Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Is the ability of politicians to act as representatives between elections hampered in systems inspired by NPM?

In this article, I explore and analyse how the application of systems inspired by New (Normal) Public Management affects the capacity of politicians to act on behalf of the people. The aim is to acquire new knowledge about how output-based financial and performance measurement systems affect the form and content of deliberative processes between elections. The analysis is based on an extensive empirical process, both backwards and forwards in time, tracing analysis of a critical event that occurred within education policy in a Swedish municipality. One main hypothesis generated is that NPM-inspired systems have a negative effect on deliberations between elections in ways that generate lock-in effects that hamper the ability of politicians to act as representatives between elections.
Effects of Standardized Home Training in Patients with Cognitive Impairment following Geriatric Rehabilitation: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study

Background: Post-ward geriatric rehabilitation programs have hardly been developed and validated, which leaves a substantial gap in rehabilitative care in older adults and hinders full exploitation of maintained, but often unrecognized rehabilitation potentials. Geriatric rehabilitation patients with cognitive impairment represent a highly vulnerable population which is often affected by a lack of an ongoing support at the intersection between ward-based and post-ward rehabilitation. Objective: To determine the effect of a standardized home-based training program in geriatric patients with cognitive impairment following ward-based rehabilitation. Methods: A randomized controlled, single-blinded intervention trial (RCT) with wait list control design was used. Geriatric patients (n = 34; age: 81.9 ± 5.7 years) with cognitive impairment (MMSE: 18.8 ± 4.7), identified by predefined in- and exclusion criteria, were consecutively recruited from a geriatric rehab ward. Patients in the intervention group (IG, n = 17) performed a 6-week strength and functional home training. The control group (CG, n = 17) started an identical training 6 weeks later with an initial usual care period during the intervention for the IG. Functional performance (Short Physical Performance Battery; SPPB), clinically relevant functional deficits (Performance Oriented Assessment; POMA), and physical activity (Assessment of Physical Activity For Older Persons questionnaire; APAFOP) represented primary outcome measurements complemented by additional secondary outcome parameters. Results: The IG significantly increased functional performances in SPPB (total score: p = 0.012; chair rise: p = 0.007, balance: p = 0.066), reduced gait and balance deficits in POMA (total score: p = 0.006; balance: p = 0.034; gait: p = 0.019), and increased physical activity (APAFOP; p = 0.05) compared to the CG. Effect sizes showed medium to large effects for significant parameters (eta2 = 0.14-0.45). Training benefits and adherence were more pronounced following the immediate onset of post-ward training compared to a delayed start (eta2 = 0.06-0.23). Conclusion: Results of this pilot study show that a feasible and easy to handle, home-based rehabilitation program increased functional performance and physical activity in a vulnerable, multimorbid patient group with cognitive impairment, in particular when the post-ward training onset was not postponed.
Psychosocial interventions for adolescent cancer patients: a systematic review of the literature

Objective: Both cancer diagnosis and the consequent treatment are particularly challenging for adolescent patients. Adjuvant psychological interventions to reduce cancer‐related distress are therefore a fundamental part of a multidisciplinary treatment. Assuming that psycho‐oncology has to consider developmentally specific aspects, this review summarizes empirical studies of the efficacy and effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for adolescent cancer patients.
Case Manager Perspectives on the Role of Treatment in Supportive Housing for People with Severe Mental Illness

Objective: Growing recognition exists of housing as a social determinant of health, and thus, health care reform initiatives are expanding the reach of health care beyond traditional settings. One result of this expansion is increased Medicaid funds for supportive-housing programs for people with severe mental illnesses. This qualitative study explores the ways in which case managers working in a supportive housing program approach treatment and how their approach is influenced by both program requirements and their beliefs about mental illness. Method: The study is part of a longitudinal qualitative study on recovery for people with severe mental illnesses living in supportive housing. Multiple interviews (n = 55) with 24 case managers from a residential-continuum supportive-housing program were conducted over 18 months. To provide an in-depth view of case manager perspectives, the study uses thematic analysis with multiple coders. Results: Overall, case managers understand supportive housing as being a treatment program but predominantly characterize treatment as medication management. The following themes emerged: believing medication to be the key to success in the program, persuading residents to take medication, and questioning the utility of the program for residents who were not medication adherent. Conclusions: Case managers understand supportive housing to be a treatment program; however, given the external constraints and their own beliefs about mental illness, case managers often equate treatment with taking medication. Study findings demonstrate the need to train case managers about mental health recovery and integrated health care. The findings also have implications for policies that tie housing to services.
Significant changes in the tau A0 and A3 alleles in progressive supranuclear palsy and improved genotyping by silver detection.

BACKGROUND Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is characterized by intraneuronal inclusions of neurofibrillary tangles formed by aggregated tau protein. A significant association between the tau gene A0/A0 genotype and PSP recently has been reported. OBJECTIVES To determine if a significant association between the tau gene A0/A0 genotype and PSP could be found in an independent population with a genetic background different from that in which the initial association was reported, and to standardize a nonradioactive method for tau gene genotyping. SETTING Hospital and university research laboratories. SUBJECTS AND METHODS To facilitate genotyping of the tau gene, we standardized the conditions for silver-based detection of the tau gene dinucleotide polymorphism. Thirty patients from Spain clinically diagnosed as having probable PSP were included in the study and compared with different control groups. RESULTS A highly significant overrepresentation of the A0/A0 genotype (P<.001) and a decrease in the frequency of the A0/A3 genotype were found in the Spanish patients with PSP compared with the control group. A method based on silver detection was standardized for the genotyping of the tau gene. CONCLUSIONS The detection of a significant association between the tau gene A0/A0 genotype and PSP in 2 independent populations rules out genetic stratification as an explanation for the association and indicates that the presence of the tau A0/A0 genotype is a risk factor for developing PSP independent of genetic background. Alternatively, the results could be interpreted as a protective effect of the A3 allele.
Bail-In: A Sustainable Mechanism for Rescuing Banks

Until the Great Recession, rescuing banks with taxpayers’ money had been the preferred way to deal with banking crises. The dramatic effects of these practices on the real economy highlighted that bailouts are not a sustainable method to resolve troubled banks going forward. As a result, a new regulatory framework has been proposed, forcing the financial industry to move from “bailout” to “bail-in. ” Understanding the implications of such a change is key to ensuring the success of these new banking rules. This article aims to build up a comprehensive and unbiased set of research articles in order to draw conclusions about the current status of the academic literature in the field of capital and loss absorption requirements. A research agenda on the topic is also proposed. The methodological approach undertaken is based on ProKnow-C (Knowledge Development Process-Constructivist). We also contribute to the development of Proknow-C methodology by adding a cross-reference extension to the original framework. The results of our analysis point out that further research has to be undertaken on the subject of loss absorption requirements.
Privacy: Recognition of a Consumer Right

This paper presents an overview of consumer privacy that integrates the public policy and behavioral literatures. Consumer privacy is defined in terms of control over information disclosure and the environment in which a consumer transaction occurs. These two dimensions generate a 2×2 matrix, identifying four states of privacy based on control over environment, information disclosure, both, or neither. For each state, managerial and policy implications can be derived.
Optimization of a Sea Ice Model Using Basinwide Observations of Arctic Sea Ice Thickness, Extent, and Velocity

A stand-alone sea ice model is tuned and validated using satellite-derived, basinwide observations of sea ice thickness, extent, and velocity from the years 1993 to 2001. This is the first time that basin-scale measurements of sea ice thickness have been used for this purpose. The model is based on the CICE sea ice model code developed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, with some minor modifications, and forcing consists of 40-yr ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-40) and Polar Exchange at the Sea Surface (POLES) data. Three parameters are varied in the tuning process: Ca, the air–ice drag coefficient; P*, the ice strength parameter; and α, the broadband albedo of cold bare ice, with the aim being to determine the subset of this three-dimensional parameter space that gives the best simultaneous agreement with observations with this forcing set. It is found that observations of sea ice extent and velocity alone are not sufficient to unambiguously tune the model, and that sea ice thickness measurements are necessary to locate a unique subset of parameter space in which simultaneous agreement is achieved with all three observational datasets.
The effect of tax-motivated income shifting on information asymmetry

We examine whether tax-motivated income shifting by U.S. multinational corporations affects information asymmetry. Using a new firm-year measure of income shifting and a two-stage least squares approach, we find income shifting is positively associated with four measures of information asymmetry. Cross-sectional tests reveal that this effect is more pronounced for firms with large differences between foreign and domestic earnings growth. Using SFAS 131 to improve identification and establish evidence consistent with a causal relation between income shifting and information asymmetry, we demonstrate that the adverse impact of income shifting on information asymmetry is concentrated in firms that discontinue geographic earnings disclosures. Overall, our study provides evidence that significant consequences of information asymmetry are associated with tax-motivated income shifting.
The Current Status of Animal Use and Alternatives in Korean Veterinary Medical Schools

Two new Korean laws regulating animal welfare and the humane use of animals in science came into effect in 2008 and 2009. Both these laws impose ethical committee review prior to the performance of animal experiments in research, testing and education. This study briefly summarises the new Korean laws, and investigates the current status regarding the numbers of animals used, the alternatives to animals which are used, the curricula relating to the humane use of animals, and ethical review practices in Korean veterinary education. Approximately 4,845 animals, representing 20 different species, were used in veterinary medical education in Korea in 2007. Korea has begun to introduce formal courses on animal welfare for the humane treatment of animals used in experiments, and an ethical protocol review system prior to animal use in education. Korea is moving toward better animal welfare, by incorporating practices consistent with international standards. The information presented represents the first such data gathered in Korea, which should prove useful for monitoring the implementation of replacement, reduction, and refinement measures in animal use for education purposes.
Multiple snapshot compressive beamforming

For sound fields observed on an array, compressive sensing (CS) reconstructs the multiple source signals at unknown directions-of-arrival (DOAs) using a sparsity constraint. The DOA estimation is posed as an underdetermined problem expressing the field at each sensor as a phase-lagged superposition of source amplitudes at all hypothetical DOAs. CS is applicable even for a single observation snapshot achieving a higher resolution than conventional beamforming. For multiple snapshots, CS outperforms conventional high-resolution methods, even with coherent arrivals and at low signal-to-noise ratio.
Grateloupia lanceolata (Okamura) Kawaguchi, the Edible Red Seaweed, Inhibits Lipid Accumulation and Reactive Oxygen Species Production During Differentiation in 3T3‐L1 Cells

Grateloupia lanceolata (Okamura) Kawaguchi is a red alga native to coastal areas of East Asia. The effect of a G. lanceolata extract on lipid accumulation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in 3T3‐L1 cells was assessed by examining adipogenic transcription factors and ROS‐regulating genes at the molecular level. An ethanol extract of G. lanceolata inhibited lipid accumulation and ROS production during adipogenesis. Treatment with the G. lanceolata extract lead to a reduction in the mRNA levels of the transcription factors, peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor‐γ and CCAAT/ enhancer binding protein‐α, and at the protein level for the target protein, adipocyte protein 2. ROS‐producing nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate hydrogen (NADPH) oxidase 4 and NADPH‐producing glucose‐6‐phosphate dehydrogenase mRNAs decreased following G. lanceolata extract treatment. In contrast, the mRNA level of ROS scavenging enzymes, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase, and catalase increased in the extract‐treated group. The increase in SOD1 (Cu/Zn‐SOD) and 2 (Mn‐SOD) proteins was correlated with their mRNA levels. Additionally, the G. lanceolata extract significantly enhanced mRNA levels of adiponectin, one of the adipokines secreted from adipocytes. Our results show that G. lanceolata extract inhibited lipid accumulation and ROS production by controlling adipogenic signals and ROS regulating genes. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Estimating R&D Returns In Health Care Industry

Abstract Purpose: This paper provides an empirical evaluation of R&D returns for a series of global companies who lead in innovation within the health care industry. Methodology: The estimation procedure bases on two specifications: the parametric production function setting, and finite distributed lag model (FDL). Findings: Using the most recent data on R&D investment by health care equipment and services along pharmaceuticals and biotechnology companies, we confirm the positive albeit mitigated impact of R&D efforts on performance indicators (levels of sales). Moreover, we comment on the current phenomena observed in health care industry and offer a policy view for ongoing and future challenges in the sector. Added value: Since there is a dearth of recent empirical evidence on R&D returns in the broad health industry, this paper offers the evaluation of economic incentives for companies to invest in R&D. These incentives embrace the induced increase in sales and profits levels. The authors participate in a public debate concerning the optimal levels of R&D rewards required to sustain the innovation within the sector.
Peimine Inhibits the Production of Proinflammatory Cytokines Through Regulation of the Phosphorylation of NF-κB and MAPKs in HMC-1 Cells

Background: Peimine is a major biologically active component of Fritillaria ussuriensis. Peimine was investigated in chronic inflammation response, but it has not been studied in mast cell-related immediate allergic reaction. The present study aimed to evaluate anti-allergic effect of peimine in human mast cell (HMC-1). Materials and Methods: The effect of peimine on cell viability was measured by MTS assay in HMC-1. Histamine release was investigated in rat peritoneal mast cells (RPMCs). Interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) expressions were measured by ELISA assay and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) were examined by Western blot. Passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA) reactions were evaluated using Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Results: Peimine inhibited the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α. Moreover, peimine reduced MAPKs phosphorylation and the nuclear NF-κB expression in PMACI-induced HMC-1. Peimine decreased PCA reactions in rats as well. Conclusion: Our study proved that peimine might be suitable for the treatment of mast cell-derived allergic inflammatory reactions. Abbreviations used: HMC-1: Human mast cell, MTS: 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium, RPMCs: Rat peritoneal mast cells. IL-6: Interleukin 6, IL-8: Interleukin 8, TNF-α: Tumor necrosis factor-α, MAPKs: Mitogen-activated protein kinases; NF-κB: Nuclear factor-kappaB, PCA: Passive cutaneous anaphylaxis reactions, SD: Sprague-Dawley.
A CMOS Self-Contained Quadrature Signal Generator for SoC Impedance Spectroscopy

This paper presents a low-power fully integrated quadrature signal generator for system-on-chip (SoC) impedance spectroscopy applications. It has been designed in a 0.18 μm-1.8 V CMOS technology as a self-contained oscillator, without the need for an external reference clock. The frequency can be digitally tuned from 10 to 345 kHz with 12-bit accuracy and a relative mean error below 1.7%, thus supporting a wide range of impedance sensing applications. The proposal is experimentally validated in two impedance spectrometry examples, achieving good magnitude and phase recovery results compared to the results obtained using a commercial LCR-meter. Besides the wide frequency tuning range, the proposed programmable oscillator features a total power consumption lower than 0.77 mW and an active area of 0.129 mm2, thus constituting a highly suitable choice as stimulation module for instrument-on-a-chip devices.
A Survey of Human Action Recognition Approaches that use an RGB-D Sensor

Human action recognition from a video scene has remained a challenging problem in the area of computer vision and pattern recognition. The development of the low-cost RGB depth camera (RGB-D) allows new opportunities to solve the problem of human action recognition. In this paper, we present a comprehensive review of recent approaches to human action recognition based on depth maps, skeleton joints, and other hybrid approaches. In particular, we focus on the advantages and limitations of the existing approaches and on future directions.
Adapting to Catch Shares: Perspectives of West Coast Groundfish Trawl Participants

Abstract Catch share programs are used in fisheries management to meet goals such as species recovery, overcapacity reduction, and economic efficiency. Anticipated impacts include fleet consolidation, infrastructure reduction, and social disruption within communities. The Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Social Study (PCGFSS) aims to understand social changes related to the recently implemented West Coast Groundfish Trawl Catch Share Program. In this article, we use a subset of PCGFSS data to explore the ways remaining fishery participants have thus far adapted to catch shares. While some vessels have left the fishery, we found that many participants are adapting to this catch shares program despite challenges. Quota leasing strategies, fishery diversification, gear innovation, and community quota funds are some of the tools participants are using to continue operating under the catch shares program. These early challenges and adaptations to the catch share program are worthy of continued tracking, as researchers, managers, and fishing communities, would benefit by considering first-hand perspectives of the on-the-ground realities of harvesting groundfish in the rationalized fishery.
Sentiment Analysis Approaches for Social Media Monitoring

Social media has become an indispensable part of social life. It influences the beliefs, values, and attitudes of people, as well as their intentions and behaviours. Social media acts not only as a platform for personal communication, but also, as a means for communicating opinions about products and services or even political and general events among its users. Due to its widespread and popularity, a huge amount of user reviews or opinions are being generated and shared daily on social media. Therefore, converting social media content into information, key concepts, and themes is crucial for generating knowledge and formulating strategies to support operational, managerial, and strategic decision making. Opinion mining and Sentiment analysis are the formalization for studying and constructing opinions and sentiments. The current paper aims at studying and providing the comparison of different methods of sentiment analysis used for extracting the polarity (positive, negative or neutral) of social media dataset.
A two-layer transmitarray antenna

In this paper, a novel transmitarray is proposed for high-gain antennas at Ka-band. The element with two-layer structure is designed for simplicity compared with previous work. To improve the element's transmission performance, vias are added to connect two metallic layers through a single dielectric substrate. For the purpose of validation, the new transmitarray is modeled and simulated using a MoM-based full-wave commercial software. The numerical results demonstrate a satisfactory performance for a low-cost high-gain transmitarray antenna design operating at 20 GHz.