Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The power of probabilistic thinking

Traditionally, software engineering has dealt in absolutes. For instance, we talk about a system being “correct” or “incorrect”, with the shades of grey in between occasionally acknowledged but rarely dealt with explicitly. And we typically employ logical, algebraic, relational and other representations and techniques that help us reason about software in such absolute terms. There of course have been notable exceptions to this, such as the use of statistical techniques in testing and debugging. But by and large, both researchers and practitioners have favored the relative comfort of an absolutist viewpoint in all aspects of development. In this talk, I will argue the benefits of taking a more thoroughly probabilistic approach in software engineering. Software engineering is rife with stochastic phenomena, and the vast majority of software systems operate in an environment of uncertain, random behavior, which suits an explicit probabilistic characterization. Furthermore, this uncertainty is becoming ever more pronounced in new software systems and platforms, such as the Internet of Things and autonomous vehicles, with their frequent imprecise outputs and heavy reliance on machine learning. To illustrate more deeply some of the considerations involved in taking a probabilistic approach, I will talk about some recent research I have been doing in probabilistic verification.
The MyoD family of transcription factors and skeletal myogenesis

Gene targeting has allowed the dissection of complex biological processes at the genetic level. Our understanding of the nuances of skeletal muscle development has been greatly increased by the analysis of mice carrying targeted null mutations in the Myf‐5, MyoD and myogenin genes, encoding members of the myogenic regulatory factor (MRF) family. These experiments have elucidated the hierarchical relationships existing between the MRFs, and established that functional redundancy is a feature of the MRF regulatory network. Either MyoD or Myf‐5 is sufficient for the formation or survival of skeletal myoblasts. Myogenin acts later in development and plays an essential in vivo role in the terminal differentiation of myotubes.
Strategic change, leadership and accounting: A triptych of organizational reform

Strategic change in public sector organizations – especially in the form of increasing infiltration of ideas and practices emanating from the private sector – has been well documented. This paper argues that accounting and other calculative practices have only been accorded limited roles in extant accounts of public sector strategic change initiatives. This paper suggests that public management research would benefit from a greater appreciation of how calculative practices are deeply imbricated and constitutive of organizational life. In turn, the paper argues that the field of interdisciplinary accounting has much to learn from public administration, especially in terms of leadership. The overarching argument is that understanding strategic change in public organizations can be enhanced by bringing together insights from the academic fields of Public Administration and Interdisciplinary Accounting. This is particularly the case where an accounting innovation is central to a strategic change programme. In this respect, organizational reform can be understood as a triptych, involving strategic change, leadership and accounting practices. We illustrate this thesis through a case study of strategic change in the world’s largest public service broadcaster – The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). It is shown how, during the tenure of one organizational leader – John Birt - accounting technologies increasingly territorialized spaces, subjectivized individuals, was used to mediate between the organization and the State, and permitted adjudication on what was efficient and value for money within the organization and what was not.
Interaction and Influence on Twitter

The internet and social media have led to a change in the structure of the public sphere in comparison to traditional mass media. On the internet, private actors have the possibility to participate in public discourse and bypass news media to directly interact with each other as well as with public actors such as political representatives. The questions of the type of interaction, the degree of influence, and possible topic-specific differences, however, remain unclear. We conducted a content analysis of the user types, forms of interaction, and practices of retweeting and linking in 17,629 tweets on five topics and found topic-specific differences in the interaction between news media, public actors, and private actors. Overall, news media still hold an important role in information flow and are linked to and retweeted most often by all user types. However, in crisis situations, the messages of private actors also find uptake.
Structure of pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase, an archaeal enzyme for genetic code innovation

Pyrrolysine (Pyl), the 22nd natural amino acid and genetically encoded by UAG, becomes attached to its cognate tRNA by pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase (PylRS). We have determined three crystal structures of the Methanosarcina mazei PylRS complexed with either AMP–PNP, Pyl–AMP plus pyrophosphate, or the Pyl analogue N-ε-[(cylopentyloxy)carbonyl]-l-lysine plus ATP. The structures reveal that PylRS utilizes a deep hydrophobic pocket for recognition of the Pyl side chain. A comparison of these structures with previously determined class II tRNA synthetase complexes illustrates that different substrate specificities derive from changes in a small number of residues that form the substrate side-chain-binding pocket. The knowledge of these structures allowed the placement of PylRS in the aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase (aaRS) tree as the last known synthetase that evolved for genetic code expansion, as well as the finding that Pyl arose before the last universal common ancestral state. The PylRS structure provides an excellent framework for designing new aaRSs with altered amino acid specificity.
Online Translation Pricing Issues

Les tecnologies digitals, com les plataformes de traduccio, el crowdsourcing i la traduccio automatica neuronal han creat disrupcio en l'economia de la traduccio. L'analisi de les politiques de preus de nou empreses de serveis linguistics d'abast mundial revela un canvi cap a models en linia que contribueixen a reformar el model de traduccio tradicional basat en el volum i orientat al contingut per oferir un cataleg de serveis linguistics centrat en l'experiencia d'usuari.
Respiratory sinus arrhythmia and carotid baroreflex control of heart rate in endurance athletes and untrained controls.

The purpose of this study was to compare the magnitude of the respiratory sinus arrhythmia, an index of cardiac vagal tone, and carotid baroreflex control of heart rate in endurance-trained athletes (n = 12, aged 20 +/- 1 years, means +/- SE) and untrained control subjects (n = 12, aged 22 +/- 1 year). Average R-R interval (ECG) and its variability were determined at rest under controlled breathing conditions, and the changes in R-R interval in response to brief applications of suction (-10, -25, -40 mmHg) and pressure (10 and 30 mmHg) to the carotid sinus region of the neck were also measured. The average R-R interval at rest was greater in the athletes vs. controls (1150 +/- 45 vs. 854 +/- 44 ms, P less than 0.001), but the standard deviation of the R-R intervals was similar in the two groups (72 +/- 15 vs. 70 +/- 9 ms). The magnitude of the tachycardia in response to neck pressure was also similar in the athletes and controls. Although the heart rate responses to neck suction were not significantly different between the two groups, there was a strong trend for attenuated bradycardic responses in the athletes at the two highest stimulus levels (70 +/- 14 vs. 97 +/- 25 ms and 86 +/- 14 vs. 145 +/- 38 ms for the -25 and -40 mmHg levels, respectively, P greater than 0.1). The results of this study do not support the postulate that cardiac vagal tone is enhanced in the endurance-trained state. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Is vaping a gateway to smoking: a review of the longitudinal studies

Abstract Background: The use of e-cigarettes (ECs) is rising globally. There is concern that e-cigarette may actually lead to smoking, especially amongst adolescents. Objective: To perform a comprehensive review of literature reporting the longitudinal effects of e-cigarette use on onset of smoking among adolescents and young adults. Methods: A search was conducted using PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science in February 2016 to identify the studies containing data on EC use among adolescents and young adults (age<30 years). We then narrowed our search to only include longitudinal studies with data on EC and conventional cigarette smoking among this population. Results: Four longitudinal studies were identified that analyzed the use of ECs and smoking at both baseline and follow-ups in the target population. These studies demonstrated that EC use is associated with an increase in combustible cigarette smoking, even amongst the adolescents who were not susceptible to smoking. Conclusion: This review highlights the strong evidence that not only are ECs are not an effective tool for smoking cessation among adolescents, they actually are associated with higher incidence of combustible cigarette smoking. Policy makers need to recognize of the insidious nature of this campaign by the tobacco industry and design policies to regulate it.
Image-based Structural Analysis of Building using Line Segments and their Geometrical Vanishing Points

This paper describes an approach to detect and analyze the properties of building in image. We use line segments and belongings in the appearance of building as geometrical and physical properties respectively. The geometrical properties are represented as principal component parts (PCPs) as a set of door, window, wall and so on. As the physical properties, color, intensity, contrast and texture of regions are used. Analysis process is started by detecting straight line segments. We use MSAC to group such parallel line segments which have a common vanishing point. We calculate one dominant vanishing point for vertical direction and five dominant vanishing points in maximum for horizontal direction. A mesh of basic parallelograms is created by one of horizontal groups and vertical group. Each mesh represents one face of building. The PCPs are formed by merging neighborhood of basic parallelograms which have similar colors. The wall regions of PCPs are detected. Finally, the structure of building is described as a system of hierarchical features. The building is represented by number of faces. Each face is regarded by a color histogram vector. The color histogram vector just is computed by wall region of face. The proposed approach was used to recognize a database containing 1005 images and 115 queried images. It has been confirmed with various kinds of images taken for different conditions like camera systems, weather and seasons
Both High Mobility Group (HMG)-boxes and the Acidic Tail of HMGB1 Regulate Recombination-activating Gene (RAG)-mediated Recombination Signal Synapsis and Cleavage in Vitro*[boxs]

RAG-1 and RAG-2 initiate V(D)J recombination through synapsis and cleavage of a 12/23 pair of V(D)J recombination signal sequences (RSS). RAG-RSS complex assembly and activity in vitro is promoted by high mobility group proteins of the “HMG-box” family, exemplified by HMGB1. How HMGB1 stimulates the DNA binding and cleavage activity of the RAG complex remains unclear. HMGB1 contains two homologous HMG-box DNA binding domains, termed A and B, linked by a stretch of basic residues to a highly acidic C-terminal tail. To identify determinants of HMGB1 required for stimulation of RAG-mediated RSS binding and cleavage, we prepared an extensive panel of mutant HMGB1 proteins and tested their ability to augment RAG-mediated RSS binding and cleavage activity. Using a combination of mobility shift and in-gel cleavage assays, we find that HMGB1 promotes RAG-mediated cleavage largely through the activity of box B, but optimal stimulation requires a functional A box tethered in the correct orientation. Box A or B mutants fail to promote RAG synaptic complex formation, but this defect is alleviated when the acidic tail is removed from these mutants.
On the road to synthetic life: the minimal cell and genome-scale engineering

Abstract Synthetic biology employs rational engineering principles to build biological systems from the libraries of standard, well characterized biological parts. Biological systems designed and built by synthetic biologists fulfill a plethora of useful purposes, ranging from better healthcare and energy production to biomanufacturing. Recent advancements in the synthesis, assembly and “booting-up” of synthetic genomes and in low and high-throughput genome engineering have paved the way for engineering on the genome-wide scale. One of the key goals of genome engineering is the construction of minimal genomes consisting solely of essential genes (genes indispensable for survival of living organisms). Besides serving as a toolbox to understand the universal principles of life, the cell encoded by minimal genome could be used to build a stringently controlled “cell factory” with a desired phenotype. This review provides an update on recent advances in the genome-scale engineering with particular emphasis on the engineering of minimal genomes. Furthermore, it presents an ongoing discussion to the scientific community for better suitability of minimal or robust cells for industrial applications.
Beliefs of women's risk as research subjects: a four-city study examining differences by sex and by race/ethnicity.

BACKGROUND Given the history of vulnerability of women of childbearing age to medical treatments that have caused injury, for example, diethylstilbestrol (DES) and thalidomide, it is surprising that, to date, little research has directly examined attitudes of the general public regarding the vulnerability of women when they participate in biomedical research studies. METHODS We asked three questions about beliefs of women as biomedical research subjects of 623 white, 353 black, and 157 Hispanic people in four U.S. cities: (1) Do you believe that women are more likely to be "taken advantage of" when they become subjects in a medical research project as compared to men? (2) Do you believe that women of childbearing age (15-45-year-olds) should become study participants in medical research projects? and, if the response was no or don't know/not sure, (3) Would you still say no or don't know/not sure to question 2 even if it meant that we would not know anything about the health and medical treatments for women aged 15-45 years? RESULTS Overall, women were 60% more likely than men to state that women were more likely than men to be "taken advantage of," even when controlling for potential confounders, and both black and Hispanic participants were much more likely than white participants to state that this was the case. The majority of respondents (57.4%) said that women of childbearing age should not be research subjects; among women, both black and Hispanic people were less likely than white people to change their minds when prompted that this might mean that "nothing would be known about the health and medical treatments for women aged 15-45 years. " CONCLUSIONS A substantial proportion of the participants reported knowledge of historical events, and this knowledge was related, particularly in black participants, to attitudes toward vulnerability of women as biomedical research subjects.
Prediction of Flux Loss in a Nd–Fe–B-Bonded Magnet Under an External Magnetic Field

We have already reported a prediction method of flux losses (FLs) in bonded magnets and showed good agreement between the calculated losses and the measured ones. In this paper, we improve our previously reported method, and investigate a FL of a Nd-Fe-B-bonded magnet under external magnetic fields. To verify the validity of the prediction method for the FL, we evaluated and calculated a FL of a cylindrical Nd-Fe-B-bonded magnet under the external magnetic fields of -240, -480, and -720 kA/m. The FL of the magnet exposed at 120 °C depended on the strength of the external field, and the measured values of the loss were 8.79% for -240 kA/m, 61.2% for -480 kA/m, and 149.9% for -720 kA/m. The calculated values were 6.44%, 61.1%, and 141%, and we obtained good agreement between the measured and calculated ones. From the results, we conclude that our improved method is effective to predict the FL of the Nd-Fe-B-bonded magnets under external magnetic fields.
Pediatric Atopic Eczema: The Impact of an Educational Intervention

Abstract: Patient education has been regarded as having a key role in the self‐management of atopic eczema. However, the relationship between the educational interventions and clinical outcomes including severity of eczema, quality of life, and family impact has not been rigorously examined. The purpose of this longitudinal randomized controlled study was to evaluate the impact of an intensive education program with a focus on dermatology and immunology designed for parents and children diagnosed with atopic eczema. The intention of this study was not to change treatment regimes prescribed by the patient's physician. The Scoring Atopic Dermatitis rating system was used for assessment of disease impact, and the impact on quality of life was quantified by using the Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index, Infants’ Dermatology Quality of Life Index, and Dermatitis Family Impact. A total of 61 pediatric patients (0–16 years) diagnosed with atopic eczema from the metropolitan area of Adelaide were randomized to either the control or intervention group. Results of the study showed that the intervention group had a significant improvement in the scoring atopic dermatitis measure when compared to the control group at week 4 and week 12. Quality of life measures did not significantly improve with decreased severity of eczema except in the group of children aged 5–16 years which, despite small numbers, showed a significant improvement in quality of life scores. These findings suggest that education provides an important role in decreasing the severity of eczema.
Nuclear factor kappa B and hepatitis viruses

Background: Hepatitis can be caused by a number of viruses, which have similar clinical manifestations and render infected individuals at high risk of death from cirrhosis and liver cancer. Current therapies for hepatitis have limited effects and unsatisfactory patient outcomes. Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) is critical for immune and inflammatory responses. During its lifetime the cell demands specific and highly regulated control of NF-κB activity. Objective: To develop novel strategies to overcome various hepatitides and related liver cancer with NF-κB as the key point. Methods: All aspects of NF-κB control with regard to hepatitis are covered. Results/conclusion: NF-κB plays an important role in the process of hepatitis and is hypothesized to be an anti-cancer factor in the subsequent inflammation-associated hepatocarcinogenesis.
Wireless Information and Power Transfer in Full-Duplex Two-Way Massive MIMO AF Relay Systems

In this paper, we investigate wireless information and power transfer in full-duplex (FD) two-way massive MIMO amplify-and-forward (AF) relaying network. In the considered network, the relay is an energy demander and applies time switching scheme to harvest energy from the users for amplifying and forwarding the users'' signals. Different from prior studies, MIMO users and antenna correlation are considered. Achievable sum-rate is analyzed and the impact of antenna correlations is discovered. It is revealed from the analysis that the transmission power at the MIMO users can be cut down proportionally to $1/M_r$ and/or the transmission power at the relay can be scaled down proportionally to $1/M^{2}_r$ to maintain a constant sum-rate, when massive antennas are equipped at the relay. Here $M_r$ denotes the number of antennas at the relay. Moreover, the optimal time switching ratio for energy harvesting at the relay is found to maximize the sum-rate. Finally, the analytical results are validated by computer simulations.
Fear-avoidance beliefs and pain as predictors for low physical activity in patients with leg ulcer.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Previous studies have shown that patients with chronic venous insufficiency are deconditioned and physically inactive. The present study aimed to examine the occurrence of fear-avoidance beliefs in patients with chronic venous insufficiency, and to investigate the role of fear-avoidance beliefs and pain severity in predicting the low level of physical activity in these patients. METHOD Data were collected by a postal questionnaire sent to 146 patients with chronic venous insufficiency and current or previous venous leg ulcer. Complete data were collected from 98 patients aged 60-85 years - 63% women - giving a response rate of 67%. Fear-avoidance beliefs were assessed by the Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire, physical activity subscale. Pain and physical activity were assessed by the Six-point Verbal Rating Scale of Pain Assessment and the Physical Activity Questionnaire, respectively. RESULTS Fear-avoidance beliefs were present in 81 (83%) of the patients with chronic venous insufficiency (range 0-24, median 12). Forty patients (41%) had strong fear-avoidance beliefs. One-third of the patients with healed ulcers had strong fear-avoidance beliefs. Patients with low physical activity had significantly stronger fear-avoidance beliefs and more severe pain than patients with high physical activity. Multiple logistic regression showed that the odds ratio (OR) for low physical activity were about three times higher for patients with strong fear-avoidance beliefs (OR 3.1, 95% confidence interval 1.1-8.3; p = 0.027) than for patients with weak fear-avoidance beliefs. CONCLUSIONS Fear-avoidance beliefs were present in most patients with chronic venous insufficiency and were associated with low physical activity. Clinical implications ought to include a better recognition of fear-avoidance beliefs, early information about the negative consequences of such beliefs, and the importance of physical activity to counteract poor mobility.
Estimation of Crop Yields and Insurance Premiums Using a Shrinkage Estimator

We explore the estimation of crop yields and insurance premiums using a hierarchical Bayes small area estimator. The estimator is evaluated for Area Yield Production (AYP) policy using quasi-simulated corn yields in the United States. Its performance in producing reliable mean county yield and premium estimates is compared to that of a naive estimator. We also investigate the impact of these efficiency improvements on the residual losses between a farm-level policy and AYP. The proposed estimator is found to be substantially more efficient and less biased than the naive estimator.