Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Globalization, Environmental Movements, and International Political Opportunity Structures

Political opportunity structure refers to the specific features of a political system (e.g., a country) that can explain the different action repertoires, organizational forms and impacts of social movements, and social movement organizations in that specific country. With the globalization of environmental problems and solution strategies, important parts of the environmental movement have also become global. To what extent could the concept of international political opportunity structure (IPOS) be useful for analyzing transnational environmentalism in the 21st century? In this article, four of the most important constituent parts of IPOS (United Nations [UN], European Union [EU], World Bank, andWorld Trade Organization [WTO]) and their interactions with environmental movements and environmental movement organizations are analyzed. Whereas the UN and EU provoke the participation of a large number of transnational environmental lobby groups whose impacts, however, remain limited, the World Bank and WTO p.
The Expectations and Experience of First-Year Students at City University of Hong Kong

There are many forms of information and feedback collected from students in Hong Kong. Most of these tend to concentrate on one particular aspect of the student experience. ‘Evaluating the Student Experience Project (ESEP)’ is a Hong Kong-wide initiative aiming to develop ways of evaluating students' experience, including the ‘total student experience’. This paper discusses one of the projects funded through ESEP, a study at City University of Hong Kong exploring the expectations and experiences of first-year students. The project is designed to collect information from the student perspective to help management plan improvements. Feedback from students is analysed and then reported in a way that is accessible and that identifies areas for potential action. The internet has been used as a medium for questionnaire completion. This first-year project aims to involve students in the feedback process, including the use of focus group discussions prior to questionnaire design. This approach to collecting student feedback will be adopted across the university and potentially in other Hong Kong tertiary education institutions.
Vision and Touch: Multiple or Multisensory Representations of Objects?

The relationship between visually and haptically derived representations of objects is an important question in multisensory processing and, increasingly, in mental representation. We review evidence for the format and properties of these representations, and address possible theoretical models. We explore the relevance of visual imagery processes and highlight areas for further research, including the neglected question of asymmetric performance in the visuo – haptic cross-modal memory paradigm. We conclude that the weight of evidence suggests the existence of a multisensory representation, spatial in format, and flexibly accessible by both bottom — up and top — down inputs, although efficient comparison between modality-specific representations cannot entirely be ruled out.
Identification of the Pathogenic Aspergillus Species by Nested PCR Using a Mixture of Specific Primers to DNA Topoisomerase II Gene

For PCR‐based identification of Aspergillus species, a common primer of the DNA topoisomerase II genes of Candida, Aspergillus and Penicillium, and species‐specific primers of the genomic sequences of DNA topoisomerase II of A. fumigatus, A. niger, A. flavus (A. oryzae), A. nidulans and A. terreus were tested for their specificities in PCR amplifications. The method consisted of amplification of the genomic DNA topoisomerase II gene by a common primer set, followed by a second PCR with a primer mix consisting of 5 species‐specific primer pairs for each Aspergillus species. By using the common primer pair, a DNA fragment of approximately 1,200 bp was amplified from the Aspergillus and Penicillium genomic DNAs. Using each species‐specific primer pair, unique sizes of PCR products were amplified, all of which corresponded to a species of Aspergillus even in the presence of DNAs of several fungal species. The sensitivity of A. fumigatus to the nested PCR was found to be 100 fg of DNA in the reaction mixture. In the nested PCR obtained by using the primer mix (PsIV), the specific DNA fragment of A. fumigatus was amplified from clinical specimens. These results suggest that this nested PCR method is rapid, simple and available as a tool for identification of pathogenic Aspergillus to a species level.
Efficient Process-Hotspot Detection Using Range Pattern Matching

In current manufacturing processes, certain layout configurations are likely to have reduced yield and/or reliability due to increased susceptibility to stress effects or poor tolerance to certain processes like lithography. These problematic layout configurations need to be efficiently detected and eliminated from a design layout to enable better yield. In this paper, such layout configurations are called process-hotspots and an efficient and scalable algorithm is proposed to detect such process-hotspots in a given layout. The concept of a range pattern is introduced and used to accurately and compactly represent these process-hotspots. This representation is flexible and can incorporate information about the deficiencies of available modeling and/or subsequent correction (for instance, mask synthesis) techniques. Each range pattern can also be associated with a scoring mechanism to score the problem regions according to yield impact. A library of range patterns is being developed in collaboration with a fab. The proposed process-hotspot detection system assumes that process-hotspots are specified as a library of range patterns and determines all occurrences of any of these range patterns in a layout. It is fast and accurate and can be applied to large industrial layouts. Unlike previous work, the proposed scheme can identify problems that cannot be efficiently modeled or corrected by subsequent mask synthesis techniques and can thereby complement existing work in that area. Experimental results are quite promising and show that all locations that match a range pattern in a given layout can be found in a matter of minutes
Optimized DWT-based image watermarking

The discrete wavelet transform is used extensively as a basis for efficient digital image watermarking. However, most wavelets-based watermarking algorithms failed to provide perceptual transparency and robustness simultaneously, since these two watermarking requirements are conflicting requirements. In this paper, we treat the image watermarking problem as an optimization problem and solve it using genetic algorithms. Simulation results indicate optimal image watermarking is achieved only if the watermark is embedded in specific wavelet sub-bands and watermark- amplification values were used.
Short texts, best-fitting curves and new measures of lexical diversity

Following up on recent work by Malvern and Richards (1997, this issue; McKee et al., 2000) concerning the measurement of lexical diversity through curve fitting, the present study compares the accuracy of five formulae in terms of their ability to model the type-token curves of written texts produced by learners and native speakers. The most accurate models are then used to consider unresolved issues that have been at the forefront of past research on lexical diversity: the relationship between lexical diversity and age, second language (L2) instruction, L2 proficiency, first language (L1) background, writing quality and vocabulary knowledge. The participants in the study comprise 140 Finnish-speaking and 70 Swedish-speakinglearners of English, and an additional group of 66 native English speakers. The data include written narrative descriptions of a silent film, and the results show that two of the curve-fitting formulae provide accurate models of the type-token curves of over 90% of the texts. The texts for which accurate models were obtained were subjected to further analyses, and the results indicate a clear relationship between lexical diversity and amount of instruction, but a more complicated relationship between lexical diversity and L1 background, writing quality and vocabulary knowledge.
A Conceptual Review of Emergent State Measurement

Team research increasingly incorporates emergent states as an integral mediator between team inputs and outcomes. In conjunction with this, we have witnessed a proliferation and fragmentation of measurement techniques associated with emergent states. This inconsistency in measurement presents a problem for scientists and practitioners alike. For the scientist, it becomes difficult to better understand the nature and effects of various emergent states on team processes and outcomes. For the practitioner, it complicates the process of measurement development, selection, and implementation. To address these issues, we review the literature on emergent states focusing on various measurement strategies, to better unpack best practices. In so doing, we highlight existing research that suggests innovative solutions to the conceptual, methodological, and logistical problems that consistently plague emergent state research. Our aim is to enhance emergent state theory by applying psychometric principles to the measurement techniques associated with them.
EphrinA1 stimulates cell attachment and inhibits cell aggregation through the EphA receptor pathway in human endometrial carcinoma-derived Ishikawa cells.

BACKGROUND Recently, the Eph-ephrinA system was proposed to contribute to the initial interaction between the maternal endometrial epithelium and embryonic trophectoderm. Since the Eph-ephrin interaction can induce adhesive and/or repulsive forces into the cells, we examined the possible role of this system in functional changes in endometrial epithelial cells using endometrial carcinoma-derived Ishikawa cells. METHODS The expressions of EphA1, A2 and A4 on Ishikawa cells were examined by RT-PCR and western blotting analyses. The effects of recombinant ephrinA1 on Ishikawa cells were also examined by western blot analysis and cell attachment and aggregation assays. RESULTS EphA1, A2 and A4 were expressed on Ishikawa cells. Recombinant ephrinA1 bound to the surfaces of Ishikawa cells and induced phosphorylation of EphA2 and A4. In bovine serum albumin-blocked nitrocellulose-coated dishes, Ishikawa cells remained floating and aggregated with each other. Under these conditions, immobilized ephrinA1 promoted Ishikawa cell attachment with increased tyrosine phosphorylation in focal adhesion kinase. In addition, immobilized ephrinA1 reversibly inhibited Ishikawa cell aggregation. Gene-reduction of EphA1, A2 and A4 by siRNAs attenuated the inhibitory effects of ephrinA1 on cell aggregation, confirming that ephrinA1 affects Ishikawa cell functions through Eph-ephrinA interaction. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrated that the Eph-ephrinA system can promote cell attachment along with intercellular dissociation in Ishikawa cells. These findings suggest that this system can induce functional changes in endometrial epithelial cells.
Who Are Influentials on Micro-Blogging Services: Evidence from Social Network Analysis

User influence measurement on Micro-blogging can be classified into two types according to their concerns on following relationships or interactions among users. The former focuses on counting the audiences subscribe to a user’s tweets, neglecting the fact that many audiences do not read the tweets they subscribed to, while the latter emphasizes the audiences’ explicit actions such as retweeting or replying, excluding those who read the tweets but choose to be lurkers. Since user interactions indicate that audiences have read the tweets explicitly, and following network is used to estimate the audiences who read the tweets but implementing no explicit actions, to combine the advantages of these methods, an information diffusion approach is proposed to measure user influence in this paper. Simulation results demonstrate that our proposed approach can estimate the effective audiences in the process of tweet diffusion. In the view of information diffusion, the hybrid method gives a more accurate user influence measurement by integrating following network and user interaction.
Reduced Cortical Thickness in Mental Retardation

Mental retardation is a developmental disorder associated with impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in adaptive behaviors. Many studies have addressed white matter abnormalities in patients with mental retardation, while the changes of the cerebral cortex have been studied to a lesser extent. Quantitative analysis of cortical integrity using cortical thickness measurement may provide new insights into the gray matter pathology. In this study, cortical thickness was compared between 13 patients with mental retardation and 26 demographically matched healthy controls. We found that patients with mental retardation had significantly reduced cortical thickness in multiple brain regions compared with healthy controls. These regions include the bilateral lingual gyrus, the bilateral fusiform gyrus, the bilateral parahippocampal gyrus, the bilateral temporal pole, the left inferior temporal gyrus, the right lateral orbitofrontal cortex and the right precentral gyrus. The observed cortical thickness reductions might be the anatomical substrates for the impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in adaptive behaviors in patients with mental retardation. Cortical thickness measurement might provide a sensitive prospective surrogate marker for clinical trials of neuroprotective medications.
A Multi-User Cooperative Diversity for Wireless Local Area Networks

In this paper, an idea of using space-time block coding (STBC) in multi-user cooperative diversity has been exploited to improve the performance of the transmission in wireless local area networks. The theoretical and simulation results show that, using STBC approaches can always achieve the better performance than existing techniques without introducing the space-time coding. By analyzing the throughput and frame error ratio (FER) of the two different STBC cooperative schemes, we find the trade-off between throughput and reliability. The location of the relay is crucial to the performance, which supposes a rule for future cross-layer design.
Approximate Factoring for A* Search

We present a novel method for creating A∗ estimates for structured search problems. In our approach, we project a complex model onto multiple simpler models for which exact inference is efficient. We use an optimization framework to estimate parameters for these projections in a way which bounds the true costs. Similar to Klein and Manning (2003), we then combine completion estimates from the simpler models to guide search in the original complex model. We apply our approach to bitext parsing and lexicalized parsing, demonstrating its effectiveness in these domains.
Cryptographic Algorithm Implementation Requirements and Usage Guidance for Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) and Authentication Header (AH)

This document replaces RFC 7321, "Cryptographic Algorithm Implementation Requirements and Usage Guidance for Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) and Authentication Header (AH)". The goal of this document is to enable ESP and AH to benefit from cryptography that is up to date while making IPsec interoperable.
Improving efficiency of OTT systems using fuzzy mining technique

This research focuses on applying fuzzy miner process mining technique in order to improve the efficiency of an OTT (Over-The-Top) application which was commonly used for communication purposes as well as spreading audio and video files over the Internet. By contemplating and studying the market, the administrators of the OTT application realized that on average it takes 2 weeks for a user to make a decision to purchase or order a product online, which was considered to be too long. This made the administrators of the system to apply and use fuzzy miner process mining technique with the purpose of simulating and visualizing the overall workflow processes of the customers behavior within the existing system. The simulation approach helped the technicians to discover and identify the flaws and drawback of the current system. One of the advantages of the study is that, the proposed approach can be used as groundwork for future and further research and studies.
The Arabidopsis RING E3 Ubiquitin Ligase AtAIRP2 Plays Combinatory Roles with AtAIRP1 in Abscisic Acid-Mediated Drought Stress Responses1[C][W][OA]

The ubiquitin (Ub)-26S proteasome pathway is implicated in various cellular processes in higher plants. AtAIRP1, a C3H2C3-type RING (for Really Interesting New Gene) E3 Ub ligase, is a positive regulator in the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) abscisic acid (ABA)-dependent drought response. Here, the AtAIRP2 (for Arabidopsis ABA-insensitive RING protein 2) gene was identified and characterized. AtAIRP2 encodes a cytosolic C3HC4-type RING E3 Ub ligase whose expression was markedly induced by ABA and dehydration stress. Thus, AtAIRP2 belongs to a different RING subclass than AtAIRP1 with a limited sequence identity. AtAIRP2-overexpressing transgenic (35S:AtAIRP2-sGFP) and atairp2 loss-of-function mutant plants exhibited hypersensitive and hyposensitive phenotypes, respectively, to ABA in terms of seed germination, root growth, and stomatal movement. 35S:AtAIRP2-sGFP plants were highly tolerant to severe drought stress, and atairp2 alleles were more susceptible to water stress than were wild-type plants. Higher levels of drought-induced hydrogen peroxide production were detected in 35S:AtAIRP2-sGFP as compared with atairp2 plants. ABA-inducible drought-related genes were up-regulated in 35S:AtAIRP2-sGFP and down-regulated in atairp2 progeny. The positive effects of AtAIRP2 on ABA-induced stress genes were dependent on SNF1-related protein kinases, key components of the ABA signaling pathway. Therefore, AtAIRP2 is involved in positive regulation of ABA-dependent drought stress responses. To address the functional relationship between AtAIRP1 and AtAIRP2, FLAG-AtAIRP1 and AtAIRP2-sGFP genes were ectopically expressed in atairp2-2 and atairp1 plants, respectively. Constitutive expression of FLAG-AtAIRP1 and AtAIRP2-sGFP in atairp2-2 and atairp1 plants, respectively, reciprocally rescued the loss-of-function ABA-insensitive phenotypes during germination. Additionally, atairp1/35S:AtAIRP2-sGFP and atairp2-2/35S:FLAG-AtAIRP1 complementation lines were more tolerant to dehydration stress relative to atairp1 and atairp2-2 single knockout plants. Overall, these results suggest that AtAIRP2 plays combinatory roles with AtAIRP1 in Arabidopsis ABA-mediated drought stress responses.
Software-Defined Dynamic Bandwidth Management

This work develops a software-defined mechanism for dynamic bandwidth management, abbreviated to SDBM. This proposed SDBM mechanism was realized using the OpenFlow architecture and the OpenWrt platform. The resource allocation procedures and weighting policy were designed using SDN Controller to perform bandwidth management. This mechanism firstly monitors and analyzes networks and the statuses of applications and then, based on the results of the analysis, dynamically reallocates resource with software-defined discipline. Based on our simulation results, bandwidth utilization is improved and packet loss reduced by 12.4% and 8%, respectively.
Developing Children's Participation: Lessons from a Participatory IT Project

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, advances in the sociology of childhood and the consumer rights movement have placed the spotlight on children's rights in society, challenging those working with children to examine how they share power and ensure that children's views are taken on board. While childrens’ service practitioners are broadly supportive of the concept of participation and there are numerous examples of how children's participation has been realised in practice, many are unsure where to begin due to the range of options, considerations and challenges associated with participatory work. This article describes and analyses the process used by Barnardos in developing and implementing a participatory approach in a children's IT project in Galway City, Ireland. The process employed, the challenges encountered and the added value the participatory approach brought to the project are outlined. Finally, four broad lessons emerging from the experience are discussed, namely, that a clear framework and reflective practice is valuable that good participatory work is inextricably linked with good project management; that small efforts at participatory work can increase capacity and appetite for further work; and that there is a role for informal approaches in the context of a formal participatory framework. © 2006 The Author(s) Journal compilation © 2006 National Children's Bureau.
Comparison of Proliferation Markers Ki67 and Phosphohistone-H3 (pHH3) in Breast Ductal Carcinoma In Situ

Proliferative index is a prognostic feature of invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast, and has more recently emerged as a predictor of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) local recurrence and progression when used in combination with other predictive markers. Ki67 is the most commonly used immunohistochemical marker of proliferative index. However, high interobserver and interlaboratory variability has been reported, in part due to differences in staining methodologies, positivity thresholds, and approaches to quantification. Phosphohistone-H3 (pHH3) is a marker of mitotic activity that has emerged as a more reliable indicator of proliferation in other neoplasms. Quantification of proliferative index was compared in 48 cases of DCIS using Ki67 and pHH3 immunohistochemistry. A strong linear relationship between Ki67 and pHH3 quantification was observed (P<0.0001, R2=0.75). Interobserver concordance was modestly higher for pHH3 than Ki67 proliferative indices. However, positive pHH3 staining was more dichotomous (either negative or uniformly positive) and specific for mitotic activity, and interpretation of pHH3 proliferative indices was significantly faster than that of Ki67. The strong correlation between pHH3 and Ki67 supports the use of this marker as a measure of proliferative activity in DCIS.
A Continuously Tunable Microwave Fractional Hilbert Transformer Based on a Photonic Microwave Delay-Line Filter Using a Polarization Modulator

A continuously tunable microwave fractional Hilbert transformer (FHT) implemented based on a photonic microwave delay-line filter is proposed and demonstrated. The photonic microwave delay-line filter with negative coefficients is realized based on polarization-modulation using a polarization modulator (PolM) and polarization-modulation to intensity-modulation conversion in an optical polarizer. The tunability of the fractional order is achieved by tuning the coefficient of the zeroth tap. An FHT with a tunable order from 0.3 to 1 is demonstrated. The accuracy of the FHT is evaluated; a phase deviation less than 5° within the passband is achieved.