In this paper we describe the use of QE, a framework that aims to obtain predictions on the quality of translations, to improve the performance of machine translation (MT) systems without changing their internal functioning. We apply QE to experiments with: i. multiple system translation ranking, where translations produced by different MT systems are ranked according to their estimated q...

Introduction: One of the most common problems we confront in orthodontic therapy is periodontal diseases. Initial factor which causes these diseases is colonization of anaerobic microorganisms in subgingival plaque. Technically, local environmental changes related to orthodontic band and brackets may influence the bacterial species in periodontal plaque. However, it seems necessary to assess va...

INTRODUCTION MicroRNAs are small, non coding regulatory molecules containing approximately 21 to 25 nucleotides. They function as controllers of expression at post transcriptional levels of most human protein-coding genes and play an essential role in cell signaling pathways. The objective of the present study is to evaluate the expression profile of the following micro-RNAs: miR-10b, miR-17, m...

BACKGROUND Interleukin (IL)-23 and IL-27 are two IL-12-related cytokines which their function may dramatically influence the inflammatory response to tumor development. IL-12 and IL-27 seem to have antagonistic roles with IL-23 in tumor site. In this study, IL-23 and IL-27 mRNA expressions were analyzed in peripheral blood of patients with breast cancer and healthy volunteers using quantitative...

BACKGROUND Aberrant expression of tumor suppressor genes may correspond to the abnormal cell development and tumorigenesis. Rbl2/p130, a member of retinoblastoma family of proteins, has growth suppressive properties. Numerous studies reported de-regulation of Rbl2/p130 in various types of cancer as a consequence of a number of genetic alterations. However, role of epigenetic mechanisms like DNA...

This work addresses the problem of cheating prevention in secret sharing. The scheme is said to be k-cheating immune if any group of k cheaters has no advantage over honest participants. In this paper we study the constraints of cheating immune secret sharing schemes. We give a necessary and sufficient condition for SSSs to be cheating immune. Then, we improve the upper bound of D’Arco et. al o...