Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Achieving empathy with users: the effects of different sources of information

This paper describes a comparative study, which explores the influence of different sources of information on design sessions aiming for product concepts for children with autism. Six design teams were informed about children with autism under three conditions: A teams had only background information, B teams had background information and direct contact, and C teams had background information plus a video. Each team conducted a design session resulting in one product concept. These sessions were videotaped, transcribed and analysed for signs of empathy. The proposed product concepts were evaluated by parents and teachers of the children. Results show that the two B teams discussed the user group most intensively, and produced concepts that fitted the user group best. The two A teams made many false assumptions about the user group. One C team discussed the user group intensively and produced a product concept appreciated by caregivers, while the other C team did the opposite. The latter team was not motivated for the session. The results indicate that, and show examples of how, direct contact brings empathy with users to design teams and positively influences the quality of the product concepts they produce. Willingness and motivation of designers are key factors in empathic design.
Research Note: Some Problems with Measurement of Macro-organizational Structure

Problems associated with the use of Aston psychometrically based measures are evalu ated in the light of experience gained in and the findings of an empirical study of 45 electrical engineering companies in the UK in which the Aston methodology was used. It is shown that (a) the unidimensionality of multi-item measures must be clearly established if loss of information is to be avoided, (b) scales constructed by aggregation of a number of subscales suggested by factor analysis should not be given general labels beyond the description of subscales included in the final scale, and (c) abbreviated scales based on the original study may only reflect sample-specific relationships and may not be used as proxies of original scales in the study of other samples. The objectivity of factor analysis is also addressed.
The PERG in Diabetic Glaucoma Suspects With No Evidence of Retinopathy

ObjectiveTo better understand the role of diabetes mellitus on retinal ganglion cell function of glaucoma suspects. MethodsEighteen diabetic glaucoma suspects (GSD) without retinopathy (type-2, n=16, type-1, n=2) and 156 age-matched glaucoma suspects (GS) without diabetes were tested with steady-state pattern electroretinogram (PERG, PERGLA paradigm, Ophthalmology 2004,111:161) as surrogate measure of retinal ganglion cell function. Results were compared with previously published data of 48 similarly aged normal controls (NC). All subjects (NC, GS, GSD) had small refractive errors and corrected visual acuity ≥20/25. ResultsThe mean PERG amplitude of both GS and GSD was significantly (P<0.01) smaller than that of age-matched NC. The mean PERG amplitude of GSD patients was significantly (P<0.05) smaller than that of GS accounting for individual differences in age, visual acuity, visual field defect, and intraocular pressure. The mean PERG phase did not differ between GS and GSD. ConclusionsIn agreement with previous studies, our results show that on average, GS have reduced PERG amplitude compared with NC. PERG amplitude is further reduced in GSD compared with nondiabetic GS with otherwise comparable ophthalmologic and systemic conditions.
Caretakers' management of childhood acute respiratory infections and the use of antibiotics, Bohol, the Philippines

This article describes the results of a qualitative research study which investigated the diagnosis and management of childhood acute respiratory infections (ARI) by their usual caretakers. Data are drawn from in-depth interviews with caretakers and health professionals, from observations conducted within the pediatric outpatient department and the pediatric ward, and from case-studies of sick infants. Caretakers -mothers and grandmothers - take advantage of a wide variety of health care options including home-based, traditional and biomedical, the majority obtaining treatment from different medical systems for the same episode. Resort to traditional therapeutic practice may precede or follow resort to biomedical care or home use of western pharmaceuticals. The study indicated women's compliance with medical prescriptions tended to be incomplete because of limited financial resources, fear of overmedication, or inappropriate emphasis on drugs prescribed for symptomatic relief. Overuse of antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals was also common. The study draws attention to the difficulty that programs for the control of ARI have in promoting antibiotics for severe illness while restricting their use. It draws attention too to discrepancies among program manager's, doctor's, and caretaker's definitions of severe illness, and the implications of this in the household management of ARI.
Parental Emotion Socialization in Adolescence: Differences in Sex, Age and Problem Status.

There is a paucity of research on how mothers and fathers socialize emotion in their adolescent sons and daughters. This study was based on 220 adolescents (range 11- to 16-years-old) who exhibit a range of emotional and behavioral problems and their parents. Parental responses to their children’s displays of sadness, anger and fear were assessed. Mothers were found to be more engaged in their children’s emotional lives than were fathers. With a few important exceptions (e.g., boys were punished for expressions of anger more than girls), adolescent girls and boys were socialized in much the same way. Parents of older adolescents were generally less supportive and more punitive toward emotional displays. Systematic links between adolescent problem status and parent approaches to emotion socialization were found. These findings on how parents socialize emotions in their adolescents have important implications for theory as well as practice.
Validation and extension to three dimensions of the Berenger PML absorbing boundary condition for FD-TD meshes

Berenger recently published a novel absorbing boundary condition (ABC) for FD-TD meshes in two dimensions, claiming orders-of-magnitude improved performance relative to any earlier technique. This approach, which he calls the "perfectly matched layer (PML) for the absorption of electromagnetic waves", creates a nonphysical absorber adjacent to the outer grid boundary that has a wave impedance independent of the angle of incidence and frequency of outgoing scattered waves. This paper verifies Berenger's strong claims for PML for 2-D FD-TD grids and extends and verifies PML for 3-D FD-TD grids. Indeed, PML is >40 db more accurate than second-order Mur (1981), and PML works just as well in 3-D as it does in 2-D. It should have a major impact upon the entire FD-TD modeling community, leading to new possibilities for high-accuracy simulations especially for low-observable aerospace targets. <<ETX>>
Minimum variance beamforming applied to ultrasound imaging with a partially shaded aperture

Shadowing of an imaging aperture occurs when ultrasound beams are partially obstructed by an acoustically hard tissue, e.g., bone tissue. This effect leads to reduced resolution and, in some cases, geometrical distortion. In this paper, we initially introduce a binary apodization model to simulate effects of the shadowing on the point scatterers located close to a bone structure. Further, in a simulation study and an in vitro experiment, the minimum variance (MV) beamforming method is employed to image scatterers partly located in the shadow of bone. We show that the MV beamformer can result in a distorted image when the imaging aperture is highly obstructed by the bone structure. This distortion can be seen as an apparent lateral shift of the point spread function and a decrease in the sensitivity. Based on the signal power across the aperture, we adaptively determine the shadowed elements and discard their corresponding data from the covariance matrix to improve the MV beamformer performance. This modified MV beamformer can retain the resolution and compensate for the apparent lateral shifting and signal attenuation for the shadowed point scatterers.
Complexity Theories, Social Theory, and the Question of Social Complexity

In this article, the author argues that complexity theories have limited use in the study of society, and that social processes are too complex and particular to be rigorously modeled in complexity terms. Theories of social complexity are shown to be inadequately developed, and typical weaknesses in the literature on social complexity are discussed. Two stronger analyses, of Luhmann and of Harvey and Reed, are also critically considered. New considerations regarding social complexity are advanced, on the lines that simplicity, complexity that can be modeled, and incondensible complexity permeate society simultaneously. The difficulty of establishing complexity models for processes involving ongoing interpretation is discussed. It is argued that the notions of system and environment need recasting in social studies. Existing social studies and literature, it is argued, reflect a polymorphous, contextual, contingent, labyrinthine, dramatic and political face to social complexity. Students of social complexity must be literate in such studies.
Un professionnalisme inachevé [Deux états du champ du football professionnel en France, 1963-1993]

Un professionnalisme inacheve L'espace du football professionnel en France demande a etre construit comme un systeme de positions des clubs irreductible a un classement sportif ou encore a l'eventail des budgets investis. Combines a de nombreuses autres conditions telles que la place du football dans le systeme des sports de la region, les proprietes sociales des dirigeants ou encore les rapports entretenus avec le pouvoir economique et politique local, les moyens economiques n'agissent qu'en etant transformes par les clubs en capital sportif, selon les regles invisibles d'un jeu social qu'il s'agit de decrire. Les changements survenus entre les annees 1940 et 1980 dans les principes qui organisent la competition sportive sur l'ensemble de l'espace du football sont analyses a travers les transformations du FC Nantes, pris comme club de reference. Ce qui est souvent presente comme des choix de dirigeants, se comprend alors comme la retraduction sportive de strategies economiquement obligees et socialement organisees, mises en relation avec une position particuliere occupee par ce club dans l'espace national. Cette etude de cas montre par exemple que l'opposition entre les clubs qui recourent a l'« achat de joueurs » et ceux qui forment leurs propres recrues exprime non seulement des differences de moyens economiques, mais aussi des conflits de valeurs qui rappellent, dans la logique de l'espace sportif, l'opposition agissante dans les differents champs de production culturelle entre les forces qui repondent a la logique economique et celles qui entendent respecter les principes de concurrence internes a l'espace considere. Mais, alors qu'il n'existe, au moins formellement, qu'un seul espace de competition, les clubs qui accedent aux performances les plus reconnues sont ceux dont les modes de gestion respectent le moins les principes sportifs que les instances nationales, chargees d'imposer les normes legitimes du football professionnel, continuent de defendre au nom des valeurs « amateur » du sport. Ce que l'on appelle « les affaires » du football francais pourraient n'etre que la consequence de ces contradictions qui, d'un point de vue proprement institutionnel, prennent la forme de luttes internes entre fractions de dirigeants du football francais pour le controle des instances de direction existantes - et, plus recemment, pour la creation d'instances de representation nouvelles - dans le but de substituer a la situation actuelle l'instauration d'un professionnalisme integral.
The Disjunction Effect in Choice under Uncertainty

One of the basic axioms of the rational theory of decision under uncertainty is Savage's (1954) sure-thing principle (STP) It states that if prospect x is preferred to y knowing that Event A occurred, and if x is preferred to y knowing that A did not occur, then x should be preferred to y even when it is not known whether A occurred We present examples in which the decision maker has good reasons for accepting x if A occurs, and different reasons for accepting x if A does not occur Not knowing whether or not A occurs, however, the decision maker may lack a clear reason for accepting x and may opt for another option We suggest that, in the presence of uncertainty, people are often reluctant to think through the implications of each outcome and, as a result, may violate STP This interpretation is supported by the observation that STP is satisfied when people are made aware of their preferences given each outcome
Resolution Enhancement of Range Images via Color-Image Segmentation

We report a method for super-resolution of range images. Our approach leverages the interpretation of LR image as sparse samples on the HR grid. Based on this interpretation, we demonstrate that our recently reported approach, which reconstructs dense range images from sparse range data by exploiting a registered colour image, can be applied for the task of resolution enhancement of range images. Our method only uses a single colour image in addition to the range observation in the super-resolution process. Using the proposed approach, we demonstrate super-resolution results for large factors (e.g. 4) with good localization accuracy.
The Role of Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Acute Pancreatitis: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

To determine whether treatment with omega-3 fatty acids (ω-3 FA) provides benefits to patients with acute pancreatitis (AP). The Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database were searched. Data analysis was performed using Revman 5.2 software. A total of eight randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included. Overall, ω-3 FA treatment resulted in a significantly reduced risk of mortality (RR 0.35; 95% CI 0.16 to 0.75, p < 0.05), infectious complications (RR 0.54; 95% CI 0.34 to 0.85, p < 0.05) and length of hospital stay (MD –6.50; 95% CI −9.54 to −3.46, p < 0.05), but not length of ICU stay (MD −1.98; 95% CI −6.92 to 2.96, p > 0.05). In subgroup analysis, only patients who received ω-3 FA parenterally had some statistically significant benefits in terms of mortality (risk ratio (RR) 0.37; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.16 to 0.86, p < 0.05), infectious complications (RR 0.5; 95% CI 0.28 to 0.9, p < 0.05) and length of hospital stay (mean difference (MD) −8.13; 95% CI −10.39 to −5.87, p < 0.001). The administration of ω-3 FA may be beneficial for decreasing mortality, infectious complications, and length of hospital stay in AP, especially when used parenterally. Large and rigorously designed RCTs are required to elucidate the efficacy of parenteral or enteral ω-3 FA treatment in AP.
Sex-role Differentiation Among Black and White Americans

A comparison between Black and White Americans was undertaken with respect to sex-role differentiation based upon inherent personality characterizations. In addition, racial differences in attitudes toward sexual equality were investigated. The Black sample placed minimal value upon sex roles differentiated on the basis of trait-descriptive characteristics, whereas the White sample demonstrated substantial value for such differen tiation. Furthermore, while White subjects' endorsement of statements of sexual equality could be described by three general attitudinal sets, Blacks responded to such statements as largely independent beliefs. Discus sion of the social factors impacting these racial differ ences is presented, and hypotheses are made concerning the nature of sex-role differentiation among Black Americans.
Breaking out of biogeographical modules: range expansion and taxon cycles in the hyperdiverse ant genus Pheidole

We sought to reconstruct the biogeographical structure and dynamics of a hyperdiverse ant genus, Pheidole, and to test several predictions of the taxon cycle hypothesis. Using large datasets on Pheidole geographical distributions and phylogeny, we (1) inferred patterns of biogeographical modularity (clusters of areas with similar faunal composition), (2) tested whether species in open habitats are more likely to be expanding their range beyond module boundaries, and (3) tested whether there is a bias of lineage flow from high‐ to low‐diversity areas.
The ecological importance of intact top-predator populations: a synthesis of 15 years of research in a seagrass ecosystem

The worldwide decline of large-bodied marine taxa has made it difficult to draw conclusions about the relative importance of top-down control, and the mechanisms through which it might operate, in coastal marine ecosystems. Since 1997, the Shark Bay Ecosystem Research Project has used the relatively pristine seagrass community of Shark Bay, Australia, to investigate the potential for tiger sharks, the apex predator in the ecosystem, to have an impact on their large-bodied prey through non-consumptive (‘risk’) effects. Here, we synthesise nearly 15 years of data to demonstrate that tiger sharks have widespread risk effects on both large-bodied herbivores and mesopredators in Shark Bay and explore the possibility that these impacts may cascade to lower trophic levels. Although much work remains to be done, our studies suggest that losses of top predators in subtropical estuaries may have greater consequences than generally appreciated and that efforts to conserve and restore their populations should be a priority. Furthermore, future management strategies and studies must explicitly consider the potential for predators to influence behaviour of even large-bodied marine taxa.
Prevalence of rotavirus genotypes in South Korea in 1989-2009: implications for a nationwide rotavirus vaccine program

The epidemiology of human group A rotavirus was analyzed by examining genotypic data acquired from 1989 to 2009 in South Korea. This information was derived from all the available published articles on rotavirus studies in South Korea, retrieved from both the PubMed and KoreaMed databases. Four common G types (G1, G2, G3, and G4) and three common P types (P[8], P[4], and P[6]) accounted for approximately 93% and 99% of the rotavirus reports, respectively. The G9 type was frequently detected after 2000, and because of this prevalence, it is considered to be the fifth most important G type rotavirus after the G1.G4 genotypes. Less common G types of the virus such as G12, G11, and G10 were detected in some geographic settings, and it is important to consider the context of these subtypes and their epidemiological significance. The P[9] virus genotype was observed in the study and has been discussed in many other studies; however, the P[3], P[10] and P[25] genotypes were rarely detected in the epidemiological research. In general, the distributions of the G and P genotypes showed temporal and geographical fluctuations, and a nationwide rotavirus vaccine program that targeted these genotypes demonstrated effectiveness in protecting against the circulating rotavirus strains. However, further analysis is needed to determine the true long-term effectiveness of these vaccines; the analysis should also consider the unexpected effects of vaccinations, such as vaccine-induced diseases, herd immunity, and changes in host susceptibilities.
Which clinical scenarios do surgeons record as complications? A benchmarking study of seven hospitals

Objectives To investigate agreement and potential differences in the application and interpretation of the definition among surgical departments of various hospitals. Design 24 cases were formulated including general, trauma, gastrointestinal and vascular surgery, and based on points of discussion about the definition and ambiguities regarding complication registration as encountered in daily practice. The cases were presented to the surgical staff and residents in seven Dutch hospitals, using the national registration system of complications and an electronic response system. Results In total, 134 participants responded. Interpretation differences were particularly found regarding: (1) complications considered as logical consequences of a surgical procedure; (2) complications occurring after radiological interventions; (3) severity criteria such as when to consider a complication as a ‘(probably) permanent damage or function loss’; (4) registering a cancelled operation as a complication and (5) patients with serial complications during hospital stay. Conclusions The definition of surgical complications as currently applied in the Netherlands does not ensure a uniform complication registration. Improvement of this registration system is mandatory before benchmarking of these findings in the public domain is appropriate. Modifications of the current definition of a surgical complication, and improved consensus about specific clinical situations and training of surgeons might improve the quality of benchmarking.
Induction of Apoptosis Coupled to Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress through Regulation of CHOP and JNK in Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Previous studies indicated that bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) exhibited the phenomenon of apoptosis. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether apoptosis of BM-MSCs from SLE patients were dysregulated. In this paper, endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) was evidenced by increased expression of phosphorylated protein kinase RNA-like ER kinase (PERK) and inositol-requiring protein-1 (IRE-1). We also found the activation of downstream target eukaryotic translation initiator factor 2α (eIF 2α) and CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein- (C/EBP-) homologous protein (CHOP) in BM-MSCs from SLE patients. Interestingly, we discovered that 4-phenylbutyric acid (4-PBA), a selective inhibitor of ERS, blocked the apoptosis of BM-MSCs from SLE patients and alleviated the level of Jun N-terminal kinase1/2 (JNK1/2) and CHOP. Furthermore, blockage of PERK signaling expression by siRNA not only significantly reduced the expression of CHOP, but also activated the anti-apoptotic regulator B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2). Blockage of IRE-1 or JNK1/2 by siRNA resulted in the decreased expression of JNK1/2 and proapoptosis protein Bcl-2 associated protein X (BAX). These results implicated that ERS-mediated apoptosis was a critical determinant of BM-MSCs from SLE patients.