Does Character-level Information Always Improve DRS-based Semantic Parsing?

Even in the era of massive language models, it has been suggested that character-level representations improve the performance of neural models. The state-of-the-art neural semantic parser for Discourse Representation Structures uses character-level representations, improving performance in the four languages (i.e., English, German, Dutch, and Italian) in the Parallel Meaning Bank dataset. However, how and why character-level information improves the parser's performance remains unclear. This study provides an in-depth analysis of performance changes by order of character sequences. In the experiments, we compare F1-scores by shuffling the order and randomizing character sequences after testing the performance of character-level information. Our results indicate that incorporating character-level information does not improve the performance in English and German. In addition, we find that the parser is not sensitive to correct character order in Dutch. Nevertheless, performance improvements are observed when using character-level information.Comment: 10 pages. To appear in the 12th Joint Conference on Lexical and Computational Semantics (*SEM 2023) with ACL202

Role of Sulforaphane in Protection of Gastrointestinal Tract Against H. pylori and NSAID-Induced Oxidative Stress

Background: Sulforaphane (SFN), a phytochemical found in abundance in broccoli sprouts, potently induces a variety of antioxidant enzymes, and thereby protects cells from injury induced by various kinds of oxidative stresses. It has been suggested that both H. pylori infection and intake of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) induce chronic oxidative stress in gastrointestinal (GI) mucosa, thereby causing mucosal injury in the GI tract. Therefore, it would be a reasonable assumption that SFN protects GI mucosa against oxidative injury induced by H. pylori or NSAIDs.Methods: We examined the effects of SFN on H. pylori viability in vitro, levels of gastritis in H.pylori-infected mice in vivo, and in H.pylori-infected human subjects. We also examined the effects of SFN on NSAID-induced small intestinal injury in mice.Results: Our data from the H. pylori infection study clearly demonstrated that SFN inhibited H. pylori viability both in vitro and in vivo, and mitigated H. pylori-induced gastritis in mice and humans. Similarly, our study on NSAID-induced small intestinal injury showed that SFN not only mitigated aspirin-induced injury of small intestinal epithelial cells in vitro, but also ameliorated indomethacin-induced small intestinal injury in mice in vivo.Conclusions: These data strongly suggest that SFN contributes to the protection of GI mucosa against oxidative injury induced by H. pylori or NSAIDs

Anti-allergic effects of Lactobacillus crispatus KT-11 strain on ovalbumin-sensitized BALB/c mice

The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.comIn this study, we investigated the effects of oral ingestion of Lactobacillus crispatus KT-11 strain (KT-11) on the immune response in an allergic rhinitis mouse model, ovalbumin (OVA)-sensitized BALB/c mice. Sneezing activity in mice that were administered a KT-11-supplemented diet was significantly lower than that in mice administered a KT-11-free diet (control diet) at age 11 weeks. We found that serum OVA-specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels and total number of interleukin (IL)-4+CD4+ spleen cells in mice that were administered a KT-11-supplemented diet were significantly lower than in mice administered a control diet. The ratio of spleen interferon-gamma+CD4+/IL-4+CD4+ cells was higher in the mice administered the KT-11-supplemented diet compared to that in mice administered the control or L. rhamnosus GG-supplemented diet. In contrast, the number of CD11b+CD80+ and Fc epsilon RI alpha+CD117+ cells was significantly lower in mice administered the KT-11-supplemented diet. These results suggested that KT-11 reduced OVA-induced allergic symptoms in BALB/c mice via the adjustment of the T helper type 1/T helper type 2 balance, and a decrease in the number of antigen-presenting cells and high affinity IgE receptor-positive mast cells.ArticleANIMAL SCIENCE JOURNAL. 81(6):699-705 (2010)journal articl