Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Rethinking of Peasant ’ s Negotiation to the State and Market : a Case Study of Ethnic Socio-Cultural Change in Bolaven Plateau , Laos

This article aimed to examine the socio-cultural changes of upland peasants under the government policies, and to rethink about their negotiation to the state and markets. Concepts of political ecology, peasants and the “Triple Bottom Line” were adopted. Primary data gathered from field observations, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions were used for analysis. It was found that the Lao government’s reform policies have resulted in sociocultural changes from the subsistence livings in the past to a more commercialization in four ways. Firstly, granting of large land area to private investors in the region had taken away the land which was used for fallow period of subsistence agriculture. Secondly, land entitlement had legalized land sale, and encouraged residences from other areas to migrate into the region that followed by land scarcity. Thirdly, the delineating of national reserves and protecting forests by law further accelerated land scarcity. Lastly, the rural infrastructure expansion has connected peasants to markets, challenging their negotiation power. In order to assure the sustainability of rural development, this study proposes that the state policies should be based on the integration of three main elements: society, environment and economy, to assure the balance between the environment and the economy, the dependency between society and the environment, and the fairness between the economy and society. Finally, development program with local participation is recommended to ensure the empowerment of local peasants which are commonly in a weaker position to the state and the markets.
Insecurity, Inequality, and Obesity in Affluent Societies

motives of individual migrants as ‘‘insignificant’’ (p. 40). This exploration of emigration and political development at multiple scales reflects the author’s thoroughness, but it calls into question the conclusions Moses himself advances about the appropriate level at which to consider migration’s effects. It also creates confusion about the author’s central project. In the midst of these somewhat obfuscating deliberations about scale and the definition of political development, the relationships of causality that the author seems fundamentally concerned with are lost. These relationships are most helpfully and insightfully examined in the more qualitative and historical portions of this book. While these sections can provide no cross-cutting and definitive answers about the causal relationship between emigration and political development, they raise important questions that can usefully be applied at multiple scales and in different contexts. These questions offer unique windows onto the ways that migration may nudge, or perhaps even shove, political processes in any given direction. These windows are helpful, however, only if we acknowledge their limitations; they allow us to see and contemplate only so much.
Gender differences in outcomes in people with schizophrenia in rural China: 14-year follow-up study

Background Little is known about gender differences in the long-term outcomes of people with schizophrenia living in the community. Aims To explore gender differences in the 14-year outcome of people with schizophrenia in rural China. Method A 14-year follow-up study among a 1994 cohort (n = 510) of participants with schizophrenia was conducted in Xinjin County, Chengdu, China. All participants and their informants were followed up in 2004 and 2008 using the Patients Follow-up Schedule. Results Compared with female participants, male participants were significantly younger, had significantly higher rates of mortality, suicide and homelessness, and poorer family and social support. There was no significant gender difference in Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale scores, previous suicide attempts, those never treated, previous hospital admission or inability to work. Longer duration of illness was associated with functional decline and comparatively poorer family economic status. Conclusions The long-term outcomes of men with schizophrenia is worse than those of women with the disorder in rural China. Higher mortality, suicide and homelessness rates in men may contribute partly to the higher prevalence of schizophrenia in women in China. Policies on social and family support and gender-specific intervention strategies for improving long-term outcomes should be developed for people with this disorder.
Binaural Fusion and Listening Effort in Children Who Use Bilateral Cochlear Implants: A Psychoacoustic and Pupillometric Study

Bilateral cochlear implants aim to provide hearing to both ears for children who are deaf and promote binaural/spatial hearing. Benefits are limited by mismatched devices and unilaterally-driven development which could compromise the normal integration of left and right ear input. We thus asked whether children hear a fused image (ie. 1 vs 2 sounds) from their bilateral implants and if this “binaural fusion” reduces listening effort. Binaural fusion was assessed by asking 25 deaf children with cochlear implants and 24 peers with normal hearing whether they heard one or two sounds when listening to bilaterally presented acoustic click-trains/electric pulses (250 Hz trains of 36 ms presented at 1 Hz). Reaction times and pupillary changes were recorded simultaneously to measure listening effort. Bilaterally implanted children heard one image of bilateral input less frequently than normal hearing peers, particularly when intensity levels on each side were balanced. Binaural fusion declined as brainstem asymmetries increased and age at implantation decreased. Children implanted later had access to acoustic input prior to implantation due to progressive deterioration of hearing. Increases in both pupil diameter and reaction time occurred as perception of binaural fusion decreased. Results indicate that, without binaural level cues, children have difficulty fusing input from their bilateral implants to perceive one sound which costs them increased listening effort. Brainstem asymmetries exacerbate this issue. By contrast, later implantation, reflecting longer access to bilateral acoustic hearing, may have supported development of auditory pathways underlying binaural fusion. Improved integration of bilateral cochlear implant signals for children is required to improve their binaural hearing.
Animal solutions to problems of movement control: the role of proprioceptors.

In this review we address some of the problems encountered by the central nervous system (CNS) for the control of limb movement, and the strategies employed for their resolution by the utilization of proprioceptive infor­ mation.l The problems to be discussed arise partly from the mechanics of the musculoskeletal system and partly from the interactions of this system with the physical environment; they are subsequently considered under these two headings. That the CNS is able to make the available mechanical structures do its bidding is self evident. The feasibility of such proficient control in the field of robotics, however, remains only a future possibility. In fact, the motor performance of biological organisms is regarded as an existence proof of this feasibility (Raibert 1986). Although in this review we do not discuss the strategies adopted by roboticists (e.g. Shin & Malin 1984), we recognize that the elucidation of these strategies and the study of biological motor
Timed automata based scheduling for a miniature pipeless plant with mobile robots

In this contribution we present a conceptual idea on modeling a scheduling problem in a miniature pipeless plant with mobile robots by timed automata (TA) and solving it using reachability analysis. Two TA-based tools, TAOpt and UPPAAL, are evaluated on the miniature pipeless plant, and on job shop benchmark instances from the OR literature. The comparative study shows that the proposed modeling approach handles the crucial constraints of the miniature pipeless plant in an effective and straightforward way.
A new software architecture for evolvable multimedia software

This paper describes the Micro Virtual Machine and the operating system (OS) interface that Sony has designed and implemented for Sony's future products such as set top boxes and servers for the delivery of on-line multimedia services. This article is derived from a proposal document presented at the 11 -th meeting of the Digital Audio-Visual Council (DAVIC) held in Berlin in December 1995. The technologies presented in this paper were first used at Telecom 95 in Geneva and later in the DAVIC inter-operability trials which took place in Tokyo in the Fall of 1996.
THE ACQUISITION OF THE IP SYSTEM IN CHILD L2 ENGLISH

This study examines the acquisition of the inflectional system by a Turkish child learner of English. Results from longitudinal data collected over 18 months are reported, presenting counterevidence for recent hypotheses on early L2 acquisition according to which missing functional items reflect missing functional categories (e.g., Vainikka & Young-Scholten, 1994, 1996a, 1996b). Despite robust evidence for the early production of copula be, auxiliary be, and overt subjects, the child L2 data analyzed in this paper do not show any evidence for tense and agreement morphology in the early stages of L2 development. In other words, although some functional elements related to IP are missing, the learner is able to perform other morphological and syntactic operations involving the functional projection IP. These findings lead us to question whether the lack of functional elements entails the lack of functional categories.
Low-Rank Optimization With Convex Constraints

The problem of low-rank approximation with convex constraints, which appears in data analysis, system identification, model order reduction, low-order controller design, and low-complexity modeling is considered. Given a matrix, the objective is to find a low-rank approximation that meets rank and convex constraints while minimizing the distance to the matrix in the squared Frobenius norm. In many situations, this nonconvex problem is convexified by nuclear-norm regularization. However, we will see that the approximations obtained by this method may be far from optimal. In this paper, we propose an alternative convex relaxation that uses the convex envelope of the squared Frobenius norm and the rank constraint. With this approach, easily verifiable conditions are obtained under which the solutions to the convex relaxation and the original nonconvex problem coincide. A semidefinite programming representation of the convex envelope is derived, which allows us to apply this approach to several known problems. Our example on optimal low-rank Hankel approximation/model reduction illustrates that the proposed convex relaxation performs consistently better than nuclear-norm regularization and may outperform balanced truncation.
Comparative genomic and proteomic analyses of PE/PPE multigene family of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv and H37Ra reveal novel and interesting differences with implications in virulence

Tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, remains a leading infectious disease taking one human life every 15 s globally. The two well-characterized strains H37Rv and H37Ra, derived from the same parental strain M. tuberculosis H37, show dramatically different pathogenic phenotypes. PE/PPE gene family, comprising of 176 open reading frames and present exclusively in genus Mycobacterium, accounts for ∼10% of the M. tuberculosis genome. Our comprehensive in silico analyses of PE/PPE family of H37Ra and virulent H37Rv strains revealed genetic differences between these strains in terms of several single nucleotide variations and InDels and these manifested in changes in physico-chemical properties, phosphorylation sites, and protein: protein interacting domains of the corresponding proteomes. Similar comparisons using the 13 sigma factor genes, 36 members of the mammalian cell entry family, 13 mycobacterial membrane protein large family members and 11 two-component signal transduction systems along with 5 orphaned response regulators and 2 orphaned sensor kinases failed to reveal very significant difference between H37Rv and H37Ra, reinforcing the importance of PE/PPE genes. Many of these changes between H37Rv and H37Ra can be correlated to differences in pathogenesis and virulence of the two strains.
Concurrent engineering teams II: performance consequences of usage

Purpose – This is the second paper in a two‐part discussion of the determinants and performance consequences of concurrent engineering (CE) team usage. In this paper, a model is developed outlining the relationship between the extent of CE team usage and three measures of performance, specifically NPD financial performance, NPD development performance, and communication quality.Design/methodology/approach – To test the model, 2,500 questionnaires were mailed to NPD managers from the machinery, computer product, electrical equipment, and transportation equipment manufacturing industries. Of the 2,500 questionnaires mailed, 189 usable questionnaires were retuned for a usable response rate of 7.5 percent.Findings – Results of performing partial least squares analysis indicate that the frequency of use of CE teams and functional involvement on CE teams influences communication quality, which in turn, influences both NPD financial and development performance.Research limitations/implications – To researchers o.
Theoretical Series Elastic Element Length in Rana pipiens Sartorius Muscles

Assuming a two component system for the muscle, a series elastic element and a contractile component, the analyses of the isotonic and isometric data points were related to obtain the series elastic stiffness, dP/dls, from the relation, See PDF for Equation From the isometric data, dP/dt was obtained and shortening velocity, v, was a result of the isotonic experiments. Substituting (P 0 - P)/T for dP/dt and (P 0 - P)/(P + a) times b for v, dP/dls = (P + a) /bT, where P < P 0, and a, b are constants for any lengths l ≤ l 0 (Matsumoto, 1965). If the isometric tension and the shortening velocity are recorded for a given muscle length, l 0, although the series elastic, ls, and the contractile component, lc, are changing, the total muscle length, l 0 remains fixed and therefore the time constant, T. Integrating, See PDF for Equation the stress-strain relation for the series elastic element, See PDF for Equation is obtained; l sc0 - ls + l c0where l co equals the contractile component length for a muscle exerting a tension of P 0. For a given P/P 0, ls is uniquely determined and must be the same whether on the isotonic or isometric length-tension-time curve. In fact, a locus on one surface curve can be associated with the corresponding locus on the other.
THE RELATIVE INFLUENCE OF MOTIVATING OPERATIONS FOR POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT ON PROBLEM BEHAVIOR DURING DEMANDS

Research has demonstrated the feasibility of using positive reinforcement to treat problem behavior maintained by negative reinforcement. This line of research was extended in the current study. A functional analysis (FA) was conducted that suggested problem behavior was maintained by positive and negative reinforcement. Following the FA, a demand analysis was conducted with three demand conditions: one that replicated the demand condition from the FA, one that included presession exposure to a preferred item, and another that included presession exposure to preferred items and access to those items during breaks from demands. Although problem behavior occurred in all three demand conditions, within session analyses showed that problem behavior ceased during breaks from demands only when they included access to preferred items. This finding suggests that the motivating operation responsible for evoking problem behavior did not decrease when only a break was provided. Subsequent functional communication training and treatment analysis showed that treatments based on positive reinforcement were effective at reducing problem behavior, but those based on a negative reinforcement hypothesis were not. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Similarity Between the Perception and Interpretation of Information in a Profane and a Religious Context

On the basis of descriptions of hypothetical patients, participants provided similarity ratings regarding 1 of the following issues: (a) the patients' religious attitudes, (b) religious doctrines in which the patients adhered, (c) their personalities, and (d) the nature of the (chemical) medicines the patients were taking. Patterns of (dis)similarities produced by participants were compared with theoretical patterns diagnosing 2 complementary modes of thinking or cognitive programs: (a) The Self-Other (SO) Program, which is related to correspondent inference theory, generates a personalized discourse, and shapes reasoning about personality; and (b) the Third-Person (3P) Program, which is related to the analysis of variance model of causal attribution, generates a depersonalized discourse, and shapes reasoning in natural sciences. Consistently, inferences regarding personalities and medicines reflected the SO and 3P programs, respectively. Like personality inferences, inferences concerning religion also reflected the SO program, however, only if religion was presented as an attitude. Inferences about religion as a doctrine reflected the 3P program and resembled inferences about medicines rather than inferences about personality. Although participants were probably able to think in terms of complementarity, combined use of the SO and 3P programs was exceptional.
Creating interactive characters with BDI agents

This paper discusses the use of BDI agents for the development of human-like synthetic characters. The folk psychological roots of the paradigm map closely to the way people typically explain both their behaviour and that of others, and this greatly facilitates knowledge elicitation and representation. This is illustrated through some examples from a project in which models of expert players of Quake 2 were developed. The knowledge elicitation methodology that was used is explained, and samples of the code are presented, demonstrating the way in which a BDI-based agent programming language can clearly and succinctly capture individual difierences. The example presented is of modelling expert players in an existing game, but the paper argues that the same techniques can be used to build a completely original character, using a role-player as the basis. Finally, some of the limitations of the BDI paradigm are examined, with a brief discussion of how they can be addressed, using the existing framework as a basis.
Mechanisms and causes of wear in tooth enamel: implications for hominin diets

The wear of teeth is a major factor limiting mammalian lifespans in the wild. One method of describing worn surfaces, dental microwear texture analysis, has proved powerful for reconstructing the diets of extinct vertebrates, but has yielded unexpected results in early hominins. In particular, although australopiths exhibit derived craniodental features interpreted as adaptations for eating hard foods, most do not exhibit microwear signals indicative of this diet. However, no experiments have yet demonstrated the fundamental mechanisms and causes of this wear. Here, we report nanowear experiments where individual dust particles, phytoliths and enamel chips were slid across a flat enamel surface. Microwear features produced were influenced strongly by interacting mechanical properties and particle geometry. Quartz dust was a rigid abrasive, capable of fracturing and removing enamel pieces. By contrast, phytoliths and enamel chips deformed during sliding, forming U-shaped grooves or flat troughs in enamel, without tissue loss. Other plant tissues seem too soft to mark enamel, acting as particle transporters. We conclude that dust has overwhelming importance as a wear agent and that dietary signals preserved in dental microwear are indirect. Nanowear studies should resolve controversies over adaptive trends in mammals like enamel thickening or hypsodonty that delay functional dental loss.
A molecular study of pathways involved in the inhibition of cell proliferation in neuroblastoma B65 cells by the GSK-3 inhibitors lithium and SB-415286

Pharmacological GSK‐3 inhibitors are potential drugs for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, cancer and diabetes. We examined the antiproliferative effects of two GSK‐3 inhibitors, lithium and SB‐415286, on B65 neuroblastoma cell line. Treatment of B65 cells with either drug administered separately caused a decrease in cell proliferation that was associated with G2/M cell cycle arrest. Cell‐cycle proteins such as cyclins D, E, A, cdk4 and cdk2 were up‐regulated. Since lithium and SB‐415286‐induced G2/M arrest we studied changes in the expression of proteins involved in this phase, specifically cyclin B, cdc2 and the phosphorylated form of this protein (tyr15‐cdc2). Both drugs increased the expression of tyr15‐cdc2, thus inhibiting mitosis. On the other hand, SB‐415286 increased the expression of SIRT2, involved in the regulation of proliferation. Moreover, cell‐cycle arrest mediated by SB‐415286 was accompanied by apoptosis that was not prevented by 100 μM of zVAD‐fmk (benzyloxycarbonyl‐Val‐Ala‐Asp‐fluoromethylketone), a pan‐caspase inhibitor. Likewise, GSK‐3 inhibitors did not affect the mitochondrial release of apoptosis inducing factor (AIF). We conclude that inhibitors of GSK‐3 induced cell‐cycle arrest, mediated by the phosphorylation of cdc2 and, in the case of SB‐415286, SIRT2 expression, which induced apoptosis in a caspase‐independent manner.
Infectious diseases in humanized mice

Despite many theoretical incompatibilities between mouse and human cells, mice with reconstituted human immune system components contain nearly all human leukocyte populations. Accordingly, several human‐tropic pathogens have been investigated in these in vivo models of the human immune system, including viruses such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Epstein‐Barr virus (EBV), as well as bacteria such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Salmonella enterica Typhi. While these studies initially aimed to establish similarities in the pathogenesis of infections between these models and the pathobiology in patients, recent investigations have provided new and interesting functional insights into the protective value of certain immune compartments and altered pathology upon mutant pathogen infections. As more tools and methodologies are developed to make these models more versatile to study human immune responses in vivo, such improvements build toward small animal models with human immune components, which could predict immune responses to therapies and vaccination in human patients.
Análisis tafonómico en La Arcillosa 2 (Tierra del Fuego, Argentina)

TAPHONOMIC ANALYSIS OF LA ARCILLOSA 2 SITE, TIERRA DEL FUEGO, ARGENTINA. In this paper, the tafonomic analysis of the archaeofaunal and bioarchaeological remains recovered from the La Arcillosa 2 site, Tierra del Fuego, is reported. This is a multicomponent site, radiocarbon dated to the middle Holocene. The characteristics of these two bone assemblages are discussed and compared with taphonomic data generated at other archaeological sites on the island. An evaluation of the effect of the record’s formation processes is fundamental for an accurate interpretation of the activities carried out by the hunter-gatherers at the site.