Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Are Female Applicants Rated Higher Than Males on the Multiple Mini-Interview? Findings From the University of Calgary

Purpose The multiple mini-interview (MMI) improves reliability and validity of medical school interviews, and many schools have introduced this in an attempt to select individuals more skilled in communication, critical thinking, and ethical decision making. But every change in the admissions process may produce unintended consequences, such as changing intake demographics. In this article, two studies exploring gender differences in MMI ratings are reported. Method Cumulative meta-analysis was used to compare MMI ratings for female and male applicants to the University of Calgary Cumming School of Medicine between 2010 and 2014. Multiple linear regression was then performed to explore gender differences in MMI ratings after adjusting for other variables, followed by a sensitivity analysis of the impact of varying the weight given to MMI ratings on the odds of females being ranked in the top 150 applicants for 2014. Results Females were rated higher than male applicants (standardized mean difference 0.21, 95% CI [0.11, 0.30], P < .001). After adjusting for other explanatory variables, there was a positive association between female applicant and MMI rating (regression coefficient 0.23 [0.14, 0.33], P < .001). Increasing weight assigned to MMI ratings was associated with increased odds of females being ranked in the top 150 applicants. Conclusions In this single-center study, females were rated higher than males on the MMI, and the odds of a female applicant being offered a position increased as more weight was given to MMI ratings. Further studies are needed to confirm and explain gender differences in MMI ratings.
Altered Hapten Ligands Antagonize Trinitrophenyl-specific Cytotoxic T Cells and Block Internalization of Hapten-specific Receptors

Low molecular chemicals (haptens) frequently cause T cell–mediated adverse immune reactions. Our previous work provided evidence that hapten-specific T cells, in analogy to those specific for nominal peptide antigens, direct their TCR towards hapten-modified, MHC-associated peptides. We now demonstrate that trinitrophenyl (TNP)-specific, class I MHC–restricted CTL from mice may exhibit exquisite specificity for subtle structural details of these hapten determinants, surpassing even the specificity of immunoglobulins. More importantly, these CTL could be antagonized by ligands altered either in their peptide sequence or in their hapten structure. The system was employed to examine the molecular basis of T cell antagonism. Whereas agonists resulted in a dose-dependent downregulation of TCR in different mouse T cell clones, antagonistic peptides totally failed to do so despite engaging the specific TCR. Moreover, simultaneous presentation of antagonist and agonist on the same antigen presenting cell prevented TCR internalization. No signs of anergy or functional receptor inactivation were observed in CTL treated with antagonist-loaded target cells. Based on a serial triggering model of T cell activation, our data favor a model in which antagonists block T cell functions by competitively engaging the specific TCR in unproductive interactions.
Human gaze stabilization during active head translations.

This study investigated how binocular gaze is controlled to compensate for self-generated translational movements of the head where geometric requirements dictate that the ideal gaze signal needs to be modulated by the inverse of target distance. Binocular gaze (eye plus head) was measured for visual and remembered targets at various distances in six human subjects during active head translations at frequencies of 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 Hz. We found that, during head translations, gaze changes were achieved by a combination of eye and head rotations. Accordingly, stabilization performance was characterized by the gaze response parameters sensitivity and phase, where sensitivity is defined as the ratio of gaze velocity and translational eye velocity and where phase refers to the phase delay of gaze velocity relative to translational eye velocity. In the analysis, we used a binocular coordinate system yielding a version and a vergence component. We examined how frequency and target distance, estimated from the vergence angle, affected sensitivity and phase of the version component of the gaze signal and compared the results to the requirements for ideal performance. The relation between gaze sensitivity and the inverse of distance was characterized by a linear regression analysis. The ratio of the slope of the linear regression and the slope required for ideal stabilization provided a measure for the degree of "distance compensation. " The results show that distance compensation was better for a visual target than for remembered targets in darkness, and behaved according to low-pass characteristics in both target conditions. It declined from 1.00 to 0.84 for visual targets and from 0.87 to 0.57 for remembered targets in the frequency range 0.25-1.5 Hz. The intercept obtained from the regression yielded the gaze response at zero vergence and specified a "default sensitivity" of gaze compensation. Default sensitivity increased with frequency from 0.02 at 0.25 Hz to 0.10 degrees/cm at 1.5 Hz for visual targets and from 0.04 to 0.16 degrees/cm in darkness. The phase delays of the gaze response increased on average from 2 to 7 degrees in the frequency range 0.25-1.5 Hz. In comparison with earlier passive studies, active translation compensation in the dark is superior at all frequencies where comparison was possible. We conclude that a nonvestibular signal with low-pass characteristics contributes to gaze during active head translations.
The Social Mind: Cognitive and Motivational Aspects of Interpersonal Behavior

Contributors Preface 1. The social mind: introduction and overview Joseph P. Forgas, Kipling D. Williams and Ladd Wheeler Part I. The Social Mind: Basic Issues and Processes: 2. Dimensions of the social mind: size, asymmetries, congruence and sex differences in thought systems focused on self or other persons William J. McGuire and Claire V. Mcguire 3. Affect and the 'social mind': affective influences on strategic interpersonal behaviours Joseph P. Forgas 4. Motivating cognitive change: the self-standards model of dissonance Joel Cooper 5. The motivational and cognitive dynamics of day-to-day social life John B. Nezlek Part II. The Social Mind of Individuals: The Role of the Self and Individual Differences: 6. The social self: the quest for identity and the motivational primacy of the individual self Constantine Sedikides and Lowell Gaertner 7. Cognitive and motivational processes in self-presentation Dianne M. Tice and Jon Faber 8. Self-esteem and interpersonal strategies Astrid Schutz 9. The social mind of the narcissist: cognitive and motivational aspects of interpersonal self-construction Frederick Rhodewalt 10. Uncertainty orientation and the social mind: individual differences in the interpersonal context Richard M. Sorrentino, Gordon Hodson and Gunter L. Huber Part III. The Social Mind in Personal Relationships and Interpersonal Behaviours: 11. Perceiving, feeling and wanting: experiencing prior relationships in present-day interpersonal relations Susan M. Andersen and Kathy R. Berenson 12. Ideal standards in close relationships Garth J. O. Fletcher and Jeffry A. Simpson 13. Victims and perpetrators provide discrepant accounts: motivated cognitive distortions about interpersonal transgressions Roy F. Baumeister and Kathleen Catanese 14. Inside the social mind of the ostraciser Kipling D. Williams, Ladd Wheeler and Joel A. R. Harvey Part IV. The Social Mind of Groups: Group Representations and Group Behaviour: 15. Self-categorisation and subjective uncertainty resolution: cognitive and motivational facets of social identity and group membership Michael A. Hogg 16. Motivation gains in performance groups: aspects and prospects Norbert L. Kerr 17. The social influence of automatic responding: controlling the uncontrollable Pascal Huguet, Marie P. Galvaing, Florence Dumas and Jean-M. Monteil 18. Directed social influence William D. Crano 19. Cognitive and social motivation in group decision making Martin F. Kaplan and Henk Wilke Author index Subject index.
The Zinc Finger-containing Transcription Factors GATA-4, -5, and -6

Six GATA transcription factors have been identified in vertebrates, each of which contains a highly conserved DNA binding domain consisting of two zinc fingers of the motif Cys-X2-Cys-X17Cys-X2-Cys (1–9) that directs binding to the nucleotide sequence element (A/T)GATA(A/G) (10, 11). Based on their expression patterns, the GATA proteins have been divided into two subfamilies, GATA-1, -2, and -3 and GATA-4, -5, and -6. GATA-1, -2, and -3 genes are prominently expressed in hematopoietic stem cells where they regulate differentiation-specific gene expression in T-lymphocytes, erythroid cells, and megakaryocytes (reviewed in Ref. 12). GATA-4, -5, and -6 genes are expressed in various mesodermand endoderm-derived tissues such as heart, liver, lung, gonad, and gut where they play critical roles in regulating tissue-specific gene expression (4–9). Consistent with the observed expression patterns for GATA-4, -5, and -6, targeted disruption of each gene in the mouse has revealed important functions in heart, endoderm, lung epithelium, and genitourinary tract formation. Here we will discuss the biochemical characteristics and transcriptional regulatory roles of GATA-4, -5, and -6 transcription factors.
The Philosophy of Curiosity

Introduction 1. Meno's Paradox and Inostensible Conceptualization 2. Asking and Answering 3. Knowledge by Acquaintance and Knowledge by Description 4. Referential and Attributive Uses of Definite Descriptions 5. De Re / De Dicto 6. Rigidity and Direct Reference 7. Reference to the Object of Curiosity 8. Conditions for Curiosity 9. Conditions for the Satisfaction of Curiosity 10. Relativity of Curiosity and its Satisfaction 11. Presuppositions of Curiosity 12. Limits of Curiosity and its Satisfaction
Association between betel-nut chewing and chronic kidney disease in men

Abstract Background Betel-nut use is associated with metabolic syndrome and obesity. However, the association between betel-nut chewing and risk for chronic kidney disease (CKD) is unknown. The present study was conducted to determine the association between betel-nut chewing and CKD in men. Methods We retrospectively reviewed health-check records of 3264 men in a hospital-based cross-sectional screening programme from 2003 to 2006. CKD was defined as estimated glomerular filtration rate less than 60 ml/min/1·73 m2 calculated by the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease formula. Risk factors for CKD including diabetes, hypertension, BMI, smoking, alcohol consumption and age were also considered. Results A total of 677 (20·7 %) men were found to have CKD and 427 (13·1 %) participants reported a history of betel-nut use. The prevalence (24·8 %) of CKD in betel-nut users was significantly higher than that (11·3 %) of participants without betel-nut use (P = 0·026). In multivariate logistic regression analysis with adjustments for age, hypertension, diabetes and hyperlipidaemia, betel-nut use was independently associated with CKD (P < 0·001). The adjusted odds ratio for betel-nut use was 2·572 (95 % CI 1·917, 3·451). Conclusions Betel-nut use is associated with CKD in men. The association between betel-nut use and CKD is independent of age, BMI, smoking, alcohol consumption, hypertension, diabetes and hyperlipidaemia.
Self-Esteem and Future Orientation Predict Adolescents’ Risk Engagement

This study’s purpose was to examine the relations among future orientation, self-esteem, and later adolescent risk behaviors, and to compare two mediational models involving self-esteem versus future orientation as mediators. An ethnically diverse sample of 12- to 14-year-olds (N = 862, 54% female, 53% ethnic minority) was assessed longitudinally. Correlations supported the hypotheses that future orientation and self-esteem are (a) positively correlated with each other (r > .40) and (b) negatively related to various risky behaviors that were composited into a measure of risk orientation. Controlling for social desirability, self-esteem partially mediated the relation between future orientation and later risk orientation, and future orientation partially mediated the relation between self-esteem and risk orientation. The results shed light on how the concept of possible selves might factor into adolescents’ risk avoidance. In particular, both future orientation and healthy self-esteem may serve as protective factors against engaging in risky behavior.
A Complete Multiwavelength Characterization of Faint Chandra X-Ray Sources Seen in the Spitzer Wide-Area Infrared Extragalactic (SWIRE) Survey

We exploit deep combined observations with Spitzer and Chandra of the Spitzer Wide-Area Infrared Extragalactic Survey (SWIRE) in the ELAIS N1 region to investigate the nature of the faint X-ray and IR sources in common, to identify active galactic nucleus (AGN)/starburst diagnostics, and to study the sources of the X-ray and IR cosmic backgrounds (XRB and CIRB). In the 17′ × 17′ area of the Chandra ACIS-I image there are approximately 3400 SWIRE near-IR sources with 4 σ detections in at least two Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) bands and 988 sources detected at 24 μm with the Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS) brighter than S24 ≃ 0.1 mJy. Of these, 102 IRAC and 59 MIPS sources have Chandra counterparts, out of a total of 122 X-ray sources present in the area with S0.5–8 keV > 10-15 ergs cm-2 s-1. We have constructed spectral energy distributions (SEDs) for each source using data from the four IRAC wavebands, Chandra fluxes in the hard (2–8 keV) and soft (0.5–2 keV) X-rays, and optical follow-up data in the wavebands U, g′, r′, i′, Z, and H. We fit a number of spectral templates to the SEDs at optical and IR wavelengths to determine photometric redshifts and spectral categories and also make use of diagnostics based on the X-ray luminosities, hardness ratios, X-ray to IR spectral slopes, and optical morphologies. Although we have spectroscopic redshifts for only a minority of the Chandra sources (10 type 1 QSOs or Seyfert sources and three galaxies), the available SEDs constrain the redshifts for most of the sample sources, which turn out to be typically at 0.5 < z < 2. We find that 39% of the Chandra sources are dominated by type 1 AGN emission (QSOs or Seyfert 1), 23% display optical/IR spectra typical of type 2 AGNs, while the remaining 38% show starburst-like or even normal galaxy spectra (including five passively evolving early-type galaxies). Since we prove that all these galaxies are dominated by AGN emission in X-rays (considering their large 0.5–8 keV rest-frame X-ray luminosities and their high X-ray to IR flux ratios), this brings the fraction of type 1 AGNs to 80% of the type 2 AGNs; even assuming that all the Chandra sources undetected by Spitzer are type 2 AGNs, the type 1 fraction would exceed 1/3 of the total population. Our analysis of the mid-IR MIPS 24 μm–selected sources, making up ∼50% of the CIRB, shows that the fraction of those dominated by an AGN (either type 1 or type 2) is relatively constant with the IR flux and around 10%–15%. Our combined IR and hard X-ray observations allow us to verify that the dust covering fraction in type 1 AGNs is widely distributed between ∼10% and 100%. A significant fraction, from 15% to 30% or more, of the sources of the XRB are hosted in galaxies whose optical/IR spectra are dominated by starburst (or normal galaxy) emission and for which only the hard X-ray spectra reveal the presence of a moderately luminous hidden AGN.
Multiple scattering of EM waves by spheres part I--Multipole expansion and ray-optical solutions

Solution to the multiple scattering of electromagnetic (EM) waves by two arbitrary spheres has been pursued first by the multipole expansion method. Previous attempts at numerical solution have been thwarted by the complexity of the translational addition theorem. A new recursion relation is derived which reduces the computation effort by several orders of magnitude so that a quantitative analysis for spheres as large as 10\lambda in radius at a spacing as small as two spheres in contact becomes feasible. Simplification and approximation for various cases are also given. With the availability of exact solution, the usefulness of various approximate solutions can be determined quantitatively. For high frequencies, the ray-optical solution is given for two conducting spheres. In addition to the geometric and creeping wave rays pertaining to each sphere alone, there are rays that undergo multiple reflections, multiple creeps, and combinations of both, called the hybrid rays. Numerical results show that the ray-optical solution can be accurate for spheres as small as \lambda/4 in radius is some cases. Despite some shortcomings, this approach provides much physical insight into the multiple scattering phenomena.
Coupled torsional and longitudinal vibrations of piezoelectric fiber actuator with helical electrodes

The vibration characteristics of a piezoelectric fiber actuator with helical electrodes are studied theoretically and experimentally. Its working principle indicates that the torsional, longitudinal, and tangential deformations of the fiber are coupled. A simplified dynamic model is deduced to investigate the properties of the coupled vibrations and their corresponding equivalent circuits are also provided. Resonant frequencies and mechanical coupling coefficients in free-free boundary condition are calculated. The trends of resonant frequencies as functions of the electrode helical angle and fiber length are discussed and validated in experiments.
Investigations on hessian-free optimization for cross-entropy training of deep neural networks

Context-dependent deep neural network HMMs have been shown to achieve recognition accuracy superior to Gaussian mixture models in a number of recent works. Typically, neural networks are optimized with stochastic gradient descent. On large datasets, stochastic gradient descent improves quickly during the beginning of the optimization. But since it does not make use of second order information, its asymptotic convergence behavior is slow. In regions with pathological curvature, stochastic gradient descent may almost stagnate and thereby falsely indicate convergence. Another drawback of stochastic gradient descent is that it can only be parallelized within minibatches. The Hessian-free algorithm is a second order batch optimization algorithm that does not suffer from these problems. In a recent work, Hessian-free optimization has been applied to a training of deep neural networks according to a sequence criterion. In that work, improvements in accuracy and training time have been reported. In this paper, we analyze the properties of the Hessian-free optimization algorithm and investigate whether it is suited for cross-entropy training of deep neural networks as well.
Synaptic control of motoneuronal excitability.

Movement, the fundamental component of behavior and the principal extrinsic action of the brain, is produced when skeletal muscles contract and relax in response to patterns of action potentials generated by motoneurons. The processes that determine the firing behavior of motoneurons are therefore important in understanding the transformation of neural activity to motor behavior. Here, we review recent studies on the control of motoneuronal excitability, focusing on synaptic and cellular properties. We first present a background description of motoneurons: their development, anatomical organization, and membrane properties, both passive and active. We then describe the general anatomical organization of synaptic input to motoneurons, followed by a description of the major transmitter systems that affect motoneuronal excitability, including ligands, receptor distribution, pre- and postsynaptic actions, signal transduction, and functional role. Glutamate is the main excitatory, and GABA and glycine are the main inhibitory transmitters acting through ionotropic receptors. These amino acids signal the principal motor commands from peripheral, spinal, and supraspinal structures. Amines, such as serotonin and norepinephrine, and neuropeptides, as well as the glutamate and GABA acting at metabotropic receptors, modulate motoneuronal excitability through pre- and postsynaptic actions. Acting principally via second messenger systems, their actions converge on common effectors, e.g., leak K(+) current, cationic inward current, hyperpolarization-activated inward current, Ca(2+) channels, or presynaptic release processes. Together, these numerous inputs mediate and modify incoming motor commands, ultimately generating the coordinated firing patterns that underlie muscle contractions during motor behavior.
Processes leading to confidence and accuracy in sentence recognition: A metamemory approach

We propose that memory confidence is based on the processes and products of the just-completed memory task, along with the participants’ metamemory beliefs about the relation of these processes and products to memory accuracy. We tested this metamemory approach to confidence by having participants carry out a simple recognition memory task with deceptive and nondeceptive items. The deceptive items were sentences that contained a possible synonym substitution, thus allowing errors based on gist memory. For nondeceptive items, high confidence was associated with high accuracy. For deceptive items the relationship reversed; high confidence was associated with low accuracy. A memory process questionnaire was developed that provided more differentiated phenomenal reports than the traditional know/remember distinction. For nondeceptive items, metamemory beliefs tended to be valid indicators of accuracy, but for deceptive items involving unconscious reconstructive memory processes, they tended to be invalid indicators of memory accuracy. The overall results lend strong support for our metamemory approach to memory confidence.
External Validity in Social Media Predictions

: There is a growing number of papers which attempt to predict the future based on Social Media. Although these papers were able to present rather successfully results per se, there is a gap in the literature. Current approaches lack of external validity, i. e. to what extent a prediction model can be applied to a different setting than applied to by its author. This paper seeks out to close this gap. First I will provide a literature review concerning Social Media predictions on the one hand and external validity on the other hand. Following will be a conceptualization and application towards current papers. I conclude that external validity in Social Media predictions still remains a challenge and requires in the future more attention.