Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A difficult business: detecting and managing alcohol problems in general practice.

Summary The appeal to general practitioners in the U.K. to take a more active role in the detection and management of alcohol problems has fallen largely on deaf ears. Yet the reasons general practitioners give for their reluctance to become more deeply involved in this area are often dismissed as mere ‘rationalizations’. This paper reports general practitioners’ perceptions of their experiences of diagnosing alcohol problems; their difficulties in offering the diagnosis to patients and the strategies they employ in attempting to do so; their attempts to offer help within general practice and their use of hospital services. The data are drawn from 33 interviews with general practitioners using an ‘open discussion’ technique. Some suggestions are made on ways of supporting the medical response to alcohol problems but it is argued that, in the long run, medical intervention is influenced by extraneous political and social factors and that changes are needed in public opinion about the use of alcohol.
Generalized Convolutional Neural Networks for Point Cloud Data

The introduction of cheap RGB-D cameras, stereo cameras, and LIDAR devices has given the computer vision community 3D information that conventional RGB cameras cannot provide. This data is often stored as a point cloud, i.e. a set of 3D points. In this paper, we present a novel method to apply the concept of convolutional neural networks to this type of data. By creating a mapping of nearest neighbors in a dataset, and individually applying weights to spatial relationships between points, we achieve an architecture that works directly with point clouds, but closely resembles a convolutional neural net in both design and behavior. Such a method bypasses the need for extensive feature engineering, while proving to be computationally efficient and requiring few parameters.
A comparison of sexual satisfaction and post-natal depression in the UK and Taiwan.

AIM To compare the sexual expression and sexual satisfaction of women in the UK and Taiwan before and after childbirth, to determine if there is an association between self reported sexual satisfaction and postnatal depression (PND) and the main sources of sexual information for women during this period. METHOD A comparative survey of postnatal women in the UK and Taiwan using a selfadministered questionnaire, a semi structured interview and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) to investigate sexual satisfaction, sexual expression and main sources of information as well the prevalence of postnatal depression. RESULTS Seventy per cent of the UK women and 89% of the Taiwanese women were generally satisfied with their sex life during the postnatal period although in both countries women thought that sexual expression was not as important to themselves as to their partner. There were differences in ranking criteria for physical and emotional sexual satisfaction in the two countries. Eighty-three per cent of UK women had sufficient information about sex during the postnatal period compared to 60% of Taiwanese women. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of PND (18% UK, 19% Taiwan p < 0.01 ANOVA) but significant negative associations (correlation coefficient) between 'sexual self-confidence' and PND in the UK (p < 0.01) and Taiwan (p < 0.05). UK Women with an unsatisfactory sex life (p < 0.05), insufficient sexual information (p < 0.05) and sexual worries after birth (p < 0.05) were more likely to have symptoms of PND. There was a strong association between a poor relationship with her partner and PND (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS These associations may be either a consequence of or a contributing factor to PND. The observed differences between the two countries may be attributed to cross cultural factors and differences in health care systems although further investigation is required.
A General Equilibrium Analysis of Option and Stock Market Interactions

The traditional pricing methodology in finance values derivative securities as redundant assets that have no impact on equilibrium prices and allocations. This paper demonstrates that, when the market is incomplete, primary and derivative asset markets, generically, interact: the valuation of derivative and primary security prices depend on the contractual characteristics of the derivative assets available. In a version of the Mossin mean-variance model, the authors analyze an equilibrium in which a call option (derivative asset) is traded and the equilibrium stock price (primary asset) increases when the options market is opened. Copyright 1991 by Economics Department of the University of Pennsylvania and the Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association.
Poor Parenting and Antisocial Behavior Among Homeless Young Adults

Though research has examined risk factors associated with street victimization among homeless young people, little is known about dating violence experiences among this group. Given homeless youths’ elevated rates of child maltreatment, it is likely that they are at high risk for dating violence. As such, the current study examined the association between child maltreatment and parental warmth with dating violence perpetration and victimization through substance use and delinquency among a sample of 172 homeless males and females. Results from path analysis revealed that physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect were all significant correlates of both substance use and delinquency, whereas lack of parental warmth was only associated with substance use. Neglect and substance use had direct effects on dating violence and substance use and was found to mediate the relationship between physical abuse and dating violence. Finally, females, older youth, and non-Whites had significantly higher levels of dating violence compared with their counterparts.
An Inquiry on Dimensions of External Technology Search and Their Influence on Technological Innovations: Evidence from Chinese Firms

A central part of technological innovation for industrial firms involves search for new external knowledge. A well‐established stream of literature on firms' external knowledge search has demonstrated that firms investing in broader search may have a great ability to innovate. In this paper, we explore the influences of technology search on firms' technological innovation performance along three distinctive dimensions: technical, geographic, and temporal dimensions, using a unique panel data set containing information on Chinese firms that were active in technology in‐licensing and patenting during the period 2000–2009. Our findings reveal that Chinese firms' technological innovation performances are related to external technology search in quite different ways from the ones suggested in the extant literature using evidence from developed countries. We find that Chinese firms searching ‘locally’ along the technical dimension have better technological innovation performance than those searching ‘distantly’. However, when a Chinese firm in‐license relatively old (mature) technologies or those from geographically nearby areas, it will be less bounded to searching familiar technical knowledge.
Competition and structure of South Asian banking: a revenue behaviour approach

This paper examines the nature of competition and structure in South Asian banking markets. It also assesses whether traditional interest-based product market segments are more competitive than those that also include fee- and commission-based products. The reduced form Panzar–Rosse specification tests show that bank revenues appear to be earned under conditions of monopolistic competition during the period 1995 to 2003. In Bangladesh and Pakistan competition is greater in the traditional interest-based product markets while Indian and Sri Lankan domestic commercial banks seem to face more competitive pressure in the fee-based product market from other financial intermediaries.
Diffusion and Effects of Cyber-Crime in Developing Economies

Abstract Cyber-crime's footprints across the developing world are getting bigger. The aim of this article is to examine the structure of cyber-crimes in developing economies. Its central idea is that economic and institutional factors facing cyber-criminals and potential victims in the developing world are different from those in the developed world. In economies characterised by low internet penetration rates and few resources devoted to fighting cyber-crimes, formal institutions related to such crimes tend to be thin and dysfunctional. A cyber-criminal is less likely to be stigmatised in such economies. Moreover, organisations' and individuals' technological and behavioural defence mechanisms are likely to be weaker. Many people in developing economies are also attracted into cyber-crime because of high unemployment and low wages.
New Labour and evidence based policy making: 1997-2007

This paper reviews and interprets the use of evidence based policy making (EBPM) by the New Labour government since 1997. New Labour has used EBPM as a key part of its strategy of modernisation. However, the paper reveals that this development needs to be interpreted with some caution. Firstly, because EBPM does not represent a return to a technocratic form of government: issues such as power, politics and people remain critical. Secondly, EBPM has different meanings across policy domains and within social science: it is a contested concept. The paper concludes with an assessment of EBPM, arguing that evaluative research undertaken with an understanding of political ideas, institutions and contexts provides a richer basis to inform policy and practice. What counts may be what works; but understanding and identifying what works is not a simple technocratic task, but a tellingly reflexive one.
The relevance of ideas in a union’s organization of contingent workers: ‘Here come the fairy people!’

There has been little research on the entertainment industry trade union Equity, one of the few longstanding examples of a union that organizes contingent workers as core members. An explanation for this is considered to be the perception of acting as not ‘real’ work. The article argues that this perception has analytical relevance and explores the interconnection of historical, ideological and economic issues in accounting for employment phenomena.
Mechanisms underlying metabolic disturbances associated with psychosis and antipsychotic drug treatment

The increase in cardiovascular disease and reduced life expectancy in schizophrenia likely relate to an increased prevalence of metabolic disturbances. Such metabolic risk factors in schizophrenia may result from both symptom-related effects and aetiological factors. However, a major contributory factor is that of treatment with antipsychotic drugs. These drugs differ in effects on body weight; the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood and may vary between drugs, but may include actions at receptors associated with the hypothalamic control of food intake. Evidence supports 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor 2C and dopamine D2 receptor antagonism as well as antagonism at histamine H1 and muscarinic M3 receptors. These M3 receptors may also mediate the effects of some drugs on glucose regulation. Several antipsychotics showing little propensity for weight gain, such as aripiprazole, have protective pharmacological mechanisms, rather than just the absence of a hyperphagic effect. In addition to drug differences, there is large individual variation in antipsychotic drug-induced weight gain. This pharmacogenetic association reflects genetic variation in several drug targets, including the 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor 2C, as well as genes involved in obesity and metabolic disturbances. Thus predictive genetic testing for drug-induced weight gain would represents a first step towards personalised medicine addressing this severe and problematic iatrogenic disease.
Exploiting Restricted Boltzmann Machines and Deep Belief Networks in Compressed Sensing

This paper proposes a CS scheme that exploits the representational power of restricted Boltzmann machines and deep learning architectures to model the prior distribution of the sparsity pattern of signals belonging to the same class. The determined probability distribution is then used in a maximum a posteriori approach for the reconstruction. The parameters of the prior distribution are learned from training data. The motivation behind this approach is to model the higher–order statistical dependencies between the coefficients of the sparse representation, with the final goal of improving the reconstruction. The performance of the proposed method is validated on the Berkeley Segmentation Dataset and the MNIST Database of handwritten digits.
Internalizing the Social Costs of a Small Number of Powerful, Overindebted Firms

Extraordinary debt-to-capital ratios (leverage) and the compression of markets to very few, large companies (concentration) are economic risk factors. They have contributed to vast social costs during the current economic crisis in the USA and in Europe. This theoretical study internalizes these social costs via two market-based policy instruments for the first time in a real-economy Dixit–Stiglitz framework: a tax on firms' debt capital use and a subsidy for market entrants. It helps understand the complex real-economic mechanisms that these policy instruments cause, it derives intuitive rules of thumb for setting the tax rate and the subsidy level so that they elevate welfare, and it suggests ways to practically implement the policies.
Impact of Foreign Direct Investment and Economic Growth in Ghana: A Cointegration Analysis

Foreign direct investment (FDI) has been an important source of economic growth for Ghana, bringing in capital investment, technology and management knowledge needed for economic growth. This paper aims to study the relationship between FDI and economic growth in Ghana for the period 1980-2010 using time series data. The data used in this study was mainly secondary data collected from the period, 1980 to 2010 consisting of yearly observations for each variable. The real GDP growth and foreign direct investment net inflows as percent of GDP (FDI ratio) data were taken from the World Banks World Development Indicators 2011 CD Rom. Yearly time series data covering the period 1980-2010 for which data was available was used. The cointegration methodology is applied on yearly data of FDI, GDP and GNI to determine the extent to which these variables are related. The study establishes that a long-run equilibrium and causal relationship exists between the dependent variable; FDI and the two independent variables under consideration namely, GDP and GNI. It was determined that in the short-run, effects of GDP and GNI volatility on FDI are nearly imaginary. These findings hold practical implications for policy makers, government and investors.
Measuring and intervening: how do we theorise intellectual capital management?

Measurement of intellectual capital is important, but not only for descriptive purposes. It is important because it enables intervention. If intervention and measurement are coupled, then measurement is an input rather than an output, and then measurement is not to be evaluated on its reflection of reality but rather on its ability to help actors transform their reality. This is particularly true for intellectual capital, which is widely accepted as part of an agenda for transformation and growth – it is a strategic/political agenda. To arrive at this conclusion, the paper discusses relationships between measurement and intervention comparing conventional financial statements with intellectual capital statements.
A case study of the implementation of education policy - the impact of Bill 33 - 2006 Education (Learning Enhancement) Statutes Amendment Act on elementary special education in a mid sized urban school district

This study provides an interpretive account of the implementation of class composition policy introduced following the 2005 teachers' strike in British Columbia (BC). The specific policy regulation concerned a suggested limit of three students with special needs in each class. Investigation of the implementation of this policy aimed to determine its outcomes in practice. The research used a conceptual framework that connected the contested concept of class composition with contemporary models of policy implementation and special education. In the absence of any known evaluation of this particular policy change, the research was timely, relevant and potentially instructive. The social constructivist approach to mixed methods case study focussed on six elementary schools in a single mid-sized urban school district (SD). Investigation of the political history and context revealed adversarial relationships between the Ministry of Education and B Teachers' Federation (BCTF). Class composition and students with special needs feature largely in the ongoing debate. The purpose of the study was to uncover the actual and perceived impacts of this policy on special edcuation in particular. The aim was to inform future directions regarding the problem of class composition, that teachers report being their biggest challenge. Emerging themes raise important questions about the policy, financial , organisational and special (inclusive) edcuation impacts. research findings suggest that both teachers and administrators consider the legislation a largely inappropriate solution to the problem of class composition. The recommended need to review current class composition policies and practices has implications for BC teachers, school districts and government to work together to find improved resolutions.
Gamma-Ray Variability of the BL Lacertae Object Markarian 421

We report on the γ-ray variability of Mrk 421 at Eγ > 300 GeV during the 1995 season, and concentrate on the results of an intense multiwavelength observing campaign in the period April 20 to May 5, which included >100 MeV γ-ray, X-ray, extreme-ultraviolet, optical, and radio observations, some of which show evidence for correlated behavior. Rapid variations in the TeV γ-ray light curve with doubling and decay times of ≲1 day require a compact emission region and significant Doppler boosting. The TeV data reveal that the γ-ray emission is best characterized by a succession of rapid flares with a relatively low baseline level of steady emission.
What Role Do Low-Skilled Migrants Play in the Japanese Labor Markets?

The author explores trends of low-skilled migrant labor in Japan before as well as after the global economic crisis, reviews the development of migration policies especially related to low-skilled migrants, and examines new empirical findings and draws some implications for migration policy reform in Japan. In the empirical analysis, the author stresses the effects of production fragmentation on low-skilled labor, the effects of the declining youth population on mismatches in the labor markets, and those of employment strategies by enterprises on the employment of nationals as well as foreigners at the local level. Finally, the author insists on the necessity for Japan to strengthen integration policy at the local level, in addition to immigration control policy at the national level, within the context of developing economic integration in the East Asian region.
Team creativity: A complex adaptive perspective

Purpose – This study aims at narrowing a high level of fragmentation in the knowledge on the topic of team creativity (TC) that plays a fundamental role in enhancing an organization's delivery systems and market position by mapping available knowledge within a proposed framework. Although there is a wealth of knowledge on the topic, this fragmentation as revealed by past research limits the comprehensive understanding of the subject. Design/methodology/approach – A literature review was used to gather evidence about the key concepts in the fields of management, organization and innovation. This evidence is mapped against the backdrop of a complex adaptive perspective, as creativity is perceived as the product of micro-social units within the context of macro-social systems. Findings – The great number of concepts found in literature are organized into a framework that distinguishes relevant inputs that can affect team functioning; relevant mediators for TC; and TC outcomes. The framework is reviewed and discussed within the context of the social systems in which the team is embedded. Originality/value – TC is one of the most fertile research streams within the research field of innovation, and yet it suffers from a fragmentation that limits a deeper level of understanding and the advancement of actionable knowledge from taking place. An integrative theoretical perspective of micro- and macro-social systems gives researchers new insights into the interconnection between the numerous findings already found in the literature and gives a clear direction for future research.
White Matter Microstructural Abnormality in Children with Hydrocephalus Detected by Probabilistic Diffusion Tractography

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Hydrocephalus is a severe pathologic condition in which WM damage is a major factor associated with poor outcomes. The goal of the study was to investigate tract-based WM connectivity and DTI measurements in children with hydrocephalus by using the probabilistic diffusion tractography method. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twelve children with hydrocephalus and 16 age-matched controls were included in the study. Probabilistic diffusion tractography was conducted to generate tract-based connectivity distribution and DTI measures for the genu of the corpus callosum and the connectivity index. Tract-based summary measurements, including the connectivity index and DTI measures (fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, axial diffusivity, and radial diffusivity), were calculated and compared between the 2 study groups. RESULTS: Tract-based summary measurement showed a higher percentage of voxels with lower normalized connectivity index values in the WM tracts in children with hydrocephalus. In the genu of the corpus callosum, the left midsegment of the corticospinal tract, and the right midsegment of the corticospinal tract, the normalized connectivity index value in children with hydrocephalus was found to be significantly lower (P < .05, corrected). The tract-based DTI measures showed that the children with hydrocephalus had significantly higher mean diffusivity, axial diffusivity, and radial diffusivity in the genu of the corpus callosum, left midsegment of the corticospinal tract, and right midsegment of corticospinal tract and lower fractional anisotropy in the genu of the corpus callosum (P < .05, corrected). CONCLUSIONS: The analysis of WM connectivity showed that the probabilistic diffusion tractography method is a sensitive tool to detect the decreased continuity in WM tracts that are under the direct influence of mechanical distortion and increased intracranial pressure in hydrocephalus. This voxel-based connectivity method can provide quantitative information complementary to the standard DTI summary measures.