Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Missing Voices

Public opinion studies on war attitudes say little about civilians who are related to military service members. The authors argue that military “service-connected” individuals are missing voices in the research that examines public support for war. Using over 50,000 observations from the 2010 Cooperative Congressional Election Study, the authors estimate attitudes toward the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, and the use of US military troops in general. The authors find that service-connected civilians express greater support for war and the use of troops than civilians without such a connection. This study discusses the implications of these findings for theoretical advancements in the literature addressing war attitudes and the conceptualization of the “civil–military gap. ”
Exploring the Metropolitan Trap: The Case of Montreal

This article analyses the normative dimension of metropolitan governance in the case of Montreal. According to the main schools of thought (the reform school, the public choice school, new regionalism and the rescaling approach), there is an ideal scale at which to achieve specific goals such as equality, efficiency, democracy and economic competitiveness. These ideologically oriented conceptions of metropolitan governance are assumed by actors and used as symbolic resources to build their own strategies, i.e. to support or contest institutional reforms - what we call the metropolitan trap. The case of Montreal, which underwent two successive institutional reforms between 2000 and 2006, provides empirical evidence for this idea. Our analysis reveals that the Government of Quebec and local elected councils of Greater Montreal are trapped by these normative conceptions, especially the old regionalisms. However, scalar strategies do not compete equally, as the institutional context legitimates specific approaches to metropolitan governance. (English) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Comparison of Coliforms and Coliphages as Tools for Assessment of Viral Contamination in River Water

ABSTRACT The aim of the study was to evaluate the presence of pathogenic viruses in the Moselle River and to compare the usefulness of thermotolerant coliforms and somatic coliphages as tools for river water quality assessment in terms of viral contamination. Thermotolerant coliforms and somatic coliphages were enumerated by standardized methods in 170 samples of river water drawn from five sampling sites along the Moselle River (eastern France). BGM cell culture and integrated cell culture-reverse transcription-PCR DNA enzyme immunoassay were used to determine the presence of pathogenic viral genome (Enterovirus and Norovirus genogroup II [GGII]) and infectious Enterovirus spp. in 90 1-liter samples. No infectious Enterovirus spp. were isolated, but Enterovirus and Norovirus GGII genomes were detected in 38% of the samples. Norovirus GGII genome was mostly detected in winter, whereas Enterovirus genome was mostly detected in summer and fall. Somatic coliphages appeared to be less sensitive to higher river water temperature than thermotolerant coliforms. Furthermore, the number of river water samples positive for pathogenic viral genome increased with increasing concentration of somatic coliphages, whereas coliform concentration was unrelated to viral genome contamination. Consequently somatic coliphages, which are less sensitive to environmental factors than thermotolerant coliforms in river water, would provide a promising tool for assessment of river water quality in terms of fecal and viral pollution.
Dreaming associated with anaesthesia: the influence of morphine premedication and two volatile adjuvants.

An investigation is described into the problems of dreaming and recall under anaesthesia. One hundred and twenty patients were divided into four equal groups. Group 1 were anaesthetized using thiopentone for induction and nitrous oxide for the maintenance of anaesthesia, muscle relaxation being provided by tubocurarine and no premedicant or volatile anaesthetic agent being used. The three other groups received modifications of this technique: group 2 received pre-anaesthetic medication with morphine (1 mg/stone body weight (6.3 kg) 30–60 min before operation); group 3 received small concentrations (0.5–0.3 per cent) of halothane as an adjuvant, and group 4 small concentrations (0.3–0.1 per cent) of methoxyflurane. The incidence of dreaming in association with anaesthesia was high in the case of group 1 (57 per cent) but significantly less in group 2 (23 per cent; P
A Bayesian Evidence Synthesis for Estimating Campylobacteriosis Prevalence

Stakeholders making decisions in public health and world trade need improved estimations of the burden‐of‐illness of foodborne infectious diseases. In this article, we propose a Bayesian meta‐analysis or more precisely a Bayesian evidence synthesis to assess the burden‐of‐illness of campylobacteriosis in France. Using this case study, we investigate campylobacteriosis prevalence, as well as the probabilities of different events that guide the disease pathway, by (i) employing a Bayesian approach on French and foreign human studies (from active surveillance systems, laboratory surveys, physician surveys, epidemiological surveys, and so on) through the chain of events that occur during an episode of illness and (ii) including expert knowledge about this chain of events. We split the target population using an exhaustive and exclusive partition based on health status and the level of disease investigation. We assume an approximate multinomial model over this population partition. Thereby, each observed data set related to the partition brings information on the parameters of the multinomial model, improving burden‐of‐illness parameter estimates that can be deduced from the parameters of the basic multinomial model. This multinomial model serves as a core model to perform a Bayesian evidence synthesis. Expert knowledge is introduced by way of pseudo‐data. The result is a global estimation of the burden‐of‐illness parameters with their accompanying uncertainty.
The holes problem in wireless sensor netwoks by using the available energy fairly

We consider the holes problem in wireless sensor netwoks by using the available energy fairly. The holes problem occurs when the available energy of some sensors are exhausted while others have significant energy. In this circumstance, ehile the total available energy of the network is high, the network is no longer working. Such a problem mainly happen due to unbalanced energy consumpsion in clustering and communication protocols. In this paper, we deal with this problem and propose an data aggregation algorithm based on the well-known clustering algorithm LEACH and tree construction mechanisms. In proposed method we consider the available energy of each sensor node as a weigthing parameter in clustering phase and tree-construction phase. Experimental results show the ability of the proposed method to increase the life time of the network and to distribute the energy uniformly along the network.
A novel color image segmentation algorithm based on JSEG and Normalized Cuts

Image segmentation is the first step in computer vision project. But it is also the key procedure from image processing to image analysis. With the continuous development of computer hardware and technology advances, more attention has been paid to the color image. Based on previous image segmentation technology, this paper proposes a novel color image segmentation method. The method improves the JSEG(Joint Systems Engineering Group) algorithm, and it uses the results of JSEG as the input of Ncut(Normalized Cuts). Experiments show that this proposed algorithm can obtain a good segmentation results. The two main contributions of this paper are: 1) it is effective to overcome the problems of the large computation, 2) the final image segmentation boundary is more accurate.
Enriching Process of Image Encryption and Compression Using Hierarchical Decomposition

: Most of the times while any message is transferring across the network for security reasons they are normally encrypted directly to make user visibly unreadable or it will be encrypted (hidden) in an image. And now a day’s data hacker becomes too intelligent to break the encrypted images to get the original contents. So many systems are designed to combine the encryption and compression in single mould to provide greater security. So we are presenting a novel approach of encryption by maintaining run time LSB (least significant bit) using image decomposition method. This actually enhances the encryption processes by converting image into small blocks of hierarchical cluster of the LSB’s. These blocks can be holding the user’s message in many different patterns which is actually highly difficult to predict by the hackers. And then all individual blocks can be put in a tree to compress in the same hierarchy of decomposition.
Effect of exposure to radiation on the inflammatory process and its influence by diclofenac

1 The effect of radiation exposure on the inflammatory process was studied in rats using the carrageenan‐induced paw oedema and adjuvant‐induced arthritis tests. 2 Irradiation (0.5,1 and 2 Grays) resulted in a significant augmentation of the tissue response to carrageenan and the early phase of adjuvant‐induced arthritis, but suppressed the late phase. 3 Diclofenac (1–5 mg kg−1) effectively reduced the exaggerated inflammatory response in irradiated animals in both the carrageenan paw oedema and adjuvant‐induced arthritis tests. The drug also had a prophylactic value in guarding against the induction of radiation damage. 4 The inflammatory responses produced by irradiation and the benefits obtained by drug treatment may be related to changes in tissue prostaglandin levels and/or changes in the immune system.
14 day endoscopy study comparing risedronate and alendronate in postmenopausal women stratified by Helicobacter pylori status.

OBJECTIVE Bisphosphonates are effective treatment for osteoporosis but have been associated with gastrointestinal (GI) mucosal injury. This study compared the incidence of gastric ulcers after treatment with risedronate, a pyridinyl bisphosphonate, or alendronate, a primary amino bisphosphonate, in healthy postmenopausal women stratified by Helicobacter pylori status. METHODS Subjects were randomized to receive risedronate 5 mg (n = 318) or alendronate 10 mg (n = 317) daily for 14 days. Endoscopy and evaluator-blind assessments of the esophageal, gastric, and duodenal mucosa were performed at baseline and on Days 8 and 15. RESULTS Overall, gastric ulcers > or = 3 mm were observed in 18 (6.0%) of 300 evaluable subjects in the risedronate group and 36 (12.1%) of 297 in the alendronate group during treatment (p = 0.013). On Day 8, the incidences of gastric ulcers in the risedronate and alendronate groups were 3.6% and 6.6%, respectively (p = 0.133), and on Day 15, they were 3.3% and 8.7% (p = 0.008). The incidence of gastric ulcers was not affected by H. pylori status. Mean gastric endoscopy scores at Days 8 and 15 were significantly lower in the risedronate group than in the alendronate group (p < 0.001). Mean esophageal and duodenal endoscopy scores were similar in the 2 groups at Days 8 and 15. When the treatment groups were combined, gastric endoscopy scores were significantly higher among H. pylori negative than H. pylori positive subjects at Days 8 and 15 (p < 0.05). Upper GI adverse events were reported by 18 (5.7%) subjects in the risedronate group (19 events) and 28 (8.8%) subjects in the alendronate group (32 events). Symptoms did not predict the presence of mucosal damage. CONCLUSION Risedronate was associated with a significantly lower incidence of gastric ulcers than alendronate. H. pylori infection did not increase the incidence of bisphosphonate related gastric ulcers. The findings from this 14 day study in healthy volunteers support the hypothesis that bisphosphonates may differ from one another in their potential to produce upper GI mucosal damage.
Male Sexual Arousal Elicited by Film and Fantasy Matched in Content

Abstract Penile tumescence and subjective sexual arousal were measured while 36 men viewed an erotic film segment and soon afterwards reproduced imaginally the sexual events that had been depicted in the film. Film elicited higher levels of physiological and subjective sexual arousal than was found for fantasy involving similar sexual content. Levels of sexual arousal during film and fantasy were more closely associated with the extent the subjects had felt absorbed during erotic stimulation than with imagery scores on the Betts Questionnaire Upon Mental Imagery, the Tellegen Absorption Scale, and the Imaginal Processes Inventory. The subjects reported being more absorbed while watching the film than during imaginal representation of the film content, and film remained more sexually arousing than fantasy even when allowance was made for differences in level of absorption between the two modalities. Further directions for studying the basis for differences in sexual arousal between film and fantasy are out.
Predicting user click behaviour in search engine advertisements

According to the specific requirements and interests of users, search engines select and display advertisements that match user needs and have higher probability of attracting users’ attention based on their previous search history. New objects such as user, advertisement or query cause a deterioration of precision in targeted advertising due to their lack of history. This article surveys this challenge. In the case of new objects, we first extract similar observed objects to the new object and then we use their history as the history of new object. Similarity between objects is measured based on correlation, which is a relation between user and advertisement when the advertisement is displayed to the user. This method is used for all objects, so it has helped us to accurately select relevant advertisements for users’ queries. In our proposed model, we assume that similar users behave in a similar manner. We find that users with few queries are similar to new users. We will show that correlation between users and advertisements’ keywords is high. Thus, users who pay attention to advertisements’ keywords, click similar advertisements. In addition, users who pay attention to specific brand names might have similar behaviours too.
Effect of Illness Severity and Comorbidity on Patient Safety and Adverse Events

The objective was to investigate the effect of admission health status on hospital adverse events and added costs. Secondary data were from merged administrative and clinical sources for Mayo Clinic Rochester, Minnesota hospital discharges in 2005 (N = 60 599). This was a retrospective cross-sectional study of the effect of demographics, diagnosis group, comorbidity, and admission illness severity on adverse events, incremental costs, and length of stay (LOS) using the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Patient Safety Indicators and provider-reported events with harm. Estimates are derived from generalized linear models. Admission severity increased the likelihood of all types of adverse events (7.2% per unit acute physiology score for any event); 7 specific comorbidities were associated with increased events and 2 with decreased events. High admission severity increased incremental costs and LOS. Selected comorbidities increased incremental LOS but had no significant effect on incremental costs. Adverse event reporting should incorporate comorbidity and admission severity. Reimbursement incentives to improve patient safety should consider adjustment for admission health status.
The Flynn Effect and Its Critics: Rusty Linchpins and “Lookin’ for g and Gf in Some of the Wrong Places”

The consensus of most intelligence scholars is that the Flynn effect (FE) is real, IQ test batteries are now routinely restandardized on a regular basis. A cornerstone in Flynn’s explanation of the FE is his analysis of select Wechsler subtest scores across time. The featured articles by Kaufman and Zhou, Zhu, and Weiss question whether Flynn’s arguments are grounded in the unproven assumption that similarly named Wechsler scores measure the same constructs across editions. Kaufman raises the issue by means of a detailed task analysis of changes in test administration and scoring directions for similarly named tests across different Wechsler editions. The author applauds Zhou et al. for bringing methodological rigor to the comparison of similarly named Wechsler Performance composite scores across time. Unfortunately, both Kaufman and Zhou et al. inadvertently perpetuate some of Flynn’s incorrect interpretations of select Wechsler measures (Similarities and Performance tests) as measures of the novel abstract problem solving that characterizes fluid intelligence (Gf). The author presents empirical Wechsler subtest g-loadings based on seven Wechsler joint- or cross-battery factor analyses (with other cognitive batteries). The results suggest that the extant Wechsler FE data and its system of interpretations, hypotheses, and resultant theory are held together by multiple anchors, a number that, in the words of Kaufman, are “seriously coated in rust. ” The author briefly discusses the theory, tools, and technologies that currently exist to place a more reasonable degree of order in the house built by Flynn.
Design of Constant Voltage Compensation Topology Applied to WPT System for Electrical Vehicles

Due to the loose coupling characteristic of the wireless power transfer system, design of the compensation topology is important. In SS resonant compensation condition, using Buck circuit in secondary side, the output load current and the duty cycle showing approximate inverse relationship in a wide range, making traditional Buck circuit control method cannot be used. To solve this problem, this paper mainly introduces the design of the compensation topology which can realize the secondary side constant voltage output in the case of variable load. By using fundamental analysis method, two different resonant are analyzed. Primary side compensation structure is more suitable for electrical vehicles WPT system. The reasonable control of output power can keep the system operating at the maximum efficiency point. Finally, the above conclusions are verified by simulation.
Computational topology with Regina: Algorithms, heuristics and implementations

Regina is a software package for studying 3-manifold triangulations and normal surfaces. It includes a graphical user interface and Python bindings, and also supports angle structures, census enumeration, combinatorial recognition of triangulations, and high-level functions such as 3-sphere recognition, unknot recognition and connected sum decomposition. This paper brings 3-manifold topologists up-to-date with Regina as it appears today, and documents for the first time in the literature some of the key algorithms, heuristics and implementations that are central to Regina's performance. These include the all-important simplification heuristics, key choices of data structures and algorithms to alleviate bottlenecks in normal surface enumeration, modern implementations of 3-sphere recognition and connected sum decomposition, and more. We also give some historical background for the project, including the key role played by Rubinstein in its genesis 15 years ago, and discuss current directions for future development.
Cloning and Expression of CD19, a Human B-Cell Marker in NIH-3T3 Cell Line

Background CD19 is a pan B cell marker that is recognized as an attractive target for antibody-based therapy of B-cell disorders including autoimmune disease and hematological malignancies. The object of this study was to stably express the human CD19 antigen in the murine NIH-3T3 cell line aimed to be used as an immunogen in our future study. Methods Total RNA was extracted from Raji cells in which high expression of CD19 was confirmed by flow cytometry. Synthesized cDNA was used for CD19 gene amplification by conventional PCR method using Pfu DNA polymerase. PCR product was ligated to pGEM-T Easy vector and ligation mixture was transformed to DH5α competent bacteria. After blue/white selection, one positive white colony was subjected to plasmid extraction and direct sequencing. Then, CD19 cDNA was sub-cloned into pCMV6-Neo expression vector by double digestion using KpnI and HindIII enzymes. NIH-3T3 mouse fibroblast cell line was subsequently transfected by the construct using Jet-PEI transfection reagent. After 48 hours, surface expression of CD19 was confirmed by flow cytometry and stably transfected cells were selected by G418 antibiotic. Results Amplification of CD19 cDNA gave rise to 1701 bp amplicon confirmed by alignment to reference sequence in NCBI database. Flow cytometric analysis showed successful transient and stable expression of CD19 on NIH-3T3 cells (29 and 93%, respectively). Conclusion Stable cell surface expression of human CD19 antigen in a murine NIH-3T3 cell line may develop a proper immunogene which raises specific anti-CD19 antibody production in the mice immunized sera.
Social Networking Communities and E-Dating Services: Concepts and Implications

E-dating is now among the largest global e-commerce sectors, allowing for interaction that was once not possible. Despite its dominance in the e-commerce market and society, it is almost completely absent from the information systems research literature. Social Networking Communities and E-Dating Services: Concepts and Implications rectifies the absence of e-dating literature in the academic community by incorporating research from around the world, addressing the many aspects of e-dating and establishing it as a new research discipline. This unique collection of high quality international articles contributes toward the legitimization of e-dating as an area of research in e-commerce.
Validity of Self-Assessment of Pubertal Maturation

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Studies of adolescents often use self-assessment of pubertal maturation, the reliability of which has shown conflicting results. We aimed to examine the reliability of child and parent assessments of healthy boys and girls. METHODS: A total of 898 children (418 girls, 480 boys, age 7.4–14.9 years) and 1173 parents (550 daughters, 623 sons, age 5.6–14.7 years) assessed onset of puberty or development of breasts, genitals, and pubic hair according to Tanner stages by use of a questionnaire and drawings. Physicians’ assessments were blinded and set as the gold standard. Percentage agreement, κ, and Kendall’s correlation were used to analyze the agreement rates. RESULTS: Breast stage was assessed correctly by 44.9% of the girls (κ = 0.28, r = 0.74, P < .001) and genital stage by 54.7% of the boys (κ = 0.33, r = 0.61, P < .001). For pubic hair stage 66.8% of girls (κ = 0.55, r = 0.80, P < .001) and 66.1% of boys (κ = 0.46, r = 0.70, P < .001) made correct assessments. Of the parents, 86.2% correctly assessed onset of puberty in girls (κ = 0.70, r = 0.71, P < .001) and 68.4% in boys (κ = 0.30, r = 0.37, P < .001). Children who underestimated were younger and children who overestimated older than their peers who made correct assessments. Girls and their parents tended to underestimate, whereas boys overestimated their pubertal stage. CONCLUSIONS: Pubertal assessment by the child or the parents is not a reliable measure of exact pubertal staging and should be augmented by a physical examination. However, for large epidemiologic studies self-assessment can be sufficiently accurate for a simple distinction between prepuberty and puberty.