Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Competing constructions : a mixed methods investigation of the popular and media framing of the Antigua crime story

This study makes an argument for a constructionist understanding of crime in Antigua and Barbuda. Specifically, the study argues that the way in which members of the public and the news media talk about crime is important because understanding how crime is framed in terms of causes and remedies necessarily influences who we criminalise, what legislation we pass and how we allocate our tax dollars. As such, framing crime in ways that are tinged with hyperbole, or that run contrary to evidence is unlikely to result in effective policy responses. The way in which crime is currently framed in Antigua and Barbuda – as a relatively recent phenomenon that is spiralling out of control and is characterised by increasing violence, as a phenomenon that is perpetuated by predatory young people with individual pathologies, as a phenomenon that is increasing largely because police and politicians are corrupt and young people are being inculcated with foreign cultural values – has resulted in punitive policy and ‘tough on crime’ rhetoric that do not appear to have had a substantial effect on the country’s crime rate. However, this study finds that there might be room for more progressive crime policy – policy that is informed by an understanding of crime that does not have at its heart notions of law and order or getting ‘tough on crime’.
Examining the relationships between life satisfaction and alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use among school-aged children.

Background There are many known risk factors associated with youth substance use. Nonetheless, the impact of life satisfaction (LS) on the use of alcohol, tobacco and marijuana by adolescents still remains largely unknown. Methods The present analysis utilized data from the Health Behavior in School-Aged Children 2009-10 US study. Multilevel logistic regression models were used to assess the relationship between LS and individual substance use. Multilevel multinomial regression models examined the relationship with total number of substances used. Results After controlling for numerous variables associated with substance use, individuals reporting low LS were significantly more likely to ever use tobacco (OR = 1.34, 95% CI = [1.01, 1.78]), alcohol (OR = 1.45, 95% CI = [1.10, 1.92]) and marijuana (OR = 1.98, 95% CI = [1.39, 2.82]). Additionally, students with low LS were significantly more likely to use two substances (OR = 1.90, 95% CI = [1.15, 3.14]) and three substances concurrently (OR = 2.00, 95% CI = [1.27, 3.16]). Conclusions The present study identified strong associations between LS and individual, as well as concurrent, substance use among adolescents. Interventions aiming to reduce adolescent substance use may benefit from incorporating components to improve LS.
Management accounting and the Calvin Company: a case study

Accounting innovation and change has received the increased attention of accounting historians. Coupled with the recognition of the historical contingency of accounting practices, these studies serve to underscore the contingent relationship of accounting with a variety of environmental factors. The current case study examines this relationship within one nineteenth-century Canadian firm,specifically the introduction of management accounting information. While the results are case specific, parallels with our present-day situation can be drawn. This reinforces the usefulness of examining new accounting developments in light of historical experience in order to envision their possible outcome.
The neo-Soviet model of the media

Abstract This article traces the genesis of a neo-Soviet model of the mass media. Through an examination of the Russian media in the post-Soviet era as well as a review of media performance during elections in the region, the article concludes that the Russian media now operate in a ‘neo-Soviet’ fashion. Factors in this media model include a rejection of balance or objectivity; flaws in media law; self-censorship; government interference and harassment of media outlets; the lack of journalistic professionalism; and an atmosphere of violence against journalists. Furthermore, there are continuities in audience reception from the Soviet to the neo-Soviet model.
IPO Performance on China’s Newest Stock Market (ChiNext)

We study IPO underpricing and long-run performance of ChiNext, a newly-established Growth Enterprise Board in China. Using a sample of 281 ChiNext IPOs during October 2009–December 2011, we find the initial average market adjusted abnormal return (MAAR) is 33.5 percent. The average 12-month buy-and-hold abnormal return (BHAR) is −45.7 percent for those IPOs listed prior to 2011. Although the average MAARs of ChiNext is significantly higher than IPOs listed on the Main Board, it is not significantly different from the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Board IPOs during the sample period. However, the ChiNext average BHARs are significantly lower than those on both the SME and Main Boards. Regression findings support the information asymmetry hypothesis (high uncertainty of ChiNext IPOs) and the behavioral theory (market sentiment) on underpricing for ChiNext IPOs, and we find that ChiNext IPO underperformances are consistent with the significant deterioration of their operating performance after listing and investors’ speculative trading behavior on these new issues.
Hypothalamic hamartoma and epilepsy: the pathway of discovery.

Auteur(s) : Frederick Andermann1, Alexis Arzimanoglou2, Samuel F Berkovic1,3 1. Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, and the Montreal Neurological Institute, Montreal, Canada 2. Head of the Epilepsy Program, Department of Child Neurology and Metabolic Disorders, University Hospital Robert Debre, Paris, France 3. Epilepsy Research Centre and Department of Medicine (Neurology), University of Melbourne, Austin Health, Heidelberg (Melbourne), Australia Pathological [. ]
A Question-Focused Multi-Factor Attention Network for Question Answering

Neural network models recently proposed for question answering (QA) primarily focus on capturing the passage-question relation. However, they have minimal capability to link relevant facts distributed across multiple sentences which is crucial in achieving deeper understanding, such as performing multi-sentence reasoning, co-reference resolution, etc. They also do not explicitly focus on the question and answer type which often plays a critical role in QA. In this paper, we propose a novel end-to-end question-focused multi-factor attention network for answer extraction. Multi-factor attentive encoding using tensor-based transformation aggregates meaningful facts even when they are located in multiple sentences. To implicitly infer the answer type, we also propose a max-attentional question aggregation mechanism to encode a question vector based on the important words in a question. During prediction, we incorporate sequence-level encoding of the first wh-word and its immediately following word as an additional source of question type information. Our proposed model achieves significant improvements over the best prior state-of-the-art results on three large-scale challenging QA datasets, namely NewsQA, TriviaQA, and SearchQA.
Changes in HRM and job satisfaction, 1998–2004: evidence from the Workplace Employment Relations Survey

This paper examines the relationship between human resource management practices and job satisfaction, drawing on data from the 1998 and 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Surveys. The paper finds significant increases in satisfaction with the sense of achievement from work between 1998 and 2004; a number of other measures of job quality are found to have increased over this period as well. It also finds a decline in the incidence of many formal human resource management practices. The paper reports a weak association between formal human resource management practices and satisfaction with sense of achievement. Improvements in perceptions of job security, the climate of employment relations and managerial responsiveness are the most important factors in explaining the rise in satisfaction with sense of achievement between 1998 and 2004. We infer that the rise in satisfaction with sense of achievement is due in large part to the existence of falling unemployment during the period under study, which has driven employers to make improvements in the quality of work.
Herpesviral helicase-primase subunit UL8 is inactivated B-family polymerase

MOTIVATION Herpesviruses are large DNA viruses causing a variety of diseases in humans and animals. To develop effective treatment, it is important to understand the mechanisms of their replication. One of the components of the herpesviral DNA replication system is a helicase-primase complex, consisting of UL5 (helicase), UL52 (primase) and UL8. UL8 is an essential herpesviral protein involved in multiple protein-protein interactions. Intriguingly, so far no UL8 homologs outside of herpesviruses could be identified. Moreover, nothing is known about its structure or domain organization. RESULTS Here, combining sensitive homology detection methods and homology modeling, we found that the UL8 protein family is related to B-family polymerases. In the course of evolution, UL8 has lost the active site and has undergone a reduction of DNA-binding motifs. The loss of active site residues explains the failure to detect any catalytic activity of UL8. A structural model of human herpes virus 1 UL8 constructed as part of the study is consistent with the mutation data targeting its interaction with primase UL52. It also provides a platform for studying multiple interactions that UL8 is involved in. The two other components of helicase-primase complex show evolutionary links with a newly characterized human primase that also has DNA polymerase activity (PrimPol) and the Pif1 helicase, respectively. The role of these enzymes in recovering stalled replication forks suggests mechanistic and functional similarities with herpesviral proteins. CONTACT venclovas@ibt.lt SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Design and test of a model-assisted participatory process for the formulation of a local climate adaptation plan

This article presents the design and testing of a model-assisted participatory process for the formulation of a local adaptation plan to climate change. The pilot study focused on small-scale and commercial agriculture, water supply, housing, wildlife, livestock and biodiversity in the Thukela River basin, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The methodology was based on stakeholders identifying and ranking the severity of climate-related challenges, and downscaled stakeholder-identified information provided by modellers, with the aim of addressing possible changes of exposure in the future. The methodology enables the integration of model-based information with experience and visions based on local realities. It includes stakeholders’ own assessments of their vulnerability to prevailing climate variability and the severity, if specified, of climate-related problems that may occur more often in the future. The methodology made it possible to identify the main issues to focus on in the adaptation plan, including barriers to adaptation. We make recommendations for how to design a model-assisted participatory process, emphasizing the need for transparency, to recognize the interests of the stakeholders, good advance planning, local relevance, involvement of local champions, and adaptation of Information material to each group's previous experience and understanding.
Variation in Mutation Spectra Among CRISPR/Cas9 Mutagenized Poplars

In an effort to produce reliably contained transgenic trees, we used the CRISPR/Cas9 system to alter three genes expected to be required for normal flowering in poplar (genus Populus). We designed synthetic guide RNAs (sgRNAs) to target the poplar homolog of the floral meristem identity gene, LEAFY (LFY), and the two poplar orthologs of the floral organ identity gene AGAMOUS (AG). We generated 557 transgenic events with sgRNA(s) and the Cas9 transgene and 49 events with Cas9 but no sgRNA, and analyzed all events by Sanger Sequencing of both alleles. Out of the 684 amplicons from events with sgRNAs, 474 had mutations in both alleles (77.5%). We sequenced both AG paralogs for 71 events in INRA clone 717-1B4 and 22 events in INRA clone 353-53, and found that 67 (94.4%) and 21 (95.5%) were double locus knockouts. Due partly to a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) present in the target region, one sgRNA targeting the AG paralogs was found to be completely inactive by itself (0%) but showed some activity in generating deletions when used in a construct with a second sgRNA (10.3–24.5%). Small insertion/deletion (indel) mutations were prevalent among mutated alleles of events with only one sgRNA (ranging from 94.3 to 99.1%), while large deletions were prevalent among alleles with two active sgRNAs (mean proportion of mutated alleles was 22.6% for small indels vs. 77.4% for large indels). For both LFY and AG, each individual sgRNA-gene combination had a unique mutation spectrum (p < 0.001). An AG-sgRNA construct with two sgRNAs had similar mutation spectra among two poplar clones (p > 0.05), however, a LFY-sgRNA construct with a single sgRNA gave significantly different mutation spectra among the same two clones (p < 0.001). The 49 empty vector control events had no mutations in either allele, and 310 potential “off-target” sequences also had no mutations in 58 transgenic events studied. CRISPR/Cas9 is a very powerful and precise system for generating loss-of-function mutations in poplars, and should be effective for generating reliably infertile trees that may promote regulatory, market, or public acceptance of genetic engineering technology.
Identification of radiological alveolar pneumonia in children with high rates of hospitalized respiratory infections: Comparison of WHO‐defined and pediatric pulmonologist diagnosis in the clinical context

A reliable standardized diagnosis of pneumonia in children has long been difficult to achieve. Clinical and radiological criteria have been developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), however, their generalizability to different populations is uncertain. We evaluated WHO defined chest radiograph (CXRs) confirmed alveolar pneumonia in the clinical context in Central Australian Aboriginal children, a high risk population, hospitalized with acute lower respiratory illness (ALRI).
Therapy for Clostridium difficile infection – any news beyond Metronidazole and Vancomycin?

ABSTRACT Introduction: Infections with Clostridium difficile (CDI) represent a major burden for the health care system. Treatment is generally by antibiotic therapy with metronidazole and vancomycin, but efficacy remains suboptimal. Areas covered: This review discusses established and emerging treatment options for CDI, and current therapeutic guidelines, taking into account disease severity and risk of relapse. Expert commentary: New therapeutic approaches, including antibodies and new classes of antibiotics, and new measures for preventing infection with vaccines are under development in phase II/III clinical trials. We performed a systematic literature review using the search terms ‘Clostridium difficile’ and ‘treatment’.
Coordinated bargaining in Europe: From incremental corrosion to frontal assault?

The viability of coordinated, multi-employer bargaining arrangements as a cornerstone of labour market regulation in Western Europe has come under further threat following the crisis. Already, pressure for decentralization had corroded the capacity of sector agreements to specify universal standards applicable at company level. Procedural mechanisms articulating the two levels had become looser and more open-ended. This process has intensified in Northern European countries, whilst in Southern Europe, under pressure from the European institutions, a frontal assault on multi-employer bargaining arrangements is now underway. Reinforced European economic governance intensifies the need for coordination of bargaining across borders, but the capacity for achieving this is significantly reduced by the erosion of capacities for effective coordination within national bargaining systems.
Centralized Connectivity for Multiwireless Edge Computing and Cellular Platform: A Smart Vehicle Parking System

This study takes an intuitive step to develop the user-convenient smart vehicle parking system (SVPS), a smart system able to manage the massive crowd of vehicles during parking searching and do the better jobs of parking reservation and management, with the shorter-path processing tactics. For that, this study inclusively employed the mapping strategy, where the system parking points are prevalent, to assist the users to get the parking information fast and conveniently. This study is comprised of the several parking points systematically spread over the several locations and traceable over the available graphical map, and the overall information is easily accessible using smart devices. For parking information, a smart web application which is another important module of this study is designed, with which the SVPS system’s registered users are able to access all the services provided for smart vehicle parking searching and reservation in efficient and reliable ways. An integrated network approach, RFID (radio frequency identification) and wireless sensors network (WSN), called RF-WSN, is employed to retrieve the real-time information from the installed and configured sensor devices in RFID-WSN network.
Secure and Efficient Attribute-Based Access Control for Multiauthority Cloud Storage

Cloud storage facilitates both individuals and enterprises to cost effectively share their data over the Internet. However, this also brings difficult challenges to the access control of shared data since few cloud servers can be fully trusted. Ciphertext-policy attribute-based encryption (CP-ABE) is a promising approach that enables the data owners themselves to place fine-grained and cryptographically-enforced access control over outsourced data. In this paper, we present secure and cost-effective attribute-based data access control for cloud storage systems. Specifically, we construct a multiauthority CP-ABE scheme that features: 1) the system does not need a fully trusted central authority, and all attribute authorities independently issue secret keys for users; 2) each attribute authority can dynamically remove any user from its domain such that those revoked users cannot access subsequently outsourced data; 3) cloud servers can update the encrypted data from the current time period to the next one such that the revoked users cannot access those previously available data; and 4) the update of secret keys and ciphertext is performed in a public way. We show the merits of our scheme by comparing it with the related works, and further implement it to demonstrate its practicality. In addition, the proposed scheme is proven secure in the random oracle model.
An Economic Analysis of Scrappage

This article examines the impact of policies aimed at encouraging the retirement of older, high-polluting vehicles, such as the "cash for clunkers" policy endorsed by President George Bush in 1992. The analysis assesses the likely benefits and costs of vehicle scrappage programs. I also address the interaction of a scrappage program with other ongoing policies, such as improved inspection and maintenance. Finally, the simulation for Los Angeles suggests plausible design values for a scrappage program.
Controlled-release drug delivery system based on fluocinolone acetonide–cyclodextrin inclusion complex incorporated in multivesicular liposomes

Abstract Multivesicular liposomes (MVLs) have been widely studied for encapsulation of hydrophilic drugs due to their structural properties and large aqueous inner cavities. In this study, to investigate MVLs and their potential application for incorporation of hydrophobic drugs, new drug delivery system for fluocinolone acetonide (FA), as a lipophilic model drug, was developed combining the advantages of cyclodextrin inclusion complexes (CD-IC) and multivesicular liposomes. FA was complexed with several CDs to form inclusion complex (FA–CD-IC) and then FA–CD-IC was incorporated into MVLs by reverse-phase evaporation method. Physicochemical characterization of drug–CD-IC, at a molar ratio of 1:1 (drug to CD) was studied using 1HNMR, FT-IR, DSC and UV spectroscopy. The influence of various types of CDs on the aqueous solubility of FA, encapsulation efficiency and release profile in MVLs was studied. The results revealed the formation of inclusion complexes between the drug and CDs. Both the CD's type and proportion played an important role in the physicochemical properties of the systems. The inclusion complex of the drug with hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin exhibited the most appropriate loading and sustained-release profile over prolonged periods. The results reveal the promising potential of MVLs as a stable drug delivery system to release the drug in a sustained manner for the treatment of ocular inflammatory disease.
Comparison of HIV Prevalence Estimates From Sentinel Surveillance and a National Population-Based Survey in Uganda, 2004-2005

Objective:HIV programs in generalized epidemics have traditionally relied on antenatal clinic (ANC) sentinel surveillance data to guide prevention and to model epidemic trends. ANC data, however, come from a subset of the population, and their representativeness of the population has been debated. Methods:Data from a national population-based Uganda HIV/AIDS Sero-Behavioral Survey (UHSBS) were compared with those from ANC sentinel surveillance. Using geographic information system, UHSBS clusters within a 30 km radius of the ANC sites were mapped. Estimates of HIV prevalence from ANC surveillance were compared with those from UHSBS. Results:The ANC-based HIV prevalence, 6.0% [confidence interval (CI) 5.5% to 6.5%], was similar to that from UHSBS, 5.9% (CI 5.4% to 6.4%). The ANC-based estimate correlated with that of UHSBS catchment area women who were pregnant and those who had given birth in the 2 years preceding the survey. ANC data overestimated prevalence in the 15-year to 19-year age group, were similar to UHSBS for ages 20-29 years, and underestimated prevalence in older respondents. ANC data underestimated HIV prevalence among women (6.0% vs. 7.4%; CI 6.6% to 8.2%) and urban women (7.6% vs. 12.7%) but was similar for rural women (5.3% vs. 4.9%). Conclusions:ANC-based surveillance remains an important tool for monitoring HIV/AIDS programs. ANC and UHSBS data were similar overall and for 15-year to 29-year olds, women who were pregnant, and women who had a birth in the 2 years before the survey. ANC estimates were lower in those ≥30 years and in urban areas. Periodic serosurveys to adjust ANC-based estimates are needed.
Did the Stimulus Stimulate? Real Time Estimates of the Effects of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

We use state and county level variation to examine the impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on employment. A cross state analysis suggests that one additional job was created by each $170,000 in stimulus spending. Time series analysis at the state level suggests a smaller response with a per job cost of about $400,000. These results imply Keynesian multipliers between 0.5 and 1.0, somewhat lower than those assumed by the administration. However, the overall results mask considerable variation for different types of spending. Grants to states for education do not appear to have created any additional jobs. Support programs for low income households and infrastructure spending are found to be highly expansionary. Estimates excluding education spending suggest fiscal policy multipliers of about 2.0 with per job cost of under $100,000.