Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efficacy of donepezil in early-stage Alzheimer disease: a randomized placebo-controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy of donepezil in patients with early-stage Alzheimer disease. DESIGN Multicenter, randomized, double-blind, 24-week, placebo-controlled study that enrolled patients with early-stage Alzheimer disease. Patients were randomized in an approximately 2:1 ratio to donepezil, 5 mg/d, for the first 6 weeks, with a forced escalation to 10 mg/d thereafter (n = 96), or placebo (n = 57). The primary efficacy measure was the modified Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale-cognitive subscale. Secondary efficacy measures included the Mini-Mental State Examination, the Computerized Memory Battery Test, the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale-Sum of the Boxes, the Patient Global Assessment Scale, and the Apathy Scale. RESULTS Improvements favoring donepezil on the Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale-cognitive subscale were found at weeks 12 and 24 and at the end point (last observation carried forward); treatment differences were 1.9 (P = .03), 2.3 (P = .008), and 2.3 (P = .001) points, respectively. Improvements favoring donepezil on the Mini-Mental State Examination were found at weeks 6, 12, and 24 and at the end point (last observation carried forward); treatment differences were 1.4 (P = .02), 1.2 (P = .04), 1.4 (P = .03), and 1.8 (P = .002) points, respectively. Donepezil-treated patients showed greater mean improvement compared with placebo-treated patients on the following Computerized Memory Battery Test subscales: facial recognition (P = .007 in the intent-to-treat population and P = .04 in the fully evaluable population), first and last name total acquisition (P = .02), and name-face association delayed recall (P = .04). Donepezil was safe and well tolerated in this population; serious adverse events occurred in similar numbers of donepezil- and placebo-treated patients. CONCLUSION These data suggest significant treatment benefits of donepezil in early-stage Alzheimer disease, supporting the initiation of therapy early in the disease course to improve daily cognitive functioning.
Evaluation of an access route to higher education through a work‐based assessment strategy

The Open University (OU) is the UK’s largest university, with over 200,000 people studying, part time and at a distance, a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses and packs. Research and development carried out at the OU’s Centre for Outcomes‐Based Education (COBE), has provided a new way of enabling students to be accredited at higher education level for their learning in the workplace. This approach to the assessment of work‐based learning (WBL) involves recognizing the learning that has taken place below higher education (HE) level and enabling students to achieve 30 credits at higher education level through specially designed assessment. WBL below HE level is represented in the UK by National Qualifications Framework (NQF) Level 3 qualifications, such as National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ’s). This new assessment strategy, based on the theory of self‐efficacy put forward by theorists such as Dweck (1999) and Bandura (1997), involves mapping learning outcomes from relevant NQF level 3 qualifications onto the generic learning outcomes for 30 credits of work‐based learning at higher education level. Students who have completed this conversion course are therefore in a good position to further their studies at higher education level.
The optimal axial interval in estimating depth from defocus

We analyze the effect of perturbations on the estimation of Depth from Defocus (DFD) implemented by changing the focus setting (e.g., axially moving the sensor). The analysis yields the optimal change of focus setting, and the spatial frequencies for which estimation is most robust. For stable estimation at all spatial frequencies, the change in focus setting should be less than twice the depth of field. For the most robust estimation in the highest spatial frequencies the axial interval should be equal to the depth of field.
Research as an Aesthetic Process: Extending the Portraiture Methodology

16 Guest Editors’ Note: The guest editors would like to thank Gloria Ladson-Billings for her guidance during this process and most especially, for encouraging us to submit our American Educational Research Association 2003 symposium papers for publication. We would also like to thank Professor Sarah Lawrence-Lightfoot for so graciously and generously agreeing to participate in this project. Her work has been and is a marvelous inspiration for us all and her presence looms very large. Finally, a sincere note of appreciation to Yvonna Lincoln, Norm Denzin, and the external reviewers for their insightful comments that pushed us to think outside the box and explore uncharted territory. We appreciate their support during this process.
Monitoring Travel-Related Information on Social Media through Sentiment Analysis

Tourist destinations are increasingly affected by the travel-related information shared through the Web. More and more people first check the previous experiences of other customers before doing their own decision-making. This paper explores the image of travel destinations by analysing the content of opinions shared using sentiment analysis techniques. A sentiment score is obtained and analysed considering several tourist features of the travel destination as well as the usefulness of shared opinions. A well known e-word of mouth community and the city of Barcelona have been used as a case study. The results obtained reveal the sentiment orientation towards the city of Barcelona and its tourist offer. Finally, a sensitivity analysis related to the calculation of the sentiment score is included.
Efficient simulation of space-time correlated MIMO mobile fading channels

Simulation of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) fading channels, with crosscorrelated subchannels, is of paramount importance in performance evaluation of space-time techniques in multiantenna systems. This paper focuses on four methods to simulate several spatio-temporally crosscorrelated stationary complex Gaussian processes: the spectral representation method, the sampling theorem method, the random polynomial method, and the circulant embedding method. The first three methods are based on parametric random representations, which consist of the superposition of deterministic functions with random coefficients and parameters, whereas the fourth one is built upon circulant embedding of the covariance matrix and the use of fast Fourier transform (FFT), to diagonalize a block circulant matrix. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive theoretical analysis of the computational complexity of all the four methods. The performance of these techniques are also assessed, via extensive simulations, in terms of the quality of the generated samples. Our theoretical analysis and simulation results show that for MIMO channel simulations, the spectral method has much less computational complexity, with the same simulation accuracy as other methods. Matlab/sup /spl copy// files for all the four methods are available at http://web.njit. edt//spl sim/abdi.
c-Src/Cav1-dependent activation of the EGFR by Dsg2

The desmosomal cadherin, desmoglein 2 (Dsg2), is deregulated in a variety of human cancers including those of the skin. When ectopically expressed in the epidermis of transgenic mice, Dsg2 activates multiple mitogenic signaling pathways and increases susceptibility to tumorigenesis. However, the molecular mechanism responsible for Dsg2-mediated cellular signaling is poorly understood. Here we show overexpression as well as co-localization of Dsg2 and EGFR in cutaneous SCCs in vivo. Using HaCaT keratinocytes, knockdown of Dsg2 decreases EGFR expression and abrogates the activation of EGFR, c-Src and Stat3, but not Erk1/2 or Akt, in response to EGF ligand stimulation. To determine whether Dsg2 mediates signaling through lipid microdomains, sucrose density fractionation illustrated that Dsg2 is recruited to and displaces Cav1, EGFR and c-Src from light density lipid raft fractions. STED imaging confirmed that the presence of Dsg2 disperses Cav1 from the cell-cell borders. Perturbation of lipid rafts with the cholesterol-chelating agent MβCD also shifts Cav1, c-Src and EGFR out of the rafts and activates signaling pathways. Functionally, overexpression of Dsg2 in human SCC A431 cells enhances EGFR activation and increases cell proliferation and migration through a c-Src and EGFR dependent manner. In summary, our data suggest that Dsg2 stimulates cell growth and migration by positively regulating EGFR level and signaling through a c-Src and Cav1-dependent mechanism using lipid rafts as signal modulatory platforms.
You Want to Know How It Affected Me?

Abstract Life-story interviews were conducted with 40 young adults, aged between 19 and 29 years, living in New Zealand. The participants were from a range of cultural background and had experienced parental separation/divorce as children or adolescents. Previous studies have found that the negative effects of divorce can carry through into adulthood with adult offspring experiencing more mental health problems, difficulty in intimate relationships and increased rates of divorce; whilst other studies have found that young adults of divorce function as well as those from non-divorced families. This paper examines the participants' own views of the impact of parental divorce on themselves and their lives. Whilst a minority of them were positive about their parents' decision to separate, the majority of participants considered that they had experienced or were currently experiencing negative effects related to the divorce and associated events. These included problems in their own functioning in every day life, perceived problems in intimate relationships, and problems in relationships with other family members, especially parent/s. It is argued that cognitive-processing models are likely to be useful in understanding the problems that face young adult offspring of divorce. Implications for counseling approaches are briefly discussed.
The Electoral Connection in the Chinese Countryside

A 1987 law established popularly elected village committees in the Chinese countryside. This article analyzes a unique set of survey data to describe and explain the connection between village leaders and those who choose them, in terms of orientation to the role of the state in the economy. It compares positions of village leaders with positions of respondents sampled from their selectorates of township-level leaders and electorates of ordinary villagers. Results of multivariate regression analyses indicate that: (1) village leaders are responsive to both old and newly emerging constituencies, as reflected in significant congruence between village leaders and their selectorates above and electorates below; (2) congruence between village leaders and their electorates is not exclusively the result of shared local environment, informal influence, or socialization but is significantly associated with the electoral process; and (3) the causal mechanism underlying the electoral connection in the Chinese countryside is the familiar one of voter choice.
Correlates of individual perceptions of organizational climate

The possible factors affecting the ways individuals perceive differently the climate of their employing organization are discussed, and the effects of three sets of possible determinants are examined empirically using data from a sample of 387 persons working at different levels in 14 organizations. The results tend to show that the perceptions of significant others may have greater influence than either variables reflecting the individual's position or objective indicators of organizational structure or context. However salary is found to be a better predictor than the literature would lead one to expect.
The effects of temporal synchrony on the perceived organization of elements in spatially symmetric and asymmetric grids

Three experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of fast temporally segmented presentations of alternate rows or columns on the perception of grids of either symmetrically or asymmetrically spaced dot-like stimuli. Experiments 1a and 1b demonstrated that observers were able to discriminate between temporally segmented presentations of rows/columns stimuli, but showed a reduced performance in discrimination between non-temporally segmented stimuli and temporally segmented stimuli that were spatially unstructured. Experiment 2 confirmed the influence of temporally segmented presentations of rows and columns using elements whose mean luminance summed to the same as the display background. Experiment 3 demonstrated that the influence of temporal cues reduced when display elements were asymmetrically spaced. The results are discussed in terms of the influence of external spatio-temporal factors on the neural mechanisms of visual grouping.
Apathy and anhedonia rating scales in Parkinson's disease: Critique and recommendations

Apathy is a common condition in Parkinson's disease (PD) and is generally defined as a lack of motivation. It is associated with more severe cognitive dysfunction and a decrease in activities of daily living (ADL) performance. Anhedonia, the inability to experience pleasure, can be a symptom of both depressive and apathetic syndromes. The Movement Disorder Society (MDS) commissioned a task force to assess the clinimetric properties of apathy and anhedonia scales in PD patients. A systematic literature review was conducted to identify scales that have either been validated or used in PD patients. Apathy scales identified for review include the Apathy Evaluation Scale (AES), the Apathy Scale (AS), the Apathy Inventory (AI), and the Lille Apathy Rating Scale (LARS). In addition, item 4 (motivation/initiative) of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) and item 7 (apathy) of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) were included. Anhedonia scales identified for review were the Snaith‐Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS) and the Chapman scales for physical and social anhedonia. Only the AS is classified as “recommended” to assess apathy in PD. Although item 4 of the UPDRS also meets the criteria to be classified as recommended, it should be considered for screening only because of the obvious limitations of a single item construct. For the assessment of anhedonia, only the SHAPS meets the criteria of “Suggested. ” Information on the validity of apathy and anhedonia scales is limited because of the lack of consensus on diagnostic criteria for these conditions. © 2008 Movement Disorder Society
Paying for water: water pricing and equity in England and Wales

Over the past three decades, the business of water supply in England and Wales has been gradually transforming from the supply of a service to citizens, to the sale of a commodity to customers. The paper provides a genealogy of concepts of efficiency and equity in water regulation over the past thirty years, prior to evaluating the implications for water consumers of one aspect of this process – the shift away from policies prioritizing inter- and intra-regional equalization (implying a principle of social equity) towards policies prioritizing economic efficiency (implying a principle of economic equity) in water charging. In closing, alternatives to the current arrangements for domestic consumers are proposed.
An Enzymatic Treatment of Soil-Bound Prions Effectively Inhibits Replication

ABSTRACT Chronic wasting disease (CWD) and scrapie can be transmitted through indirect environmental routes, possibly via soil, and a practical decontamination strategy for prion-contaminated soil is currently unavailable. In the laboratory, an enzymatic treatment under environmentally relevant conditions (22°C, pH 7.4) can degrade soil-bound PrPSc below the limits of Western blot detection. We developed and used a quantitative serial protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) protocol to characterize the amplification efficiency of treated soil samples relative to controls of known infectious titer. Our results suggest large (104- to >106-fold) decreases in soil-bound prion infectivity following enzyme treatment, demonstrating that a mild enzymatic treatment could effectively reduce the risk of prion disease transmission via soil or other environmental surfaces.
The Humpty Dumpty Blues: Disaggregation Bias in the Evaluation Of Tax Systems

Three experiments carried out on the World Wide Web assessed the consistency of attitudes toward various tax regimes that differed in their overall levels and degrees of tax rate graduation in the presence of framing manipulations. The regimes had two components: an income and a payroll tax. One frame involved aggregation. Subjects were asked either to design a single, global tax system or to vary one component of a tax system (payroll or income tax) with the other component held constant. The idea was to replicate the effects of income tax reform given a constant payroll tax system. Consistent with the experimental hypothesis - though not with "rational" decision making - subjects focused on the component they were asked to manipulate and did not respond fully to changes in the other part, across conditions, rejecting an underadjustment bias as well as a framing effect. The results are akin to Thaler's "mental account" model for personal financial behavior. A second manipulation involved a "metric" frame: whether putative tax burdens were given in dollars or percent terms. Once again consistent with the experimental hypothesis, subjects preferred higher rates of graduation when matters were stated in percent terms. The results point to the lability of public opinion about important questions of public finance.
Obesity and Risk of Bladder Cancer: A Dose-Response Meta-Analysis of 15 Cohort Studies

Background Epidemiological studies have reported inconsistent association between obesity and risk of bladder cancer, and the dose-response relationship between them has not been clearly defined. Methods We carried out a meta-analysis to summarize available evidence from epidemiological studies on this point. Relevant articles were identified by searching the PubMed and Web of Science databases through September 30, 2014. We pooled the relative risks from individual studies using random-effect model, and the dose—response relationship was estimated by using restricted cubic spline model. Results Fifteen cohort studies with 38,072 bladder cancer cases among 14,201,500 participants were included. Compared to normal weight, the pooled relative risks and corresponding 95% confidence intervals of bladder cancer were 1.07(1.01-1.14) and 1.10(1.06-1.14) for preobese and obesity, with moderate (I2 = 37.6%, P = 0.029) and low (I2 = 15.5%, P = 0.241) heterogeneities between studies, respectively. In a dose-response meta-analysis, body mass index (BMI) was associated with bladder cancer risk in a linear fashion (P non-linearity = 0.467) and the risk increased by 4.2% for each 5 kg/m2 increase. No significant publication bias was found (P = 0.912 for Begg’s test, P = 0.712 for Egger’s test). Conclusions Findings from this dose-response meta-analysis suggest obesity is associated with linear-increased risk of bladder cancer.
Nurturing a Supportive Learning Community: An Autobiographical Narrative of Change Efforts in a Diverse Setting

The purpose of this thesis was to reflect on my experiences as an educator in a unique educational community of immense diversity. More specifically, the use of autobiographical narrative helped to focus my reflections on change efforts aimed at nurturing a supportive learning community. The narrative – storytelling – methodology was used, building on the belief that people are storytellers by nature and narratives – stories – are an effective way to organize and make sense of life experiences. Through storytelling, I identified experiences that impacted my personal and professional beliefs and practices. I considered two factors contributing to the significance of a story: emotional intensity and impact on learning. The expression of the stories was approached by examining what initiated the change effort, what change was made, and what effect or result occurred. The contribution of this thesis lies in the impact of the stories shared; stories have the power to draw people in and promote an emotional level of empathetic understanding and learning difficult to achieve by other means. The literature served two main purposes in this work: (a) enhanced my reflective analysis in the examination of critical considerations for implementing change, and (b) substantiated the stories. The literature provided the opportunity for further reflection on the change efforts in order to determine how to improve their implementation success, and to be better equipped to approach future change efforts in a more judicious and prudent manner. At the conclusion of the study, future considerations were outlined regarding: (a) upcoming changes, (b) implications for practices, (c) implications for society and (d) recommendations for further research.
Discovering Frequent Generalized Episodes When Events Persist for Different Durations

This paper is concerned with the framework of frequent episode discovery in event sequences. A new temporal pattern, called the generalized episode, is defined, which extends this framework by incorporating event duration constraints explicitly into the pattern's definition. This new formalism facilitates extension of the technique of episodes discovery to applications where data appears as a sequence of events that persist for different durations (rather than being instantaneous). We present efficient algorithms for episode discovery in this new framework. Through extensive simulations, we show the expressive power of the new formalism. We also show how the duration constraint possibilities can be used as a design choice to properly focus the episode discovery process. Finally, we briefly discuss some interesting results obtained on data from manufacturing plants of General Motors.
Systematic Discovery of New Recognition Peptides Mediating Protein Interaction Networks

Many aspects of cell signalling, trafficking, and targeting are governed by interactions between globular protein domains and short peptide segments. These domains often bind multiple peptides that share a common sequence pattern, or “linear motif” (e.g., SH3 binding to PxxP). Many domains are known, though comparatively few linear motifs have been discovered. Their short length (three to eight residues), and the fact that they often reside in disordered regions in proteins makes them difficult to detect through sequence comparison or experiment. Nevertheless, each new motif provides critical molecular details of how interaction networks are constructed, and can explain how one protein is able to bind to very different partners. Here we show that binding motifs can be detected using data from genome-scale interaction studies, and thus avoid the normally slow discovery process. Our approach based on motif over-representation in non-homologous sequences, rediscovers known motifs and predicts dozens of others. Direct binding experiments reveal that two predicted motifs are indeed protein-binding modules: a DxxDxxxD protein phosphatase 1 binding motif with a K D of 22 μM and a VxxxRxYS motif that binds Translin with a K D of 43 μM. We estimate that there are dozens or even hundreds of linear motifs yet to be discovered that will give molecular insight into protein networks and greatly illuminate cellular processes.