Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Neural Correlates of Ethnic and Gender Similarity and Dissimilarity with Avatars in Online Shopping Environments

Virtual sales assistants with human-like interfaces (“avatars”) help consumers make better choices with less cognitive effort in online shopping environments. Following similarity-attraction theory, such avatars must be similar to consumers’ ethnicity and gender to be liked and used. In contrast, dissimilarity-repulsion theory posits that dissimilarity causes consumers to avoid avatars that mismatch their ethnicity and gender. This study tests these two competing theories by identifying the neural correlates of similarity/dissimilarity using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) while consumers assess their similarity/dissimilarity with avatars who vary in their ethnicity and gender to match/mismatch the consumers’ ethnicity and gender. The fMRI results show activation in a brain area associated with utility (caudate nucleus) for similarity, only in men and mainly due to ethnic similarity. In contrast, dissimilarity spawns activity in brain areas linked to negative emotions (amygdala, insular cortex) and social prejudice (Broadmann Areas 9 and 32), only in women and mainly due to gender dissimilarity. While both men and women ultimately choose “matched” avatars, men do so because of utility derived from ethnic similarity, while women because they perceive emotionally-charged social anxiety from gender dissimilarity.
Morphological and histological identification of Paramphistomum cervi (Trematoda: Paramiphistoma) in the rumen of infected sheep

Aim: This study was undertaken to identify Paramphistomum cervi on the basis of its morphology and histology to be the common cause of paramphistomosis in infected sheep and its differentiation from other similar Paramphistomes in Gujarat. Materials and Methods: Adult rumen flukes were recovered from the rumen of naturally infected sheep slaughtered in various abattoirs in Gujarat. Some adult flukes were flattened and stained in Borax carmine, and some were sectioned in the median sagittal plane and histological slides of the flukes were prepared for detailed morphological and histological studies. Result: Microscopic pictures of the parasite used in identification define the similarity in the morphology and histology of the anterior sucker, pharynx, esophagus, genital atrium, posterior sucker (acetabulum) and testes to the P. cervi. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the most common species found in sheep infected with Paramphistomosis is P. cervi on the basis of its histo-morphological appearance in Gujarat.
Advanced techniques for GA-based sequential ATPGs

Genetic Algorithms (GAs) have been recently investigated as an efficient approach to test generation for synchronous sequential circuits. In this paper we propose a set of techniques which significantly improves the performance of the GA-based ATPG algorithm proposed by Prinetto et al. (1994): in particular, the new techniques enhance the capability of the algorithm in terms of test length minimization and fault excitation. We report some experimental results gathered with a prototypical tool and show that a well-tuned GA-based ATPG is generally superior to both symbolic and topological ones in terms of achieved fault coverage and required CPU time.
Chance Constrained Robust Downlink Beamforming in Multicell Networks

We introduce a downlink robust optimization approach that minimizes a combination of total transmit power by a multiple antenna base station (BS) within a cell and the resulting aggregate inter-cell interference (ICI) power on the users of the other cells. This optimization is constrained to assure that a set of signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) targets are met at user terminals with certain outage probabilities. The outages are due to the uncertainties that naturally emerge in the estimation of channel covariance matrices between a BS and its intra-cell local users as well as the other users of the other cells. We model these uncertainties using random matrices, analyze their statistical behavior, and formulate a tractable probabilistic approach to the design of optimal robust downlink beamforming vectors. The proposed approach reformulates the original intractable non-convex problem in a semidefinite programming (SDP) form with linear matrix inequality (LMI) constraints. The resulting SDP formulation is convex and numerically tractable under the standard rank relaxation. We compare the proposed chance-constrained approach against two different robust design schemes as well as the worst-case robustness. The simulation results confirm better power efficiency and higher resilience against channel uncertainties of the proposed approach in realistic scenarios.
Responses to intimate partners’ attempts to change health behavior

Intimate partners seeking to influence one another’s health may do so by providing support for positive health behavior and attempting to change negative health behavior (social control). Research findings examining the effectiveness of intimate partners’ attempts to influence health behavior are mixed however, and the purpose of the present research is to examine individuals’ responses to hypothetical health behavior influence attempts by an intimate partner. Specifically, we examine the role of readiness to change, cognitive appraisals, and affective responses to partner change attempts. Undergraduate students (n = 185) who reported infrequent exercise or unhealthy eating habits were asked to respond to a variety of tactics an intimate partner might use to try to change their health behavior. In the first phase of the study, we examine a model wherein individuals’ readiness to change influences their perceptions of, and affective reactions to, attempts to influence health behavior and the subsequent likelihood of making a behavioral change. In Phase 2, we use a within-subjects experimental design to simulate changes in readiness and assess resulting changes to affective and perceptual responses to a variety of hypothetical support and control attempts by an intimate partner. The findings indicate that a comprehensive model that includes readiness to change more fully accounts for variance in how individuals respond to partners’ change attempts. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.
Coping with stressful events in older children and young adolescents.

Both the capacity to generate alternative solutions to cope with stressful events and the strategies actually used to cope with interpersonal and academic stressors were examined in a sample of junior high school age youngsters. Subjects were moderately consistent in the generation and use of pToblem- and emotion-focused coping with the two types of events, and they adjusted the numbiT of problem-focused alternative solutions they generated to match their appraisals of the controllability of the cause of interpersonal stressors. The number of alternative solutions generated and strategies used for interpersonal stressors was related to both self-reports and maternal reports of internalizing and externalizing emotional/behavioral problems. Specifically, the problem-focused alternatives generated and strategies used were negatively related to emotional/behavioral problems, wherea s the emotion-focused alternatives generated and strategies used were positively related to emotional/ behavioral problems. Coping with academic stress was not related to emotional/behavioral problems. Self-reported emotional/behavioral problems varied as a function of the match between perceived control and-the generation of problem-focused alternatives for coping with social stressors but did not vary as a function of the match between perceived control and other coping strategies. Stressful events of both major and minor magnitude in the lives of children and adolescents are significantly related to youngsters' emotional and behavioral problems (see reviews by Compas, 1987b; Johnson, 1986). However, substantial individual differences exist in the levels of problems that are associated with stressful experiences. This variability is due in part to differences in the resources available and methods used by children and adolescents to cope with adverse events (Compas, 1987a). Prior studies of child and adolescent coping have shown that cognitive and behavioral efforts to alter sources of stress as well as attempts to regulate the negative emotions associated with stressful circumstances are important in reducing the negative effects of a range of stressful events, including interpersonal problems and achievement-related stressors (Compas, 1987a).
Solving the Schrödinger equation for the Sherrington - Kirkpatrick model in a transverse field

By numerically solving the Schrodinger equation for small sizes we investigate the quantum critical point of the infinite-range Ising spin glass in a transverse field at zero temperature. Despite its simplicity the method yields accurate information on the value of the critical field and critical exponents. We obtain and check that exponents are in agreement with analytical approaches.
Targeted Deletion of the Murine apobec-1 Complementation Factor (acf) Gene Results in Embryonic Lethality

ABSTRACT apobec-1 complementation factor (ACF) is an hnRNP family member which functions as the obligate RNA binding subunit of the core enzyme mediating C-to-U editing of the nuclear apolipoprotein B (apoB) transcript. ACF binds to both apoB RNA and apobec-1, the catalytic cytidine deaminase, which then results in site-specific posttranscriptional editing of apoB mRNA. Targeted deletion of apobec1 eliminates C-to-U editing of apoB mRNA but is otherwise well tolerated. However, the functions and potential targets of ACF beyond apoB mRNA editing are unknown. Here we report the results of generating acf knockout mice using homologous recombination. While heterozygous acf+/ − mice were apparently healthy and fertile, no viable acf − / − mice were identified. Mutant acf − / − embryos were detectable only until the blastocyst (embryonic day 3.5 [E3.5]) stage. No acf − / − blastocysts were detectable following implantation at E4.5, and isolated acf − / − blastocysts failed to proliferate in vitro. Small interfering RNA knockdown of ACF in either rat (apobec-1-expressing) or human (apobec-1-deficient) hepatoma cells decreased ACF protein expression and induced a commensurate increase in apoptosis. Taken together, these data suggest that ACF plays a crucial role, which is independent of apobec-1 expression, in cell survival, particularly during early embryonic development.
One step forward, two steps back: An examination of certificated teachers’ metaphorical images of schooling

This study explored the metaphors of schooling generated by prospective teachers (N = 157) in Turkey who were attending a teacher training program to be certificated for the teaching profession. The schooling (teacher, learner, school) metaphors of certificated teachers were collected by using concept prompts such as ‘A teacher is like … because …’, ‘A learner is like … because …’ and ‘A school is like … because …’. In total 278 valid metaphors and 20 conceptual themes derived from the metaphors were generated across the three concepts. All of the metaphors produced were also categorized as either teacher-centered or learner-centered. The results show that the certificated teachers hold pervasively teacher-centered teaching beliefs which will shape their future classroom practices. In addition, it was also concluded that the certification program implemented in the university context did not meet the required high standards of teacher training and should be thoroughly reviewed and revised to provide a broader perspective. The metaphors appeared to act as a powerful thinking tool by providing an insight into the pedagogical thinking of and further actions by certificated teachers, and led to a discussion of recommendations regarding teacher training via certification programs.
Individual Risk Attitudes: Measurement, Determinants and Behavioral Consequences

This paper studies risk attitudes using a large representative survey and a complementary experiment conducted with a representative subject pool in subjects'' homes. Using a question asking people about their willingness to take risks "in general", we find that gender, age, height, and parental background have an economically significant impact on willingness to take risks. The experiment confirms the behavioral validity of this measure, using paid lottery choices. Turning to other questions about risk attitudes in specific contexts, we find similar results on the determinants of risk attitudes, and also shed light on the deeper question of stability of risk attitudes across contexts. We conduct a horse race of the ability of different measures to explain risky behaviors such as holdings stocks, occupational choice, and smoking. The question about risk-taking in general generates the best all-around predictor of risky behavior.
A Case of Seronegative Limbic Encephalitis with Multiple Sclerosis: A Possible Overlapping Syndrome

Patient: Female, 45 Final Diagnosis: Autoimmune encephalitis Symptoms: Memory loss • altered mental status • anhedonia Medication: Methylprednisolone • immunoglobulin Clinical Procedure: Immunotherapy Specialty: Neurology Objective: Rare co-existance of disease or pathology Background: Autoimmune encephalitis might coexist in patients with autoimmune demyelinating disorders. Case Report: We report on a case of a 45-year-old female multiple sclerosis (MS) patient presenting with acute onset short-term memory loss, altered mental status, inflammatory cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) findings and an MRI lesion on the left temporal lobe. An extensive panel for neuronal autoantibodies proved negative. Neuropsychological symptoms gave a prompt response to immunotherapy but nevertheless control MRI showed left hippocampal atrophy. Conclusions: Several recent reports of concurrent emergence of autoimmune encephalitis and MS suggest a common mechanism for these disorders. Since autoimmune encephalitis and MS share certain common CSF and neuroimaging findings, an increased understanding of overlapping autoimmune brain disorders is required to avoid mis-diagnosis especially in antibody negative autoimmune encephalitis cases.
Role of Transcription Factor Acetylation in Diabetic Kidney Disease

Nuclear factor (NF)-κB and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) play a critical role in diabetic nephropathy (DN). Sirtuin-1 (SIRT1) regulates transcriptional activation of target genes through protein deacetylation. Here, we determined the roles of Sirt1 and the effect of NF-κB (p65) and STAT3 acetylation in DN. We found that acetylation of p65 and STAT3 was increased in both mouse and human diabetic kidneys. In human podocytes, advanced glycation end products (AGEs) induced p65 and STAT3 acetylation and overexpression of acetylation-incompetent mutants of p65 and STAT3 abrogated AGE-induced expression of NF-κB and STAT3 target genes. Inhibition of AGE formation in db/db mice by pyridoxamine treatment attenuated proteinuria and podocyte injury, restored SIRT1 expression, and reduced p65 and STAT3 acetylation. Diabetic db/db mice with conditional deletion of SIRT1 in podocytes developed more proteinuria, kidney injury, and acetylation of p65 and STAT3 compared with db/db mice without SIRT1 deletion. Treatment of db/db mice with a bromodomain and extraterminal (BET)-specific bromodomain inhibitor (MS417) which blocks acetylation-mediated association of p65 and STAT3 with BET proteins, attenuated proteinuria, and kidney injury. Our findings strongly support a critical role for p65 and STAT3 acetylation in DN. Targeting protein acetylation could be a potential new therapy for DN.
PENGETAHUAN, SIKAP DAN PRAKTEK GIZI PADA REMAJA DAN IMPLIKASINYA PADA SOSIALISASI PERILAKU HIDUP SEHAT

Analisis pengetahuan, sikap dan praktek gizi sangat penting sebagai informasi perilaku gizi remaja dan upaya mengubah perilaku gizi kearah yang lebih baik serta mencegah penyebab penyakit degeneratif sejak dini. Tujuan penelitian adalah menganalisis pengetahuan, sikap dan praktek gizi pada remaja sekolah dan putus sekolah. Penelitian dilakukan selama 4 bulan di kota dan kabupaten Bogor. Jumlah contoh 472 orang remaja sekolah dan putus sekolah. Analisis pengetahuan, sikap dan praktek gizi remaja dilakukan secara deskriptif. Pengkategorian setiap peubah yang menggunakan angka rata-rata dan standar deviasi. Untuk membandingkan peubah seperti pengetahuan, sikap dan praktek gizi contoh sekolah dan putus sekolah, dilakukan uji Anova sesuai dengan jenis datanya. Uji analisis Anova digunakan untuk membandingkan rata-rata lebih dari dua kelompok sampel. Rata-rata skor pengetahuan gizi contoh tergolong sedang dan rata-rata skor pengetahuan gizi contoh sekolah lebih tinggi dibanding putus sekolah. Rata-rata skor sikap terhadap gizi contoh tergolong baik dengan sikap positif terhadap gizi lebih tinggi dibanding sikap negatif. Rata-rata skor sikap terhadap gizi contoh sekolah lebih tinggi dibanding putus sekolah. Rata-rata skor praktek gizi contoh tergolong sedang dan rata-rata skor praktek gizi contoh sekolah lebih tinggi dibanding putus sekolah. Pesan-pesan yang digunakan untuk sosialisasi perilaku hidup sehat untuk remaja adalah pesan ke 1,6,7,8,9,11,17 dan 18 yaitu makan beranekaragam makanan, mengkonsumsi makanan sumber karbohidrat secukupnya, batasi konsumsi lemak dan minyak, mengkonsumsi makanan sumber zat besi, konsumsi fast food, konsumsi makanan berserat, hindari rokok dan minuman beralkohol, memantau berat badans ecara teratur.
GPU-Based Sample-Parallel Context Modeling for EBCOT in JPEG2000

Embedded Block Coding with Optimal Truncation (EBCOT) is the fundamental and computationally very demanding part of the compression process of JPEG2000 image compression standard. EBCOT itself consists of two tiers. In Tier-1, image samples are compressed using context modeling and arithmetic coding. Resulting bit-stream is further formated and truncated in Tier-2. JPEG2000 has a number of applications in various fields where the processing speed and/or latency is a crucial attribute and the main limitation with state of the art implementations. In this paper we propose a new parallel approach to EBCOT context modeling that truly exploits massively parallel capabilities of modern GPUs and enables concurrent processing of individual image samples. Performance evaluation of our prototype shows speedup 12 times for the context modeller, and 1.4­5.3 times for the whole EBCOT Tier-1, which includes not yet optimized arithmetic coder.
Horizontal-Branch Models and the Second-Parameter Effect. III. The Impact of Mass Loss on the Red Giant Branch and the Case of M5 and Palomar 4/Eridanus

Deep Hubble Space Telescope (HST) photometry has recently been presented for the outer halo globular clusters Palomar 4 and Eridanus. The new high-precision color-magnitude diagrams obtained for these globulars have allowed a measurement of their ages relative to M5 (NGC 5904), which is a well-observed, much closer cluster. Assuming that the globular clusters share the same chemical composition, Pal 4/Eridanus have been reported to be younger than M5 by ≈1-2 Gyr, based on both the magnitude difference between the horizontal branch (HB) and the turnoff and the difference in color between the turnoff and the lower subgiant branch. In the present article, we address the following question: What age difference would be required to account for the difference in HB types between M5 and Pal 4/Eridanus, assuming age to be the "second parameter"? We find that, unless all these clusters (including M5) are younger than 10 Gyr, such an age difference is substantially larger than that based on an analysis of the cluster turnoffs. To reach such a conclusion, six different analytical mass-loss rate formulae (reported in an Appendix), all implying a dependence of mass loss on the red giant branch on age, were employed. Our results appear to be in conflict with claims that age can be the only second parameter in the Galactic globular cluster system.
Students’ attitudes to solid waste management in a Nigerian university: Implications for campus-based sustainability education

Purpose Waste management is a critical element of the campus sustainability movement in which Nigerian universities are yet to actively participate. The purpose of this study was to investigate prevalent waste management practices and the disposition of undergraduate students in a Nigerian University. Design/methodology/approach Data collection involved the use of a questionnaire, focus group discussion and participative observation. Respondents consisted of 840 students drawn from four academic faculties of the university. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to address the research questions raised to guide the investigation. Findings Indiscriminate littering, open dumping of waste, weedy and overgrown lawns, proliferation of power generating sets, uncollected refuse sites and defaced walls with postings were the major observed environmental challenges. Open burning of refuse was found to be the single most prevalent way of managing large volumes of waste generated on the university campus. Although the problems were widespread, only 40.5 per cent of the students expressed serious concern for the solid waste practices. Also, while the students were positively disposed to innovative ways of addressing the challenge of waste management in the university, there were significant differences in students’ awareness and disposition according to sex, age, academic level and faculties. Research limitations/implications The implications of the findings for campus-based sustainability education are discussed. Originality/value This study is an original research article which interrogated the students’ attitudes to solid waste management in a Nigerian University. It used a combination of both qualitative and quantitative techniques, such as questionnaire, focus group discussion and participative observation.
Gamma Oscillations in the Entorhinal Cortex of the Freely Behaving Rat

Gamma frequency field oscillations (40–100 Hz) are nested within theta oscillations in the dentate–hilar and CA1–CA3 regions of the hippocampus during exploratory behaviors. These oscillations reflect synchronized synaptic potentials that entrain the discharge of neuronal populations within the ∼10–25 msec range. Using multisite recordings in freely behaving rats, we examined gamma oscillations within the superficial layers (I–III) of the entorhinal cortex. These oscillations increased in amplitude and regularity in association with entorhinal theta waves. Gamma waves showed an amplitude minimum and reversed in phase near the perisomatic region of layer II, indicating that they represent synchronized synaptic potentials impinging on layer II–III neurons. Theta and gamma oscillations in the entorhinal cortex were coupled with theta and gamma oscillations in the dentate hilar region. The majority of layer II–III neurons discharged irregularly but were phase-related to the negative peak of the local (layer II–III) gamma field oscillation. These findings demonstrate that layer II–III neurons discharge in temporally defined gamma windows (∼10–25 msec) coupled to the theta cycle. This transient temporal framework, which emerges in both the entorhinal cortex and the hippocampus, may allow spatially distributed subpopulations to form temporally defined ensembles. We speculate that the theta–gamma pattern in the discharge of these neurons is essential for effective neuronal communication and synaptic plasticity in the perforant pathway.