Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gender in Transnationalism: Home, Longing and Belonging Among Moroccan Migrant Women

1. Introduction 2. Ambivalent Frontiers: Moroccan Women, Transnational Migration and Nation-States 3. Constructing Self and Home between Italy and Morocco 4. The Transnational Division of Ritual Space: Reformulating 'Tradition' and 'Modernity' 5. Migration, Islam and Modernities 6. Narrating the Self, Narrating the Other: Shifting Boundaries of Culture and Identity 7. (De)constructing Citizenship: Cultural Difference and Migrants' Rights in Italy 8. Conclusions
Resurgent Na+ current in pyramidal neurones of rat perirhinal cortex: axonal location of channels and contribution to depolarizing drive during repetitive firing

The perirhinal cortex (PRC) is a supra‐modal cortical area that collects and integrates information originating from uni‐ and multi‐modal neocortical regions and directed to the hippocampus. The mechanisms that underlie the specific excitable properties of the different PRC neuronal types are still largely unknown, and their elucidation may be important in understanding the integrative functions of PRC. In this study we investigated the expression and properties of resurgent Na+ current (INaR) in pyramidal neurones of rat PRC area 35 (layer II). Patch‐clamp experiments in acute PRC slices were first carried out. A measurable INaR was expressed by a large majority of neurones (31 out of 35 cells). INaR appeared as an inward, slowly decaying current elicited upon step repolarization after depolarizations sufficient to induce nearly complete inactivation of the transient Na+ current (INaT). INaR had a peak amplitude of ∼2.5% that of INaT, and showed the typical biophysical properties also observed in other neuronal types (i.e. cerebellar Purkinje and granule cells), including a bell‐shaped current–voltage relationship with a peak at approximately −40 mV, and a characteristic acceleration of activation and decay speed at potentials negative to −45 mV. Current‐clamp experiments were then carried out in which repetitive action‐potential discharge at various frequencies was induced with depolarizing current injection. The voltage signals thus obtained were then used as command waveforms for voltage‐clamp recordings. These experiments showed that a Na+ current identifiable as INaR activates in the early interspike phase even at relatively high firing frequencies (20 Hz), thereby contributing to the depolarizing drive and possibly enhancing repetitive discharge. In acutely dissociated area 35 layer II neurones, as well as in nucleated patches from the same neurones, INaR was never observed, despite the presence of typical INaTs. Since in both preparations neuronal processes are lost, we carried out experiments of focal tetrodotoxin (TTX) application in slices to verify whether the channels responsible for INaR are located in compartment(s) different from the soma. We found that TTX preferentially inhibited INaR when applied close to the site of axon emergence from soma, whereas application to the apical pole of the soma had a significantly smaller effect on INaR. Our results indicate that in area 35 pyramidal cells INaR is largely generated in the axon initial segment, where it may participate in setting the coding properties of these neurones.
Millimeter Wave MIMO Channel Estimation Using Overlapped Beam Patterns and Rate Adaptation

This paper is concerned with the channel estimation problem in millimeter wave (mmWave) wireless systems with large antenna arrays. By exploiting the inherent sparse nature of the mmWave channel, we first propose a fast channel estimation (FCE) algorithm based on a novel overlapped beam pattern design, which can increase the amount of information carried by each channel measurement compared to the existing nonoverlapped designs and thus reduce the required channel estimation time. We develop a maximum likelihood estimator to optimally extract the path information from the channel measurements. Then, we propose a novel rate-adaptive channel estimation (RACE) algorithm, which can dynamically adjust the number of channel measurements based on the expected probability of estimation error (PEE). The performance of both proposed algorithms is analyzed. For the FCE algorithm, an approximate closed-form expression for the PEE is derived. For the RACE algorithm, a lower bound for the minimum signal energy-to-noise ratio required for a given number of channel measurements is developed based on the Shannon-Hartley theorem. Simulation results show that the FCE algorithm significantly reduces the number of channel estimation measurements compared to the existing algorithms using nonoverlapped beam patterns. By adopting the RACE algorithm, we can achieve up to a 6 dB gain in signal energy-to-noise ratio for the same PEE compared to the existing algorithms.
VLSI Implementation of Fully Parallel LTE Turbo Decoders

Turbo codes facilitate near-capacity transmission throughputs by achieving a reliable iterative forward error correction. However, owing to the serial data dependence imposed by the logarithmic Bahl-Cocke-Jelinek-Raviv algorithm, the limited processing throughputs of the conventional turbo decoder implementations impose a severe bottleneck upon the overall throughputs of real-time communication schemes. Motivated by this, we recently proposed a floating-point fully parallel turbo decoder (FPTD) algorithm, which eliminates the serial data dependence, allowing parallel processing and hence significantly reducing the number of clock cycles required. In this paper, we conceive a technique for reducing the critical datapath of the FPTD, and we propose a novel fixed-point version as well as its very large scale integration (VLSI) implementation. We also propose a novel technique, which allows the FPTD to also decode shorter frames employing compatible interleaver patterns. We strike beneficial tradeoffs amongst the latency, core area, and energy consumption by investigating the minimum bit widths and techniques for message log-likelihood ratio scaling and state metric normalization. Accordingly, the design flow and design tradeoffs considered in this paper are also applicable to other fixed-point implementations of error correction decoders. We demonstrate that upon using Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) 65-nm low-power technology for decoding the longest long-term evolution frames (6144 b) received over an additive white Gaussian noise channel having Eb/N0 = 1 dB, the proposed fixed-point FPTD VLSI achieves a processing throughput of 21.9 Gb/s and a processing latency of 0.28 μs. These results are 17.1 times superior to those of the state-of-the-art benchmarker. Furthermore, the proposed fixed-point FPTD VLSI achieves an energy consumption of 2.69 μJ/frame and a normalized core area of 5 mm2/Gb/s, which are 34% and 23% lower than those of the benchmarker, respectively.
Injury to endothelial cells by phagocytosing polymorphonuclear leukocytes and modulatory role of lipoxygenase products

Phagocytosis of microorganisms by polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) is accompanied by inadvertent extracellular release of microbicidal products; this could result in tissue damage. We investigated whether PMN damages endothelial cells when phagocytosis of Staphylococcus aureus occurs on the endothelial surface and how this damage might be modulated. Damage was assayed by the measurement of cell detachment or cell lysis of cultured endothelial cells that were radiolabeled with 51Cr. Uptake of bacteria was accompanied by nonlytic detachment of endothelial cells from the monolayer. This effect was inhibited by alpha-1-antitrypsin but remained unaffected by scavengers of toxic oxygen species. During phagocytosis, PMN adhered to the endothelial cells. Adherence could be prevented by inhibition of the lipoxygenase pathway of arachidonic acid metabolism of the PMN with nordihydroguaiaretic acid. This inhibition also resulted in a marked decrease of the detaching activity of the PMN. The addition of exogenous leukotriene B4 during phagocytosis greatly enhanced the damage to the endothelial monolayer. These results indicate that phagocytosis of staphylococci by PMN is accompanied by injury to endothelial cell monolayers due to released lysosomal proteases and that products of the lipoxygenase pathway of PMN play a modulatory role in this injury.
Recognizing Point Clouds Using Conditional Random Fields

Detecting objects in cluttered scenes is a necessary step for many robotic tasks and facilitates the interaction of the robot with its environment. Because of the availability of efficient 3D sensing devices as the Kinect, methods for the recognition of objects in 3D point clouds have gained importance during the last years. In this paper, we propose a new supervised learning approach for the recognition of objects from 3D point clouds using Conditional Random Fields, a type of discriminative, undirected probabilistic graphical model. The various features and contextual relations of the objects are described by the potential functions in the graph. Our method allows for learning and inference from unorganized point clouds of arbitrary sizes and shows significant benefit in terms of computational speed during prediction when compared to a state-of-the-art approach based on constrained optimization.
BSG-Route: A length-matching router for general topology

Length-matching routing is a very important issue for PCB routing. Previous length-matching routers [1]-[3] all have assumptions on the routing topology whereas practical designs may be free of any topological constraint. In this paper, we propose a router that deals with general topology. Unlike previous routers, our router does not impose any restriction on the routing topology. Moreover, our router is gridless. Its performance does not depend on the routing grid size of the input while routers do. This is a big advantage because modern PCB routing configurations usually imply huge routing grids. The novelty of this work is that we view the length-matching routing problem as an area assignment problem and use a placement structure, Bounded-Sliceline Grid (BSG), to help solving the problem. Experimental results show that our router can handle practical designs that previous routers canpsilat handle. For designs that they could handle, our router runs much faster. For example, in one of our data, we obtain the result in 88 seconds while the router takes more than one day.
The Depression Schema: How Labels, Features, and Causal Explanations Affect Lay Conceptions of Depression

Depression is a common clinical disorder characterized by a complex web of psychological, behavioral, and neurological causes and symptoms. Here we investigate everyday beliefs and attitudes about depression, as well as the factors that shape the depression schemas people hold. In each of three studies, participants read about a person experiencing several symptoms of depression and answered questions about their conception of the disorder. In some cases the symptoms were presented in isolation while in other cases the symptoms were presented with a diagnostic label and/or descriptions of its possible causes (e.g., genes versus personal experience). Results indicated that beliefs and attitudes toward depression were largely shaped by individual difference factors (e.g., personal experience, political ideology) and that the experimental manipulations primarily impacted attributions of responsibility and suggestions for a course of treatment. These findings represent an important advance in our understanding of the factors that influence the folk psychiatry of depression and help inform theories of schema formation for abstract and complex domains.
Implicit Agency in Observed Actions: Evidence for N1 Suppression of Tones Caused by Self-made and Observed Actions

Every day we make attributions about how our actions and the actions of others cause consequences in the world around us. It is unknown whether we use the same implicit process in attributing causality when observing others' actions as we do when making our own. The aim of this research was to investigate the neural processes involved in the implicit sense of agency we form between actions and effects, for both our own actions and when watching others' actions. Using an interval estimation paradigm to elicit intentional binding in self-made and observed actions, we measured the EEG responses indicative of anticipatory processes before an action and the ERPs in response to the sensory consequence. We replicated our previous findings that we form a sense of implicit agency over our own and others' actions. Crucially, EEG results showed that tones caused by either self-made or observed actions both resulted in suppression of the N1 component of the sensory ERP, with no difference in suppression between consequences caused by observed actions compared with self-made actions. Furthermore, this N1 suppression was greatest for tones caused by observed goal-directed actions rather than non-action or non-goal-related visual events. This suggests that top–down processes act upon the neural responses to sensory events caused by goal-directed actions in the same way for events caused by the self or those made by other agents.
Needs analysis in language teaching

There have been several surveys of approaches to needs analysis in foreign-language teaching (James, 1974; Jordan, 1977; Chambers, 1980; Cunningsworth, 1983; Brindley, 1989; Riddell, 1991; van Hest & Oud-de Glas, 1990; Robinson, 1991; Jordan, forthcoming). During the period of 20 years covered by these surveys, both the focus and scope of needs analysis have changed. The dominant focus of early needs analysis was occupational/EOP, but this later changed to academic language/EAP (for the origin of the terms EOP and EAP, see T.Johns, 1981: 16). More recently the focus has shifted again to include general language learning. The scope of needs analysis up to and including Munby (1978) was syllabus specification derived from target-situation needs, but the scope has since been broadened to include areas specifically excluded by Munby practicalities and constraints, teaching methods and learning strategies, and, recently, materials selection. This evolution can be summarised by characterising each of three stages in the development of needs analysis, and to hint at the future by suggesting a fourth stage (see table below). Much of the later work in needs analysis is either not widely known or (Richards, 1984, cited by Nunan 1988 a: 17) it is still assumed that curriculum development in language teaching should concentrate on language syllabuses to the exclusion of broader aspects such as needs analysis, methodology and evaluation. It therefore seems appropriate to survey the field of needs analysis in a broad context. This survey concentrates on work relating to English (for a survey of recent work in other European languages, see van Hest & Oud-de Glas, 1990).
Helicobacter hepaticus infection in primary hepatocellular carcinoma tissue.

INTRODUCTION Helicobacter (H.) hepaticus infection causes chronic active hepatitis and induces hepatocellular tumours in A/JCr mice, but evidence of this in humans is scarce. This study aimed to demonstrate the correlation between H. hepaticus and human primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS The sera of 50 patients with primary HCC were tested for the presence of anti-H. pylori and anti-H. hepaticus immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies. The liver tissues of patients who tested positive for serum antibody were analysed for H. hepaticus-specific 16S rRNA, H. hepaticus cdtB, H. pylori cagA, H. pylori vacA and H. pylori ureC genes using polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS After the anti-H. pylori antibodies in the serum samples were absorbed by H. pylori antigen, the anti-H. hepaticus IgG serum antibody detection rate was 50.0% in patients with primary HCC. This was significantly higher (p < 0.001) than the detection rate in the benign liver tumour (7.7%) and normal liver tissue (6.3%) groups. Of the 25 primary HCC samples that tested positive for anti-H. hepaticus IgG serum antibody, the H. hepaticus-specific 16S rRNA gene was detected in nine (36.0%) samples. Sequencing showed that the polymerase chain reaction-amplified product exhibited 95.5%-100% homology to the H. hepaticus-specific 16S rRNA gene. Among these nine primary HCC tissue samples, the H. hepaticus cdtB gene was detected in four (44.4%) samples, while no such expression was observed in the benign liver tumour or normal liver tissue groups. CONCLUSION The present study identified the presence of H. hepaticus infection in patients with primary HCC using serological and molecular biological detection, suggesting that H. hepaticus infection may be involved in the progression of HCC.
In vitro inhibition of cytidine triphosphate synthetase activity by cyclopentenyl cytosine in paediatric acute lymphocytic leukaemia

Cytidine triphosphate (CTP) synthetase is a key enzyme for the synthesis of cytosine (deoxy)ribonucleotides, catalysing the conversion of uridine triphosphate (UTP) into CTP, and has a high activity in several malignancies. In this preclinical study, the enzyme activity and mRNA expression of the enzyme and (deoxy)ribonucleotide concentrations were analysed in leukaemic cells of 57 children suffering from acute lymphocytic leukaemia (ALL). In addition, in vitro experiments were performed with the CTP synthetase inhibitor cyclopentenyl cytosine (CPEC). A significantly higher activity of CTP synthetase (6·5 ± 3·9 nmol CTP/mg/h) was detected in ALL cells than in lymphocytes of healthy controls (1·8 ± 0·9 nmol CTP/mg/h, P < 0·001) that was independent of white blood cell (WBC) count, blast percentage, age, gender or type of ALL. The enzyme activity was not correlated with the CTP synthetase mRNA expression. The activity of CTP synthetase in ALL cells compared with non‐malignant CD34+ bone marrow controls (5·6 ± 2·4 nmol CTP/mg/h) was not statistically different. In vitro treatment of ALL cells with CPEC induced a dose‐dependent decrease of the CTP concentration. The lowest concentration of CPEC (0·63 µm) induced a depletion of CTP of 41 ± 20% and a depletion of dCTP of 27 ± 21%. The degree of CTP depletion of ALL cells after treatment with CPEC was positively correlated with the activity of CTP synthetase. The inhibition of CTP synthetase in situ was confirmed by flux studies using radiolabelled uridine. From these results, it can be expected that CPEC has a cytostatic effect on lymphoblasts of children with ALL.
Beauty in the "I" of the Beholder: Effects of Idealized Media Portrayals on Implicit Self-Image

To explore whether implicit self-evaluations (ISEs) and explicit self-evaluations (ESEs) are differentially susceptible to influence, both were measured after exposure to images of beauty in magazine advertisements or to control advertisements containing no body images. As predicted, female participants' ESEs and body-images were unaffected by idealized images of beauty. However, exposure to such images (as compared to control ads) led to a reduction in the association between beauty and the 3 primed identities (self, in-group, and gender) as well as a reduction in the quantity of snack food consumed while awaiting completion of the study. Together, these findings support the hypothesis that women may not as easily correct for, or protect against, inappropriate social comparisons and other threats to the self on the implicit level, at least in the domain of attractiveness. Moreover, previous research suggesting small effects of advertising's portrayal of women may have underestimated such effects by relying primarily on explicit, self-report measures of body image.
Cognition, Occupation and Participation Across the Life Span: Neuroscience, Neurorehabilitation, and Models of Intervention in Occupational Therapy

The translation of cognitive neuroscience into occupational therapy practice is a required competence that helps practitioners understand human performance and provides best practice in the profession. This comprehensive resource represents a significant advancement in the knowledge translation of cognition and its theoretical and practical application to occupational therapy practice with children and adults. Chapters, written by leaders in an international field, focus on cognition that is essential to everyday life. Each cognitive model includes a theoretical base; intervention, including evaluation procedures, assessment instruments, and treatment methods; individual and group treatment case studies that illustrate the intervention process; and research supporting the evidence base of the model or parts of it. Chapters feature learning objectives and review questions.
Adult and infant perception of an English phonetic distinction

Previous research has revealed that very young infants discriminate most speech contrasts with which they are presented whether the contrasts are native or non-native while adults have difficulty discriminating non-native speech contrasts but easily discriminate those contrasts holding meaningful (phonemic) status in their native language. Several studies have shown that this reorganization in phonetic perception from language-general perception to language-specific perception occurs at about 10 to 12 months: infants this age attend only to native phonemic contrasts. It is of interest to determine if exposure to a phonetic variant plays an important role in influencing perception. We know from previous research that absence of exposure does not always lead to a lack of discrimination. This thesis was designed to determine if exposure per se maintains discriminability. To this end English-speaking adults and infants were tested using a phonetic distinction that does not hold phonemic status in English but does occur in English. This distinction involves the phonetic variants [da] and the stop produced following Is! transcribed as [ta]. When tested in an identification procedure, English-speaking adults identify both [da] and (s)[ta] as members of one English phonemic category (i.e. [da]). When tested in a discrimination procedure and a category change procedure, adults discriminate (s) [ta] from [da] (albeit not as well as would be expected for a native phonemic contrast). With respect to infants, 6to 8-month-olds discriminate this distinction revealing further support for broad-based phonetic perception at this age. However, 10to 12-month-old infants do not discriminate, suggesting that the native phonemic status of the contrast (but not exposure) is the important factor in the reorganization. Discussion centers around how these results add to the existing literature and why infants of 10to 12-months would fail to discriminate a native phonetic distinction.