Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A proper actor? The politics of training for learning disabled actors

This essay, through montage rather than monologue, seeks to open a debate about the politics of training for learning disabled actors. The journey of the disabled actor from participant in social drama to specialised agent in a professional theatre economy has involved experiments in different forms of actor training. Drawing on interviews with actors, directors and allied professionals involved in Mind the Gap's Staging Change training programme, the essay examines what barriers exist to the establishment of learning disabled artists as professionals intheir own right. The article reflects the contested nature of current training provision: its position in the wider theatrical economy and its relation to both disability studies and applied theatre. Debate in this latter field centres on ‘authenticity’: exactly what kind of performance are these actors being trained for? Is there such a thing as an authentic learning disability culture? If so, how might performance, and its professional shadow, training, represent, conceal, critique and even threaten this culture? Furthermore, must the required training be radically different: more an undoing of repressive social mechanisms than a goal-driven acquisition of a set of formal skills? The article reverses this concern and suggests that withholding ‘mainstream’ training opportunities from disabled performers risks continued disablement. Via a collage of diverse voices the article argues for a close examination of the meaning and implications of authenticity as a value system. It suggests a move toward an engagement with the politics of craftsmanship: a reframing of the work of learning disabled artists as vocational labour rather than a supposed ‘authentic’ presentation of self.
Four Models of Adolescent Mother-Grandmother Relationships in Black Inner-City Families.

From interviews conducted with inner-city black adolescent mothers and their mothers (or surrogate mothers), four conceptual models of familial adaptation to adolescent parenthood were discerned: (1) Parental Replacement, (2) Parental Supplement, (3) Supported Primary Parent, (4) Parental Apprentice. This conceptual framework goes beyond considerations of living arrangement and household composition to provide practitioners in medical, school, and social service settings a method to better understand the triadic relationship of mother-grandmother-grandchild, and thus to intervene more effectively.
Fetal alcohol syndrome at the cellular level

A single exposure of infant rats or mice to ethanol during synaptogenesis (mid to late pregnancy for humans) can cause developing neurons to commit suicide (die by apoptosis) on a massive scale. The neuronal loss demonstrated in recent studies is more severe and much more widely distributed (many brain regions, plus spinal cord and retina) than has been documented in prior animal ethanol studies. By suppressing neuronal activity via NMDA glutamate and GABAA receptors, ethanol disrupts synaptogenesis, thereby activating in developing neurons a programmed signal to commit suicide. These recent findings help clarify important aspects of the fetal alcohol syndrome, and demonstrate the usefulness of an in vivo infant rodent model for studying the neurotoxic effects of ethanol on the developing central nervous system.
Automated Segmentation of the Lumbar Pedicle in CT Images for Spinal Fusion Surgery

Exact information about the shape of a lumbar pedicle can increase operation accuracy and safety during computer-aided spinal fusion surgery, which requires extreme caution on the part of the surgeon, due to the complexity and delicacy of the procedure. In this paper, a robust framework for segmenting the lumbar pedicle in computed tomography (CT) images is presented. The framework that has been designed takes a CT image, which includes the lumbar pedicle as input, and provides the segmented lumbar pedicle in the form of 3-D voxel sets. This multistep approach begins with 2-D dynamic thresholding using local optimal thresholds, followed by procedures to recover the spine geometry in a high curvature environment. A subsequent canal reference determination using proposed thinning-based integrated cost is then performed. Based on the obtained segmented vertebra and canal reference, the edge of the spinal pedicle is segmented. This framework has been tested on 84 lumbar vertebrae of 19 patients requiring spinal fusion. It was successfully applied, resulting in an average success rate of 93.22% and a final mean error of 0.14 ± 0.05 mm. Precision errors were smaller than 1% for spine pedicle volumes. Intra- and interoperator precision errors were not significantly different.
Systems Biology Meets Systemic Medicine: The Old, the New and the Blue

Breakthroughs in technology that deliver fast and accurate molecular biology data, together with the use of advanced software, and analytical methods made possible quantitative accumulation of biological information leading to a qualitative evolution. Sequencing of human genome was of the first door to the era of systemic understanding in life sciences. The paper reviews the emerging concepts of systems biology, systems medicine and their potential benefits in science and practice.
Use of small bowel capsule endoscopy in patients with chronic kidney disease: experience from a University Referral Center

Background There are only few reports on the diagnostic yield (DY) of small bowel capsule endoscopy (SBCE) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). We aim to report our SBCE experience in patients with CKD. Methods Retrospective study; case notes of patients with low estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) who underwent SBCE (March 2005-August 2012) for anemia and/or obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (OGIB) were retrieved and abstracted. Severity of CKD was defined according to Renal Association recommendations as: stage 3 (eGFR: 30-59); stage 4 (eGFR: 15-29); and stage 5 (eGFR <15 or on dialysis). Results In the aforementioned period, 69 patients with CKD [stage 3: 65/69 (92.8%), stage 4 or 5:4/69 (7.2%)] had SBCE. 51/65 (78.5%) patients with stage 3 CKD had SBCE due to unexplained anemia and/or OGIB [43 (66.1%) and 8 (12.3%), respectively]. In 25/51 (49%), the SBCE was normal and in 17/51 (33.3%) showed small-bowel angiectasias. Other findings were active bleeding (n=2), fold edema (n=2), ileal erosions (n=1), adenocarcinoma (n=1), and inconclusive/videos not available (n=3). All patients (n=4) with CKD grade 4 or 5 were referred due to unexplained anemia; 3/4 (75%) had angiectasias and 1 normal SBCE. Fecal calprotectin (FC) was measured in 12 patients with CKD stage 3 and unexplained anemia prior to their SBCE; no significant small-bowel inflammation was found in this subgroup. Conclusion SBCE has limited DY in CKD patients referred for unexplained anemia. Sinister SB pathology is rare, while the most common finding is angiectasias. Furthermore, FC measurement prior to SBCE -in this cohort of patients- is not associated with increased DY.
Impact at any price? The National Audit Office (NAO) and the media

In National Audit Offices (NAOs), impact is often used as a measure of success, serving to build legitimacy. When aiming to maximize impact, the media tends to play an important role. Based on empirical observations from the Swedish NAO, this paper explores how the role of the media for a NAO can be understood, and how this may affect independence. It is suggested that impact can be understood either as the media coverage of an audit (media impact), or the measures that an audit result in (measure impact). Two interpretations of the media are discussed: (i) Media as an information channel, and (ii) media as a means of bringing pressure to bear among audit objects and members of Parliament. In the Swedish NAO, the Auditor-Generals strived to maximize media impact, in order to gain measure impact, partly because a response to audits was not compulsory. Auditors in the Swedish NAO requested that the media should be understood rather as an information channel, and that impact should not be seen as an important measure, in accordance with the Constitutional school. Implications for independence are discussed. In the Swedish NAO, auditors witnessed about an excessive focus on problems and sensational conclusions, and on producing non-contestable results, following a strong media orientation. It is concluded that the price of media impact is independence, in the Swedish case. (Less)
Activity Spaces and the Measurement of Clustering and Exposure: A Case Study of Linguistic Groups in Montreal

Population segregation measurement is a topic of broad interest in the social sciences. In this paper we draw from recent advances in the spatial analysis literature to derive individualized measures of clustering and exposure. Recent research on accessibility has seen a shift from place-based measures to person-based ones. Similarly, the notion of residential clustering and exposure patterns, while typically related to the distribution of population in zonal systems, can be modified to account for heterogeneous experiences of urban space. In particular, at the individual level, the degree of clustering and exposure is related to personal mobility and the individual experience of space. In this paper we turn to the question of whether individuals belonging to different groups and living in different areas of a city observe differences in their clustering and exposure to population groups over space. The proposed procedure is applied empirically to the case of Montreal to explore how native English speakers of various levels of mobility experience exposure.
Alternative Perspectives on the Student Experience: Alienation and engagement

This article offers a theoretical exploration of the student's experience of higher education by reframing how we view this, from a focus on surface/strategic/deep approaches to learning to a focus on alienated or engaged experiences of learning. The article focuses on alienation and offers seven different perspectives on how we might understand this experience of higher education. Implications are then drawn for how, as teachers, we might respond.
Effect of acute and daily neurotensin and enkephalin treatments on extracellular dopamine in the nucleus accumbens

The injection of neurotensin or the enkephalin analog Tyr-D-Ala-Gly- MePhe-Gly(ol) (DAMGO) into the A10 region of rats produces a motor stimulant effect that is associated with an increase in the postmortem levels of dopamine metabolites in the nucleus accumbens. These behavioral and neurochemical effects are augmented following daily administration. In vivo dialysis in the nucleus accumbens of conscious rats was used to determine if the acute and augmented behavioral responses following neurotensin or DAMGO administration are associated with an increase in extracellular dopamine concentrations. The acute injection of DAMGO produced a dose-dependent (0.03-3.3 nmol) elevation in extracellular dopamine and its metabolites in the nucleus accumbens. Neurotensin also produced a dose-related (0.1-3.3 nmol) increase in dopamine and its metabolites. The elevation in extracellular dopamine produced by DAMGO, but not by neurotensin, was positively correlated with the increase in motor activity. Following daily treatment of either neurotensin (1.0 nmol X 4 d) or DAMGO (0.03 nmol X 4 d), a significant elevation in extracellular dopamine levels occurred in the nucleus accumbens compared to an acute injection. The time course of the change in extracellular dopamine after daily injections was similar to the time course of the behavioral stimulation for both compounds. These data demonstrate that enhanced dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens mediates the acute behavioral effect of DAMGO but does not entirely explain the motor effects of neurotensin. However, enhanced dopamine release may mediate the behavioral sensitization produced by daily injection of both peptides into the A10 region.
Viruses and RNA Interference: Issues and Controversies

ABSTRACT The question of whether any mammalian cells are able to mount an effective RNA interference-mediated antiviral innate immune response has remained highly controversial. In this Gem, I review recent data addressing this important issue and propose a testable hypothesis that can explain many of the apparently contradictory results published in this area of research.
Backtracking Algorithmic Complexity Attacks against a NIDS

Network Intrusion Detection Systems (NIDS) have become crucial to securing modern networks. To be effective, a NIDS must be able to counter evasion attempts and operate at or near wire-speed. Failure to do so allows malicious packets to slip through a NIDS undetected. In this paper, we explore NIDS evasion through algorithmic complexity attacks. We present a highly effective attack against the Snort NIDS, and we provide a practical algorithmic solution that successfully thwarts the attack. This attack exploits the behavior of rule matching, yielding inspection times that are up to 1.5 million times slower than that of benign packets. Our analysis shows that this attack is applicable to many rules in Snort¿s ruleset, rendering vulnerable the thousands of networks protected by it. Our countermeasure confines the inspection time to within one order of magnitude of benign packets. Experimental results using a live system show that an attacker needs only 4.0 kbps of bandwidth to perpetually disable an unmodified NIDS, whereas all intrusions are detected when our countermeasure is used.
MHC Class I Chain-Related Gene A Diversity in Patients with Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma from Southeastern Spain

A limited number of studies have been performed so far on the polymorphism in the transmembrane region (exon 5) of the major histocompatibility complex class I chain-related gene A (MICA) in patients with melanoma. However, the influence of MICA polymorphism in extracellular domains (exons 2, 3, and 4) has not been investigated on melanoma disease. This study aims to characterize the influence of extracellular MICA polymorphism, and its previously described linkage disequilibrium with HLA-B locus, on patients with cutaneous melanoma from southeastern Spain. For this purpose, MICA and HLA-B genotyping was performed in 233 patients and 200 ethnically matched controls by luminex technology. Patients were classified according to the presence of methionine or valine at codon 129 of MICA gene. We found a high frequency of MICA*009 in melanoma patients compared with controls (P = 0.002, Pc = 0.03). Our results also showed an association between MICA*009 and HLA-B*51 alleles in both patients and controls. This association was stronger in patients than controls (P = 0.015). However, a multivariate logistic regression model showed that neither MICA*009 nor the combination MICA*009/HLA-B*51 was associated with melanoma susceptibility. No relationship was observed between MICA-129 dimorphism and melanoma nor when MICA polymorphism was evaluated according to clinical findings at diagnosis.
Corporate Culture and Values: Genesis andSources of L'Oréal's Entrepreneurial Orientation

Abstract In this paper we are developing ideas based on Geert Hofstede's work. From this author one can notice a strong relationship between the personal values of company founders and the organisation values. The first days in the life of a young firm and its first actors have an impact of the highest intensity on the organisational value system. Following Geert Hofstede's statement, we really think that the values of firm founders and/or of young company first actors play a key role on the enterprise culture. More specifically, looking at individual values in relation to innovation, initiative and risk-taking, creation of new economic and social wealth and entrepreneurship, we hypothesize that these personal values can quickly move into the collective value system and influence the entrepreneurial attitudes and behaviours of the company. The qualitative indicator we are using in this research to assess such behaviours is entrepreneurial orientation. We keep four out of five dimensions of the Lumpkin and Dess's indicator, namely innovativeness, risk-taking, autonomy and proactiveness. We qualitatively test the relationship between founder (entrepreneur) values and enterprise culture and we apply our entrepreneurial orientation model to L'Oréal, one of the largest French companies. In this case we are not interested in the founder, Eugène Schueller, but in a key first actor, François Dalle, who has identified, evaluated and exploited growth opportunities in the cosmetic market for more than forty years. Our results, in this exploratory phase, are interesting. They underline the role of top manager values, the influence of the enterprise culture and its capacity to counterbalance the eventual negative effects of the national culture on entrepreneurial spirit, and entrepreneurial behaviours in France. Obviously, there is a call for other research to validate the hypothesis and bring knowledge to improve our understanding of key cultural variables and mechanisms which help or inhibit the entrepreneurial orientation and the entrepreneurial dynamics of firms.
A Comparison of Abstract Rules in the Prefrontal Cortex, Premotor Cortex, Inferior Temporal Cortex, and Striatum

The ability to use abstract rules or principles allows behavior to generalize from specific circumstances. We have previously shown that such rules are encoded in the lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) and premotor cortex (PMC). Here, we extend these investigations to two other areas directly connected with the PFC and the PMC, the inferior temporal cortex (ITC) and the dorsal striatum (STR). Monkeys were trained to use two abstract rules: same or different. They had to either hold or release a lever, depending on whether two successively presented pictures were the same or different, and depending on which rule was in effect. The rules and the behavioral responses were reflected most strongly and, on average, tended to be earlier in the PMC followed by the PFC and then the STR; few neurons in the ITC reflected the rules or the actions. By contrast, perceptual information (the identity of the pictures used as sample and test stimuli) was encoded more strongly and earlier in the ITC, followed by the PFC; they had weak, if any, effects on neural activity in the PMC and STR. These findings are discussed in the context of the anatomy and posited functions of these areas.
Outcome Satisfaction in Negotiation: A Test of Expectancy Disconfirmation

Abstract The post-settlement processes that occur after negotiation outcomes are known have not been extensively studied. We propose one such process model of satisfaction using expectancy disconfirmation principles. Based on measurement of profit expectations before a bargaining session, knowledge of the profit outcomes achieved, and comparison operations between the two, analysis of data obtained from 42 negotiators provided evidence for this paradigm in negotiators′ post-settlement cognition. Expectations of one′s performance and profits attained had opposite effects on disconfirmation and later satisfaction judgments. High expectations served to decrease satisfaction and high profit outcomes had the effect of increasing satisfaction via their fully mediated effects through expectancy disconfirmation. Moreover, a negotiator′s willingness to negotiate with the partner again is shown to be primarily a function of satisfaction. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Cooperating Robots for Search and Rescue

Many hypothesized applications of mobile robotics require multiple robots. Multiple robots substantially increase the complexity of the operator’s task because attention must be continually shifted among robots. One approach to increasing human capacity for control is to remove the independence among robots by allowing them to cooperate. This paper presents an initial experiment using multiagent teamwork proxies to help control robots performing a search and rescue task.
Event modeling of message interchange in stochastic neural ensembles

We propose a modeling framework based on the event-driven paradigm for populations of neurons which interchange messages. Unlike other strategies our approach is focused on the dynamics at the mesoscopic level (spike production and reception) and does not determine the microstates of the neurons. We apply the technique on a discrete model of stochastic ensembles and on extensions of this model to the continuous time domain. Due to the event-driven nature of the method efficient large-scale simulations can be performed without precision errors. The approach uses spike predictions as evidences and a one-step update of the predictions is performed every time an event occurs, resulting in a more efficient solution than the existing strategies.
UDP-sugar pyrophosphorylase controls the activity of proceeding sugar-1-kinases enzymes

Plant cell wall synthesis requires a number of different nucleotide sugars which provide the building blocks of the different polymers. These nucleotide sugars are mainly provided by de novo synthesis but recycling pathways also contribute to the pools. The last enzyme of the recycling pathway is UDP-sugar pyrophosphorylase (USP), a single copy gene in Arabidopsis, of which a knockout is lethal for pollen development. Here we analyze the dependency between USP enzyme activity and the upstream glucuronokinase. Gene silencing of USP by miRNA cause a concomitant reduction of USP and of glucuronokinase activity presumably to prevent the accumulation of sugar-1-phosphates interfering with normal metabolism and depleting the phosphate pool of the cell.
Evidence build-up facilitates on-line adaptivity in dynamic environments: example of the BCI P300-speller

We consider a P300 BCI application where the subjects can write figures and letters in an unsupervised fashion. We (i) show that a generic speller can attain the state-of-the-art accuracy without any training phase or calibration and (ii) present an adaptive setup that consistently increases the bit rate for most of the subjects.
Mitochondrial Ca2+-Handling in Fast Skeletal Muscle Fibers from Wild Type and Calsequestrin-Null Mice

Mitochondrial calcium handling and its relation with calcium released from sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) in muscle tissue are subject of lively debate. In this study we aimed to clarify how the SR determines mitochondrial calcium handling using dCASQ-null mice which lack both isoforms of the major Ca2+-binding protein inside SR, calsequestrin. Mitochondrial free Ca2+-concentration ([Ca2+]mito) was determined by means of a genetically targeted ratiometric FRET-based probe. Electron microscopy revealed a highly significant increase in intermyofibrillar mitochondria (+55%) and augmented coupling (+12%) between Ca2+ release units of the SR and mitochondria in dCASQ-null vs. WT fibers. Significant differences in the baseline [Ca2+]mito were observed between quiescent WT and dCASQ-null fibers, but not in the resting cytosolic Ca2+ concentration. The rise in [Ca2+]mito during electrical stimulation occurred in 20−30 ms, while the decline during and after stimulation was governed by 4 rate constants of approximately 40, 1.6, 0.2 and 0.03 s−1. Accordingly, frequency-dependent increase in [Ca2+]mito occurred during sustained contractions. In dCASQ-null fibers the increases in [Ca2+]mito were less pronounced than in WT fibers and even lower when extracellular calcium was removed. The amplitude and duration of [Ca2+]mito transients were increased by inhibition of mitochondrial Na+/Ca2+ exchanger (mNCX). These results provide direct evidence for fast Ca2+ accumulation inside the mitochondria, involvement of the mNCX in mitochondrial Ca2+-handling and a dependence of mitochondrial Ca2+-handling on intracellular (SR) and external Ca2+ stores in fast skeletal muscle fibers. dCASQ-null mice represent a model for malignant hyperthermia. The differences in structure and in mitochondrial function observed relative to WT may represent compensatory mechanisms for the disease-related reduction of calcium storage capacity of the SR and/or SR Ca2+-leakage.