Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
THE RELATIONSHIP AMONG EFL LEARNERS’ LEFT/RIGHT BRAIN DOMINANCE, AUTONOMY, AND READING COMPREHENSION OF THE ACADEMIC AND GENERAL READING MODULES OF IELTS

The purpose of this paper was to see whether any significant relationship exists among EFL learners’ autonomy, left/right brain dominance, and reading comprehension of the Academic Reading and General Reading Modules of IELTS examination. To this end, 100 female EFL learners were randomly selected from those who were attending IELTS preparatory courses at a language school in Tehran. All participants filled out the brain dominance and learner autonomy questionnaire. However, 50 participants took the General Reading Module and 50 took the Academic Reading Module of IELTS. Correlation and regression analyses demonstrated that learner autonomy did not have a significant correlation with the participants’ performance on the General or Academic Reading Modules of IELTS. However, brain dominance significantly correlated and thus, predicted the participants’ performance on both the General and Academic Reading Modules of IELTS.
BUILDING TRUST IN ONLINE SHOPPING: THE MODERATING EFFECT OF INDIVIDUALISM AND COLLECTIVISM

As online shopping becoming more global, consumers with different culture had different consideration when shopping online. Thus, this study attempts to investigate how one specific dimension of culture, individualism-collectivism, moderates the relationship between online trust and its determinants The determinant factors under investigation include perceived risk, privacy, security, social exchange and information content. Data collected from customers of online shops from Hong Kong and Switzerland were used to test the research model. The result indicated that perceived risk had a negative relationship with Trust. Perceived risk had a stronger effect on trust for collectivists than individualists. Also, Security had a positive relationship with trust. The study showed that information content was positively related to trust of online vendors. Information content had a stronger effect on trust for individualists then collectivists.
AMY-1 Interacts with S-AKAP84 and AKAP95 in the Cytoplasm and the Nucleus, Respectively, and Inhibits cAMP-dependent Protein Kinase Activity by Preventing Binding of Its Catalytic Subunit to A-kinase-anchoring Protein (AKAP) Complex*

We have reported that a novel c-Myc-binding protein, AMY-1, binds to cAMP-dependent protein kinase-anchoring protein 149 (AKAP149) and its splicing variant, AKAP84 and is localized in the mitochondria in a complex with RII, a regulatory subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) (Furusawa, M., Ohnishi, T., Taira, T., Iguchi-Ariga, S. M. M., and Ariga, H. (2001)J. Biol. Chem. 276, 36647–36651). In this study, we further found that AMY-1 competitively bound to either AKAP95 or AKAP84 in the nucleus and the cytoplasm, respectively, in a concentration-dependent manner of either AKAP. Like AKAP84, AMY-1 was found to bind to the RII-binding region of AKAP95 in vivo and in vitro and to make a ternary complex with RII. It was also found that the formation of the complex of AMY-1 with AKAP84/95 and RII prevented a catalytic subunit from binding to this AKAP complex, leading to suppression of PKA activity. These findings suggest that AMY-1 is an important modulator of PKA.
Expanding Chinese Sentiment Dictionaries from Large Scale Unlabeled Corpus

Unsupervised sentiment classification usually needs a user defined sentiment dictionary. However, the existing dictionaries in Chinese are insufficient, for example, the intersection rate of two popular Chinese sentiment dictionaries HowNet and NTUSD is less than 10%. In this paper, we present a method to help expand the dictionaries with more sentiment words by ranking them through link analysis based on a word graph constructed from a large unlabeled corpus. Meanwhile, our method could compute a sentiment polarity strength for each word in the new dictionaries. Manual evaluation has shown that our method has a high precision to expand the dictionaries. Experiments for sentiment classification have shown that the new dictionaries with the polarity strength for each word given by our algorithm are effective to improve the performance. As a byproduct, our algorithm could also discover the errors existing in current dictionaries.
Optimal In ° ation Targets , In ° ation Contracts and Political Cycles

It has been widely accepted that politically induced variance can be generated when the wage contract is written before an election. In this paper, we show that in°ation contracts and in°ation targets can eliminate both the in°ation bias and politically induced variance, if electoral uncertainty is merely due to di®erent preferences. In contrast to the independent central bank that is based on cooperation between competing parties prior to the election, as suggested by Alesina and Gatti (1995), the contract and the target can be delegated by the winning party after the election. Concern for reputation can lead to the convergence of the in°ation targets assigned by di®erent parties. We also consider the case where uncertainty is caused not only by di®erent preferences, but also by di®erent desired rates in°ation. We show that it is quite possible to reduce in°ation but increase the variances of in°ation and output by adopting the in°ation target regime.
The Structural Change and Labour Productivity of Firms: Do Changes in the Age and Wage Structure of Employees Matter?

This paper aims to clarify how changes in the age and wage composition of the labour force are related to the productivity of firms over the business cycle. Based on a matched employer-employee database of Estonian firms from 2006–2014, we decompose changes in the labour force and distinguish between hired, separated and staying workers. Considering the age and wage of workers, we link changes in the labour force to changes in productivity. Using fixed effect panel data analysis we indicate that among high-waged employees middle-aged are the most productive, the productivity decreases with age but remains higher for old compared to young. the increase in labour productivity is supported by the decreasing share of employees with the lowest productivity. The share of high-income employees was reduced in the crisis and later mostly low-income employees were hired. In addition, structural changes have accelerated the process of ageing. There are, however, sector-specific differences because in knowledge intensive services, ageing is not as prevalent as in industry. We also show that labour productivity is higher in the youngest quartile than in the oldest quartile of enterprises in all four periods.
Implementing and sustaining transformational change in health care: lessons learnt about clinical process redesign

*Clinical process redesign has enabled significant improvements in the delivery of health care services in emergency departments and elective surgery programs in New South Wales and at Flinders Medical Centre in South Australia, with tangible benefits for patients and staff. *The principles used in clinical process redesign are not new; they have been applied in other industries with significant gains for many years, but have only recently been introduced into health care systems. *Through experience with clinical process redesign, we have learnt much about the factors critical to the success of implementing and sustaining this process in the health care setting. *The key elements for success are leadership by senior executives, clinical leadership, team-based problem solving, a focus on the patient journey, access to data, ambitious targets, strong performance management, and a process for maintaining improvement.
Low muscle mass is associated with cardiometabolic risk regardless of nutritional status in adolescents: A cross‐sectional study in a Chilean birth cohort

Increased cardiometabolic risk (CMR) is documented in obese and non‐obese adolescents with low muscular fitness. However, the association of low muscle mass (LMM) with CMR, independent of weight status, has not been examined. We analyzed the relationship of LMM with CMR in adolescents, regardless of their weight status.
Relação entre Deficiência Auditiva, Idade, Gênero e Qualidade de Vida de Idosos Relationship Among Hearing Loss, Age, Gender, and Quality of Life in Older Individuals

A deficiencia auditiva em idosos e considerada um problema de saude publica, em funcao de sua alta prevalencia e das dificuldades que acarreta, o que afeta a comunicacao e interfere na adequada vida social dos individuos. Hearing loss in elderly is regarded as a public health concern due to its high prevalence and the difficulties is fosters, wich affect the elderly's approche social life. To verify the existence of a relationship among hearin loss, age, gender and quality of life of elders who live in Canoas, RS.
Endogenous Release of γ‐Aminobutyric Acid from the Medial Preoptic Area Measured by Microdialysis in the Anaesthetised Rat

Abstract: The characteristics of γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) release as monitored by microdialysis have been investigated in the chloral hydrate anaesthetised rat. The high outflow of GABA following insertion of the microdialysis probe (membrane 2 mm in length, 0.5 mm in diameter) into the medial preoptic area was found to decline to a stable baseline level after 2 h. After this time, perfusion with a medium containing 100 mM potassium ions evoked a 56‐fold increase in GABA outflow. The addition of the calcium channel blocker verapamil (100 nM) to the perfusion medium induced significant 25 and 50% reductions in basal and potassium‐stimulated GABA outflow, respectively. In the same animals, verapamil caused an 80% decrease in potassium‐stimulated noradrenaline outflow. The glutamic acid decarboxylase inhibitors 3‐mercaptopropionic acid and l‐allylglycine added to the perfusion medium at a concentration of 10 mM reduced basal GABA release by approximately 50% with different lime‐courses of action. Ethanolamine‐O‐suIfate, a GABA‐transaminase inhibitor, induced significant increases in basal GABA outflow 90 min after inclusion in the perfusion medium. These results demonstrate that microdialysis is a suitable technique with which to monitor extracellular levels of GABA and provide in vivo data on GABA release and degradation mechanisms.
Emotional labor among police officers: a diary study relating strain, emotional labor, and service performance

Abstract Using emotional labor and conservation of resources (COR) theory, this diary study aims to gain insight into the role of daily strain in emotional labor and service performance on a day-to-day basis. Strain was taken into account both as an antecedent (at the start of the work shift), and as a consequence (at the end of the work shift) of emotional labor (surface acting, deep acting) and emotional dissonance. The participants were 53 Dutch police officers who completed a three-day diary questionnaire (i.e. 159 measurement occasions). The results of multilevel analyses showed that, as hypothesized, daily strain at the start of the work shift was positively related to daily surface acting and unrelated to daily deep acting. Furthermore, daily surface acting mediated the relationship between strain at the start of the work shift and (a) service performance and (b) strain at the end of the work shift. Additionally, as predicted, daily surface acting was particularly related to emotional dissonance when strain at the start of the work shift was high.
Marshalling Social Support: A Care-Getting Model for Persons Living With Cancer

This article offers a stress theory–based conceptual framework for understanding proactive options for care-getting for patients living with cancer that is also relevant to patients living with other chronic or life-threatening illnesses. Barriers and facilitators to active efforts for obtaining responsive care from both informal and formal sources are discussed. This “care-getting” model explores benefits of proactive care-getting for diminishing physical discomfort and suffering, burden of illness and disability, and psychological distress. The authors highlight unique issues in care-getting that patients face at different stages of the life course. Implications of prior research related to the model for practice and intervention are discussed.
Goals and Framing: How Outcome Focus Influences Motivation and Emotion

Two studies examined the impact on emotion and motivation of framing the same goal in terms of either a positive outcome focus or a negative outcome focus. In Study 1, contingencies associated with either reaching the goal (positive outcome focus) or failing to reach the goal (negative outcome focus) were emphasized. In Study 2, performance feedback was given as subjects worked on a task such that the goal was framed in terms of either a positive or a negative outcome focus. Framing with a positive outcome focus changed dejection-related emotions (e.g., dissatisfaction) more than agitation-related emotions (e.g., nervousness), whereas the reverse was true for framing with a negative outcome focus. In addition, persistence was greater in the positive-outcome-focus condition (both studies), as was performance (Study 2). Implications for self-discrepancy theory and for goal theories of motivation are discussed.
Magnetic Activity-related Radial Velocity Variations in Cool Stars: First Results from the Lick Extrasolar Planet Survey

The discovery of the radial velocity (vr) signatures of planets around several solar-like stars highlights the importance of exploring the sources of vr variations intrinsic to the stars themselves. We study the stars in the Lick planetary survey for vr variations related to stellar activity: the rotation of starspots and convective inhomogeneities and their temporal evolution. We study the relationships between the weighted vr dispersion, σ′v (which has first been corrected for the orbital contribution from known planets and the mean internal error), and spectral type, rotation, and activity (as measured by Ca II H and K). We find that the largest σ′v values occur among both the coolest (dMe) and the warmest (active F) stars. Values of σ′v increase with H and K emission and scale proportional to vsini in G and K stars and proportional to (vsini)1.3 in F stars. For a G star with vsini ≈ 8-10 km s−1 (age ~0.3 Gyr), for example, 20 m s−1 ≲ σ′v ≲ 45 m s−1, roughly consistent with the predicted σ′v levels due to magnetic activity (Saar & Donahue). All the stars with proposed planetary companions show σ′v values typical for their spectral type, activity, and/or rotation. However, before the planetary vr perturbations are removed, these stars show significantly enhanced σ′v values. We develop a simple model that can predict the σ′v expected for a given star (within ≈ 40%) as a function of vsini, spectral type, photometric variability, and macroturbulent velocity. The implications for extrasolar planet searches are discussed.
A socio‐cultural theorisation of formative assessment

Formative assessment has attracted increasing attention from both practitioners and scholars over the last decade. This paper draws on the authors’ empirical research conducted over eleven years in educational situations ranging from infant schools to postgraduate education to propose a theorisation of formative assessment. Formative assessment is seen as taking place when teachers and learners seek to respond to student work, making judgements about what is good learning with a view to improving that learning. However, the theorisation emphasises formative assessment as being a discursive social practice, involving dialectical, sometimes conflictual, processes. These bring into play issues of power in which learners’ and teachers’ identities are implicated and what counts as legitimate knowledge is framed by institutional discourses and summative assessment demands. The paper argues that, rather than only paying attention to the content of learning, an ambition for formative assessment might be to deconstruct these contextual issues, allowing a critical consideration of learning as a wider process of becoming. The article suggests a model that might be useful to teachers and learners in achieving this.
Proteomics analysis of plasma for potential biomarkers in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease

The objective of this study was to search for biological markers associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Plasma specimens obtained from ten pathologically diagnosed AD patients and ten non‐demented (ND) control subjects were analyzed by a combination of 2‐DE and MS. This strategy allowed us to identify six plasma proteins (alpha‐1‐antitrypsin, vitamin D‐binding protein, inter‐alpha‐trypsin inhibitor family heavy chain‐related protein, apolipoprotein J precursor, cAMP‐dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit alpha 1, and an orf) whose 2‐DE spot densities were different between the AD and ND groups. Due to their involvements in AD amyloid plaque formation, the plasma concentrations of alpha‐1‐antitrypsin and apolipoprotein J were further validated using either ELISA or Western blot. The results revealed that the plasma levels of alpha‐1‐antitrypsin in AD were higher than those of controls, confirming the 2‐DE findings. However, no difference in total apolipoprotein J concentration was observed between the AD and ND groups. Considering the difference in resolving power to differentially quantitate protein isoforms provided by 2‐DE and Western blot, 2‐DE analysis combined with MS protein identification offers distinctive advantages when a disease‐related protein isoform‐specific variance is investigated.
Selection analysis on the rapid evolution of a secondary sexual trait

Evolutionary analyses of population translocations (experimental or accidental) have been important in demonstrating speed of evolution because they subject organisms to abrupt environmental changes that create an episode of selection. However, the strength of selection in such studies is rarely measured, limiting our understanding of the evolutionary process. This contrasts with long-term, mark–recapture studies of unmanipulated populations that measure selection directly, yet rarely reveal evolutionary change. Here, we present a study of experimental evolution of male colour in Trinidadian guppies where we tracked both evolutionary change and individual-based measures of selection. Guppies were translocated from a predator-rich to a low-predation environment within the same stream system. We used a combination of common garden experiments and monthly sampling of individuals to measure the phenotypic and genetic divergence of male coloration between ancestral and derived fish. Results show rapid evolutionary increases in orange coloration in both populations (1 year or three generations), replicating the results of previous studies. Unlike previous studies, we linked this evolution to an individual-based analysis of selection. By quantifying individual reproductive success and survival, we show, for the first time, that males with more orange and black pigment have higher reproductive success, but males with more black pigment also have higher risk of mortality. The net effect of selection is thus an advantage of orange but not black coloration, as reflected in the evolutionary response. This highlights the importance of considering all components of fitness when understanding the evolution of sexually selected traits in the wild.
Text Messaging and IM

While instant messaging (IM) via computers is well entrenched in the United States, text messaging on mobile phones is a more recent technology in America. To investigate the emergence of American texting, this study compared text messages and IMs produced by American college students with respect to transmission length, emoticons and lexical shortenings, and sentential punctuation. We examine our findings in light of other statistical studies of texting and IM, and with respect to personal computer use in the United States that predates text messaging.
Transcriptional Synergy and the Regulation of Ucp1 during Brown Adipocyte Induction in White Fat Depots

ABSTRACT Induction of brown adipocytes in white fat depots by adrenergic stimulation is a complex genetic trait in mice that affects the ability of the animal to regulate body weight. An 80-fold difference in expression of the mitochondrial uncoupling gene (Ucp1) at the mRNA and protein levels between A/J and C57BL/6J (B6) mice is controlled by allelic interactions among nine quantitative trait loci (QTLs) on eight chromosomes. Overlapping patterns of these QTLs also regulate expression levels of Pgc-1α, Pparα, and type 2 deiodinase. Independent validation that PPARα is associated with Ucp1 induction was obtained by treating mice with the PPARα agonist clofibrate, but not from the analysis of PPARα knockout mice. The most upstream sites of regulation for Ucp1 that differed between A/J and B6 were the phosphorylation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase and CREB and then followed by downstream changes in levels of mRNA for PPARγ, PPARα, PGC-1α, and type 2 deiodinase. However, compared to Ucp1 expression, the two- to fourfold differences in the expression of these regulatory components are very modest. It is proposed that small variations in the levels of several transcriptional components of the Ucp1 enhanceosome interact synergistically to achieve large differences in Ucp1 expression.
The effects of cognitive competence and anxiety on depression in an elderly sample: A Clinical Assessment Scales for the Elderly (CASE) data analysis

The Effects of Cognitive Competence and Anxiety on Depression in an Elderly Sample: A Clinical Assessment Scales for the Elderly (CASE) Data Analysis. (August 2007) Kelly Gene Arnemann, B.A., Knox College; M.S., Barry University Co-Chairs of Advisory Committee: Dr. Michael Duffy Dr. Cecil Reynolds This study investigates the impact of selfand other-report cognitive competence, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive behaviors on depression using a population sample from the archival data of the Clinical Assessment Scales of the Elderly (CASE). Structural Equation Modeling was used to test predictions of the abovementioned variables. Participants were a matched self-and other-report subset (N=123) of the CASE standardization sample (N=2,000). Structural equation modeling was used to test predictions. The results revealed that age does not predict self-report cognitive competence or other-report cognitive competence. A small covariance (0.42) was found between the errors of self-report cognitive competence and other-report cognitive competence. The data reports self-report depression mediates both self-report anxiety and self-report obsessive compulsive behaviors. Statistically significant large effects were found between self-report cognitive competence and all variables; self-report anxiety (0.72), self-report depression (0.62), and self-report obsessive compulsive behaviors (0.71). Moderate to large effects were found for other-report cognitive competence and all variables; other-report anxiety (.063), other-report depression (0.63), and other-report