Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Family Carers of People with Young-Onset Dementia: Their Experiences with the Supporter Service

Background: Family carers and people with young-onset dementia (YOD) require tailored assistance as dementia progresses. A variety of health care services is needed, including supporter services. To our knowledge, research focusing on experiences with the supporter service is scarce. Aim: To evaluate the supporter service by examining how primary family carers experience the assistance provided. Method: Qualitative interviews with 16 primary family carers of people with YOD were performed from 2014 to 2015. Content analysis was used to analyze the data. Results: Three main themes emerged from the interviews. First, a good match focused on the carers’ experiences of the relationship between the supporter and the person with YOD and included three subthemes: a nice, empathetic personality, a friendship-like relationship, and the content of the meetings. The second theme, relief, addressed the carers’ experiences with the service. The third, coordination, concerned the carers’ relationship with the health care service. Conclusion: Developing tailored services and assistance initiatives is important. A well-organized supporter service is a valuable supplement to formal programs and should be developed as part of an overall support package.
Effects of Systemic Administration of Dexmedetomidine on Intraocular Pressure and Ocular Perfusion Pressure during Laparoscopic Surgery in a Steep Trendelenburg Position: Prospective, Randomized, Double-Blinded Study

Increased intraocular pressure (IOP) during surgery is a risk factor for postoperative ophthalmological complications. We assessed the efficacy of systemically infused dexmedetomidine in preventing the increase in IOP caused by a steep Trendelenburg position, and evaluated the influence of underlying hypertension on IOP during surgery. Sixty patients undergoing laparoscopic surgery in a steep Trendelenburg position were included. Patients in the dexmedetomidine group received a 1.0 µg/kg IV loading dose of dexmedetomidine before anesthesia, followed by an infusion of 0.5 µg/kg/hr throughout the operation. Patients in the saline group were infused with the same volume of normal saline. IOP and ocular perfusion pressure (OPP) were measured 16 times pre- and intraoperatively. In the saline group, IOP increased in the steep Trendelenburg position, and was 11.3 mmHg higher at the end of the time at the position compared with the baseline value (before anesthetic induction). This increase in IOP was attenuated in the dexmedetomidine group, for which IOP was only 4.2 mmHg higher (P < 0.001 vs. the saline group). The steep Trendelenburg position was associated with a decrease in OPP; the degree of decrease was comparable for both groups. In intragroup comparisons between patients with underlying hypertension and normotensive patients, the values of IOP at every time point were comparable. Dexmedetomidine infusion attenuated the increase in IOP during laparoscopic surgery in a steep Trendelenburg position, without further decreasing the OPP. Systemic hypertension did not seem to be associated with any additional increase in IOP during surgery. (Registration at the Clinical Research Information Service of Korea National Institute of Health ID: KCT0001482)
The impact of cooperative structure and firm culture on market orientation and performance

Building on recent advances in cooperative literature and practice, we conceive two key organizational features of cooperatives: cooperative structure (in terms of control, ownership, and cost|pricing policies resulting in traditional and re-engineered co-ops) as well as entrepreneurial cooperative firm culture. Then we conceptualize and test the effect of these organizational features on the market orientation and performance of the cooperative firm relying on a sample of Dutch co-ops. We cannot establish a systematic influence of the cooperative structure; however, a significant influence of individualized member ownership on performance and of cost|pricing policies on market orientation has been found. Entrepreneurial firm culture has a significant effect on both market orientation and performance. lEconLit citations: L200, M310, Q130.r © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Agribusiness 20: 379-396, 2004.
ImprovIng DIstrIbutIonal semantIc moDels usIng anaphora resolutIon DurIng lInguIstIc preprocessIng

In natural language processing, distributional semantic models are known as an efficient data driven approach to word and text representation, which allows computing meaning directly from large text corpora into word embeddings in a vector space. This paper addresses the role of linguistic preprocessing in enhancing performance of distributional models, and particularly studies pronominal anaphora resolution as a way to exploit more co-occurrence data without directly increasing the size of the training corpus.
Psychosocial Predictors of Acculturative Stress among Female and Male Immigrant Asian Americans: A Gender Comparison Study

The purpose of this study was to examine whether gender differences existed and how the predictors were linked to acculturative stress across gender among a national sample of 1639 immigrant Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, and other Asian Americans. The data were from the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS) conducted in 2002 and 2003, the first national epidemiological household survey of Asian Americans in the United States. The participants took part in face-to-face interviews, which were conducted with computer-assisted interviewing software in Mandarin, Cantonese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and English. After fitted bivariate correlations to examine the relationships between acculturative stress and psychosocial variables, data were analyzed using two multiple regressions to identify the most significant predictors of acculturative stress for men and women separately. Results indicated that the psychosocial predictors of acculturative stress varied with gender status. For all men and women, longer years in the U.S., higher English proficiency, and less perceived discrimination predicted related to less acculturative stress. Social network was not the predictor for both men and women. Age of immigration, marital status, family cohesion and social position were additional significant predictors of acculturative stress only for men, but not for women. The implications of these results were discussed.
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Working Paper Series Some New Variance Bounds for Asset Prices: a Comment Some New Variance Bounds for Asset Prices: a Comment

The views in this paper are solely the responsibility of the authors and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco or the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Abstract Engel (2005) derives a theoretical variance inequality involving the change in equilibrium stock prices V ar ((p t) : Assuming that stock prices are " cum-dividend " and that investors are risk neutral, he shows that V ar ((p t) must be greater than or equal to the variance of the " perfect foresight " (or " ex post rational ") price change V ar ((p t) ; where p t is computed from the discounted stream of subsequent realized dividends. This paper expands the analysis to consider " ex-dividend " prices and risk aversion in a standard Lucas-type asset pricing model. I show that the direction of the price-change variance inequality can be reversed, depending on the values assigned to some key parameters of the model, namely the dividend AR(1) parameter, the investor's subjective time discount factor, and the coe¢ cient of relative risk aversion. Overall, the results demonstrate that the present-value model of stock prices does not impose theoretical bounds on price-change volatility except in some special cases. I thank Steve LeRoy for helpful discussions that led to this paper.
Feature-based Product Review Summarization Utilizing User Score

With the steadily increasing volume of e-commerce transactions, the amount of user- provided product reviews is increasing on the Web. Because many customers feel that they can purchase product based on the experiences of others that are obtainable through product reviews, the review summarization process has become important. In particular, feature-based product review summarization is needed in order to satisfy the detailed needs of some customers. To achieve such summarization, numerous techniques using natural language processing (NLP), machine learning, and statistical approaches that can evaluate product features within a collection of review documents have been studied. Many of these techniques require sentiment analysis or feature scoring methods. How-ever, existing sentiment analysis methods are limited when determining the sentiment polarity of context-sensitive words, and existing feature scoring methods are limited when only the overall user score is used to evaluate individual product features. In our summarization approach, context-sensitive information is used to determine sentiment polarity while opinioned-feature frequency is used to determine feature scores. Based on experiments with actual review data, our method improved the accuracy of the calcu-lated feature scores and outperformed existing methods.
Immunity to Plasmodium knowlesi H strain malaria in olive baboons

Malaria disease is a major global health and economic development threat. It results in approximately 2.7 million deaths annually. There is currently no vaccine that has been licensed for use against malaria. Studies in animal models, especially non-human primates can lead to the revelation of possible immunological mechanisms that can lead to protection or predisposition of the host to malaria. Plasmodium knowlesi, a simian and human malaria parasite, is an attractive experimental parasite for malaria research since it can infect olive baboons (Papio anubis), non-human primates that have similar host-pathogen interactions to humans. This study was carried out to determine host immunological profiles provoked in olive baboons during the course of an infection with Plasmodium knowlesi. A total of eight adult baboons were intravenously inoculated with overnight cultured blood stage P. knowlesi H strain parasites. Five of these baboons became acutely infected while the other three became chronically infected. The immunological basis of this dual outcome of the infection was determined by measuring circulating cytokine (T helper 1 and T helper 2) and antibody (immunoglobulin G and immunoglobulin M) responses elicited in the infected baboons on a weekly basis by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) for up to six weeks post infection. Generated data for the first time indicated that acute P. knowlesi malaria is accompanied by increased concentrations of interferon gamma (IFN gamma), tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) and IL 6 and reduced levels of circulating interleukin 10 (IL 10), IL 4, IL 12, immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgM in the baboon host. These results are largely agreeable with data from human studies, thereby increasing the relevance of the olive baboon - P. knowlesi experimental infection system for future malaria studies.
O-Glycosylation Regulates Ubiquitination and Degradation of the Anti-Inflammatory Protein A20 to Accelerate Atherosclerosis in Diabetic ApoE-Null Mice

Background Accelerated atherosclerosis is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in diabetic patients. Hyperglycemia is a recognized independent risk factor for heightened atherogenesis in diabetes mellitus (DM). However, our understanding of the mechanisms underlying glucose damage to the vasculature remains incomplete. Methodology/Principal Findings High glucose and hyperglycemia reduced upregulation of the NF-κB inhibitory and atheroprotective protein A20 in human coronary endothelial (EC) and smooth muscle cell (SMC) cultures challenged with Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha (TNF), aortae of diabetic mice following Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection used as an inflammatory insult and in failed vein-grafts of diabetic patients. Decreased vascular expression of A20 did not relate to defective transcription, as A20 mRNA levels were similar or even higher in EC/SMC cultured in high glucose, in vessels of diabetic C57BL/6 and FBV/N mice, and in failed vein grafts of diabetic patients, when compared to controls. Rather, decreased A20 expression correlated with post-translational O-Glucosamine-N-Acetylation (O-GlcNAcylation) and ubiquitination of A20, targeting it for proteasomal degradation. Restoring A20 levels by inhibiting O-GlcNAcylation, blocking proteasome activity, or overexpressing A20, blocked upregulation of the receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE) and phosphorylation of PKCβII, two prime atherogenic signals triggered by high glucose in EC/SMC. A20 gene transfer to the aortic arch of diabetic ApoE null mice that develop accelerated atherosclerosis, attenuated vascular expression of RAGE and phospho-PKCβII, significantly reducing atherosclerosis. Conclusions High glucose/hyperglycemia regulate vascular A20 expression via O-GlcNAcylation-dependent ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation. This could be key to the pathogenesis of accelerated atherosclerosis in diabetes.
Initial inflammatory response of skeletal muscle to commonly used suture materials: An animal model study to evaluate muscle healing after surgical repair – histopathological perspective

Objectives: To evaluate initial inflammatory response of skeletal muscle to a few commonly used suture materials for muscle repair namely nylon, polydiaxonone (PDS II), plain catgut and polygalactin 910 which in turn determines the scarring of muscle and loss of function. Material and Methods: Inflammation and healing of muscle post repair was evaluated in the lateral thigh muscle (biceps femoris) of 8 adult healthy male Rattus norvegicus. The inflammatory reaction & healing of the skeletal muscle was evaluated histologically at the end of 48 hours, 1 week and 3 weeks. Results: At 48 hours post-surgery, Nylon samples showed severe inflammation followed by Catgut and Polygalactin. At 1 week post-surgery, the catgut group demonstrated increased macrophages infiltration while Nylon demonstrated persistant lymphocytic pro-inflammatory component. PDS sutures elicited minimal inflammatory response all through. Conclusion: In the present study the most desirable suture material was determined to be PDS due to its minimal tissue response and superior handling qualities. However the fact that the presence of macrophages in healing muscle enhances the repair process would be a pointer to create an environment which contains the sustained presence of macrophages to enhance optimal healing of skeletal muscle in the presence of an ideal suture material. Key words:Muscle healing, muscle repair, inflammatory response to sutures, sutures, healing.
PATHOGENICITY AND DIVERSITY OF VEGETATIVE COMPATIBILITY OF FUSARIUM VERTICILLIOIDES

Pathogenicity of 10 Fusarium verticillioides isolates, originated from grain of wheat (five isolates) and maize (five isolates), were studied under greenhouse con- ditions. Based on different parameters of the pathogenicity estimate (a scale for % of none- merged plants, % of survived plants, plant vigour — the growth and dry weight of roots and epicotyls and disease severity) it was determined that all F. verticillioides isolates expressed a different degree of pathogenicity. According to % of nonemerged plants six, three and one F. verticillioides isolates expressed low, moderate and high deegre of patho- genicity, respectively. All F. verticillioides isolates reduced the plant survival rate and vigo- ur, while the disease severity ranged from 2.0 to 3.54. Two types of nit mutants, nit1 and NitM, were obtained by the use of the method of vegetative compatibility. The frequency of nit1 mutants was greater (58.79%) than the frequency of NitM mutants (5.77%). A total of 10 vegetative compatibility groups (VCGs) of F. verticillioides were established in the com- plementation tests. These results point out to a high genetic diversity of F. verticillioides population.
S TANDARDS C OMPETITION IN THE P RESENCE OF D IGITAL C ONVERSION T ECHNOLOGY : A N E MPIRICAL A NALYSIS O F T HE F LASH M EMORY C ARD M ARKET

Both theoretical and empirical evidence suggest that, in many markets with standards competition, network effects make the strong grow stronger and can “tip” the market toward a single, winner-take-all standard. We hypothesize, however, that low cost digital conversion technologies, which facilitate easy compatibility across competing standards, may reduce the strength of these network effects. We empirically test our hypotheses in the context of the digital flash memory card market. We first test for the presence of network effects in this market and find that network effects, as measured here, are associated with a significant positive price premium for leading flash memory card formats. We then find that the availability of digital converters reduces the price premium of the leading flash card formats and reduces the overall concentration in the flash memory market. Thus, our results suggest that, in the presence of low cost conversion technologies and digital content, the probability of market dominance can be lessened to the point where multiple, otherwise incompatible, standards are viable. Our conclusion that the presence of converters weakens network effects implies that producers of non-dominant digital goods standards benefit from the provision of conversion technology. Our analysis thus aids managers seeking to understand the impact of converters on market outcomes, and contributes to the existing literature on network effects by providing new insights into how conversion technologies can affect pricing strategies in these increasingly important digital settings.
Recognition of non-native accents

This paper deals with the problem of non-native accents in speech recognition. Reference tests were performed using whole-word and sub-word models trained either with a native accent or a pool of native and non-native accents. The results seem to indicate that the use of phonetic transcriptions for each speci c accent may improve recognition scores with sub-word models. A data-driven process is used to derive transcription lattices. The recognition scores thus obtained were encouraging.
UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Motivated by future and challenges: A cross-cultural study on adolescents' investment in learning and career planning

This three-wave cross-cultural study tested a cross-cultural model that related adolescents' Regulatory Focus (RF) and Future Time Perspective on School and Professional Career (FTP) to their educational and career behaviors, and explored whether these relationships are equivalent across countries. Specifically, it addressed the challenging question whether adolescents' motivational orientations differ across countries with vastly different cultural values, socio-economic circumstances and history. A total of 1520 adolescents in the Netherlands, Serbia, and Croatia reported their parents' and their own RF (promotion and prevention), FTP on school and professional career, investment in learning and homework, and career planning, on three time points. Teachers assessed adolescents' investment in learning and provided adolescents' GPA. Based on the multi-group structural equation modeling results, we found good model fits for each country and confirmation of most hypotheses. Results supported that the hypothesized model was cross-culturally valid in the three countries, although FTP related differently to GPA and teacher ratings across the samples. Also, we revealed intriguing differences on adolescents' FTP and RF strategies across the three countries. The findings suggest that FTP and RF play an important role in the learning efforts and career planning of adolescents across different countries.
Policing Cybercrimes: Situating the Public Police in Networks of Security within Cyberspace

The Internet and the criminal behaviour it transforms (cybercrime) pose considerable challenges for order maintenance and law enforcement because Internet‐related offending takes place within a global context while crime tends to be nationally defined. Policing cybercrime is made all the more complex by the very nature of policing and security being networked and nodal and also because within this framework the public police play only a small part in the policing of the Internet. In this paper it is argued that the future of the public police role in policing the Internet is more than simply acquiring new knowledge and capacity, but it is about forging new relationships with the other nodes within the networks of Internet security. These relationships require a range of transformations to take place in order to enhance the effectiveness and legitimacy of the nodal architecture. It will then be argued that some of the contradictions faced by ‘the police’ are being reconciled by the gradual reconstitution of a neo‐Peelian paradigm across a global span, which brings with it a range of instrumental and normative challenges.
Curvature of vector bundles associated to holomorphic fibrations

Let L be a (semi)-positive line bundle over a Kahler manifold, X, fibered over a complex manifold Y. Assuming the fibers are compact and nonsingular we prove that the hermitian vector bundle E over Y whose fibers over points y are the spaces of global sections over Xy to L ⊗ Kx/y, endowed with the L2-metric, is (semi)-positive in the sense of Nakano. We also discuss various applications, among them a partial result on a conjecture of Griffiths on the positivity of ample bundles.
A translational platform for prototyping closed-loop neuromodulation systems

While modulating neural activity through stimulation is an effective treatment for neurological diseases such as Parkinson's disease and essential tremor, an opportunity for improving neuromodulation therapy remains in automatically adjusting therapy to continuously optimize patient outcomes. Practical issues associated with achieving this include the paucity of human data related to disease states, poorly validated estimators of patient state, and unknown dynamic mappings of optimal stimulation parameters based on estimated states. To overcome these challenges, we present an investigational platform including: an implanted sensing and stimulation device to collect data and run automated closed-loop algorithms; an external tool to prototype classifier and control-policy algorithms; and real-time telemetry to update the implanted device firmware and monitor its state. The prototyping system was demonstrated in a chronic large animal model studying hippocampal dynamics. We used the platform to find biomarkers of the observed states and transfer functions of different stimulation amplitudes. Data showed that moderate levels of stimulation suppress hippocampal beta activity, while high levels of stimulation produce seizure-like after-discharge activity. The biomarker and transfer function observations were mapped into classifier and control-policy algorithms, which were downloaded to the implanted device to continuously titrate stimulation amplitude for the desired network effect. The platform is designed to be a flexible prototyping tool and could be used to develop improved mechanistic models and automated closed-loop systems for a variety of neurological disorders.