of the nebula can be understood as outflows of hot and H II gases from the parent giant molecular cloud of the central OB association. The dynamic mixing between the two gas phases is likely responsible for the mass loading to the hot gas, as required to explain the observed thermal structure and X-ray luminosity of the nebula. Such processes should also be important in the formation of similar giant H II regions and in their subsequent evolution into supergiant bubbles or galactic chimneys.
Expressiveness of Probabilistic Modal Logics, Revisited

Labelled Markov processes are probabilistic versions of labelled transition systems. In general, the state space of a labelled Markov process may be a continuum. Logical characterizations of probabilistic bisimulation and simulation were given by Desharnais et al. These results hold for systems defined on analytic state spaces and assume that there are countably many labels in the case of bisimulation and finitely many labels in the case of simulation. In this paper, we first revisit these results by giving simpler and more streamlined proofs. In particular, our proof for simulation has the same structure as the one for bisimulation, relying on a new result of a topological nature. This departs from the known proof for this result, which uses domain theory techniques and falls out of a theory of approximation of Labelled Markov processes. Both our proofs assume the presence of countably many labels. We investigate the necessity of this assumption, and show that the logical characterization of bisimulation may fail when there are uncountably many labels. However, with a stronger assumption on the transition functions (continuity instead of just measurability), we can regain the logical characterization result, for arbitrarily many labels. These new results arose from a new game-theoretic way of understanding probabilistic simulation and bisimulation.
MicroRNA-200b Suppresses Arsenic-transformed Cell Migration by Targeting Protein Kinase Cα and Wnt5b-Protein Kinase Cα Positive Feedback Loop and Inhibiting Rac1 Activation*

Background: MiR-200b is able to inhibit tumor cell migration and metastasis, the underlying mechanism is not well understood. Results: PKCα is a new direct target of miR-200b. Conclusion: MiR-200b suppresses arsenic-transformed cell migration by targeting PKCα and Wnt5b-PKCα positive feedback loop and inhibiting Rac1 activation. Significance: This study identifies a new target and mechanism for the inhibitory effect of miR-200b on tumor cell migration. MicroRNA-200b (miR-200b) is a member of miR-200 family that has been found to inhibit cell migration and cancer metastasis; however, the underlying mechanism is not well understood. We previously reported that miR-200 expression is depleted in arsenic-transformed human bronchial epithelial cells with highly migratory and invasive characteristics, whereas stably re-expressing miR-200b strongly suppresses arsenic-transformed cell migration. This study was performed to investigate how miR-200b inhibits arsenic-transformed cell migration. We found that protein kinase Cα (PKCα) is significantly up-regulated in arsenic-transformed cells. Combining bioinformatics analysis with PKCα 3′-untranslated region vector luciferase reporter assays, we showed that PKCα is a direct target of miR-200b. Inhibiting PKCα activity or knocking down PKCα expression drastically reduced cell migration, phenocoping the inhibitory effect of overexpressing miR-200b. In contrast, forced expression of PKCα in miR-200b overexpressing cells impaired the inhibitory effect of miR-200b on cell migration. In addition, we also found a positive feedback loop between Wnt5b and PKCα in arsenic-transformed cells. Knocking down Wnt5b expression reduced phospho-PKC levels and cell migration; and knocking down PKCα expression decreased Wnt5b level and cell migration. Moreover, forced expression of PKCα increased Wnt5b and phospho-PKC levels and cell migration. Further mechanistic studies revealed that Rac1 is highly activated in arsenic-transformed cells and stably expressing miR-200b abolishes Rac1 activation changing actin cytoskeleton organization. Manipulating PKCα or Wnt5b expression levels significantly altered the level of active Rac1. Together, these findings indicate that miR-200b suppresses arsenic-transformed cell migration by targeting PKCα and Wnt5b-PKCα positive feedback loop and subsequently inhibiting Rac1 activation.
Recursion in Development: Support for a Biological Model of Language

Recursion in adult language contributes to variety of surface form, paraphrase, and ambiguity. Developing recursion in child language reveals these characteristics. This paper, based on the naturalistic observation of phrase structure development in the speech of six monolingual preschoolers, reveals a gradual acquisition of grammatical categories. The data further demonstrate links between developmental stages in terms of connectors used and in terms of intonation. The results of my investigation suggest that children restructure utterances (rather than acquire entirely new ones) as stages develop. The data also suggest that in order to carry out this restructuring, children make use of auditory memory and problem solving abilities. I conclude that my observations of children's developing recursion can best be accounted for by a biological, cognitive-linguistic model.
Algoritmo de visión estereo en tiempo real implementado en GPGPU

En el este trabajo se presenta una implementacion en tiempo real de un sistema de vision artificial en tres dimensiones sobre GPGPU. Se logra optimizar el procesamiento de vision estereo mediante el algoritmo de Suma de Diferencias Absolutas (SAD), seleccionado en virtud de su costo computacional moderado. Se aplican sobre la imagen resultante sendos kernels de sustraccion de fondo y suavizado, con el objeto de minimizar los errores de procesamiento intŕinsecos de SAD, obteniendose en forma experimental los parametros optimos para cada kernel. Se aplica esta cadena de procesamiento sobre una plataforma basada en GPGPU, y sobre un equipo basado en CPU convencional de arquitectura x86. Se comparan los resultados con el mismo procesamiento ejecutado en una CPU convencional y se demuestra una mejora 13x en el tiempo de ejecucion, y por consecuencia, la factibilidad de aplicar el metodo para procesamiento de video en tiempo real utilizando GPGPUs como plataforma de ejecucion, hecho que permite proyectar futuros trabajos en aplicaciones industriales de tiempo real que se valgan de la vision 3D para verificacion de ensamble de productos sobre ĺineas de montaje.
The GATA Transcription Factors GLN3 and GAT1 Link TOR to Salt Stress in Saccharomyces cerevisiae *

One of the most recent functions assigned to the TOR signaling pathway in yeast is the coordination of the transcription of genes involved in nutrient utilization. Here we show that transcription of ENA1, a gene encoding a lithium and sodium ion transporter essential for salt tolerance in yeast, is controlled by the TOR signaling pathway. First, ENA1 expression is strongly induced under TOR-inactivating conditions. Second, the absence of the TOR-controlled GATA transcription factors GLN3 and GAT1 results in reduced basal and salt-induced expression of ENA1. Third, a gln3 gat1 mutant displays a pronounced sensitivity to high concentrations of lithium and sodium. Fourth, TOR1, similar to ENA1, is required for growth under saline stress conditions. In summary, our results suggest that TOR plays a role in the general response to saline stress by regulating the transcription ofENA1 via GLN3 and GAT1.
LA INVESTIGACIÓN A TRAVÉS DEL DISEÑO. INNOVACIÓN PEDAGÓGICA PARA LA FORMACIÓN EN INGENIERÍA

El Centro de Innovacion Educativa en Ingenieria (CIEI) es unidad academico-administrativa que se creo en julio de 2009 al interior de la Facultad de Ingenieria de la Universidad Autonoma de Occidente, la cual tiene –entre otras responsabilidades- la gestion academica de una linea o ruta curricular centrada en el diseno como actividad generica del ingeniero, constituida por 3 asignaturas que se ofertan entre primer y tercer semestre para los 9 programas de pregrado en Ingenieria. El CIEI ha propuesto al “Diseno Conceptual” como asignatura “sello” de esta ruta curricular, la cual tiene como proposito formativo desarrollar en los estudiantes competencias para la compresion, apropiacion y aplicacion racional y reflexiva de un proceso proyectual sistemico, estructurado y sistematico para el desarrollo conceptual de soluciones de ingenieria que se materializan en un artefacto; haciendo uso asertivo y adecuado de diferentes tecnicas y procedimientos que se concatenen para emprender un proyecto de diseno que parte desde la configuracion del problema y levantamiento de requerimientos de los clientes/usuarios hasta la definicion de especificaciones tecnicas de ingenieria, considerando la comunicacion grafica de alternativas de solucion coherentes con el concepto de diseno definido y un proceso de evaluacion y seleccion entre estas para determinar la solucion de diseno que mejor satisfaga los criterios propuestos. Asi pues, transcurridos 8 semestres desde que se inicio la planificacion e implementacion de Proyectos Formativos Integradores en la asignatura –estrategia didactica para abordar el aprendizaje y desarrollo de competencias genericas en los estudiantes a partir de escenarios problema en contextos reales y que refieren a procesos de indagacion a traves del diseno en Ingenieria- se presentan los resultados academicos alcanzados por los estudiantes, quienes han logrado consolidar estrategias para abordar problemas de diseno cada vez mas complejos mediante procesos metodicos de generacion de soluciones creativas e innovadoras, las cuales se implementan a traves de la accion proyectual llevada a modelos de representacion formal-funcional en los laboratorio de fabricacion digital de la UAO. Finalmente, la intencionalidad pedagogica bajo el enfoque de investigacion a traves del diseno que se ha dado a este curso, se complementa con procesos de evaluacion formativa apoyados mediante rubricas y criterios que son conocidos por los estudiantes previo al desarrollo de cualquiera de las actividades de aprendizaje dentro del proceso de diseno; dandole prioridad a la planificacion microcurricular basada en innovacion educativa, ABP como estrategia didactica y CDIO como iniciativa que moviliza las actuaciones y el quehacer del ingeniero en formacion como proyectista innovador en su campo de accion profesional.
Mechanisms of tolerance to sodium nitroprusside in rat cultured aortic smooth muscle cells

1 While exposure of smooth muscle cells to sodium nitroprusside (SNP) leads to the development of tolerance to soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) activation, the mechanisms responsible for this phenomenon in intact cells remain unclear. In the present study, possible mechanisms of tolerance were investigated in a cell culture model where sGC activity was estimated from the accumulation of cyclic GMP in response to 10 μm SNP over a 15 min period in the presence of a phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitor. 2 Pretreatment of rat aortic smooth muscle cells with 10–500 μm SNP led to a dose‐dependent downregulation of cyclic GMP accumulation upon subsequent SNP stimulation. This effect was evident as early as 2 h following incubation with 10 μm SNP, reached a plateau at 4 h and was blocked by coincubation with 30 μm oxyhaemoglobin. 3 Pretreatment of smooth muscle cells with the PDE inhibitor, zaprinast, resulted in downregulation of the SNP‐induced cyclic GMP accumulation in a time‐ and concentration‐dependent manner, that was first evident after 12 h. Moreover, while the zaprinast‐induced downregulation of cyclic GMP accumulation was completely inhibited by the protein kinase A (PKA) inhibitor, H89, tolerance to SNP was partially reversed by H89. 4 β1 sGC steady state mRNA levels of S‐nitroso N‐acetylpenicillamine (SNAP)‐ or 8Br‐cyclic GMP‐pretreated cells were unchanged, as indicated by Northern blot analysis. However, Western blot analysis revealed that α1 protein levels were decreased in zaprinast, but not in SNP, SNAP or 8Br‐cyclic GMP pretreated cells. 5 While thiol depletion did not prevent the development of tolerance, pretreatment of cells with SNP in the presence of reducing agents partially or completely restored the ability of cells to respond to SNP. 6 We conclude that tolerance to SNP results from two distinct mechanisms: an early onset, NO‐mediated event that is reversed by reducing agents and a more delayed, PKA‐sensitive process that is mediated through increases in cyclic GMP and a decrease in sGC protein levels.
Alternative implementation techniques for Web text visualization

We present an approach for building text visualizations that avoids using plug-ins or clients based on languages like Java. Instead we propose to make the search engine application more aware of the visualization process and use the Web browser standard features to do the rendering work. We demonstrate the ideas with a text visualization metaphor implementation that is part of a search engine.
GABAergic Interneurons at Supraspinal and Spinal Levels Differentially Modulate the Antinociceptive Effect of Nitrous Oxide in Fischer Rats

Background The study hypothesizes that nitrous oxide (N2O) releases opioid peptide in the brain stem, which results in inhibition of &ggr;-aminobutyric acid–mediated (GABAergic) neurons that tonically inhibit the descending noradrenergic inhibitory neurons (DNIN), resulting in activation of DNIN. In the spinal cord, activation of DNIN leads to the release of norepinephrine, which inhibits nociceptive processing through direct activation of &agr;2 adrenoceptor and indirect activation of GABAergic neurons through &agr;1 adrenoceptor. Arising from this hypothesis, it follows that GABAergic neurons will modulate the antinociceptive effect of N2O in diametrically opposite directions at supraspinal and spinal levels. The authors have tested this tenet and further examined the effect of midazolam, a GABA-mimetic agent, on N2O-induced antinociceptive effect. Methods Adult male Fischer rats were administered muscimol (GABAA receptor agonist) intracerebroventricularly (icv), gabazine (GABAA receptor antagonist) intrathecally (intrathecal), or midazolam intraperitoneally (intraperitoneal). Fifteen minutes later, they were exposed to air or 75% N2O and were subjected to the plantar test after 30 min of gas exposure. In some animals administered with midazolam, gas exposure was continued for 90 min, and the brain and spinal cord were examined immunohistochemically. Results The N2O-induced antinociceptive effect, which was attenuated by icv muscimol, intrathecal gabazine, and intraperitoneal midazolam. Midazolam inhibited N2O-induced c-Fos expression (a marker of neuronal activation) in the pontine A7 and spinal cord. Conclusions The GABAergic neurons modulate the antinociceptive effect of N2O in opposite directions at supraspinal and spinal levels. The pronociceptive effects of enhancement at the supraspinal GABAergic site predominate in response to systemically administered midazolam.