Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Empirical validation of primary negative symptoms: independence from effects of medication and psychosis.

OBJECTIVE Recent studies of negative symptoms in schizophrenia-specifically, those involving the deficit syndrome-have focused on uncovering the symptoms that are primary to the disease rather than secondary to the psychotic process. One of the foremost concerns in this effort is establishing whether the negative symptoms observed are the result of medication effects. METHOD This study used negative symptom ratings obtained in a drug withdrawal paradigm to compare symptom profiles in the same schizophrenic patients when they were on and off antipsychotic drug treatment. The study group consisted of 93 physically healthy male patients with DSM-III-R-defined schizophrenia. Principal components analysis was performed on negative symptom data obtained separately during haloperidol treatment and again when the patients were drug free to determine whether there were meaningful factor scores that were consistent across medication conditions. Drug withdrawal effects on negative symptom factors were then tested for associations with secondary sources of variance including extrapyramidal side effects, anxiety/depression, and psychosis. RESULTS Two factors, termed affective flattening and diminished motivation, exhibited similar loadings when the patients were both on and off medication. Changes in motivation were associated with changes in anxiety/depression and psychosis, while changes in affective flattening were associated with changes in extrapyramidal side effects. CONCLUSIONS The documented secondary sources of negative symptoms are related to different and distinct aspects of negative symptoms; this finding will aid in the identification of primary negative symptoms.
Regional languages on Twitter A comparative study between Frisian and Limburgish

This paper addressed the question how the use of Dutch and the regional languages Frisian or Limburgish differ on Twitter and which patterns in language choice can be identified. Previous quantitative studies (Jongbloed-Faber, Van de Velde, Van der Meer & Klinkenberg, 2016; Nguyen, Trieschnigg & Cornips, 2015; Trieschnigg, 2015) have already shown that people in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Limburg tweet in Frisian or Limburgish respectively, but most often in Dutch interspersed with some English. In this qualitative study, we compared the tweets from twenty twitterers in Friesland and Limburg who use both Dutch and Frisian or Limburgish regularly in order to get insight into their language use patterns. The following patterns in language use were identified: when a twitterer aims to maximise his/her audience, Dutch is regularly employed. However, as soon as an interpersonal, addressed tweet is formulated, Frisian or Limburgish is often used. General tweets in Dutch may therefore very well get a Frisian or Limburgish continuation. Another mechanism frequently found in responding tweets is following the language used in the original tweet, notwithstanding such a tweet was in Dutch or in a regional language. Finally, the data show that, although Twitter is a global medium which can be accessed at any time and any place provided that one has access to the needed technical equipment and Internet connection, twitterers sometimes construct localness i.e. what is perceived as local culture through using Frisian or Limburgish exclusively.
Changing the Direction of the Economic and Demographic Research

A simple but useful method of reciprocal values is introduced, explained and illustrated. This method simplifies the analysis of hyperbolic distributions, which are causing serious problems in the demographic and economic research. It allows for a unique identification of hyperbolic distributions and for unravelling components of more complicated trajectories. This method is illustrated by a few examples. They show that fundamental postulates of the demographic and economic research are contradicted by data, even by precisely the same data, which are used in this research. The generally accepted postulates are based on the incorrect understanding of hyperbolic distributions, which characterise the historical growth of population and the historical economic growth. In particular, data used, but never analysed, during the formulation of the Unified Growth Theory show that this theory is based on fundamentally incorrect premises and thus is fundamentally defective. Application of this simple method of analysis points to new directions in the demographic and economic research. It suggests simpler interpretations of the mechanism of growth. The concept or the evidence of the past primitive and difficult living conditions, which might be perhaps described as some kind of stagnation, is not questioned or disputed. It is only demonstrated that trajectories of the past economic growth and of the growth of population were not reflecting any form of stagnation and thus that they were not shaped by these primitive and difficult living conditions. The concept or evidence of an explosion in technology, medicine, education and in the improved living conditions is not questioned or disputed. It is only demonstrated that this possible explosion is not reflected in the trajectories of the economic growth and of the growth of population.
PINOID-Mediated Signaling Involves Calcium-Binding Proteins

The plant hormone auxin is a central regulator of plant development. In Arabidopsis, the PINOID (PID) protein serine/threonine kinase is a key component in the signaling of this phytohormone. To further investigate the biological function of PID, we performed a screen for PID-interacting proteins using the yeast two-hybrid system. Here, we show that PID interacts with two calcium-binding proteins: TOUCH3 (TCH3), a calmodulin-related protein, and PID-BINDING PROTEIN 1 (PBP1), a previously uncharacterized protein containing putative EF-hand calcium-binding motifs. The interaction between PID and the calcium-binding proteins is significant because it is calcium dependent and requires an intact PID protein. Furthermore, the expression of all three genes (PID, TCH3, and PBP1) is up-regulated by auxin. TCH3 and PBP1 are not targets for phosphorylation by PID, suggesting that these proteins act upstream of PID. PBP1 was found to stimulate the autophosphorylation activity of PID, and calcium influx and calmodulin inhibitors where found to enhance the activity of PID in vivo. Our results indicate that TCH3 and PBP1 interact with the PID protein kinase and regulate the activity of this protein in response to changes in calcium levels. This work provides the first molecular evidence for the involvement of calcium in auxin-regulated plant development.
Simon Brand Memorial Address

ABSTRACT Climate change continues to pose a threat to food and nutrition security for many households in sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. Several studies have therefore examined the challenges of climate change to agricultural productivity and poverty, and the impacts of adaptation to climate change on outcomes such as farm yields, net farm incomes, as well as food and nutrition security of households in SSA. In this paper, I review this voluminous literature on the challenges and adaption to climate change by farmers in the region. I will first provide an overview on the literature on the challenges and adaptation to climate change within the last two decades, followed by a brief discussion of the methods used in modeling the impact of adaptation to climate change on farm performance. Finally, I will present some empirical results on the impact of adoption of climate-smart techniques on crop yields by farmers in Ghana, and provide some thoughts on policy implications and future research in the area.
Recovery From Visual Neglect After Right Hemisphere Stroke: Does Starting Point in Cancellation Tasks Change After 6 Months?

In the acute phase of stroke, patients with left visual neglect (VN) automatically orient to the right hemispace. This study examined the presence of rightward bias after right hemisphere stroke within 10 days of stroke onset and after 6 months. Our sample comprised 43 patients and 49 healthy controls. Presence of VN was evaluated with the six conventional subtests of the Behavioral Inattention Test (BITC). Starting points were determined in three BITC cancellation tasks by measuring the distance between the starting point and the median line of the stimulus sheet in centimeters. Activities of daily living (ADL) were assessed with the Barthel Index. At baseline VN patients showed more robust rightward bias than patients without VN. The magnitude of rightward bias decreased clearly in the VN patients at follow-up. A favorable ADL outcome was observed in 90% of the patients with VN and in all of the patients without VN. The magnitude of rightward bias differed clearly between the patient groups and controls. Our result implies that VN was likely to have improved as measured by BITC sum scores, but symptoms of rightward attention bias were still detected. We therefore suggest that, for clinical purposes, it is important that attention bias is measured accurately after right hemisphere stroke.
Do Pro-Diversity Policies Improve Corporate Innovation?

Using new product announcements, patents, and patent citations as measures of corporate innovation, we find that corporate policies that promote more pro‐diversity cultures, specifically treatment of women and minorities, enhance future innovative efficiency. This positive effect is stronger during economic downturns and in firms that are more innovative, value intangibles and human capital more highly, have greater growth options, have higher cash flow, and have stronger governance. Pro‐diversity policies also increase firm value via this stimulating effect on innovative efficiency. Our results suggest a channel through which workforce diversity may enhance firm value.
Hepatitis C virus infection in Egyptian children: single centre experience

Summary. The outcome of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection acquired in childhood is uncertain because of the diversity of the epidemiological and clinical features of infection and disease. The aim of this study was to determine the outcome of HCV infection in 105 Egyptian children who tested positive for HCV antibody (anti‐HCV). The data of 105 anti‐HCV‐positive children presenting to the Pediatric Hepatology Unit, Cairo University Children's Hospital, between 1995 and 2002, were retrospectively analysed for risk factors. Seventy‐four children with available polymerase chain reaction results were further analysed clinically, serologically and histologically. The age range was 1.3–22 years, with a mean of 11.2 ± 4.9 years. History of blood transfusion was found in 81 children (77%). HCV RNA was detected in 58.1% of 74 children. Persistently elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels were present in 40 patients (54.1%). Hepatitis B virus markers (HBsAg and/or anti‐HBc) were detected in 18 patients (24.3%). Twenty‐six of the 43 HCV RNA‐positive children underwent a diagnostic liver biopsy that showed chronic hepatitis in 19 patients (73.1%), cirrhosis in one case only (3.8%), and normal biopsy findings in seven children (26.9%). Blood transfusion remains a major risk of HCV transmission among Egyptian children. HCV infection is not always benign in the childhood period. ALT levels remain elevated in half of the children and histological abnormalities are detected in three quarters of HCV RNA‐positive cases.
Exposure to childhood infections and risk of Epstein‐Barr virus–defined Hodgkin's lymphoma in women

The role of Epstein‐Barr virus (EBV) in Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) etiology remains unresolved as EBV is detected in only some HL tumors and few studies have tried to reconcile its presence with factors suggesting viral etiology (e.g., childhood social class, infection history). In a population‐based case‐control study of San Francisco Bay area women, we analyzed interview data by tumor EBV status. Among 211 young adult cases, EBV‐positive HL (11%) was associated with a single vs. shared bedroom at age 11 (OR = 4.0, 95% CI 1.1–14.4); risk was decreased for common childhood infections (OR = 0.3, 95% CI 0.1–1.0), including measles before age 10, but not with prior infectious mononucleosis (IM), which is delayed EBV infection. No study factors affected risk of young adult EBV‐negative HL. Among 57 older adult cases, EBV‐positive HL (23%) was unrelated to study factors; EBV‐negative HL was associated with a single bedroom at age 11 (OR = 3.6, 95% CI 1.5–9.1) and IM in family members (OR = 3.1, 95% CI 1.1–9.0). Thus, delayed exposure to infection may increase risk of EBV‐positive HL in young adults, but risk patterns differ in younger and older women for both EBV‐positive and ‐negative HL. Late EBV infection does not appear relevant to risk, suggesting that other pathogens impact HL etiology in affluent female populations. Inconsistency of findings with prior studies may reflect failure of study risk factors to proxy meaningful exposures, risk differences by gender, or selection or misclassification bias. Null findings for EBV‐negative HL indicate that etiologic models should be reconsidered for this common form. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Primary care physicians' knowledge and practice patterns in the treatment of chronic kidney disease: an Upstate New York Practice-based Research Network (UNYNET) study.

BACKGROUND There is a steady increase in the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the United States. Primary care physicians (PCPs) can engage in strategies that are proven to be effective in reducing the progression rate of kidney disease. The National Kidney Foundation has released evidence-based guidelines called the Kidney Disease Outcome Quality Improvement Initiative (K/DOQI) that detail these strategies. No information exists regarding adoption of these guidelines in primary care. METHODS A qualitative study in a practice-based research network (PBRN) was undertaken to explore common PCP practices and knowledge regarding CKD. A typical case sampling strategy was followed. Semi-structured interviews and exit surveys were conducted with 10 PCPs from randomly selected PBRN practices. Three reviewers conducted content analysis using the immersion-crystallization approach. RESULTS Five general themes emerged as key findings: (1) lack of awareness of K/DOQI guidelines; (2) Desire for more CKD practice guidance; (3) persistence of traditional, less accurate, diagnostic procedure; (4) variability in the treatment of complications; and (5) uncertainty of timing for referral to a nephrologist. CONCLUSION Facing a growing CKD incidence, PCPs can have an impact on preventing its progression and associated complications with increased familiarity of new guidelines.
It Doesn't Matter How We Assess the Competencies in Accounting Education?

Currently, the accounting profession has lost its privilege of self-regulation. Accounting education is also plagued with many problems. The issue how to assess professional competencies achieved by the end of the accounting undergraduate education – using a paper-based or a computer-based exam – cannot solve any of these problems. However, it remains an important one, because it draws attention to the roots of the problems – the crisis in the accounting profession’s values. While the value proposition of the other learned professions (i.e. how a profession provides benefits to society at large) is based on the commitments of their members to serve the broad public interest, in accounting we have two conceptually different value propositions. The Pathways Commission (2012) defines it broadly – in terms of the role of accounting in the wider society, Lawson et al. (2014; 2015), however, propose a weaker value proposition defined in terms of the role of accounting in adding value to the individual organizations. The choice among these statements is critical for the future of accounting education and the profession. The paper suggests that what values one teaches is equally important to considering how we assess the level of competencies students have achieved. In seeking to expound this thesis, the paper explores the need for a broad societal perspective on the accounting’s value proposition as well as the implications this proposition has for reforming accounting higher education. A shift in the focus of ethics courses and a shift in the teaching strategies applied offer the best hope for fulfilling the advanced promise of the accounting profession and its education. However, this entirely qualitative study suggests that in testing students’ ethical reasoning capacity – the core driver of the commitments to the profession’s ideal – computer-based exams appear to be as (ir)relevant as the paper-based exams.
Tourist Experience on Memorable Hospitality Services

ABSTRACT Social media, online review and photo posting have created an impact on hotel guest experience. This study explores how tourists capture their experience on memorable hospitality services via each stage of the long-term memory system (i.e. encoding, consolidation and retrieval). User-generated content was analyzed from three five-star hotels in Guangdong Province, China, and linked with each stage of the memory system to highlight the concepts of mindfulness, working memory, self-identity, remembering and storytelling on the memories of guests. Among the three stages of the long-term memory system, stage 1-encoding received the highest weight, followed by stage 3-retrieval and stage 2- consolidation. This result corroborates that practitioners can focus on the opportunities of the memory consolidation (stage 2) and retrieval (stage 3) of tourists. From a theoretical perspective, this study contributes by demonstrating how a long-term memory framework derived from psychology research could be used to provide a broad investigation of the memories of guests in hospitality research. Moreover, this study exhibited how the combination of text-based guest reviews and shared photographs of positive and negative memories can be used in memory-related hospitality studies. Hence, this study elucidated how a long-term memory framework could be a relevant reference for hospitality practitioners and researchers.
The Effects of Public Spending Shocks on Trade Balances in the European Union

ABSTRACT We investigate the consequences of an increase in government spending for trade balances and budget deficits in the European Union, using a panel VAR approach. While the literature tends to treat the trade balance/GDP ratio as a single variable, we include exports and imports as separate variables. It also allows us to track in more detail the sources of trade balance movements. Further, we use annual rather than quarterly data. This improves the interpretation of the shocks and reduces potential anticipation effects of fiscal policy changes. However, the identification assumptions become stronger, and we extensively check their validity. According to our baseline estimate, a one-percent of GDP increase in government spending produces a 1.2% impact, respectively 1.6% peak rise in GDP. Rising imports and falling exports are responsible for a fall of the trade balance by 0.5% of GDP on impact and a maximum fall of 0.8% of GDP. In addition, the spending increase produces a 0.7% of GDP impact (and peak) budget deficit, thereby pointing to the potential relevance of the twin deficits hypothesis.
Portuguese market reaction to earnings and dividend announcements

The main intent of this master degree thesis is to contribute to a better understanding of the Portuguese stock market based on empirical evidence on the semi-strong market efficiency. To achieve this goal, we focused on the announcement effect of financial information (corporate earnings and dividend announcements), analysing both the stock price and trading volume response to the announcements. The investigation is based on the event studies methodology, with the analysis of 548 events, 446 earnings announcements and 102 dividend announcements for 23 companies listed on the PSI-20 stock index from January 2005 through December 2010. The results provide some evidence of the information content of earnings and dividends, as we found evidence of abnormal returns and abnormal trading volume around the announcement day. Nevertheless, our evidence also suggests that the Portuguese stock market is not semi-strong form efficient regarding the disclosure of financial information, as we verify that the stock market does not reacts immediately and fully to the new information. This thesis provides new evidence on the information content of financial information for the Portuguese stock market, as we aim to examine both earnings and dividend announcements through the analysis of the stock price and the trading volume response to good, bad and no news announcements. By using the stock price relative range, our study adds to the existing literature, as far as we know, no previous study explored the analysis of the stock price range variation around certain announcements.
TBK1-associated Protein in Endolysosomes (TAPE) Is an Innate Immune Regulator Modulating the TLR3 and TLR4 Signaling Pathways*

The innate immune system elicits the first wave of immune responses against pathogen infection. Its operational modes are complex and have yet to be defined. Here, we report the identification of an innate immune regulator termed TAPE (TBK1-associated protein in endolysosomes), previously known as CC2D1A/Freud-1/Aki-1, which modulates the TLR3 and TLR4 pathways. We found that TAPE activated the TBK1, NF-κB, and ERK pathways leading to IFN-β and inflammatory cytokine induction. TAPE was shown to colocalize with endosomal marker Rab5 and lysosomal marker LAMP1 in mammalian cells, suggesting that TAPE resided in endolysosomes. Knockdown of TAPE selectively impaired the TLR3 and endocytic TLR4 pathways to IFN-β induction. Furthermore, TAPE interacted and synergized with Trif to activate IFN-β. TAPE knockdown failed to block Trif-mediated IFN-β induction, whereas Trif knockdown impaired the TLR3 and TAPE cooperation on IFN-β induction, suggesting that TAPE acts upstream of Trif. Together, our data demonstrate a central role for TAPE in linking TLR3 and TLR4 to innate immune defenses at an early step.
Estimating and comparing the reliability of a suite of workplace-based assessments: An obstetrics and gynaecology setting

This paper reports on a study that compares estimates of the reliability of a suite of workplace based assessment forms as employed to formatively assess the progress of trainee obstetricians and gynaecologists. The use of such forms of assessment is growing nationally and internationally in many specialties, but there is little research evidence on comparisons by procedure/competency and form-type across an entire specialty. Generalisability theory combined with a multilevel modelling approach is used to estimate variance components, G-coefficients and standard errors of measurement across 13 procedures and three form-types (mini-CEX, OSATS and CbD). The main finding is that there are wide variations in the estimates of reliability across the forms, and that therefore the guidance on assessment within the specialty does not always allow for enough forms per trainee to ensure that the levels of reliability of the process is adequate. There is, however, little evidence that reliability varies systematically by form-type. Methodologically, the problems of accurately estimating reliability in these contexts through the calculation of variance components and, crucially, their associated standard errors are considered. The importance of the use of appropriate methods in such calculations is emphasised, and the unavoidable limitations of research in naturalistic settings are discussed.