Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Framing distance: local vs. non-local news in Hong Kong press

Geographical location as a “natural” attribute of news has always been a source of news manipulation. This research investigates how different community newspapers select, interpret, and package events originating in places of varying distances. Contextualized in Hong Kong, three media frames (authority, conflict, and attribution) are closely examined and theoretically connected to three types of newspapers (mass appeal, elite, and pro-establishment) across four locales (local, mainland China, Asian, and international). To test the hypotheses, a large-scale content analysis of 14 daily newspapers in Hong Kong was conducted. On the whole, findings supported the three hypotheses, showing that local news was systematically differentiated from non-local news in terms of the frequency of political authorities cited, presence of diversified opinions, and the likelihood of either individuals or institutions being blamed for social wrongs. Considerable variations were detected across different types of newspapers as well. Theoretical and social implications of the empirical findings are discussed.
Enhancement of Bright Video Features for HDR Displays

To utilize the full potential of new high dynamic range (HDR) displays, a system for the enhancement of bright luminous objects in video sequences is proposed. The system classifies clipped (saturated) regions as lights, reflections or diffuse surfaces using a semi‐automatic classifier and then enhances each class of objects with respect to its relative brightness. The enhancement algorithm can significantly stretch the contrast of clipped regions while avoiding amplification of noise and contouring. We demonstrate that the enhanced video is strongly preferred to non‐enhanced video, and it compares favorably to other methods.
Prior degree and student assessment performance: how can evidence guide decisions on assessment policy?

This study aimed to provide evidence to guide decisions on the type and timing of assessments in a graduate medical programme, by identifying whether students from particular degree backgrounds face greater difficulty in satisfying the current assessment requirements. We examined the performance rank of students in three types of assessments and also calculated the relative risk of failure in the summative assessments for four cohorts over all four years of a four‐year graduate medical programme. Our findings suggest that early summative assessment may disadvantage the very students who create the diversity that the faculty values, particularly if methods such as Single Best Answer questions are used, unless students are provided with additional support in bridging their knowledge gap. Use of assessment methods such as Modified Essay Questions and Objective Structured Clinical Examinations appears to be more justifiable on educational grounds.
‘right@home’: a randomised controlled trial of sustained nurse home visiting from pregnancy to child age 2 years, versus usual care, to improve parent care, parent responsivity and the home learning environment at 2 years

Introduction By the time children start school, inequities in learning, development and health outcomes are already evident. Sustained nurse home visiting (SNHV) offers a potential platform for families experiencing adversity, who often have limited access to services. While SNHV programmes have been growing in popularity in Australia and internationally, it is not known whether they can improve children's learning and development when offered via the Australian service system. The right@home trial aims to investigate the effectiveness of an SNHV programme, offered to women from pregnancy to child age 2 years, in improving parent care of and responsivity to the child, and the home learning environment. Methods and analysis Pregnant Australian women (n=722) are identified after completing a screening survey of 10 factors known to predict children's learning and development (eg, young pregnancy, poor mental or physical health, lack of support). Consenting women—surveyed while attending clinics at 10 hospitals in Victoria and Tasmania—are enrolled if they report having 2 or more risk factors. The intervention comprises 25 home visits from pregnancy to 2 years, focusing on parent care of the child, responsivity to the child and providing a good quality home learning environment. The standard, universal, Australian child and family health service provides the comparator (control). Primary outcome measures include a combination of parent-reported and objective assessments of children's sleep, safety, nutrition, parenting styles and the home learning environment, including the Home Observation of the Environment Inventory and items adapted from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Ethics and dissemination This study is approved by the Royal Children's Hospital Human Research Ethics Committees (HREC 32296) and site-specific HRECs. The investigators and sponsor will communicate the trial results to stakeholders, participants, healthcare professionals, the public and other relevant groups via presentations and publications. Trial registration number ISRCTN89962120, pre-results.
The Quest for Objectivity in Psychology of Religion: Do we Need the Ideological Surround Model and Christian Translations of Scales?

In my comment on the article Christian Tolerance of Ambiguity I argue that we do not need an Ideological Surround Model for achieving a kind of “balanced objectivity” in the psychology of religion. In addition, I argue that the distinction between two ideological surrounds is much too simple with regard to the debates and controversies among psychologists of religion concerning the “good” theoretical concepts and empirical methods and the “evil” ones. I also formulate some problems I have with the suggested Christian translation of the Budner Scale.
Direct dating of archaeological pottery by compound-specific 14C analysis of preserved lipids.

A methodology is described demonstrating the utility of the compound-specific 14C technique as a direct means of dating archaeological pottery. The method uses automated preparative capillary gas chromatography employing wide-bore capillary columns to isolate individual compounds from lipid extracts of archaeological potsherds in high purity (>95%) and amounts (>200 microg) sufficient for radiocarbon dating using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). A protocol was developed and tested on n-alkanes and n-carboxylic acids possessing a broad range of 14C ages. Analytical blanks and controls allowed background 14C measurements to be assessed and potential sources of errors to be detected, i.e., contamination with modern or dead 14C, isotopic fraction effects, etc. A "Russian doll" method was developed to transfer isolated target compounds onto tin powder/capsules prior to combustion and AMS analyses. The major advantage of the compound-specific technique is that 14C dates obtained for individual compounds can be directly linked to the commodities processed in the vessels during their use, e.g., animal fats. The compound-specific 14C dating protocol was validated on a suite of ancient pottery whose predicted ages spanned a 5000-year date range. Initial results indicate that meaningful correlations can be obtained between the predicted date of pottery and that of the preserved lipids. These findings constitute an important step forward to the direct dating of archaeological pottery.
Analysis of Moloney murine leukemia virus revertants mutated at the gag-pol junction

Among Moloney murine leukemia viruses (Mo-MuLVs) having stop codons other than UAG at the gag-pol junction, Mo-MuLV with UAA, but not with UGA, had a replication disadvantage. Mo-MuLV with a glutamine codon (CAG) at the junction did not replicate. A revertant of this virus consisted of the original virus and a virus with a deletion of the pol region. Protease and Pr65gag encoded by their respective genomes complemented each other.
Predicting Performance and Power Consumption of Parallel Applications

Current architectures provide many control knobs for the reduction of power consumption of applications, like reducing the number of used cores or scaling down their frequency. However, choosing the right values for these knobs in order to satisfy requirements on performance and/or power consumption is a complex task and trying all the possible combinations of these values is an unfeasible solution since it would require too much time. For this reasons, there is the need for techniques that allow an accurate estimation of the performance and power consumption of an application when a specific configuration of the control knobs values is used. Usually, this is done by executing the application with different configurations and by using these information to predict its behaviour when the values of the knobs are changed. However, since this is a time consuming process, we would like to execute the application in the fewest number of configurations possible. In this work, we consider as control knobs the number of cores used by the application and the frequency of these cores. We show that on most Parsec benchmark programs, by executing the application in 1% of the total possible configurations and by applying a multiple linear regression model we are able to achieve an average accuracy of 96% in predicting its execution time and power consumption in all the other possible knobs combinations.
Radic: A standard-cell-based sensor for on-chip aging and flip-flop metastability measurements

As process technology further scales, aging, noise and variations in integrated circuits (ICs) and systems become a major challenge to both the semiconductor and EDA industries, since a significantly increased mismatch is emerging between modeled and actual silicon behavior. Therefore, the addition of accurate and low-cost on-chip sensors is of great value to reduce the mismatch. This paper presents a standard-cell-based, novel, and accurate sensor for reliability analysis of digital ICs (Radic), in order to better understand the characteristics of gate/path aging and process variations' impact on timing performance. The Radic sensor performs aging, flip-flop (FF) metastability window and variation measurements on-chip. This sensor has been fabricated in a floating gate Freescale SOC in very advanced technology. The measurement results demonstrate that the resolution is better than 0.1ps, and the accuracy is kept throughout aging/process variation. Furthermore, reliability and FF metastability measurements are performed using the proposed sensor. The measurement results agree with the existing models.
Statistical mechanics of clonal expansion in lymphocyte networks modelled with slow and fast variables

We use statistical mechanical techniques to model the adaptive immune system, represented by lymphocyte networks in which B cells interact with T cells and antigen. We assume that B- and T-clones evolve in different thermal noise environments and on different timescales, and derive stationary distributions and study expansion of B clones for the case where these timescales are adiabatically separated. We compute characteristics of B-clone sizes, such as average concentrations, in parameter regimes where T-clone sizes are modelled as binary variables. This analysis is independent of the network topology, and its results are qualitatively consistent with experimental observations. To obtain the full distributions of B-clone sizes we assume further that the network topologies are random and locally equivalent to trees. This allows us to compete these distributions via the Bethe–Peierls approach. As an example we calculate B-clone distributions for immune models defined on random regular networks.
Discrepancies Between Parent-Child Reports of Internalizing Problems Among Preadolescent Children: Relationships with Gender, Ethnic Background, and Future Internalizing Problems

In a multiethnic community sample of 1,170 preadolescent children, it was investigated whether discrepancies in parent-child reports of internalizing problems are related with gender, ethnic background (Dutch, Surinamese/ Antillean, Moroccan, Turkish, Other) and with future internalizing problems. No significant differences in discrepancy scores between boys and girls were found. Parent-child disagreement of internalizing problems varied across ethnic groups, with significant differences among children from Surinamese/ Antillean (children reporting more internalizing problems than their parents) and Turkish background (parents reporting more internalizing problems than their children). Disagreement between parents and their preadolescent child significantly contributed to the prediction of self-reported internalizing problems in early adolescence. For the early identification of internalizing problems, it is recommended to include both parent and child self-reports as part of routine health examinations in the setting of preventive youth health care because when parents underreport problems relative to their child, this can predict future internalizing problems.
In Vivo and In Vitro Antinociceptive Effect of Fagopyrum cymosum (Trev.) Meisn Extracts: A Possible Action by Recovering Intestinal Barrier Dysfunction

Fagopyrum cymosum (Trev.) Meisn (Fag) is a herb rhizome which has been widely used to treat diseases. To investigate the effects and mechanisms of the Fag on irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), in vivo neonatal pups maternal separation (NMS) combined with intracolonic infusion of acetic acid (AA) was employed to establish IBS rat models. Fag reduced their visceral hyperalgesia and the whole gut permeability, ameliorated colonic mucosa inflammation and injury, and upregulated the expression of decreased tight junction proteins (TJs) of claudin-1, occludin, and ZO-1 (except ZO-2) in colonic epithelium. Caco-2 monolayer cells were incubated with TNF-α and IFN-γ in vitro to establish an epithelial barrier dysfunction model whose transepithelial electrical resistance (TER) depended more on dose of Fag than that of the controls, and whose TJs levels were lower than those of the controls. Fag upregulated the NP-40 insoluble and soluble components of the four TJs markedly in a dose-dependent manner. These data suggest that Fag alleviated the hyperalgesia of IBS rats by reducing intestinal inflammation and enhancing mucosal epithelial function after regulating the structure and function of TJs.
Extensive necrosis in renal cell carcinoma specimens: potential clinical and prognostic implications.

BACKGROUND Extensive necrosis is rare in primary renal cell carcinoma. This finding may reflect the biological characteristics of the carcinoma and therefore could be of prognostic and clinical value. OBJECTIVES To assess the incidence of necrosis in renal cell carcinoma and its potential prognostic value. METHODS We conducted a consecutive retrospective study of 173 patients after radical nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma. Clinical and pathological data were collected from hospital medical records and compiled into a computerized database. RESULTS Extensive necrosis was found in 31 tumor specimens (17.9%). Univariate analysis showed that the specimens with extensive necrosis were significantly larger and manifested more perirenal and venous extension than the tumors without necrosis. The size of the renal tumor was the only parameter that remained significant in multivariate analysis (P = 0.0001). Overall disease-free survival did not differ significantly between patients with necrotic tumors and those without (68% and 66% respectively). CONCLUSIONS The finding of extensive necrosis in renal cell carcinoma specimens does not seem to be related to tumor biology but rather may reflect the relation between size and vascularity of the tumor.
Learning to perform moderation in online forums

Online discussion forums are a valuable resource for people looking to find information, discuss ideas, and get advice on the Internet. Unfortunately, many forums have too much activity and information available, resulting in information overload. Moderation systems are implemented in some forums as a way to handle this problem, but due to sparsity issues, they are often not sufficient. We describe a novel method for learning from past moderations to develop a classifier that can perform automated moderation and thus address the sparsity problem. Additionally, we discuss the possibility of training a moderating classifier on a moderated forum and then applying it to an otherwise unmoderated forum.
The integration of machine fault detection into an indirect field oriented induction machine drive control scheme-the Vienna Monitoring Method

This paper proposes a new approach for an on-line induction machine monitoring scheme tailored for variable speed drives. As the application of the commonly employed spectrum analysis techniques is complicated by the inverter drives inherent frequency variation, the Vienna Monitoring Method avoids any frequency analysis and observes instead the machine state with the help of on-line models. The key for the fault detection is thereby the comparison of the estimated machine states out of two independent machine models with different model structures. While the models respond identically to the regular machine operation they diverge in case of a structural machine asymmetry. Experimental results from an IGBT drive show that a single rotor bar resistance change can be detected unequivocally. The method is thus sensitive enough to detect an upcoming fault in a very early state. As the extent of the cage asymmetry is estimated too, maintenance or repair can be conveniently scheduled on time.
Weighted and robust incremental method for subspace learning

Visual learning is expected to be a continuous and robust process, which treats input images and pixels selectively. In this paper, we present a method for subspace learning, which takes these considerations into account. We present an incremental method, which sequentially updates the principal subspace considering weighted influence of individual images as well as individual pixels within an image. This approach is further extended to enable determination of consistencies in the input data and imputation of the values in inconsistent pixels using the previously acquired knowledge, resulting in a novel incremental, weighted and robust method for subspace learning.
Conserved Threonine Residues within the A-Loop of the Receptor NIK Differentially Regulate the Kinase Function Required for Antiviral Signaling

NSP-interacting kinase (NIK1) is a receptor-like kinase identified as a virulence target of the begomovirus nuclear shuttle protein (NSP). We found that NIK1 undergoes a stepwise pattern of phosphorylation within its activation-loop domain (A-loop) with distinct roles for different threonine residues. Mutations at Thr-474 or Thr-468 impaired autophosphorylation and were defective for kinase activation. In contrast, a mutation at Thr-469 did not impact autophosphorylation and increased substrate phosphorylation, suggesting an inhibitory role for Thr-469 in kinase function. To dissect the functional significance of these results, we used NSP-expressing virus infection as a mechanism to interfere with wild type and mutant NIK1 action in plants. The NIK1 knockout mutant shows enhanced susceptibility to virus infections, a phenotype that could be complemented with ectopic expression of a 35S-NIK1 or 35S-T469A NIK1 transgenes. However, ectopic expression of an inactive kinase or the 35S-T474A NIK1 mutant did not reverse the enhanced susceptibility phenotype of knockout lines, demonstrating that Thr-474 autophosphorylation was needed to transduce a defense response to geminiviruses. Furthermore, mutations at Thr-474 and Thr-469 residues antagonistically affected NIK-mediated nuclear relocation of the downstream effector rpL10. These results establish that NIK1 functions as an authentic defense receptor as it requires activation to elicit a defense response. Our data also suggest a model whereby phosphorylation-dependent activation of a plant receptor-like kinase enables the A-loop to control differentially auto- and substrate phosphorylation.
Cells Regulate Tumor Burden and Osteolysis in Bone Dependent Mechanisms in Breast Cancer − B κ Nuclear Factor-Updated

A central mediator of a wide host of target genes, the nuclear factor-KB (NF-KB) family of transcription factors, has emerged as a molecular target in cancer and diseases associated with bone destruction. To evaluate how NF-KB signaling in tumor cells regulates processes associated with osteolytic bone tumor burden, we stably infected the boneseeking MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell line with a dominant-negative mutant IKB that prevents phosphorylation of IKBa and associated nuclear translocation of NF-KB. Blockade of NF-KB signaling in MDA-MB-231 cells by the mutant IKB decreased in vitro cell proliferation, expression of the proinflammatory, bone-resorbing cytokine interleukin-6, and in vitro bone resorption by tumor/osteoclast cocultures while reciprocally up-regulating production of the proapoptotic enzyme caspase-3. Suppression of NF-KB transcription in these breast cancer cells also reduced incidence of in vivo tumor-mediated osteolysis after intratibial injection of tumor cells in female athymic nude mice. Immunohistochemistry showed that the cancerous lesions formed in bone by MDAMB-231 cells express both interleukin-6 and the p65 subunit of NF-KB at the bone-tumor interface. NF-KB signaling in breast cancer cells therefore promotes bone tumor burden and tumor-mediated osteolysis through combined control of tumor proliferation, cell survival, and bone resorption. These findings imply that NF-KB and its associated genes may be relevant therapeutic targets in osteolytic tumor burden. (Cancer Res 2005; 65(8): 3209-17)
Determinants of Adherence with Malaria Chemoprophylactic Drugs Used in a Traveler's Health Clinic

Background. The WHO recommends mefloquine, atovaquone/proguanil, and doxycycline for malaria chemoprophylaxis. Adherence to a drug is determined by many factors. Objective. To detect the determinants of travelers' adherence to malaria chemoprophylaxis. Methods. A prospective comparative study was conducted from January 2012 to July 2013 that included travelers (928 travelers) to malaria endemic countries who visited the THC. They were classified into 3 groups: the 1st is the mefloquine group (396 travelers), the 2nd is the doxycycline group (370 travelers), and finally those who did not receive any drugs (162 travelers). The participants from the 1st and 2nd groups enrolled in the study. Results. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed. The predictors for adherence in the mefloquine group were travel to an African destination [OR = 51 (6.8–2385)], higher than a secondary school education [OR = 21 (4.1–144.2)], organized travel [OR = 4 (2.1–6.5)], traveling for leisure [OR = 2.1 (1.1–0.4)], and nationality [OR = 2 (1.11–4.00)]. In the doxycycline group, the predictors included higher than a secondary education [OR = 20.1 (4.5–125.1)], organized travel [OR = 11.4 (5.5–20.9)], travel for leisure [OR = 7 (2.3–22.9)], travel to an African destination [OR = 6.1 (0.41–417)], and nationality [OR = 4.5 (2.3–9.5)]. Conclusion. Adherence with malaria chemoprophylaxis could be affected by many factors such as nationality, education, and organized travel.