Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Democracy’s Friend or Foe? The Effects of Recent IMF Conditional Lending in Latin America

Structural adjustment is commonly prescribed as a condition for receiving loans from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, but the effects of structural adjustment and conditionality are controversial. While much research has been devoted to examining the economic effects of conditional lending, far fewer studies have looked at the political consequences. How do conditional lending agreements affect democracy? Does the number of required reforms or the type of reform play a role? Neoliberal theory suggests that improved economic conditions will result from structural adjustment, and over time this should lead to higher levels of democracy. Conversely, democratic practices may decline in the presence of conditionality as the government reduces civil liberties in an attempt to quell the social unrest that results from structural adjustment. Using a sample of Latin American countries from 1998 to 2003, this article analyzes the effects of both the number and type of required conditions on democracy and finds that while the presence of an IMF loan itself does not affect democracy, loan with a high number of required reforms have a deleterious effect on democratic practices. Further, these effects are conditional upon the type of reform required in the loan. This suggests that IMF efforts to consider the political consequences of reforms when negotiating loans have not been entirely successful and that the number and type of conditional requirements should be carefully considered before their inclusion in a loan agreement.
Ratings in Distributed Systems: A Bayesian Approach

For distributed systems at large and e-commerce systems in particular, ratings play an increasingly important role. Ratings confer reputation measures about sources. This paper reports our formalization of the rating process. This paper argues that ratings should be context- and individual- dependent quantities. In contrast to existing rating systems in many e-commerce or developer sites, our approach makes use of personalized and contextualized ratings for assessing source reputation. Our approach is based on a Bayesian probabilistic framework.
Neurodynamical competition and cooperation mechanisms in brain functions

Present-day research develops neurodynamical computational models inspired by the structure and properties of the nervous system in order to understand the underlying principles of cognitive brain functions. This work introduces and systematically analyzes two neurodynamical models that study specific cognitive phenomena as effects of multi-area processing. Along with correctly describing the experimental findings on awake behaving mammals, both models help to extract a number of possible underlying principles, like selective filtering, correlation facilitation and selective tuning. These dynamical features represent fundamental building blocks for large-scale neurodynamical multi-area models of cognitive brain function.
Splice factor mutations and alternative splicing as drivers of hematopoietic malignancy

Differential splicing contributes to the vast complexity of mRNA transcripts and protein isoforms that are necessary for cellular homeostasis and response to developmental cues and external signals. The hematopoietic system provides an exquisite example of this. Recently, discovery of mutations in components of the spliceosome in various hematopoietic malignancies (HMs) has led to an explosion in knowledge of the role of splicing and splice factors in HMs and other cancers. A better understanding of the mechanisms by which alternative splicing and aberrant splicing contributes to the leukemogenic process will enable more efficacious targeted approaches to tackle these often difficult to treat diseases. The clinical implications are only just starting to be realized with novel drug targets and therapeutic strategies open to exploitation for patient benefit.
Automobility and National Identity

Accounts of the nation and national identity have tended to focus upon the transmission by cultural elites of authoritative culture, invented traditions and folk customs. Following Billig, I suggest that the national is increasingly located in the everyday and in the realm of popular culture; far more so than in ‘high’ and ‘official’ forms of culture. To exemplify this, I discuss national automobilities, specifically exploring the role of iconic models, mundane motorscapes and the everyday, habitual performances of driving. With a particular focus upon British and Indian car cultures, I further suggest that the ‘national’ is not a singular or monolithic entity but is constituted out of a vast matrix of interrelated elements, three of which are the models, geographies and performances identified above. As the national proliferates and expands, becoming globalized, it generates multiple forms of national identity, although consistencies and points of focus remain. Accordingly, as in other cultural fields, I argue that while global manifestations of automobility proliferate, this has not necessarily diminished the salience of the national in the relationship between driving cars and identity. The national thus remains a powerful constituent of identity precisely because of its often unreflexive grounding in everyday spaces and practices.
Design of Video Games for Children's Diet and Physical Activity Behaviour Change

Serious video games (VG) offer new opportunities for promoting health related diet and physical activity change among children. Games can be designed to use storylines, characters, and behavior change procedures, including modeling (e.g., engaging characters make changes themselves, and face and overcome challenges related to fruit and vegetable (FV) and physical activity (PA) goal attainment and/or consumption), skill development (e.g., asking behaviors; virtual recipe preparation), self regulatory behaviors (problem solving, goal setting, goal review, decision making), rewards (e.g., points and positive statements generated by the program), immediate feedback (e.g., through characters and/or statements that appear on the computer screen at critical decision points), and personalization (e.g., tailored choices offered at critical junctures, based on responses to baselines questions related to preferences, outcome expectancies, etc). We are in the earliest stages of learning how to optimally design effective behavior change procedures for use in VG, and yet they have been demonstrated to change behavior. As we learn, VG offer more and better opportunities for obesity prevention that can adjust to individual needs and preferences.
Negativistic (Passive-Aggressive) Personality Disorder

With the exception of two new, "appendixed" personality disorders (PDs) in the revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual ofMental Disorders. Third Edition (DSM-III-R), the passive-aggressive PD, precursor to the negativistic PD, was one of two or three of DSM-III's original group of PDs that elicited considerable discussion at Work Group meetings and within the post-DSM-III critical literature. As noted in the "issues" sections below,
Stimulation of Eryptosis by Cryptotanshinone

Background/Aims: Cryptotanshinone, a component of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge roots, may trigger suicidal death or apoptosis of tumor cells and has thus been recommended for the prevention and treatment of malignancy. On the other hand, Cryptotanshinone has been shown to counteract apoptosis of neurons and hepatocytes. Similar to apoptosis of nucleated cells, erythrocytes may enter eryptosis, a suicidal death characterized by cell shrinkage and phosphatidylserine translocation to the erythrocyte surface. Eryptosis may be triggered by increase of cytosolic Ca2+-activity ([Ca2+]i). The present study explored whether Cryptotanshinone stimulates eryptosis. Methods: Forward scatter was taken as measure of cell volume, annexin V binding for identification of phosphatidylserine-exposing erythrocytes and Fluo3-fluorescence for determination of [Ca2+]i. Results: A 48 h exposure of human erythrocytes to Cryptotanshinone (10 µM) was followed by significant decrease of forward scatter, significant increase of the percentage annexin-V-binding cells and significant increase of [Ca2+]i. The effect of Cryptotanshinone (1 µM) on annexin-V-binding was virtually abrogated by removal of extracellular Ca2+. Conclusion: Cryptotanshinone is a powerful stimulator of suicidal erythrocyte death or eryptosis, which is effective mainly, if not exclusively, by stimulation of Ca2+ entry.
Towards a Metalanguage for Multiliteracies Education: Describing the Meaning-Making Resources of Language-Image Interaction.

The increasingly integrative use of images with language in many different types of texts in electronic and paper media has created an urgent need to go beyond logocentric accounts of literacy and literacy pedagogy. Correspondingly there is a need to augment the genre, grammar and discourse descriptions of verbal text as resources for literacy pedagogy to include descriptions of the meaning-making resources of images. Some augmentation along these lines has involved the articulation of Hallidayan systemic functional descriptions of language, mainly focussed on verbal grammar, with the social semiotic descriptions of the meaning-making resources of images described in a grammar of visual design proposed by Kress and van Leeuwen. However, current research indicates that articulating discrete visual and verbal grammars is not sufficient to account for meanings made at the intersection of language and image. This paper adopts a systemic functional semiotic perspective in outlining a range of different types of such meanings in different kinds of texts, suggesting the significance of such meanings in comprehending and composing contemporary multimodal texts, and the importance of developing an appropriate metalanguage to enable explicit discussion of these meaning- making resources by teachers and students.
Timing Calculations for a General N-Level Dodecagonal Space Vector Structure Using Only Reference Phase Voltages

Multilevel inverters with dodecagonal (12-sided polygon) voltage space vector (SV) structures have advantages like extension of linear modulation range, elimination of fifth and seventh harmonics in phase voltages and currents for the full modulation range including extreme 12-step operation, reduced device voltage ratings, lesser dv/dt stresses on devices and motor phase windings resulting in lower EMI/EMC problems, and lower switching frequency-making it more suitable for high-power drive applications. This paper proposes a simple method to obtain pulsewidth modulation (PWM) timings for a dodecagonal voltage SV structure using only sampled reference voltages. In addition to this, a carrier-based method for obtaining the PWM timings for a general N-level dodecagonal structure is proposed in this paper for the first time. The algorithm outputs the triangle information and the PWM timing values which can be set as the compare values for any carrier-based hardware PWM module to obtain SV PWM like switching sequences. The proposed method eliminates the need for angle estimation, computation of modulation indices, and iterative search algorithms that are typical in multilevel dodecagonal SV systems. The proposed PWM scheme was implemented on a five-level dodecagonal SV structure. Exhaustive simulation and experimental results for steady-state and transient conditions are presented to validate the proposed method.
Decomposing the construct of ambivalence over emotional expression in a Chinese cultural context

The present study examined the construct of ambivalence over emotional expression proposed by King and Emmons (1990) in the Chinese context, and identified a factor structure different from those proposed in previous Western studies. The results of this study provided discriminant validity for this newly extracted two‐factor structure of ambivalence, viz., Emotional Rumination and Emotional Suppression. Emotional Rumination was significantly predicted by the personality scales of introversion and inferiority, and the belief dimension of fate control, whereas Emotional Suppression was predicted by the personality scales of diversity, face, and harmony, and the belief dimension of social complexity. The different effects of Emotional Rumination and Emotional Suppression in predicting life satisfaction showed that emotional experience has its own specific characteristics in Chinese culture, and that responding to its emic characteristics will yield a more culturally responsive understanding of emotional experience and expression. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A mutation in β‐tubulin and a sustained dependence on androgen receptor signalling in a newly established docetaxel‐resistant prostate cancer cell line

The mechanisms of docetaxel resistance in PC (prostate cancer) are unclear because of the lack of suitable experimental models, and no effective treatment exists for docetaxel‐resistant PC. We established a docetaxel‐resistant cell line, LNDCr, from an androgen‐refractory PC cell line, LNCaP‐hr, by intermittent exposure to docetaxel in vitro. The LNDCr cells harboured an F270I mutation in class I β‐tubulin, and demonstrated impaired tubulin polymerization by docetaxel. AR signalling was sustained in LNDCr cells, and AR knockdown suppressed the growth of LNDCr cells. These results suggest that an acquired mutation in β‐tubulin is associated with docetaxel resistance in PC and that a novel AR‐targeted therapy is effective for docetaxel‐resistant PC.
Social Worker Interventions in Situations of Domestic Violence: What We Can Learn from Survivors' Personal Narratives?

June Keeling MEd, BSc (Hons) RGN, RM, is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Health and Social Care, University of Chester. She has worked within the Health Service for over twenty years, as both a nurse and a midwife, and more recently within the role of a domestic violence co-ordinator/researcher. She has worked in both the UK and New Zealand as an educator, and her main area of research is domestic violence against women. Katherine van Wormer, MSSW, Ph.D., is Professor of Social Work at the University of Northern Iowa. She has worked as teacher and social worker in Northern Ireland and Norway, respectively. Dr van Wormer has authored or co-authored sixteen books and over sixty articles. She has authored or co-authored two volumes of Human Behavior and the Social Environment, Micro and Macro Levels (2nd edn, Oxford University Press), Addiction Treatment: A Strengths Perspective (2nd edn, 2008, Cengage), Women and the Criminal Justice System (3rd edn, 2010, Prentice Hall), Death by Domestic Violence: Preventing the Murders and the MurderSuicides (2009, Praeger) and Working with Female Offenders: A Gender-Sensitive
A census-based stereo vision algorithm using modified Semi-Global Matching and plane fitting to improve matching quality

This paper introduces a new segmentation-based approach for disparity optimization in stereo vision. The main contribution is a significant enhancement of the matching quality at occlusions and textureless areas by segmenting either the left color image or the calculated texture image. The local cost calculation is done with a Census-based correlation method and is compared with standard sum of absolute differences. The confidence of a match is measured and only non-confident or non-textured pixels are estimated by calculating a disparity plane for the corresponding segment. The quality of the local optimized matches is increased by a modified Semi-Global Matching (SGM) step with subpixel accuracy. In contrast to standard SGM, not the whole image is used for disparity optimization but horizontal stripes of the image. It is shown that this modification significantly reduces the memory consumption by nearly constant matching quality and thus enables embedded realization. Using the Middlebury ranking as evaluation criterion, it is shown that the proposed algorithm performs well in comparison to the pure Census correlation. It reaches a top ten rank if subpixel accuracy is supposed. Furthermore, the matching quality of the algorithm, especially of the texture-based plane fitting, is shown on two real-world scenes where a significant enhancement could be achieved.
Ambiguously Labeled Learning Using Dictionaries

We propose a dictionary-based learning method for ambiguously labeled multiclass classification, where each training sample has multiple labels and only one of them is the correct label. The dictionary learning problem is solved using an iterative alternating algorithm. At each iteration of the algorithm, two alternating steps are performed: 1) a confidence update and 2) a dictionary update. The confidence of each sample is defined as the probability distribution on its ambiguous labels. The dictionaries are updated using either soft or hard decision rules. Furthermore, using the kernel methods, we make the dictionary learning framework nonlinear based on the soft decision rule. Extensive evaluations on four unconstrained face recognition datasets demonstrate that the proposed method performs significantly better than state-of-the-art ambiguously labeled learning approaches.
A framework for metrics in large complex systems

Terrorism information awareness (TIA) was initiated by the Information Awareness Office (IAO) of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) (Snowden and Kurtz, 2002; 2003; Snowden, 2000). TIA capabilities enable the detection, classification, identification, and tracking of terrorist activities in order to provide early warning of plans and to identify options to prevent them from being executed. TIA operated as a research program in an environment with real data, real users, and real missions. This environment presented many challenges to the collection and analysis of metrics. Like most large things, the TIA program was a mixture of the "complicated" and the "complex". At a high level, the program could be considered as both a "system" and a human "network". The "system" is complicated, able to be analyzed from its constituent components. On the other hand, the "network" is a complex composite of the activities of small groups engaged in problem solving. To analyze TIA experiments, we adopted multiple interwoven sets of "perspectives" encompassing both the system and the net. All perspectives were engaged simultaneously. The first set of three, which defined the make up of the Metrics Team, were a cognitive perspective, an operational perspective, and a technical perspective. We also established five "threads" of functional capability to study the technologies: structured discovery, link and group understanding, decision-making with corporate memory, collaborative problem solving, and context-aware visualization. Finally, we established models of the operational context (mission, goals, and resources) for each of the collaboration groups, called "scenarios". The metrics for these analyses were derived using an explicit model based on a UML metrics meta-model. Presenting aggregated analyses in a way that fosters understanding without losing the appreciation of the complexities of the program is itself a complex task. Stones have the ability to organize the anecdotes surrounding events of interest in ways that the goals, values, and rules of the observed behaviors are revealed clearly. Our attempt at building such a "story" used a concept map as a framework.
Correctional Treatment of Sexual and Violent Offenders

Despite meta-analytic evidence on the effectiveness of offender treatment programs, little is known about how therapeutic changes to dynamic risk factors contribute to this effect. The present study explores the relationship between prison climate, changes in dynamic risk factors, and recidivism in a sample of 185 male violent and sexual offenders. Participants completed psychometric tests on dynamic risk factors (procriminal attitudes, antisocial personality patterns, empathy, anxiety/neuroticism) and perceived prison climate before and after correctional treatment (length: M = 32 months) in a social-therapeutic facility. Recidivism data were available for 92 participants with a follow-up of M = 4 years. Medium-sized prosocial changes to the dynamic risk factors of procriminal attitudes and anxiety/neuroticism in all offenders were found, while antisocial personality patterns only decreased among violent offenders. Positive ratings of different aspects of prison climate significantly correlated with prosocial changes in all dynamic risk factors except empathy. Cox regressions showed that prosocial changes in dynamic risk factors were not predictive of general or sexual/violent recidivism. The reasons that could account for the missing link between therapeutic change and reduced recidivism are discussed. These range from problematic methodological issues like the repeated measurement of self-reports to the omission of relevant constructs from desistance theory and protective factors. It is concluded that more attention should be given to creating a prison climate that is conducive to therapeutic change.
Expert chat-bots for cultural heritage

A key role in the human reasoning capability is given by intuition. The aim of the work is to design a framework for an human-like information supplier, which combines “intuition” with the traditional, more rigid, rules-based knowledge. It is presented a preliminary system that represents the first step toward the aforementioned framework. The system allows a user to interact with a community of chat-bots having specific competences in order to navigate in a concepts space automatically generated with the Latent Semantic Analysis paradigm. The chat-bots knowledge bases have been created to deal with the Cultural Heritage field. Then they have been sub-symbolically coded in the semantic space created with LSA. Thanks to this approach, chat-bots are capable to estimate their own competence regarding questions formulated by the user, which are mapped in the same semantic space.
Enhancement of underfill capillary flow in flip-chip packaging by means of the inertia effect

This paper describes how the use of inertia forces induced by the rotation of a working disk may be adopted to increase the fill rate of the flip-chip packaging process and thereby reduce the process cycle time. It is shown how the driving forces resulting from the inertia effect are determined by the Weber number. The constant and varying contact angle models are compared under a specified set of process conditions. The calculated flow behavior results indicate that the relationship between the contact angle, the average fluid velocity, the liquid-air interface position, and the filling time depends upon the Weber number. The constant and varying contact angle models are utilized in the analysis of a new processing method referred to as rotation-enhanced underfill packaging (REUP). The inertia effect induced by the angular motion of the working disk is shown to enhance the flow of the underfill encapsulant and to reduce the time of the underfill process. The present results confirm that the rotation of the working disk leads to an increased underfill capillary flow rate, which is beneficial in reducing the production cycle time of the flip-chip packaging process.