Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Maintaining the ‘caring self’ and working relationships: a critically informed analysis of meaning-construction among paid companions in long-term residential care

Abstract In Canadian residential long-term care, paid companion services are increasingly viewed as helping to meet older adults’ psycho-social needs. Complementing the critique of these services from a political economy perspective, analyses of companions’ talk about their work can illuminate not only why companions stay in devalued and often invisible work, but also how social assumptions and circulating narratives about nursing homes and older adults are implicated in this process. In this article, we draw on in-depth analyses of interviews with both companions and organisational representatives. We interpret companions’ accounts in relation to their need to justify the necessity for their work to their employers (families), to nurture good relationships with the facilities in which they work, and to maintain a sense of identity as a responsible, conscientious and ‘caring self’. In this way, these precarious workers inadvertently reproduce dominant narratives, including those that stigmatise dementia and residential care, and facilitate the privatisation of person-centred, relational care. Organisational representatives generally reproduce similar assumptions about care responsibilities, in a context in which facilities are increasingly challenged to meet a range of resident needs. Discussion highlights tensions around responsibility for psycho-social care in nursing homes, highlighting organisational vested interests in avoiding risk and downloading responsibilities to families and to private, independent and temporary workers.
Bidding in first-price and second-price interdependent-values auctions: A laboratory experiment

We report a laboratory experiment on first-price and second-price auctions in settings with independent signals and interdependent values. The environment includes independent private values and the common-value "wallet game" as limiting cases. We manipulate the degree of interdependence of values across sessions, while maintaining the same Bayes-Nash equilibrium bidding function. In contrast, cursed equilibrium predicts bids will be raised for lower signals. We find some support for cursed equilibrium, in that bids change as the degree of value interdependence changes. Contrary to both Bayes-Nash and cursed equilibrium, auction revenues are largest for intermediate levels of interdependence. We construct a model combining cursedness with an underweighting of the opportunity costs of higher bids, and find substantial bidder heterogeneity. A majority of bidders are either fully cursed and disregard completely the bad news that winning the auction entails, or are not cursed at all. We also find evidence for some systematic procedural differences in bidding between first-price and second-price auctions.
Work-related factors and early retirement intention: a study of the Danish eldercare sector.

BACKGROUND Western countries are experiencing an ageing and shrinking workforce in the eldercare sector. This study investigated whether 12 different work-related factors are associated with early retirement intentions of employees in the Danish eldercare sector. We tested whether three hypotheses explained the increase of early retirement intention: (i) high job demands (four factors) and low resources (four factors); (ii) low job attitude (three factors); and (iii) high physical strain (one factor). METHODS We included 2444 employees (aged 45-57 years) from two waves (T1 and T2) from a prospective study. Multinomial logistic regression models showed whether 12 work-related factors (T1) were associated with early retirement intention (T2); very early retirement intention and early retirement intention vs. normal retirement intention. RESULTS Only 14% of the participants wished to retire at the normal retirement age (65 years or older). High physical strain [hypothesis (iii)] and low and normal affective organizational commitment [hypothesis (ii)] were associated with very early retirement intention. None of the other work-related factors associated with early retirement intention. CONCLUSIONS Future interventions should focus on reducing physical strain and increase or maintain affective organizational commitment among employees in the eldercare sector to postpone retirement.
DNA Barcodes for the FIshes of the Narmada, One of India’s Longest Rivers

This study describes the species diversity of fishes of the Narmada River in India. A total of 820 fish specimens were collected from 17 sampling locations across the whole river basin. Fish were taxonomically classified into one of 90 possible species based on morphological characters, and then DNA barcoding was employed using COI gene sequences as a supplemental identification method. A total of 314 different COI sequences were generated, and specimens were confirmed to belong to 85 species representing 63 genera, 34 families and 10 orders. Findings of this study include the identification of five putative cryptic or sibling species and 43 species not previously known from the Narmada River basin. Five species are endemic to India and three are introduced species that had not been previously reported to occur in the Narmada River. Conversely, 43 species previously reported to occur in the Narmada were not found. Genetic diversity and distance values were generated for all of the species within genera, families and orders using Kimura’s 2 parameter distance model followed by the construction of a Neighbor Joining tree. High resolution clusters generated in NJ trees aided the groupings of species corresponding to their genera and families which are in confirmation to the values generated by Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery bioinformatics platform. This aided to decide a threshold value for the discrimination of species boundary from the Narmada River. This study provides an important validation of the use of DNA barcode sequences for monitoring species diversity and changes within complex ecosystems such as the Narmada River.
ATP Inhibits NMDA Receptors after Heterologous Expression and in Cultured Hippocampal Neurons and Attenuates NMDA-Mediated Neurotoxicity

We investigated the potential of ATP to inhibit heterologously expressed NMDA receptor subunit combinations, NMDA-induced currents in cultured hippocampal cells, and NMDA-induced neurotoxicity. The effect of ATP on diheteromeric NR1a/NR2A-D NMDA receptor (NR) combinations expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes was studied by voltage-clamp recording. ATP strongly inhibited NMDA-induced inward currents only at the NR1a/NR2B receptor combination. At NMDA concentrations corresponding to the EC50 value (20 μm), ATP revealed an IC50 value of 135 μm. Mutation studies suggest that ATP exerts its inhibition via the glutamate-binding pocket of the NR2B subunit. Inosine 5′-triphosphate (ITP), GTP, and AMP also inhibited the recombinant NR1a/NR2B receptor, whereas UTP and CTP, ADP, or adenosine had no or only a small effect. Correspondingly, ATP inhibited NMDA-induced but not kainate-induced currents at cultured hippocampal neurons. An abundant expression of the NR2B subunit in the cultured neurons was verified by immunocytochemistry and blockade of NMDA-induced currents by the NR2B-selective antagonist ifenprodil. In addition we studied the role of ATP in NMDA-mediated neurotoxicity using cultured rat hippocampal cells. ATP exhibited a dose-dependent rescue effect when coapplied with the excitotoxicant NMDA, in contrast to ADP, AMP, and adenosine. The effect of ATP was mimicked by GTP and ITP but not by UTP and CTP. ATP had no effect on kainate-elicited neurotoxicity. Our results suggest that ATP can act as an inhibitor of NMDA receptors depending on receptor subunit composition and that it can attenuate NMDA-mediated neurotoxicity that is mediated neither by ATP nor by adenosine receptors.
Economic Consequences of Voluntary Disclosure Before Seasoned Equity Offerings : The Impact of the 2005 Securities Offering Reform

In 2005, the SEC enacted the Securities Offering Reform (Reform), which relaxes ‘gun jumping’ restrictions by providing safe harbors for certain disclosures before equity offerings. The SEC argues that the disclosure restrictions are unnecessary, as they prevent timely and broad information flow before an important corporate event. However, Reform opponents argue that the gun-jumping restrictions were put in place to protect investors from managers conditioning the market (i.e., hyping the stock), and the relaxation of these restrictions will increase managers’ incentives and ability to mislead the market before an offering. We examine the impact of the Reform on management voluntary disclosure behavior before equity offerings and the associated economic consequences. Consistent with the intent of the regulation, we find that firms provide significantly more pre-offering disclosures after the Reform. Our analyses suggest that there is no evidence of hyping after the Reform. Rather, we find that these pre-offering disclosures are associated with a decrease in information asymmetry, per the SEC’s intent. Our results suggest that the relaxation of pre-SEO disclosure restrictions leads to a reduction in the cost of raising equity capital. JEL Classification: G14; M41
Correlation Between Clinical Findings of Temporomandibular Disorders and MRI Characteristics of Disc Displacement

Objectives : Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction is a common condition that is best evaluated with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. The first step in MR imaging of the TMJ is to evaluate the articular disk, or meniscus, in terms of its morphologic features and its location relative to the condyle in both closed- and open-mouth positions. Disk location is of prime importance because the presence of a displaced disk is a critical sign of TMJ dysfunction. However, disk displacement is also frequently seen in asymptomatic volunteers. It is important for the maxillofacial radiologist to detect early MR imaging signs of dysfunction, thereby avoiding the evolution of this condition to its advanced and irreversible phase which is characterized by osteoarthritic changes such as condylar flattening or osteophytes. Further the MR imaging techniques will allow a better understanding of the sources of TMJ pain and of any discrepancy between imaging findings and patient symptoms. Henceforth, the aim of the study was to evaluate whether MRI findings of various degrees of disk displacement could be correlated with the presence or absence of clinical signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders in symptomatic and asymptomatic subjects. Materials and Methods : In this clinical study, 44 patients (88 TMJs) were examined clinically and divided into two groups. Group 1 consisted of 22 patients with clinical signs and symptoms of TMDs either unilaterally or bilaterally and considered as study group. Group 2 consisted of 22 patients with no signs and symptoms of TMDs and considered as control group. MRI was done for both the TMJs of each patient. Displacement of the posterior band of articular disc in relation to the condyle was quantified as anterior disc displacement with reduction (ADDR), anterior disc displacement without reduction (ADDWR), posterior disc displacement (PDD). Results : Disk displacement was found in 18 (81.8%) patients of 22 symptomatic subjects in Group 1 on MRI and 4 (18.1%) were diagnosed normal with no disc displacement. In Group 2, 2 (9.1%) of 22 asymptomatic patients were diagnosed with disc displacement while 20 (90.1%) were normal. Sensitivity and Specificity tests were applied in both the groups to correlate clinical findings of TMD and MRI characterstics of disc displacement and results showed Sensitivity of 90% and Specificity of 83.3%. Conclusion : Disk displacement on MRI correlated well with presence or absence of clinical signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders with high Sensitivity and Specificity of 90% and 83.3% respectively.
Impulse noise removal in two-dimensional electrophoresis images based on dome recognition

Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE) images are often corrupted by impulse noise in broad sense (including various artifacts, such as fingerprints, hairs, gel cracks, strips, water stains, dust and so on). In this paper, we propose a novel adaptive directional filter (ADF) to remove impulse noise completely and accurately. Firstly, we detect the impulse noise based on the observation that the directional derivative distributions around the protein spot centers and noise pixels are very different. Then, according to the bell-shaped three-dimensional appearance of protein spots, the greatest and smallest gradient directions were used to restore the noised pixels. Lastly, the pixels adjacent to the modified pixels are iteratively detected and restored until no impulse noise is detected. Experimental results on the synthetic and real 2DE images show that the proposed method performs much better than the previous approaches.
Concurrent occurrence of gastric adenocarcinoma and duodenal neuroendocrine cell carcinoma: a composite tumour or collision tumours ?

BACKGROUND Neuroendocrine cell (NEC) carcinoma is occasionally accompanied by adenocarcinoma but the relationship between these two morphologically distinct tumours is unclear. Two hypotheses have arisen regarding the mechanism for the association of adenocarcinoma and NEC carcinoma. One is that both are derived from a common multipotential epithelial stem cell. The second hypothesis is that adenocarcinoma and NEC carcinoma arise from a multipotential epithelial stem cell and a primitive NEC, respectively. AIMS To elucidate the relationship between the two histologically distinct tumours, adenocarcinoma of the stomach and NEC carcinoma of the duodenum. PATIENT/METHODS We present a case in which the tumour extended across the pyloric ring, the gastric portion of which revealed adenocarcinoma while the duodenal portion showed argyrophil NEC carcinoma. The two histologically distinct lesions of the tumour were examined by immunohistochemistry and genetic analysis of p53. RESULTS The gastric region was negative for chromogranin A staining but positive for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) staining. In contrast, the duodenal region was positive for chromogranin A but negative for CEA. All tumour regions showed a point mutation in p53 gene at exon 7 (GGC (glycine)→GTC (valine) at codon 245). The distal portion of the duodenal tumour showed an additional point mutation inp53 gene at exon 5 (GCC (alanine)→GTC (valine) at codon 129). CONCLUSIONS The two histologically distinct tumours, adenocarcinoma of the stomach and NEC carcinoma of the duodenum, appear to be derived from a common epithelial cell.
Quality of Supply in Energy Regulation Measurement,Assessment and Experience from Norway

In order to overcome the incentive of excessive maintenance reductions and insufficient network investments in incentive regulation of electricity distribution companies, regulators throughout Europe have started regulating quality of service in the energy sector. In this paper, we discuss the issue of assessing and implementing quality-related incentives based on customers’ WTP for network reliability and analyse the impact of such regulatory measures by means of a concrete casestudy. Surveying the most prominent methodological approaches to quantify customers’ WTP for quality we find that survey techniques such as contingent valuation and conjoint analysis cover regulatory purposes well. As Norway has put the measurement and assessment of quality of supply into practice, we empirically examine how network operators have adapted to quality-incorporated regulation. We find that the external cost for quality has not played a major role in Norwegian electricity distribution.
Reconstructing the density and temperature structure of prestellar cores from Herschel data: A case study for B68 and L1689B

Utilizing multiwavelength dust emission maps acquired with Herschel, we reconstruct local volume density and dust temperature profiles for the prestellar cores B68 and L1689B using an inverse-Abel transform-based technique. We present intrinsic radial dust temperature profiles of starless cores directly from dust continuum emission maps disentangling the effect of temperature variations along the line of sight, which were previously limited to the radiative transfer calculations. The reconstructed dust temperature profiles show a significant drop in the core center, a flat inner part, and a rising outward trend until the background cloud temperature is reached. The central beam-averaged dust temperatures obtained for B68 and L1689B are 9.3 ± 0.5 K and 9.8 ± 0.5 K, respectively, which are lower than the temperatures of 11.3 K and 11.6 K obtained from direct SED fitting. The best mass estimates derived by integrating the volume density profiles of B68 and L1689B are 1.6 M⊙ and 11 M⊙, respectively. Comparing our results for B68 with the near-infrared extinction studies, we find that the dust opacity law adopted by the HGBS project, κλ = 0.1 × (λ/300 μm)-2 cm2 g-1 agrees to within 50% with the dust extinction constraints.
Brain‐derived erythropoietin protects from focal cerebral ischemia by dual activation of ERK‐1/‐2 and Akt pathways

Apart from its hematopoietic function, erythropoietin (Epo) exerts neuroprotective functions in brain hypoxia and ischemia. To examine the mechanisms mediating Epo's neuroprotective activity in vivo, we made use of our transgenic mouse line tg21 that constitutively expresses human Epo in brain without inducing excessive erythrocytosis. We show that human Epo is expressed in tg21 brains and that cortical and striatal neurons carry the Epo receptor. After middle cerebral artery occlusion, human Epo potently protected brains of tg21 mice against ischemic injury, both when severe (90 min) and mild (30 min) ischemia was imposed. Histochemical studies revealed that Epo induced an activation of JAK‐2, ERK‐1/‐2, and Akt pathways in the ischemic brain. This activation was associated with elevated Bcl‐XL and decreased NO synthase‐1 and ‐2 levels in neurons. Intracerebroventricular injections of selective inhibitors of ERK‐1/‐2 (PD98059) or Akt (wortmannin) pathways revealed that both ERK‐1/‐2 and Akt were required for Epo's neuroprotective function, antagonization of either pathway completely abolishing tissue protection. On the other hand, ERK‐1/‐2 and Akt blockade did not reverse the neuronal NO synthase‐1/‐2 inhibition, indicating that Epo down‐regulates these NO synthases in an ERK‐1/‐2 and Akt independent manner. On the basis of our data, the dual activation of ERK‐1/‐2 and Akt is crucial for Epo's neuroprotective activity.
A two-distribution compounded statistical model for Radar HRRP target recognition

In the statistical target recognition based on radar high-resolution range profile (HRRP), two challenging tasks are how to deal with the target-aspect, time-shift, and amplitude-scale sensitivity of HRRP and how to accurately describe HRRPs statistical characteristics. In this paper, based on the scattering center model, range cells are classified, in accordance with the number of predominant scatterers in each cell, into three statistical types. After resolving the three sensitivity problems, this paper develops a statistical model comprising two distribution forms, i.e., Gamma distribution and Gaussian mixture distribution, to model echoes of different types of range cells as the corresponding distribution forms. Determination of the type of a range cell is achieved by using the rival penalized competitive learning (RPCL) algorithm, while estimation for the parameters of Gamma distribution and Gaussian mixture distribution by the maximum likelihood (ML) method and the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm, respectively. Experimental results for measured data show that the proposed statistical model not only has better recognition performance but also is more robust to noises than the two existing statistical models, i.e., Gaussian model and Gamma model.
Pervasive promotion of breastmilk substitutes in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and high usage by mothers for infant and young child feeding

Abstract In 2005, Cambodia passed the Sub‐Decree on Marketing of Products for Infant and Young Child Feeding (no. 133) to regulate promotion of commercial infant and young child food products, including breastmilk substitutes. Helen Keller International assessed mothers' exposure to commercial promotions for breastmilk substitutes and use of these products through a cross‐sectional survey among 294 mothers of children less than 24 months of age. Eighty‐six per cent of mothers reported observing commercial promotions for breastmilk substitutes, 19.0% reported observing infant and young child food product brands/logos on health facility equipment and 18.4% reported receiving a recommendation from a health professional to use a breastmilk substitute. Consumption of breastmilk substitutes was high, occurring among 43.1% of children 0–5 months and 29.3% of children 6–23 months of age. Findings also indicated a need to improve breastfeeding practices among Phnom Penh mothers. Only 36.1% of infants 0–5 months of age were exclusively breastfed, and 12.5% of children 20–23 months of age were still breastfed. Children that received a breastmilk substitute as a prelacteal feed were 3.9 times more likely to be currently consuming a breastmilk substitute than those who did not. Despite restriction of commercial promotions for breastmilk substitutes without government approval, occurrence of promotions is high and use is common among Phnom Penh mothers. In a country with high rates of child malnutrition and pervasive promotions in spite of restrictive national law, full implementation of Cambodia's Sub‐Decree 133 is necessary, as are policies and interventions to support exclusive and continued breastfeeding. Key messages Despite prohibition without specific approval by the national government, companies are pervasively promoting breast‐milk substitutes in Phnom Penh, particularly on television and at points of sale. Strengthened implementation and enforcement of Cambodia's subdecree 133 are needed to better regulate promotion in order to protect breastfeeding for the nutrition and health of infants and young children in Cambodia. Mothers who used a breast‐milk substitute as a prelacteal feed were 3.9 times more likely to currently feed this same child a breast‐milk substitute, as compared with mothers who did not provide breast‐milk substitute as a prelacteal feed. Supporting breastfeeding among mothers after delivery is critical to establish and sustain optimal breastfeeding practices. Use of breast‐milk substitutes is also very common among mothers of children under 2 years of age in Phnom Penh. We recommend promoting exclusive and continued breastfeeding as beneficial to children's health and development, and supporting policy and workplace environments that enable breastfeeding up to and beyond 24 months of age.
Current Approach in the Diagnosis and Management of Uveitic Glaucoma

Uveitic glaucoma (UG) typically is associated with very high intraocular pressure (IOP) and more intense optic nerve damage than other glaucoma types. This secondary glaucoma requires an early diagnosis and adequate management of both uveitis and glaucoma. It is mandatory to identify the mechanisms of IOP elevation that in many eyes have multiple combined mechanisms. Management of these patients commonly requires an interdisciplinary approach that includes a glaucoma specialist and rheumatologist to control the inflammation and IOP. Glaucoma surgery is required early in these patients due to the high IOP usually present and is less successful than in primary open-angle glaucoma. Recurrent uveitic episodes, multiple mechanism, and the complications associated with uveitis make surgical management of UG challenging. In this review, the management and treatment of UG are updated to clarify the pathogenesis and prevent optic nerve damage.