Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Corporate Annual Report Graphical Communication in Hong Kong: Effective or Misleading?

Graphical presentation of quantitative data within corporate annual reports has become one of the techniques used by management to disclose quantitative information. The purposes of the paper are (a) to review the normative advan tages and limitations of graphs in corporate reporting, and (b) to extend our knowledge about the presentation of annual report chart graphics by examining Asian (Hong Kong) data. Two surveys of chart graphics were undertaken: 140 annual reports for 1992-1993 and 114 for 1994-1995. It was found that 38% and 35% of companies respectively for each of the two time periods include chart graphics. However, the second survey found the surprising and disturbing result that the construction techniques used in approximately half of all graphs violate sound principles and are therefore misleading. Because misleading graphs occur across all industrial sectors, violations may be the result of preparer ignorance and carelessness rather than wilful manipulation to deceive. Without objective evidence about this, professional management and accountancy organizations probably need not yet draft construction guidelines for annual report preparers.
On the Effect of Learning Style on Scholastic Achievement.

The present study was designed to explore the influence of learning styles on scholastic achievement levels. The participants in this study were undergraduate students studying social sciences at a Division 1 research university, The frequencies of the participants in the four learning style categories are the following: Convergent (n = 28), Divergent (n = 49), Assimilator (n = 76), and Accommodator (n = 40). The instruments used in the study were the Kolb learning style inventory and a demographic form. The major findings of the study are that the dominant learning style was Assimilator and that learning style and gender influenced academic achievement.
In-depth Exploitation of Noun and Verb Semantics to Identify Causation in Verb-Noun Pairs

Recognition of causality is important to achieve natural language discourse understanding. Previous approaches rely on shallow linguistic features. In this work, we propose to identify causality in verbnoun pairs by exploiting deeper semantics of nouns and verbs. Particularly, we acquire and employ three novel types of knowledge: (1) semantic classes of nouns with a high and low tendency to encode causality along with information regarding metonymies, (2) data-driven semantic classes of verbal events with the least tendency to encode causality, and (3) tendencies of verb frames to encode causality. Using these knowledge sources, we achieve around 15% improvement in Fscore over a supervised classifier trained using linguistic features.
Remembering Relevant Information and Withholding Relevant Next Actions: The German Token achja

Using conversation analytic methodology, in this article, we examine two prosodic variants of the German response token achja and their use in everyday interaction. Whereas achJA, with prosodic prominence (in form of higher amplitude) on the second syllable, is used to claim remembering of relevant but just now recalled information, ∧achja, with prosodic prominence (in form of a pitch peak) on the first syllable, serves as a placeholder in sequential slots in which the speaker is not in a position to provide the just-now-relevant response. Thus, whereas a speaker may use achJA to establish prior independent access to interactionally relevant information and mark its retrieval, ∧achja displays a significant lack of access to relevant sequential or contextual knowledge. ∧Achja is regularly recognized as an insufficient response by the coparticipant and followed by turn and sequence expansions, whereas achJA is closing relevant. In this article, we also discuss the component tokens ach and ja separately and outline implications for the study of response tokens, translation practices, and of prosody in interaction.
Natural history of a randomized trial comparing distal spleno-renal shunt with endoscopic sclerotherapy in the prevention of variceal rebleeding: a lesson from the past.

AIM To compare endoscopic sclerotherapy (ES) with distal splenorenal shunt (DSRS) in the prevention of recurrent variceal bleeding in cirrhotic patients during a long-term follow-up period. METHODS In 1984 we started a prospective, controlled study of patients with liver cirrhosis. Long-term follow-up presents a natural history of liver cirrhosis complicated by advanced portal hypertension. In this study the effects of 2 types of treatment, DSRS or ES, were evaluated. The study population included 80 patients with cirrhosis and portal hypertension referred to our department from October 1984 to March 1991. These patients were drawn from a pool of 282 patients who underwent either elective surgery or ES during the same period of time. Patients were assigned to one of the 2 groups according to a random number table: 40 to DSRS and 40 to ES using polidocanol. RESULTS During the postoperative period, no DSRS patient died, while one ES patient died of uncontrolled hemorrhage. One DSRS patient had mild recurrent variceal hemorrhage despite an angiographically patent DSRS and another patient suffered duodenal ulcer rebleeding. Eight ES patients suffered at least one episode of gastrointestinal bleeding: 4 from varices and 4 from esophageal ulcerations. Eight ES patients developed transitory dysphagia. Long-term follow-up was completed in all patients except for 5 cases (2 DSRS and 3 ES patients). Five-year survival rates for shunt (73%) and ES (56%) groups were statistically different: in this follow-up period and in subsequent follow-ups this difference decreased and ceased to be of statistical relevance. The primary cause of death became hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Four DSRS patients rebled due to duodenal ulcer, while eleven ES patients had recurrent bleeding from esophago-gastric sources (seven from varices, three from hypertensive gastropathy, one from esophageal ulcerations) and two from unknown sources. Nine DSRS and 2 ES patients developed a chronic encephalopathy; 13 DSRS and 5 ES patients suffered at least one episode of acute encephalopathy. Five ES patients had esophageal stenoses, which were successfully dilated. CONCLUSION In a subgroup of patients with good liver function, DSRS with a correct portal-azygos disconnection more effectively prevents variceal rebleeding than ES. However, this positive effect did not influence the long-term survival because other factors (e.g. HCC) were more important in deciding the fate of the cirrhotic patients with portal hypertension.
Polarimetric micro-Doppler characterization of wind turbines

The article presents wind turbines polarimetric micro-Doppler radar backscattering characteristics, which were measured by the PARSAX radar using high resolution sounding signals with dual orthogonality. Such signals provide the possibility to measure all elements of polarization backscattering matrix of radar target simultaneously that especially important for the analysis of moving targets polarimetric micro-Doppler patterns. Such information can be used for better understanding of electromagnetic wave scattering processes and development effective algorithms for the mitigation of resulting dynamic clutter.
Teachers’ learning in a research and development work project

This article focuses on teachers’ learning in a research and development (R&D) work project. The teachers are working in a lower secondary school, and the cooperation between them and the researcher lasted for two years. The aim of this article is to show what teachers can learn and how they can learn during such a project. In the qualitative study conducted within this R&D project, observations, reflection dialogues and log‐book entries were key data collection strategies. This material shows that teachers want to reflect together to learn, but both the form and content of these collective reflections have a major impact on their learning. Before the teachers are ready to challenge each other, they have to have confidence in each other. Once they have this confidence, the form of the reflection dialogues can change. During the R&D work the teachers learn how reflections become part of the planning process for their next teaching sessions, and after a while theories become a tool that can help them with their reflections.
Potential fungal inhibition by immobilized hydrolytic enzymes from Trichoderma asperellum.

The use of cell wall degrading enzymes from Trichoderma asperellum immobilized on biodegradable support is an alternative for food packaging. In this study, hydrolytic enzymes produced by T. asperellum were tested as a fungal growth inhibitor, in free form or immobilized on a biodegradable film composed of cassava starch and poly(butylene adipate-co-terephtalate) (PBAT). The inhibitory activity was tested against Aspergillus niger , Penicillium sp. , and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum , microorganisms that frequently degrade food packaging. The use of chitin as carbon source in liquid medium induced T. asperellun to produce N-acetylglucosaminidase, β-1,3-glucanase, chitinase, and protease. The presence of T. asperellun cell wall degradating enzymes (T-CWD) immobilized by adsorption or covalent attachment resulted in effective inhibition of fungal growth. The enzymatic activity of T-CWD was stronger on S. sclerotiorum than on the Aspergillus or Penicillum isolates tested. These results suggest that T-CWD can be used in a free or immobilized form to suppress fungi that degrade food packaging.
A comparison of classifiers and document representations for the routing problem

In this paper, we compare learning techniques based on statistical classification to traditional methods of relevance feedback for the document routing problem. We consider three classification techniques which have decision rules that are derived via explicit error minimization linear discriminant analysis, logistic regression, and neuraf networks. We demonstrate that the classifiers perform 10-15% better than relevance feedback via Rocchio expansion for the TREC-2 and TREC-3 routing tasks. Error minimization is difficult in high-dimensional feature spaces because the convergence process is slow and the models ~e prone to overfitting. We use two different strategies, latent semantic indexing and optimaJ term selection, to reduce the number of features. Our results indicate that features based on latent semantic indexing are more effective for techniques such as linear discriminant anaf-ysis and logistic regression, which have no way to protect against overfitting. Neural networks perform equally well with either set of features and can take advantage of the additional information available when both feature sets are used as input.
Continuous auditory feedback for sensorimotor learning

Our sensorimotor system has developed a specific relationship between our actions and their sonic outcomes, which it interprets as auditory feedback. The development of motion sensing and audio technologies allows emphasizing this relationship through interactive sonification of movement. We propose several experimental frameworks (visual, non-visual, tangible, virtual) to assess the contribution of sonification to sensorimotor control and learning in interactive systems. First, we show that the auditory system integrates dynamic auditory cues for online motor control, either from head or hand movements. Auditory representations of space and of the scene can be built from audio features and transformed into motor commands. The framework of a virtual sonic object illustrates that auditory-motor representations can shape exploratory movement features and allow for sensory substitution. Second, we measure that continuous auditory feedback in a tracking task helps significantly the performance. Both error and task sonification can help performance but have different effects on learning. We also observe that sonification of user’s movement can increase the energy of produced motion and prevent feedback dependency. Finally, we present the concept of sound-oriented task, where the target is expressed as acoustic features to match. We show that motor adaptation can be driven by interactive audio cues only. In this work, we highlight important guidelines for sonification design in auditory-motor coupling research, as well as applications through original setups we developed, like perceptual and physical training, and playful gesture-sound interactive scenarios for rehabilitation.
Transcriptional co-activator protein p100 interacts with snRNP proteins and facilitates the assembly of the spliceosome

Transcription and pre-mRNA splicing are the key nuclear processes in eukaryotic gene expression, and identification of factors common to both processes has suggested that they are functionally coordinated. p100 protein has been shown to function as a transcriptional co-activator for several transcription factors. p100 consists of staphylococcal nuclease (SN)-like and Tudor-SN (TSN) domains of which the SN-like domains have been shown to function in transcription, but the function of TSN domain has remained elusive. Here we identified interaction between p100 and small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNP) that function in pre-mRNA splicing. The TSN domain of p100 specifically interacts with components of the U5 snRNP, but also with the other spliceosomal snRNPs. In vitro splicing assays revealed that the purified p100, and specifically the TSN domain of p100, accelerates the kinetics of the spliceosome assembly, particularly the formation of complex A, and the transition from complex A to B. Consistently, the p100 protein, as well as the separated TSN domain, enhanced the kinetics of the first step of splicing in an in vitro splicing assay in dose-dependent manner. Thus our results suggest that p100 protein is a novel dual function regulator of gene expression that participates via distinct domains in both transcription and splicing.
Pseudotumour cerebri in a young obese woman on oral contraceptives

Objectives Pseudotumour cerebri has been previously recognized as a neurological side effect of combined oral contraceptives but has not been diagnosed with a delay of 3 years after initiation of combined oral contraceptives. Case report A 19-year-old obese woman developed visual impairment and headache, 4 months after starting combined oral contraceptives. Three years later symptoms deteriorated and she presented with prominent tendon-jerks and congested optical-discs. Normal CSF drained with high pressure from the spinal tap. Pseudotumour cerebri was diagnosed. Headache and visual impairment resolved within 3 weeks after discontinuation of combined oral contraceptives. Conclusions Combined oral contraceptives-induced pseudotumour cerebri may remain undetected for years. Young, obese women with visual impairment and headache under combined oral contraceptives should undergo immediate neurological and ophthalmological investigation.
Exploring Pretreatment Expectancies in a Campus Mental Health Setting: The Validation of a Novel Expectancies Measure

Treatment expectancies and outcome have been robustly associated, although these constructs are understudied within college mental health populations. This is partially because of the lack of psychometrically sound expectancy measures for campus clinics. This study examined the validity, reliability, and clinical utility of a novel expectancy measure developed for use in campus clinics. The measure was found to have sound psychometric properties and may prospectively identify pretreatment expectancies that adversely affect treatment outcomes.
Do psychological therapists neglect the individual’s world of work?

Perhaps one of Freud’s most misquoted phrases is ‘Love and work . work and love . what else is there really? ’ or similarly ‘The goal of psychotherapy is to allow the patient to love and to work’. These various misquotations appear to have stemmed from Erikson (1963) whose own story of love and work makes for fascinating reading. What Freud actually said was ‘The communal life of human beings, had, therefore, a twofold foundation: the compulsion to work, which was created by external necessity, and the power of love’ (Freud, 1930, p. 101). So at one level, the questions of work and love, misquoted or not, do not go away. Yet to what extent are psychological therapists, albeit working from an individual rather than an organisational perspective, able to explore the client/patient’s ability to work, and how suitable are they to do this? Taking the latter question first, it is assumed that many psychological therapists particularly in private practice are often there to escape being subject to ordinary work pressures – so would they only be of limited use in helping people other than perhaps encouraging them also to leave? It would appear that whilst there was previously some literature on considering work as being central to psychological well-being (e.g. Maslow, 1954; Rogers, 1961) and there was previously empirical work carried out appearing to demonstrate that satisfaction in work or love is associated with satisfaction in the other (e.g. Baruch, Barnett, & Rivers, 1983), there has recently been relatively little on this. One, though not recent, exception is Hazan and Shaver (1990) who start with another interesting quote, this time from Tolstoy: ‘one can live magnificently in the world if one knows how to work and how to love’ (Tryat, 1967, p. 158, in Hazan & Shaver, 1990). Hazan and Shaver attempt to explore how love and work are related by using attachment theory. They conclude
Purkinje Cell Pathology and Loss in Multiple Sclerosis Cerebellum

Cerebellar ataxia commonly occurs in multiple sclerosis, particularly in chronic progressive disease. Previous reports have highlighted both white matter and grey matter pathological changes within the cerebellum; and demyelination and inflammatory cell infiltrates appear commonly. As Purkinje cell axons are the sole output of the cerebellar cortex, understanding pathologic processes within these cells is crucial to develop strategies to prevent their loss and thus reduce ataxia. We studied pathologic changes occurring within Purkinje cells of the cerebellum. Using immunohistochemic techniques, we found changes in neurofilament phosphorylation states within Purkinje cells, including loss of dephosphorylated neurofilament and increased phosphorylated and hyperphosphorylated neurofilament. We also found Purkinje axonal spheroids and Purkinje cell loss, both of which occurred predominantly within areas of leucocortical demyelination within the cerebellar cortex. These changes have important implications for the study of cerebellar involvement in multiple sclerosis and may help design therapies to reduce the burden of ataxia in the condition.
Some Methodological Problems in Reflection-Impulsivity Research.

AULT, RUTH L. ; MITCHELL, CHRISTINE; and HARTMANN, DONALD P. Some Methodological Problems in Reflection-Impulsivity Research. CmLD DEVELOPMENT, 1976, 47, 227-231. 2 statistical characteristics of the Matching Familiar Figures test produce methodological problems in reflection-impulsivity research. The first characteristic is low reliability of error rates which results in 4 problems: frequent errors of classification, regression effects in repeatedmeasures designs not employing a control group, statistically insignificant effects in small sample studies when error rate is manipulated, and underestimation of correlations between errors and other variables unless corrected for attenuation. The second characteristic is the moderate negative correlation between latency and error rate which makes 2 X 2 analyses of variance on latencies and errors problematic. The main and interaction effects resulting from such an analysis may be confounded, and artificial dichotomization of continuous variables such as latency and errors results in loss of statistical power.
Reducing Friction and Wear of Tribological Systems through Hybrid Tribofilm Consisting of Coating and Lubricants

The role of surface protective additives becomes vital when operating conditions become severe and moving components operate in a boundary lubrication regime. After protecting film is slowly removed by rubbing, it can regenerate through the tribochemical reaction of the additives at the contact. However, there are limitations about the regeneration of the protecting film when additives are totally consumed. On the other hand, there are a lot of hard coatings to protect the steel surface from wear. These can enable the functioning of tribological systems, even in adverse lubrication conditions. However, hard coatings usually make the friction coefficient higher, because of their high interfacial shear strength. Amongst hard coatings, diamond-like carbon (DLC) is widely used, because of its relatively low friction and superior wear resistance. In practice, conventional lubricants that are essentially formulated for a steel/steel surface are still used for lubricating machine component surfaces provided with protective coatings, such as DLCs, despite the fact that the surface properties of coatings are quite different from those of steel. It is therefore important that the design of additive molecules and their interaction with coatings should be re-considered. The main aim of this paper is to discuss the DLC and the additive combination that enable tribofilm formation and effective lubrication of tribological systems.
The effect of forced exercise on knee joints in Dio2−/− mice: type II iodothyronine deiodinase-deficient mice are less prone to develop OA-like cartilage damage upon excessive mechanical stress

Objective To further explore deiodinase iodothyronine type 2 (DIO2) as a therapeutic target in osteoarthritis (OA) by studying the effects of forced mechanical loading on in vivo joint cartilage tissue homeostasis and the modulating effect herein of Dio2 deficiency. Methods Wild-type and C57BL/6-Dio2−/− -mice were subjected to a forced running regime for 1 h per day for 3 weeks. Severity of OA was assessed by histological scoring for cartilage damage and synovitis. Genome-wide gene expression was determined in knee cartilage by microarray analysis (Illumina MouseWG-6 v2). STRING-db analyses were applied to determine enrichment for specific pathways and to visualise protein–protein interactions. Results In total, 158 probes representing 147 unique genes showed significantly differential expression with a fold-change ≥1.5 upon forced exercise. Among these are genes known for their association with OA (eg, Mef2c, Egfr, Ctgf, Prg4 and Ctnnb1), supporting the use of forced running as an OA model in mice. Dio2-deficient mice showed significantly less cartilage damage and signs of synovitis. Gene expression response upon exercise between wild-type and knockout mice was significantly different for 29 genes. Conclusions Mice subjected to a running regime have significant increased cartilage damage and synovitis scores. Lack of Dio2 protected against cartilage damage in this model and was reflected in a specific gene expression profile, and either mark a favourable effect in the Dio2 knockout (eg, Gnas) or an unfavourable effect in wild-type cartilage homeostasis (eg, Hmbg2 and Calr). These data further support DIO2 activity as a therapeutic target in OA.