Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Web Social Science: Concepts, Data, and Tools for Social Scientists in the Digital Age, by Robert Ackland (Sage, London, 2013), pp. 202.

The aim of this book is to explain how web data and digital traces are revolutionising social sciences and providing new research questions, new methods and new insights. The digital revolution has not only changed the way individuals search for information, work, interact with friends or other people, and consume goods and services, but also generated new sources of data that allow social scientists to revisit traditional questions such as social influence, collective action and political engagement, as well as to address new research questions. Through the Internet, researchers potentially have access to massive amounts of data and can conduct online surveys or experiments to study organisations and individual behaviour.
Bacterial Zoonoses and Infective Endocarditis, Algeria

Blood culture–negative endocarditis is common in Algeria. We describe the etiology of infective endocarditis in this country. Samples from 110 cases in 108 patients were collected in Algiers. Blood cultures were performed in Algeria. Serologic and molecular analysis of valves was performed in France. Infective endocarditis was classified as definite in 77 cases and possible in 33. Causative agents were detected by blood cultures in 48 cases. All 62 blood culture–negative endocarditis cases were tested by serologic or molecular methods or both. Of these, 34 tested negative and 28 had an etiologic agent identified. A total of 18 infective endocarditis cases were caused by zoonotic and arthropodborne bacteria, including Bartonella quintana (14 cases), Brucella melitensis (2 cases), and Coxiella burnetii (2 cases). Our data underline the high prevalence of infective endocarditis caused by Bartonella quintana in northern Africa and the role of serologic and molecular tools for the diagnosis of blood culture–negative endocarditis.
The Brain Must Go Back to the Future: an Exploration of Mental Time Travel

Memory research has been „stuck in the past‟ for more than two decades. In recent years, however, it has been realised that backward travel to relive past events (episodic memory) underlies forward travel to simulate future events (episodic future thinking). This advancement can be attributed to a number of neuroimaging and patient studies that have allowed mental time travel (MTT), the ability to recall the past and simulate the future, to be unpacked. This article will introduce the intriguing concept of MTT and present the recent developments in this field of neural research. Given that the human brain assembles episodic fragments to form a predictive mosaic, researchers have been asking whether animals also possess the capacity to recall or imagine events. The answer to this question is of tremendous importance to animal welfare and may also provide clues about the evolution of the human mind. Since the concept of MTT was first conceived it has been argued that only humans possess this cognitive ability, an assertion referred to as the Bischof-Kohler hypothesis. However, recent studies have challenged this hypothesis by demonstrating that nonhuman animals exhibit behavioural elements expected of MTT. This article will thus also weigh the evidence for the existence of MTT in nonhumans against the null hypothesis.
Dynamical supersymmetry breaking at low energies.

Conventional approaches to supersymmetric model building suffer from several naturalness problems: they do not explain the large hierarchy between the weak scale and the Planck mass, and they require fine-tuning to avoid large flavor-changing neutral currents and particle electric dipole moments. The existence of models with dynamical supersymmetry breaking, which can explain the hierarchy, has been known for some time, but efforts to build such models have suffered from unwanted axions and difficulties with asymptotic freedom. In this paper we describe an approach to model building with supersymmetry broken at comparatively low energies which solves these problems, and give a realistic example.
Workplace bullying: modelling construct validity in an Australian public sector workforce

Background: Measuring workplace bullying is a challenge as different workforces have different issues. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the construct validity and reliability of a Workplace Bullying Inventory (WBI) that was originally derived and validated in a nursing workforce in a broader sample of the Australian public sector workforce. Method: A two-stage procedure was employed with a large sample of volunteer public sector workforce union members (n=1,508), randomly split in two halves. The first sample (n=754) was analysed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and the second sample (n=754) through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using MPlus. The WBI consisted of 20 items related to bullying behaviours; 17 of which we had previously validated for use in an Australian nursing workforce. An additional 3 items were included from other workforce bullying scales in order to enhance the generalizability of the scale to a wider workforce. Results: The final model, identified in sample 1 and validated in sample 2 (CFA), best represented workplace bullying as three reliable first-order factors, together loading 13 items; Social Intimidation with 6 items (α = 0.88), Personal Attack with 4 (α = 0.84) and Attack through Work Tasks with 3 items (α= 0.85). Discussion: The modelling demonstrates that workplace bullying is a complex construct, consisting of multiple factors. The original measure derived from the nursing workforce demonstrates broad applicability in different public sector workforce contexts. Differences in the factor structure of the WB construct in this study when compared to the earlier nursing study suggest subtle differences may exist in the nature of bullying across workgroup settings. Future work in theory development should investigate further the complexities of the construct in order to learn how to manage and ultimately prevent WB behaviours.
HIF–VEGF Pathways Are Critical for Chronic Otitis Media in Junbo and Jeff Mouse Mutants

Otitis media with effusion (OME) is the commonest cause of hearing loss in children, yet the underlying genetic pathways and mechanisms involved are incompletely understood. Ventilation of the middle ear with tympanostomy tubes is the commonest surgical procedure in children and the best treatment for chronic OME, but the mechanism by which they work remains uncertain. As hypoxia is a common feature of inflamed microenvironments, moderation of hypoxia may be a significant contributory mechanism. We have investigated the occurrence of hypoxia and hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) mediated responses in Junbo and Jeff mouse mutant models, which develop spontaneous chronic otitis media. We found that Jeff and Junbo mice labeled in vivo with pimonidazole showed cellular hypoxia in inflammatory cells in the bulla lumen, and in Junbo the middle ear mucosa was also hypoxic. The bulla fluid inflammatory cell numbers were greater and the upregulation of inflammatory gene networks were more pronounced in Junbo than Jeff. Hif-1α gene expression was elevated in bulla fluid inflammatory cells, and there was upregulation of its target genes including Vegfa in Junbo and Jeff. We therefore investigated the effects in Junbo of small-molecule inhibitors of VEGFR signaling (PTK787, SU-11248, and BAY 43-9006) and destabilizing HIF by inhibiting its chaperone HSP90 with 17-DMAG. We found that both classes of inhibitor significantly reduced hearing loss and the occurrence of bulla fluid and that VEGFR inhibitors moderated angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis in the inflamed middle ear mucosa. The effectiveness of HSP90 and VEGFR signaling inhibitors in suppressing OM in the Junbo model implicates HIF–mediated VEGF as playing a pivotal role in OM pathogenesis. Our analysis of the Junbo and Jeff mutants highlights the role of hypoxia and HIF–mediated pathways, and we conclude that targeting molecules in HIF–VEGF signaling pathways has therapeutic potential in the treatment of chronic OM.
Nevirapine Concentration in Hair Samples Is a Strong Predictor of Virologic Suppression in a Prospective Cohort of HIV-Infected Patients

Effective antiretroviral (ARV) therapy depends on adequate drug exposure, yet methods to assess ARV exposure are limited. Concentrations of ARV in hair are the product of steady-state pharmacokinetics factors and longitudinal adherence. We investigated nevirapine (NVP) concentrations in hair as a predictor of treatment response in women receiving ARVs. In participants of the Women’s Interagency HIV Study, who reported NVP use for >1 month from 2003–2008, NVP concentrations in hair were measured via liquid-chromatography-tandem mass-spectrometry. The outcome was virologic suppression (plasma HIV RNA below assay threshold) at the time of hair sampling and the primary predictor was nevirapine concentration categorized into quartiles. We controlled for age, race/ethnicity, pre-treatment HIV RNA, CD4 cell count, and self-reported adherence over the 6-month visit interval (categorized ≤ 74%, 75%–94% or ≥ 95%). We also assessed the relation of NVP concentration with changes in hepatic transaminase levels via multivariate random intercept logistic regression and linear regression analyses. 271 women contributed 1089 person-visits to the analysis (median 3 of semi-annual visits). Viral suppression was least frequent in concentration quartile 1 (86/178 (48.3%)) and increased in higher quartiles (to 158/204 (77.5%) for quartile 4). The odds of viral suppression in the highest concentration quartile were 9.17 times (95% CI 3.2–26, P < 0.0001) those in the lowest. African-American race was associated with lower rates of virologic suppression independent of NVP hair concentration. NVP concentration was not significantly associated with patterns of serum transaminases. Concentration of NVP in hair was a strong independent predictor of virologic suppression in women taking NVP, stronger than self-reported adherence, but did not appear to be strongly predictive of hepatotoxicity.
Aromatase, adiposity, aging and disease. The hypogonadal-metabolic-atherogenic-disease and aging connection.

In males, aging, health and disease are processes that occur over physiologic time and involve a cascade of hormonal, biochemical and physiological changes that accompany the down-regulation of the hypothalamic-anterior pituitary-testicular axis. As aging progresses there are relative increases of body fat and decreases in muscle mass. The increased adipose tissue mass is associated with the production of a number of newly generated factors. These include aromatase, leptin, PAI-1, insulin resistance, and the dyslipidemias, all of which can lead to tissue damage. Fatty tissue becomes the focal point for study as it represents the intersection between energy storage and mobilization. The increase in adipose tissue is associated with an increase in the enzyme aromatase that converts testosterone to estradiol and leads to diminished testosterone levels that favor the preferential deposition of visceral fat. As the total body fat mass increases, hormone resistance develops for leptin and insulin. Increasing leptin fails to prevent weight gain and the hypogonadal-obesity cycle ensues causing further visceral obesity and insulin resistance. The progressive insulin resistance leads to a high triglyceride-low HDL pattern of dyslipidemia and increased cardiovascular risk. All of these factors eventually contribute to the CHAOS Complex: coronary disease, hypertension, adult-onset diabetes mellitus, obesity and/or stroke as permanent changes unfold. Other consequences of the chronic hypogonadal state include osteopenia, extreme fatigue, depression, insomnia, loss of aggressiveness and erectile dysfunction all of which develop over variable periods of time.
Heterogeneity and Distributional Form of Farm‐Level Yields

Representing farm-level crop yield heterogeneity and distributional form is critical for risk and crop insurance research. Most studies have used county data, understating both systematic and random variation. Comparison of systematic versus random intra-county variation is lacking. Few studies compare the various distributional forms that have been proposed. This study utilizes the extensive potential of government farm-level crop insurance data. Results show that systematic intra-county variation is surprisingly strong. A newly applied reverse lognormal distribution is preferred when county-wide variation is removed, but the normal distribution fits surprisingly well in the crop insurance relevant percentiles when county-wide variation is not removed. Copyright 2010, Oxford University Press.
Reproductive performance of sows treated with a combination of pregnant mare's serum gonadotropin and human chorionic gonadotropin at weaning in the summer.

During the summer and fall of 1987, sows from eight herds in three states were assigned randomly to receive either a combination of 400 IU of pregnant mare's serum gonadotropin with 200 IU of hCG (P.G. 600) or no treatment at weaning. A treatment x parity interaction was observed for days to first estrus after treatment and percentage anestrus (percentage of sows not achieving estrus within 10 d after weaning). Relative to primiparous control sows, primiparous sows given P.G. 600 expressed estrus sooner (P less than .02) after weaning (6.0 vs 7.8 +/- .6 d) and exhibited less (P less than .02) postweaning anestrus (15.6 vs 29.2 +/- 4.0%). Second parity sows that received P.G. 600 showed estrus sooner (P less than .06) than second-parity control sows (4.7 vs 6.4 +/- .7 d). Days to first estrus after treatment did not differ between groups for parity-three and older sows, and percentage anestrus was not different between treatments for parity-two and older sows. The herd X treatment interaction was significant for percentage recycled (percentage of successfully mated sows that returned to estrus), subsequent farrowing rate, and subsequent number of pigs born dead. Number of pigs born alive was lower for sows treated with P.G. 600 than for control sows (10.55 vs 10.10 +/- .18; P less than .02). In summary, treatment of sows weaned in the summer and fall with P.G. 600 had decreased days to postweaning estrus in parity-one and -two sows and reduced frequency of postweaning anestrus in primiparous sows.
The Role of PISA in Shaping Hegemonic Educational Discourses, Policies and Practices: The Case of Spain

The aim of this article is to analyse the direct and indirect effects that PISA generates in the orientation of educational policies and reforms in Spain and the ways in which PISA data and results are used in political discourses, at both national and sub-national levels. The main hypothesis of the article is that PISA results have played a key role in shaping Spanish hegemonic educational discourses, policies and practices, setting the framework of what is thinkable and doable in education. To explore this hypothesis, the article identifies two main mechanisms that have become a regular recourse in national educational policy discourse – selectivity and instrumentalisation – providing several examples of their use in recent Spanish education reforms.
Toward an Integrated Structural Model of the 26S Proteasome*

The 26S proteasome is the end point of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway and degrades ubiquitylated substrates. It is composed of the 20S core particle (CP), where degradation occurs, and the 19S regulatory particle (RP), which ensures substrate specificity of degradation. Whereas the CP is resolved to atomic resolution, the architecture of the RP is largely unknown. We provide a comprehensive analysis of the current structural knowledge on the RP, including structures of the RP subunits, physical protein-protein interactions, and cryoelectron microscopy data. These data allowed us to compute an atomic model for the CP-AAA-ATPase subcomplex. In addition to this atomic model, further subunits can be mapped approximately, which lets us hypothesize on the substrate path during its degradation.
A Binocular Motor System Model and Its Application to Robot Eye Control

In this paper, we propose a binocular motor system model from the viewpoint of systems and control engineering based on the anatomic structure and physiological function of the brainstem.Using the model, a unified transfer function is obtained for the different dynamic characteristics of conjugate and vergence eye movements including smooth pursuit, optokinetic response (OKR) and vestibuloocular reflex (VOR). Pairs of symmetrical coordinate systems are introduced to describe the kinematic and dynamic characteristics of the binocular movement, and account for the symmetrical structures and functions of the pairs of organs in the oculomotor system. A robot-eye system with a control system similar to the model is described. The robot-eye system exhibits several characteristics specific to human-eye movement, including: (1) Two-eye-one-point. Both eyes move in tandem and have the same target point in the central pits. This characteristic is considered as a basic condition for structuring a stereo-image using the image signals from both eyes. (2) Moving together. That is to say, if one eye is shut or obstructed by an obstacle, the eye will follow the movement of the other eye so that it can find the target swiftly when the eye is opened or the obstacle is removed. (3) Blur-compensation. The binocular motor system and the robot-eye system have the ability to compensate for the blurs caused by rotational and translational head movement.
Modeling and control of robotic surgical platform for single-port access surgery

In this paper, we present a modeling and control method for a single-port access robot developed by our robotics group at the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology. The surgical robot consists of a snake-like 6-degree-of-freedom (DOF) guide tube, two 7-DOF tools, a 3-DOF stereo camera, and a 5-DOF slave arm. The robot is capable of reaching various surgical sites inside the abdominal cavity from a single incision on the body. To estimate the workspace and control the guide tube to a desired location, we first obtain the forward kinematics model of the guide tube and then propose a Cartesian-level controller. The wire actuation mechanism for the tools exhibit nonlinear backlash behavior because of wire compliance and friction between the wire and Teflon-coated conduit. We compensate for the backlash in the tool joints by adding the backlash inverse with smoothing term as a feedforward term.
Force reflection algorithm for improved transparency in bilateral teleoperation with communication delay

The problem of stable force-reflecting teleoperation with time-varying communication delay is addressed. A new force reflection algorithm is presented, where the environmental force reflected on the master side can be altered depending on the forces applied by the human operator. This alteration is not felt by the human operator, however, it makes the force reflection safe in the sense it does not destroy the stability of the teleoperator. In particular, using IOS small gain approach, it is shown that the overall stability in the teleoperator system with the force-reflecting algorithm proposed can be achieved theoretically for arbitrarily low damping on the master side and arbitrarily high force-reflection gain. The simulation results are presented that confirm that the proposed scheme allows to decrease master damping significantly, and thus improve the transparency of force-reflecting teleoperation, without sacrificing the overall stability
Hearing loss in rats caused by inhalation of mixed xylenes and styrene

We have reported that inhalation exposure of rats to toluene causes permanent hearing loss, e.g. Pryor et al. Neurobehav. Toxicol. Teratol. 5, 53–62 (1983). Therefore, it was of considerable interest to examine the ototoxic potential of two structurally related solvents—mixed xylenes and styrene—compared with that of toluene. Male, weanling Fischer‐344 rats were exposed to clean air or solvents in four identical 62.5 I Pfexiglas chambers. Exposures to 800, 1000, and 1200 ppm were daily for 14 hours/day and lasted 6 weeks for mixed xylenes, 3 weeks for styrene. An additional experiment with xylenes examined the effect of exposure for only 4 (1700 ppm) or 8 (1450 ppm) hours or for 8 (1450 ppm) hours on three consecutive days to compare the results with those obtained with toluene under comparable exposure schedules. Both xylenes and styrene caused marked hearing loss as assessed by behavioral (conditioned avoidance) and electrophysiologic (brainstem auditory‐evoked response) methods. Moreover, both solvents appeared to be more potent ototoxicants than toluene, as indicated by effective concentration, effective durations of exposure, and the range of frequencies affected.
Addressing phonological questions with ultrasound

Ultrasound can be used to address unresolved questions in phonological theory. To date, some studies have shown that results from ultrasound imaging can shed light on how differences in phonological elements are implemented. Phenomena that have been investigated include transitional schwa, vowel coalescence, and transparent vowels. A study of consonant cluster phonotactics is presented as an example of how ultrasound methodology can be used to examine phonological issues. Five English speakers presented with phonotactically illegal non‐words (e.g., /zgomu/) typically repaired these sequences with vowel insertion (e.g., [z▒gomu]). Using ultrasound imaging, the production of these words is compared to legal sequences that are articulatorily similar, such as succumb and scum to assess the nature of the schwa found between /z/ and the following consonant. Results indicate that for some speakers, production of schwa in /zC/ sequences is not consistent with the phonological epenthesis of a schwa. Instead, speakers appear to be failing to sufficiently overlap the consonant gestures.
Perspectives on program analysis

In the past program analysis was mainly a tool for the compiler writer, but in the future it shows promise of being an important ingredient in ensuring the acceptable behaviour of software components roaming around on information networks. To guide the research efforts it is necessary with an appraisal of the current technology and to investigate its links to programming languages and theoretical computer science.
Efficient incremental breadth-depth XML event mining

Many applications log a large amount of events continuously. Extracting interesting knowledge from logged events is an emerging active research area in data mining. In this context, we propose an approach for mining frequent events and association rules from logged events in XML format. This approach is composed of two-main phases: I) constructing a novel tree structure called Frequency XML-based Tree (FXT), which contains the frequency of events to be mined; II) querying the constructed FXT using XQuery to discover frequent itemsets and association rules. The FXT is constructed with a single-pass over logged data. We implement the proposed algorithm and study various performance issues. The performance study shows that the algorithm is efficient, for both constructing the FXT and discovering association rules.