Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nationalism and international trade: theory and evidence

This paper provides an economic framework to analyze the relationship between nationalistic sentiments and international trade. Nationalistic sentiments respond to economic interests, and in particular they vary according to the relative importance of the domestic market to local economies. Nationalistic sentiments are weaker (stronger) where the local economy relies more on exports (domestic sales). Our paper tests this theory using a unique dataset collected across 218 Chinese cities. We document a negative association between nationalistic sentiments and dependence on exports, conditional on a wide range of city characteristics including political ideologies of residents and local business climate.
Travels of the Criminal Question: Cultural Embeddedness and Diffusion, Dario Melossi, Máximo Sozzo and Richard Sparks (eds)

The criminal question is more than the study of crime. By criminal question, one usually refers to a larger framework encompassing crime and criminalisation — crime being considered ‘not independently from the procedures by which it is defined, the instruments deployed in its administration and control and the politics and debates around criminal justice and public order’ (Pitch 1995:52). Conceived in such a way, the ‘criminal question’ seems to be more expansive today than ever before. In a period characterised by globalisation, the development of the internet and the proliferation of ‘expert systems’ (Giddens 1990:22), a new ‘common penal sense’ — that is, a new penal rationality of neo-liberal obedience — seems to diffuse itself from the United States (US) into the Western world (Wacquant 2009). This process is also encouraged by the hegemonic domination of the English language, which contributes to the uniformisation and standardisation of the ways of thinking in the field.
Reduced Regional Gray Matter Volume in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Voxel-Based Morphometry Study

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Decreased oxygen supply may cause neuronal damage in the brains of patients with COPD, which is manifested by clinical symptoms such as neuropsychological deficits and mood disorders. The aim of the present study was to investigate brain gray matter change in COPD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using voxel-based morphometry based on the high-resolution 3D T1-weighted MR images of GM volume, we investigated 25 stable patients with COPD and 25 matching healthy volunteers. A battery of neuropsychological tests was also performed. RESULTS: Patients with COPD (versus controls) showed reduced GM volume in the frontal cortex (bilateral gyrus rectus, bilateral orbital and inferior triangular gyri, and left medial superior gyrus), right anterior insula, cingulate cortex (left anterior and middle gyri, right middle gyrus), right thalamus/pulvinar, right caudate, right putamen, right parahippocampus, and left amygdala. In COPD, in some of these regions, regional GM volume had positive correlations with arterial blood po2, while in some regions, regional GM volume had negative correlations with disease duration. Patients with COPD (versus controls) had poorer performance in the Mini-Mental State Examination, Visual Reproduction, and Figure Memory tests. Moreover, the GM volume in the inferior triangular frontal cortex in patients with COPD was significantly correlated with the Picture Memory score. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest GM reductions in a number of brain regions in COPD, which were associated with disease severity and may underlie the pathophysiologic and psychological changes in patients with COPD.
Deconstructing the algorithmic sublime

This special theme contextualizes, examines, and ultimately works to dispel the feelings of “sublime”—of awe and terror that overrides rational thought—that much of the contemporary public discourse on algorithms encourages. Employing critical, reflexive, and ethnographic techniques, these authors show that while algorithms can take on a multiplicity of different cultural meanings, they ultimately remain closely connected to the people who define and deploy them, and the institutions and power relations in which they are embedded. Building on a conversation we began at the Algorithms in Culture conference at U.C. Berkeley in December 2016, we collectively study algorithms as culture (Seaver, this special theme), fetish (Thomas et al.), imaginary (Christin), bureaucratic logic (Caplan and boyd), method of governance (Coletta and Kitchin; Lee; Geiger), mode of inquiry (Baumer), and mode of power (Kubler). This article is a part of special theme on Algorithms in Culture. To see a full list of all articles in this special theme, please click here: http://journals.sagepub. com/page/bds/collections/algorithms-in-culture.
Sunbed use during adolescence and early adulthood is associated with increased risk of early‐onset melanoma

Sunbed use is associated with increased risk of melanoma. Younger people might be more susceptible to the carcinogenic effects of ultraviolet radiation. We investigated the association between sunbed use and risk of early‐onset cutaneous malignant melanoma. From the Australian Melanoma Family Study, a multicentre, population‐based, case‐control‐family study, we analysed data for 604 cases diagnosed between ages 18 and 39 years and 479 controls. Data were collected by interview. Associations were estimated as odds ratios (ORs) using unconditional logistic regression, adjusting for age, sex, city, education, family history, skin color, usual skin response to sunlight and sun exposure. Compared with having never used a sunbed, the OR for melanoma associated with ever‐use was 1.41 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01–1.96), and 2.01 (95% CI 1.22–3.31) for more than 10 lifetime sessions (Ptrend 0.01 with cumulative use). The association was stronger for earlier age at first use (Ptrend 0.02). The association was also stronger for melanoma diagnosed when aged 18–29 years (OR for more than 10 lifetime sessions = 6.57, 95% CI 1.41–30.49) than for melanoma diagnosed when 30–39 years (OR 1.60, 95% CI 0.92–2.77; Pinteraction 0.01). Among those who had ever used a sunbed and were diagnosed between 18 and 29 years of age, three quarters (76%) of melanomas were attributable to sunbed use. Sunbed use is associated with increased risk of early‐onset melanoma, with risk increasing with greater use, an earlier age at first use and for earlier onset disease.
The Alexander Project 1998-2000: susceptibility of pathogens isolated from community-acquired respiratory tract infection to commonly used antimicrobial agents.

OBJECTIVES The Alexander Project is a continuing surveillance study, begun in 1992, examining the susceptibility of pathogens involved in adult community-acquired respiratory tract infections (CARTI) to a range of antimicrobial agents. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study tested the susceptibility of isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis collected between 1998 and 2000 to 23 antimicrobials. Minimum inhibitory concentrations of agents were determined using the broth microdilution method and interpreted according to NCCLS and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) breakpoints. RESULTS In total, 8882 isolates of S. pneumoniae, 8523 isolates of H. influenzae and 874 isolates of M. catarrhalis were collected during 1998-2000 from centres in 26 countries. The world-wide prevalence of penicillin resistance (penicillin MICs > or = 2 mg/l) in isolates of S. pneumoniae was 18.2% over the study period, and the prevalence of macrolide resistance (erythromycin MICs > or = 1 mg/l) in this pathogen was 24.6%. Over the study period, macrolide resistance exceeded penicillin resistance in 19 of the 26 countries included in the study. Of the non-fluoroquinolone agents, the only oral agents to which over 90% of S. pneumoniae isolates were susceptible at both NCCLS and PK/PD breakpoints were amoxicillin (95.1%) and co-amoxiclav (95.5-97.9%). The prevalence of fluoroquinolone-resistant S. pneumoniae (ofloxacin MICs > or = 8 mg/l) was 1.1%. Gemifloxacin was the most potent fluoroquinolone tested against S. pneumoniae (99.9% susceptible). In isolates of H. influenzae, beta-lactamase production was 16.9%, whereas the prevalence of beta-lactamase-negative, ampicillin-resistant strains was low (0.2%). beta-Lactamase production in M. catarrhalis world-wide remained high over the period studied (92.1%). Using PK/PD breakpoints, the most active non-fluoroquinolone agents against H. influenzae were ceftriaxone (100% susceptible), cefixime (99.8%) and co-amoxiclav (98.1-99.6%). Co-amoxiclav, cefdinir and cefixime (100%) were the most active beta-lactams against M. catarrhalis. Both H. influenzae and M. catarrhalis were highly susceptible to the fluoroquinolones. CONCLUSIONS These data demonstrate the continued evolution of and geographical variation in bacterial resistance and highlight the need for appropriate prescribing of antimicrobials in CARTI, using agents with adequate activity, based on local susceptibility profiles and PK/PD parameters.
The spectral decomposition of shifted convolution sums

Let pi(1), pi(2)) be cuspidal automorphic representations of PGL(2)(R) Qf conductor 1 and Hecke eigenvalues lambda(pi 1,2) (n) and let h > 0 be an integer. For any smooth compactly supported weight functions W-1,W-2 : R-x --> C and any Y > 0, aspectral decomposition of the shifted convolution sum Sigma(m+/-n=h) lambda(pi 1) (vertical bar m vertical bar)lambda(pi 2) (vertical bar n vertical bar)/root vertical bar mn vertical bar W-1(m/Y)W-2(n/Y) is obtained. As an application, aspectral decomposition of the Dirichlet series [GRAPHICS] is proved for Rs > 1/2 with polynomial growth on vertical lines in the S-aspect and uniformity in the h-aspect.
Gender Differences : The Impact of Confidence Variables on Mathematical Achievement

For the last decades gender differences have received serious attention in mathematics education research. The purpose of this study was to contribute to the field by examining differences between groups of male and female Albanian 10 graders in mathematical achievement as well as analyzing the influence in achievement of confidence variables, such as self-concept and future utility value of mathematics. The mathematical achievement of 10 graders was measured by using results of a 9 grade national leaving examination in mathematics whereas confidence variables were measured by using data collected from an administered questionnaire. The method of data collection in this research was quantitative. Thus, in September 2009, a questionnaire was administered to 221 Albanian 10 graders from five high schools located in the urban and rural areas of Durres region. The selected classrooms were comprised of students representing a wide range of 9 grade schools, where 10 graders came from. By using dichotomous and Likert scales the questionnaire sought to collect information about students’ mathematical performance on the 9 grade national test, gender, and students’ perceptions on self-concept and for the value of mathematics for their future university studies. Two research questions addressed the purpose of the study, namely, (1) whether there were gender differences in mathematical achievement and (2) whether there were gender differences in the relationship between student confidence and mathematics achievement. Regarding the mathematical achievement the results showed that female students outperformed male students, although the difference was not significant. With respect to the second research question results showed that male students, compared with their female peers, express higher rates of selfconcept and lower rates of utility values. In addition, for males, compared with females, these confidence variables showed themselves as higher predictors of mathematical achievement.
A Performance Comparison of Virtual Backbone Formation Algorithms for Wireless Mesh Networks

Currently wireless networks are dominant by star topology paradigm. Its natural the evolution is towards wireless mesh multi-hop networks. This article compares the performance of several algorithms for virtual backbone formation in ad hoc mesh networks both theoretically and through simulations. Firstly, an overview of the algorithms is given. Next, the results of the algorithm simulations made with the program Dominating Set Simulation Suite (DSSS) are described and interpreted. We have been extended the simulator to simulate the Mobile Backbone Network Topology Synthesis Algorithm. The results show that this algorithm has the best combination of performance characteristics among the compared algorithms.
Preferences and reasons for the lack of interest of Czech teenagers with sensory disabilities in physical education classes

The objective of this study was to compare the preferences for various physical activities and reasons for the lack of interest by Czech teenagers with sensory disabilities in physical education classes. A non-standardized questionnaire was used to collect the data. The sample was based on the following features: a) a participant had to be deaf or hard of hearing, b) a participant had to have a visual impairment, and c) had to have been educated in special educational settings. In this study participated 24 teenagers who are deaf or hard of hearing (16 boys and 8 girls, an average age of 14.3 ± 1.2 years) and 26 teenagers with a visual impairment (16 boys and 10 girls, an average age of 14.1 ± 1.2 years). Both absolute and relative frequencies were used to describe the data. The differences between teenagers who are deaf or hard of hearing and teenagers with a visual impairment were assessed using the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U-test, the chi-squared test and, for low frequencies, the Fisher’s exact test. Tests were performed at a level of α = 0.05. Statistical tests did prove significant difference in preference for the various physical education where most of teenagers who are deaf or hard of hearing preferred athletics and football in physical education classes. Further, in leisure activities, teenagers who are deaf or hard of hearing significantly more often do sports activities, while teenagers with a visual impairment are more sedentary. Our results have proven that, besides sport, the most frequently preferred leisure activity in both-groups was computers and possibly mobile technologies.
Books with voices: paper transcripts as a physical interface to oral histories

Our contextual inquiry into the practices of oral historians unearthed a curious incongruity. While oral historians consider interview recordings a central historical artifact, these recordings sit unused after a written transcript is produced. We hypothesized that this is largely because books are more usable than recordings. Therefore, we created Books with Voices: bar-code augmented paper transcripts enabling fast, random access to digital video interviews on a PDA. We present quantitative results of an evaluation of this tangible interface with 13 participants. They found this lightweight, structured access to original recordings to offer substantial benefits with minimal overhead. Oral historians found a level of emotion in the video not available in the printed transcript. The video also helped readers clarify the text and observe nonverbal cues.
Undermining methodological nationalism: Cosmopolitan analysis and visualization of the North American hazardous waste trade

Drawing on a novel dataset of hazardous waste shipments among Canada, Mexico, and the United States, we seek to enhance dominant modes of understanding transnational trading and regulation at the scale of the nation-state. We argue that these, while valuable, are limited by methodological nationalism. This epistemological position identifies the nation-state as the most relevant unit of analysis in examining “transnational” phenomena. In the case of transboundary waste trading, tracking waste between nation-states has come at the expense of identification and analysis of specific sites within nations that receive hazardous materials or send them abroad, obscuring the ongoing proliferation of waste havens at a subnational level and related environmental justice concerns. Working against methodological nationalism entails an epistemological shift that we pursue in this article through a series of empirical, analytical, and representational practices. We propose three visualization tactics that undermine nation-centered imaginaries: (1) documenting waste havens within the understudied United States through identifying subnational sites importing hazardous waste for processing; (2) establishing connections through flow maps connecting importing and exporting localities transnationally trading specific hazardous wastes; and (3) analyzing the corporate networks dominating the transnational waste trade. We argue these tactics build toward an alternative conception of methodological cosmopolitanism that highlights alternative routes toward environmental justice.
Random Inspection Tree Algorithm in visual inspection with a realistic sensing model and differential constraints

In this paper, we consider existing asymptotically optimal inspection planning algorithm in coverage path planning with realistic visibility constraints of standard cameras. Although the existing approach is able to provide an optimal solution with omnidirectional sensing and limited sensing range, it is prohibitively computationally expensive for problems with only few objects to be covered and limited field of view. Based on the analysis of the utilized sampling-based strategy, we propose a heuristic approach to decrease computational requirements in problems with restricted viewing frustum, which is a more realistic model of a digital camera. In addition, we also consider a minimal distance and angle under which the object to be covered is captured by the forward looking camera to make a snapshot of the object with the required details.
Exploring biological networks with Graph Investigator research application

This paper describes Graph Investigator, the application intended for analysis of biological networks. A rich set of application functions is briey described including graph feature generation, comparison, visualization and edition. The program enables to analyze global and local structural properties of networks with the use of various descriptors derived from graph theory. Furthermore, it allows to quantify inter-graph similarity by embedding graph patterns into low-dimensional space or distance measurement based on feature vectors. The set of available graph descriptors includes over eighty statistical and algebraic measures. We present two examples of real-world networks analysis performed with Graph Investigator: comparison of brain vasculature with structurally similar articial networks and analysis of vertices importance in a macaque cortical connectivity network. The third example describes tracking parameters of articial vascular network evolving in the process of angiogenesis, modelled with the use of cellular automata.
Foundations and Applications of Higher-Dimensional Directed Type Theory 1 Overview

Intuitionistic type theory [43] is an expressive formalism that unifies mathematics and computation. A central concept is the propositions-as-types principle, according to which propositions are interpreted as types, and proofs of a proposition are interpreted as programs of the associated type. Mathematical propositions are thereby to be understood as specifications, or problem descriptions, that are solved by providing a program that meets the specification. Conversely, a program can, by the same token, be understood as a proof of its type viewed as a proposition. Over the last quarter-century type theory has emerged as the central organizing principle of programming language research, through the identification of the informal concept of language features with type structure. Numerous benefits accrue from the identification of proofs and programs in type theory. First, it provides the foundation for integrating types and verification, the two most successful formal methods used to ensure the correctness of software. Second, it provides a language for the mechanization of mathematics in which proof checking is equivalent to type checking, and proof search is equivalent to writing a program to meet a specification. Recent research by several authors [9, 25, 28, 34, 41, 64, 65, 69] has exposed a surprising and deep correspondence between identity types in type theory, higher-dimensional morphisms in category theory, and algebraic structures that arise in homotopy theory. This correspondence suggests a fundamental generalization of type theory to account for higher-dimensional structure. This structure arises from a careful analysis of equality of elements and types in general, and in particular the behavior of type-indexed families of types (dependent types) under such identifications.1 The resulting higher-dimensional type theory will have significant applications, both to mathematics and to programming. On the mathematical side, Voevodsky [65] is proposing to use type theory as a comprehensive foundation for mechanizing advanced mathematics, as it coheres with contemporary practices much better than well-known formalisms such as axiomatic set theory. In the work proposed here, we will investigate the benefits of higher-dimensional type theory for programming. We will study the foundations of higher-dimensional type theory, by designing a syntactic type theory that supports higher-dimensional concepts and investigating its semantics in category theory and homotopy theory. We will also develop applications of higher-dimensional type theory to software development and verification. In particular, we argue that higher-dimensional type theory offers benefits for modular programming with dependent types, generic programming via universes, and software verification using domain-specific specification logics.
Uncertain block replacement policy with no replacement at failure

In this paper, we consider a block replacement policy with no replacement at failure and apply it to a system consisting of a new type of units. Due to the absence of historical data of lifetimes of new units, we fail to obtain the probability distribution of lifetimes. In this case, some domain experts are invited to provide belief degree of lifetime to estimate its distribution. However, human beings often overestimate unlikely events, which makes the variance of belief degree is much greater than that of the frequency. In order to deal with this problem, we assume the lifetime of the unit to be an uncertain variable. An uncertain block replacement model with no replacement at failure is proposed, and the existence condition of the optimal replacement time is given. Finally, a numerical example and sensitivity analysis are provided to illustrate the utility of the proposed model in practice.