Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ever closer or ever wider? Public attitudes towards further enlargement and integration in the European Union

ABSTRACT Proponents of the European project often portray further enlargement of the European Union as a complement to the process of building an ever closer union. The eurozone crisis, however, has highlighted the risks associated with pursuing deeper integration in a diverse union and reignited the debate on differentiated integration. This contribution examines how public attitudes towards the processes of deepening and broadening are related and asks whether European citizens see them as complementary or conflicting. Using multilevel analysis of Eurobarometer data, the contribution examines the factors – individual and contextual – that shape attitudes towards enlargement and deeper political integration across the 27 member states. The findings suggest that the ‘winners’ of integration – high-skilled individuals in core eurozone countries – are most likely to support deepening, but oppose further enlargement out of fear that an ever wider union might be costly.
User defined aggregates in object-relational systems

User-defined aggregates are essential in many advanced database applications, particularly in expressing data mining functions, but they find little support in current systems including object-relational databases. Three serious limitations of current systems are (i) the inability to introduce new aggregates (e.g., by coding them in procedural language as originally proposed in SQL3), (ii) the inability to return partial results during the computation (e.g. to support online aggregation), and (iii) the inability to use aggregates in recursive queries (e.g. to express bill of materials and optimized graph searches). In this paper, we presents a unified solution to these problems which realizes the SQL3 original proposal for user-defined aggregates (U-DAs), and adds significant improvements in terms of expressive power and ease of use: in fact our SQL-AG system also supports online aggregation, monotonic aggregation, and a high-level aggregate definition language named SADL. We focus on applications of UDAs and SADL.
During play, the break, and the drive home: the meaning of parental verbal behaviour in youth sport

Abstract Problems surrounding parental involvement in youth sport have received much attention in the international academic community. Most of the focus has surrounded the frequency and nature of parental verbal behaviour such as criticism, swearing and abuse. While such behaviour has the potential to exert a negative influence in youth sport, little is known about the socially constructed meaning of parental verbal behaviour. In other words, there is a current lack of understanding surrounding the social significance (or lack thereof) of parental comments, criticisms and abuse in the context of youth sport. Addressing this oversight is important given that parents and youth do not always share a common appreciation of parental involvement in sport. This paper reports on a study which sought to generate a greater understanding of parental involvement in the junior Australian football experience. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with parents and youth participants (n = 86) currently involved in a competitive Australian football season. Data were manually transcribed verbatim and subjected to a thematic analysis. The findings reveal how parents and youth attribute different social meaning to parental verbal behaviour during play, the breaks and the drive home. While youth appear to experience parental verbal behaviour in polarising ways, parents rationalise their own verbal behaviour and in doing so, contribute to a broader social reproduction of sport parenting behaviour.
Where have you gone? : the function of emotional proximity in the bereavement experiences of adult children who have lost a parent to suicide : a project based upon an independent investigation

This study was undertaken to look at the ways in which adult children suicide survivors made meaning of their losses by exploring emotional proximity, defined by the researcher for this study as the history, quality, and characteristics of the relationship between adult child and parent at the time of the suicide. The purpose was to elucidate the bereavement experiences of this little-studied subgroup of survivors. Seven adult children survivors from the Boston metropolitan area shared their stories of parental loss through a two-fold process that included completion of a demographic questionnaire and participation in semi-structured, open-ended interviews. A supplementary Internet search of four major survivor organizations and/or websites was also conducted to gain a better understanding of the services and supports available to adult children survivors and the larger survivor community. Major emergent themes surfaced in the findings, testifying to certain shared experiences, reflections and/or distinct patterns of responses in the suicidal loss of a parent. Participants generally had similar initial reactions of shock, self-blame, regret, and denial. Emotional proximity was dichotomized in terms of the quality of goodness or badness of the relationship. Individual processes of meaning-making, changes in significant relationships, and methods of incorporating the loss evolved over time. This study contributed to the dearth of empirical data about adult children survivors, bolstering existing knowledge of suicide survivorship and underscoring the importance of specifically relevant support and services for survivors.
The Power of Solidarity: Supervisors, Employees, and Their Interdependence at Work

This research investigates the relationship of solidarity from the supervisor to solidarity between employees (hypothesis 1). Research solely investigated Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) and Team-Member Exchange (TMX) separately based on direct reciprocity. This research connects LMX and TMX and investigates this relationship with organizational solidarity based on the mechanism of indirect reciprocity. This research further examines whether the relationship of solidarity from the supervisor to solidarity between employees is strengthened by the employment contract (hypothesis 2), temporal embeddedness of past experiences (hypothesis 3a) and future encounters with the supervisor (hypothesis 3b). Secondary data about organizational solidarity collected in 2003 were used. Regression analyses show that solidarity from the supervisor is related to solidarity between employees. Employment contract appears not to be important in explaining the relationship between solidarity from the supervisor and solidarity between employees. Past experiences of temporal embeddedness do not affect this relationship, while future encounters of temporal embeddedness do impact the relationship of solidarity from the supervisor to solidarity between employees. Limitations of this research and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Coexistent chronic conditions and asthma quality of life: a population-based study.

OBJECTIVE Reports of the prevalence and impact of comorbid conditions among people with asthma have been limited to certain population groups or convenience samples. Our aim was to examine the prevalence of major comorbidity in asthma and associations with quality of life and functional status in the general population. STUDY DESIGN/SETTING The WANTS Health and Well-being Survey is a cross-sectional representative population household telephone interview survey in three Australian states. PARTICIPANTS Representative sample of noninstitutionalized adults in three Australian states. MEASUREMENT AND RESULTS From the available sample of 10,080 patients, 7,619 interviews were completed (participation rate, 74.8%), with 834 people reporting current doctor-diagnosed asthma (11.2%). People with asthma were more likely to report one of the selected comorbid conditions: diabetes, arthritis, heart disease, stroke, cancer, osteoporosis (adjusted odds ratio, 1.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.5 to 2.2). Among people with asthma, there were statistically and clinically significant decreases in usual activity levels and in Short Form-12 physical component summary scores when another chronic condition was also present. For those with any of the chronic conditions, the additional presence of asthma was associated with significant further impairment in quality of life in those aged > 35 years but not in younger adults. CONCLUSION The significant reduction in quality of life associated with comorbidity in asthma has implications for disease management and organization of care, as well as for the design and external validity of single-disease clinical trials.
Coherent Arbitrariness: On Value Uncertainty for Environmental Goods

This paper investigates the idea that people are unsure about the value they place on prospective changes in environmental goods. In particular, we focus on a parametric explanation of the determinants of a “value gap,” the difference between the most someone is sure they would pay for an increase in an environmental good, and the smallest amount they are sure they would not pay. We also present a simple means of calculating aggregate willingness to pay from data on the range of willingness to pay expressed via a payment ladder. (JEL Q51, Q58)
Power Saving Deviation and Sudden Demise Effect of ClusterHead (CH) in the WEAC Protocol

Maximum power saving is achieved if the relay node lies in the middle of source and destination node for HCB (named after who proposed) model In this paper, we show by simulation that the percentage deviation from maximum power saving subject to the actual position of the relay node which is not in the middle most of the time is not significant and hence, we achieve maximum saving on average. Furthermore, we see the effect of sudden demise of cluster heads in the Warning Energy Aware Cluster head (WEAC) protocol based on our previous work. We compare the simulation results of our current work with our earlier work in the simulation section. We find that there is little power loss if the relaying node is not in the middle of source and destination node. However, performance was seriously degraded on the introduction of sudden demise of CH during simulation.
The Risk of Breast Cancer in Women Using Menopausal Hormone Replacement Therapy in Taiwan

Menopausal hormone replacement therapy (HRT) increases the risk of breast cancer in Western countries; however, there are fewer reports from the Asian population, which has a lower incidence of breast cancer. A population-based retrospective cohort study was conducted by analyzing longitudinal National Health Insurance claim data of a 200,000-person national representative cohort. A total of 22,929 women aged ≥45 years in 1997 without previous diagnosis of breast cancer were enrolled and stratified into two birth cohorts born before or after 1933. HRT prescriptions were traced in outpatient data files and incident breast cancer cases were identified from 1997 to 2004. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to analyze breast cancer hazard ratio (HR). HRT users were censored after they discontinued HRT. The results showed that women born during 1933–1952 had a twofold increased risk of breast cancer (HR = 2.10, 95% CI = 1.47–3.00) compared with women born before 1933, when adjusted for HRT use. When adjusted for the birth-cohort difference, HRT users had significantly increased breast cancer HR versus non-users after four years of use (adjusted HR = 1.48, 95% CI = 1.03–2.13); the HR further increased to 1.95 (95% CI = 1.34–2.84) after eight years of use. In conclusion, a longer duration of current HRT use was associated with a higher risk of breast cancer independent of the birth-cohort difference.
Possible Triggering Effect of Influenza Vaccination on Psoriasis

Psoriasis is a chronic, recurrent, immune-mediated inflammatory disease and it can be provoked or exacerbated by a variety of different environmental factors, particularly infections and drugs. In addition, a possible association between vaccination and the new onset and/or exacerbation of psoriasis has been reported by a number of different authors. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of influenza vaccination on patients with psoriasis. Here, we report the findings from 43 patients suffering from psoriasis (clinical phenotypes as mixed guttate/plaque lesions, palmoplantar or scalp psoriasis) whose diseases had been triggered after influenza vaccination applied in the 2009-2010 season. The short time intervals between vaccination and psoriasis flares in our patients and the lack of other possible triggers suggest that influenza vaccinations may have provocative effects on psoriasis. However, further large and controlled studies need to be carried out to confirm this relationship.
Cache-Oblivious Data Structures

University of Southern Denmark 38.1 The Cache-Oblivious Model . 38-1 38.2 Fundamental Primitives . 38-3 Van Emde Boas Layout • k-Merger 38.3 Dynamic B-Trees . 38-8 Density Based • Exponential Tree Based 38.4 Priority Queues . 38-12 Merge Based Priority Queue: Funnel Heap • Exponential Level Based Priority Queue 38.5 2d Orthogonal Range Searching . 38-21 Cache-Oblivious kd-Tree • Cache-Oblivious Range Tree
Partisan audience polarization: Beyond selective exposure

ABSTRACT The proliferation of available media outlets provides unprecedented access to specialized content. This dynamic media environment facilitates the emergence of partisan selective exposure at the individual level. When aggregated, these selective choices can materialize as partisan audience polarization, defined by the use/nonuse of so-called “Red” and “Blue” news media. The present study extends this line of inquiry beyond selective exposure. The author uses metered exposure data to explore patterns of loyalty and avoidance using single-source, cross-platform data from Nielsen’s TV/Internet Convergence Panel. The results are mixed, suggesting that audiences of partisan news outlets exhibit high levels of loyalty, but also that they do not avoid news of a different slant.
Aberrant IgA1 Glycosylation in IgA Nephropathy: A Systematic Review

Objective Galactose-deficient IgA1 was evaluated in patients with IgA nephropathy(IgAN) and controls in order to determine the predictive value of galactose-deficient IgA1 in cases of IgA nephropathy. Methods PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane central register of controlled trials, CNKI, CBM disc, and VIP database were searched to identify eligible studies that evaluated a difference in aberrant IgA1 glycosylation in IgAN patients compared with controls. A meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the impact of galactose-deficient IgA1(Gd-IgA1) levels in different groups. Results A total of 22 studies (n = 1657) met inclusion criteria. The mean Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) score was 7.2 and ranged from 6 to 8. The standard mean difference(SMD) in the meta-analysis of 20 studies of the level of Gd-IgA1 in the serum and/or supernatant of cultured cells was higher in the IgAN group compared with healthy controls as well as in those with other renal diseases (SMD = 1.76, 95% CI = 1.18–2.34, P<0.00001; SMD = 1.05, 95% CI = 0.05–2.04, P = 0.04). The data synthesis suggested that IgAN patients had similar levels of serum Gd-IgA1, with no significant differences, compared with first-degree relatives and Henoch-Schonlein purpura nephritis (HSPN) patients (MD = 0.04, 95% CI = 0.00–0.08, P = 0.05; MD = -46.03, 95% CI = -217.70–125.64, P = 0.60). In addition, the combined MD of 5 studies indicated that there were no significant differences in Gd-IgA1 levels among patients with varying severities of IgAN (MD = 0.02, 95% CI = -0.02–0.05, P = 0.28). Conclusions The pooled evidence suggests that the level of Gd-IgA1 in the serum or supernatant of cultured cells from peripheral blood or tonsils may be a useful biomarker for predicting IgA nephropathy, though the level of Gd-IgA1 was not significantly associated with disease severity.
Manganese [III] Tetrakis [5,10,15,20]-Benzoic Acid Porphyrin Reduces Adiposity and Improves Insulin Action in Mice with Pre-Existing Obesity

The superoxide dismutase mimetic manganese [III] tetrakis [5,10,15,20]-benzoic acid porphyrin (MnTBAP) is a potent antioxidant compound that has been shown to limit weight gain during short-term high fat feeding without preventing insulin resistance. However, whether MnTBAP has therapeutic potential to treat pre-existing obesity and insulin resistance remains unknown. To investigate this, mice were treated with MnTBAP or vehicle during the last five weeks of a 24-week high fat diet (HFD) regimen. MnTBAP treatment significantly decreased body weight and reduced white adipose tissue (WAT) mass in mice fed a HFD and a low fat diet (LFD). The reduction in adiposity was associated with decreased caloric intake without significantly altering energy expenditure, indicating that MnTBAP decreases adiposity in part by modulating energy balance. MnTBAP treatment also improved insulin action in HFD-fed mice, a physiologic response that was associated with increased protein kinase B (PKB) phosphorylation and expression in muscle and WAT. Since MnTBAP is a metalloporphyrin molecule, we hypothesized that its ability to promote weight loss and improve insulin sensitivity was regulated by heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), in a similar fashion as cobalt protoporphyrins. Despite MnTBAP treatment increasing HO-1 expression, administration of the potent HO-1 inhibitor tin mesoporphyrin (SnMP) did not block the ability of MnTBAP to alter caloric intake, adiposity, or insulin action, suggesting that MnTBAP influences these metabolic processes independent of HO-1. These data demonstrate that MnTBAP can ameliorate pre-existing obesity and improve insulin action by reducing caloric intake and increasing PKB phosphorylation and expression.
Foxp3 Expressing CD4+CD25high Regulatory T Cells Are Overrepresented in Human Metastatic Melanoma Lymph Nodes and Inhibit the Function of Infiltrating T Cells1

Dominant tolerance is mediated by regulatory T cells (Treg) that control harmful autoimmune T cells in the periphery. In this study, we investigate the implication of Treg in modulating infiltrating T lymphocytes in human metastatic melanoma. We found that CD4+CD25high T cells are overrepresented in metastatic lymph nodes (LNs) with a 2-fold increased frequency compared with both tumor-free LNs and autologous PBMCs. These cells express the Foxp3 transcription factor, display an activated phenotype, and display a polyclonal TCR Vβ chain repertoire. They inhibit in vitro the proliferation and cytokine production of infiltrating CD4+CD25− and CD8+ T cells (IL-2, IFN-γ) through a cell-contact-dependent mechanism, thus behaving as Treg. In some cases, the presence of Treg type 1/Th3-like lymphocytes could also be demonstrated. Thus, Treg are a major component of the immunosuppressive microenvironment of metastatic melanoma LNs. This could explain the poor clinical response of cancer patients under immunotherapeutic protocols, and provides a new basis for future immunotherapeutic strategies counteracting in vivo Treg to reinforce local antitumor immune responses.
The Rise of Fame: An Historical Content Analysis

Recent proliferation of TV programming for the tween audience is supported on the Internet with advertising, fan clubs, and other online communities. These Internet tools expand TV's potential influence on human development. Yet little is known about the kinds of values these shows portray. To explore this issue, a new method for conducting content analysis was developed; it used personality indices to measure value priorities and desire for fame in TV programming. The goal was to document historical change in the values communicated to tween audiences, age 9-11, who are major media consumers and whose values are still being formed. We analyzed the top two tween TV shows in the U.S. once a decade over a time span of 50 years, from 1967 through 2007. Greenfield's (2009a) theory of social change and human development served as the theoretical framework; it views technology, as well as urban residence, formal education, and wealth, as promoting individualistic values while diminishing communitarian or familistic ones. Fame, an individualistic value, was judged the top value in the shows of 2007, up from number fifteen (out of sixteen) in most of the prior decades. In contrast, community feeling was eleventh in 2007, down from first or second place in all prior decades. According to the theory, a variety of sociodemographic shifts, manifest in census data, could be causing these changes; however, because social change in the U.S. between 1997 and 2007 centered on the expansion of communication technologies, we hypothesize that the sudden value shift in this period is technology driven.
Seed Rain and Seed Bank Reveal that Seed Limitation Strongly Influences Plant Community Assembly in Grasslands

Dispersal is an important factor in plant community assembly, but assembly studies seldom include information on actual dispersal into communities, i.e. the local propagule pool. The aim of this study was to determine which factors influence plant community assembly by focusing on two phases of the assembly process: the dispersal phase and the establishment phase. At 12 study sites in grazed ex-arable fields in Sweden the local plant community was determined and in a 100-m radius around the centre of each site, the regional species pool was measured. The local seed bank and the seed rain was explored to estimate the local propagule pool. Trait-based models were then applied to investigate if species traits (height, seed mass, clonal abilities, specific leaf area and dispersal method) and regional abundance influenced which species from the regional species pool, dispersed to the local community (dispersal phase) and which established (establishment phase). Filtering of species during the dispersal phase indicates the effect of seed limitation while filtering during the establishment phase indicates microsite limitation. On average 36% of the regional species pool dispersed to the local sites and of those 78% did establish. Species with enhanced dispersal abilities, e.g. higher regional abundance, smaller seeds and dispersed by cattle, were more likely to disperse to the sites than other species. At half the sites, dispersal was influenced by species height. Species establishment was however mainly unlinked to the traits included in this study. This study underlines the importance of seed limitation in local plant community assembly. It also suggests that without information on species dispersal into a site, it is difficult to distinguish between the influence of dispersal and establishment abilities, and thus seed and microsite limitation, as both can be linked to the same trait.
Adaptive Teams

The goal of research and development in Information Technology for Leader and Team Learning and Operations is to use what we know from cognitive science and cognitive engineering to increase the readiness and adaptive performance of leaders and teams in real-world missions. Special emphasis is given to preparation and functions in Stability and Support Operations (SASO) missions. The government wants to increase the efficiency and the effectiveness with which units prepare for deployment and performance of SASO missions by applying cognitive science to the process. It is commonplace for organizations to assert that they want to encourage their teams to be adaptive. The military in particular places a high value on having adaptive teams, as opposed to rigid, inflexible teams, because there is so much uncertainty on the battlefield that it is essential to have units that can adjust to changing conditions. In addition, the military organization is taking on new roles in peacekeeping and SASO missions, and there is a significant learning curve involved in preparing to handle these challenges. Yet little has been written about what it means to be an adaptive team.