Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Generating social capital for bridging ethnic divisions in the Balkans: Case studies of two Bosniak cities

Abstract One of the major goals of the international community's intervention into the Balkans is the rebuilding of “viable multiethnic societies”. Such societies require support from a population that builds inclusive social capital. I applied social network theory to interethnic relations to help identify the conditions under which minorities could embark on this arduous task in divided, war-torn societies, like Bosnia-Herzegovina. Analysis of data from interviews and participant observation indicate that institutions support positive interethnic relationships when they help people to address practical concerns; allow for individual norms and repeated, mutually dependent interethnic interaction; are rooted in local culture; and are difficult for people to avoid. Nominally mixed urban workplaces and certain types of civic organizations, not advocacy groups or neighbourhoods, meet these criteria. These findings urge scholars working on the role of civil society in rebuilding divided post-conflict societie.
Deliberative capital: recognition in participatory budgeting

This article suggests (1) that deliberative democrats seeking to understand the conditions of inclusion in the public sphere should reconsider whether deliberative ‘skills,’ ‘competence,’ and ‘capacity’ are adequate to capture what effective participation requires, (2) that they would understand this differently, and better, by thinking in terms of deliberative capital, a concept more sensitive to how norms condition recognition of legitimate speakers, (3) that interpretive inquiries focused on practices in concrete deliberative fields can enrich our understanding of the conditions of inclusion. This article presents an account of participatory budgeting in Rosario, Argentina, based on observations and interviews with participants, and focuses on interpreting the meanings that participation has for citizen ‘councilors’. It finds that deliberative practices produce alternative sources of recognition, on the basis of which members of the field of deliberation expect recognition also outside the field. The concept of deliberative capital brings to the fore the symbolic values of deliberative practices and provides an alternative view on how they matter for participation in the wider public sphere.
A Prospective Study of Standardized Nonsurgical Therapy in the Management of Biliary Anastomotic Strictures Complicating Liver Transplantation

Background. Biliary anastomotic strictures are a common complication of liver transplantation, occurring in up to 7% of patients at our center. Endoscopic therapy has started to replace surgical biliary reconstruction as the favored means of managing these patients in some centers, although the utility of this approach has never been tested in the setting of a standardized prospective study. Methods. This was a standardized, prospective observational study in the liver transplantation unit, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, United Kingdom. Between June 2000 and August 2006, a total of 791 adults underwent liver transplantation at the Birmingham liver unit and 53 patients were diagnosed with biliary anastomotic strictures. All 53 patients chose to undergo endoscopic therapy and were managed according to the unit’s standardized treatment protocol. Data and information from the patient records was collated prospectively, stored in a specific database, and analyzed by intention-to-treat. Results. Endoscopic therapy was successful in 69% of patients referred with anastomotic strictures with a median stent free follow up of 18 months. Most patients required a median of 3 endoscopic procedures and two 24F balloon dilatations to adequately treat the stricture. The median continuous indwelling stent period was 11 months. Two patients were re-stented because of jaundice although only one patient had recurrence of the anastomotic stricture (3%). Conclusions. Endoscopic balloon dilatation and stenting is a safe and effective means of treating biliary anastomotic strictures complicating liver transplantation.
Modulation of Visual Cortical Excitability by Working Memory: Effect of Luminance Contrast of Mental Imagery

Although much is known about the impact of stimulus properties such as luminance contrast, spatial frequency, and orientation on visually evoked neural activity, much less is known about how they modulate neural activity when they are properties of a mental image held in working memory (WM). Here we addressed this question by investigating how a parametric manipulation of an imagined stimulus attribute affects neuronal excitability in the early visual cortex. We manipulated luminance contrast, a stimulus property known to strongly affect the magnitude of neuronal responses in early visual areas. Luminance contrast modulated neuronal excitability, as assessed by the frequency of phosphenes induced by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) with the exact nature of this modulation depending on TMS intensity. These results point to a strong overlap in the neuronal processes underlying visual perception and mental imagery: not only does WM maintenance selectively engage neurons which are tuned to the maintained attribute (as has previously been shown), but the extent to which those neurons are activated depends on the image contrast (as is the case with visually evoked responses). From a methodological viewpoint, these results suggest that assessment of visual cortical excitability using TMS is affected by the TMS intensity used to probe the neuronal population.
An Electric Power Consumption Analysis System for the Installation of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

With the rising demand for electric vehicles, the number of electric vehicle charging stations is increasing. Therefore, real-time monitoring of how the power consumption by charging stations affects the load on the peripheral power grid is important. However, related organizations generally do not provide actual power consumption data in real time, and only limited information, such as the charging time, is provided. Therefore, it is difficult to calculate and predict the power load in real time. In this paper, we propose a new model for estimating the electric power consumption from the supplied information, i.e., the charging time and the number of charging involved. The experimental results show that by displaying this information on a map, it is possible to visually monitor the electric power consumption of the charging stations with an accuracy rate of about 86%. Finally, the proposed system can be used to relocate and select the location of vehicle charging stations.
Impact of Attention on Perception in Cognitive Dynamic Systems

The proposed aim of this thesis, inspired by the human brain, is to improve on the performance of a perceptual processing algorithm, referred to as a “perceptor”. This is done by trying to bridge the gap between neuroscience and engineering. To this end, we build on localized perception-action cycle in cognitive neuroscience by categorizing it under the umbrella of perceptual attention, which lends itself to increase gradually the contrast between relevant information and irrelevant information. Stated in another way, irrelevant information is filtered away while relevant information about the environment is enhanced from one cycle to the next. Accordingly, we propose to improve on the performance of a perceptor by modifying it to operate under the influence of perceptual attention. For this purpose, we first start with a single-layered perceptor and investigate the impact of perceptual attention on its performance through two computer experiments: The first experiment uses simulated (real-valued) data that are generated to purposely make the problem challenging. The second experiment uses real-life radar data that are complex-valued, hence the proposal to introduce Wirtinger calculus into derivation of our proposed method. We then take one step further and extend our proposed method to the case where a perceptor is hierarchical. In this context, every constitutive component of a hierarchical perceptor is modified to operate under the influence of perceptual attention. Then, another experiment is carried out to demonstrate the positive impact of perceptual attention on the performance of that hierarchical perceptor, just described.
Information Acquisition and Under-Diversification

If an investor wants to form a portfolio of risky assets and can exert effort to collect information on the future value of these assets before he invests, which assets should he learn about? The best assets to acquire information about are ones the investor expects to hold. But the assets the investor holds depend on the information he observes. We build a framework to solve jointly for investment and information choices, with a variety of preferences and information cost functions. Although the optimal research strategies depend on preferences and costs, the main result is that the investor who can first collect information systematically deviates from holding a diversified portfolio. Information acquisition can rationalize investing in a diversified fund and a concentrated set of assets, an allocation often observed, but usually deemed anomalous.
An Interview with Bernice McCarthy: Creator of The 4MAT® System

Bernice McCarthy is the Chief Innovative Officer and Creator of 4MAT and the Founder of About Learning System: A Framework for Improving Teaching. The world of instruction needed something new and that jolt came from Dr. Bernice McCarthy. Dr. McCarthy knew from her extensive teaching experience there had to be a style of learning that would reach all students. Traditional lessons taught with lectures, tests and rote memorization might work for some students while others need instruction with interaction and hands on activities. Armed with the desire to help every student learn, Dr. McCarthy founded About Learning in 1979. She has continued to present workshops and in-services on her system which has been adopted by many.
Digestion by pigs of non-starch polysaccharides in wheat and raw peas (Pisum sativum) fed in mixed diets

The digestion by pigs of non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) in wheat and raw peas (Pisum sativum) fed in mixed diets was measured. In the four experimental diets, wheat was included at a constant 500 g/kg whilst peas contributed 0–300 g/kg and these were the only dietary sources of NSP. Separate estimates of digestibility for wheat and peas were obtained by using a multiple linear regression technique which also tested the possibility that the presence of peas might influence the digestibility of wheat NSP. There was little evidence of the latter and it was found that the digestibility of peas NSP (0.84) was considerably greater than that of wheat (0.65). The non-cellulosic polysaccharides (NCP) had twofold greater digestibilities than had cellulose for both foods with essentially all the peas NCP being digested. Faecal α-diaminopimelic acid concentration increased with feeding of peas, suggesting stimulation of bacterial biomass production in the large intestine using the readily fermented peas NSP. All three major volatile fatty acids produced by large intestinal fermentation were detected in jugular blood and increased significantly with increasing peas inclusion rate in the diet.
No effects of high-dose omeprazole in patients with severe airway hyperresponsiveness and (a)symptomatic gastro-oesophageal reflux.

Acid gastro-oesophageal reflux may aggravate respiratory symptoms in patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by increasing airway hyperresponsiveness through vagally-mediated pathways. We wanted to determine whether elimination of acid reflux could improve symptoms in such patients. In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 36 allergic and nonallergic subjects (17 males and 19 females, mean age 52 yrs), with airway obstruction and severe airway hyperresponsiveness despite maintenance treatment with an inhaled corticosteroid and with increased acid gastro-oesophageal reflux, were treated either with omeprazole, 40 mg b.i. d. , or placebo for 3 months. Primary endpoints were: airway hyperresponsiveness, as determined by the provocative concentration of methacholine producing a 20% fall in forced expiratory volume in one second (PC20); and airway obstruction. Secondary endpoints were: peak expiratory flow variability; reversibility to inhaled ipratropium bromide as a parameter of vagal activity; asthma symptoms scores; and medication used. Reflux was measured by 24 h ambulatory intraoesophageal pH measurement. Omeprazole, 40 mg b.i. d. , for 3 months had no beneficial effect on any of the pulmonary parameters, despite its profound effect on acid reflux and improvement of reflux symptoms scores, compared to placebo. The results of this study do not support a role for intensive antireflux therapy to improve pulmonary symptoms and function in patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, who have severe airway hyperresponsiveness despite maintenance treatment with inhaled corticosteroids.
Alpha-particle-induced soft errors and multiple cell upsets in 65-nm 10T subthreshold SRAM

This paper presents measurement results of alpha-particle-induced soft errors and multiple cell upsets (MCUs) in 65-nm 10T SRAM with a wide range of supply voltage from 1.0 V to 0.3 V. We reveal that the soft error rate (SER) at 0.3 V is eight times higher than SER at 1.0 V, and the ratio of MCUs to the total upsets increases as the supply voltage decreases. The SER and ratio of MCUs with body-biasing are also described. In addition, we investigate an impact of manufacturing variability on the soft error immunity of each memory cell. In our measurement, a distinct influence of manufacturing variability is not observed even in subthreshold region.
Directional functional coupling of cerebral rhythms between anterior cingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal areas during rare stimuli: A directed transfer function analysis of human depth EEG signal

What is the neural substrate of our capability to properly react to changes in the environment? It can be hypothesized that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) manages repetitive stimuli in routine conditions and alerts the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) when stimulation unexpectedly changes. To provide evidence in favor of this hypothesis, intracerebral stereoelectroencephalographic (SEEG) data were recorded from the anterior cingulate and dorsolateral PFC of eight epileptic patients in a standard visual oddball task during presurgical monitoring. Two types of stimuli (200 ms duration) such as the letters O (frequent stimuli; 80% of probability) and X (rare stimuli) were presented in random order, with an interstimulus interval between 2 and 5 s. Subjects had to mentally count the rare (target) stimuli and to press a button with their dominant hand as quickly and accurately as possible. EEG frequency bands of interest were θ (4–8 Hz), α (8–12 Hz), β (14–30 Hz), and γ (30–45 Hz). The directionality of the information flux within the EEG rhythms was indexed by a directed transfer function (DTF). The results showed that compared with the frequent stimuli, the target stimuli induced a statistically significant increase of DTF values from the anterior cingulate to the dorsolateral PFC at the θ rhythms (P < 0.01). These results provide support to the hypothesis that ACC directly or indirectly affects the oscillatory activity of dorsolateral PFC by a selective frequency code under typical oddball conditions. Hum Brain Mapp 2009. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Cognitive and attentional bias in the processing of smoking-related stimuli

The aim of the present thesis was to examine the cognitive and attentional processing of smoking-related stimuli in abstinent, active and non-smokers. The initial research reported here is directed at establishing appropriate experimental and questionnaire materials for the main studies. This included the development of a valid list of smoking-related words with frequency-matched controls, and revising the Smoking Motivation Questionnaire based on analyses of structure and reliability. Generalised cognitive biases were assessed through a series of modified Stroop experiments. Although the findings suggested that abstinence alters cognition with respect to smoking-related stimuli an assessment of the results suggested that there were some inconsistencies in the findings. Only when a blocked-format Stroop with vocal responses was used was there evidence of a cognitive bias for smoking-related words in abstinent smokers. In order to specifically examine attentional bias in abstinent, active and nonsmokers, a final study assessed performance on a Dot Probe task. Results showed no shift in attention towards smoking words in abstinent smokers. However, a subsidiary analysis revealed that smokers who reported an awareness of smoking shifted their attention towards smoking words.These findings may suggest that different formats of attentional tasks provide differing outcomes in terms of smokers processing of smoking-related information, and that awareness is an important aspect of this processing. Finally, analyses of self-report measures revealed that smokers were more state anxious than smokers and that abstinence increased state anxiety and cigarette craving. The results from this thesis have provided some useful indicators of successful smoking cessation and may assist in the development of a cognitive model of smoking. However, the development of the work will be dependent on modifications and extensions needed to address the anomalies in the findings. Specifically the smoking-related words used and the type of attentional task employed.
Self Organisation in Vowel Systems through Imitation

In this paper an arti(cid:12)cial life approach to the explanation of the shape of vowel systems is presented. A population of arti(cid:12)cial agents (small independent computer programs) that are each able to produce and perceive vowels in a human-like way, engages in imitation games. In these imitation games one agent makes a sound and another agent tries to imitate it. Both agents use their list of phonemes for analysing and producing the sounds. Depending on the outcome of the language game, the agents update their phoneme lists, using only local information. It is demonstrated that in this way vowel systems that look remarkably like human vowel systems emerge. The process is insensitive to factors such as noise level, initial conditions and number of agents. It is argued that this could be a useful way of explaining the universal characteristics of human vowel systems.
Penile length, digit length, and anogenital distance according to birth weight in newborn male infants

Purpose Anogential distance (AGD) and the 2:4 digit length ratio appear to provide a reliable guide to fetal androgen exposure. We intended to investigate the current status of penile size and the relationship between penile length and AGD or digit length according to birth weight in Korean newborn infants. Materials and Methods Between May 2013 and February 2014, among a total of 78 newborn male infants, 55 infants were prospectively included in this study. Newborn male infants with a gestational age of 38 to 42 weeks and birth weight>2.5 kg were assigned to the NW group (n=24) and those with a gestational age<38 weeks and birth weight<2.5 kg were assigned to the LW group (n=31). Penile size and other variables were compared between the two groups. Results Stretched penile length of the NW group was 3.3±0.2 cm, which did not differ significantly from that reported in 1987. All parameters including height, weight, penile length, testicular size, AGD, and digit length were significantly lower in the LW group than in the NW group. However, there were no significant differences in AGD ratio or 2:4 digit length ratio between the two groups. Conclusions The penile length of newborn infants has not changed over the last quarter century in Korea. With normal penile appearance, the AGD ratio and 2:4 digit length ratio are consistent irrespective of birth weight, whereas AGD, digit length, and penile length are significantly smaller in newborns with low birth weight.
A New Double-Moment Microphysics Parameterization for Application in Cloud and Climate Models. Part I: Description

A new double-moment bulk microphysics scheme predicting the number concentrations and mixing ratios of four hydrometeor species (droplets, cloud ice, rain, snow) is described. New physically based parameterizations are developed for simulating homogeneous and heterogeneous ice nucleation, droplet activation, and the spectral index (width) of the droplet size spectra. Two versions of the scheme are described: one for application in high-resolution cloud models and the other for simulating grid-scale cloudiness in larger-scale models. The versions differ in their treatment of the supersaturation field and droplet nucleation. For the high-resolution approach, droplet nucleation is calculated from Kohler theory applied to a distribution of aerosol that activates at a given supersaturation. The resolved supersaturation field and condensation/deposition rates are predicted using a semianalytic approximation to the three-phase (vapor, ice, liquid) supersaturation equation. For the large-scale version of the scheme, it is assumed that the supersaturation field is not resolved and thus droplet activation is parameterized as a function of the vertical velocity and diabatic cooling rate. The vertical velocity includes a subgrid component that is parameterized in terms of the eddy diffusivity and mixing length. Droplet condensation is calculated using a quasi-steady, saturation adjustment approach. Evaporation/deposition onto the other water species is given by nonsteady vapor diffusion allowing excess vapor density relative to ice saturation.
Modelling and analysis of cortico-hippocampal interactions and dynamics during sleep and anaesthesia

The standard memory consolidation model assumes that new memories are temporarily stored in the hippocampus and later transferred to the neocortex, during deep sleep, for long-term storage, signifying the importance of studying functional and structural cortico-hippocampal interactions. Our work offers a thorough analysis on such interactions between neocortex and hippocampus, along with a detailed study of their intrinsic dynamics, from two complementary perspectives: statistical data analysis and computational modelling. The first part of this study reviews mathematical tools for assessing directional interactions in multivariate time series. We focus on the notion of Granger Causality and the related measure of generalised Partial Directed Coherence (gPDC) which we then apply, through a custom built numerical package, to electrophysiological data from the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and hippocampus of anaesthetized rats. Our gPDC analysis reveals a clear lateral-to-medial hippocampus connectivity and suggests a reciprocal information flow between mPFC and hippocampus, altered during cortical activity. The second part deals with modelling sleep-related intrinsic rhythmic dynamics of the two areas, and examining their coupling. We first reproduce a computational model of the cortical slow oscillation, a periodic alteration between activated (UP) states and neuronal silence. We then develop a new spiking network model of hippocampal areas CA3 and CA1, reproducing many of their intrinsic dynamics and exhibiting sharp wave-ripple complexes, suggesting a novel mechanism for their generation based on CA1 interneuronal activity and recurrent inhibition. We finally couple the two models to study interactions between the slow oscillation and hippocampal activity. Our simulations propose a dependence of the correlation between UP states and hippocampal spiking on the excitation-to-inhibition ratio induced by the mossy fibre input to CA3 and by a combination of the Schaffer collateral and temporoammonic input to CA1. These inputs are shown to affect reported correlations between UP states and ripples.