Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Race Equality and Leisure Policy Discourses in Scottish Local Authorities

ABSTRACT This article presents and discusses the findings of a survey designed to assess two issues. First, it considers the extent to which Scottish local authorities have sought to discover and provide for the specific needs of their black and minority ethnic (BME) populations. Second, it provides preliminary reflections on the impact of political, organisational and legislative change upon the policy and practice of Scottish local authorities in their delivery of services to their BME populations. It raises questions about the potential for improvement in local authority leisure services following the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2002. The study was carried out in the context of previous research by Horne (1995) and thus sought to assess the extent to which there had been change during the intervening period in the approaches of Scottish local authorities. Results suggest that the environment in which local authority leisure providers operate has changed significantly since 1995. All local authorities now have formalised equal opportunity policies and race equality schemes. Whilst there exist examples of good practice, the degree to which local authorities seek to discover and meet the needs of their BME populations varies considerably. Analysis of the discourses of local authorities suggests that the extent to which the ethos of equality has permeated organisations remains uneven. Scotland, a country of some five million people, is actively seeking a flow of Fresh Talent to flourish alongside native‐born Scots and secure its place as an essential part of the global economy (Scotland is the place to be for opportunities www.scotlandistheplace.com).
Trace oblivious computation

In recent years, execution trace obliviousness has become an important security property in various applications in the presence of side channels. On the one hand, a cryptographic protocol called Oblivious RAM (ORAM) has been developed as a generic tool to achieve obliviousness, while incurring an overhead. On the other hand, customized oblivious algorithms with better performance have been developed. This method, however, is not scalable in terms of human efforts. This thesis work adopts a language design approach to facilitate users to develop efficient oblivious applications. I will study sequential and parallel programs and different channels. I will design languages and security type systems to support efficient algorithm implementations, while formally enforcing obliviousness. My study for the secure computation application shows that using our compiler, one PhD student can develop an oblivious algorithm in one day which took a research group of 5 researchers 4 months to develop in 2013, while achieving 10* to 20* better performance.
The Different Roles of Aggrecan Interaction Domains

The aggregating proteoglycans of the lectican family are important components of extracellular matrices. Aggrecan is the most well studied of these and is central to cartilage biomechanical properties and skeletal development. Key to its biological function is the fixed charge of the many glycosaminoglycan chains, that provide the basis for the viscoelastic properties necessary for load distribution over the articular surface. This review is focused on the globular domains of aggrecan and their role in anchoring the proteoglycans to other extracellular matrix components. The N-terminal G1 domain is vital in that it binds the proteoglycan to hyaluronan in ternary complex with link protein, retaining the proteoglycan in the tissue. The importance of the C-terminal G3 domain interactions has recently been emphasized by two different human hereditary disorders: autosomal recessive aggrecan-type spondyloepimetaphyseal dysplasia and autosomal dominant familial osteochondritis dissecans. In these two conditions, different missense mutations in the aggrecan C-type lectin repeat have been described. The resulting amino acid replacements affect the ligand interactions of the G3 domain, albeit with widely different phenotypic outcomes.
Citizenship education curricula: the changes and challenges presented by global and European integration

Citizenship education has been the subject of growing attention in policy and academic circles over the past 20 years. Citizenship education curricula have typically focused on national institutions, issues, and ties. Citizenship education has been closely bound up with the legitimacy of the nation‐state, and alternative institutions and citizenships thus present a significant challenge not only to the contents of national curricula, but also to the traditional purpose and assumptions of citizenship education. The articles in this special issue seek to explore how nation‐states have responded to this challenge by exploring, from a comparative perspective, the ways in which one supra‐national, regional citizenship (namely European citizenship) has been defined in the citizenship education curricula of states from across Europe. This Introduction describes the supra‐national policy developments that have led European states to consider reforming their citizenship education curricula.
Glutamatergic antipsychotic drugs: a new dawn in the treatment of schizophrenia?

Growing evidence for glutamate abnormalities in schizophrenia support the development of novel antipsychotic agents targeting this system. Early studies investigating modulation of the glutamate system using glycine, D-serine and sarcosine in patients with schizophrenia have demonstrated significant effects, particularly on negative symptoms, conventionally thought to be refractory to antipsychotic drug treatment. Drugs targeting the glutamate system also have a completely different side-effect profile to dopamine D2 antagonists, with no propensity to extrapyramidal side effects, prolactinaemia or weight gain. It has been hypothesized that glutamatergic drugs may be of benefit to the 20–30% of individuals with schizophrenia who fail to show any response to dopaminergic agents, and may be particularly useful in the early stages of the illness, where they may be disease-modifying. A number of glutamatergic compounds have been reported as having promising results in phase II drug trials. If these reach the clinic, they will represent the first truly novel approach to pharmacotherapy in schizophrenia for more than 50 years.
The maximum Han-Kobayashi sum-rate for Gaussian interference channels

The best known achievable rate region for the two-user Gaussian interference channel is due to the Han-Kobayashi (HK) scheme. The HK achievable region includes the regions achieved by all other known schemes. However, mathematical expressions that characterize the HK region are complicated and involve a time sharing variable and two arbitrary power splitting variables. Accordingly, the boundary points of the HK region, and in particular the maximum HK sum-rate, are not known in general. This paper studies the sum-rate of the HK scheme with Gaussian inputs. For the weak interference class, this study fully characterizes the maximum achievable sum-rate and shows that the weak interference class is partitioned into five regions. For each region, the optimal power splitting and the corresponding maximum achievable sum-rate are expressed in closed forms. Moreover, we show that the same approach can be adopted to characterize all boundary points.
Risk-adapted strategies for the treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma

Introduction: Over the past several decades, Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) has become a highly treatable lymphoid malignancy with excellent response rates and long-term disease-free survival. Late-toxicities, however, continue to be an area of significant concern. Recent studies have evaluated novel approaches to limit long-term toxicity without adversely impacting short-term survival. While early or interim PET scan has been correlated with PFS and OS in HL, the modification of therapy based on interim PET (response-adapted therapy) has been evaluated in retrospective and prospective cohorts. This paper will review evidence for the role of response-adapted therapy in HL. Areas covered: Data from completed and ongoing retrospective and prospective cohorts of HL patients were reviewed utilizing pubmed and clinicaltrials.org and pertinent studies culled to compile this review article. Expert opinion: While response-adapted therapy represents a promising area of research which may ultimately become standard-of-care, current data does not unequivocally endorse this approach, which should be used with caution outside of a clinical trial.
Application of a brightness-adapted edge detector for real-time railroad tie detection in video images

Due to the increasing calculation power of dedicated hardware, real-time image processing becomes practicable at reasonable expense. Nevertheless the algorithms concerned have to be adapted to real-time requirements. The subject treated in this paper is tie detection for automated railway inspection. An edge detector is proposed in which the sensitivity is adaptable to the local brightness of the processed image. The required effort is the performance of a convolution operation with subsequent decision concerning the sign of the values obtained.
POSSIBILIDADES DE USO DA MATRIZ MORFOLÓGICA NO PROCESSO DE GERAÇÃO DE ALTERNATIVAS EM DESIGN

This paper presents the morphological matrix as a creative technique to aid the process of generating ideas in design. Although there are many studies about creative techniques, few studies discuss how to use them, in what stages of design process and for what kind of problems are more suitable. The objective of this paper is to discuss these issues related to the use of this technique. For this, the paper reviews the literature on the morphological method, from its origin through its application in design. It also examines the use of morphological matrix from design exercises and verifies their application possibilities in product design and visual design. Finally, the article brings to discussion and contribution the possibilities of using the procedures described for the construction of the morphological matrix, criteria for selection of proposals as well as their advantages and limitations for generating design alternatives.
Reactive motion planning and control for compliant and constraint-based task execution

In this work, we propose a constraint-based algorithm for combined trajectory generation and kinematic control for robotic manipulators. The main feature of the algorithm is to ease robot programming, shifting from an imperative paradigm, in which task constraints are semantically and uniquely mapped into a suitable end-effector velocity profile, towards a declarative motion programming, where such constraints are turned by the controller into motion commands only at run-time: The system embeds the capability of handling real-time events, such as updated sensor readings, with reduced pre-programmed control logics. An experimental case study based on a 7-DOF robot demonstrates the effectiveness of the approach.
Vegetarianism: Movement or Moment?

Preface Acknowledgments 1. What Is Vegetarianism? And Who Are the Vegetarians? 2. Vegetarian Diets and the Health Professions: Historical Perspectives and Contemporary Issues 3. Charting the Contemporary Vegetarian Movement in the Social Movement Field 4. Vegetarianism: Expressions of Ideology in Vegetarian Organizations 5. The Beliefs and Strategies of Vegetarian Movement Leaders 6. Organizational Strategy in Action: Promoting a Vegetarian Collective Identity 7. The Food Industry's Role in Promoting and Gaining Acceptance for Vegetarian Diets
The Swiss National Research Programme “Landscapes and habitats of the Alpine Arc”

The aim of the Swiss National Research Programmes is to carry out scientific research to identify, analyse and “find solutions” to problems that are perceived by the scientific and political communities as a national challenge. This article, which deals with landscape resources in the Swiss Alpine arc, shows the stages and measures taken in managing such programmes. The article focuses on the objectives and questions underlying the research, the integration of knowledge acquired and the ways results are used in the political sphere.
A SIMPLE METHOD FOR ESTIMATING 24 H URINARY SODIUM AND POTASSIUM EXCRETION FROM SECOND MORNING VOIDING URINE SPECIMEN IN ADULTS

1. An assessment was made of the extent sodium (Na) and potassium (K) intake can be estimated from Na, K and creatinine (Cr) content of a second morning voiding urine (SMU) specimen collected within 4 h after the first voiding upon awakening but before breakfast in 159 clinically healthy, free‐living individuals (20–79 years). The SMU and the rest of 24 h urine specimens for a 3–5 day period were collected.
Effects of Melophlins on Colony Formation of Chinese Hamster V79 Cells and IL-8 Production in PMA-stimulated HL-60 Cells

We have recently isolated four new melophlins P (1), Q (2), R (3), and S (4) together with seven known melophlins A (5), D (6), E (7), G (8), H (9), I (10), and O (11) from two marine sponges of the genus Melophlus collected in Palau. In this study, the influence of these compounds on the colony formation of Chinese hamster V79 cells and the production of IL-8 in PMA-stimulated HL-60 cells were examined. These 11 compounds did not show any effect on IL-8 production. The EC50 values of compounds 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, and 11 against V79 cells were 44.0, 13.3, 16.7, 27.2, 19.8, 8.5, 23.1, and 9.6 μM, respectively. The linear-chain-type compounds (1, 6, and 8) were not active against V79 cells at 50 μM. Although the growth inhibitory activity of these melophlins was not remarkable, some structure-activity relationships of these compounds against V79 and murine leukemia L1210 cells were observed.
Urban Evolution, Self-Organization, and Decisionmaking

A dynamical model of a central place system is described which, derived from the concepts underlying dissipative structures, takes into account the self-organizing aspects of urban evolution, and shows the importance both of chance and of determinism in such systems. A theoretical evolution is discussed together with the modified dynamics of different possible decisions showing the long-term consequences of these. A recent application of this new theory to the evolution of the Bastogne region of Belgium is briefly described, and conclusions are drawn as to the real difficulties involved in decisionmaking on the part of national, regional, and municipal authorities.
False Negative NIPT Results: Risk Figures for Chromosomes 13, 18 and 21 Based on Chorionic Villi Results in 5967 Cases and Literature Review

Non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) demonstrated a small chance for a false negative result. Since the “fetal” DNA in maternal blood originates from the cytotrophoblast of chorionic villi (CV), some false negative results will have a biological origin. Based on our experience with cytogenetic studies of CV, we tried to estimate this risk. 5967 CV samples of pregnancies at high risk for common aneuplodies were cytogenetically investigated in our centre between January 2000 and December 2011. All cases of fetal trisomy 13, 18 and 21 were retrospectively studied for the presence of a normal karyotype or mosaicism < 30% in short-term cultured (STC-) villi. 404 cases of trisomies 13, 18 and 21 were found amongst 5967 samples (6,8%). Of these 404 cases, 14 (3,7%) had a normal or low mosaic karyotype in STC-villi and therefore would potentially be missed with NIPT. It involved 2% (5/242) of all trisomy 21 cases and 7.3% (9/123) of all trisomy 18 cases. In 1:426 (14/5967) NIPT samples of patients at high risk for common aneuploidies, a trisomy 18 or 21 will potentially be missed due to the biological phenomenon of absence of the chromosome aberration in the cytotrophoblast.
Dynamic Modelling of Mechatronic Multibody Systems With Symbolic Computing and Linear Graph Theory

The application of linear graph theory to the modelling of flexible multibody systems is described. When combined with symbolic computing methods, linear graph theory leads to efficient dynamic models that facilitate real-time simulation of systems of rigid bodies and flexible beams. The natural extension of linear graphs to the modelling of mechatronic multibody systems is presented, along with a recently-developed theory for building complex system models from models of individual subsystems.
Major histocompatibility complex class II-restricted presentation of an internally synthesized antigen displays cell-type variability and segregates from the exogenous class II and endogenous class I presentation pathways

Although reported examples of endogenous antigen (Ag) presentation by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules have increased, the mechanisms governing this process remain poorly defined. In this communication, we describe an experimental system designed to examine the mechanisms governing class II presentation of internal Ag. Our target peptide is processed from a transmembrane protein constitutively expressed by a variety of nucleated cells (MHC class I, H-2Ld), is naturally displayed by MHC class II molecules in vivo, and is recognized by a class II-restricted, CD4+ T cell hybridoma. Our results indicate that presentation of the Ld target Ag is independent of its plasma membrane expression, may not involve endosomal proteolysis, and thus may be distinct from the classically defined class II presentation pathway. In addition, the observations that Ld presentation does not require a functional TAP-1 complex, is not blocked by invariant chain, and cannot utilize cytoplasmic forms of H- 2Ld, suggest that a classical class I pathway is not involved in this presentation event. Finally, our data suggest that different cofactors participate in MHC class II presentation of exogenous and endogenous Ag, and that disparate Ag presenting cells, such as B, T, and pancreatic islet cells, may differentially express these two class II pathways of Ag presentation.
Discriminative Regularization : A New Classifier Learning Method

Regularization involves a large family of the state-of-the-art techniques in classifier learning. However, since traditional regularization methods essentially derive from ill-posed multivariate functional fitting problems which can be viewed as a kind of regression, in classifier design, they usually give more concerns to the smoothness of the classifier, and do not sufficiently use the prior knowledge of given samples. Actually, due to the characteristics of classification, the classifier is not always necessarily smooth anywhere, especially near the discriminant boundaries between classes. Radial Basis Function Networks (RBFNs) and Support vector machines (SVMs), as two most famous ones in the regularization family, have been aware of the importance of the prior information to some extent. They focus on either the intra-class or the inter-class information respectively. In this paper, we present a novel regularization method – Discriminative Regularization (DR), which provides a general way to incorporate the prior knowledge for classification. Through introducing the prior information into the regularization term, DR aims to minimize the empirical loss between the desired and actual outputs, as well as maximize the inter-class separability and minimize the intra-class compactness in the output space simultaneously. Furthermore, by embedding equality constraints in the formulation, the solution of DR can follow from solving a set of linear equations. The * Corresponding author: Tel: +86-25-84896481 Ext. 12106; Fax: +86-25-84498069; E-mail: s.chen@nuaa.edu. cn (S. Chen), xuehui@nuaa.edu. cn (H. Xue) and qyang@cse.ust. hk (Q. Yang) classification experiments show the superiority of our proposed DR.
DataSpotting: Exploiting naturally clustered mobile devices to offload cellular traffic

The proliferation of pictures and videos in the Internet is imposing heavy demands on mobile data networks. Though emerging wireless technologies will provide more bandwidth, the increase in demand will easily consume the additional capacity. To alleviate this problem, we explore the possibility of serving user requests from other mobile devices located geographically close to the user. For instance, when Alice reaches areas with high device density - Data Spots - the cellular operator learns Alice's content request, and guides her device to nearby devices that have the requested content. Importantly, communication between the nearby devices can be mediated by servers, avoiding many of the known problems of pure ad hoc communication. This paper argues this viability through systematic prototyping, measurements, and measurement-driven analysis.
Information Flow in Research and Development Laboratories.

Technical communication patterns in two research and development laboratories were examined using modified sociometric techniques. The structure of technical communication networks in the two laboratories results from the interaction of both social relations and work structure. The sociometric "stars" in the technical communication network who provide other members of the organization with information either make greater use of individuals outside the organization or read the literature more than other members of the laboratory.
Stimulatory effect of adenosine triphosphate and magensium on the release of catecholamines from adrenal medullary granules.

It is well known that catecholamine is stored within specific granules in various tissues and when it is released from these granules it displays its physiological effects. Therefore, the mechanisms of storage and release of catecholamine have recently become a topic of interest. It was reported by Kirshner (1) and Carlsson et al. (2) that the uptake of 14C-catecholamine into the granules of the adrenal medulla was stimulated by ATP and Mg2+. Euler and Lishajko also showed ATP-Mg2+ dependent uptake of catecholarnine by the granules of adrenergic nerves (3, 4). The effect of ATP and Mg2+ on the uptake and release of catecholamine in the granules of adrenal medulla was also studied in this laboratory. It was found that on the addition of ATP and Mg2+, there was only slight or no inhibition of the release of catecholamine from the granules when they were incubated in sucrose solution, while when they were incubated in saline solution catecholamine release was greatly stimulated. This report gives further details of the stimulatory effect of ATP and Mg2+ on the release of catecholamine from the granules of adrenal medulla. A preliminary report of this work has been published (5, 6).
Remodeling of membrane compartments: some consequences of membrane fluidity

Abstract Biological membranes consist of fluid bilayers with many lipid and protein components. This fluidity implies a high flexibility that allows the membranes to attain a large variety of different shapes. One important shape parameter is the spontaneous curvature, which describes the asymmetry between the two leaflets of a bilayer and can be changed by adsorption of ‘particles’ such as ions or proteins from the aqueous phases. Membrane fluidity also implies that the membranes can change their local composition via lateral diffusion and form intramembrane compartments. Two mechanisms for the formation of such compartments can be distinguished: membrane segmentation arising from structured environments and domain formation as a result of phase separation within the membranes. The interplay between these two mechanisms provides a simple and generic explanation for the difficulty to observe phase domains in vivo. Intramembrane domains can form new membrane compartments via budding and tubulation processes. Which of these two processes actually occurs depends on the fluid-elastic properties of the domains, on the adsorption kinetics, and on external constraints arising, e.g., from the osmotic conditions. Vesicles are predicted to unbind from adhesive surfaces via tubulation when the spontaneous curvature of their membranes exceeds a certain threshold value.