Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Book Review: A New Philosophy of Society: Assemblage Theory and Social Complexity by Manuel DeLanda London and New York: Continuum, 2006

For some time now scholars have turned to Gilles Deleuze’s thought as a resource for rethinking the social and have engaged his explorations of mathematics, biology and physics to this end. In A New Philosophy of Society, Manuel DeLanda, long known for his elaborations of Deleuze’s references to mathematics and the sciences, has joined this group of scholars and for the first time uses a Deleuzian framework for rethinking the social. DeLanda’s elaboration of Deleuzian thought for a new philosophy of society differs strikingly, however, from the deployment of Deleuzian philosophy by those scholars who have gravitated toward Deleuze’s thinking on ‘societies of control’ (see Deleuze, 1995; Hardt and Negri, 2000; Massumi, 2005; Parisi, 2003; Parisi and Goodman, 2005a, 2005b; Terranova, 2004). For these scholars, the philosophical legacies of Hume, Spinoza, Bergson and Nietzsche on which Deleuze drew in his engagements with biology, physics, technology and mathematics, are worth reviving in this particular moment when radicalized neoliberal governance and a global capitalist economy are characterized by a tendency toward control; that is, where the deployment of power is shifting from an emphasis on the formation of the subject (or the nation-state) through disciplining the individual body, to an emphasis on the distribution of life chances or life capacities across populations. These may be informationally or statistically derived human populations, but also may include populations of capacities affixed to databases (no longer linked tightly or only to the nation-state). If control is about the flux of vitality or affective capacity, its capture for exchangeability in a global market and its regulation by governance (from local to global and in interaction with digital technology) with the aim of surveillance and the securitization of risk – what has been connected to ‘real subsumption’ in Marxist discourse – then Deleuze’s writings about control do not just offer insight for rethinking contemporary governance and economy. These particular writings also suggest that Deleuzian thought generally gives philosophical support for engaging information, digitization, nonlinear mathematics, molecular biology and quantum physics as central to contemporary global capitalism and neoliberal governance, because these contribute to and provide insight into the diagram for societies of control. In this sense, scholars who have been drawing on Deleuzian thinking about control point to the usefulness of Deleuzian thought to the present, and at the same time point to what
Bacterial subversion of cAMP signalling inhibits cathelicidin expression, which is required for innate resistance to Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Antimicrobial peptides such as cathelicidins are important components of innate immune defence against inhaled microorganisms, and have shown antimicrobial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis in in vitro models. Despite this, little is known about the regulation and expression of cathelicidin during tuberculosis in vivo. We sought to determine whether the cathelicidin‐related antimicrobial peptide gene (Cramp), the murine functional homologue of the human cathelicidin gene (CAMP or LL‐37), is required for regulation of protective immunity during M. tuberculosis infection in vivo. We used Cramp–/– mice in a validated model of pulmonary tuberculosis, and conducted cell‐based assays with macrophages from these mice. We evaluated the in vivo susceptibility of Cramp–/– mice to infection, and also dissected various pro‐inflammatory immune responses against M. tuberculosis. We observed increased susceptibility of Cramp–/– mice to M. tuberculosis as compared with wild‐type mice. Macrophages from Cramp–/– mice were unable to control M. tuberculosis growth in an in vitro infection model, were deficient in intracellular calcium influx, and were defective in stimulating T cells. Additionally, CD4+ and CD8+ T cells from Cramp–/– mice produced less interferon‐β upon stimulation. Furthermore, bacterial‐derived cAMP modulated cathelicidin expression in macrophages. Our results demonstrate that cathelicidin is required for innate resistance to M. tuberculosis in a relevant animal model and is a key mediator in regulation of the levels of pro‐inflammatory cytokines by calcium and cyclic nucleotides. Copyright © 2017 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Fracture risk and zoledronic acid therapy in men with osteoporosis.

BACKGROUND Fractures in men are a major health issue, and data on the antifracture efficacy of therapies for osteoporosis in men are limited. We studied the effect of zoledronic acid on fracture risk among men with osteoporosis. METHODS In this multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, we randomly assigned 1199 men with primary or hypogonadism-associated osteoporosis who were 50 to 85 years of age to receive an intravenous infusion of zoledronic acid (5 mg) or placebo at baseline and at 12 months. Participants received daily calcium and vitamin D supplementation. The primary end point was the proportion of participants with one or more new morphometric vertebral fractures over a period of 24 months. RESULTS The rate of any new morphometric vertebral fracture was 1.6% in the zoledronic acid group and 4.9% in the placebo group over the 24-month period, representing a 67% risk reduction with zoledronic acid (relative risk, 0.33; 95% confidence interval, 0.16 to 0.70; P=0.002). As compared with men who received placebo, men who received zoledronic acid had fewer moderate-to-severe vertebral fractures (P=0.03) and less height loss (P=0.002). Fewer participants who received zoledronic acid had clinical vertebral or nonvertebral fractures, although this difference did not reach significance because of the small number of fractures. Bone mineral density was higher and bone-turnover markers were lower in the men who received zoledronic acid (P<0.05 for both comparisons). Results were similar in men with low serum levels of total testosterone. The zoledronic acid and placebo groups did not differ significantly with respect to the incidence of death (2.6% and 2.9%, respectively) or serious adverse events (25.3% and 25.2%). CONCLUSIONS Zoledronic acid treatment was associated with a significantly reduced risk of vertebral fracture among men with osteoporosis. (Funded by Novartis Pharma; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00439647.).
Taking Training to Task

This study examines the effect of the sex of the immediate supervisor on the length of time men and women spend in initial on-the-job training (OJT). Using the 2000 Swedish Level of Living Survey and matched employer registry data, this study indicates that men have greater chances of receiving long initial OJT compared with women. In addition, for women employed in the private sector, the chances of receiving long initial OJT are higher if the immediate supervisor is male. For women with a public sector job or for men irrespective of sector, time in initial OJT is independent of the sex of the immediate supervisor.
Teachers' Delivery Skills and Substance Use Prevention Program Outcomes: The Moderating Role of Students' Need for Cognition and Impulse Decision Making

The purpose of this study was to extend the literature in both substance use implementation and persuasive health communication by examining the extent to which students' need for cognition and impulsive decision-making moderated the relationship between teachers' classroom communication behavior and program outcomes in an evidence-based middle school substance use prevention curriculum. Participants included 48 teachers and their respective 7th grade students who participated in a randomized trial testing the effectiveness of personal coaching as a means to improve the quality with which teachers implemented the All Stars curriculum. Need for cognition and impulse decision-making were both associated with positive changes in lifestyle incongruence and commitments to not use substances for students whose teachers displayed greater interactive teaching. Further, need for cognition was associated with lower alcohol use rates while impulse decision making related to lower rates of marijuana use in classes with interactive teaching.
School district administrators' perspectives on special education policy and practice in Norway and Sweden

The purpose of this study was to examine special education policy and practice from the perspective of school district administrators in Norway and Sweden. Administrators from 266 Norwegian and 262 Swedish municipalities completed a survey concerning: (a) reasons children need special education, (b) common and desired organizational solutions, and (c) the influence of policy on practice. Despite a number of clear differences, findings suggest that Swedish and Norwegian administrators share similar attitudes regarding the provision of special education support. It appears that in both countries inclusive practices are seen as the ideal, yet, Norwegian administrators appear to have a stronger preference for categorical or segregated solutions. However, this finding must be viewed in light of current practices in each country. In particular, we take into consideration data indicating that 17% of Swedish students receive special educational support, as compared to approximately 6% in Norway.
Models of Cognitive Aging

We live in an ageing society, where people are living longer, and where decreases in the birth rate mean that the proportion of the population above retirement age is steadily increasing. An ageing population has considerable implications for health services and care provision. Consequently there is a growing interest among researchers, medical practitioners, and policy makers in older adults, their capabilities, and the changes in their cognitive functioning. This book offers an up-to-the-minute account of the latest methodological and theoretical issues in cognitive ageing. Part of the Debates in Psychology series, it sets out the arguments surrounding the currently controversial questions in cognitive ageing. What is the appropriate methodology for understanding cognitive change? How many factors are necessary to understand the patterns of age-related change? What might these factors be? The topics and arguments are explored in a series of chapters by the leading researchers in the field. Each contributor offers their view of how cognitive ageing can be best understood, and together they cover a broad range of cognitive functions including language use, cognitive slowing, and memory loss. Each of the chapters stands alone as the latest review of work in the area. Taken together, the chapters form a coherent theoretical debate through which the reader will learn about the dynamic nature of cognitive ageing research, and about the direction this research will be taking in the future. Models of Cognitive Aging will be an invaluable resource for anyone with an interest in the elderly, and in their cognitive abilities.
Experiencing emerging adulthood in the Netherlands

Emerging adulthood is recognized as a recent and developmentally distinct phase in the life-course, characterized as a period of identity exploration, of instability, being self-focused, feeling in-between, and an age of possibilities. To measure the subjective experience of emerging adulthood Reifman, Arnett, and Colwell developed the Inventory of the Dimensions of Emerging Adulthood (IDEA). While a series of studies demonstrated the applicability of the five dimensions of emerging adulthood and effectiveness of IDEA for measuring these in US samples, results from non-US samples revealed important cultural differences in how emerging adulthood is experienced. The current study tests the extent to which emerging adulthood is experienced by Dutch young people, and the relevance and validity of the IDEA for a general urban population sample from the Netherlands. We examined differences between socioeconomic and ethnic groups within this population. The results revealed that certain aspects of the Dutch emerging adulthood experience are different from the USA. In addition, there are small but significant differences between Dutch socioeconomic and ethnic groups in how this period of life is experienced. Economic and cultural explanations for these differences are discussed.
Open sensor platform: Integration of sensors and mobile phones

We propose an Open Sensor Platform, based on Open System Architecture design, for the integration of mobile phone (MP) and sensors. This platform utilizes commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) available hardware and software tools, thereby eliminating the need for custom-designed sensor's integration boards. The design involves Data Acquisition (DAQ) device, attached with Host PC, providing an interface to communicate with sensors. Sensors data is read from DAQ via Host PC application and on request wirelessly sent to MP. Mobile phone is used as an information retrieval agent, in order to retrieve the sensory data and onward forwarding the information to end user via Cellular or Web services. This integration eliminates the need for dedicated circuitry in sensors, allows the addition of several types of sensors and implements multiple wireless protocols (BT or Wi-Fi), keeping in view the requirement of range and data rate. Sensors history data is maintained on Host PC, where detailed analysis may be performed. Mobile phone applications are developed using Native language, while Host PC applications are developed in Graphical language, which results into full featured, efficient and user friendly applications development. The feasibility of our solution is supported by the case study under taken, where we validated our design with the help of prototype open sensor platform. Its multiple applications include; monitoring the test chamber's internal conditions, fetching environmental parameters, laboratory experimentations etc. This work successfully achieves the integration of sensors and mobile phone in a promising way.
The Striatopallidal System and Intentional Perception

The neostriatum and associated organs are a widely distributed and densely interconnected subcortical system. Anatomically, through a variety of stages and pathways, the striatopallidal system (SPS) is a complex mosaic of segregation, convergence, and divergence. Computationally, it is characterized by competitive selection and reinforcement-driven learning. Although the SPS is canonically a system of motor control and performance, more recent research has established that it is integral to cognition and other non-motor functions. Selection (decision) is its essential function, and selection is as integral to cognition, memory, attention, and perception, as to motor performance. It is the role of the SPS in perception that has received the least attention, but this role is a natural aspect of its role in selection, and is well-attested by recent experiments.
MTorrent: A multicast enabled BitTorrent protocol

In this paper we address the problem of repetitive data transmission in BitTorrent. and propose a new protocol called MTorrent to restrict the same by exploiting IP Multicast functionality wherever available. A prototype system of our protocol have been implemented, and large scale measurement studies were conducted over Emulab network consisting of 44 nodes, spread over 9 LANs and 36 end clients. MTorrent leads to 44% reduction in download time, 65% reduction in traffic load on the Internet links and 40% reduction in download of redundant packets when compared to the BitTorrent. MTorrent is interoperable with BitTorrent, and requires only a few changes at the client end.
Delayed treatment with tumor necrosis factor inhibitors in incomplete responders to synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs shows an excellent effect in patients with very early rheumatoid arthritis with poor prognosis factors

We aimed to investigate whether delayed treatment with tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors in incomplete responders to synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) was effective among patients with very early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with poor prognosis factors. We examined 22 patients with very early RA who were positive for anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies or IgM-rheumatoid factor. The mean disease duration at entry was 14.1 weeks. A treat-to-target strategy, aiming at simplified disease activity index (SDAI) remission, was initiated with synthetic DMARDs. SDAI remission was not achieved in 9 of the 22 patients with synthetic DMARDs alone, and TNF inhibitors were added in these patients. SDAI values in these 9 patients were further examined for the following 6 months. The TNF inhibitors (infliximab 8, etanercept 1) were added at a mean interval of 34.1 weeks after the initiation of synthetic DMARDs. SDAI remission was achieved in 4 of the 9 patients (44.4%) at 3 months and in 8 of the 9 patients (88.9%) at 6 months after the introduction of the TNF inhibitors. Radiographic damage had not progressed in these patients. Delayed treatment with TNF inhibitors is effective and tolerable for patients with very early RA with poor prognosis factors.
An Exploration of the Meaning and Consequences of Unintended Pregnancy among Latina Cultural Subgroups: Social, Cultural, Structural, Historical and Political Influences

viii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 Statement of the Problem 1 Overall Unintended Pregnancy Rates 5 Unintended Pregnancy Rates among Latinas 5 Rationale for the Inquiry 6 Research Questions 11 Delimitations 12 Limitations 12 Definition of Relevant Terms 13 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 15 Overview of Unintended Pregnancy 16 Definition and Measures of Unintended Pregnancy 17 Latino Population in the U. S 24 Latino Population in the Florida 26 Historical Context of Latinos in U. S. 28 Mexican Americans 29 Puerto Ricans 30 Cuban Americans 31 New Latino Immigrant Populations 32 Unintended Pregnancy in Florida 35 Unintended Pregnancy in Miami-Dade, Florida 37 Disparities in Unintended Pregnancy and Management 37 Social Implications of Unintended Pregnancy 39 Health Implications of Unintended Pregnancy 40 Prenatal care 40 Prenatal health behaviors 41 Preterm birth 42 Birth weight 44 Breastfeeding 45 Families and couples 46 Financial implications 47 Mental Health 47
Cryo‐electron microscopy reveals native polymeric cell wall structure in Bacillus subtilis 168 and the existence of a periplasmic space

Ultrarapid freezing of bacteria (i.e. vitrification) results in optimal preservation of native structure. In this study, cryo‐transmission electron microscopy of frozen‐hydrated sections was used to gain insight into the organization of the Bacillus subtilis 168 cell envelope. A bipartite structure was seen above the plasma membrane consisting of a low‐density 22 nm region above which a higher‐density 33 nm region or outer wall zone (OWZ) resided. The interface between these two regions appeared to possess the most mass. In intact and in teichoic acid‐extracted wall fragments, only a single region was seen but the mass distribution varied from being dense on the inside to less dense on the outside (i.e. similar to the OWZ). In plasmolysed cells, the inner wall zone (IWZ)'s thickness expanded in size but the OWZ's thickness remained constant. As the IWZ expanded it became filled with plasma membrane vesicles indicating that the IWZ had little substance and was empty of the wall's polymeric network of peptidoglycan and teichoic acid. Together these results strongly suggest that the inner zone actually represents a periplasmic space confined between the plasma membrane and the wall matrix and that the OWZ is the peptidoglycan‐teichoic acid polymeric network of the wall.
Phrase-Based Statistical Machine Translation for MANOS System

MANOS (Multilingual Application Network for Olympic Services) project. aims to provide intelligent multilingual information services in 2008 Olympic Games. By narrowing down the general language technology, this paper gives an overview of our new work on Phrase-Based Statistical Machine Translation (PBT) under the framework of the MANOS. Starting with the construction of large scale Chinese-English corpus (sentence aligned) and introduction four methods to extract phrases, The promising results from PBT systems lead us to confidences for constructing a high-quality translation system and harmoniously integrate it into MANOS platform.
Small-Animal Imaging Using Clinical Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography and Super-Resolution

Considering the high cost of dedicated small-animal positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT), an acceptable alternative in many situations might be clinical PET/CT. However, spatial resolution and image quality are of concern. The utility of clinical PET/CT for small-animal research and image quality improvements from super-resolution (spatial subsampling) were investigated. National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) NU 4 phantom and mouse data were acquired with a clinical PET/CT scanner, as both conventional static and stepped scans. Static scans were reconstructed with and without point spread function (PSF) modeling. Stepped images were postprocessed with iterative deconvolution to produce super-resolution images. Image quality was markedly improved using the super-resolution technique, avoiding certain artifacts produced by PSF modeling. The 2 mm rod of the NU 4 phantom was visualized with high contrast, and the major structures of the mouse were well resolved. Although not a perfect substitute for a state-of-the-art small-animal PET/CT scanner, a clinical PET/CT scanner with super-resolution produces acceptable small-animal image quality for many preclinical research studies.
CHILDREN, YOUTH, AND MOBILE COMMUNICATION

Teens are, perhaps the most consummate mobile telephone users. Teens have made text messaging into a common form of interaction. They have learned how to coordinate and indeed micro-coordinate interaction via the mobile telephone. They use the camera to share photos of enticing members of the opposite sex and to gather peer opinion on the color of potential clothes purchases. The mobile phone is a safety link, it allows for effective coordination, it is an object lesson in the use of money for teens and often, it is a reluctantly accepted umbilical cord to their parents and a central artifact of their self-image (Fortunati, 2001). At the same time the device has resulted in school bans, a new form of bullying and has opened a new front in the war against cheating during exams (May & Hearn, 2005). There are reports of mobile phone addiction in Korea (Park, 2003) and the extended use of mobile communication can impact on adolescents sleep (Van den Bulck, 2003) When thinking of teens however, there are additional issues that are stirring. In many cases, the mobile telephone has become a tool in their emancipation from their home. This means that on the one hand it gives the child a source of interaction that is not mediated by parents – as is the case with the traditional landline telephone – and it also plays into the social cohesion of the peer group (Ling, 2004, , 2006; Ling & Yttri, 2002).