Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Primary care clinician expectations regarding aging.

PURPOSE Expectations regarding aging (ERA) in community-dwelling older adults are associated with personal health behaviors and health resource usage. Clinicians' age expectations likely influence patients' expectations and care delivery patterns; yet, limited research has explored clinicians' age expectations. The Expectations Regarding Aging Survey (ERA-12) was used to assess (a) age expectations in a sample of primary care clinicians practicing in the United States and (b) clinician characteristics associated with ERA-12 scores. DESIGN AND METHODS This study was a cross-sectional survey of primary care clinicians affiliated with 5 practice-based research networks, October 2008 to June 2009. A total of 374 of the 1,510 distributed surveys were returned (24.8% response rate); 357 analyzed. Mean respondent age was 48.6 years (SD = 11.6; range 23-87 years); 88.0% physicians, 96.0% family medicine, 94.9% White, and 61.9% male. RESULTS Female clinicians reported higher ERA-12 scores; clinicians' age expectations decreased with greater years in practice. Among the clinicians, higher ERA-12 scores were associated with higher clinician ratings of the importance of and personal skill in administering preventive counseling and the importance of delivering preventive services. Agreement with individual ERA-12 items varied widely. IMPLICATIONS Unrealistically high or low ERA could negatively influence the quality of care provided to patients and patients' own age expectations. Research should examine the etiology of clinicians' age expectations and their association with older adult diagnoses and treatment. Medical education must incorporate strategies to promote clinician attitudes that facilitate successful patient aging.
Generalization Error Bounds for Threshold Decision Lists

In this paper we consider the generalization accuracy of classification methods based on the iterative use of linear classifiers. The resulting classifiers, which we call threshold decision lists act as follows. Some points of the data set to be classified are given a particular classification according to a linear threshold function (or hyperplane). These are then removed from consideration, and the procedure is iterated until all points are classified. Geometrically, we can imagine that at each stage, points of the same classification are successively chopped off from the data set by a hyperplane. We analyse theoretically the generalization properties of data classification techniques that are based on the use of threshold decision lists and on the special subclass of multilevel threshold functions. We present bounds on the generalization error in a standard probabilistic learning framework. The primary focus in this paper is on obtaining generalization error bounds that depend on the levels of separation---or margins---achieved by the successive linear classifiers. We also improve and extend previously published theoretical bounds on the generalization ability of perceptron decision trees.
Espoused Theoretical Frameworks and the Leadership Behaviors of Principals in Achieving Urban Elementary Schools.

ABSTRACT The dominant theoretical frameworks (structural, human resources, political, or cultural) espoused by elementary school principals are studied; and the platforms are compared with data previously collected on leadership behaviors and time usage. Data for 5 principals and 151 teachers in 5 elementary schools in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) on the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS) are presented. The PIMRS is used to determine the teachers' perceptions of their principals' instructional management behaviors and perceptions of the principals. Data for principals on time use surveys are included. The elementary schools have student enrollments of between 382 and 816 students with minority populations from 16 percent to 100 percent. The espoused theoretical framework is determined using the principals' responses to the Leadership Orientations Instrument. The results show that one principal uses a structural frame, three principals use a human resources frame, and one principal uses a combination of structural, human resources, political, and symbolic frames. The principal who espoused the greatest number of theoretical frames has the most relevant and recent training. All the principals have internalized the norm of high expectations for students and teachers, and use this concept to drive their own leadership behaviors, as indicated by the teachers. In these urban schools, use of the political frame is surprisingly low. Five tables of statistical data and a 13-item list of references are included. (SLD)
Phylodynamic Inference and Model Assessment with Approximate Bayesian Computation: Influenza as a Case Study

A key priority in infectious disease research is to understand the ecological and evolutionary drivers of viral diseases from data on disease incidence as well as viral genetic and antigenic variation. We propose using a simulation-based, Bayesian method known as Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) to fit and assess phylodynamic models that simulate pathogen evolution and ecology against summaries of these data. We illustrate the versatility of the method by analyzing two spatial models describing the phylodynamics of interpandemic human influenza virus subtype A(H3N2). The first model captures antigenic drift phenomenologically with continuously waning immunity, and the second epochal evolution model describes the replacement of major, relatively long-lived antigenic clusters. Combining features of long-term surveillance data from the Netherlands with features of influenza A (H3N2) hemagglutinin gene sequences sampled in northern Europe, key phylodynamic parameters can be estimated with ABC. Goodness-of-fit analyses reveal that the irregularity in interannual incidence and H3N2's ladder-like hemagglutinin phylogeny are quantitatively only reproduced under the epochal evolution model within a spatial context. However, the concomitant incidence dynamics result in a very large reproductive number and are not consistent with empirical estimates of H3N2's population level attack rate. These results demonstrate that the interactions between the evolutionary and ecological processes impose multiple quantitative constraints on the phylodynamic trajectories of influenza A(H3N2), so that sequence and surveillance data can be used synergistically. ABC, one of several data synthesis approaches, can easily interface a broad class of phylodynamic models with various types of data but requires careful calibration of the summaries and tolerance parameters.
Are Age-Related Differences Uniform Across Different Inhibitory Functions?

OBJECTIVES In the current experiment, we examined the relative age-sensitivity of 3 inhibitory functions: access, deletion, and restraint by taking into consideration their underlying control processes: proactive and reactive control. METHODS The 3 inhibitory functions were measured using a sequential flanker task. Young (age: 18-35, n = 24) and older adults (age: 60-75, n = 25) first memorized a series of 8 animal words in a fixed order. In the test phase, these stimuli were presented randomly either singly or with flankers and participants responded "yes" or "no" based on the prelearned sequence. In the access trials, flankers were either ahead of the current target or unrelated. In the deletion trials, flankers were previous target items. In the restraint trials, the flanker cues (XXXX) prompted the participants to withhold responses occasionally. Unflanked trials served as the baseline condition. RESULTS Age-related differences in the magnitude of inhibition effects were largest in restraint, followed by deletion. No age-related differences were observed in access. DISCUSSION Our findings suggest that the magnitude of age-related differences in inhibitory functions is contingent on the degree of proactive control recruited by a given inhibitory function.
Psychophysical Model for Vibrotactile Rendering in Mobile Devices

Vibrotactile rendering is one of the most popular means for improving the user interface of a mobile device, but the availability of related perceptual data that can aid vibrotactile effect design is not currently sufficient. The present paper reports data from a series of psychophysical studies designed to fill this gap. In Experiment I, we measured the absolute detection thresholds of sinusoidal vibrotactile stimuli transmitted to the hand through a mobile phone. Stimuli were generated by a mechanical shaker system that can produce vibrations over a broad frequency and amplitude range. The detection thresholds reported here are a new addition to the literature, and can serve as a baseline for vibrotactile stimulus design. In Experiment II, we estimated the perceived intensities of mobile device vibrations for various frequencies and amplitudes using the same shaker system. We also determined a form of parametric nonlinear function based on Stevens' power law and fit the function to the measured data. This psychophysical magnitude function, which maps vibration frequency and amplitude to a resulting perceived intensity, can be used to predict the perceived intensity of a mobile device vibration from its physical parameter values. In Experiment III, we measured another set of perceived intensities using two commercial miniature vibration actuators (vibration motor and voice-coil actuator) in place of the mechanical shaker. The purpose of this experiment was to evaluate the utility of the psychophysical magnitude function obtained in Experiment II, as vibrotactile stimuli produced by miniature actuators may have different physical characteristics, such as vibration direction and ground condition. Comparison of the results of Experiments II and III confirmed that the psychophysical magnitude function can reliably predict changing trends in the perceived intensity of mobile device vibration. We also discuss further research issues encountered during the investigation. The results presented in this paper may be instrumental in the design of effective vibrotactile actuators and perceptually-salient rendering algorithms for mobile devices.
T cell responses and virus evolution: loss of HLA A11-restricted CTL epitopes in Epstein-Barr virus isolates from highly A11-positive populations by selective mutation of anchor residues

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a B lymphotropic herpesvirus of humans that elicits strong HLA class I-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses. An influence of such responses on virus evolution was first suggested by our finding that EBV isolates from the highly HLA A11- positive Papua New Guinea (PNG) population carried a lys-thr mutation at residue 424 of the nuclear antigen EBV-encoded nuclear antigen (EBNA4) that destroyed the immunodominant target epitope for A11- restricted CTL recognition. Here we turn to a much larger population, Southern Chinese, where the A11 allele is again present in over 50% of the individuals. Each of 23 EBV isolates analyzed from this population were also mutated in the EBNA4 416-424 epitope, the mutations selectively involving one of the two anchor residues in positions 2 (417 val-leu) or 9 (424 lys-asp, -arg or -thr) that are critical for A11-peptide interaction. The majority of the Chinese isolates and all 10 PNG isolates also carried mutations affecting positions 1 and 2 of the next most immunodominant A11-restricted epitope, EBNA4 residues 399- 408. These changes clearly affected antigenicity since A11-positive lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) carrying these mutant EBV strains were not recognized by A11-restricted CTLs raised against the prototype B95.8 virus. Furthermore, Chinese donors naturally infected with these mutant viruses did not mount detectable A11-restricted CTL responses on in vitro stimulation with autologous LCL cells carrying either the B95.8 or their endogenous EBV strain. In two different highly A11- positive populations, therefore, immune pressure appears to have selected for resident EBV strains lacking immunodominant A11-restricted CTL epitopes.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INFORMATION THEORY Geometrical Properties of Optimal Volterra Filters for Signal Detection

Volterra filters are a particular class of nonlinear filters defined by an extension of the concept of impulse response to the nonlinear case. Linear-quadratic filters are a special example of Volterra filters limited to the second order. In the first part of this paper it is shown that all the results recently published, valid in the linear-quadratic case, can be extended with the appropriate notations to Volterra filters of arbitrary order. In particular, the optimum Volterra filter giving the maximum of the deflection for the detection of a signal in noise is wholly calculated. In the second part several geometrical properties of optimal Volterra filters are investigated by introducing appropriate scalar products. In particular the concept of space orthogonal to the signal and the noise alone reference (NAR) property are introduced allowing a decomposition of the optimal filter that exhibits a relation between detection and estimation. Extensions to the infinite case and relations with the likelihood ratio are also investigated.
Studies of intercropping in vegetables.

In the vegetables tomato, brinjal and chillies are well known and very popular vegetable grown successfully throughout the year in India, at the spacing of 45 to 60 cm in rows and 30 to 60 cm in plants and they require approximately 55 to 70 days for flowering after transplanting. Therefore, the inter space of these crops can be utilized by taking the intercrops of either of short duration like radish, coriander and palak our having straight growth like onion. In the present investigation intercropping of coriander, onion, palak and radish in rabi season with solanaceous vegetable crops is profitable. Intercropping of coriander with brinjal gave highest net profit followed by radish with tomato and palak with chilli.
From Differential Image Motion to Seeing

The theory of the differential image motion monitor (DIMM), a standard and widely spread method of measuring astronomical seeing, is reviewed and extended. More accurate coefficients for computing the Fried parameter from the measured variance of image motion are given. They are tested by numerical simulations that show that any DIMM measures Zernike tilts, not image centroids as generally assumed. The contribution of CCD readout noise to image motion variance is modeled. It can substantially bias DIMM results if left unsubtracted. The second most important DIMM bias comes from the used exposure time, which is typically not short enough to freeze image motion completely. This effect is studied quantitatively for real turbulence and wind profiles, and its correction by interlaced short and long exposures is validated. Finally, the influence of turbulence outer scale reduces image size in large telescopes by 10% or more compared to the standard theory; new formulae to compute FWHM and half‐energy diameter of the atmospheric point‐spread function that take into account outer scale are provided.
From home to host: The instrumental kaleidoscopic careers of skilled migrants

Is it time to reimagine the kaleidoscope career model (KCM) beyond gendered career patterns? In this article, we draw upon the KCM in a novel way to show how skilled migrants, just like a kaleidoscope, adjust their career parameters and construct bespoke career paths in order to cope with the career disruption of an international move. Specifically, the study unpacks the careers of 38 skilled migrants in Ireland and suggests an alternative explanation for skilled migrants’ underemployment. The findings show that this macro career transition – from home to host country – presents both opportunities and challenges for individual migrants in their quest to balance their work- and non-work-related demands. The study contributes to existing literature and debate on skilled migrants’ careers in the business and management discipline by presenting a more complete overview of the concerns and instrumental career choices of skilled migrants in the host country.
Why Professional Development Matters.

Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is prohibited. Unless indicated otherwise, buyers of this book have permission to make up to 30 copies of handouts if they are to be used for instructional purposes as long as this book and Learning Forward are properly cited. Requests for permission to reprint or copy portions of this book for other purposes should be faxed to 513-523-0638 on organization letterhead. E-mail requests will be accepted at office@learningforward.org. All requests must specify the number of copies that will be made and how the material will be used. Please allow two weeks for a response. See WHY Professional Development MATTERS FOREWORD " Another professional development day! What an inconvenience! " Th is comment rings across kitchen tables, through grocery store aisles, on the sidelines at soccer games, and in the breakrooms in local businesses. Parents expect their children to be in school and rely on schools not only for educating them, but also for providing a safe and dependable place for students to be each day. Families and even employers are inconvenienced on inservice days or when the school day starts late or ends early to provide time for teacher professional development. For business and community leaders, the quality of a community's education system relates directly to the economic success of the community. School success translates into tax revenues, real estate values, and community satisfaction. When asked what they want for their children, parents, and community members overwhelmingly agree that they want the best teacher possible in every classroom. Research confi rms that the most important factor contributing to a student's success in school is the quality of teaching. While parents may not be familiar with the research, they are united in their desire to ensure great teaching for every child every day. Professional development is the most eff ective strategy schools and school districts have to meet this expectation. Professional development is the strategy schools and school districts use to ensure that educators continue to strengthen their practice throughout their career. Th e most eff ective professional development engages teams of teachers to focus on the needs of their students. Th ey learn and problem solve together in order to ensure all students achieve success. School systems use a variety of schedules to provide this collaborative learning and work time for teachers. When time set aside for professional development is used eff …
Observing the dimensionality of our parent vacuum

It seems generic to have vacua with lower dimensionality than ours. We consider the possibility that the observable universe originated in a transition from one of these vacua. Such a universe has anisotropic spatial curvature. This may be directly observable through its late-time effects on the CMB if the last period of slow-roll inflation was not too long. These affect the entire sky, leading to correlations which persist up to the highest CMB multipoles, thus allowing a conclusive detection above cosmic variance. Further, this anisotropic curvature causes different dimensions to expand at different rates. This leads to other potentially observable signals including a quadrupolar anisotropy in the CMB which limits the size of the curvature. Conversely, if isotropic curvature is observed it may be evidence that our parent vacuum was at least 3 + 1 dimensional. Such signals could reveal our history of decompactification, providing evidence for the existence of vastly different vacua.
The Influence of External Locus of Control on Life Stress: Evidence from Graduate Students in Thailand

The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of external locus of control on life stress. A total of twenty-five graduate students from one public university in Thailand participated in data collection. A survey questionnaire was use to gather data from respondents. Results showed that external locus of control had a significant influence on life stress of graduate students at . 05 level. Findings indicated that locus of control could explain 15.8% of variance to life stress of graduate students. Overall, the more external locus of control graduate students had, the more life stressful they experienced. Discussions, limitations, and recommendations for further studies were also conferred.
The Role of Investment Promotion Agencies at Attracting Foreign Direct Investment and Their Impact on Economic Development in Central Europe (The Czech Republic and Slovakia in Comparative Perspective)

Tato praca sa zaobera ulohou investicných agentur v procese lakania priamych zahranicných investicii v strednej Europe. Komparacia ceskej (CzechInvest) a slovenskej investecnej agentury (SARIO) ponuka zaujimavý obraz o rozdielnom stave 'investment promotion' v strednej Europe.
Cryptochrome 1b: a possible inducer of visual lateralization in pigeons?

The visual system of adult pigeons shows a lateralization of object discrimination with a left hemispheric dominance on the behavioural, physiological and anatomical levels. The crucial trigger for the establishment of this asymmetry is the position of the embryo inside the egg, which exposes the right eye to light falling through the egg shell. As a result, the right‐sided retina is more strongly stimulated with light during embryonic development. However, it is unknown how this embryonic light stimulation is transduced to the brain as rods and cones are not yet functional. A possible solution could be the blue‐light‐sensitive molecule cryptochrome 1 (Cry1), which is expressed in retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) of several mammalian and avian species. RGCs have been shown to be functional during the time of induction of asymmetry and possess projections to primary visual areas. Therefore, Cry1‐containing RGCs could be responsible for induction of asymmetry. The aim of this study was to identify the expression pattern of the Cry1 subtype Cry1b in the retina of embryonic, post‐hatch and adult pigeons by immunohistochemical staining and to show whether Cry1b‐containing RGCs project to the optic tectum. Cry1b‐positive cells were indeed mainly found in the RGC layer and to lesser extent in the inner nuclear layer at all ages, including the embryonic stage. Tracing in adult animals revealed that at least a subset of Cry1b‐containing RGCs project to the optic tectum. Thus, Cry1b‐containing RGCs within the embryonic retina could be involved in the induction of asymmetries in the visual system of pigeons.