Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Public Dimension of Foreign Policy

For years, communications analysts and other social scientists have explored the impact of the mass media on public opinion. Other political scientists have examined concurrently the public opinion—foreign policy linkage. This article unites these distinct literatures in an attempt to understand the relationship between the mass media, public opinion, and U.S. foreign policy. Theories and research are classified according to the particular “flow of influence” among the three variables. This classification scheme will assist scholars and practitioners in understanding the complex nature of the public's impact on the U.S. foreign policy-making process.
A self-managed self-optimized publish-subscribe system

Publish/subscribe based communication systems have become very popular in recent years. Such systems are becoming larger and more complex, and thus require a smart management framework. An important challenge in this context is to efficiently disseminate the data flows sent from the publishers to the subscribers. To this aim, multicast dissemination is often used, requiring a smart mapping of data flows to multicast groups. Most existing publish/subscribe systems use static configuration and thus do not efficiently handle dynamic changes in the publish/subscribe system. In this work, we present a self-managed and self-optimized publish/subscribe system that efficiently adapts to changes in run time. A key element in the solution is a smart mapping algorithm that computes efficient routes for the data flows based on the current conditions in the system. The mapping algorithm takes into account various costs and constraints that are associated with the transition from one mapping to another during run time. The solution we present maintains the publish/subscribe system optimized while at the same time ensuring the stability of the system. We complement our work with a comprehensive simulation study in which we evaluate the suggested solution. The results clearly demonstrate the advantages of a dynamic self-optimized system over a static system.
Effect of 900 MHz Electromagnetic Radiation on the Induction of ROS in Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells

Background Despite numerous studies over a decade, it still remains controversial about the biological effects of RF EMF emitted by mobile phone telephony. Objective Here we investigated the effect of 900 MHz GSM on the induction of oxidative stress and the level of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) in human mononuclear cells, monocytes and lymphocytes as defence system cells. Method 6 ml Peripheral Blood samples were obtained from 13 healthy volunteers (21-30 year-old). Each sample was devided into 2 groups: one was exposed RF radiation emitted from a mobile phone simulator for 2 hour and the other used as control group which was not exposed to any fields. After that, mononuclear cells were isolated from peripheral blood by density gradient centrifugation in Ficoll-Paque. The intracellular ROS content in monocytes and lymphocytes was measured by the CM-H2DCFDA fluorescence probe using flowcytometry technique. Results Our results showed significant increase in ROS production after exposure in population rich in monocytes. This effect was not significant in population rich in lymphocytes in comparison with non exposed cells. Conclusion The results obtained in this study clearly showed the oxidative stress induction capability of RF electromagnetic field in the portion of PBMCs mostly in monocytes, like the case of exposure to micro organisms, although the advantages or disadvantages of this effect should be evaluated.
Task Pool Teams: a hybrid programming environment for irregular algorithms on SMP clusters

Clusters of symmetric multiprocessors (SMPs) are popular platforms for parallel programming since they provide large computational power for a reasonable price. For irregular application programs with dynamically changing computation and data access behavior, a flexible programming model is needed to achieve efficiency. In this paper we propose Task Pool Teams as a hybrid parallel programming environment to realize irregular algorithms on clusters of SMPs. Task Pool Teams combine task pools on single cluster nodes by an explicit message passing layer. They offer load balance together with multi‐threaded, asynchronous communication. Appropriate communication protocols and task pool implementations are provided and accessible by an easy‐to‐use application programmer interface. As application examples we present a branch and bound algorithm and the hierarchical radiosity algorithm. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Potential Role of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in the Restoration of Degraded Lands

Experiences worldwide reveal that degraded lands restoration projects achieve little success or fail. Hence, understanding the underlying causes and accordingly, devising appropriate restoration mechanisms is crucial. In doing so, the ever-increasing aspiration and global commitments in degraded lands restoration could be realized. Here we explain that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) biotechnology is a potential mechanism to significantly improve the restoration success of degraded lands. There are abundant scientific evidences to demonstrate that AMF significantly improve soil attributes, increase above and belowground biodiversity, significantly improve tree/shrub seedlings survival, growth and establishment on moisture and nutrient stressed soils. AMF have also been shown to drive plant succession and may prevent invasion by alien species. The very few conditions where infective AMF are low in abundance and diversity is when the soil erodes, is disturbed and is devoid of vegetation cover. These are all common features of degraded lands. Meanwhile, degraded lands harbor low levels of infective AMF abundance and diversity. Therefore, the successful restoration of infective AMF can potentially improve the restoration success of degraded lands. Better AMF inoculation effects result when inocula are composed of native fungi instead of exotics, early seral instead of late seral fungi, and are consortia instead of few or single species. Future research efforts should focus on AMF effect on plant community primary productivity and plant competition. Further investigation focusing on forest ecosystems, and carried out at the field condition is highly recommended. Devising cheap and ethically widely accepted inocula production methods and better ways of AMF in situ management for effective restoration of degraded lands will also remain to be important research areas.
The Singular Values of the GUE (Less is More)

Some properties that nominally involve the eigenvalues of Gaussian Unitary Ensemble (GUE) can instead be phrased in terms of singular values. By discarding the signs of the eigenvalues, we gain access to a surprising decomposition: the singular values of the GUE are distributed as the union of the singular values of two independent ensembles of Laguerre type. This independence is remarkable given the well known phenomenon of eigenvalue repulsion. The structure of this decomposition reveals that several existing observations about large $n$ limits of the GUE are in fact manifestations of phenomena that are already present for finite random matrices. We relate the semicircle law to the quarter-circle law by connecting Hermite polynomials to generalized Laguerre polynomials with parameter $\pm$1/2. Similarly, we write the absolute value of the determinant of the $n\times{}n$ GUE as a product n independent random variables to gain new insight into its asymptotic log-normality. The decomposition also provides a description of the distribution of the smallest singular value of the GUE, which in turn permits the study of the leading order behavior of the condition number of GUE matrices. The study is motivated by questions involving the enumeration of orientable maps, and is related to questions involving powers of complex Ginibre matrices. The inescapable conclusion of this work is that the singular values of the GUE play an unpredictably important role that had gone unnoticed for decades even though, in hindsight, so many clues had been around.
Joint Physical Custody in The Netherlands and the Well-Being of Children

The frequency of contact with fathers and mothers and the amount of parental support for boys and girls is an important issue after divorce, from emotional, legal, and empirical points of view. In the Netherlands between 1998 and 2008, joint physical custody after divorce (when children actually have shared residences) has increased from 5% to 16%. It is therefore interesting to compare the effects growing up in the following different kinds of families actually has on children: (a) mother families with low contact frequency with the father; (b) mother families with high contact frequency with the father; (c) co-parenting families (joint physical custody); and (d) father families. The main conclusion is that, on average, the effects of joint physical custody for children, mothers, and especially for fathers, are slightly positive.
Effects of fatigue on the torque-velocity relation in muscle

Background: The extent to which fatigue is related to the velocity of shortening is still not fully understood. Objectives: To examine the effects of fatigue induced by maximal intensity exercise at different velocities on subsequent torque-velocity relations in muscle. Methods: Ten men (mean (SD) age 25 (3) years; stature 1.78 (0.34) m; body mass 80.6 (14.5) kg) provided written informed consent and, over a five day period in a randomised manner, performed 16 fatiguing bouts of maximal intensity exercise on an isokinetic dynamometer each followed by one repetition maximum action. Concentric peak torque of the preferred leg was assessed at angular velocities of 0.52, 1.05, 2.09, and 3.14 rad/s. Mechanical work performed for all fatiguing bouts was held at 3050–3150 J. After a 45 second rest, a maximum effort was performed at one of the preset velocities. As a baseline, dependent variables of peak torque (N.m), angle of peak torque (rad), and mean torque (N.m) were measured at each velocity. An analysis of covariance was used to compare torque-velocity relations, and one factor, within subject analyses of variance with repeated measures investigated differences from baseline. Results: Torque-velocity relations for all dependent variables did not differ (p>0.05). Similarly, angles at which peak torque occurred were not velocity dependent and did not differ from baseline and subsequent exercise measures (p>0.05). Generally, fatiguing exercise at low velocities led to reductions in peak and mean torque in subsequent exercise at higher velocities (p<0.05). Conclusions: Torque-velocity relations fundamentally remain intact after fatigue induced at any velocity, although the magnitude changes. The results suggest that the greater decline in torque during subsequent exercise at high velocities could be due to greater exhaustion of fatigue sensitive type II fibres, whereas low velocity subsequent exercise is less affected because of the greater use of type I fibres.
Coinfection of Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis and Streptococcus pneumoniae in Multiple Cutaneous Lesions

A 12-year-old girl was seen by a physician in Frias (Santiago del Estero Province, northern Argentina region) due to a lesion in her left leg that presented a painless papule, which later became ulcerative. The mother referred that the first lesion appeared after an insect bite in the left leg of her daughter, but she did not remember any febrile episode. She reported no other symptoms or past medical history associated with skin ulcerations, diabetes, recurrent ear infections, or chronic diseases. In a few days, new lesions with similar characteristics appeared on her arms and legs. The first clinical impressions were ulcers caused by group A beta-hemolytic streptococci or staphylococci. No bacteriological cultures or other microbiological studies were performed to determine the putative cause of those lesions. Nevertheless, she received an empirical antibiotic treatment, such as topical rifampicin (3 applications/day of a 100 mg/ml solution) concomitantly with penicillin G benzathine (1,200,000 UI, one dose, i.m.) cephalexin (500 mg orally every 12 h for 14 days) and ciprofloxacin (500 mg orally every 12 h for 7 days), which were administered sequentially due to clinical worsening of the skin lesions. After 2 weeks, the physicians could not observe any lesion improvement after these treatments, and judged by the evolution of lesions, they suspected a Leishmania infection and interrupted antibiotic treatment. The patient was transferred to the Hospital Pediatrico del Niño Jesus (children’s hospital, Cordoba, Argentina) for an accurate diagnosis.
Climate Change and Infectious Diseases: From Evidence to a Predictive Framework

Scientists have long predicted large-scale responses of infectious diseases to climate change, giving rise to a polarizing debate, especially concerning human pathogens for which socioeconomic drivers and control measures can limit the detection of climate-mediated changes. Climate change has already increased the occurrence of diseases in some natural and agricultural systems, but in many cases, outcomes depend on the form of climate change and details of the host-pathogen system. In this review, we highlight research progress and gaps that have emerged during the past decade and develop a predictive framework that integrates knowledge from ecophysiology and community ecology with modeling approaches. Future work must continue to anticipate and monitor pathogen biodiversity and disease trends in natural ecosystems and identify opportunities to mitigate the impacts of climate-driven disease emergence.
Cache-Oblivious Traversals of an Array ’ s Pairs

Cache-obliviousness is a concept first introduced by Frigo et al. in [1]. We follow their model and develop a cache-oblivious algorithm for traversing all pairs of elements in a one-dimensional array and prove that it is optimally cache-efficient. Though the the traversal is recursive in nature, we demonstrate how to implement the algorithm nonrecursively, and we give experimental results.
Self‐directed social learning: the role of individual differences

Purpose – This study aims to examine the influence of individual differences on self‐directed social learning and self‐efficacy. Inter‐dependent self‐construal, agreeableness, and extraversion were expected to predict five ways of self‐directed social learning: relating, benchmarking, modeling, identifying, and distancing.Design/methodology/approach – The sample consisted of 356 responses from professionals to a questionnaire survey. Using step‐wise regression analyses, the effect of individual differences on social learning and self‐efficacy, as well as the mediation of the latter relationship by the five ways of social learning, were examined.Findings – Inter‐dependent self‐construal predicted social learning and self‐efficacy. Its negative effect on self‐efficacy was mediated by relating. Agreeableness and extraversion predicted high self‐efficacy. Extraversion predicted modeling, identifying and distancing. Surprisingly, women appeared more likely to engage in social learning.Research limitations/impl.
Molecular and developmental genetics of mouse coat color.

MUTATIONS THAT AFFECT MELANOCYTE DEVELOPMENT AND MIGRATION. 192 Wand Steel Mutations . 192 The Patch Mutation . 196 Splotch Mutations . 196 Mutations af piebald (s) . " . '" . 196
Overdose deaths demand a new paradigm for opioid rotation.

OBJECTIVE An increasing number of deaths have been inferred to be associated with current opioid rotation practices and evidence is mounting that the use of widely accepted protocols for opioid rotation is an important contributing factor. Based on the findings of a literature review published in conjunction with this article, we propose a new paradigm for a potentially safer method of opioid rotation and present a case study illustrating the paradigm. This new paradigm suggests three easy-to-remember steps in opioid rotation and obviates the need to use a conversion table. DESIGN Report of a clinical case of a patient undergoing opioid rotation using this new paradigm. SUMMARY The patient was successfully rotated from extended-release oxycodone to extended-release hydromorphone. The dose of oxycodone was slowly decreased, while the hydromorphone dose was slowly titrated. A critical element to this approach involved providing sufficient immediate-release opioid to treat breakthrough pain and to reverse acute abstinence signs and symptoms if the dosing changes prove insufficient. CONCLUSION A safer new paradigm for opioid rotation may provide an important incremental step forward in reducing adverse public health consequences of inappropriate opioid dosing.
A Four Activity Model of Psychotherapy and Its Relationship to Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Other Methods of Psychotherapy

This paper presents a general, information processing, model of psychotherapy based on Shapiro's EMDR, that includes both recently developed and traditional psychotherapy methods. It is posited that methods of psychotherapy can be conceptualized as employing up to four categories of activity to promote adaptive functioning. These activities include: 1. accessing of information already acquired 2. introduction of new information 3. facilitation of the processing of information 4. inhibition of accessing. The third category, facilitation of processing, includes abstract activity, and represents a relatively new development in psychotherapy. ----
The role of excitatory amino acids in pulsatile secretion of luteinizing hormone in gilts and barrows.

The relationship of excitatory amino acid (EAA) activity to LH secretion was investigated in ovariectomized crossbred prepuberal gilts (93 +/- 1 kg BW) and Yorkshire barrows (94 +/- 2 kg BW) in two experiments. In Exp. 1, eight gilts received, i.m. , saline (S) or 20 mg of Ketamine (K)/kg BW, a noncompetitive EAA receptor antagonist. Within these groups, four then received 10 mg of N-methyl-DL-aspartate (NMA)/kg BW, an EAA agonist, or S i.v. Mean serum LH concentrations were similar among groups before treatment, did not change after S+S, but decreased (P < .05) by 1 h after S+NMA, 3 h after K+S, and 2 h after K+NMA. Serum cortisol concentrations did not change after S+S, but were increased (P < .05) from 30 to 90 min after S+NMA, at 120 min after K+S, and from 30 to 120 min after K+NMA. In Exp. 2, barrows received 2.5 mg of NMA/kg BW i.v. immediately after i.m. injection of S (n = 7) or 19.9 mg of K/kg BW (n = 8). Mean serum LH concentrations for the 2 h before treatment were similar among barrows, but decreased (P < .05) by 2 h after K+NMA and was not altered after S+NMA. Serum cortisol concentrations were increased at 30 min after S+NMA and from 60 to 90 min after K+NMA. We suggest that EAA both inhibit and stimulate LH secretion, with the inhibitory effects lying within the basal hypothalamus and the stimulatory effects lying within higher brain centers.
Path integral duality and Planck scale corrections to the primordial spectrum in exponential inflation

The enormous red-shifting of the modes during the inflationary epoch suggests that physics at the Planck scale may modify the standard, nearly scale-invariant, primordial, density perturbation spectrum. Under the principle of path-integral duality, the space-time behaves as though it has a minimal length LP (which we shall assume to be of the order of the Planck length), a feature that is expected to arise when the quantum gravitational effects on the matter fields have been taken into account. Using the method of path integral duality, in this work, we evaluate the Planck scale corrections to the spectrum of density perturbations in the case of exponential inflation. We find that the amplitude of the corrections is of the order of (/MP), where and MP denote the inflationary and the Planck energy scales, respectively. We also find that the corrections turn out to be completely independent of scale. We briefly discuss the implications of our result, and also comment on how it compares with an earlier result.
Tumor necrosis factor‐α receptor 1 (p55) knockout only transiently decreases the activation of c‐Jun and does not affect the survival of axotomized dopaminergic nigral neurons

The activation of the c‐Jun N‐terminal kinases and their substrate transcription factor c‐Jun is central to the death of dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNC) but the underlying signal cascades are poorly understood. We have studied the impact of the p55 tumor necrosis factor‐α receptor (TNF‐R) 1 on the N‐terminal phosphorylation of c‐Jun and the survival of the dopaminergic SNC neurons after transection of the medial forebrain bundle. The axotomy raised the immunoreactivities of tumor necrosis factor‐α, p75 TNF‐R2 and ED1 (ectodysplasin A) in the substantia nigra equally in wildtype and knockout (ko) mice and of TNF‐R1 in wildtype mice. Importantly, TNF‐R1 ko significantly reduced the early phosphorylation of c‐Jun between 18 h and 3 d post‐axotomy but the functional deficiency of TNF‐R1 did not affect the survival of the dopaminergic neurons up to day 30. These findings demonstrate that: (i) TNF‐R1 is involved in the early cell body response after axon transection; (ii) TNF‐R1 operates upstream of c‐Jun N‐terminal kinase/c‐Jun, the central signal system of nerve fiber injury, and (iii) the failure of persistent reduction of activated c‐Jun is linked to the failure of protection of dopaminergic SNC neurons by TNF‐R1 ko.
Optimization of the Media Ingredients for Cutinase Production from Colleotrichum lindemuthianum Using Mixture Design Experiments

Optimal concentrations of yeast extract, glucose and potassium phosphate in the fermentation medium have been identified for the maximum cutinase production from the fungi Colleotrichum lindemuthianum. A simplex lattice experimental design for mixtures was used to identify concentration ranges that yield maximum production. Three sets of experiments were performed all involving three ingredients. The sets of experiments differ in the number of concentration levels considered. In the first set we consider four concentration levels (i.e., 0%, 33%, 67%, 100%), and in the second and third sets we consider five and six levels, respectively. Results showed that the interactions among the nutrient ingredients are best captured when five‐ and six‐level experiments are carried out. An algorithm has been proposed in this study to design the optimal medium. Various models were also developed to predict the enzyme production, and it is concluded that the cubic model obtained using six‐level experimental data gives the best model. The study also highlighted the synergistic interaction between yeast extract and glucose toward cutinase production.
Social Studies Instruction for Students with Mild Disabilities

Students with mild disabilities are frequently served in the general education classroom. As the provision of educational services for these students involves the general education classroom teacher to a greater degree, more attention must be given to the specifics of what happens in the general education classroom. Social studies is a content area in which students with mild disabilities often have a significant degree of difficulty. The current study is concerned with this difficulty. Classroom teachers were surveyed concerning the specific instructional approaches used and/or modifications used with students with mild disabilities. The results of the survey are presented, along with some possible alternatives to the current provision of services for students with mild disabilities.