Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Now’s When We Throw Him Under the Bus: Institutional and Occupational Identities and the Coverage of Doping in Sport

This article explicates the processes by which sports news is constructed by analyzing the case of performance enhancing drug use coverage. An ethnographic study was conducted of a North American cycling news journal and website. Investigating fundamental tasks of the journalist profession illuminates the labor practices of sport media. Contextualized within institutional, economic and cultural conditions of production, these practices serve to frame not only what but how, texts are constructed. Results indicate that while performance enhancing drug use in sport is considered highly newsworthy, investigative costs, public fatigue, and lack of medical and legal knowledge account for the limited coverage. Cet article explique le processus de construction des nouvelles sportives en analysant le cas de la couverture mediatique des drogues en sport. Une approche ethnographique a ete utilisee pour analyser un site web et une revue portant sur le velo en Amerique du nord. L�investigation des tâches fondamentales de la profession journalistique illumine les pratiques de travail des medias sportifs. Mises dans le contexte des conditions institutionnelles, economiques et culturelles de production, ces pratiques servent a encadrer non seulement ce que nous savons mais aussi la facon dont les textes sont construits. Les resultats sont a l�effet que si l�utilisation des drogues en sport est consideree de haut interet journalistique, les couts d�investigation, la fatigue du public et le manque de connaissances medicales et legales expliquent la couverture mediatique limitee
PriStream: Privacy-preserving distributed stream monitoring of thresholded PERCENTILE statistics

Distributed stream monitoring has numerous potential applications in future smart cities. Communication efficiency, and data privacy are two main challenges for distributed stream monitoring services. In this paper, we propose PriStream, the first communication-efficient and privacy-preserving distributed stream monitoring system for thresholded PERCENTILE aggregates. PriStream allows the monitoring service provider to evaluate an arbitrary function over a desired percentile of distributed data reports and monitor when the output exceeds a predetermined system threshold. Detailed theoretical analysis and evaluations show that PriStream has high accuracy and communication efficiency, and differential privacy guarantees under a strong adversary model.
Rapid mobile development with ARC: Application framework for robust communications for disaster risk reduction and management

In disaster situations communication and power infrastructure could be damaged, disrupting their associated services. This could delay relief efforts and cost more lives. In situations where connections are damaged and unreliable, peer-to-peer (P2P) and delay-tolerant networking (DTN) technologies can help provide alternative communication modes particularly in support of rescue and relief operations. Combining the benefits of the store-and-forward capability of DTN and the data propagation techniques of Wi-Fi Direct, we have created a flexible framework called ARC which allows users to create applications that could meet their specific requirements, particularly those in support of emergency communications. To demonstrate our framework, we created a simple application using ARC, and used this application to evaluate its DTN and Wi-Fi Direct group recovery capabilities.
Metabolic Syndrome and Risk of Endometrial Cancer in the United States: A Study in the SEER–Medicare Linked Database

Background: Metabolic syndrome and its component feature, central obesity, are associated with endometrial cancer risk. It remains unclear whether associations with the other metabolic factors that comprise metabolic syndrome are independent of the obesity–endometrial cancer association. Furthermore, the link with specific endometrial cancer subtypes remains ill-defined, despite evidence of etiologic heterogeneity among these tumors. Methods: In a case–control study within the SEER–Medicare linked database, we examined whether metabolic factors, individually or combined, were associated with endometrial cancer. Cases (n = 16,323) were women diagnosed with endometrial cancer from 1993 through 2007. Controls (n = 100,751) were a 5% sample of female Medicare enrollees residing in the same SEER registry area as cases. Metabolic syndrome was defined using ICD-9-CM codes from inpatient/outpatient diagnoses 1 to 3 years before case diagnosis and a comparable time period in controls. ORs and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using logistic regression. Results: Endometrial cancer risk was associated with metabolic syndrome [OR (95% CI): 1.39 (1.32–1.47)] and its component factors: overweight/obesity [1.95 (1.80–2.11)], impaired fasting glucose [1.36 (1.30–1.43)], high blood pressure [1.31 (1.25–1.36)], and high triglycerides [1.13 (1.08–1.18)]. After adjusting for overweight/obesity, the increased risks associated with the metabolic syndrome factors remained. Heterogeneity of associations by subtype were not identified (Pheterogeneity = 0.82). Conclusions: Among women age 65 and older in the United States, metabolic syndrome, and its component factors, increased endometrial cancer risk similarly across endometrial cancer subtypes. Impact: Strategies to reduce the prevalence of metabolic syndrome factors might have a favorable effect on endometrial cancer incidence. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 24(1); 261–7. ©2015 AACR.
Survey and evaluation of acoustic features for speaker recognition

This study seeks to quantify the effectiveness of a broad range of acoustic features for speaker identification and their impact in feature fusion. Sixteen different acoustic features are evaluated under nine different acoustic, channel and speaking style conditions. Three major types of features are examined: traditional (MFCC, PLP, LPCC, etc.), innovative (PYKFEC, MVDR, etc.) and extensions of these (frequency-constrained LPCC, LFCC). All features were then fused in binary and three-way fusion to determine the complementarity between features and their impact on accuracy. Results were surprising, with the MVDR feature having the highest performance for any single feature, and LPCC based features having the greatest impact on fusion effectiveness. Commonly used features like PLP and MFCC did not achieve the best results in any category. It was further found that removing the perceptually-motivated warping from MFCC, MVDR and PYKFEC improved the performance of these features significantly.
Follow-up observations at 16 and 33 GHz of extragalactic sources from WMAP 3-yr data: I - Spectral properties

We present follow-up observations of 97 point sources from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) 3-yr data, contained within the New Extragalactic WMAP Point Source catalogue between -4° ≤ δ≤ 60°; the sources form a flux-density-limited sample complete to 1.1 Jy (≈5σ ) at 33 GHz. Our observations were made at 16 GHz using the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager and at 33 GHz with the Very Small Array (VSA). 94 of the sources have reliable, simultaneous - typically a few minutes apart - observations with both telescopes. The spectra between 13.9 and 33.75 GHz are very different from those of bright sources at low frequency: 44 per cent have rising spectra (α 33.75 13.9 < 0.0), where S ∝ ν -α , and 93 per cent have spectra with α 33.75 13.9 < 0.5; the median spectral index is 0.04. For the brighter sources, the agreement between VSA and WMAP 33-GHz flux densities averaged over sources is very good. However, for the fainter sources, the VSA tends to measure lower values for the flux densities than WMAP. We suggest that the main cause of this effect is the Eddington bias arising from variability.
H2 relaxin overexpression increases in vivo prostate xenograft tumor growth and angiogenesis

Our study reports a preliminary investigation into the role of human H2 relaxin in prostate tumor growth. A luciferase‐expressing human prostate cancer cell line, PC‐3, was generated and termed PC3‐Luc. PC3‐Luc cells were transduced with lentiviral vectors engineering the expression of either enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) or both H2 relaxin and eGFP in a bicistronic format. These transduced cells were termed PC3‐Luc‐eGFP and PC3‐Luc‐H2/eGFP, respectively. To gauge effects, PC3‐Luc‐H2/eGFP and PC3‐Luc‐eGFP cells were injected into NOD/SCID mice and monitored over 6 weeks. PC‐3 tumor xenografts overexpressing H2 relaxin exhibited greater tumor volumes compared to control tumors. Circulating H2 relaxin levels in sera increased with the relative size of the tumor, with moderately elevated H2 relaxin levels in mice bearing PC3‐Luc‐H2/eGFP tumors compared to PC3‐Luc‐eGFP tumors. Zymographic analysis demonstrated that proMMP‐9 enzyme activity was significantly downregulated in H2 relaxin‐overexpressing tumors. An advanced angiogenic phenotype was observed in H2 relaxin‐overexpressing tumors indicated by greater intratumoral vascularization by immunohistochemical staining of endothelial cells with anti‐mouse CD31. Moreover, PC3‐Luc‐H2/eGFP tumors exhibited increased VEGF transcript by reverse‐transcription PCR, compared to basal levels in control animals. Taken together, our study provides the first account of a potential role of H2 relaxin in prostate tumor development. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Agent Modeling Language (AML): A Comprehensive Approach to Modeling MAS

The Agent Modeling Language (AML) is a semi-formal visual modeling language for specifying, modeling and documenting systems that incorporate features drawn from multi-agent systems theory. It is specified as an extension to UML 2.0 in accordance with major OMG modeling frameworks (MDA, MOF, UML, and OCL). The ultimate objective of AML is to provide software engineers with a ready-to-use, complete and highly expressive modeling language suitable for the development of commercial software solutions based on multi-agent technologies. This paper presents an overview of AML. The scope of the language, its structure and extensibility mechanisms are discussed, and the core AML modeling constructs and mechanisms are introduced and demonstrated by examples.
Role of Bud3p in producing the axial budding pattern of yeast

Yeast cells can select bud sites in either of two distinct spatial patterns. a cells and alpha cells typically bud in an axial pattern, in which both mother and daughter cells form new buds adjacent to the preceding division site. In contrast, a/alpha cells typically bud in a bipolar pattern, in which new buds can form at either pole of the cell. The BUD3 gene is specifically required for the axial pattern of budding: mutations of BUD3 (including a deletion) affect the axial pattern but not the bipolar pattern. The sequence of BUD3 predicts a product (Bud3p) of 1635 amino acids with no strong or instructive similarities to previously known proteins. However, immunofluorescence localization of Bud3p has revealed that it assembles in an apparent double ring encircling the mother-bud neck shortly after the mitotic spindle forms. The Bud3p structure at the neck persists until cytokinesis, when it splits to yield a single ring of Bud3p marking the division site on each of the two progeny cells. These single rings remain for much of the ensuing unbudded phase and then disassemble. The Bud3p rings are indistinguishable from those of the neck filament- associated proteins (Cdc3p, Cdc10p, Cdc11p, and Cdc12p), except that the latter proteins assemble before bud emergence and remain in place for the duration of the cell cycle. Upon shift of a temperature- sensitive cdc12 mutant to restrictive temperature, localization of both Bud3p and the neck filament-associated proteins is rapidly lost. In addition, a haploid cdc11 mutant loses its axial-budding pattern upon shift to restrictive temperature. Taken together, the data suggest that Bud3p and the neck filaments are linked in a cycle in which each controls the position of the other's assembly: Bud3p assembles onto the neck filaments in one cell cycle to mark the site for axial budding (including assembly of the new ring of neck filaments) in the next cell cycle. As the expression and localization of Bud3p are similar in a, alpha, and a/alpha cells, additional regulation must exist such that Bud3p restricts the position of bud formation in a and alpha cells but not in a/alpha cells.
Acculturation and social support in relation to psychosocial adjustment of adolescent refugees resettled in Australia

This study examined how different modes of acculturation and perceived social support are related to adolescent refugee psychosocial adjustment, as measured by global self-worth and peer social acceptance. The 83 participants, aged between 12 and 19 and now resident in Australia, were from the former Republic of Yugoslavia. Those who had the most positive attitudes toward both cultures obtained the highest ratings of self-worth and peer social acceptance. In contrast, those who had negative attitudes toward both cultures had the lowest scores on these measures of psychosocial adjustment. Results were consistent with the proposition that the effects of acculturation on adjustment are mediated by peer social support.
Genome-Scale Screen for DNA Methylation-Based Detection Markers for Ovarian Cancer

Background The identification of sensitive biomarkers for the detection of ovarian cancer is of high clinical relevance for early detection and/or monitoring of disease recurrence. We developed a systematic multi-step biomarker discovery and verification strategy to identify candidate DNA methylation markers for the blood-based detection of ovarian cancer. Methodology/Principal Findings We used the Illumina Infinium platform to analyze the DNA methylation status of 27,578 CpG sites in 41 ovarian tumors. We employed a marker selection strategy that emphasized sensitivity by requiring consistency of methylation across tumors, while achieving specificity by excluding markers with methylation in control leukocyte or serum DNA. Our verification strategy involved testing the ability of identified markers to monitor disease burden in serially collected serum samples from ovarian cancer patients who had undergone surgical tumor resection compared to CA-125 levels. We identified one marker, IFFO1 promoter methylation (IFFO1-M), that is frequently methylated in ovarian tumors and that is rarely detected in the blood of normal controls. When tested in 127 serially collected sera from ovarian cancer patients, IFFO1-M showed post-resection kinetics significantly correlated with serum CA-125 measurements in six out of 16 patients. Conclusions/Significance We implemented an effective marker screening and verification strategy, leading to the identification of IFFO1-M as a blood-based candidate marker for sensitive detection of ovarian cancer. Serum levels of IFFO1-M displayed post-resection kinetics consistent with a reflection of disease burden. We anticipate that IFFO1-M and other candidate markers emerging from this marker development pipeline may provide disease detection capabilities that complement existing biomarkers.
Isolation of Zika Virus Imported from Tonga into Australia

Introduction: The globally emergent Zika virus (ZIKV) is a threat to Australia, given the number of imported cases from epidemic regions and the presence of competent mosquito vectors. We report the isolation of ZIKV from a female traveler who recently returned from Tonga to Brisbane, Queensland, Australia in 2016. Methods: A specific TaqMan real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction assay (RT-PCR) assay was used to detect ZIKV in serum and urine samples. Conventional cell culture techniques and suckling mice were employed in an attempt to isolate ZIKV from serum and urine. Results: A ZIKV isolate (TS17-2016) was recovered from the serum sample after one passage in suckling mouse brains and harvested 11 days post inoculation. Phylogenetic analysis of complete envelope (E) gene sequences demonstrated TS17-2016 shared 99.9% nucleotide identity with other contemporary sequences from Tonga 2016, Brazil 2015 and French Polynesia 2013 within the Asian lineage. Discussion: This is the first known report of successful isolation of ZIKV from a human clinical sample in Australia and the first from a traveler from Tonga. This study highlights the potential difficulties in isolating ZIKV from acute clinical samples using conventional cell culture techniques, particularly in non-endemic countries like Australia where access to samples of sufficient viral load is limited. The successful isolation of TS17-2016 will be essential for continued investigations of ZIKV transmission and pathogenicity and will enable the advancement of new preventative control measures extremely relevant to the Australian and Pacific region.
CREATINE KINASE ACTIVITY AND CARTILAGE ENERGY METABOLISM: CREATINE KINASE-CREATINE PHOSPHATE CIRCUIT ACTIVITY AND MACROMOLECULE SYNTHESIS

Earlier studies showed that there is significant creatine kinase activity in the epiphyseal growth cartilage, and there is stage-specific isoform expression. To further explore the role of this enzyme in cartilage development, we disrupted the creatine kinase - creatine phosphate (CK-CP) circuit using the creatine analogue, cyclocreatine. We found that while cyclocreatine decreased creatine kinase activity, the drug did not alter the energy status of the cell, nor did it cause a significant loss in adenine nucleotides. However, we noted that the glycolytic pathway was very sensitive to the drug. At high concentrations, cyclocreatine reduced glucose entry into the cell by 100%, and there was almost complete suppression of lactate generation. Surprisingly, there were minimal changes in creatine phosphate concentrations. Although cyclocreatine did not influence mitochondrial energy generation, the possibility existed that it could modulate other maturation-dependent activities of the cell. Indeed, we found that there was decreased expression of type II and X collagen and osteopontin. These results suggest that the circuit is primarily concerned with the transduction of energy rather than the generation or storage of high energy equivalents. In this role, the circuit would serve to facilitate nucleotide transport from sites of generation to sites of utilization.
Ecological Inference: Prior and Likelihood Choices in the Analysis of Ecological Data

A general statistical framework for ecological inference is presented, and a number of previously proposed approaches are described and critiqued within this framework. In particular, the assumptions that all approaches require to overcome the fundamental nonidentifiability problem of ecological inference are clarified. We describe a number of three-stage Bayesian hierarchical models that are flexible enough to incorporate substantive prior knowledge and additional data. We illustrate that great care must be taken when specifying prior distributions, however. The choice of the likelihood function for aggregate data is discussed, and it is argued that in the case of aggregate 2 × 2 data, a choice that is consistent with a realistic sampling scheme is a convolution of binomial distributions, which naturally incorporate the bounds on the unobserved cells of the constituent 2 × 2 tables. For large marginal counts this choice is computationally daunting, and a simple normal approximation previously described by Wakefield (2004) is discussed. Various computational schemes are described, ranging from an auxiliary data scheme for tables with small counts, to Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms that are efficient for tables with larger marginal counts. We investigate prior, likelihood, and computational choices with respect to simulated data, and also via registration–race data from four southern U.S. states.
Should Adolescents Go Back to the Basics?

The purpose of this review was to explore the effectiveness of teaching basic reading skills to adolescents. Studies that were published in the past 20 years from 1986 to 2006 were selected and reviewed on the basis of specific criteria for inclusion. Results indicated that there were 23 studies that met the criteria. Findings revealed that various programs and methods designed to teach basic reading skills were implemented with adolescents to determine their effectiveness on word identification, fluency, and comprehension skills. An analysis revealed an overall strong effect of teaching basic reading skills on adolescents' reading achievement performance, particularly on their fluency performance. Limitations and directions for future research are described as well as implications for secondary educators.
THE MANAGEMENT OF DISPUTES -- AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENT COMPENSATION IN JAPAN

We often ask why the Japanese are nonlitigious and look into the unique culture that may explain it. It is more appropriate to ask why Japan has maintained a complex industrialized society without much reliance on law. For the nonlitigious society does not come about spontaneously. Instead, it was made possible only by careful management. I elaborate this process of management through the detailed analysis of automobile accident compensation disputes in Japan.
Battered Women’s Process of Leaving

This study is a follow-up investigation of the career and life experiences of battered women two years after shelter exit. Using consensual qualitative research, we interviewed 6 women from our original sample of 13 regarding their career and life adjustments and future aspirations. Results indicated that participants generally reported both internal and external barriers to their career goals and were dissatisfied with their current housing. In addition, women typically desired education and career advancement with preferred careers in the helping and service fields. Findings imply that long after women leave the shelter and their abusive relationships they will need the continued support of vocational psychologists to provide career assessment and counseling with focus on long-term career and educational opportunities that are commensurate with their chosen fields of interest. Longitudinal research that exceeds a two-year follow-up is needed to comprehensively assess the career needs and life adjustment of battered women survivors.
Characteristics of Coupled Solitary Waves in Nerve Impulse Transmission with Dissipation

Solitary wave is a traveling wave of pulse shape and can travel long distances with little loss of energy or structure. In this letter, characteristics of solitary waves in nerve impulse transmission with high speed are studied. Nonlinear coupling of solitary waves in the presence of dissipation of neurotransmitter is considered in the framework of the coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations. Interaction between the coupled solitary waves in the different and same position is analyzed; the influence of dissipation on the interaction is investigated; the transmission property for the uncoupled nerve impulses is discussed briefly. Research shows that the principle of solitary wave can explain some transmission features of nerve impulse and may provide certain theory reference and model for applying solitary wave to the deep exploration into nerve impulse transmission.
A Practical Privacy-Preserving Cooperative Computation Protocol without Oblivious Transfer for Linear Systems of Equations

We propose several practical SMC protocols for privacy-preserving cooperative scientific computations. We consider two important scientific computations which involve linear equations: the linear systems of equations problem and the linear least-square problem. The protocols proposed in this paper achieve acceptable security in the sense of Du-Zhan`s paradigm and t-wise collusion-resistance, and their communication complexity is O(tm), where t is a security parameter and m is the total number of participants. The complexity of our protocol is significantly better than the previous result O() of [4], in which the oblivious transfer protocol is used as an important building block.