Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Instrumental practice in the contemporary music academy: A three-phase cycle of Self-Regulated Learning in music students

The purpose of the present study was to test an adapted model of self-regulated learning (Zimmerman, 1989) in the context of higher music education (n = 204). The following four hypotheses were tested: 1) Forethought phase constructs such as goal setting, self-efficacy, and time management were hypothesized to positively predict the use of psychological skills (i.e., self-observation, arousal-regulation, imagery, concentration, and self-control); 2) The use of psychological skills was expected to predict self-reflection phase constructs such as coping and perception of progress; 3) The links from the forethought phase to the reflection phase of the model were predicted to be indirect through psychological skills; 4) Self-reflection phase constructs were expected to positively predict forethought phase constructs. Applying Structural Equation Modeling, hypotheses 1 and 2 were partly supported. Regarding hypothesis 3, goal setting was indirectly positively linked to coping and perception of progress through self-observation and self-control. Self-efficacy was indirectly positively linked to coping through arousal-regulation. A follow-up multiple regression analysis was conducted in regard to hypothesis 4. The self-reflection phase constructs positively predicted forethought phase activities. Moreover, the study verified adaptive cyclical learning in the music students who were self-regulated learners.
Type III and N Einstein spacetimes in higher dimensions: general properties

The Sachs equations governing the evolution of the optical matrix of geodetic WANDs (Weyl aligned null directions) are explicitly solved in n dimensions in several cases which are of interest in potential applications. This is then used to study Einstein spacetimes of type III and N in the higher dimensional Newman-Penrose formalism, considering both Kundt and expanding (possibly twisting) solutions. In particular, the general dependence of the metric and of the Weyl tensor on an affine parameter r is obtained in a closed form. This allows us to characterize the peeling behavior of the Weyl 'physical' components for large values of r, and thus to discuss, e.g., how the presence of twist affects polarization modes, and qualitative differences between four and higher dimensions. Further, the r dependence of certain nonzero scalar curvature invariants of expanding spacetimes is used to demonstrate that curvature singularities may generically be present. As an illustration, several explicit type N/III spacetimes that solve Einstein's vacuum equations (with a possible cosmological constant) in higher dimensions are finally presented.
Robust Background Subtraction for Network Surveillance in H . 264 Streaming Video

The H.264/Advanced Video Coding (AVC) is the industry standard in network surveillance owing to improved video quality, low bandwidth and latency requirements. This paper presents a novel approach for background subtraction in H.264 encoded bitstreams. Temporal statistics of proposed feature vectors, representing macroblock units in each frame, are used to identify potential candidates containing moving objects. From the set of coarsely localized candidate macroblocks, all foreground pixels are detected by comparing them pixel wise with a background model. The basic difference of the current work compared to the related approaches is that, it allows each macroblock to have a different quantization parameter, in view of the requirements in variable as well as constant bitrate applications. Additionally, for pixel wise comparisons, a new color differencing technique of low complexity is proposed which enables us to obtain pixel-resolution segmentation incurring a negligible cost compared to those of classical pixel domain approaches. Results showing striking comparison against those of proven state-of-theart pixel domain algorithms are presented over a diverse set of standardized surveillance sequences.
An empirical study of the effects of conscientiousness in pair programming using the five-factor personality model

This paper describes a formal experiment carried out to investigate the effect of the Personality factor conscientiousness on the effectiveness of Pair Programming as a pedagogical tool in higher Education. This experiment took place at the University of Auckland, using as subjects undergraduate students attending an introductory programming course. Conscientiousness was chosen because it has been shown to be the most consistent predictor of academic achievement. Our findings showed that differences in conscientiousness level did not significantly affect the academic performance of students who pair programmed, which could have been due to the short duration of the tasks used throughout the experiment. However, results revealed that another Personality factor - Openness to experience - presented a significant correlation with paired students' academic performance.
EXPERIMENTAL SIMULATION OF PUBLIC INFORMATION IMPACTS ON PRICE DISCOVERY AND MARKETING EFFICIENCY IN THE FED CATTLE MARKET

Federal budgetary pressures raise questions regarding the importance of public market information. This study assesses the impact of price discovery and production efficiency of reducing public price and quantity information. The amount and type of information provided to Fed Cattle Market Simulator (FCMS) participants was varied by periodically withholding current and weekly summary information according to a predetermined experimental design. Results show that reducing information increased price variance and decreased marketing efficiency; that is, more cattle were delivered at weights deviating from 1,150 pounds- the least-cost marketing weight in the simulator. These factors, which increase costs, make the industry less competitive.
Transient receptor potential canonical 5 (TRPC5) protects against pain and vascular inflammation in arthritis and joint inflammation

Objective Transient receptor potential canonical 5 (TRPC5) is functionally expressed on a range of cells including fibroblast-like synoviocytes, which play an important role in arthritis. A role for TRPC5 in inflammation has not been previously shown in vivo. We investigated the contribution of TRPC5 in arthritis. Methods Male wild-type and TRPC5 knockout (KO) mice were used in a complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA)-induced unilateral arthritis model, assessed over 14 days. Arthritis was determined by measurement of knee joint diameter, hindlimb weightbearing asymmetry and pain behaviour. Separate studies involved chronic pharmacological antagonism of TRPC5 channels. Synovium from human postmortem control and inflammatory arthritis samples were investigated for TRPC5 gene expression. Results At baseline, no differences were observed. CFA-induced arthritis resulted in increased synovitis in TRPC5 KO mice assessed by histology. Additionally, TRPC5 KO mice demonstrated reduced ispilateral weightbearing and nociceptive thresholds (thermal and mechanical) following CFA-induced arthritis. This was associated with increased mRNA expression of inflammatory mediators in the ipsilateral synovium and increased concentration of cytokines in synovial lavage fluid. Chronic treatment with ML204, a TRPC5 antagonist, augmented weightbearing asymmetry, secondary hyperalgesia and cytokine concentrations in the synovial lavage fluid. Synovia from human inflammatory arthritis demonstrated a reduction in TRPC5 mRNA expression. Conclusions Genetic deletion or pharmacological blockade of TRPC5 results in an enhancement in joint inflammation and hyperalgesia. Our results suggest that activation of TRPC5 may be associated with an endogenous anti-inflammatory/analgesic pathway in inflammatory joint conditions.
Clinical correlates of white matter tract degeneration in progressive supranuclear palsy.

OBJECTIVES To use diffusion tensor imaging to assess white matter tract degeneration in progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and to investigate correlates between tract integrity and clinical measures. DESIGN Case-control study. SETTING Tertiary care medical center. PATIENTS/PARTICIPANTS Twenty patients with probable PSP and 20 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were enrolled. All patients with PSP underwent standardized clinical testing, including the Frontal Behavioral Inventory and Frontal Assessment Battery to assess behavioral change, the PSP Rating Scale to measure disease severity, the Movement Disorder Society-sponsored revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (parts II and III) to measure motor function, and the PSP Saccadic Impairment Scale to measure eye movement abnormalities. METHODS Fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity were measured using region of interest analysis and tract-based spatial statistics. RESULTS Compared with controls, abnormal diffusivity was observed predominantly in the superior cerebellar peduncles, body of the corpus callosum, inferior longitudinal fasciculus, and superior longitudinal fasciculus in patients with PSP. Fractional anisotropy values in the superior cerebellar peduncles correlated with disease severity (r = -0.59, P = .006), inferior longitudinal fasciculus correlated with motor function (r = -0.51, P = .02), and superior longitudinal fasciculus correlated with severity of saccadic impairments (r = -0.45, P = .047). CONCLUSIONS The results of this study demonstrate that PSP is associated with degeneration of the brainstem, association, and commissural fibers and that this degeneration likely plays an important role in clinical dysfunction.
Utility-based anonymization using local recoding

Privacy becomes a more and more serious concern in applications involving microdata. Recently, efficient anonymization has attracted much research work. Most of the previous methods use global recoding, which maps the domains of the quasi-identifier attributes to generalized or changed values. However, global recoding may not always achieve effective anonymization in terms of discernability and query answering accuracy using the anonymized data. Moreover, anonymized data is often for analysis. As well accepted in many analytical applications, different attributes in a data set may have different utility in the analysis. The utility of attributes has not been considered in the previous methods.In this paper, we study the problem of utility-based anonymization. First, we propose a simple framework to specify utility of attributes. The framework covers both numeric and categorical data. Second, we develop two simple yet efficient heuristic local recoding methods for utility-based anonymization. Our extensive performance study using both real data sets and synthetic data sets shows that our methods outperform the state-of-the-art multidimensional global recoding methods in both discernability and query answering accuracy. Furthermore, our utility-based method can boost the quality of analysis using the anonymized data.
Billboard Hot 100 Songs: Self-Promoting Over the Past 20 Years

Research suggests that an increase in narcissism and individualism in contemporary Western society corresponds with greater self-focus depicted in cultural products (Morling & Lamoreaux, 2008). However, little attention has been given to popular music within this context (DeWall, Pond, Campbell, & Twenge, 2011). The current study examines changes in self-promotion (e.g., references to self, bragging, demands for respect), and the sociodemographic characteristics of both artists and audiences as they relate to self-promoting tendencies in popular music. Data were obtained using Billboard Hot 100 songs for the years 1990, 2000, and 2010. The most popular music in 2010 contained significantly more types of self-promotion than music from previous decades. This change reflects characteristics of genres (e.g., rap/hip-hop, pop, dance) that have gained popularity among younger audiences, but also corresponds to larger societal changes in individualism. Songs by male artists and African American artists were more likely to contain self-promotion than those by female or Caucasian artists. These differences are considered within the context of past theory and research related to socialization across groups more generally. Implications for parents, educators, and consumers are discussed.
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Neural Correlates of Dyadic Interaction during Infancy

This study examines the electrophysiological correlates of dyadic interaction in 14-month-old infants. Infants were presented with three conditions of live stimuli. A baseline condition involved the observation of moving geometric shapes. In a second condition the infant observed an adult performing movements that were not in reference to the infant and were not within the infant's proficient motor repertoire, such as dancing or hopping. A third condition involved face to face dyadic interactions in the context of an imitative game, where the infant and adult engaged in copying each other's hand and facial actions. Motor activity by the infant was controlled between conditions by synchronizing EEG with video frames of action. Infant EEG data was then edited offline to match in motor intensity across conditions. We expected mu rhythm (6–9 Hz) suppression during dyadic interactions relative to the amount of mu present in the baseline condition. This prediction was confirmed. We also observed suppressed mu in the interaction condition relative to the observation condition. The mu rhythm results suggest that infants at 14 months may well utilize a functioning mirroring system during dyadic interactions.
Fibroblast growth factor–hedgehog interdependence during retina regeneration

The embryonic chick is able to regenerate the retina after it has been removed. We have previously shown that proliferating stem/progenitor cells present in the ciliary body/ciliary marginal zone (CB/CMZ) of the chick eye are responsible for regeneration, which can be induced by ectopic fibroblast growth factor‐2 (FGF2) or Sonic hedgehog (Shh). Here, we reveal the mechanisms showing how FGF2 and Shh signaling are interdependent during retina regeneration. If the FGF pathway is inhibited, regeneration stimulated by Shh is inhibited. Likewise, if the Hedgehog pathway is inhibited, regeneration stimulated by FGF2 is inhibited. We examined early signaling events in the CB/CMZ and found that FGF2 or Shh induced a robust Erk phosphorylation during the early stages of retina regeneration. Shh also up‐regulated the expression of several members of the FGF signaling pathway. We show that ectopic FGF2 or Shh overexpression increased the number of phosphohistone 3 (PH3)‐positive cells in the CB/CMZ and inhibition of either pathway decreased the number of PH3‐positive cells. Additionally, both FGF and Hh signaling are required for cell survival in the CB/CMZ, whereas Hh and not FGF signaling plays a role in maintaining the identity of the retinal progenitor population in this region. Combined, our results support a model where the FGF and Hedgehog pathways work together to stimulate retina regeneration. Developmental Dynamics 236:1161–1174, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Hyperhomocysteinemia but not the C677T mutation of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase is an independent risk determinant of carotid wall thickening. The Perth Carotid Ultrasound Disease Assessment Study (CUDAS)

BACKGROUND Hyperhomocysteinemia has been identified as a potential risk factor for atherosclerosis. This study examined whether a modest elevation of plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) was an independent risk factor for increased carotid artery intimal-medial wall thickness (IMT) and focal plaque formation in a large, randomly selected community population. We also examined whether vitamin cofactors and the C677T genetic mutation of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) enzyme were major contributors to elevated plasma tHcy and carotid vascular disease. METHODS AND RESULTS In 1111 subjects (558 men, 553 women) 52+/-13 years old (mean+/-SD; range, 27 to 77 years) recruited from a random electoral roll survey, we measured fasting tHcy and performed bilateral carotid B-mode ultrasound. For the total population, mean tHcy was 12.1+/-4.0 micromol/L. Plasma tHcy levels were correlated with IMT (Spearman rank rs=0.31, P=0.0001). After adjustment for age, sex, and other conventional risk factors, subjects in the highest versus the lowest quartile of tHcy had an odds ratio of 2.60 (95% CI, 1.51 to 4.45) for increased IMT and 1.76 (95% CI, 1.10 to 2.82) for plaque. Serum and dietary folate levels and the C677T mutation in MTHFR were independent determinants of tHcy (all P=0.0001). The mutant homozygotes (10% of the population) had higher mean tHcy than heterozygotes or those without the mutation (14.2 versus 12.3 versus 11.6 micromol/L, respectively, P=0.0001). The inverse association of folate levels with tHcy was steeper in the mutant homozygotes. Despite this, the C677T MTHFR mutation was not independently predictive of increased carotid IMT or plaque formation. CONCLUSIONS Mild hyperhomocysteinemia is an independent risk factor for increased carotid artery wall thickness and plaque formation in a general population. Lower levels of dietary folate intake and the C677T mutation in MTHFR are important causes of mild hyperhomocysteinemia and may therefore contribute to vascular disease in the community.
Interior Permanent-Magnet Synchronous Motor Design for Improving Self-Sensing Performance at Very Low Speed

The focus of this paper is to improve the self-sensing performance of an interior permanent-magnet synchronous machine (IPMSM) by modifying the rotor configurations. A field-intensified IPMSM (FIIPMSM) is designed by adding flux barriers in the rotor of an IPMSM. In comparison with IPMSMs, FIIPMSMs have the advantage of decoupling saturation-induced saliency, cross-coupling effects, and also secondary saliencies, which reduce the estimation accuracy of self-sensing control for IPMSMs. A finite element analysis is used to design the FIIPMSM and assess the performance of the machine for self-sensing. The self-sensing capabilities of IPMSMs and FIIPMSMs are presented and compared. The results demonstrate the improved self-sensing performance of the new field-intensified machine.
Transfer of Anti-Rotavirus Antibodies during Pregnancy and in Milk Following Maternal Vaccination with a Herpes Simplex Virus Type-1 Amplicon Vector

Rotaviruses (RVs) are important enteric pathogens of newborn humans and animals, causing diarrhea and in rare cases death, especially in very young individuals. Rotavirus vaccines presently used are modified live vaccines that lack complete biological safety. Previous work from our laboratory suggested that vaccines based on in situ produced, non-infectious rotavirus-like particles (RVLPs) are efficient while being entirely safe. However, using either vaccine, active mucosal immunization cannot induce protective immunity in newborns due to their immature immune system. We therefore hypothesized that offspring from vaccinated dams are passively immunized either by transfer of maternal antibodies during pregnancy or by taking up antibodies from milk. Using a codon optimized polycistronic gene expression cassette packaged into herpesvirus particles, the simultaneous expression of the RV capsid genes led to the intracellular formation of RVLPs in various cell lines. Vaccinated dams developed a strong RV specific IgG antibody response determined in sera and milk of both mother and pups. Moreover, sera of naïve pups nursed by vaccinated dams also had RV specific antibodies suggesting a lactogenic transfer of antibodies. Although full protection of pups was not achieved in this mouse model, our observations are important for the development of improved vaccines against RV in humans as well as in various animal species.
An Inadvertent Concurrent Replication

Replication is a critical aspect of scientific inquiry that presents a variety of challenges to researchers, even under the best of conditions. We conducted a review of replication rates in special education journals similar to the review conducted by Makel et al. in this issue. Unknowingly conducting independent reviews allowed for an unexpected opportunity to examine how two teams of researchers attempted to replicate a previously published study and explore similarities and differences between the outcomes. In our review, we identified 70 replication studies published between 1997 and 2013, indicating that 0.41% of published articles in special education journals are replication studies. Similar to findings reported by Makel et al., our review indicates that most replications are successful and that successful replications are more likely when author overlap occurs. Although there are similar patterns in the two data sets, an examination of exact agreement on article inclusion revealed an agreement rate of 15.2%. Possible explanations for the discrepancy and implications for future directions are provided.
TOPICAL REVIEW: Applications of field-theoretic renormalization group methods to reaction diffusion problems

We review the application of field-theoretic renormalization group (RG) methods to the study of fluctuations in reaction–diffusion problems. We first investigate the physical origin of universality in these systems, before comparing RG methods to other available analytic techniques, including exact solutions and Smoluchowski-type approximations. Starting from the microscopic reaction–diffusion master equation, we then pedagogically detail the mapping to a field theory for the single-species reaction kA → �A (� < k ). We employ this particularly simple but non-trivial system to introduce the field-theoretic RG tools, including the diagrammatic perturbation expansion, renormalization and Callan–Symanzik RG flow equation. We demonstrate how these techniques permit the calculation of universal quantities such as density decay exponents and amplitudes via perturbative � = dc − d expansions with respect to the upper critical dimension dc. With these basics established, we then provide an overview of more sophisticated applications to multiple species reactions, disorder effects, L´ evy flights, persistence problems and the influence of spatial boundaries. We also analyse field-theoretic approaches to non-equilibrium phase transitions separating active from absorbing states. We focus particularly on the generic directed percolation universality class, as well as on the most prominent exception to this class: even-offspring branching and annihilating random walks. Finally, we summarize the state of the field and present our perspective on outstanding problems for the future.
On the Brain of a Crustacean: A Morphological Analysis of CaMKII Expression and Its Relation to Sensory and Motor Pathways

Calcium/calmodulin kinase II (CaMKII) is a Ca2+-activated enzyme that is abundant in vertebrate and invertebrate brains. However, its characterization is poorly addressed in the nervous system of crustaceans, and, to our knowledge, no studies have determined the microanatomical location of CaMKII in a crustacean species. In this study, we found labeling of CaMKII in the eyestalk and brain of the prawn Macrobrachium acanthurus, by means of immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. Antibodies against neuron (ß tubulin III), glutamate receptor (GluA1), and FMRFamide were used in order to further characterize the CaMKII-labeled cells in the brain. In the eyestalk, strong labeling with CaMKII was observed in the photoreceptors. These cells, especially in the rhabdom, were also reactive to anti-ß tubulin III, whereas the pigment cells were labeled with anti-CaMKII. GluA1 co-located with CaMKII in the photoreceptors. Also, CaMKII appeared in the same sites as FMRFamide in the deutocerebrum, including the olfactory lobe, and in the tritocerebrum, specifically in the antennular neuropil, indicating that the synaptic areas in these regions may be related to sensory-motor processing. In the brain, the identification of cells and regions that express CaMKII contributes to the understanding of the processing of neural connections and the modulating role of CaMKII in decapod crustaceans.