Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mama Benz in Trouble: Networks, the State, and Fashion Wars in the Beninese Textile Market

This article examines the impact of Chinese textile imports on the organization and politics of women’s textile trading networks in Benin. The incursion of cheap Chinese textiles into markets formerly dominated by imported European fabrics has shifted the balance of power between networks of traders in Benin’s textile market, reconfiguring relations between textile traders, state officials, and international companies. Focusing on political and economic dimensions of trading networks, the article reveals how global linkages transform local economic networks and how local actors structure networks for global economic partners. Far from bypassing state actors, this process is shown to incorporate state officials from above and from below, splintering established trading networks and weaving new ones from emerging configurations of traders, state officials, and global textile exporters. Cet article examine l’impact des imports chinois de textiles sur l’organisation et la politique des réseaux du commerce des vêtements de femmes au Bénin. L’incursion des textiles chinois à bas prix dans les marchés dominés jusque là par des tissus européens a modifié l’équilibre de pouvoir entre les réseaux de commerçants dans le marché textile florissant au Bénin, reconfigurant ainsi les relations entre les commerçants de textiles, les fonctionnaires de l’état et les compagnies internationales. En se concentrant sur les dimensions politiques des réseaux de commerce, cet article révèle comment les connexions mondiales transforment les réseaux économiques locaux et comment les acteurs locaux structurent les réseaux pour des partenaires économiques mondiaux. Loin de contourner les acteurs nationaux, ce processus se voit incorporer les fonctionnaires de l’état du haut et du bas, faisant éclater les réseaux de commerce établis et incorporant de nouveaux réseaux issus de configurations nouvelles de commerçants, de fonctionnaires, et d’exportateurs textiles internationaux.
Plasma Calcitonin Levels and miRNA323 Expression in Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma Patients with or without RET Mutation

Background: Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) is an endocrine tumor featuring parafollicular or C-cell differentiation, with calcitonin as a specific biomarker in MTC diagnosis. Germline mutations in the RET proto-oncogene are considered responsible for its familial occurrence and somatic mutations can cause sporadic lesions. MicroRNAs can act as oncogenes or tumor suppressors by inhibiting the expression of target genes. The aim of this study was to investigate relationships between plasma levels of calcitonin and miRNA323 expression in MTC patients with or without RET mutation. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, MTC lesions (based on pathological confirmation) were investigated. Genomic DNA was extracted and Exons 10 and 11 of RET were genotyped using PCR-sequencing. Division was into two groups of 43 cases each with or without mutation. Plasma levels of calcitonin were determined in both. Results: miRNA323 was measured using real-time-PCR. After performing normality tests, independent T-tests and Mann Whitney tests were used for the statistical comparison of parametric and nonparametric data, respectively. Plasma levels of calcitonin were significantly higher in MTC cases without a RET mutation compared to those with a mutation. Conclusion: There was no significant difference between the two groups regarding the expression of miRNA323 so that this parameter could not be used as a bio-index germ line mutations in MTCs. However, determination of calcitonin levels in plasma might be helpful in this regard.
Recent Advances in Control-Oriented Modeling of Automotive Power Train Dynamics

This paper presents a survey of the recent research results of the authors in the field of modeling of automotive power train systems and components. The goal of the research is to propose simple and accurate power train models for controller design and to propose computationally efficient simulations. The modeling includes typical power train components such as electronic throttle, SI engine, torque converter, planetary gear set, wet clutch, differential, half shaft, and tire. Experimental model validation results are presented
Use of Alternative Thresholds Defining Insulin Resistance to Predict Incident Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Cardiovascular Disease

Background— The performance characteristics of surrogate insulin resistance (IR) measures, commonly defined as the top 25% of the measure's distribution, used to predict incident type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) have not been critically assessed in community samples. Methods and Results— Baseline IR was assessed among 2720 Framingham Offspring Study subjects by use of fasting insulin, the homeostasis model assessment of IR (HOMA-IR), and the reciprocal of the Gutt insulin sensitivity index, with 7- to 11-year follow-up for incident DM (130 cases) or CVD (235). Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, sensitivity, specificity, and positive likelihood ratio were estimated at 12 diagnostic thresholds (quantiles) of IR measures. Positive likelihood ratios for DM or CVD increased in relation to IR quantiles; risk gradients were greater for DM than for CVD, with no 9th to 10th quantile (76th centile) threshold effects. IR had better discrimination for incident DM than for CVD (HOMA-IR area under the receiver operating characteristic curve: DM 0.80 versus CVD 0.63). The HOMA-IR ≥76th centile threshold was associated with these test-performance values: sensitivity (DM 68%, CVD 40%), specificity (DM 77%, CVD 76%), and positive likelihood ratio (DM 3.0, CVD 1.7). The HOMA-IR threshold that yielded >90% sensitivity was the 6th quantile for DM prediction and the 3rd quantile for CVD. Compared with the ≥76th centile threshold, these alternative thresholds yielded lower specificity (DM 43%, CVD 17%) and positive likelihood ratios (DM 1.6, CVD 1.1). Conclusions— Surrogate IR measures have modest performance at the 76th centile, with no threshold effects. Different centile thresholds might be selected to optimize sensitivity versus specificity for DM versus CVD prediction if surrogate IR measures are used for risk prediction.
Monitoring and Evaluation in Conservation: a Review of Trends and Approaches

Abstract: There is growing recognition among conservation practitioners and scholars that good project management is integrally linked to well‐designed monitoring and evaluation systems. Most conservation organizations have attempted to develop and implement monitoring and evaluation systems, often with mixed results. One problem seems to be that organizations are trying to build their systems from scratch, overlooking lessons learned from the many efforts to develop useful and practical monitoring and evaluation approaches. Thus, we undertook a review of monitoring and evaluation approaches in conservation and other fields including international development, public health, family planning, education, social services, and business. Here, we present our results for the field of conservation. We categorized the considerable variety of monitoring and evaluation approaches into four broad purposes: basic research; accounting and certification; status assessment; and effectiveness measurement. We focus here on status assessment and effectiveness measurement. Specific lessons that emerged follow: different monitoring and evaluation needs require different approaches; conceptual similarities are widespread among prevailing approaches; inconsistent language impedes communication; confusion among monitoring and evaluation components hinders practitioner ability to choose the appropriate component; and monitoring only quantitative biological variables is insufficient. We suggest that the conservation community continue support of collaborative initiatives to improve monitoring and evaluation, establish clear definitions of commonly used terms, clarify monitoring and evaluation system components, apply available approaches appropriately, and include qualitative and social variables in monitoring efforts.
PERSONAL QUESTIONS, POLITICAL ANSWERS

This article examines personalization in political newspaper interviews in three quality newspapers in Great Britain, France, and the Netherlands between 1990 and 2010. Building upon Van Aelst, Sheafer, and Stanyer (2012), personalization is broken down into individualization and privatization. Individualization refers to an increased focus on individual politicians, whereas privatization presupposes more emphasis on their private life, personality, and character. A quantitative content analysis and a qualitative textual analysis show that on both counts, personalization seems to have increased across 1990–2010. Individualization clearly occurred, as did privatization but to a lesser extent. The private lives of politicians were often ignored and if they were mentioned, it was usually in an instrumental way. The implicit assumption that personalization is detrimental to the power of a political source, as is often made in empirical research, should be revised. The results indicate a strategic use of perso.
Balanced and resilient application layer multicast

In the context of Application Layer Multicast(ALM), quality of high-bandwidth real-time communication over best effort networks is mainly constrained by node capacity and link loss characteristics observed along multicast delivery path. Our ALM solution is based upon Cluster-Oriented, Regular and Multi-trees(CORM) structure and can overcome these constraints by adequately supporting loss recovery, load-balance and moreover, loss-balance (the loss caused by nodes failures is roughly balanced and within a small range). Clusters in a hierarchy uniformly distribute forwarding load among all participating peers. Regular (constant node degree) constraint makes cluster maintenance and optimization as a whole. Furthermore, for improving robustness, we design and implement linear network coding scheme, proactive parent recovery mechanism and cluster splicing algorithm in terms of CORM. Experimental results obtained via network simulation show that CORM has lower average link stress (by about 22%), and more even node stress than NICE protocol. More importantly, failure recovery properties such as recovery time and loss-balance, are much better by using orders of magnitude lower control traffic. Moreover, we analyze performance effect caused by combining various regular degree and cluster size.
Monocytic Differentiation of Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia Cells in Response to 1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 Is Independent of Nuclear Receptor Binding (*)

We have shown that 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) primes NB4 cells, the only available acute promyelocytic leukemia cell line, for 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate-induced monocytic differentiation. Here, we have used isomers of 1,25(OH)2D3 to investigate the role of 1,25(OH)2D3 and its putative nuclear receptor (VDR) in NB4 cell monocytic differentiation. 1β,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (HL), a specific antagonist of only the nongenomic signals of 1,25(OH)2D3, attenuated the priming effect of 1,25(OH)2D3. The 6-cis conformer of 1,25(OH)2D3 (HF), which is unable to bind to VDR, was 20 times more potent than 1,25(OH)2D3 as a priming agent for monocytic differentiation. This response was also blocked by the HL antagonist. Unlike myelocytic HL-60 cells, which respond to 1,25(OH)2D3 with increases in VDR expression and monocytic differentiation, neither HF nor 1,25(OH)2D3 regulated VDR expression in NB4 cells. In the monocytic differentiation of acute promyelocytic leukemia cells, 1,25(OH)2D3 appears to signal through a pathway independent of VDR/VDRE action.
Hippotherapy in occupational therapy practice

Background: There has recently been renewed interest in hippotherapy, which can be a strategy of choice within therapy programmes involving the use of a horse. In this study, the authors endeavoured to explore the experiences and perceptions of occupational therapists in the use of hippotherapy as a therapeutic intervention strategy. Methods: A quantitative descriptive study design was selected utilising an online questionnaire. Two hundred and thirty seven therapists were purposively sampled with data being obtained from 53 respondents. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Results: The majority of respondents (n=39 i.e. 76.3%) indicated awareness of hippotherapy, with a number of the respondents indicating exposure to hippotherapy during their studies (n=24 i.e. 46.2%). Only six of the respondents were currently using hippotherapy, either directly or through referrals. It is significant to note that out of the 47 of the respondents who were not currently using hippotherapy, 42 respondents indicated that they would consider using it in the future. Conclusion: The high percentage of respondents interested in this therapeutic intervention strategy can be linked to their perception of the benefits of hippotherapy. In particular, all respondents indicated that they viewed hippotherapy as being beneficial for neurological conditions, as well as for specific aspects of functioning including postural control, mobility, processing and integration, self-confidence, self-esteem, mood and motivation. Relevant barriers impacting on the use of hippotherapy included limited centres available and lack of awareness. The majority of respondents currently not using hippotherapy indicated that there was limited training for occupational therapists. As benefits become validated by future research studies, as well as by limiting barriers to the use of this intervention strategy, hippotherapy may become a more widespread and acceptable adjunctive therapeutic intervention strategy
Residence time distribution in mobile cellular systems with link adaptation

In mobile cellular systems with link adaptation (LA), different quality/. ones, in terms of the Signal-to-interference Ratio (SIR), are distinguished. In this paper, the quality zone residence time distribution in mobile cellular systems with link adaptation is addressed. The cell residence time distribution has been widely studied in the literature. However, a literature survey shows that relatively few in-depth papers have addressed the quality zone residence time. In this work, comprehensive simulation results for a generalised mobility model are shown. Results show that as the mobility randomness increases, the probability density function of the quality zone residence time tends to a negative exponential one.
Developmental Social Psychology: From Infancy to Old Age

1. Introduction. 2. Social Life and Infancy. 3. Attachment to Others. 4. Family and Peers. 5. The Development of Gender. 6. Language Development I: Origins and Course. 7. Language Development II: Social Dimensions of Acquisition and Use. 8. The Development of Non-verbal Communication. 9. Social Cognition I: Understanding the Social World. 10. Social Cognition II: Social Reasoning and Societal Knowledge. 11. Social Cognition III: Social Interaction and Cognitive Development. 12. The Development of Aggression. 13. The Development of Prosocial Behaviour. 14. Moral Development. 15. Adolescence I: Transitions. 16. Adolescence II: Entering the Adult World. 17. Adolescence III: Problems. 18. Adulthood I: Development, Relationships and Roles. 19. Adulthood II: Middle Age and the Later Years.
Control of systems with hysteresis via servocompensation and its application to nanopositioning

Partly motivated by the nanopositioning application in AFM and SPM systems, we consider the problem of tracking periodic signals for a class of systems consisting of linear dynamics preceded by a hysteresis operator, where uncertainties exist in both the dynamics and the hysteresis. A servocompensator is proposed, in combination with an approximate hysteresis inverse, to achieve high-precision tracking. The servocompensator accommodates the internal model of the reference signal and a finite number of harmonic terms. It is shown that, with a Prandtl-Ishlinskii (PI) hysteresis operator, the closed-loop system admits a unique, asymptotically stable, periodic solution, which justifies treating the inversion error as an exogenous periodic disturbance. Consequently, the asymptotic tracking error can be made arbitrarily small when the servocompensator accommodates a sufficient number of harmonic terms. Robustness with respect to uncertainties in the dynamics is also established. Simulation and experimental results are presented to validate the approach and evaluate the role of hysteresis inversion. In particular, experiments on a nanopositioner show that, with the proposed method, tracking can be achieved for a 200 Hz reference signal with 0.6% mean error and 2.3% peak error for a travel range of 20 μm.
A Fourfold Display for 2 by 2 by k Tables

This paper describes the fourfold display, a graphic designed to display the frequencies in a 2 × 2 × k contingency table. In this display the frequency in each cell is shown by a quarter circle, whose area is proportional to the cell count in a given 2 × 2 layer, in a way that depicts the odds ratios for k strata. Confidence rings for the odds ratio can be superimposed to provide a visual test of the hypothesis of no association in each stratum. Resume Cet article decrit un visuel quadruple, une methode graphique concu pour visualiser les frequences dans une table de contingence 2 × 2 × k . Dans ce visuel, la frequence de chaque cellule est representee par un quart de cercle, qui a une superficie proportionnelle au compte de la cellule dans un couche 2 × 2 donee, afin de decrire les rapports de chance pour k strates. Des anneaux qui demonstrant la confiance des rapports de chance peuvent etre superposes afin de fournir un test visuel de l'hypothese d'aucune association dans chaque strate.
A textual commentary on Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians

The textual problems of the Pauline epistles have rarely received systematic study since the work of Gunther Zuntz in 1953. This thesis is a study of the text of 1 Corinthians using a different methodology, called "thoroughgoing eclecticism. " The textual data was gathered from collations of manuscripts and critical editions, and is provided as an appendix to the thesis. The discussion of the textual problems in 1 Corinthians comprises most of the thesis. In them, effort was made to determine whether a given type of variation is typical of any single manuscript or of manuscripts in general. The focus is placed on determining the cause of corruption in each place. This required study of the history of the development of the Greek language and comparison with theological and ethical discussions among early Christians. Detailed discussions are necessary for many problems, including 6: 5, where a conjecture is found to be necessary; 7: 33-34 and 9: 5, where issues of marriage and sexuality led to corruption; 13: 3, where transcriptional and structural issues become prominent, and 14: 34-35, where a complicated displacement of text involved issues of manuscript attestation, interpolation, and anti-feminism. The manuscripts that most frequently attest to early readings and unique forms of the text are then assessed. The most unique witnesses to the text of 1 Corinthians are the Greco-Latin bilinguals DFG. Their relationship and unique causes of corruption are described, with the result that FG are shown to frequently preserve the earliest reading. P N A B are also discussed. These witnesses attest many excellent readings, but have undergone their own types of corruptions. The "Byzantine" witnesses are summarized, demonstrating that they carry only a late form of the text.
Modeling the hardware power consumption of large scale antenna systems

In order to address the ever-increasing need for wireless throughput while reducing the power consumption of cellular base stations, many approaches are developed at network, base station or component level. One of the most innovative ones is known as massive MIMO or large-scale antenna systems (LSAS). By using hundreds of antennas at the base station, the system promises to offer a large throughput at reduced total radiated power. This paper presents a power model for cellular base stations and its application to LSAS. Its role is central in order to determine whether the reduced total radiated power of LSAS base stations also translates into reduced total power consumption for the base station, after taking all components supporting the many antenna chains into account. Based on the modeling outcome, LSAS turns out to be a promising approach in order to reduce the power consumption of cellular base stations by a factor 10, while offering more throughput. While the research community is working on the many interesting challenges of this technology, we can conclude that from the point of view of power consumption, it is a valid alternative to traditional designs, and it will benefit even more from technology scaling in the coming years.
The Acquisition of Complex English Structures by Adult Native Speakers of Arabic.

This investigation was designed to examine the acquisition of a set of complex English structures by Egyptian Arabic-speaking adult learners at different levels of proficiency. Two stud, ies were conducted using the methodology of Chomsky as adapted by d'Anglejan and Tucker. In addition, some subjects were asked to translate a number of stimulus sentences to probe explicitly for evidence of interlingual interference. The results for the more advanced learners indicated a developmental pattern similar to that reported by Chomsky for child native speakers. All subjects appeared to deal directly with the linguistic data of the target language. No evidence was found that they attempted to translate or to map native language structures onto those of the target language. April, 1978 U.S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. EDUCATION & WELFARE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRO. DUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL NATKINAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION POSITION CH POLICY "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS 87:EN GRANTED BY
Spectral and two-place decomposition techniques in reversible logic

A digital circuit is reversible if it maps each input vector into a unique output vector. Reversible circuits can lead to low-power CMOS implementations and are also of interest in optical and quantum computing. In this paper, we consider the synthesis of reversible logic assuming primitive reversible devices such as Feynman, Toffoli and Fredkin gates. In particular, we consider the use of Rademacher-Walsh spectral techniques and two-place decompositions of Boolean functions. Preliminary results are given for reversible and nonreversible functions and show that the approaches described do indeed show promise.