Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Extração de Entidades Nomeadas Com Maximização de Entropia (Opennlp)

Com o advento do aumento da inclusao tecnologica, somado ao aparecimento das redes sociais, o volume de informacao textual cresceu expressivamente nos ultimos anos e, com isso, a possibilidade de uso de informacoes proveniente dessas massas de dados tem se mostrado uma interessante ferramenta estrategica. Tais dados se apresentam de forma desestruturada, ou seja, o uso dessas valiosas informacoes e dificultado pela complexidade de interpretacao da real informacao inserido nessas massas de dados. O presente artigo visa apresentar a tecnica estatistica de maximizacao de entropia, para a extracao de entidades nomeadas, possibilitando a tabulacao de caracteristicas, referenciadas por entidades dentro de massas de dados. Foram utilizados nos testes como base para o treinamento do modelo de extracao os corpora publicos Amazonia e FlorestaVirgem ambos no formato Arvores Deitadas. Conclui-se que a abordagem de aprendizado de maquina estatistico, maximizacao de entropia, para a extracao de informacoes, e eficiente quando levado em consideracao o treinamento de um corpus especifico para o dominio de pesquisa.
A tight support kernel for support vector machine

By comparing performance of common kernels and wavelet kernels in classification, criterion of effective kernel for support vector classifier is concluded, thereby a tight support kernel is constructed by smoothing Shannon scaling function in Fourier domain and combining with spline function. Experiment results indicate that the proposed kernel has faster training speed and higher accuracy than Gaussian kernel on some Benchmark UCI classification datasets, hence reconfirm the criterion.
Tourism Development and Economic Growth in Seven Mediterranean Countries: A Panel Data Approach

This paper examines the relationship between economic growth and tourism development in seven Mediterranean countries. The purpose is to investigate empirically the long-run relationship between economic growth and tourism development in a multivariate model with tourism real receipts per capita, the number of international tourist arrivals per capita, real effective exchange rate, and real GDP per capita using the new heterogeneous panel cointegration technique. In pursuit of this objective, the tests of panel cointegration and fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) are conducted, using panel data. The data used in this study are annual, covering the period 1980–2007.
General Equilibrium Effects of Policy Measures Applied to Energy: The Case of Catalonia

In the last decades, the negative externalities caused by the economic activity on the environment have become a crucial subject in most countries. In particular, it has emerged a debate focused on and the measures that need to be taken to mitigate the adverse effects of human kind on the natural ecosystems. This debate has been intensified during the last twenty years because of climate change (Stern, 2006). Nowadays, there exists the consensus that climate change is a problem that affects the whole world and, accordingly, the solution requires a global response.
KVANTIFIKÁCIA PREVÁDZKOVÉHO CYKLU A JEJ VPLYV NA PEŇAŽNÉ TOKY

Prevadzkový cyklus uctovnej jednotky je cas medzi obstaranim majetku na ucely jeho spracovania a jeho realizaciou vo forme peňazi alebo peňažných ekvivalentov. Ovplyvňuje ho obrat jednotlivých zložiek pracovneho kapitalu, ktorými su obežný majetok a kratkodobe zavazky. Prevadzkový cyklus obchodnej spolocnosti sa vypocita ako sucet doby obratu tovaru a doby inkasa pohľadavok voci odberateľom tovaru, od ktoreho sa odpocita doba uhrady zavazkov voci dodavateľom tovaru. V prispevku uvadzame najcastejsie použivane vzorce na výpocet jednotlivých ukazovateľov doby obratu a výpocet ilustrujeme na jednoduchých cislach. Kvantifikovaný prevadzkový cyklus ekonomicky interpretujeme a poukazujeme na uskalia výpoctu prevadzkoveho cyklu, ktorý sa udava v dňoch. V poslednej casti prispevku konstatujeme, že pri riadeni prevadzkoveho kapitalu v prevadzkovom cykle je, podľa nasho nazoru, potrebne sledovať dve stranky kolobehu tovaru: fyzicku, a s tým suvisiacu nakladovo-výnosovu stranku akrualneho principu a peňažnu, a s tým suvisiacu výdavkovo-prijmovu stranku akrualneho principu. Zakladným zdrojom informacii pritom je podvojne uctovnictvo, ktore je a priori založene na akrualnom principe.
ASoP ( v 1 . 0 ) : a set of methods for analyzing scales of precipitation in general circulation models

General circulation models (GCMs) have been criticized for their failure to represent the observed scales of precipitation, particularly in the tropics where simulated daily rainfall is too light, too frequent and too persistent. Previous assessments have focused on temporally or spatially averaged precipitation, such as daily means or regional averages. These evaluations offer little actionable information for model developers, because the interactions between the resolved dynamics and parameterized physics that produce precipitation occur at the native gridscale and time step. We introduce a set of diagnostics (“Analyzing Scales of Precipitation”, version 1.0 – ASoP1) to compare the spatial and temporal scales of precipitation across GCMs and observations, which can be applied to data ranging from the gridscale and time step to regional and sub-monthly averages. ASoP1 measures the spectrum of precipitation intensity, temporal variability as a function of intensity and spatial and temporal coherence. When applied to time step, gridscale tropical precipitation from 10 GCMs, the diagnostics reveal that, far from the “dreary” persistent light rainfall implied by daily mean data, most models produce a broad range of time step intensities that span 1–100 mm day−1. Models show widely varying spatial and temporal scales of time step precipitation. Several GCMs show concerning quasi-random behavior that may influence and/or alter the spectrum of atmospheric waves. Averaging precipitation to a common spatial (≈ 600 km) or temporal (3 h) resolution substantially reduces variability among models, demonstrating that averaging hides a wealth of information about intrinsic model behavior. When compared against satellite-derived analyses at these scales, all models produce features that are too large and too persistent.
Femoral vs jugular venous catheterization and risk of nosocomial events in adults requiring acute renal replacement therapy: a randomized controlled trial.

CONTEXT Based on concerns about the risk of infection, the jugular site is often preferred over the femoral site for short-term dialysis vascular access. OBJECTIVE To determine whether jugular catheterization decreases the risk of nosocomial complications compared with femoral catheterization. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS A concealed, randomized, multicenter, evaluator-blinded, parallel-group trial (the Cathedia Study) of 750 patients from a network of 9 tertiary care university medical centers and 3 general hospitals in France conducted between May 2004 and May 2007. The severely ill, bed-bound adults had a body mass index (BMI) of less than 45 and required a first catheter insertion for renal replacement therapy. INTERVENTION Patients were randomized to receive jugular or femoral vein catheterization by operators experienced in placement at both sites. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Rates of infectious complications, defined as catheter colonization on removal (primary end point), and catheter-related bloodstream infection. RESULTS Patient and catheter characteristics, including duration of catheterization, were similar in both groups. More hematomas occurred in the jugular group than in the femoral group (13/366 patients [3.6%] vs 4/370 patients [1.1%], respectively; P = .03). The risk of catheter colonization at removal did not differ significantly between the femoral and jugular groups (incidence of 40.8 vs 35.7 per 1000 catheter-days; hazard ratio [HR], 0.85; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.62-1.16; P = .31). A prespecified subgroup analysis demonstrated significant qualitative heterogeneity by BMI (P for the interaction term < .001). Jugular catheterization significantly increased incidence of catheter colonization vs femoral catheterization (45.4 vs 23.7 per 1000 catheter-days; HR, 2.10; 95% CI, 1.13-3.91; P = .017) in the lowest tercile (BMI <24.2), whereas jugular catheterization significantly decreased this incidence (24.5 vs 50.9 per 1000 catheter-days; HR, 0.40; 95% CI, 0.23-0.69; P < .001) in the highest tercile (BMI >28.4). The rate of catheter-related bloodstream infection was similar in both groups (2.3 vs 1.5 per 1000 catheter-days, respectively; P = .42). CONCLUSION Jugular venous catheterization access does not appear to reduce the risk of infection compared with femoral access, except among adults with a high BMI, and may have a higher risk of hematoma. TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00277888.
Applying Ruby Payne ’ s Theory of Social Class Rules in the Elementary Classroom , Part II

The work of Ruby Payne (2000) describes the “hidden rules” of different social classes in America, and how they create differing assumptions and language usage as children enter the elementary school setting. Part I of this article (JPACTe, 1, 1, Winter 2006) examined Payne’s theory and its broad implications for classroom teaching in general. Part II examines three specific constructivist strategies for use at the elementary level that align with Payne’s theory. Introduction and Review of previous article (Part I) Dr. Ruby Payne’s theories of social class rules and language were examined in Part I of this article, published in the Winter 2006 issue of JPACTe (Phelps, 2006). According to Payne (2001a), there are three distinct social classes in our country. Each class contains a subtle collection of rules that are not formally taught but learned nonetheless. Though these rules vary from person to person and group to group, there are expected similarities of people raised within a particular class. The rules of negotiation, for example, are different for someone whose decisions in life are based primarily on survival. For people growing up in poverty, either being able to fight physically or knowing someone who can is an essential aspect of one’s existence. In addition, because people in poverty lack the financial resources to acquire material goods, one’s personality and ability to entertain become far more valuable. Payne’s chart, “Hidden Rules among Classes,” is included below.
Le mouvement directionnel dans une perspective d'analyse monosémique

Le present article reexamine les combinaisons des verbes de mouvement et des prepositions spatiales en francais, en remettant en question certaines hypotheses concernant la combinatoire des traits semantiques au niveau lexical, la compositionnalite de l'interpretation et les repercussions de certains traits semantiques sur la syntaxe. Une breve description semantique de certains verbes de mouvement et de certaines prepositions spatiales permet de degager des observations qui vont a l'encontre de ces hypotheses; d'autres facteurs sont egalement proposes pour rendre compte de l'expression du mouvement directionnel dans les combinaisons en question.
Time-resolved Doppler vortography in the left ventricle

Previous studies have suggested that vortex flow in the left ventricle can be used as an indicator of the heart function. Thereby from a clinical point of view, studying the left ventricle vortex during cardiac cycles could be helpful for early diagnosis. What we propose here is the combination of a method called vortography with ultrafast Doppler echocardiography. Ultrafast ultrasound imaging is a promising field that can increase significantly the frame rate of the acquisitions. The use of ultrafast imaging can therefore provide a sufficient number of frames to describe the whole intra-cardiac blood flow during an entire cardiac cycle which cannot be achieved with conventional echography. Doppler vortography is based on recognition of the antisymmetric pattern in a vortex velocity field. The reliability of vortography has already been presented with conventional Doppler imaging. In this study we present the results from in vitro experiments on a spinning disc from which we were able to fix the angular velocity and deduce the ground truth vorticity. We observed a strong correlation between the vorticity measured with ultrafast vortography and the ground truth vorticity (r2 = 0.99). We then applied the method in vivo (5 healthy volunteers) and we were able to track the main vortex in the left ventricle during the cardiac cycle.
Modulation of Porphyromonas gingivalis proteinase activity by suboptimal doses of antimicrobial agents.

BACKGROUND Antimicrobial agents are sometimes used as adjuncts for the treatment of aggressive and refractory forms of periodontitis. In this study, we used a culture plate assay to investigate the effect of suboptimal doses of antimicrobial agents on proteinase activity of Porphyromonas gingivalis. METHODS A culture plate assay using gelatin as the substrate, which allows a semiquantitative determination of proteinase activity, was developed. Suboptimal inhibitory concentrations of tetracycline, minocycline, doxycycline, metronidazole, penicillin G, or chlorhexidine were added to the medium, and proteolysis zones were determined following the growth of three strains of P. gingivalis. The effect of antimicrobials on outer membrane vesicle-associated gingipains also was determined. RESULTS The gelatin plate assay was a convenient, simple procedure for investigating the effect of suboptimal inhibitory concentrations of antimicrobial agents on proteinases produced by P. gingivalis. The largest reduction (> 75%) in the proteolysis zones produced by three strains of P. gingivalis was obtained with minocycline. Tetracycline and doxycycline also reduced the proteolysis zones. A suboptimal inhibitory concentration of chlorhexidine increased the proteolysis zones by up to 70%. Metronidazole and penicillin G produced no noticeable effect. The suboptimal inhibitory concentrations of minocycline, tetracycline, and doxycyline did not reduce the activity of outer membrane vesicle-associated Arg- and Lys-gingipains. CONCLUSION Results from this study suggest that sublethal concentrations of some antimicrobial agents in subgingival sites have the potential to affect the physiology of P. gingivalis, notably by increasing or decreasing the proteolytic activity of the bacteria.
BRNT: Broadcast Protocol with Road Network Topology for Urban Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks

Many multi-hop broadcast protocols have been proposed in Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs) in order to alleviate the broadcast storm problem. In urban environments, it is important to consider the highly dynamic network topology and the effect of shadowing caused by buildings. Some traditional protocols solve these problems in the way that vehicles near intersections forward packets. However, these protocols can cause data collisions and redundant forwardings since all vehicles near intersections forwards packets. In this paper, we propose Broadcast protocol with Road Network Topology (BRNT). In order to suppress redundant forwardings, BRNT utilizes the connection relationship of adjacent road segments and classifies road segments into groups. According to the groups, BRNT dynamically changes the way of forwarding control. BRNT is able to achieve high reachability and low communication overhead in both dense and sparse networks in urban environments. Simulation results show that our protocol achieves high efficiency and reachability in an urban scenario.
Reductive Debromination of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers by Anaerobic Bacteria from Soils and Sediments

ABSTRACT Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) have attracted attention recently due to their proven adverse effects on animals and their increasing concentrations in various environmental media and biota. To gain insight into the fate of PBDEs, microcosms established with soils and sediments from 28 locations were investigated to determine their debromination potential with an octa-brominated diphenyl ether (octa-BDE) mixture consisting of hexa- to nona-BDEs. Debromination occurred in microcosms containing samples from 20 of the 28 locations when they were spiked with octa-BDE dissolved in the solvent trichloroethene (TCE), which is a potential cosubstrate for stimulating PBDE debromination, and in microcosms containing samples from 11 of the 28 locations when they were spiked with octa-BDE dissolved in nonane. Debromination products ranging from hexa- to mono-BDEs were generated within 2 months. Notably, the toxic tetra-BDEs accounted for 50% of the total product. In sediment-free culture C-N-7* amended with the octa-BDE mixture and nonane (containing 45 nM nona-BDE, 181 nM octa-BDEs, 294 nM hepta-BDE, and 19 nM hexa-BDE) there was extensive debromination of the parent compounds, which produced hexa-BDE (56 nM), penta-BDEs (124 nM), and tetra-BDEs (150 nM) within 42 days, possibly by a metabolic process. A 16S rRNA gene-based analysis revealed that Dehalococcoides species were present in 11 of 14 active microcosms. However, unknown debrominating species in some of the microcosms debrominated the octa-BDE mixture in the absence of other added halogenated electron acceptors (such as TCE). These findings provide information that is useful for assessing microbial reductive debromination of higher brominated PBDEs to less-brominated congeners, a possible source of the more toxic congeners (e.g., penta- and tetra-BDEs) detected in the environment.
The Role of Hormones and Inflammatory Markers in Cognitive Functioning of Schizophrenic Patients.

BACKGROUND In the literature we can find evidence that immunological processes are involved the alterations of cognition in schizophrenic patients. Another factor, which may have an impact on cognitive domains in this clinical group are hormones. OBJECTIVE The objective of this review was to explore studies, in which the role of both immunological and endocrine factors on cognitive functions in schizophrenia are analyzed. METHODS The search of papers covering this topic in PubMed and Google Scholar was performed. RESULTS The studies focusing on this co-relation are not numerous. The role such hormones like cortisol, insulin and sex hormones may be important in the immunomodulatory processes influencing cognition in schizophrenia. CONCLUSIONS More studies are necessary to confirm these possible co-relations.
Development of a 2D scintillating fiber detector for proton radiography

Proton therapy offers the advantages of a superior target dose conformality and lower integral dose over the conventional photon therapy. However, range uncertainties associated with dose calculation approximations, tumor motion, setup variations, etc., present a major concern in proton therapy. In order to address this issue, we are developing a 2 mm resolution scintillating fiber detector with fibers arranged such that they form a 2D matrix that allows the determination of x- and y-position of the proton. By implementing a scheme consisting only of one detector positioned in front of the patient and another detector behind the patient, we can potentially realize a real-time measurement of proton position, direction, and range/energy simultaneously to reconstruct proton radiographs, also eliminating the need to use an additional bulky range telescope or calorimeter which is not appropriate for in vivo clinical use.
Wall-climbing robot for inspection in nuclear power plants

A wall-climbing robot intended for inspection in nuclear power plants has been developed. The robot, small in size and modular, is made up of pneumatic components exclusively. Vacuum suction cups are used for sticking the robot to walls to be climbed. The robot motion, made up of both elementary translations and rotations, are accomplished by means of flexible pneumatic cylinders of rubber, which constitute the body of the mobile robot. A personal computer is used to command robot motion and a microprocessor controls the electronic valves of all pneumatic components. The paper presents the robotic system conceptual design and gives a detailed description of the mobile robot and its motion. <<ETX>>
How Mature is Victorian Local E-Government: An Overall View

The purpose of this empirical study is to analyse the level of maturity of e-government in Victorian local governments. The study will help to determine the extent to which Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) help local governments to provide citizens with more transparent and advanced services and to close the gap between the government and its citizens. Analysis of 30 local government websites was conducted using 52 evaluation variables (items) in a questionnaire. The evaluations were performed from the 1st of March to mid July 2011 on 38% of all Victorian council websites. The results of this study show that e-government initiatives in Victorian local governments have achieved considerable levels of maturity in terms of transparency and interactivity. However, this maturity is hindered by the low level of website usability. The main contribution of this study is that it provides a clear picture about how mature Victorian local government websites are.
Lifestyle medicine: treating the causes of disease.

Recently, at a small gathering in Martha’s Vineyard in support of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, Larry Summers, PhD, economist and director of the White House’s National Economic Council, spoke about our narrow escape from economic depression. Dr Summers also addressed the even larger impending risks to our economy if the costs of healthcare are not successfully addressed now. He was asked how we could control these costs without tackling the root causes of the problem, the fact that most of the chronic diseases that affect 160 million Americans and account for 78% of our healthcare costs are caused by lifestyle and environmental factors—namely our diet, sedentary lifestyle, smoking, chronic
Fundamental properties of the field at the interface between air and a periodic artificial material excited by a line source

An efficient algorithm based on a moment-method formulation is presented for the evaluation of the field produced by a line source at the interface between an air superstrate and a one-dimensional-periodic artificial-material slab. The formulation provides physical insight into the nature of the fields via path deformation in the complex wavenumber plane. From an asymptotic analysis in the complex wavenumber plane it is found that the space wave produced by a line source consists of an infinite number of space harmonics that decay algebraically as x/sup -3/2/. Guided modes may also exist and be excited, including leaky modes.