Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Statistical Categorization of Young People’s Entry into the Labour Market

This article uses a sociological approach to social statistics and international comparison to compare the ways national statistics institutions present young people’s entry into the labour market in France and Canada. The history of the two systems of surveys shows their diverging development with regards to the measure of insertion. Examining the calendar variables used in two French and two Canadian recent longitudinal surveys, we argue that the differences reflect two aspects of the sets of codes, rules and laws in each national context: two training-employment schemes (sequential/combinatory) and two labour market regulations (statutory/professional).
Spral Inductor Coupling on 0.25 μm Epitaxial CMOS Process

In this study, the degree of coupling between two adjacent inductors is examined. The inductors were implemented on a 0.25 μm epitaxial CMOS process. Coupling mechanisms considered in this study were magnetic coupling and substrate coupling. The amount of coupling is determined by measuring the S21 parameter between the inductors implemented. The effectiveness of several isolation structures reported in literature in reducing coupling between inductors was evaluated. These isolation structures include patterned ground shields and halo substrate contacts. From measured results, it is found that reducing magnetic coupling by implementing a diagonal configuration improves isolation by 5 dB. Furthermore, patterned ground shields are effective in improving the isolation between adjacent inductors.
Function and therapeutic potential of host defence peptides

Cationic host defence (antimicrobial) peptides are an important component of the innate immune systems of a wide variety of plants, animals, and bacteria. Although most of these compounds have direct antimicrobial activities under specific conditions, a greater appreciation for the diversity of functions of these molecules is beginning to develop in the field. In addition to their directly antimicrobial activities, they also have a broad spectrum of activity on the host immune system, with both pro‐inflammatory and anti‐inflammatory effects being invoked. Increasingly sophisticated approaches to understand the role of host defence peptides in modulating innate immunity are already serving to guide the development of novel therapeutics. Copyright © 2005 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Natureza administrativa das instituições de Ensino Superior, gestão organizacional e o acesso aos postos de trabalho de maior prestígio no mercado de trabalho

This article discusses the effect of the relationship between types of organizational management of institutions of higher education and its effects on the performance of their graduates in the labor market, in terms of access to positions of higher occupational prestige (PRATES, 2007; 2010). The article brings together two independent studies on this issue. The first one is a case study, conducted in 2008, with faculty members of private institutions of higher education and with faculty members of a public university, the EACH (USP-Leste). The second is a quantitative study, conducted in 2011, with data from the PNAD 2007 with the purpose of testing, through linear regression models, whether either the type of institution - public or private, or/and the type of course, baccalaureate or technological - affects student performance in terms of unequal access to jobs with higher prestige in the labor market. The main conclusion, though not a definitive one, is that the Prates' hypothesis (2007; 2010) is a plausible one, namely that the institutional environment generated by the type of internal organizational management of the institution of higher education affects the level of student performance for getting the jobs of higher occupational prestige in the labor market.
Commitment and ego‐involvement in recreational tennis

Abstract Commitment and ego‐involvement in recreational tennis were measured using scales developed for this study. Factor analysis conducted on responses to the scales identified two factors for commitment (Dedication and Continuance) and two factors for ego‐involvement (Self‐image and Interest). In regressions of age, gender, skill, past experience, tennis expenditures, and first‐order interactions among these variables on commitment and ego‐involvement, tennis expenditures was found to be significantly related to both commitment and ego‐involvement. In addition, age and skill were also related to ego‐involvement nonlinearly. Commitment and ego‐involvement in recreational tennis, although highly correlated, were found to be overlapping but separate constructs.
Uma genealogia imunitária: a bioética e a busca da autoconservação humana

An immunitary genealogy: bioethics and the pursuit of human self-preservation Briefly exploring the historical context and the main topics of bioethics, this article argues that the subject has its own way of coping, which is characterized by a mechanism that operates in pursuit of human selfpreservation through the continue discussion on the attributes that define humans. This mechanism – which is central and unifies the discipline’s heterogeneity of concepts and moral perspectives - is contextualized in a broader horizon of meaning, which Esposito calls the paradigm of immunization. Finally, the article indicates possible contributions that the immune interpretive key can offer to bioethics, regarding the tensions within the field and the descriptive and normative functions of bioethics.
What Is Wrong with Practicum?: some reflections

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine students’ perceptions of previously identified negative aspects of practicum during preparation courses for careers in the field of early childhood education. Students at each of three year levels of the course earlier had been surveyed using a Likert‐type instrument following recent practicum experiences. Item frequency analysis was conducted for each separate year group's responses and for the combined group. Analysis of data from the combined responses included item properties, item‐scale relationships, scale properties and instrument factor analysis. Results of factor analysis revealed seven interpretable stressors, the most serious being the cluster labelled ‘physical demands’. The 10 most negative aspects for each year level (i.e. items with the lowest means) were compiled in a subsequent instrument similar to the original but also including a request for explanatory comments following each item. These three instruments were administered at the end o.
The role of narrative in political campaigning: An analysis of speeches by Barack Obama

Nation-states persist as the dominant pattern of political organization. Their survival depends on the self-identification of the citizenry as a national community. Narratives or ‘stories of peoplehood’ tell people that they are part of this unique community. This article focuses on the American nation as imagined by Barack Obama. In his speeches Obama portrays the America nation as a people unified by a shared belief in the American Creed and sanctified by the symbolism of an American civil religion. It is argued here that it is this addressing of the broadest possible coalition of voters which contributed to the success of the Obama campaign.
Optimizing CPW to MSL transition in the mm domain thanks to the LP filter theory

Thanks to the help of the low pass (LP) filter theory, we propose in this study a simple design methodology to optimize a coplanar waveguide (CPW) to microstripline (MSL) transition. This transition will be analyzed like a T LC network. The layout of the CPW to MSL transition will be tuned in the aim that the T network will be equivalent to a 3rd order Chebyshev low pass (LP) filter up to a given frequency cutoff set in the mm wave domain.
Correlative MR-anatomic study of the median nerve.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of our study was to evaluate the effectiveness of MR imaging for showing the intrinsic anatomy of a peripheral nerve. Cadaver wrist specimens that included the median nerve were imaged with MR imaging at 3 T, then sectioned, stained, and inspected grossly and microscopically. The size, shape, and signal intensity of the sheath and axonal structures in the median nerve were identified in MR images by comparison with anatomic sections. CONCLUSION This study suggests that MR imaging with sufficiently high-resolution techniques shows the internal structure of peripheral nerves. These results suggest that MR imaging may be a means to distinguish neuritis, tumor, degeneration, or fatty proliferation in a peripheral nerve and to evaluate the nerve before microsurgical anastomosis.
A Pilot Study Assessing the Feasibility of a Facial Emotion Training Paradigm for School-Age Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Many children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) demonstrate facial emotion recognition and expression impairments. These impairments may contribute to social disability and may put children with ASDs at risk for developing further mental health problems. In this pilot study, we examined the use of a coach- and computer-assisted facial emotion training program for children with ASDs. The intervention components focused on (a) increasing attention to relevant facial emotion cues, (b) increasing facial emotion recognition speed, and (c) using imitation to build skills of facial emotion expression. Three pilot participants demonstrated improved facial emotion recognition (accuracy and speed) of dynamic and static presentations of facial expressions and self-expression. Some improvements persisted 5 weeks after training. Results support the acceptability and feasibility of the training program. These preliminary findings are promising and suggest the need for replication with larger samples and further assessment of acceptability, feasibility, and efficacy.
Corporate Twitter Channels: The Impact of Engagement and Informedness on Corporate Reputation

We examine communication via a corporate Twitter channel and its effects on corporate reputation. We identify the importance of user engagement and informedness in explaining corporate reputation and examine three design factors that likely affect user engagement in a corporate Twitter channel. We conduct an exploratory 2 x 2 x 2 experiment among Twitter users to collect data. We find that the depth of the relationship among users, the level of corporate involvement, and the purpose of the channel interactively influence user engagement. Our findings suggest that deeper relationships among users of a corporate Twitter channel lead to higher user engagement when the level of corporate involvement with the channel is high and when the channel has a specific purpose, but not when the level of corporate involvement is high and the channel has a generic purpose. Surprisingly, when the channel has a generic purpose, a high degree of corporate involvement actually decreases user engagement. This finding implies that, under certain circumstances, a lower degree of corporate involvement in a social media channel may be more desirable. We also find that channel credibility positively influences user informedness. This is the first study that examines the dynamics of communication through a corporate Twitter channel. It contributes to the previous research related to social media by identifying engagement and informedness as two major factors that influence firms' reputation. Our research can help marketing and social media managers to decide on channel design aspects, such as whether to require users to register with an identity or to allow anonymous participation, whether to allocate dedicated employees to respond to user requests, and whether to set up different channels for different purposes.
Characteristics and Structures of Production Possibility Set Corresponding to WY Model

WY model has been proven to be an efficient method for congestion and returns to scale in Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). One economic application of the WY model is characteristics of empirical production possibility set. In this paper, we apply techniques and methods of transferring a polyhedral cone from its intersection form to its sum form, to identifying an intersection representation of the production possibility set corresponding to WY model. Then we give the characteristics of weak efficient surface and weak production frontier of production possibility set with intersection form. The structures of weak efficient surface and weak production frontier are also discussed. Numerical example is provided for illustration.
FaultBuster: An automatic code smell refactoring toolset

One solution to prevent the quality erosion of a software product is to maintain its quality by continuous refac-toring. However, refactoring is not always easy. Developers need to identify the piece of code that should be improved and decide how to rewrite it. Furthermore, refactoring can also be risky; that is, the modified code needs to be re-tested, so developers can see if they broke something. Many IDEs offer a range of refactorings to support so-called automatic refactoring, but tools which are really able to automatically refactor code smells are still under research. In this paper we introduce FaultBuster, a refactoring toolset which is able to support automatic refactoring: identifying the problematic code parts via static code analysis, running automatic algorithms to fix selected code smells, and executing integrated testing tools. In the heart of the toolset lies a refactoring framework to control the analysis and the execution of automatic algorithms. FaultBuster provides IDE plugins to interact with developers via popular IDEs (Eclipse, Netbeans and IntelliJ IDEA). All the tools were developed and tested in a 2-year project with 6 software development companies where thousands of code smells were identified and fixed in 5 systems having altogether over 5 million lines of code.
Fibroblast Growth Factor Inducible (Fn14)-specific Antibodies Concomitantly Display Signaling Pathway-specific Agonistic and Antagonistic Activity*

Background: Fn14 is a therapeutic target in various diseases. Results: Anti-Fn14 antibodies activate the alternative NFκB pathway but not other Fn14-related activities induced by soluble or membrane-bound TWEAK. FcγR-bound anti-Fn14 antibodies, however, activate the full spectrum of Fn14-associated activities. Conclusion: Anti-Fn14 antibodies elicit agonistic activities differing from those of the natural Fn14 ligand TWEAK. Significance: These findings influence the rationale of designing Fn14-targeted therapies. The Fn14-specific monoclonal antibodies PDL192 and P4A8, which are under consideration in clinical trials, showed no agonistic activity with respect to IL8 production and cell death induction. However, oligomerization with protein G or binding to Fcγ receptors converted both anti-Fn14 antibodies into potent agonists. TNF-like weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK), the ligand of Fn14, occurs naturally in two forms with partly different signaling capabilities, as a membrane-bound ligand and as a soluble trimeric molecule. Although membrane TWEAK strongly triggers all Fn14-associated pathways, soluble TWEAK predominately triggers the alternative nuclear factor κB (NFκB) pathway and enhances TNF-induced cell death but has only a poor effect on the classical NFκB pathway and chemokine production. Thus, the oligomerized and FcγR-bound anti-Fn14 mAbs mimicked the activity of membrane TWEAK. Notably, both anti-Fn14 antibodies significantly triggered p100 processing, the hallmark of the alternative NFκB pathway, and therefore resembled soluble TWEAK. In contrast to the latter, however, the anti-Fn14s showed no effect on TNF receptor 1-induced cell death and P4A8 even blocked the corresponding TWEAK response. Thus, we showed that Fn14 antibodies display an alternative NFκB pathway-specific agonistic activity but fail to phenocopy other activities of soluble TWEAK, whereas oligomerized or FcγR-bound Fn14 antibodies fully mimic the activity of membrane TWEAK. In view of the trivalent nature of the TWEAK-Fn14 interaction, this suggests that the alternative NFκB pathway is uniquely responsive already to Fn14 dimerization enabling antibodies to elicit an unnatural response pattern distinct from that of the naturally occurring Fn14 ligands.
Non-Linear Phase-Shifting of Haar Wavelets for Run-Time All-Frequency Lighting

This paper focuses on real-time all-frequency image-based rendering using an innovative solution for run-time computation of light transport. The approach is based on new results derived for non-linear phase shifting in the Haar wavelet domain. Although image-based methods for real-time rendering of dynamic glossy objects have been proposed, they do not truly scale to all possible frequencies and high sampling rates without trading storage, glossiness, or computational time, while varying both lighting and viewpoint. This is due to the fact that current approaches are limited to precomputed radiance transfer (PRT), which is prohibitively expensive in terms of memory requirements and real-time rendering when both varying light and viewpoint changes are required together with high sampling rates for high frequency lighting of glossy material. On the other hand, current methods cannot handle object rotation, which is one of the paramount issues for all PRT methods using wavelets. This latter problem arises because the precomputed data are defined in a global coordinate system and encoded in the wavelet domain, while the object is rotated in a local coordinate system. At the root of all the above problems is the lack of efficient run-time solution to the nontrivial problem of rotating wavelets (a non-linear phase-shift), which we solve in this paper.
Strategic Planning in Public Universities: A Developing Country Perspective

This paper presents the results of an empirical study on strategic planning in three public universities in Ghana. It assesses strategy development, the implementation process, the main challenges to strategic planning in public universities, and what their success factors are. Findings indicate that the nature, form, and sophistication of information and communication technology use influenced successful implementation of strategic plans for two public universities. Other results suggested that members of staff perceived strategic planning to be the responsibility of top management; thus, there is little ownership and commitment by academic and other stakeholders.
The External Dimension of EU Counter-Terrorism Relations: Competences, Interests, and Institutions

Some very significant policy developments indicate “supranationalisation processes” of EU external relations in counter-terrorism, even in its most significant relationship with the USA. This means that, increasingly, the USA is willing to work with Europe through its institutionalised forum—the European Union. Thus, the EU achieves certain recognition on the world stage in areas previously completely unsuspected—the “high politics” of counter-terrorism. This supranationalisation process proceeds in two stages. Firstly, the construction of an Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ) pools a significant amount of national sovereignty at the level of the EU through the establishment of internal EU competences. As a side effect, however, it also constructs an institutionalised structure for external actors, such as the U.S., to deal with. Through dealing within this institutional setting, member states' interests become defined in such a way that increasingly they construct a “European” interest related to counter-terrorism.
The Effect of Soy Protein Beverages on Serum Cell Adhesion Molecule Concentrations in Prehypertensive/Stage 1 Hypertensive Individuals

Objective: Prehypertensive and hypertensive individuals are at increased risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD), in part because hypertension contributes to endothelial dysfunction and increased cell adhesion molecule expression. Soy protein and isoflavones may favorably alter CVD risk factors, and hence the aim of this study was to determine whether intake of cow's milk compared with soy beverage prepared from whole soy bean (WSB) or soy protein isolate (SPI) would lower soluble cell adhesion molecule concentrations as a means of decreasing CVD risk. Methods: We enrolled healthy prehypertensive/stage 1 hypertensive men (n = 60; 18–63 years) and premenopausal women (n = 8; 20–48 years). Participants were randomized to 1 of 3 groups for 8 weeks: cow's milk (600 mL/d), SPI beverage (840 mL/d; 30.1 mg total isoflavones/d), or WSB beverage (840 mL/d; 91.4 mg total isoflavones/d). We measured soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), and endothelial-leukocyte adhesion molecule-1 (E-selectin) concentrations at baseline and week 8. Results: Soluble CAM concentrations were not altered by treatment and did not differ between prehypertensive and hypertensive participants. However, analysis of variance indicated a treatment × gender interaction (gender effect) for ICAM-1 (p = 0.0037) but not for E-selectin (p = 0.067) or VCAM-1 (p = 0.16). Men had higher concentrations of ICAM-1 and E-selectin, respectively, at baseline (p = 0.0071, p = 0.049) and week 8 (p = 0.0054, p = 0.038) than women did. Conclusion: Neither intake of cow's milk nor soy beverage for 8 weeks altered soluble CAM concentrations in prehypertensive/stage 1 hypertensive individuals, suggesting that neither type of beverage diminished atherosclerotic CVD risk in mildly hypertensive individuals by way of improving circulating CAM concentrations.
Edge Detection Method Based on General Type-2 Fuzzy Logic Applied to Color Images

This paper presents a new general type-2 fuzzy logic method for edge detection applied to color format images. The proposed algorithm combines the methodology based on the image gradients and general type-2 fuzzy logic theory to provide a powerful edge detection method. General type-2 fuzzy inference systems are approximated using the α-planes approach. The edge detection method is tested on a database of color images with the idea of illustrating the advantage of applying the fuzzy edge detection approach on color images against grayscale format images, and also when the images are corrupted by noise. This paper compares the proposed method based on general type-2 fuzzy logic with other edge detection algorithms, such as ones based on type-1 and interval type-2 fuzzy systems. Simulation results show that edge detection based on a general type-2 fuzzy system outperforms the other methods because of its ability to handle the intrinsic uncertainty in this problem.
Molecular Imaging of Prostate Cancer with PET

Molecular imaging is paving the way for precision and personalized medicine. In view of the significant biologic and clinical heterogeneity of prostate cancer, molecular imaging is expected to play an important role in the evaluation of this prevalent disease. The natural history of prostate cancer spans from an indolent localized process to biochemical relapse after radical treatment with curative intent to a lethal castrate-resistant metastatic disease. The ongoing unraveling of the complex tumor biology of prostate cancer uniquely positions molecular imaging with PET to contribute significantly to every clinical phase of prostate cancer evaluation. The purpose of this article was to provide a concise review of the current state of affairs and potential future developments in the diagnostic utility of PET in prostate cancer.