Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
THE SECRET AGENT SOCIETY SOCIAL SKILLS PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN WITH HIGH-FUNCTIONING AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS: A COMPARISON OF TWO SCHOOL VARIANTS

School is often considered an ideal setting for child social skills training due to the opportunities it provides for skills teaching, modeling, and practice. The current study evaluated the effectiveness of two variants of the Secret Agent Society social skills program for children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (HFASD) in a mainstream school context. Sixty-nine students aged 7–12 took part in one of two different 10-week versions of the program (structured versus unstructured) to determine their relative effectiveness. Results suggested that both program variants led to improvements in emotion regulation abilities, social skills, and behavior at school and home, maintained at 6-week follow-up. However, the structured intervention generally led to superior treatment outcomes. These results suggest that improvements in social–emotional functioning can be achieved for students with HFASD through time-limited school-based interventions. Limitations of this study and directions for future research are discussed.
Using Avatars to Study Social Cognition in Cross-cultural Psychology and High-functioning Autism

Over the last 20 years, virtual avatars have become a popular research tool in psychology and neuroscience for studying social cognition. As opposed to photographs or movie recordings of actual human beings, avatars allow for the precise control over all aspects of the stimulus, ranging from the avatar's gaze and movement behavior to its physical appearance, such as age, gender, or ethnicity (Vogeley & Bente, 2010). Additionally, avatars have made it possible to create interactive paradigms that enable the study of social interactions in real-time (Wilms et al., 2010). Benefitting from this recent development, the present thesis set out to use avatars to study social cognition in two areas: cross-cultural psychology and high-functioning autism. The unifying connection between the four studies combined in this thesis is that they all rely on specific advantages offered by avatars and that they could not have been conducted without them. As a whole, the aim of the present thesis is to advance knowledge in two major fields of social cognition—cross-cultural psychology and high-functioning autism—by using virtual avatars. Study 1 assessed the validity of social avatars as a research tool. Study 2 focused on cross-cultural differences in trust. Study 3 and Study 4 investigated whether two core abilities of social cognition—detection of direct gaze and perception of attractiveness—are impaired in individuals with high-functioning autism.
From Consultation to Application: Practical Solutions for Improving Maternal and Neonatal Outcomes for Adolescent Aboriginal Mothers at a Local Level

Adolescent pregnancy has been typically linked to a range of adverse outcomes for mother and child. In Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have a higher proportion of adolescent births compared with other adolescent Australian women, and are at greater risk of poorer psychosocial and clinical outcomes if they are not well supported during pregnancy and beyond. Drawing on existing literature and consultations with young Aboriginal women and health professionals supporting pregnant Aboriginal women in Western Australia, this paper discusses the importance of creating models of antenatal care using a “social determinants of health” framework. Destigmatizing young parenthood and providing continuity of caregiver in culturally safe services, with culturally competent health professionals provides a means to encourage engagement with the health system and improve health outcomes for young mothers and their babies.
Effect of Different Dietary n-6 to n-3 Fatty Acid Ratios on the Performance and Fatty Acid Composition in Muscles of Broiler Chickens

The objective of this study was to investigate the different dietary ratios of n-6 to n-3 (n-6/n-3) fatty acid (FA) on performance and n-6/n-3 FA in muscles of broiler chickens. A total of 300 one-day-old Cobb chicks were randomly assigned to 3 treatments of 10 replicates in each (10 birds/replicate). Birds were fed on a corn-soybean meal-based diet containing 1% oil during starter (day 1 to 21) and 2% oil during finisher (day 22 to 39) phases, respectively. Treatments of high, medium and low dietary n-6/n-3 FA were formulated by replacing rice bran oil with linseed oil to achieve n-6/n-3 FA close to >20:1, 10:1 and 5:1, respectively. Average daily gain, average daily feed intake, and feed conversion ratio were similar (p>0.05) among the treatments. Serum glucose, cholesterol and triglycerides concentrations were not affected (p>0.05) by dietary treatments. In breast, concentration of C18:3n-3 was significantly greater (p = 0.001) for medium and low vs high n-6/n-3 FA, while concentrations of C20:5n-3, C22:6n-3, total n-3 FA, and n-6/n-3 FA were significantly higher for low vs medium, and medium vs high dietary n-6/n-3 FA. In contrast, concentrations of C18:2 and mono-unsaturated FA (MUFA) were lower for low vs high dietary n-6/n-3 FA. In thigh muscles, concentrations of C20:5n-3 were higher (p<0.05) for medium and low vs high dietary n-6/n-3 FA, and concentrations of C18:3n-3, C22:6, and n-3 FA were greater (p<0.05) for medium vs high, low vs medium dietary n-6/n-3 FA. However, concentrations of C18:1, MUFA, n-6/n-3 were lower (p<0.05) for low and medium vs high dietary n-6/n-3 FA. In conclusion, lowering the dietary n-6/n-3 FA did not affect the performance of chickens, but enhanced beneficial long-chain n-3 FA and decreased n-6/n-3 FA in chicken breast and thigh, which could be advantageous for obtaining healthy chicken products.
Registration using the 3-D pseudo-polar Fourier transform

This paper introduces an algorithm for the registration of rotated and translated volumes using the 3-D pseudo-polar Fourier transform, which accurately computes the Fourier transform of the registered volumes on a near-spherical 3-D domain without using interpolation. We propose a three-step procedure. The first estimates the rotation axis. The second computes the planar rotation relative to the rotation axis, and the third recovers the translational displacement. The rotation estimation is based on Euler’s theorem, which allows to represent a 3-D rotation as a planar rotation around a 3-D rotation axis. This axis is accurately recovered by the 3-D pseudo-polar Fourier transform using radial integrations. The residual planar rotation is computed by an extension of the angular difference function [1] to cylindrical motion. Experimental results show that the algorithm is accurate and robust to noise.
Computer-assisted measurement of retinal vascular width and tortuosity in retinopathy of prematurity.

OBJECTIVES To validate the accuracy of ROPtool software in measuring retinal vascular width and tortuosity in a large image set compared with expert diagnoses. METHODS Tortuosity and dilation indexes generated by ROPtool were compared with 3 expert consensus grades of normal, pre-plus, or plus disease for 368 quadrants in 92 RetCam (Clarity Medical Systems, Pleasanton, California) fundus images. Sensitivity and specificity of ROPtool software in diagnosing tortuosity and dilation sufficient for plus and pre-plus disease were calculated. These measures were compared with individual accuracies of 3 experienced pediatric ophthalmologists. RESULTS The mean tortuosity indexes for expert-diagnosed categories of normal, pre-plus, and plus disease were 7.04, 18.73, and 34.62, respectively (P < .001), and the mean dilation indexes were 9.63, 12.05, and 13.61, respectively (P < .001). When optimal tortuosity and dilation index thresholds (from receiver operating characteristic curves) were applied, resultant sensitivity and specificity were 0.913 and 0.863, respectively, for plus tortuosity and 0.782 and 0.840, respectively, for plus dilation. These values were comparable to the performance of examiners judged against the same expert panel. CONCLUSION ROPtool version 2.1. 5 accurately measures tortuosity and dilation of posterior pole blood vessels in RetCam images, corresponding well with expert diagnostic categories of normal, pre-plus, and plus disease and performing comparably to experienced examiners.
Expectativa e Satisfação dos Alunos de Ciências Contábeis com Relação às Competências Docentes

O tema de competências docentes vem sendo muito discutido no meio acadêmico. Especificamente na área contábil seu aprimoramento se acentua com as recentes alterações na legislação societária brasileira de 2007 e a convergência com as normas internacionais. Também é vivenciada nos últimos anos a expansão do ensino superior brasileiro refletindo mudanças nas IES. Neste cenário, é preocupante a qualidade do ensino oferecido aos futuros profissionais que vem sendo mais exigidos pelo mercado. Neste contexto a presente pesquisa tem o objetivo de avaliar o grau de satisfação e expectativa dos estudantes do curso de Ciências Contábeis com relação às competências docentes. Foi aplicado um questionário nos alunos das instituições: UFPR, UTFPR e UFMG. Foram obtidas 202 respostas validadas por meio da AFE e Alfa de Cronbach. As respostas indicam alunos regularmente satisfeitos (4,76) com seus docentes, porém suas expectativas são superiores as vivenciadas no curso (7,20). As competências do trabalho em equipe entre docentes e a criatividade são os pontos pior avaliados na ótica satisfação, enquanto a ética é a melhor avaliada. Com relação às expectativas, é mais esperado pelos discentes o pleno domínio do conteúdo. A amostra é maçicamente jovem e são do gênero feminino. As mulheres estão mais satisfeitas e esperam mais de seus docentes. Com relação às IES, as expectativas são similares e a satisfação possui diferença estatística significativa, com os alunos da UTFPR mais satisfeitos e os da UFMG e UFPR menos.
The Effects of Family Status on Applicants' Hiring Likelihood in Iceland

English Important qualities are evaluated when applicants are selected for a job. Despite that people who are excellently qualified are for some reason sometimes not recruited. Recent studies have demonstrated discrimination against women, when it comes to age and family status, as concerns getting a job. The main purpose of this study was to measure whether family status, age and gender affects the likelihood of getting a job, as well as the effects of these three qualities on the offered salary. It was hypothesized that women aged 37, with children are more likely hired than women aged 27, without children. Likewise, women aged 27, with children are more likely hired than women aged 37, with children. Also, no discrimination against men was to be found. A total of 456 participated and 153 of them had hiring or managerial experience. The study was an experimental survey design. None of the hypotheses were supported. Other results added support for the discrimination against younger women without children. Discrimination against older men and men with children was found, which has not been found before. Further research is needed on this subject.
Social influence and end-user training

axiom that user training is a key element in MIS success [3, 16]. Included among positive outcomes afforded by user training are improved user attitudes, behavior, and performance. Although the typical focus of training programs is their technical content, many practit ioners have demonstrated that social factors could be instrumental in the target system’s success or failure. Indeed, it is recommended that researchers examine how methods of training can enhance motivation to learn and use software [3, 16, 17]. Unfortunately, there is little or no literature that includes actual manipulation of such “soft” variables [16]. The study presented in this article provides such manipulation. More specifically, we wanted to discover the extent to which training outcomes such as attitudes, behavior, and performance are influenced by peers through informal, verbal, word-of-mouth (WOM) communication, rather than derived solely through direct experience or formal channels. This article reports on a deception experiment that employed confederates in three experimental groups.
Understanding Institutions and Logics of Appropriateness: Introductory Essay

This section (1) presents three landmark articles that are part of a research agenda launched more than twenty years ago. Then, “The New Institutionalism: Organizational Factors in Political Life” invited a reappraisal of how political institutions could be conceptualized, to what degree institutions have independent and endurable implications, the kinds of political phenomena they impact, the mechanisms through which they do so, and the processes through which institutions emerge, are maintained, and change. “The new institutionalism” offers a perspective on how political life is organized, functions and changes in contemporary democracies. The term includes a set of theoretical ideas, assumptions and hypotheses concerning the relations among institutional characteristics, political agency, performance, and institutional change, and the wider social context of politics. In contrast with an older institutionalism that used formal-legal rules as proxies for political action, the new institutionalism is behavioral. Theoretical ideas are required to be consistent with empirical observations. The institutional approach supplements and competes with two other interpretations of democratic politics and government. First, a rational actor perspective which sees political life as organized by exchange among calculating, self-interested actors maximizing their expected utility. Second, a society-centered perspective that sees political institutions and behavior as arising from societal forces, rather than society being governed by politics. One version gives primacy to macro economic, technological, and social change. Another interprets politics as organized by shared world-views in a community of culture, history and fate. (1) "Understanding Institutions and Logics of Appropriateness: Introductory Essay" will appear in James G. March: "Understanding Organizations". Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2008
Number and Distribution of Mouse Retinal Cone Photoreceptors: Differences between an Albino (Swiss) and a Pigmented (C57/BL6) Strain

We purpose here to analyze and compare the population and topography of cone photoreceptors in two mouse strains using automated routines, and to design a method of retinal sampling for their accurate manual quantification. In whole-mounted retinas from pigmented C57/BL6 and albino Swiss mice, the longwave-sensitive (L) and the shortwave-sensitive (S) opsins were immunodetected to analyze the population of each cone type. In another group of retinas both opsins were detected with the same fluorophore to quantify all cones. In a third set of retinas, L-opsin and Brn3a were immunodetected to determine whether L-opsin+cones and retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) have a parallel distribution. Cones and RGCs were automatically quantified and their topography illustrated with isodensity maps. Our results show that pigmented mice have a significantly higher number of total cones (all-cones) and of L-opsin+cones than albinos which, in turn, have a higher population of S-opsin+cones. In pigmented animals 40% of cones are dual (cones that express both opsins), 34% genuine-L (cones that only express the L-opsin), and 26% genuine-S (cones that only express the S-opsin). In albinos, 23% of cones are genuine-S and the proportion of dual cones increases to 76% at the expense of genuine-L cones. In both strains, L-opsin+cones are denser in the central than peripheral retina, and all-cones density increases dorso-ventrally. In pigmented animals S-opsin+cones are scarce in the dorsal retina and very numerous in the ventral retina, being densest in its nasal aspect. In albinos, S-opsin+cones are abundant in the dorsal retina, although their highest densities are also ventral. Based on the densities of each cone population, we propose a sampling method to manually quantify and infer their total population. In conclusion, these data provide the basis to study cone degeneration and its prevention in pathologic conditions.
Physical activity and quality of life in multiple sclerosis: Intermediary roles of disability, fatigue, mood, pain, self-efficacy and social support

Physical activity has been associated with a small improvement in quality of life (QOL) among those with multiple sclerosis (MS). This relationship may be indirect and operate through factors such as disability, fatigue, mood, pain, self-efficacy and social support. The present study examined variables that might account for the relationship between physical activity and QOL in a sample (N = 292) of individuals with a definite diagnosis of MS. The participants wore an accelerometer for 7 days and then completed self-report measures of physical activity, QOL, disability, fatigue, mood, pain, self-efficacy and social support. The data were analysed using covariance modelling in Mplus 3.0. The model provided an excellent fit for the data (χ 2 = 51.33, df = 18, p < 0.001, standardised root mean squared residual = 0.03, comparative fit index = 0.98). Those who were more physically active reported lower levels of disability (γ = −0.50), depression (γ = −0.31), fatigue (γ = −0.46) and pain (γ = −0.19) and higher levels of social support (γ = 0.20), self-efficacy for managing MS (γ = 0.41), and self-efficacy for regular physical activity (γ = 0.49). In turn, those who reported lower levels of depression (β = −0.37), anxiety (β = −0.15), fatigue (β = −0.16) and pain (β = −0.08) and higher levels of social support (β = 0.26) and self-efficacy for controlling MS (β = 0.17) reported higher levels of QOL. The observed pattern of relationships supports the possibility that physical activity is indirectly associated with improved QOL in individuals with MS via depression, fatigue, pain, social support and self-efficacy for managing MS.
Genotype Frequencies of Polymorphic GSTM1, GSTT1, and Cytochrome P450 CYP1A1 in Mexicans

ABSTRACT The genotype frequencies of three metabolic polymorphisms were determined in a sample of a typical community in central Mexico. CYP1A1*3, GSTM1, and GSTT1 polymorphisms were studied in 150 donors born in Mexico and with Mexican ascendants; with respect to ethnicity the subjects can be considered Mestizos. PCR reactions were used to amplify specific fragments of the selected genes from genomic DNA. An unexpected 56.7% frequency of the CYP1A1*3 allele (which depends on the presence of a Val residue in the 462 position of the enzyme, instead of Ile) was found, the highest described for open populations of different ethnic origins (i.e., Caucasian, Asian, African, or African American). The GSTM1 null genotype was found with a frequency of 42.6%, which is not different from other ethnicities, whereas the GSTT1 null genotype had a frequency of 9.3%, one of the lowest described for any ethnic group but comparable to the frequency found in India (9.7%). The frequency of the combined genotype CYP1A1*3/*3 and the GSTM1 null allele is one of the highest observed to date (or perhaps the highest): 13.7% among all the ethnicities studied, including Caucasians and Asians, whereas the combination of CYP1A1*3/*3 with the GSTT1 null allele reached only 2.8%. The GSTM1 null allele combined with the GSTT1 null allele, on the other hand, has one of the lowest frequencies described, 4.24%, comparable to the frequencies found in African Americans and Indians. Finally, the combined CYP1A1*3/*3, GSTM1 null allele, and GSTT1 null allele genotype could not be found in the sample studied; it is assumed that the frequency of carriers of these combined genotypes is less than 1%. CYP1A1*3 and CYP1A1*2 polymorphisms were also evaluated in 50 residents in a community of northern Mexico; the CYP1A1*3 frequency was 54%, similar to that found in the other community studied, and the CYP1A1*2 frequency was 40%, which is high compared to Caucasians and Asians but comparable to the frequency found in Japanese and lower than the frequency found in Mapuche Indians. Haplotype frequencies for these CYP1A1 polymorphisms were estimated, and a linkage disequilibrium value (D) of 0.137 was calculated.
A 165-Gb/s 4:1 multiplexer in InP DHBT technology

This paper presents a 4:1 multiplexer fabricated in InP DHBT technology. The multiplexer works up to 165 Gb/s. At 165 Gb/s, the chip operates at -3.2 V supply voltage and consumes 1.6 W. It is a half-rate multiplexer using a multi-phase clock architecture. The main design challenges were timing margins between clock and data.
AIDS-Related Behaviour Change, Knowledge and Opinions among First Year University Students.

This study examines knowledge about HIV transmission, opinions about AIDS-related social issues and concern about contracting AIDS among a group of first-year university students. Relationships with self-reported changes in sexual behaviour are described. Knowledge of transmission modes was high and most participants reported considering themselves well-informed. Halfclaimed that they practised "safer sex" but less than one-third discussed AIDS with partners. Among participants reporting higher frequency of sexual intercourse and multiple partners, there was only a marginal increase in more appropriate sexual practices. Participants reporting no concern about contracting AIDS were less likely to change their behaviour. Implications for AIDS education and broad counselling strategies in universities and colleges are briefly described.