Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The -308G>a polymorphism of the TNF gene is associated with proliferative diabetic retinopathy in Caucasian Brazilians with type 2 diabetes.

PURPOSE We tested the hypothesis that tumor necrosis factor (TNF) gene polymorphisms are associated with diabetic retinopathy (DR) in Caucasians with type 2 diabetes mellitus. METHODS In a case-control study, the -238G>A (rs361525), -308G>A (rs1800629), and -857C>T (rs1799724) polymorphisms of the TNF gene were genotyped in 745 outpatients with type 2 diabetes, including 331 subjects without DR, 246 with nonproliferative DR (NPDR), and 168 with proliferative DR (PDR). RESULTS Genotype and allele frequencies of the -238G>A, -308G>A, and -857C>T polymorphisms in subjects with NPDR were not significantly different from those of subjects without DR (P > 0.05 for all comparisons). However, the A allele of the -308G>A polymorphism was more frequent in subjects with PDR than in those with no DR (18.1% vs. 11.5%, corrected P = 0.035). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the -308A allele was independently associated with an increased risk of PDR, under a dominant model (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.82; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.11-2.98). The combined analysis of the three polymorphisms also showed that haplotypes containing the -308A allele were associated with an increased risk of PDR (aOR, 2.36; 95% CI, 1.29-4.32). CONCLUSIONS This study detected, for the first time to our knowledge, an independent association of the -308G>A polymorphism in the TNF gene with PDR in Caucasian Brazilians with type 2 diabetes. This finding suggests that TNF is a potential susceptibility gene for PDR.
Hard‐branding the cultural city – from Prado to Prada

The industrial 'Event City', host to World Fair, sporting, cultural and ceremonial mega-event, has been transformed in its late-capitalist form into the 'City as Event'- from the all year round festival city to the ubiquitous 'Cities of Culture'. These self-styled culture cities now look to the contemporary art museum and cultural district to provide a cosmopolitan edge to their promotional icons and associations, with Art now acknowledged as an 'industry'. Cities worldwide, irrespective of their indigenous culture and heritage (e.g. Guggenheim Bilbao, Rio "et al".), are thus emulating the brand reinforcement witnessed in leisure and entertainment products and themed experiences, which themselves have entered the retail environment as prime urban consumption spaces. The paper critiques this evolution of the city of culture and the branded art facility in terms of their form and function, arguing that form has followed regional funding, and that culture-led regeneration and place-making now mirrors the product branding of Nike and Sony, vying with them for consumer and political attention through the use of star architecture and retail strategies that belie their public good/realm and cultural distinctions. The cost of these flagships and cultural strategies, the paper concludes, is borne in terms of cultural diversity and production versus consumption and mediation; in community cultural activity and amenity; and by those who do not have a stake in the gentrification process which attaches to these globalized "grands projets" Copyright Joint Editors and Blackwell Publishers Ltd 2003.
Why Dewey Matters

Dewey is admired by those working for civic engagement in higher education in part because his educational philosophy provides the foundation for community-based experiential learning linked to public problem-solving. 3 There is widespread reliance on Dewey’s “general theories, propositions, and orientation” 4 to make the case for how higher education can change to better fulfill its academic and civic missions. Well before there was David Kolb’s work on experiential learning theory, 5 Barr and Tagg’s attention to improving teaching and learning with the identification of a paradigm shift toward learner-centered education, 6 the focus on active and collaborative learning and the push for student engagement in the process of authentic learning, 7 and before the contributions to our understanding of the learning process from the cognitive sciences 8 or our understanding of different ways of knowing from feminist psychology, 9 there was Dewey. What the authors of Dewey’s Dream , 10 a book that brings Dewey’s educational philosophy to bear on the academic practices and institutional purposes of higher education, explicitly address is why Dewey’s educational thought matters in higher education in at least two ways: 1) how the only way to prepare for democratic citizenship is to practice democracy through education, and 2) how education can contribute to the public culture of democracy. 11 The authors sum up the relevance of Dewey’s educational philosophy in this way:
Eye Movement Monitoring as a Process Tracing Methodology in Decision Making Research

Over the past half century, research on human decision making has expanded from a purely behaviorist approach that focuses on decision outcomes, to include a more cognitive approach that focuses on the decision processes that occur prior to the response. This newer approach, known as process tracing, has employed various methods, such as verbal protocols, information search displays, and eye movement monitoring, to identify and track psychological events that occur prior to the response (such as cognitive states, stages, or processes). In the present article, we review empirical studies that have employed eye movement monitoring as a process tracing method in decision making research, and we examine the potential of eye movement monitoring as a process tracing methodology. We also present an experiment that further illustrates the experimental manipulations and analysis techniques that are possible with modern eye tracking technology. In this experiment, a gaze-contingent display was used to manipulate stimulus exposure during decision making, which allowed us to test a specific hypothesis about the role of eye movements in preference decisions (the Gaze Cascade model; Shimojo, Simion, Shimojo, & Scheier, 2003). The results of the experiment did not confirm the predictions of the Gaze Cascade model, but instead support the idea that eye movements in these decisions reflect the screening and evaluation of decision alternatives. In summary, we argue that eye movement monitoring is a valuable tool for capturing decision makers’ information search behaviors, and that modern eye tracking technology is highly compatible with other process tracing methods such as retrospective verbal protocols and neuroimaging techniques, and hence it is poised to be an integral part of the next wave of decision research.
Plants Release Precursors of Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors to Suppress Growth of Competitors[OPEN]

Chemical compounds in plant root exudates influence the growth of neighboring plants by interfering with their chromatin configuration and gene expression. To secure their access to water, light, and nutrients, many plant species have developed allelopathic strategies to suppress competitors. To this end, they release into the rhizosphere phytotoxic substances that inhibit the germination and growth of neighbors. Despite the importance of allelopathy in shaping natural plant communities and for agricultural production, the underlying molecular mechanisms are largely unknown. Here, we report that allelochemicals derived from the common class of cyclic hydroxamic acid root exudates directly affect the chromatin-modifying machinery in Arabidopsis thaliana. These allelochemicals inhibit histone deacetylases both in vitro and in vivo and exert their activity through locus-specific alterations of histone acetylation and associated gene expression. Our multilevel analysis collectively shows how plant-plant interactions interfere with a fundamental cellular process, histone acetylation, by targeting an evolutionarily highly conserved class of enzymes.
Development and validation of the Emotional Labour Scale

This paper describes the development and validation of the Emotional Labour Scale (ELS) as tested on samples of 296 and 238 respondents. The ELS is a 15-item self-report questionnaire that measures six facets of emotional display in the workplace, including the frequency, intensity and variety of emotional display, the duration of interaction, and surface and deep acting. Estimates of internal consistency for the subscales ranged from . 74 to . 91. Confirmatory factor analysis results provided support for the existence of six unidimensional subscales. Evidence was also provided for convergent and discriminant validity.
The liquid overlay technique is the key to formation of co-culture spheroids consisting of primary osteoblasts, fibroblasts and endothelial cells.

BACKGROUND AIMS The 3-dimensional (3-D) culture of various cell types reflects the in vivo situation more precisely than 2-dimensional (2-D) cell culture techniques. Spheroids as 3-D cell constructs have been used in tumor research for a long time. They have also been used to study angiogenic mechanisms, which are essential for the success of many tissue-engineering approaches. Several methods of forming spheroids are known, but there is a lack of systematic studies evaluating the performance of these techniques. METHODS We evaluated the performance of the hanging drop technique, carboxymethyl cellulose technique and liquid overlay technique to form both mono- and co-culture spheroids consisting of primary osteoblasts, fibroblasts and endothelial cells. The performance of the three techniques was evaluated in terms of rate of yield and reproducibility. The size of the generated spheroids was determined systematically. RESULTS The liquid overlay technique was the most suitable for generating spheroids reproducibly. The rate of yield for this technique was between 60% and 100% for monoculture spheroids and 100% for co-culture spheroids. The size of the spheroids could be adjusted easily and precisely by varying the number of seeded cells organized in one spheroid. The formation of co-culture spheroids consisting of three different cell types was possible. CONCLUSIONS Our results show that the most suitable technique for forming spheroids can vary from the chosen cell type, especially if primary cells are used. Co-culture spheroids consisting of three different cell types will be used to study angiogenic phenomena in further studies.
A bound for the error covariance of the recursive Kalman filter with Markov jump parameters

In this paper we study the error covariance matrix of the recursive Kalman filter when the parameters of the filter are driven by a Markov chain taking values in a countably infinite set. In this context, the error covariance matrix of the filter depends on the Markov state realizations, and in this sense forms a stochastic process. We show in a rather direct and comprehensive manner that a standard stochastic detectability concept plays the role of a sufficient condition for the mean of the error covariance process of the Kalman filter to be bounded. Illustrative examples are included.
Assessment of territorial justice using geographic information systems: A case study of distributional equity of golf courses in Calgary, Canada

Abstract Minority groups and their residential locations have widely been examined in the environmental justice literature. Few studies, however, have focused specifically on territorial justice and the distributional equity of golf courses. Thus, this study examines the distributional equity of golf courses as they relate to Chinese residents and other disadvantaged groups in Calgary, Canada, over a 10‐year time span (1991 to 2001). Results indicate that Chinese were concentrated in several parts of Calgary over this period of time, and they were more likely than Anglo‐Canadians to reside in census tracts that did not have, or were not near to, golf courses. However, the distributional inequity decreased during more recent years, primarily because of the construction of new golf courses. In addition, no significant difference was found between less affluent and more affluent households, suggesting that ethnicity is the most important factor affecting close proximity to golf courses. Study limitations, implications, and future research recommendations are discussed.
Discrimination Across the Ideological Divide

Despite ample research linking conservatism to discrimination and liberalism to tolerance, both groups may discriminate. In two studies, we investigated whether conservatives and liberals support discrimination against value violators, and whether liberals’ and conservatives’ values distinctly affect discrimination. Results demonstrated that liberals and conservatives supported discrimination against ideologically dissimilar groups, an effect mediated by perceptions of value violations. Liberals were more likely than conservatives to espouse egalitarianism and universalism, which attenuated their discrimination; whereas the conservatives’ value of traditionalism predicted more discrimination, and their value of self-reliance predicted less discrimination. This suggests liberals and conservatives are equally likely to discriminate against value violators, but liberal values may ameliorate discrimination more than conservative values.
Smooth PARAFAC Decomposition for Tensor Completion

In recent years, low-rank based tensor completion, which is a higher order extension of matrix completion, has received considerable attention. However, the low-rank assumption is not sufficient for the recovery of visual data, such as color and 3D images, when the ratio of missing data is extremely high. In this paper, we consider “smoothness” constraints as well as low-rank approximations and propose an efficient algorithm for performing tensor completion that is particularly powerful regarding visual data. The proposed method admits significant advantages, owing to the integration of smooth PARAFAC decomposition for incomplete tensors and the efficient selection of models in order to minimize the tensor rank. Thus, our proposed method is termed as “smooth PARAFAC tensor completion (SPC). ” In order to impose the smoothness constraints, we employ two strategies, total variation (SPC-TV) and quadratic variation (SPC-QV), and invoke the corresponding algorithms for model learning. Extensive experimental evaluations on both synthetic and real-world visual data illustrate the significant improvements of our method, in terms of both prediction performance and efficiency, compared with many state-of-the-art tensor completion methods.
Why Faculty Members Use E-Mail: The Role of Individual Differences in Channel Choice

Recent research suggests that rational choice and social influence theories provide complementary explanations for individual selection and use of communication media in organizations. Focusing specifically on e-mail selection and use, our study builds on this research by investigating the determinative role of individual differences. We find that individual differences influence e-mail use directly, as well as influence the relation between other predictor variables and e-mail use. Specifically, favorable attitudes toward innovation and change, computer self-effi cacy, and computer experience directly and positively influence e-mail use, and in addition, attitudes toward innovation and change influence (moderate) the rela tionship between social context and e-mail selection and use. These findings point to the need for a more comprehensive and complex model of the process determin ing the selection and use of e-mail.
Trust but verify: social capital and moral behavior

Rational choice approaches suggest that decisions to behave morally depend largely on how people expect others to act. A social capital approach suggests that moral codes, rather than expectations of others, lead people to endorse strong standards of moral behavior. Using the 1981 World Values Study in the United States, I find strong support for the social capital perspective and at best limited backing for the rational choice approach in explaining why people endorse strong standards of moral behavior. Core values such as religion and trust in others, together with a belief that one adheres to the Ten Commandments, lead people to abjure a wide range of “immoral” acts from lying to buying stolen goods and claiming government benefits unfairly.
Prognostic value of clinicopathological characteristics in patients with pancreatic cancer.

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of all clinical characteristics on the overall survival time, in order to provide a basis for determining the prognostic factor of patients with pancreatic cancer. METHODS A total of 103 pancreatic cancer patients were admitted to the Department of Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy of the Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, between January 2002 and December 2012. There were 68 men and 35 women; the median age was 62 years. Diagnoses of pancreatic cancer in all patients were confirmed by histopathology, cytology, or clinical diagnosis. The Kaplan-Meier method was performed to calculate the overall survival rate. The log-rank method was used to examine the univariate analysis. The Cox regression model was performed for multivariate analysis. RESULTS The median survival time was 293 days, the 1-, 2-, and 3-year survival rates were 27.18%, 5.83%, and 1.94%, respectively. Cox regression analysis revealed that age (P=0.015), Karnofsky performance status (PS) (P=0.002), surgical types (P<0.001), and platelet counts (P<0.001) were independent prognostic factors affecting the overall survival of patients with pancreatic cancer. CONCLUSIONS Pancreatic cancer had a poor prognosis, the general physical condition, age, the availability of radical surgery, and platelet counts were factors influencing the overall survival of patients with pancreatic cancer.
Stochastic Opponent Modeling Agents : A Case Study with Hamas

Stochastic Opponent Modeling Agents (SOMA) have been proposed as a paradigm for reasoning about cultural groups, terror groups, and other socio-economic-political-military organizations worldwide. In this paper, we describe a case study that shows how SOMA was used to model the behavior of the terrorist organization, Hamas. Our team, consisting of a mix of computer scientists, policy experts, and political scientists, were able to understand new facts about Hamas of which even seasoned Hamas experts may not have been aware. This paper briefly overviews SOMA rules, explains how several thousand SOMA rules for Hamas were automatically derived, and then describes a few key findings about Hamas, enabled by this framework.
Effects of Task Experience and Group Experience on Group Performance, Member Ability, and Recognition of Expertise

Abstract Three studies examined the impact of two types of experience on the performance of problem-solving groups: group experience and task experience. In Study 1, 36 groups completed a survival exercise, and in Study 2, 65 groups completed a price estimation task. As hypothesized, task experience led to better group performance by increasing member ability. Study 3, which examined 21 groups solving quizzes, supported predictions that group experience on a related task increases group performance by facilitating recognition and utilization of member expertise. Results suggest that both group and task experience can facilitate group performance, but through the operation of different mechanisms.
Eco-Identity as Discursive Struggle: Royal Dutch/Shell, Brent Spar, and Nigeria

This paper addresses eco-discourse by the corporate rhetor that emerged in the wake of two environmental disputes. While such green business rhetoric might be conventionally viewed as a category of crisis communication, it is treated here as an instrument of corporate sensemaking and discursive struggle. Specifically, I analyze the "language games" between the Royal Dutch/Shell Group and its critics that arose over Shell UK's plans to decommission the Brent Spar and Shell Nige ria's operations in Ogoniland, a tribal community in the Niger Delta. I demon strate that Shell's rhetorical contests had constitutive effects on its environmental and human rights policies and practices and led to its cautious embrace of the language of sustainable development. Combining sensemaking and Foucauldian approaches, I argue that such local conflicts over meaning-making around the nat ural environment must be understood in terms of discursive struggle at the socio- political level where they both reflect and influence the dynamics of cultural and institutional change.
On Perceptual Information and Fitting Models to Data : A Reply to Massaro and Cohen ( 1993 )

Cutting, Bruno, Brady, and Moore (1992) investigated the properties of Massaro's (1987) fuzzy-logical model of perception (FLMP) and other models. Among their results, they found that FLMP and an additive model fit the data of individuals' judgments of depth about equally well, that the additive model fit the group data better, and that FLMP fit random data better. Massaro and Cohen (1993) questioned the pertinence of the latter finding, questioned the fiting of the additive model (but not that of FLMP) to group data, and also compared our general approaches to perception. Here we show two new ways in which FLMP absorbs random error, raise a question about fits of FLMP to group data, and provide new support for Cutting et al's claims about the importance of fitting models to random data. We then make further comparisons between the approaches and explicate the concept of information specification which they queried.
Tourism and remembrance: the journey into the self and its past

The research refines the author's earlier conceptualization of ‘personal memory tourism’, a form of travel motivated by memories of one's own past and focused on the revisiting of sites and destinations associated with key moments in a person's life or the retracing of memorable previous journeys. The concept is compared with and differentiated from overlapping and related types of tourism. Based on some scholarly insights into the functioning of human memory, it is argued that travelling can be considered a deliberate and organized extension of the process of remembering, associated with issues of identity and an exploration of the self, especially in relation to significant others. Using an interpretive approach based on in-depth interviews with 20 participants, the research found that the majority have engaged in some form of personal memory tourism, but with great divergences in how such trips were organized and for what reasons. The research concludes that personal memory tourism should not be considered a type, but rather a form of tourism due to the heterogeneous and highly individualized nature of the phenomenon.
Note on sampling without replacing from a finite collection of matrices

This technical note supplies an affirmative answer to a question raised in a recent pre-print [arXiv:0910.1879] in the context of a "matrix recovery" problem. Assume one samples m Hermitian matrices X_1, . , X_m with replacement from a finite collection. The deviation of the sum X_1+. +X_m from its expected value in terms of the operator norm can be estimated by an "operator Chernoff-bound" due to Ahlswede and Winter. The question arose whether the bounds obtained this way continue to hold if the matrices are sampled without replacement. We remark that a positive answer is implied by a classical argument by Hoeffding. Some consequences for the matrix recovery problem are sketched.
Core Pedagogy

Attention to the core practices of teaching necessitates core pedagogies in teacher preparation. This article outlines the diffusion of one such pedagogy from medical to teacher education. The concept of clinical simulations is outlined through the lens of “signature pedagogies” and their uncertain, engaging, formative qualities. Implemented in five different teacher preparation programs, simulation data highlight design principles and resulting outcomes for general scholastic and subject-specific problems of practice.