Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Illocutionary Logic and Strands of Securitization: Applying the Theory of Securitization to the Study of Non-Democratic Political Orders

Convincing research programmes often use a variety of data from cases in different contexts; in order to reach a wider understanding, the models and hypothesis of securitization studies have to be applied to broad groups of cases. The research programme of securitization studies is formed around the leading idea of securitization being a social process achieved through speech acts. I argue that by explicating the concept of securitization through illocutionary logic, it can be utilized to study security politics in non-democratic contexts in addition to the favoured liberal democratic one, where the majority of empirical analysis has been conducted so far. In addition, I present clarifications to the concepts of 'audiences' and 'special politics' used in the theory. The theoretical discussion is illustrated with examples from the Chinese political system.
Revisions and Regret: The Cost of Changing your Mind

Decision reversals often imply improved decisions. Yet, people show a strong resistance against changing their minds. These are wellestablished findings, which suggest that changed decisions carry a subjective cost, perhaps by being more strongly regretted. Three studies were conducted to explore participants’ regret when making reversible decisions and to test the hypothesis that changing one’s mind will increase post-outcome regret. The first two studies employed the Ultimatum game and the Trust game. The third study used a variant of the Monty Hall problem. All games were conducted by individual participants playing interactively against a computer. The outcomes were designed to capture a common characteristic of real-life decisions: they varied from rather negative to fairly positive, and for every outcome, it was possible to imagine both more and less profitable outcomes. In all experiments, those who changed their minds reported much stronger postoutcome regret than those who did not change, even if the final outcomes were equally good (Experiments 2 and 3) or better (Experiment 1). This finding was not because of individual differences with respect to gender, tendency to regret, or tendency to maximize. Previous studies have found that those who change from a correct to wrong option regret more than those who select a wrong option directly. This study indicates that this finding is a special case of a more general phenomenon: changing one’s mind seems to come with a cost, even when one ends up with favorable outcomes. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Male prostitution and homosexual identity.

The documentary film on transvestites, The Queen, has a scene where a young man tells a friend about a recent job interview (Litvinoff, 1968). His friend asks, "Did you tell them you were a homosexual? " The young man, who did not get the job, answers, "No, they told me. " What this interaction reflected was not just the fact of the young man's homosexuality, but the social fact: What it means to be homosexual in his culture and society. In this paper, I discuss the conduct of prostitution as one enactment of those meanings: Prostitution, as a social fact in the life of adolescent gay males, is understood by them to be linked with their homosexual identity.
Conjugated Linoleic Acid Promotes Human Adipocyte Insulin

Wepreviously demonstrated that trans-10, cis-12 conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) reduced the triglyceride content of human adipocytes by activating mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase/extracellular signal-related kinase (MEK/ERK) signaling via interleukins (IL) 6 and 8. However, the upstream mechanism is unknown. Here we show that CLA increased (>6 h) the secretion of IL-6 and IL-8 in cultures containing both differentiated adipocytes and stromal vascular (SV) cells, non-differentiated SV cells, and adipose tissue explants. CLA isomer-specific induction of IL-6 and tumor necrosis factorwas associated with the activation of nuclear factor B (NF B) as evidenced by 1) phosphorylation of I B , I B kinase, andNF Bp65, 2) I B degradation, and 3) nuclear translocation of NF B. Pretreatment with selective NF B inhibitors and the MEK/ ERK inhibitor U0126 blocked CLA-mediated IL-6 gene expression. Trans-10, cis-12 CLA suppression of insulin-stimulated glucose uptake at 24 hwas associatedwith decreased total andplasmamembrane glucose transporter 4 proteins. Inhibition of NF B activation or depletion of NF B by RNA interference using small interfering NF Bp65 attenuatedCLA suppression of glucose transporter 4 and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor proteins and glucose uptake. Collectively, these data demonstrate for the first time that trans-10, cis-12 CLA promotes NF B activation and subsequent induction of IL-6, which are at least in part responsible for trans-10, cis-12 CLA-mediated suppression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor target gene expression and insulin sensitivity in mature human adipocytes.
Neo-liberalism and universal state education: the cases of Denmark, Norway and Sweden 1980–2011

This article investigates neo-liberal policy on education in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Traditionally, the edifice of the education system in these Scandinavian countries has been built on egalitarian values, but over the last 20 years they have increasingly adopted market-led reforms of education. The extent of neo-liberal policy varies between the countries. Denmark and Norway have remained more hostile toward such policies, thus protecting the education system from extensive deregulation and privatisation. Conversely, in Sweden a greater credence has been given to market forces, allowing private providers to play a much more significant role in delivering education services. This variation in neo-liberal policy on education in Scandinavia is usually ascribed to the increasing power of the Right. However, this article differs from most other education research in that it argues, on the contrary, that the answer is to be found mainly within the social democratic parties themselves.
First record in America of Aedes albopictus naturally infected with dengue virus during the 1995 outbreak at Reynosa, Mexico

Abstract Mosquito collections were conducted during a dengue outbreak in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico, July‐December 1995. A total of 6694 adult mosquitoes (four genera and nine species) were captured, of which 2986 (78.3% females and 21.7% males) were Aedes albopictus and 2339 (39.7% females and 60.3% males) were Ae.aegypti. These two species comprised 84.2% of the total collection. Specimens were grouped into pools, nearly 50% of them processed for detection of virus by cythopathic effect in C6‐36 and VERO cell cultures and by haemagglutination test. Five pools gave positive haemagglutin‐ation reactions and were examined by immunofluorescence using monoclonal antibodies to flavivirus and to dengue virus. One pool of ten Ae.albopictus males was positive for dengue virus: serotypes 2 and 3 were identified by serotype‐specific monoclonal antibodies arid confirmed by RT‐PCR. This is the first report of Ae.albopictus naturally infected with dengue virus in America. Also, it is the very first time Ae.albopictus males have been found infected with dengue virus in the wild.
Inference for High-dimensional Exponential Family Graphical Models

Probabilistic graphical models have been widely used to model complex systems and aid scien-tiﬁc discoveries. Most existing work on high-dimensional estimation of exponential family graphical models, including Gaussian and Ising models, is focused on consistent model selection. However, these results do not characterize uncertainty in the estimated structure and are of limited value to scientists who worry whether their ﬁndings will be reproducible and if the estimated edges are present in the model due to random chance. In this paper, we propose a novel estimator for edge parameters in an exponential family graphical models. We prove that the estimator is √ n -consistent and asymptotically Normal. This result allows us to construct conﬁdence intervals for edge parameters, as well as, hypothesis tests. We establish our results under conditions that are typically assumed in the literature for consistent estimation. However, we do not require that the estimator consistently recovers the graph structure. In particular, we prove that the asymptotic distribution of the estimator is robust to model selection mistakes and uniformly valid for a large number of data-generating processes. We illustrate validity of our estimator through extensive simulation studies.
Menthol and geraniol biotransformation and glycosylation capacity of Levisticum officinale hairy roots.

The biotransformation capacity of Levisticum officinale W.D. J. Koch hairy root cultures was studied by evaluating the effect of the addition of 25 mg/L menthol or geraniol on morphology, growth, and volatiles production. L. officinale hairy root cultures were maintained for 7 weeks in SH medium, in darkness at 24 degrees C and 80 r.p.m. , and the substrates were added 15 days after inoculation. Growth was evaluated by measuring fresh and dry weight and by using the dissimilation method. Volatiles composition was analyzed by GC and GC-MS. Hairy roots morphology and growth were not influenced by substrate addition. No new volatiles were detected after menthol addition and, as was also the case with the control cultures, volatiles of these hairy roots were dominated by (Z)-falcarinol (1-45%), N-octanal (3-8%), palmitic acid (3-10%), and (Z)-ligustilide (2-9%). The addition of geraniol induced the production of six new volatiles: nerol/citronellol/neral (traces-15%), alpha-terpineol (0.2-3%), linalool (0.1-1.2%), and geranyl acetate (traces-2%). The relative amounts of the substrates and some of their biotransformation products decreased during the course of the experiment. Following the addition of beta-glycosidase to the remaining distillation water, analysis of the extracted volatiles showed that lovage hairy roots were able to convert both substrates and their biotransformation products into glycosidic forms. GC:gas chromatography GC-MS:gas chromatography-mass spectrometry SH:Schenk and Hildebrandt (1972) culture medium.
Assessing Writing in Elementary Schools: Moving Away From a Focus on Mechanics

ABSTRACT Many students struggle with writing; however, curriculum-based measures (CBM) of writing often use assessment criteria that focus primarily on mechanics. When academic development is assessed in this way, more complex aspects of a student’s writing, such as the expression and development of ideas, may be neglected. The current study was a preliminary analysis of viability of the words per thought unit (T-unit) as an alternative to traditional approaches to writing assessment. Participants included 167 children enrolled in the fourth and fifth grade, ages 9–11, in a rural southeastern U.S. school district. Writing samples were collected in three probes across the school year (fall, winter, and spring) and analyzed by using a variety of measures. Words per T-unit were positively linearly correlated with other measures of literary proficiency. A repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) assessed growth in writing across time and grade. Results indicated a statistically significant time effect within subjects for words per T-unit across grades. Thus, the analysis of words per T-unit yielded promising results as an efficient means of measuring writing skills independently of mechanics.
Poly(alpha-hydroxyl acids)/hydroxyapatite porous composites for bone-tissue engineering. I. Preparation and morphology.

Tissue engineering has shown great promise for creating biological alternatives for implants. In this approach, scaffolding plays a pivotal role. Hydroxyapatite mimics the natural bone mineral and has shown good bone-bonding properties. This paper describes the preparation and morphologies of three-dimensional porous composites from poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) or poly(D,L-lactic acid-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) solution and hydroxyapatite (HAP). A thermally induced phase separation technique was used to create the highly porous composite scaffolds for bone-tissue engineering. Freeze drying of the phase-separated polymer/HAP/solvent mixtures produced hard and tough foams with a co-continuous structure of interconnected pores and a polymer/HAP composite skeleton. The microstructure of the pores and the walls was controlled by varying the polymer concentration, HAP content, quenching temperature, polymer, and solvent utilized. The porosity increased with decreasing polymer concentration and HAP content. Foams with porosity as high as 95% were achieved. Pore sizes ranging from several microns to a few hundred microns were obtained. The composite foams showed a significant improvement in mechanical properties over pure polymer foams. They are promising scaffolds for bone-tissue engineering.
Structural Properties of the Intact Proximal Hamstring Origin and Evaluation of Varying Avulsion Repair Techniques

Background: Although surgical repair has been reported to provide improved outcomes compared with nonoperative treatment in the management of complete proximal hamstring origin avulsions, no intact or avulsion repair biomechanical data exist to support various repair strategies or guide postoperative rehabilitation. Purpose: To compare failure load among 4 proximal hamstring tendon conditions: (1) intact, (2) repair with 2 small anchors (2S), (3) repair with 2 large anchors (2L), and (4) repair with 5 small anchors (5S). Study Design: Controlled laboratory study. Methods: Twenty-four human cadaveric hemipelvises were randomly allocated to 1 of the 4 testing groups. Intact and repaired specimens were subjected to cyclic loading at 1 Hz between 25 N and a progressively increasing maximum load that was incremented by 200 N every 50 cycles, beginning at 200 N and increasing to 1600 N. Displacement, maximum load, stiffness, number of cycles to failure, and mode of failure during cyclic loading were recorded and analyzed. Results: The intact proximal hamstring tendons failed at the highest cyclic force of all tested groups, yet no significant differences existed between the intact (1405 ± 157 N) and 5S repair (1164 ± 294 N) conditions. Both the 2S and the 2L repair groups failed at a level significantly lower than the intact hamstring (474 ± 145 N [P < .001] and 543 ± 245 N [P < .001], respectively). The maximum load attained by the 5S repairs was significantly greater than the loads attained by the 2S (P = .005) and 2L (P = .013) repairs. Conclusion: Repairs using 5 small anchors were similar to the intact tendon and were significantly stronger than repairs using only 2 large or 2 small anchors in the repair of complete avulsions of the proximal hamstring tendons. Additionally, no significant differences in strength were observed when only anchor size differed. Clinical Relevance: This finding supports the clinical investigation of postoperative range of motion rehabilitation protocols that permit full flexion and extension of the hip and knee when a 5-anchor repair construct is used.
Governance: What Do We Know, and How Do We Know It?

The term governance does not have a settled definition today, and it has at least three main meanings. The first is international cooperation through nonsovereign bodies outside the state system. This concept grew out of the literature on globalization and argued that territorial sovereignty was giving way to more informal types of horizontal cooperation, as well as to supranational bodies such as the European Union. The second meaning treated governance as a synonym for public administration, that is, effective implementation of state policy. Interest in this topic was driven by awareness that global poverty was rooted in corruption and weak state capacity. The third meaning of governance was the regulation of social behavior through networks and other nonhierarchical mechanisms. The first and third of these strands of thought downplay traditional state authority and favor new transnational or civil society actors. These trends, however, raise troubling questions about transparency and accountability in .
Social sorting as ‘social transformation’: Credit scoring and the reproduction of populations as risks in South Africa

In this article, I show that credit scoring, although not explicitly designed as a security device, enacts (in)security in South Africa. By paying attention to a brief history of state-implemented social categories, we see how the dawn of political democracy in 1994 marked an embrace of – not opposition to – their inheritance by the African National Congress. The argument is placed within a theoretical framework that dovetails David Lyon’s popularization of ‘social sorting’ with an extension of Harold Wolpe’s understanding of apartheid and capitalism. This bridging between Lyon and Wolpe is developed to advance the view that apartheid is a social condition whose historical social categories of rule have been reproduced since 1994 in the framing of credit legislation, policy and scoring. These categories are framed in the ‘new’ South Africa as indicators of ‘social transformation’. Through the lens of credit scoring, in particular, it is demonstrated that ‘social transformation’ not only influences, shapes and reproduces historical forms of social categories, but also serves the state’s attempt to create and maintain populations as risks.
Dynamic contrast change produces rapid gain control in visual cortex

During normal vision, objects moving in the environment, our own body movements and our eye movements ensure that the receptive fields of visual neurons are being presented with continually changing contrasts. Thus, the visual input during normal behaviour differs from the type of stimuli traditionally used to study contrast coding, which are presented in a step‐like manner with abrupt changes in contrast followed by prolonged exposure to a constant stimulus. The abrupt changes in contrast typically elicit brief periods of intense firing with low variability called onset transients. Onset transients provide the visual system with a powerful and reliable cue that the visual input has changed. In this paper we investigate visual processing in the primary visual cortex of cats in response to stimuli that change contrast dynamically. We show that 1–4 s presentations of dynamic increases and decreases in contrast can generate stronger contrast gain control than several minutes exposure to a stimulus of constant contrast. Thus, transient mechanisms of contrast coding are not only less variable than sustained responses but are also more rapid and flexible. Finally, we propose a quantitative model of contrast coding which accounts for changes in spike rate over time in response to dynamically changing image contrast.
Individual Differences in Emotional Experience: Mapping Available Scales to Processes

Increasing interest in individual differences related to emotion is evident in the recent appearance of a large number of self-report instruments designed to assess aspects of the feeling experience. In this article, the authors review a sample of 18 of these scales and report technical information on each (e.g., length, format, reliability, construct validity, and correlates). They propose that this domain of individual differences can be usefully structured into five conceptual categories, including measures of absorption, attention, clarity, intensity, and expression. The measures were administered to a sample of individuals, and the coherence of the proposed categories was examined through hierarchical cluster analyses. The results confirmed the proposed structure of this domain of individual difference measures. The authors argue for the usefulness of an individual differences approach to theory testing and specify some of the information-processing roles that might be played by the categories of individual differences found in the data.
Suicide attempts and suicides in Bolivia from 2007 to 2012: pesticides are the preferred method – females try but males commit suicide!

Abstract Background: Suicide attempts and suicides constitute a significant burden on communities and health systems, especially in low income countries. However, many low income countries lack epidemiological information on which to base future preventive strategies. This study reports on gender and age profiles as well as the likely background and means used for suicide attempts and suicides in Bolivia. Method: This study presents 1124 cases from four different sources of information: (i) emergency ward data with suicide attempts by poisoning from the year 2007, (ii) psychiatric ward data including suicide attempts from July 2011 to July 2012, (iii) newspaper articles reporting attempted suicides and suicides from 2009 to 2011, and (iv) the National Statistics on Crime reporting suicides from the years 2010–2011. Data on age was stratified into three age groups: adolescents aged 10–19 years, young adults aged 20–29 years, and older adults aged above 29 years. Data from the hospital wards and Crime Statistics were pooled to compare characteristics of suicide attempts with suicides concerning age and gender. Data on age, gender, methods used, and reasons were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 21. Results: Hospital data showed that more females (403/657, 61%) than males (254/657, 39%) attempted suicide, and females attempted suicide at a younger age than males (p<0.05). In contrast to this, more males (208/293, 70.5%) than females (85/293, 29.5%) committed suicide, and furthermore it was most prevalent among young adults aged 20–29 years of both genders, as observed from the Crime Statistics. The dominant method was pesticide poisoning varying from 400 out of 657 (70.5%) of the hospital poisoning cases to 65 out of 172 (37.8%) of the newspaper cases. Newspaper data showed a higher mortality rate (65/77, 85.1%) among those using violent methods such as hanging and jumping compared to non-violent methods (43/84, 50.9%) such as ingesting chemicals and drugs (p<0.05). The reasons were related to interpersonal problems, economic problems, depression, and unwanted pregnancies. Many cases of suicide seemed to be hidden due to cultural and religious reasons. Conclusion: More females attempted suicide, whereas more males realized suicide. Suicide attempts were most numerous among adolescents in contrast to suicides being most prevalent in the older age groups. Self-poisoning with pesticides was the most popular method used. Access to potential suicide materials should be restricted and psychosocial interventions initiated to prevent suicides.
Markov chain comparison

This is an expository paper, focussing on the following scenario. We have two Markov chains, M and M'. By some means, we have obtained a bound on the mixing time of M'. We wish to compare M with M' in order to derive a corresponding bound on the mixing time of M. We investigate the application of the comparison method of Diaconis and Saloff-Coste to this scenario, giving a number of theorems which characterize the applicability of the method. We focus particularly on the case in which the chains are not reversible. The purpose of the paper is to provide a catalogue of theorems which can be easily applied to bound mixing times.