Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Examining the link between media representations and attitudes towards sexual offenders using a dual-process framework

Attitudes towards sexual offenders have been widely studied in forensic psychology and criminology research over the past 25 years. At present, however, studies examining these views are predominantly descriptive in nature. That is, self-report questionnaire measures are typically distributed to different groups (e.g., general public samples, and members of different occupational categories), with the resultant between-groups differences being reported in research papers. While these studies have provided some interesting findings, the results gained from them fail to inform researchers about the psychological mechanisms that underpin views about this offending population. The overarching aim of this thesis was to begin to fill this knowledge gap. That is, a range of studies were designed to use robust experimental methods, within validated theoretical paradigms, in order to examine some of the potential constructs that influence people’s attitudes towards sexual offenders. Chapter 1 presents a review of the current state of the field in relation to attitudes towards sexual offenders, with gaps in current knowledge being identified. In Chapter 2, the theoretical framework within which the empirical aspects of the thesis operate is set out. Key constructs in this section include dual-process cognition, and our reliance on implicit (i.e., non-conscious) mental processes when making decisions. Chapter 3 builds upon criticisms of one measure of attitudes towards sexual offenders in order to reconceptualise its use into one of an outcome measure. This is then used throughout Chapters 4, 5, and 6 as a measure of sentencing and risk judgements, in order to examine the effects of various experimental manipulations. Studies presented in Chapter 4 found that heuristic-based processes based around the principles of availability appear to influence decision-making about sexual offenders at the macro (political) level, but not at the micro (individual) level. Instead, individual participants’ attitudes and judgements about sexual offenders were dependent on different primes relating to the representativeness (Chapter 5) and affect (Chapter 6) heuristics. Chapter 7 offers a discussion of the empirical findings presented at earlier points of the thesis, and outlines opportunities to develop further work into the heuristic-based nature of attitudes towards sexual offenders. The work contained within this thesis is original, in that well-validated theoretical models are used to begin to examine the psychological mechanisms that may underpin attitudes iii towards sexual offenders. The apparent dual-process nature of such views calls into question some previously-expressed calls within the literature that presenting fact-based information about sexual offenders may lead to improvements in societal attitudes. Instead, it may be that more indirect and emotional methods may be required to achieve such aims. Towards the end of the thesis, clear opportunities for further work are set out, as are some of the potential implications of this research.
Social class and international migration: Female migrants’ narratives of social mobility and social status

It is well established that international migration involves not only geographical but also social mobility, as migrants achieve an improved socioeconomic position through increased economic opportunities, or experience downwards mobility as a result of not being able to transfer their economic, social or educational resources to the receiving country context. While the social mobility that accompanies migration is often considered in the migration literature, the implications for migrants’ social class positioning has been less of a focus. This paper addresses this gap by looking at how female migrants in the UK evaluate social class trajectories as part of their biographical narratives. The paper brings wider sociological debates about class into a discussion about female migrants’ socioeconomic trajectories and social status. By considering material as well as symbolic aspects of class divisions along with the transnational context in which migrants are embedded, the paper highlights the complexity of how migrants are positioned in class terms. It also looks at how class is subjectively interpreted, and outlines different ways in which migrants evaluate their class trajectories, for instance by conceiving of migration from a long-term perspective and in the context of the family unit, by emphasising different quality-oflife aspects, and by challenging dominant meanings associated with class hierarchies. The paper emphasises the intersection of class and gender in female migrants’ experiences, and argues that subjective accounts of class provide an excellent opportunity to explore the complexity of how class is experienced in the context of international migration.
Stability of Ascending Aortic Dilatation Following Aortic Valve Replacement

Background—Replacement of the ascending aorta (Asc Ao) at the time of aortic valve replacement (AVR) is controversial because the risk of progressive dilatation following valve replacement is uncertain. Our aim was to determine the natural history of ascending aortic dilatation following AVR. Methods and Results—We studied 185 patients undergoing AVR at our institution between 1992 and 1999. Clinical and echocardiographic data were obtained by merging our institutional echocardiographic database with the DHMC component of the Northern New England Cardiovascular Disease Study Group database. Baseline Asc Ao measurements obtained from intraoperative transesophageal echocardiograms or early (<8 weeks) postoperative transthoracic echocardiograms were compared with late follow-up measurements (mean follow-up 30.0±23.4 months). During follow-up, there was no increase in the mean Asc Ao diameter (3.6±0.6 cm versus 3.6±0.6 cm, p=NS). Progressive aortic dilatation, defined as an increase in diameter >0.3 cm, occurred in 27/185 patients (15%). Baseline Asc Ao dilatation (≥3.5 cm) was present in 107/185 patients (58%). In this subset of patients, there was no increase in mean Asc Ao diameter (4.0±0.4 versus 3.9±0.6 cm, p=NS) and progressive aortic dilatation occurred in only 10 patients (9.3%). No patients with baseline aortic dilatation (range, 3.5 to 5.3 cm) dilated beyond 5.5 cm on follow-up (range, 2.4 to 5.5 cm). There were no clinical or valvular characteristics that predicted progressive Asc Ao dilatation. Conclusions—An increase in Asc Ao dilatation occurs infrequently following AVR and therefore, argues against routine Asc Ao replacement at the time of AVR.
Risk Sensitive and Ambiguity Reducing Dominance Interactions in a Virtual Laboratory.

In this paper the effects of dominance interactions on social-spatial structure (i.e. centrality of dominants) and social interaction patterns are studied in a simple virtual world: artificial entities inhabiting it are just grouping and performing dominance interactions in which the effects of winning and losing are self-reinforcing. I compare three strategies of attack. The first is based on the contention that aggression stops once individuals recognize the status of others (‘the Ambiguity Reducing strategy’). The second represents another popular view among ethologists, that attack depends on risks involved. The third version is a kind of control system. Here, entities attack obligatory whomever they encounter. In all three systems a dominance hierarchy develops and an increase in intensity of aggression leads to clearer differentiation of ranks, which has a cascade of effects on frequency of aggression, stability of ranks and spatial structure. Furthermore, a spatial structure with dominants in the center emerges in the control and risk sensitive strategy. In the risk sensitive system, bidirectionality of attack is decreased at higher intensities of aggression. Since the latter is observed in certain primate species too, other patterns that emerged for the risk sensitive strategy may be used as research hypotheses for these species.
STREPTOCOCCAL M ANTIGEN LOCATION AND SYNTHESIS, STUDIED BY IMMUNOFLUORESCENCE

Streptococcal M protein has been studied directly in the intact streptococcal cell by specific immunofluorescence. By this method, it can be seen to be concentrated in or on the cell wall, but cannot be detected in the capsule. The lack of type-specific (but not group-specific) immunofluorescence after trypsinization; and the inhibition of group-specific immunofluorescence by unlabeled type-specific antibody, are observations most compatible with a location of the M antigen determinants on the cell surface superficial to the group antigen. M antigen is not "resynthesized" after trypsinization of living cells, but appears anew only at sites of new cell wall growth. A limited amount of such growth, leading sometimes to detectable amounts of M in the gross, can take place in deficient media without detectable increases in optical density of the cell population.
Major Molecular Response Achievement in CML Patients Can Be Predicted by BCR-ABL1/ABL1 or BCR-ABL1/GUS Ratio at an Earlier Time Point of Follow-Up than Currently Recommended

Recent studies demonstrate that early molecular response to tyrosine-kinase inhibitors is strongly predictive of outcome in chronic myeloid leukemia patients and that early response landmarks may identify patients at higher risk for transformation who would benefit from an early switch to second-line therapy. In this study, we evaluated the ability of the control gene GUS to identify relevant thresholds for known therapeutic decision levels (BCR-ABL1/ABL1IS = 10% and 0.1%). We then defined the most relevant cut-offs for early molecular response markers (transcript level at 3 months, halving time and log reduction between diagnosis and 3 months of treatment) using GUS or ABL1. We demonstrated that, although both control genes could be used (in an equivalent way) to accurately assess early molecular response, the BCR-ABL1/GUS level at diagnosis is impacted by the higher GUS copy number over-expressed in CML cells, thus negatively impacting its ability to completely replace ABL1 at diagnosis. Furthermore, we pointed out, for the first time, that it would be helpful to monitor BCR-ABL1 levels at an earlier time point than that currently performed, in order to assess response to first-line tyrosine-kinase inhibitors and consider a potential switch of therapy as early as possible. We evaluated this optimal time point as being 19 days after the start of treatment in our cohort.
Strategic change in the academy: controlling and/or enabling strategies

ABSTRACT This study describes the strategic change efforts of a university in the United Kingdom which changed its form and resource deployments to focus on the production of interdisciplinary research. A problem-oriented case study method was used to chronicle and analyse the leadership strategies and tactics employed and their consequences. We found that the reliance on a vertical leadership (controlling) strategy led to external legitimization but not internal legitimacy. We also found instances these strategies created unintended consequences which inhibited the strategic change initiative. In particular, horizontal leadership (enabling) strategies that spoke to the academic heartland were muted. We concluded that in universities undertaking major strategic change efforts controlling influence actions may be necessary but they are insufficient to levers of strategic change. The study is particularly important because it contributes to an understanding of strategic change in universities at a time when most such efforts fail to meet their objectives and there is a limited empirical literature to draw upon.
Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II Compartments in Human and Mouse B Lymphoblasts Represent Conventional Endocytic Compartments

In most human and mouse antigen-presenting cells, the majority of intracellular major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules resides in late endocytic MHC class II compartments (MIICs), thought to function in antigen processing and peptide loading. However, in mouse A20 B cells, early endocytic class II-containing vesicles (CIIVs) have been reported to contain most of the intracellular MHC class II molecules and have also been implicated in formation of MHC class II–peptide complexes. To address this discrepancy, we have studied in great detail the endocytic pathways of both a human (6H5.DM) and a mouse (A20.Ab) B cell line. Using quantitative immunoelectron microscopy on cryosections of cells that had been pulse–chased with transferrin-HRP or BSA-gold as endocytic tracers, we have identified up to six endocytic subcompartments including an early MIIC type enriched in invariant chain, suggesting that it serves as an important entrance to the endocytic pathway for newly synthesized MHC class II/invariant chain complexes. In addition, early MIICs represented the earliest endocytic compartment containing MHC class II– peptide complexes, as shown by using an antibody against an abundant endogenous class II–peptide complex. The early MIIC exhibited several though not all of the characteristics reported for the CIIV and was situated just downstream of early endosomes. We have not encountered any special class II-containing endocytic structures besides those normally present in nonantigen-presenting cells. Our results therefore suggest that B cells use conventional endocytic compartments rather than having developed a unique compartment to accomplish MHC class II presentation.
Black and White or shades of gray: Individual differences in automatic race categorization

Black and White or shades of gray: Individual differences in automatic race categorization Lori Wu Sz-Hwei Malahy Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Professor Yuichi Shoda Psychology This dissertation focuses on automatic race categorization (ARC), or the tendency for people to perceive others as falling into discrete racial groups rather than perceiving more continuous racial variation. Traditional research approaches treat race categorization as a binary process and assume that people perceive race as falling into discrete categories. In contrast, this research conceives of race categorization as a continuum where a person can perceive the boundary between races as strong and distinct, weak and nonexistent, or anything in-between. First, I introduce a new method of measuring ARC (Sedlins, Malahy, Plaks, & Shoda, 2012). The data support the idea that people tend to see racial continua as falling into discrete categories (chapter 1: studies 1-3) and provide evidence
Economies of reputation: the case of revenge porn

ABSTRACT Revenge porn involves publicly releasing pictures of a person’s sexual activity, along with the means to contact that person, to provoke widespread shaming. This paper analyzes the US-based revenge porn website MyEx.com through discourse, legal, and information network analyses. The paper explores how revenge porn is not only an instance of online sexual violence rooted in abjection but also symptomatic of a new political economy of subjectivity, where both the human-based and the automated, algorithm-based circulation of personal information are at the center of processes through which the self is seen and valued, both socially and economically, by others.
Tissue cardiovascular magnetic resonance demonstrates regional diastolic dysfunction in remote tissue early after inferior myocardial infarction.

PURPOSE To investigate regional diastolic and systolic function using tissue cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR), early after transmural myocardial infarction of the inferior wall due to single proximal right coronary artery disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS Velocity encoded CMR was used to measure early diastolic transmitral flow velocity (E), and regional, longitudinal, myocardial systolic (Sa) and early diastolic (Ea) velocities (tissue CMR) in 15 patients with a recent transmural inferior myocardial infarction and in 15 age and LV-mass index matched control subjects. An unpaired two-tailed t test was used to assess significance of continuous variables. RESULTS Global systolic (ejection fraction 46 +/- 7% versus 57 +/- 4%, p = 0.000052) and global diastolic LV function (average Ea of infarcted or inferior, remote or anterior, adjacent or septal and lateral myocardium 6.8 +/- 1.7 cm/s versus 10.4 +/- 1.5 cm/s, p = 0.0000012) were impaired in patients as compared to controls. Regional systolic and diastolic LV velocities were impaired in infarcted and adjacent tissue in patients. However, in remote or anterior tissue, systolic velocities were preserved (Sa 6.6 +/- 2.0 cm/s versus 6.8 +/- 1.4 cm/s, p = 0.70), but diastolic velocities were impaired in patients as compared to controls (Ea 7.2 +/- 2.3 cm/s versus 10.2 +/- 2.5 cm/s, p = 0.0026). CONCLUSIONS Regional diastolic velocities early after inferior myocardial infarction are impaired in the infarcted, adjacent and remote tissue, but regional systolic velocities are preserved in remote tissue.
Modularization compass navigating the white waters of feature-oriented modularity

Successful software systems have to adapt to the evolving needs of their users. However, adding and extending functional features often becomes more difficult over time due to aggregated complexity and eroded modularity. This erosion can be quantified by measuring scattering and tangling of feature implementations in the source code, to track long-term regressions and to plan refactorings. This paper argues that the traditional usage of only the absolute values of modularity metrics is, however, insufficient and proposes to use their relative values instead. These relative values are referred to as the drift of feature-oriented modularity, and are defined as the distance between the actual metric values for a given source code and their values achievable for the source code's ideally modularized counterpart. The proposed approach, called modularization compass, computes the modularity drift by optimizing the feature-oriented modularization of source code based on traceability links between features and source code. The optimized modularizations are created automatically by transforming the groupings of classes into packages, which is guided by a multi-objective grouping genetic algorithm. The proposed approach was evaluated by application to long-term release histories of three open-source Java applications.
Measuring the Food Environment: A Systematic Technique for Characterizing Food Stores Using Display Counts

Marketing research has documented the influence of in-store characteristics—such as the number and placement of display stands—on consumer purchases of a product. However, little information exists on this topic for key foods of interest to those studying the influence of environmental changes on dietary behavior. This study demonstrates a method for characterizing the food environment by measuring the number of separate displays of fruits, vegetables, and energy-dense snack foods (including chips, candies, and sodas) and their proximity to cash registers in different store types. Observations in New Orleans stores (N = 172) in 2007 and 2008 revealed significantly more displays of energy-dense snacks than of fruits and vegetables within all store types, especially supermarkets. Moreover, supermarkets had an average of 20 displays of energy-dense snacks within 1 meter of their cash registers, yet none of them had even a single display of fruits or vegetables near their cash registers. Measures of the number of separate display stands of key foods and their proximity to a cash register can be used by researchers to better characterize food stores and by policymakers to address improvements to the food environment.
Mourning and memory in the twittersphere

Abstract Emerging work in the field of social media and mourning suggests that social media spaces have changed the landscape of grief by encouraging mourners to form communities online, post public statements about loss, and maintain continuing bonds with the deceased. While existing studies restrict their analyses to public or private online spaces, we examine a space that is suited to both private communication and information broadcast. In this paper, we analyse mentions of deceased Twitter users and find that Twitter facilitates multiple types of mourning behaviours previously identified in isolation within other online spaces. While some Twitter users engage directly with the deceased and display evidence of continuing bonds, others use Twitter to comment on the death of high profile individuals or individuals whose death sparked their interest – often connecting these deaths to broader topics, including current events and calls for social change. Overall, our findings suggest that Twitter is a unique online space that encourages users to engage in a variety of personal and public communication that ranges from highly personal and intimate interaction to abstracted and impersonal commenting.
Numerical Study of Light Transport in Apple Models Based on Monte Carlo Simulations

This paper reports on the quantification of light transport in apple models using Monte Carlo simulations. To this end, apple was modeled as a two-layer spherical model including skin and flesh bulk tissues. The optical properties of both tissue types used to generate Monte Carlo data were collected from the literature, and selected to cover a range of values related to three apple varieties. Two different imaging-tissue setups were simulated in order to show the role of the skin on steady-state backscattering images, spatially-resolved reflectance profiles, and assessment of flesh optical properties using an inverse nonlinear least squares fitting algorithm. Simulation results suggest that apple skin cannot be ignored when a Visible/Near-Infrared (Vis/NIR) steady-state imaging setup is used for investigating quality attributes of apples. They also help to improve optical inspection techniques in the horticultural products.
The Frobenius anatomy of word meanings I: subject and object relative pronouns

This paper develops a compositional vector-based semantics of subject and object relative pronouns within a categorical framework. Frobenius algebras are used to formalise the operations required to model the semantics of relative pronouns, including passing information between the relative clause and the modified noun phrase, as well as copying, combining, and discarding parts of the relative clause. We develop two instantiations of the abstract semantics, one based on a truth-theoretic approach and one based on corpus statistics.
An Interactive Beat Tracking and Visualisation System

This paper describes BeatRoot, a system which performs automatic beat tracking on audio or MIDI data and creates a graphical and audio representation of the data and results, as part of an interactive interface for correcting errors or selecting alternative metrical levels for beat tracking. The graphical interface displays the input data and the computed beat times, and allows the user to add, delete and adjust the beat times and then automatically re-track the remaining data based on the user input. The system also provides audio feedback consisting of the original input data accompanied by a percussion instrument sounding at the computed beat times. At the heart of the system is a beat tracking algorithm which estimates tempo based on the frequency of occurrence of the various time durations between pairs of note onset times, and then uses a multiple hypothesis search to find the sequence of note onsets that best matches one of the possible tempos. The primary application of this system is in the analysis of tempo and timing in musical performance, although the beat tracking algorithm itself has been shown to perform at least as well as other state-of-the-art systems.