Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Focus Group Study of Baby Boomers' Processing and Interpretations of Fear Appeals in Health Care Reform Political Advertising

iii Chapter One: Introduction 1 Chapter Two: Background 4 Chapter Three: Literature Review 8 Fear Appeals and Theory Development 11 Political Communication and Fear Appeals 17 Health Communication and Fear Appeals 20 Methodological Issues, Gaps, and Directions for Future Research 23 Chapter Four: Method 25 Participants 26 Sites and Recruitment 28 Materials 29 Procedure 31 Data Analysis 33 Chapter Five: Findings 35 “Baby Boomers’” Processing Produced a Range of Emotions 35 Anger 35 Sadness 38 “Baby Boomers” Demand More Facts 39 “Just Give me the Facts! ” 40 Over-simplification of the Complex Issue of Health Care Reform 40 Rational Messages Presented Emotionally 42 Irony 43 The Fear “Baby Boomers” Expressed was Fear of the Unknown and Fear of Change 44 Fear of the Unknown 44 Fear of Change 45 Scare Tactics 46 Relationship between Fear and the Third-Person Effect 48 Symbolism used in the Advertisements 50 i ‘How do I Know Who I can Trust and What I can Believe? ’ 52 Manipulation of the Truth Led to Skepticism 53 Don’t Know what the Truth Is/Who to Trust 54 Broken Promises 56 Participants Shared a ‘Us in Comparison to Them’ Mentality 58 Sense of a Divide and Differences Across Generations 58 Impacts to Everyone 61 Advertising Appeared Matched, or Mis-matched, to the Target Audience 61 Chapter Six: Discussion 64 Overall Interpretations of AARP’s “Black SUVs” Advertisement 64 Overall Interpretations of the 60 Plus Association’s “The Greatest Generation” Advertisement 66 Participants’ “Ideal” Health Care Reform Advertisements 67 Study Limitations 71 Further Research 73 Chapter Seven: Conclusion 76 List of References 79 Appendices Appendix A: AARP’s “Black SUVs” Television Advertisement 88 Appendix B: The 60 Plus Association’s “The Greatest Generation” Television Advertisement 89 Appendix C: Thematic Map 90 ii
ARE INVESTMENT BANKERS TO BLAME FOR ACQUISITION PREMIUMS ? IF ACQUIRING PROCEED WITH CAUTION !

Since the 1980s, the number of acquisition deals has increased as has the use of investment bankers. Among their many strategic and financial advisory roles, investment bankers negotiate acquisition premiums. Studies have found support for agency conflicts between acquirers’ bankers and their acquiring clients, resulting in bankers being associated with acquirers’ payments of higher acquisition premiums. This study investigates the transaction-specific attributes under which acquirers’ bankers are associated with greater acquisition premiums and whether bankers’ first-tier status attenuates the premium paid by acquirers when they use bankers. The study examines a sample of 481 acquisitions completed between 1988 and 1998 and finds the presence of acquirers’ bankers along with transaction-specific attributes can lead acquirers to pay greater acquisition premiums. These findings have implications for theory and practice.
Quantifying how the combination of blur and disparity affects the perceived depth

The influence of a monocular depth cue, blur, on the apparent depth of stereoscopic scenes will be studied in this paper. When 3D images are shown on a planar stereoscopic display, binocular disparity becomes a pre-eminent depth cue. But it induces simultaneously the conflict between accommodation and vergence, which is often considered as a main reason for visual discomfort. If we limit this visual discomfort by decreasing the disparity, the apparent depth also decreases. We propose to decrease the (binocular) disparity of 3D presentations, and to reinforce (monocular) cues to compensate the loss of perceived depth and keep an unaltered apparent depth. We conducted a subjective experiment using a twoalternative forced choice task. Observers were required to identify the larger perceived depth in a pair of 3D images with/without blur. By fitting the result to a psychometric function, we obtained points of subjective equality in terms of disparity. We found that when blur is added to the background of the image, the viewer can perceive larger depth comparing to the images without any blur in the background. The increase of perceived depth can be considered as a function of the relative distance between the foreground and background, while it is insensitive to the distance between the viewer and the depth plane at which the blur is added.
Using SDE to achieve the stable and statistical analyses for TCP/RED flows

In this paper, we show how to make a complete analysis of the performance of TCP/RED (Transmission Control Protocol / Random Early Detection) flows in a single bottleneck network with Stochastic Differential Equation (SDE). We start from deducing the SDE for the aggregate TCP flow. Using this SDE model, we calculate the exact stable range of the TCP connection number and the variance of the queue length in router under a configured RED algorithm. Our deductive results are explicit formulas which are shown to be consistent with our simulations. We use TCP/RED as an example of the application of SDE method here, but such SDE method can be applied to many other protocols as well.
Ability of Recombinant Factor VIIa to Reverse the Anticoagulant Effect of the Pentasaccharide Fondaparinux in Healthy Volunteers

Background—The novel anticoagulant fondaparinux proved to be effective and safe in the postoperative prevention of venous thrombosis. Current phase III trials with this synthetic selective factor Xa inhibitor focus on its use in the treatment of patients with venous and arterial thrombosis. As with any anticoagulant therapy, there is a risk of bleeding complications; hence, a strategy to reverse the effects of fondaparinux is desirable. The aim of this study was to investigate whether recombinant factor VIIa (rFVIIa) could neutralize the anticoagulant effects of subcutaneously administered fondaparinux. Methods and Results—In a randomized, placebo-controlled design, 16 healthy male subjects received either a single subcutaneous dose of fondaparinux (10 mg) and a single intravenous bolus of rFVIIa (90 &mgr;g/kg; n=8), fondaparinux and placebo (n=4), or placebo and rFVIIa (n=4). Fondaparinux (or placebo) was administered 2 hours before rFVIIa (or placebo). Injection of rFVIIa after fondaparinux normalized the prolonged activated partial thromboplastin and prothrombin times and reversed the decrease in prothrombin activation fragments 1+2 (F1+2), as observed with fondaparinux alone. Thrombin-generation time and endogenous thrombin potential, which were inhibited by fondaparinux, normalized up to 6 hours after rFVIIa injection. Conclusions—rFVIIa is capable of normalizing coagulation times and thrombin generation during fondaparinux treatment. The duration of this effect ranged from 2 to 6 hours after rFVIIa injection. These results suggest that rFVIIa may be useful to reverse the anticoagulant effect of fondaparinux in case of serious bleeding complications or need for acute surgery during treatment with fondaparinux.
Neural Network-Aided Extended Kalman Filter for SLAM Problem

This paper addresses the problem of simultaneous localization and map building (SLAM) using a neural network aided extended Kalman filter (NNEKF) algorithm. Since the EKF is based on the white noise assumption, if there are colored noise or systematic bias error in the system, EKF inevitably diverges. The neural network in this algorithm is used to approximate the uncertainty of the system model due to mismodeling and extreme nonlinearities. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the proposed algorithm NNEKF is very effective compared with the standard EKF algorithm under the practical condition where the mobile robot has bias error in its modeling and environment has strong uncertainties. In this paper, we propose an algorithm which enables a biased control input in vehicle model using neural network
Regime Shifts, Resilience, and Biodiversity in Ecosystem Management

▪ Abstract We review the evidence of regime shifts in terrestrial and aquatic environments in relation to resilience of complex adaptive ecosystems and the functional roles of biological diversity in this context. The evidence reveals that the likelihood of regime shifts may increase when humans reduce resilience by such actions as removing response diversity, removing whole functional groups of species, or removing whole trophic levels; impacting on ecosystems via emissions of waste and pollutants and climate change; and altering the magnitude, frequency, and duration of disturbance regimes. The combined and often synergistic effects of those pressures can make ecosystems more vulnerable to changes that previously could be absorbed. As a consequence, ecosystems may suddenly shift from desired to less desired states in their capacity to generate ecosystem services. Active adaptive management and governance of resilience will be required to sustain desired ecosystem states and transform degraded ecosystems.
Magnetic Structure of Umbral Dots Observed with the Hinode Solar Optical Telescope

High resolution and seeing-free spectroscopic observation of a decaying sunspot was done with the Solar Optical Telescope aboard Hinode satellite. The target was NOAA 10944 located in the west side of the solar surface from March 2 to March 4, 2007. The umbra included many umbral dots (UDs) with size of ~300 km in continuum light. We report the magnetic structures and Doppler velocity fields around UDs, based on the Milne-Eddington inversion of the two iron absorption lines at 6302 angstrom. The histograms of magnetic field strength(B), inclination angle(i), and Doppler velocity(v) of UDs showed a center-to-limb variation. Observed at disk center, UDs had (1)slightly smaller field strength (Delta B=-17 Gauss) and (2)relative blue shifts (Delta v=28 m s-1) compared to their surroundings. When the sunspot got close to the limb, UDs and their surroundings showed almost no difference in the magnetic and Doppler values. This center-to-limb variation can be understood by the formation height difference in a cusp-shaped magnetized atmosphere around UDs, due to the weakly magnetized hot gas intrusion. In addition, some UDs showed oscillatory light curves with multiple peaks around 10 min, which may indicate the presence of the oscillatory convection. We discuss our results in the frameworks of two theoretical models, the monolithic model (Schussler & Vogler 2006) and the field-free intrusion model (Spruit & Scharmer 2006).
The Precautionary Effect of Government Expenditures on Private Consumption

We estimate the effects of different government consumption categories on private consumption. First, we build a unique panel dataset which links household's private consumption to the government consumption of the region where the household lives, for Italy. Then, we use regional variability of government consumption and measure its effect on individual consumption for different categories of government expenditures. We find two main results. First, household's consumption expenditure increases as consumption's variance increases. Second, using regional variability of government consumption we estimate a negative impact of public health care on household consumption variance. Within our model, the results are interpreted in the light of a precautionary saving motive, with public health care expenditures acting as a form of consumption insurance for households. Finally, in order to compute the implied multiplier effect of government consumption, we use our estimates from micro data to calibrate a general equilibrium model with fully flexible prices and incomplete insurance markets. We quantify how much of the observed reaction of private consumption to public expenditures can be accounted by precautionary saving effects alone.
CONSORT-EHEALTH Checklist V1.6.2 Report

1b-i) Key features/functionalities/components of the intervention and comparator in the METHODS section of the ABSTRACT Yes "Bystander intervention approaches offer promise for reducing rates of sexual violence (SV) on college campuses. Most interventions are in-person, small group formats limiting their reach and reducing overall public health impact. " "This study evaluated the efficacy of RealConsent, a web-based bystander approach to SV prevention, in enhancing prosocial intervening behaviors and preventing SV perpetration. " 1b-ii) Level of human involvement in the METHODS section of the ABSTRACT Yes "RealConsent was delivered via a password-protected web portal that contained six 30-minute media-based and interactive modules " 1b-iii) Open vs. closed, web-based (self-assessment) vs. face-to-face assessments in the METHODS section of the ABSTRACT Yes "A random probability sample of male undergraduate students (ages 18 to 24) attending a large, urban university located in the southeastern United States was recruited online and randomized to either: RealConsent (n=376) or a web-based general health promotion program (n=367)" 1b-iv) RESULTS section in abstract must contain use data Yes, "A random probability sample of male undergraduate students (ages 18 to 24) attending a large, urban university located in the southeastern United States was recruited online and randomized to either: RealConsent (n=376) or a web-based general health promotion program (n=367)" 1b-v) CONCLUSIONS/DISCUSSION in abstract for negative trials Not applicable as positive effects were found.
Evaluation of the Effect of Liquid Sourdough Method on Dough Yield, Bread Yield and Organoleptic Properties Iranian Lavash Bread

3 Abstract: Dough preparation method is one of the most important stages of baking bread technology which has profound effect on end product quality. In traditional and common methods of dough preparation, poor to strong wheats can't be used for baking good bread while application of some methods of dough preparation can solve this problem. In the present study, methods of liquid sourdough whit different concentrations of yeast and different times of fermentation (1, 3 and 12 hours) were used for preparation of Iranian Lavash bread. In order to investigate the effects of studied methods on produced Iranian Lavash bread quality, some parameters such as pH, acidity, dough yield, bread yield, dough weight loss during fermentation, bread weight loss and sensory properties were evaluated. Results showed that all methods of liquid sourdough led to more dough and bread yields compared with control treatments. Also, analysis of variance of sensory properties of produced breads showed that there was a significant difference between tested treatments (p < 0.01). Finally in order to determine the effects of tested treatments on sensory properties of produced breads, Dunca s multiple range test was used and it was showed that breads prepared by short time method of liquid sourdough (1 hour fermentation) had better sensory properties and end quality compared with other breads.
Complex I Function and Supercomplex Formation Are Preserved in Liver Mitochondria Despite Progressive Complex III Deficiency

Functional oxidative phosphorylation requires appropriately assembled mitochondrial respiratory complexes and their supercomplexes formed mainly of complexes I, III and IV. BCS1L is the chaperone needed to incorporate the catalytic subunit, Rieske iron-sulfur protein, into complex III at the final stage of its assembly. In cell culture studies, this subunit has been considered necessary for supercomplex formation and for maintaining the stability of complex I. Our aim was to assess the importance of fully assembled complex III for supercomplex formation in intact liver tissue. We used our transgenic mouse model with a homozygous c.232A>G mutation in Bcs1l leading to decreased expression of BCS1L and progressive decrease of Rieske iron-sulfur protein in complex III, resulting in hepatopathy. We studied supercomplex formation at different ages using blue native gel electrophoresis and complex activity using high-resolution respirometry. In isolated liver mitochondria of young and healthy homozygous mutant mice, we found similar supercomplexes as in wild type. In homozygotes aged 27–29 days with liver disorder, complex III was predominantly a pre-complex lacking Rieske iron-sulfur protein. However, the main supercomplex was clearly detected and contained complex III mainly in the pre-complex form. Oxygen consumption of complex IV was similar and that of complex I was twofold compared with controls. These complexes in free form were more abundant in homozygotes than in controls, and the mRNA of complex I subunits were upregulated. In conclusion, when complex III assembly is deficient, the pre-complex without Rieske iron-sulfur protein can participate with available fully assembled complex III in supercomplex formation, complex I function is preserved, and respiratory chain stability is maintained.
The Peak-Patch Picture of Cosmic Catalogs. III. Application to Clusters

In three adjoining papers, we developed a picture of large-scale structure formation based upon the collapse and ow of regions of Lagrangian (initial condition) space surrounding peaks in the density eld. To illustrate the utility of this`Peak-Patch' method, we construct cluster catalogues covering very large volumes of space for 4 innation-inspired Gaussian structure formation theories with a critical density in clustering matter and whose 8 normalizations t the COBE anisotropy measurements. We use these to make deep eld X-ray and Sunyaev-Zeldovich maps. Subject to some uncertainties in the internal peak-patch physics and the X-ray data, we nd that current X-ray temperature data suggest 8 is within about 15% of 0:7 and the spectrum is atter than CDM gives, for Einstein-deSitter models. We also nd the current X-ray luminosity data are diicult to t over the entire range with such models. The prospect for the observation of the ambient SZ eeect with a variety of experimental designs is discussed.
A POSTERIORI ERROR ESTIMATION FOR REDUCED ORDER SOLUTIONS OF PARAMETRIZED PARABOLIC OPTIMAL CONTROL PROBLEMS

We consider the ecient and reliable solution of linear-quadratic optimal control problems governed by parametrized parabolic partial dierential equations. To this end, we employ the reduced basis method as a low-dimensional surrogate model to solve the optimal control problem and develop a posteriori error estimation procedures that provide rigorous bounds for the error in the optimal control and the associated cost functional. We show that our approach can be applied to problems involving control constraints and that, even in the presence of control constraints, the reduced order optimal control problem and the proposed bounds can be eciently evaluated in an oine-online computational procedure. We also propose two greedy sampling procedures to construct the reduced basis space. Numerical results are presented to conrm the validity of our approach.
Using Temporal Binding for Robust Connectionist Recruitment Learning over Delayed Lines ∗

– a b stra t_ a ltyx,v . 2 20/04/03 0632:25 cx9789 E xp – The temporal correlation hypothesis proposes using distributed synchrony for the binding of different stimulus features. However, synchronized spikes must travel over cortical circuits that have varying-length pathways, leading to mismatched arrival times. This raises the question of how initial stimulus-dependent synchrony might be preserved at a destination binding site. Earlier, we proposed constraints on tolerance and segregation parameters for a phase-coding approach, within cortical circuits, to address this question [ 22]. The purpose of the present paper is twofold. First, we conduct simulation experiments to test the proposed constraints. Second, we explore the practicality of temporal binding to drive a process of long∗A similar version of this report has been submitted to the Neurocomputing Journal Special Issue on Spiking Neural Systems. term memory formation based on a recruitment learning
Structural Estimation of Demand for Irrigation Water Under Strategic Behavior

Government subsidies on electricity used for pumping groundwater by agricultural irrigators has long been suspected to be an important reason for overexploitation of aquifers in Mexico. We hypothesize that institutional arrangements that exacerbate non-excludability of groundwater also matter. We develop and estimate a model that accommodates strategic interactions among agricultural irrigators operating under distortive institutional arrangements. Results suggest that institutional arrangements are more important than electricity subsidies in explaining over extraction. Results also reveal that cost sharing of electricity by farmers may cause behavioral conjectures to change from negative (closer to Bertrand conjectures) to positive (closer to collusive conjectures). A new source of externalities is identified in Mexico’s institutional context (cost-share externalities) and found to be negatively linked to strategic externalities.
The Information Geometry of Space and Time

Is the geometry of space a macroscopic manifestation of an underlying microscopic statistical structure? Is geometrodynamics — the theory of gravity — derivable from general principles of inductive inference? Tentative answers are suggested by a model of geometrodynamics based on the statistical concepts of entropy, information geometry, and entropic dynamics. The model shows remarkable similarities with the 3+1 formulation of general relativity. For example, the dynamical degrees of freedom are those that specify the conformal geometry of space; there is a gauge symmetry under 3d diffeomorphisms; there is no reference to an external time; and the theory is time reversible. There is, in adition, a gauge symmetry under scale transformations. I conjecture that under a suitable choice of gauge one can recover the usual notion of a relativistic space‐time.
Human Pharmacogenomic Variations and Their Implications for Antifungal Efficacy

SUMMARY Pharmacogenomics is defined as the study of the impacts of heritable traits on pharmacology and toxicology. Candidate genes with potential pharmacogenomic importance include drug transporters involved in absorption and excretion, phase I enzymes (e.g., cytochrome P450-dependent mixed-function oxidases) and phase II enzymes (e.g., glucuronosyltransferases) contributing to metabolism, and those molecules (e.g., albumin, A1-acid glycoprotein, and lipoproteins) involved in the distribution of antifungal compounds. By using the tools of population genetics to define interindividual differences in drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion, pharmacogenomic models for genetic variations in antifungal pharmacokinetics can be derived. Pharmacogenomic factors may become especially important in the treatment of immunocompromised patients or those with persistent or refractory mycoses that cannot be explained by elevated MICs and where rational dosage optimization of the antifungal agent may be particularly critical. Pharmacogenomics has the potential to shift the paradigm of therapy and to improve the selection of antifungal compounds and adjustment of dosage based upon individual variations in drug absorption, metabolism, and excretion.