Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The group in the self

Drawing on theoretical approaches to personal/group behaviour, and informed by Michael Hoey’s priming theory, this paper presents a corpus-assisted discourse study of European Parliament interventions from 2004 to 2011. The study aims to identify the group in the self and the various selves in the individual. For the analysis, three corpora from the European Comparable and Parallel Corpus Archive are explored: EP_EN (with EP interventions: 26,959,446 tokens), HC (with House of Commons interventions: 70,567,728), and SandD_david_martin (with member of European Parliament – MEP – David Martin’s interventions: 116,781). The main tool of analysis is the keyword, as generated by WordSmith 7.0. The analysis proceeds in three stages: stage 1, where the EP_EN and HC wordlists are compared, resulting in EP key priming; stage 2, where the SandD_david_martin and HC wordlists are compared, exposing David Martin’s idiosyncratic productions; and stage 3, where the EP_EN and SandD_david_martin keyword lists are manually compared, leading to the identification of EP priming in David Martin’s interventions.
Exchange functional that tests the robustness of the plasmon description of the van der Waals density functional

Is the plasmon description within the nonlocal correlation of the van der Waals density functional by Dion and coworkers (vdW-DF) robust enough to describe all exchange-correlation components? To address this question, we design an exchange functional based on this plasmon description as well as recent analysis on exchange in the large-s regime. In the regime with reduced gradients s = |del n|/2nk(F)(n) smaller than approximate to 2.5, dominating the nonlocal correlation part of the binding energy, the enhancement factor F-x(s) closely resembles the Langreth-Vosko screened exchange. In the s regime beyond, dominated by exchange, F-x(s) passes smoothly over to the revised Perdew-Wang-86 form. We term the specific exchange functional LV-PW86r, wheras the full van der Waals functional version emphasizing consistent handling of exchange is termed vdW-DF-cx. Our tests indicate that vdW-DF-cx produces accurate separations and binding energies of the S22 data set of molecular dimers as well as accurate lattice constants and bulk moduli of layered materials and tightly bound solids. These results suggest that the plasmon description within vdW-DF gives a good description of both exchange and correlation effects in the low-to-moderate s regime.
Integrated whole-genome screening for Pseudomonas aeruginosa virulence genes using multiple disease models reveals that pathogenicity is host specific

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a multi-host opportunistic pathogen causing a wide range of diseases because of the armoury of virulence factors it produces, and it is difficult to eradicate because of its intrinsic resistance to antibiotics. Using an integrated whole-genome approach, we searched for P. aeruginosa virulence genes with multi-host relevance. We constructed a random library of 57 360 Tn5 mutants in P. aeruginosa PAO1-L and screened it in vitro for those showing pleiotropic effects in virulence phenotypes (reduced swarming, exo-protease and pyocyanin production). A set of these pleiotropic mutants were assayed for reduced toxicity in Drosophila melanogaster, Caenorhabditis elegans, human cell lines and mice. Surprisingly, the screening revealed that the virulence of the majority of P. aeruginosa mutants varied between disease models, suggesting that virulence is dependent on the disease model used and hence the host environment. Genomic analysis revealed that these virulence-related genes encoded proteins from almost all functional classes, which were conserved among P. aeruginosa strains. Thus, we provide strong evidence that although P. aeruginosa is capable of infecting a wide range of hosts, many of its virulence determinants are host specific. These findings have important implication when searching for novel anti-virulence targets to develop new treatments against P. aeruginosa.
Detectable Changes in The Blood Transcriptome Are Present after Two Weeks of Antituberculosis Therapy

Rationale Globally there are approximately 9 million new active tuberculosis cases and 1.4 million deaths annually. Effective antituberculosis treatment monitoring is difficult as there are no existing biomarkers of poor adherence or inadequate treatment earlier than 2 months after treatment initiation. Inadequate treatment leads to worsening disease, disease transmission and drug resistance. Objectives To determine if blood transcriptional signatures change in response to antituberculosis treatment and could act as early biomarkers of a successful response. Methods Blood transcriptional profiles of untreated active tuberculosis patients in South Africa were analysed before, during (2 weeks and 2 months), at the end of (6 months) and after (12 months) antituberculosis treatment, and compared to individuals with latent tuberculosis. An active-tuberculosis transcriptional signature and a specific treatment-response transcriptional signature were derived. The specific treatment response transcriptional signature was tested in two independent cohorts. Two quantitative scoring algorithms were applied to measure the changes in the transcriptional response. The most significantly represented pathways were determined using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis. Results An active tuberculosis 664-transcript signature and a treatment specific 320-transcript signature significantly diminished after 2 weeks of treatment in all cohorts, and continued to diminish until 6 months. The transcriptional response to treatment could be individually measured in each patient. Conclusions Significant changes in the transcriptional signatures measured by blood tests were readily detectable just 2 weeks after treatment initiation. These findings suggest that blood transcriptional signatures could be used as early surrogate biomarkers of successful treatment response.
Final Version Saving and Growth with Habit Formation

Saving and growth are strongly positively correlated across countries. Recent empirical evidence suggests that this correlation holds largely because high growth leads to high saving, not the other way around. This evidence is difficult to reconcile with standard growth models, since forward-looking consumers with standard utility should save less in a fast-growing economy because they know they will be richer in the future than they are today. We show that if utility depends partly on how consumption compares to a ‘habit stock’ determined by past consumption, an otherwise-standard growth model can imply that increases in growth can cause increased saving. (JEL D91 E21 O40)
Dynamic Infrastructures of Body Dysmorphic Disorder Symptoms: A Structural Equation Model

Objectives: The aim of the current study was to propose a model for body dissatisfaction, body comparison and internalization of appearance-related ideals as mediators of self-esteem, multidimensional perfectionism, perception of teasing, and perceived sociocultural pressures of body dysmorphic disorder symptoms. Methods: This was a correlational study performed via structural equation modeling. The statistical population of the study con-sisted of 802 university students who were chosen via the multilevel cluster sampling method. The data collection tools included Yale-Brown obsessive-compulsive scale modiﬁed for body dysmorphic disorder, multidimensional body-self relations question-naire,andRosenbergself-esteem,multidimensionalperfectionism,socioculturalattitudestowardsappearance,bodycomparison, perception of teasing and perceived sociocultural pressure scales. For data analysis, structural equation modeling was used via Lisrel 8.5 software. Results: Although the initial model was a poor ﬁt to the data, the ﬁt was improved after some modiﬁcations were made. There were some diﬀerences between the male and female models, but body dissatisfaction maintained a mediator role with respect to self-esteem and perceived sociocultural pressures of body dysmorphic disorder symptoms in both genders. Conclusions: Findings of the current study proposed a comprehensive model regarding understanding of the structural interac-tions of various psychosocial factors of body dysmorphic disorder symptoms. Comprehending dynamics of the aforementioned factors is essential both in interventional and prophylactic approaches.
Human extraocular muscles: unique pattern of myosin heavy chain expression during myotube formation.

PURPOSE To study the myosin heavy chain composition of the human extraocular muscles (EOMs) during development. METHODS EOMs from human fetuses of 8 to 22 weeks of gestation were studied with immunocytochemistry and gel electrophoresis. Antibodies specific against nine isoforms of myosin heavy chain (MyHC) were used in serial frozen sections. RESULTS The developing EOMs had a delayed time course of myotube formation and a unique composition and distribution of MyHCs compared with human limb skeletal muscle. The primary myotubes coexpressed two developmental isoforms of MyHCI from the earliest stages. The third developmental MyHCI delineated the future orbital layer at 10 to 12 weeks of gestation. MyHC-slow tonic also appeared early, whereas MyHC alpha-cardiac and MyHC-extraocular, important components of adult EOM, were never detected at the gestational ages studied. CONCLUSIONS The developmental features of the EOMs differed significantly from those reported for limb muscles of the corresponding ages. It is clear that the knowledge of limb muscle development does not fully apply to more specialized muscles, such as the eye muscles. The extreme complexity displayed by the EOMs probably reflects their distinct embryonic origin, innervation, and regulatory program of myogenesis.
Recent advances in broadcast news transcription

Th paper describes recent advances in the CU-HTK Broadcast News English (BN-E) transcription system and its performance in the DARPA/NIST Rich Transcription 2003 Speech-to-Text (RT-03) evaluation. Heteroscedastic linear discriminant analysis (HLDA) and discriminative training, which were previously developed in the context of the recognition of conversational telephone speech, have been successfully applied to the BN-E task for the first time. A number of new features have also been added. These include gender-dependent (GD) discriminative training and modified discriminative training using lattice regeneration and combination. On the 2003 evaluation set, the system gave an overall word error rate of 10.7% in less than 10 times real time (10/spl times/RT).
Approximate Analysis of Probabilistic Processes: Logic, Simulation and Games

We tackle the problem of non robustness of simulation and bisimulation when dealing with probabilistic processes. It is important to ignore tiny deviations in probabilities because these often come from experiments or estimations. A few approaches have been proposed to treat this issue, for example metrics to quantify the non bisimilarity (or closeness) of processes. Relaxing the definition of simulation and bisimulation is another avenue which we follow. We define a new semantics to a known simple logic for probabilistic processes and show that it characterises a notion of epsi-simulation. We also define two-players games that correspond to these notions: the existence of a winning strategy for one of the players determines epsi-(bi)simulation. Of course, for all the notions defined, letting epsi = 0 gives back the usual notions of logical equivalence, simulation and bisimulation. However, in contrast to what happens in fully probabilistic systems when epsi = 0, two-way e-simulation for epsi > 0 is not equal to epsi-bisimulation. Next we give a polynomial time algorithm to compute a naturally derived metric: distance between states s and t is defined as the smallest epsi such that s and t are epsi-equivalent. This is the first polynomial algorithm for a non-discounted metric. Finally we show that most of these notions can be extended to deal with probabilistic systems that allow non-determinism as well.
Prevention of Overweight and Obesity: How Effective is the Current Public Health Approach

Obesity is a public health problem that has become epidemic worldwide. Substantial literature has emerged to show that overweight and obesity are major causes of co-morbidities, including type II diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, various cancers and other health problems, which can lead to further morbidity and mortality. The related health care costs are also substantial. Therefore, a public health approach to develop population-based strategies for the prevention of excess weight gain is of great importance. However, public health intervention programs have had limited success in tackling the rising prevalence of obesity. This paper reviews the definition of overweight and obesity and the variations with age and ethnicity; health consequences and factors contributing to the development of obesity; and critically reviews the effectiveness of current public health strategies for risk factor reduction and obesity prevention.
1 - Private Surge amid Public Dominance in Higher Education: The African Perspective

This article lays a foundation for the debates that follow in the rest of the volume. It particularly focuses on the broad pertinent issues such as the historical develop- ment of private higher education in Africa. While we may largely talk about ‘pri- vate surge’, it argues that this may be a case of ‘resurgence’ as antecedents of private higher education existed at the same time as the establishment of public sector institutions or even before in some instances. The article also explores is- sues of the definition of private higher education as a way of preparing the reader to understand what the rest of the articles in the volume refer to when discussing the subject. It then discusses underlying factors in the establishment and growth of private higher education, pointing to issues that seem to be unique to the conti- nent and other developing countries. It then concludes by arguing that private higher education has a future in the continent, especially because it is required by the systems of higher education and the challenges and lessons this poses for governments. The article draws extensively from the rest of the articles in the volume, partly as a way of introducing their debates but also as an illustration of the richness of knowledge they contain, and it also draws from other international literature.
Nitric oxide synthase‐2 down‐regulates surfactant protein‐B expression and enhances endotoxin‐induced lung injury in mice

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a life‐threatening ailment characterized by severe lung injury involving inflammatory cell recruitment to the lung, cytokine production, surfactant dysfunction, and up‐regulation of nitric oxide synthase 2 (NOS2) resulting in nitric oxide (NO) production. We hypothesized that NO production from NOS2 expressed in lung parenchymal cells in a murine model of ARDS would correlate with abnormal surfactant function and reduced surfactant protein‐B (SP‐B) expression. Pulmonary responses to nebulized endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide, LPS) were evaluated in wild‐type (WT) mice, NOS2 null (‒/‒) mice, and NOS2‐chimeric animals derived from bone marrow transplantation. NOS2‒/‒ animals exhibited significantly less physiologic lung dysfunction and loss of SP‐B expression than did WT animals. However, lung neutrophil recruitment and bronchoalveolar lavage cytokine levels did not significantly differ between NOS2‒/‒ and WT animals. Chimeric animals for NOS2 exhibited the phenotype of the recipient and therefore demonstrated that parenchymal production of NOS2 is critical for the development of LPS‐induced lung injury. Furthermore, administration of NO donors, independent of cytokine stimulation, decreased SP‐B promoter activity and mRNA expression in mouse lung epithelial cells. This study demonstrates that expression of NOS2 in lung epithelial cells is critical for the development of lung injury and mediates surfactant dysfunction independent of NOS2 inflammatory cell expression and cytokine production.
Is the Value Premium a Puzzle

This paper provides an economic explanation of the value premium puzzle, differences in price/dividend and Sharpe ratios of value and growth assets, volatilities of ex-post returns on the two stocks and their correlation. I consider a model that features two equally important ingredients: a small persistent component in cash-flow growth dynamics and the EpsteinZin recursive utility preferences. In the model, as in the data, cash flows of value firms are highly exposed to low-frequency fluctuations in aggregate consumption, whereas growth firms’ dividends are mainly driven by short-lived consumption news and risks related to fluctuating economic uncertainty. I show that the dispersion in long-run risks is the key mechanism that allows the model to quantitatively replicate the magnitude of the historical value premium, resolving the puzzle. Furthermore, heterogeneity in systematic risks across firms helps account for the whole transitional dynamics of value and growth returns, as well as the empirical failure of the CAPM and C-CAPM. In addition, the model is able to successfully accommodate the time-series behavior of the aggregate equity market. ∗Department of Economics, Duke University, email: dak6@duke.edu. I would like to thank my advisor Ravi Bansal, and the members of my dissertation committee, David A. Hsieh, Albert S. ”Pete” Kyle, and George Tauchen, for their invaluable comments, encouragement and guidance. All mistakes are my own.
Polariton-polariton scattering: Exact results through a novel approach

We present a fully microscopic approach to the transition rate of two exciton-photon polaritons. The non-trivial consequences of the polariton composite nature—here treated exactly through a development of our composite-exciton many-body theory—lead to results noticeably different from the ones of the conventional approaches in which polaritons are mapped into elementary bosons. Our work reveals an appealing fundamental scattering which corresponds to a photon-assisted exchange—in the absence of Coulomb process. This scattering being dominant when one of the scattered polaritons has a strong photon character, it should be directly accessible to experiment. In the case of microcavity polaritons, it produces a significant enhancement of the polariton transition rate when compared to the one coming from Coulomb interaction. This paper also contains the crucial tools to securely tackle the many-body physics of polaritons, in particular towards its possible BEC.
Bank Competition and Access to Finance: International Evidence

Using a unique database for 74 countries and for firms of small, medium, and large size we assess the effect of banking market structure on the access of firms to bank finance. We find that bank concentration increases obstacles to obtaining finance, but only in countries with low levels of economic and institutional development. Alarger share of foreign-owned banks and an efficient credit registry dampen the effect of concentration on financing obstacles, while the effect is exacerbated by more restrictions on banks' activities, more government interference in the banking sector, and a larger share of government-owned banks.
How Classroom Conversations Unfold: Exploring Teacher–Child Exchanges During Shared Book Reading

ABSTRACT Research Findings: This study examined how teacher–child conversations unfold during shared book reading in Head Start classrooms as well as the relations between that talk and children’s vocabulary learning. Book reading experiences in 27 Head Start classrooms were videotaped and coded for teacher talk, child responses, teacher follow-up remarks, and teacher wait time; we also assessed children’s vocabulary learning. Findings indicated that Head Start teachers infrequently asked open prompts or provided book-related comments; the predominant tool used in shared reading was the closed prompt. Teachers generally accepted 1 answer per question, and children’s answers were nearly always correct. Wait time was rarely observed. Across the sample, more child talk was predictive of stronger child vocabulary learning. For children with low initial vocabulary skills, learning was also linked to more expository comments by teachers. Practice or Policy: Findings help to map out the sequence of instructional events that make up preschool classroom conversations and provide insight into potential levers for improvement.
Reforms in Special Education for Optimum Educational Attainment by Persons with Special Needs for National Sustainability.

This paper attempts a discourse on reforms in special education for optimum educational attainment by persons with special needs for national sustainability. The paper is of the view that there is need for reformation of special education to enable persons with special needs have access to optimum education. The paper makes it clear that several attempts were made to reform special education in the past, yet the impact remains obscure. This is due to the inadequacy of personnel in the field of special education, insufficient assistive technology to support the special educational set up in the teaching-learning process and research as well as lack of special budgetary allocation in favour of special education amongst others. The paper reiterates the need to reform special education by addressing the challenges of manpower, assistive technology and funding as pre-requisites to the realization of the goals of special needs education and conclusion was drawn.
Vertebral Body Reconstruction using Expandable Titanium Cages after Anterior Decompression for Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy: A Review

Objective: Cervical spondylotic myelopathy is a progressive debilitating disease that favorably responds to surgical decompression. The objective of this study was to review the use of expandable titanium cages for reconstruction of the spine after cervical corpectomy. Methods: We searched PubMed and Google Scholar databases up to March 2013 to identify English articles reporting the use of expandable titanium cages in cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM). Identified articles were excluded if they lacked CSM cases, radiologic or clinical outcomes were not reported, and if only static cages cases were reported. Additional relevant references from these articles were also reviewed. Results: A total of six case series published from 2005 through 2012 with a combined total of 143 patients who underwent implantation of an expandable titanium cage and a mean follow-up of 21.4 months were identified and included for review. The combined fusion rate was 97%, and the mean correction of cervical lordosis reported for 125 patients was 10.1°. The combined complication rate was 10%, and the overall reported outcomes were favorable. Conclusions: The results of this review demonstrate that the use of expandable titanium cages is safe and effective after decompression in the treatment of cervical spondylotic myelopathy. The features of the expandable titanium cages allow for easier incorporation of the cage into a corpectomy defect relative to a static titanium mesh cage, adding structural support and restoring sagittal alignment. Categories: General Surgery, Neurosurgery