Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Culture , C 2 and information sharing 12

Despite the fact that the military acknowledges the importance of information sharing during command and control and despite the existence of information technology to enable information sharing, information does not always get shared. Information sharing can be challenging even within one culture, but it becomes more difficult if there are cultural differences involved. This is the case in most military operations, which involve joint and combined cooperation. Therefore, the aim of this article is to develop a framework of factors that influence information sharing via information technology in a cross-cultural context. This article starts by defining what information sharing is. Subsequently the factors influencing the sender's willingness and ability to share information via information technology are described. This results in the construction of a framework. Next, research the impact of cultural differences on information sharing is presented and the implications for the research framework are discussed. The framework of factors that influence information sharing via information technology in a cross-cultural context will be examined empirically in the following phase of the author's PhD study.
RADAR: A novel fast-screening method for reading difficulties with special focus on dyslexia

Dyslexia is a developmental learning disorder of single word reading accuracy and/or fluency, with compelling research directed towards understanding the contributions of the visual system. While dyslexia is not an oculomotor disease, readers with dyslexia have shown different eye movements than typically developing students during text reading. Readers with dyslexia exhibit longer and more frequent fixations, shorter saccade lengths, more backward refixations than typical readers. Furthermore, readers with dyslexia are known to have difficulty in reading long words, lower skipping rate of short words, and high gaze duration on many words. It is an open question whether it is possible to harness these distinctive oculomotor scanning patterns observed during reading in order to develop a screening tool that can reliably identify struggling readers, who may be candidates for dyslexia. Here, we introduce a novel, fast, objective, non-invasive method, named Rapid Assessment of Difficulties and Abnormalities in Reading (RADAR) that screens for features associated with the aberrant visual scanning of reading text seen in dyslexia. Eye tracking parameter measurements that are stable under retest and have high discriminative power, as indicated by their ROC (receiver operating characteristic) curves, were obtained during silent text reading. These parameters were combined to derive a total reading score (TRS) that can reliably separate readers with dyslexia from typical readers. We tested TRS in a group of school-age children ranging from 8.5 to 12.5 years of age. TRS achieved 94.2% correct classification of children tested. Specifically, 35 out of 37 control (specificity 94.6%) and 30 out of 32 readers with dyslexia (sensitivity 93.8%) were classified correctly using RADAR, under a circular validation condition (see section Results/Total Reading Score) where the individual evaluated was not included in the test construction group. In conclusion, RADAR is a novel, automated, fast and reliable way to identify children at high risk of dyslexia that is amenable to large-scale screening. Moreover, analysis of eye movement parameters obtained with RADAR during reading will likely be useful for implementing individualized treatment strategies and for monitoring objectively the success of chosen interventions. We envision that it will be possible to use RADAR as a sensitive, objective, and quantitative first pass screen to identify individuals with reading disorders that manifest with abnormal oculomotor reading strategies, like dyslexia.
Flow cytometry analysis of immune cells within murine aortas.

Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory process of medium and large size vessels that is characterized by the formation of plaques consisting of foam cells, immune cells, vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cells, platelets, extracellular matrix, and a lipid-rich core with extensive necrosis and fibrosis of surrounding tissues. (1) The innate and adaptive arms of the immune response are involved in the initiation, development and persistence of atherosclerosis. (2, 3) There is a significant body of evidence that different subsets of the immune cells, such as macrophages, dendritic cells, T and B lymphocytes, are present within the aortas of healthy and atherosclerosis-prone mice(4). Additionally, immune cells are found in the surrounding aortic adventitia which suggests an important role of this tissue in atherogenesis. (2) For some time, the quantitative detection of different types of immune cells, their activation status, and the cellular composition within the aortic wall was limited by RT-PCR and immunohistochemical methods for the study of atherosclerosis. Few attempts were made to perform flow cytometry using human aortas, and a number of problems, such as a high autofluorescence, have been reported(5,6). Human atherosclerotic plaques were digested with collagenase 1, and free cells were collected and stained for CD14+/CD11c+ to highlight macrophage-derived foam cells. In this study, a "mock" channel was used to avoid false-positive staining. (6) Necrotic materials accumulating during the digestion process give rise in a large amount of debris that generates a high autofluorescence in aortic samples. To resolve this problem, a panel of negative and positive controls has been proposed, but only double staining could be applied in these samples. We have developed a new flow cytometry-based method(7) to analyze the immune cell composition and characterize the activation, proliferation, differentiation of immune cells in healthy and atherosclerosis-prone aorta. This method allows the investigation of the immune cell composition of the aortic wall and opens possibilities to use a broad spectrum of immunological methods for investigations of immune aspects of this disease.
Intergenerational transmission of anxiety : the influence of parental anxiety on child-related information processing biases

This thesis examined the association between parental anxiety and child-related information processing biases. Paper 1 describes a review of the extant literature concerning information processing biases in anxious parents. Although the published research in this area was found to be limited and characterised by contradictory findings, both parental threat interpretation biases and biases in parental estimations, evaluations and expectancies were found to be associated with parental anxiety. Furthermore, evidence that these biases influence the processing of child-related information as well as self-referent information was identified. In addition to these findings, the review highlighted a number of weaknesses within the literature, specifically in relation to study design, methods of measurement and sample characteristics.In order to address the limitations of existing measures of child-related parental threat interpretation, a more methodologically rigorous approach for assessing the interpretation of ambiguity was adapted for use with parents. As reported in Paper 2, fifty-four community-based parents with a child aged between two and eleven years participated in an experiment designed to measure whether state anxious parents interpret ambiguous situations involving their child as threatening. Results indicated no difference in patterns of interpretation between state anxious and non-state anxious parents. Methodological weaknesses associated with the study design prevented definitive conclusions regarding the existence of a child-related threat interpretation bias in anxious parents from being made.In Paper 3, the approaches used within the current thesis are evaluated in terms of their strengths and weaknesses. Clinical implications of the findings are discussed and ideas for further research are outlined.
Meta-regression analysis: issues of publication bias in economics

1. Issues in Meta-Regression Analysis: An Overview: Colin J. Roberts. 2. Meta-Regression Analysis: A Quantitative Method of Literature Surveys: T. D. Stanley and Stephen B. Jarrell. 3. Beyond Publication Bias: T. D. Stanley. 4. A Meta-Analysis of the Effect of Common Currencies on International Trade: Andrew K. Rose and T. D. Stanley. 5. Publication Bias in the Economic Freedom and Economic Growth Literature: Chris Doucouliagos. 6. A Meta-Analysis of b-Convergence: the Legendary 2%: Maria Abreu, Henri L. F. de Groot and Raymond J. G. M. Florax. 7. The Last Word on the Wage Curve? : Peter Nijkamp and Jacques Poot. 8. A Meta-Analytic Assessment of the Effect of Immigration on Wages: Simonetta Longhi, Peter Nijkamp and Jacques Poot. 9. A Meta-Analysis of the International Gender Wage Gap: Doris Weichselbaumer and Rudolf Winter-Ebmer. 10. The Income Elasticity of Money Demand: A Meta-Analysis of Empirical Results: Markus Knell and Helmut Stix.
Do MCI criteria in drug trials accurately identify subjects with predementia Alzheimer’s disease?

Background: Drugs effective in Alzheimer-type dementia have been tested in subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) because these are supposed to have Alzheimer’s disease in the predementia stage. Objectives: To investigate whether MCI criteria used in these drug trials can accurately diagnose subjects with predementia Alzheimer’s disease. Methods: MCI criteria of the Gal-Int 11 study, InDDEx study, ADCS memory impairment study, ampakine CX 516 study, piracetam study, and Merck rofecoxib study were applied retrospectively in a cohort of 150 non-demented subjects from a memory clinic. Forty two had progressed to Alzheimer type dementia during a five year follow up period and were considered to have predementia Alzheimer’s disease at baseline. Outcome measures were the odds ratio, sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive value. Results: The odds ratio of the MCI criteria for predementia Alzheimer’s disease varied between 0.84 and 11. Sensitivity varied between 0.46 and 0.83 and positive predictive value between 0.43 and 0.76. None of the criteria combined a high sensitivity with a high positive predictive value. Exclusion criteria for depression led to an increase in positive predictive value and specificity at the cost of sensitivity. In subjects older than 65 years the positive predictive value was higher than in younger subjects. Conclusions: The diagnostic accuracy of MCI criteria used in trials for predementia Alzheimer’s disease is low to moderate. Their use may lead to inclusion of many patients who do not have predementia Alzheimer’s disease or to exclusion of many who do. Subjects with moderately severe depression should not be excluded from trials in order not to reduce the sensitivity.
Expression of the Dermatomyositis Autoantigen Transcription Intermediary Factor 1γ in Regenerating Muscle

Autoantibodies against transcription intermediary factor 1γ (TIF1γ) are found in many patients with dermatomyositis (DM). Although TIF1γ is known to play a role in the differentiation of other tissues, its functional role in muscle regeneration has not been elucidated. This study was undertaken to explore the regulation and functional role of this protein during muscle differentiation and regeneration.
Involvement of Different Types of Voltage‐Sensitive Calcium Channels in the Presynaptic Regulation of Noradrenaline Release in Rat Brain Cortex and Hippocampus

Abstract: Transmitter release at the nerve terminal is mediated by the influx of Ca2+ through voltage‐sensitive calcium channels (VSCCs). Many types of VSCCs have been found in neurons (T, N, L, and P), but uncertainty remains about which ones are involved in neuronal excitation‐secretion coupling. Specific ligands for the L‐ and N‐type VSCCs were used to determine which of these subtypes might be involved in the K+‐evoked [3H]noradrenaline release from superfused rat brain cortical and hippocampal synaptosomes. In cortical presynaptic terminals the 1,4‐dihydropyridine agonist Bay K 8644 enhanced the K+ (15 mM)‐evoked [3H]noradrenaline release. This effect was reversed by the 1,4‐dihydropyridine antagonists nimodipine and nitrendipine. The L‐type VSCC ligands had no effect on hippocampal synaptosomes. In contrast, the N‐type VSCC blocker ω‐conotoxin markedly reduced the K+‐evoked [3H]noradrenaline release in nerve terminals from both regions. Inhibition was greater in hippocampal synaptosomes. When applied together the inhibitory actions of nimodipine and ω‐conotoxin were approximately additive. These findings indicate that both L‐ and N‐type VSCCs participate in noradrenaline release in rat brain cortex and suggest that noradrenergic terminals in the two regions examined may have distinct populations of VSCCs: L type in cortex and N type in hippocampus.
Control options for Neospora caninum infections in cattle — current state of knowledge

Abstract This article reviews control options for Neospora caninum infection and abortion in cattle, drawing on published literature and the authors' own research in this field. Apart from the successful use of embryo transfer to prevent congenital infection in calves born to infected cows, there are currently no accepted control methods for the prevention of abortions in cattle. The epidemiological data at hand suggest that concomitant infections with bovine pestivirus increase the risk of abortion significantly and that these infections, for which effective vaccines exist, should therefore be controlled. While vertical transmission appears to be the major route of infection in cattle, there is also a role for postnatal transmission, involving a definitive host. Presently, the control of dogs and their access to bovine tissues, particularly potentially infected placentae and other foetal tissues, appear to be the most prudent control methods. There are some indications that vaccination against N. caninum may aid in the prevention of abortions. Suggestions for control options are limited by our current lack of actual experiences with control strategies. Further practical fieldwork is needed in this area.
Aqueous Humor Outflow Structure and Function Imaging At the Bench and Bedside: A Review

Anterior segment glaucoma clinical care and research has recently gained new focus because of novel imaging modalities and the advent of angle-based surgical treatments. Traditional investigation drawn to the trabecular meshwork now emphasizes the entire conventional aqueous humor outflow (AHO) pathway from the anterior chamber to the episcleral vein. AHO investigation can be divided into structural and functional assessments using different methods. The historical basis for studying the anterior segment of the eye and AHO in glaucoma is discussed. Structural studies of AHO are reviewed and include traditional pathological approaches to modern tools such as multi-model two-photon microscopy and optical coherence tomography. Functional assessment focuses on visualizing AHO itself through a variety of non-real-time and real-time techniques such as aqueous angiography. Implications of distal outflow resistance and segmental AHO are discussed with an emphasis on melding bench-side research to viable clinical applications. Through the development of an improved structure: function relationship for AHO in the anterior segment of the normal and diseased eye, a better understanding of the eye with improved therapeutics may be developed.
Computation of Homoclinic Orbits in Partial Differential Equations: An Application to Cylindrical Shell Buckling

This paper concerns numerical computation of localized solutions in partial differential equations (PDEs) on unbounded domains. The application is to the von Karman--Donnell equations, a coupled system of elliptic equations describing the equilibrium of an axially compressed cylindrical shell. Earlier work suggests that axially localized solutions are the physically preferred buckling modes. Hence the problem is posed on a cylindrical domain that is unbounded axially and solutions are sought which are homoclinic in the axial variable and periodic circumferentially. The numerical method is based on a Galerkin spectral decomposition circumferentially to pose ordinary differential equations (ODEs) in the unbounded coordinate. Methods for location and parameter continuation of homoclinic solutions of ODEs are then adapted, making special use of the symmetry and reversibility properties of solutions observed experimentally. Thus a formally well-posed continuation problem is reduced to a rotational subgroup circumferentially and posed over a truncation of the half-interval axially. The method for location of solutions makes use of asymptotic approximations where available. More generally, an adaptation of the "successive continuation" shooting method is used in the lowest possible number of circumferential modes, followed by additional homotopies to add more modes by continuation in the strength of nonlinear mode-interaction terms. The method is illustrated step by step to produce a variety of homoclinic solutions of the equations and compute their bifurcation diagrams as the loading parameter varies. Good agreement with experimental data is found. All computations are performed using AUTO. The techniques illustrated here for the von Karman--Donnell equations are applicable to a wider class of PDEs.
Distinct features of dendritic cells and anti-Ig activated B cells as stimulators of the primary mixed leukocyte reaction

Highly enriched populations of B lymphoblasts have been isolated after culture with anti-Ig-Sepharose and compared with dendritic cells as stimulators of CD4+ T cells in the murine MLR. The two populations clearly differed in phenotype; anti-Ig blasts were FcR+, B220+, 33D1-, while dendritic cells were FcR-, B220-, 33D1+. However, as MLR stimulators, they shared many common features. Both cells (a) expressed comparable levels of class II MHC products; (b) independently stimulated the primary MLR and the production of several T derived lymphokines including IL-2 and IL-4; and (c) were comparable in stimulating freshly sensitized T cells. However, the relative potencies of dendritic cells and anti-Ig blasts as primary MLR stimulators varied in a strain-dependent fashion. Only anti-Ig blasts could stimulate across an Mls barrier, being at least 100 times more active in stimulating Mls-mismatched, MHC-matched T cells, relative to syngeneic T cells. In contrast, dendritic cells were 10-30 times more potent than anti-Ig blasts when stimulating across an MHC barrier and were likewise more effective in binding MHC-disparate T cells to form the clusters in which the MLR was generated. Dendritic cell-T cell clustering was resistant to anti-LFA-1 mAb, while B blast-T cell clustering was totally blocked. Thus, anti-Ig B lymphoblasts and dendritic cells, two cell types which differ markedly in phenotype, also differ in efficiency and mechanism for initiating responses in allogeneic T cells.
Cerebellar Influence on Motor Cortex Plasticity: Behavioral Implications for Parkinson’s Disease

Normal motor behavior involves the creation of appropriate activity patterns across motor networks, enabling firing synchrony, synaptic integration, and normal functioning of these networks. Strong topography-specific connections among the basal ganglia, cerebellum, and their projections to overlapping areas in the motor cortices suggest that these networks could influence each other’s plastic responses and functions. The defective striatal signaling in Parkinson’s disease (PD) could therefore lead to abnormal oscillatory activity and aberrant plasticity at multiple levels within the interlinked motor networks. Normal striatal dopaminergic signaling and cerebellar sensory processing functions influence the scaling and topographic specificity of M1 plasticity. Both these functions are abnormal in PD and appear to contribute to the abnormal M1 plasticity. Defective motor map plasticity and topographic specificity within M1 could lead to incorrect muscle synergies, which could manifest as abnormal or undesired movements, and as abnormal motor learning in PD. We propose that the loss of M1 plasticity in PD reflects a loss of co-ordination among the basal ganglia, cerebellar, and cortical inputs which translates to an abnormal plasticity of motor maps within M1 and eventually to some of the motor signs of PD. The initial benefits of dopamine replacement therapy on M1 plasticity and motor signs are lost during the progressive course of disease. Levodopa-induced dyskinesias in patients with advanced PD is linked to a loss of M1 sensorimotor plasticity and the attenuation of dyskinesias by cerebellar inhibitory stimulation is associated with restoration of M1 plasticity. Complimentary interventions should target reestablishing physiological communication between the striatal and cerebellar circuits, and within striato-cerebellar loop. This may facilitate correct motor synergies and reduce abnormal movements in PD.
PERCEPTUAL QUALITY OF ASYMMETRICALLY DISTORTED STEREOSCOPIC IMAGES : THE ROLE OF IMAGE DISTORTION TYPES

Objective quality assessment of asymmetrically distorted stereoscopic 3D images is a challenging problem, for which direct simple combinations of the quality of the left and right views fail to produce adequate predictions. We carried out a subjective quality assessment experiment on a database that contains both single-view images and stereoscopic images with symmetric and asymmetric distortion types and levels, where the distortion types include noise contamination, blur and JPEG compression. Our results suggest that simply averaging the quality of the left and right view images well predicts the quality of symmetrically distorted 3D images, but generates substantial bias when applied to asymmetrically distorted stereoscopic images. More interestingly, we find that such bias could lean towards opposite directions, largely depending on the distortion types. We propose a computational model that accounts for the bias, leading to significantly improved quality prediction of stereoscopic images.
Effects of a chronic reduction of short-wavelength light input on melatonin and sleep patterns in humans: Evidence for adaptation

Light is an important environmental stimulus for the entrainment of the circadian clock and for increasing alertness. The intrinsically photosensitive ganglion cells in the retina play an important role in transferring this light information to the circadian system and they are elicited in particular by short-wavelength light. Exposure to short wavelengths is reduced, for instance, in elderly people due to yellowing of the ocular lenses. This reduction may be involved in the disrupted circadian rhythms observed in aged subjects. Here, we tested the effects of reduced blue light exposure in young healthy subjects (n = 15) by using soft orange contact lenses (SOCL). We showed (as expected) that a reduction in the melatonin suppressing effect of light is observed when subjects wear the SOCL. However, after chronic exposure to reduced (short wavelength) light for two consecutive weeks we observed an increase in sensitivity of the melatonin suppression response. The response normalized as if it took place under a polychromatic light pulse. No differences were found in the dim light melatonin onset or in the amplitude of the melatonin rhythms after chronic reduced blue light exposure. The effects on sleep parameters were limited. Our results demonstrate that the non-visual light system of healthy young subjects is capable of adapting to changes in the spectral composition of environmental light exposure. The present results emphasize the importance of considering not only the short-term effects of changes in environmental light characteristics.