Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Theorising Partnerships: Governance, Communicative Action and Sport Policy

Under New Labour, partnerships have emerged to become a central mechanism of service delivery in social policy. In response to this development, a number of papers and texts have appeared that have questioned the claims made for the benefits of partnerships by politicians and policy makers. In particular, the gap between the rhetoric of inclusiveness and the practice of exclusion in partnership working has been highlighted. However, as pertinent as these insights are, it is argued here that extant research into partnerships in social policy remains theoretically undeveloped, characterised by one-sided approaches that either lack critical edge or are dismissive of the potential of partnership working. What is required is an approach that addresses the deeper contradictions of partnerships in social policy and the structuring relations of power underpinning the conceptions of partnerships. Drawing on key concepts in social and political theory, this article proposes a theoretical framework that focuses on the dynamic and contextual nature of partnership. In short, a differentiated theory of partnership is offered as a means of facilitating a more realistic understanding of the limits and possibilities of partnership working. A case study on partnerships in sport policy is used to illustrate the analysis.
Modeling Stock Returns as Mixtures of Normals and Incorporating Black-Litterman Views in Portfolio Optimization

In this paper, we consider the basic problem of portfolio construction in financial engineering, and analyze how market-based and analytical approaches can be combined to obtain efficient portfolios. As a first step in our analysis, we model the asset returns as a random variable distributed according to a mixture of normal random variables. We then discuss how to construct portfolios that minimize the Conditional Value-at-Risk under this probabilistic model. Furthermore, we incorporate the market equilibrium information into this procedure through the well-known Black-Litterman approach via an inverse optimization framework. Our computational experiments on a real dataset show that this approach with an emphasis on the market equilibrium typically yields less risky portfolios than a purely market-based portfolio while producing similar returns on average.
Efficacy of IPL device combined with intralesional corticosteroid injection for the treatment of keloids and hypertrophic scars with regards to the recovery of skin barrier function: A pilot study

Abstract Background: Keloids and hypertrophic scars are prevalent and psychologically distressful dermatologic conditions. Various treatment modalities have been tried but without complete success by any one method. Objective: We evaluated the efficacy of a combination of intense pulsed light (IPL) device and intralesional corticosteroid injection for the treatment of keloids and hypertrophic scars with respect to the recovery of skin barrier function. Methods: Totally 52 Korean patients were treated by the combined treatment at 4–8-week intervals. Using digital photographs, changes in scar appearance were assessed with modified Vancouver Scar Scale (MVSS), physicians’ global assessment (PGA) and patient's satisfaction score. In 12 patients, the stratum corneum (SC) barrier function was assessed by measuring transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and SC capacitance. Results: Most scars demonstrated significant clinical improvement in MVSS, PGA and patient's satisfaction score after the combined therapy. A significant decrease of TEWL and elevation of SC capacitance were also documented after the treatment. Conclusion: The combination therapy (IPL + corticosteroid injection) not only improves the appearance of keloids and hypertrophic scars but also increases the recovery level of skin hydration status in terms of the skin barrier function.
Vitamin D Status in Montréal Preschoolers Is Satisfactory Despite Low Vitamin D Intake 1 , 2

The 2007 to 2009 Canadian Health Measures Survey reported vitamin D status in a representative sample of Canadians (6–79 y); however, children <6 y were not assessed. Our objective was to measure vitamin D intake from food and supplements, sun exposure, and biological vitamin D status of children ages 2 through 5 y in Montréal (latitude 45 N). Preschoolers (n = 508) were recruited between June 2010 and 2011 in a random sample of licensed daycares in the regions of greater Montréal, Canada in a cross-sectional study. The total plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentration was measured using a chemiluminescence assay (Liaison, Diasorin). Dietary intake was assessed during one 24-h period plus a 30-d FFQ. Socioeconomic, demographic, anthropometry, and sun exposure data were collected. Plasma 25(OH)D was $50 nmol/L in 88% of children, whereas 49.4% had concentrations $75 nmol/L during the 1-y study. Almost 95% of preschoolers had vitamin D intakes less than the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR), and 4.8% of preschoolers #3.9 y and 25.9% of preschoolers $4 y had calcium intakes less than the EAR. Plasma 25(OH)D was different across age, income, sun index, milk intake, and dietary and supplemental vitamin D intake tertiles. Despite vitamin D intakes less than the EAR, the vitamin D status of Montréal preschoolers attending daycare is mostly satisfactory even in winter, suggesting that the EAR value is too high in the context of typical exogenous intakes of vitamin D in North America. J. Nutr. 143: 154–160, 2013.
Assessing Mood in Daily Life Structural Validity, Sensitivity to Change, and Reliability of a Short-Scale to Measure Three Basic Dimensions of Mood

Abstract. The repeated measurement of moods in everyday life, as is common in ambulatory monitoring, requires parsimonious scales, which may challenge the reliability of the measures. The current paper evaluates the factor structure, the reliability, and the sensitivity to change of a six-item mood scale designed for momentary assessment in daily life. We analyzed data from 187 participants who reported their current mood four times per day during seven consecutive days using a multilevel approach. The results suggest that the proposed three factors Calmness, Valence, and Energetic arousal are appropriate to assess fluctuations within persons over time. However, calmness and valence are not distinguishable at the between-person level. Furthermore, the analyses showed that two-item scales provide measures that are reliable at the different levels and highly sensitive to change.
Decoupling of a Disk Resonator From Linear Acceleration Via Mass Matrix Perturbation

Axisymmetric microelectromechanical (MEM) vibratory rate gyroscopes are designed so the central post which attaches the resonator to the sensor case is a nodal point of the two Coriolis-coupled modes that are exploited for angular rate sensing. This configuration eliminates any coupling of linear acceleration to these modes. When the gyro resonators are fabricated, however, small mass and stiffness asymmetries cause coupling of these modes to linear acceleration of the sensor case. In a resonator postfabrication step, this coupling can be reduced by altering the mass distribution on the resonator so that its center of mass is stationary while the operational modes vibrate. In this paper, a scale model of the disk resonator gyroscope (DRG) is used to develop and test methods that significantly reduce linear acceleration coupling.
Modified disease activity scores that include twenty-eight-joint counts. Development and validation in a prospective longitudinal study of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVE The development and validation of Modified Disease Activity Scores (DAS) that include different 28-joint counts. METHODS These scores were developed by canonical discriminant analyses and validated for criterion, correlational, and construct validity. The influence of disease duration on the composition of the DAS was also investigated. RESULTS No influence of disease duration was found. The Modified DAS that included 28-joint counts were able to discriminate between high and low disease activity (as indicated by clinical decisions of rheumatologists). CONCLUSION The Modified DAS are as valid as disease activity scores that include more comprehensive joint counts.
A Low Cost VLSI Architecture for Spike Sorting Based on Feature Extraction with Peak Search

The goal of this paper is to present a novel VLSI architecture for spike sorting with high classification accuracy, low area costs and low power consumption. A novel feature extraction algorithm with low computational complexities is proposed for the design of the architecture. In the feature extraction algorithm, a spike is separated into two portions based on its peak value. The area of each portion is then used as a feature. The algorithm is simple to implement and less susceptible to noise interference. Based on the algorithm, a novel architecture capable of identifying peak values and computing spike areas concurrently is proposed. To further accelerate the computation, a spike can be divided into a number of segments for the local feature computation. The local features are subsequently merged with the global ones by a simple hardware circuit. The architecture can also be easily operated in conjunction with the circuits for commonly-used spike detection algorithms, such as the Non-linear Energy Operator (NEO). The architecture has been implemented by an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) with 90-nm technology. Comparisons to the existing works show that the proposed architecture is well suited for real-time multi-channel spike detection and feature extraction requiring low hardware area costs, low power consumption and high classification accuracy.
Arabidopsis Phage-Type RNA Polymerases: Accurate in Vitro Transcription of Organellar Genes[W]

The T7 bacteriophage RNA polymerase (RNAP) performs all steps of transcription, including promoter recognition, initiation, and elongation as a single-polypeptide enzyme. Arabidopsis thaliana possesses three nuclear-encoded T7 phage-type RNAPs that localize to mitochondria (RpoTm), plastids (RpoTp), or presumably both organelles (RpoTmp). Their specific functions are as yet unresolved. We have established an in vitro transcription system to examine the abilities of the three Arabidopsis phage-type RNAPs to synthesize RNA and to recognize organellar promoters. All three RpoT genes were shown to encode transcriptionally active RNAPs. RpoTmp displayed no significant promoter specificity, whereas RpoTm and RpoTp were able to accurately initiate transcription from overlapping subsets of mitochondrial and plastidial promoters without the aid of protein cofactors. Our study strongly suggests RpoTm to be the enzyme that transcribes most, if not all, mitochondrial genes in Arabidopsis. Intrinsic promoter specificity, a feature that RpoTm and RpoTp share with the T7 RNAP, appears to have been conserved over the long period of evolution of nuclear-encoded mitochondrial and plastidial RNAPs. Selective promoter recognition by the Arabidopsis phage-type RNAPs in vitro implies that auxiliary factors are required for efficient initiation of transcription in vivo.
Decision Networks for Modeling and Analysis of Attack/Defense Scenarios in Critical Infrastructures

We propose to exploit Decision Networks (DN) for the analysis of attack/defense scenarios. We show that DN extend both the modeling and the analysis capabilities of formalisms based on Attack Trees, which are the main reference in such a context. Uncertainty can be addressed at every system level ad a decision-theoretic analysis of the risk and of the selection of the best countermeasures can be implemented, by exploiting standard inference algorithms on DN.
Temporal dynamics in the free-living bacterial community composition in the coastal North Sea

The coastal North Sea is characterized by strong seasonal dynamics in abiotic and biotic variables. Hence, pronounced temporal changes in the bacterioplankton community composition can be expected. Catalyzed reporter deposition fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis showed a seasonal succession, with Alphaproteobacteria dominating before the spring phytoplankton bloom, Bacteroidetes increasing during the bloom (up to 60% of the prokaryotic community) and being replaced by Gammaproteobacteria during the postbloom period (on average 30% of prokaryotic cells). Daily changes in similarity of the bacterioplankton community assessed by Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism averaged 0.08 day−1 (Whittaker similarity index) for the free-living bacterial community, resulting in a decreasing similarity between samples with increasing time up to approximately 150 days. After about 150 days, the community composition became increasingly similar to the initial composition. Changes in the bacterial community showed periods of fairly stable composition, interrupted by periods of rapid changes. Taken together, our results support the notion of a recurring bacterioplankton community in the coastal North Sea and indicate a tight coupling between the resources, the bacterial community metabolism, physiological structure and community composition throughout the seasonal cycle in the coastal North Sea.
Loss of the Cholesterol-Binding Protein Prominin-1/CD133 Causes Disk Dysmorphogenesis and Photoreceptor Degeneration

Prominin-1/CD133 (Prom-1) is a commonly used marker of neuronal, vascular, hematopoietic and other stem cells, yet little is known about its biological role and importance in vivo. Here, we show that loss of Prom-1 results in progressive degeneration of mature photoreceptors with complete loss of vision. Despite the expression of Prom-1 on endothelial progenitors, photoreceptor degeneration was not attributable to retinal vessel defects, but caused by intrinsic photoreceptor defects in disk formation, outer segment morphogenesis, and associated with visual pigment sorting and phototransduction abnormalities. These findings shed novel insight on how Prom-1 regulates neural retinal development and phototransduction in vertebrates.
Evaluation of Platelet and Coagulation Function in Different Animal Species Using the Xylum Clot Signature Analyzer

Platelet and coagulation function were evaluated in four different animal species with a newly developed clot signature analyzer (CSA). CSA is unique in that it simultaneously measures global platelet and coagulation function under flow using whole blood. No anticoagulant, chemical, or immunologic agent is required. Three CSA parameters are measurable: platelet mediated hemostasis time (PHT), collagen induced thrombus formation time (CITF), and clotting time (CT). Bovine, ovine, and canine species were chosen because these are the animal models most frequently used in in vivo testing of cardiovascular implants. These parameters, as well as data from whole blood platelet aggregometry (commonly used for platelet function studies because of the response to exogenous agonists), and platelet counts from these animals, were measured and compared with those in humans. In all three parameters, the canine species showed distinctively shorter time values than other species, including humans, suggesting that the dog is not an ideal animal model for the evaluation of blood-surface interactions. Ovine and human blood showed similar PHT and CT values, but CITF time values were significantly shorter in sheep than in humans. With bovine blood, PHT was most prolonged among the four species compared. CT and CITF times in calves were shorter than those in humans, although the difference in CITF time was not statistically significant. Adenosine diphosphate induced platelet aggregation showed the same order of responsiveness in four species as did CITF. It was noted that the intermeasurement variation was rather high for CSA parameters, especially in PHT, warranting caution when this parameter is used to study time-dependent changes after device implantation.
Embedding polynomial time memory mapping and routing algorithms on-chip to design configurable decoder architectures

To fulfill the high data rate requirement of current telecommunication standards, error-correction codes decoders are implemented on parallel architectures leading to memory conflict problem. Different memory mapping approaches are proposed in the literature to solve this problem. However, these approaches can only be executed offline due to their computational complexity and resultant memory mapping is stored in dedicated ROM in order to drive the network for a particular block length. Unfortunately, to support several block lengths, multiple ROMs are required which results in huge hardware cost. In this article, we propose a novel online memory mapping architecture that consists of online mapping generator and RAM to support multiple block lengths on single chip. Online mapping generator performs two functions: First, it executes polynomial time memory mapping algorithm online and secondly, it generates command words for Benes network by using a simplified routing algorithm. Whenever new block length needs to be decoded, online mapping generator outputs addressing and command words at runtime to update the RAM. Experimental results show that significant reduction in time and memory cost is obtained while implementing polynomial time memory mapping algorithm on-chip as compared to state of the art approaches.
Data Cleaning: Overview and Emerging Challenges

Detecting and repairing dirty data is one of the perennial challenges in data analytics, and failure to do so can result in inaccurate analytics and unreliable decisions. Over the past few years, there has been a surge of interest from both industry and academia on data cleaning problems including new abstractions, interfaces, approaches for scalability, and statistical techniques. To better understand the new advances in the field, we will first present a taxonomy of the data cleaning literature in which we highlight the recent interest in techniques that use constraints, rules, or patterns to detect errors, which we call qualitative data cleaning. We will describe the state-of-the-art techniques and also highlight their limitations with a series of illustrative examples. While traditionally such approaches are distinct from quantitative approaches such as outlier detection, we also discuss recent work that casts such approaches into a statistical estimation framework including: using Machine Learning to improve the efficiency and accuracy of data cleaning and considering the effects of data cleaning on statistical analysis.
Generalized image contrast enhancement technique based on the Heinemann contrast discrimination model

This paper presents a generalized image contrast enhancement technique, which equalizes the perceived brightness distribution based on the Heinemann contrast discrimination model. It is based on the mathematically proven existence of a unique solution to a nonlinear equation, and is formulated with easily tunable parameters. The model uses a two-step log-log representation of luminance contrast between targets and surround in a luminous background setting. The algorithm consists of two nonlinear gray scale mapping functions that have seven parameters, two of which are adjustable Heinemann constants. Another parameter is the background gray level. The remaining four parameters are nonlinear functions of the gray-level distribution of the given image, and can be uniquely determined once the previous three are set. Tests have been carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of the algorithm for increasing the overall contrast of radiology images. The traditional histogram equalization can be reinterpreted as an image enhancement technique based on the knowledge of human contrast perception. In fact, it is a special case of the proposed algorithm.
Efficient cleavage of conjugates of drugs or poisons by immobilized beta-glucuronidase and arylsulfatase in columns.

BACKGROUND Cleavage of conjugates is an important step in toxicological analysis, especially of urine samples. The aim of this study was to combine the advantages and to reduce the disadvantages of acid hydrolysis and conventional enzymatic hydrolysis procedures. METHODS beta-Glucuronidase (GRD; EC 3.2.1.31) and arylsulfatase (ARS; EC 3.1.6.1) were purified and coimmobilized on an agarose gel matrix and packed into columns. RESULTS In columns packed with GRD and ARS, the test conjugates 4-nitrophenyl glucuronide and 4-nitrophenyl sulfate added into urine could be completely cleaved within 25 min. Even the relatively stable morphine conjugates could be completely hydrolyzed within 60 min in authentic urine samples. Therefore, an incubation time of 1 h is recommended. Enzyme inhibition by matrix or by rather high concentrations of acetaminophen conjugates was tested and found to be up to 50%. However, a large excess of GRD and ARS was used. The immobilizate columns could be reused for at least 70 incubations and had a storage stability of at least 12 weeks. Carryover of analytes in reused columns could be avoided by rinsing with 200 mL/L methanol in acetate buffer. Thus, five drugs known to be contaminants added in very high concentrations into urine could be completely removed from the columns. A study on the applicability in systematic toxicological analysis showed that 120 different drugs and/or their metabolites could be detected in 35 different authentic urine samples. CONCLUSIONS Use of immobilized and column-packed GRD and ARS is an efficient alternative for the cleavage of urinary conjugates in clinical toxicology.
Research‐tested team motivation strategies

The first critical issue in team motivation is to be clear about the definition of “a team. ” Nearly everyone who studies teams emphasizes that it is unnecessary to use team motivation strategies when teams are defined as any group of two or more people with similar skills who are simply working together to achieve a common goal (Bandura, 1997). For a team to exist (for motivational purposes), team members must play different roles or bring different skills to the table. Those different skills must be required to achieve team goals. So a team is an interdependent group of individuals, each possessing a different set of skills but who collectively possess all of the skills required to achieve team goals.