Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Roots of Research in (political) Persuasion: Ethos, Pathos, Logos and the Yale Studies of Persuasive Communications

In ancient Greece, Aristotle claimed in his Rhetoric that the function of rhetoric was not to persuade, but to discover the means of persuasion in each case. It is remarkable how the empirical approach towards persuasion embedded in ‘ethos, pathos, logos’ of Aristotle seems to be revisited by the Yale study group in 1950s, with the aim of discovering the laws of persuasive communications in laboratory settings. The contemporary quest carried out by the Yale research program on persuasion reflects the Aristotelean tradition of examining ‘the ethos, pathos and logos’ aspects of persuasion closely. This article aims to draw the reader’s attention to this strong influence of Aristotle’s perspective on the Yale research group. Adopting a learning theory approach, the Yale study group, led by psychologist Carl Hovland, tried to find out the stimulus-response effects of many variables concerning persuasion and thus paved the way for more elaborate research in persuasion in the years to come. The characteristics of the elements of persuasion, which have been studied by the Yale research group, are explained in this article by giving examples from their experimental research. The major contribution of Hovland and his colleagues has been the specification of an initial set of characteristics to understand the principles and processes of persuasion. Since persuasion is an important dimension of politics in general and negotiation/conflict resolution in particular, the tradition of studying (political) rhetoric deserves the attention of disciplines like political science and international relations as well.
Gas Chromatographic Determination of Glycerol and Triglycerides in Biodiesel from Jatropha and Castor Vegetable Oils

Monoacylglycerols and diacylglycerols are intermediate compounds in biodiesel which result from incomplete transesterification reaction during biodiesel production. Traces of free glycerine and partially reacted triacylglycerols are also found in biodiesel. These contaminants cause serious operational problems in engines, such as engine deposits, filter plugging, and emissions of hazardous gasses. Increased levels of these contaminants in biodiesel compromise quality which is vital for commercialisation of this product. In this work, levels of free glycerine and total glycerine in jatropha methyl ester (JME) and castor methyl ester (CME) were determined using gas chromatography (GC) equipment. Amounts of free and total glycerine in JME and CME were generally high compared to the ASTM D6751 and EN14214 recommended values. Free glycerine from JME was 0.1% wt compared to 0.02% wt (ASTM D6751) and 0.01% wt (EN14214) values whereas the total glycerine from JME was 2.96% wt compared to 0.24 %wt (ASTM D6751) and 0.21% wt (EN14214). These discrepancies could have resulted from insufficient purification of the product and incomplete conversion or due to the high temperature associated with GC analysis that might have caused pyrolysis or thermal degradation of certain lipid components. Castor methyl ester free glycerine was 0.14% wt while total glycerine was 13.21% wt. This can still be explained by the same reasons given for JME. Thermal decomposition of lipid components in a GC could have interfered with the summative mass closure calculations that were done to determine the total composition of the biomass.
Surgical Correction of Mitral Regurgitation in the Elderly: Outcomes and Recent Improvements

Background— In the elderly, mitral regurgitation (MR) is frequent, but surgery risks are considered high. Benefits and indications of MR surgery are uncertain in the elderly. Methods and Results— Baseline characteristics, outcome, and trends for surgical results improvement were analyzed in elderly patients (≥75 years of age; n=284) operated on for MR in 1980 to 1995 compared with younger patients (65 to 74 years of age, n=504; and <65 years of age, n=556). Preoperatively, class III to IV symptoms, atrial fibrillation, coronary disease, creatinine, and comorbidity index were more severe in elderly patients (all p<0.002). In the long term after surgery, observed survival stratified by age (≥75, 65 to 74, <65 years) was lower in elderly than in younger patients (at 5 years, 57±3%, 73±2%, and 85±2%, respectively; P<0.001), but ratios of observed to expected survival were similar (83%, 85%, and 88%, respectively). In multivariate analysis adjusted to expected survival, elderly patients showed no difference in life expectancy restoration compared with younger patients (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.89; 95% confidence interval, 0.73 to 1.30; P=0.54). Temporal trends showed that risk of operative mortality, although higher in elderly patients (P<0.001), declined markedly for all ages (27% to 5% in those ≥75 years of age, P<0.01; 21% to 4% in those 65 to 74 years of age, P<0.01; and 7% to 2% in those <65 years of age, P=0.06), with a parallel decline in low cardiac output and length of hospital stay. Over time, valve repair feasibility increased in all age groups (30% to 84% overall and 31% to 93% in degenerative MR; P<0.0001). Conclusions— Elderly patients undergoing MR surgery display more severe preoperative characteristics and incur higher operative risks than younger patients. However, restoration of life expectancy after surgery is similar in elderly and younger patients, and outstanding recent surgical improvements particularly benefited elderly patients. Thus, elderly patients with MR can now carefully be considered for surgery before refractory heart failure is present.
The differential response of the Pben promoter of Pseudomonas putida mt-2 to BenR and XylS prevents metabolic conflicts in m-xylene biodegradation.

Pseudomonas putida mt-2 encompasses two alternative and potentially conflicting routes for benzoate metabolism, one meta pathway encoded by xyl genes of the pWW0 plasmid and mastered by the Pm promoter and XylS, and one chromosomally encoded ortho pathway initiated by Pben and the BenR protein. Any cross-activation of Pben promoter by XylS ought to cause a metabolic conflict during the degradation of m-xylene because 3-methylbenzoate (3MBz) generated as an intermediate can be channelled through the ortho pathway and produce toxic dead-end metabolites. The activation of Pben by XylS was revisited using both reporter technology and tiling arrays targeted to the sequences of interest around messenger RNA initiation of both Pben and Pm promoters. Analysis of supersensitive luxCDABE fusions, inspection of xylX versus benA transcripts and growth tests of benR mutants indicated that the natural expression ranges of XylS under various conditions are insufficient to cause a significant cross-regulation of Pben whether cells face endogenous or exogenous 3MBz. This seems to stem from the nature of the operators for binding either transcriptional factor, which in the case of the Pben promoter of P. putida mt-2 appear to have evolved for avoiding a strong interaction with XylS.
A Mg-dependent ecto-ATPase in Leishmania amazonensis and its possible role in adenosine acquisition and virulence.

The plasma membrane of cells contains enzymes whose active sites face the external medium rather than the cytoplasm. The activities of these enzymes, referred to as ectoenzymes, can be measured using living cells. In this work we describe the ability of living promastigotes of Leishmania amazonensis to hydrolyze extracellular ATP. In these intact parasites whose viability was assessed before and after the reactions by motility and by trypan blue dye exclusion, there was a low level of ATP hydrolysis in the absence of any divalent metal (5.39 +/- 0.71 nmol P(i)/h x 10(7) cells). The ATP hydrolysis was stimulated by MgCl(2) and the Mg-dependent ecto-ATPase activity was 30.75 +/- 2.64 nmol P(i)/h x 10(7) cells. The Mg-dependent ecto-ATPase activity was linear with cell density and with time for at least 60 min. The addition of MgCl(2) to extracellular medium increased the ecto-ATPase activity in a dose-dependent manner. At 5 mM ATP, half-maximal stimulation of ATP hydrolysis was obtained with 1.21 mM MgCl(2). This stimulatory activity was also observed when MgCl(2) was replaced by MnCl(2), but not by CaCl(2) or SrCl(2). The apparent K(m) for Mg-ATP(2-) was 0.98 mM and free Mg(2+) did not increase the ecto-ATPase activity. In the pH range from 6.8 to 8.4, in which the cells were viable, the acid phosphatase activity decreased, while the Mg(2+)-dependent ATPase activity increased. This ecto-ATPase activity was insensitive to inhibitors of other ATPase and phosphatase activities, such as oligomycin, sodium azide, bafilomycin A(1), ouabain, furosemide, vanadate, molybdate, sodium fluoride, tartrate, and levamizole. To confirm that this Mg-dependent ATPase was an ecto-ATPase, we used an impermeant inhibitor, 4,4'-diisothiocyanostylbene 2',2'-disulfonic acid as well as suramin, an antagonist of P(2) purinoreceptors and inhibitor of some ecto-ATPases. These two reagents inhibited the Mg(2+)-dependent ATPase activity in a dose-dependent manner. A comparison between the Mg(2+)-dependent ATPase activity of virulent and avirulent promastigotes showed that avirulent promastigotes were less efficient than the virulent promastigotes in hydrolyzing ATP.
Minimum Contradiction Matrices in Whole Genome Phylogenies

Minimum contradiction matrices are a useful complement to distance-based phylogenies. A minimum contradiction matrix represents phylogenetic information under the form of an ordered distance matrix Y i , j n . A matrix element corresponds to the distance from a reference vertex n to the path (i, j). For an X-tree or a split network, the minimum contradiction matrix is a Robinson matrix. It therefore fulfills all the inequalities defining perfect order: Y i , j n ≥ Y i , k n , Y k , j n ≥ Y k , i n , i ≤ j ≤ k < n. In real phylogenetic data, some taxa may contradict the inequalities for perfect order. Contradictions to perfect order correspond to deviations from a tree or from a split network topology. Efficient algorithms that search for the best order are presented and tested on whole genome phylogenies with 184 taxa including many Bacteria, Archaea and Eukaryota. After optimization, taxa are classified in their correct domain and phyla. Several significant deviations from perfect order correspond to well-documented evolutionary events.
Sequence-specific labeling of superhelical DNA by triple helix formation and psoralen crosslinking.

Site-specific labeling of covalently closed circular DNA was achieved by using triple helix-forming oligonucleotides 10, 11 and 27 nt in length. The sequences consisted exclusively of pyrimidines (C and T) with a reactive psoralen at the 5'-end and a biotin at the 3'-end. The probes were directed to different target sites on the plasmids pUC18 (2686 bp), pUC18/4A (2799 bp) and pUC1 8/4A-H 1 (2530 bp). After triple helix formation at acid pH the oligonucleotides were photocrosslinked to the target DNAs via the psoralen moiety, endowing the covalent adduct with unconditional stability, e.g. under conditions unfavorable for preservation of the triplex, such as neutral pH. Complex formation was monitored after polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis by streptavidin-alkaline phosphatase (SAP)-induced chemiluminescence. The yield of triple helix increased with the molar ratio of oligonucleotide to target and the length of the probe sequence (27mer > 11mer). The covalent adduct DNA were visualized by scanning force microscopy (SFM) using avidin or streptavidin as protein tags for the biotin group on the oligonucleotide probes. We discuss the versatility of triple helix DNA complexes for studying the conformation of superhelical DNA.
Carbohydrate fermentation in the rumen—variations on a theme

better agreement of VFA-E to protein to suggests that, for most of the diets studied, was over-estimating FE. the failure to account for up to 0.44 of ADER in terms of carbohydrate and protein, these could be interpreted as indicating the absorption from the rumen of an unfermented substrate that is not measured as carbohydrate or total N. Such an explanation seems unlikely.
Wavelets and Their Associated Operators

This article is devoted to the study of wavelets based on the theory of shift-invariant spaces. It consists of two, essentially disjoint, parts. In the rst part, the berization of the analysis operator of a shift-invariant system is discussed. That berization applies to wavelet systems via the notion of quasi-wavelet systems, and leads to the theory of wavelet frames. Highlights in this theory are the unitary and mixed extension principles, and the MRA construction of framelets. The second part of the article is devoted to the study of the cascade/transfer operators and the subdivision operator associated with a re nable function. The analysis there is primarily based on the interpretation of the cascade operator as a special quasi-interpolation scheme. This leads to a surprisingly simple analysis of certain properties of re nable functions, including their smoothness and the convergence of the cascade and subdivision algorithms. In particular, it follows that these latter algorithms, if handled properly, always converge. 1. Preface: Wavelets and Their Associated Operators This article advocates the analysis of wavelet systems via the study of their associated operators. The goal is neither to survey the current state-of-the-art in this area, nor to provide the reader with in-depth comprehensive analysis of any of the issues addressed. Rather, my attempt is to provide a glimpse into various contemporary aspects of wavelets, in a way that may whet the reader's appetite for further reading. Based on this philosophy, I have chosen setups that simplify the discussion even in cases when the simpli cation is purely notational. The notion of `the operators associated with a wavelet system' is so broad that it allows me to discuss two essentially disjoint topics. The rst topic concerns the intrinsic operators of the wavelet system: analysis and synthesis, with the main aim being to review the recent developments in the area of wavelet frames (cf. [66], [67], [68], [69], [70], [71], [72], [34], [22], [30]). The second topic is the analysis of the corresponding re nable/scaling function(s), a topic that is also pertinent to the area of uniform subdivision algorithms (cf. [56], [33], [15], [32]). The relevant operators in this discussion are the Approximation Theory IX 1 Charles K. Chui and Larry L. Schumaker (eds.), pp. 1{35. Copyright oc 1998 by Vanderbilt University Press, Nashville, TN.
Optimal sampling laws for constrained simulation optimization on finite sets: The bivariate normal case

Consider the context of selecting an optimal system from amongst a finite set of competing systems, based on a “stochastic” objective function and subject to a single “stochastic” constraint. In this setting, and assuming the objective and constraint performance measures have a bivariate normal distribution, we present a characterization of the optimal sampling allocation across systems. Unlike previous work on this topic, the characterized optimal allocations are asymptotically exact and expressed explicitly as a function of the correlation between the performance measures.
Plasmid-Deficient Chlamydia muridarum Fail to Induce Immune Pathology and Protect against Oviduct Disease1

Chlamydia trachomatis is the most prevalent sexually transmitted bacterial infection in the world. In women, genital infection can cause endometritis and pelvic inflammatory disease with the severe sequelae of ectopic pregnancy or infertility. Chlamydia sp. do not damage tissues directly, but induce an injurious host inflammatory response at the infected site. In the murine model of genital disease with Chlamydia muridarum, TLR2 plays a role in both early production of inflammatory mediators and development of chronic oviduct pathology. We report the results of studies with plasmid-cured C. muridarum mutants that retain the ability to infect the murine genital tract, but fail to cause disease in the oviduct. These mutants do not stimulate TLR2-dependent cytokine production in mice, nor in innate immune cells or epithelial cells in vitro. They induce an effective Th1 immune response, with no evidence for Th1-immune-mediated collateral tissue damage. Furthermore, mice previously infected with the plasmid-deficient strains are protected against oviduct disease upon challenge with virulent C. muridarum. If plasmid-cured derivatives of human C. trachomatis biovars exhibit similar phenotypic characteristics, they have the potential to serve as vaccines to prevent human disease.
External beam radiotherapy in retinoblastoma: tumor control and comparison of 2 techniques.

OBJECTIVE To investigate eye conservation, local control, and complication rates among children with retinoblastoma treated with 2 different external beam radiotherapy (EBR) techniques. METHODS Fifty-eight eyes in 42 patients received EBR as the primary treatment modality for retinoblastoma (median follow-up, 37 months). The EBR technique was relative lens-sparing (RLS) in 26 eyes and modified lateral beam (MLB) in 32 eyes. Both groups were comparable in Reese-Ellsworth retinoblastoma classification. If necessary, patients received focal salvage therapy. RESULTS At 24 months, eye conservation rates were 88.5% and 89.1% among eyes treated with RLS and MLB, respectively (P = .40); tumor control rates without salvage therapy were 84.6% and 53.3% (P = .02), respectively. Among eyes with Reese-Ellsworth stage IV and V disease, eye conservation rates were 88%+/-8% and 83%+/-9% at 36 months in the RLS and MLB groups, respectively, and local tumor control rates were 81%+/-10% and 51%+/-12%. Percentages of eyes without cataract at 36 months were 83.1% and 63.0%, respectively (P = .40). Among patients observed for at least 18 months, midfacial hypoplasia developed in 38.5% and 29.4%, respectively (P = .70). CONCLUSIONS The EBR technique was associated with high eye conservation and local control rates. Salvage therapy was performed significantly less frequently in the RLS group compared with the MLB group, and complication rates in both groups were similar.
CHAIN-WEIGHT REAL GDP MEASURES

In 1996, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) changed the method used to calculate measures of real GDP from a Laspeyres or Paasche index to a Fisher ideal index, also called a chain-weight index. Even though this is a significant change in approach and has resulted in extensive revisions of reported statistics, many intermediate-level textbooks treat this topic casually, if at all. This article presents two applications in which this topic can be explored more thoroughly, with the help of spreadsheet software. One exercise introduces the concept of the chain-weight index by comparing it to Laspeyres, Paasche and ideal indexes with the use of utility analysis. The second exercise is a step-by-step process to calculate chain-weight index statistics.
Holding High Hopes: How High Schools Respond to State Accountability Policies. CPRE Research Report Series. RR-056.

American public education faces increasing pressure to carry out its mission of preparing youths with the skills to compete in today's global economy and to participate constructively in a democratic society. As part of this pressure, policymakers have developed increasingly sophisticated accountability and support systems to steer schools towards improved performance. These "new accountability" approaches emphasize student performance over system inputs, focus on schools rather than school districts as units of improvement, and use public reporting of student outcomes and rewards and sanctions as ways to motivate schools to alter their curriculum and instructional practices (Fuhrman, 1999). These strategies embody two key assumptions: (a) that accountability systems can be made powerful enough to influence the behavior of schools; and (b) that schools have or will develop the capacity to identify, select, and implement policies and practices that will improve their performance. Working under these assumptions, state and national policymakers have set academic goals, defined incentives, and provided supports, expecting that these actions would motivate schools to expend resources on improving organization, curriculum, and practice, and that schools' responses would improve educational programs and instruction and, in turn, improve student outcomes. State and national assessment results show that student performance in many elementary schools has improved over the last decade. Some researchers have argued that a portion of these gains can be attributed to the pressures generated by state accountability systems that have set standards, focused attention, and created stronger incentives for improved performance (Carnoy & Loeb, 2004; Grissmer & Flanagan, 1998; Grissmer, Flanagan, Kawata, & Williamson, 2000; Hanushek & Raymond, 2002). High schools, however, have not experienced the same positive effects, and we know little about how high school staff respond to new external accountability pressures. The study (Gross & Goertz, 2005) reviewed in this issue of CPRE Policy Briefs provides insight into how teachers and administrators in American public high schools are influenced by and attempt to address the problems posed by standards based state accountability systems. Our analysis builds upon earlier studies that used smaller and less representative samples of secondary schools (e.g., Carnoy, Elmore, & Siskin, 2003), sometimes agreeing with and sometimes challenging their conclusions about the effects of increased accountability and high schools.
Creating Efficient Visual Codebook Ensembles for Object Categorization

An image comprises information, such as color, texture, shape, and intensity, which humans use in parallel for perception. Based on this knowledge, three methods of constructing visual codebook ensembles are proposed in this paper. The first technique introduced diverse individual visual codebooks by randomly choosing interesting points. The second technique was based on a random subtraining image data set with random interesting points. The third method directly utilized different patch information for constructing an ensemble with high diversity. The codebook ensembles were learned to capture and convey image properties from different aspects. Based on these codebook ensembles, different types of image presentations could be obtained. A classification ensemble could be learned based on the different expression data sets from the same training image set. The use of a classification ensemble to categorize new images can lead to improved performance. The detailed experimental analyses on several data sets revealed that the present ensemble approaches were resistant to variations in view, lighting, occlusion, and intraclass variations. In addition, they resulted in state-of-the-art performance in categorization.