Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Redistribution in an Age of Neoliberalism: Market Economics, ‘Poverty Knowledge’, and the Growth of Working-Age Benefits in Britain, c. 1979–2010

The expansion of cash benefits to low-paid workers has been one of the most significant developments in recent UK public policy. Since 1979, transfer payments to working-age households have trebled in real terms, helping to offset increases in wage inequality. Adopting a discursive institutionalist approach, this article argues that the growth of transfer payments partly reflects the influence of what John Kay has called ‘Redistributive Market Liberalism’ – the belief that poverty and inequality are best alleviated through income transfers outside the market. Although its roots can be traced back to the 1940s, Redistributive Market Liberalism came to the fore after 1979 in the context of a reaction against trade union power and renewed confidence in neoclassical microeconomics, and reached its apogee in New Labour’s child poverty strategy. The 2008 financial crisis, however, appears to have disrupted the ascendancy of this free-market philosophy and prompted a return to more interventionist forms of distributional politics.
Exacerbation frequency and FEV1 decline of COPD: is it geographic?

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations are episodes of symptom worsening that have major impacts on a variety of health outcomes, including quality of life, hospital admission and death [1]. Exacerbation reduction is now a key outcome for pharmacological therapies in COPD and, thus, if exacerbation can be prevented how does this affect disease progression and lung function decline? The issue of the importance of lung function decline in COPD first arose when Fletcher and Peto [2] explored lung function in a cohort of 792 male British postal workers. These subjects were studied over 8 years and it was found that exacerbations were associated with the ratio of forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) to the cube of the height, although the exacerbation definition was limited at that time. This work was followed in close succession by a study from Utah in which Kanner et al. [3] showed that exacerbation frequency was related to COPD severity, thus implicating exacerbation frequency as a factor in FEV1 decline. However, detecting the relationship proved elusive until the Lung Health Study showed that in smokers and intermittent quitters each additional exacerbation reported to physicians caused a greater annual decline of 7 mL [4]. The following …
Magnetic resonance compatible stimulation device capable of providing passive and active finger movements

The purpose of this study is to develop a magnetic resonance (MR)-compatible stimulation device that can passively and actively provide flexion and extension movements to the two joints of the fingers independently without limiting the hand posture, and confirm the feasibility of the device through an MR-compatibility experiment and fMRI experiment. The developed device is composed of four parts: a control unit, power unit containing non-magnetic ultrasonic motors, wearable exoskeleton hand part, and tube-rod mechanisms. Each tube-rod mechanism is a flexible power transmission that connects the power unit to the hand part, without limiting the user's hand posture. The device can move the metacarpal phalangeal (MP) and proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joints independently. For the MR-compatibility experiment, we measure the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of MR images and the angles of potentiometers attached to the joints of the hand part. In the fMRI experiment, passive and active movements are provided to the fingers of a healthy participant using the developed device. As a result, the maximum variation of the SNR was 3.0 %, which was low enough to be virtually negligible. Moreover, the developed device functioned properly in the MRI environment. We observed different brain activities with the passive and active movements, and the results agreed with the known phenomena. In conclusion, we could confirm the feasibility of the developed MR-compatible stimulation device.
Coevolution Creates Complex Mosaics across Large Landscapes

The spatial distribution of populations can influence the evolutionary outcome of species interactions. The variation in direction and strength of selection across local communities creates geographic selection mosaics that, when combined with gene flow and genomic processes such as genome duplication or hybridization, can fuel ongoing coevolution. A fundamental problem to solve is how coevolution proceeds when many populations that vary in their ecological outcomes are connected across large landscapes. Here we use a lattice model to explore this problem. Our results show that the complex interrelationships among the elements of the geographic mosaic of coevolution can lead to the formation of clusters of populations with similar phenotypes that are larger than expected by local selection. Our results indicate that neither the spatial distribution of phenotypes nor the spatial differences in magnitude and direction of selection alone dictate coevolutionary dynamics: the geographic mosaic of coevolution affects formation of phenotypic clusters, which in turn affect the spatial and temporal dynamics of coevolution. Because the formation of large phenotypic clusters depends on gene flow, we predict that current habitat fragmentation will change the outcomes of geographic mosaics, coupling spatial patterns in selection and phenotypes.
Contributions of religious beliefs on the development of university students’ spiritual well-being

ABSTRACT This qualitative study aims to explore the impact of religious beliefs in terms of religiosity, including (1) religious background, (2) religious practices and (3) participation in religious activities, on the development of spiritual well-being of Chinese students. Thereafter, this research further discussed how and what religiosity has contributed to the development of the university students’ spiritual well-being. 27 individual in-depth interviews with university students were conducted. Findings contribute to the exploration of how the spiritual well-being of students could be influenced by their religious beliefs. Their religious doctrines, activities and practices may likewise be integrated in their daily lives. Moreover, religious doctrines, participation in religious activities and prayers or meditation positively contribute to the development of the university students’ spiritual well-being in specific domains (i.e., personal, communal, environmental and transcendental). Happiness, love, harmony, and devotion are affirmed as possible reasons and effects from their religious beliefs in the specific domains.
Effect of end-stage renal disease on B-lymphocyte subpopulations, IL-7, BAFF and BAFF receptor expression

Background. End-stage renal disease (ESRD) results in increased susceptibility to infections, impaired response to vaccination and diffuse B-cell lymphopenia. However, the precise nature and mechanism of ESRD-induced B-cell lymphopenia remains unclear. Therefore, we studied the distribution of major B-cell subsets, B-cell growth, differentiation and survival factors, IL-7 and BAFF, and their receptors in 21 haemodialysis patients and 21 controls. Methods. Innate B1 cells (CD19+, CD5+), conventional B2 cells (CD19+, CD5−), newly formed transitional B cells (CD19+, CD10+, CD27−), naïve B cells (CD19+, CD27−) and memory B cells (CD19+, CD27+) and BAFF receptor were quantified by flow cytometry. Plasma IL-7, BAFF, IL-6, TNF-α and IL-10 were measured by ELISA. Results. The ESRD group exhibited significant reductions of all B-cell subpopulations except for transitional B cells that were less severely affected. No significant difference was found in B-cell apoptosis between the ESRD and control groups. Moreover, plasma IL-7 and BAFF levels were elevated in ESRD patients, therefore excluding their deficiencies as a possible culprit. However, BAFF receptor expression was significantly reduced in transitional but not mature B cells in the ESRD group. Interestingly, B-cell activation with the TLR9 agonist resulted in significantly greater production of IL-6 and TNF alpha but not IL-10 in the ESRD group. Conclusions. Thus, despite elevation of B-cell growth, differentiation and survival factors, ESRD patients exhibited diffuse reduction of B-cell subpopulations. This was associated with the down-regulation of BAFF receptor in transitional B cells. The latter can, in part, contribute to B-cell lymphopenia by promoting resistance to the biological actions of BAFF that is a potent B-cell differentiation and survival factor.
A COMPREHENSIVE FACET MODEL FOR BISTATIC SAR IMAGERY OF DYNAMIC OCEAN SCENE

A comprehensive facet model for bistatic synthetic aperture radar (Bis-SAR) imagery of dynamic ocean scene is presented in this paper. An e-cient facet scattering model is developed to calculate the radar cross section (RCS) of the ocean surface for Bis- SAR flrstly. Further more, this facet model is combined with a bistatic velocity bunching (V B) modulation of long ocean waves to obtain the Bis-SAR intensity expression in image plane of ocean scene. The displacement of the scatter elements in the image plane and the degradation of radar resolution in azimuth direction are quantiflcationally analyzed. Finally, Bis-SAR imagery simulations of ocean surface are illustrated, proving the validity and practicability of the presented algorithms.
Quantifying aerosol size distributions and their temporal variability in the Southern Great Plains, USA

Abstract. A quality-controlled, 5-year dataset of aerosol number size distributions (particles with diameters (Dp) from 7 nm through 14 µm) was developed using observations from a scanning mobility particle sizer, aerodynamic particle sizer, and a condensation particle counter at the Department of Energy's Southern Great Plains (SGP) site. This dataset was used for two purposes. First, typical characteristics of the aerosol size distribution (number, surface area, and volume) were calculated for the SGP site, both for the entire dataset and on a seasonal basis, and size distribution lognormal fit parameters are provided. While the median size distributions generally had similar shapes (four lognormal modes) in all the seasons, there were some significant differences between seasons. These differences were most significant in the smallest particles (Dp<30 nm) and largest particles (Dp>800 nm). Second, power spectral analysis was conducted on this long-term dataset to determine key temporal cycles of total aerosol concentrations, as well as aerosol concentrations in specified size ranges. The strongest cyclic signal was associated with a diurnal cycle in total aerosol number concentrations that was driven by the number concentrations of the smallest particles (Dp<30 nm). This diurnal cycle in the smallest particles occurred in all seasons in ∼50 % of the observations, suggesting a persistent influence of new particle formation events on the number concentrations observed at the SGP site. This finding is in contrast with earlier studies that suggest new particle formation is observed primarily in the springtime at this site. The timing of peak concentrations associated with this diurnal cycle was shifted by several hours depending on the season, which was consistent with seasonal differences in insolation and boundary layer processes. Significant diurnal cycles in number concentrations were also found for particles with Dp between 140 and 800 nm, with peak concentrations occurring in the overnight hours, which were primarily associated with both nitrate and organic aerosol cycles. Weaker cyclic signals were observed for longer timescales (days to weeks) and are hypothesized to be related to the timescales of synoptic weather variability. The strongest periodic signals (3.5–5 and 7 d cycles) for these longer timescales varied depending on the season, with no cyclic signals and the lowest variability in the summer.
Broadband Compact 180 $^{\circ}$ Hybrid Derived From the Wilkinson Divider

A novel 180° hybrid is proposed. This hybrid is derived from the Wilkinson divider, where the resistor is simply replaced by a fourth port of equal characteristic impedance, which acts as the ¿ port of the hybrid, while the input port of the original Wilkinson divider acts as the ¿ port. Due to this structure, including only two quarter-wavelength transmission lines, this hybrid has a greatly reduced size compared with the conventional hybrid rat-race and miniaturized variants of it. Furthermore, it exhibits a significantly improved bandwidth. The measured 0.5-dB insertion loss bandwidth is over 200% for ¿ power division and 66% for ¿ power division (with 50-¿ load). Due to its perfectly symmetric configuration, the proposed hybrid features frequency-independent power-dividing balance performance. The 0.5-dB amplitude imbalance for both the ¿ and ¿ port divisions has essentially unlimited bandwidth, and the measured phase imbalance is within 3° over all frequencies. The proposed hybrid also shows excellent ¿ - ¿ port isolation with a measured result exceeding 30 dB over all frequencies.
Designing Ranking Systems for Consumer Reviews : The Impact of Review Subjectivity on Product Sales and Review Quality

With the rapid growth of the Internet, users’ ability to publish content has created active electronic communities that provide a wealth of product information. Consumers naturally gravitate to reading reviews in order to decide whether to buy a product. However, the high volume of reviews that are typically published for a single product makes it harder for individuals to locate the best reviews and understand the true underlying quality of a product based on the reviews. Similarly, the manufacturer of a product wants to identify the reviews that influence the customer base, and examine the content of these reviews. In this paper we propose two ranking mechanisms for ranking product reviews: a consumer-oriented ranking mechanism ranks the reviews according to their expected helpfulness, and a manufacturer-oriented ranking mechanism ranks the reviews according to their expected effect on sales. Our ranking mechanism combines econometric analysis with text mining techniques in general, with subjectivity analysis in particular. We show that subjectivity analysis can give useful clues about the helpfulness of a review and about its impact on sales. Our results can have several implications for the market design of online opinion forums.
Women's perception of substance abuse treatment and how it affects compliance

The purpose of this study was to find out how women's perspective on the helpfulness of services received at a substance abuse treatment clinic will affect the women's perception of their compliance with the substance abuse treatment program. This study focused on two substance abuse treatment programs offered at Inland Behavioral and Health Services. This study surveyed thirty-two women from the Inland Behavioral and Health Services programs. This was a quantitative study. A self-administered questionnaire was used which included client demographics, a Likert type scale that ranked how the client perceives the helpfulness of various services that they are receiving, and a Likert type scale that ranked how the client perceives their program compliance. Descriptive statistics were used to show the dispersion and central tendency. Bivariate statistics were used to show the correlation between variables.
Effect of Hyperbaric Oxygen on the Growth of Intracranial Glioma in Rats

Background:Numerous studies have confirmed that hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) in combination with radiotherapy or chemotherapy may increase the efficacy of radiotherapy or chemotherapy in patients with glioma. However, whether HBO therapy alone may inhibit or promote the growth of malignant tumors remains controversial. This study aimed to investigate the effect of HBO on the growth of glioma in rats, and the impact of HBO on the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF-1&agr;), angiogenesis, and apoptosis of glioma cells. Methods:Male Sprague–Dawley rats were treated with or without HBO after glioma cell inoculation and followed for up to 16 days postinoculation. Rats were randomized to receive bilateral forelimb function tests (n = 20 per group) and head magnetic resonance imaging (n = 5 per group). Differences between HBO and control groups were tested using 2-sample independent t-tests and changes over time within treatment groups were analyzed using a repeated measurement analysis of variance with Bonferroni correction. The effect of HBO on the expression of VEGF, HIF-1&agr;, von Willebrand factor, angiogenesis, and tumor cell apoptosis were also examined (n = 5 per group). Results:Forelimb function scores were reduced in both HBO-treated and control groups. HBO-treated rats had significantly larger tumor volume and more water in the cerebellum compared with control rats. The intratumoral expression of VEGF was significantly higher in HBO-treated rats compared with control rats (23.2% vs. 13.3%, P = 0.002). HIF-1&agr; was significantly increased in HBO-treated rats compared with controls in the expression of both intratumoral (72.7% vs. 54.9%, P = 0.001) and peritumoral (2.6% vs. 1.9%, P = 0.003) cells. The intratumoral microvessel density (MVD) was significantly higher in the HBO group (15.6 vessels/field vs. 4.4 vessels/field, P < 0.001), and the peritumoral MVD was not significantly different between the two groups (P > 0.05). Apoptosis was significantly lower in HBO-treated rats compared with controls (44.4% vs. 82.8% for intratumoral; 10.1% vs. 77.5% for peritumoral, both P < 0.001). Conclusions:The current results demonstrate that HBO alone may promote tumor growth, and is therefore not suitable to treat patients with gliomas with neurological deficits or disorders with HBO alone. If HBO must be used as a mean of rehabilitation, it is recommended that HBO should be combined with radiotherapy or chemotherapy.
Model Predictive Control for Shunt Active Filters With Fixed Switching Frequency

This paper presents a modification to the classical Model Predictive Control (MPC) algorithm and its application to active power filters. The proposed control is able to retain all the advantages of a finite control set MPC while improving the generated waveforms harmonic spectrum. In fact, a modulation algorithm, based on the cost function ratio for different output vectors, is inherently included in the MPC. The cost function-based modulator is introduced and its effectiveness on reducing the current ripple is demonstrated. The presented solution provides an effective and straightforward single loop controller, maintaining an excellent dynamic performance despite the modulated output and it is self-synchronizing with the grid. This promising method is applied to the control of a shunt active filter for harmonic content reduction through a reactive power compensation methodology. Significant results obtained by experimental testing are reported and commented, showing that MPC is a viable control solution for active filtering systems.
Social media use and subjective well-being : an investigation of individual differences in personality, social comparison and Facebook behaviour

This thesis investigates how social media use is associated with subjective well-being by examining the role of individual differences. The popularity of social networking sites has increased significantly over the past decade, with the most popular social media site, Facebook, now reporting over 2 billion users (Facebook Newsroom, 2018). With such widespread use, it is important to understand how Facebook use is related to its users’ subjective well-being (SWB). Previous research has yielded mixed results; however, many of these studies have not taken individual differences into account. Therefore, this thesis investigates how individual differences associated with SWB. The research in Chapter 2 demonstrates that some personality traits moderate the relationship between Facebook social comparison and SWB. Goal-Drive Persistence moderates the relationship between eudaimonic well-being and Facebook social comparison, and BIS moderates the relationship between negative affect and Facebook social comparison. Chapter 3 introduces Facebook engagement styles (active/passive use), and develops scales to measure these differences. The Passive Active Use Measure quantifies three types of Facebook engagement: Active social use, Active non-social use, and Passive use. The research in Chapter 4 finds that personality traits are associated with Facebook engagement styles, and that active forms of use have positive associations with SWB, while passive use is negatively associated with life satisfaction. The results further reveal that individuals who use Facebook intensely to alleviate boredom or for self-expression have higher SWB, while users who overuse report lower SWB. Finally, chapter 5 finds that Facebook engagement styles are associated with social comparison behaviour; active users compare their opinions, while passive users compare both opinions and abilities. Further investigation reveals that the comparison of opinions on Facebook is associated with higher SWB, while the comparison of abilities on Facebook is associated with lower SWB. The results of this thesis suggest that how Facebook is associated with SWB is dependent on individual differences and demonstrates the importance of accounting for individual differences when studying the relationship between Facebook use and SWB.
Distinct Presynaptic and Postsynaptic Dismantling Processes of Drosophila Neuromuscular Junctions during Metamorphosis

Synapse remodeling is a widespread and fundamental process that underlies the formation of neuronal circuitry during development and in adaptation to physiological and/or environmental changes. However, the mechanisms of synapse remodeling are poorly understood. Synapses at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) in Drosophila larvae undergo dramatic and extensive remodeling during metamorphosis to generate adult-specific synapses. To explore the molecular and cellular processes of synapse elimination, we performed confocal microscopy, live imaging, and electron microscopy (EM) of NMJ synapses during the early stages of metamorphosis in Drosophila in which the expressions of selected genes were genetically altered. We report that the localization of the postsynaptic scaffold protein Disc large (Dlg) becomes diffuse first and then undetectable, as larval muscles undergo histolysis, whereas presynaptic vesicles aggregate and are retrogradely transported along axons in synchrony with the formation of filopodia-like structures along NMJ elaborations and retraction of the presynaptic plasma membrane. EM revealed that the postsynaptic subsynaptic reticulum vacuolizes in the early stages of synapse dismantling concomitant with diffuse localization of Dlg. Ecdysone is the major hormone that drives metamorphosis. Blockade of the ecdysone signaling specifically in presynaptic neurons by expression of a dominant-negative form of ecdysone receptors delayed presynaptic but not postsynaptic dismantling. However, inhibition of ecdysone signaling, as well as ubiquitination pathway or apoptosis specifically in postsynaptic muscles, arrested both presynaptic and postsynaptic dismantling. These results demonstrate that presynaptic and postsynaptic dismantling takes place through different mechanisms and that the postsynaptic side plays an instructive role in synapse dismantling.
Sklyanin invariant integration

The Sklyanin algebra admits realizations by difference operators acting on theta functions. Sklyanin found an invariant metric for the action and conjectured an explicit formula for the corresponding reproducing kernel. We prove this conjecture and also give natural biorthogonal and orthogonal bases for the representation space. Moreover, we discuss connections with elliptic hypergeometric series and integrals and with elliptic 6j-symbols.