Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Loving Approach to Dementia Care: Making Meaningful Connections with the Person Who Has Alzheimer’s Disease or Other Dementia or Memory Loss, by Laura Wayman

Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of aging-related dementia present substantial challenges for caregivers and significant others in forming productive and meaningful connections with the dementia-affected individual. Wayman’s A Loving Approach to Dementia Care presents the author’s “affirmative response method of communication” (p. 4) for connecting and establishing quality interactions with dementia-challenged individuals. The book is organized into a series of brief real-life stories from the author’s practice experience in dementia care, each concerning a particular dementia-related behavior or quandary for the caregiver and an ensuing intervention. Wayman, who reportedly holds an associate’s degree in gerontology, is noted to possess over 10 years’ experience as a social services practitioner, consultant, and educator. The book is intended for professional and nonprofessional caregivers; I believe it has value for educators as well. The initial chapter, “Navigating the Journey,” introduces the reader to the affirmative response method of communication. It is based on the understanding that it is impossible to bring adults with dementia into reality; thus, rather than correcting the individual’s perception of reality, one acknowledges and gives affirmative responses to the person’s feelings and behaviors in his or her reality, not one’s own. With its emphasis on nonverbal, as well as verbal, communication, this approach allows the caregiver to lower stress for both parties and redirect the loved one or client into less anxious and more cooperative behaviors. Wayman credits the works of several authors in her development of this method: Naomi Feil (2002), Nancy L. Mace and Peter V. Rabins (2006), and Virginia Bell and David Troxel (1996). Each of the subsequent 15 chapters chronicles a real-life story and intervention, mostly those of Wayman, but also of contributing authors Alicia Murray, notably a practitioner and researcher in memory care, and Denise Pederson, certified grief recovery specialist. Each chapter, bearing the name of the dementia-affected person at the center of the story, presents a different
Dilemmas in Anesthetic Management of a Patient with History of Anaphylaxis to Vecuronium

Anaphylaxis during anesthesia is a life-threatening situation that occurs uncommonly. A 60-year-old woman with a history of anaphylaxis during previous anesthesia is scheduled to undergo elective open cholecystectomy. Her skin tests revealed sensitivity to vecuronium and nonsensitivity to injections of midazolam, fentanyl, and propofol. Due to high incidence of cross sensitivity among neuromuscular drugs, it was thought best to avoid general anesthesia. Spinal anesthesia was planned for the patient. The patient refused to give consent for spinal anesthesia, and she had to be taken up for surgery under general anesthesia. The only alternate neuromuscular blocking drug available to us was atracurium, which was tested for sensitivity by intradermal test. Atracurium was found to be not sensitive on intradermal test. We report here the dilemma and the challenges faced during management of general anesthesia in a patient with history of anaphylaxis to vecuronium.
Corporate Social Responsibility and Aging Workforces: An Explorative Study of Corporate Social Responsibility Implementation in Small‐ and Medium‐Sized Enterprises

Although critical differences exist between large companies and small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), limited empirical research has been done on human resource (HR)‐related corporate social responsibility (CSR). In this paper we study aging workforce management (AWM) as a component of CSR. Our study was conducted in the Netherlands through a randomly distributed online questionnaire. Managers and team leaders of 201 SMEs responded. The data were analyzed using multiple hierarchical regression analysis. Our results are twofold: first, findings suggest that CSR policies in micro organizations with fewer than five employees seem to be strongly associated with AWM; and second, that companies with a focus on integration of older workers in daily activities do not perceive their actions as HR‐related. Using AWM as part of CSR helps to give insight into the role of the owner, company size and the nature of implicit CSR practices. Our study demonstrates that the use of AWM in CSR research can lead to valuable insights and therefore, our overarching research question is answered that AWM can be used when studying CSR.
Suppression of Factor-Dependent TranscriptionTermination by AntiterminatorRNA

ABSTRACT Nascent transcripts of the phage HK022 put sites modify the transcription elongation complex so that it terminates less efficiently at intrinsic transcription terminators and accelerates through pause sites. We show here that the modification also suppresses termination in vivo at two factor-dependent terminators, one that depends on the bacterial Rho protein and a second that depends on the HK022-encoded Nun protein. Suppression was efficient when the termination factors were present at physiological levels, but an increase in the intracellular concentration of Nun increased termination both in the presence and absence of put. put-mediated antitermination thus shows no apparent terminator specificity, suggesting that put inhibits a step that is common to termination at the different types of terminator.
Direction Detection of Users Independent of Smartphone Orientations

Smartphone sensors deliver useful information for applications such as indoor and outdoor navigation. An integral part of such applications is the detection of the orientation and movement direction of a smartphone user. Until now, movement direction detection using smartphones typically relies on GPS, which is often not available indoors. Alternatively, other approaches use sensors such as accelerometer and compass instead. These approaches rely on carrying the smartphone in a predefined orientation, or knowing the orientation of the smartphone in relation to the orientation of the user. In this paper, we present an approach to detecting the orientation and movement direction of users carrying smartphones inside the trouser pocket. This approach first determines the orientation of the smartphone's top using compass and orientation sensor. Second, this approach determines the orientation of the smartphone's screen, and the user's movement direction by observing compass and accelerometer during at least two steps the user takes. After these two steps, the approach is capable of continuously aligning smartphone orientation and user orientation. With our approach, the user is free to change direction, movement speed, or to stop moving at all. The smartphone can be placed in the trouser pocket arbitrarily. And the smartphone is free to wobble in the trouser pocket. How well our approach works, is investigated based on experimental measurements.
Staphylococcal and Streptococcal Superantigens: Basic Biology of Conserved Protein Toxins~!2009-07-13~!2009-09-18~!2010-03-09~!

Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes are gram-positive bacteria that possess great pathogenic potential in humans, causing numerous maladies such as arthritis, cutaneous infections, endocarditis, enterocolitis, food poisoning, pharyngitis, pneumonia, rheumatic fever, surgical site infections, and toxic shock. These prevalent pathogens produce various virulence factors that include the staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs), toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1), and streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxins (SPEs). Minute (picomolar) amounts of these structurally-similar “superantigens” (SAgs) elicit high levels of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines that can induce fever, hypotension, and lethal shock. In vitro and in vivo models have provided important tools for studying the biological effects of, and potential vaccines plus therapeutics against, these related protein toxins. This review will delve into the known physical and biological properties of the SEs, TSST-1, and SPEs. The reader will hopefully derive a general appreciation of these wonderfully-complex, structurally-similar toxins produced by S. aureus and S. pyogenes.
Numerical Analysis of Dynamic Effects of a Nonlinear Vibro-Impact Process for Enhancing the Reliability of Contact-Type MEMS Devices

This paper reports on numerical modeling and simulation of a generalized contact-type MEMS device having large potential in various micro-sensor/actuator applications, which are currently limited because of detrimental effects of the contact bounce phenomenon that is still not fully explained and requires comprehensive treatment. The proposed 2-D finite element model encompasses cantilever microstructures operating in a vacuum and impacting on a viscoelastic support. The presented numerical analysis focuses on the first three flexural vibration modes and their influence on dynamic characteristics. Simulation results demonstrate the possibility to use higher modes and their particular points for enhancing MEMS performance and reliability through reduction of vibro-impact process duration.
Formant features statistical analysis of male and female emotional speech in Czech and Slovak

The paper is aimed at statistical analysis and comparison of formant features (FF) which describe vocal tract characteristics in emotional and neutral speech of a male and a female voice. This experiment was realized using the Czech and Slovak speech material extracted from the stories performed by professional actors. Statistical results and values will be used for classification of emotional speech types.
Children as Witnesses to Homicidal Violence: What They Remember and Report

The present study investigated how 96 children who have witnessed homicidal violence remember and report their experiences. The aims of the study were to describe the children's reporting pattern and to investigate background factors that could affect the children's reporting. Police interviews with the children were analysed regarding the amount and type of information reported, as well as frequency of denial, withholding and claims of memory loss. Results showed that the majority of children provided detailed reports about the homicidal violence they had witnessed, including critical details about the abuse. Results also revealed that the child's relationship to the perpetrator or the victim did not affect the children's reporting pattern, indicating that the children's willingness to report exceeds strong impact factors such as loyalty conflicts. These findings are applicable in different legal contexts dealing with child witnesses and can be used as guidance when interviewing children and evaluating their testimony.
Written Discourse Analysis

In the relatively recent past, a whole issue of ARAL (Kaplan, et al. 1983) was devoted to text analysis. In a way, an article of the sort offered here may be premature in the sense that it appears only two years after the more thorough review volume. There are two reasons why it seems appropriate to look at this area again so quickly. First, the area of text analysis is an extremely active one, and no major bibliographies have appeared since 1983. Second, the approach taken here is somewhat different from that in ARAL III; this review has no direct concern either with pedagogical applications or with contrastive forms of text. There is, of necessity, some overlap in bibliography between this article and the earlier volume, but the great majority of sources cited did not appear there. This particular area is in a state of very rapid growth, moving toward the evolution of a new paradigm which may radically modify the field of applied linguistics by providing a new set of questions and a new way of answering them. The rate and direction of change seem to justify another brief sortie into text analysis, and thereby to try to disambiguate some notions that have been available for greater or lesser periods of time.
Glycinebetaine alleviates water deficit stress in indica rice using proline accumulation, photosynthetic efficiencies, growth performances and yield attributes

We investigated the role of GlyBet (100 mM) applied exogenously in alleviating water-deficit induced stress in indica rice cv. Pathumthani 1 (PT1). Exogenous GlyBet increased proline concentration in the leaf tissues of water deficit stressed plants depend on a degree of soil water content (SWC), especially at severe water deficit (25% SWC). Foliar GlyBet (100 mM) significantly enhanced chlorophyll a (Chla) and total chlorophyll (TC) content in the leaf tissues of water stressed plants (25% SWC) and stabilized total carotenoids (Cx+c) in 25 and 36% SWC better than those in controlled plant. A positive correlation was observed between Chla and maximum quantum yield of PSII (Fv/Fm), and TC and photon yield of PSII (PSII). In contrast to control plants, where Fv/Fm and PSII and net photosynthetic rate (Pn) declined, Glybet pre-treated plants maintained a high level of Fv/Fm, PSII and Pn even under 25% SWC. Even at the harvest stage, plant height and yield traits such as panicle length and weight, fertility percentage and one-hundred grain weight of GlyBet pre-treated plants were better than those in the control plants when exposed to water stress. The study concludes that exogenous application of GlyBet significantly alleviates water-deficit in indica rice and maintains grain yield.
Automated design of a novel dual mode coupler for compact dual polarization beam forming networks

A new dual mode coupler has been recently proposed. This component functions as two independent directional couplers for the TE/sub 10/ and the TE/sub 01/ modes of a rectangular waveguide. The component is very attractive for the realization of compact dual polarization beam forming networks for satellite applications. In order to provide an effective tool for the design of such a device an equivalent circuit and synthesis formulas are presented here. The equivalent circuit has been used to obtain a program for the automatic design of the structure. A number of different designs of the component showing the good performance of this novel component are presented in this paper.
Gaussian process estimation of odometry errors for localization and mapping

Since early in robotics the performance of odometry techniques has been of constant research for mobile robots. This is due to its direct influence on localization. The pose error grows unbounded in dead-reckoning systems and its uncertainty has negative impacts in localization and mapping (i.e. SLAM). The dead-reckoning performance in terms of residuals, i.e. the difference between the expected and the real pose state, is related to the statistical error or uncertainty in probabilistic motion models. A novel approach to model odometry errors using Gaussian processes (GPs) is presented. The methodology trains a GP on the residual between the non-linear parametric motion model and the ground truth training data. The result is a GP over odometry residuals which provides an expected value and its uncertainty in order to enhance the belief with respect to the parametric model. The localization and mapping benefits from a comprehensive GP-odometry residuals model. The approach is applied to a planetary rover in an unstructured environment. We show that our approach enhances visual SLAM by efficiently computing image frames and effectively distributing keyframes.
Hybrid Generative/Discriminative Learning for Automatic Image Annotation

Automatic image annotation (AIA) raises tremendous challenges to machine learning as it requires modeling of data that are both ambiguous in input and output, e.g., images containing multiple objects and labeled with multiple semantic tags. Even more challenging is that the number of candidate tags is usually huge (as large as the vocabulary size) yet each image is only related to a few of them. This paper presents a hybrid generative-discriminative classifier to simultaneously address the extreme data-ambiguity and overfitting-vulnerability issues in tasks such as AIA. Particularly: (1) an Exponential-Multinomial Mixture (EMM) model is established to capture both the input and output ambiguity and in the meanwhile to encourage prediction sparsity; and (2) the prediction ability of the EMM model is explicitly maximized through discriminative learning that integrates variational inference of graphical models and the pairwise formulation of ordinal regression. Experiments show that our approach achieves both superior annotation performance and better tag scalability.
Coordination Mechanism and Bio-Evidence: Reactive γ-Ketoenal Intermediated Hepatotoxicity of Psoralen and Isopsoralen Based on Computer Approach and Bioassay

Psoralen and isopsoralen are secondary plant metabolites found in many fruits, vegetables, and medicinal herbs. Psoralen-containing plants (Psoralea corylifolia L.) have been reported to cause hepatotoxicity. Herein, we found that psoralen and isopsoralen were oxidized by CYP450s to reactive furanoepoxide or γ-ketoenal intermediates, causing a mechanism-based inhibition of CYP3A4. Furthermore, in GSH-depleted mice, the hepatotoxicity of these reactive metabolites has been demonstrated by pre-treatment with a well-known GSH synthesis inhibitor, L-buthionine-S, Rsulfoxinine (BSO). Moreover, a molecular docking simulation of the present study was undertaken to understand the coordination reaction that plays a significant role in the combination of unstable intermediates and CYP3A4. These results suggested that psoralen and isopsoralen are modest hepatotoxic agents, as their reactive metabolites could be deactivated by H2O and GSH in the liver, which partly contributes to the ingestion of psoralen-containing fruits and vegetables being safe.
Risk of anal cancer in HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected individuals in North America.

BACKGROUND Anal cancer is one of the most common cancers affecting individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), although few have evaluated rates separately for men who have sex with men (MSM), other men, and women. There are also conflicting data regarding calendar trends. METHODS In a study involving 13 cohorts from North America with follow-up between 1996 and 2007, we compared anal cancer incidence rates among 34 189 HIV-infected (55% MSM, 19% other men, 26% women) and 114 260 HIV-uninfected individuals (90% men). RESULTS Among men, the unadjusted anal cancer incidence rates per 100 000 person-years were 131 for HIV-infected MSM, 46 for other HIV-infected men, and 2 for HIV-uninfected men, corresponding to demographically adjusted rate ratios (RRs) of 80.3 (95% confidence interval [CI], 42.7-151.1) for HIV-infected MSM and 26.7 (95% CI, 11.5-61.7) for other HIV-infected men compared with HIV-uninfected men. HIV-infected women had an anal cancer rate of 30/100 000 person-years, and no cases were observed for HIV-uninfected women. In a multivariable Poisson regression model, among HIV-infected individuals, the risk was higher for MSM compared with other men (RR, 3.3; 95% CI, 1.8-6.0), but no difference was observed comparing women with other men (RR, 1.0; 95% CI, 0.5-2.2). In comparison with the period 2000-2003, HIV-infected individuals had an adjusted RR of 0.5 (95% CI, .3-.9) in 1996-1999 and 0.9 (95% CI, .6-1.2) in 2004-2007. CONCLUSIONS Anal cancer rates were substantially higher for HIV-infected MSM, other men, and women compared with HIV-uninfected individuals, suggesting a need for universal prevention efforts. Rates increased after the early antiretroviral therapy era and then plateaued.
Teacher Motivation and School-Based Performance Awards

This article summarizes findings from a series of research studies on the motivational effects of school-based performance award programs on teachers in schools in Kentucky and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg (North Carolina) school district. Interviews and survey data were collected between 1995 and 1998. The research was framed by expectancy and goal-setting theories. The research findings suggest that teachers associate a variety of positive and negative outcomes with the programs, including the bonus. Teachers expressed a relatively high level of commitment to program goals. Teacher expectancy was an important predictor of school success, and expectancy was related to the presence of enabling conditions, prior success, and perceived fairness of the program. The findings suggest that program designers need to focus on setting realistic goals, providing enabling conditions for success, maximizing perceptions that achieving the goals will lead to positive outcomes, and minimizing stress reactions.
Strong rules for discarding predictors in lasso‐type problems

Summary. We consider rules for discarding predictors in lasso regression and related problems, for computational efficiency. El Ghaoui and his colleagues have proposed ‘SAFE’ rules, based on univariate inner products between each predictor and the outcome, which guarantee that a coefficient will be 0 in the solution vector. This provides a reduction in the number of variables that need to be entered into the optimization. We propose strong rules that are very simple and yet screen out far more predictors than the SAFE rules. This great practical improvement comes at a price: the strong rules are not foolproof and can mistakenly discard active predictors, i.e. predictors that have non‐zero coefficients in the solution. We therefore combine them with simple checks of the Karush–Kuhn–Tucker conditions to ensure that the exact solution to the convex problem is delivered. Of course, any (approximate) screening method can be combined with the Karush–Kuhn–Tucker conditions to ensure the exact solution; the strength of the strong rules lies in the fact that, in practice, they discard a very large number of the inactive predictors and almost never commit mistakes. We also derive conditions under which they are foolproof. Strong rules provide substantial savings in computational time for a variety of statistical optimization problems.
Adaptive Stochastic Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers

The Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM) has been studied for years. The traditional ADMM algorithm needs to compute, at each iteration, an (empirical) expected loss function on all training examples, resulting in a computational complexity proportional to the number of training examples. To reduce the time complexity, stochastic ADMM algorithms were proposed to replace the expected function with a random loss function associated with one uniformly drawn example plus a Bregman divergence. The Bregman divergence, however, is derived from a simple second order proximal function, the half squared norm, which could be a suboptimal choice. In this paper, we present a new family of stochastic ADMM algorithms with optimal second order proximal functions, which produce a new family of adaptive subgradient methods. We theoretically prove that their regret bounds are as good as the bounds which could be achieved by the best proximal function that can be chosen in hindsight. Encouraging empirical results on a variety of real-world datasets confirm the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed algorithms.