Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Work family policies and perceptions of fairness: Perspectives on supervisor support and work schedule control

In response to increasing degrees of work and family conflict, some companies have implemented work and family policies. However, evidence suggests that many companies will not implement work and family policies because they believe that some employees will feel that the policies are unfair, although this claim has been made with only minimal empirical evidence. This study examined employees’ fairness perceptions of work/family policies. It was hypothesized that employees who might benefit from a work/family policy would feel that the policy was more fair than would employees who would not benefit from such a policy. To test this hypothesis, 849 bank employees responded to hypothetical work/family policies that either parent employees only or all employees could use. A second independent variable was supervisor status. The hypothetical supervisor in the scenario was either supportive or unsupportive of this discretionary policy. The respondent’s parental status, a non-manipulated demographic variable, was the final independent variable in this 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design. Respondents rated the fairness of the hypothetical policy. The ANOVA results indicated that parent employees felt the policy that only parent employees could use was more fair than did nonparent employees who were not affected by the policy. Parents felt the policy that covered all employees was more fair than nonparents did; however, nonparents did feel the policy that covered all employees was more fair than the policy that benefited only parents. The supportiveness of the supervisor did not affect fairness
Gender differences in the evaluation of aggravating and mitigating circumstances: the mediating role of attributional complexity*

ABSTRACT At the penalty phase of a capital trial, jurors endorse and weigh aggravators and mitigators. The purpose of the current studies was to examine how gender differences in attributional complexity relate to endorsements of aggravators and mitigators. In Study 1, undergraduate participants read definitions of aggravators and mitigators and rated the extent to which circumstances were aggravating or mitigating. In Study 2, a death qualified community sample read a trial summary, rated the extent to which aggravators and mitigators were present in the case, reported whether mitigators outweighed aggravators, and rendered a sentence. Results indicated that gender differences in mitigator endorsement were mediated by attributional complexity, and that gender differences in sentencing decisions were serially mediated by attributional complexity, mitigator endorsement, and aggravator and mitigator weighing.
Simvastatin Combined with Antioxidant Attenuates the Cerebral Vascular Endothelial Inflammatory Response in a Rat Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) leads to important and deleterious neuroinflammation, as evidenced by indicators such as edema, cytokine production, induction of nitric oxide synthase, and leukocyte infiltration. After TBI, cerebral vascular endothelial cells play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of inflammation. In our previous study, we proved that simvastatin could attenuate cerebral vascular endothelial inflammatory response in a rat traumatic brain injury. This purpose of this study was to determine whether simvastatin combined with an antioxidant could produce the same effect or greater and to examine affected surrogate biomarkers for the neuroinflammation after traumatic brain injury in rat. In our study, cortical contusions were induced, and the effect of acute and continuous treatment of simvastatin and vitamin C on behavior and inflammation in adult rats following experimental TBI was evaluated. The results demonstrated that simvastatin combined with an antioxidant could provide neuroprotection and it may be attributed to a dampening of cerebral vascular endothelial inflammatory response.
The HLA-G 14-bp Insertion/ Deletion Polymorphism in Recurrent Spontaneous Abortion among Iranian Women

HLA-G is a non-classical HLA class Ib molecule with limited protein variability generated by alternative splicing. HLA-G displays immunotolerant properties and hence plays important roles in the maintenance of a successful pregnancy and maternal tolerance of the semiallogenic fetus. Polymorphism of the HLA-G gene may potentially affect the biological properties of the protein, and a 14-bp insertion/deletion polymorphism in exon 8 of the 3′ untranslated region (3′ UTR) of the HLA-G gene is thought to influence HLA-G expression. To study the association of the 14-bp insertion/deletion (INDEL) polymorphism with the risk of recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA), we used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification, and genotyped 85 women in the case group (women who have had two or more unexplained RSA) and 85 women in the control group (women who have had at least one normal pregnancy). Our results showed that the frequencies of the−14 bp/−14 bp and +14 bp/+14 bp genotypes were reduced in women with RSA, while that of the +14 bp/−14 bp genotype was significantly increased in RSA compared with the control group of normal fertile women; no significant differences in the allele frequencies of the HLA-G 14-bp polymorphism were observed. These results suggest a possible significance of the HLA-G 14-bp INDEL polymorphism in the outcome of pregnancy. However, further studies on other polymorphic sites in the 3 UTR and 5′ UTR regions, as well as monitoring the serum HLA-G concentration are necessary in order to determine the potential implications of this marker in our population.
Catalpol Induces Neuroprotection and Prevents Memory Dysfunction through the Cholinergic System and BDNF

To investigate the role and mechanism of catalpol on neuroprotective effects and memory enhancing effects simultaneously, neuroprotective effects of catalpol were assessed by neurological deficits score, TTC staining, and cerebral blood flow detecting. Morris water maze was employed to investigate its effects on learning and memory and then clarify its possible mechanisms relating the central cholinergic system and BDNF. Edaravone and oxiracetam were used for positive control drugs based on its different action. Results showed that catalpol and edaravone significantly facilitated neurological function recovery, reduced infarction volume, and increased cerebral blood flow in stroke mice. Catalpol and oxiracetam decreased the escape latency significantly and increased the numbers of crossing platform obviously. The levels of ACh, ChAT, and BDNF in catalpol group were increased in a dose-dependent manner, and AChE declined with a U-shaped dose-response curve. Moreover, the levels of muscarinic AChR subtypes M1 and M2 in hippocampus were considerably raised by catalpol. These results demonstrated that catalpol may be useful for neuroprotection and memory enhancement, and the mechanism may be related to the central cholinergic system.
China's Growth and Integration into the World Economy: Prospects and Challenges

China’s transformation into a dynamic private-sector-led economy and its integration into the world economy have been among the most dramatic global economic developments of recent decades. This paper provides an overview of some of the key aspects of recent developments in China’s macroeconomy and economic structure. It also surveys the main policy challenges that will need to be addressed for China to maintain sustained high growth and continued global integration.
Impaired Tethering and Fusion of GLUT4 Vesicles in Insulin-Resistant Human Adipose Cells

Systemic glucose homeostasis is profoundly influenced by adipose cell function. Here we investigated GLUT4 dynamics in living adipose cells from human subjects with varying BMI and insulin sensitivity index (Si) values. Cells were transfected with hemagglutinin (HA)-GLUT4-green fluorescent protein (GFP)/mCherry (red fluorescence), and were imaged live using total internal reflection fluorescence and confocal microscopy. HA-GLUT4-GFP redistribution to the plasma membrane (PM) was quantified by surface-exposed HA epitope. In the basal state, GLUT4 storage vesicle (GSV) trafficking to and fusion with the PM were invariant with donor subject Si, as was total cell-surface GLUT4. In cells from insulin-sensitive subjects, insulin augmented GSV tethering and fusion approximately threefold, resulting in a corresponding increase in total PM GLUT4. However, with decreasing Si, these effects diminished progressively. All insulin-induced effects on GLUT4 redistribution and trafficking correlated strongly with Si and only weakly with BMI. Thus, while basal GLUT4 dynamics and total cell-surface GLUT4 are intact in human adipose cells, independent of donor Si, cells from insulin-resistant donors show markedly impaired GSV tethering and fusion responses to insulin, even after overnight culture. This altered insulin responsiveness is consistent with the hypothesis that adipose cellular dysfunction is a primary contributor to systemic metabolic dysfunction.
The Role of Family in Latino Males’ Occupational Identity Development: A Thematic Analysis Based on Participants’ Occupation Outcomes

ABSTRACT The continued growth of the Latino population in the United States is reshaping the nation’s workforce. Given that the majority of Latino children are raised in circumstances that limit their psychosocial development and success in the labor market, and given that Latino men continually lag behind their female peers in educational attainment, understanding how this population develops an occupational identity vis-à-vis their family contexts has become increasingly important. This study, utilizing a qualitative design, retrospectively explored the occupational identity development experiences vis-à-vis family of Latino boys born, raised, and living in California. Following a constructivist grounded theory approach, the purpose of the study was to generate a middle range theory of how Latino boys develop an occupational identity in the home that also explains the divergence of working-class and white-collar occupational paths. Interviews with Latino Americans were conducted using semi-structured interviewing techniques. Nine themes emerged from the data that, when pieced together, produce a model of the occupational identity development trajectories of the participants. Implications of the findings include a need for continued research into the Latino concept of family and parent roles.
Cost-effectiveness of alternative triage strategies for atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance.

CONTEXT Every year approximately 2 million US women are diagnosed as having a cervical cytological result of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC-US). OBJECTIVE To determine the most efficient and cost-effective management strategy for women in the United States diagnosed as having ASC-US. DESIGN AND SETTING Cost-effectiveness analysis of data from clinical trials, prospective studies, and other published literature. A computer-based model was used to compare 4 management strategies for a cytological result of ASC-US: immediate colposcopy; human papillomavirus (HPV) triage, which includes colposcopy if high-risk HPV types are detected; repeat cytology, which includes follow-up cytology at 6 and 12 months and referral for colposcopy if a repeat abnormal result occurs; and reclassifying ASC-US as normal in which a cytological result of ASC-US is ignored. Reflex HPV DNA testing uses either residual liquid-based cytological specimens or samples co-collected at the time of the initial screening for conventional cytology. Another method, referred to as the 2-visit HPV DNA triage, requires a woman with an ASC-US result to return within 1 month to provide another speciman sample. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Years of life saved (YLS), quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios. RESULTS The least costly strategy for biennial screening was to reclassify ASC-US as normal, resulting in a reduction in total cancer incidence of 75% for conventional cytology and 84% for liquid-based cytology compared with no screening. The next least costly strategy was HPV DNA testing resulting in a reduction in total cancer incidence of 86% for conventional cytology and 90% for liquid-based cytology, followed by immediate colposcopy with a reduction of 87% and 91%, respectively. Compared with reflex HPV DNA testing, a strategy of repeat cervical cytology or delayed HPV testing costs more but is less effective. When all strategies were compared simultaneously, varying frequency and type of cytological test, biennial (vs every 3 years) liquid-based cytology with reflex HPV testing had a cost of $174 200 per YLS. In a similar comparison, liquid-based cytology with reflex HPV testing conducted every 3 years (vs every 5 years) had a cost of $59 600 per YLS and was more effective and less costly than a strategy of conventional cytology incorporating repeat cytology or immediate colposcopy conducted biennially. CONCLUSION Reflex HPV DNA testing provides the same or greater life expectancy benefits and is more cost-effective than other management strategies for women diagnosed as having ASC-US.
Co-evolutionnary network approach to cultural dynamics controlled by intolerance

Starting from Axelrod's model of cultural dissemination, we introduce a rewiring probability, enabling agents to cut the links with their unfriendly neighbors if their cultural similarity is below a tolerance parameter. For low values of tolerance, rewiring promotes the convergence to a frozen monocultural state. However, intermediate tolerance values prevent rewiring once the network is fragmented, resulting in a multicultural society even for values of initial cultural diversity in which the original Axelrod model reaches globalization.
Service-Learning Outcomes Research: The Role and Scarcity of Replication Studies

The effect of service-learning on college and university students has attracted considerable scholarly attention in the last decade. However, few attempts to replicate studies are conducted. The purpose of the research reported in this article is threefold: (1) to assess the reliability of a modified version of Kelly, Chase, and Tucker's (1979) taxonomy to discriminate accurately between sub-categories of replication in studies of service-learning outcomes; (2) to determine the extent of replications in the service-learning outcomes literature; and (3) to make recommendations based on the study's results. The research sample consists of data-based articles published in peer-reviewed journals between[space] 1993 and 2004. The taxonomy's ability to discriminate [between] types of replications yields an inter-rater reliability of 88 percent. The results indicated that 31 (70.4 percent) of the studies were classified as either operational or constructive replications. Many of the studies were “within-study” replications, meaning that researchers are replicating their own research. Several recommendations for improving the quality of service-learning outcomes research are proposed.
On the Asymptotic Behavior of a Fluid Queue With a Heavy-Tailed M/G/∞ Arrival Process

We consider an infinite buffer fluid queue with a constant capacity and an M/G/∞ arrival process. M/G/∞ process consists of sessions with Poisson starting times, independent intermediately regularly varying session durations and constant arrival rates. The session duration distributions and arrival rates are selected from a finite set of distinct choices. For this queue we derive the asymptotic behavior of the stationary queue length distribution under the assumption that exactly one long session is enough to cause a large queue build-up. Increased utilization in communication networks (e.g. the Internet) can be achieved through sharing of bandwidth and buffer resources among different user sessions. This sharing may result in increased congestion and reduced quality of service. Therefore, it is important to have efficient computational methods for predicting the congestion. A fluid queue with M/G/∞ arrivals is often considered as a baseline model of congestion. In this queueing system sessions arrive at Poisson times and have independent duration during which they produce fluid at a constant rate. Our investigation focuses on the asymptotic behavior of the stationary queue length distribution of this system when session lengths are heavy-tailed. The heavy-tailed nature of Internet traffic has been observed in numerous statistical experiments. Further motivation and additional references on this problem can be found in [1, 4, 6, 9, 2, 8]. Our main result is presented in Theorem 1. More formally, consider a Poisson process on the positive real axes with rate λ and jump points {Tn, n ≥ 1} representing session initiation times. Let {τ, τn, n ≥ 1} be a sequence of i.i. d. session lengths independent of {Tn}. Then, for any r > 0 A(t) def = r ∞ ∑ n=1 1(Tn ≤ t u]du/Eτ . Let {τ e n, n ≥ 1} be independent copies of τ e and N a Poisson random variable with mean EN = λEτ . Assume that all random variables are mutually independent. Now, if we define
Neurons as Monte Carlo Samplers: Bayesian Inference and Learning in Spiking Networks

We propose a spiking network model capable of performing both approximate inference and learning for any hidden Markov model. The lower layer sensory neurons detect noisy measurements of hidden world states. The higher layer neurons with recurrent connections infer a posterior distribution over world states from spike trains generated by sensory neurons. We show how such a neuronal network with synaptic plasticity can implement a form of Bayesian inference similar to Monte Carlo methods such as particle filtering. Each spike in the population of inference neurons represents a sample of a particular hidden world state. The spiking activity across the neural population approximates the posterior distribution of hidden state. The model provides a functional explanation for the Poisson-like noise commonly observed in cortical responses. Uncertainties in spike times provide the necessary variability for sampling during inference. Unlike previous models, the hidden world state is not observed by the sensory neurons, and the temporal dynamics of the hidden state is unknown. We demonstrate how such networks can sequentially learn hidden Markov models using a spike-timing dependent Hebbian learning rule and achieve power-law convergence rates.
Signal Recovery and System Calibration from Multiple Compressive Poisson Measurements

The measurement matrix employed in compressive sensing typically cannot be known precisely a priori, and must be estimated via calibration. One may take multiple compressive measurements, from which the measurement matrix and underlying signals may be estimated jointly. This is of interest as well when the measurement matrix may change as a function of the details of what is measured. This problem has been considered recently for Gaussian measurement noise, and here we develop this idea with application to Poisson systems. An optimization-based algorithm is proposed, and associated theoretical performance guarantees are established based on newly derived concentration-of-measure results. A Bayesian model is then introduced, to improve exibility and generality. Connections between the optimization-based methods and the Bayesian model are developed, and example results are presented for a real compressive x-ray imaging system.
High performance GaN front-end MMICs

Key GaN HEMT front-end circuits for next generation AESA radar/EW applications are presented. The circuits are an S-band 20 W MMIC HPA reaching 50 % measured PAE, a two-stage S-band MMIC LNA showing a measured NF of 1.3 dB, and a DC-18 GHz SPDTs showing a measured insertion loss of less than 2 dB at 18 GHz. Furthermore, a 2–18 GHz front-end circuit with a co-integrated two-stage LNA and a T/R-switch has been designed as an example of an integrated multi-functional GaN front-end circuit. The circuits were manufactured in the Chalmers AlGaN HEMT on SiC MMIC process. The process includes both 0.25 μm and 0.15 μm gate-length devices.
The Thermoregulatory Function of Thatched Nests in the South American Grass-Cutting Ant, Acromyrmex heyeri

Abstract The construction of mound-shaped nests by ants is considered as a behavioral adaptation to low environmental temperatures, i.e., colonies achieve higher and more stables temperatures than those of the environment. Besides the well-known nests of boreal Formica wood-ants, several species of South American leaf-cutting ants of the genus Acromyrmex construct thatched nests. Acromyrmex workers import plant fragments as building material, and arrange them so as to form a thatch covering a central chamber, where the fungus garden is located. Thus, the degree of thermoregulation attained by the fungus garden inside the thatched nest largely depends on how the thatch affects the thermal relations between the fungus and the environment. This work was aimed at studying the thermoregulatory function of the thatched nests built by the grass-cutting ant Acromyrmex heyeri Forel (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae). Nest and environmental temperatures were measured as a function of solar radiation on the long-term. The thermal diffusivity of the nest thatch was measured and compared to that of the surrounding soil, in order to assess the influence of the building material on the nest's thermoregulatory ability. The results showed that the average core temperature of thatched nests was higher than that of the environment, but remained below values harmful for the fungus. This thermoregulation was brought about by the low thermal diffusivity of the nest thatch built by workers with plant fragments, instead of the readily-available soil particles that have a higher thermal diffusivity. The thatch prevented diurnal nest overheating by the incoming solar radiation, and avoided losses of the accumulated daily heat into the cold air during the night. The adaptive value of thatching behavior in Acromyrmex leaf-cutting ants occurring in the southernmost distribution range is discussed.
bcl-2 Overexpression Eliminates Deprivation-Induced Cell Death of Brainstem Auditory Neurons

Deprivation of afferent input in young animals results in transneuronal degeneration of postsynaptic sensory neurons in a variety of species and sensory pathways. Transneuronal degeneration is generally not seen in adult animals. The cellular and molecular basis for this dramatic developmental change in susceptibility is not understood. One possibility is that genes involved in the apoptotic process are involved in determining cell death or survival after afferent deprivation. To further investigate this possibility, we performed unilateral cochlear ablation on wild-type and bcl-2-overexpressing mice at a variety of ages. In postnatal day 5 (P5) or P8 wild-type mice, cochlea removal resulted in a 54% or 31% neuronal loss in the anteroventral cochlear nucleus (AVCN), respectively. When the same manipulation is performed on a P30 mouse, no loss of AVCN neurons occurs. This confirmed a rather abrupt change in the sensitivity to disruption of afferent input, a critical period. However, in littermates expressingbcl-2 under a neuron-specific enolase promoter, no significant loss of AVCN neurons was observed at any age after unilateral cochlear ablation. Furthermore, wild-type mice demonstrate rapid expression of activated caspase-3 in AVCN neurons within hours of deafferentation, whereas bcl-2-overexpressing mice do not. This suggests that bcl-2 can influence cell survival after removal of afferent input during the critical period and is consistent with the hypothesis that caspase-3 is one effector of cell death under these circumstances. These data are the first to indicate that known apoptotic mediators can play a role in central neuronal plasticity in models of afferent deprivation.