Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Obscuring the costs of home care: restructuring at work

This study of displaced home care workers reveals how managed competition serves to produce a flexible and atomized work force. Laid off when their nonprofit employer could not compete in the local home care market, workers blamed their employer and their union for their jeopardy. Obscured from local view was the role of government policy in offloading services to the market, benefiting privileged participants in the hospital, professional and market health care sectors. Workers’ indignation at their own and their elderly clients’ unfair treatment dissipated: they had to attend to the practical imperatives in their lives, and were unable to locate a target for their protest. Resolving to be flexible and self-sufficient in the future, they struggled to rework identities as committed carers. The study illuminates how particular organizational and political processes render services more meagre and labour more flexible, and suggests particular possibilities for both accommodating and disrupting those trends.
Weak genetic structure indicates strong dispersal limits: a tale of two coral reef fish

The extent of dispersal by pelagic larvae in marine environments, including coral reefs, is central for understanding local population dynamics and designing sustainable marine reserves. We present here the first example of a clear stepping-stone genetic structure throughout the Caribbean basin for a common coral reef species, the French grunt (Haemulon flavolineatum). Analysis of microsatellite DNA markers indicated that French grunt population structure may be characterized by overlapping populations throughout the Caribbean, influenced by independent population dynamics but with no fixed geographical boundaries. In addition, different spatial genetic patterns were found in different oceanographic regions. A second species, the bluehead wrasse (Thalassoma bifasciatum), has a much longer pelagic larval duration than French grunts and showed no explicit spatial pattern of genetic variation. This finding is concordant with the hypothesis of a positive relationship between larval dispersal and duration in the plankton. While the magnitude of the genetic signal of population structure in French grunts was very low (FST≈0.003), the pattern of isolation-by-distance throughout the Caribbean indicated considerable population structure with important ecological and conservation significance.
Guaranteed cost control for Networked control system with interval time-varying delay

This paper is concerned with the guaranteed cost controller design of Networked control systems (NCSs) with interval varying time-delay. The non-ideal Quality of Servise (QoS) are taken into account by an integrated index τ (t), which related to data dropout, network-induced delay and error sequence. A new analysis method is provided by using the convexity of the matrix function in deriving the results to avoid the conservatism caused by enlarging τ (t) to τM. Suboptimal guaranteed cost state feedback controller and performance index are developed by solving a set of LMIs based on Lyapunov functional method and a cone complementary linearisation (CCL) algorithm. Numerical example and simulation results are given finally to illustrate the effectiveness of our methods.
Accuracy evaluation of the Kinect v2 sensor during dynamic movements in a rehabilitation scenario

In this paper, the accuracy evaluation of the Kinect v2 sensor is investigated in a rehabilitation scenario. The accuracy analysis is provided in terms of joint positions and angles during dynamic postures used in low-back pain rehabilitation. Although other studies have focused on the validation of the accuracy in terms of joint angles and positions, they present results only considering static postures whereas the rehabilitation exercise monitoring involves to consider dynamic movements with a wide range of motion and issues related to the joints tracking. In this work, joint positions and angles represent clinical features, chosen by medical staff, used to evaluate the subject's movements. The spatial and temporal accuracy is investigated with respect to the gold standard, represented by a stereophotogrammetric system, characterized by 6 infrared cameras. The results provide salient information for evaluating the reliability of Kinect v2 sensor for dynamic postures.
Ultrastructural maturation of human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes in a long-term culture.

BACKGROUND In the short- to mid-term, cardiomyocytes generated from human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC-CMs) have been reported to be less mature than those of adult hearts. However, the maturation process in a long-term culture remains unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS A hiPSC clone generated from a healthy control was differentiated into CMs through embryoid body (EB) formation. The ultrastructural characteristics and gene expressions of spontaneously contracting EBs were analyzed through 1-year of culture after cardiac differentiation was initiated. The 14-day-old EBs contained a low number of myofibrils, which lacked alignment, and immature high-density Z-bands lacking A-, H-, I-, and M-bands. Through the long-term culture up to 180 days, the myofibrils became more tightly packed and formed parallel arrays accompanied by the appearance of mature Z-, A-, H-, and I-bands, but not M-bands. Notably, M-bands were finally detected in 360-day-old EBs. The expression levels of the M-band-specific genes in hiPSC-CMs remained lower in comparison with those in the adult heart. Immunocytochemistry indicated increasing number of MLC2v-positive/MLC2a-negative cells with decreasing number of MLC2v/MLC2a double-positive cells, indicating maturing of ventricular-type CMs. CONCLUSIONS The structural maturation process of hiPSC-CMs through 1-year of culture revealed ultrastructural sarcomeric changes accompanied by delayed formation of M-bands. Our study provides new insight into the maturation process of hiPSC-CMs.
Paxillin Associates with Poly(A)-binding Protein 1 at the Dense Endoplasmic Reticulum and the Leading Edge of Migrating Cells*

Using mass spectrometry we have identified proteins which co-immunoprecipitate with paxillin, an adaptor protein implicated in the integrin-mediated signaling pathways of cell motility. A major component of paxillin immunoprecipitates was poly(A)-binding protein 1, a 70-kDa mRNA-binding protein. Poly(A)-binding protein 1 associated with both the α and β isoforms of paxillin, and this was unaffected by RNase treatment consistent with a protein-protein interaction. The NH2-terminal region of paxillin (residues 54–313) associated directly with poly(A)-binding protein 1 in cell lysates, and with His-poly(A)-binding protein 1 immobilized in microtiter wells. Binding was specific, saturable and of high affinity (K d of ≈10 nm). Cell fractionation studies showed that at steady state, the bulk of paxillin and poly(A)-binding protein 1 was present in the “dense” polyribosome-associated endoplasmic reticulum. However, inhibition of nuclear export with leptomycin B caused paxillin and poly(A)-binding protein 1 to accumulate in the nucleus, indicating that they shuttle between the nuclear and cytoplasmic compartments. When cells migrate, poly(A)-binding protein 1 colocalized with paxillin-β at the tips of lamellipodia. Our results suggest a new mechanism whereby a paxillin·poly(A)-binding protein 1 complex facilitates transport of mRNA from the nucleus to sites of protein synthesis at the endoplasmic reticulum and the leading lamella during cell migration.
Consumer price evaluations through choice experiments

We collect experimental choice data and estimate preferences for mobile phones with a special focus on measuring consumer price evaluations when consumers face difficult choice tasks. For this purpose we employ a heteroskedastic random coefficient logit model in which the variance of the extreme value error term depends on variables that affect the consistency (with rational behavior) of choice. We specify the price of some products in the choice experiment with discount and seek to answer the question how consumers evaluate these. We find evidence in our data that the prices specified with discount significantly compromise the consistency of choice. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Young Adult Preferences for Physician Decision-Making Style in Japan and the United States

Studies in Japan and the United States investigate preferences for patient–physician decision-making style among young adults in the context of a primary care clinic visit for an upper respiratory infection. A treatment scenario described 1 of 3 decision-making styles: a young adult and doctor using a passive (physician decides), shared (patient and physician decide together), or autonomous (patient decides from a set of medically appropriate alternatives) decision-making style. Unexpectedly, Japanese respondents evaluated the autonomous interaction most positively. US respondents evaluated the shared decision-making scenario most positively. Overall, despite large cultural differences, both country samples favored higher participation in decision making. These results suggest that passive patient approaches are falling out of favor as patient-centered care expectations diffuse globally, even in traditionally hierarchic societies with high levels of respect for authority. The implications of these findings along with managerial implications and suggestions for future research are presented.
Complexity and Competition

Extensive-form market games typically have a large number of noncompetitive equilibria. In this paper, we argue that the complexity of noncompetitive behavior provides a justification for competitive equilibrium in the sense that if rational agents have an aversion to complexity (at the margin), then maximizing behavior will result in simple behavioral rules and hence in a competitive outcome. For this purpose, we use a class of extensive-form dynamic matching and bargaining games with a finite number of agents. In particular, we consider markets with heterogeneous buyers and sellers and deterministic, exogenous, sequential matching rules, although the results can be extended to other matching processes. If the complexity costs of implementing strategies enter players' preferences lexicographically with the standard payoff, then every equilibrium strategy profile induces a competitive outcome. Copyright The Econometric Society 2005.
Accounting for Correlations

Macroeconomic conditions, such as commodity prices, affect the cost of construction projects. In a volatile market environment, contractors respond by adding premiums in bid prices when highway agencies pass such risk on to contractors by using fixed-price contracts. How much of the commodity cost risk should highway agencies pass on to contractors? More specifically, this study aims to investigate the impact of correlation among commodity prices on optimal risk-hedging decisions. A weighted least-squares regression model is used to estimate the risk premium; both univariate time series and vector time series models are estimated and applied to simulate changes in commodity prices over time, including the effect of correlation. A genetic algorithm is used as a solution approach to a multiobjective optimization problem (cost versus future risk exposure). In a case study, project cost risks are shown to be significantly underestimated if correlations are not accounted for.
Portfolio selection, diversification and fund-of-funds: A note

The present paper examines the performance and diversification properties of active Australian equity fund-of-funds (FoF). Simulation analysis is employed to examine portfolio performance as a function of the number of funds in the portfolio. The present paper finds that as the number of funds in an FoF portfolio increases, performance improves in a mean–variance setting; however, measures of skewness and kurtosis behave less favourably given an investor’s preferences for the higher moments of the return distribution. The majority of diversification benefits are realized when a portfolio of approximately 6 active equity funds are included in the FoF portfolio.
BORDER-CROSSING: THE TRANSNATIONAL ACTIVISM OF WOMEN IN AN ERA OF GLOBALIZATION

The importance of women's transnational activism, or activism beyond national borders, has become increasingly relevant as the gendered impact of globalization intensifies. By focusing on the way that globalization affects women's lives, this thesis illuminates the contradictory and complex nature of global processes. An investigation of social movement theory and the "global women's movement" serves to provide the framework for the conditions under which the organizations in this study engage in activism. Employing institutional ethnography, this study highlights the transnational activism of the Maquila Solidarity Network (Toronto, Ontario) and the Philippine Women Centre (Vancouver, British Columbia) within the context of globalization and the processes of social, political and economic restructuring occurring throughout the world. The four women interviewed in this thesis shed light on the dynamics of organizing transnationally and illustrate how the activities of the Maquila Solidarity Network and Philippine Women Centre engage women to resist, challenge and shape processes of globalization. My findings demonstrate that through transnational exchanges and by building alliances, women are questioning the authority and inevitability of globalization. By enacting individual and collective agency at the local, national and global levels, diverse women are mobilizing and acting to address processes of globalization in an effort for
On the duality of fractional repetition codes

Erasure codes have emerged as an efficient technology for providing data redundancy in distributed storage systems. However, it is a challenging task to repair the failed storage nodes in erasure-coded storage systems, which requires large quantities of network resources. In this paper, we study fractional repetition (FR) codes, which enable the minimal repair complexity and also minimum repair bandwidth during node repair. We focus on the duality of FR codes, and investigate the relationship between the supported file size of an FR code and its dual code. Furthermore, we present a dual bound on the supported file size of FR codes.
DNA methylation and expression of imprinted genes are associated with the viability of different sexual cloned buffaloes

The DNA methylation of imprinted genes is an important way to regulate epigenetic reprogramming of donor cells in somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). However, the effects of sexual distinction on the DNA methylation of imprinted genes in cloned animals have seldom been reported. In this study, we analysed the DNA methylation status of three imprinted genes (Xist, IGF2 and H19) from liveborn cloned buffaloes (L group, three female and three male), stillborn cloned buffaloes (S group, three female and three male) and natural reproduction buffaloes (N group, three female and three male), using bisulphite sequencing polymerase chain reaction (BS-PCR). The expression levels of these imprinted genes were also investigated by quantitative real-time PCR (QRT-PCR). The DNA methylation levels of H19 were not significantly different among the groups. However, the Xist in female and IGF2 in male of the S group were found to be significantly hypomethylated in comparison with the same sexual buffaloes in L group and N group (p < .05). Furthermore, the expression levels of Xist, IGF2 and H19 in the stillborn female cloned buffaloes of S group were significantly higher than that of the female buffaloes in the L group and N group (p < .05). The expression levels of IGF2 and H19 in the stillborn male cloned buffaloes in the S group were significantly higher than that of the male buffaloes in the L group and N group (p < .05). These results indicate that Xist may be associated with the viability of female cloned buffaloes, and IGF2 may also be related to the viability of male cloned buffaloes.
Measured symptomatic and psychological outcomes in women undergoing laparoscopic surgery for endometriosis: a prospective study.

DOI:10.1097/GCO.0b013e3283630da7 This prospective study was performed over a 3-year period between October 2009 and October 2012 at the Center for Reproductive Medicine in St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in London. Research participants for this study were recruited as part of an ethically approved project looking at gene expression in endometriosis. Women who were undergoing laparoscopy for the treatment of endometriosis between 18 and 50 years of age were recruited with informed consent. These women were known (or strongly suspected from investigations) to suffer from endometriosis. Exclusion criteria involved the presence of any metabolic and/or endocrinological disorders, alternate benign pathology (such as fibroids, polyps and PID), the presence or past history of malignancy, or the use of steroid or hormonal therapy in the preceding 6 months. No patient recruited had a known psychiatric history. Information about the study was given in the gynaecology out-patient department (GOPD). A patient information pack on endometriosis was distributed to all recruited candidates. Any questions were answered and further explanations requested by the patients were given. Candidates for the study had a full medical history taken by the chief investigator to assess and reconfirm eligibility for inclusion. The date of the last menstrual period was recorded for all candidates to assess menstrual cycle phase. This was confirmed by serum measurements of their hormonal profiles. A pregnancy test was performed prior to surgery and all tests were confirmed to be negative. Final consent for surgery was taken on the morning of the surgery and quality-oflife questionnaires including SF12 and SF36 together with a pain-score questionnaire PIQ6 were completed by the patient prior to surgery enabling preoperative assessment of the impact of endometriosis on the patient’s daily life. The subjective patient pain levels for dysmenorrhoea, deep dyspareunia, dyschezia, urination, chronic pelvic pain and midcycle pain, were recorded on a nonnumerical linear scale as described below (Fig. 1). The scales and quality-of-life and pain questionnaires were
Influence of the Alu-Repeat I/D Polymorphism in t-PA Gene Intron 8 on the Stimulated t-PA Release After Venous Occlusion

Tissue type plasminogen activator (t-PA) is released from endothelium in both a constitutive and regulated fashion. In healthy subjects, an association between net t-PA release rate and a few t-PA gene polymorphisms, including the Alu-repeat I/D polymorphism in intron 8, was described. The possible influence of the Alu-repeat polymorphism on t-PA release was evaluated after a venous occlusion test (VO) in 82 patients showing an impaired fibrinolytic capacity associated with different arterial disease or with previous venous thrombosis, and in 50 healthy controls. Euglobulin lysis time, t-PA antigen (t-PA:Ag) and activity, PAI-1 antigen and activity plasma levels were assayed before and 20 minutes after VO; the Alurepeat I/D polymorphism was determined by PCR. Defective fibrinolysis was due to reduced t-PA release in 40 patients (t-PA group) and to PAI-1 excess in 42 patients (PAI group). No differences in both genotype distribution and allele frequencies were observed between patients and controls. The t-PA:Ag increase after VO (20/0-minute levels ratio adjusted for hematocrit) was considerably higher both in controls and in PAI group patients carrying the I allele than in the DD genotype carriers (II, ID, DD: 3.77∓0.62, 3.43∓0.44, 2.06∓0.32 in controls, and 3.67∓0.23, 2.80∓0.50, 1.62∓0.29 in PAI group, respectively). The difference was significant between the DD and both the ID and II genotypes in controls (p<0.05), and between the DD and II genotypes in PAI-I group (p<0.05). A slight and nonsignificant trend of association between genotype and t-PA:Ag 20/0 ratio was seen in the t-PA group patients. In conclusion, these data suggest a possible genetic modulation of t-PA-regulated secretion.
Hepatitis A vaccine uptake in San Diego County: Hispanic children are better immunized.

BACKGROUND Few studies have examined compliance with hepatitis A vaccination recommendations or factors likely to predict vaccination against hepatitis A virus. OBJECTIVES To investigate hepatitis A coverage among 3- to 17.9-year-olds in San Diego County and examine predictors of child and adolescent hepatitis A immunization. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS A total of 1455 participants completed a random-digit dial telephone survey that assessed hepatitis A immunization status of 3- to 17.9-year-old children from May 1 to June 24, 2003. Analysis was limited to the 983 respondents with available immunization records or verified immunization histories. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Receipt of at least 1 hepatitis A vaccine administered on or after the child's second birthday and differences in the frequencies of vaccination based on vaccine availability, sex, ethnicity, type of health care provider, mother's highest level of education, and parental knowledge of the hepatitis A vaccine recommendation. RESULTS Participant response rate was 77.1%. Among all respondents aged 3 to 17.9 years, 59% received at least 1 hepatitis A vaccine and 41% completed the 2-shot regimen. The adjusted odds that a child received at least 1 hepatitis A vaccine was 3.6 times greater among Hispanic children compared with non-Hispanic children. Other predictors of hepatitis A immunization included child's age, having a public health care provider, lower maternal education, and parental knowledge of the vaccine recommendation. CONCLUSIONS Results challenge historical patterns of underimmunization among Hispanic children compared with white children. Public health education and community awareness should be sustained in Hispanic communities, but interventions are needed in non-Hispanic communities.
Identifying the vacation travel innovator

Managers of many tourism businesses would like to determine which vacation travellers are most likely to be the earliest buyers of a new vacation product. Goldsmith and Hofacker 1 created a short, reliable and valid self-report scale, the Domain Specific Innovativeness Scale (DSI), to measure level of consumer innovativeness for tangible goods, shown also to identify innovators in service businesses effectively. This paper describes the results of a study using the DSI to identify tourism inno vators, those travellers who are most likely to choose a new travel option when one appears in the marketplace, based upon the data in a survey of 184 consumers visiting a trade show in Singapore. The findings show that the DSI was positively correlated with several hypothesised variables: vacation travel involve ment, product knowledge , opinion leadership for vacation destinations, travel information seeking behaviour, vacation frequency and total vacation trips taken annually. These results substantiate the validity and usefulness of the DSI for identifying tourism innovators and extend its application cross-culturally.