Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relationship of Internet-Delivered Mantram Repetition Program to Burnout, Stress of Conscience, Spiritual Wellbeing, and Mindfulness in Healthcare Workers

This study evaluated the effect of the Mantram Repetition Program (MRP), an internetdelivered stress management course on burnout, stress o f conscience, spiritual wellbeing, and mindfulness on a self-selected group of healthcare workers (HCWs). A quasiexperimental repeated measures design was used. Participants enrolled in a six-session MRP delivered over three months and completed baseline, post-course, and three-month post-course assessments. Measurement tools included the Maslach Burnout InventoryGeneral Survey (MBI-GS), the Stress o f Conscience Questionnaire (SCQ), the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy Spiritual Wellbeing Scale (FACIT-12), and the Mindfulness Awareness Attention Scale (MAAS). Statistically significant effects o f the MRP showed a decrease in the MBI-GS exhaustion subscale across the three time-points [F(2,76) = 3.93, p = . 039] and a quadratic effect for professional efficacy subscale showing an initial increase followed by a decrease [F(l,38) = 6.54, p<. 02]. Stress o f Conscience internal demand subscale had a quadratic effect [F(l,34) = 5.23, p<. 03] and external demand subscale had a linear effect over time showing improvement post-course [F(l ,34) = 4.71, p<. 03]. There was a statistically significant effect increasing the total FACIT-SP scores across the three timepoints [F(2,37)=l 1.76, p<001) and a statistically significant effect in the total MAAS scores across the three time-points [F(2,33)=18.19, p<000)]. According to these results, the MRP program was effective in reducing exhaustion and improving professional efficacy, elements of burnout, stress of conscience, spiritual wellbeing, and mindfulness in HCWs. MRP may be o f interest to those seeking innovative, portable methods to improve psychological wellbeing among HCWs. THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK. Dedication This dissertation is dedicated my soul mate and husband, Pat, with my deepest love and appreciation for your infinite encouragement and support in my professional endeavors. To my sons, Chris and Jason: I am grateful for your love, understanding, and patience; I hope you are proud o f me.
Using and Abusing Economic Theory

Economic Theory is often abused in practical policy-making. There is frequently excessive focus on sophisticated theory at the expense of elementary theory; too much economic knowledge can sometimes be a dangerous thing. Too little attention is paid to the wider economic context, and to the dangers posed by political pressures. Superficially trivial distinctions between policy proposals may be economically significant, while economically irrelevant distinctions may be politically important. I illustrate with some disastrous government auctions, but also show the value of economic theory.
Exploring social media use in small firms : a cultural toolkit perspective

Social media platforms have proliferated rapidly, altering societal norms of communication. Whilst a number of studies (Treem & Leonardi, 2012; Leonardi, 2014; Koch, Gonzalez & Leidner, 2013) have shed light on the implications of social media use for firms, there remains a limited understanding of how firms interpret and implement social media. This thesis seeks to address the gap by exploring the psycho-sociological processes underpinning social media use in small firms. Data was collected during a qualitative study of social media use in 31 organizations in the United Kingdom (UK) and interpreted using concepts from Swidlers (1986) cultural toolkit framework. This thesis contributes insights about the wide variety of resources required to participate in the networked society (Harris, Rae & Misner, 2012) using social media platforms. Previous studies have suggested that interpretations play an important role in social media use (i.e. Treem & Leonardi s affordances, 2012) but have failed to explicate how interpretations of social media are formed. This study found that respondents drew on a wide variety of cultural tools (Swidler, 1986) in order to interpret and operate their social media accounts. These included their embodied skills, habits and styles as well as resources that were available through their social networks. The study found that the respondents interpretation of social media as a low risk and highly uncertain endeavour prompted their experimentation with various combinations of cultural tools as attempts were made to overcome the common challenges of social media use (i.e. finding time for social media, knowing what to post on social media). One such challenge related to the marked difference between social media interactions and face-to-face encounters. The findings are used to extend Goffman s notion of situation-like encounters (1979). It is contended that social media provide a rich example of a situation-like context.
Metabolic evolution of energy-conserving pathways for succinate production in Escherichia coli

During metabolic evolution to improve succinate production in Escherichia coli strains, significant changes in cellular metabolism were acquired that increased energy efficiency in two respects. The energy-conserving phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) carboxykinase (pck), which normally functions in the reverse direction (gluconeogenesis; glucose repressed) during the oxidative metabolism of organic acids, evolved to become the major carboxylation pathway for succinate production. Both PCK enzyme activity and gene expression levels increased significantly in two stages because of several mutations during the metabolic evolution process. High-level expression of this enzyme-dominated CO2 fixation and increased ATP yield (1 ATP per oxaloacetate). In addition, the native PEP-dependent phosphotransferase system for glucose uptake was inactivated by a mutation in ptsI. This glucose transport function was replaced by increased expression of the GalP permease (galP) and glucokinase (glk). Results of deleting individual transport genes confirmed that GalP served as the dominant glucose transporter in evolved strains. Using this alternative transport system would increase the pool of PEP available for redox balance. This change would also increase energy efficiency by eliminating the need to produce additional PEP from pyruvate, a reaction that requires two ATP equivalents. Together, these changes converted the wild-type E. coli fermentation pathway for succinate into a functional equivalent of the native pathway that nature evolved in succinate-producing rumen bacteria.
Quantitative comparison of indoor positioning on different densities of WiFi arrays in a single environment

Location Based Services (LBS), which are supported by ubiquitous location finding and positioning information, have become increasingly popular. These services are integrated with various wireless technologies (i.e. cellular, WiFi, and Bluetooth) on mobile devices that establish necessary location information. While each of these technologies contributes to the integration, development and success of LBSs, WiFi has been the most widely employed as an alternative to the Global Positioning System (GPS). Several commercial WiFi-based positioning systems (WPS) are available to the public to extend positioning coverage to places where GPS is unreliable or unavailable; however, these commercial WPSs often fail to deliver GPS-like positioning. The coarse positioning accuracy of commercial WPSs may be caused by unreliable or unsecured databases, which contain the essential WiFi-array information to produce local positioning. Knowing this, the quality of WiFi-based positioning services can be enhanced by improving the quality of a database with well-surveyed and accurate information. The Saskatchewan Enhanced positioning System (SaskEPS) is designed to reduce common errors in WPS. SaskEPS's positioning accuracy and consistency is supported by a thoroughly validated Access Point (AP) database. It has been tested in several buildings at the University of Saskatchewan and successfully provides GPS-like positioning accuracy. Our tests have also begun to elucidate the role of WiFi density in ensuring GPS-like positioning accuracy in indoor spaces. In this paper, we investigate the quantitative relationship between WiFi density and SaskEPS's overall positioning accuracy.
Selective coupling of type 6 adenylyl cyclase with type 2 IP3 receptors mediates direct sensitization of IP3 receptors by cAMP

Interactions between cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and Ca2+ are widespread, and for both intracellular messengers, their spatial organization is important. Parathyroid hormone (PTH) stimulates formation of cAMP and sensitizes inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors (IP3R) to IP3. We show that PTH communicates with IP3R via “cAMP junctions” that allow local delivery of a supramaximal concentration of cAMP to IP3R, directly increasing their sensitivity to IP3. These junctions are robust binary switches that are digitally recruited by increasing concentrations of PTH. Human embryonic kidney cells express several isoforms of adenylyl cyclase (AC) and IP3R, but IP3R2 and AC6 are specifically associated, and inhibition of AC6 or IP3R2 expression by small interfering RNA selectively attenuates potentiation of Ca2+ signals by PTH. We define two modes of cAMP signaling: binary, where cAMP passes directly from AC6 to IP3R2; and analogue, where local gradients of cAMP concentration regulate cAMP effectors more remote from AC. Binary signaling requires localized delivery of cAMP, whereas analogue signaling is more dependent on localized cAMP degradation.
Stellar population models of Lick indices with variable element abundance ratios

We provide the whole set of Lick indices fromCN1 to TiO2 in the wavelength range 4000≲λ≲6500 A of simple stellar population models with, for the first time, variable element abundance ratios, [α/Fe ]=0.0, 0.3, 0.5, [α/Ca ]=−0.1, 0.0, 0.2, 0.5 and [α/N]=−0.5, 0.0. The models cover ages between 1 and 15 Gyr, metallicities between 1/200 and 3.5 solar. The impact from the element abundance changes on the absorption-line indices are taken from Tripicco & Bell, using an extension of the method introduced by Trager et al. Our models are free from the intrinsic α/Fe bias that was imposed by the Milky Way template stars up to now, hence they reflect well-defined α/Fe ratios at all metallicities. The models are calibrated with Milky Way globular clusters for which metallicities and α/Fe ratios are known from independent spectroscopy of individual stars. The metallicities that we derive from the Lick indices Mgb and Fe5270 are in excellent agreement with the metallicity scale by Zinn & West, and we show that the latter provides total metallicity rather than iron abundance.We can reproduce the relatively strong CN-absorption featuresCN1 andCN2 of galactic globular clusters with models in which nitrogen is enhanced by a factor of 3. An enhancement of carbon, instead,would lead to serious inconsistencies with the indices Mg1 and C24668. The calcium sensitive index Ca4227 of globular clusters is well matched by our models with [Ca/Fe] = 0.3, including the metal-rich bulge clusters NGC 6528 and 6553. From our α/Fe-enhanced models we infer that the index [MgFe] defined by Gonzalez is quite independent of α/Fe but still slightly decreases with increasing α/Fe.We find that the index [MgFe] ≡ √ Mgb(0.72 × Fe5270 + 0.28 × Fe5335), instead, is completely independent of α/Fe and serves best as a tracer of total metallicity. Searching for blue indices that give similar information as Mg b and Fe , we find that CN1 and Fe4383 may be best suited to estimating α/Fe ratios of objects at redshifts z ∼ 1.
Adaptive Measurements in the Optical Quantum Information Laboratory

Adaptive techniques make practical many quantum measurements that would otherwise be beyond current laboratory capabilities. For example, they allow discrimination of nonorthogonal states with a probability of error equal to the Helstrom bound, measurement of the phase of a quantum oscillator with accuracy approaching (or in some cases attaining) the Heisenberg limit (HL), and estimation of phase in interferometry with a variance scaling at the HL, using only single qubit measurement and control. Each of these examples has close links with quantum information, in particular, experimental optical quantum information: the first is a basic quantum communication protocol; the second has potential application in linear optical quantum computing; the third uses an adaptive protocol inspired by the quantum phase estimation algorithm. We discuss each of these examples and their implementation in the laboratory, but concentrate upon the last, which was published most recently [Higgins et al. , Nature, vol. 450, p. 393, 2007].
Psychometrics of the Psychological Wellbeing and Distress Screener: A Brief Measure of Youth’s Bidimensional Mental Health

The present study reports on the psychometric defensibility of the Psychological Wellbeing and Distress Screener (PWDS), which is a 10-item self-report behavior rating scale for measuring youth’s bidimensional (also known as dual-factor or two-continua) mental health. The PWDS was developed using preexisting items within the Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) self-report survey, and the present study used the 2009–2010 HBSC sample of U.S. youth in Grades 5 to 10 (N = 12,642). Findings from two phases of data analyses, using random split-half subsamples, identified and confirmed a two-factor latent structure for the PWDS, with one scale measuring psychological wellbeing and the other psychological distress. Results also showed that the wellbeing and distress factors were invariant across grade, race/ethnicity, and residence classifications but not across gender. Implications for future research and potential practice are discussed.
Application of neural networks in medicine - a review

The main aim of research in medical diagnostics is to develop more exact, cost-effective and easy-to-use systems, procedures and methods for supporting clinicians. In this paper the authors introduce a new method that recently came into the focus referred to as computer generated neural networks. Based on the literature of the past 5-6 years they give a brief review highlighting the most important articles showing the idea behind neural networks and where they are used in the medical field. The definition, structure and operation of neural networks are discussed. In the application section they discuss examples in order to give an insight into neural network application research. It is emphasized that in the near future completely new diagnostic equipment can be developed based on this new technology in the field of ECG, EEG and macroscopic and microscopic image analysis systems.
Pleiotropic Effects of Drosophila neuralized on Complex Behaviors and Brain Structure

Understanding how genotypic variation influences variation in brain structures and behavioral phenotypes represents a central challenge in behavioral genetics. In Drosophila melanogaster, the neuralized (neur) gene plays a key role in development of the nervous system. Different P-element insertional mutations of neur allow the development of viable and fertile adults with profoundly altered behavioral phenotypes that depend on the exact location of the inserted P element. The neur mutants exhibit reduced responsiveness to noxious olfactory and mechanosensory stimulation and increased aggression when limited food is presented after a period of food deprivation. These behavioral phenotypes are correlated with distinct structural changes in integrative centers in the brain, the mushroom bodies, and the ellipsoid body of the central complex. Transcriptional profiling of neur mutants revealed considerable overlap among ensembles of coregulated genes in the different mutants, but also distinct allele-specific differences. The diverse phenotypic effects arising from nearby P-element insertions in neur provide a new appreciation of the concept of allelic effects on phenotype, in which the wild type and null mutant are at the extreme ends of a continuum of pleiotropic allelic effects.
Molecular Characterization of Invasive Meningococcal Isolates from Countries in the African Meningitis Belt before Introduction of a Serogroup A Conjugate Vaccine

Background The serogroup A conjugate meningococcal vaccine, MenAfriVac, was introduced in mass vaccination campaigns in December 2010 in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. In the coming years, vaccination will be extended to other African countries at risk of epidemics. To document the molecular characteristics of disease-causing meningococcal strains circulating in the meningitis belt of Africa before vaccine introduction, the World Health Organization Collaborating Centers on Meningococci in Europe and United States established a common strain collection of 773 isolates from cases of invasive meningococcal disease collected between 2004 and 2010 from 13 sub-Saharan countries. Methodology All isolates were characterized by multilocus sequence typing, and 487 (62%) were also analyzed for genetic variation in the surface antigens PorA and FetA. Antibiotic susceptibility was tested for part of the collection. Principal Findings Only 19 sequence types (STs) belonging to 6 clonal complexes were revealed. ST-5 clonal complex dominated with 578 (74.8%) isolates. All ST-5 complex isolates were remarkably homogeneous in their PorA (P1.20,9) and FetA (F3-1) and characterized the serogroup A strains which have been responsible for most epidemics during this time period. Sixty-eight (8.8%) of the 773 isolates belonged to the ST-11 clonal complex which was mainly represented by serogroup W135, while an additional 38 (4.9%) W135 isolates belonged to the ST-175 complex. Forty-eight (6.2%) serogroup X isolates from West Africa belonged to the ST-181 complex, while serogroup X cases in Kenya and Uganda were caused by an unrelated clone, ST-5403. Serogroup X, ST-181, emerged in Burkina Faso before vaccine introduction. Conclusions In the seven years preceding introduction of a new serogroup A conjugate vaccine, serogroup A of the ST-5 clonal complex was identified as the predominant disease-causing strain.
English possessive gender agreement in production and comprehension: Similarities and differences between young monolingual English learners and adult Mandarin–English second language learners

ABSTRACT Second language learners of English occasionally establish gender agreement between a possessive determiner and the local noun that follows it, rather than with its target antecedent (*“Maryi loves hisi brother”). The production and comprehension profiles of adult Mandarin second language learners of English and monolingual English-speaking children were examined to establish (a) if such errors result from an inherent tendency to establish agreement locally within the noun phrase or rather from transfer of first language agreement procedures, and (b) if these errors are production specific or rather reflect nontarget grammatical representations, thus also affecting comprehension. The results of the elicited production portion of the study support the hypothesis that gender agreement errors in learners’ production of possessives result from a generalized tendency to establish local agreement. The results of the comprehension portion of the study suggest that the observed tendency for local agreement within the noun phrase is production specific and does not characterize learners’ grammatical representations as a whole.
COST–BENEFIT ANALYSIS IN RAILWAY NOISE CONTROL

Abstract A method to calculate the network-wide costs of realizing different noise control possibilities and their benefits in terms of noise reduction for lineside inhabitants has been implemented in Switzerland. These studies have shown that an optimal cost distribution consists of spending 65% of the available finances on rolling stock improvement, 30% on noise control barriers and 5% on insulated windows. This mix protects 70% of the lineside population for 30% of the cost necessary to attain threshold levels for all inhabitants. This noise control strategy has been accepted by the federal traffic and environment agencies involved and will save billions of Swiss francs. The success of the calculation methodology has prompted development of a Europe-wide decision support system to the same effect. Along two freight freeways the relationship between rolling stock improvement, noise barriers, insulated windows, operational measures and track characteristics is being studied. The decision support system will allow determination of those combinations with the best cost–benefit ratios. The study is currently being undertaken as a joint venture by the railways of Switzerland, France, Germany and the Netherlands as well as the European Rail Research Institute. The results constitute part of the negotiating strategy of the railways with European and national legislators.
Mortality Attributable to Influenza in England and Wales Prior to, during and after the 2009 Pandemic

Very different influenza seasons have been observed from 2008/09–2011/12 in England and Wales, with the reported burden varying overall and by age group. The objective of this study was to estimate the impact of influenza on all-cause and cause-specific mortality during this period. Age-specific generalised linear regression models fitted with an identity link were developed, modelling weekly influenza activity through multiplying clinical influenza-like illness consultation rates with proportion of samples positive for influenza A or B. To adjust for confounding factors, a similar activity indicator was calculated for Respiratory Syncytial Virus. Extreme temperature and seasonal trend were controlled for. Following a severe influenza season in 2008/09 in 65+yr olds (estimated excess of 13,058 influenza A all-cause deaths), attributed all-cause mortality was not significant during the 2009 pandemic in this age group and comparatively low levels of influenza A mortality were seen in post-pandemic seasons. The age shift of the burden of seasonal influenza from the elderly to young adults during the pandemic continued into 2010/11; a comparatively larger impact was seen with the same circulating A(H1N1)pdm09 strain, with the burden of influenza A all-cause excess mortality in 15–64 yr olds the largest reported during 2008/09–2011/12 (436 deaths in 15–44 yr olds and 1,274 in 45–64 yr olds). On average, 76% of seasonal influenza A all-age attributable deaths had a cardiovascular or respiratory cause recorded (average of 5,849 influenza A deaths per season), with nearly a quarter reported for other causes (average of 1,770 influenza A deaths per season), highlighting the importance of all-cause as well as cause-specific estimates. No significant influenza B attributable mortality was detected by season, cause or age group. This analysis forms part of the preparatory work to establish a routine mortality monitoring system ahead of introduction of the UK universal childhood seasonal influenza vaccination programme in 2013/14.