Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Similarities and Differences in the Argumentative Characteristics of the Official Brexit Campaigns

This paper adds to the growing empirical literature surrounding the UK's vote to leave the European Union. Specifically, a series of quantitative and qualitative textual analysis tools are implemented on a corpus consisting of the websites of Vote Leave (VL) and Britain Stronger in Europe (BSE). By breaking down argumentative text into two components, this paper attempts to characterise how the two official campaigns differ in the information they choose to convey (or “focus"), and the style by which this information is conveyed. To analyse variation in focus, a structural topic model and thematic analysis of elementary context units are conducted with the inclusion of document-level metadata. This is then compared to survey data and their potential effectiveness is considered. To study the style of information transmission, an analysis of sentiment is used to calculate sentence-level polarity scores. An unambiguous thematic divide is uncovered with BSE employing a “focussed" approach by singling out topics related to the economy, whereas VL chose a “scattershot" approach by spreading their resources across a broader range of themes. The thematic analysis uncovers little reciprocity in most major areas — a notable exception being public services, which acted as a battleground. BSE's focussed approach allowed it to target the most influential topic for the electorate, but despite this, VL's approach led to a greater targeted proportion. A sentiment analysis yields two results: (A) the variability in sentence-level polarity scores was consistent across campaigns, and (2) BSE's website had a significantly greater mean score. To download the appendix please click here .
Financing constraints for R&D in China: the role of state ownership

ABSTRACT We investigate financing constraints for R&D in China. We find that Chinese private firms are financially constrained for R&D, while state-owned enterprises are not. Mature private firms encounter more severe financing constraints for R&D than young private firms. Moreover, the expansion of external financing supply does not relax the financing constraints for R&D faced by private firms.
Planning Practice and Academic Research: Views from the Parallel Worlds

ABSTRACT Despite their different roles, academic and professional planners share many common goals. Both are concerned with the future of cities, and committed to goals of sustainability, equity and prosperity. Many academics hope to contribute knowledge that will influence practice and many practitioners wish to draw upon current research to promulgate best practice. Yet while this symbiotic relationship may appear clear in principle, in practice the two groups find it difficult to connect. This paper reports on a survey of planners in Australia and New Zealand, which asked respondents to consider the state of the theory/practice divide and suggest some solutions.
Switched Reluctance Motors Drive for the Electrical Traction in Shearer

The paper presented the double switched reluctance motors parallel drive system for the electrical traction in shearer. The system components, such as the switched reluctance motor, the main circuit of the power converter and the controller, were described. The control strategies of the closed-loop rotor speed control with PI algorithm and balancing the distribution of the loads with fuzzy logic algorithm were given. The tests results were also presented. It is shown that the relative deviation of the average DC supplied current of the power converter in the switched reluctance motor 1 and in the switched reluctance motor 2 is within plusmn10%
Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization (MALDI)-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry- and MALDI Biotyper-Based Identification of Cultured Biphenyl-Metabolizing Bacteria from Contaminated Horseradish Rhizosphere Soil

ABSTRACT Bacteria that are able to utilize biphenyl as a sole source of carbon were extracted and isolated from polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-contaminated soil vegetated by horseradish. Isolates were identified using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). The usage of MALDI Biotyper for the classification of isolates was evaluated and compared to 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. A wide spectrum of bacteria was isolated, with Arthrobacter, Serratia, Rhodococcus, and Rhizobium being predominant. Arthrobacter isolates also represented the most diverse group. The use of MALDI Biotyper in many cases permitted the identification at the level of species, which was not achieved by 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses. However, some isolates had to be identified by 16S rRNA gene analyses if MALDI Biotyper-based identification was at the level of probable or not reliable identification, usually due to a lack of reference spectra included in the database. Overall, this study shows the possibility of using MALDI-TOF MS and MALDI Biotyper for the fast and relatively nonlaborious identification/classification of soil isolates. At the same time, it demonstrates the dominant role of employing 16S rRNA gene analyses for the identification of recently isolated strains that can later fill the gaps in the protein-based identification databases.
Semisupervised Clustering by Iterative Partition and Regression with Neuroscience Applications

Regression clustering is a mixture of unsupervised and supervised statistical learning and data mining method which is found in a wide range of applications including artificial intelligence and neuroscience. It performs unsupervised learning when it clusters the data according to their respective unobserved regression hyperplanes. The method also performs supervised learning when it fits regression hyperplanes to the corresponding data clusters. Applying regression clustering in practice requires means of determining the underlying number of clusters in the data, finding the cluster label of each data point, and estimating the regression coefficients of the model. In this paper, we review the estimation and selection issues in regression clustering with regard to the least squares and robust statistical methods. We also provide a model selection based technique to determine the number of regression clusters underlying the data. We further develop a computing procedure for regression clustering estimation and selection. Finally, simulation studies are presented for assessing the procedure, together with analyzing a real data set on RGB cell marking in neuroscience to illustrate and interpret the method.
E-government Challenges Faced by Selected District Municipalities in South Africa and Rwanda

The use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in the different spheres of government is being seen as a way of widening access to government information and services in developed countries. However, e-government development remains at a very low level in the local sphere of government in both South Africa and in Rwanda. This article addresses the issues of ICT use in the local sphere of government and focuses specifically on the constraints in the successful use of ICT for delivering and utilising online government information and services. This article reflects upon the lessons learned from a comparative case study undertaken in the two district municipalities of Lejweleputswa and Fezile Dabi in South Africa and the two district municipalities of Kicukiro and Kamonyi in Rwanda. To determine and compare the challenges faced in the utilisation of e-government by the four selected district municipalities both in South Africa and Rwanda, two types of respondents have been targeted. The simple random sampling method was used to select 400 respondents who were ordinary citizens living in the townships, while the judgemental sampling method was used to select 40 interviewees who are officials in district municipalities. This article identifies a number of constraining factors surrounding practical use of online government information and services, namely ICT illiteracy; lack or limited access to modern ICT devices due to low income, lack or limited access to ICT infrastructures; low level of general literacy among citizens, English illiteracy and lack of awareness of available
Prevalence and heritability of obsessive‐compulsive spectrum and anxiety disorder symptoms: A survey of the Australian Twin Registry

While past twin studies indicate moderate levels of heritability of “obsessive‐compulsive related” and anxiety disorder symptoms, no single study has reported such estimates in the same twin population nor examined potential genetic sex differences. We assessed symptoms of obsessive‐compulsive disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, hoarding disorder, hypochondriasis, panic disorder, social phobia and generalized anxiety disorder in 2,495 adult twins (1,468 female). Prevalence estimates for the corresponding symptom measures were determined using empirically derived cut‐off scores. Twin resemblance was assessed by Pearson correlations and biometrical model‐fitting analyses, incorporating sex‐specific effects, using OpenMx. Prevalence estimates ranged from 1.6% in the symptoms of generalized anxiety to 16.9% for social phobia. Female twins demonstrated significantly higher prevalence rates across all domains with the exception of obsessive‐compulsive symptoms. Additive genetic factors accounted for a moderate proportion of the total liability to each symptom domain. Evidence suggesting qualitative genetic sex differences (i.e., distinct genetic influences between genders) was observed for body dysmorphic concern and panic symptoms, while quantitative differences were observed for hoarding and social phobia symptoms, indicating stronger heritability in females. Novel findings in this study include the observation of probable genetic sex differences in liability towards hoarding symptoms and dysmorphic concern, as well as the lack of such differences in hypochondriasis. The trend towards qualitative sex differences in panic symptoms has some intuitive appeal with regard to biological‐experimental models of panic. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Linking concurrent self-reports and retrospective proxy reports about the last year of life: a prevailing picture of life satisfaction decline.

OBJECTIVE We examined the extent to which retrospective proxy reports of well-being mirror participant self-reports at 12-24 months before death and how proxy reports of well-being change over the last year of life. We also explored the role of sociodemographic, cognitive, and health factors of both participants and proxies in moderating such associations. METHOD We used retrospective proxy ratings obtained in the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (N = 164; age at death = 19-99 years). RESULTS Results revealed moderate agreement between self- and proxy reports (r = .42), but proxies, on average, overestimated participants' life satisfaction by two thirds of a scale point on a 0-10 scale (or 0.4 SD). Discrepancies were particularly pronounced when proxies themselves reported low life satisfaction. Over the last year of life, participants were viewed to have experienced declines in life satisfaction (-0.54 SD). Declines were stronger for ill participants and proxies who reported low life satisfaction. DISCUSSION Results qualify theoretical expectations and empirical results based on self-report data that are typically available 1 or 2 years before death. We discuss that retrospective proxy reports in panel surveys can be used as a hypothesis-generating tool to gather insights into late life.
Quantification of land cover and land use within the rural complex of the Democratic Republic of Congo

The rural complex is the inhabited agricultural land cover mosaic found along the network of rivers and roads in the forest of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is a product of traditional small-holder shifting cultivation. To date, thanks to its distinction from primary forest, this area has been mapped as relatively homogenous, leaving the proportions of land cover heterogeneity within it unknown. However, the success of strategies for sustainable development, including land use planning and payment for ecosystem services, such as Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation, depends on the accurate characterization of the impacts of land use on natural resources, including within the rural complex. We photo-interpreted a simple random sample of 1000 points in the established rural complex, using 3106 high resolution satellite images obtained from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, together with 406 images from Google Earth, spanning the period 2008–2016. Results indicate that nationally the established rural complex includes 5% clearings, 10% active fields, 26% fallows, 34% secondary forest, 2% wetland forest, 11% primary forest, 6% grasslands, 3% roads and settlements and 2% commercial plantations. Only a small proportion of sample points were plantations, while other commercial dynamics, such as logging and mining, were not detected in the sample. The area of current shifting cultivation accounts for 76% of the established rural complex. Added to primary forest (11%), this means that 87% of the rural complex is available for shifting cultivation. At the current clearing rate, it would take ~18 years for a complete rotation of the rural complex to occur. Additional pressure on land results in either the cultivation of non-preferred land types within the rural complex (such as wetland forest), or expansion of agriculture into nearby primary forests, with attendant impacts on emissions, habitat loss and other ecosystems services.
The role of calcium stores in fatigue of isolated single muscle fibres from the cane toad

1 Intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i) and tension were measured from single muscle fibres dissected from the cane toad (Bufo marinus). The amount of Ca2+ which could be released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) was estimated by brief (≈20 s) exposures to 4‐chloro‐m‐cresol (4‐CmC) or caffeine. 2 Muscle fatigue was produced by repeated tetani at 4 s or shorter intervals and continued until tension had fallen to 50 % of the control. The intracellular free calcium concentration during a tetanus (tetanic [Ca2+]i) first increased and then steadily declined to 43 ± 2 % of control by the time tension had fallen to 50 %. Over the period of fatigue the rapidly releasable Ca2+ from the SR fell to 46 ± 6 % of control. Tension and tetanic [Ca2+]i recovered to 93 ± 3 % and 100 ± 4 % of the control values after 20 min of rest. Over the same period rapidly releasable SR Ca2+ recovered to 98 ± 12 %. 3 When a similar number of tetani (200) were repeated at longer intervals (10 s), fibres showed only a small reduction in tension (to 85 ± 1 %) and tetanic [Ca2+]i did not change significantly. Under these conditions the rapidly releasable SR Ca2+ did not change significantly. 4 The recovery of rapidly releasable SR Ca2+ after fatigue was unaffected by removal of extracellular calcium but did not occur when oxidative phosphorylation was inhibited with cyanide. 5 These results suggest that an important cause of the decline of tetanic [Ca2+]i during fatigue is an equivalent decline in the amount of rapidly releasable SR Ca2+. The results show that the decline of rapidly releasable SR Ca2+ is related to a metabolic consequence of fatigue and are consistent with the hypothesis that Ca2+ precipitates with phosphate in the SR during fatigue.
Interest Rate Signals, Stock Returns and FII Inflows: Exploring the Interlinkages

We look into the dynamic relationship between: monetary policy, stock market and FII inflows. Moving forward from the sparse literature on exploring the interlinkages between FII inflows and stock returns on one hand and between monetary policy and capital flows on the other, we have, for the first time, looked at two determinants of FII inflows in conjunction. We find that a conscientious monetary policy, actively engaged in stabilizing the foreign exchange market whilst maintaining a high interest rate regime through open market sale of government securities to attract capital flows, together with stock market returns determine FII inflows.
Phosphorylation of p27 Kip1 on Serine 10 Is Required for Its Binding to CRM1 and Nuclear Export*

Phosphorylation of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27 Kip1 has been thought to regulate its stability. Ser10 is the major phosphorylation site of p27 Kip1 , and phosphorylation of this residue affects protein stability. Phosphorylation of p27 Kip1 on Ser10 has now been shown to be required for the binding of CRM1, a carrier protein for nuclear export. The p27 Kip1 protein was translocated from the nucleus to the cytoplasm at the G0-G1transition of the cell cycle, and this export was inhibited by leptomycin B, a specific inhibitor of CRM1-dependent nuclear export. The nuclear export and subsequent degradation of p27 Kip1 at the G0-G1transition were observed in cells lacking Skp2, the F-box protein component of an SCF ubiquitin ligase complex, indicating that these early events are independent of Skp2-mediated proteolysis. Substitution of Ser10 with Ala (S10A) markedly reduced the extent of p27 Kip1 export, whereas substitution of Ser10 with Asp (S10D) or Glu (S10E) promoted export. Co-immunoprecipitation analysis showed that CRM1 preferentially interacted with S10D and S10E but not with S10A, suggesting that the phosphorylation of p27 Kip1 on Ser10is required for its binding to CRM1 and for its subsequent nuclear export.
Functional interactions of manno-oligosaccharides with dietary threonine in chicken gastrointestinal tract. II. Mucosal development, mucin dynamics and nutrient utilisation

1. A 3 × 2 factorial experimental design was used to investigate the interaction between threonine concentration (0·7, 1·0 and 1·3 of National Research Council (NRC), 1994, recommendations) and manno-oligosaccharides (MOS) supplemented at 0 and 2 g/kg on growth performance in relation to intestinal flow of crude mucins, mucosal development and nutrient utilisation. 2. There was no interaction between MOS and dietary threonine in any performance variable analysed, except for body weight gain during the period to 14 d of age, where body weight gain was significantly lower in birds fed excess threonine in the absence of MOS. Dietary MOS was also observed to significantly increase the body weight gain at deficient and adequate concentrations of threonine. 3. Dietary treatments had no significant effect on either the ileal external muscularis thickness or crypt depth. However, there was a MOS and threonine interaction in the ileal villus to crypt ratio and ileal crude mucin output with both being increased only at the adequate threonine concentration. 4. Dietary MOS tended to interact with threonine to increase the ileal uptake of D-glucose and L-threonine, but the effect was only apparent in birds fed on the deficient or excess threonine diet. There was no significant interaction between MOS and threonine on ileal digestibility of amino acids. Supplementation of MOS or increased dietary threonine significantly increased the apparent and standardised ileal digestibility of threonine. 5. Results from the current study indicate the possible link between the modulating effects of these supplements on intestinal mucosal development and mucin dynamics. This, in turn, may suggest a relatively higher proportion of mature enterocytes and absorptive area, which would be expected to improve the capacity for digestion and mucosal nutrient absorption.
Of Kittens and Kids: Altered Cortical Maturation following Profound Deafness and Cochlear Implant Use

Profoundly deaf children who use a cochlear implant (CI) provide a unique opportunity to investigate the effects of auditory sensory deprivation on the maturing human central nervous system. Previous results suggest that children fitted with a CI show evidence of altered auditory cortical maturation, based on evoked potentials. This altered maturation was characterized by both latency delays and morphological changes in the cortical auditory evoked potentials (AEPs). Based on prolonged P1 latencies compared to age-matched normal-hearing (NH) peers, these data suggested a delayed maturation nearly equivalent to the period of deafness. However, rates of maturation for this AEP peak were essentially the same in NH and CI children. This suggests that, given enough time, the AEPs of CI children would assume the characteristic morphology found in older NH teens and NH adults. However, the data also indicated a substantial alteration of the typical set of obligatory P1-N1b-P2 peaks, specifically related to the absence of the N1 potential. Recent analyses of more extensive sets of longitudinal and cross-sectional data indicate that even after many years of implant use, the AEPs of CI users in their late teens remain very different from those of their NH peers. The P1 peak latency remains prolonged and P1 amplitude remains much larger in CI users than in age-matched NH teens. These findings suggested that age-related changes in the P1 peak are completed by 12 years of age. In addition, the normal N1b peak fails to emerge in virtually all of the CI children tested in our laboratory. A major new interpretation of the abnormal maturation of AEP waveforms in CI children is presented. It is based on direct evidence showing that a persistent immaturity of the superficial layer axons has persistent negative effects on the generation of the N1b and, consequently, on the morphology of the AEPs. A comparison of scalp-recorded AEPs from implanted children with local field potentials measured from the cortical surface in deaf white kittens suggests the effects of deafness and CI use are similar across these mammalian species. For both species, a period of profound deafness followed by CI stimulation reveals a substantial immaturity in cortical activation even after a period of electrical stimulation by the CI.
And So the Pendulum Swings: Senior Student Affairs Officers Balancing Implementation of Federal Campus Safety Mandates at Small Colleges

Issues of campus safety are being addressed on campuses nationwide because of the requirements set forth by the Clery Act, Title IX, and the Campus Sexual Assault Violence Elimination Act. The purpose of this qualitative study was to deeply understand experiences of senior student affairs officers (SSAO) at small colleges and universities who have implemented federal campus safety mandates. Their experiences, offered insight into how SSAOs used these experiences to inform their own professional growth, and contribute to the student affairs profession. I utilized a qualitative phenomenological approach and conducted multiple semi-structured interviews with three SSAOs at small colleges and universities. I also conducted document analysis of organizational charts, institutional policies, websites, and program information. The research philosophy underlying my research included elements from both feminist and constructivist paradigms. AND SO THE PENDULUM SWINGS vii
(Re)discovering the lost middle: intergenerational inheritances and economic inequality in urban and regional research

ABSTRACT This paper calls for deepening understandings of inequality and the reproduction of inequality across the income distribution. In particular, it brings intergenerational transmissions and place effects, their interaction and progression over time into greater focus. The objective is to understand the implications of increasing inequality for those in the large and under-researched ‘middle group’. The paper makes the case for urban and regional research that uses extensive longitudinal data, both qualitative and quantitative, to reveal the totality of the processes impacting the middle group, from those who are just managing to those who are advancing and flourishing.