Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Limits to attention: A cognitive theory of island phenomena

Syntactic Island constraints are generally viewed äs paradigmatic evidence for the autonomy of syntax. However, the existence ofexceptions has been known for some time. Close examination reveals that these exceptional phenomena resist purely syntactic explanations, requiring insteadan account in terms of semanüc relations like attribution, various kinds of semantic framing ejfects, and discourse variables like topic and focus. It will be argued that the syntactic and extrasyntactic factors which limit extraction can be subsumed into a general account based on a cognitive theory of attention. According to the analysis presented below, extraction phenomena represent a Situation in which the language user must attend simultaneously to two parts of the syntactic structure; a Situation which strains the limited working memory available for automatic syntactic processing. Long-range extraction takes place under conditions which reduce that processing strain, that is, when both the extracted element and the matrix for extraction command attention anyway. In other words, the factors which control the distribution of long-range extraction do so indirectly through their impact on the distribution of attention.
Moving European research on work and ageing forward: Overview and agenda

This paper summarizes the state of affairs of European research on ageing and work. After a close inspection of the age construct, an overview is presented of research in four areas: the relationship between age and HR-policies, early retirement, age and performance/employability, age and health/well-being. The overview results in a research agenda on work and ageing and in recommendations for practice.
Online Content Creation Practices Of Estonian School children In A Comparative Perspective

This article analyses practices of online content creation, with a focus on blogging and personal homepages, among Estonian schoolchildren in the comparative context of Europe. The MEDIAPPRO survey of 11–18 year-old pupils, carried out in eight European countries (including Estonia) in Autumn 2005, various sources from the EU Kids Online Data Repository and the data of a questionnaire survey of 11–18 year-old pupils, carried out in comprehensive schools in three cities in Estonia in Autumn 2007 (N = 713), provide the empirical basis for analysing the extent of pupils' engagement in creative online activities. Estonian pupils, although high-ranking in Internet use, are at an average level in content creation. Activeness in producing content online is related to a child's age, computer and Internet skills, and mediation and support by peers.
Evaluation of Cross-Sectional Luminal Morphology in Carotid Atherosclerotic Disease by Use of Spiral CT Angiography

Background and Purpose— This study sought to determine the frequency of noncircular lumens in patients with significant carotid atherosclerotic disease and to evaluate the effect of noncircular lumens on stenosis measurement derived from angiographic projections. Methods— One hundred consecutive patients presenting with an internal carotid artery stenosis of at least 50% were imaged with spiral CT angiography. The transverse morphology of the diseased lumen was assessed on axial images, and the frequency of noncircular lumens was determined. In these cases, maximum intensity projection angiograms were reconstructed in standardized angiographic planes and in a plane selected according to the luminal obliquity, which was chosen to optimize the angiographic representation of the maximal stenosis. North American Symptomatic Carotid Endarterectomy Trial (NASCET) measurements were calculated from the maximum intensity projection images, and differences between values obtained from standard and optimized projections were recorded. Results— Noncircular lumens were observed in 18 of 100 patients and consisted of elliptical and linear transverse profiles. The transverse orientation of the lumen in these cases ranged from +90° to −87° relative to the anteroposterior plane. An increase in the calculated NASCET stenosis was demonstrated when measurements were obtained from angiographic reconstructions obtained in the exact plane of the luminal obliquity compared with standard angiographic projections. As a result, the stenosis severity was upgraded from moderate to severe in 2 patients. Conclusions— Noncircular transverse luminal profiles are not uncommon and may introduce error into NASCET calculations obtained from standard angiographic projections .
Media Multitasking at Home: A Video Observation Study of Concurrent TV and Mobile Device Usage

Increasingly people interact with their mobile devices while watching television. We evolve an understanding of this kind of everyday media multitasking behaviour through an analysis of video data. In our study, four households were recorded watching television over three evenings. We analysed 55 hours of footage in which participants were watching the TV. We found that mobile device habits were highly variable between participants during this time, ranging from 0% to 23% of the time that the TV was on. To help us understand this variability, participants completed the Media Multitasking Index (MMI) questionnaire. Results showed that participants with a higher MMI score used their mobile device more while watching TV at home. We also saw evidence that the TV was being used as a hub in the home: multiple people were often present when the time the TV was on, providing a background for other household activities. We argue that video analysis can give valuable insights into media multitasking in the home.
Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cells in Stromal Evolution and Cancer Progression

The study of cancer biology has mainly focused on malignant epithelial cancer cells, although tumors also contain a stromal compartment, which is composed of stem cells, tumor-associated fibroblasts (TAFs), endothelial cells, immune cells, adipocytes, cytokines, and various types of macromolecules comprising the extracellular matrix (ECM). The tumor stroma develops gradually in response to the needs of epithelial cancer cells during malignant progression initiating from increased local vascular permeability and ending to remodeling of desmoplastic loosely vascularized stromal ECM. The constant bidirectional interaction of epithelial cancer cells with the surrounding microenvironment allows damaged stromal cell usage as a source of nutrients for cancer cells, maintains the stroma renewal thus resembling a wound that does not heal, and affects the characteristics of tumor mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs). Although MSCs have been shown to coordinate tumor cell growth, dormancy, migration, invasion, metastasis, and drug resistance, recently they have been successfully used in treatment of hematopoietic malignancies to enhance the effect of total body irradiation-hematopoietic stem cell transplantation therapy. Hence, targeting the stromal elements in combination with conventional chemotherapeutics and usage of MSCs to attenuate graft-versus-host disease may offer new strategies to overcome cancer treatment failure and relapse of the disease.
Potential field methods and their inherent limitations for mobile robot navigation

Based on a rigorous mathematical analysis, the authors present a systematic overview and a critical discussion of the inherent problems of potential field methods (PFMs). The authors previously (1989) developed a PFM called the virtual force field (VFF) method. Much insight has been gained into the strengths and weaknesses of this method. Four distinct drawbacks with PFMs are identified. Because of these drawbacks, the authors abandoned potential field methods and developed a new method for fast obstacle avoidance. This method, called the vector field histogram method, produces smooth, nonoscillatory motion, while sampling time and hardware are identical to those used in the VFF method. <<ETX>>
C1 esterase inhibitor gene expression in rat Kupffer cells, peritoneal macrophages and blood monocytes: modulation by interferon gamma

Kupffer cells (KC) represent the main part of the tissue macrophages. Beside phagocytosis of particulate material, involvement of KC in immunological and inflammatory reactions has been supposed. As C1 esterase inhibitor (C1-INH) is a serine protease inhibitor involved in such processes, the aim of this work was to study C1-INH synthesis in KC and, by comparison, in peritoneal macrophages (PM) and blood monocytes (MC) of the rat. C1-INH synthesis was studied on the protein level by biosynthetic labeling, immunoprecipitation, and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis, and on the RNA level by Northern blotting of total RNA or by in situ hybridization. KC were found to express C1-INH gene spontaneously. C1-INH synthesis represents 1.3 +/- 0.2% of total protein synthesis at day 1 of culture and the absolute amount each cell synthesis remains constant during the whole time in culture. Transcripts of C1-INH were detected both in freshly isolated and in cultured KC. In contrast, spontaneous C1-INH gene expression was not detectable in freshly isolated PM, but only in cultured PM. In MC, C1-INH was not detectable at any time, whatever. Treatment of the cells with interferon gamma increased C1-INH synthesis in KC and in PM and caused an induction of C1-INH synthesis in MC. The results suggest that constitutive C1-INH synthesis is a functional marker for mature tissue macrophages.
Exponential filtering for uncertain Markovian jump time-delay systems with nonlinear disturbances

In this paper, we study the robust exponential filter design problem for a class of uncertain time-delay systems with both Markovian jumping parameters and nonlinear disturbances. The jumping parameters considered here are generated from a continuous-time discrete-state homogeneous Markov process, and the parameter uncertainties appearing in the state and output equations are real, time dependent, and norm bounded. The time-delay and the nonlinear disturbances are assumed to be unknown. The purpose of the problem under investigation is to design a linear, delay-free, uncertainty-independent state estimator such that, for all admissible uncertainties as well as nonlinear disturbances, the dynamics of the estimation error is stochastically exponentially stable in the mean square, independent of the time delay. We address both the filtering analysis and synthesis issues, and show that the problem of exponential filtering for the class of uncertain time-delay jump systems with nonlinear disturbances can be solved in terms of the solutions to a set of linear (quadratic) matrix inequalities. A numerical example is exploited to demonstrate the usefulness of the developed theory.
Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker Disease and “Anchorless Prion Protein” Mice Share Prion Conformational Properties Diverging from Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease*

Background: Prion strains exhibit distinct physical and biochemical repertoires, aggregation propensity, and biological properties. Results: A biochemical approach is developed for defining the conformational features of prions with or without glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchor. Conclusion: GPI anchorless prions are detected in human genetic prion diseases, but not in sporadic forms. Significance: Unveiling the structure of GPI anchorless prions to predict pathological properties. The role of the GPI-anchor in prion disease pathogenesis is still a challenging issue. In vitro studies have shown that anchorless cellular prion protein (PrPC) undergoes aberrant post-translational processing and metabolism. Moreover, transgenic (Tg) mice overexpressing anchorless PrPC develop a spontaneous neurological disease accompanied with widespread brain PrP amyloid deposition, in the absence of spongiform changes. Generation of PrP forms lacking the GPI and PrP amyloidosis are striking features of human stop codon mutations in the PrP gene (PRNP), associated with PrP cerebral amyloid angiopathy (PrP-CAA) and Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker (GSS) syndrome. More recently, the presence of anchorless PrP species has been also claimed in sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD). Using a highly sensitive protein separation technique and taking advantage of reference maps of synthetic PrP peptides, we investigated brain tissues from scrapie-infected “anchorless PrP” Tg mice and wild type mice to determine the contribution of the GPI-anchor to the molecular mass and isoelectric point of PrP quasispecies under two-dimensional electrophoresis. We also assessed the conformational properties of anchorless and anchored prions under standard and inactivating conditions. These studies were extended to sCJD and GSS. At variance with GSS, characterization of PrP quasispecies in different sCJD subtypes ruled out the presence of anchorless prions. Moreover, under inactivating conditions, mice anchorless prions, but not sCJD prions, generated internal PrP fragments, cleaved at both N and C termini, similar to those found in PrP-CAA and GSS brain tissues. These findings show that anchorless PrPSc generates GSS-like PrP fragments, and suggest a major role for unanchored PrP in amyloidogenesis.
Parental entrepreneurship in public education: a social force or a policy problem?

Parental involvement in public education is an expression of joint responsibility between parents and the state in which parents are expected to comply with current educational policy. Moreover, parents are often perceived as reactive, whereas the educational administration is seen as proactive, mainly by reducing barriers and establishing mechanisms for parental involvement. Referring to proactive involvement in which parents practice noncompliance while fighting the system, this study conceptualizes ‘parental entrepreneurship. ’ The practical aspects of parental entrepreneurship are analyzed based on three well-known manifestations: homeschooling, the integration of children with special needs, and parental cooperatives within early childhood education and care. Parental entrepreneurship further exemplifies the blurry boundaries between parents and administration as regards children’s education and demonstrates that the entrepreneurial role parents may play in reforming formal public education. Parental entrepreneurship also illuminates the ongoing renegotiation of the foundations of the social contract between parents and the government, primarily in relation to professionalism, legitimacy, and authority.
Age, Gender, Psychological Wellbeing and the Impact of Losing the Latent and Manifest Benefits of Employment in Unemployed People

Three hundred and eighty-six unemployed adults were administered surveys measuring wellbeing, the latent (social support, activity, collective purpose, time structure, status) and manifest (financial strain)benefits of employment, and neuroticism. Participants were divided into three groups: 142 “young” (18–24.9 years), 125 “middle-aged” (25–34.9) and 119 “mature-aged” unemployed (aged 35–55 years). It was hypothesised that age and gender effects would be found for wellbeing, that these would be associated with differences in access to the latent and manifest benefits of employment, and the manifest and latent benefits would interact in predicting wellbeing. No gender main effects were found. The young unemployed reported higher wellbeing, more social support, and higher status than the mature group, and less time structure and higher status than the middle-aged group. No differences were identified between the middle-aged and mature unemployed. Neuroticism was the most important individual predictor of w.
Exploring the Influence of the Classroom Environment on Students' Motivation and Self-regulated Learning in Hong Kong

This study aims at exploring the characteristics of classroom environment in Hong Kong's junior secondary schools, and investigates the influence of classroom environment on students' motivation and use of self-regulated learning strategy. A total of 1,955 Grade 7 to 9 junior secondary students responded to a questionnaire that comprised two sets of instruments, i.e., the Hong Kong Classroom Environment Scale and the Chinese version of Motivated Strategy for Learning Questionnaire. The findings of this study suggest that high teacher support and involvement is a salient feature of classroom environment in Hong Kong. However, in contrast to results of Western research, this study found that it was teachers rather than students who were more influential on students' self-regulated learning in Hong Kong, which might reflect some culture-specific features of teacher-centred classroom environment in Hong Kong. The implications of these findings for understanding Hong Kong classroom environment and students' self-regulated learning are discussed. Finally, suggestions for future research are put forward.
A process model of intuition

Intuitive judgements, in which individuals reliably detect a criterion above chance or advantageously use knowledge without knowing how they achieve this, are a fascinating field of psychological research. However, often the research does not go beyond a mere demonstration of an intuitive performance and does not ask for the mechanisms underlying these astonishing faculties. For the case of coherence intuitions, a procedural account is theoretically derived and empirically tested assuming fluency and affect as driving mechanisms. Causally isolating and manipulating these mechanisms made it possible to influence, disable, and even reverse intuitions. This fluency–affect intuition model (FAIM) holds valid for intuitions of semantic coherence, Gestalt intuitions, and artificial grammar learning, and is likely valid for other phenomena such as stereotype disconfirmation or the feeling of knowing. Future research avenues for process models of other intuitive phenomena are discussed.
Epidemiology of maxillofacial injuries at trauma hospitals in Ontario, Canada, between 1992 and 1997.

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to review the epidemiology of maxillofacial skeletal injuries in severely injured patients admitted to trauma hospitals in Ontario, Canada, with an Injury Severity Score > 12. METHODS The Ontario Trauma Registry was accessed to examine the epidemiology of maxillofacial skeletal injuries in severely injured patients treated at 12 trauma hospitals in the province of Ontario, Canada, between 1992 and 1997. Data were collected prospectively, and a descriptive analysis was performed to determine the pattern of maxillofacial injuries, including patient age, sex distribution, etiology of injury, time of injury, and injury profile. RESULTS There were 2,969 patients that met the inclusion criteria. The median age was 25 years, and men were injured at a 3:1 ratio over women. Most severely injured patients with maxillofacial fractures were injured as a result of motor vehicle collision (70%), with only 33% of the patients restrained with a seat-belt. The temporal distribution of injuries showed that most injuries occurred during evening hours, on weekends, and in the summer. The largest number of fractures was found in the maxilla and orbital bones. The Injury Severity Score of the patients in this study ranged from 13 to 75, with a median of 25. The injury most commonly associated with maxillofacial fractures was injury to the head and neck area. Of patients with injury to the head and neck, most had an altered level of consciousness or injuries to the skull, brain, or cranial vessels. CONCLUSION Many severely injured patients have maxillofacial injuries. Long-term collection of epidemiologic data regarding maxillofacial fractures is important for the evaluation of existing preventative measures and useful in the development of new methods of injury prevention. Furthermore, insight into the epidemiology of facial fractures and concomitant injuries is an integral component in evaluating the quality of patient care, developing optimal treatment regimens, and making decisions regarding appropriate resource and manpower allocations.
Low-Ripple and Dual-Phase Charge Pump Circuit Regulated by Switched-Capacitor-Based Bandgap Reference

This paper proposes a low-ripple and dual-phase charge pump circuit regulated by switched-capacitor-based bandgap reference. Due to design of a buffer stage, a system can have better bandwidth and phase margin, and thus, the transient response and driving capability can be improved. Besides, the dual-phase control can reduce the output voltage ripple by means of only one closed-loop regulation in order to improve the power conversion efficiency. Besides, the proposed automatic body switching (ABS) circuit can efficiently drive the bulk of the power p-type MOSFETs to avoid leakage and potential latch-up. Usually, the regulated charge pump circuit needs a bandgap reference circuit to provide a temperature-independent reference voltage. The switched-capacitor-based bandgap reference circuit is utilized to regulate the output voltage. This chip was fabricated by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) 0.35 mum 3.3 V/5 V 2P4M CMOS technology. The input voltage range varies from 2.9 to 5.5 V, and the output voltage is regulated at 5 V. Experimental results demonstrate that the charge pump can provide 48 mA maximum load current without any oscillation problems.
Application of sampling methodologies to network traffic characterization

The relative performance of different data collection methods in the assessment of various traffic parameters is significant when the amount of data generated by a complete trace of a traffic interval is computationally overwhelming, and even capturing summary statistics for all traffic is impractical. This paper presents a study of the performance of various methods of sampling in answering questions related to wide area network traffic characterization. Using a packet trace from a network environment that aggregates traffic from a large number of sources, we simulate various sampling approaches, including time-driven and event-driven methods, with both random and deterministic selection patterns, at a variety of granularities. Using several metrics which indicate the similarity between two distributions, we then compare the sampled traces to the parent population. Our results revealed that the time-triggered techniques did not perform as well as the packet-triggered ones. Furthermore, the performance differences within each class (packet-based or time-based techniques) are small.
Architectural power models for sram and cam structures based on hybrid analytical/empirical techniques

The need to perform power analysis in the early stages of the design process has become critical as power has become a major design constraint. Embedded and high-performance microprocessors incorporate large on-chip cache and similar SRAM-based or CAM-based structures, and these components can consume a significant fraction of the total chip power. Thus an accurate power modeling method for such structures is important in early architecture design studies. We present a unified architecture-level power modeling methodology for array structures which is highly-accurate, parameterizable, and technology scalable. We demonstrate the applicability of the model to different memory structures (SRAMs and CAMs) and include leakage-variability in advanced technologies. The power modeling approach is validated against HSPICE power simulation results, and we show power estimation accuracy within 5% of detailed circuit simulations.
Feminism and family planning in Victorian England

Having demonstrated that their economic aspirations and circumstances were a necessary but not a sufficient cause for the onset of family limitation by the English upper and middle classes, another suggested explanation, the emancipation of women, is examined in this study. This shows how the feminists were little involved in the family limitation campaigns, and concludes that such emancipation was less important than the rising standard of living.