Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Creativity and positive emotions in studying: Novel possibilities for improving students’ learning

Research on students’ learning identified that positive affect is a strong predictor of better academic performance even when statistically controlling for effects of prior academic performance and approaches to learning (e.g., Rogaten, Moneta & Spada, 2013). A variable that has been found to strongly link with positive affect in studying is use of creative cognition, which is the habit to deploy one’s own creative ability to an endeavour (Rogaten & Moneta, in press). Based on the broaden-and-build theory (Fredrickson, 1998), the mood-as-input model (Martin et al., 1993), the control-process model (Carver & Scheier, 2001), and self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985), it was hypothesised that positive affect will be both an antecedent and a consequence of use of creative cognition in studying. 130 university students completed the International Positive and Negative Affect Schedule - Short Form (I-PANAS-SF) and the Use of Creative Cognition Scale (UCCS) with reference to their overall studying experience in the first and second semesters of an academic year. A comparison of alternative structural equation models showed clear support for the reciprocal relationship between positive affect in studying and use of creative cognition in studying. This is the first study that found the longitudinal relationship between use of creative cognition in studying and subsequent positive affect in studying, which opens novel possibilities for interventions. Well-designed curricula, assessments and training programs that foster the use of creative cognition in studying may increase students’ positive affect and engagement in studying and, in turn, improve their learning and academic performance.
xi STATUS OF THE BAY-BREASTED WARBLER IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

xii British Columbia, Canada's most westerly province, has a bounty of biological diversity. British Columbia's snowclad peaks, rain-drenched forests, arid grasslands, all sizes of rivers, lakes, and wetlands, and a long and rugged coast provide habitats for more species of living organisms than are found anywhere else in Canada. However, this very diversity means that there is much to be discovered about these organisms — their distribution, abundance, habitat requirements, and interrelationships with their environment. Increasing our knowledge of this biodiversity will help us with the complex task of sustainably managing our land and waters. (FRDA II). In 1996, funding from Forest Renewal BC (FRBC) was received for a biodiversity research extension proposal. One goal of the original research program, and more recently the FRBC extension project, is to extend information to scientists, resource managers, and the public through biodiversity publications. These publications are intended to increase awareness and understanding of biodiversity, promote the concepts and importance of conserving biodiversity, and communicate provincial government initiatives related to biodiversity. We hope that they will be used as tools for the conservation of British Columbia's rich, living legacy. ii " Wildlife Working Reports frequently contain preliminary data, so conclusions based on these may be subject to change. Working Reports receive little review. They may be cited in publications, but their manuscript status should be noted. Copies may be obtained , depending upon supply, from the Ministry of Environment,
Firms' Financing Constraints: Do Perceptions Match the Actual Situation?

This paper draws on the SAFE survey on access to finance for a sample of 11,886 firms in the Euro Area which are matched with their nearest neighbour in a balance sheet dataset with 2.3 million firms. We investigate the role of firm characteristics with respect to firms’ perceived financing constraints and actual financing constraints in the period 2009-2011. Low-profit firms are more likely to face actual financing constraints. Low working capital and high leverage ratios explain actual financing constraints to a lesser extent. Further, firms are more likely to perceive access to finance problematic when they have more debt with short-term maturity. Finally, firm age, but not size, is important in explaining both the perceived and the actual financial constraints.
The Reciprocal Instrumentalization Of Religion And Politics In Brazil

This chapter addresses the changes in the relations between religion and politics in contemporary Brazil prompted particularly by the entry of Pentecostals into party politics from the mid-80's on. It seeks to show that the effects of the skyrocketing growth of Pentecostalism and the fiercer inter-religious competition triggered by it extrapolate the religious field to encompass the mediatic and political fields, ultimately affecting the Brazilian public sphere itself. Competition between Catholics and Evangelicals in the public sphere is not limited to the political field, but also diffuses into the mediatic field. The Catholic Church is the religious institution owning the largest network of radio stations in Brazil; in 1991, it owned 122. In the 2010 presidential elections, inter-religious competition and opposition gave way to a convergence of conservative positions at the moral and political level between the Catholic and Pentecostal leaderships. Keywords: Brazilian religious field; Catholic church; Pentecostal politics
Recent Developments in Intergroup Contact Research: Affective Processes, Group Status, and Contact Valence

What are the consequences of bringing people from diverse groups together? Does it enhance trust and goodwill, or does it lead to mistrust and hostility? More than 60 years ago, social scientists offered initial evidence and theoretical perspectives regarding how contact between members of different groups can reduce intergroup hostility and promote positive intergroup attitudes (see Allport, 1954; Williams, 1947). Since then, Allport's (1954) formulation of intergroup contact theory has become one of the most enduring models in the history of social psychology (Brewer & Brown, 1998), as well as one of psychology's best strategies to improve intergroup relations (Pettigrew & Tropp, 2011). This chapter provides an overview of recent theorizing and research on intergroup contact with a focus on three key developments in the literature. First, we highlight the special role of affective processes and friendship in improving intergroup attitudes while considering both direct and indirect forms of intergroup contact. We then review the differential effects and implications of contact among members of minority and majority groups and describe how contact effects reach far beyond shifts in intergroup attitudes. Finally, we discuss the effects of both positive and negative intergroup contact on attitudes and relations between groups. Effects of Direct Contact Research reveals the crucial roles that affective processes play in contact effects, both in terms of the kinds of contact that are most likely to improve intergroup attitudes and the kinds of positive outcomes we can expect from such contact (see Pettigrew & Tropp, 2011). With survey data from seven European samples, seminal work by Pettigrew (1997) showed that intergroup contact in the form of cross-group friendships was consistently and negatively associated with a range of prejudice measures, particularly those assessing feelings of sympathy and admiration toward the outgroup. In line with Pettigrew's (1997) findings, other studies indicate that cross-group friendships relate more strongly to reduced prejudice than more distant forms of contact (Herek & Capitanio, 1996), particularly when affective dimensions of prejudice such as feelings and emotions toward outgroup members are involved (Tropp & Pettigrew, 2005a). Cross-group friendships. Empirical interest in the special role of cross-group friendships has expanded and corroborated these early findings through longitudinal, meta-analytic, and experimental research. Longitudinal surveys in several countries have shown that greater cross-group friendships predict more positive intergroup attitudes over time (Binder et al., 2009; Levin, van Laar, & Sidanius, 2003; Swart, Hewstone, Christ, & Voci, 2011).
The connectivity of the mammalian prefrontal cortex

The fine scale connections of prefrontal cortex (PFC) were investigated in the rat brain, in order to determine organizational properties of PFC pathways which were previously undefined. Neuroanatomical tract tracers (Fluro-Gold, Fluoro-Ruby, Fluoro-Emerald, Biotinylated dextran amines; Fluorescein and Texas red) were injected (20 -100 nl) into subdivisions of PFC (prelimbic, infralimbic, medial-orbital, ventral-orbital, ventrolateral-orbital, lateral-orbital and dorsolateral-orbital) and their projections studied. Tracer studies identified clear evidence of significantly ordered projections from PFC to temporal and sensory-motor cortices in three axes of orientation (p<0.001), showing differential ordering of input and output connections (p<0.001). Ordered connections were consistent across PFC (from anterior to posterior) and showed evidence of changes in organisation in anterior compared to posterior PFC, in both the PFC-temporal and PFC-sensory-motor cortex pathways. Detailed analysis revealed evidence for an organizational gradient in the relationship between inputs and outputs from anterior to posterior PFC, in which retrograde and anterograde labelling become increasingly differentiated as PFC injection site is moved from posterior to anterior. Analysis of fine scale tracer injections (20-30 nl) revealed evidence to show underlying complex organizational properties of connections from PFC to temporal and sensory-motor cortices. Taken together, the findings show that PFC displays ordered arrangements of connections to temporal and sensory-motor cortex, input and output connections are consistently not found in the same locations and the relationship between inputs and outputs differs in relation to the anterior-posterior location in PFC.
Can pubertal boys with Klinefelter syndrome benefit from spermatogonial stem cell banking?

BACKGROUND Although early development of testes appears normal in boys with Klinefelter syndrome (KS), spermatogonial stem cell (SSC) depletion occurs in mid puberty, leading to infertility. Cryopreservation of SSCs prior to stem cell loss is an option that is currently offered to boys who have to undergo gonadotoxic treatments. This study aimed to explore the possibility of preserving SSCs in pubertal KS adolescents by testicular tissue banking. METHODS A retrospective study was conducted in seven non-mosaic 47,XXY adolescents, aged 13-16 years, who were invited for an experimental testicular tissue banking programme during their follow-up at the Paediatric Endocrinology Department of the UZ Brussel between 2009 and 2011. Paraffin-embedded testicular tissue was sectioned and stained with haematoxylin-eosin, and immunostainings were performed for Mage-A4, anti-Mullerian hormone, Inhibin α and steroidogenic acute regulatory protein. The presence of spermatogenesis and/or spermatogonia was evaluated. RESULTS Massive fibrosis and hyalinization was observed in all but one KS patients. Although spermatogonia were seen in five patients, spermatogonia were only present in tubules showing normal architecture in the youngest patient who also had normal follicle-stimulating hormone and inhibin B concentrations. CONCLUSIONS Testicular tissue cryopreservation in KS adolescents should be recommended as soon as possible, probably before hormonal changes of failing Sertoli cell function are detected.
The effects of leisure-time physical activity for optimism, life satisfaction, psychological well-being, and positive affect among older adults with loneliness

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) involvement among older adults suffering from loneliness. Using data released from the Health and Retirement Study in 2008, this study investigated how participation in LTPA leads to well-being such as optimism, life satisfaction, psychological well-being, and positive affect among older adults with loneliness. Results indicated that the LTPA involvement was a significant predictor of optimism, life satisfaction, positive affect, and psychological well-being for older adults with a high level of loneliness. The interesting findings of this study were that LTPA enhanced positive emotions for older adults with loneliness and that positive emotions are one of the important factors in protecting individuals from illnesses.
Agents with personality and emotional filters for an e-learning environment

Fundamentals of e-learning/e-teaching environments are reviewed. Role of personality and emotions in e-learning are explained. Learning styles and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) are explained. Basics of personality and emotional filters in agent simulation of e-learning/e-teaching are covered. In addition, in order to help the process of learning, the agent of virtual classmate is used in some levels of learning.
Type Ia Supernova Counts at High z: Signatures of Cosmological Models and Progenitors

Determination of the rates at which Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) occur in the early universe can give signatures of the time spent by the binary progenitor systems to reach explosion and of the geometry of the universe. Observations made within the Supernova Cosmology Project are already providing the first numbers. Here it is shown that, for any assumed SNe Ia progenitor, SNe Ia counts up to mR ≃ 23-26 are useful tests of the SNe Ia progenitor systems and cosmological tracers of a possible nonzero value of the cosmological constant, Λ. The SNe Ia counts at high redshifts compare differently with those at lower redshifts depending on the cosmological model. A flat, ΩΛ-dominated universe would show a more significant increase of the SNe Ia counts at z~1 than a flat, ΩM = 1 universe. Here we consider three sorts of universes: a flat universe with H0 = 65 km s-1 Mpc-1, ΩM = 1.0, ΩΛ = 0.0; an open universe with H0 = 65 km s-1 Mpc-1, ΩM = 0.3, ΩΛ = 0.0; and a flat, Λ-dominated universe with H0 = 65 km s-1 Mpc-1, ΩM = 0.3, ΩΛ = 0.7. On the other hand, the SNe Ia counts from one class of binary progenitors (double-degenerate systems) should not increase steeply in the z = 0-1 range, contrary to what should be seen for other binary progenitors. A measurement of the SNe Ia counts up to z ~ 1 is within reach of ongoing SNe Ia searches at high redshifts.
Neckband retention for lesser snow geese in the western Arctic

Neckbands are commonly used in waterfowl studies (especially geese) to identify individuals for determination of movement and behavior and to estimate population parameters. Substantial neckband loss can adversely affect these research objectives and produce biased survival estimates. We used capture, recovery, and observation histories for lesser snow geese (Chen caerulescens caerulescens) banded in the western Arctic, 1993-1996, to estimate neckband retention. We found that neckband retention differed between snow goose breeding colonies at Wrangel Island, Russia, and Banks Island, Northwest Territories, Canada. Male snow geese had higher neckband loss than females, a pattern similar to that found for Canada geese (Branta canadensis) and lesser snow geese in Alaska. We found that the rate of neckband loss increased with time, suggesting that neckbands are lost as the plastic deteriorates. Survival estimates for geese based on resighting neckbands will be biased unless estimates are corrected for neckband loss. We recommend that neckband loss be estimated using survival estimators that incorporate recaptures, recoveries, and observations of marked birds. Research and management studies using neckbands should be designed to improve neckband retention and to include the assessment of neckband retention.
Hard drive failure prediction using non-parametric statistical methods

We present a case study of a difficult real-world pattern recognition problem: predicting hard drive failure using attributes monitored internally by individual drives. We compare the performance of support vector machines (SVMs), unsupervised clustering, and non-parametric sta- tistical tests (rank-sum and reverse arrangements). Some- what surprisingly, the rank-sum method outperformed the other methods, including SVMs. We also show the utility of using non-parametric tests for feature set selection.
Natural Language Processing to the Rescue? Extracting "Situational Awareness" Tweets During Mass Emergency

In times of mass emergency, vast amounts of data are generated via computer-mediated communication (CMC) that are difficult to manually cull and organize into a coherent picture. Yet valuable information is broadcast, and can provide useful insight into time- and safety-critical situations if captured and analyzed properly and rapidly. We describe an approach for automatically identifying messages communicated via Twitter that contribute to situational awareness, and explain why it is beneficial for those seeking information during mass emergencies.We collected Twitter messages from four different crisis events of varying nature and magnitude and built a classifier to automatically detect messages that may contribute to situational awareness, utilizing a combination of hand-annotated and automatically-extracted linguistic features. Our system was able to achieve over 80% accuracy on categorizing tweets that contribute to situational awareness. Additionally, we show that a classifier developed for a specific emergency event performs well on similar events. The results are promising, and have the potential to aid the general public in culling and analyzing information communicated during times of mass emergency.
A prospective, multicentre, single-arm clinical trial of bevacizumab for patients with surgically untreatable, symptomatic brain radiation necrosis†

Background Brain radiation necrosis (BRN) can be a complication of radiotherapy for primary and secondary brain tumors, as well as head and neck tumors. Since vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is also a vascular permeability factor in the brain, bevacizumab, a humanized antibody that inhibits VEGF, would be expected to reduce perilesional edema that often accompanies BRN. Methods Patients with surgically untreatable, symptomatic BRN refractory to conventional medical treatments (eg, corticosteroid, anticoagulants, or hyperbaric oxygen therapy) were enrolled. We judged that a major cause of perilesional edema with a lesion-to-normal brain ratio ≤1.8 on 11C-methionine or ≤2.5 on 18F-boronophenylalanine PET was BRN, not tumor recurrence, and 6 cycles of biweekly bevacizumab (5 mg/kg) were administered. The primary endpoint was a ≥30% reduction from the patients' registration for perilesional edema continuing for ≥1 month. Results Of the 41 patients enrolled, 38 were fully eligible for the response assessment. The primary endpoint was achieved in 30 of the 38 (78.9%) patients at 3.0 months (median) after enrollment. Sixteen patients (42.1%) experienced improvement of their Karnofsy Performance Score. Corticosteroid use could be reduced in 29 patients (76.3%). Adverse events at grade ≥3 occurred in 10 patients (24.4%). Conclusions Bevacizumab treatment offers certain clinical benefits for patients with surgically untreatable, symptomatic BRN. The determination of BRN using amino-acid PET, not biopsy, is adequate and less invasive for determining eligibility to receive bevacizumab.
Medication transitions and polypharmacy in older adults following acute care

Background/objective Medication changes at transitions of care and polypharmacy are growing concerns that adversely impact optimal drug use. We aimed to describe transitions and patterns of medication use before and 1 year after older patients were hospitalized for community-acquired pneumonia, the second-most common reason for admission in North America. Materials and methods This was an analysis of a population-based clinical registry of patients treated in any of the six hospitals or seven emergency departments in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, comprising 2,105 patients 65 years and older with community-acquired pneumonia who had survived at least 1 year. The prevalence of polypharmacy (five or more unique prescription drugs), as well as new use and persistence of common drug classes were assessed. Results The mean age was 78 years (standard deviation 8 years), 50% were female, 62% were hospitalized, and 58% had severe pneumonia. Among the 2,105 patients, 949 (45%) were using five or more medications prior to hospitalization, increasing to 1,559 (74%) within 90 days postdischarge and remaining over 70% at 1 year. Overall, 1,690 (80%) patients newly started and 1,553 (74%) patients stopped at least one medication in the first 90 days of follow-up. The prevalence of the most common drug classes (ie, cardiovascular, alimentary/metabolism) remained stable, with the exception of anti-infective agents, whereby 25% of patients were dispensed an anti-infective agent 3 months to 1 year after hospitalization. Conclusion Most older patients with pneumonia are subject to polypharmacy, and almost every patient had a medication started or stopped during 1-year follow-up, with 25% using antibiotics again. The period following an episode of pneumonia represents an opportunity potentially to optimize pharmacotherapy.
Broadcasting personalities: The relationship between occupation and music preferences in the BBC Radio programme Desert Island Discs

This research examines the music choices of interviewees on the BBC Radio programme Desert Island Discs over a 72-year period. In the programme, individuals with a public profile related to high achievement in their chosen occupation identify several pieces of their favourite music. Publicly stated music preferences offer insights into how individuals construct and wish to communicate crucial aspects their identities. We propose that, in this context, occupation is related to music preferences. We investigate this relationship within the framework of Holland’s RIASEC model of vocational personality types, previously ignored by research into music preferences. We consider music preferences in terms of the five-dimension MUSIC model of music preferences, and preference for acoustical attributes of chosen music. Results demonstrate several significant associations between RIASEC occupation types and MUSIC preference dimensions, and also a main effect for RIASEC type on acoustical music attributes such as tempo, energy and loudness.