Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On the Rocks: Recession-Related Life Problems and Relationship Stability

The impact of the recent near-collapse of the world banking system continues to be felt within families, with many people facing employment, money and housing problems as a direct result. Using data from a UK household survey, this paper explores the relationship between recession-related ‘justiciable’ life problems and relationship stability. Around 4% of such problems were reported to have brought about a family break-up. Often this was also accompanied by other life problems, such as stress-related illness. The risk of families breaking up was also observed to increase following the experience of recession-related problems, with the risk remaining high for a number of years. Our findings point to the role of legal services in mitigating the impact of recession-related justiciable problems, as well as the family problems that can ensue. Of concern, those most likely to report a relationship breakdown as a consequence of a recession-related problem included those on low incomes. With another consequence of the economic downturn being a contraction of the legal aid scheme, this poses a real challenge to people’s ability to access justice.
So, What Am I Supposed to Do? A Multilevel Examination of Role Clarity

Although prior research generally holds that role clarity is affected by both individual characteristics and organizational contexts, current conceptual or empirical models do not reflect the multilevel nature of these antecedents. A more complete understanding of how role clarity emanates from different organizational levels is necessary to help prevent poor job performance and other harmful consequences of ambiguous role expectations. To address this, I begin this research by investigating the effects of internal work locus of control, general self-efficacy, and leader–member exchange on role clarity. With respect to the cross-level effects, I focus on the roles of a manager's control style and the organization's strategy-making pattern. Analyses of a multi-industry, multilevel dataset collected from 724 employees and 124 managers in 25 organizations in Finland suggest that all of the individual-level independent variables and a deliberate strategy-making pattern improve role clarity. However, a deliberate strategy-making pattern negatively moderates the relationship between general self-efficacy and role clarity. Finally, even though an outcome-based control system causes role ambiguity among employees in most functional areas, it may be an effective driver of role clarity among employees in sales jobs.
Externalizing problems in 1- to 3-year-old children. Screening, intervention, and the role of child temperament.

The general objective of this thesis was to test the effectiveness of an early intervention program aimed at reducing externalizing problems in 1- to 3-year-old children by enhancing parental sensitivity and adequate discipline strategies. A new intervention was designed for this study: the Video-feedback Intervention to promote Positive Parenting and Sensitive Discipline (VIPP-SD) The study consisted of a screening phase in a general population sample (N = 2408) and a randomized case-control intervention phase in a selected subsample of children with high levels of externalizing behavior problems (n = 237). The results of this thesis show that externalizing problems occur in children as young as 1 year of age and are moderately predictive of externalizing problems one year later. Furthermore, child temperament appears to be a moderator in the association between maternal discipline strategies and externalizing problems. Children with difficult temperaments are more susceptible to both negative discipline (i.e., showing more externalizing problems) and positive discipline (i.e., showing less externalizing problems) compared to children with relatively easy temperaments. Finally, the VIPP-SD intervention was effective in improving maternal attitudes towards sensitivity and sensitive discipline, enhancing actual maternal sensitive discipline practices, and decreasing the childrenâ€™s level of overactive behaviors.
The effect of secondary hyperparathyroidism and hemodialysis therapy on alveolar bone and periodontium.

BACKGROUND Alveolar bone is particularly sensitive to increased levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH) from either primary or secondary hyperparathyroidism (HPT). The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of secondary HPT on the periodontium of patients on hemodialysis. METHODS The experimental group consisted of 35 patients with secondary HPT, with chronic renal failure treated by hemodialysis (E group). A control group (C group) was formed from 35 healthy age- and gender-matched subjects attending the maxillofacial outpatient clinic for a variety of reasons. Blood samples were taken from the E group, and the biologically active intact parathormone molecule, PTH(1-84), was assayed using two-site immunoradiometric assay (IRMA). The time of onset and the duration since diagnosis of HPT was also recorded. In addition, for a subgroup of 25 matched pairs of patients, a clinical periodontal examination was performed, and the Ramfjord index teeth were recorded for: Plaque index (PI); Gingival index (GI); Probing depth (PD); and Clinical attachment level (CAL). A standardized panoramic X-ray was taken from all patients and computer-based linear measurements were used to assess alveolar bone loss (BL). Unpaired Student's t-test served to compare the two groups. Pearson's correlation coefficient test was used to study the association between PI, PTH level, disease duration and BL. RESULTS Demographically, both groups were similar with no statistical difference. PI was also similar in the C and E group (2.03 +/- 0.13 and 1.76 +/- 0.17, respectively). GI, however, was slightly greater in the C group (1.28 +/- 0.09) compared to the E group (0.97 +/- 0.01). PD in the E group (2.92 +/- 0.14 mm) was almost identical to that of the C group (2.90 +/- 0.12 mm). Likewise, CAL in the E group (4.43 +/- 0.29 mm) did not differ from CAL in the C group (4.03 +/- 0.25 mm). Mean BL was also similar in the E and C groups (3.60 +/- 0.23 mm and 3.85 +/- 0.24 mm, respectively). PI showed a positive, significant correlation with BL (r = 0.457, P = 0.0008). CONCLUSION From this study it can be concluded that secondary HPT does not have an appreciable effect on periodontal indices and radiographic bone height.
Research Paper: Consumer Health Information Seeking as Hypothesis Testing

OBJECTIVE Despite the proliferation of consumer health sites, lay individuals often experience difficulty finding health information online. The present study attempts to understand users' information seeking difficulties by drawing on a hypothesis testing explanatory framework. It also addresses the role of user competencies and their interaction with internet resources. DESIGN Twenty participants were interviewed about their understanding of a hypothetical scenario about a family member suffering from stable angina and then searched MedlinePlus consumer health information portal for information on the problem presented in the scenario. Participants' understanding of heart disease was analyzed via semantic analysis. Thematic coding was used to describe information seeking trajectories in terms of three key strategies: verification of the primary hypothesis, narrowing search within the general hypothesis area and bottom-up search. RESULTS Compared to an expert model, participants' understanding of heart disease involved different key concepts, which were also differently grouped and defined. This understanding provided the framework for search-guiding hypotheses and results interpretation. Incorrect or imprecise domain knowledge led individuals to search for information on irrelevant sites, often seeking out data to confirm their incorrect initial hypotheses. Online search skills enhanced search efficiency, but did not eliminate these difficulties. CONCLUSIONS Regardless of their web experience and general search skills, lay individuals may experience difficulty with health information searches. These difficulties may be related to formulating and evaluating hypotheses that are rooted in their domain knowledge. Informatics can provide support at the levels of health information portals, individual websites, and consumer education tools.
The Separation of Corporate Ownership and Control: A Reinterpretation of the Evidence of Berle and Means

Berle and Means' classic study of the separation of ownership and control remains authoritative and influential despite having been criticised on various grounds by a number of authors. This paper argues that, firstly, the Berle and Means approach to determining company control implicitly assumes a static framework inappropriate to analysing early twentieth century corporations. Secondly, accepting their approach, their control-type criterion in terms of shareholding concentration is too high and biases their result. Thirdly, the use of the same criterion for all companies fails to recognise the importance of shareholding dispersion and further biases their results. A probabilistic-voting model is described which makes explicit the assumptions behind the concept of factual control. This is applied to the data on 16 companies used by Berle and Means and their classification of them as managerial is shown to be invalid.
Profound and Protracted Hypophosphatemia after A Single Dose of Zoledronic Acid Infusion for Osteoporosis Associated with Normocalcemic Primary Hyperparathyroidism

Bisphosphonates are widely used in the treatment of osteoporosis. The Intravenous bisphosphonate, Zoledronic acid (ZA) does not cause the gastrointestinal side effects associated with oral bisphosphonates and can be given as a once yearly infusion. ZA has the rare potential to cause hypophosphatemia. However, when reported, the hypophosphatemia following ZA infusion has been in the setting of treatment of oncological conditions such as hypercalcemia of malignancy and bone metastases. We present a case of severe and prolonged hypophosphatemia in a patient with post-menopausal osteoporosis and mild normocalcemic primary hyperparathyroidism who received a single dose of 5 mg of intravenous ZA. The severe hypophosphatemia manifested itself almost 2 months after the administration of the medication. The patient required very high doses of both oral and intravenous phosphate throughout the duration of her prolonged stay in hospital with failure to normalize the serum phosphate levels even after 13 days.
Growing Up, Naturally: The Mental Health Legacy of Early Nature Affiliation

Abstract While many studies now demonstrate the emotional and psychological benefits associated with higher levels of nature connectedness, much less is known about how factors such as childhood nature experiences might influence nature connectedness development. In this two-phase mixed-methods study, the relationship between nature connectedness and childhood nature experiences was explored among a sample of Canadian undergraduate university students. The objectives of the study were twofold: (1) To determine associations between quantitative measures of nature connectedness, positive childhood nature experiences, and mental health via an online survey (Phase One) and (2) To compare, qualitatively, the self-reported childhood nature experiences of students who are relatively more nature connected to those who are less nature connected via in-depth interviews (Phase Two). Quantitative findings from the Phase One online survey demonstrate that, in a sample of university students (N = 308), nature connected.
Customer knowledge management - improving performance of customer relationship management with knowledge management

In this paper, we illustrate the use of modern information technology to provide knowledge support to CRM processes. This knowledge support allows for performance enhancement in customer oriented business processes. We base our reasoning on an integrated customer knowledge management process model, which identifies six CRM sub-processes and four aspects of knowledge management. This integrated model aims at achieving knowledge transparency, knowledge dissemination, knowledge development and knowledge efficiency. The application of the four aspects content, competence, community and composition in specific CRM sub-processes are demonstrated in several action research cases. These cases were implemented in European companies in the financial services sector and concern the support of customer-facing processes across all channels. They validate the proposed architecture while indicating critical success factors for a successful implementation of customer knowledge management.
OFDM Transmission Without Guard Interval in Fast-Varying Underwater Acoustic Channels

In this paper, we consider orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) transmission in fast-varying underwater acoustic channels. We demonstrate on experimental data that reliable communications can be achieved without any guard interval (such as cyclic prefix or zero padding) and with a superimposed pilot. Such OFDM transmission possesses a high spectral efficiency, but incurs severe intersymbol and intercarrier interference, and interference from the superimposed pilot. We propose a receiver that can efficiently deal with the interference and has a relatively low complexity as most of its operations are based on fast Fourier transform and local spline interpolation. The receiver is verified in an experiment with a transducer towed by a surface vessel moving at a high speed; a complicated trajectory of the transducer resulted in a severe Doppler distortion of the signal received on a single hydrophone. The performance of the proposed receiver is investigated for different parameter settings and compared with an ideal receiver with perfect channel knowledge, operating in interference-free scenarios, and mimicking the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the experiment. The proposed receiver has provided error-free detection of encoded data at data rates of 0.5 b/s/Hz at a distance of 40 km and 0.33 b/s/Hz at a distance of 80 km, approaching the performance of the ideal receiver with a less than 3-dB loss in SNR.
D-dimer level and the risk for thrombosis in systemic lupus erythematosus.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Patients who have systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and manifest antiphospholipid antibodies (APA) are at increased risk for thrombosis; however, it is difficult to predict who will clot. This study tested the hypothesis that peak D-dimer level measured routinely during follow-up identifies whether a hypercoagulable state is developing and, therefore, the patient is at increased risk for thrombosis. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS One hundred consecutive patients who had SLE with recurrent activity (71% renal SLE) and were evaluated for or enrolled in the Ohio SLE Study were studied. D-dimer testing was done annually and usually at SLE flare or other serious illness. When D-dimer was elevated, evaluation for thrombosis (large vessel, small vessel, or Libman-Sacks) was undertaken. Mean follow-up was 37.5 +/- 15 SD months. RESULTS Of those with peak D-dimer <0.5 microg/ml (n = 46), 0% thrombosed, 33% had APA. Of those with peak D-dimer 0.5 to 2.0 microg/ml (n = 19), 6% thrombosed, 44% had APA. Of those with peak D-dimer >2.0 microg/ml (n = 36), 42% thrombosed, 76% had APA. The most common causes of elevated D-dimer in the absence of demonstrable thrombosis were SLE flare and systemic infection. D-dimer levels were usually elevated for several months before thrombosis. CONCLUSIONS Patients with SLE and normal D-dimer levels are at low risk for thrombosis, irrespective of APA status. Those with persistent unexplained elevated D-dimer levels, particularly when >2.0 microg/ml, are at high risk for thrombosis.
Talk about a YouTube Video in Preschool: The Mutual Production of Shared Understanding for Learning with Digital Technology

MUCH OF WHAT IS WRITTEN about digital technologies in preschool contexts focuses on young children's acquisition of skills rather than their meaning-making during use of technologies. In this paper, we consider how the viewing of a YouTube video was used by a teacher and children to produce shared understandings about it. Conversation analysis of talk and interaction during the viewing of the video establishes some of the ways that individual accounts of events were produced for others and then endorsed as shared understandings. The analysis establishes how adults and children made use of verbal and embodied actions during interactions to produce shared understandings of the YouTube video, the events it recorded and written commentary about those events.
Effect of intercompartmental water exchange on the apparent myelin water fraction in multiexponential T2 measurements of rat spinal cord

The myelin water fraction has been used as a quantitative measure of the amount of myelin present in tissue. However, recent work has suggested that intercompartmental exchange of water between myelin and nonmyelin compartments may cause the myelin water fraction to underestimate the true myelin content of tissue. In this work, multiexponential T2 experiments were performed in vivo within the rat spinal cord, and a wide variation of the myelin water fraction (10–35%) was measured within four rat spinal cord tracts with similar myelin content. A numerical simulation based upon segmented histology images was used to quantitatively account for T2 variations between tracts. The model predicts that a difference in exchange between the four spinal cord tracts, mediated by a difference in the average axon radius and myelin thickness, is sufficient to account for the variation in myelin water fraction measured in vivo. Magn Reson Med, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Asian varieties of English: Attitudes towards pronunciation

ABSTRACT: According to previous studies, Japanese EFL learners who wish to acquire American or British English pronunciation are reluctant to speak their L1-accented English. In view of this tendency, the present study examined the attitudes of Asian learners toward their L1-accented English. University students from Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia evaluated their English pronunciation by responding to a questionnaire. The results of the survey revealed the extent to which their acceptance of their English accents differs: the Malaysian students highly valued their accented English, while the Japanese and Koreans disapproved of their own varieties of English and indicated their preference for native English pronunciation. In particular, the Japanese participants’ negative attitude toward their Japanese-accented English was found to be the greatest among the three groups. The distinct trend among the groups will be discussed with consideration of the historical and political backgrounds in the societies which might have impacted on the process of constructing L2 learners’ language identity. These backgrounds should have a substantial influence on current educational policy and social actions in each country. Finally, pedagogical implications for English education in Japan will be argued discussed.
Agency in Action: How Teachers Interpret and Implement Arizona’s 4-Hour Structured English Immersion Program

Sharing the findings from two qualitative case studies, analyzed together, this article examines various ways educators, both elementary teachers and teacher educators, exercise agency in their interpretation and implementation of Arizona’s model of Structured English Immersion (SEI), a 4-hour English Language Development (ELD) block, which mandates separate classrooms for English Learners (ELs). The educators describe a host of negative outcomes of this SEI model, suggesting that Arizona’s policy may be considered to act as a hegemonic force in the lives of these teachers and their students. Yet, the teachers also find ways to mitigate this force in order to continue teaching in ways they believe are best for their students. Implications include the need for educational leaders and policy makers alike to more carefully consider the active role that teachers play as implementers, and negotiators, of language education policy, particularly within restrictive policy contexts such as Arizona.
Proportional fair scheduling algorithm in OFDMA-based wireless systems with QoS constraints

In this work we consider the problem of downlink resource allocation for proportional fairness of long term received rates of data users and quality of service for real time sessions in an OFDMA-based wireless system. The base station allocates available power and subchannels to individual users based on long term average received rates, quality of service (QoS) based rate constraints and channel conditions. We formulate and solve a joint bandwidth and power optimization problem, solving which provides a performance improvement with respect to existing resource allocation algorithms. We propose schemes for flat as well as frequency selective fading cases. Numerical evaluation results show that the proposed method provides better QoS to voice and video sessions while providing more and fair rates to data users in comparison with existing schemes.
Predictors of Psychological Distress in the Workplace: A Longitudinal Study

This paper explores the impact of rapid work changes on the psychological well-being of hospital staff and examines predictors of later psychological distress. A 21% random sample of employees were surveyed in 1995 and in 1997 about their emotional functioning, coping resources, job characteristics, and the job-home interface. Psychological distress increased significantly over time. The variance in 1997 psychological distress scores could be explained by the initial level of psychological distress, job characteristics, particularly changes in them (28%), the job-family interface, particularly the extent to which the job interfered with home life and increasingly did so over time (8%). Negative changes in job characteristics and increasing impact of work on home life were most predictive of later psychological distress.
An improved cognitive model of the Iowa and Soochow Gambling Tasks with regard to model fitting performance and tests of parameter consistency

The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and the Soochow Gambling Task (SGT) are two experience-based risky decision-making tasks for examining decision-making deficits in clinical populations. Several cognitive models, including the expectancy-valence learning (EVL) model and the prospect valence learning (PVL) model, have been developed to disentangle the motivational, cognitive, and response processes underlying the explicit choices in these tasks. The purpose of the current study was to develop an improved model that can fit empirical data better than the EVL and PVL models and, in addition, produce more consistent parameter estimates across the IGT and SGT. Twenty-six opiate users (mean age 34.23; SD 8.79) and 27 control participants (mean age 35; SD 10.44) completed both tasks. Eighteen cognitive models varying in evaluation, updating, and choice rules were fit to individual data and their performances were compared to that of a statistical baseline model to find a best fitting model. The results showed that the model combining the prospect utility function treating gains and losses separately, the decay-reinforcement updating rule, and the trial-independent choice rule performed the best in both tasks. Furthermore, the winning model produced more consistent individual parameter estimates across the two tasks than any of the other models.