Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Components of person perception: An investigation with autistic, non‐autistic retarded and typically developing children and adolescents

This study is an attempt to analyse whether there may be separable components to the human ability to perceive people as people who engage in actions and who have attitudes. We adopted the approach of developmental psychopathology. Matched groups of typically developing, autistic and non-autistic retarded(MR) children and adolescents were tested for the ability to recognize videotaped representations of 'a person', a person's actions and a person's emotion-related attitudes and allied subjective states as manifest in moving point-light images of people. Autistic and non-autistic MR participants did not differ in the ability to recognize that a person was represented in very brief exposures of a walking point-light display; autistic, MR and typically developing participants were equally able to recognize a person's actions. Non-autistic MR and typically developing participants were also similar in their propensity to notice a person's attitudes vis-a-vis the person's actions, and in their abilities to recognize actions and attitudes when specifically asked to do so. By comparison, however, autistic participants were specifically impaired in attending to and discriminating people's attitudes and states. The results are discussed in relation to current debates on the nature of basic person-perceptual abilities that may underpin typically developing children's understanding of persons with minds ('theory of mind'). We also consider their relevance for controversies over the primary deficits in autism.
Entrepreneurial motivation, performance and commitment to social responsibility: toward future research

Although the study of religion and its effects on social phenomena had received attention lately, much research in this area has excluded Islam. To date there is dearth of precious information regarding Islamic religiosity and its effects on entrepreneurial outcomes. In this exploratory study, a conceptual analysis of the effects of Islamic religiosity on entrepreneurial motivation, performance and commitment to social responsibility is considered. We suggest that Islamic rituals have the potential benefit of fostering the entrepreneurial outcomes considered and we recommend that religious practices be encouraged in the workplace.
Denoising and inpainting SONAR images

The basic principle of SONAR is to use sound to detect or locate objects, typically in the ocean. During acquisition, some pixels of SONAR images could be lost. The recovery of lost or damaged data can be done by using an inpainting algorithm. But, SONAR images are perturbed by speckle noise, so speckle reduction filters should be used to improve the results of the inpainting algorithm. This paper presents a novel and efficient algorithm that combines denoising and inpainting methods applied on real SONAR images. Some simulation results and comparisons show the performance of the new algorithm. The results are analyzed in terms of the Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR).
Differentiating Between Depression, Hopelessness, and Psychache in University Undergraduates

The overlap between depression, hopelessness, and psychache constructs was investigated using 587 undergraduates. Analyses indicated three correlated dimensions; among these, psychache accounts for more variance in depression and hopelessness than these latter variables account for in psychache. All constructs demonstrated convergent validity, but psychache was associated with the widest range of suicide criteria. These findings support that psychache is a leading variable associated with suicide risk.
Aqueous extracts of husks of Plantago ovata reduce hyperglycaemia in type 1 and type 2 diabetes by inhibition of intestinal glucose absorption

Plantago ovata has been reported to reduce postprandial glucose concentrations in diabetic patients. In the present study, the efficacy and possible modes of action of hot-water extracts of husk of P. ovata were evaluated. The administration of P. ovata (0·5g/kg body weight) significantly improved glucose tolerance in normal, type 1 and type 2 diabetic rat models. When the extract was administered orally with sucrose solution, it suppressed postprandial blood glucose and retarded small intestinal absorption without inducing the influx of sucrose into the large intestine. The extract significantly reduced glucose absorption in the gut during in situ perfusion of small intestine in non-diabetic rats. In 28d chronic feeding studies in type 2 diabetic rat models, the extract reduced serum atherogenic lipids and NEFA but had no effect on plasma insulin and total antioxidant status. No effect of the extract was evident on intestinal disaccharidase activity. Furthermore, the extract did not stimulate insulin secretion in perfused rat pancreas, isolated rat islets or clonal β cells. Neither did the extract affect glucose transport in 3T3 adipocytes. In conclusion, aqueous extracts of P. ovata reduce hyperglycaemia in diabetes via inhibition of intestinal glucose absorption and enhancement of motility. These attributes indicate that P. ovata may be a useful source of active components to provide new opportunities for diabetes therapy.
Power of Involvement over Rewards for Retention Likelihood in IT Professionals

Retention in the IT profession is critical for organizations to stay competitive and operate reliably in the dynamic business environment. Most organizations rely on compensation and rewards as primary tools to enhance retention of employees. In this quantitative survey-based study conducted at a large global bank, we analyze the perceptions of 575 information technology (IT) software professionals in India and Malaysia and find that fairness of rewards has very little impact on retention likelihood. It is far more important to actively involve employees in organizational activities. In addition, our findings indicate that involvement is far more important than information flow: the typical organizational communication to keep employees informed. Keywords—fairness of rewards, information flow, information involvement, retention
Effects of Unexpected Situations on Behavior-Intention Differences: A Garbology Analysis

This study explores the usefulness of unanticipated situational occurrences for explaining the disparity between stated intention and actual behavior for 15 commonly consumed food and beverage products. Unlike previous research on unexpected situations, actual situational occurrences were monitored for effects on actual consumption (measured by garbage analysis and self-report). The results show that behavior-intention inconsistency is partly attributable to unexpected situations.
Cultural Competence and Identity in Cross-cultural Adaptation: The Role of a Vietnamese Heritage Language School

The present study examines the role of a Vietnamese heritage language school in cross-cultural adaptation, as operationalised by the confluence of two independent variables, language competence and integrated cultural identity. To characterise the students' language competencies and degree of integrated cultural identities, interview questionnaires of virtually a complete census of students in the school were analysed via descriptive statistics. Correlation and regression analyses were conducted to determine relations between each independent variable and demographic factors (such as age at arrival in the USA and family milieu) and to determine relations between each independent variable and school factors (such as pattern of attendance and class participation). The findings suggest the heritage school experience was related to components of Vietnamese language competency but had little impact on integrated cultural identity. Age at arrival in the USA and family milieu played a more significant role in the cross-cultural adaptation process.
A Glutamate‐sensitizing Activity in Conditioned Media Derived from Rat Cerebellar Granule Cells

When cerebellar granule cells that had been cultured in vitro for 8 days were subjected to a cytotoxic glutamate pulse (100 μM, 30 min incubation), the response varied according to cell density and the volume of medium in which cells were grown. Thus, lowering the cell density by a factor of 4 compared with usual conditions (2.6 × 105 cells/cm2) or increasing the volume by an identical 4‐fold factor reduced cell death from 90‐95% to 20‐30%. Addition of a conditioned medium derived from high‐density to low‐density cultures or to high‐volume cultures markedly increased the sensitivity of the cells to glutamate. This glutamate‐sensitizing activity, which accelerated by several days the onset of the response of cerebellar cultures to glutamate, was inhibited by actinomycin D and was not detectable in conditioned medium derived from confluent cultures of cerebellar astroglia, or from cell lines such as PC12, GT1‐7, 3T3 and CHP 100. Glutamate‐sensitizing activity was not mimicked by triiodo‐L‐thyronine, insulin‐like growth factor‐I (IGF‐I), truncated IGF‐I, GPE [a tripeptide (gly‐pro‐glu) derived from IGF‐I], brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), basic fibroblast growth factor or tumour necrosis factor‐α. However, IGF‐I added to cultures of granule cells plated at high density and grown in basal medium Eagle's without serum or any other constituent of chemically defined media was capable of supporting production of glutamate‐sensitizing activity to an extent similar to that shown by whole fetal calf serum. Under the same conditions triodoi‐L‐thyronine and BDNF did not support the production of glutamate‐sensitizing activity. Glutamate‐sensitizing activity was not mimicked by glutamate, NMDA, glycine or lactate, and was not inhibited by glucose, haemoglobin or N‐Ω‐nitro‐L‐arginine methyl ester. At variance with the response of granule cells, the response to glutamate of GABAergic cells present in the same culture was not affected by cell density or by glutamate‐sensitizing activity.
Developing competence profiles for educators in environmental education organisations in the Netherlands

This qualitative study explores the meanings and possible merits of introducing competence profiles for enhancing professional development in the environmental education sector in the Netherlands. It presents the three most important environmental education jobs and their underlying competencies alongside their core professional challenges, as identified by environmental educators and experts in the Netherlands. The jobs are: education practitioner, programme leader, and organisational manager. The core professional challenges for the education practitioner entail: developing demand‐driven instructional programmes and spontaneous, ad‐hoc programmes, and addressing task and goal orientations. For the programme leader, they are acquisition of new projects, quality assurance, and project management; and for the organisational manager, they are human resource management, financial management, representing the organisation and showing its performance. The results of the study should inform educational institutions how to develop relevant programmes for future environmental educators, and for the professional development of environmental educators in environmental education organisations.
Factors Associated with Releasing for Adoption among Adolescent Mothers.

This article examines the relative importance of demographic characteristics, perceived alternatives to early childbearing, attitudes toward adoption and expectations regarding pregnancy, and relationships and experiences in adolescent mothers' decisions to keep or release their children for adoption. Data from 177 adolescents indicate that demographic characteristics and perceived alternatives to early childbearing are the strongest discriminators between those who keep and those who release a child for adoption.
Autonomous underground tramming for center‐articulated vehicles

This paper describes the design, implementation, and field testing of an infrastructureless system for autonomous tramming (or hauling) of a center‐articulated underground mining vehicle. Such vehicles are ubiquitous in underground mining, and effective automation of their tramming function has been a sought‐after technology for more than a decade. This paper reports on the successful development of a fast, reliable, and robust “autotramming” technology that does not require the installation of fixed infrastructure. Included are descriptions of the chosen control architecture, map‐based localization technique, and the results of integration and field testing. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Commentary to the Maastricht Guidelines on Violations of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

In 1986 the International Commission of Jurists, the Maastricht Centre for Human Rights of the University of Limburg (the Netherlands), and the Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights, College of Law, University of Cincinnati (Ohio, USA) convened a group of distinguished experts in international law to consider the nature and scope of the obligations of state parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). 1 This meeting (which was attended, among others, by some members of the then newly constituted ECOSOC Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and by staff members of the United Nations and Specialized Agencies) resulted in the adoption of the Limburg Principles on the Implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. At the initiative of the Netherlands government, these Principles have been issued as an official UN document; they have also
Using Dynamic Computational Models to Reconnect Theory and Research: Socialization by the Proactive Newcomer as Example

Previous research on dynamic processes during newcomer socialization has involved longitudinal field designs and state-of-the-art analyses. However, findings from this research either contradict key conceptual issues described by prominent socialization theories or are nondiagnostic regarding these issues. In this study computational modeling was used to (1) represent the presumed underlying processes in these theories, (2) demonstrate that current research does not test these theoretical processes, and (3) suggest the designs needed to support or refute components of dynamic theories.
Mammographic breast density during hormone replacement therapy: effects of continuous combination, unopposed transdermal and low-potency estrogen regimens

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of different hormone replacement therapy (HRT) regimens on mammographic breast density. Study design: Mammographic density was recorded in women participating in a population-based screening program. At first mammogram, all women were non-users of HRT, and thereafter reported continuous use of the same HRT regimen. The study population comprised 158 women: a total of 52 women were using continuous combined HRT (conjugated equine estrogen 0.625 mg plus medroxyprogesterone acetate 5 mg); 51 women were using low-dose oral estrogen alone (estriol 2 mg daily); and 55 women were using unopposed transdermal estrogen given as a patch (estradiol 50 μg/24 h). Films were coded and analyzed for mammographic density by an independent radiologist blinded to treatments. Mammographic density was classified according to Wolfe. Results: An increase in mammographic density was much more common among women taking continuous combined HRT (40%) than for those using oral low-dose estrogen (6%) and transdermal (2%) treatment. The increase in density was already apparent at the first visit after starting HRT. During long-term follow-up, there was very little change in mammographic status. Conclusion: HRT regimens were shown to have different effects on the normal breast. There is an urgent need to clarify the biological nature and significance of a change in mammographic density during treatment and, in particular, its relation to symptoms and breast cancer risk.
Politics and the Media in Postcommunist Russia

The evidence of a nationally representative survey conducted in April 2001 suggests that television is the medium of choice for most Russians. At least 92 per cent watch at least several times a week, with state channels more popular than those in commercial ownership. The media enjoy a high level of trust, and there is widespread agreement that they should adopt a stabilising role in society rather than simply report developments. Television is the main source of information when Russians make their electoral choices; there are accordingly considerable implications in the extent to which pro-Kremlin candidates and parties enjoy the support of the state media, which in turn are the favourite viewing of the voters that support them.
Electric fields near triggered lightning channels measured with Pockels sensors

[1] Electric field waveforms at horizontal distances from the triggered lightning channel attachment point ranging from 0.1 to 1.6 m have been measured with Pockels sensors at the International Center for Lightning Research and Testing at Camp Blanding, Florida. The measuring system had a dynamic range from 20 kV/m to 5 MV/m and a bandwidth from 50 Hz to 1 MHz. The corresponding currents at the channel base and electric fields at 5, 15, and 30 m from the lightning channel were also measured using a current viewing resistor and flat-plate antennas, respectively. Very close vertical electric fields for 36 strokes in nine triggered lightning flashes were obtained using Pockels sensors. For 8 out of the 36 strokes, horizontal electric fields were also measured using Pockels sensors. Electric field waveforms appear as pulses, with the leading edge of the pulse being due to the leader and the trailing edge due to the return stroke. Of the 36 vertical electric field waveforms, six were more or less V-shaped, while 30 exhibited a considerably slower variation during the return-stroke stage than during the leader stage. Vertical electric field pulse peaks are in the range from 176 kV/m to 1.5 MV/m (the median is 577 kV/m), and horizontal electric field pulse peaks are in the range from 495 kV/m to 1.2 MV/m (the median is 821 kV/m). On-site calibration results show that these electric fields measured using Pockels sensors may be underestimated by 40% or so due to the insufficient upper frequency response of 1 MHz of the measuring system. Additionally, vertical electric fields due to M components were measured and compared to electric fields produced by leader/return stroke sequences. For 8 out of 10 M components having channel-base peak currents greater than 500 A, vertical electric fields at 0.1 to 1.6 m were below 20 kV/m, the lower measurement limit. For the remaining 2 of 10 M components, whose current peaks were between 2.3 and 3.2 kA, vertical electric field peaks were about 100 and 48 kV/m at a distance of 0.1 m from the attachment point, apparently unaffected by the upper frequency response of the measuring system. The vertical electric field measured very close to the lightning channel tends to increase with an increase in the previous no-current interval, that is, in the time elapsed from the cessation of current of the preceding stroke (or of the initial-stage current).
Effect of the Combined Extracts of Herba Epimedii and Fructus Ligustri Lucidi on Sex Hormone Functional Levels in Osteoporosis Rats

The combination of Herba Epimedii and Fructus Ligustri Lucidi has been used to treat osteoporosis for almost 50 years by Professor Shizeng Li, a famous doctor of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). However, it is unclear whether the combination of the effective constituents of the two herbs may have a protective influence on the skeleton. In the present study, we investigated the effects of the combination extracts of Herba Epimedii and Fructus Ligustri Lucidi on rat model of osteoporosis induced by retinoic acid by gavage. With administrations of the combination extracts of the two herbs (50, 100, and 200 mg/kg/day) via oral gavage for 3 weeks, bone mineral density (BMD), femur histomorphometry, some sex hormones, and sex hormone receptors were measured. Results showed that the combined extracts could increase BMD, affect bone histomorphometry, coordinate the sex hormones at the level of hypothalamus-pituitary-gonad axis, and increase the protein and mRNA expressions of sex hormone receptors. The findings suggested that the combination extracts of Herba Epimedii and Fructus Ligustri Lucidi might be beneficial as an alternative medicine for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis.
Age differences in Olympic volunteering experiences: an examination of generativity and meaning in life

This paper examined differences in generativity and meaning in life among middle-aged and older adult volunteers for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. It was hypothesised that older volunteers would exhibit a stronger association between sense of belonging and meaning in life, whereas middle-aged ones would demonstrate a stronger association between self-esteem and meaning in life. Data were utilised from the Older Olympic Volunteer Project, which collected the information on volunteering experiences among 255 middle-aged and older adults before and after the intensive mega-event. For middle-aged volunteers, the association between self-esteem and meaning in life increased significantly after controlling for socio-demographic factors. Among older volunteers, the association between sense of belonging and meaning in life also strengthened. The associations between self-esteem, sense of belonging and meaning in life were not replicated for the other age group as predicted. Overall, the findings support generative processes linked to volunteering experiences.
Moral Contagion Attitudes towards Potential Organ Transplants in British and Japanese Adults

In two studies we investigated whether people evidence an effect of moral contamination with respect to hypothetical organ transplants. This was achieved by asking participants to make judgements after presenting either positive or negative background information about the donor. In the first study, positive/negative background information had a corresponding effect on three judgements with attitudes to a heart transplant most pronounced by negative background information relative to good information and controls. This effect was replicated in the second study with both heart and liver transplantation. Negative effects were stronger than positive effects in all conditions consistent with a negativity bias, but again stronger with regards to organs than controls. These results confirm findings from surveys that reveal real patients are concerned about moral contamination following organ transplantation and show that this bias in evident even in hypothetical, non-life-threatening scenarios. In a third study we found a significantly stronger moral contagion effect in Japanese relative to English participants, suggesting that concerns about moral contagion may be moderated by culture.
Delay Analysis for Wireless D2D Caching with Inter-Cluster Cooperation

Proactive wireless caching and D2D communication have emerged as promising techniques for enhancing users' quality of service and network performance. In this paper, we propose a new architecture for D2D caching with inter- cluster cooperation. We study a cellular network in which users cache popular files and share them with other users either in their proximity via D2D communication or with remote users using cellular transmission. We characterize the network average delay per request from a queuing perspective. Specifically, we formulate the delay minimization problem and show that it is NP-hard. Furthermore, we prove that the delay minimization problem is equivalent to minimization of a non-increasing monotone supermodular function subject to a partition matroid constraint. A computationally efficient greedy algorithm is proposed which is proven to be locally optimal within a factor 2 of the optimum. Simulation results show more than 45% delay reduction compared to a D2D caching system without inter-cluster cooperation. Index Terms-D2D caching, queuing analysis, delay analysis.