Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Crime, Immigration, and Ad Hoc Instrumentalism

Criminal law and immigration law were once entirely separate fields of governance, but over the last few decades the boundary between the two fields has grown less and less distinct. Immigration crimes now account for a majority of all federal prosecutions; deportation is widely seen as a key tool of crime control; immigration authorities run the nation’s largest prison system; and state and local law enforcement officers work hand in hand with federal immigration officials. This article traces these trends and assesses their significance. The rise of an intertwined regime of “crimmigration” law has generally been attributed to some combination of nativism, overcriminalization, and a cultural obsession with security, but it also exemplifies, and has helped to reinforce, a crucial and underappreciated development in legal culture - a rising tendency to treat legal rules and legal procedures as interchangeable tools, to be brought to bear pragmatically and instrumentally on an ad hoc basis. Ad hoc instrumentalism of this kind has genuine strengths, but it also raises significant concerns about the rule of law and political accountability. The accountability concerns, in particular, are exacerbated by two other features of our newly merged system of immigration enforcement and criminal justice: its bureaucratic opacity and its selective application.
Learning Trajectory and Force Control of an Artificial Muscle Arm

We propose a new parallel-hierarchical neural network model to enable motor learning for simultaneous control of both trajectory and force. by integrating Hogan's control method and our previous neural network control model using a feedback-error-learning scheme. Furthermore. two hierarchical control laws which apply to the model, are derived by using the Moore-Penrose pseudoinverse matrix. One is related to the minimum muscle-tension-change trajectory and the other is related to the minimum motor-command-change trajectory. The human arm is redundant at the dynamics level since joint torque is generated by agonist and antagonist muscles. Therefore, acquisition of the inverse model is an ill-posed problem. However. the combination of these control laws and feedback-error-learning resolve the ill-posed problem. Finally. the efficiency of the parallel-hierarchical neural network model is shown by learning experiments using an artificial muscle arm and computer simulations.
Membrane topology of the metal-tetracycline/H+ antiporter TetA(K) from Staphylococcus aureus

A series of fusions to the reporter proteins alkaline phosphatase and beta-galactosidase have been constructed in the predicted periplasmic and cytoplasmic loops of TetA(K), a protein responsible for efflux-mediated tetracycline resistance in Staphylococcus aureus. The results support a topological model of 14 transmembrane segments for TetA(K).
Wavelet packet-based progressive image transmission by prioritized subband selection and multistage quantization

This paper proposes progressive image transmission (PIT) algorithms based on the wavelet packet transform. In the proposed methods quantization steps are optimized at each stage in an embedded manner for the given bit rate. After quantization selected subbands are ordered by their priorities for transmission. Subjective quality of the reconstructed image is improved by human visual system (HVS) weighting.
Automatic detection of laughter

In the context of detecting paralinguistic events with the aim to make classification of the speakers emotional state possible, a detector was developed for one of the most obvious paralinguistic events, namely laughter. Gaussian Mixture Models were trained with Perceptual Linear Prediction features, pitch&energy, pitch&voicing and modulation spectrum features to model laughter and speech. Data from the ICSI Meeting Corpus and the Dutch CGN corpus were used for our classification experiments. The results showed that Gaussian Mixture Models trained with Perceptual Linear Prediction features performed best with Equal Error Rates ranging from 7.1%-20.0%.
The Biasing Effect of Word Length in Font Size Encodings

From word clouds to cartographic labels to word trees, many visualizations encode data within the sizes of fonts. While font size can be an intuitive dimension for the viewer, it may also bias the perception of the underlying values. Viewers might conflate the size of a word’s font with a word’s width, with the number of letters it contains, or with the larger or smaller heights of particular characters (‘o’ vs. ‘p’ vs. ‘b’). In an ongoing set of experiments, we have found that such factors—which are irrelevant to the encoded values—can indeed influence comparative judgements of font size. For this poster, we present one such experiment showing the biasing effect of word length.
Validation of a Fidelity Rating Instrument for Consumer-Operated Services

With the emphasis on the use of evidence-based practices has come a need to measure the fidelity of replications to the operations and principles of original models. Recent reviews have focused on methods to develop fidelity measures for evidence-based program models. However, the issue of how to validate such measures has been given scant attention. The research reported here attempted to validate a fidelity rating instrument (FRI) for consumer-operated drop-in centers on the basis of convergent validation methods. That is, fidelity ratings by trained observers were validated in relation to reports about similar concepts from the users of the centers. The authors describe their methods and present results indicating that all but 4 of 14 fidelity variables from the FRI were validated, as hypothesized. The authors discuss the success of this approach as well as its limitations and identify issues in the further development of fidelity measures.
Multilevel Interactions between Ethylene and Auxin in Arabidopsis Roots[W]

Hormones play a central role in the coordination of internal developmental processes with environmental signals. Herein, a combination of physiological, genetic, cellular, and whole-genome expression profiling approaches has been employed to investigate the mechanisms of interaction between two key plant hormones: ethylene and auxin. Quantification of the morphological effects of ethylene and auxin in a variety of mutant backgrounds indicates that auxin biosynthesis, transport, signaling, and response are required for the ethylene-induced growth inhibition in roots but not in hypocotyls of dark-grown seedlings. Analysis of the activation of early auxin and ethylene responses at the cellular level, as well as of global changes in gene expression in the wild type versus auxin and ethylene mutants, suggests a simple mechanistic model for the interaction between these two hormones in roots, according to which ethylene and auxin can reciprocally regulate each other's biosyntheses, influence each other's response pathways, and/or act independently on the same target genes. This model not only implies existence of several levels of interaction but also provides a likely explanation for the strong ethylene response defects observed in auxin mutants.
A Biomimetic Multi‐Stimuli‐Response Ionic Gate Using a Hydroxypyrene Derivation‐Functionalized Asymmetric Single Nanochannel

A highly efficient multi-stimuli-response ionic gate that can be activated separately or cooperatively by pH and UV light has been demonstrated by modifying the environmental stimuli-responsive molecule 8-hydroxypyrene-1,3,6-trisulfonate into a track-etched single conical nanochannel. Such a multi-response ionic gate can find applications in areas such as electronics, actuators, and biosensors.
Intelligent network news reader

We are developing an Intelligent Network News Reader which extracts news articles for the user. In contrast to ordinary information retrieval and abstract generation, this method utilizes an “information context” to select articles from newsgroups on the intemet. The salient feature of this system is that it retrieves articles dynamically, adapting to the user’s interests, not classifying them beforehand. Since this system measures the semantic distance between articles, it is possible to refer to the necessary information without being constrained within a particular news group. We will finish our prototype of the Intelligent Network News Reader in March 1997 and its practical version in March 1998.
Transmission and feedback strategies for energy harvesting wireless communication systems. (Stratégies de transmission et feedback pour les systèmes de communication sans-fil à récupération de l'énergie)

Over the last decade, we have witnessed a rapid growth in the number of communication devices, and this trend is expected to continue as the key technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), wearable devices, are shaping the future of information and communication technology (ICT) industry. This growth has resulted in a tremendous increase in the energy demand, and hence the carbon footprint of the ICT ecosystem can no longer be ignored. Additionally, in traditional battery powered communication systems where energy infrastructure is not available after deployment, the limited available energy in the battery becomes the bottleneck as it determines the network lifetime. Powering up nodes with ambient energy sources, thanks to the energy harvesting technology, not only reduces the carbon footprint of ICT sector but also increases the autonomy of battery powered communication networks. An energy harvesting node can scavenge energy from the surrounding environment (typical sources are solar, wind, vibration, thermal, etc.). However, time varying nature of the ambient energy makes the design of communication strategies quite different from the traditional communication systems. Besides energy harvesting, higher throughput can be obtained in a wireless communication system by designing transmission schemes on the basis of propagation channel information. As channel adaptation techniques require to have some knowledge of the wireless channel conditions feedbackto the transmitter, the gain in throughput comes at the cost of pilot-based training and feedback which consume resources in a communication system, especially, energy. In addition when the goal in a communication system is to send information about the source to a destination such that mean squared error distortion is minimized, transmission and compression strategies hasto be designed based on both the time varying channel conditions and the source statistics. This dissertation focuses on the design of transmission strategies taking into account the cost of obtaining the channel state information (CSI) at the transmitter, and time varying source statistics when the communication nodes rely on harvested energy (hence time-varying energy) supplies.
Crystal structure of bromidonitrosylbis(triphenylphosphane-κP)nickel(II)

The asymmetric unit of the title complex, [NiBr(NO){P(C6H5)3}2], comprises two independent molecules each with a similar configuration. The NiII cation is coordinated by one bromide anion, one nitrosyl anion and two triphenylphosphane molecules in a distorted BrNP2 tetrahedral coordination geometry. The coordination of the nitrosyl group is non-linear, the Ni—N—O angles being 150.2 (5) and 151.2 (5)° in the two independent molecules. In the crystal, molecules are linked by weak C—H⋯Br hydrogen bonds and weak C—H⋯π interactions into a three-dimensional supramolecular architecture.
The centrosomal kinase NEK2 is a novel splicing factor kinase involved in cell survival

NEK2 is a serine/threonine kinase that promotes centrosome splitting and ensures correct chromosome segregation during the G2/M phase of the cell cycle, through phosphorylation of specific substrates. Aberrant expression and activity of NEK2 in cancer cells lead to dysregulation of the centrosome cycle and aneuploidy. Thus, a tight regulation of NEK2 function is needed during cell cycle progression. In this study, we found that NEK2 localizes in the nucleus of cancer cells derived from several tissues. In particular, NEK2 co-localizes in splicing speckles with SRSF1 and SRSF2. Moreover, NEK2 interacts with several splicing factors and phosphorylates some of them, including the oncogenic SRSF1 protein. Overexpression of NEK2 induces phosphorylation of endogenous SR proteins and affects the splicing activity of SRSF1 toward reporter minigenes and endogenous targets, independently of SRPK1. Conversely, knockdown of NEK2, like that of SRSF1, induces expression of pro-apoptotic variants from SRSF1-target genes and sensitizes cells to apoptosis. Our results identify NEK2 as a novel splicing factor kinase and suggest that part of its oncogenic activity may be ascribed to its ability to modulate alternative splicing, a key step in gene expression regulation that is frequently altered in cancer cells.
Opportunistic Feedback and Scheduling to Reduce Packet Delays in Heterogeneous Wireless Systems

We consider an opportunistic feedback and scheduling scheme for multiuser wireless systems. In opportunistic feedback schemes, a set of thresholds is assigned to the users, and only users with channel quality above the threshold transmit the feedback on channel state information (CSI) to the base station. We propose an opportunistic feedback scheme that combines techniques from queue/weight-based opportunistic scheduling to improve users' delay performance. A set of queue-based weights designed to slowly track variations in users' backlog is computed; then, each user is assigned a threshold based on the weights. The proposed scheme effectively captures heterogeneity in the offered loads, which is crucial for delay performance. To that end, we formulate a nonconcave maximization problem and propose an approximation algorithm that is numerically shown to have high accuracy. By simulation, we show that our scheme substantially reduces the mean delay, compared with conventional schemes.
CYNICISM AND ALIENATION AS MARKETING CONSIDERATIONS: SOME NEW WAYS TO APPROACH THE FEMALE CONSUMER

In this article we will report the results of a study that measured the degree to which cynicism and alienation, together with some related dimensions, were found among American women. The results of this study strongly suggest that, if cynicism and alienation are taken into account, many marketers may be positioning their offerings to reach only a minority of American women, perhaps as few as one‐third. We will also, therefore, discuss the larger marketing ramifications of these findings.
Evaluation of the Discriminatory Powers of the Dienes Test and Ribotyping as Typing Methods for Proteus mirabilis

ABSTRACT A total of 63 clinical isolates of Proteus mirabiliscollected over a 19-month period were typed by the Dienes test and ribotyping. Ribotyping was performed using the fully automated RiboPrinter Microbial Characterization System (Qualicon, Wilmington, Del.). Isolates that were indistinguishable by the Dienes test and/or ribotyping were characterized further by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Most of the isolates represented unique strains as judged by the Dienes test and ribotyping. Forty isolates represented 40 different ribotypes and Dienes types. The remaining 23 isolates were grouped into 13 Dienes types, 12 ribotypes, and 14 PFGE types. The index of discrimination was 0.980 for the Dienes test, 0.979 for ribotyping, and 0.992 for PFGE. Both the Dienes test and ribotyping are useful methods for identifying individual strains of P. mirabilis. The Dienes test is simple, inexpensive, and easy to perform. It can be performed in virtually any laboratory and should be used in the initial epidemiologic characterization of P. mirabilis isolates.
Hygiene factors associated with childhood food allergy and asthma

BACKGROUND Childhood food allergy and asthma rates are increasing. The hygiene hypothesis has been proposed as an explanation for the increased incidence of allergic disease. OBJECTIVE To describe the association of childhood food allergy and asthma with hygiene factors, such as the number of siblings, antibiotic use, infection history, pet exposure, child care exposure, and maternalchild factors. METHODS Children ages 021 years old (N = 1359) were recruited for a cross-sectional family-based study, including children with food allergy and children without food allergy, and their siblings. We assessed the associations between childhood food allergy and asthma with hygiene factors. RESULTS Of the 1359 children, 832 (61.2%) had food allergy, and 406 (30%) had asthma. In the adjusted analysis, the prevalence of food allergy was increased if there was a history of skin infection (prevalence ratio [RRR] 1.12 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 1.011.24]) or eczema (RRR 1.89 [95% CI, 1.702.10]). The prevalence of asthma was increased with a history of respiratory syncytial virus infection (RRR 1.60 [95% CI, 1.341.90]) or eczema (RRR 1.54 [95% CI, 1.271.86]). A greater number of siblings were associated with a decreased prevalence of food allergy (RRR 0.79 [95% CI, 0.750.84]) and asthma (RRR 0.82 [95% CI, 0.740.91]). CONCLUSION Our findings supported the accumulating evidence of an association between skin infections and eczema with food allergy. Because these results could be subject to recall bias, additional prospective studies are needed to substantiate these findings.
Efficient constant-time entropy decoding for H.264

Diverse approaches to parallel implementation of H.264 have been proposed; however, they all share a common problem. The entropy decoder in H.264 remains mapped on a single processing element (PE). Due to the inherently sequential and context-adaptive nature of the entropy decoder, it cannot be parallelized. This renders a bottleneck to the performance of the entire decoding process. Depending on the type of the processing core and the video bit-rate, the performance of the entire decoding process is subject to the process of entropy decoding. It is, therefore, needful to research and implement new algorithmic solutions to compensate for this bottleneck, and thereby make optimal use of parallel implementation of H.264 decoder on mainstream multi-core systems. This paper presents a new CAVLC decoding method which is de-rived by constructing custom CAVLC decoding tables using dasiatable groupingpsila. Compared to the conventional dasiasequential table look-uppsila method, which requires multiple memory accesses. Our proposed method accesses the custom tables only once for the decoding of any symbol. Moreover, in our proposed method, the symbol decoding time does not depend on the symbol length and it is constant for each symbol, resulting in a nearly linear increase in computational complexity with increase in video fidelity as compared to an non linear increase in earlier proposed methods. Experimental results show that our proposed algorithm features up to 7times higher performance and 83% less memory accesses compared to conventional methods. We compare to three commonly used, state-of-the-art CAVLC algorithms, such as table look-up by sequential search, table look-up by binary search, and ldquoMoon's methodrdquo.
‘A picture of who we are as a family’: conceptualizing post‐adoption contact as practices of family display

Social work has a central role in negotiating and supporting birth family contact following adoption from care. This paper argues that family display (Finch) offers a useful conceptual resource for understanding relationships in the adoptive kinship network as they are enacted through contact. It reports on an interpretative phenomenological analysis of adoptive parents' accounts of open adoption from care that revealed direct and indirect contact to be contexts in which they and birth relatives performed family display practices: communicating the meaning of their respective relationships with the adopted child and seeking recognition that this was a legitimate family relationship. The analysis explores how family display was performed, and the impact of validating or invalidating responses. It aims to illuminate these social and interpretive processes involved in adoptive kinship in order to inform social work support for contact. The findings suggest that successful contact may be promoted by helping adoptive and birth relatives validate the legitimacy of the other's kin connection with the child, and through arrangements that facilitate family-like interactions.
Making the Very Most of Classroom Read‐Alouds to Promote Comprehension and Vocabulary

Integrating comprehension and vocabulary instruction in read-alouds can help teachers make the very most of class time. The curriculum described illustrates how read-alouds, when implemented with strategic purpose, can boost learners' vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension. Specifically, the author presents guidelines for: selecting texts to encourage “text-to-text” and “text-to-self” connections selecting target vocabulary words promoting text-based discussions incorporating comprehension instruction before, during, and after the reading process
Silicone oil in the management of giant retinal tears.

To evaluate the results of using and removing silicone oil in the management of giant retinal tears, 24 cases of vitrectomy with fluid-silicone oil exchange were reviewed. We did not use cryotherapy in any case. For chorioretinal adherence, we used either endolaser or postoperative external laser and a narrow buckle. The retina was reattached successfully in 22 (91.6%) of the 24 eyes. Of these, visual acuity was 20/200 or better in 18 (75%) eyes. This was significantly better than the preoperative visual acuity (P = .02). After removing the silicone oil in 15 cases, 13 (92.8%) had visual acuities of 20/200 or better, which was considerably better than that of the group in which the silicone oil was not removed (P = .006). We recommend removing the silicone oil and additional peeling of membranes an average of six months postoperatively when the eye is stable.
Galaxy evolution in Abell 85 - I. Cluster substructure and environmental effects on the blue galaxy population

In this series of papers we explore the evolution of late-type galaxies in the rich cluster Abell 85. In this first paper we revisit the complex dynamical state of A 85 by using independent methods. First, we analyze the galaxy redshift distribution towards A 85 in the whole range 0−40 000 km s −1 , and determine the mean redshifts of the background clusters A 87 and A 89, very close in projection to A 85. Then we search for substructures in A 85 by considering the 2D galaxy distribution of its members (13 000−20 000 km s −1 )a nd by applying the kinematical 3D Δ-test to both projected positions and radial velocities. This clearly reveals several substructures: one close to the cluster core and three more projected towards the southeast, along the region where an X-ray filament has been extensively studied. We also analyse the distribution of the brightest blue galaxies across a major fraction of the cluster volume, considering if they are gas-rich or poor. We report a very asymmetric distribution of the blue member galaxies, with most of them to the east and southeast, namely in the region joining the core of A 85 to its farthest substructure in this direction – dubbed the SE clump. By matching our sample of bright blue member galaxies with H i detections reported in the literature, we identify gas-rich and gas-poor ones. As expected, the H i-rich blue galaxies follow the same trend as the parent sample, with most of them projected on the eastern side of the cluster as well. Interestingly no blue objects have been detected in H i up to a projected radius of 2 Mpc in this zone. We finally estimate the ram pressure stripping exerted by the intra-cluster medium as a function of the projected distance from A 85, in order to quantify how important this mechanism might be in sweeping the gas out of the infalling spirals.