Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Policing, profiling and discrimination law: US and European approaches compared

Counter-terrorism officials in the USA and the UK responded to the events of 11 September 2001 and 7 July 2005 with an increasing resort to the use of ‘intelligence-led policing’ methods such as racial and religious profiling. Reliance on intelligence, to the effect that most people who commit a certain crime have a certain ethnicity, can lead to less favourable treatment of an individual with that ethnicity because of his membership in that group, not because of any act he is suspected or known to have committed. This paper explains the context in which intelligence-led policing flourishes, and how this discussion contributes to the profiling debate in both the USA and the UK, and then sets out two key contentions. First, we argue that Article 14 ECHR as applied under the UK Human Rights Act has a more protective, and less ‘prosecutorial’, conception of discrimination than has the US Equal Protection Clause, meaning that judges need not find a discriminatory motive to find that discrimination has occurred. Second, we contend that Article 14 provides the judiciary with the key tool of proportionality, which, when properly applied, makes it harder for discrimination to stand up to scrutiny.
Non-invasive indicators of pulmonary hypertension from pulmonary veins quantification in sickle cell disease

Pulmonary hypertension is a common cause of death among patients with sickle cell disease. This retrospective study investigates the use of pulmonary vein analysis to diagnose pulmonary hypertension non-invasively with CT-Angiography images. Ten images from patients with pulmonary hypertension were matched with controls. An adaptive fast marching approach is applied in order to segment the left atrium and pulmonary veins, followed by a geodesic active contour to isolate the atrium. The ostia of the pulmonary veins are determined by computing the skeleton and finding the intersections with the contour of the atrium. 96.3% of the ostia are identified correctly by the technique. The diameters of the veins are then measured and their sum is computed at fixed distances from the ostium. These quantitative indicators are significantly larger in patients as compared to controls (p-values <; 0.01). Furthermore, the non-invasive estimations of the method present a high and significant correlation with the clinical hemodynamics measurements obtained from right heart catheterization.
Free Energy Simulations of a GTPase: GTP and GDP Binding to Archaeal Initiation Factor 2

Archaeal initiation factor 2 (aIF2) is a protein involved in the initiation of protein biosynthesis. In its GTP-bound, “ON” conformation, aIF2 binds an initiator tRNA and carries it to the ribosome. In its GDP-bound, “OFF” conformation, it dissociates from tRNA. To understand the specific binding of GTP and GDP and its dependence on the ON or OFF conformational state of aIF2, molecular dynamics free energy simulations (MDFE) are a tool of choice. However, the validity of the computed free energies depends on the simulation model, including the force field and the boundary conditions, and on the extent of conformational sampling in the simulations. aIF2 and other GTPases present specific difficulties; in particular, the nucleotide ligand coordinates a divalent Mg2+ ion, which can polarize the electronic distribution of its environment. Thus, a force field with an explicit treatment of electronic polarizability could be necessary, rather than a simpler, fixed charge force field. Here, we begin by comparing a fixed charge force field to quantum chemical calculations and experiment for Mg2+:phosphate binding in solution, with the force field giving large errors. Next, we consider GTP and GDP bound to aIF2 and we compare two fixed charge force fields to the recent, polarizable, AMOEBA force field, extended here in a simple, approximate manner to include GTP. We focus on a quantity that approximates the free energy to change GTP into GDP. Despite the errors seen for Mg2+:phosphate binding in solution, we observe a substantial cancellation of errors when we compare the free energy change in the protein to that in solution, or when we compare the protein ON and OFF states. Finally, we have used the fixed charge force field to perform MDFE simulations and alchemically transform GTP into GDP in the protein and in solution. With a total of about 200 ns of molecular dynamics, we obtain good convergence and a reasonable statistical uncertainty, comparable to the force field uncertainty, and somewhat lower than the predicted GTP/GDP binding free energy differences. The sign and magnitudes of the differences can thus be interpreted at a semiquantitative level, and are found to be consistent with the experimental binding preferences of ON- and OFF-aIF2.
Admission criteria in short-term geriatric assessment units: a Delphi study.

BACKGROUND In recent years, short-term geriatric care units that operate using an interdisciplinary approach have been established in Quebec and elsewhere, in order to provide frail elderly persons with better health care. The purpose of this study is to determine criteria that target the greatest number of individuals most likely to benefit from hospitalization in this type of care unit. METHODS A Delphi survey was conducted. The panel of experts consisted of 54 physicians and nurses working in short-term geriatric care units in Quebec. Three questionnaires were mailed and 4-level Likert scales were used. Median values, and 25th and 75th percentiles to a maximum of 2, were chosen a priori as the definition of consensus. RESULTS The survey used 14 inclusion criteria and 17 exclusion criteria. Inclusion criteria were divided into two categories and exclusion criteria were divided into four. INTERPRETATION A typical clinical profile of a patient who should be admitted to a STGCU emerges: an elderly person presenting multiple pathologies, acute or sub-acute functional disability, and often related psychosocial problems. The instrument developed by this project is a practical guide for professionals in STGAUs as well as those responsible for allocating resources in the health care system.
Antibody-based tumor vascular theranostics targeting endosialin/TEM1 in a new mouse tumor vascular model

Tumor endothelial marker 1 (TEM1, endosialin) is a tumor vascular marker with significant diagnostic and therapeutic potential. However, in vivo small animal models to test affinity reagents specifically targeted to human (h)TEM1 are limited. We describe a new mouse tumor model where tumor vascular endothelial cells express hTEM1 protein. Methods: Immortalized murine endothelial cells MS1 were engineered to express hTEM1 and firefly luciferase and were inoculated in nude mice either alone, to form hemangioma-like endothelial grafts, or admixed with ID8 ovarian tumor cells, to form chimeric endothelial-tumor cell grafts. MORAb-004, a monoclonal humanized IgG1 antibody specifically recognizing human TEM1 was evaluated for targeted theranostic applications, i.e., for its ability to affect vascular grafts expressing hTEM1 as well as being a tool for molecular positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. Results: Naked MORAb-004 treatment of mice bearing angioma grafts or chimeric endothelial-tumor grafts significantly suppressed the ability of hTEM1-positive endothelial cells, but not control endothelial cells, to form grafts and dramatically suppressed local angiogenesis. In addition, highly efficient radioiodination of MORAb-004 did not impair its affinity for hTEM1, and [124I]-MORAb-004-PET enabled non-invasive visualization of tumors enriched with hTEM1-positive, but not hTEM1 negative vasculature with high degree of specificity and sensitivity. Conclusion: The development of a new robust endothelial graft model expressing human tumor vascular proteins will help accelerate the development of novel theranostics targeting the tumor vasculature, which exhibit affinity specifically to human targets but not their murine counterparts. Our results also demonstrate the theranostic potential of MORAb-004 as PET imaging tracer and naked antibody therapy for TEM1-positive tumor.
Attachment and Autonomy in the Workplace

Contemporary researchers suggest that working is a relational act. Accordingly, literature reflects increasing interest in the relevance of attachment theory to vocational and organizational phenomena. In the current study, we focused on associations of avoidant attachment orientation (characterized by obsessive self-reliance), anxious attachment orientation (characterized by overdependence), and a central job characteristic (job autonomy) with work-related attitudes and emotions (work engagement, career commitment, work burnout, and emotional distress). Results from 150 Israeli employees revealed significant associations between avoidant attachment and all work-related outcomes, while anxiety was associated only with work burnout and emotional distress. Job autonomy was associated with all work-related outcomes, and although attachment anxiety and avoidance were not associated with job autonomy, the interactions between avoidance and job autonomy (but not the interactions between anxiety and job autonomy) significantly contributed to explained variance of all work outcomes. Simple slope analyses showed significant associations between avoidance and work-related outcomes in high job autonomy conditions and nonsignificant associations in low job autonomy conditions, surprisingly suggesting that high job autonomy specifically disadvantages highly avoidant employees. Theoretical and practical implications for organizations and for attachment theory at work are discussed.
Peer-to-Peer Prefix Tree for Large Scale Service Discovery

The problem studied in this thesis is the service discovery on platforms distributed at large scale, a service being a computing service (software components, scientific computing libraries, or binaries) offered with some characteristics and a performance level related to the hardware supporting it. Traditional approaches, designed for reliable and small scale environments, rely upon centralized solutions, unable to scale well in geographically distributed unreliable platforms. Our contribution centers around three main parts. 1) We propose a novel approach called DLPT (Distributed Lexicographic Placement Table), whose design is inspired by peer-to-peer systems. It calls upon an indexing system structured as a prefix tree. This structure supports multi-attribute range queries. 2) We study the mapping of nodes of this tree onto heterogeneous processors of the dynamic underlying network. We propose and adapt some load balancing heuristics for this kind of architectures. 3) Our architecture, targeted for platforms within which processors are unreliable and constantly joining and leaving the network, requires fault-tolerance mechanisms. Replication, usually used, is costly and unable to manage transient faults. We propose alternative best-effort mechanisms based on the self-stabilization theory for the construction and maintenance of prefix trees in a peer-to-peer environment. Among the mechanisms provided, one is proven to be snap-stabilizing. This means that the tree is rebuilt in an optimal time after an arbitrary number of faults. This approach is written in a coarse grain communication model and assumes several restrictions on initial topology handled, making it hard to implement on real platforms. To address these drawbacks, another self-stabilizing protocol is given for actual message-passing environments. Finally, we present a software prototype of this architecture and its first promising experiments on the Grid'5000 platform.
Spatially-coupled nearly-regular LDPC code ensembles for rate-flexible code design

Spatially coupled regular LDPC code ensembles have outstanding performance with belief propagation decoding and can perform close to the Shannon limit. In this paper we investigate the suitability of coupled regular LDPC code ensembles with respect to rate-flexibility. Regular ensembles with good performance and low complexity exist for a variety of specific code rates. On the other hand it can be observed that outside this set of favorable rational rates the complexity and performance penalty become unreasonably high. We therefore propose ensembles with slight irregularity that allow us to smoothly cover the complete range of rational rates. Our simple construction allows a performance with negligible gap to the Shannon limit while maintaining complexity as low as for the best regular code ensembles. At the same time the construction guarantees that asymptotically the minimum distance grows linearly with the length of the coupled blocks.
"Dinner is ready!": Virtual Reality Assisted Training for Chronic Pain Rehabilitation

Gamified environments in Virtual Reality (VR) have shown promising results for acute pain and behavioral health. The potential for rehabilitation of chronic pain has yet to be explored. In this paper, we present a Virtual Reality game to improve the training of chronic pain both in the clinical and home settings. The prototype was designed in strong collaboration with therapists and patients to meet specific needs of this clinical population. With this approach, we are able to translate clinical guidelines into the VR environment to facilitate future implementation in the care path. User evaluations show that the game tasks meet the aim of simulating activities performed in clinical practice and provide indications for future improvements. The proof of concept will be finalized end-2017. We expect that VR-assisted training for chronic pain rehabilitation can provide added value in terms of motivation, engagement and facilitating rehabilitation achievements to daily life.
An Annotation Scheme for a Rhetorical Analysis of Biology Articles

In information extraction from scientific texts, it is crucially important to identify the unique contribution of the research. The task is complicated by the large number of statements made in each article that pertain to results, including reference to previous work and technical details. Simple keyword searches are helpful for a content-based analysis but fail to tell new results from other ones. We aim to approach the problem from a rhetorical perspective and give a ‘zone analysis’ (ZA) of texts in light of Teufel, Carletta & Moens (1999). We analyze a text into ‘zones’ with a shallow nesting based on the rhetorical status which each sequence of statements fit into and annotate the text correspondingly. Our current focus is on the molecular biology domain. In this paper, we propose an annotation scheme for ZA based on an empirical analysis of major online journals (EMBO, NAR, PNAS, and JCB), and illustrate how it works. Our scheme provides a way to differentiate the text in terms of the aspects of the author’s own work (e.g. experimental procedure, findings, implications) and to identify a set of statements relating data and findings and therefore helps identify the author’s new results and findings.
Combining tractography and cortical measures to test system-specific hypotheses in multiple sclerosis

The objective was to test three motor system-specific hypotheses in multiple sclerosis patients: (i) corticospinal tract and primary motor cortex imaging measures differ between multiple sclerosis patients and controls; (ii) in patients, these measures correlate with disability; (iii) in patients, corticospinal tract measures correlate with measures of the ipsilateral primary motor cortex. Eleven multiple sclerosis patients with a history of hemiparesis attributable to a lesion within the contralateral corticospinal tract, and 12 controls were studied. We used two advanced imaging techniques: (i) diffusion-based probabilistic tractography, to obtain connectivity and fractional anisotropy of the corticospinal tract; and (ii) FreeSurfer, to measure volume, thickness, surface area, and curvature of precentral and paracentral cortices. Differences in these measures between patients and controls, and relationships between each other and to clinical scores, were investigated. Patients showed lower corticospinal tract fractional anisotropy and smaller volume and surface area of the precentral gyrus than controls. In patients, corticospinal tract connectivity and paracentral cortical volume, surface area, and curvature were lower with increasing disability; lower connectivity of the affected corticospinal tract was associated with greater surface area of the ipsilateral paracentral cortex. Corticospinal tract connectivity and new measures of the primary motor cortex, such as surface area and curvature, reflect the underlying white and grey matter damage that contributes to disability. The correlation between lower connectivity of the affected corticospinal tract and greater surface area of the ipsilateral paracentral cortex suggests the possibility of cortical adaptation. Combining tractography and cortical measures is a useful approach in testing hypotheses which are specific to clinically relevant functional systems in multiple sclerosis, and can be applied to other neurological diseases.
Practical considerations in deploying AI for defect prediction: a case study within the Turkish telecommunication industry

We have conducted a study in a large telecommunication company in Turkey to employ a software measurement program and to predict pre-release defects. We have previously built such predictors using AI techniques. This project is a transfer of our research experience into a real life setting to solve a specific problem for the company: to improve code quality by predicting pre-release defects and efficiently allocating testing resources. Our results in this project have many practical implications that managers have started benefiting: code analysis, bug tracking, effective use of version management system and defect prediction. Using version history information, developers can find around 88% of the defects with 28% false alarms, compared to same detection rate with 50% false alarms without using historical data. In this paper we also shared in detail our experience in terms of the project steps (i.e. challenges and opportunities).
Immigration as a trigger to knife off from delinquency? Desistance and persistence among male adolescents from the Former Soviet Union in Germany

Recent work on desistance from delinquency increasingly considers knifing off — an explicit change of one’s social environment and opportunity structure — but has largely ignored immigration as a cause of knifing off. Interviews with 26 migrants from the Former Soviet Union who were involved in delinquency prior to emigration to Germany show that differences between desisters and persisters with respect to delinquency, agency and the social and structural situation arise just after arrival. Desisters can progress quickly when their agency and motivation are acknowledged in society and when receiving support from new friends and society. Persistence appears to be fostered by quick and repeated negative experiences, and reinforced by making friends who share similar problems rather than providing support in the process of integration.
Material worlds? Resource geographies and the `matter of nature'

Concepts of `materiality' are increasingly invoked in human geography. This paper discusses several recent and influential workings of materiality, and examines their implications for resource geographies. First, we identify a set of analytical questions at the heart of resource geography and characterize the dominant approaches to these questions - the `production of nature' and the `social construction of nature' - as yielding diminishing returns. Second, we survey recent work on materiality relating to commodities, corporeality and hybridity and advance the claim that this work provides a number of fresh perspectives with which to revive resource geography. Third, we highlight three specific themes within this research: a radical redistribution and decentering of agency; a revitalization of the concept of `construction'; and an acknowledgement of the political-economic implications that flow from a world that is biophysically heterogeneous. Finally, we draw on this analysis to explore how progress might be made in the conceptualization and empirical study of resources.
Modified RECIST (mRECIST) Assessment for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

The endpoint in cancer research is overall survival. Nonetheless, other potential surrogate endpoints, such as response rate and time to progression, are currently used. Measurement of response rate in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has become a controversial issue. The World Health Organization (WHO) criteria underestimate the actual response rate; thus, they were amended in 2000 by a panel of experts convened by the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) to take into account treatment-induced tumor necrosis. Applying these guidelines, there was an association between response rate and outcome prediction. More recently, the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) guideline was proposed as a method for measuring treatment response based on tumor shrinkage, which is a valuable measure of antitumor activity of cytotoxic drugs. This method was initially adopted by regulatory agencies, such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for drug approval. However, anatomic tumor response metrics can be misleading when applied to molecular-targeted therapies or locoregional therapies in HCC. In 2008, a group of experts convened by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) developed a set of guidelines aimed at providing a common framework for the design of clinical trials in HCC and adapted the concept of viable tumor-tumoral tissue showing uptake in arterial phase of contrast-enhanced radiologic imaging techniques-to formally amend RECIST. These amendments conformed the AASLD-JNCI (Journal of the National Cancer Institute) guidelines and are summarized and clarified in the current article. They are referred to herein as the modified RECIST assessment (mRECIST). Further studies are needed to confirm the accuracy of this measurement compared with conventional gold standards such as pathologic studies of explanted livers.
Obstacles to Success in the Workplace for People With Disabilities

Our objectives in this article were to summarize research relevant to obstacles that people with disabilities face in the workplace and to identify directions for future research on the topic. We included review, theoretical, and empirical articles in management journals and those in psychology or rehabilitation journals if they had clear workplace implications. We argue that obstacles identified in prior research may only partially reflect organizational reality. This is because of the heavy reliance on laboratory studies, which we urge researchers to replicate in organizational settings. A better understanding of obstacles will lead to more evidence-based solutions for human resource development (HRD) practitioners to create a less exclusionary workplace wherein all employees are provided opportunities to use their talent.
Women in the Legal Profession

In recent years, the legal profession has undergone significant change, with rapidly rising numbers of women among its membership. Scholars of legal history, sociology, economics, organizational behavior, and law have examined various dimensions of the feminization of the legal profession. This review traces the parameters of integration and inequality in the careers of women and men in the contemporary legal profession. We document and assess the theoretical explanations of gender inequalities that persist across legal education, hiring, remuneration, promotions, and other professional opportunities in law. We also examine women's responses to their experiences and women's impact on the law and the profession.