Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cybernetic Health

Future health ecosystems demand the integration of emerging data technology with an increased focus on preventive medicine. Cybernetics extracts the full potential of data to serve the spectrum of health care, from acute to chronic problems. Building actionable cybernetic navigation tools can greatly empower optimal health decisions, especially by quantifying lifestyle and environmental data. This data to decisions transformation is powered by intuitive event analysis to offer the best semantic abstraction of dynamic living systems. Achieving the goal of preventive health systems in the cybernetic model occurs through the flow of several components. From personalized models we can predict health status using perpetual sensing and data streams. Given these predictions, we give precise recommendations to best suit the prediction for that individual. To enact these recommendations we use persuasive technology in order to deliver and execute targeted interventions.
Empirical validation of Erikson's theory of identity crises in late adolescence.

Summary Ego identity crystallization was studied within the context of Erikson's psychosocial theory of ego identity development. Ego identity and ego diffusion were measured by the Dignan Ego Identity Scale, an instrument based on Erikson's theoretical formulations. It was hypothesized that Ss within the age span of 17 to 20 would report significantly more ego diffusion than their older counterparts ranging in age from 21–24 years, and that females would report significantly less ego diffusion than males within each age group. These hypotheses were tested on 507 midwestern college students in a cross-sectional design which utilized multiple regression analysis. Results supported both hypotheses and indicated that ego identity processes crystallize in late adolescence as postulated by Erikson's psychosocial theory of ego epigenesis. A significant negative correlation between ego identity and anxiety offered additional construct validity for the Dignan Ego Identity Scale.
If You Cannot Take the Heat, Get Out of the Cerrado & Recovering the Equilibrium Amenity Cost of Nonmarginal Climate Change in Brazil

This paper presents an empirical technique for valuing large changes in nonmarketed local attributes (e.g., climate amenities) without data describing prices of locally traded commodities like housing. A model of endogenous sorting is used to identify individuals' indirect utility functions, from which the value of the change in the local attribute is recovered while accounting for equilibrium impacts on markets for labor and locally traded commodities. Annual amenity costs of Brazilian climate change are estimated to be between $1.6 and $8.1 billion for a moderate climate change scenario, depending upon the role of migration costs.
Estrogen Receptor-β in the Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Neuron

Abstract Estrogen regulation of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neuronal activity plays a crucial role in homeostatic regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. Estrogen also coordinates a complex series of physiological changes culminating with a surge of gonadotropin secretion that triggers ovulation of a developed follicle from the ovary. The coordinated functions of estrogen ensure that the female will elaborate appropriate reproductive behaviors ultimately designed to deliver sperm to the oocyte and to provide a receptive uterine environment for the fertilized embryo. Although the effects of estrogen on GnRH neuronal function have long been proposed to be indirect due to the presumed lack of estrogen receptors in GnRH neurons, the identification of alternative estrogen signaling pathways, including estrogen receptor (ER)β and membrane ERs such as GPR30, has put the focus back on estrogen’s effect at the level of the GnRH neuron itself. One candidate to mediate the effects of estrogen is the β isoform of the estrogen receptor. We review the evidence for a role for ERβ-mediated regulation of GnRH neuronal function.
Financial Crises and Recapitalizations

We develop a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model with financial frictions on both financial intermediaries and goods-producing firms. Since financial intermediaries are highly leveraged, we show that the welfare gains from their recapitalization in response to large but rare net worth losses are as large as those from eliminating typical business cycle fluctuations. We also find that these gains are increasing in the size of the net worth loss, are larger when recapitalization funds are raised from the household rather than the real sector, and can be larger when lower idiosyncratic risk leads to higher leverage.
Legitimising a New Space:The Case of Teaching and Learning Professionals in Canadian Higher Education

This qualitative, cross-sectional study centres on professionals in the field of educational development, which has been and continues to change significantly in contemporary higher education. Twenty-eight teaching and learning professionals in three broad classifications from 19 Canadian higher education institutions were interviewed. Data was collected to both describe the formal structures and roles and elicit understandings regarding how the individuals see their roles, identities and social power. Consistent with other international findings, and influenced by the broader changes in higher education, Canadian teaching and learning professional roles appear to be expanding in both depth and breadth. The findings reflect a number of changes and tensions associated with their organisational structure, role design and role classifications. Although they come from a variety of academic backgrounds, the findings indicate a common identity is evolving, underpinned by a set of shared values, strong professional association identification and a shared purpose of bridging and translating needs towards the enhancement of teaching and learning. While respondents described using a variety of power bases and influence tactics to generate change at the individual, group, organisation and system levels their attempts to influence used primarily soft power bases rather than harsh power bases (Kipnis, 1984). The findings support previous research that indicates there is a relationship between roles (structure) and identity (Alvesson and Willmott, 2002, Dutton et al., 1994, Ibarra, 1999, Sluss and Ashforth, 2007) and provide evidence to support the theorised link between identity and action (Alvesson et al., 2008, Ibarra, 1999). Further, it is argued, the interconnectivity of role, identity and power, was expressed through respondents’ attempts to make sense of and in many cases change the social evaluations of them, their team and their work in an effort to legitimise a unique organisational space and enable them to accomplish their change oriented goals. In light of these findings, a theorised process of how an organisational space for teaching and learning work may be legitimised and a visualised “middle space” for teaching and learning work is presented.
MCEEC: Multi-hop Centralized Energy Efficient Clustering routing protocol for WSNs

In order to increase the network lifetime, scalable and energy-aware routing protocols are very essential for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). In this paper, we propose a heterogeneity-aware Multi-hop Centralized Energy Efficient Clustering (MCEEC) protocol for routing in WSNs. Operation of MCEEC is based upon the advanced central control algorithm, in which Base Station (BS) is responsible for the selection of Cluster-Heads (CHs) which are selected on the bases of wireless sensors' (nodes') residual energy, average energy of the network, and average of the relative distance between nodes and BS. We adopt multi-hop inter-cluster communication for MCEEC. The advanced heterogeneous network model of the proposed protocol divides the network area into three equally spaced rectangular regions such that nodes of the same energy level are deployed in the respective region. Furthermore, nodes can only associate with their own region's CHs. In MCEEC, deployment of nodes in the network area is in descending order of energy level w.r. t BS's position. Simulation results show that MCEEC yields maximum scalability, network lifetime, stability period and throughput as compared to the selected routing protocols.
Social Bullying in Nursing Academia

Social bullying has gained attention in the contemporary literature and increasing scrutiny in nursing academia. With a paucity of research on the topic in nursing, the authors asked nursing faculty about the phenomenon of being bullied by faculty colleagues or academic administrators. They discuss their study and its outcomes and implications for academic work lives, recruitment, and retention.
Comparing Inmate Perceptions of Two Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Programs

Drug and alcohol abuse by criminal offenders remains at an all time high. Residential substance abuse and treatment (RSAT) programs were developed to address the drug and alcohol treatment needs of inmates in prisons. Typically, such programs range in length from 6 to 12 months, have an Alcoholics Anonymous and/or Narcotics Anonymous component, and occur in a therapeutic community environment. Some programs also include a cognitive self- change component. Inmate participation in their programming is crucial to the success of a therapeutic community treatment environment, yet there is little research on the perceptions of RSAT inmates regarding their programming. In this research, the authors describe, compare, and contrast the perceptions of inmate clients of two RSAT programs in a rural mountain state.
The Importance of Hotel Employee Service Attitude and the Satisfaction of International Tourists

Although there have been numerous studies dealing with service attitude and customer satisfaction, they have not specifically addressed international hotel customers. Moreover, most of them have discussed the subject from the viewpoint of the employee. This study takes a customer perception approach and emphasises critical factors (elements) of service attitude affecting the satisfaction of international tourists. It has been found that the importance of employee attitudes to service and the level of satisfaction with the service vary significantly among customers of different nationalities. For example, American travellers emphasise elements such as employees being able to solve their problems, and so are dissatisfied with the service when employees lack an adequate command of English. Taiwanese customers stress the importance of employees treating customers politely regardless of their attire. They feel that they are treated unfairly because of employee expectations of tips from well-dressed customers. These findings could furnish managers with useful information for planning marketing and personnel training.
Characterization of Automobile Float Glass with Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy and Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

A comparative analysis of the discriminating power of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), each coupled with refractive index (RI) measurements, is presented for a study of 23 samples of automobile float glass. Elemental emission intensity ratios (LIBS) and elemental concentration ratios (LA-ICP-MS) and their associated confidence intervals were calculated for each float glass sample. The ratios and confidence intervals were used to determine the discrimination power of each analytical method. It was possible to discriminate 83% of the glass samples with 99% confidence based on LIBS spectra alone, and 96–99% of the samples could be discriminated based on LIBS spectra taken in conjunction with RI data at the same confidence level. LA-ICP-MS data allowed for 100% discrimination of the samples without the need for RI data. The results provide evidence to support the use of LIBS combined with RI for forensic analysis of float glass in laboratories that do not have access to LA-ICP-MS.
Agglomeration economies and industrial location: city-level evidence

There is clear evidence that economic activity, in particular industrial activity, is unequally located in Spain. Further, the results from the analysis of single manufacturing sectors show an even higher spatial concentration. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the extent to which agglomeration economies account for this high industrial concentration. To this end, I analyse the influence of various types of agglomeration on the location of manufacturing employment in Spanish cities. I consider two types of agglomeration economies: urbanization economies (associated with a city's population and employment levels and the diversity of its productive structure) and localization economies (associated with a city's specialization in one specific sector). Special attention is given to the geographical unit of analysis by employing spatial econometric techniques that allow the influence of agglomeration effects extending beyond a city's limits to be considered. The results demonstrate that agglomeration economies influence the location of manufacturing activity, with most sectors being influenced by urbanization economies and a few by localization economies. In some sectors, population or employment levels in neighboring cities were found to enhance a city's agglomeration economies. Copyright 2004, Oxford University Press.
Mindfulness groups for early psychosis: a qualitative study.

OBJECTIVES The aim of the study was to explore experiences of practising mindfulness in participants within an early intervention for psychosis (EIP) service. DESIGN A qualitative research methodology was used - that of grounded theory. This was chosen as it enabled examination of clients' experiences of mindfulness practice. METHODS The experience of mindfulness among nine people within an EIP service who had been practising mindfulness for at least 20 weeks was investigated. Semi-structured interviews exploring how mindfulness practice related to psychosis and day-to-day life were recorded verbatim, transcribed, and analysed. RESULTS Four main categories emerged: being able to use mindfulness, making sense of mindfulness and coping, relating to people differently, and increased self-understanding and acceptance. CONCLUSIONS All participants reported subjective benefits and challenges of mindfulness practice, and gave insights into processes of change. These preliminary data suggest mindfulness can be of use to individuals experiencing their first episode of psychosis.
Complications after corrective surgery for lateral patellar luxation in dogs: 36 cases (2000-2011).

OBJECTIVE To determine the frequency and severity of complications after corrective surgery in dogs with lateral patellar luxation (LPL) and identify risk factors for reluxation. DESIGN Retrospective case series. ANIMALS 36 client-owned dogs with 47 affected stifle joints. PROCEDURES Medical records of dogs that underwent surgical correction of LPL at 1 of 2 veterinary teaching hospitals between 2000 and 2011 were reviewed. Data analyzed included signalment, grade of luxation, orthopedic comorbidities, surgical procedures performed, frequency and type of complications, and whether a second surgery was performed. RESULTS A total of 36 dogs with 47 affected stifle joints met the inclusion criteria. Complications were recorded for 24 of 47 (51.1%) stifle joints; there were major complications for 18 of 47 (38.3%) stifle joints. All complications were confirmed through examination by a veterinarian. The most frequent complication was reluxation, which was detected in 10 of 47 (21.3%) stifle joints. Dogs that underwent bilateral surgical repair during a single anesthetic episode had odds of reluxation that were 12.5 times the odds of reluxation for dogs that underwent unilateral surgical repair. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Complication rate after corrective surgery for LPL was high, with reluxation being the most common complication in this population of dogs. Performing staged bilateral surgeries may decrease the risk of reluxation.
Post-focus Compression: Cross-linguistic Distribution and Historical Origin

One of the most important acoustic correlates of prosodic focus is post-focus compression (PFC) — the reduction of pitch range and amplitude of all post-focus components in an utterance. PFC has been found in many Indo-European, Altaic languages, and interestingly, also in Mandarin Chinese. Meanwhile, there have also been reports that many other languages do not have PFC, or lack any clear prosodic marking of focus. This paper presents a brief review of the current state of the art in the investigation of PFC, and discusses a number of hypotheses in regard to this typological division among the world languages. In particular, the idea is explored that the distribution of PFC is related to the historical development of the world languages.
Open economy DSGE-VAR forecasting and policy analysis - head to head with the RBNZ published forecasts

We evaluate the performance of an open economy DSGE-VAR model for New Zealand along both forecasting and policy dimensions. We show that forecasts from a DSGE-VAR and a 'vanilla' DSGE model are competitive with, and in some dimensions superior to, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's official forecasts. We also use the estimated DSGE-VAR structure to identify optimal policy rules that are consistent with the Reserve Bank's Policy Targets Agreement. Optimal policy rules under parameter uncertainty prove to be relatively similar to the certainty case. The optimal policies react aggressively to inflation and contain a large degree of interest rate smoothing, but place a low weight on responding to output or the change in the nominal exchange rate.
Chemokines in acute anterior uveitis.

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to define the expression of chemoattractant cytokines (chemokines) in human aqueous humor, obtained from patients with idiopathic acute anterior uveitis (AU). The chemokines assayed included macrophage inflammatory proteins-1 alpha and -1 beta (MIP-1 alpha and -1 beta), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), interleukin-8 (IL-8), interferon-inducible protein-10 (IP-10), and regulated on activation, normal T-expressed and secreted (RANTES). METHODS We studied fifteen patients (7 females) with idiopathic acute AU, at various stages of disease activity, and two control subjects undergoing elective cataract extraction. Aqueous humor was collected under aseptic conditions, after obtaining informed consent. Chemokine concentrations were measured using specific ELISA. Correlation was sought between chemokine concentrations and disease activity, evaluated by slit lamp biomicroscopy and graded using a standardized scale of disease severity. RESULTS IL-8 was detected (35.9 +/- 13.6, mean +/- SE) in three of seven subjects in active, untreated stages of AU (clinical score 2-4), and it was undetectable in subjects sampled in the quiescent phase of the disease. IP-10 had a mean concentration of 40.6 ng/ml +/- 20.9 in the active group (N = 7), declining to 0.8 ng/ml +/- 0.3 in the samples from patients with inactive disease (N = 7, P = 0.001). Similarly, substantial expression of MCP-1 was noted, with a maximum concentration of 145 ng/ml, in acute (active) AU (N = 6), (26.7 +/- 19.7), falling to undetectable levels in those with inactive disease, and in control subjects (P = 0.001). MIP-1 beta (N = 7), (3.4 +/- 1.5, P = 0.001) and RANTES (N = 7, 8.8 +/- 4.2) levels were significantly increased in acute disease (P = 0.001) and related to the activity of the disease, although the concentrations were not as high as MCP-1, IP-10 and IL-8. IP-10, RANTES and MIP-1 beta were detected at low concentrations in the aqueous humor of the control subjects. CONCLUSIONS This is the first study of chemokine concentrations in the aqueous humor of patients with acute anterior uveitis. The concentration of chemokines: IL-8, IP-10, MCP-1, RANTES and MIP-1 beta were significantly increased during the active stages of AU, and correlated with the clinical severity of the disease. These chemoattractant cytokines probably play a critical role in leucocyte recruitment in acute AU.
The Effect of Different Types of Competition on the Use of Management Controls

To most accountants, a management information and control system based on accounting and other quantitative data is an article of faith. This paper is not designed to discredit that faith. Rather its purpose is to outline some of the competitive conditions under which sophisticated management controls are more extensively utilized and those under which they are less extensively utilized. One result of this study could be a more discriminating application of management controls. Generally speaking, competition is likely to accentuate the use of controls. The greater the competition, the greater the need to control costs, and to evaluate whether production, marketing, finance, etc. are operating according to expectations. This paper empirically confirms this argument. But it goes beyond this to try and show that different types of competition -in this paper, price, marketing or distributive, and product competition -may have very different impacts on the use of controls in manufacturing organizations. It is not easy to measure how extensively a particular control is used in a firm. Two firms may both claim to use internal audits or activity budgeting. But one may be using it occasionally, or with respect to only a small part of its operations, while the other may have a full-fledged system of internal audit and activity or flexible budgeting. Thus, a dichotomous, yes-no measure is not very useful. Nor is a management control a physical thing that can be measured cardinally. We are therefore forced to use ordinal measures, such as rating scales, particularly in preliminary stages of research.