Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vlog and brand evaluations: the influence of parasocial interaction

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the marketing results of video blogging (vlogging). In particular, the authors are interested in understanding which video bloggers (vloggers) can better help marketers develop their brand image, which vlog viewers tend to evaluate vlogger-endorsed brands more positively, and how these effects occur. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire survey was conducted with a convenience sample online. A total of 401 valid responses were collected. Regression analyses and bootstrapping were used to test the hypotheses. Findings The authors found that vloggers’ physical and social attractiveness and the audience’s viewing motives (entertainment motive and relationship-building motive) and behavior (time spent on the media) increased the audience’s evaluations of the brands endorsed by the vloggers (perceived brand quality, brand affect and brand preference). The authors also found that these relationships were mediated by the parasocial interaction (PSI) between the vloggers and the audience. Practical implications The findings of this study suggest that marketers can develop relationships with consumers and enhance their brand evaluations via vloggers. This strategy is more effective when brand managers use more attractive vloggers and target viewers who spend a lot of time on vlogs seeking entertainment or hoping to build relationships. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by showing that vlogging can affect brand evaluations through the development of PSI between vloggers and viewers. The authors extended the focus of vlog marketing research from consumers’ watching and sharing behaviors and their perception of vloggers to brand evaluations, from vloggers’ characteristics to viewers’ characteristics and from the Western to the Eastern context.
Effect of acute heat stress on rat adrenal cortex — a morphological and ultrastructural study

The stereological structure of rat adrenal gland was analysed by light and electron microscopy after an acute (60 min) exposure to high ambient temperature (38°C). Under these conditions a significant increase in plasma corticotrophin (ACTH), serum corticosterone and aldosterone levels were observed. Histological and stereological investigation at light microscopy showed significant decrease in volume density of capsule and zona glomerulosa, increase in volume of fasciculata cells, and decrease of numerical density of zona fasciculata cells and mean diameter of blood vessels. At the ultrastructural level, volume density of nuclei and mitochondria of zona glomerulosa cells were significantly increased and that of lipid droplets decreased. Volume density of mitochondria of fasciculata cells was significantly increased, while number of lipid droplets per µm2 of cell was reduced. In the cells of zona reticularis significant increase in the number of lipid droplets was found. The response of zona glomerulosa may be interpreted as immediate reaction to dehydration, while alterations detected in zona fasciculata, which were less extensive, were related to purely stressogenic effects of high ambiental temperature.
ISOLATION OF THE GOLGI APPARATUS FROM PLANT CELLS

A method for the isolation of the Golgi apparatus from stem tissues of onion is described. Preparations that consisted mainly of morphologically identifiable Golgi apparatus have been obtained. The best preparations were obtained from tissue homogenized under conditions of minimum shear, and in the presence of sucrose and certain additives which aid in preservation of the integrity of the Golgi membranes. Those additives, which had a pronounced stabilizing effect on the isolated apparatus, included both monovalent and divalent ions (sodium and calcium) and dextran. A large portion of the Golgi apparatus did not appear to change microscopic appearance upon isolation, but were observed to fuse into large aggregate structures not unlike those occurring naturally in certain animal or insect cells (12). Fusion occurred both at the edges of the cisternae and in register, but the integrity of the individual cisternae was not destroyed. The major contaminants of the Golgi apparatus fraction were numerous small and large spherical vesicles. At least some of these vesicles appeared to have been derived from the Golgi apparatus; others may have been fragments of the cell membrane, the endoplasmic reticulum, or other cell debris. By utilizing this procedure, it has been possible to obtain fractions of Golgi apparatus from plant tissues other than onion stem. However, at the present time it is only with onion that the Golgi apparatus has been isolated in a form that would warrant further purification for biochemical analysis.
A SURVEY OF RECENT LITERATURE ON TEACHERS' SUBJECT MATTER KNOWLEDGE

Since the beginning of schools, there have been doubts about the adequacy of teachers' subject matter knowledge. But until recently, it has been assumed that if teachers held a bachelor's degree, they would know enough about the subjects they would teach. Certainly they would know more than their students knew. But the fraction of teachers who do not hold a bachelor's degree has diminished to almost none in the past several decades, and questions about the adequacy of teachers' subject matter knowledge have become salient once again. This unusual development has raised questions about the nature of the degree one needs for teaching. Some argue that teachers need more college credits in academic subjects and fewer in teacher education, others argue that increasing the number of credits in a subject will not assure that teachers will be able to teach that subject. This paper reviews recent trends and arguments with respect to four issues:
Two Types of Meiotic Crossovers Coexist in Maize[W]

We apply modeling approaches to investigate the distribution of late recombination nodules in maize (Zea mays). Such nodules indicate crossover positions along the synaptonemal complex. High-quality nodule data were analyzed using two different interference models: the “statistical” gamma model and the “mechanical” beam film model. For each chromosome, we exclude at a 98% significance level the hypothesis that a single pathway underlies the formation of all crossovers, pointing to the coexistence of two types of crossing-over in maize, as was previously demonstrated in other organisms. We estimate the proportion of crossovers coming from the noninterfering pathway to range from 6 to 23% depending on the chromosome, with a cell average of ∼15%. The mean number of noninterfering crossovers per chromosome is significantly correlated with the length of the synaptonemal complex. We also quantify the intensity of interference. Finally, we develop inference tools that allow one to tackle, without much loss of power, complex crossover interference models such as the beam film. The lack of a likelihood function in such models had prevented their use for parameter estimation. This advance will allow more realistic mechanisms of crossover formation to be modeled in the future.
A Discriminative Kernel-Based Approach to Rank Images from Text Queries

This paper introduces a discriminative model for the retrieval of images from text queries. Our approach formalizes the retrieval task as a ranking problem, and introduces a learning procedure optimizing a criterion related to the ranking performance. The proposed model hence addresses the retrieval problem directly and does not rely on an intermediate image annotation task, which contrasts with previous research. Moreover, our learning procedure builds upon recent work on the online learning of kernel-based classifiers. This yields an efficient, scalable algorithm, which can benefit from recent kernels developed for image comparison. The experiments performed over stock photography data show the advantage of our discriminative ranking approach over state-of-the-art alternatives (e.g. our model yields 26.3% average precision over the Corel dataset, which should be compared to 22.0%, for the best alternative model evaluated). Further analysis of the results shows that our model is especially advantageous over difficult queries such as queries with few relevant pictures or multiple-word queries.
On the treatment of taxes in cost-benefit analysis

In this note I discuss how to handle taxes in a cost-benefit analysis (CBA). In addition the shadow price of taxes in a CBAis related to the concepts of the marginal cost of public funds (MCPF) and the marg i n a l excess burden (MEB) of taxes. Finally some estimates of the marginal cost of public funds for Spain and Sweden are re p o rted and contrasted to an alternative approach to the treatment of taxes in a CBA.
Balancing multiple mutualists: asymmetric interactions among plants, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, and fungal endophytes

Most organisms engage in beneficial interactions with other species; however, little is known regarding how individuals balance the competing demands of multiple mutualisms. Here we examine three-way interactions among a widespread grass, Schedonorus phoenix, a protective fungal endophyte aboveground, Neotyphodium coenophialum, and nutritional symbionts (arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi) belowground. In a greenhouse experiment, we manipulated the presence/ absence of both fungi and applied a fertilizer treatment to individual plants. Endophyte presence in host plants strongly reduced mycorrhizal colonization of roots. Additionally, for plants with the endophyte, the density of endophyte hyphae was negatively correlated with mycorrhizal colonization, suggesting a novel role for endophyte abundance in the interaction between the symbionts. Endophyte presence increased plant biomass, and there was a positive correlation between endophyte hyphal density and plant biomass. The effects of mutualists were asymmetric: mycorrhizal fungi treatments had no significant impact on the endophyte and negligible effects on plant biomass. Fertilization affected all
Examination of Correlation between Attitude towards Reading and Perception of Creative Reading

The purpose of this research is to examine the correlation between the attitude towards reading and the perception of creative reading. The sample group of the study, in which the correlational survey model among the qualitative research designs was conducted, consists of 319 students studying at fourth grade in primary schools. The scale for the perception of creative reading generated by Yurdakal and Susar Kirmizi and the scale for the attitude towards reading formed by Yurdakal and Susar Kirmizi were applied in collecting data for the research. Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Analysis and Simple and Multiple Linear Regression Analysis were implemented for the analysis of data in the study. When the data obtained from the analyses were examined, it was observed that there was a positive and high correlation between the attitude scale towards reading and its sub-dimensions. Likewise, a positive and high correlation was determined between the perception of creative reading scale and its sub-dimensions. As the attitude towards reading increases, the perception of creative reading decreases. This finding is similar for all the sub-dimensions in the scales. It was also comprehended that the attitude towards reading was a predictor of the perception of creative reading and that there were significant correlations between the perception of creative reading and the sub-dimensions of contributions, meaning, activities, and process of reading. Along with these variables, the attitude towards reading explains the perception of creative reading at a total level of 13%.
Calibration and Registration for Precise Surface Reconstruction with TOF Cameras

This paper presents a method for precise surface recon- struction with time-of-flight (TOF) cameras. A novel calibration ap- proach which simplifies the calibration task and doubles the camera's precision is developed and compared to current calibration methods. Remaining errors are tackled by applying filter and error distributing methods. Thus, a reference object is circumferentially reconstructed with an overall mean precision of approximately 3mm in translation and 3 in rotation. The resulting model serves as quantification of achievable reconstruction precision with TOF cameras. This is a major criteria for the potential analysis of this sensor technology, that is firstly demon- strated within this work.
National Culture and Leadership Profiles in Europe: Some Results From the GLOBE Study

Different cultural groups may have different conceptions of what leadership should entail, i.e. different leadership prototypes. Several earlier studies revealed that within Europe various cultural clusters can be distinguished (Hofstede, 1991; Ronen & Shenkar, 1985). Using recent data from the GLOBE project, this article discusses similarities and differences on culture and leadership dimensions among 21 European countries. The results show that two broad clusters or patterns of cultural values can be distinguished, contrasting the North-Western and South-Eastern part of Europe. Within these clusters, differences in leadership prototypes to a certain extent mirror differences in culture. On the basis of these results it is hardly possible to speak of a single typically European culture or one distinct European management style. However, on some dimensions European scores are different from at least some other regions in the world.
Calprotectin — A Novel Marker of Obesity

Background The two inflammatory molecules, S100A8 and S100A9, form a heterodimer, calprotectin. Plasma calprotectin levels are elevated in various inflammatory disorders. We hypothesized that plasma calprotectin levels would be increased in subjects with low-grade systemic inflammation i.e. either obese subjects or subjects with type 2 diabetes. Methodology/Principal Findings Plasma calprotectin and skeletal muscle S100A8 mRNA levels were measured in a cohort consisting of 199 subjects divided into four groups depending on presence or absence of type 2 diabetes (T2D), and presence or absence of obesity. There was a significant interaction between obesity and T2D (p = 0.012). Plasma calprotectin was increased in obese relative to non-obese controls (p<0.0001), whereas it did not differ between obese and non-obese patients with T2D (p = 0.62). S100A8 mRNA levels in skeletal muscle were not influenced by obesity or T2D. Multivariate regression analysis (adjusting for age, sex, smoking and HOMA2-IR) showed plasma calprotectin to be strongly associated with BMI, even when further adjusted for fitness, CRP, TNF-α or neutrophil number. Conclusions/Significance Plasma calprotectin is a marker of obesity in individuals without type 2 diabetes.
THE BLACK HOLE MASS–BULGE LUMINOSITY RELATIONSHIP FOR ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI FROM REVERBERATION MAPPING AND HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE IMAGING

We investigate the relationship between black hole mass and bulge luminosity for active galactic nuclei (AGNs) with reverberation-based black hole mass measurements and bulge luminosities from two-dimensional decompositions of Hubble Space Telescope host galaxy images. We find that the slope of the relationship for AGNs is 0.76–0.85 with an uncertainty of ∼0.1, somewhat shallower than the MBH ∝ L1.0±0.1 relationship that has been fit to nearby quiescent galaxies with dynamical black hole mass measurements. This difference is somewhat perplexing, as the AGN black hole masses include an overall scaling factor that brings the AGN MBH–σ⋆ relationship into agreement with that of quiescent galaxies. We discuss biases that may be inherent to the AGN and quiescent galaxy samples and could cause the apparent inconsistency in the forms of their MBH–Lbulge relationships. Recent work by Graham, however, presents a similar slope of ∼0.8 for the quiescent galaxies and may bring the relationship for AGNs and quiescent galaxies into agreement.
NOVEL TOPIC IMPACT ON AUTHORSHIP ATTRIBUTION

Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instruction, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden,
Transhydrogenase Promotes the Robustness and Evolvability of E. coli Deficient in NADPH Production

Metabolic networks revolve around few metabolites recognized by diverse enzymes and involved in myriad reactions. Though hub metabolites are considered as stepping stones to facilitate the evolutionary expansion of biochemical pathways, changes in their production or consumption often impair cellular physiology through their system-wide connections. How does metabolism endure perturbations brought immediately by pathway modification and restore hub homeostasis in the long run? To address this question we studied laboratory evolution of pathway-engineered Escherichia coli that underproduces the redox cofactor NADPH on glucose. Literature suggests multiple possibilities to restore NADPH homeostasis. Surprisingly, genetic dissection of isolates from our twelve evolved populations revealed merely two solutions: (1) modulating the expression of membrane-bound transhydrogenase (mTH) in every population; (2) simultaneously consuming glucose with acetate, an unfavored byproduct normally excreted during glucose catabolism, in two subpopulations. Notably, mTH displays broad phylogenetic distribution and has also played a predominant role in laboratory evolution of Methylobacterium extorquens deficient in NADPH production. Convergent evolution of two phylogenetically and metabolically distinct species suggests mTH as a conserved buffering mechanism that promotes the robustness and evolvability of metabolism. Moreover, adaptive diversification via evolving dual substrate consumption highlights the flexibility of physiological systems to exploit ecological opportunities.
Childhood Learning Disabilities and Atypical Dementia: A Retrospective Chart Review

Objective To further our understanding of the association between self-reported childhood learning disabilities (LDs) and atypical dementia phenotypes (Atypical Dementia), including logopenic primary progressive aphasia (L-PPA), Posterior Cortical Atrophy (PCA), and Dysexecutive-type Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Methods This retrospective case series analysis of 678 comprehensive neuropsychological assessments compared rates of self-reported LD between dementia patients diagnosed with Typical AD and those diagnosed with Atypical Dementia. 105 cases with neuroimaging or CSF data available and at least one neurology follow-up were identified as having been diagnosed by the neuropsychologist with any form of neurodegenerative dementia. These cases were subject to a consensus diagnostic process among three dementia experts using validated clinical criteria for AD and PPA. LD was considered Probable if two or more statements consistent with prior LD were documented within the Social & Developmental History of the initial neuropsychological evaluation. Results 85 subjects (Typical AD n=68, Atypical AD n=17) were included in the final analysis. In logistic regression models adjusted for age, gender, handedness, education and symptom duration, patients with Probable LD, compared to patients without Probable LD, were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with Atypical Dementia vs. Typical AD (OR 13.1, 95% CI 1.3-128.4). All three of the L-PPA cases reporting a childhood LD endorsed childhood difficulty with language. By contrast, both PCA cases reporting Probable childhood LD endorsed difficulty with attention and/or math. Conclusions In people who develop dementia, childhood LD may predispose to atypical phenotypes. Future studies are required to confirm whether atypical neurodevelopment predisposes to regional-specific neuropathology in AD and other dementias.
Kannada spell checker with sandhi splitter

Spelling errors are introduced in text either during typing, or when the user does not know the correct phoneme or grapheme. If a language contains complex words like sandhi where two or more morphemes join based on some rules, spell checking becomes very tedious. In such situations, having a spell checker with sandhi splitter which alerts the user by flagging the errors and providing suggestions is very useful. A novel algorithm of sandhi splitting is proposed in this paper. The sandhi splitter can split about 7000 most common sandhi words in Kannada language used as test samples. The sandhi splitter was integrated with a Kannada spell checker and a mechanism for generating suggestions was added. A comprehensive, platform independent, standalone spell checker with sandhi splitter application software was thus developed and tested extensively for its efficiency and correctness. A comparative analysis of this spell checker with sandhi splitter was made and results concluded that the Kannada spell checker with sandhi splitter has an improved performance. It is twice as fast, 200 times more space efficient, and it is 90% accurate in case of complex nouns and 80% accurate for complex verbs. Such a spell checker with sandhi splitter will be of foremost significance in machine translation systems, voice processing, etc. This is the first sandhi splitter in Kannada and the advantage of the novel algorithm is that, it can be extended to all Indian languages.
Im/politeness in Muslim Discourse: A Study of Nigerian Friday Sermons

This paper investigated the use of im/politeness in Muslim sermons or Khutbahs. The study attempts to show that the Muslim sermon, in its aim to impart various types of religious information to the congregation, is a communicative event that is capable of generating ill-feelings among its various audiences. The Imam is thus expected to make strategic use of politeness elements in his delivery or risk compromising the efficacy of the sermon. To identify these elements, a modified version of Brown and Levinson‘s (1987) model of politeness was used as an analytical framework. Using naturally occurring data collected from Friday sermons, the study shows that the Imams used several politeness strategies identified in the Brown and Levinson model. Furthermore, the inclusion of data comprising sermons delivered in Yorùbá adduced evidence of the influence of the Yorùbá culture in the linguistic politeness practices of the Imams. In addition, it is shown that although the Imams used the traditional Face Threatening Acts (FTAs), these largely amount to ̳conventional aggression‘ (Harris, 2001)or ̳unmarked FTAs‘ (Dynel 2015). The study concluded that the Imams were characteristically polite in their delivery, and politeness is an important feature in a religious discourse such as the Friday sermon.