Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Homicide and Organized Crime in England

This article reports results of a study identifying and analyzing the 17 homicides (from a total 696 recorded non-terrorist homicides) committed as part of organized crime in England and Wales in 2005-2006. Homicides related to organized crime were found to follow from inter group rivalries, tensions within the same organized crime group, or police/citizen resistance during armed robbery. The motivations of the homicides can be broadly categorized as instrumental or expressive. Suggestions are made for further research on the conditions surrounding such homicides and on the relative rarity of organized crime related homicides in Britain.
The effect of some technological production variables on mechanical and physical properties of particleboard manufactured from cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) stalks

The current study aims to improve properties of particleboard manufactured from cotton (Gossium hirsutum) stalks glued with urea formaldehyde. To this aim, panel density (at three levels: 0,5; 0,65 and 0,8 g/cm3), press temperature (at two levels: 150 and 180 °C) and press closing speed (at two levels: 4 and 8mm/s) were selected as independent variables. The mechanical properties consist of modulus of rupture, modulus of elasticity and internal bonding and physical behaviors such as water absorption and thickness swelling of panels were determined. Results showed that with increasing the density of panels and press temperature modulus of rupture, modulus of elasticity and internal bonding of panels increased, while bending strengths of panels were differently affected by press closing speedcompared to the internal bonding, so that with increasing the press closing speed modulus of rupture increased, but internal bonding decreased. Moreover, increasing panel density and press temperature, water absorption and thickness swelling of panels decreased. The press closing speed affected the waterabsorption and thickness swelling, insignificantly.
Misplaced: language, remitting and development practice among Zimbabwean migrants

While skilled migrants make influential contributions to development through remitting cash and exchanging knowledge, we argue for greater scrutiny of the role of language in the so-called ‘migration–development nexus’. Noting the transnational context within which the everyday life of many migrants proceeds, we develop a broader reading of language use which is attentive to its potential role in transforming social, cultural and spatial relations. Adopting a relational ontology to everyday practice, we describe how professional Zimbabweans used and experienced English, Shona and Ndebele in making various development contributions. While 82% of our respondents remitted, and most felt English was essential for employment success, our results also highlight how the placed nature of language use intensifies social and cultural vulnerabilities. We further explore how an emerging language practice addresses vulnerability through valuing a cross-cultural communicative competency which reworks spatial relations. That language use and practice are entwined with the economic, social, cultural and spatial reproduction of the migration–development nexus that has implications for critical accounts of globalisation and for policy on development and social cohesion.
Oxygen levels determine the ability of glucocorticoids to influence neutrophil survival in inflammatory environments

GCs are highly effective in treating a wide range of inflammatory diseases but are limited in their ability to control neutrophilic lung inflammation in conditions such as COPD. Neutrophil apoptosis, a central feature of inflammation resolution, is delayed in response to microenvironmental cues, such as hypoxia and inflammatory cytokines, present at inflamed sites. GCs delay neutrophil apoptosis in vitro, and this may therefore limit the ability of GCs to control neutrophilic inflammation. This study assesses the effect GCs have on hypoxia‐ and inflammatory cytokine‐induced neutrophil survival. Human neutrophils were treated with GCs in the presence or absence of GM‐CSF or inflammatory macrophage‐CM at a range of oxygen concentrations (21–1% oxygen). Neutrophil apoptosis and survival were assessed by flow cytometry and morphological analysis and neutrophil function, by stimulus‐induced shape change and respiratory burst. Dexamethasone promoted neutrophil survival at 21%, 10%, and 5% oxygen but not at 1% oxygen. Interestingly, GM‐CSF and inflammatory CM increased neutrophil survival significantly, even at 1% oxygen, with cells remaining functionally active at 96 h. Dexamethasone was able to reduce the prosurvival effect of GM‐CSF and inflammatory CM in a hypoxic environment. In conclusion, we found that GCs do not augment neutrophil survival in the presence of severe hypoxia or proinflammatory mediators. This suggests that GCs would not promote neutrophil survival at sites of inflammation under these conditions.
Using Video Effectively in Diverse Classes

This article presents the findings of an exploratory study into the perceptions of a culturally and linguistically diverse cohort of management students (n = 236) about the use of video as a teaching and learning tool. The results show that while students are generally favorable toward audiovisual materials, the choice of content, how the medium is used, and the types of supporting pedagogical activities all influence the students’ perceived learning and enjoyment. Notably, students from non-English-speaking backgrounds reported different benefits and challenges to their native English-speaking classmates. We use the findings to outline some practical guidelines for instructors about the most effective ways of using video as a pedagogical tool with diverse classes.
Learned in Translation: Contextualized Word Vectors

Computer vision has benefited from initializing multiple deep layers with weights pretrained on large supervised training sets like ImageNet. Natural language processing (NLP) typically sees initialization of only the lowest layer of deep models with pretrained word vectors. In this paper, we use a deep LSTM encoder from an attentional sequence-to-sequence model trained for machine translation (MT) to contextualize word vectors. We show that adding these context vectors (CoVe) improves performance over using only unsupervised word and character vectors on a wide variety of common NLP tasks: sentiment analysis (SST, IMDb), question classification (TREC), entailment (SNLI), and question answering (SQuAD). For fine-grained sentiment analysis and entailment, CoVe improves performance of our baseline models to the state of the art.
Contact and confidence: revisiting the impact of public encounters with the police

Public confidence in policing has become an important issue in the UK. The police rely on legitimacy and public support, and initiatives to improve levels of confidence are currently underway. The point of contact between citizens and officers is vital in any such endeavour. But how are encounters judged and how important for public confidence are assessments of the quality of contacts? We draw upon data from the 2005/2006 Metropolitan Police Public Attitudes Survey to answer these questions. We test Skogan's (2006) finding that personal contact has a largely negative impact on confidence; we demonstrate that unsatisfactory contacts are indeed associated with less favourable opinions about police effectiveness, fairness and engagement with the community. Yet consistent with the procedural justice model we also show that positively received contacts can improve perceptions of fairness and community engagement. Moreover, seeing regular police patrols and feeling informed about police activities are associated with higher opinions of effectiveness and community engagement. We conclude with some more positive thoughts on the ability of the police to improve the quality of contacts and, perhaps, public confidence.
Is There a Core Literature in Museology

While critics have often asserted that museology is underdeveloped as a discipline and lacks a “core literature,” no empirical evidence has been introduced to support this claim. A citation analysis of journal articles and books published over the past several years shows clear evidence that a core literature is in fact evolving in the field. Highly-productive and influential authors are easily identifiable, as are seminal works that have received large numbers of citations by other authors. The majority of those highly-cited works belong to the discipline of museology itself, and sizable numbers of influential publications cluster around key unifying themes.
Thermomechanical compaction of gutta-percha. II. A comparison with lateral condensation in curved root canals.

Summary. Thermomechanical compaction was compared with lateral condensation by the use of radiographic examination and stereomicroscopic evaluation of transverse root sections for dye penetration etration and for adaptation of gutta-percha. One hundred and twelve extracted single-rooted teeth with curved root canals which were either round or oval to ribbon-shaped in transverse sections were used. Under the condtions of this experiment performed in vitro, thermomechanical compaction proved to be significantly superior to laterl condensation on the aspects of radiographic appearance and the stereomicroscopic adaptation and compaction. With dye penetration no significant difference was found. Thermomechanical compaction resulted in better filling than lateral condensation, especially in the case of widely prepared oval or ribbon-shaped root canals.
Effects of precompetition state anxiety interventions on performance time and accuracy among amateur soccer players: Revisiting the matching hypothesis

Abstract In this study, we tested the matching hypothesis, which contends that administration of a cognitive or somatic anxiety intervention should be matched to a participant's dominant anxiety response. Sixty-one male soccer players (mean age 31.6 years, s=6.3) were assigned to one of four groups based on their responses to the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2, which was modified to include a directional scale. Interventions were randomly administered in a counterbalanced order 10 min before each performance trial on a soccer skill test. The dominantly cognitive anxious group (n=17), the dominantly somatic anxious group (n=17), and the non-anxious control intervention group (n=14) completed a baseline performance trial. The second and third trials were completed with random administration of brief cognitive and somatic interventions. The non-anxious control group (n=13) completed three trials with no intervention. A mixed-model, Group×Treatment multivariate analysis of variance indicated significant (P<0.05) changes in cognitive anxiety intensity and somatic anxiety intensity, but not in state anxiety direction (P>0.05), or performance time or accuracy (P>0.05). The present findings do not provide support for the matching hypothesis for state anxiety intensity and direction, or for performance.
Integrating research and teaching on innovation for sustainable development

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to point out the necessity of implementing more appropriate approaches instead of the traditional single disciplinary approaches, in order to be able to cope with the ill‐defined, highly complex problem of sustainable development in systems such as organizations or regions.Design/methodology/approach – Based on empirical data concerning expert and stakeholder preferences, it is argued that research and teaching on innovation for sustainability need to be both inter‐ and transdisciplinary.Findings – Here, the approach of transdisciplinary case studies, developed at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, allows appropriate integration of research and teaching activities and thus leads to mutual learning between the case study actors.Practical implications – In the second part of the paper, these conceptual considerations are illustrated with the so‐called Erzherzog Johann case study, an integrative research and teaching project at the University of .
Strategic supply chain framework for the automotive industry

st century has led to companies facing issues ranging from globalisation, economic uncertainty to new technologies and increasing consumer demands. In the automobile industry, as manufacturers design and build vehicles globally, their supply chains become increasingly complex with challenges that often stand in the way of profitability and higher shareholder value such as long order-to-delivery lead times, unreliable production schedules, excess inventory across the supply chain, lengthy demand planning cycles and lack of visibility of suppliers. The effect of the global economic meltdown increased the pressure on automotive executives to make right decisions about their supply chain for better performance. In a highly challenging and competitive environment such as today, where supply chain is a popular tool for improving the organisational competitiveness, an efficient and effective supply chain strategy is a must for automotive manufacturers and their component manufacturers so as to meet changing consumer demands. The paper explores the concept of lean and agility as generic supply chain strategies and presents a strategic supply chain framework for the automobile industry as a possible strategy to respond to changing consumer demand.
Immunosuppression: practice and trends

The history of solid organ transplantation can be viewed as the history of immunosuppressive strategies. It is not a stretch to divide the record of successful human transplantation into three eras that are characterized by different methods of immunosuppression. In the first of these periods (1954–1962), transplant scientists and clinicians searched for immunosuppressive strategies that would provide modest success and an acceptable level of adverse events. Surgical techniques for engrafting the kidney, liver and later the heart were also issues of experimentation in this period that may be called the ‘Experimental Era’. Routine clinical transplantation was confined to identical twins sharing a kidney. The advent of azathioprine in 1962 increased the possibilities for successful human transplants, garnered a Nobel prize for innovative pharmacological progress, and launched a new historical era of organ transplantation, the ‘Azathioprine Era’. During this period, kidney transplants could be offered to recipients of organs from living donor sources and even deceased donors with modest success. Graft survival hovered around 50% at 1 year, attended by high rejection rates, but patient survival was strong. Organ transplants could be performed, at least experimentally, in heart and liver recipients. In 1983, the ‘Cyclosporine Era’ was ushered in by the discovery of cyclosporin A and its provision for clinical use. As has been shown by a recent review of the OPTN/SRTR database, kidney transplant success has become superb, whether evaluated at early time points (1 year) or at later dates (as revealed in graft survival half lives) (1). In this third era, transplantation of extra-renal organs became routine, with excellent outcomes now observed for transplants of livers, pancreata, hearts, and even lungs.
How do people play against Nash opponents in games which have a mixed strategy equilibrium

We examine experimentally how humans behave when they, unbeknownst to them, play against a computer which implements its part of a mixed strategy Nash equilibrium. We consider two games, one zero-sum and another unprofitable with a pure minimax strategy. A minority of subjects' play was consistent with their Nash equilibrium strategy. But a larger percentage of subjects' play was more consistent with different models of play: equal-probable play for the zero-sum game, and the minimax strategy in the non-profitable game.
Acute whole-body vibration does not affect static jump performance

Abstract Currently, whole-body vibration is being used to promote enhanced performance. Many coaches and athletes believe that it can acutely enhance explosive performance and power output. However, the scientific literature is unclear as to whether this enhancement occurs. The purpose of this study was to examine the acute effects of whole-body vibration on static jump performance, including jump height, peak force, rate of force development, and peak power. Fourteen recreationally active individuals (5 females, 9 males) participated in three separate randomized treatment sessions. Treatment 1 consisted of no vibration while treatment 2 and treatment 3 incorporated whole-body vibration. The whole-body vibration protocol consisted of three 30-s bouts of vibration performed at 30 Hz and low amplitude (~3 mm) with a 30-s rest between bouts. Treatment 1 was identical in duration to both treatments 2 and 3, but did not contain any vibration. Five minutes after each treatment, the participants performed the static jump protocols. Two (data averaged) non-weighted static jumps and two 20 kg weighted jumps were performed. Treatments 1 vs. 2, 1 vs. 3, and 2 vs. 3 were calculated for each variable at both 0 kg and 20 kg. Jump height, peak force, rate of force development, and peak power were analysed using a one-way analysis of variance with repeated measures. The intra-class correlations comparing the two trials of each jump for each of the three treatments were ≥0.92. Compared with the no-vibration condition, jump height showed a non-significant increase as a result of whole-body vibration for both unweighted and weighted jumps; peak force, rate of force development, and peak power were not statistically different. The results indicate that whole-body vibration has no effect on jump height, peak force, rate of force development or peak power during static jumping.
Vertical Root Fracture initiation in curved roots after root canal preparation: A dentinal micro-crack analysis with LED transillumination

Background One of the causative factors of root defects is the increased friction produced by rotary instrumentation. A high canal curvature may increase stress, making the tooth more susceptible to dentinal cracks. The purpose of this study was to evaluate dentinal micro-crack formation with the ProTaper NEXT and ProTaper Universal systems using LED transillumination, and to analyze the micro-crack generated at the point of maximum canal curvature. Material and Methods 60 human mandibular premolars with curvatures between 30–49° and radii between 2–4 mm were used. The root canals were instrumented using the Protaper Universal® and Protaper NEXT® systems, with the aid of the Proglider® system. The obtained samples were sectioned transversely before subsequent analysis with LED transillumination at 2 mm and 8 mm from the apex and at the point of maximum canal curvature. Defects were scored: 0 for no defects; and 1 for micro-cracks. Results Root defects were not observed in the control group. The ProTaper NEXT system caused fewer defects (16.7%) than the ProTaper Universal system (40%) (P<0.05). The ProTaper Universal system caused significantly more micro-cracks at the point of maximum canal curvature than the ProTaper NEXT system (P<0.05). Conclusions Rotary instrumentation systems often generate root defects, but the ProTaper NEXT system generated fewer dentinal defects than the ProTaper Universal system. A higher prevalence of defects was found at the point of maximum curvature in the ProTaper Universal group. Key words:Curved root, Micro-crack, point of maximum canal curvature, ProTaper NEXT, ProTaper Universal, Vertical root fracture.
Influenza is a Major Contributor to Childhood Pneumonia in a Tropical Developing Country

Background: Pneumonia is the leading cause of child mortality worldwide. The role of influenza in childhood pneumonia in tropical developing countries is poorly understood. We undertook population-based surveillance among low-income urban preschool children to determine its role in childhood pneumonia. Methods: Longitudinal prospective active surveillance was conducted among randomly selected households in a poor urban area of Dhaka. Nasopharyngeal washes were collected from 1 in 5 children for influenza culture isolation. Clinical data were collected at clinical presentation and through the illness course. Results: From April 1, 2004 through December 31, 2007, 12,062 children presented in clinic with eligible febrile and respiratory illnesses, from whom 321 influenza isolates were obtained from 2370 nasopharyngeal washes (13.5%), representing 16,043 child-years of observation (adjusted influenza incidence 102 episodes/1000 child-years). There were 8198 pneumonia episodes during the period (pneumonia incidence 511 episodes/1000 child-years). Ninety influenza-positive children (28%) developed pneumonia during their illness. Among influenza culture-positive children, those with pneumonia were younger than those without (23.4 vs. 29.7 months, ANOVA: P < 0.001). Pneumonia was more commonly associated with Influenza A (H3N2) than either A (H1N1) or B infections (age-adjusted relative odds (RO) 2.98, [95% CI: 1.56, 5.71] and 2.75, [95% CI: 1.52, 4.98], respectively). Influenza was associated with 10% all childhood pneumonia. Conclusions: Influenza is a major contributor to childhood pneumonia both through high influenza infection incidence and high pneumonia prevalence among infected children. Its contribution to early childhood pneumonia appears under-appreciated in high pneumonia-endemic tropical settings. Influenza vaccine trials against childhood pneumonia are warranted.
Interior Point Algorithms For Linear Complementarity Problems Based On Large Neighborhoods Of The Central Path

In this paper we study a first-order and a high-order algorithm for solving linear complementarity problems. These algorithms are implicitly associated with a large neighborhood whose size may depend on the dimension of the problems. The complexity of these algorithms depends on the size of the neighborhood. For the first-order algorithm, we achieve the complexity bound which the typical large-step algorithms possess. It is well known that the complexity of large-step algorithms is greater than that of short-step ones. By using high-order power series (hence the name high-order algorithm), the iteration complexity can be reduced. We show that the complexity upper bound for our high-order algorithms is equal to that for short-step algorithms.
Preschoolers' Anatomical Knowledge of Salient and Non-Salient Sexual and Non-Sexual Body Parts

Abstract Anatomical knowledge was examined in 99 selected 4-year-old children enrolled in licensed child care centers. Subjects included 50 females and 49 males. Sixty-two subjects were Caucasian, 33 African American, three Asian, and one Hispanic. Based upon parental socioeconomic status (SES), there were 41 low, 30 middle, and 28 high socioeconomic status children. Children were asked to name body parts on a same-sex, anatomically correct doll as an index of knowledge. Preschoolers demonstrated greater anatomical knowledge of salient than non-salient body parts, and girls had a higher level of knowledge than boys. Most boys and girls used slang terms to label sexual body parts or declared they did not know the names. No differences in anatomical knowledge were found for ethnicity or socioeconomic status. Implications for the educational, medical, and legal communities are drawn.