Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Associations between myside bias on an informal reasoning task and amount of post‐secondary education

SUMMARY One hundred and twelve undergraduate university students completed an informal reasoning task in which they were asked to generate arguments both for and against the position they endorsed on three separate issues. Performance on this task was evaluated by comparing the number of arguments they generated which endorsed (myside arguments) and which refuted (otherside arguments) their own position on that issue. Participants generated more myside arguments than otherside arguments on all three issues, thus consistently showing a myside bias effect on each issue. Differences in cognitive ability were not associated with individual differences in myside bias. However, year in university was a significant predictor of myside bias. The degree of myside bias decreased systematically with year in university. Year in university remained a significant predictor of myside bias even when both cognitive ability and age were statistically partialled out. Copyright # 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Empirical Forcing Function as a tool for the diagnosis of large-scale atmospheric anomalies

Abstract. The time-mean quasi-geostrophic potential vorticity equation of the atmospheric flow on isobaric surfaces can explicitly include an atmospheric (internal) forcing term of the stationary-eddy flow. In fact, neglecting some non-linear terms in this equation, this forcing can be mathematically expressed as a single function, called Empirical Forcing Function (EFF), which is equal to the material derivative of the time-mean potential vorticity. Furthermore, the EFF can be decomposed as a sum of seven components, each one representing a forcing mechanism of different nature. These mechanisms include diabatic components associated with the radiative forcing, latent heat release and frictional dissipation, and components related to transient eddy transports of heat and momentum. All these factors quantify the role of the transient eddies in forcing the atmospheric circulation. In order to assess the relevance of the EFF in diagnosing large-scale anomalies in the atmospheric circulation, the relationship between the EFF and the occurrence of strong North Atlantic ridges over the Eastern North Atlantic is analyzed, which are often precursors of severe droughts over Western Iberia. For such events, the EFF pattern depicts a clear dipolar structure over the North Atlantic; cyclonic (anticyclonic) forcing of potential vorticity is found upstream (downstream) of the anomalously strong ridges. Results also show that the most significant components are related to the diabatic processes. Lastly, these results highlight the relevance of the EFF in diagnosing large-scale anomalies, also providing some insight into their interaction with different physical mechanisms.
Weak Links and Strong Meaning: The Complex Phenomenon of Negational Citations

The MapsMaps serve as navigational tools, documenting the landscape, warning of hazards, and highlighting potential routes of travel. Science maps chart the more abstract spaces of data and knowledge, helping forecast new ﬁelds of inquiry. Individually and as a whole, the science maps in Places & Spaces: Mapping Science use data to tell meaningful stories that both the scientist and the layperson can understand and appreciate.Every year for a decade 10 new maps were added to the Places & Spaces: Mapping Science exhibit, resulting in the 100 maps found here.
Digital, Three-dimensional Average Shaped Atlas of the Heliothis Virescens Brain with Integrated Gustatory and Olfactory Neurons

We use the moth Heliothis virescens as model organism for studying the neural network involved in chemosensory coding and learning. The constituent neurons are characterised by intracellular recordings combined with staining, resulting in a single neuron identified in each brain preparation. In order to spatially relate the neurons of different preparations a common brain framework was required. We here present an average shaped atlas of the moth brain. It is based on 11 female brain preparations, each stained with a fluorescent synaptic marker and scanned in confocal laser-scanning microscope. Brain neuropils of each preparation were manually reconstructed in the computer software Amira, followed by generating the atlas using the Iterative Shape Average Procedure. To demonstrate the application of the atlas we have registered two olfactory and two gustatory interneurons, as well as the axonal projections of gustatory receptor neurons into the atlas, visualising their spatial relationships. The olfactory interneurons, showing the typical morphology of inner-tract antennal lobe projection neurons, projected in the calyces of the mushroom body and laterally in the protocerebral lobe. The two gustatory interneurons, responding to sucrose and quinine respectively, projected in different areas of the brain. The wide projections of the quinine responding neuron included a lateral area adjacent to the projections of the olfactory interneurons. The sucrose responding neuron was confined to the suboesophageal ganglion with dendritic arborisations overlapping the axonal projections of the gustatory receptor neurons on the proboscis. By serving as a tool for the integration of neurons, the atlas offers visual access to the spatial relationship between the neurons in three dimensions, and thus facilitates the study of neuronal networks in the Heliothis virescens brain. The moth standard brain is accessible at http://www.ntnu. no/biolog/english/neuroscience/brain
The Power of Convex Algebras

Probabilistic automata (PA) combine probability and nondeterminism. They can be given different semantics, like strong bisimilarity, convex bisimilarity, or (more recently) distribution bisimilarity. The latter is based on the view of PA as transformers of probability distributions, also called belief states, and promotes distributions to first-class citizens. We give a coalgebraic account of the latter semantics, and explain the genesis of the belief-state transformer from a PA. To do so, we make explicit the convex algebraic structure present in PA and identify belief-state transformers as transition systems with state space that carries a convex algebra. As a consequence of our abstract approach, we can give a sound proof technique which we call bisimulation up-to convex hull.
Pensamientos intrusos en obsesivos subclínicos : contenidos, valoraciones, estrategias de control

Recent cognitive theories of obsessions consider that they differ from unwanted intrusive thoughts (IT) in terms of frequency of ocurrence, valorative appraisals, and thought control strategies. This paper examines that assumption comparing the responses provided by normal (N= 239) and subclinical (N=28) subjects to the following instruments: Revised Obsessional Intrusions Inventory (ROII), Maudsley Obsessive Compulsive Inventory (MOCI), BDI, and STAIS. Significant relationships were obtained among all the instruments, and the association between ROII and MOCI was maintained when depression scores were partialled out. Subclinically obsessive scored higher than normals on depressive, anxious and obsessional symptoms, reported more unwanted ITs, and rated their most upsetting IT as significantly more frequent. Moreover, showed higher negative valorative appraisal ratings and displayed most thought control strategies than normal subjects.
ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHIC ANALYSES OF BEHAVIOR PROBLEM CHILDREN

Electroencephalographic and clinical studies of 71 behavior problem children have been presented. Abnormalities in brain potentials were found in 71 per cent of this group with very marked abnormalities appearing in 59 per cent. Epileptiform electrical activity was observed in 39 per cent of the cases. These latter patients showed characteristic mental and emotional disturbances analogous to those often associated with the epileptic personality. In only two of these cases was epilepsy suspected previous to the electroencephalographic findings and none were having convulsions at the time of examination. It is concluded that abnormal brain function as revealed by the electroencephalogram is an important component in the aetiological picture of the majority of a group of problem children whose disorder had been considered as primarily psychogenic previous to using this method of diagnosis. The nature of the fundamental pathology of the brain indicated is not as yet known, but the findings have been found imp.
Collective memories: A complex construction

The study uses qualitative research methods to investigate how Canadian youth construct collective memory in relation to the War on Terror, and deals with the memories and understandings of 99 university students. I find that the landscape of collective memory is both material and social in its composition because it involves not only a human agent who remembers but also a collectivity of significant ‘others’ and material technologies of memory. The study concludes that significant, complex, uneven and mutually constitutive relationships between these features result in the construction of multiple and contested collective memories within a single compass.
Why Do Late Adolescents Drink at Home? A Study on Psychological Well-Being, Social Integration and Drinking Context

A normative aspect of late adolescents' drinking is related to the context of use: about 80% of young people's consumption takes places in pubs and discos. In this respect, drinking exclusively at home could be perceived as deviant. In the current study, we explored the possibility that in particular among late adolescents who only drink at their home, drinking levels are associated with feelings of stress and low self-esteem. Data from a study of 958 late adolescents were used for analyses. Our findings showed that only in the group of male “home drinkers”, higher consumption levels were associated with distress and low self-esteem. In the group of male subjects who (also) drank in public drinking places, no such relationships were found. For females, no relationships between distress and alcohol were found. In addition, male subjects in category of “home drinkers” were less integrated in peer networks, reported less often involvement in a steady relationship and had more feelings of loneliness.
A fungal pH-responsive signaling pathway regulating Aspergillus adaptation and invasion into the cornea.

PURPOSE To investigate the role of PalB and PacC, two components of a pH-responsive signal-transduction pathway of Aspergillus nidulans, during the pathogenesis of fungal infection of the cornea. METHODS Fungal strains included an A. nidulans wild-type isolate (A83), loss-of-function A. nidulans mutants of the palB (B7) or pacC (C6309) genes, and reconstituted genotypic strains (B7R and C6309R). Doubling times and radial growth rates were examined under neutral and acidic conditions. Corneal virulence was assessed ex vivo by topical inoculation of scarified porcine or human corneas with A. nidulans strains maintained in buffered medium until histologic examination after days 1, 3, and 5. RESULTS In vitro growth kinetics were similar for A. nidulans strains in liquid medium at pH 6.0 (P = 0.24) and 7.3 (P = 0.75). The pacC mutant C6309 grew more slowly (P < 0.001) on solid medium, whereas palB and pacC rescuants had growth kinetics comparable to those of the wild-type. Wild-type A. nidulans germinated on porcine corneas and produced hyphae that progressively invaded the stroma, reaching an average maximum penetration of 56% +/- 9% at 5 days after exposure. In contrast, hyphal invasion was significantly less by mutant strains B7 (P = 0.005) and C6309 (P = 0.003). Fungal penetration by C6309 was also significantly less than the wild-type (P = 0.0005) on explanted human corneas. Both fungal rescuants showed stromal invasion similar to the wild-type. CONCLUSIONS Corneal invasion by filamentous hyphae is attenuated by palB and pacC mutant strains of A. nidulans. The PacC pathway is involved in regulating fungal filamentation during ex vivo Aspergillus infection of the cornea.
Trust, Perceived Risk, and Attitudes Toward Food Technologies

There is substantial empirical evidence that both trust and risk perceptions influence public acceptance of new technologies. We reanalyzed 3 studies (on food technology) to compare whether (a) both trust and perceived risk are independently and directly associated with acceptance, or (b) the relationship between trust and acceptance is mediated by perceived risk. In support of Interpretation a, the (negative) correlation between trust and perceived risk was reduced when controlling for acceptance, whereas the correlation between trust and acceptance was somewhat reduced when controlling for perceived risk. Controlling for trust had little effect on the correlation between perceived risk and acceptance. These findings suggest that expressions of trust and perceived risk often might be reflections of prior attitudes toward the technology.
Factors That Limit Positron Emission Tomography Imaging of P-Glycoprotein Density at the Blood–Brain Barrier

Efflux transporters located at the blood–brain barrier, such as P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP), regulate the passage of many drugs in and out of the brain. Changes in the function and density of these proteins, in particular P-gp, may play a role in several neurological disorders. Several radioligands have been developed for measuring P-gp function at the blood–brain barrier of human subjects with positron emission tomography (PET). However, attempts to measure P-gp density with radiolabeled inhibitors that bind to these proteins in vivo have not thus far provided useful, quantifiable PET signals. Herein, we argue that not only the low density of transporters in the brain as a whole but also their very high density in brain capillaries act to lower the concentration of ligand in the plasma and thereby contribute to absent or low signals in PET studies of P-gp density. Our calculations, based on published data and theoretical approximations, estimate that whole brain densities of many efflux transporters at the blood–brain barrier range from 0.04 to 5.19 nM. We conclude that the moderate affinities (>5 nM) of currently labeled inhibitors may not allow measurement of efflux transporter density at the blood–brain barrier, and inhibitors with substantially higher affinity will be needed for density imaging of P-gp and other blood–brain barrier transporters.
Development and Performance Evaluation of a High-Volume Ultrafine Particle Concentrator for Inhalation Toxicological Studies

This article presents the development and performance evaluation of a high-volume ultrafine particle concentrator. The ultrafine particle concentrator consists of several units, including a size-selective inlet; a condensational growth unit; a series of two virtual impactors (concentrators); a thermal size restoration device; an air cooler; and a size-selective outlet. Ambient ultrafine particles are condensationally grown to supermicrometer sizes and then are concentrated by a factor of 40 to 50 using a two-stage virtual impactor. Subsequently, ultrafine particle size distribution is restored, using a thermal method. The Harvard ultrafine concentrated ambient particle system (HUCAPS) delivers 58 lpm of concentrated aerosol that can be used for in vivo or in vitro inhalation toxicological studies. Overall, pressure drop through the system is only 2.2 kPa, which is adequately low for inhalation toxicological exposure tests. The performance of this system was evaluated using single-component artificial aerosols with a variety of physicochemical properties as well as ambient air. These experiments showed that for an optimum supersaturation ratio of 3.0, all ultrafine particles grow and get concentrated by about the same enrichment factor, regardless of their composition and surface properties.
[Optimal dosage strategies in total intravenous anesthesia using propofol and ketamine].

The combination of propofol and ketamine for total intravenous anesthesia was investigated; the intention was to minimize the side effects of each drug by the concomitant application of the other drug. METHODS. Twenty patients scheduled for lower abdominal interventions were divided into two groups. In the first group anesthesia was induced and maintained by a simple administration regimen based upon pharmacokinetic principles. Ketamine and propofol were given as bolus injections (60 mg each) with a time interval of 60 s for induction followed by a two-step infusion regimen for propofol (15.5 mg/min) and later on by an additional ketamine infusion (1-2 mg/min). Bolus injections (20 mg) of ketamine were administered to increase the depth of anesthesia if necessary (Fig. 1). The second group received propofol and ketamine by microprocessor-controlled infusion pumps requiring the anesthetist to operate a single dial to preset the desired blood levels of both drugs according to the needs of the individual patient (Fig. 2). RESULTS. There were no difference (Table 1) between the two groups in the demographic data of the patients or duration of surgery (30-120 min). The total doses of propofol (750 +/- 262 vs 624 +/- 468 mg) and ketamine (158 +/- 41 vs 99 +/- 48 mg) were smaller in the computer-controlled infusion group, though this difference just failed to be significant. The hemodynamic changes during induction were minor, with a small nonsignificant increase in all parameters (Fig. 3) for 10 min. The controllability of the pharmacodynamic effects of both drugs during anesthesia was very satisfactory in the computer-assisted infusion group and quite satisfactory in the first group. There were no psychic disturbances during induction of or recovery from anesthesia. Respiration was adequate within a few minutes after the end of surgery. The patients were awake about 10 min later and fully oriented after 20 min. No major side effects were observed with this anesthetic technique. CONCLUSION. Total intravenous anesthesia with propofol and ketamine proved to be very satisfactory from a clinical point of view. The major known side effects of propofol (reduced hemodynamics during induction) and ketamine (psychic disturbances and cardiovascular stimulation) were absent and respiratory function was adequate after the end of surgery. This technique, therefore, can be used in risk patients and under disaster conditions when i.v. access is the only possible route of drug administration. The use of computer-assisted infusion pumps markedly enhances handling and controllability of total i.v. anesthesia.
The Market Reaction to Roce and Roce Components

This study examines investor reaction to return on common equity (ROCE) and its components around the announcement of quarterly earnings. It is an issue that the accounting literature has not examined, notwithstanding the importance of ratio analysis in general and the DuPont decomposition in particular. We consider the importance of each of the ROCE components relative to the others and show, using portfolio formation, that the influence of each component on size-adjusted returns depends on the level of ROCE as a whole and the level of the other components. We find that a higher level of NPM leads to a more positive market reaction than that for asset turnover (ATO) or financial leverage (LEV). Also, high (low) NPM yields positive (negative) size-adjusted returns, regardless of the level of the other components. Further, an increase in ATO does not lead to an increase in size-adjusted returns when NPM or ROCE are low (and negative), as improved efficiency may exacerbate shareholder losses. Consistent with trade-off theory between tax savings and costs of financial distress, we find that the relation between LEV and size-adjusted returns is an inverted-U shape, and the market reaction to an increase in LEV is more positive when NPM is relatively high. Using regression analysis, we show that unexpected NPM is significant in explaining size-adjusted returns around earnings announcements incrementally to unexpected earnings and unexpected revenues surprises. Using a 50-day window around quarterly earnings announcements, we show that ROCE and its components explain size-adjusted returns incrementally to earnings and revenues surprises. Our results are important to financial statement users who use traditional ratio decomposition.
AN IMPROVED CHARACTERISATION OF THE INTERIOR OF THE COMPLETELY POSITIVE CONE

A symmetric matrix is defined to be completely positive if it allows a factorisa- tion BB T , where B is an entrywise nonnegative matrix. This set is useful in certain optimisation problems. The interior of the completely positive cone has previously been characterised by Dur and Still (M. Dur and G. Still, Interior points of the completely positive cone, Electronic Journal of Linear Algebra, 17:48-53, 2008). In this paper, we introduce the concept of the set of zeros in the nonnegative orthant for a quadratic form, and use the properties of this set to give a more relaxed characterisation of the interior of the completely positive cone.
Prevalence and Molecular Epidemiology of Noroviruses in Hospitalized Children With Acute Gastroenteritis in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2004

Background: The role of noroviruses (NoV) as a cause of gastroenteritis outbreaks is well documented; however, the importance of NoV infections in hospitalized children is not well established. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and the genetic diversity of NoV in hospitalized children. Methods: Three-hundred eighteen fecal samples were collected from January to December 2004, from children with acute gastroenteritis in 3 public hospitals in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The prevalence and genetic diversity of NoV was carried out by using genome amplification and sequencing of polymerase and capsid genes. Results: NoV infections were detected in 65 (20%) of the samples, of which 11 (4%) were mixed infections with rotavirus. Infants up to 1-year-old were the most affected and a peak of virus detection was observed in autumn and spring seasons. Dehydration and diarrhea were the inclusion criterion; coughing (51%), vomiting (33%), and fever (22%) were the main clinical manifestations. Phylogenetic analysis showed that Genogroup II and GII/4 were prevalent. Two potential recombinant strains based in the different clustering pattern were observed. Conclusions: This study demonstrated the importance of NoV infections causing severe acute gastroenteritis in hospitalized children in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Molecular epidemiology surveillance determining the circulation pattern of different genotypes and recombinant strains is helpful for designing prevention strategies of NoV transmission in children. Studies concerning the prevalence and the molecular epidemiology of gastroenteric viruses in hospitalized children are particularly important to evaluate the impact of the rotavirus vaccine in Brazil.
Discourse synthesis in integrated second language writing assessment

As integrated tasks become more common in assessing writing for academic purposes, it is necessary to investigate how test takers approach these tasks. The present study explores the processes of test takers undertaking reading-to-write tasks developed for a university English placement exam. Think-aloud protocols and interviews of university-level non-native writers of English were collected to capture the writers’ composing processes. These data were analysed to determine if the tasks elicited an academic writing process of discourse synthesis and to identify what language issues were present. The results revealed some writers use discourse synthesis subprocesses in composing responses to the reading-to-write tasks, with apparent d ifferences across writers. Language difficulties that emerged for writers were vocabulary knowledge and use, as well as stylistic concerns. The implications of the study suggest that reading-to-write tasks may elicit a discourse synthesis process that could be used for validity evidence in some contexts and lead to more appropriate placement into academic writing courses.