Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Parents' time with a partner in cross-national context: a comparison of the US, Spain, and France

BACKGROUND. - Time shared with a partner is an indicator of marital well-being and couples' want to spend time together. However, time spent with a partner depends on work and family arrangements as well as on the policies, norms, and values that prevail in society. In contrast to time spent with children, couples' shared time is underresearched in a crossnational context. Previous studies from specific countries show that dual-earner couples spend less time together and that parents spend less time alone with each other. OBJECTIVE. - The aim of our study is to investigate partnered parents' shared time across countries to understand how social conditions, cultural norms, and policy contexts are related to the amount and nature of couples' shared time. Specifically, we compare time spent with a partner in the United States, France, and Spain. METHODS. - Studying data from national time use surveys conducted in the United States, France, and Spain, we extract information about who undertakes certain activities in order to examine three types of time shared with a partner for parents with children under age 10: total time with a partner indicates the minutes per day spent in the presence of a partner, exclusive time corresponds to the minutes per day spent alone with a partner when no one else is present, and family time indicates the minutes per day spent with a partner and a child at the same time. RESULTS. - Our results show that US couples spend the least time together and Spanish couples spend the most time together. Parents in France spend the most time alone with each other. The most striking difference across countries is in time with a partner and children, which is much higher among Spanish families. CONCLUSION. - The constraints of paid work explain a small part of the differences in couples' shared time observed between countries. Differences in couples' shared time across countries seem to be related to social norms surrounding family and general time use.
SYSTEMATIC UNDERPREDICTION OF VOLATILITY IN MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD METHODS

In forecastinga nancial time series, the mean prediction can be validated by direct comparison with the value of the series. However, the volatility or variance can only be validated by indirect means such as the likelihood function. Systematic errors in volatility prediction have anèconomic value' since volatility is a tradable quantity (e.g., in options and other derivatives)in addition to being a risk measure. We analyze the delity of the likelihood function as a means of training (in sample) and validating (out of sample) a volatility model. We report several cases where the likelihood function leads to an erroneous model. We correct for this error by scaling the volatility prediction using a predetermined factor that depends on the number of data points.
Satisfaction in Older Persons and General Practitioners during the Implementation of Integrated Care

Background Integrated care for older persons with complex care needs is widely advocated. Particularly professionals and policy makers have positive expectations. Care outcome results are ambiguous. Receiver and provider satisfaction is relevant but still poorly understood. Methods During implementation of integrated care in residential homes (The MOVIT project), we compared general satisfaction and satisfaction with specific aspects of General Practitioner (GP) care in older persons and GPs before (cohort I) and after at least 12 months of implementation (cohort II). Results The general satisfaction score for GP care given by older persons does not change (Cohort I (n = 762) mean score 8.0 (IQR:7.0–9.0) vs. Cohort II (n = 505) mean score 8.0 (IQR:7.0–8.0);P = 0.01). Expressions of general satisfaction in GPs do not show consistent change (Cohort I (n = 87) vs Cohort II (n = 66), percentage satisfied about; role as GP, 56% vs 67%;P = 0.194, ability to provide personal care, 60% vs 67%;P = 0.038, quality of care, 54% vs 62%;P = 0.316). Satisfaction in older persons about some specific aspects of care do show change; GP-patient relationship, points 61.6 vs 63.3;P = 0.001, willingness to talk about mistakes, score 3.47 vs 3.73;P = 0.001, information received about drugs, score 2.79 vs 2.46;P = 0.002. GPs also report changes in specific aspects: percentage satisfied about multidisciplinary meetings; occurrence, 21% vs 53%;P = <0.001, GP presence, 12% vs 41%;P = <0.001, and participation, 29% vs.51%;P = 0.046. Conclusion General satisfaction about care received and provided shows no consistent change in older persons and GPs during the implementation of integrated care. Specific changes in satisfaction are found. These show an emphasis on inter-personal aspects in older persons and organizational aspects in GPs.
O-minimal homotopy and generalized (co)homology

This article gives a version of the homotopy theory (developed by H. Delfs and M. Knebusch in the semialgebraic case) extended to regular paracompact locally definable spaces and definable CW-complexes over a model R of an o-minimal (complete) theory T extending RCF, and even for weakly definable spaces, if T is a bounded theory. Corresponding generalized homology and cohomology theories for pointed weak polytopes coincide with the known topological generalized theories if T is bounded. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 03C64, 55N20, 55Q05.
Non-Invasive Mapping of the Gastrointestinal Microbiota Identifies Children with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Background Pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is challenging to diagnose because of the non-specificity of symptoms; an unequivocal diagnosis can only be made using colonoscopy, which clinicians are reluctant to recommend for children. Diagnosis of pediatric IBD is therefore frequently delayed, leading to inappropriate treatment plans and poor outcomes. We investigated the use of 16S rRNA sequencing of fecal samples and new analytical methods to assess differences in the microbiota of children with IBD and other gastrointestinal disorders. Methodology/Principal Findings We applied synthetic learning in microbial ecology (SLiME) analysis to 16S sequencing data obtained from i) published surveys of microbiota diversity in IBD and ii) fecal samples from 91 children and young adults who were treated in the gastroenterology program of Children’s Hospital (Boston, USA). The developed method accurately distinguished control samples from those of patients with IBD; the area under the receiver-operating-characteristic curve (AUC) value was 0.83 (corresponding to 80.3% sensitivity and 69.7% specificity at a set threshold). The accuracy was maintained among data sets collected by different sampling and sequencing methods. The method identified taxa associated with disease states and distinguished patients with Crohn’s disease from those with ulcerative colitis with reasonable accuracy. The findings were validated using samples from an additional group of 68 patients; the validation test identified patients with IBD with an AUC value of 0.84 (e.g. 92% sensitivity, 58.5% specificity). Conclusions/Significance Microbiome-based diagnostics can distinguish pediatric patients with IBD from patients with similar symptoms. Although this test can not replace endoscopy and histological examination as diagnostic tools, classification based on microbial diversity is an effective complementary technique for IBD detection in pediatric patients.
Improving face recognition with multispectral fusion and support vector machines

Face recognition is one of the primary ways of human identification. Although researches on automated face recognition have broadly increased along the last 35 years, it remains a challenging task in the fields of Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition. As the scenarios varies from static and constrained photographs to uncontrolled video images, the challenging issues on automatic face recognition are usually related with variations in illumination, pose and expressions. The goal of this master thesis is to propose techniques for the improvement of face recognition systems. The first technique addresses the problem of illumination by fusing the visible and the infrared spectra of the face. With this approach the recognition rates were improved in 2.07% while the Equal Error Rate (EER) were reduced in 45.47%. The second technique addresses the issue of face features extraction and classification. It proposes a new framework for face recognition by using features extracted by Census Histograms and a pattern recognition technique based on Support Vector Machines (SVMs). This other group of experiments enabled us to increase the recognition accuracy in the FERET fa/fb test in 0.5%. Beyond these results, additional contributions of this work that deserve to be highlighted are the statistical dependency analysis between face recognition systems based on different spectra and a better comprehension about the behavior of a single C-SVC SVM to reliably predict faces identities.
The Role of Social Location in Coping with Caregiving

iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . iv DEDICATION . v LIST OF TABLES . ix LIST OF FIGURES . x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS . xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION . 1 Statement of the Problem . 3 Statement of Purpose, Research Questions and Hypotheses. 4 Nature of the Study and Design Rationale . 6 Description of the Dataset and Nature of the Study . 6 Brief Background of the Stress, the HPA and Health in Aging Project . 7 Significance of the Study . 8 Scope, Limitations, and Delimitations . 9 Definitions of Key Terms/Words . 10 Summary and Chapter Outline . 13 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW . 15 Part 1: Background Overview of an Aging World . 15 What is old age? 16 Why is the population aging? 17 Differences in global and national aging . 19 Why the concern over population aging? 21 Summary of the challenges of global aging . 25 Part 2: Informal Caregiving and the Caregiver . 25 What is an Informal Caregiver? 26 Caregiving Role . 26 Caregiving Intensity: Burden, Stress, and Depression (Depressive Symptoms) . 28 The Cost of Caregiving. 34
Expressing and Detecting General Control Flow Properties of Distributed Computations

Properties of distributed computations can be either on their global states or on their control ows. This paper addresses control ow properties. It rst presents a simple yet powerful logic for expressing general properties on control ows, seen as sequences of local states. Among other properties, we can express invariance, sequential properties (to satisfy such a property a control ow must match a pattern described as a word on some alphabet) and non-sequential properties (these properties are on several control ows at the same time). A decentralized detection algorithm for properties described by this logic is then presented. This algorithm , surprisingly simple despite the power of the logic, observes the underlying distributed computation, does not alter its control ows and uses message tags to carry detection-related information.
A novel synthetic peptide from the B1 chain of laminin with heparin- binding and cell adhesion-promoting activities

Recent studies using solid-phase-binding assays and electron microscopy suggested the presence of a heparin-binding domain between the inner globule of a lateral short arm and the cross region of laminin. Using the information from the amino acid sequence of the B1 chain of laminin, several peptides were synthesized from areas with a low hydropathy index and a high density of lysines and/or arginines. One of these, peptide F-9 (RYVVLPRPVCFEKGMNYTVR), which is derived from the inner globular domain of the lateral short arm, demonstrated specific binding to heparin. This was tested in direct solid-phase binding assays by coating the peptide either on nitrocellulose or on polystyrene and in indirect competition assays where the peptide was in solution and either laminin or heparin was immobilized on a solid support. The binding of [3H]heparin to peptide F-9 was dramatically reduced when heparin but not other glycosaminoglycans other than heparin (dextran sulfate, dermatan sulfate) were used in competition assays. Modification of the free amino groups of peptide F-9 by acetylation abolished its ability to inhibit the binding of [3H]heparin to laminin on polystyrene surfaces. Peptide F-9 promoted the adhesion of various cell lines (melanoma, fibrosarcoma, glioma, pheochromocytoma) and of aortic endothelial cells. Furthermore, when peptide F-9 was present in solution, it inhibited the adhesion of melanoma cells to laminin-coated substrates. These findings suggest that peptide F-9 defines a novel heparin-binding and cell adhesion- promoting site on laminin.
Worker Perception of Quality Assurance Mechanisms in Crowdsourcing and Human Computation Markets

Many human computation systems utilize crowdsourcing marketplaces to recruit workers. Because of the open nature of these marketplaces, requesters need to use appropriate quality assurance mechanisms to guarantee high quality results. Previous research has mostly focused on the statistical aspects of quality assurance. Instead, we analyze the worker perception of five quality assurance mechanisms (Qualification Test, Qualification Restriction, Gold Standard, Majority Vote, Validating Review) according to subjective (fairness, offense, benefit) and objective (necessity, accuracy, cost) criteria. Based on theory from related areas like labor psychology, we develop a conceptual model and test it with a survey on Mechanical Turk. Our results show big differences in perception, especially with respect to Majority Vote which is rated low by workers. On the basis of these results, we show implications for theory and give requesters on crowdsourcing markets the advice to integrate the worker view when selecting an appropriate quality assurance mechanism.
A Novel and Integrated Semantic Recommendation System for E-Learning using Ontology

As e-learning becomes increasingly popular among learners, the amount of course content on the Web also keeps expanding. Hence finding the most appropriate content for oneself has become a time-consuming task. Thus new systems which can efficiently recommend the most appropriate content to users based on their preferences are in demand. As a step towards providing the learners with such a system, we propose an ontology-based integrated recommendation system in the e-learning domain. Two ontologies viz. learner ontology and learning domain ontology are utilized to represent and model the knowledge about the learner and the learning domain respectively. In order to recommend the most appropriate content to users, our recommendation technique integrates four basic approaches: User profile matching, prerequisite learning path construction, collaborative filtering and semantic similarity technique. During their early phases, the recommender systems generally face the cold-start problem. This is because of the scarcity of information available during these phases. Our system successfully overcomes this problem by maintaining an ontological approach to user profiling. Our system also significantly improves the accuracy of recommendations, which we demonstrate experimentally.
Mechanism of CO2 Response in Cerebral Arteries of the Newborn Pig: Role of Phospholipase, Cyclooxygenase, and Lipoxygenase Pathways

The role of phospholipase, lipoxygenase, and cyclooxygenase pathways in the mechanism of the cerebrovascular response to CO2 and H+ was investigated in newborn piglets. Responsiveness of pial arterioles, 48-206 μm diameter, to inhalation of 6% CO, and to suffusion of acidic cerebrospinal fluid (CSF, pH = 6.84), adenoslne (10-4 M), or theophylline (10-2 M) was studied using a closed cranial window. Pial arteriolar diameter was measured using intravital microscopy. Phospholipase inhibitors quinacrine hydrochloride (10-4 M in CSF) and p-bromophenacyl bromide (10-4 M in CSF) abolished the CO, vasodilation from Adiameter = 27 ±5% and 28 ± 3% during baseline to 0 ± 4% and -1 ± 1% following the respective inhibitors. Following administration of the cyclooxygenase inhibitor indomethacin (5 mg/kg i.v.), the CO2 response was converted from vasodilation, 31 ±6%, to constriction, -4±1% (p<0.001), while the lipoxygenase inhibitor nordihydroguaiaretic acid (2 mg/kg i.v. or 10-4 M in CSF) augmented the pial arteriolar response to CO2 from 21 ± 4% to 34 ± 7% (p<0.005). Topical application of superoxide dismutase (40 units/ml CSF) plus catalase (40 units/ml CSF) also appeared to augment the CO2 response. Suffusion of the cortical surface with acidic CSF at constant Pco, increased pial arteriolar diameter by 11 ±2% that was also abolished by indomethacin. Vasodilatory responses to topical adenosine and theophylline were not affected by indomethacin, suggesting specificity for H+ ion-related vasodilation. The data support a role for arachidonic acid metabolism and production of vasoactive prostaglandins mediating the cerebrovascular response to hypercapnia in the newborn piglet. A mechanism by which extracellular H+ may influence cell membrane function and activate phospholipase to release arachidonic acid is suggested.
Evolutionary Synthesis of a Fuzzy Image Compression

An evolutionary algorithm for the optimization of combined fuzzy compression and decompression of images is introduced. An image is divided into squares, and a fuzzy compression algorithm decides the color of the pixels that will replace the whole squares in the compressed image. A fuzzy decompression algorithm reconstructs the colors of pixels in the decompressed image on the basis of the pixels in the compressed image. An evolutionary algorithm is used to optimize the parameters involved in both fuzzy algorithms. Such an evolutionary algorithm has been implemented on a Quadrics super-computer. The paper provides a brief discussion of experimental results.
A Novel SemiDefinite-Based Localization System: Design and Evaluation

ii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF FIGURES . vi LIST OF TABLES. vii 1. BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE. 1 1.1 Localization Schemes . 1 1.2 State-of-the-Art Indoor Localization Systems . 4 1.3 Advantages of WSN in Indoor Localization Systems . 5 1.4 Applications of Indoor Localization Systems. 6 2. NARRATIVE . 8 2.1 Sensor Localization Models. 8 2.2 Principle of SDP . 11 2.3 Advantages of SDP. 11 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND CONTRIBUTION. 13 4. SIMULATION AND ANALYSIS . 17 4.1 Simulation Platform. 17 4.2 Error Estimations . 18 4.3 Simulation Results and Analysis . 19 4.3. 1 FSDP Simulator Design and Performance Evaluation . 19 4.3. 2 ESDP Simulator Design and Performance Evaluation . 25 4.3. 3 FSDP vs. ESDP. 28 5. PROPOSED LOCALIZATION SCHEMES . 31
Emerging Roles of Extracellular Vesicles in the Nervous System

Information exchange executed by extracellular vesicles, including exosomes, is a newly described form of intercellular communication important in the development and physiology of neural systems. These vesicles can be released from cells, are packed with information including signaling proteins and both coding and regulatory RNAs, and can be taken up by target cells, thereby facilitating the transfer of multilevel information. Recent studies demonstrate their critical role in physiological processes, including nerve regeneration, synaptic function, and behavior. These vesicles also have a sinister role in the propagation of toxic amyloid proteins in neurodegenerative conditions, including prion diseases and Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, in inducing neuroinflammation by exchange of information between the neurons and glia, as well as in aiding tumor progression in the brain by subversion of normal cells. This article provides a summary of topics covered in a symposium and is not meant to be a comprehensive review of the subject.
Professionals’ views on the new policy for special educational needs in England: ideology versus implementation

Abstract In 2014 a new policy for special educational needs and disability (SEND) provision was introduced in England. As it has been the case in countries where SEND reforms were introduced, these changes raised challenges and opportunities for the professionals supporting children with SEND. However, to date, little systematic and large-scale evidence has been made available on how professionals perceive these changes. In this study, the views of 349 professionals were ascertained using a semi-structured online survey. The results revealed that although many professionals agreed in principle with some of the key changes introduced, several constraints were reported including tight timelines, budget cuts, and difficulties in the collaboration between education, health and care, suggesting a rather fragmented implementation of the new policy. No significant differences were found between groups of professionals for most items, however educational psychologists and special needs co-ordinators disagree on the extension of the provision age range, on how well the children’s needs are described in the education, health and care plans, and on the professional requirements of this process. The findings are discussed in light of their implications for meeting children’s needs and in comparison with other policy changes worldwide.
Internet Self-Efficacy and Preferences Toward Constructivist Internet-based Learning Environments: A Study of Pre-school Teachers in Taiwan

This study was conducted to explore the relationship between Internet self-efficacy and preferences toward constructivist Internet-based learning environments. The sample included 365 college students in Taiwan who all majored in early childhood care and pre-school education. Some of them were preservice pre-school teachers (n=185), and the rest of them were inservice pre-school teachers who pursued a degree for childhood care (n=180). Through analyzing student questionnaire responses, the findings revealed that general Internet self-efficacy might foster the preferences of constructivist Internet-based learning environments. In other words, when widely implementing constructivist Internet-based learning environments, a prerequisite may be the condition that the learners should have adequate general Internet self-efficacy. By using structural equation model (SEM), this study further investigated the causal relations among the variables considered in this study. The SEM analysis showed that students with higher general Internet self-efficacy clearly showed more preferences toward Internet learning environments where they can use with ease, explore real-life problems, display multiple sources of information, conduct open-ended inquiry learning activities, and elaborate the nature of knowledge. However, students with higher communicative Internet self-efficacy tended to display relatively less preferences for inquiry learning on the Internet.