Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Constructivism or the eternal return of universals in International Relations. Why returning to language is vital to prolonging the owl’s flight

In this contribution I engage with the question of the end of theory from a poststructuralist perspective. I begin by revisiting the making of International Relations as a discrete theoretical endeavour from Waltz (1979) to Wendt (1999), around, respectively, the efforts to unearth the structures of international politics that carved out the international as a distinct site of political analysis, and the appraisal of these structures as social structures (Wendt, 1999). I then revisit the origins of poststructuralism via the works of Jacques Derrida and Judith Butler, in order to bring its founding moves to bear directly on International Relations constructivism. Engaging with constructivism’s founding fathers, Nicholas Onuf, Alexander Wendt and Friedrich Kratochwil, I show that the search for unconstructed universals, grounded in an innate ‘human nature’, persistently haunts International Relations constructivism, even when it foregrounds language as the medium of social construction, and notably when it engages the question of gender. Just as language provided the original site for orchestrating the ‘moving beyond’ (the ‘post’ of poststructuralism) fixed, naturalized structures, I argue that a return to language holds the promise of renewal, and of constructivism’s being able to fulfil its founding promise to theorize constitutivity and the constructed-ness of International Relations’ world.
Der Nutzen einer komplexen Problemlösekompetenz: Theoretische Überlegungen und empirische Befunde

Seit Jahrzehnten wird diskutiert ob komplexes Problemlosen (KPL) ausschlieslich von Intelligenz und Vorwissen abhangt, oder ob das systematische Generieren von Informationen, die viable Reprasentation der wesentlichen kausalen Zusammenhange, sowie die zielfuhrende Anwendung von Wissen operative Aspekte von Intelligenz erfordern, die von herkommlichen Intelligenztests nur unzureichend erfasst werden. Der Klarung dieser Frage stehen bisher messtheoretische Probleme und eine unklare Abgrenzung von KPL zu Vorwissen und fluider Intelligenz gegenuber. In dieser Arbeit wird daher ein Verfahren zur Messung von KPL-Kompetenz eingefuhrt, das auf der Verwendung multipler vorwissensneutraler komplexer Probleme basiert. Dieses Verfahren (MicroDYN) wird empirisch an einer studentischen Stichprobe (n = 140) uberpruft: Latente Zusammenhange zu fluider Intelligenz liegen im Bereich um . 50 und bestatigen die empirische Trennbarkeit der Konstrukte. KPL weist inkrementelle Validitat gegenuber fluider Intelligenz bei der Vorh.
Data-driven Diachronic and Categorical Evaluation of Ontologies - Framework, Measure, and Metrics

Ontologies are a very important technology in the semantic web. They are an approximate representation and formalization of a domain of discourse in a manner that is both machine and human interpretable. Ontology evaluation therefore, concerns itself with measuring the degree to which the ontology approximates the domain. In data-driven ontology evaluation, the correctness of an ontology is measured agains a corpus of documents about the domain. This domain knowledge is dynamic and evolves over several dimensions such as the temporal and categorical. Current research makes an assumption that is contrary to this notion and hence does not account for the existence of bias in ontology evaluation. This work addresses this gap and proposes two metrics as well as a theoretical framework. It also presents a statistical evaluation of the framework and the associated metrics.
The consequences of unmet needs: the evolving role of motivation in consumer research

This paper proposes that dominant theories of human motivation rest on the notion of salient unmet needs. Motivational theories, represented by biological instinct theories (thesis) and social cognitive theories (antithesis), are now showing signs of synthesis within the domain of consumer research. Consumer and marketing research techniques can be made more insightful and actionable by introducing measures of the behavioural and emotional meaning of unmet needs through integration of the key elements of motivation research within a quantitative measurement system. Copyright © 2004 Henry Stewart Publications.
Diagnostic Impact of Transcranial Color-Coded Real-Time Sonography With Echo Contrast Agents for Hyperperfusion Syndrome After Carotid Endarterectomy

Background and Purpose— The purpose of the present study was to evaluate availability of transcranial color-coded real-time sonography (TCCS) to detect hyperperfusion after carotid endarterectomy (CEA). Methods— This prospective study included 105 consecutive patients who underwent CEA for severe carotid stenosis. TCCS with echo contrast agents was performed serially to evaluate flow velocity of the middle cerebral artery (MCA). Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and vasodilatory capacity of the MCA territory were evaluated using single-photon emission computed tomography. We compared the changes in MCA flow velocity with rCBF. Results— Using echo contrast agents, we could evaluate the MCA flow in 95 (90%) of 105 patients. Twelve patients showed hyperperfusion syndrome. Changes in the MCA mean flow velocity (MFV) before and 4 days after CEA were significantly correlated with those in rCBF (r =.48; P <.0001). An increase of >50% in MCA MFV was observed within 4 days after CEA in all 12 patients with hyperperfusion syndrome. Multivariate analysis revealed that reduced vasodilatory capacity (odds ratio, 0.14; 95% CI, 0.04 to 0.46) was an independent risk factor for a 1.5-fold increase in the MFV of MCA ipsilateral to CEA. Conclusions— Findings of a 1.5-fold increase in the MCA MFV can accurately identify those patients with high risk of developing post-CEA hyperperfusion syndrome. TCCS with echo contrast agents is available for the evaluation of hyperperfusion after CEA.
Pictures at an exhibition revisited: reflections on a typology of images used in the construction of corporate social responsibility and sustainability in non‐financial corporate reporting

Strategic corporate and public affairs communication about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has emerged as a major component of corporate efforts to interact with their stakeholders and society at large. Non-financial reporting, and CSR reporting in particular, is now seen as an essential corporate communication process by most members of a company's stakeholder community. This growth in CSR reporting has been driven by the need to increase corporate transparency and accountability concerning social and environmental issues. Arguably, the European Union is the most progressive region in adopting CSR reporting. Almost all of Europe's top 100 companies report on social and environmental performance, whilst figures for the USA and the rest of the world are much lower. The latest Accountability Rating concludes that ‘Europe leads, America lags’ after measuring companies' social and environmental impacts. The authors argue that visual communication is as important as words and numbers in creating meaning and assess UK and German Companies' non-financial performance. Utilizing a range of research methods including content analysis and semiotic interpretation the authors propose a typology of images used in non-financial reporting. This typology and associated conceptual development can used to more accurately define and interpret CSR and sustainability. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Segmentation on the basis of linear and local rotational motion : motion grouping in visual search

In 5 experiments using visual search procedures, grouping based on common motion was investigated Experiments 1-3 showed that items rotating locally about their center points could be segmented and selectively searched for among stationary distracters but not among distracters rotating in the opposite direction. Experiment 4 replicated previous findings showing that upward-moving items could be selectively searched for among stationary or downward-moving items. Experiment 5 showed that rotating items could be selected efficiently from among translating items and vice versa It is suggested that the visual system groups moving items only if they can feasibly belong to a single unique surface. Implications far current theories of visual attention are discussed.
Weight Clustering Histogram Equalization for Medical Image Enhancement

Contrast enhancement is important and useful for medical images. One of the widely accepted contrast enhancement method is histogram equalization (GHE). Although GHE achieves comparatively better performance on almost all types of image, GHE sometimes produces excessive visual deterioration. Some extensions of GHE are developed, however these extensions sometimes either fail to enhance the visualization or over enhance contrast of the original image. By over-enhancing contrast, some important information may be lost. Therefore we propose a new method called "Weight Clustering Histogram Equalization" (WCHE). WCHE assigns each non-zero bin of the original image's histogram to a separate cluster, and computes each cluster's weight. The cluster numbers are reduced by three suggesting criteria. Then, the clusters acquire the same partitions as the result image histogram. Finally, transformation functions for each cluster's sub-histogram are calculated based on the traditional GHE method in the new acquired partitions of the result image histogram, and the sub-histogram's gray levels are mapped to the result image by the corresponding transformation functions. We showed experimentally that WCHE bas been validated with some numerical results.
Are Students with ADHD More Stressful to Teach?

The inattentive and/or hyperactive—impulsive behaviors that typify attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been associated with increased stress in parents of children who are so diagnosed and are known to adversely affect the quality of parent—child interactions. Far less is known, however, about the effects of ADHD on interactions between students with the disorder and their teachers and on levels of teacher stress. Using the Index of Teaching Stress, an instrument assessing a teacher's subjective level of stress and frustration in response to teaching and interacting with a particular student, we found that general education elementary school teachers rated students with ADHD as significantly more stressful to teach than their classmates withoutADHD. However, we found that the stress reported by teachers was highly individualized.Students with ADHD who evidenced oppositional/aggressive behavior or severe social impairment were rated as significantly more stressful to teach than students with ADHD who did not evidence these associated difficulties.
Interaction of the islet nitric oxide system with L‐arginine‐induced secretion of insulin and glucagon in mice

1 Several recent in vitro studies have suggested that production of nitric oxide (NO) from the islet NO system may have an important regulatory influence on the secretion of insulin and glucagon. In the present paper we have investigated, mainly with an in vivo approach, the influence and specificity of the NO synthase (NOS) blocker NG‐nitro‐L‐arginine methyl ester (L‐NAME) on L‐arginine‐induced secretion of insulin and glucagon. 2 In freely fed mice, L‐NAME pretreatment (1.2 mmol kg−1) influenced the dynamics of insulin and glucagon release following an equimolar dose of L‐arginine, the specific substrate for NOS activity, in that the NOS inhibitor enhanced the insulin response but suppressed the glucagon responses. This was reflected in a large decrease in the plasma glucose levels of the L‐NAME pretreated animals. 3 L‐NAME pretreatment did not influence the insulin and glucagon secretory responses to the L‐arginine‐enantiomer D‐arginine, which cannot serve as a substrate for NOS activity. 4 Replacing L‐NAME pretreatment by pretreatment with D‐arginine or L‐arginine itself, which both carry the same cationic charge and are devoid of NOS inhibitory properties, did not mimic the effects of L‐NAME on L‐arginine‐induced hormone release. 5 Fasting the animals for 24 h totally abolished the L‐NAME‐induced potentiation of L‐arginine stimulated insulin release suggesting that the sensitivity of the β‐cell secretory machinery to NO‐production is greatly changed in the fasting state. However, the L‐NAME‐induced suppression of L‐arginine stimulated glucagon release was unaffected by starvation. 6 In isolated islets from freely fed mice, L‐arginine (5 mM) stimulated insulin release was greatly enhanced and glucagon release markedly suppressed by the presence of the NOS inhibitor L‐NAME in the incubation medium. These effects were abolished in isolated islets taken from 24 h fasted mice. 7 Our present results, which showed that the NOS inhibitor L‐NAME markedly enhances insulin release but suppresses glucagon release induced by L‐arginine in the intact animal, give strong support to our previous hypothesis that the islet NO system is a negative modulator of insulin secretion and a positive modulator of glucagon secretion. Additionally, we observed that the importance of the β‐cell NO‐production for secretory mechanisms, as evaluated by the effect of L‐NAME on L‐arginine‐induced insulin release, was greatly changed after starvation, an effect less prominent with regard to glucagon release.
ATTRIBUTION OF LEADERSHIP IN A RESOURCE-MANAGEMENT SITUATION

In a resource management game we investigated how regular group members respond to a leader who promotes group success or fails to do so, while operating in a predictable or totally unpredictable environment. The subjects (N = 110) were confronted with a bogus leader who purportedly took decisions on behalf of the whole group. Performance of the leader and Predictability of the environment were manipulated by means of a 2 × 2 factorial design. As predicted, a failing leader received weaker endorsement than a successful leader (Performance main effect). The Performance × Predictability interaction effect was ascribed to two circumstances: (a) As predicted by the attributional approach of leadership (Calder, 1977; Pfeffer, 1977), endorsement of a successful leader was weaker in the Unpredictable than in the Predictable environment. However, (b) endorsement of a failing leader was not significantly weaker in the Predictable than in the Unpredictable environment. Additional data showed that regular group members' attributions played a mediating role.
Effects of separate calcium feeding on laying hens selected for low (R$^-$) or high (R$^+$) residual feed consumption

The experiment was carried out with a sample of females from the 21st generation of lines R - and R + selected divergently for residual food intake in the laying period. After a breeding period of 18 weeks the hens of each line had been distributed among climatic rooms into two groups, one fed with a complete commercial feed (control group) and the other one with both a low calcium feed and oyster shells given in two separate troughs (treated group). Egg production was recorded during 77 days, egg and shell traits were obtained during the third and fourth weeks of the experiment, and the voluntary consumption of feed was measured over a period of 28 days. The treatment had a sig- nificant effect for both lines on average egg weight ( p < 0.05), shell weight (p < 0.01), shell thickness (p < 0.01), and albumen thickness (p < 0.05). However, the line 〈 treatment interaction was signif- icant for yolk weight (p < 0.05) and voluntary calcium consumption (p < 0.001), indicating that the under-consuming line (R - ) showed a better response to separate calcium feeding with a 40% decrease of its residual feed consumption, and better egg and shell qualities. The advantage of line R - might be related to the expression of a specific calcium appetite which is masked in line R + which ingests
Transnational Feminist Crossings: On Neoliberalism and Radical Critique

This essay grows out of a presentation on a panel called “Lost in Translation” at the Critical Race Studies conference in 2010. It is a reflection on the neoliberal knowledge economy, the traffic in antiracist feminist theory, and the way my work has been read (lost or found in translation) and has crossed geopolitical and racial/cultural borders. The essay comments as well on the development of my intellectual project in relation to my location in the US academy and the intellectual and political communities that have made the work possible. The larger frame I seek to examine using responses to my work in three sites—Sweden, Mexico, and Palestine—is the way feminist, postcolonial, and antiracist theory emerges from a particular geopolitical, intellectual space; the way it enacts crossings; and the way it is trafficked, consumed, and understood in different geographies. Given the global and domestic shifts in social movements and transnational feminist scholarly projects over the past three decades, my major concern pertains to the depoliticization of antiracist feminist/women-of-color/transnational feminist intellectual projects in neoliberal, national-security-driven geopolitical landscapes.
Antimicrobial Drug Resistance of Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhi in Asia and Molecular Mechanism of Reduced Susceptibility to the Fluoroquinolones

ABSTRACT This study describes the pattern and extent of drug resistance in 1,774 strains of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi isolated across Asia between 1993 and 2005 and characterizes the molecular mechanisms underlying the reduced susceptibilities to fluoroquinolones of these strains. For 1,393 serovar Typhi strains collected in southern Vietnam, the proportion of multidrug resistance has remained high since 1993 (50% in 2004) and there was a dramatic increase in nalidixic acid resistance between 1993 (4%) and 2005 (97%). In a cross-sectional sample of 381 serovar Typhi strains from 8 Asian countries, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Nepal, Pakistan, and central Vietnam, collected in 2002 to 2004, various rates of multidrug resistance (16 to 37%) and nalidixic acid resistance (5 to 51%) were found. The eight Asian countries involved in this study are home to approximately 80% of the world's typhoid fever cases. These results document the scale of drug resistance across Asia. The Ser83→Phe substitution in GyrA was the predominant alteration in serovar Typhi strains from Vietnam (117/127 isolates; 92.1%). No mutations in gyrB, parC, or parE were detected in 55 of these strains. In vitro time-kill experiments showed a reduction in the efficacy of ofloxacin against strains harboring a single-amino-acid substitution at codon 83 or 87 of GyrA; this effect was more marked against a strain with a double substitution. The 8-methoxy fluoroquinolone gatifloxacin showed rapid killing of serovar Typhi harboring both the single- and double-amino-acid substitutions.
A new polyphase current-mode filter using programmable-gain current-controlled current-conveyor

A novel polyphase current-mode filter suitable for CMOS integrated circuit implementation is presented. The circuit uses two programmable-gain current-controlled current-conveyors and two grounded capacitors. The proposed circuit can be operated from a low power supply voltage (±1.25V) and its parameters enjoy low active- and passive-sensitivity. Simulation results using CMOS programmable gain CCCII are included.
Automatic fusion of freehand endoscopic brain images to three-dimensional surfaces: creating stereoscopic panoramas

A major limitation of the use of endoscopes in minimally invasive surgery is the lack of relative context between the endoscope and its surroundings. The purpose of this work was to fuse images obtained from a tracked endoscope to surfaces derived from three-dimensional (3-D) preoperative magnetic resonance or computed tomography (CT) data, for assistance in surgical planning, training and guidance. We extracted polygonal surfaces from preoperative CT images of a standard brain phantom and digitized endoscopic video images from a tracked neuro-endoscope. The optical properties of the endoscope were characterized using a simple calibration procedure. Registration of the phantom (physical space) and CT images (preoperative image space) was accomplished using fiducial markers that could be identified both on the phantom and within the images. The endoscopic images were corrected for radial lens distortion and then mapped onto the extracted surfaces via a two-dimensional 2-D to 3-D mapping algorithm. The optical tracker has an accuracy of about 0.3 mm at its centroid, which allows the endoscope tip to be localized to within 1.0 mm. The mapping operation allows multiple endoscopic images to be "painted" onto the 3-D brain surfaces, as they are acquired, in the correct anatomical position. This allows panoramic and stereoscopic visualization, as well as navigation of the 3-D surface, painted with multiple endoscopic views, from arbitrary perspectives.
A Study of High School Puente: What We Have Learned about Preparinglatino Youth for Postsecondary Education

This article reports on a 4-year study of High School Puente’s impact on program participants. Data include approximately 1,000 Puente students and 1,000 non-Puente students from18 high schools to test the impact of the programon aspirations, attitudes toward school, and preparation for college. Data were also collected on 75 matched pairs of Puente and non-Puente students to test the impact of the Puente program on GPA, preparation for college, attitudes and aspirations, and college going. The study found significant differences between Puente and non-Puente students on attitudes toward school, preparation for college, aspirations to attend college, and percentage of students going on to 4-year colleges. Puente students reported going on to 4-year colleges at nearly double the rate of non-Puente students with the same grades and test scores. The article discusses aspects of the programthat probably helped to account for these outcomes.
Pretty Secure BGP, psBGP

The Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is an IETF standard inter-domain routing protocol on the Internet. However, it is well known that BGP is vulnerable to a variety of attacks, and that a single misconfigured or malicious BGP speaker could result in large scale service disruption. We first summarize a set of security goals for BGP, and then propose Pretty Secure BGP (psBGP) as a new security protocol achieving these goals. psBGP makes use of a centralized trust model for authenticating Autonomous System (AS) numbers, and a decentralized trust model for verifying the propriety of IP prefix origination. We compare psBGP with S-BGP and soBGP, the two leading security proposals for BGP. We believe psBGP trades off the strong security guarantees of S-BGP for presumed-simpler operations, while requiring a different endorsement model: each AS must select a small number (e.g., one or two) of its peers from which to obtain endorsement of its prefix ownership assertions. This work contributes to the ongoing exploration of tradeoffs and balance between security guarantee, operational simplicity, and policies acceptable to the operator community.
Friends Don't Make Friends Good Citizens, But Advisors Do

The authors explore whether employees' willingness to perform organization citizenship behavior (OCB), or go “above and beyond” what is required by their jobs, is affected by social influence. The authors draw on social information processing and social learning theories to argue that OCB is contagious, or affected by the OCB of employees with whom a focal employee maintains social network ties. A study of admissions department employees reveals that strong advice ties between employees are positively and significantly related to similarity in OCB, whereas strong friendship ties and weak ties are not. Implications for research and practice, including suggestions for influencing ethical behavior in organizations, are discussed.