Koszul duality and mixed Hodge modules

We prove that on a certain class of smooth complex varieties (those with "affine even stratifications"), the category of mixed Hodge modules is "almost" Koszul: it becomes Koszul after a few unwanted extensions are eliminated. We also give an equivalence between perverse sheaves on such a variety and modules for a certain graded ring, obtaining a formality result as a corollary. For flag varieties, these results were proved earlier by Beilinson-Ginzburg-Soergel using a rather different construction.Comment: 26 pages. v4: added Proposition 3.9; streamlined Section 4; other minor correction

A qualitative study of the views of residents with dementia, their relatives and staff about work practice in long-term care settings

Background: Most people living in 24-hour care settings have dementia, and little is known about what makes long-term care a positive experience for them.Method: This carer-led qualitative study examined working practices in 24-hour long-term care-settings, including hospitals, nursing and residential homes, with the aim of finding out and making recommendations about such settings. Using semi-structured interviews, managers, nurses and care assistants were asked about work practices, such as how they coped with difficult behavior, about shifts, staffing levels, staff retention and training. Relatives of residents with dementia were asked about their role and perceptions of the care provided, and residents were asked for their opinions of their care.Results: Staff reported that residents presented with increasingly challenging behavior compared to the past, and that sometimes staffing levels and skills were inadequate. Of all the settings, hospitals had the most problems with staffing levels and retention, staff-relative relationships and staff support systems. Relatives saw their own role as positive. People with dementia of varying severity could usefully evaluate some of the services they received.Discussion: Dementia-specific training and education of staff in all long-term care-settings, including induction, should address the management of problem behavior in dementia and thereby improve staff fulfilment and relatives' satisfaction. The long-stay hospital may not be appropriate as a "home for life" for those with dementia, and we recommend that long-stay care settings should be able to cater flexibly for a range of resident needs

Mapping the wavefunction of transition metal acceptor states in the GaAs surface

We utilize a single atom substitution technique with spectroscopic imaging in a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) to visualize the anisotropic spatial structure of magnetic and non-magnetic transition metal acceptor states in the GaAs (110) surface. The character of the defect states play a critical role in the properties of the semiconductor, the localization of the states influencing such things as the onset of the metal-insulator transition, and in dilute magnetic semiconductors the mechanism and strength of magnetic interactions that lead to the emergence of ferromagnetism. We study these states in the GaAs surface finding remarkable similarities between the shape of the acceptor state wavefunction for Mn, Fe, Co and Zn dopants, which is determined by the GaAs host and is generally reproduced by tight binding calculations of Mn in bulk GaAs [Tang, J.M. & Flatte, M.E., Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 047201 (2004)]. The similarities originate from the antibonding nature of the acceptor states that arise from the hybridization of the impurity d-levels with the host. A second deeper in-gap state is also observed for Fe and Co that can be explained by the symmetry breaking of the surface.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figure

Factor VIII assay variability in postinfusion samples containing full length and B-domain deleted FVIII

Introduction Although the variability in factor VIII (FVIII):C measurement is well recognized, this has not been widely reported for post-FVIII infusion samples. Aim/Methods Three samples from haemophilia A patients were distributed in a UK National External Quality Assessment Scheme survey, each after treatment with either ReFacto AF, Kogenate FS or Advate. Fifty-two UK haemophilia centres performed FVIII assays using one-stage (n = 46) and chromogenic (n = 10) assays. Centres calibrated assays with the local plasma standard and with ReFacto AF laboratory standard for the ReFacto AF sample. Results/Conclusions Chromogenic assays gave significantly higher results than one-stage assays (P < 0.0001, 32% difference) in the post-Kogenate sample but not in the post-ReFacto AF (11% higher by chromogenic assay, ns) or post-Advate samples (3% lower by chromogenic, ns) when assays were calibrated with plasma standards. Twenty centres used all Instrumentation Laboratory (IL)-activated partial thromboplastin time reagents (Synthasil)/IL deficient plasma/reference plasma) in the one-stage assay and 15 used all Siemens reagents (Actin FS/Siemens deficient plasma/reference plasma); this made a significant difference to results post-ReFacto AF (41% higher by IL reagents, P < 0.0001) and Advate (39% higher by IL reagents, P < 0.0001), but not Kogenate (7% higher by IL, ns) when calibrated with plasma standards. Differences between results obtained with different one-stage assay reagents for monitoring Advate have implications for dosing patients. Furthermore, there was considerable inter-laboratory variation as indicated by CVs in the range 15–26% for chromogenic assay and 12–19% for one-stage assay results. This study suggests that external quality assessment schemes should offer participation in post-FVIII infusion schemes where haemophilic patients are monitored

Clotting and chromogenic factor VIII assay variability in post-infusion and spiked samples containing full-length recombinant FVIII or recombinant factor VIII Fc fusion protein (rFVIIIFc).

INTRODUCTION: Variability in FVIII measurement is a recognized problem. There are limited data for samples containing recombinant Factor VIII Fc fusion protein (rFVIIIFc). Many studies use samples for which factor concentrate has been spiked into FVIII deficient plasma in vitro. This approach requires validation. AIM/METHODS: Four samples were distributed in a UK National External Quality Assessment Scheme for Blood Coagulation (NEQAS BC) survey. One contained Advate (full-length recombinant FVIII) (rFVIII) added to FVIII deficient plasma, one was from a severe haemophilia A patient after infusion of Advate, one was prepared by addition of rFVIIIFc (marketed as Elocta/Eloctate) to FVIII deficient plasma and the fourth was collected from a severe haemophilia A patient following rFVIIIFc (Eloctate) infusion. Fifty-three haemophilia centres (UK and Scandinavia) performed one-stage FVIII assays and 27 performed chromogenic FVIII assays. RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS: One-stage assays gave significantly lower results than chromogenic assays by 7% (P < 0.01) and 13%(P < 0.001) for post-Advate and Advate spiked samples, and by 22% (P < 0.001) and 23% (P < 0.001) for post-rFVIIIFc and rFVIIIFc spiked samples. The interlaboratory variation was similar for all samples, with CVs of 12%-16% (chromogenic) and 10%-13% (one stage). The data indicate that either product can be safely monitored by one-stage or chromogenic assay. Spiked samples behaved in a similar way to post-infusion samples for both products and could be substituted for post-infusion samples for use in proficiency testing exercises (ie, samples were commutable)

Early jump-out corner detectors

Two corner detectors are presented, one of which works by testing similarity of image patches along the contour direction to detect curves in the image contour, and the other of which uses direct estimation image curvature along the contour direction. The operators are fast, robust to noise, and self-thresholding. An interpretation of the Kitchen-Rosenfeld corner operator is presented which shows that this operator can also be viewed as the second derivative of the image function along the edge direction

The dissimilarity corner detector

We present a corner detector that works by using dissimilarity along the contour direction to detect curves in the image contour. The operator is fast, robust to noise and almost self-thresholding. The standard deviation of the image noise must be specified, but this value is easily measured and the explicit modeling of image noise contributes to the robustness of the operator to noise. We also present a new interpretation of the Kitchen-Rosenfeld corner operator (1982) in which we show that this operator can also be viewed as the second derivative of the image function along the edge direction.<br /

The effects of gamified customer benefits and characteristics on behavioral engagement and purchase : evidence from mobile exercise application uses

This study investigates how gamified customer benefits (epistemic, social integrative, and personal integrative) and customer characteristics (age and experience) influence marketing outcomes, behavioral engagement and purchase, in exercise context. Using a unique data set of exercise and purchase history created by 5,072 smartphone users over three years in South Korea, this study finds that although all three customer benefits are positively associated with marketing outcomes, personal and social integrative benefits are the best predictors for engagement and purchase, respectively. Furthermore, the effects of gamified customer benefits on marketing outcomes vary by age and experience, showing the importance of epistemic and personal integrative benefits to older and less experienced customers and social integrative benefits to younger and experienced customers. This study not only explores the long-term effects of gamification on behavioral outcomes but also examines the feasibility of successfully implementing the gamification benefit proposition strategy for superior marketing outcomes