Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An exactly solvable Ogston model of gel electrophoresis IV: Sieving through periodic three‐dimensional gels

In this article, we extend our recently developed lattice model of gel electrophoresis to periodic three‐dimensional gels made of either isolated obstacles or infinitely long fibers. Exact mobilites are calculated using a much improved numerical method that allows us to treat very large systems. A comparison of the exact mobilities and free available volumes indicates that the main assumption of the Ogston‐Morris‐Rodbard‐Chrambach model (OMRCM), which postulates that the mobility (μ) of charged particles is directly related to the fractional gel volume available to them, is not valid. However, a study of the gel concentration and analyte size dependence of the zero‐field mobility indicates that the OMRCM and the Ferguson plots can indeed be used to obtain useful, semi‐quantitative information about the gel properties. A procedure to study more realistic three‐dimensional gel systems is discussed.
The Mardi Gras Boys of Singapore's English-Language Theatre

This short paper is extracted from a larger project that explores colonial and intercultural queer encounters in performance. Focusing on Singapore as a transnational site, I study how Mardi Gras is appropriated and staged in a local English-language production of the same name, as well as in a large-scale queer party in Singapore, regarded as "Asia's Mardi Gras. " Singapore's Mardi Gras boys perform the city-state's uncertain and superficial transformation from patriarchal father-state to "Asia's new gay capital" in its bid to attract global queer capital in the form of creative talent and pink-dollar industries. Mardi Gras boys are a lens through which to consider the larger social and global ramifications of the staging of queer boys in this global city-state.
Sintomas depressivos e o uso de substâncias psicoativas durante a vida em adolescentes

Introduction: Depression is amongst the most common psychiatric disorders during adolescence, being psychiatric comorbidities such as the abuse of psychoactive substances, frequently observed in depressive cases. Objective: Investigating the association between depressive symptoms and the use of psychoactive substances in adolescents, that is, private and public High School students in Porto Alegre-RS. Method: It is a cross-sectional study, using sample by convenience, of 706 school adolescents. The instruments used were a social and demographic information sheet, information on the use of psychoactive substances, and Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI). Results: 28% of the participants presented depressive symptoms. The adolescents who used alcohol, tobacco, cocaine or other substances, presented more depressive symptoms than the ones who did not use them (t=2,248 p=0,025). Conclusion: It has been observed that the prevalence of depressive symptoms in this sample is high and similar to the ones found in other studies on adolescents. The knowledge of the presence of depressive symptoms and the association with the use of psychoactive substances may contribute for establishing programs focused on this group, in order to prevent such symptoms, along its three levels: primary, secondary and tertiary
‘It's Taking Me a Long Time but I'll Get There in the End’: Mature students on access courses and higher education choice

The UK policy rhetoric of commitment to widening access to higher education has identified mature students as playing a pivotal role in the expansion and reform of higher education. The article draws on the experiences of 23 mature access students in an inner London further education college in order to explore the range of opportunities and constraints mature students confront in their efforts to make the transition to higher education. In particular, the article focuses on the narratives of the seven students who failed to complete the access course. It is argued that complexities of ethnicity, gender and marital status intersect with, and compound, the consequences of class, making the transition process particularly difficult for working-class, lone mothers. The article concludes that if the Government's 'New Learning Age' is not to reproduce past educational inequalities, then the rhetoric on widening participation needs to move beyond rhetoric into policies which provide possibilities for realisation.
Risk factors for abnormal cervical cytology in pregnant women attending the high-risk obstetrics clinic at the University Hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

OBJECTIVE Approximately 30% of women diagnosed with cervical cancer are in their childbearing years, and 5-8% of pregnant women seeking prenatal care are found to have an abnormal Papanicolaou smear. Prenatal visits are an excellent opportunity for cervical cytology testing and patient education because of close follow-up. The objective of this study is to examine the overall prevalence of cervical dysplasia and associated risk factors in pregnant women aged 15 to 30 years attending the high-risk obstetrics clinics at the University Hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico between December 2005 and May 2007. METHODS We performed a systematic review of 237 prenatal charts from patients attending the high-risk obstetrics clinics at the University Hospital in San Juan. The variables studied were age, place of birth, gestational age at first visit, gravidity, age at first coitus, number of sexual partners, tobacco use, Papanicolaou smear results, and cervical gonorrhea and Chlamydia test results. The relationship between cervical cytology results and the aforementioned variables was statistically assessed. RESULTS Abnormal cervical cytology was found in 16 (6.8%) of the patients. Of these, 75% were atypical squamous cells of unknown significance (ASCUS), 19% low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LGSIL), and 6% high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HGSIL). Gravidity > 3 was observed in 16.5% of the patients, and 48.7% were in their second trimester of gestation. Their first coitus was at age 17 or earlier (66.5%), and 78% had between 1 and 3 sexual partners. Having a positive Chlamydia test was significantly (p < 0.05) associated with the risk of having an abnormal cervical cytology. Other variables such as gravidity, age at first coitus, number of sexual partners, and tobacco use were not statistically associated with an abnormal cervical cytology test. CONCLUSION The overall prevalence of cervical dysplasia among pregnant women who attend the high-risk obstetrics clinic at the University Hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico is similar to what has been reported elsewhere. Among all variables studied, only a positive Chlamydia test was found to be associated with an abnormal cervical cytology test. Given the high number of women seeking prenatal care and the close follow-up provided during this period, prenatal care is an excellent opportunity for cervical cytology testing and patient education.
The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power

Over the last 150 years the corporation has risen from relative obscurity to become the world's dominant economic institution. Eminent Canadian law professor and legal theorist Joel Bakan contends that today's corporation is a pathological institution, a dangerous possessor of the great power it wields over people and societies. In this revolutionary assessment of the history, character, and globalization of the modern business corporation, Bakan backs his premise with the following observations: The corporation's legally defined mandate is to pursue relentlessly and without exception its own economic self-interest, regardless of the harmful consequences it might cause to others.The corporation's unbridled self-interest victimizes individuals, society, and, when it goes awry, even shareholders and can cause corporations to self-destruct, as recent Wall Street scandals reveal.Governments have freed the corporation, despite its flawed character, from legal constraints through deregulation and granted it ever greater authority over society through privatization.But Bakan believes change is possible and he outlines a far-reaching program of achievable reforms through legal regulation and democratic control. Featuring in-depth interviews with such wide-ranging figures as Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman, business guru Peter Drucker, and cultural critic Noam Chomsky, The Corporation is an extraordinary work that will educate and enlighten students, CEOs, whistle-blowers, power brokers, pawns, pundits, and politicians alike.
Changes in Sexual Function in Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Patients Taking Dutasteride: 1-Year Follow-Up Results

Purpose Sexual adverse events (AEs), a major cause for discontinuing 5α-reductase inhibitor (5ARI) therapy for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), are known to occur most frequently early in therapy and appear to decline over time. The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in sexual function occurring with dutasteride treatment during a 1-year follow-up period in Korean men. Materials and Methods Using the International Index of Erectile Function, we prospectively evaluated, after 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months of treatment, the changes in sexual function of 55 outpatients (mean age 62.3±7.2 years) with BPH (mean volume 48.9±16.0 g) who had relatively good erectile function (EF) and were treated with dutasteride for at least 1 year. Results EF scores showed the most significant decrease at 1 month (p<0.01). Function gradually recovered thereafter but was still significantly decreased after 12 months of treatment (p<0.05). The scores for orgasmic function and sexual desire also showed the most significant reduction at 1 month but were restored to the baseline level at 6 months. No significant correlation was observed between changes in sexual function and prostate-specific antigen level, prostate volume, or International Prostate Symptom Scores. Conclusions After 1 month of treatment, dutasteride therapy resulted in a significant reduction in all investigated sexual functions. Overall, recovery in sexual function was noted at 3 months, and orgasmic function and sexual desire were restored to baseline levels at 6 months. However, EF was still significantly reduced at 12 months.
Theory and experiments of angular vertical comb-drive actuators for scanning micromirrors

We report on the theory and experiments of scanning micromirrors with angular vertical comb-drive (AVC) actuators. Parametric analyses of rotational vertical comb-drive actuators using a hybrid model that combines two-dimensional finite-element solutions with analytic formulations are described. The model is applied to both AVC and staggered vertical comb-drive (SVC) actuators. Detailed design tradeoffs and conditions for pull-in-free operations are discussed. Our simulation results show that the fringe fields play an important role in the estimation of maximum continuous rotation angles, particularly for combs with thin fingers, and that the maximum scan angle of the AVC is up to 60% larger than that of the SVC. Experimentally, a large dc continuous scan angle of 28.8/spl deg/ (optical) has been achieved with a moderate voltage (65 V) for a 1-mm-diameter scanning micromirror with AVC actuators. Excellent agreement between the experimental data and the theoretical simulations has been obtained.
Spur Reduction Techniques for Phase-Locked Loops Exploiting A Sub-Sampling Phase Detector

This paper presents phase-locked loop (PLL) reference-spur reduction design techniques exploiting a sub-sampling phase detector (SSPD) (which is also referred to as a sampling phase detector). The VCO is sampled by the reference clock without using a frequency divider and an amplitude controlled charge pump is used which is inherently insensitive to mismatch. The main remaining source of the VCO reference spur is the periodic disturbance of the VCO by the sampling at the reference frequency. The underlying VCO sampling spur mechanisms are analyzed and their effect is minimized by using dummy samplers and isolation buffers. A duty-cycle-controlled reference buffer and delay-locked loop (DLL) tuning are proposed to further reduce the worst case spur level. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed spur reduction techniques, a 2.21 GHz PLL is designed and fabricated in 0.18 μm CMOS technology. While using a high loop-bandwidth-to-reference-frequency ratio of 1/20, the reference spur measured from 20 chips is <; -80 dBc. The PLL consumes 3.8 mW while the in-band phase noise is -121 dBc/Hz at 200 kHz and the output jitter integrated from 10 kHz to 100 MHz is 0.3psrms.
The Art Group Crit. How do you make a Firing Squad Less Scary

The relationship between achievement and feedback and the fact that effective feedback improves achievement is well documented (Taylor and McCormack, 2004; Hattie, 2007). This is especially true of written feedback.AÂ However in art and design education feedback will take place in an often emotionally charged face-to-face meeting where verbal criticism, both negative and positive, takes place in front of an audience. The forum for this feedback in art education is the Group Crit (Crit, Art Crit, or Group Critique) at which students are expected to present and perform. It is the studentsA¢â¬â¢ reception and perception of this oral feedback in todayA¢â¬â¢s quality-focused context, which is at the heart of this study. This article presents a study into the impact of verbal feedback on achievement in art and design education via a survey taken amongst 60 undergraduate art and design students, at the University of Institution in 2009/10. The survey collected both quantitative and qualitative responses and identified a fundamentally emotional and fear-focused perception of the Group Crit, one opposed to its supportive and bespoke dynamic intentions. A stress factor (Pope, 2005; Anthony, 1991) is created when personalised feedback is perceived as a negative (critical) reflection on the student performance (at the Crit), their self worth and esteem and not the work presented. Criticism, and by implication feedback, is perceived as negative, personal and subjective and fraught with contradiction and loss of A¢â¬ErespectA¢â¬â¢ - in opposition to the studentsA¢â¬â¢ previous prescriptive and A¢â¬EobjectiveA¢â¬â¢ educational experiences.
Using physiological data to predict future career progression in 14- to 17-year-old Austrian soccer academy players

Abstract The crux of any soccer-specific talent identification programme is to determine early predictors of future playing success (Williams & Reilly, 2000). We compare physiological characteristics among 14- to 17-year-old soccer academy players in terms of subsequent career progression (‘drafted’ vs. ‘non-drafted’). In a longitudinal design (2001–2010), players passed through 10 fitness tests at four age levels: 14 (n = 410); 15 (n = 504); 16 (n = 456); and 17 years (n = 272). MANOVAs showed statistically significant (P < 0.05) superior performances for drafted players in all components (‘speed’, ‘power and flexibility’, ‘coordination and endurance’) and age categories. ANOVAs revealed significantly (P < 0.013) better performances for drafted players in almost all tests, with the largest effect sizes for shuttle sprint (η 2 = 0.07–0.09), 20 m sprint (η 2 = 0.04–0.05) and medicine ball throw (η 2 = 0.05–0.11). Follow up discriminant analyses confirmed that a combination of three variables correctly classified 62.7 to 66.2% of the players. Soccer-specific speed and power of upper limbs best discriminated future playing status, irrespective of age category. It is concluded that physiological measurements at adolescence can provide useful information in terms of predicting future career progression.
Testing the Java Card Applet Firewall

In this paper we discuss the methodology and results of testing the Java Card applet firewall mechanism. The main motivation for this work is the complexity of the firewall. Given the complexity, non-compliance of the cards with respect to the official specification is not unlikely. Firewall implementation faults may lead to serious security issues. Although we did not discover any serious problems on our test cards, a few minor specification violations are reported. We only found one specification violation on one card that could be considered unsafe, in that it might introduce a security risk for specific applications.
Sonification Abstraite/Sonification Concrète: An 'Aesthetic Perspective Space' for Classifying Auditory Displays in the Ars Musica Domain

This paper discusses aesthetic issues of sonifications and the relationships between sonification (ars informatica) and music & sound art (ars musica). It is posited that many sonifications have suffered from poor internal ecological validity which makes listening more difficult, thereby resulting in poorer data extraction and inference on the part of the listener. Lessons are drawn from the
Pseudo-codewords of cycle codes via zeta functions

Cycle codes are a special case of low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes and as such can be decoded using an iterative message-passing decoding algorithm on the associated Tanner graph. The existence of pseudo-codewords is known to cause the decoding algorithm to fail in certain instances. In this paper, we draw a connection between pseudo-codewords of cycle codes and the so-called edge zeta function of the associated normal graph and show how the Newton polytope of the zeta function equals the fundamental cone of the code, which plays a crucial role in characterizing the performance of iterative decoding algorithms.
Two-player ad hoc output-feedback cumulant game control

This paper studies a finite horizon output-feedback game control problem where two players seek to optimize their system performance by shaping the distribution of their cost function through cost cumulants. We consider a two-player second cumulant nonzero-sum Nash game for a partially-observed linear system with quadratic cost function. We derive the near-optimal players strategy for the second cost cumulant function by solving the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation. The results of the proposed approach are demonstrated by solving a numerical example.
Structures of Naturally Evolved CUP1 Tandem Arrays in Yeast Indicate That These Arrays Are Generated by Unequal Nonhomologous Recombination

An important issue in genome evolution is the mechanism by which tandem duplications are generated from single-copy genes. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, most strains contain tandemly duplicated copies of CUP1, a gene that encodes a copper-binding metallothionein. By screening 101 natural isolates of S. cerevisiae, we identified five different types of CUP1-containing repeats, as well as strains that only had one copy of CUP1. A comparison of the DNA sequences of these strains indicates that the CUP1 tandem arrays were generated by unequal nonhomologous recombination events from strains that had one CUP1 gene.
Industrial Adoption of Automatically Extracted GUI Models for Testing

Crafting the models for effective model-based testing (MBT) requires deep understanding of the problem domain and expertise on formal modeling, and creating the models manually from the scratch requires a significant amount of effort. When an existing system is being modeled and tested, there are various techniques to automate the process of producing the models based on the implementation. Especially graphical user interface (GUI) applications have been a good domain for reverse engineering and specification mining approaches, but the existing academic approaches have limitations and restrictions on the GUI applications that can be modeled, and none of them have been adopted by the industry for testing commercial software. Although using implementation based models in testing has restrictions and requires special consideration, the generated models can be used in automated testing and supporting various manual testing actions. In this paper we introduce an industrial approach and platform-independent Murphy tool set for automatically extracting state models for testing GUI applications.
‘Beasts, burrowers and birds’: The enactment of researcher identities in UK business schools

In this article, we suggest that management research constitutes a field of practice that is made practically intelligible through embodied enactment. This relies on imagination, constructing modes of belonging within communities of management research practice. Undergraduate students constitute a significant audience towards whom these self-presentational performances are directed. Our analysis is based on findings from four UK business schools where students participated in a free drawing and focus group exercise and were asked to visualize a management researcher. Through identification of three dominant animal metaphors of management research practice, we explore the symbolic relations whereby a prevailing image of the management researcher, as untouchable, solitary, aggressive, competitive and careerist, is socially constructed. We argue that this competitive, self-interested impression of research is detrimental to ethical, critically reflexive, reciprocal and participatory modes of research, and to the development of management research as a broadly inclusive system of social learning.
Psychometric Properties of the Embedded and Stand-Alone Versions of the MMPI-2 Keane PTSD Scale

This study investigated the comparability of the embedded and stand-alone versions of the Keane Posttraumatic Stress Disorder scale (PK scale) of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2). Participants were 123 Vietnam theater veterans, 68 of whom (55%) were diagnosed with war zone-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In separate testing sessions scheduled two to three days apart, all participants first completed the full MMPI-2 followed by the 46 PK scale items administered in a stand-alone format. Sixty participants completed the stand-alone version again in a third session. In addition, all participants were administered the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID), including the PTSD module, and completed a number of other questionnaire measures of combat exposure and PTSD. Results indicated that the embedded and stand-alone versions of the MMPI-2 PK scale are quite comparable in terms of mean scores, internal consistency, convergent validity, and diagnostic utility. Use of the standalone version is indicated for assessment applications in which the full MMPI-2 cannot be administered.
Acute induction of cell death-related IFN stimulated genes (ISG) differentiates highly from moderately virulent CSFV strains

Classical swine fever (CSF) severity is dependent on the virulence of the CSF virus (CSFV) strain. The earliest event detected following CSFV infection is a decrease in lymphocytes number. With some CSFV strains this leads to lymphopenia, the severity varying according to strain virulence. This lymphocyte depletion is attributed to an induction of apoptosis in non-infected bystander cells. We collected peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) before and during 3 days post-infection with either a highly or moderately virulent CSFV strain and subjected them to comparative microarray analysis to decipher the transcriptomic modulations induced in these cells in relation to strain virulence. The results revealed that the main difference between strains resided in the kinetics of host response to the infection: strong and immediate with the highly virulent strain, progressive and delayed with the moderately virulent one. Also although cell death/apoptosis-related IFN stimulated genes (ISG) were strongly up-regulated by both strains, significant differences in their regulation were apparent from the observed differences in onset and extent of lymphopenia induced by the two strains. Furthermore, the death receptors apoptotic pathways (TRAIL-DR4, FASL-FAS and TNFa-TNFR1) were also differently regulated. Our results suggest that CSFV strains might exacerbate the interferon alpha response, leading to bystander killing of lymphocytes and lymphopenia, the severity of which might be due to the host’s loss of control of IFN production and downstream effectors regulation.