Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Building reliable test and training collections in information retrieval

Research in Information Retrieval has significantly benefited from the availability of standard test collections and the use of these collections for comparative evaluation of the effectiveness of different retrieval system configurations in controlled laboratory experiments. In an attempt to design large and reliable test collections decisions regarding the assembly of the document corpus, the selection of topics, the formation of relevance judgments and the development of evaluation measures are particularly critical and affect both the cost of the constructed test collections and the effectiveness in evaluating retrieval systems. Furthermore, recently, building retrieval systems has been viewed as a machine learning task resulting in the development of a learning-to-rank methodology widely adopted by the community. It is apparent that the design and construction methodology of learning collections, along with the selection of the evaluation measure to be optimized significantly affects the quality of the resulting retrieval system. In this work we consider the construction of reliable and efficient test and training collections to be used in the evaluation of retrieval systems and in the development of new and effective ranking functions. In the process of building such collections we investigate methods of selecting the appropriate documents and queries to be judged and we proposed evaluation metrics that can better capture the overall effectiveness of the retrieval systems under study.
A segmentation approach based on structured learning for recognition preprocessing

Segmentation of manually written record photos into content material traces and words is a crucial undertaking for optical character acknowledgment. However, for the reason that elements of written by hand record are abnormal and various depending at the character, so far it is considered as a challenging issue. A good way to deal with the hassle, we formulate the word segmentation problem as a binary quadratic undertaking problem that considers pair-wise relationships among the crevices and in addition the probabilities of individual holes. No matter the fact that sever a parameters are covered in this detailing, we gauge all parameters taking into account the based Naive Bayes classifier so that the proposed technique features admirably paying little admire to composing styles and composed dialects without patron characterized parameters. Test effects on ICDAR 2009/2013 penmanship division data-set exhibit that proposed method accomplishes the high-quality in magnificence execution on Latin-primarily based and Indian languages.
Effect of galactose and glucose on the exopolysaccharide production and the activities of biosynthetic enzymes in Lactobacillus casei CRL 87

Aims: The objective of this work was to study the influence of the sugar source on exopolysaccharide (EPS) production and the activities of the enzymes involved in the synthesis of sugar nucleotides in Lactobacillus casei CRL 87. The relationship between these enzymes and EPS formation was determined.
Remission and relapse in psychosis: operational definitions based on case-note data

Background. In psychosis, the prime indicator of outcome has been relapse, but hospital readmission can no longer be used for this purpose. Researchers now require methods for assessing relapse that are objective, blind, reliable and valid. We describe the reliability and validity of such a technique using case-notes. Method. Information from routine clinical notes of participants in the Lambeth Early Onset (LEO) study (less all references that would unblind the assessor) were recorded on a form divided into 1-month sections. Operational definitions of remission and relapse enabled clinicians to identify remissions and relapses blindly from the summary information. We calculated reliability regarding both the fact and the timing of remission and relapse. PANSS ratings at 6 and 18 months provided a measure of validity. Results. The kappa value for the identification of remission by individuals ranged from 0·64 to 0·82, while that for consensus between paired raters was 0·56. The corresponding values for relapse were 0·57–0·59 and 0·71. Intra-class correlations for time to remission and to relapse were very high. Raters guessed correctly whether the participants came from the intervention or control group on 60–75% of occasions. Independent PANSS ratings were strongly related to the remission/relapse status of participants. Conclusions. The reliability of the technique described here was moderate to good, its validity was good, and it provides a useful and timely addition to methods of evaluating remission and relapse in psychosis. On the basis of our experience, we recommend consensus rather than individual ratings.
Rapid Downregulation of Cyclin D1 Induced by Geranylgeranoic Acid in Human Hepatoma Cells

Geranylgeranoic acid (GGA) and its derivatives are currently under development as chemopreventive agents against second primary hepatoma in Japan. We aimed to evaluate chemoprevention targets of GGA and a surrogate marker of chemopreventive response to clarify the molecular mechanism of hepatoma chemoprevention with GGA. Human hepatoma-derived cell lines such as HuH-7, PLC/PRF/5, and HepG-2, were treated with GGA and its derivatives. Cellular dynamics of several cell-cycle-related proteins were assessed by either immunoblotting or immunofluorescence method. The cellular expression of cyclin D1 protein was suppressed immediately after GGA treatment. This reduction was partially blocked by pretreatment with 26S proteasome inhibitor MG-132, indicating that proteasomal degradation was involved in GGA-induced disappearance of cyclin D1. A phosphorylation of retinoblastoma protein (RB) at serine 780, a target site of cyclin D1-dependent kinase 4, was rapidly decreased in GGA-treated HuH-7 cells. Furthermore, subcellular fractionation, Western blotting, and immunofluorescence revealed GGA-induced nuclear accumulation of RB. These results strongly suggest that cyclin D1 may be a target of chemopreventive GGA in human hepatoma cells. GGA-induced rapid repression of cyclin D1, and a consequent dephosphorylation and nuclear translocation of RB, may influence cell cycle progression and may be relevant to GGA-induced cell death mechanisms.
Efficient Stimulation of T Cell Responses by Human IFN-α–induced Dendritic Cells Does Not Require Toll-like Receptor Triggering

Dendritic cells (DC) can be activated by proinflammatory cytokines or upon toll-like receptor (TLR) triggering. These stimuli induce specific patterns of phenotypic modulation and gene expression profiles. We investigated whether TLR triggering represents an indispensable requirement for the induction of T cell responses by human DC generated upon culture of monocytes in the presence of granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor and interferon-α (IFN-DC). As model stimulator we chose imidazoquinolone (3M-001), a synthetic TLR7 agonist used in the treatment of skin infections and tumors and as experimental adjuvant. At difference with DC generated upon culture of monocytes in the presence of granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor and interleukin (IL-4) (IL-4–DC), IFN-DC display a semimature phenotype. Furthermore, IFN-DC, but not IL-4–DC are able to induce CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses, in steady state, for example, in the absence of TLR triggering. 3M-001 treatment induces up-regulation of the surface expression of costimulatory molecules and “de novo” production of IL-12 and IL-6 in IFN-DC. However, TLR7 triggering fails to significantly enhance the capacity of IFN-DC to induce antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes and to stimulate allogeneic CD4+ T cells. These data indicate that TLR engagement and IL-12 production do not represent indispensable prerequisites for optimal antigen-presenting cell function in IFN-DC, qualifying these cells as powerful cellular reagents of potential use in active specific immunotherapy.
Performance analysis of IEEE 802.11ac/ax WLAN technologies under the presence of CFO

In the recent twenty years, numerous IEEE 802.11 technologies have been developed for Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) connectivity. The common point of these technologies is that the latest IEEE 802.11 version has always several advanced features compared to its predecessor. IEEE 802.11ax is one of the upcoming technologies, primarily developed for the Industrial, Security and Medical (ISM) band. IEEE 802.11ax is planned to be released in 2019 and extend the features of IEEE 802.11ac. This paper presents a simulation-based performance analysis of the IEEE 802.11ac/ax technologies on the physical layer (PHY) level. The transmitter and receiver models of both technologies have been implemented and tested in MATLAB. Furthermore, this work explores IEEE 802.11ac/ax performance degradation that may be caused by carrier frequency offset (CFO). Results show lower resistance of IEEE 802.11ax against CFO.
Rhythmic neuronal activity in S2 somatosensory and insular cortices contribute to the initiation of absence‐related spike‐and‐wave discharges

Purpose: The origin of bilateral synchronous spike‐and‐wave discharges (SWDs) that underlie absence seizures has been widely debated. Studies in genetic rodent models suggest that SWDs originate from a restricted region in the somatosensory cortex. The properties of this initiation site remain unknown. Our goal was to characterize the interictal, preictal and ictal neuronal activity in the primary and secondary cortical regions (S1, S2) and in the adjacent insular cortex (IC) in Genetic Absence Epilepsy Rats from Strasbourg (GAERS).
Donor or Recipient Origin of Posttransplant Lymphoproliferative Disorders Following Solid Organ Transplantation

Previous studies of donor or recipient origin of posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLDs) following solid organ transplantation (SOT) have either been small or with selected patient groups. We studied tumor origin in a population‐based cohort of 93 patients with PTLD following SOT. Tumor origin of PTLD tissue was analyzed by fluorescence in situ hybridization of the sex chromosomes in cases of sex mismatch between donor and recipient (n = 41), or HLA genotyping in cases of identical sex but different HLA type (n = 52). Tumor origin of PTLD could be determined in 67 of the 93 cases. All 67 PTLDs were of recipient origin. They were found in recipients of kidney (n = 38), liver (n = 12), heart (n = 10) and lung (n = 7). The most common recipient‐derived lymphomas were monomorphic B‐cell PTLDs (n = 45), monomorphic T cell PTLDs (n = 9), indolent lymphomas (n = 6), and polymorphic PTLD (n = 4). Half of the recipient‐derived PTLDs were Epstein–Barr virus‐positive. Twelve of the recipient‐derived PTLDs were located in the grafts: in four cases exclusively and in eight cases in combination with disseminated disease outside the graft. Tumor origin was indeterminable in 26 cases, probably due to low DNA quality. We conclude that the vast majority of PTLDs after SOT was of recipient origin.
The effects of depression and chronic pain on psychosocial and physical functioning.

OBJECTIVE The present study employed causal modeling to examine the impact of somatic and cognitive symptoms of depression on the functioning of patients with chronic pain. DESIGN Path analyses were conducted to determine whether pain level is directly related to the psychosocial and physical dimensions of functional status or whether this relationship is mediated by depression. SETTING Subjects were recruited from a facial pain clinic at the University of Florida, an outpatient clinic associated with a tertiary-care health center. PATIENTS Subjects were 70 patients with chronic pain, 53 of whom had primary facial pain. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES All subjects completed a packet of self-report questionnaires, including the Beck Depression Inventory, McGill Pain Questionnaire, and Sickness Impact Profile. RESULTS Results of path analyses indicated that both somatic and cognitive symptoms of depression significantly correlate with psychosocial functioning even after controlling for the effects of pain level, trait anxiety, and trait anger. Somatic symptoms of depression were significantly correlated with physical functioning after pain level, anxiety and anger were controlled. CONCLUSIONS This study indicates that depression is directly related to both the physical and the psychosocial functioning of facial pain patients, while self-reported level of pain is not. A better understanding of the impact of depression on chronic pain and the relationship of these two disorders could lead to improved assessment and treatment of chronic pain disorders.
SABIN: A Resampling-Based Learning Algorithm for Idle State Identification in Asynchronous Brain-Computer Interfaces

This article presents a robust method for decoding mental states from non-invasive electroencephalographic signals. We particularly address two issues related to asynchronous Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs). First our method based on robust learning goes beyond the usual assumption that subjects perform mental tasks with a constant accuracy along each whole trial. We show that the combination of linear spatial filtering and resampling-based learning increases robustness and classification accuracy. Second the idle state identification issue in BCI is studied. We demonstrate that its explicit definition using data recorded between trials improves mental states decoding. Using dataset 1 of the BCI Competition IV (2008), in which four healthy subjects were involved in an asynchronous BCI experiment, our algorithm is shown to outperform state-of-the-art methods. We hope that questions raised in this paper could help designing robust BCI systems.
A design of low complex log likelihood ratio for MIMO decoder using the bit shift

In Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) decoders, soft decision in the form of Log Likelihood Ratio (LLR) is often used to enhance the error correction probability of the Forward Error Correction (FEC). In order to compute the LLR, the zero's probability and the one's probability of an information bit must be known. In case of using the K-best maximum likelihood detection (MLD), only a subset of constellation nodes is considered for computing the LLR. Which results in cases where values of information bit corresponding to the selected nodes are all zero (or one). In those cases, the one's (or zero's) probability cannot be found. In other words, conventional method calculates LLR approximation with maximum value calculation, but it is high complex. In this paper, we propose a design of MIMO decoder using LLR approximation with low complexity achieved by approximating the maximum value calculation. Our proposed method approximates LLR using the bit shift of the minimum value already calculated. The Bit Error Rate (BER) performance of the IEEE 802.11ac system and ASIC synthesis results of the 4×4 K-best MLD when using these two methods are shown and analyzed. As a result, our proposed design can reduce 27% of the circuit size and the power consumption while maintaining the BER performance of the conventional method.
Sphingolipid Distribution, Content and Gene Expression during Olive-Fruit Development and Ripening

Plant sphingolipids are involved in the building of the matrix of cell membranes and in signaling pathways of physiological processes and environmental responses. However, information regarding their role in fruit development and ripening, a plant-specific process, is unknown. The present study seeks to determine whether and, if so, how sphingolipids are involved in fleshy-fruit development and ripening in an oil-crop species such as olive (Olea europaea L. cv. Picual). Here, in the plasma-membranes of live protoplasts, we used fluorescence to examine various specific lipophilic stains in sphingolipid-enriched regions and investigated the composition of the sphingolipid long-chain bases (LCBs) as well as the expression patterns of sphingolipid-related genes, OeSPT, OeSPHK, OeACER, and OeGlcCerase, during olive-fruit development and ripening. The results demonstrate increased sphingolipid content and vesicle trafficking in olive-fruit protoplasts at the onset of ripening. Moreover, the concentration of LCB [t18:1(8Z), t18:1 (8E), t18:0, d18:2 (4E/8Z), d18:2 (4E/8E), d18:1(4E), and 1,4-anhydro-t18:1(8E)] increases during fruit development to reach a maximum at the onset of ripening, although these molecular species decreased during fruit ripening. On the other hand, OeSPT, OeSPHK, and OeGlcCerase were expressed differentially during fruit development and ripening, whereas OeACER gene expression was detected only at the fully ripe stage. The results provide novel data about sphingolipid distribution, content, and biosynthesis/turnover gene transcripts during fleshy-fruit ripening, indicating that all are highly regulated in a developmental manner.
Autoimmune pancreatitis: imaging features.

PURPOSE To retrospectively determine imaging findings in patients with autoimmune pancreatitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty-nine patients (25 male and four female; mean age, 56 years; range, 15-82 years) with histopathologic diagnosis of autoimmune pancreatitis were examined. Data were reviewed by two radiologists in consensus. Imaging findings for review included those from helical computed tomography (CT), 25 patients; magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with MR cholangiopancreatography (MRCP), four patients; endoscopic ultrasonography (US), 21 patients; endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), 19 patients; and percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography, one patient. Images were analyzed for appearances of pancreas, biliary and pancreatic ducts, and other findings, such as peripancreatic inflammation, encasement of vessels, mass effect, pancreatic calcification, peripancreatic nodes, and peripancreatic fluid collection. Follow-up images were available in nine patients. Serologic markers such as serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) and antinuclear antibody levels were available in 12 patients. RESULTS CT showed diffuse (n = 14) and focal (n = 7) enlargement of pancreas. Seven patients had minimal peripancreatic stranding, with lack of vascular encasement, calcification, or peripancreatic fluid collection. Nine patients had enlarged peripancreatic lymph nodes. MR imaging showed focal (n = 2) and diffuse (n = 2) enlargement with rimlike enhancement in one. MRCP revealed pancreatic duct strictures in two and sclerosing cholangitis-like appearance in one. Endoscopic US showed diffuse enlargement of pancreas with altered echotexture in 13 patients and focal mass in the head in six. ERCP showed stricture of distal common bile duct in 12 patients, irregular narrowing of intrahepatic ducts in six, diffuse irregular narrowing of pancreatic duct in nine, and focal stricture of proximal pancreatic duct in six. Serologic markers showed increased IgG and antinuclear antibody levels in seven of 12 patients. At follow-up, CT abnormalities and common bile duct strictures resolved after steroid therapy in three patients. CONCLUSION Features that suggest autoimmune pancreatitis include focal or diffuse pancreatic enlargement, with minimal peripancreatic inflammation and absence of vascular encasement or calcification at CT and endoscopic US, and diffuse irregular narrowing of main pancreatic duct, with associated multiple biliary strictures at ERCP.
Early Outcomes of Group B Streptococcal Meningitis in the 21st Century

Background: Group B streptococcal (GBS) meningitis is diagnosed less frequently than in the 1970s and 1980s. There are few contemporary data regarding outcomes from GBS meningitis and factors that might predict an adverse outcome. Methods: A retrospective evaluation was conducted of term and near-term infants (≥36 weeks' gestation) with GBS meningitis hospitalized at Texas Children's Hospital from 1998 to 2006 to assess outcomes and to define features predictive of adverse outcomes. Results: Six infants had early-onset (<7 days) meningitis and 47 had late-onset (≥7 days) GBS meningitis. Three infants died. Infants received broad-spectrum antibiotics initially and then penicillin (68%), ampicillin (28%), or cefotaxime (4%) for a mean of 21 (range, 15–44) days. Among survivors, 11 (22%) were neurologically impaired at hospital discharge with manifestations including persistent seizures (10), hypertonicity (9), and dysphagia (3). The 14 infants who died or had adverse outcomes at hospital discharge were more likely to present with seizures within hours of admission (P < 0.001), have coma or semicoma (P < 0.001), require pressor support (P = 0.001), and have an initial cerebrospinal fluid protein ≥300 mg/dL (P = 0.005) or glucose <20 mg/dL (P = 0.03) than were the 39 with infants with normal neurologic examinations. Seizures at admission remained a significant risk factor (P = 0.024) by multivariate analysis. Conclusions: Despite advances in intensive care, 26% of term and near-term infants with GBS meningitis die or have neurologic impairment at hospital discharge. Additional strategies to prevent GBS meningitis are needed.
Large-Scale Analysis of Neural Stem Cells and Progenitor Cells

The past few years have seen remarkable progress in our understanding of stem cell biology. The wealth of genomic data and the multiplicity of sources have enabled researchers to begin to profile stem cells in detail. In this paper we describe the biological and technical controls necessary to obtain reliable data and the relative merits of various large-scale analytical techniques including microarray, expressed sequence tag enumeration, serial analysis of gene expression and massively parallel signature sequencing. We suggest that while much has been learned, additional information remains to be gleaned by meta-analysis of existing data.
A Novel Ca2+ Entry Mechanism Is Turned On during Growth Arrest Induced by Ca2+ Pool Depletion (*)

Ca2+ pool depletion with Ca2+ pump blockers induces growth arrest of rapidly dividing DDT1MF-2 smooth muscle cells and causes cells to enter a stable, quiescent G0-like growth state (Short, A. D., Bian, J., Ghosh, T. K., Waldron, R. T., Rybak, S. L., and Gill, D. L.(1993) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 90, 4986-4990). Here we reveal that induction of this quiescent growth state with the Ca2+ pump blocker, thapsigargin, is correlated with the appearance of a novel caffeine-activated Ca2+ influx mechanism. Ca2+ influx through this mechanism is clearly distinct from and additive with Ca2+ entry through store-operated channels (SOCs). Whereas SOC-mediated entry is activated seconds after Ca2+ pool release, caffeine-sensitive influx requires at least 30 min of pool emptying. Although activated in the 1-10 mM caffeine range, this mechanism has clearly distinct methylxanthine specificity from ryanodine receptors and is not modified by ryanodine. It is also unaffected by the Ca2+ channel blockers SKF96365 or verapamil and is independent of modifiers of cyclic nucleotide levels. Growth arrest by thapsigargin-induced Ca2+ pool depletion can be reversed by treatment with 20% serum (Waldron, R. T., Short, A. D., Meadows, J. J., Ghosh, T. K., and Gill, D. L.(1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269, 11927-11933). The serum-induced return of functional Ca2+ pools and reentry of cells into the cell cycle correlates exactly with the disappearance of the caffeine-sensitive Ca2+ influx mechanism. Therefore, appearance and function of this novel Ca2+ entry mechanism are closely tied to Ca2+ pool function and cell growth state and may provide an important means for modifying exit from or entry into the cell cycle.