Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
How attention partitions itself during simultaneous message presentations

Television producers, across all types of programming, assume young viewers can parallel process simultaneously presented messages. For instance, television news producers appear to believe that young viewers can attend to weather icons, lexical news crawls, and sports scores while they also attend to news anchors who present the news. Nonetheless, attention theory suggests parallel processing on this scale cannot be executed efficiently. Given the format's popularity, perhaps those messages take advantage of perceptual grouping, as described by Treismam, Kahneman, and Burkell (1983). Perceptual grouping describes a process where separate but semantically related messages are attended to simultaneously with minimal effort. Using secondary task methodology, use measured participants' attentional capacity while they whatched an example of this format: CNN's Headline News. In addition to this visually complex condition, we created a visually simple condition by deleting graphics and news crawls. Participants in this latter condition attended to both the auditory and visual channels, thus retaining story facts conveyed by both channels. Participants in the complex condition, however, shifted attention to the auditory channel. Ten percent of the factual information contained in news stories was lost to participants. It appears that this multimessage format exceeded viewers attentional capacity. In conclusion, we discuss the implications for attention theory.
Knowledge integration, teamwork and performance in health care.

PURPOSE Knowledge integration is the process of building shared mental models. The integration of the diverse knowledge of the health professions in shared mental models is a precondition for effective teamwork and team performance. As it is known that different groups of health care professionals often tend to work in isolation, the authors compared the perceptions of knowledge integration. It can be expected that based on this isolation, knowledge integration is assessed differently. The purpose of this paper is to test these differences in the perception of knowledge integration between the professional groups and to identify to what extent knowledge integration predicts perceptions of teamwork and team performance and to determine if teamwork has a mediating effect. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH The study is a multi-center cross-sectional study with a descriptive-explorative design. Data were collected by means of a staff questionnaire for all health care professionals working in the rehabilitation clinics. FINDINGS The results showed that there are significant differences in knowledge integration within interprofessional health care teams. Furthermore, it could be shown that knowledge integration is significantly related to patient-centered teamwork as well as to team performance. Mediation analysis revealed partial mediation of the effect of knowledge integration on team performance through teamwork. PRACTICAL/IMPLICATIONS: In practice, the results of the study provide a valuable starting point for team development interventions. ORIGINALITY/VALUE This is the first study that explored knowledge integration in medical rehabilitation teams and its relation to patient-centered teamwork and team performance.
A HIERARCHICAL CONSTRUCT OF SELF‐MANAGEMENT LEADERSHIP AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO QUALITY OF WORK LIFE AND PERCEIVED WORK GROUP EFFECTIVENESS

This study validates the self-management leadership theory as operationalized by the Self-Management Leadership Questionnaire (Manz & Sims, 1987) in a large telephone company. The sample for this study is 390 self-managing and 412 traditionally managed employees and 94 external leaders from 58 self-managing and 60 traditionally managed teams. Results support Manz and Sims' 6-factor pattern at the first-order level, and in addition, identify a common second-order factor. The hierarchical factor structure is invariant in employee and leader samples drawn from both self-managing and traditionally managed work teams, suggesting that the construct of self-managing leadership is similar for members and leaders of both types of teams. Respondents perceive slightly more self-management leadership behaviors in the self-managing than the traditional work teams. Respondents evaluate self-managing work teams as more effective than traditional work teams, and this difference is moderate in size. Self-managing leadership behaviors are positively associated with QWL (mainly employee satisfaction) and self-rated effectiveness for both self-managing and traditional teams. In general, self-managing work teams are not that different from traditionally managed groups in the relationship of self-managing leadership to outcomes. We conclude that self-management leadership is a hierarchical concept, constituted of specific strategies as well as a general orientation toward empowering employees. These leadership behaviors are applicable to managing both traditional and self-managing work teams.
SNPs in Genes Functional in Starch-Sugar Interconversion Associate with Natural Variation of Tuber Starch and Sugar Content of Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.)

Starch accumulation and breakdown are vital processes in plant storage organs such as seeds, roots, and tubers. In tubers of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) a small fraction of starch is converted into the reducing sugars glucose and fructose. Reducing sugars accumulate in response to cold temperatures. Even small quantities of reducing sugars affect negatively the quality of processed products such as chips and French fries. Tuber starch and sugar content are inversely correlated complex traits that are controlled by multiple genetic and environmental factors. Based on in silico annotation of the potato genome sequence, 123 loci are involved in starch-sugar interconversion, approximately half of which have been previously cloned and characterized. By means of candidate gene association mapping, we identified single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in eight genes known to have key functions in starch-sugar interconversion, which were diagnostic for increased tuber starch and/or decreased sugar content and vice versa. Most positive or negative effects of SNPs on tuber-reducing sugar content were reproducible in two different collections of potato cultivars. The diagnostic SNP markers are useful for breeding applications. An allele of the plastidic starch phosphorylase PHO1a associated with increased tuber starch content was cloned as full-length cDNA and characterized. The PHO1a-HA allele has several amino acid changes, one of which is unique among all known starch/glycogen phosphorylases. This mutation might cause reduced enzyme activity due to impaired formation of the active dimers, thereby limiting starch breakdown.
Phase Precession in Hippocampal Interneurons Showing Strong Functional Coupling to Individual Pyramidal Cells

Although hippocampal interneurons typically do not show discrete regions of elevated firing in an environment, such as seen in pyramidal cell place fields, they do exhibit significant spatial modulation (McNaughton et al., 1983a). Strong monosynaptic coupling between pyramidal neurons and nearby interneurons in the CA1 stratum pyramidale has been strongly implicated on the basis of significant, short-latency peaks in cross-correlogram plots (Csicsvari et al., 1998). Furthermore, interneurons receiving a putative monosynaptic connection from a simultaneously recorded pyramidal cell appear to inherit the spatial modulation of the latter (Marshall et al., 2002). Buzsaki and colleagues hypothesize that interneurons may also adopt the firing phase dynamics of their afferent place cells, which show a phase shift relative to the hippocampal theta rhythm as a rat passes through the place field (“phase precession”). This study confirms and extends the previous reports by showing that interneurons in the dorsal and middle hippocampus with putative monosynaptic connections with place cells recorded on the same tetrode share other properties with their pyramidal cell afferents, including the spatial scale of the place field of pyramidal cell, a characteristic of the septotemporal level of the hippocampus from which the cells are recorded, and the rate of phase precession, which is slower in middle regions. Furthermore, variations in pyramidal cell place field scale within each septotemporal level attributable to task variations are similarly associated with variations in interneuron place field scale. The available data strongly suggest that spatial selectivity of CA1 stratum pyramidale interneurons is inherited from a small cluster of local pyramidal cells and is not a consequence of spatially selective synaptic input from CA3 or other sources.
Rehearsal and recognition of human faces.

The question of whether or not photographs of human faces may be rehearsed was addressed in two experiments. The faces varied in perspective from the presentation to the recognition phases of the experiments. In Experiment 1, two instructional sets which favored different rehearsal modes (i.e., visual image versus verbal description) and two durations of the rehearsal period were compared. In Experiment 2, the continued observation of pictures was compared to the rehearsal of images of those pictures for equivalent periods of time. The results from both experiments demonstrated that rehearsal increased both recognition accuracy and confidence, and decreased response latency. Thus, previous research which had neglected the use of appropriate control groups had consistently underestimated the magnitude of rehearsal effects upon recognition accuracy. Further, compared to a control condition, the continued observation of a picture and the rehearsal of an image of that picture in Experiment 2 produced equivalent gains in recognition accuracy. The results were interpreted in terms of the schematic nature of visual images and the facilitatory effects of rehearsal for the generation of retrieval of such a schematic.
Protein-induced modulation of renin secretion is mediated by prostaglandins.

Dietary protein restriction inhibits glomerular prostaglandin (PG) synthesis and lowers plasma renin activity (PRA). To investigate the role of PG in mediating protein-induced alterations in renin secretion, male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed isocaloric diets providing either a standard 20% protein or a low-protein (6%) diet for 3 wk. An additional group of rats received a PG synthesis inhibitor, meclofenamate (25 mg/l), in the drinking water along with the 20% protein diet. Both protein restriction and meclofenamate administration significantly (P less than 0.025) lowered glomerular PGE2 production. Compared with standard protein intake, low protein intake lowered basal PRA (3.96 +/- 0.16 vs. 1.58 +/- 0.12 ng.ml-1.h-1, P less than 0.001), stimulated PRA (11.6 +/- 2.3 vs. 5.5 +/- 0.7 ng.ml-1.h-1, P less than 0.025), renal venous PRA (10.0 +/- 0.7 vs. 7.02 +/- 0.72 ng.ml-1.h-1, P less than 0.02), and plasma angiotensin II (ANG II) levels (52 +/- 5 vs. 24 +/- 3 pg/ml, P less than 0.01), while augmenting renal tissue renin content (2.36 +/- 0.21 vs. 3.56 +/- 0.30 micrograms/mg protein, P less than 0.005). Changes in plasma and renal tissue renin on meclofenamate treatment were similar to those observed on 6% protein diet. Both protein restriction and meclofenamate administration increased the glomerular ANG II receptor number, while the receptor affinity was unchanged. Thus protein restriction lowers PRA by impairing release of renin into circulation. This impairment in renin release is mediated by PG.
Psychiatric disorders in an urban sample of preschool children.

BACKGROUND To increase limited epidemiological knowledge of early childhood psychopathology, a study of prevalence estimates and demographic correlates of psychiatric disorders was conducted in a sample of preschool children. METHODS In a two-stage study, parents of 339 children aged 4-6 years who came for a medical check-up at three primary care centres in Reykjavik were invited to participate. First, the participants were screened with Brigance Screens and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) for parents and teachers. Subsequently, the children were tested with a short version of Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scales of Intelligence - Revised and their parents were interviewed with the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Aged Children Present and Lifetime Version. Weighted prevalence estimates were calculated and logistic regression was used to analyse the association between risk factors and psychiatric disorders. RESULTS Of those invited to participate, 317 (93.5%) were included in the screening and of those, 131 received a full diagnostic assessment. The final study sample included 151 girls (47.6%) and 166 boys (52.4%) who represented 11.6% of the total birth cohort in Reykjavik. Weighted prevalence of DSM-IV psychiatric disorders was 10.1% (95% CI 6.7-13.5%) and 57/317 or 18.0% (95% CI 13.8-22.2%), including elimination disorders. Anxiety disorders (5.7%) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (3.8%) were the most common disorders in this preschool sample. Poor physical health of parents and higher education was associated with DSM-IV psychiatric disorders of the children. SDQ Total Difficulties score was associated with male gender and poor physical health of parents. CONCLUSIONS This study indicates that psychiatric disorders in preschool children are common and may be correlated with parental health factors.
Embryonic stem cells assume a primitive neural stem cell fate in the absence of extrinsic influences

The mechanisms governing the emergence of the earliest mammalian neural cells during development remain incompletely characterized. A default mechanism has been suggested to underlie neural fate acquisition; however, an instructive process has also been proposed. We used mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells to explore the fundamental issue of how an uncommitted, pluripotent mammalian cell will self-organize in the absence of extrinsic signals and what cellular fate will result. To assess this default state, ES cells were placed in conditions that minimize external influences. Individual ES cells were found to rapidly transition directly into neural cells, a process shown to be independent of suggested instructive factors (e.g., fibroblast growth factors). Further, we provide evidence that the default neural identity is that of a primitive neural stem cell (NSC). The exiguous conditions used to reveal the default state were found to present primitive NSCs with a survival challenge (limiting their persistence and proliferation), which could be mitigated by survival factors or genetic interference with apoptosis.
Effects of Test Preparation on the Validity of a of a Graduate Admissions Test

Test score improvement has been the major concern in nearly all the extant studies of special preparation, or "coaching," for tests. Recently, however, logical analyses of the possible outcomes and implications of special test preparation (Anastasi, 1981; Cole, 1982; Messick, 1981) have suggested that the issue of test score effects is but one aspect of the controversy sur rounding coaching; the impact of special preparation on test validity is an equally germane consideration. Although the assumption is sometimes made that coaching can serve only to dilute the construct validity and impair the predictive power of a test, some kinds of special preparation may, by reducing irrelevant sources of test difficulty, actually improve both con struct validity and predictive validity. This study ex amined the relationships of both internal and external criteria to Graduate Record Examination (GRE) candi dates' performance on several analytical ability item types, obtained under several test preparation condi tions. The purpose was to assess the effects of these various preparations on test reliability and validity. The preparation conditions were those previously shown to be effective, in varying degrees, in improv ing examinee performance on two of three analytical item types (Powers & Swinton, 1982, 1984). The data for this study were those collected by Powers & Swin ton (1982, 1984). The results suggest that GRE ana lytical ability scores may relate more strongly to aca demic performance after special test preparation than under more standard conditions and that they may re late less to measures of other cognitive abilities (ver bal and quantitative scores). No consistent effects were detected on either the internal consistency or the convergent validity of the analytical measure.
Dangerous Sports and Recreational Drug-use: Rationalizing and Contextualizing Risk

This article reports upon the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) of a small number of semi-structured interviews, conducted with persons engaging in either recreational drug-use (primarily identified here as Ecstasy-users) or dangerous sports (primarily identified here as bungee-jumpers). Our analysis focuses upon the manner in which these participants make sense of their initiation and maintenance experiences, and the means by which they understand and make sense of risk. In particular, we draw attention to the distinctions between our participants' rational and contextual reconstructions of risky decisions. These distinctions indicate that our participants are able to draw upon a complex cultural and relational understanding of risk and pleasure, and are thus able to deal quite effectively with the contradictory experience of taking 'non-volitional' action. This exploration of persons' strategies for displacing agency in relation to potentially negative outcomes may have implications for research and practice in related areas.
Rectification Without Assuming Responsibility: Testing the Transgression Flowchart With the Vioxx Recall

This study investigated crisis-response communication strategies Merck used in the first 4½ months following its recall of Vioxx by analyzing a variety of controlled corporate communications. As prescribed by Coombs's (1995) transgression decision flowchart and crisis communication standards (Coombs, 2004b), Merck used both rebuilding–mortification and reinforcing–ingratiation responses. However, Merck employed a new type of mortification—"rectification without assuming responsibility"—by making rectification through its corrective action of recalling Vioxx but without ever admitting fault, apologizing, or asking forgiveness for causing grave injury and death to Vioxx consumers. Analysis of 200 news or editorial items about Merck's Vioxx recall during the same period found The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported news of Merck's message strategies similarly. The study concluded the rectification without assuming responsibility response should be subjected to experimental testing and, depending on results, perhaps be added to the crisis strategy repertoire. Merck also used new "crisis events misrepresented" denial and "too soon to know/no answer yet" distance strategies, perhaps to its detriment, and these responses should be tested further.
Myosin-Binding Protein C Phosphorylation, Myofibril Structure, and Contractile Function During Low-Flow Ischemia

Background—Contractile dysfunction develops in the chronically instrumented canine myocardium after bouts of low-flow ischemia and persists after reperfusion. The objective of this study is to identify whether changes in the phosphorylation state of myosin-binding protein C (MyBP-C) are a potential cause of dysfunction. Methods and Results—During low-flow ischemia, MyBP-C is dephosphorylated, and the number of actomyosin cross-bridges in the central core of the sarcomere decreases as thick filaments dissemble from the periphery of the myofibril. During reperfusion, MyBP-C remains dephosphorylated, and its degradation is accelerated. Conclusions—Dephosphorylation of MyBP-C may initiate changes in myofibril thick filament structure that decrease the interaction of myosin heads with actin thin filaments. Limiting the formation of actomyosin cross-bridges may contribute to the contractile dysfunction that is apparent after low-flow ischemia. Breakdown of MyBP-C during reperfusion may prolong myocardial stunning.
Development of Individual Axon Arbors in a Thalamocortical Circuit Necessary for Song Learning in Zebra Finches

Individual axon arbors within developing neural circuits are remodeled during restricted sensitive periods, leading to the emergence of precise patterns of connectivity and specialized adaptive behaviors. In male zebra finches, the circuit connecting the medial dorsolateral nucleus of the thalamus (DLM) and its cortical target, the lateral magnocellular nucleus of the anterior neostriatum (lMAN), is crucial for the acquisition of a normal vocal pattern during the sensitive period for song learning. The shell subregion of lMAN as well as the entire terminal field of DLM axons within lMAN undergo a striking increase in overall volume during early stages of vocal learning followed by an equally substantial decrease by adulthood, by which time birds have acquired stable song patterns. Because the total number of DLM neurons remains stable throughout this period, the dramatic changes within the overall DLM→lMAN circuit are presumably attributable to dynamic rearrangements at the level of individual DLM axon arbors over the course of vocal learning. To study such rearrangements directly, we reconstructed individual DLM axon arbors in three dimensions at different stages during vocal learning. Unlike axon arbors in other model systems, in which the number of branches increases during development, DLM arbors are unusual in that they have the greatest number of branches at the onset of vocal learning and undergo large-scale retraction during the sensitive period for song learning. Decreases in the degree of overlap between DLM arbors apparently contribute to the increased overall volume of the DLM→lMAN circuit during vocal learning. These developmental changes in DLM axon arbors occur at the height of the sensitive period for vocal learning, and hence may represent either a morphological correlate of song learning or a necessary prerequisite for acquisition of song.
VERIFICAÇÃO E ANÁLISE MORFOFUNCIONAL DAS CARACTERÍSTICAS DA MASTIGAÇÃOEM USUÁRIOS DE PRÓTESE DENTÁRIA REMOVÍVEL

PURPOSE: to check mastication characteristics in individuals using removable dental prosthesis, analyzing probable interference factors associated to functional mastication. METHODS: fifty-three individuals of both genders, between 42 and 67 year old, were divided in two groups: thirty-two individuals, users of total stable prosthesis dentures and/or partially stable removable prosthesis (G1); and twenty-one individuals with natural dentition (G2). the following exclusion criteria were used: neurological or cognitive deficiency, dental facial deformities, temporomandibular disorders and any mouth injuries which could interfere in mastication. Evaluation was done with salt bread, using habitual mastication. The analyses focused on: oral structures and muscle characteristics; type of cutting, maintenance of labial sealing; length of mastication time, number of masticatory cycles, and type of mastication: uni or bilateral, considering unilateral predominance in more than 66% of the cycles on just one particular side. RESULTS: alterations were noted as for the characteristics of the masseter muscle and type of food cutting for G1, with significant statistical differences when compared to G2. All other orofacial structures: lips, tongue, cheeks, mentual, and position of lips during mastication proved to be normal for both groups. There was no significant difference between the groups regarding jaw movements; type, time, and number of masticatory cycles and deglutition characterization. CONCLUSION: mastication in removable prosthesis users is characterized by alterations in the form of cutting food, undefined type of mastication, and satisfactory lips posture. The average time and the number of masticatory cycles are similar to those obtained for individuals with natural dentitions.