Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mood volatility with rumination but neither attentional nor interpretation biases in chronic fatigue syndrome.

OBJECTIVES This study tested whether (1) chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) individuals have a bias in the initial orientation of attention to illness-related information, which is enhanced by rumination. (2) CFS individuals have an illness interpretation bias (IB) in their early automatic processing of ambiguous information. (3) CFS individuals experience a greater degree of mood fluctuation following rumination and distraction inductions. DESIGN Thirty-three CFS participants who had received a medical practitioner's diagnosis of CFS were compared to 33 healthy matched controls on an exogenous cueing task and a lexical decision task. METHOD All participants underwent either a rumination or distraction induction. They then completed an exogenous cueing task to assess bias to illness and social threat compared with neutral stimuli, as well as a lexical decision task to assess their interpretation of ambiguous words having illness, social threat, or neutral interpretations. RESULTS Reaction time data revealed that CFS individuals did not have an attentional bias (AB) in the initial orientation of attention to illness-related material. Nor was there an IB towards illness in CFS individual's automatic response to ambiguous information. However, as hypothesized, CFS individuals showed a greater degree of mood fluctuation following the rumination/distraction induction. CONCLUSION Rumination and distraction lead to greater mood volatility in CFS individuals than in controls, but not to attentional nor interpretation biases in the early automatic stages of information processing in CFS individuals.
Transit systems in the US and Germany - a comparison

This thesis compares German transit systems to the transit system of Atlanta, Georgia. Different performance measures are used to assess the difference in the respective rail and bus systems. The results show that the German transit systems are overall more successful and efficient than the system in Atlanta. URI http://hdl.handle. net/1853/41191 Collections Georgia Tech Theses and Dissertations [21023] School of Civil and Environmental Engineering Theses and Dissertations [1548] About  Terms of Use  Contact Us Emergency Information  Legal & Privacy Information  Accessibility  Accountability  Accreditation  Employment  Transit systems in the US and Germany-a comparison 
Parents' Knowledge of Neonatal Screening and Response to False‐Positive Cystic Fibrosis Testing

Neonatal screening for cystic fibrosis (CF) has become feasible through analyzing dried blood specimens for immunoreactive trypsinogen (IRT), but the benefits and risks of such a screening program remain to be delineated. This study, a survey of the parents of 104 Wisconsin infants with false-positive IRT tests, showed parents had knowledge deficits about neonatal screening in general, misconceptions about test results, and high levels of anxiety. Parenting behaviors were reportedly unchanged during the usual 3-day waiting period between the news of the abnormal screeing test and the diagnostic sweat test. Most, but not all, parents were relieved by negative sweat test results subsequent to the abnormal IRT test. Factors associated with continued parental concern included having less than a high school education and/or having an infant with low Apgar scores. Additionally, those contacted by telephone were more likely to have misinformation and lingering concerns about the presence of CF in their child. J Dev Behav Pediatr 13:181–186, 1992. Index terms: cystic fibrosis, neonatal screening, trypsinogen, anxiety.
The Role of Crop Systems Simulation in Agriculture and Environment

Simulation of crop systems has evolved from a neophyte science into a robust and increasingly accepted discipline. Our vision is that crop systems simulation can serve important roles in agriculture and environment. Important roles and uses of crop systems simulation are in five primary areas: 1) basic research synthesis and integration, where simulation is used to synthesize our understanding of physiology, genetics, soil characteristics, management, and weather effects, 2) strategic tools for planning and policy to evaluate strategies and consequences of genetic improvement or resource management, 3) applications for management purposes, where crop systems simulations are used to evaluate impacts of weather and management on production, water use, nutrient use, nutrient leaching, and economics, 4) real time decision support to assist in management decisions (irrigation, fertilization, sowing date, harvest, yield forecast, pest management), and 5) education in class rooms and farms, to explain how crop systems function and are managed.
Optimal Bounds for the Similarity Density of the Thue-Morse Word with Overlap-Free and 73-Power-Free Infinite Binary Words

We consider a measure of similarity for infinite words that generalizes the usual number-theoretic notion of asymptotic or natural density for subsets of natural numbers. We show that every 73-power-free infinite binary word, other than the Thue-Morse word t and its complement t¯, has this measure of similarity with t between 13 and 23, and that this bound is optimal in a strong sense just for the class of overlap-free words. This is a generalization of a classical 1927 result of Kurt Mahler.
A resilient cybersecurity framework for Mobile Financial Services (MFS)

ABSTRACT Cybercrime has astronomically risen with technological advancements alongside the business opportunities in cyberspace. Cybercrime is now viewed as one of the top 10 global risks. In recognition of the threat posed by cybercrime, organisations are investing in controls and countermeasures that would combat the threat of cybercrime and its impact. However, incidences of successful cyberattacks are still on the rise. The advent of mobile devices has created a means of providing financial services to over two billion people globally that hitherto had no access to formal banking services. Also, banks and other financial institutions use mobile platforms as an alternative delivery channel for financial services. However, the dark side of using mobile devices to bridge the banking gap is that mobile devices are now an added vector for cybersecurity threats. This has affected trust in the use of the system and consequently slowed down the uptake of mobile financial services (MFS). This article presents an in-depth analysis of the opportunities mobile platforms provide for the unbanked and how cybersecurity is hampering the uptake of MFS. Furthermore, the article proposes an approach for mitigating cybercrime in the complex MFS ecosystem and presents preliminary results from the research conducted so far.
Hypomanic personality, stability of self-esteem and response styles to negative mood.

OBJECTIVES This paper aims to study dysfunctional self-schematic processes, abnormal coping styles, over-responsiveness to reward stimuli (indicative of an over-sensitive behavioural activation system) and stability of self-esteem in relation to subclinical hypomania. DESIGN Three cross-sectional studies were conducted on selected students on the basis of their scores on the Hypomanic Personality Scale (HPS) (study 1) and on elevated HPS and Dysfunctional Attitude Scale scores (studies 2 and 3). METHODS In studies 1 and 2, participants completed questionnaires and kept a self-esteem diary for 6 days. In study 3, the experience sampling method was used to assess momentary self-esteem, emotion and use of different coping styles over a 6-day period. RESULTS Study 1 demonstrated that hypomanic traits are associated with high fluctuations in self-esteem. In study 2, high scores on both the HPS and the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale, but not the HPS alone, were associated with bipolar spectrum symptoms. These participants showed more evidence of alcohol and substance abuse, greater self-esteem fluctuation and dysfunctional coping styles (rumination and risk-taking) compared with controls. Changes in self-esteem were related to the use of these strategies. CONCLUSIONS Vulnerability to bipolar disorder is associated with a combination of depression-related and reward-related processes.
Electrocatalytic Behavior of Hemoglobin Oxidation of Hydrazine Based on ZnO Nano-rods with Carbon Nanofiber Modified Electrode

A novel biosensor was developed by immobilizing hemoglobin (Hb) on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with a composite of ZnO nano-rods and carbon nanofiber (CNF), a strong reducer, hydrazine, was firstly used to evaluate the electrochemical behavior of Hb on Hb/ZnO/CNF/GCE. UV-vis and circular dichroism (CD) spectra indicated the conformational structure of Hb interaction with ZnO/CNF was predominantly an α -helical structure. The modified electrodes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and cyclic voltammetry. Electrocatalytic mechanism of Hb to oxidation reaction of hydrazine was suggested. The bioelectrocatalytic activity, kinetic parameters of Michaelis-Menten constant ( K _m), stability and reproducibility were also investigated. A linear dependence of peak currents to the concentrations of hydrazine was observed in the range from 1.98 × 10^−5 to 1.71 × 10^−3 mol L^−1 with a correlation coefficient of 0.998, and a detection limit ( S / N = 3) of 6.60 μmol L^−1 was estimated.
Research on Chinese E-book Market and Developing Strategies

With the rapid development of digital publishing, Chinese traditional publishing industry has experienced profound changes in recent years. The development of digital publishing has not only led to the changes in the content carrier, form of expression, mode of transmission and methods of reading, but also extended the scope of the digital publishing to nearly all digital content industries. The paper firstly analyzed the current scale and competition of Chinese e-book market, and then discussed the three big bottlenecks in developing e-book market in China. Based on these analyses, it proposed that strengthening copyright protection and regulating related standards are the only ways for China to develop e-book market rapidly and healthily. In the future for a long time, Chinese book market tends to be the convergence of traditional media and new media.
The Impacts of Off Balance Sheet Types and Investment Positions on Investors’ Ability in Detecting Balance Sheet Management

This study investigated the impact of off-balance sheet (OBS) types and investment positions on investors’ ability to detect the OBS financing arrangements. Through an experimental approach, given the investors’ knowledge of creative accounting, the research provides evidence that the directional preferences influence the investors’ detection ability of offbalance sheet financing. Specifically, long investors were biased from their directional goal for the firm’s positive performance as compared to neutral investor i.e. prospective investor. However, no significant difference was found between the short and long investors’ judgements. Further, it was found that off-balance sheet types significantly influenced the investors’ ability to detect the off-balance sheet financing transactions. Given their knowledge of creative accounting, the investors facing with equity method were less likely to detect OBS than those facing with operating lease. The implication of the findings is for the relevant regulatory bodies to revisit the disclosure format related to complex OBS so as to reduce the complexity burden borne by the investors. Moreover, this research is expected to raise investors’ awareness on the usefulness of disclosure information in the footnote section. Besides, this finding could serve as a caution for financial investors that investment preference could undermine their rationale and impair their ability to detect creative accounting in the financial statements.
The length‐response properties of cells in the feline dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus.

1. In this report we have systematically examined the length‐response properties of a large population of cells recorded in the cat dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN). The responses of A laminae dLGN cells were assessed by the use of conventional single‐unit extracellular recording techniques. The length preference of these cells was examined by plotting multihistogram length tuning curves to moving bars of light. Bar length was randomized in an interleaved fashion under computer control. The other stimulus parameters were standardized within the limits of those routinely used to assess the length preference of cortical cells. 2. The majority of cells (186/198), whose length‐response properties are considered in detail in this report, exhibited strong centre‐surround antagonism and a mean degree of length tuning equivalent to, or exceeding, that seen in most cortical hypercomplex cells (71 +/‐ 1.18%, S.E.M., n = 186). 3. The values for X cells (74 +/‐ 1.41%, S.E.M., n = 100) and Y cells (67 +/‐ 2.13%, S.E.M., n = 74) were very similar, as were those of the on‐centre (71 +/‐ 1.51%, S.E.M., n = 123) and off‐centre (71 +/‐ 1.85%, S.E.M., n = 63) subgroups. 4. A distinct subgroup of the Y cell population was identified. These comprised the remaining twelve out of the 198 cells examined and their response properties were sufficiently distinct to merit classification as a discrete subpopulation of cells which we have termed nlY cells. They were characterized by very poor levels of both centre‐surround antagonism and length tuning, and were most frequently encountered close to laminar borders. Their response properties have been described in detail elsewhere. 5. We quantitatively compared the degree of length tuning seen with moving bars to the strength of centre‐surround antagonism assessed with flashing spots. The degree of length tuning did not necessarily follow the level of centre‐surround antagonism. 6. Examination of the effects of unilaterally extending bar length to one or other side of the receptive field did not reveal the type of asymmetry frequently seen in cortical hypercomplex cells. 7. The high degree of length tuning seen in this study underlines the potential importance of geniculate response properties to the generation of the length‐response properties of cortical hypercomplex cells. The findings are discussed in relation to the synaptic mechanisms contributing to the generation of length tuning at subcortical and cortical levels.
Performance management in SME high-growth sectors and high-impact sectors in Thailand

Performance management (PM) plays a vital role in the successful operation of an organization. It is essential for organizations to understand the correlations between factors, problems and solutions to enhance the efficiency of PM. Mixed method research is applied, including explanatory sequential design (Quan → Qual). By analysing findings and interviews from a cluster of small and medium enterprise (SME) high-growth sectors and high-impact sectors based on descriptive and inferential statistics, the PM finding is that these two SMEs are not different. Moreover, the factors that influence PM are recruitment, retention and retirement. Regarding PM problems, the key factors are a lack of employee participation, unclear goals, unfair evaluations, ineffectual communication and ineffective application of evaluations to improve PM. Therefore, related private and government organizations should enhance their knowledge and understanding of problem-solving procedures by attending trainings or discussing these topics with experts to raise their awareness of PM and to learn how to resolve related issues, particularly factors that directly influence PM, to ensure progress in their performance.
Association between childhood socioeconomic status and coronary heart disease risk among postmenopausal women: findings from the British Women's Heart and Health Study.

OBJECTIVES We assessed the association between childhood socioeconomic status (SES) and coronary heart disease among postmenopausal women. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 3444 women aged 60 to 79 years. RESULTS There was an independent linear association between childhood and adult SES and coronary heart disease. The association between childhood SES and coronary heart disease was attenuated when we adjusted for insulin resistance syndrome, adult smoking, physical activity, biomarkers of childhood nutrition, and passive smoking. CONCLUSIONS The association between adverse childhood SES and coronary heart disease is in part mediated through insulin resistance, which may be influenced by poor childhood nutrition, and in part through the association between childhood SES and adult behavioral risk factors.
High-efficiency bidirectional DC-DC converter with high voltage conversion ratio

This paper proposes a high-efficiency bidirectional dc-dc converter with high voltage conversion ratio for low voltage energy storage devices. For a step-up operation, the proposed converter operates with a high step-up voltage conversion ratio. It has low voltage stresses of the power switches at the low voltage side. It also has low switching losses of the output diodes at the high voltage side. For a step-down operation, the proposed converter operates with a high step-down voltage conversion ratio. It features zero-voltage switching of power switches at the high voltage side. At the low voltage side, a current doubler rectifier reduces the current ripples. Simulation verifications and experimental results are presented to verify the operation of the proposed converter.
Characteristics of Ca2+-exocytosis coupling in isolated mouse pancreatic β cells

AbstractAim:To characterize Ca2+-stimulated exocytosis in isolated mouse pancreatic β cells.Methods:An improved method was described for isolation of mouse pancreatic β cells by collagenase P. The Ca2+ channel current and the membrane capacitance were examined by using the whole-cell patch clamp recording technique.Results:Using depolarization and flash photolysis of caged Ca2+ to induce Ca2+-dependent exocytosis in β cell from KM mouse, we have explored the characteristics of the Ca2+ channel current and the relationship between Ca2+ signals and exocytosis. The averaged peak Ca2+ current measured at +20 mV was -60±6 pA (n=13). Conclusion:We characterized three kinetically different pools of vesicles in mouse pancreatic β cells, namely an immediately releasable pool, a readily releasable pool, and a reserve pool.
Acquisition Methods and Customer Lifetime Value

Although the Internet is fast becoming a mainstream purchasing channel, it is difficult for firms to attract customers via their websites. Firms have several opportunities to acquire customers online, albeit typical metrics such as click-through rates focus on random customer acquisition. Customer lifetime value (CLV) measures long-time profitability, however CLV models ignore the importance of the acquisition stage. Using data of an Australian DVD rental firm, this study investigated relationships among three online acquisition methods, behavioural variables and CLV. Significant results showed that acquisition via keyword advertising had the highest mean CLV, word of mouth was average and customers acquired with affiliate programs had the lowest mean CLV.
INCREASING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MIDDLE MANAGERS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

INCREASING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MIDDLE MANAGERS IN HIGHER EDUCATION FEBRUARY 1987 Paul M. Bevilacqua, A.B. , Merrimack College M.A., Northeastern University Directed by: Dr. William Lauroesch The purpose of this study was to identify salient factors influ¬ encing the effectiveness of middle managers in higher education and to develop recommendations that will reinforce conditions contributing to effectiveness and alter conditions found to be inhibiting effectiveness. Chairpersons of career divisions in the Massachusetts Community College System were studied. The case-study approach was utilized, with the interview as the primary method for data collection. The maximum variation sampling strategy with a purposeful sample was used. The primary unit of analy¬ sis was the individual chairperson and the primary data source was a sample of 10 chairpersons of career divisions at seven of the System's 15 colleges. The sample comprised 27 percent of the chairpersons of career divisions. Three academic deans and three faculty members of cadger divisions were also interviewed. The data sources were triangu lated. A case record was developed and the data were analyzed. The data indicated that there was much agreement among all of the data sources as to the factors which influenced the effectiveness of chairpersons of career divisions. The data revealed that the three basic
Middleware and Methods for Customizable SaaS

Software as a Service (SaaS) has been increasingly adopted by software vendors as their main software delivery model, as it provides the opportunity to offer their software applications to a larger market and to benefit from the economies of scale. One of the key enablers to leverage economies of scale is multi-tenancy: resources are shared among multiple customer organizations (the so-called tenants), which leads to higher resource utilization and scalability. The highest degree of resource sharing is achieved with application-level multi-tenancy. However, this focus on increased resource sharing typically results in a one-size-fits-all approach. As a consequence, multi-tenant SaaS applications are inherently limited in terms of flexibility and variability, and cannot be customized to the different and varying requirements of the different tenants. This dissertation presents both a middleware framework and a software engineering method to facilitate the development, operation and management of customizable, multi-tenant SaaS applications. More specifically, the middleware framework improves the flexibility of multi-tenant SaaS applications by enabling tenant-specific customizations, while preserving the economies of scale and limiting the application engineering complexity. The focus is on dynamically composing software variants on a per tenant basis as well as on enforcing tenant-specific performance service level agreements (SLAs) throughout the SaaS application. The service line engineering (SLE) method aims to reduce the management complexity of many co-existing tenantspecific configurations as well as the effort to provision tenants and to update and maintain the customizable SaaS application. This work has been validated and evaluated in the context of two types of industryrelevant SaaS applications, i.e. a request-driven online hotel booking application and a batch-driven document processing application. We have implemented different prototypes on top of existing cloud platforms and the evaluation shows the effectiveness of our solution while introducing only a very limited performance overhead.
Governance Structures: A Complementary Study Of Transaction Costs, Measurement Costs And Strategic Resources

The objective of this study is to understand how governance structures are formed, considering transaction costs, measurement costs and strategic resources. To that end, bibliographic research was carried out in order to explore the complementarity of three theories: Transaction Cost Theory (TCT),Measurement Cost Theory (MCT) and Resource-Based View (RBV). A combined approach indicates that having strategic resources (RBV) may characterize a property right that needs to be protected by governance structures that consider transaction attributes and behavioral assumptions (TCT) andthe measurability of resources involved (MCT) in transactions.