Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Contextual Effects on Environmental Attitudes and Behavior

Using data from a random sample survey of the population of British Columbia, this article addresses an anomaly in the literature on environmental concern and environmental action: the limited impact of self-interest, in the sense of behavior based on a personal threat from environmental problems, on the likelihood of environmental action. The issue is examined using a regression model that includes contextual effects and measures of political attitudes and environmental knowledge as determinants of individual action in support of environmental causes and collective action directed at halting or reversing environmental degradation. The analysis demonstrates that spatial variation in the nature of environmental problems has a significant effect on perceptions and behavior. Whereas protest behavior is more likely in areas dominated by resource extraction, willingness to incur economic costs in the interest of environmental protection is lower.
Assessment of brain oxygenation in term and preterm neonates using near infrared spectroscopy.

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to determine brain oxygenation in full-term and preterm neonates using near infrared spectroscopy. MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 88 full-term and preterm newborn infants without hypoxic-ischaemic disorders admitted to the NICU were examined using NIRS on the first day of life and on day 28 of life. Additional measurements were taken at the end of the first week of life in the premature neonates group. Measurements of oxyhaemoglobin (HbO2), deoxyhaemoglobin (Hb), total haemoglobin (HbT) concentration and tissue oxygen saturation (Ox) were performed in 5 brain regions. Right and left frontal areas, the occipital area and right and left temporal areas were measured. RESULTS In full-term healthy neonates a marked decrease in HbO, Hb and HbT values was observed on day 28 of life in all brain regions except the occipital area. In the neonatal period the greatest changes in brain oxygenation occurred in the right and left frontal regions of the brain. In preterm neonates constant values of HbO2 and Ox were observed in the first 28 days of life. In preterm newborn infants, as well as in full term newborn infants, similar Ox and HbO2 values were obtained on day 28 of life. CONCLUSIONS NIRS is a safe method and can be used to evaluate brain oxygenation in newborn infants. The results of these measurements are in accordance with changes in brain oxygenation in the first month of life, which are predicated on the basis of the neonate's physiology.
The Problem of Cultural Leadership: The Lessons of the Dead Leaders Society and A New Definition of Leadership

This article traces the intellectual journey of a class of leadership students as they explored the relationship between culture and leadership through the analysis of historical scenarios. In particular, their study of the role elements of the popular culture played in the "adaptive work" of several subgroups of society in the 1920s challenges traditional conceptions of leadership. Can there be such a thing as "cultural leadership? " The author uses the students' work as a point of departure for a new and more expansive definition of leadership.
Empathy, Compassionate Altruism and Psychological Well-Being in Contemplative Practitioners across Five Traditions

In an online anonymous study we compared 2409 contemplative practitioners to 450 non-meditators on measures of psychological functioning. The meditators followed five traditions: Tibetan and Theravada Buddhism, Centering Prayer, Yoga and Mindfulness. Meditators were lower in depression, neuroticism, empathic distress, and types of empathy-based guilt, and higher in empathy (cognitive and emotional), agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, resilience, and compassionate altruism towards strangers. Comparing traditions found Tibetans and Centering Prayer higher in altruism towards strangers and Centering Prayer lower in neuroticism. In all traditions, intensity and duration of practice predicted positive outcomes. Meditators whose goal was benefit to others, compared to those whose goal was benefit to the self, were lower in depression, empathic distress, and neuroticism, and higher in cognitive empathy, resilience, and altruism towards strangers. Religion-based practitioners were lower in guilt, empathic distress, depression and neuroticism, and higher in conscientiousness, resilience, and altruism towards others compared secular meditators.
A spectral analytic comparison of trace-class data augmentation algorithms and their sandwich variants

The data augmentation (DA) algorithm is a widely used Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm that is easy to implement but often suffers from slow convergence. The sandwich algorithm is an alternative that can converge much faster while requiring roughly the same computational effort per iteration. Theoretically, the sandwich algorithm always converges at least as fast as the corresponding DA algorithm in the sense that $\Vert {K^*}\Vert \le \Vert {K}\Vert$, where $K$ and $K^*$ are the Markov operators associated with the DA and sandwich algorithms, respectively, and $\Vert\cdot\Vert$ denotes operator norm. In this paper, a substantial refinement of this operator norm inequality is developed. In particular, under regularity conditions implying that $K$ is a trace-class operator, it is shown that $K^*$ is also a positive, trace-class operator, and that the spectrum of $K^*$ dominates that of $K$ in the sense that the ordered elements of the former are all less than or equal to the corresponding elements of the latter. Furthermore, if the sandwich algorithm is constructed using a group action, as described by Liu and Wu [J. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 94 (1999) 1264--1274] and Hobert and Marchev [Ann. Statist. 36 (2008) 532--554], then there is strict inequality between at least one pair of eigenvalues. These results are applied to a new DA algorithm for Bayesian quantile regression introduced by Kozumi and Kobayashi [J. Stat. Comput. Simul. 81 (2011) 1565--1578].
Pre- and Postsynaptic Sites of Action of mGluR8a in the mammalian retina.

PURPOSE The distribution of the most recently identified metabotropic glutamate receptor type 8a (mGluR8a) in the mammalian retina is unknown, but it is known to function as a presynaptic autoreceptor in rod photoreceptors. In this study, the localization of mGluR8a in the adult rat, mouse, and rabbit retina and during postnatal development of the rat retina was analyzed. METHODS mGluR8a immunoreactivity was detected using immunocytochemistry and light and electron microscopy. RESULTS mGluR8a expression was found in both synaptic layers and in extrasynaptic locations, predominantly on the somata of ganglion, amacrine, and horizontal cells. This distribution pattern is different from the localization patterns of the other members of group III mGluRs in the mammalian retina, which are restricted to either the outer plexiform layer (OPL) or the inner plexiform layer (IPL). Analysis of the expression of mGluR8a at the ultrastructural level in rat retina showed that the receptor is localized pre- and postsynaptically in the OPL and postsynaptically in the IPL. During postnatal development, mGluR8a was expressed at synapses in parallel with synapse formation, but appeared earlier at extrasynaptic sites. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that mGluR8a is involved in synaptic processing in both plexiform layers and in both the scotopic and photopic pathways in the mammalian retina. The authors propose that, depending on its localization-pre- versus postsynaptic-mGluR8a modulates the release of L-glutamate by photoreceptors and the responses of retinal neurons to inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmitters, respectively. Furthermore, mGluR8a may have regulatory functions during neuronal development of the mammalian retina.
Frontal EEG alpha asymmetry and emotion: From neural underpinnings and methodological considerations to psychopathology and social cognition.

Forty years ago, in September of 1978, at the annual meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research inMadison,Wisconsin, the early-career scientist Richie Davidson presented a paper suggesting that the experience of positive affect and of negative affect were associated with differently lateralized patterns of frontal brain electrical activity. Following the publication of the abstract of this presentation on frontal EEG asymmetry the next year (Davidson, Schwartz, Saron, Bennett, & Goleman, 1979), there were almost no publications in the following decade, with only 15 empirical articles examining frontal EEG asymmetry and emotion by 1990. It might have been hard to predict at that time how popular this measure of frontal brain asymmetry would become, with now hundreds of articles published using frontal EEG asymmetry to examine emotion-related and motivation-related trait individual differences and staterelated changes. Among other topics, frontal EEG asymmetry has been used to investigate risk for depression, anxiety, and internalizing psychopathology, as well as externalizing disorders such as mania, addiction, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It has also been used extensively to examine individual differences in temperament and motivational style, and responses to emotional stimuli and social provocation. An advantage of frontal EEG asymmetry is its association with a highly successful conceptual model of emotion and motivation. The approach-withdrawal model of frontal asymmetry posits that increased relative left-frontal activity indicates a propensity to approach or engage a stimulus, whereas decreased relative left-frontal activity indicates a propensity toward reduced approach motivation or increased withdrawal motivation (e.g., Coan & Allen, 2004; Davidson, 1998; HarmonJones, 2003). Thus, frontal EEG asymmetry involves a unidimensional metric capturing large variations in motivation, emotion, and behavior. This metric is not only useful in understanding normative variation in motivation and emotion, but also abnormal variation, including mania and depression. Additionally, frontal asymmetry can be assessed as both a traitlike individual differences variable and as a measure of staterelated variation to particular stimuli or experimental paradigms (Coan & Allen, 2004; Coan, Allen, & McKnight, 2006).
The Past, Present and Future of School Improvement: Towards the Third Age

The article outlines the three phases that school improvement has been through since the mid-1980s, paying particular attention to the characteristics of the recent 'third age' improvement paradigm. It is argued that these new models of improvement stand a chance of overcoming the difficulties that past improvement has had in affecting outcomes, and a number of areas of potential development for the paradigm are outlined for it to fulfil its promise, particularly in the areas of context specificity, focusing on learning in classrooms and concentrating on understanding 'the capacity for improvement'. The contributions of 'Third Age' school improvement to resolving a number of conundrums that have affected the field are also explored.
L2-betti Numbers of Discrete Measured Groupoids

There are notions of L2-Betti numbers for discrete groups (Cheeger–Gromov, Luck), for type II1-factors (recent work of Connes-Shlyakhtenko) and for countable standard equivalence relations (Gaboriau). Whereas the first two are algebraically defined using Luck's dimension theory, Gaboriau's definition of the latter is inspired by the work of Cheeger and Gromov. In this work we give a definition of L2-Betti numbers of discrete measured groupoids that is based on Luck's dimension theory, thereby encompassing the cases of groups, equivalence relations and holonomy groupoids with an invariant measure for a complete transversal. We show that with our definition, like with Gaboriau's, the L2-Betti numbers of a countable group G coincide with the L2-Betti numbers of the orbit equivalence relation of a free action of G on a probability space. This yields a new proof of the fact the L2-Betti numbers of groups with orbit equivalent actions coincide.
Polychlorinated Biphenyl Congeners that Increase the Glucuronidation and Biliary Excretion of Thyroxine Are Distinct from the Congeners that Enhance the Serum Disappearance of Thyroxine

Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners differentially reduce serum thyroxine (T4) in rats, but little is known about their ability to affect biliary excretion of T4. Thus, male Sprague-Dawley rats were orally administered Aroclor-1254, Aroclor-1242 (32 mg/kg per day), PCB-95, PCB-99, PCB-118 (16 mg/kg per day), PCB-126 (40 μg/kg per day), 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) (3.9 μg/kg per day), or corn oil for 7 days. Twenty-four hours after the last dose, [125I]T4 was administered intravenously, and blood, bile, and urine samples were collected for quantifying [125I]T4 and in bile [125I]T4 metabolites. Serum T4 concentrations were reduced by all treatments, but dramatic reductions occurred in response to Aroclor-1254, PCB-99 [phenobarbital (PB)-type congener], and PCB-118 (mixed-type congener). None of the treatments increased urinary excretion of [125I]T4. Aroclor-1254, PCB-118, TCDD, and PCB-126 (TCDD-type congener) increased biliary excretion of T4-glucuronide by 850, 756, 710, and 573%, respectively, corresponding to marked induction of hepatic UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) activity toward T4. PCB-95 and PCB-99 did not induce UGT activity; therefore, the increased biliary excretion of T4-glucuronide was related to the affinity of congeners for the aryl hydrocarbon receptor. The disappearance of [125I]T4 from serum was rapid (within 15-min) and was increased by Aroclor-1254, PCB-99 and PCB-118. Thus, reductions in serum T4 in response to PCBs did not always correspond with UGT activity toward T4 or with increased biliary excretion of T4-glucuronide. The rapid disappearance of [125I]T4 from the serum of rats treated with PB-like PCBs suggests that increased tissue uptake of T4 is an additional mechanism by which PCBs may reduce serum T4.
Using Self and Peer Assessment to Improve Students’ Essay Writing: a Case Study from Geography

SUMMARY This paper reports on a project aiming to improve students’ essay writing performance on a first year geography course. The intention was that through self and peer assessment as well as tutor assessment of essays, students would learn about assessment criteria and ways of meeting these. Students were prepared for this role in a preparatory workshop in which they helped to generate criteria, and self and peer assessment were carefully supervised and regulated. The success of the project is evaluated based upon analysis of marks, student feedback and the opinion of the staff who led the project. Self and peer marks were considered less reliable than tutor marks, perhaps because of the subjective nature of this type of assessment and the relative inexperience of the students, but this risk is considered to be outweighed by the benefits to student learning.
Review, Revise, and Resubmit

These experiments examined the common practice of allowing students to revise and resubmit papers after receiving feedback. Blind graders evaluated students’ first and second drafts of an introduction in American Psychological Association (APA) format. Across experiments, just over 50% of students’ scores improved across drafts when evaluated by blind graders compared to over 80% improvement for the scores assigned by the graduate student lab instructors. In examining the effects of the source of feedback on first drafts, no difference between self-critique, peer review, and feedback from the lab instructor was found in blind graders’ scores. The results suggest that high scores obtained through the review–revise–resubmit procedure do not reflect good writing in an objective sense, but rather an ability to satisfy a particular reviewer.
Induction of chorea and dystonia in parkinsonian primates

Administration of 1‐methyl‐4‐phenyl‐1,2,3,6‐tetrahydropyridine in primates induced a parkinsonian syndrome that could be reversed by levodopa treatment. Animals quickly developed an apparent restlessness (“akathisia”) of the lower limbs after as little as five doses. After 4–10 weeks of regular levodopa therapy, animals developed “peak dose” choreiform movements in the lower limbs that spread, with time, to involve the upper limbs and orofacial musculature. With further treatment (5–21 months), animals developed “peak dose” dystonia that variably involved the limbs and orofacial musculature. These conditions represent novel models of levodopa‐induced chorea and dystonia in humans. They depend on the same underlying neuropathology and treatment regimen as their human counterparts. It is to be anticipated that these models of dyskinesia will be useful in determining the mechanisms underlying chorea and dystonia in humans and are ideally suited for experimental evaluation of new treatment strategies.
Metacognition and low achievement in mathematics: The effect of training in the use of metacognitive skills to solve mathematical word problems

The central question underlying this study was whether metacognition training could enhance the two metacognition components—knowledge and skills—and the mathematical problem-solving capacities of normal children in grade 3. We also investigated whether metacognitive training had a differential effect according to the children's mathematics level. A total of 48 participants took part in this study, divided into an experimental and a control group, each subdivided into a lower and a normal achievers group. The training programme took an interactive approach in accordance with Schraw's (1998) recommendation and was carried out over five training sessions. Results indicated that children in the training group had significantly higher post-test metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive skills, and mathematical problem-solving scores. In addition, metacognitive training was particularly beneficial to the low achievers. Thus metacognitive training enabled the low achievers to make progress and solve the same number of problems on the post-test as the normal achievers solved on the pre-test.
Accurately and Efficiently Interpreting Human-Robot Instructions of Varying Granularities

Humans can ground natural language commands to tasks at both abstract and fine-grained levels of specificity. For instance, a human forklift operator can be instructed to perform a high-level action, like "grab a pallet" or a low-level action like "tilt back a little bit. " While robots are also capable of grounding language commands to tasks, previous methods implicitly assume that all commands and tasks reside at a single, fixed level of abstraction. Additionally, methods that do not use multiple levels of abstraction encounter inefficient planning and execution times as they solve tasks at a single level of abstraction with large, intractable state-action spaces closely resembling real world complexity. In this work, by grounding commands to all the tasks or subtasks available in a hierarchical planning framework, we arrive at a model capable of interpreting language at multiple levels of specificity ranging from coarse to more granular. We show that the accuracy of the grounding procedure is improved when simultaneously inferring the degree of abstraction in language used to communicate the task. Leveraging hierarchy also improves efficiency: our proposed approach enables a robot to respond to a command within one second on 90% of our tasks, while baselines take over twenty seconds on half the tasks. Finally, we demonstrate that a real, physical robot can ground commands at multiple levels of abstraction allowing it to efficiently plan different subtasks within the same planning hierarchy.
Working life as pedagogical discourse: empirical studies of vocational and career education based on theories of Bourdieu and Bernstein

La situation economique actuelle (competition internationale, declin economique) debouche sur l'accroissement du chomage chez les jeunes. Pour y remedier, la Suede propose de lancer une passerelle entre milieu scolaire et milieu professionnel, par l'introduction d'etudes sur les professions et les carrieres au sein des programmes d'enseignement. L'A. propose d'evaluer les programmes instaures en Suede et suggere une liste de mesures a prendre
Predicting Consumers ’ Acceptance of Mobile Marketing in Malaysia : An empirical analysis

This study investigates the influencing factors on mobile marketing adoption among young consumers in Malaysia. This study utilizes the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) in developing the framework towards predicting intention to use mobile marketing. This paper models the factors relationship such as attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control and integrating perceived risk as a new variable towards determining intention to use. A total of 334 usable responses were analyzed with valid response rate at 57.49 percent. The results of the study confirm that attitudes, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, and perceived risk were statistically significant in influencing intention to use mobile marketing services. Our study offers some important implications for researchers and practitioners in mobile marketing services.
Intraflagellar transport (IFT) cargo

Intraflagellar transport (IFT) is the bidirectional movement of multisubunit protein particles along axonemal microtubules and is required for assembly and maintenance of eukaryotic flagella and cilia. One posited role of IFT is to transport flagellar precursors to the flagellar tip for assembly. Here, we examine radial spokes, axonemal subunits consisting of 22 polypeptides, as potential cargo for IFT. Radial spokes were found to be partially assembled in the cell body, before being transported to the flagellar tip by anterograde IFT. Fully assembled radial spokes, detached from axonemal microtubules during flagellar breakdown or turnover, are removed from flagella by retrograde IFT. Interactions between IFT particles, motors, radial spokes, and other axonemal proteins were verified by coimmunoprecipitation of these proteins from the soluble fraction of Chlamydomonas flagella. These studies indicate that one of the main roles of IFT in flagellar assembly and maintenance is to transport axonemal proteins in and out of the flagellum.
Motivation, Interest, and Positive Affect in Traditional and Nontraditional Undergraduate Students

This study compares affective and motivational components of academic life for traditional and nontraditional university undergraduates. Traditional students are defined as those aged 21 and younger, who are most likely to have followed an unbroken linear path through the education system, whereas nontraditional students are defined as those aged 28 and older, for whom the undergraduate experience is not necessarily age normative. A total of 300 undergraduates ranging in age from 18 to 60 years were assessed on measures of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to learn, interest, and positive affect. Nontraditional students reported higher levels of intrinsic motivation for learning than did traditional students. Intrinsic motivation correlated with positive affect more strongly for nontraditional than for traditional students. For all students, interest and age emerged as significant predictors of intrinsic motivation to learn, and both interest and intrinsic motivation significantly predicted positive affect.