Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessing needs, fostering development: UNESCO, illiteracy and the global politics of education (1945–1960)

ABSTRACT In the aftermath of the World War II, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) launched an ambitious campaign to improve access to education and to fight illiteracy worldwide. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 had legitimised international action to raise educational and living standards in the ‘underdeveloped’ areas of the world, many of which were still under colonial rule. Based on primary archival material, this article sheds light on UNESCO’s efforts to assess educational levels in these territories, notably by collecting, standardising and processing data and statistics. The analysis shows how the work UNESCO undertook to measure inequalities contributed to the reappraisal of the economic and social role of literacy thus laying the foundations of a number of pedagogical programmes designed for developing countries. The limits of UNESCO’s global policies are also considered. Against the background of the Cold War and decolonisation, UNESCO’s assessment of educational needs in colonial areas raised highly political problems, which significantly affected the global concern for the right to education.
An Update on Post-infectious Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Role of Genetics, Immune Activation, Serotonin and Altered Microbiome

The literature on post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is reviewed with special emphasis on recent new data. Further accounts of this phenomenon continue to be reported following a range of infections including giardiasis as well as viral and bacterial gastroenteritis. Risk factors such as severity of initial illness, female gender together with adverse psychological factors have been confirmed. Recent evidence of a genetic predisposition needs replication. Animal studies suggest activation of mast cells and inflammation driven impairment of serotonin transporter may be important, which are findings supported by some recent human studies in IBS with diarrhoea. Experimentally induced inflammation leads to damage and remodelling of enteric nerves. Similar changes have been reported in IBS patients with increase in nerves expressing transient receptor potential cation channel V1. While changes in microbiota are very likely this area has yet to be explored using modern techniques. Since the prognosis is for slow improvement, treatments should currently target the key symptoms of diarrhoea and abdominal pain. Future therapies aimed at correcting underlying mechanisms including immune activation and serotonin excess are currently being explored and may provide better treatments in the future.
de Travail du Centre d ’ Economie de la Sorbonne Debt-Deflation versus the Liquidity Trap : The Dilemma of Nonconventional Monetary Policy

This paper examines quantity-targeting monetary policy in a two-period economy with fiat money, endogenously incomplete markets of financial securities, durable goods and production. Short positions in financial assets and long-term loans are backed by collateral, the value of which depends on monetary policy. The decision to default is endogenous and depends on the relative value of the collateral to the loan. We show that Collateral Monetary Equilibria exist and prove there is also a refinement of the Quantity Theory of Money that turns out to be compatible with the long-run non-neutrality of money. Moreover, only three scenarios are compatible with the equilibrium condition: 1) either the economy enters a liquidity trap in the first period; 2) or a credible expansionary monetary policy accompanies the orderly functioning of markets at the cost of running an inflationary risk; 3) else the money injected by the Central Bank increases the leverage of indebted investors, fueling a financial bubble whose bursting leads to debt-deflation in the next period with a non-zero probability. This dilemma of monetary policy highlights the default channel affecting trades and production, and provides a rigorous foundation to Fisher’s debt deflation theory as being distinct from Keynes’ liquidity trap.
EVALUATION OF ANTI-ULCER ACTIVITY OF Momordica Charantia IN RATS

Momordica charantia (Cucurbitaceae) is a plant, reported for its variety of ethnic medicinal uses. Hence we have planned to screen antiulcer activity of fruit of the plant with the alcoholic and aqueous extracts. Fruit powder successively extracted with alcohol and water were subjected for phytochemical screening to identify different phytoconstituents. Ld50 studies for both (alcoholic and aqueous) extracts were conducted upto the dose level of 2 g /kg by following OECD up and down method of guidelines No.425. Anti ulcer activity was evaluated in various animal models like Pylorus ligation , aspirin, Stress induced ulcer models in rats. Preliminary phytochemical studies revealed the presence of saponins, sterols, mucilage, glycosides, alkaloids, steroidal saponins in both the alcoholic and aqueous extracts of M.charantia. No mortality was observed with any of the 2 extracts up to the maximum dose level of 2 g/kg. Further alcoholic and aqueous extracts at 200 and 400 mg/kg, p.o but not with 100 mg/kg p.o doses significantly (P < 0.01) reduced the ulcer score, ulcer number, ulcer index, free acidity and total acidity in Pylorus ligation , aspirin, Stress induced ulcer models in rats.The present study revealed the antiulcer activity of fruit extracts of M.charantia and the activities are due to the presence of phytochemical constituents such as saponins, sterols, mucilage, glycoside, alkaloids, steroidal saponins as these phytochemical constituents were already reported for the above mentioned effects.
(Do Not) Track Me Sometimes: Users’ Contextual Preferences for Web Tracking

Abstract Online trackers compile profiles on users for targeting ads, customizing websites, and selling users’ information. In this paper, we report on the first detailed study of the perceived benefits and risks of tracking-and the reasons behind them-conducted in the context of users’ own browsing histories. Prior work has studied this in the abstract; in contrast, we collected browsing histories from and interviewed 35 people about the perceived benefits and risks of online tracking in the context of their own browsing behavior. We find that many users want more control over tracking and think that controlled tracking has benefits, but are unwilling to put in the effort to control tracking or distrust current tools. We confirm previous findings that users’ general attitudes about tracking are often at odds with their comfort in specific situations. We also identify specific situational factors that contribute to users’ preferences about online tracking and explore how and why. Finally, we examine a sample of popular tools for controlling tracking and show that they only partially address the situational factors driving users’ preferences.We suggest opportunities to improve such tools, and explore the use of a classifier to automatically determine whether a user would be comfortable with tracking on a particular page visit; our results suggest this is a promising direction for future work.
A SYSTEMATIC SEARCH FOR COROTATING INTERACTION REGIONS IN APPARENTLY SINGLE GALACTIC WOLF–RAYET STARS. I. CHARACTERIZING THE VARIABILITY

We present the results of a systematic search for large-scale spectroscopic variability in apparently single Wolf–Rayet (WR) stars brighter than v ∼ 12.5. In this first paper we characterize the various forms of variability detected and distinguish several separate groups. For each star in our sample, we obtained 4–5 high-resolution spectra with signal-to-noise ratio ∼100. Our ultimate goal is to identify new candidates presenting variability that potentially comes from corotating interaction regions (CIRs). Out of a sample of 25 stars, 10 were found to display large-scale changes of which four are of CIR-type (WR 1, WR 115, WR 120, and WR 134). The star WR 134 was already known to show such changes from previous studies. Three WN8 stars present a different type of large-scale variability and we believe deserve a group of their own. Also, all three WC9d stars in our sample present large-scale variability, but it remains to be checked if these are binaries, as many dust-making WR stars are double. Finally, of the remaining stars, 10 were found to show small-amplitude spectral changes, which we attribute to normal line-profile variability due to inhomogeneities in the wind, and five were found to show no spectral variability, as far as can be concluded from the data in hand. Follow-up studies are required to identify potential periods for our candidates showing CIR-type changes and eventually estimate a rotation rate for these WR stars.
Coordinated Regulation of Dendrite Arborization by Epigenetic Factors CDYL and EZH2

Dendritic arborization is one of the key determinants of precise circuits for information processing in neurons. Unraveling the molecular mechanisms underlying dendrite morphogenesis is critical to understanding the establishment of neuronal connections. Here, using gain- and loss-of-function approaches, we defined the chromodomain protein and transcription corepressor chromodomain Y-like (CDYL) protein as a negative regulator of dendrite morphogenesis in rat/mouse hippocampal neurons both in vitro and in vivo. Overexpressing CDYL decreased, whereas knocking it down increased, the dendritic complexity of the primary cultured rat neurons. High-throughput DNA microarray screening identified a number of CDYL downstream target genes, including the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Knock-down of CDYL in neuronal cells led to increased expression of BDNF, which is primarily responsible for CDYL's effects on dendrite patterns. Mechanistically, CDYL interacts with EZH2, the catalytic subunit of Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2), directly and recruits the H3K27 methyltransferase activity to the promoter region of the BDNF gene. In doing so, CDYL and EZH2 coordinately restrict dendrite morphogenesis in an interdependent manner. Finally, we found that neural activity increased dendritic complexity through degradation of CDYL protein to unleash its inhibition on BDNF. These results link, for the first time, the epigenetic regulators CDYL and EZH2 to dendrite morphogenesis and might shed new light on our understanding of the regulation of the neurodevelopment.
Estimation of True Serum Thyroglobulin Concentration Using Simultaneous Measurement of Serum Antithyroglobulin Antibody

We investigated the analytical interference of antithyroglobulin antibody (TgAb) to thyroglobulin (Tg) measurement and tried to convert measured Tg concentration to true Tg concentration using a mathematical equation which includes a concentration of TgAb. Methods. Tg was measured by immunoradiometric assay and TgAb by radioimmunoassy. Experimental samples were produced by mixing Tg and TgAb standard solutions or mixing patients' serum with high Tg or high TgAb. Mathematical equations for prediction of expected Tg concentration with measured Tg and TgAb concentrations were deduced. The Tg concentration calculated using the equations was compared with the expected Tg concentration. Results. Measured Tg concentrations of samples having high TgAb were significantly lower than their expected Tg concentration. Magnitude of TgAb interference with the Tg assay showed a positive correlation with concentration of TgAb. Mathematical equations for estimation of expected Tg concentration using measured Tg and TgAb concentrations were successfully deduced and the calculated Tg concentration showed excellent correlation with expected Tg concentration. Conclusions. A mathematic equation for estimation of true Tg concentration using measured Tg and TgAb concentration was deduced. Tg concentration calculated by use of the equation might be more valuable than measured Tg concentration in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer.
Title of Dissertation : THE EFFECT OF DEEP CONVECTION ON TEMPERATURES IN THE TROPICAL TROPOPAUSE LAYER AND ITS IMPLICATIONS TO THE REGULATION OF TOROPICAL LOWER STRATOSPHERIC HUMIDITY

Title of Dissertation: THE EFFECT OF DEEP CONVECTION ON TEMPERATURES IN THE TROPICAL TROPOPAUSE LAYER AND ITS IMPLICATIONS TO THE REGULATION OF TOROPICAL LOWER STRATOSPHERIC HUMIDITY Hyun Cheol Kim, Doctor of Philosophy, 2005 Dissertation directed by: Dr. Andrew E. Dessler Department of Meteorology This dissertation focuses on the impact of deep convection on the thermal structure in the Tropical Tropopause Layer (TTL). Temperatures in this region play an important role in the regulation of water vapor, which in turn affects radiation, chemistry, and dynamics in the lower stratosphere. This dissertation includes two important conclusions concerning the regulation of temperature in the TTL. First, significant cooling near the tropical tropopause is observed during the time when active convection is occurring. A composite technique is used to relate the local temperature anomalies to the evolution of local convection. Temperature profiles are measured by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) onboard the Aqua satellite, and
Cocaine and σ‐1 receptors modulate HIV infection, chemokine receptors, and the HPA axis in the huPBL‐SCID model

Cocaine is associated with an increased risk for, and progression of, clinical disease associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. A human xenograft model, in which human peripheral blood mononuclear cells were implanted into severe combined immunodeficiency mice (huPBL‐SCID) and infected with a HIV reporter virus, was used to investigate the biological interactions between cocaine and HIV infection. Systemic administration of cocaine (5 mg/kg/d) significantly increased the percentage of HIV‐infected PBL (two‐ to threefold) and viral load (100‐ to 300‐fold) in huPBL‐SCID mice. Despite the capacity for cocaine to increase corticosterone and adrenocorticotropic hormone levels in control mice, the hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal axis was suppressed in HIV‐infected animals, and corticosterone levels were further decreased when animals were exposed to HIV and cocaine. Activating huPBL in vitro in the presence of 10−8 M cocaine increased expression of CC chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) and CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) coreceptors. Expression of CCR5 was also increased at early time‐points in the huPBL‐SCID model following systemic exposure to cocaine (54.1±9.4% increase over control, P<0.01). This effect preceded the boost in viral infection and waned as HIV infection progressed. Cocaine has been shown to mediate immunosuppressive effects by activating σ‐1 receptors in immune cells in vitro and in vivo. Consistent with these reports, a selective σ‐1 antagonist, BD1047, blocked the effects of cocaine on HIV replication in the huPBL‐SCID mouse. Our results suggest that systemic exposure to cocaine can enhance HIV infection in vivo by activating σ‐1 receptors and by modulating the expression of HIV coreceptors.
Using Ontology Patterns for Building a Reference Software Testing Ontology

Software testing is a critical process for achieving product quality. Its importance is more and more recognized, and there is a growing concern in improving the accomplishment of this process. In this context, Knowledge Management emerges as an important supporting tool. However, managing relevant knowledge to reuse is difficult and it requires some means to represent and to associate semantics to a large volume of test information. In order to address this problem, we have developed a Reference Ontology on Software Testing (ROost). ROost is built reusing ontology patterns from the Software Process Ontology Pattern Language (SP-OPL). In this paper, we discuss how ROost was developed, and present a fragment of Roost that concerns with software testing process, its activities, artifacts, and procedures.
French Immersion for English Language Learners?: Kindergarten Teachers’ Perspectives

Given the increasingly diverse, multilingual student body in Canada, the call for increased inclusion in education, and in light of research highlighting the potential for inclusion in French immersion (FI) to be limited by gatekeepers, this study examines the beliefs of kindergarten teachers regarding the inclusion of English language learners in French immersion where entry begins in Grade 1. The theory of planned behavior as discussed by Ajzen (2005) served as a theoretical lens through which the data were examined. In particular, through their responses to a mixed format questionnaire, including a 12 item Likert scale of agreement and open-ended questions, kindergarten teachers revealed that a) French immersion is not for everyone, and b) may be disadvantageous to English language learners in particular. The teachers grounded their beliefs in the importance and influence of English on students’ future endeavours. Beliefs that FI is not for all students were supported by the board’s provision of information to parents as revealed by a document analysis. Such findings highlight the need for information sharing on multilingual language acquisition to extend beyond administrators to include parents and additional educators who have the potential to influence parents’ choices for their children.
Evaluation of Satellite-Derived Rainfall Estimates for an Extreme Rainfall Event over Uttarakhand, Western Himalayas

The extreme rainfall event during June 2013 in the Western Himalayas caused widespread flash floods, which triggered landslides, a lake-outburst, and debris flow. For the hydrological study of such an unexpected extreme event, it is essential to have reliable and accurate rainfall predictions based on satellite observations. The mountainous state of Uttarakhand is covered by complex topography, and this state has few, unevenly distributed, rain gauge networks. This unique study was conducted to evaluate three satellite based rainfall products (i.e., TMPA-3B42, Global Satellite Mapping of Precipitation (GSMaP), and NOAA CPC Morphing Technique (CMORPH)) against the observed rain gauge-based India Meteorological Department (IMD) gridded dataset for this rainfall episode. The results from this comprehensive study confirmed that the magnitude of precipitation and peak rainfall intensity were underestimated in TMPA-3B42 and CMORPH against gauge-based IMD data, while GSMaP showed dual trends with under- and over-predictions. From the results of the statistical approach on the determination of error statistic metrics (MAE (mean absolute error), NRMSE (normalized root mean square error), PBIAS (percent bias), and NSE (Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency)) of respective satellite products, it was revealed that TMPA-3B42 predictions were more relevant and accurate compared to predictions from the other two satellite products for this major event. The TMPA-3B42-based rainfall was negatively biased by 18%. Despite these caveats, this study concludes that TMPA-3B42 rainfall was useful for monitoring extreme rainfall event in the region, where rain-gauges are sparse.
High incidence of oncogenic HPV genotypes found in women from Southern Brazil

Oncogenic HPV genotypes are strongly associated with premalignant and malignant cervical lesion. The purpose was to determine human papillomavirus (HPV) prevalence and genotypes, and to estimate cervical cancer risk factor associations. Cervical samples were obtained from 251 women seeking gynecological care at the Pelotas School of Medicine Clinic. This is a cross-sectional study. HPV-DNA was amplified by nested-PCR using MY09/11 and GP5/6 primers, and the sequencing was used for genotyping. Sociodemographic and behavioral risk factors were obtained by closed questionnaire, and its relationship to HPV infection prevalence were analyzed. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 16.0 software, and differences were considered significant at p < 0.05. As results, the prevalence of HPV infection was 29.9%. The most frequent genotype was HPV-16 (41.3%), followed by HPV-18 (17.3%), and HPV-33 (9.3%). Others nine HPV genotypes were also found. On this population, prevalence of oncogenic HPV genotypes was high, but does not seem to confer relationship with the risk factors investigated. Future investigations in larger populations are necessary, for the proposition of more appropriated monitoring strategies and treatment according to the Brazilian health service reality, as well as patients.
A Scalable Parallel Deduplication Algorithm

The identification of replicas in a database is fundamental to improve the quality of the information. Deduplication is the task of identifying replicas in a database that refer to the same real world entity. This process is not always trivial, because data may be corrupted during their gathering, storing or even manipulation. Problems such as misspelled names, data truncation, data input in a wrong format, lack of conventions (like how to abbreviate a name), missing data or even fraud may lead to the insertion of replicas in a database. The deduplication process may be very hard, if not impossible, to be performed manually, since actual databases may have hundreds of millions of records. In this paper, we present our parallel deduplication algorithm, called FER- APARDA. By using probabilistic record linkage, we were able to successfully detect replicas in synthetic datasets with more than 1 million records in about 7 minutes using a 20- computer cluster, achieving an almost linear speedup. We believe that our results do not have similar in the literature when it comes to the size of the data set and the processing time.
Kinematic Analysis of the Cervical Cord and Cervical Canal by Dynamic Neck Motion

Study Design Normal cervical sagittal length patterns were measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Purpose The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship of sagittal length patterns between the cervical cord and the cervical canal in flexion-extension kinematics. Overview of Literature Cervical dynamic factors sometimes cause a cervical spondylotic myelopathy in elderly subjects and an overstretching myelopathy in juvenile subjects. Previous studies showed the length changing of the cervical cord in flexion and extension. However, there is no detailed literature about the relationship between cervical vertebral motion and cord distortion yet. Methods Sixty-two normal subjects (28 male and 34 female, 42.1±8.5 years old) without neck motion disturbances and abnormalities on cervical X-ray and MRI were enrolled in this study. Results The cervical cord length was significantly longer in flexion and significantly shorter in extension in all cervical cord sagittal lines. The cervical canal length pattern was also the same as the cervical cord. The elongation of the cervical cord and canal was the largest at the site of the posterior cervical canal and the shortest at the anterior canal site. The positions of the cerebellar tonsils were verified at each neck position. Conclusions The posterior elements of the cervical canal were most affected by neck motion. Movement directions of the upper cervical cord were verified among the various neck positions.
A Comparison between Internal and External Malicious Traffic

This paper empirically compares malicious traffic originating inside an organization (i.e., internal traffic) with malicious traffic originating outside an organization (i.e., external traffic). Two honeypot target computers were deployed to collect malicious traffic data over a period of fifteen weeks. In the first study we showed that there was a weak correlation between internal and external traffic based on the number of malicious connections. Since the type of malicious activity is linked to the port that was targeted, we focused on the most frequently targeted ports. We observed that internal malicious traffic often contained different malicious content compared to that of external traffic. In the third study, we discovered that the volume of malicious traffic was linked to the day of the week. We showed that internal and external malicious activities differ: where the external malicious activity is quite stable over the week, the internal traffic varied as a function of the users' activity profile.