Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Perceived risk and tampering with nature

It is proposed that risk perception is partly driven by notions of what is seen as unnatural and immoral activities of modern technology, e.g. nuclear technology. The dimension of tampering with nature is found, in two large-scale survey studies of the general public and, in one case, of politicians involved in the environmental field, to be an important predictor of perceived risk. In one study, the perceived risk of nuclear waste was investigated, and in the other the perceived risk of a potential nuclear disaster of the Chernobyl kind. It was found that tampering with nature was a much stronger predictor of perceived risk than the traditional psychometric model dimensions, and that it absorbed most or all of the predictive power of these dimensions when entered in a common regression equation. Policy implications of these findings are discussed.
The Contribution of Ethical Obligation and Self-identity to the Theory of Planned Behaviour: An Exploration of Ethical Consumers

Whilst the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) has generated much research interest, many market researchers are divided over the addition of further constructs to the model. The TRA and its many modifications have been applied in numerous behavioural contexts, however, research to-date has neglected an emerging group of "ethical" consumers. This paper outlines results from a recent survey of over 1400 UK consumers that applied the TRA to this complex area of decision making. Using readers to the Ethical Consumer magazine, the study addresses issues involving proposed model modifications - specifically, by the addition of control, ethical obligation and self-identify. Management implications of the findings are discussed, including the importance of understanding consumers' self-identification with ethical issues in marketing communications programmes; and the underlying potential importance of ethical issues to mainstream consumer groups. Finally, the need to develop conceptually as well as practically robust techniques by using Structural Equation Modelling, which represents the next stage in this research, is outlined.
Numerical Modeling of Climate-Chemistry Connections: Recent Developments and Future Challenges

This paper reviews the current state and development of different numerical model classes that are used to simulate the global atmospheric system, particularly Earth's climate and climate-chemistry connections. The focus is on Chemistry-Climate Models. In general, these serve to examine dynamical and chemical processes in the Earth atmosphere, their feedback, and interaction with climate. Such models have been established as helpful tools in addition to analyses of observational data. Definitions of the global model classes are given and their capabilities as well as weaknesses are discussed. Examples of scientific studies indicate how numerical exercises contribute to an improved understanding of atmospheric behavior. There, the focus is on synergistic investigations combining observations and model results. The possible future developments and challenges are presented, not only from the scientific point of view but also regarding the computer technology and respective consequences for numerical modeling of atmospheric processes. In the future, a stronger cross-linkage of subject-specific scientists is necessary, to tackle the looming challenges. It should link the specialist discipline and applied computer science.
Are perceptions of media bias an effective shortcut? Why people perceive bias and why it matters

iii LIST OF TABLES.v LIST OF FIGURES.vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION.1 CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND.13 WHY PEOPLE PERCEIVE BIAS CHAPTER 3: NEWS AND OPINION SLANT.34 CHAPTER 4: ELITE ATTACKS.56 THE CONSEQUENCES OF PERCEPTIONS OF BIAS CHAPTER 5: PERCEPTIONS OF BIAS AND MEDIA EFFECTS.73 CHAPTER 6: ELITE ATTACKS AND POLITICAL ACCOUNTABILITY.90 CHAPTER 7: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION.113 REFERENCES.120 APPENDIX A. SURVEY QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTERS 3 AND 5.129 B. EXPERIMENTAL MATERIALS FOR CHAPTERS 4 AND 6.132
Coping Strategies of Male Managers: A Prospective Analysis of Predictors of Psychosomatic Symptoms and Job Satisfaction

Abstract This study examined the moderating effects of disengagement coping strategies on the relation of work resources (power, work support) and two workstress outcomes, psychosomatic symptoms and job satisfaction. Engagement coping was predicted to show an overall effect on both outcomes. Data were obtained from 83 male managers assessed on three occasions, separated by a 1-month interval. Greater use of disengagement coping was found to exacerbate the effects of powerlessness on psychosomatic symptoms; however, only direct effects were found for work support, engagement coping, and optimism. Different patterns of effects were found for the two work-stress outcomes.
Novel mutation that causes a structural change in a lipoprotein in the outer membrane of Escherichia coli

A novel mutation which caused a structural change in a lipoprotein in the outer-membrane has been found in Escherichia coli K-12. The lipoprotein of the wild-type strain is known to have a peculiar amino terminal structure: glycerylcysteine with two fatty acids attached by ester linkages and one fatty acid by an amide linkage. In contrast to the wild-type lipoprotein, the mutant lipoproteins is isolated from the E. coli envelope as a dimer of molecular weight of about 15,000. The dimer can be reduced by mercaptoethanol to the lipoprotein monomer of molecular weight of about 7,500. The monomer has a free thiol group which is susceptible to monoiodacetie mutant lipoprotein is extremely low in comparison with that into the wild-type lipoprotein. These results suggest that the mutant is defective in transferring a glycerol group to the thiol group of the amino terminal cysteine residue of the lipoprotein. The gene responsible for this modification reaction has been located at 36.5 min on the E. coli chromosome.
Signs of meningeal irritation at the emergency department: How often bacterial meningitis?

Objective Although signs of meningeal irritation are highly indicative of meningitis, they are not pathognomonic. In this study, we described the final diagnoses in children with signs of meningeal irritation, and we assessed the frequency of bacterial meningitis related to specific signs of meningeal irritation. Methods Information was collected from records of 326 patients (aged 1 month to 15 years) who visited the emergency department of the Sophia Children’s Hospital between 1988 and 1998 with signs of meningeal irritation, assessed by either the general practitioner or the pediatrician. Results Bacterial meningitis was diagnosed in 99 patients (30%), viral or aseptic meningitis in 43 (13%). Other diagnoses were pneumonia (8%), other serious bacterial infections (2%), and upper respiratory tract infections or other self-limiting diseases (46%). Presence of one of the signs of meningeal irritation assessed by the pediatrician was related to bacterial meningitis in 39%. Specific tests eliciting meningeal irritation, such as Brudzinski’s and Kernig’s signs, were not related to a higher frequency of bacterial meningitis than neck stiffness and the tripod phenomenon. In children ≤1 year, bacterial meningitis is more frequently related to presence of irritability and a bulging fontanel. Conclusion Bacterial meningitis is present in 30% of children with signs of meningeal irritation. Presence of meningeal irritation as assessed by the pediatrician is related to bacterial meningitis in 39%. A better prediction of bacterial meningitis was not achieved by using more specific tests for signs of meningeal irritation.
Macrophage Subsets Within Granulomatous Intestinal Lesions in Bovine Paratuberculosis

Animals infected with Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis show a variety of granulomatous lesions that range from focal forms, seen in the subclinical stages, to diffuse lesions associated with clinical signs. The aim of this study was to phenotypically characterize the macrophages present in the different lesion types using immunohistochemical methods. Lesions from a total of 23 animals with bovine paratuberculosis, natural and experimental, were examined by immunohistochemistry. Antibodies against inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), CD163, interleukin 10 (IL-10), transforming growth factor β (TGF-β), major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II, natural resistance-associated macrophage protein 1 (Nramp-1), calprotectin, Ki-67, CD68, lysozyme, and ionized calcium-binding adaptor molecule 1 (Iba-1) molecules were employed. Samples were scored semiquantitatively using a complete histological score (H-score), reflecting the staining intensity and the percentage of immunolabeled macrophages. Differences in the H-score were seen depending on the lesion type. In focal lesions, with none or few acid-fast bacilli (AFB), macrophages were polarized toward M1 phenotype, with high H-scores for iNOS and TNF-α. Diffuse multibacillary lesions showed M2 differentiation, with high expression of CD163, IL-10, and TGF-β as well as Nramp-1 and MHC class II antigens. Macrophages in diffuse paucibacillary forms showed high H-scores for iNOS but low ones for TNF-α. Diffuse lesions, either multibacillary or paucibacillary, showed high calprotectin and low Ki-67 expression, suggesting a progressive character, while focal forms, with low H-scores for these antigens, would be consistent with latency. Lysozyme and CD68 expression were related to the amount of AFB. H-score for Iba-1 antibody was similar among all types. The findings of this study provide insights into the polarization status of macrophages and lesion development in bovine paratuberculosis.
Online Counseling

The rejoinder responds to the four reactions by Jeffrey Barnett, Tai Chang, Delida Sanchez-Page, and Franz Caspar and Thomas Berger in the November 2005issue of The Counseling Psychologist. In doing so, the authors emphasize the important need for further clarity regarding the effectiveness of online mental and behavioral health services in delivering a wide range of psychoeducation, self-help, and mutual-help facilities as well as direct counseling. The authors also highlight many of the reactants’ important insights, including the comments on the appropriateness of online mental and behavioral health services for the underserved and whether online counseling should be used as a primary or secondary tool in counseling.
An evaluation of divide-and-combine strategies for image categorization by multi-class support vector machines

Categorization of real world images without human intervention is a challenging ongoing research. The nature of this problem requires usage of multiclass classification techniques. In divide-and-combine approach, a multiclass problem is divided into a set of binary classification problems and then the binary classifications are combined to obtain multi-class classification. Our objective in this work is to compare several divide-and-combine multiclass SVM classification strategies for real world image classification. Our results show that One-against-all and One-against-one MaxWins are the most efficient methods.
Research Ethics and Data Quality: The Implications of Informed Consent

Patterns of research governance are changing rapidly in the field of social research. In current debates about these changes one issue of particular concern is the impact that new patterns of research governance will have on the quality of the data collected. The ‘optimistic’ scenario on this issue is that more ethical research practice will lead to better‐quality data, but a more ‘pessimistic’ scenario exists in which the unintended outcome is poorer‐quality data. Drawing on material from a study of researchers’ experiences of dealing with the process of gaining informed consent from research participants, this article identifies the various ways in which the researchers position themselves in relation to the competing ‘optimistic’ and ‘pessimistic’ scenarios. It concludes by seeking to develop a synthesis of the two positions in which ethical research practice is treated neither as an automatic guarantee of, nor as an inevitable obstacle to, the collection of good‐quality data.
Social Support and Demographic Factors Influencing Compliance of Hemodialysis Patients1

The relationships between measures of social support, demographic and situational factors, and regimen compliance were examined among 60 in-center hemodialysis patients. Data were obtained from structured interviews, self-report questionnaires, and information from the medical records of each patient. Correlational analyses indicate that social support is significantly related to regimen compliance, as measured by potassium, phosphorus, and blood urea nitrogen (BUN). Contrary to prediction, this relationship disappears when the effects due to the demographic and situational factors are first removed from the regression equations. Age, gender, and length of time on dialysis are also significant predictors of compliance. These findings suggest
An Analysis of the Hart Intercivic DAU eSlate

This paper reports on an analysis of the Hart Inter-Civic DAU eSlate unit equipped for disabled access and the associated Judge's Booth Controller. The analysis examines whether the eSlate and JBC can be subverted to compromise the accuracy of vote totals, the secrecy of the ballot, and the availability of the system under the procedures in place for Yolo County. We describe several potential attacks, and show how election officials can block or mitigate them.
Clinical Evaluation of a 16 S Ribosomal RNA Polymerase Chain Reaction Test for the Diagnosis of Lymph Node Tuberculosis

Fernando Osores, Oscar Nolasco, Kristien Verdonck, Jorge Arévalo, Juan Carlos Ferrufino, Juan Agapito, Leandro Huayanay, Eduardo Gotuzzo, and Ciro Maguiña Institute of Tropical Medicine Alexander von Humboldt and Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Pharmacology, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Hospital Nacional Cayetano Heredia, and Biolinks S.A. , Lima, Peru; and Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium
Stromal cell-derived factor 1α mediates resistance to mTOR-directed therapy in pancreatic cancer.

PURPOSE The factors preventing the translation of preclinical findings supporting the clinical development mTOR-targeted therapy in pancreatic cancer therapy remain undetermined. Stromal cell.derived factor 1α (SDF-1α)-CXCR4 signaling was examined as a representative microenvironmental factor able to promote mTOR-targeted therapy resistance in pancreatic cancer. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Primary pancreas explant xenografts and in vitro experiments were used to perform pharmacodynamic analyses of SDF-1α-CXCR4 regulation of the mTOR pathway. Combinatorial effects of CXCR4, EGFR, and mTOR pharmacologic inhibition were evaluated in temsirolimus-resistant and -sensitive xenografts. Intratumoral gene and protein expressions of mTOR pathway effectors cyclin D1, c-Myc, and VEGF were evaluated. RESULTS Baseline intratumoral SDF-1α gene expression correlated with temsirolimus resistance in explant models. SDF-1α stimulation of pancreatic cells resulted in CXCR4-mediated PI3-kinase-dependent S6-RP phosphorylation (pS6-RP) on exposure to temsirolimus. Combinatorial therapy with AMD3465 (CXCR4 small-molecule inhibitor) and temsirolimus resulted in effective tumor growth inhibition to overcome temsirolimus resistance. In contrast, SDF-1α exposure induced a temsirolimus-resistant phenotype in temsirolimus-sensitive explants. AMD3465 inhibited CXCR4-mediated intratumoral S6-RP phosphorylation and cyclin D and c-myc gene expression. Next, CXCR4 promoted intratumoral EGFR expression in association with temsirolimus resistance. Treatment with AMD3465, temsirolimus- and erlotinib-mediated tumor growth inhibition to overcome temsirolimus resistance in the explant model. Lastly, SDF-1α-CXCR4 signaling increased intratumoral VEGF gene and protein expression. CONCLUSIONS SDF-1α-CXCR4 signaling represents a microenvironmental factor that can maintain mTOR pathway fidelity to promote resistance to mTOR-targeted therapy in pancreatic cancer by a variety of mechanisms such as recruitment of EGFR signaling and angiogenesis.
Characteristics and dimensions of the Schneiderian membrane: a radiographic analysis using cone beam computed tomography in patients referred for dental implant surgery in the posterior maxilla.

OBJECTIVES To determine the dimensions of the Schneiderian membrane using limited cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) in individuals referred for dental implant surgery, and to determine factors influencing the mucosal thickness. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study included 143 consecutive patients referred for dental implant placement in the posterior maxilla. A total of 168 CBCT images were taken using a limited field of view of 4 × 4 cm, 6 × 6 cm, or 8 × 8 cm. Reformatted coronal CBCT slices were analyzed with regard to the thickness and characteristics of the Schneiderian membrane in nine standardized points of reference. Factors such as age, gender, or status of the remaining dentition that could influence the dimensions of the Schneiderian membrane were evaluated using univariate and multivariate linear regression models. RESULTS The thickness of the Schneiderian membrane exhibited a wide range, with a minimum value of 0.16 mm and a maximum value of 34.61 mm. The highest mean values, ranging from 2.16 to 3.11 mm, were found for the mucosa located in the mid-sagittal regions of the maxillary sinus. The most frequent mucosal findings diagnosed were flat thickenings of the Schneiderian membrane (62 positive findings, 37%). For the multivariate linear regression model, only gender had a statistically significant influence on the mean overall and mid-sagittal thickness of the sinus mucosa. CONCLUSION There is great interindividual variability in the thickness of the Schneiderian membrane. Gender seems to be the most important parameter influencing mucosal thickness in asymptomatic patients. Future studies are needed to assess the therapeutic and prognostic consequences of mucosal alterations in the maxillary sinus.
Event-Driven Random Back-Propagation: Enabling Neuromorphic Deep Learning Machines

An ongoing challenge in neuromorphic computing is to devise general and computationally efficient models of inference and learning which are compatible with the spatial and temporal constraints of the brain. The gradient descent back-propagation rule is a powerful algorithm that is ubiquitous in deep learning, but it relies on the immediate availability of network-wide information stored with high-precision memory. However, recent work shows that exact backpropagated weights are not essential for learning deep representations. Here, we demonstrate an event-driven random backpropagation (eRBP) rule that uses an error-modulated synaptic plasticity rule for learning deep representations in neuromorphic computing hardware. The rule is very suitable for implementation in neuromorphic hardware using a two-compartment leaky integrate & fire neuron and a membrane-voltage modulated, spike-driven plasticity rule. Our results show that using eRBP, deep representations are rapidly learned without using backpropagated gradients, achieving nearly identical classification accuracies compared to artificial neural network simulations on GPUs, while being robust to neural and synaptic state quantizations during learning.
Reliability of retrospective survey data on infant feeding

This article examines retest reliability and digit preference in retrospective survey data on breastfeeding duration and type of supplementary food, covering three decades and reported by more than 1200 Malaysian women. Women with little or no education, rural residents, and those of Malay ethnicity are found to give less reliable data. In a logistic regression analysis, these respondent characteristics are more important determinants of data quality than the length of the recall period.
Olivocochlear efferent function: issues regarding methods and the interpretation of results

As studies of the olivocochlear (OC) efferent system have matured, issues have been identified that need to be taken into account in the design of new studies and in the interpretation of existing work. The need for high signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs), multiple alternations of conditions, and avoiding middle-ear-muscle activation have been previously highlighted. Less well-known issues include: Contralateral medial OC (MOC) effects may not be good proxies for ipsilateral (ipsi) MOC effects; MOC-induced changes in otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) may not accurately show MOC-induced changes in auditory-nerve (AN) responses; measuring OAE differences from before to after psychophysical trials yields the transient OAE change but not tonic MOC activation; tonic MOC activation may be measurable by several techniques including by OAE differences in trials in which the subject’s judgment was correct vs. trials that were incorrect; SNRs can be preserved by Bootstrap statistical tests; differences in task difficulty may outweigh differences in subject attention; lateral efferent effects are little understood and may be tied to MOC effects; to assess whether MOC strength predicts protection from acoustic trauma, prospective tests in humans are needed.
The balance between work and home: The relationship between work and home demands and ill health of employed females

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between work and home demands, work-home interference (WHI), home-work interference (HWI), and ill health of 500 employed females from various occupations. A structural model was tested with structural equation modelling. The results indicated that work demands (work pressure and work overload) are related to ill health (physical ill health, anxiety, depression) via WHI. On the other hand, home demands (home pressure and home overload) are directly related to HWI and to ill health.
Indonesian Twitter text authority classification for government in Bandung

Nowadays, social media based complaint management systems have been deployed in several countries and cities including Bandung. We proposed an automatic authority classification for Twitter text in Indonesian as part of the complaint management system. Our analysis showed that there are several Twitter message types raised in official account Twitter of the city government. The classification employed a statistical based multi-label text classification. Here, we compared several techniques in the classification such as the features, the algorithms and the classification schemes. In the features comparison, we examined several features such as the complaint word feature, n-gram feature, and the @username feature. In the algorithms comparison, we employed Decision Tree algorithm, Naïve Bayes algorithm, and Support Vector Machine algorithm with multi-label classification techniques of Binary Relevance and Label Power Set. In the complaint classification schemes, we compared the direct classification and two steps classification. Using 2244 twitter texts from twitter of Bandung city government and 5-fold cross validation, the best experimental result of 70.90% accuracy was achieved by the feature combination of 1-gram and complaint word, with Support Vector Machine and Label Power Set as the algorithm, in the direct scheme of text classification.
Evaluation of the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease assessment test in Japanese outpatients

The Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Assessment Test (CAT) is a quality‐of‐life (QOL) questionnaire that proved to correlate with St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire. Correlations between CAT scores and other COPD parameters have not been thoroughly evaluated in Japanese outpatients.