Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
'Encouraging behavioural change through marketing and management: what can be achieved?' Resource paper at the 10th International Conference on Travel Behaviour Research, Lucerne, 10-15 August

Marketing and management measures – often colloquially know as ‘soft’ measures – can encourage a shift from car travel to more sustainable transport modes, and may also increase public support for direct actions to limit car use. These measures are often effective because many people lack information about alternatives to the car, even for journeys where good alternatives already exist. Other people may have a general negative image of non-car modes. Better information and persuasive marketing can help shift both attitudes and behaviour. Use of such measures is comparatively new, and transport models to predict their impacts in different circumstances are not well developed. However, empirical evidence suggests that these measures may have significant impact. The potential impacts of workplace and school travel plans, persona lised travel planning, bus information and marketing, and car clubs, if applied intensively and together, are such that 24 hour car travel demand in an urban conurbation could be cut by 9% – 22% under different scenarios. Synergistic effects could increase the impact. However, induced traffic could erode some of the benefit, if soft measures were implemented without complementary traffic restraint or road capacity re-allocation. Marketing and management measures should be attractive to policy makers and transport planners, because: they are politically less contentious than some other measures; offer high benefit-cost ratios; and increase the benefit of investment in new sustainable transport infrastructure.
Evaluation of Nerve Recovery From Minimal-Duration Crush Injury

The recovery of damaged peripheral nerves has been the subject of multiple studies. The effects of an inadvertent clamping of a nerve has not been well examined. An experiment was performed to evaluate the effects of a minimal-duration crush injury on the rat sciatic nerve and to determine if walking track analysis was useful in evaluating the short-term functional deficit. Ten Sprague-Dawley rats underwent high-pressure, short-duration crush injuries. Walking track analysis was done regularly for 3 weeks. Histological specimens for light and electron microscopy were taken at postoperative days 3, 7, 14, 2 1, and 42 from similar animals. There was significant decrease in function by the second week, which then improved to control levels after week 3. Toluidine blue and electron microscopic findings confirmed the clinical course, while routine histological findings tended to lag behind the return of function. Walking track analysis appears to be an effective method of evaluating the short-duration nerve crush injury.
Reasoning and argumentation: Towards an integrated psychology of argumentation

Although argumentation plays an essential role in our lives, there is no integrated area of research on the psychology of argumentation. Instead research on argumentation is conducted in a number of separate research communities that are spread across disciplines and have only limited interaction. With a view to bridging these different strands, we first distinguish between three meanings of the word “argument”: argument as a reason, argument as a structured sequence of reasons and claims, and argument as a social exchange. All three meanings are integral to a complete understanding of human reasoning and cognition. Cognitive psychological research on argumentation has focused mostly on the first and second of these meanings, so we present perspectives on argumentation from outside of cognitive psychology, which focus on the second and third. Specifically, we give anoverview of the methods, goals, and disciplinary backgrounds of research on the production, the analysis, and the evaluation of arguments. Finally, inintroducing the experimental studies included in this special issue, which were conducted by researchers from a range of theoretical backgrounds, weunderline the breadth of argumentation research as well as stress opportunities for mutual awareness and integration.
PKCθ/β and CYLD Are Antagonistic Partners in the NFκB and NFAT Transactivation Pathways in Primary Mouse CD3+ T Lymphocytes

In T cells PKCθ mediates the activation of critical signals downstream of TCR/CD28 stimulation. We investigated the molecular mechanisms by which PKCθ regulates NFκB transactivation by examining PKCθ/β single and double knockout mice and observed a redundant involvement of PKCθ and PKCβ in this signaling pathway. Mechanistically, we define a PKCθ-CYLD protein complex and an interaction between the positive PKCθ/β and the negative CYLD signaling pathways that both converge at the level of TAK1/IKK/I-κBα/NFκB and NFAT transactivation. In Jurkat leukemic T cells, CYLD is endoproteolytically processed in the initial minutes of stimulation by the paracaspase MALT1 in a PKC-dependent fashion, which is required for robust IL-2 transcription. However, in primary T cells, CYLD processing occurs with different kinetics and an altered dependence on PKC. The formation of a direct PKCθ/CYLD complex appears to regulate the short-term spatial distribution of CYLD, subsequently affecting NFκB and NFAT repressional activity of CYLD prior to its MALT1-dependent inactivation. Taken together, our study establishes CYLD as a new and critical PKCθ interactor in T cells and reveals that antagonistic PKCθ/β-CYLD crosstalk is crucial for the adjustment of immune thresholds in primary mouse CD3+ T cells.
'A Lie that Helps us See the Truth': Research, truth and fiction in the helping professions

In this paper I argue for fiction, and in particular, the novel, as a source of 'truth' for practitioners in the helping professions1 to rival (and complement) the truths that are arrived at through quantitative and qualitative research. Fiction writing is presented both as a research method in its own right and as a form of reflection-on-action, the aim of which is to invoke a sympathetic response or resonance in the reader in the form of an affective (as opposed to a cognitive) understanding. I suggest that, in order for a practitioner to engage fully with her clients on the most fundamental and profound level, she must read not only research and theory, but also fiction.
Solving the Redundancy Allocation Problem With a Mix of Components Using the Improved Surrogate Constraint Method

When designing a system, there are two methods that can be used to improve the system's reliability without changing the nature of the system: 1) using more reliable components, and/or 2) providing redundant components within the system. The redundancy allocation problem attempts to find the appropriate mix of components & redundancies within a system in order to either minimize cost subject to a minimum level of reliability, or maximize reliability subject to a maximum cost and weight. Redundancy allocation problems can be classified into two groups; one allows the system to have a mix of components with different characteristics incorporated in the system, while the other only allows one type of each component. The former group has a much larger solution space compared to the latter, and therefore obtaining an exact optimal or even a high quality solution for this problem may be more difficult. Optimization techniques, based on meta-heuristic approaches, have recently been proposed to solve the redundancy allocation problem with a mix of components. However, an exact solution method has not been developed. In this paper, we develop an exact solution method, based on the improved surrogate constraint (ISC) method, and use this method to find optimal solutions to problems previously presented in the literature
Pericardial and Visceral Adipose Tissues Measured Volumetrically With Computed Tomography Are Highly Associated in Type 2 Diabetic Families

Rationale and Objectives:Pericardial and visceral adipose tissue volumes can provide new insight into the complex relation between obesity, adult-onset diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. We describe a new method for quantifying pericardial adipose tissue volumes with computed tomography (CT), and present its precision and relation to established measures of adiposity. Methods:Eighty subjects randomly selected from a family study of sibling pairs concordant for type 2 diabetes and unaffected siblings, 69 with diabetes, had 2 cardiac CT scans with electrocardiographic gating and 1 abdominal scan as part of an examination designed to measure calcified atherosclerotic plaque. Pericardial adipose tissue and visceral adipose tissue were measured using a 3-dimensional analysis technique. Body mass index, waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, and percent fat by dual x-ray absorptiometry were measured during the same visit. Results:Pericardial adipose tissue volumes measured independently and in a random order from the 2 sequential cardiac CT scans obtained during the same examination were highly correlated (Spearman R = 0.99; P <0.0001). The mean ± standard deviation (median) pericardial adipose tissue volume was 320.5 ± 147.3 (281.7) mL. Pericardial adipose tissue was highly correlated with total abdominal visceral adipose tissue (R = 0.81; P <0.0001). Conclusion:The significant association between pericardial and visceral adipose tissue volumes in this preliminary study suggests that pericardial, like visceral adipose tissue, may be an important predictor or risk factor for cardiovascular disease and other related illnesses and warrants further evaluation.
Adolescent alcohol and tobacco use: onset, persistence and trajectories of use across two samples.

AIMS We examined the alcohol-tobacco relationship using two prospective, ethnically diverse samples. Trajectories of alcohol and tobacco use are portrayed overall and by sex and ethnicity. Using prospective analyses, we examine directional influences between alcohol and tobacco use, and we characterize initiation versus persistence of drinking and smoking as a function of use of the other substance. DESIGN, SETTING Data were from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (AddHealth) and the Adolescent Health Risk Study (AHRS). Follow-up intervals for AddHealth and AHRS were 1 and 5 years, respectively. PARTICIPANTS AddHealth respondents (n = 4831) were on average 14.8 years old (48% male, 23% black, 61% white) and AHRS respondents (n = 1814) were on average 16.7 years old (47% male, 44% black, 49% white). MEASUREMENTS Two alcohol consumption variables and two smoking variables were used: drinking frequency and heavy drinking frequency, and regular (current) smoking and daily number of cigarettes. FINDINGS Alcohol and tobacco use exhibited monotonic increases over adolescence and young adulthood. Men and white respondents reported more use than women and black respondents. Alcohol and tobacco were moderately associated at both times. Analyses revealed that prior alcohol use predicted tobacco use more strongly than the converse. Initiation of smoking was a function of prior drinking; to a lesser extent, initiation of drinking was a function of prior smoking. Persistence of smoking was a function of prior drinking and persistence of drinking was a function of prior smoking. CONCLUSIONS Provisional support exists for the claim that alcohol use predicts tobacco use more strongly than the converse. For both drinking and smoking, onset and persistence are predicted by prior use of the other substance, and these associations were robust across sex and ethnicity.
The Determination of the Significance of Change Between Pre- and Posttesting Periods

In this paper we review some of the major issues that arise in the measurement of change and, where possible, alternative approaches are discussed. The measurement of individual differences is considered first. This is followed by a discussion of some of the concerns involved in inferring treatment effects from group differences. We then conclude with a section on accountability systems based on student achievement.
Negotiating Transitions in Later Life: Married Couples in Assisted Living

Although a minority in assisted living facilities (ALFs), couples do reside in these settings and the numbers are predicted to rise. Despite this prediction, little is known about these couples' experiences. Endeavoring to advance knowledge and inform policy and practice, this article presents an analysis of qualitative data from an exploratory study involving 20 married couples living in ALFs. Analysis considers couples' pathways and responses to assisted living. Findings show couples' pathways to ALFs typically involved a major health transition for one or both spouses and required enabling resources paired with the desire to remain together. For most, the need for relocation was asynchronous. Couples' ALF experiences were variable in terms of how spouses reported interacting with one another and how they interacted with others. A couple's degree of health synchronicity, level of disability, and previous social patterns influenced activity in ALFs. Implications for research, policy, and practice are discussed.
Barriers to Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Research

This article is concerned with the possibility that the development of mixed methods research is being hindered by the tendency that has been observed by some researchers for quantitative and qualitative findings either not to be integrated or to be integrated to only a limited extent. It examines findings from 20 interviews with U.K. social researchers, all of whom are practitioners of mixed methods research. From these interviews, a wide variety of possible barriers to integrating mixed methods findings are presented. The article goes on to suggest that more attention needs to be given to the writing of mixed methods articles.
ONE PERSPECTIVE ON THE MILAN SYSTEMIC APPROACH: PART I. OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENT, THEORY AND PRACTICE*

The Milan systemic approach probably reflects a significant advance in the field of family therapy and possibly in psychotherapy in general. This, the first of two papers, provides a historical overview of the development of the approach, an articulation of some major assumptions and background theory, and a brief description of the overall pattern of practice.
The Efficacy of Generating Three Independent Anti-HIV-1 siRNAs from a Single U6 RNA Pol III-Expressed Long Hairpin RNA

RNA Interference (RNAi) effectors have been used to inhibit rogue RNAs in mammalian cells. However, rapidly evolving sequences such as the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) require multiple targeting approaches to prevent the emergence of escape variants. Expressed long hairpin RNAs (lhRNAs) have recently been used as a strategy to produce multiple short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) targeted to highly variant sequences. We aimed to characterize the ability of expressed lhRNAs to generate independent siRNAs that silence three non-contiguous HIV-1 sites by designing lhRNAs comprising different combinations of siRNA-encoding sequences. All lhRNAs were capable of silencing individual target sequences. However, silencing efficiency together with concentrations of individual lhRNA-derived siRNAs diminished from the stem base (first position) towards the loop side of the hairpin. Silencing efficacy against HIV-1 was primarily mediated by siRNA sequences located at the base of the stem. Improvements could be made to first and second position siRNAs by adjusting spacing arrangements at their junction, but silencing of third position siRNAs remained largely ineffective. Although lhRNAs offer advantages for combinatorial RNAi, we show that good silencing efficacy across the span of the lhRNA duplex is difficult to achieve with sequences that encode more than two adjacent independent siRNAs.
Why Don’t States Switch Sides Anymore? The Rise and Fall of American Electoral Volatility

American electoral volatility is in a free fall. Overtime variation in the partisan balance of presidential elections across states has matched an all-time low in American history and is a fraction of its 1970’s peak. The current decline in volatility parallels declines during the Gilded Age and Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency. Trends in electoral volatility vary regionally, and the South’s patterns of electoral volatility are distinctive. This paper develops a theory of electoral volatility at the voter level based on the premise that volatility is due to voter uncertainty. Party polarization makes the parties’ positions distinct and reduces volatility. Close elections increase incentives for voters to become informed and for campaigns to inform voters, which reduce voter uncertainty. Increased voter turnout and a larger number of votes cast per state also decrease volatility. The model is empirically validated using both historical aggregate data from 1832 to 2012 and American National Election Studies (ANES) data at the voter level from 1952 to 2012.
Perceptions of psychotherapy trainees of psychotherapy research

Aims: The research-practice gap and lack of engagement with research by trainees and qualified therapists is a widely discussed issue amongst psychotherapy researchers. The present study investigates the perceptions of psychotherapy trainees of psychotherapy research and explores what would encourage them to participate in research. Method: Two focus groups of 16 trainees in total were conducted at two separate psychotherapy training institutes to explore trainees’ attitudes and perceptions. Data was analysed using Braun and Clarke's (2006) thematic analysis. Results: Three superordinate themes emerged: negative perception of research; recognition of the importance of research; and what would be needed to facilitate engagement in research. Discussion: The results suggest that interest in and willingness to participate in research exists, however it is necessary for negative perceptions about research to be addressed and for researchers to design projects which are supportive of participants.
Similarity search in time series databases using moments

Similarity search in time series data is an area of active interest in the data mining community. In this paper we introduce a simple and novel approach for performing similarity search over time series data using moments. This technique is based on the observation that similar time sequences will have their centroids close to each other. The proposed technique is capable of handling variable length queries and works irrespective of global scaling and shrinking of time series data. It can also handle vertical shifts.
Quantum theory of high-resolution length measurement with a Fabry-Perot interferometer

Abstract The quantum limits on measurements of small changes in the length of a Fabry-Perot cavity are calculated. The cavity is modelled by a pair of dissimilar mirrors oriented perpendicular to a one-dimensional axis of infinite extent. The continuous spectrum of spatial modes of the system is derived, and the electromagnetic field is quantized in terms of a continuous set of mode creation and destruction operators. Coherent state and squeezed vacuum-state excitations of the field are characterized by energy flow, or intensity, variables. The determination of small changes in the cavity length by observations of fringe intensity is considered for schemes in which the cavity is simultaneously excited by coherent and squeezed vacuum-state inputs. The contributions to the limiting resolution from photocount and radiation-pressure length uncertainties are evaluated. These properties of the Fabry-Perot cavity are compared with the corresponding results for the Michelson interferometer.
A Common Design-Features Ontology for Product Data Semantics Interoperability

In a collaborative design environment, various software tools are utilized to enhance the product development. This entails a meaningful representation and exchange of product data semantics across these different systems. Semantic interoperability of product information refers to enabling the exchange of design intelligence, including construction history, parameters, features, and constraints. This is a crucial difference compared to current standards such as STEP that deliver "dumb" geometry, where no design intent is associated. To enable semantics data exchange, we propose an ontology-based approach, consisting in developing a "Common Design Features Ontology", called CDFO. Interoperability among ontologies is fulfilled by defining several mapping rules. We use a descriptive logic-based language, notably OWL DL to represent formally our ontology.
AsseSS: A Tool for Assessing the Support Structures of Arguments in User Comments

We present AsseSS, a tool for identifying and assessing the support structures of arguments in user comments. Given a comment, the system first classifies elementary units of arguments comprising the comment based on the type of appropriate support. Then, it detects support relations among the elementary units. With this information, it is possible to decide whether the existing support relation is of suitable type. Also, in the case that no support has been provided for an elementary unit, an appropriate type of support can be determined.
Exponential trajectory generation for point to point motions

This paper presents a new method to generate point-to-point (PTP) trajectories, such as the ones used by robots or CNC machines, using an exponential function as the basis for the trajectory profile. The method is based on adding a series of time-delayed third-order exponential functions to generate an approximation to the trapezoidal velocity profile commonly used in time-optimal motions. The exponential velocity has zero-starting and ending values as well as continuous derivatives (acceleration and jerk). The proposed algorithm has several advantages over conventional trajectory planning methods such as those using S-curve and trapezoidal velocity profiles. These include: (i) the generated trajectory is continuous up to the third derivative, i.e. jerk, resulting in smooth machine motions (ii) only two control parameters, a gain and a delay, are required simplifying trajectory planning, and (iii) allows for simple blending of consecutive trajectories. The method has been tested experimentally on an industrial six Degree-of-Freedom (DOF) robot, a KUKA KR5 sixx R650. The results show position accuracy improvements over conventional S-curve and time-optimal (trapezoidal) velocity methods. The implementation is based on a simple look-up table which enables its real-time implementation.
Carbon-Aware Electricity Cost Minimization for Sustainable Data Centers

In order to simultaneously power and cool hundreds of thousands of servers, large-scale data centers usually consume several to tens of megawatts of electricity. This enormous electricity consumption leads to considerable concerns in the electricity cost including both electricity bills and carbon tax. To achieve a sustainable data center, many Internet service providers begin to build their own on-site renewable energy plants to help reduce the electricity cost. However, considering the performance constraint of delay tolerant workloads and the lack of future information about the time-varying electricity price, carbon emission rate, and available on-site renewable energy, it is a fairly challenging problem that how to schedule the delay tolerant workloads to reduce the electricity cost of a sustainable data center. To address this challenging optimization problem, this paper proposes an online workload scheduling algorithm CECM based on the Lyapunov optimization framework, which is able to tradeoff between the electricity cost and the performance of delay tolerant workloads without any future information about the time-varying system states. With extensive simulations based on the real-life traces, we show that CECM is able to reduce the electricity cost by 9.26 percent, while still guaranteeing the performance constraint of delay tolerant workloads.