270 research outputs found
From socialist equality to capitalist startification: how people see it
The transition from socialism to capitalism has led to diverging
socioeconomic outcomes for the Post-Communist countries of Central and
Eastern Europe (CEE). While common social problems of capitalist societies were
virtually unknown prior to the collapse of socialism, they have been on the increase
since the introduction of comprehensive market-oriented reforms. The objective
of our article is to investigate the impact of the rising inequality in income in
CEE and the effects of distinct trajectories on the change of individual orientations
toward social inequality in Post-Communist East Europe. We present statistical
data on structural changes and apply linear and logistic regression on data from
the ISSP survey 2009 on the perception of social inequality. Our findings suggest
that both individual and structural conditions are relevant for attitudes related to
inequality. First, objective inequality itself is not associated with individually
perceived income differences. Second, different Post-Communist welfare regimes
indicate an effect on such perceptions as well as on the individualsâ assessment of
the society they live in. Further, the socioeconomic position affects the attitudes
toward a redistribution policy
Social Connectedness on Facebook â An Explorative Study on Status Message Usage
With over 400 million active users Facebook is undeniably a large social phenomenon and one of the largest social networks on the Internet. Together with Facebook a variety of novel communication styles have developed, dramatically influencing social interaction. The underlying paper reports the results of a survey (N=109) analyzing Facebookâs micro-blogging function available through usersâ status updates. Our results suggest that the use of status update messaging generates a feeling of connectedness between users. Furthermore, non-parametric analyses distinguishing between low- and highconnected groups have been performed and experimentally confirmed the existence of distinct user profiles as a function of the variable âfeeling connectedâ. The analyses revealed that the more individuals use their status message function to actively reveal information about themselves, the more connected they feel. Connectedness seems the result of active information sharing modulated by the amount of information shared rather than by the type of information an individual is sharing
DBIS â Eine erfolgreiche Kooperation in die Zukunft fĂŒhren
Mit dem Datenbank-Infosystem (DBIS) arbeiten kooperativ weit ĂŒber 300 Bibliotheken. DBIS stellt somit einen wichtigen Teil der deutschsprachigen wissenschaftlichen Informationsinfrastruktur dar. Diese Infrastruktur wird immer internationaler und moderner, was neue Anforderungen an DBIS mit sich bringt. In einem von der DFG geförderten Projekt soll DBIS daher umfassend modernisiert werden. DafĂŒr wurden an der UniversitĂ€tsbibliothek Regensburg zunĂ€chst verschiedene Formen des User Experience (UX) Research, also der Forschung zu Erfahrungen mit DBIS und zur Nutzung der Plattform, durchgefĂŒhrt. Dieser Artikel stellt insbesondere die Methodik des UX Research vor und stellt diese in den Zusammenhang des DBIS-Projekts und dessen Weg in die Zukunft.
 The Database Information System (DBIS) is used by well over 300 institutions. It is therefore an important part of the German information infrastructure. This infrastructure is becoming more and more international and modern, which brings new requirements for DBIS. Therefore, DBIS will be comprehensively modernized in a project funded by the DFG. To this end, various forms of user experience (UX) research, i.e., research on experiences with DBIS and on the use of the platform, were conducted at Regensburg University Library. This article introduces the UX research methodology in particular, and places it in the context of the DBIS project and its plans for its future.
Speech Motor Profiles in Primary Progressive Aphasia
Purpose: Previous research on motor speech disorders (MSDs) in primary pro-gressive aphasia (PPA) has largely focused on patients with the nonfluent/ agrammatic variant of PPA (nfvPPA), with few systematic descriptions of MSDs in variants other than nfvPPA. There has also been an emphasis on studying apraxia of speech, whereas less is known about dysarthria or other forms of MSDs. This study aimed to examine the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of MSDs in a prospective sample of individuals with PPA independent of subtype. Method: We included 38 participants with a root diagnosis of PPA according to current consensus criteria, including one case with primary progressive apraxia of speech. Speech tasks comprised various speech modalities and levels of complexity. Expert raters used a novel protocol for auditory speech analyses covering all major dimensions of speech. Results: Of the participants, 47.4% presented with some form of MSD. Individ-ual speech motor profiles varied widely with respect to the different speech dimensions. Besides apraxia of speech, we observed different dysarthria syn-dromes, special forms of MSDs (e.g., neurogenic stuttering), and mixed forms. Degrees of severity ranged from mild to severe. We also observed MSDs in patients whose speech and language profiles were incompatible with nfvPPA. Conclusions: The results confirm that MSDs are common in PPA and can man-ifest in different syndromes. The findings emphasize that future studies of MSDs in PPA should be extended to all clinical variants and should take into account the qualitative characteristics of motor speech dysfunction across speech dimensions. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.2255553
Speech motor profiles in primary progressive aphasia
Purpose:
Previous research on motor speech disorders (MSDs) in primary progressive aphasia (PPA) has largely focused on patients with the nonfluent/agrammatic variant of PPA (nfvPPA), with few systematic descriptions of MSDs in variants other than nfvPPA. There has also been an emphasis on studying apraxia of speech, whereas less is known about dysarthria or other forms of MSDs. This study aimed to examine the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of MSDs in a prospective sample of individuals with PPA independent of subtype.
Method:
We included 38 participants with a root diagnosis of PPA according to current consensus criteria, including one case with primary progressive apraxia of speech. Speech tasks comprised various speech modalities and levels of complexity. Expert raters used a novel protocol for auditory speech analyses covering all major dimensions of speech.
Results:
Of the participants, 47.4% presented with some form of MSD. Individual speech motor profiles varied widely with respect to the different speech dimensions. Besides apraxia of speech, we observed different dysarthria syndromes, special forms of MSDs (e.g., neurogenic stuttering), and mixed forms. Degrees of severity ranged from mild to severe. We also observed MSDs in patients whose speech and language profiles were incompatible with nfvPPA.
Conclusions:
The results confirm that MSDs are common in PPA and can manifest in different syndromes. The findings emphasize that future studies of MSDs in PPA should be extended to all clinical variants and should take into account the qualitative characteristics of motor speech dysfunction across speech dimensions
MiR-200c-3p modulates cisplatin resistance in biliary tract cancer by ZEB1-independent mechanisms
Biliary tract cancer is a major global health issue in cancer-related mortality. Therapeutic options are limited, and cisplatin-based treatment schedules represent the mainstay of first-line therapeutic strategies. Although the gain of survival by the addition of cisplatin to gemcitabine is moderate, acquired cisplatin resistance frequently leads to treatment failures with mechanisms that are still poorly understood. Epithelialâmesenchymal transition (EMT) is a dynamic process that changes the shape, function, and gene expression pattern of biliary tract cancer cells. In this study, we explored the influence of the EMT-regulating miR-200c-3p on cisplatin sensitivity in biliary tract cancer cells. Using gain of function experiments, we demonstrated that miR-200c-3p regulates epithelial cell markers through the downregulation of the transcription factor ZEB1. MiR-200c-3p upregulation led to a decreased sensitivity against cisplatin, as observed in transient overexpression models as well as in cell lines stably overexpressing miR-200c-3p. The underlying mechanism seems to be independent of miR-200c-3pâs influence on ZEB1 expression, as ZEB1 knockdown resulted in the opposite effect on cisplatin resistance, which was abolished when ZEB1 knockdown and miR-200c-3p overexpression occurred in parallel. Using a gene panel of 40 genes that were previously associated with cisplatin resistance, two (Dual Specificity Phosphatase 16 (DUSP16) and Stratifin (SFN)) were identified as significantly (>2 fold, p-value < 0.05) up-regulated in miR-200c-3p overexpressing cells. In conclusion, miR-200c-3p might be an important contributor to cisplatin resistance in biliary tract cancer, independently of its interaction with ZEB1
Insular dysfunction within the salience network is associated with severity of symptoms and aberrant inter-network connectivity in major depressive disorder
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by altered intrinsic functional connectivity within (intra-iFC) intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs),such as the Default Mode- (DMN),Salience- (SN) and Central Executive Network (CEN). It has been proposed that aberrant switching between DMN-mediated self-referential and CEN-mediated goal-directed cognitive processes might contribute to MDD, possibly explaining patients' difficulties to disengage the processing of self-focused, often negatively biased thoughts. Recently, it has been shown that the right anterior insula (rAl) within the SN is modulating DMN/CEN interactions. Since structural and functional alterations within the Al have been frequently reported in MDD, we hypothesized that aberrant intra-iFC in the SN's rAl is associated with both aberrant iFC between DMN and CEN (inter-iFC) and severity of symptoms in MDD. Twenty-five patients with MDD and 25 healthy controls were assessed using resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) and psychometric examination. High-model-order independent component analysis (ICA) of rs-fMRI data was performed to identify ICNs including DMN, SN, and CEN. Intra-iFC within and inter-iFC between distinct subsystems of the DMN, SN, and CEN were calculated, compared between groups and correlated with the severity of symptoms. Patients with MDD showed (1) decreased intra-iFC within the SN's rAl,(2) decreased inter-iFC between the DMN and CEN, and (3) increased inter-iFC between the SN and DMN. Moreover, decreased intra-iFC in the SN's rAl was associated with severity of symptoms and aberrant DMN/CEN interactions, with the latter losing significance after correction for multiple comparisons. Our results provide evidence for a relationship between aberrant intra-iFC in the salience network's rAl, aberrant DMN/CEN interactions and severity of symptoms, suggesting a link between aberrant salience mapping, abnormal coordination of DMN/CEN based cognitive processes and psychopathology in MDD
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