Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relational Public Diplomacy: The Perspective of Sociological Globalism

This article attempts to go beyond “citizen diplomacy,” or private sector–driven public diplomacy, by setting its sights on global people-mobility—a perpetual, systemic dynamic for creating relationship linkages—and understanding its consequences for relational public diplomacy. To this end, the article considers relational elements of three groups of global migrants, examining how their differing nexuses influence public diplomacy. It begins with diasporas, expands to international students, and then focuses on a survey of global temporary laborers, a long overlooked yet powerfully emergent group that presents both risks and beneficial opportunities. The conclusion discusses temporary laborers’ potential role in democratizing the Western monopoly over public diplomacy and calls for a departure from soft power toward relationship-centered theory and practices.
A randomized trial comparing cadexomer iodine and standard treatment in the out‐patient management of chronic venous ulcers

Ninety‐three patients with treatment‐resistant venous ulcers were included in a multicentre randomized trial to compare cadexomer iodine and the standard treatment used in each centre combined with compression bandages, in healing venous ulcers. The mean duration of ulcers before the trial was more than 2 years. With standard treatment the mean ulcer size increased slightly during the 6‐week trial whereas with cadexomer iodine the ulcer size was significantly reduced. Cadexomer iodine was more effective than standard treatment for reduction of pain, removal of pus and debris, removal of exudate, stimulation of granulation and reduction of surrounding erythema. Bacterial infection of ulcers increased or did not change during treatment with the standard therapy whereas cadexomer iodine significantly reduced infection with Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and other pathogenic organisms. A correlation was seen between the time taken to reduce or eliminate infection with Staphylococcus aureus and rate of ulcer healing. Four patients complained of transient pain in the ulcer after application of the cadexomer iodine. It is concluded that cadexomer iodine increased the rate of healing of infected chronic venous ulcers.
Altitude-a risk factor for active trachoma in southern Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND Trachoma is the leading cause of preventable blindness world wide. It is common in areas of the world that are socio-economically deprived of basic needs in housing, health, water and sanitation. METHODS A cross sectional study on the prevalence and risk factors for trachoma infection in children 1-10 years of age in three different altitude zones of Kembata zone, southern Ethiopia was done from May - July 2001. Using stratified cluster sampling, households and children 1-10 years of age were selected. RESULTS A total of 1169 children were examined. The male to female ratio was 1 : 1.2. Trachoma follicles (TF) were found in 17.3%, 33.5%, and 42.3% in high, medium and low altitude zones respectively. Like wise Trachoma intense inflammation (TI) was found in 4.2%, 23.5% and 36.5%. Females, living at lower altitude and farther distance from a water source were risk factors for trachoma infection. CONCLUSIONS Trachoma is a public health problem in the medium and low altitude regions of the area. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed low altitude as a consistent and highly significant risk factor for trachoma infection. Thus, SAFE strategy should be implemented. Altitude should be used as a priority-setting tool in selecting endemic areas for trachoma intervention programs.
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews

This paper offers an active inference account of choice behaviour and learning. It focuses on the distinc- tion between goal-directed and habitual behaviour and how they contextualise each other. We show that habits emerge naturally (and autodidactically) from sequential policy optimisation when agents are equipped with state-action policies . In active inference, behaviour has explorative (epistemic) and exploitative (pragmatic) aspects that are sensitive to ambiguity and risk respectively, where epistemic (ambiguity-resolving) behaviour enables pragmatic (reward-seeking) behaviour and the subsequent emergence of habits. Although goal-directed and habitual policies are usually associated with model-based and model-free schemes, we ﬁnd the more important distinction is between belief-free and belief-based schemes. The underlying (variational) belief updating provides a comprehensive (if metaphorical) pro- cess theory for several phenomena, including the transfer of dopamine responses
Percutaneous ethanol injection of hyperfunctioning thyroid nodules: long-term follow-up in 125 patients.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to assess the long-term efficacy of percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI) for the treatment of hyperfunctioning thyroid nodules. MATERIALS AND METHODS One hundred twenty-five patients (88 women, 37 men; age range, 17-76 years; mean age, 53 years) with 127 hyperfunctioning thyroid nodules (volume, 1.2-90 mL; mean, 10.3 mL) were treated with PEI. There were 1-11 PEI sessions per patient (average, 3.9) performed, with injection of 1-14 mL of ethanol per session (total injected ethanol per patient, 3-108 mL; mean, 14.0 mL). Efficacy of the treatment was assessed with color Doppler sonography; scintigraphy; and free triiodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine (FT4), and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) assays. Follow-up (9-144 months; median, 60 months) was performed with TSH and color Doppler sonography every 2 months for 6 months and every 6 months thereafter. RESULTS Three (2.4%) of 125 patients refused completion of PEI therapy because of pain. Results are reported in 122 patients with 124 nodules. All 122 patients showed posttreatment normal levels of FT3, FT4, and TSH. A complete cure (absent uptake in the nodule and recovery of normal uptake in the thyroid parenchyma) was obtained in 113 (93%) of 122 patients-115 (92.7%) of 124 treated nodules. Residual hyperfunctioning nodular tissue along with decreased thyroid parenchyma uptake (partial cure) was present in nine patients accounting for nine (7.3%) of 124 nodules. Rates of complete cure after PEI were: overall nodules, 115 (92.7%) of 124; nodules < or = 10 mL, 63 (94.0%) of 67; nodules > 10 to < or = 30 mL, 32 (91.4%) of 35; nodules > 30 to < or = 60 mL, 17 (89.5%) of 19; nodules > 60 mL, three (100%) of three. The overall rate of major complications (transient laryngeal nerve damage, two patients; abscess and hematoma, one patient each) was four (3.2%) of 125 patients. Follow-up examinations showed marked shrinkage of 112 treated nodules ranging from 50% to 90% of the pretreatment volume (mean, 66%) and new growth of hyperfunctioning tissue in four patients at color Doppler sonography and scintigraphy at 12, 18, 18, and 48 months' follow-up, respectively. However, all patients remained euthyroid (low or normal TSH and normal FT3 and FT4) during follow-up. CONCLUSION PEI of hyperfunctioning thyroid nodules seems to be an effective and safe alternative to traditional treatment. It also appears to be effective in patients with hyperfunctioning thyroid nodules larger than 30 mL.
Transfer from Cooperative to Individual Studying.

from cooperative to individual studying Donald F. Dansereau Dansereau is on the Psychology faculty at Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas, where his primary research interests have been the applications of cognitive principles to academic and technical learning. The research reported here was supported in part by a grant from the [U.S.] Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences.
Snake Envenoming: A Disease of Poverty

Background Most epidemiological and clinical reports on snake envenoming focus on a single country and describe rural communities as being at greatest risk. Reports linking snakebite vulnerability to socioeconomic status are usually limited to anecdotal statements. The few reports with a global perspective have identified the tropical regions of Asia and Africa as suffering the highest levels of snakebite-induced mortality. Our analysis examined the association between globally available data on snakebite-induced mortality and socioeconomic indicators of poverty. Methodology/Principal Findings We acquired data on (i) the Human Development Index, (ii) the Per Capita Government Expenditure on Health, (iii) the Percentage Labour Force in Agriculture and (iv) Gross Domestic Product Per Capita from publicly available databases on the 138 countries for which snakebite-induced mortality rates have recently been estimated. The socioeconomic datasets were then plotted against the snakebite-induced mortality estimates (where both datasets were available) and the relationship determined. Each analysis illustrated a strong association between snakebite-induced mortality and poverty. Conclusions/Significance This study, the first of its kind, unequivocally demonstrates that snake envenoming is a disease of the poor. The negative association between snakebite deaths and government expenditure on health confirms that the burden of mortality is highest in those countries least able to deal with the considerable financial cost of snakebite.
Roles for Endocytosis and Low pH in Herpes Simplex Virus Entry into HeLa and Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells

ABSTRACT Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection of many cultured cells, e.g., Vero cells, can be initiated by receptor binding and pH-neutral fusion with the cell surface. Here we report that a major pathway for HSV entry into the HeLa and CHO-K1 cell lines is dependent on endocytosis and exposure to a low pH. Enveloped virions were readily detected in HeLa or receptor-expressing CHO cell vesicles by electron microscopy at <30 min postinfection. As expected, images of virus fusion with the Vero cell surface were prevalent. Treatment with energy depletion or hypertonic medium, which inhibits endocytosis, prevented uptake of HSV from the HeLa and CHO cell surface relative to uptake from the Vero cell surface. Incubation of HeLa and CHO cells with the weak base ammonium chloride or the ionophore monensin, which elevate the low pH of organelles, blocked HSV entry in a dose-dependent manner. Noncytotoxic concentrations of these agents acted at an early step during infection by HSV type 1 and 2 strains. Entry mediated by the HSV receptor HveA, nectin-1, or nectin-2 was also blocked. As analyzed by fluorescence microscopy, lysosomotropic agents such as the vacuolar H+-ATPase inhibitor bafilomycin A1 blocked the delivery of virus capsids to the nuclei of the HeLa and CHO cell lines but had no effect on capsid transport in Vero cells. The results suggest that HSV can utilize two distinct entry pathways, depending on the type of cell encountered.
Toy Models For Black Hole Evaporation

These are lecture notes for the 1992 Erice Workshop on Theoretical Physics. They first present a summary of the paradox of information loss to black holes, of its proposed resolutions, and of the flaws in the proposed resolutions. There follows a review of recent attempts to attack this problem, and other issues in black hole physics, using two-dimensional dilaton gravity theories as toy models. These toy models contain collapsing black holes and have for the first time enabled an explicit semiclassical treatment of the backreaction of the Hawking radiation on the geometry of an evaporating black hole. However, a complete answer to the information conundrum seems to require physics beyond the semiclassical approximation. Preliminary attempts to make progress in this direction, using connections to conformal field theory, are described.
Reinforcement Learning of a Morphing Airfoil-Policy and Discrete Learning Analysis

An episodic unsupervised learning algorithm using the Q-Learning method is developed to learn the optimal shape and shape change policy of a morphing airfoil. Optimality is addressed by reward functions based on airfoil properties such as lift coecient, drag coecient, and moment coecient about the leading edge representing optimal shapes for specified flight conditions. The reinforcement learning as it is applied to morphing is integrated with a computational model of an airfoil. The methodology is demonstrated with numerical examples of a NACA type airfoil that autonomously morphs in two degrees of freedom, thickness and camber, to a shape that corresponds to specified goal requirements. Due to the continuous nature of the thickness and camber of the airfoil, this paper addresses the convergence of the learning algorithm given several action step sizes. Convergence is also analyzed with three candidate policies: 1) a fully random exploration policy, 2) a policy annealing from random exploration to exploitation, and 3) an annealing discount factor in addition to the annealing policy. The results presented in this paper show the inherent dierences in the learned action-value function when the state space discretization, policy, and learning parameters dier. It was found that a policy annealing from fully explorative to almost fully exploitative yielded the highest rate of convergence as compared to the other policies. Also, the coarsest discretization of the state space resulted in convergence of the action-value function in as little as 200 episodes.
Managing a murderous identity: How men who murder experience life imprisonment and the concept of release

In 1965 capital punishment for murder was abolished in the UK. The Mandatory Life Sentence (MLS) replaced it. The MLS is to this day a political sentence. This thesis examines the MLS in terms of law, policy, practice and management, and, considers through the discourse of prisoners and staff how men who murder experience life imprisonment and the concept of release. My research draws on in depth interviews with 18 prisoners who had experience of life in open conditions and 10 professionals. This thesis contributes to our understanding of the impact of long-term imprisonment, indeterminacy and the management of a murderous identity within open conditions and the community. Analysis of the data indicates that prisoners ascription of identities is based on their perceptions of the nature of the offence, risk, guilt and the appropriateness of the MLS. The prisoners through the implementation of spoiled, co-existing and intersecting identities mediated the impact of the MLS. The research also indicates that prisoner experience of life in closed prison did little to prepare them for the reality of open prison and life in the community. As they near the end of the sentence identities produced to cope with imprisonment become redundant. On or near release the challenge for them became how to implement and/or manage co-existing identities. My study considers how the MLS can be perceived as differentiating the prisoner from other indeterminate prisoners historically in terms of policy, in staff and prisoner’s perceptions of practice and the MLS prisoner’s reflections on their own identities. The findings also bring into question current policy and practice within open conditions and the opportunities available for MLS prisoners nearing release.
Image Denoising via Sparse Representation Over Grouped Dictionaries With Adaptive Atom Size

The classic K-SVD based sparse representation denoising algorithm trains the dictionary only with one fixed atom size for the whole image, which is limited in accurately describing the image. To overcome this shortcoming, this paper presents an effective image denoising algorithm with the improved dictionaries. First, according to both geometrical and photometrical similarities, image patches are clustered into different groups. Second, these groups are classified into the flat category, the texture category, and the edge category. In different categories, the atom sizes of dictionaries are designed differently. Then, the dictionary of each group is trained with the atom size determined by the category that the group belongs to and the noisy level. Finally, the denoising method is presented by using sparse representation over the constructed grouped dictionaries with adaptive atom size. Experimental results show that the proposed method achieves better denoising performance than related denoising algorithms, especially in image structure preservation.
Theoretical Models for Classical Cepheids. IV. Mean Magnitudes and Colors and the Evaluation of Distance, Reddening, and Metallicity

We discuss the metallicity effect on the theoretical visual and near-infrared period-luminosity (PL) and period-luminosity-color (PLC) relations of classical Cepheids, as based on nonlinear, nonlocal, and time-dependent convective pulsating models at varying chemical composition. In view of the two usual methods of averaging (magnitude-weighted and intensity-weighted) observed magnitudes and colors over the full pulsation cycle, in the first part of the paper we briefly discuss the differences between static and mean quantities. We show that the behavior of the synthetic mean magnitudes and colors fully reproduces the observed trend of Galactic Cepheids, supporting the validity of the model predictions. In the second part of the paper we show how the estimates of the mean reddening, EB-V, and true distance modulus, μ0, of a galaxy from Cepheid VK photometry depend on the adopted metal content, in the sense that larger metallicities drive the host galaxy to lower extinctions and distances. Conversely, self-consistent estimates of the Cepheid mean reddening, distance, and metallicity may be derived if three-filter data (in this paper BVK) are taken into account. By applying the theoretical PL and PLC relations to available BVK data of Cepheids in the Magellanic Clouds, we eventually obtain Z ~ 0.008, EB-V ~ 0.02 mag, and μ0 ~ 18.63 mag for the LMC; and Z ~ 0.004, EB-V ~ 0.01 mag, and μ0 ~ 19.16 for the SMC. The discrepancy between such reddenings and the current values based on BVI data (EB-V ~ 0.074 mag for the LMC and ~0.054 mag for the SMC) is briefly discussed.
Accessible animation and customizable graphics via simplicial configuration modeling

O ur goal is to em bed free-form constraints into a graphical m odel. W ith such constraints a graphic can m aintain its visual integrity— and break rules tastefully— while being m anipulated by a casualuser. A typicalparam eterized graphic does notm eet these needs because its configuration space contains nonsense im ages in m uch higher proportion than desirable im ages, and the casual user is apt to ruin the graphic on any attem pt to m odify oranim ate it. W e therefore m odel the sm all subset of a given graphic's configuration space that m aps to desirable im ages. In our solution, the basic building block is a sim plicial complex— the m ost practical data structure able to accom m odate the variety of topologies that can arise. The configuration-space m odel can be built from a cross productofsuch com plexes. W e describe how to define the m apping from this space to the im age space. W e show how to invert that m apping, allow ing the user to m anipulate the im age without understanding the structure of the configuration-space m odel. W e also show how to extend the m apping when the originalparam eterization contains hierarchy, coordinate transform ations,and other non linearities. O ur software im plem entation applies sim plicial configuration m odeling to 2D vector graphics.
Interactions between warming and soil moisture increase overlap in reproductive phenology among species in an alpine meadow

Climate warming strongly influences reproductive phenology of plants in alpine and Arctic ecosystems. Here, we focus on phenological shifts caused by experimental warming in a typical alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau. Under soil water stress caused by warming, most plants in the alpine meadow advanced or delayed their reproductive events to be aligned with the timing of peak rainfall. As a result, warming significantly increased the temporal overlap among reproductive stages of early- and late-flowering species. In addition, we found that some species, for example the late-flowering species, were unable to produce flowers and fruits under warming with failed monsoon rains. The potentially warmer- and drier-growing seasons under climate change may similarly shift the phenological patterns and change species composition of these alpine systems.
Associations of Baroreflex Sensitivity, Heart Rate Variability, and Initial Orthostatic Hypotension with Prenatal and Recent Postnatal Methylmercury Exposure in the Seychelles Child Development Study at Age 19 Years

Background: A few studies have suggested an association between prenatal exposure to methylmercury and decreased heart rate variability (HRV) related to autonomic heart function, but no study has examined this association using baroreflex sensitivity (BRS). In this study we assessed the distribution of BRS and immediate orthostatic hypotension (IOH) in young Seychellois adults and their associations with exposure to prenatal and recent postnatal methylmercury. Methods: Subjects in theSeychelles Child Development Study (SCDS) main cohort were evaluated at age 19 years. Non-invasive beat-to-beat blood pressure (BP) monitoring (Finapres, Ohmeda) was performed at rest and during active standing in 95 consecutive subjects. Recent postnatal mercury exposure was measured in subjects’ hair at the age of 19 years and prenatal exposure in maternal hair grown during pregnancy. BRS was estimated by sequence analysis to identify spontaneous ascending and descending BP ramps. HRV was estimated by the following markers: PNN50 (relative numbers of normal-to-normal intervals which are shorter by more than 50 ms than the immediately following normal-to-normal intervals); rMSSD (root mean of the squared sum of successive interval differences); LF/HF (low frequency/high frequency component ratio); ratio of the mean expiratory/inspiratory RR intervals (EI ratio); and the ratio between the longest RR interval 30 s after active standing and the shortest RR interval at 15 s (Max30/Min15). IOH was estimated by the deepest BP fall within the first 15 s after active standing up. Results: Prenatal MeHg exposures were similar in boys and girls (6.7 ± 4.3, 6.7 ± 3.8 ng/g) but recent postnatal mercury levels were higher in males than females (11.2 ± 5.8 vs 7.9 ± 4.3 ng/g, p = 0.003). Markers of autonomic heart rate control were within the normal range (BRS: 24.8 ± 7 ms/mm Hg, PNN50: 24.9 ± 6.8%, rMSSD: 68 ± 22, LF/HF: 0.61 ± 0.28) in both sexes. After standing, 51.4% of subjects had a transient systolic BP drop >40 mm Hg, but only 5.3% reported dizziness or had syncope. Prenatal and recent postnatal MeHg levels, overall, were not associated with BRS, E/I ratio, PNN50, rMSSD, LF/HF ratio, Max30/Min15 ratio, and IOH. Conclusions: This study provides no support for the hypothesis that prenatal or recent postnatal MeHg exposure from fish consumption is associated with impaired autonomic heart rate control.