Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Drinking Behaviors: The Life Narratives of Indigenous Bunun Women in Taiwan

Background: Alcohol intoxication is a serious health issue among Taiwan's indigenous Malayo-Polynesian groups. No published studies address the drinking perceptions and behaviors of Bunun women. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe the drinking perceptions and behaviors of Bunun women in Taiwan. Methods: This study used an ethnographic approach to study the residents of one township located in eastern Taiwan. Researchers used semistructured, in-depth interviews to collect data from 10 Bunun women in 2006. Results: Researchers identified six key culture themes from the data. These were (a) drinking to help make friends, (b) drinking to help solve emotional problems, (c) interpreting the meaning of drinking, (d) hurting the body due to alcohol abuse, (e) decreasing the bond of convention for drinking, and (f) establishing mechanisms to control drinking. Conclusions/Implication for Practice: The results of this study may help one to understand the alcohol use behavior and attitudes of indigenous women in Taiwan and contribute to better cross-cultural nursing clinical practice. This study is expected to enhance the quality of nursing care provided to Taiwan's indigenous people.
Current commutation in a medium voltage hybrid DC circuit breaker using 15 kV vacuum switch and SiC devices

Analysis and experimental study of current commutation in an ultra-fast, current limiting, hybrid DC circuit breaker for medium voltage applications is reported in this paper. The hybrid DCCB consists a fast acting 15 kV mechanical switch, a low voltage commutating switch, a single 15 kV Silicon Carbide Emitter Turn Off Thyristor (ETO) device, and a stack of MOVs. The proof-of-concept prototype is able to conduct 45 A normal current and interrupt a maximum of more than 100 A fault current at medium voltage level in less than 4 milliseconds, which is one order of magnitude faster compared to conventional mechanical circuit breakers that typically take 40-100 ms. This paper has presented the operation principle of a hybrid DC circuit breaker and analyzed the current commutation process. Based on the analysis, guidelines are given in the paper to select and design the commutating switch.
Essays on Environmental Policies and International Competitiveness

As awareness about the existence and the e ects of climate change and local pollution rises, governments increasingly enact environmental policies. These policies are not without consequence for an economy, but empirical evidence of these e ects is limited. My thesis sheds light on the relationship between environmental policies and international competitiveness. In the rst chapter, I address the claim that environmental policies stimulate domestic economies. I parse the claim into two sequential parts: the e ect of policies on innovation and the e ect of that innovation on manufacturing production. Innovation and manufacturing can either take place at home or abroad, and where they take place determines the consequences for the domestic economy. The empirical evidence is based on measures of policy, patent activity, and trade in the renewable energy sector of 27 OECD countries between 1988 and 2003. The results suggest that an additional policy is associated with a signi cant rise in the adoption of foreign technologies, but few new inventions at home. In turn, however, the increase in patent lings is associated with a signi cant growth in manufacturing production, suggesting that at least some portion of the inputs into renewable technologies are produced domestically. Therefore, there is evidence that renewable energy policies stimulate domestic economies through manufacturing, but less through innovation. My second chapter focuses on another widely debated consequence of environmental policies: the industrial ight of polluting industries. Between 1995 and 2008,
How Does Regulation Affect the Relation between Family Control and Reported Cash Flows? Comparative Evidence from India and the United States

Manuscript Type. Empirical. Research Question/Issue. We conduct a two‐country study to understand (i) how family and non‐family firms engage in classification shifting to manage reported operating cash flows in each country; (ii) how this behavior varies between the two countries; and (iii) how corporate governance regulation introduced independently in each country moderates the observed behavior. Research Findings/Insights. We find that family ownership has different effects on quality of cash flow reporting in the two countries. Furthermore, country‐level regulation moderates these effects differently. In particular, (i) firms in both countries engage in manipulating operating cash flows, but the evidence is stronger in the United States; (ii) family firms in India engage in more shifting than non‐family firms, but this is not observed in the United States; and (iii) family (non‐family) firms in India increase (reduce) shifting, whereas only non‐family firms in the United States increase shifting after regulation. Since non‐family firms in India raise more external capital than family firms after regulation, we infer that family firms in India reacted to this competition for capital and resorted to shifting. Theoretical/Academic Implications. Most studies assume that the incentives for family firm behavior are the same in different market settings. However, factors such as efficiency of public capital markets, enforcement of corporate laws and regulations, and other institutional practices can cause differences in family firm behavior across different market settings. We investigate the behavior of family and non‐family firms in each of these markets and study how a feature of the national governance system, regulatory design, moderates this behavior. Practitioner/Policy Implications. Our findings should be useful to global investors and regulators in both emerging and developed markets. The results indicate how similar regulation in the two different settings can trigger differences in the behavior of firms.
Fall detection using smart floor sensor and supervised learning

Falls are a major risk for elderly people's health and independence. Fast and reliable fall detection systems can improve chances of surviving the accident and coping with its physical and psychological consequences. Recent research has come up with various solutions, all suffering from significant drawbacks, one of them being the intrusiveness into patient's life. This paper proposes a novel fall detection monitoring system based on a sensitive floor sensor made out of a piezoelectric material and a machine learning approach. The detection is done by a combination between a supervised Random Forest and an aggregation of its output over time. The database was made using acquisitions from 28 volunteers simulating falls and other behaviours. Unlike existent fall detection systems, our solution offers the advantages of having a passive sensor (no power supply is needed) and being completely unobtrusive since the sensor comes with the floor. Results are compared with state-of-the-art classification algorithms. On our database, good performance of fall detection was obtained with a True Positive Rate of 94.4% and a False Positive Rate of 2.4%.
Effects of two different continuous passive motion protocols on the functional activities of total knee arthroplasty inpatients.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to compare the effects of two different continuous passive motion (CPM) application protocols (low- and high-angle) on the early phase functional activities of total knee arthroplasty inpatients. METHODS The study included 170 patients who underwent primary TKA. While 84 of the TKA patients underwent low-angle CPM application, 86 of the patients underwent high-angle CPM application. The patients' functional activities were compared using the Iowa Level of Assistance Scale (ILAS), gait speeds using the Iowa Ambulation Velocity Scale (IAVS), knee scores using the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) Knee Score, and the duration of hospital stays with the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) preoperatively and on postoperative Day 2, Day 6, and at discharge. RESULTS It was found that patients in the high-angle group had lower pain levels than did the patients in the low-angle group postsurgery (p<0.05). Patients in the high-angle group achieved their functional activities more independently on postoperative Day 2, Day 6, and at discharge than did the patients in the low-angle group (p<0.05). However, gait speed of patients in the former group was lower than that of the patients in the latter group (p<0.05). CONCLUSION Although low-angle CPM application produced better results in terms of gait speed following TKA, the high-angle CPM application was superior in terms of independence levels of functional activities in the early postsurgery period. This result suggests that the appropriate use of rehabilitation methods such as CPM applications may guide clinicians to increase patients' level of independence.
Reduced CTL Response and Increased Viral Burden in Substance P Receptor-Deficient Mice Infected with Murine γ-Herpesvirus 681

One component of the protective host response against mucosal pathogens includes the local production and increased expression of certain neuropeptides and their receptors. The present study further demonstrates this fact by investigating the contribution that substance P receptor expression makes toward immunity against a γ-herpesvirus infection. Following intragastric inoculation with murine γ-herpesvirus 68 (γHV-68), expression of substance P and its receptor was increased in mucosal and peripheral lymphoid organs in wild-type strains of mice. These results suggested that this receptor/ligand pair might be an important component of the host response against this viral infection. Such a hypothesis was supported by the demonstration that mice, genetically deficient in substance P receptor expression, showed an increased viral burden when compared with syngeneic C57BL/6 mice. Furthermore, substance P receptor-deficient mice showed a reduced CTL response against γHV-68, suggesting a mechanism to explain this increased viral burden. Such limitations in the Ag-specific CTL response in substance P receptor-deficient mice could result from lowered expression of IL-12 during viral infection. Consistent with this hypothesis, increases in mRNA encoding IL-12 and secretion of this cytokine into sera of infected, wild-type animals were markedly reduced in substance P receptor-deficient mice. These studies demonstrate that genetic elimination of substance P receptors in mice results in an increased γ-herpesvirus burden and an altered host response.
Contact Comes First: A Two-Step Model of Paying Bribes

We develop an innovative two-step model in which contact with a public service is a necessary but not sufficient condition for paying a bribe. This identifies three groups: those without contact; those having contact but not paying a bribe; and those paying a bribe for a service they have contacted. We test hypotheses about why contact and bribery vary with individual characteristics, public services and national context using survey data from the 24-country 2012 Latin American Public Opinion Project. Heckman’s multi-level probit statistical method controls for the effect of selection bias in contacting education, health, courts and local government services, refining and altering influences on the payment of bribes found in a single-step model. Variations in individual social and political capital and national context are more often significant than individual socio-economic resources.
A Conserved Docking Motif for CK1 Binding Controls the Nuclear Localization of NFAT1

ABSTRACT In resting cells, the NFAT1 transcription factor is kept inactive in the cytoplasm by phosphorylation on multiple serine residues. These phosphorylated residues are primarily contained within two types of serine-rich motifs, the SRR-1 and SP motifs, which are conserved within the NFAT family. Several different kinases have been proposed to regulate NFAT, but no single candidate displays the specificity required to fully phosphorylate both types of motifs; thus, the identity of the kinase that regulates NFAT activity remains unclear. Here we show that the NFAT1 serine motifs are regulated by distinct kinases that must coordinate to control NFAT1 activation. CK1 phosphorylates only the SRR-1 motif, the primary region required for NFAT1 nuclear import. CK1 exists with NFAT1 in a high-molecular-weight complex in resting T cells but dissociates upon activation. GSK3 does not phosphorylate the SRR-1 region but can target the NFAT1 SP-2 motif, and it synergizes with CK1 to regulate NFAT1 nuclear export. We identify a conserved docking site for CK1 in NFAT proteins and show that mutation of this site disrupts NFAT1-CK1 interaction and causes constitutive nuclear localization of NFAT1. The CK1 docking motif is present in proteins of the Wnt, Hedgehog, and circadian-rhythm pathways, which also integrate the activities of CK1 and GSK3.
Multisensory integration of a sound with stereo 3-D visual events

The stream/bounce effect is an example of audio/visual interaction in which two identical luminance-defined targets in a 2-D display move toward one another from opposite sides of a display, coincide, and continue past one another along collinear trajectories. The targets can be perceived to either stream past or bounce off of one another. Streaming is the dominant perception in visual only displays while bouncing predominates when an auditory transient tone is presented at the point of coincidence. We extended previous findings on audio/visual interactions, using 3-D displays, and found the following two points. First, the sound-induced bias towards bouncing persists in spite of the introduction of spatial offsets in depth between the trajectories, which reduce the probability of motion reversals. Second, audio/visual interactions are similar for luminance-defined and disparity-defined displays, indicating that audio/visual interaction occurs at or beyond the visual processing stage where disparity-defined form is recovered.
A boosting approach to forecasting gold and silver returns: economic and statistical forecast evaluation

Abstract We use a boosting algorithm to forecast the returns of gold and silver prices. We then study the implications of using different information criteria to terminate the boosting algorithm in terms of the statistical and economic performance of a forecasting model. Our findings demonstrate that information criteria that select parsimonious forecasting models perform better in statistical terms than information criteria that select relatively complex forecasting models, but this good performance does not necessarily survive an economic performance evaluation.
Implicit and explicit memory functioning in children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure

Prenatal alcohol exposure is associated with widespread and devastating neurodevelopmental deficits. Numerous reports have suggested memory deficits in both humans and animals exposed prenatally to alcohol. However, the nature of these memory deficits remains to be characterized. Recently children with fetal alcohol syndrome were shown to have learning and memory deficits on a verbal learning and memory measure that involved free recall and recognition memory. The current study seeks to further characterize memory functioning in children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure by evaluating priming performance. The choice of task is also relevant given previous studies of memory performance in patient groups with and without involvement of the basal ganglia, a group of structures known to be affected in fetal alcohol syndrome. Three groups were evaluated for lexical priming, free recall, recognition memory, and verbal fluency: (1) children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure; (2) children with Down syndrome; and (3) nonexposed controls. The children with Down syndrome showed significantly less priming than alcohol-exposed children, who did not differ from controls. In addition, the alcohol-exposed children were impaired on the free recall task but not on the recognition memory task, whereas the children with Down syndrome performed significantly worse than the alcohol-exposed group on both tasks. Finally, on the verbal fluency task, children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure were impaired on both category and letter fluency, but the degree of impairment was greater for letter fluency. These results further characterize the memory deficits in children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure suggesting that in spite of learning and memory deficits, they are able to benefit from priming of verbal information. (JINS, 1999, 5, 462–471.)
Robotics in urology

Purpose of review Robotic urologic surgery, an exciting and new emerging frontier in the field of urology, has tremendous potential to progress in the future. It is important, therefore, that urologists keep abreast of the new technologies, their limitations, and the possibility of incorporating them in day-to-day surgery. There are a substantial number of reports on performing complex urological procedures with robotic assistance in humans that document their safety, efficacy and feasibility. Recent findings Most of the recent reports pertaining to robotic surgery have been in the domain of localized cancer of the prostate (radical prostatectomy), bladder cancer (radical cystectomy and urinary diversion for muscle invasive bladder cancer), kidney surgery (nephrectomy, donor nephrectomy and pyeloplasty), and adrenal surgery. There are also a few anecdotal reports. Summary With the potential advantages and latent qualities of robotic assistance in minimally invasive surgery over conventional surgery, robot-assisted surgeries may be developed to the next level and lead to a future revolution of the way surgery is performed. Robot-assisted radical prostatectomy in the management of localized cancer of the prostate is one such example. The impact of robotics is therefore very promising. However, controlled clinical trials and comparisons from various centers are needed. Other important concerns are the cost and training implications. Future application may also allow integration of pre- and intraoperative imaging in the management of urological diseases. In the not too distant future, newer robotic instruments will be added to the armamentarium for performing different urological procedures.
An unusual cause of muscle weakness: a diagnostic challenge for clinicians

The authors describe a 27-year-old male who presented with acute flaccid quadriparesis. The patient denied any history of similar episodes in the past. At presentation, the patient was tachycardiac with normal systolic blood pressure. He had marked flaccid weakness of both upper and lower limbs and furthermore, he was hypotonic and without tendon reflexes. Biochemical analyses revealed severe hypokalaemia (1.9 meq/l). The patient was given potassium supplementation. He showed complete recovery after the medical intervention. Successive investigations documented an undiagnosed case of Graves’ disease. Hypokalaemia secondary to thyrotoxicosis was diagnosed as the cause of the paralysis. Thyrotoxic periodic paralysis is a rare neurologic manifestation of thyrotoxicosis. Absence of obvious signs of thyrotoxicosis poses a diagnostic challenge for the clinicians.
Role of PLC g and Ca 2 1 in VEGF- and FGF-induced choroidal endothelial cell proliferation

A. P., and G. W. Vries. Role of PLC g and Ca 2 1 in VEGF- and FGF-induced choroidal endothelial cell proliferation. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 281: C1448–C1456, 2001. —Although both vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and ﬁbroblast growth factor (FGF) receptors have been shown to be important in the regulation of vascular endothelial cell growth, the roles of phospholipase C (PLC) g and Ca 2 1 in their downstream signaling cascades are still not clear. We have examined the effects of VEGF and FGF on PLC g phosphorylation and on changes in intracellular Ca 2 1 levels in primary endothelial cells. VEGF stimulation leads to PLC g activation and increases in intracellular Ca 2 1 , which are correlated with mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase (MAPK) activation and cell growth. Inhibition of Ca 2 1 increases by the Ca 2 1 chelator 1,2-bis(2-aminophenoxy) ethane- N,N,N 9 ,N 9 -tetraacetic acid (BAPTA)-AM resulted in marked inhibition of MAPK activation, which was shown to be linked to regulation of cell growth in these cells. In contrast, FGF stimulation did not lead to PLC g activation or to changes in intracellular Ca 2 1 levels, although MAPK phosphorylation and stimulation of cell proliferation were observed. Neither BAPTA-AM nor the PLC inhibitor U-73122 had an effect on these FGF-stimulated responses. These data demonstrate a direct role for PLC g and Ca 2 1 in VEGF-regulated endothelial cell growth, whereas this signaling pathway is not linked to FGF-mediated effects in primary endothelial cells. Thus endothelial cell-speciﬁc factors regu-late the ability of VEGF receptors and FGF receptors to couple to this signaling pathway.
Oxidative Stress and Inflammation Response Following Aerobic Exercise: Role of Ethnicity

Abstract African-Americans are at a significantly greater risk for developing several diseases and conditions. These conditions often have underlying oxidative stress mechanisms. Therefore the purpose of this investigation was to ascertain the post-exercise oxidative response to a single bout of aerobic exercise in African-American and Caucasian college-age females. A total of 10 African-American and 10 Caucasian females completed the study. Each subject had her VO2 max measured while exercising on a treadmill. A week later, each subject returned to the laboratory and performed a 30-min run at 70% of her VO2max. Blood samples were taken immediately prior to and following exercise for analysis. Lipid hydroperoxides, protein carbonyls, malondialdehyde, xanthine oxidase, glutathione in the reduced (GSH) and oxidized (GSSG) forms, TNFα and interleukin 6 were measured from blood taken before and after exercise. Significance was set at p≤0.05 a priori. Xanthine oxidase was the only measure that did not significantly increase following exercise. All other markers showed a significant elevation in response to the exercise bout with no difference between groups except that the Caucasian group had significantly higher malondialdehyde post-exercise compared to the African-American group. This cohort of college-age African-American and Caucasian females showed little difference in their response to a single 30-min run at 70% of their max in the markers of oxidative stress within the blood.
Energy Market Regulations and Productivity: An Examination on OECD Countries between the Years of 1975-2007

Regulations in energy markets that began in a number of countries in 1980s has become more widespread in many countries especially in 2000s. In this context, the fact that how the sectorial regulations affect the economy has become an important point in the name of policy implementers. Within the scope of this study, the effect of anti-competitive regulations in energy markets of OECD countries between the years of 1975 – 2007 on total factor productivity was examined. It is aimed to evaluate effects of sectorial anti-competitive regulation by the use of regulation impact indicator that has been taken from the data base of OECD. In econometric estimations, which were performed by using unbalanced panel data, Cobb-Douglas type of production function that includes energy was characterized and total factor productivity was calculated as residuals of production function in this direction. In consequence of the analysis, it is stated that in case when the regulations in energy market are anti-competitive, they affect total factor productivity in a negative direction.