Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Threat to valued elements of life: the experience of dementia across three ethnic groups.

PURPOSE There is a fundamental knowledge gap regarding the experience of dementia within minority ethnic groups in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. The present study examined the subjective reality of living with dementia from the perspective of people with dementia within the 3 largest ethnic groups in the United Kingdom. DESIGN AND METHODS This was a qualitative study in which in-depth individual interviews were conducted with 11 Black Caribbean, 9 south Asian, and 10 White British older people with dementia. The lack of information in this area prompted the use of a grounded theory approach. RESULTS The main theme to emerge from the interviews with the people with dementia was "threat to valued elements of life. " Participants engaged in a process of appraisal in which they assessed the degree to which their condition and support needs interfered with valued elements of life. The analysis revealed that each element of this process was culturally informed. IMPLICATIONS There is potential for modifying beliefs to reduce the perceived threat of dementia and for family and professional carers to promote the roles, relationships, and activities that each person with dementia values. The findings outlined in this paper can inform the development of a culturally sensitive approach.
Global well‐posedness for compressible Navier‐Stokes equations with highly oscillating initial velocity

In this paper, we prove global well‐posedness for compressible Navier‐Stokes equations in the critical functional framework with the initial data close to a stable equilibrium. This result allows us to construct global solutions for the highly oscillating initial velocity. The proof relies on a new estimate for the hyperbolic/parabolic system with convection terms. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Pre-Service Teachers' Attitudes toward Classroom Management in an Alternative Certification Program.

This study investigated whether student teachers' attitudes toward classroom management would develop the same way in alternative certification (AC) teacher education programs as they would in traditional programs. Participants were 2 groups of Canadian student teachers at the end of their first or second year of a 2-year AC program. All participants had completed a baccalaureate degree prior to beginning the AC program. The participants completed the Attitudes and Beliefs in Classroom Control Inventory and a demographic inventory. Data analysis indicated that teachers in the AC program did not follow the same trajectory of classroom management attitudes as teachers in traditional teacher education programs, where attitudes do not generally change over the course of the program. Student teachers at the completion of the AC program had more interventionist attitudes about their roles in their relationships with students than did students who had completed only half of the AC program. There were no significant differences between any of the three age groups of AC preservice teachers. (Contains 59 references.) (SM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Pre-service Teachers' Attitudes Toward Classroom Management in an Alternative Certification Program Laura Sokal, Donna G. Smith and Heather Mowat U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. BEST COPY AVAILABLE 2002 1 PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY
The dynamics of human gait

We analyse the dynamics of human gait with simple nonlinear time series analysis methods that are appropriate for undergraduate courses. We show that short continuous recordings of the human locomotory apparatus possess properties typical of deterministic chaotic systems. To facilitate interest and enable the reproduction of presented results, as well as to promote applications of nonlinear time series analysis to other experimental systems, we provide user-friendly programs for each implemented method. Thus, we provide new insights into the dynamics of human locomotion, and make an effort to ease the inclusion of nonlinear time series analysis methods into the curriculum at an early stage of the educational process.
Distributionally Robust Games with Risk-averse Players

We present a new model of incomplete information games without private information in which the players use a distributionally robust optimization approach to cope with the payoff uncertainty. With some specific restrictions, we show that our "Distributionally Robust Game" constitutes a true generalization of three popular finite games. These are the Complete Information Games, Bayesian Games and Robust Games. Subsequently, we prove that the set of equilibria of an arbitrary distributionally robust game with specified ambiguity set can be computed as the component-wise projection of the solution set of a multi-linear system of equations and inequalities. For special cases of such games we show equivalence to complete information finite games (Nash Games) with the same number of players and same action spaces. Thus, when our game falls within these special cases one can simply solve the corresponding Nash Game. Finally, we demonstrate the applicability of our new model of games and highlight its importance.
Forecasting VAR Models in the Presence of Regime Shifts in Variance and Egarch Effects

This paper evaluates the VaR forecasting performance of the Markov regime switching (MRS) based volatility models, allowing for EGARCH effects. As is argued in the literature, this extension of the MRS model model may improve its forecasting performance due to its ability to capture leverage effects, which are observed in empirical asset return distributions in the form of high level of negative skewness. The paper provides clear cut evidence that the VaR forecasting performance of the MRS model with, or or without, EGARCH effects becomes satisfactory only if the innovation process of asset returns is assumed to follow the skewed t-student distribution. The leverage effects allowed by the EGARCH model or the mixture of normal distributions of asset returns assumed by the MRS model alone are not found to be sufficient to capture distribution features of asset returns, which critically influence VaR forecasts. The paper shows that more parsimonious in terms of parameters volatility models like the EGARCH or GARCH models with a skewed t-student distribution of return innovations can outperform the MRS based models in VaR forecasting.
The Group Matters: A Review of the Effects of Group Interaction on Processes and Outcomes in Analytic Teams

This product is part of the RAND working paper series. RAND working papers are intended to share researchers' latest findings and to solicit informal peer review. They have been approved for circulation by RAND National Security Research Division but have not been formally edited or peer reviewed. Unless otherwise indicated, working papers can be quoted and cited without permission of the author, provided the source is clearly referred to as a working paper. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. is a registered trademark. PREFACE This Working Paper explores the implications of using groups to perform intelligence analysis. This report reviews theory and research on the effects of group interaction processes on judgment and decision making in analytical teams. It describes the benefits and drawbacks of using groups for analytical work, common processes that prevent groups from reaching optimal levels of performance, and strategies to improve processes and outcomes in intelligence analysis teams. This work is based on a review of the literature in social and experimental psychology, organizational behavior, behavioral decision science, and other social science disciplines, as well as the limited amount of group research in the intelligence literature. Included in this review is a bibliography consisting of key references organized by topic, with annotations for selected articles based on relevance to group processes in intelligence analysis. This report should be of interest to intelligence agencies that provide analysis to policymakers as well as to other organizations that use analytical teams.
Objective evaluation of ERCP procedures: a simple grading scale for evaluating technical difficulty

Background and objective: Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is a technically demanding endoscopic procedure that varies from a simple diagnostic to a highly complex therapeutic procedure. Simple outcome measures such as success and complication rates do not reflect the competence of the operator or endoscopy unit, as case mix is not taken into account. A grading scale to assess the technical difficulty of ERCP can improve the objectivity of outcome data. Methods: A I to IV technical difficulty grading scale was constructed and applied prospectively to all ERCPs over a 12 month period at a single centre. The procedures were performed by two senior trainees and two experienced consultants (trainers). The grading scale was validated for construct validity and inter-rater reliability at the end of the study using the χ2 test and κ statistics. Results: There were 305 ERCPs in 259 patients over the 12 months study period (males: 112, females: 147, age range 17–97, mean 70.3 years). There was overall success in 244 (80%) procedures with complications in 13 (4%): bleeding in five (1.6%), cholangitis in one (0.3%), pancreatitis in five (1.6%), and perforation in two (0.7%). Success rate was highest for grade I, 49/55 (89%), compared with grade IV procedures, 8/11 (73%). There was a significant linear trend towards a lower success rate from grade I to IV (p=0.021) for trainees, but not for trainers. Complications were low in grade I, II, and III procedures, 12/295(4%), compared with grade IV procedures, 1/11(9%). The inter-rater reliability for the grading scale was good with a substantial agreement between the raters (κ=0.68, p<0.001). Conclusion: Success and complications of ERCP by trainees are influenced by the technical difficulty of the procedure. Outcome data incorporating a grading scale can give accurate information when auditing the qualitative outcomes. This can provide a platform for structured objective evaluation.
Fiscal Policy and Business Cycles: An Empirical Investigation

This paper presents an empirical study of the effects of fiscal policy. We analyze the importance of automatic stabilizers as well as the dynamic effects of discretionary fiscal policy. We present strong evidence in favor of the hypothesis that large governments reduce the volatility of output (total or private). The result is robust to the introduction of controls and the adjustment for possible endogeneity problems. In the second part of the paper we review different methods of identification of discretionary fiscal policy shocks. We find strong and persistent effects of changes in fiscal policy on economic activity. Abstract We would like to thank Stephen Cechetti, Paul de Grauwe, the Editor, an anonymous referee and participants at the XIII Symposium of Moneda y Crédito for their helpful comments on the paper.We would like to thank Stephen Cechetti, Paul de Grauwe, the Editor, an anonymous referee and participants at the XIII Symposium of Moneda y Crédito for their helpful comments on the paper.
Computation of a Moving Drop/Bubble on a Solid Surface using a Front-Tracking Method

In this paper we outline a front-tracking method for computing the moving contact line. In particular, we are interested in the motion of two-dimensional drops and bubbles on a partially wetting surface exposed to shear flows. Peskin’s Immersed Boundary Method is used to model the liquid-gas interface, similar to the approach used by Unverdi and Traggvason. The movement near the moving contact line is modelled by a slip condition, the value of the dynamic contact angle is determined by a linear model, and the local forces are introduced at the moving contact lines based on a relationship of moving contact angle and contact line speed. Numerical examples show that the method can be applied to the motion of drops and bubbles on a solid surface over a wide range of parameter values.
Unsupervised Formation of Vocalization-Sensitive Neurons: A Cortical Model Based on Short-Term and Homeostatic Plasticity

The discrimination of complex auditory stimuli relies on the spatiotemporal structure of spike patterns arriving in the cortex. While recordings from auditory areas reveal that many neurons are highly selective to specific spatiotemporal stimuli, the mechanisms underlying this selectivity are unknown. Using computer simulations, we show that selectivity can emerge in neurons in an entirely unsupervised manner. The model is based on recurrently connected spiking neurons and synapses that exhibit short-term synaptic plasticity. During a developmental stage, spoken digits were presented to the network; the only type of long-term plasticity present was a form of homeostatic synaptic plasticity. From an initially unresponsive state, training generated a high percentage of neurons that responded selectively to individual digits. Furthermore, units within the network exhibited a cardinal feature of vocalization-sensitive neurons in vivo: differential responses between forward and reverse stimulus presentations. Direction selectivity deteriorated significantly, however, if short-term synaptic plasticity was removed. These results establish that a simple form of homeostatic plasticity is capable of guiding recurrent networks into regimes in which complex stimuli can be discriminated. In addition, one computational function of short-term synaptic plasticity may be to provide an inherent temporal asymmetry, thus contributing to the characteristic forward-reverse selectivity.
Multiple Stellar Populations in Three Rich Large Magellanic Cloud Star Clusters

We present deep color-magnitude diagrams for three rich intermediate-age star clusters in the LMC, constructed from archival ACS F435W and F814W imaging. All three clusters exhibit clear evidence for peculiar main-sequence turnoffs. NGC 1846 and 1806 each possess two distinct turnoff branches, while the turnoff for NGC 1783 shows a much larger spread in color than can be explained by the photometric uncertainties. We demonstrate that although all three clusters contain significant populations of unresolved binary stars, these cannot be the underlying cause of the observed turnoff morphologies. The simplest explanation is that each cluster is composed of at least two different stellar populations with very similar metal abundances but ages separated by up to ~300 Myr. The origin of these unusual properties remains unidentified; however, the fact that at least three massive clusters containing multiple stellar populations are now known in the LMC suggests a potentially significant formation channel.
Designing a Genuine EMU: Which "Unions" for EU and Eurozone? Bruges European Economic Policy (BEEP) Briefing 34/2014

The initial ‘framing’ (in the summer of 2012) of the ‘genuine EMU’ for the wider public suggested to design an entire series of ‘unions’. So many ‘unions’ are neither necessary nor desirable – only some are and their design matters. The paper critically discusses first the negative fall-out of the crisis for EMU, and subsequently assesses the fiscal and the banking unions as accomplished so far, without going into highly specific technical details. The assessment is moderately positive, although there is ample scope for further improvement and a risk for short-term turbulence once the ECB has finished its tests and reviews. What about the parade of other ’unions’ such as economic union, social union and political union? The macro-economic imbalances procedure (MIP) and possibly the ESRB have overcome the pre-crisis disregard of macro competitiveness. The three components of ‘economic union’ (single market, economic policy coordination and budgetary disciplines) have all been strengthened. The last two ‘unions’, on the other hand, would imply a fundamental change in the conferral of powers to the EU/ Eurozone, with drastic and possibly very serious long-run implications, including a break-up of the Union, if such proposals would be pushed through. The cure is worse than the disease. Whereas social union is perhaps easier to dismiss as a ‘misfit’ in the EU, the recent popularity of suggesting a ‘political union’ is seen as worrisome. Probably, nobody knows what a ‘political union’ is, or, at best, it is a highly elastic notion: it might be thought necessary for reasons of domestic economic reforms in EU countries, for a larger common budget, for some EU tax power, for (greater) risk pooling, for ‘symmetric’ macro-economic adjustment and for some ultimate control of the ECB in times of crisis. Taking each one of these arguments separately, a range of more typical EU solutions might be found without suggesting a ‘political union’. Just as ‘fiscal capacity’ was long an all-or-nothing taboo for shifting bank resolution to the EU level, now solved with a modest common Fund and carefully confined but centralised powers, the author suggests that other carefully targeted responses can be designed for the various aspects where seen as indispensable, including the political say of a lender-of-last-resort function of the ECB. Hence, neither a social nor a political union worthy of the name ought to be pursued. Yet, political legitimacy matters, both with national parliaments and the grassroots. National parliaments will have to play a larger role.
Hitting probability of a distant point for the voter model started with a single 1

The goal of this work is to find the asymptotics of the hitting probability of a distant point for the voter model on the integer lattice started from a single 1 at the origin. In dimensions d = 2 or 3, we obtain the precise asymptotic behavior of this probability. We use the scaling limit of the voter model started from a single 1 at the origin in terms of super-Brownian motion under its excursion measure. This invariance principle was stated by Bramson, Cox and Le Gall, as a consequence of a theorem of Cox, Durrett and Perkins. Less precise estimates are derived in dimension d ≥ 4.
A Nonblocking Coordinated Checkpointing Algorithm for Mobile Computing Systems

A checkpoint algorithm for mobile computing systems needs to handle many new issues like: mobility, low bandwidth of wireless channels, lack of stable storage on mobile nodes, disconnections, limited battery power and high failure rate of mobile nodes. These issues make traditional checkpointing techniques unsuitable for such environments. Minimum-process coordinated checkpointing is an attractive approach to introduce fault tolerance in mobile distributed systems transparently. This approach is domino-free, requires at most two checkpoints of a process on stable storage, and forces only a minimum number of processes to checkpoint. But, it requires extra synchronization messages, blocking of the underlying computation or taking some useless checkpoints. In this paper, we propose a nonblocking coordinated checkpointing algorithm for mobile computing systems, which requires only a minimum number of processes to take permanent checkpoints. We reduce the message complexity as compared to the Cao-Singhal algorithm (4), while keeping the number of useless checkpoints unchanged. We also address the related issues like: failures during checkpointing, disconnections, concurrent initiations of the algorithm and maintaining exact dependencies among processes. Finally, the paper presents an optimization technique, which significantly reduces the number of useless checkpoints at the cost of minor increase in the message complexity. In coordinated checkpointing, if a single process fails to take its tentative checkpoint; all the checkpoint effort is aborted. We try to reduce this effort by taking soft checkpoints in the first phase at Mobile Hosts.
Iodine observed in new particle formation events in the Arctic atmosphere during ACCACIA

Abstract. Accurately accounting for new particle formation (NPF) is crucial to our ability to predict aerosol number concentrations in many environments and thus cloud properties, which is in turn vital in simulating radiative transfer and climate. Here we present an analysis of NPF events observed in the Greenland Sea during the summertime as part of the Aerosol-Cloud Coupling And Climate Interactions in the Arctic (ACCACIA) project. While NPF events have been reported in the Arctic before, we were able, for the first time, to detect iodine in the growing particles using an Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) during a persistent event in the region of the coastal sea-ice near Greenland. Given the potency of iodine as a nucleation precursor, the results imply that iodine was responsible for the initial NPF, a phenomenon that has been reported at lower latitudes and associated with molecular iodine emissions from coastal macroalgae. The initial source of iodine in this instance is not clear, but it was associated with air originating approximately 1 day previously over melting coastal sea-ice. These results show that atmospheric models must consider iodine as a source of new particles in addition to established precursors such as sulfur compounds.
Dustiness of Fine and Nanoscale Powders

Dustiness may be defined as the propensity of a powder to form airborne dust by a prescribed mechanical stimulus; dustiness testing is typically intended to replicate mechanisms of dust generation encountered in workplaces. A novel dustiness testing device, developed for pharmaceutical application, was evaluated in the dustiness investigation of 27 fine and nanoscale powders. The device efficiently dispersed small (mg) quantities of a wide variety of fine and nanoscale powders, into a small sampling chamber. Measurements consisted of gravimetrically determined total and respirable dustiness. The following materials were studied: single and multiwalled carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers, and carbon blacks; fumed oxides of titanium, aluminum, silicon, and cerium; metallic nanoparticles (nickel, cobalt, manganese, and silver) silicon carbide, Arizona road dust; nanoclays; and lithium titanate. Both the total and respirable dustiness spanned two orders of magnitude (0.3–37.9% and 0.1–31.8% of the predispersed test powders, respectively). For many powders, a significant respirable dustiness was observed. For most powders studied, the respirable dustiness accounted for approximately one-third of the total dustiness. It is believed that this relationship holds for many fine and nanoscale test powders (i.e. those primarily selected for this study), but may not hold for coarse powders. Neither total nor respirable dustiness was found to be correlated with BET surface area, therefore dustiness is not determined by primary particle size. For a subset of test powders, aerodynamic particle size distributions by number were measured (with an electrical low-pressure impactor and an aerodynamic particle sizer). Particle size modes ranged from approximately 300nm to several micrometers, but no modes below 100nm, were observed. It is therefore unlikely that these materials would exhibit a substantial sub-100nm particle contribution in a workplace.