Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The research act: A theoretical introduction to sociological methods

At once a unique textbook for methods courses and a major contribution to sociological theory, this book teaches students the principles of research and how to construct and test theories. It brings coherence to the study of methods by presenting four major approaches to experimentation: survey research, participant observation,life histories, and unobtrusive measures from a single theoretical point of view,symbolic interaction. It demonstrates the need for a synthesis between theory and methods, and shows how diff erent methods limit and aff ect research results.
Soliton propagation in nonuniform media.

The inverse-spectral-transform method of solution is shown to be applicable to the physically interesting problem of the nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation with a general ``potential'' term, ${\mathrm{iq}}_{t}$+${q}_{\mathrm{xx}}$+2[\ensuremath{\Vert}q${\ensuremath{\Vert}}^{2}$-F(x)]q=0. The method determines the class of solutions that are symmetric or antisymmetric in x. This is done with the help of a modification of the Ablowitz-Kaup-Newell-Segur and Zakharov-Shabat (AKNS-ZS) formalism incorporating an x- and t-dependent eigenvalue parameter \ensuremath{\zeta}, together with a transformation of variables. In certain physical applications, F(x) describes the inhomogeneity of the medium in which nonlinear wave propagation occurs. The functions F(x) for which the equation is amenable to solution by our method are shown to fall into two classes, depending on whether or not \ensuremath{\zeta} is explicitly t dependent. If it is, we show that F(x) must be a general quadratic function of x. An explicit solution q(x,t) is written down and interpreted for a parabolic potential barrier. If \ensuremath{\zeta} is independent of t, we find that localized solutions with static envelopes can exist for certain other functional forms of F(x). Finally, we comment on the extension of the analysis to explicitly time-dependent potentials or inhomogeneities F(x,t).
Disposable Screen Printed Electrochemical Sensors: Tools for Environmental Monitoring

Screen printing technology is a widely used technique for the fabrication of electrochemical sensors. This methodology is likely to underpin the progressive drive towards miniaturized, sensitive and portable devices, and has already established its route from “lab-to-market” for a plethora of sensors. The application of these sensors for analysis of environmental samples has been the major focus of research in this field. As a consequence, this work will focus on recent important advances in the design and fabrication of disposable screen printed sensors for the electrochemical detection of environmental contaminants. Special emphasis is given on sensor fabrication methodology, operating details and performance characteristics for environmental applications.
Tradeoffs in the Design of the IBM Computer Usability Satisfaction Questionnaires

Psychometrics is a well-developed field in psychology, and usability researchers began to use psychometric methods to develop and evaluate questionnaires to assess usability a little over ten years ago (Sweeney & Dillon, 1987). The goal of psychometrics is to establish the quality of psychological measures (Nunnally, 1978). Is a measure reliable (consistent)? Given a reliable measure, is it valid (measures the intended attribute)? Finally, is the measure appropriately sensitive to experimental manipulations? Here is a brief review of some basic elements of standard psychometric practice.
Common and Unique Network Dynamics in Football Games

The sport of football is played between two teams of eleven players each using a spherical ball. Each team strives to score by driving the ball into the opposing goal as the result of skillful interactions among players. Football can be regarded from the network perspective as a competitive relationship between two cooperative networks with a dynamic network topology and dynamic network node. Many complex large-scale networks have been shown to have topological properties in common, based on a small-world network and scale-free network models. However, the human dynamic movement pattern of this network has never been investigated in a real-world setting. Here, we show that the power law in degree distribution emerged in the passing behavior in the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final and an international “A” match in Japan, by describing players as vertices connected by links representing passes. The exponent values are similar to the typical values that occur in many real-world networks, which are in the range of , and are larger than that of a gene transcription network, . Furthermore, we reveal the stochastically switched dynamics of the hub player throughout the game as a unique feature in football games. It suggests that this feature could result not only in securing vulnerability against intentional attack, but also in a power law for self-organization. Our results suggest common and unique network dynamics of two competitive networks, compared with the large-scale networks that have previously been investigated in numerous works. Our findings may lead to improved resilience and survivability not only in biological networks, but also in communication networks.
Altered gene expression in Schwann cells of connexin32 knockout animals

The discovery that the dominant X‐linked form of Charcot‐Marie‐Tooth disease (CMTX), a genetic disease of the peripheral nervous system (PNS), is associated with mutations in connexin32 (Cx32) has brought attention to the importance of connexins in glial cell biology. To gain further insight into the consequences of Cx32 deficiency, we have undertaken a detailed characterization of the gene expression profile of Schwann cells isolated from the sciatic nerve of wild‐type and Cx32‐null mice. Schwann cells exhibit two distinct phenotypes, myelinating and nonmyelinating, which are defined by their different morphology with respect to axons and by their unique profile of gene expression. Our findings show that, regardless of the mouse genotype, cultured Schwann cells express similar levels of messages for a number of connexins and for genes characteristic of both the myelinating and the nonmyelinating phenotypes. Furthermore, we have identified Cx36, a member of the γ subclass of connexins, which are preferentially expressed in neuronal cells of mouse brain and retina, as an additional connexin present in Schwann cells. Mice lacking Cx32, however, exhibited a marked up‐regulation of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), a cytoskeletal protein usually synthesized only by nonmyelinating Schwann cells. This observation was extended to the PNS in vivo and did not reflect a general perturbation of the expression of other nonmyelinating Schwann cell genes. These findings demonstrate that the absence of Cx32 results in a distinct pattern of gene dysregulation in Schwann cells and that Schwann cell homeostasis is critically dependent on the correct expression of Cx32 and not just any connexin. Identifying the relationship between increased GFAP expression and the absence of Cx32 could lead to the definition of specific roles for Cx32 in the control of myelin homeostasis and in the development of CMTX. J. Neurosci. Res. 66:23–36, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
From a Tea Event to a Host Destination: Linking Motivation, Image, Satisfaction and Loyalty

Abstract In a highly competitive tourism environment, capitalizing on culinary resources such as food and beverage-related events is an effective marketing tool that can enhance a destination image and tourist experience. This study adopted an integrated approach to understand culinary tourist behavior by examining the theoretical and empirical evidence of the relationship between motivation, image, satisfaction and loyalty. The concept of image, which provides for experiential perception and affect, was introduced and explored as a link between psychological constructs. Data from 543 subjects were collected at the Tea Cultural Festival in South Korea. The findings suggest that tourists’ positive perception of the event featuring local food and tea can have a positive influence on their decision-making process about holiday destinations. This study contributes to tourism marketing strategies and tourism planning as well as the theoretical development on culinary tourists’ behavior.
Intrusion-Tolerant Reliable Broadcast

We consider a system with n processes where some of them can show a byzantine behavior. A byzantine process can deviate arbitrarily from the protocol, e.g., dropping messages, changing the content of a message (different recipients may receive different content of the same broadcast message), delivering messages not sent by any process or creating fake messages. This paper introduces a new broadcast abstraction, namely Intrusion-tolerant Reliable Broadcast (IT-RB). IT-RB ensures that if a message M(v) (where v is the content of M) is broadcast by a correct process, all correct processes will deliver v. Consider now {v1, . , vk} (with 1 ≤ k < n) be the set of contents associated with M and sent to other processes by a byzantine one, IT-RB ensures: if the sender of the broadcast M is byzantine, then a subset of correct processes deliver the same content v ∈ {v1, . , vk} while the rest of correct processes deliver ⊥. We first provide a protocol P implementing IT-RB and prove its correctness. P can deliver an infinite number of ⊥ in an infinite run. Secondly, we introduce an oracle detecting byzantine processes running P , namely P-LO, and provide an implementation of P-LO. Such oracle exploits the information collected by a process running P to infer bad process behaviors and to remove them from the computation. Considering an infinite run generated by P∗, i.e. a protocol that runs together P plus P-LO, we finally show that the number of ⊥ delivered by correct processes is finite.
Error models for light sensors by statistical analysis of raw sensor measurements

Error modeling is a procedure of quantitatively characterizing the likelihood that a particular value of error is associated with a particular measured value. Error modeling directly affects accuracy and effectiveness of many tasks in sensor-based systems including calibration, sensor fusion and power management. We developed a system of statistical techniques that calculate the likelihood that error of a particular value is part of a measurement. The error modeling approach has three steps: (i) data set partitioning; (ii) constructing the error density model; and (iii) learn-and-test and resubstitution-based procedures for validating the models. The data set partitioning identifies a specified percentage of measurements that have the highest negative discrepancy between sensor and standard measurements. The partitioning step employs data fitting models to identify compact curves that represent the partitioned subsets. The error density modeling uses the compact curves to build the probability density function (PDF) of the error. For validation purposes, we use a resubstitution-based paradigm.
Internet Video Search and Repurposing through Face Analysis

With the ever-growing amount of videos on the internet, searching for desired videos in an effective and efficient way remains a challenge. In addition, repurposing videos of interest into new attractive photo/video products has been an open issue. In this paper, we propose a framework for video retrieval and repurposing by leveraging the face information in videos. Since text query cannot express user's intent precisely and it may generate noisy result, an automatic query image generation method is proposed to provide user with visual and intuitive candidate images. Then, based on user-selected query image, videos are re-ranked through content analysis so that videos with higher relevance can emerge to the top. Furthermore, relevant segments and frames are obtained and they can be used to compose customized photo/video products, which provides user with a fresh experience as a creator. In this paper, a prototype of video retrieval and repurposing system is implemented for retrieving videos of celebrities and generating customized products. Experiments have been done on 3416 video clips related to about 103 celebrities downloaded from YouTube. The experimental results show the effectiveness of our proposed method.
Sox2 acts as a rheostat of epithelial to mesenchymal transition during neural crest development

Precise control of self-renewal and differentiation of progenitor cells into the cranial neural crest (CNC) pool ensures proper head development, guided by signaling pathways such as BMPs, FGFs, Shh and Notch. Here, we show that murine Sox2 plays an essential role in controlling progenitor cell behavior during craniofacial development. A “Conditional by Inversion” Sox2 allele (Sox2COIN) has been employed to generate an epiblast ablation of Sox2 function (Sox2EpINV). Sox2EpINV/+(H) haploinsufficient and conditional (Sox2EpINV/mosaic) mutant embryos proceed beyond gastrulation and die around E11. These mutant embryos exhibit severe anterior malformations, with hydrocephaly and frontonasal truncations, which could be attributed to the deregulation of CNC progenitor cells during their epithelial to mesenchymal transition. This irregularity results in an exacerbated and aberrant migration of Sox10+ NCC in the branchial arches and frontonasal process of the Sox2 mutant embryos. These results suggest a novel role for Sox2 as a regulator of the epithelial to mesenchymal transitions (EMT) that are important for the cell flow in the developing head.
NEWS CONSUMPTION ACROSS MULTIPLE MEDIA PLATFORMS

The recent trend of media convergence poses serious challenges to existing theoretical frameworks, such as uses and gratifications and the agenda-setting theories, for media choice and effects. This study adopts a repertoire approach to news consumption in the complex contemporary media environment. This approach emphasizes patterns of multiple media use, rather than single media selection, for accessing the news. A computer-aided telephone survey with representative samples from three advanced media markets in China shows that a majority of the survey respondents employ multiple media platforms for news consumption. Users' interest in and availability to news affects the size of their repertoires. Their perceptions of news source credibility influence their news media choice that results in different compositions of the repertoires. An exploratory factor analysis identifies both complementary and converging patterns of media use by the respondents. Finally, the difference in the internal architecture of the repertoires occasioned by the choice of media is associated with diverging news agendas among the news audience.
Decentralized linearized alternating direction method of multipliers

This paper develops a decentralized linearized alternating direction method of multipliers (LADMM) that minimizes the sum of local cost functions in a multi-agent network. Through linearizing the local cost functions agents can obtain their local solutions with simple algebraic operations and gradient descent steps. We prove that the algorithm linearly converges to the optimal solution given that the local cost functions are strongly convex and have Lipschitz gradients. The decentralized LADMM has similar computations as the distributed (sub)gradient method but outperforms the latter, which is unable to achieve linear rate of convergence and convergence to the exact optimal solution simultaneously. Compared to its non-linearized counterpart that suffers from high computation burden, the decentralized LADMM has a comparable rate of convergence according to both theoretical analysis and numerical experiments.
Attaining Communicative Competency in Pharmacy Practice: A Retrospective Analysis of the Construction of a Communication Course for International Pharmacy Graduates

The ability to communicate effectively is an essential skill required by licensed pharmacists and it plays an integral role in meeting standards of practice. Acquiring the communication skills needed to successfully complete these standards of practice can be particularly challenging for International Pharmacy Graduates, or IPGs, many of whom are second language learners. This paper retrospectively analyses the construction of a communication course for IPGs, viewed through the theories of Lev Vygotsky and Donald Schon, which assists the IPGs in developing their communication skills for the Canadian context and applying them in increasingly independent ways. Course satisfaction surveys from two IPG cohorts were reviewed for qualitative feedback that would discuss the students’ appreciation for the course design in relation to their learning. In general, students appreciated the learning supports in the first half of the course, but had more difficulty with the second half of the course that was designed to create a level of ambiguity that mimicked real life pharmacy practice. The authors felt more research is needed in this area of instruction design; however, this unique course design could have future implications for teaching communicative competency for international health care professionals.
Molecular Structure and Dimeric Organization of the Notch Extracellular Domain as Revealed by Electron Microscopy

Background The Notch receptor links cell fate decisions of one cell to that of the immediate cellular neighbor. In humans, malfunction of Notch signaling results in diseases and congenital disorders. Structural information is essential for gaining insight into the mechanism of the receptor as well as for potentially interfering with its function for therapeutic purposes. Methodology/Principal Findings We used the Affinity Grid approach to prepare specimens of the Notch extracellular domain (NECD) of the Drosophila Notch and human Notch1 receptors suitable for analysis by electron microscopy and three-dimensional (3D) image reconstruction. The resulting 3D density maps reveal that the NECD structure is conserved across species. We show that the NECD forms a dimer and adopts different yet defined conformations, and we identify the membrane-proximal region of the receptor and its ligand-binding site. Conclusions/Significance Our results provide direct and unambiguous evidence that the NECD forms a dimer. Our studies further show that the NECD adopts at least three distinct conformations that are likely related to different functional states of the receptor. These findings open the way to now correlate mutations in the NECD with its oligomeric state and conformation.
Protected Graft Copolymer (PGC) in Imaging and Therapy: A Platform for the Delivery of Covalently and Non-Covalently Bound Drugs

Initially developed in 1992 as an MR imaging agent, the family of protected graft copolymers (PGC) is based on a conjugate of polylysine backbone to which methoxypoly(ethylene glycol) (MPEG) chains are covalently linked in a random fasion via N-ε-amino groups. While PGC is relatively simple in terms of its chemcial composition and structure, it has proved to be a versatile platform for in vivo drug delivery. The advantages of poly amino acid backbone grafting include multiple available linking sites for drug and adaptor molecules. The grafting of PEG chains to PGC does not compromise biodegradability and does not result in measurable toxicity or immunogenicity. In fact, the biocompatablility of PGC has resulted in its being one of the few 100% synthetic non-proteinaceous macromolecules that has suceeded in passing the initial safety phase of clinical trials. PGC is capable of long circulation times after injection into the blood stream and as such found use early on as a carrier system for delivery of paramagnetic imaging compounds for angiography. Other PGC types were later developed for use in nuclear medicine and optical imaging applications in vivo. Recent developments in PGC-based drug carrier formulations include the use of zinc as a bridge between the PGC carrier and zinc-binding proteins and re-engineering of the PGC carrier as a covalent amphiphile that is capabe of binding to hydrophobic residues of small proteins and peptides. At present, PGC-based formulations have been developed and tested in various disease models for: 1) MR imaging local blood circulation in stroke, cancer and diabetes; 2) MR and nuclear imaging of blood volume and vascular permeability in inflammation; 3) optical imaging of proteolytic activity in cancer and inflammation; 4) delivery of platinum(II) compounds for treating cancer; 5) delivery of small proteins and peptides for treating diabetes, obesity and myocardial infarction. This review summarizes the experience accumulated by various research groups that chose to use PGC as a drug delivery platform.
Construct validity of a revised Physical Activity Scale and testing by cognitive interviewing

Aim: To validate the construct validity of a new version of a Physical Activity Scale (PAS 2) for measuring average weekly physical activity of sleep, work, and leisure time to determine whether a further criterion validation is justified. Methods: The validity of responses to the questionnaire was evaluated by cognitive interviewing in 16 Danish men and women aged 21—70 years. Construct validity was validated in 342 men and women aged 35—66 years by assessing agreement between 24-h MET-scores obtained from average weekly physical activity measured by PAS 2 and a 24-h Physical Activity Scale (PAS 1), previously found to overestimate physical activity. Results: Cognitive interviewing revealed few problems in the questions on physical activity in different domains. No problems regarding the structure of the questionnaire were identified. The agreement between PAS 1 and PAS 2 MET-scores was high among participants with a PAS 1 24-h MET-score <45 MET-hours. Among participants with a PAS 1 24-h MET-score ≥45 MET-hours, the weekly-based scale, PAS 2, systematically estimated fewer MET-hours compared to the 24-h based scale, PAS 1. The difference increased proportionally with the average of the two MET-scores. Conclusions: Few, small, lexical revisions were implemented into the new scale to improve the validity. As hypothesized, PAS 2 produced lower estimates of energy expenditure compared to PAS 1, indicating that the new scale may provide more valid measurements and that further validation against an objective criterion is justified.
TUDCA: An Agonist of the Bile Acid Receptor GPBAR1/TGR5 With Anti‐Inflammatory Effects in Microglial Cells

Bile acids are steroid acids found in the bile of mammals. The bile acid conjugate tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) is neuroprotective in different animal models of stroke and neurological diseases. We have previously shown that TUDCA has anti‐inflammatory effects on glial cell cultures and in a mouse model of acute neuroinflammation. We show now that microglial cells (central nervous system resident macrophages) express the G protein‐coupled bile acid receptor 1/Takeda G protein‐coupled receptor 5 (GPBAR1/TGR5) in vivo and in vitro. TUDCA binding to GPBAR1/TGR5 caused an increase in intracellular cAMP levels in microglia that induced anti‐inflammatory markers, while reducing pro‐inflammatory ones. This anti‐inflammatory effect of TUDCA was inhibited by small interference RNA for GPBAR1/TGR5 receptor, as well as by treatment with a protein kinase A (PKA) inhibitor. In the mouse model of acute neuroinflammation, treating the animals with TUDCA was clearly anti‐inflammatory. TUDCA biased the microglial phenotype in vivo and in vitro toward the anti‐inflammatory. The bile acid receptor GPBAR1/TGR5 could be a new therapeutic target for pathologies coursing with neuroinflammation and microglia activation, such as traumatic brain injuries, stroke, or neurodegenerative diseases. TUDCA and other GPBAR1/TGR5 agonists need to be further investigated, to determine their potential in attenuating the neuropathologies associated with microglia activation. J. Cell. Physiol. 232: 2231–2245, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.