Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Congressional Staff and the Revolving Door: The Impact of Regulatory Change

Abstract In 2007, Congress passed the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (HLOGA) in an attempt to slow the revolving door between Congress and the Washington lobbying industry with one year bans on contacts between the ex-staffers and their former colleagues in the Congress. The variation in the Senate and House rules and a complete set of congressional staff panel data between 2001 and 2011 allow us to assess the effectiveness of the revolving door provisions of HLOGA and the relative importance of different factors that contribute to congressional staffers' employability as lobbyists. Using a difference-in-differences quasi-experimental design on data from Legistorm, we find evidence that the HLOGA realized some of its intended effect. As compared to “high-level” staff earning between 60% and 75% of a member's salary, the share of “covered” staff (i.e., those making 75% and above of a member's salary) becoming lobbyists within a year declined at a greater rate. This decline, however, was much mor.
Amygdala central nucleus function is necessary for learning but not expression of conditioned visual orienting

When exposed to pairings of a visual stimulus with food delivery, rats normally acquire both conditioned orienting responses directed toward the visual stimulus and conditioned food‐related responses. Consistent with the results of previous lesion studies, reversible inactivation of amygdala central nucleus function before each conditioning session prevented the acquisition of conditioned orienting responses, whereas food‐related behaviors were acquired normally. By contrast, neither inactivation nor neurotoxic lesions of central nucleus affected the expression of previously acquired conditioned orienting responses. Thus, the central nucleus is apparently not critical to the maintenance of information required for conditioned orienting, but instead is necessary for memory storage elsewhere. Specialized roles for components of a circuit for conditioned orienting, which includes the central nucleus, the substantia nigra, and dorsolateral striatum, are discussed.
Psychological adjustment, behavior and health problems in multiracial young adults

Title of Dissertation: PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT, BEHAVIOR AND HEALTH PROBLEMS IN MULTIRACIAL YOUNG ADULTS Warren Kelley, Doctor of Philosophy, 2006 Directed by: Professor Mary Ann Hoffman Department of Counseling and Personnel Services This study: (1) examined whether multiracial young adults reported lower levels of well-being relative to their White and monoracial minority peers and whether these outcomes were moderated by college attendance or racial identification; and (2) investigated factors, drawn from Root=s (2003) ecological model of multiracial identity development, during adolescence that could predict better well-being outcomes for young adults. Participants were 18-26 years old and drawn from the Wave III archival data of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Bearman, Jones, & Udry, 1997), a nationally representative school-based probability sample of participants initially surveyed in 1994-1995, with the Wave III follow-up conducted six years later in 20012002. Using a subset of 14,644 participants (615 multiracial, 4,686 monoracial minority, and 9,343 White) the multiracial young adults reported statistically higher levels of depression, drug abuse and physical limitations, and lower levels of self worth than their monoracial counterparts. Effect sizes (partial eta squared), however, were so small, varying between . 001 and . 003, that these statistical findings did not represent meaningful differences. Therefore, the current study found evidence of fewer difficulties of multiracial young adults relative to their monoracial peers, when compared to previous researchers who studied the same sample as adolescents and found consistent patterns of negative well-being (Milan & Keiley, 2000; Udry et al., 2003). In part this may be because previous researchers did not present effect sizes. Using a second subset of 8,978 participants (402 multiracial, 2,617 monoracial minority, and 5,959 White) a two phased, multi-group structural equation model examined the relationship between adolescence and young adulthood factors and found that multiracial participants had the highest path coefficients for depression and living with both biological parents in comparison to their monoracial counterparts. College attendance was found to not change the relationship of multiracial young adults on reported well-being outcomes in comparison to their monoracial counterparts. In the area of multiracial identification, there was no evidence that multiracial young adults who reported their racial category as multiracial versus monoracial exhibited higher well-being outcomes. Implications for practice and future research are discussed. PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT, BEHAVIOR AND HEALTH PROBLEMS IN MULTIRACIAL YOUNG ADULTS
Protecting Respondent Confidentiality in Qualitative Research

For qualitative researchers, maintaining respondent confidentiality while presenting rich, detailed accounts of social life presents unique challenges. These challenges are not adequately addressed in the literature on research ethics and research methods. Using an example from a study of breast cancer survivors, I argue that by carefully considering the audience for one’s research and by reenvisioning the informed consent process, qualitative researchers can avoid confidentiality dilemmas that might otherwise lead them not to report rich, detailed data.
The Socio-Emotional Needs of Children with Dyslexia in Different Educational Settings in Ireland.

This paper reports on a four-year research project examining the experiences of children with dyslexia in mainstream schools and reading schools/classes. The focus of this paper is on the socio-emotional effects of dyslexia on a group of children attending a reading school/class for a specific duration before returning to mainstream. The findings suggest that while the primary focus of attending such a placement is to attain greater levels of literacy, other gains such as increased positive socio-emotional manifestations and confidence are also evident. Therefore, the emotional elements of learning must work in tandem with the academic elements in helping children with dyslexia access the curriculum in full. The roles of attribution, motivational and expectancy theories are explored and how a comprehensive understanding of these theories can help teachers explain and respond to the exhibited behaviours of children with reading difficulties.
Systematic monitoring of the adjustment to university of undergraduates: A strategy for reducing withdrawal rates

Abstract The experience of students withdrawing from university in their first year is explored. The students' perceptions of the factors which influenced their withdrawal decisions are examined. The findings support the hypothesis that the main factor influencing withdrawal/persistence behaviour is the degree to which students can adjust to the new academic and social demands of the university environment. A departmental strategy for systematic monitoring of the adjustment to university of first-year undergraduates is outlined.
State generation and automated class testing

The maturity of object‐oriented methods has led to the wide availability of container classes: classes that encapsulate classical data structures and algorithms. Container classes are included in the C++ and Java standard libraries, and in many proprietary libraries. The wide availability and use of these classes makes reliability important, and testing plays a central role in achieving that reliability. The large number of cases necessary for thorough testing of container classes makes automated testing essential. This paper presents a novel approach for automated testing of container classes based on combinatorial algorithms for state generation. The approach is illustrated with black‐box and white‐box test drivers for a class implemented with the red–black tree data structure, used widely in industry and, in particular, in the C++ Standard Template Library. The white‐box driver is based on a new algorithm for red–black tree generation. The drivers are evaluated experimentally, providing quantitative measures of their effectiveness in terms of block and path coverage. The results clearly show that the approach is affordable in terms of development cost and execution time, and effective with respect to coverage achieved. The results also provide insight into the relative advantages of black‐box and white‐box drivers, and into the difficult problem of infeasible paths. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Sensitivity and specificity of clinical markers for the diagnosis of bipolar II disorder.

Bipolar II disorder is common in depressed outpatients, but the diagnosis may have low reliability because it is often based on history of hypomania. The aim of the present study was to test sensitivity and specificity for bipolar II diagnosis of some reported markers of bipolar II: atypical features, depressive mixed state, young age at onset, recurrences, and interpersonal rejection sensitivity. A total of 161 consecutive unipolar (n = 64) and bipolar II (n = 97) outpatients with major depressive episode (MDE) were interviewed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID). Depressive mixed state was defined as a MDE with two or more (DMX2) or with three or more (DMX3) concurrent hypomanic symptoms. DMX3 and atypical features had the highest specificity (92.1% and 82.8%, respectively) and predictive power (0.69 and 0.64), but low sensitivity (46.3%, 45.3%). Concurrent presence of DMX3 and atypical features increased sensitivity (67.0%), reduced specificity (76.5%), and increased predictive power (0.75). Age at onset, recurrences, and interpersonal rejection sensitivity, concurrent with DMX3 and atypical features, increased the predictive power only slightly. Thus, two cross-sectional features of a MDE, such as DMX3 and atypical symptoms, alone or in combination, may strongly support bipolar II diagnosis, and it appears that DMX3 is the best of the two. The low reliability of bipolar II diagnosis based on history of hypomania may be improved by two cross-sectional clinical markers.
Lens epithelial cell apoptosis appears to be a common cellular basis for non-congenital cataract development in humans and animals

Cataract is a major ocular disease that causes blindness in many developing countries of the world. It is well established that various factors such as oxidative stress, UV, and other toxic agents can induce both in vivo and in vitro cataract formation. However, a common cellular basis for this induction has not been previously recognized. The present study of lens epithelial cell viability suggests such a general mechanism. When lens epithelial cells from a group of 20 cataract patients 12 to 94 years old were analyzed by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) labeling and DNA fragmentation assays, it was found that all of these patients had apoptotic epithelial cells ranging from 4.4 to 41.8%. By contrast, in eight normal human lenses of comparable age, very few apoptotic epithelial cells were observed. We suggest that cataract patients may have deficient defense systems against factors such as oxidative stress and UV at the onset of the disease. Such stress can trigger lens epithelial cell apoptosis that then may initiate cataract development. To test this hypothesis, it is also demonstrated here that hydrogen peroxide at concentrations previously found in some cataract patients induces both lens epithelial cell apoptosis and cortical opacity. Moreover, the temporal and spatial distribution of induced apoptotic lens epithelial cells precedes development of lens opacification. These results suggest that lens epithelial cell apoptosis may be a common cellular basis for initiation of noncongenital cataract formation.
On asymmetric progress conditions

Wait-freedom and obstruction-freedom have received a lot of attention in the literature. These are symmetric progress conditions in the sense that they consider all processes as being "equal". Wait-freedom has allowed to rank the synchronization power of objects in presence of process failures, while (the weaker) obstruction-freedom allows for simpler and more efficient object implementations. This paper introduces the notion of asymmetric progress conditions. Given an object O in a shared memory system of n processes, we say that O satisfies (y,x)-liveness if O can be accessed by a subset of y ≤ n processes only, and it guarantees wait-freedom for x processes and obstruction-freedom for the remaining y-x processes. Notice that, (n,n)-liveness is wait-freedom while (n,0)-liveness is obstruction-freedom. The main contributions are: (1) an impossibility result showing that there is no (n,1)-live consensus object even if one can use underlying (n-1,n-1)-live consensus objects and registers, (2) an (n,x)-liveness hierarchy for 0 ≤ x ≤ n, and (3) an impossibility result showing that there is no consensus object for n processes that is obstruction-free with respect to all processes and fault-free with respect to a single process even if one can use underlying (n-1,n-1)-live consensus objects and registers (a process is fault-free if it always terminates when all the processes participate and there are no faults). (4) An implementation based on (x,x)-live objects that constructs a consensus object for any number of n ≤ x processes which satisfies an asymmetric group-based progress condition.
Multiple Effects of Prefrontal Lesions on Task-Switching

This study examined the performance of 41 patients with focal prefrontal cortical lesions and 38 healthy controls on a task-switching procedure. Three different conditions were evaluated: single tasks without switches and two switching tasks with the currently relevant task signalled either 1500 ms (Long Cue) or 200 ms (Short Cue) before the stimulus. Patients with Superior Medial lesions showed both a general slowing of reaction time (RT) and a significantly increased switch cost as measured by RT. No other prefrontal group showed this increased reaction time switch cost. Increased error rates in the switching conditions, on the other hand, were observed in patients with Inferior Medial lesions and, to a lesser extent, ones with Superior Medial lesions. Patients with left dorsolateral lesions (9/46v) showed slower learning of the task as indicated by a high error rate early on. Several different processes are involved in task-switching and these are selectively disrupted by lesions to specific areas of the frontal lobes.
Mobile learning vs. traditional classroom lessons: a comparative study

Different methods can be used for learning, and they can be compared in several aspects, especially those related to learning outcomes. In this paper, we present a study in order to compare the learning effectiveness and satisfaction of children using an iPhone game for learning the water cycle vs. the traditional classroom lesson. The iPhone game includes multiple interaction forms and combined augmented reality AR mini-games with non-AR mini-games. The traditional classroom lesson had the same learning content as the iPhone game. Thirty-eight children participated in the study. The analyses showed that the children made significant learning gains about the water cycle, regardless of the method used. Even though the results showed that the iPhone method achieved higher knowledge results than the traditional classroom lesson, no statistically significant differences were found between the iPhone and the classroom lesson. When analysing the motivational outcomes, the results showed that the children found the iPhone game to be more satisfying than the classroom lessons. Since the iPhone game achieved similar learning results and a higher motivational effect than the classroom lesson, this suggests that games of this kind could be used as a tool in primary schools to reinforce students' lessons.
Dimensão afetiva da pessoa com surdez adquirida, antes e após o implante coclear

The aim of this study was to investigate the affective dimension in adult patients with acquired deafness, both before and after using cochlear implants, by indicating the occurrence of changes in this dimension and investigating it, particularly in the modes of egoic feelings, feelings towards others, feelings of temporality and states of mind before and after the use of the cochlear implant. Forty-four adults took part in this study. They received cochlear implants from the Audiological Research Center at the Craniofacial Anomaly Rehabilitation Hospital at the University of Sao Paulo in Bauru . It was concluded that, during the period of deafness, negative feelings and an affective climate of tension and depression prevailed, leading the subject to a negative bonding, to a lack of syntony with the world. On the other hand, after the cochlear implant, positive feelings and an affective climate of tranquility and satisfaction prevailed, leading the subject to positive bonding, a feeling of syntony with the world.
Hierarchies, the Small Firm Effect, and Entrepreneurship: Evidence from Swedish Microdata

We explore whether the tendency for smaller firms to have fewer hierarchical layers explains the well‐documented inverse correlation between firm size and the rate at which employees become business owners. Our analysis is based on a Swedish matched employer‐employee dataset. Conditional on firm size, employees in firms with more layers are less likely to enter entrepreneurship, to become self‐employed, and to switch to another employer. The effects of layers are much stronger for business creation than for job‐switching and they are stronger for entrepreneurship than for self‐employment. However, hierarchies constitute only a par‐ tial explanation of the small firm effect. Potential explanations for the effects of layers are examined. Part of the effect appears to be due to preference sorting by employees, and part due to employees in firms with fewer layers having a broader range of skills.
Lithium enhances remyelination of peripheral nerves

Glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) inhibitors, especially the mood stabilizer lithium chloride, are also used as neuroprotective or anti-inflammatory agents. We studied the influence of LiCl on the remyelination of peripheral nerves. We showed that the treatment of adult mice with LiCl after facial nerve crush injury stimulated the expression of myelin genes, restored the myelin structure, and accelerated the recovery of whisker movements. LiCl treatment also promoted remyelination of the sciatic nerve after crush. We also demonstrated that peripheral myelin gene MPZ and PMP22 promoter activities, transcripts, and protein levels are stimulated by GSK3β inhibitors (LiCl and SB216763) in Schwann cells as well as in sciatic and facial nerves. LiCl exerts its action in Schwann cells by increasing the amount of β-catenin and provoking its nuclear localization. We showed by ChIP experiments that LiCl treatment drives β-catenin to bind to T-cell factor/lymphoid-enhancer factor response elements identified in myelin genes. Taken together, our findings open perspectives in the treatment of nerve demyelination by administering GSK3β inhibitors such as lithium.
Radiation modulates the peptide repertoire, enhances MHC class I expression, and induces successful antitumor immunotherapy

Radiotherapy is one of the most successful cancer therapies. Here the effect of irradiation on antigen presentation by MHC class I molecules was studied. Cell surface expression of MHC class I molecules was increased for many days in a radiation dose-dependent manner as a consequence of three responses. Initially, enhanced degradation of existing proteins occurred which resulted in an increased intracellular peptide pool. Subsequently, enhanced translation due to activation of the mammalian target of rapamycin pathway resulted in increased peptide production, antigen presentation, as well as cytotoxic T lymphocyte recognition of irradiated cells. In addition, novel proteins were made in response to γ-irradiation, resulting in new peptides presented by MHC class I molecules, which were recognized by cytotoxic T cells. We show that immunotherapy is successful in eradicating a murine colon adenocarcinoma only when preceded by radiotherapy of the tumor tissue. Our findings indicate that directed radiotherapy can improve the efficacy of tumor immunotherapy.
Tumor Progression and Serial Analysis of Gene Expression Analysis of Breast Combined cDNA Array Comparative Genomic Hybridization

To identify genetic changes involved in the progression of breast carcinoma, we did cDNA array comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) on a panel of breast tumors, including 10 ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), 18 invasive breast carcinomas, and two lymph node metastases. We identified 49 minimal commonly amplified regions (MCRs) that included known (1q, 8q24, 11q13, 17q21-q23, and 20q13) and several uncharacterized (12p13 and 16p13) regional copy number gains. With the exception of the 17q21 (ERBB2) amplicon, the overall frequency of copy number alterations was higher in invasive tumors than that in DCIS, with several of them present only in invasive cancer. Amplification of candidate loci was confirmed by quantitative PCR in breast carcinomas and cell lines. To identify putative targets of amplicons, we developed a method combining array CGH and serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) data to correlate copy number and expression levels for each gene within MCRs. Using this approach, we were able to distinguish a few candidate targets from a set of coamplified genes. Analysis of the 12p13-p12 amplicon identified four putative targets: TEL/ETV6 , H2AFJ, EPS8 , and KRAS2 . The amplification of all four candidates was confirmed by quantitative PCR and fluorescence in situ hybridization, but only H2AFJ and EPS8 were overexpressed in breast tumors with 12p13 amplification compared with a panel of normal mammary epithelial cells. These results show the power of combined array CGH and SAGE analysis for the identification of candidate amplicon targets and identify H2AFJ and EPS8 as novel putative oncogenes in breast cancer. (Cancer Res 2006; 66(8): 4065-78)
Styles of Political Representation: What Do Voters Expect?

Abstract Until recently, voters’ views on the representational roles of MPs have been a largely unexplored field in the studies of political behaviour. With the exception of the work by Carman, and Mendez‐Lago & Martínez, the few existing studies have mainly been conducted in the US and are fairly dated. In this study, we are partly filling this gap by examining voters’ views on representational roles in the Finnish open‐list PR system with mandatory preferential voting, which is characterized by a strong degree of candidate centeredness. Based on the Finnish national election study 2007 (FSD2138, N = 1,422), we first analyse support for various representational styles most often discussed in the literature, i.e. resemblance, delegation and trustee model, and then account for it through the social and political background of the respondents. The results show that both the delegate and trustee styles of representation are almost equally popular. The support for the different styles of representation is connected to socio‐demographic factors and to some extent political integration and orientation. Based on our findings we argue that the Finnish context becomes particularly evident in the heavy investment placed by voters on individual representatives. Finally, more research in the field, and especially development of more nuanced survey instruments are required in order to fully account for the complex nature of citizens’ expectations of the representational relationship.