Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Virtue Ethics Hypothesis: Is there a nexus between virtues and well-being?

Why do some people behave pro-socially while others do not? Using an experimental design based on Konow and Earley (JPubE, 2008), I investigate a reason already proposed by Aristotle in his Nicomachean Ethics: He claims that there is a nexus between virtues and well-being and that enduring well-being cannot be achieved by hedonic pleasures and material affluence, but only by virtuous behavior. In order to analyze this hypothesis, I use a within-subject design. Initially, participants answer an elaborated well-being questionnaire and then play six different cooperation games. I examine two questions in connection with the Aristotelian idea: First, do more virtuously behaving subjects report on average higher well-being? Second, if the answer is affirmative, what is the underlying causal relationship? I find a favorable correlation between well-being and virtuous behavior and examine different hypotheses about what leads to virtuous behavior: My experimental data is mostly in line with the hypothesis that virtuous behavior is both a long-run cause as well as a short effect of a specific type of long-run well-being, called eudaimonic well-being. To this extent, I find evidence in favor of a nexus between virtues and well-being.
Large Recovery of Fish Biomass in a No-Take Marine Reserve

No-take marine reserves are effective management tools used to restore fish biomass and community structure in areas depleted by overfishing. Cabo Pulmo National Park (CPNP) was created in 1995 and is the only well enforced no-take area in the Gulf of California, Mexico, mostly because of widespread support from the local community. In 1999, four years after the establishment of the reserve, there were no significant differences in fish biomass between CPNP (0.75 t ha−1 on average) and other marine protected areas or open access areas in the Gulf of California. By 2009, total fish biomass at CPNP had increased to 4.24 t ha−1 (absolute biomass increase of 3.49 t ha−1, or 463%), and the biomass of top predators and carnivores increased by 11 and 4 times, respectively. However, fish biomass did not change significantly in other marine protected areas or open access areas over the same time period. The absolute increase in fish biomass at CPNP within a decade is the largest measured in a marine reserve worldwide, and it is likely due to a combination of social (strong community leadership, social cohesion, effective enforcement) and ecological factors. The recovery of fish biomass inside CPNP has resulted in significant economic benefits, indicating that community-managed marine reserves are a viable solution to unsustainable coastal development and fisheries collapse in the Gulf of California and elsewhere.
Expression and distribution of tissue transglutaminase in normal and injured rat cornea

Purpose. To determine the expression and distribution of tissue transglutaminase (TG C) and extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins in rat cornea during epithelial wound healing. Methods. Corneal epithelial defects were created in rat corneas, and TG C expression was examined by Northern blot analysis, in situ hybridization, and immunohistochemical staining after the injury. The presence of fibrinogen, laminin-1, nidogen/entactin, and type collagen was also determined immunohistochemically. Results. TG C was expressed in normal corneas. During the early wound healing process, TG C mRNA expression was up-regulated and TG C immunoreactivity was predominantly expressed in the migrating epithelial cells. ECM proteins were also expressed in a similar pattern as TG C. Conclusions. The sites and time course of TG C expression indicate that TG C probably plays a role in maintaining the homeostasis of the cornea and in promoting epithelial wound healing. The simultaneous expression of TG C and ECM proteins suggests that the ECM proteins probably operate in concert with TG C in corneal wound healing.
Involving Older People Collaborative Research Project - “The older persons’ experiences of creativity in relation to wellbeing: a collaborative research project”

Executive Summary _________________________________________________________ • Although there is evidence that creativity might be linked with older persons’ wellbeing, there are few published studies that systematically explore the experiences of people who have recently retired. The few available studies stress the value of engagement of older persons within the first 5 years after retirement (Withnall and Thompson 2003) and their preference for active participation in creative projects dealing with issues that affect their lives (Bennets et al 2005). Some positive outcomes from engaging with the arts include: expression of feelings and thoughts, sensory stimulation and improvement of self-esteem (McMurray 1989). • This collaborative study aimed to explore the experiences of older persons who had recently retired in relation to engagement in the creative arts and identifying any links between participation in the arts and wellbeing. In order to address this aim an action research methodology was adopted that involved a circular flexible design. A research team based at Queen Margaret University (QMU) and two co-researchers, older persons based in the community, led the study. Qualitative information was generated from 15 co-participants (older persons recently retired based in East Lothian and the wider community) through interviews, participant observations and discussions/reflections. Co-participants were also invited to participate in and reflect upon creative arts workshops that were particularly designed for this project. Collected information was analysed using thematic analysis. • Key findings from this study were that the feeling of belonging to a community was important. Most co-participants liked a wide choice of arts activities and were often introduced to new ideas by their friends. They sought sustained, in-depth art experiences where they felt challenged and stimulated, rather than short, superficial courses; some like to strive towards a finished product and were critical about their own achievements, while for others, taking part was more important. The stimulation of new forms of creativity was perceived to be beneficial to mental and physical wellbeing, but the activities had to be fun as well.
A Fast and Portable Realizer for Text Generation Systems

{PG,1 A mixer block used in rotary drums to improve the efficiency of mixing, drying, cooling, heating, or calcining of solid materials such as gravel, stone, fluxes and the like to produce a more uniform product with minimal production of fines and dust is described. The mixer block is especially useful when used as part of the refractory lining in a rotary kiln to calcine fluxstone such as limestone, dolomite, dolomitic limestone, magnesite and the like.
Neurophysiological Correlates of Comprehending Emotional Meaning in Context

Although the neurocognitive mechanisms of nonaffective language comprehension have been studied extensively, relatively less is known about how the emotional meaning of language is processed. In this study, electrophysiological responses to affectively positive, negative, and neutral words, presented within nonconstraining, neutral contexts, were evaluated under conditions of explicit evaluation of emotional content (Experiment 1) and passive reading (Experiment 2). In both experiments, a widely distributed Late Positivity was found to be larger to negative than to positive words (a “negativity bias”). In addition, in Experiment 2, a small, posterior N400 effect to negative and positive (relative to neutral) words was detected, with no differences found between N400 magnitudes to negative and positive words. Taken together, these results suggest that comprehending the emotional meaning of words following a neutral context requires an initial semantic analysis that is relatively more engaged for emotional than for nonemotional words, whereas a later, more extended, attention-modulated process distinguishes the specific emotional valence (positive vs. negative) of words. Thus, emotional processing networks within the brain appear to exert a continuous influence, evident at several stages, on the construction of the emotional meaning of language.
A Self-Training Learning Document Binarization Framework

Document Image Binarization techniques have been studied for many years, and many practical binarization techniques have been developed and applied successfully on commercial document analysis systems. However, the current state-of-the-art methods, fail to produce good binarization results for many badly degraded document images. In this paper, we propose a self-training learning framework for document image binarization. Based on reported binarization methods, the proposed framework first divides document image pixels into three categories, namely, foreground pixels, background pixels and uncertain pixels. A classifier is then trained by learning from the document image pixels in the foreground and background categories. Finally, the uncertain pixels are classified using the learned pixel classifier. Extensive experiments have been conducted over the dataset that is used in the recent Document Image Binarization Contest(DIBCO) 2009. Experimental results show that our proposed framework significantly improves the performance of reported document image binarization methods.
Analysis of the execution time unpredictability caused by dynamic branch prediction

This paper investigates how dynamic branch prediction in a microprocessor affects the predictability of execution time for software running on that processor. By means of experiments on a number of real processors employing various forms of branch prediction, we evaluate the impact of branch predictors on execution time predictability. The results indicate that dynamic branch predictors give a high and hard-to-predict variation in the execution time of even very simple loops, and that the execution time effects of branch mispredictions can be very large relative to the execution time of regular instructions. We have observed some cases where executing more iterations of a loop actually take less time than executing fewer iterations, due to the effect of dynamic branch predictors. We conclude that current dynamic branch predictions schemes are not suitable for use in real-time systems where execution time predictability is desired.
Heat stress enhances LTM formation in Lymnaea: role of HSPs and DNA methylation

ABSTRACT Environmentally relevant stressors alter the memory-forming process in Lymnaea following operant conditioning of aerial respiration. One such stressor is heat. Previously, we found that following a 1 h heat shock, long-term memory (LTM) formation was enhanced. We also had shown that the heat stressor activates at least two heat shock proteins (HSPs): HSP40 and HSP70. Here, we tested two hypotheses: (1) the production of HSPs is necessary for enhanced LTM formation; and (2) blocking DNA methylation prevents the heat stressor-induced enhancement of LTM formation. We show here that the enhancing effect of the heat stressor on LTM formation occurs even if snails experienced the stressor 3 days previously. We further show that a flavonoid, quercetin, which inhibits HSP activation, blocks the enhancing effect of the heat stressor on LTM formation. Finally, we show that injection of a DNA methylation blocker, 5-AZA, before snails experience the heat stressor prevents enhancement of memory formation. Highlighted Article: A heat shock experienced by a snail enhances the snail's ability to form long-term memory; the up-regulation of heat shock proteins is a necessary requirement for this memory enhancement process.
Social engineering attack detection model: SEADM

Social engineering is a real threat to industries in this day and age even though the severity of it is extremely downplayed. The difficulty with social engineering attacks is mostly the ability to identify them. Social engineers target call centre employees, as they are normally underpaid, under skilled workers whom have limited knowledge about the information technology infrastructure. These workers are thus easy targets for the social engineer. This paper proposes a model which can be used by these workers to detect social engineering attacks in a call centre environment. The model is a quick and effective way to determine if the requester is trying to manipulate an individual into disclosing information to which the requester does not have authorization for.
4-D SAR Imaging: The Case Study of Rome

Four-dimensional synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging, also known as differential SAR tomography, is a new research topic in the framework of coherent multitemporal/multibaseline SAR processing that extends the interferometry concept. Four-dimensional SAR imaging-based processing could improve the capability of ground-scatterer monitoring with respect to classical differential interferometric SAR processing. The first results on the applicability of such an advanced tomographic SAR processing to real spaceborne data were recently discussed in the literature. In this letter, we present the results of an experiment with a data set that demonstrates the potentialities of this new technique for monitoring complex targets, such as infrastructures.
International Journal of Molecular Sciences the Immunology of Neuromyelitis Optica—current Knowledge, Clinical Implications, Controversies and Future Perspectives

Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an autoimmune, demyelinating disorder of the central nervous system (CNS) with typical clinical manifestations of optic neuritis and acute transverse myelitis attacks. Previously believed to be a variant of multiple sclerosis (MS), it is now considered an independent disorder which needs to be differentiated from MS. The discovery of autoantibodies against aquaporin-4 (AQP4-IgGs) changed our understanding of NMO immunopathogenesis and revolutionized the diagnostic process. AQP4-IgG is currently regarded as a specific biomarker of NMO and NMO spectrum disorders (NMOsd) and a key factor in its pathogenesis. Nevertheless, AQP4-IgG seronegativity in 10%–25% of NMO patients suggests that there are several other factors involved in NMO immunopathogenesis, i.e., autoantibodies against aquaporin-1 (AQP1-Abs) and antibodies against myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG-IgGs). This manuscript reviews current knowledge about NMO immunopathogenesis, pointing out the controversial issues and showing potential directions for future research. Further efforts should be made to broaden our knowledge of NMO immunology which could have important implications for clinical practice, including the use of potential novel biomarkers to facilitate an early and accurate diagnosis, and modern treatment strategies improving long-term outcome of NMO patients.
Complexity in ontology-driven conceptual modeling

1 Introduction Since the late 1960s, the importance of conceptual modeling grew substantially due to the many information system project failures that were the consequence of faulty requirement analysis. Conceptual modeling was introduced as a means to enable early detection and correction of errors. Over the years, conceptual modeling has become a fundamental discipline in several subdomains of computer science. Conceptual modeling can be described as the activity of representing aspects of the physical and social world for the purpose of communication, learning and problem solving among human users [1]. Because of the importance attributed to conceptual modeling as a means to enable early detection and correction of errors, a wide range of conceptual modeling models and methods were developed and introduced. Criticism, however, arose stating that most of these modeling approaches and techniques were based on common sense and the intuition of their developers [2], therefore lacking sound theoretical foundations [3, 4]. Ontologies were introduced to provide a foundational theory that articulates and formalizes the conceptual modeling grammars needed to describe the structure and behavior of the modeled domain [5]. This led to the introduction of ontologies, which provide a foundation for conceptual modeling by means of a formal specification of the semantics of models and describe precisely which modeling constructs represent which phenomena [6]. Although ontologies were originally applied to analyze the constructs used in the models and evaluate conceptual grammars for their ontological expressiveness, the role of ontological theories evolved towards improving and extending conceptual modeling languages. These developments of enriching existing conceptual modeling languages with methodological guidelines that have their origin in a formalized ontology, is called ontology-driven conceptual modeling (ODCM). As mentioned by [7], many of these ontological theories such as those of Heller & Herre (2004), Chisholm (1996) and Bunge (1977) have been successfully applied. Both towards the evaluation of conceptual modeling languages (e.g., UML, ORM, ER, REA, OWL) and towards the development of structuring rules [8], modeling profiles (e.g. OntoUML) [9] and design patterns and anti-patterns [10]. Nonetheless the successful utilization of ontologies as theoretical foundations for conceptual models, the added value of their application however is not always straightforward. For example, some empirical evidence [11] has already confirmed that ontological rules can alleviate cognitive difficulties when developing conceptual models and that modelers commit fewer modeling errors when applying these ontological rules. However, [12] obtained less promising results. Their results agreed with those …
Executive function deficits in obsessive-compulsive disorder: episode or trait markers

There is considerable research to suggest that a neurobiological deficit might underpin obsessive-compulsive symptoms or be responsible for ObsessiveCompulsive Disorder (OCD). Deficits in executive functions are commonly reported in OCD and are believed to be mediated by the frontal lobes, the broad site of this neurobiological deficit. This thesis comprised of five studies that collectively attempt to address several key questions that required clarification within the executive function literature of OCD. Study 1 assessed executive functions of inhibition, set shifting, working memory, planning, and verbal fluency in OCD subjects (n = 20) compared to a clinical control group of Panic Disorder (PD, n = 20). OCD subjects exhibited deficits in all areas except planning and verbal fluency, in comparison to the PD group. Study 2 recruited an additional sample of Remitted OCD subjects (n = 20), and compared their performance to the original Symptomatic OCD group (n = 20) and PD control group (n = 20). It was found that executive function deficits were specific to OCD, and that symptom status did not affect the profile of these deficits. Study 3 adopted a longitudinal design and retested a sub-sample (n = 10) of Symptomatic OCD subjects that evidenced symptom remission. The stability of these deficits, even after remission, was confirmed in this study. In order to further clarify the nature of executive function deficits, particularly the role of inhibition and facilitation abnormalities in OCD, Study 4 assessed Symptomatic OCD (n = 20), Remitted OCD (n = 11), PD control (n = 20) and normal control subjects (n = 20), in a paradigm that separately studied inhibition and facilitation processes. It was found that OCD subjects displayed both excessive facilitation to primed responses and impaired inhibition to suppressed responses, in
Learning with Symmetric Label Noise: The Importance of Being Unhinged

Convex potential minimisation is the de facto approach to binary classification. However, Long and Servedio [2010] proved that under symmetric label noise (SLN), minimisation of any convex potential over a linear function class can result in classification performance equivalent to random guessing. This ostensibly shows that convex losses are not SLN-robust. In this paper, we propose a convex, classification-calibrated loss and prove that it is SLN-robust. The loss avoids the Long and Servedio [2010] result by virtue of being negatively unbounded. The loss is a modification of the hinge loss, where one does not clamp at zero; hence, we call it the unhinged loss. We show that the optimal unhinged solution is equivalent to that of a strongly regularised SVM, and is the limiting solution for any convex potential; this implies that strong l2 regularisation makes most standard learners SLN-robust. Experiments confirm the unhinged loss' SLN-robustness is borne out in practice. So, with apologies to Wilde [1895], while the truth is rarely pure, it can be simple.
Circulating Epstein‐Barr virus DNA to monitor lymphoproliferative disease following pediatric liver transplantation

Abstract Epstein‐Barr virus (EBV) infection can induce uncontrolled lymphocyte B proliferation in immunosuppressed transplant patients. Monitoring circulating EBV‐infected lymphocytes can help in identifying patients at risk of post‐transplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD). Circulating EBV genome levels were determined in 54 liver transplant pediatric recipients. Ten patients had more than 500 EBV genome/105 peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) and exhibited clinical manifestations of EBV infection; three developed PTLD. To treat EBV infection, the level of immunosuppression was reduced and acute rejection developed in 4 patients. Three were treated with steroid and one had to be switched from cyclosporine to tacrolimus. Treatment of acute rejection was associated with increases in circulating EBV genome. None of the patients with less than 500 EBV genome/105 PBL developed PTLD or EBV infection. Monitoring of EBV DNA is useful in the management of EBV infection and PTLD following pediatric liver transplantation. EBV infection should be treated in ways which do not expose patients to the risk of rejection.
Evaluating Neonatal Facial Pain Expression: Is There A Primal Face Of Pain?

Pain assessment continues to be poorly managed in the clinical arena. A review of the communication process in pain assessment is carried out and the hierarchical approach often recommended in the literature –with self-report as its “gold-standard,” is criticized as limited and simplistic. A comprehensive approach to pain assessment is recommended and a model that conceptualizes pain assessment as a complex transaction with various patient and clinician dependant factors is proposed. Attention is then focused on the pediatric patient whose pain assessment is often dependent on nonverbal communicative action. The clinical approaches to pain assessment in this population –mainly the use of behavioral/observational pain scales and facial pain scales, are explored. The primal face of pain (PFP) is identified and proposed theoretically as an important link in the function of facial pain scales. Finally, the existence of the PFP is investigated in a sample of 57 neonates across differences in sex and ethnic origin while controlling for potentially confounding factors. Facial expression to a painful stimulus is measured based on the Neonatal Facial Coding System (NFCS) and applying an innovative computer-based methodology. No statistically significant differences in facial expression were found in infant display thereby supporting the existence of the PFP.