Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effect of stress on hedonic capacity.

Two experiments were conducted to examine the effect of stress on hedonic capacity. In Experiment 1, cadets in the U.S. Army Reserve Officer Training Corps reported experiencing less pleasure while watching amusing film clips after participating in a weekend of field training exercises than they did on a control day. In Experiment 2, college students reported experiencing less pleasure in their daily activities during final exam week than they did at the baseline assessment. Hedonic capacity was associated with positive affect but not with negative affect or reported stress levels. The deleterious effect of stress on hedonic capacity was particularly strong for subjects with family histories of depression.
Somatization: A Transcultural Perspective

The term ‘somatization' carries a wide range of meanings and its use in transcultural psychiatry needs to be placed in context. Somatic presentations of psychiatric disorders are common in all ethnic groups; particularly high rates are reported in non-Western cultures and among ethnic minority groups in the West. An analysis of the language of emotion in different cultures indicates three basic modes of expression: somatic sensations, somatic metaphor, and abstract psychological language. Examples of all three modes can also be found in ancient literature, such as the Hebrew Bible and the epics of Homer. The absence of specific words for depression or anxiety is not associated with any lack of psychological-mindedness. Transcultural research in psychiatry needs to pay close attention to methodological issues to avoid ethnocentric bias. Currently-available instruments for cross-cultural research on somatic symptoms are reviewed. These have been used to examine the extent of cultural differences in the expe.
Identification and Functional Analysis of Light-Responsive Unique Genes and Gene Family Members in Rice

Functional redundancy limits detailed analysis of genes in many organisms. Here, we report a method to efficiently overcome this obstacle by combining gene expression data with analysis of gene-indexed mutants. Using a rice NSF45K oligo-microarray to compare 2-week-old light- and dark-grown rice leaf tissue, we identified 365 genes that showed significant 8-fold or greater induction in the light relative to dark conditions. We then screened collections of rice T-DNA insertional mutants to identify rice lines with mutations in the strongly light-induced genes. From this analysis, we identified 74 different lines comprising two independent mutant lines for each of 37 light-induced genes. This list was further refined by mining gene expression data to exclude genes that had potential functional redundancy due to co-expressed family members (12 genes) and genes that had inconsistent light responses across other publicly available microarray datasets (five genes). We next characterized the phenotypes of rice lines carrying mutations in ten of the remaining candidate genes and then carried out co-expression analysis associated with these genes. This analysis effectively provided candidate functions for two genes of previously unknown function and for one gene not directly linked to the tested biochemical pathways. These data demonstrate the efficiency of combining gene family-based expression profiles with analyses of insertional mutants to identify novel genes and their functions, even among members of multi-gene families.
Benefits of CMM-Based Software Process Improvement: Initial Results

Abstract : Data from 13 organizations were collected and analyzed to obtain information on the results of CMM-based software process improvement efforts. We report the cost and business value of improvement efforts, as well as the yearly improvement in productivity, early defect detection, time to market, and post- release defect reports. Improvement efforts and results in five organizations are reported in more depth in case studies. In addition, technical issues that we confronted as we tried to measure the results of software process improvement are discussed. We end with conclusions about the results of SPI efforts. Business value, Defect prevention, Capability maturity model for software, Productivity, Case studies, Software process improvement
Early Adolescents’ Participation in Bullying: Is ToM Involved?

The present study investigated the role of theory of mind (ToM) skills in three forms of involvement in bullying: ringleader bullying, defending the victim(s), and victimization. Individual (affective empathy) and interpersonal variables (social preference and perceived popularity) were assumed to moderate the associations between ToM and the ways of being involved in bullying. Moderation effects by gender were also explored. Participants were 211 primary school pupils (average age = 10 years and 2 months, SD = 6 months), who took part in a ToM interview and filled in self- and peer-report questionnaires on empathy, social status, and involvement in bullying. ToM skills were positively linked to defending, and among boys this association was further strengthened by social preference. Practical implications include the need to focus on both peer relationships (i.e., status) and emotional characteristics (i.e., empathy) when trying to motivate youth with good cognitive skills to actively defend their victimized classmates.
Auditory-Visual Integration, Auditory Memory, and Reading in Retarded and Adequate Readers

This study investigated the nature of the inferior performance of retarded readers on auditory-visual integration tests. Because retarded readers have difficulty processing temporal stimuli, it was hypothesized that a memory deficit might be related to the auditory-visual integration inferiority. Thirty retarded readers were compared with 30 adequate readers on the visual, auditory, and memory skills underlying auditory-visual integration, and on tests of auditory-visual integration which made varying demands upon memory. The two groups differed significantly on auditory memory tests and on all auditory-visual integration tests. In contrast to the adequate readers, the performance of the retarded readers deteriorated sharply as memory demands increased. A short-term auditory sequential memory deficit appears to be a major factor in the inferior auditory-visual integration performance of retarded readers.
Interreligious Contact, Perceived Group Threat, and Perceived Discrimination

This study examines the relationship between interreligious contact and negative attitudes toward the religious outgroup among minority Christians and majority Muslims in Indonesia. It answers two research questions: Does interreligious contact reduce negative outgroup attitudes equally for minority Christians and majority Muslims? Are mediation by perceived group threat and moderation by perceived discrimination equally important for religious minorities and majorities? The analysis is based on unique survey data collected from among Christian and Muslim students in Ambon (the Moluccas) and Yogyakarta (central Java). Results show that a higher quantity of interreligious contact reduces negative outgroup attitudes among majority Muslims but not among minority Christians. However, the quality of contact reduces negative attitudes regardless of relative group size. Perceived group threat is an important mediator of the contact-attitude relationship and is equally so for Christians and Muslims. Findings suggest that perceived discrimination does not affect the relationship between interreligious contact and negative attitudes.
Research on the change of complex refractive index of porcine muscle during natural dehydration

Abstract. The physical changes of tissue are complicated to evaluate during optical clearing (OC) treatment. Monitoring the changes of optical parameters, including the complex refractive index (CRI), helps people better understand the OC process. From the imaginary part of CRI, we can deduce the extinction coefficient of tissue. Based on the total internal reflection method, the time-dependent CRI of porcine muscle during natural dehydration is well determined. Results show that the real RI increases continuously with the increase of dehydration time, whereas the extinction coefficient initially increases and then decreases. Finally, the extinction coefficient becomes much smaller than the initial value, which demonstrates that better tissue optical clarity is obtained. The change tendency of the extinction coefficient of tissue is used to qualitatively explain the dynamic change of transmittance of a natural dehydrated tissue. Consequently, CRI, especially its imaginary part, is a very useful optical parameter by which to evaluate the OC effect.
Improving women's representation in senior positions in universities

Purpose – The overall purpose of the paper is to understand the barriers to women's progression to senior positions in universities. It aims to explore similarities and differences between the career experiences and leadership styles of men and women in middle‐ and senior‐level positions at one university. The ultimate aim is to identify interventions to help create a more equal gender balance at senior levels.Design/methodology/approach – A mixed methods approach was adopted. In‐depth interviews were conducted with a quota sample of 53 men and women in order to explore their lived career experiences. In addition, 50 questionnaires were received from the same sample in order to compare factual data about the participants' life histories and biographical circumstances.Findings – The findings show that women's human capital and career progression to date are at least equal to those of men and that this has been achieved without women sacrificing a holistic family life. They also show that there are still so.
Repeatable Local Coordinate Frames for 3D Human Motion Tracking: From Rigid to Non-rigid

Local coordinate frame (LCF) is a key component deployed in most 3D descriptors for invariant representations of 3D surfaces. This paper addresses the problem of attaching a LCF to non-rigidly deforming objects, in particular humanoid surfaces, with the application of recovering correspondences between the template model and input data for 3D human motion tracking. We facilitate this by extending two current LCF paradigms for rigid surface matching to the non-rigid case. Such an adaptation is motivated by the assumption that interpolating locally rigid movements often amounts to smooth globally non-rigid deformations. Both approaches leverage spatial distributions, based on signed distance and principal component analysis, respectively. Furthermore, we advocate a new strategy that incorporates multiple LCF candidates. This way we relax the requirement of perfectly repeatable LCFs, and yet still achieve improved data-model associations. Ground truth for non-rigid LCFs are synthetically generated by interpolating locally-rigidly transformed LCFs. Therefore, the proposed methods can be evaluated extensively in terms of repeatability of LCFs, robustness on estimating correspondences, and accuracy of final tracking results. All the experiments demonstrate the benefits of the proposed methods with respect to the state-of-the-art.
Auditory steady-state responses and speech feature discrimination in infants.

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to determine whether there was a correlation between auditory steady-state responses (ASSRs) for complex toneburst stimuli and speech feature discrimination (SFD) abilities in young infants. STUDY SAMPLE Seventeen infants (mean age = 9.4 months) and 21 adults (mean age = 27 years) with normal hearing had ASSR and SFD tests. DATA COLLECTION The ASSR test employed an eight-component complex toneburst stimulus; threshold and input-output functions were determined as level was systematically varied. The SFD test utilized an observer-based, visual-reinforcement test procedure to determine the infant's ability to detect the speech feature change from /ba/ to /da/. RESULTS The correlation of the group mean /ba/-/da/ discrimination performance (percent correct) with the group mean ASSR score (percent responses present) ranged from r = 0.64 for the 1500 Hz amplitude-modulated and frequency-modulated tone burst to 0.99 for ASSRs for all stimulus components; however, correlations between ASSRs and SFD scores for individual subjects were modest. CONCLUSION The ASSR and SFD results appear to reflect the audibility of the stimuli.
Effects of Propofol on Sodium Channel‐dependent Sodium Influx and Glutamate Release in Rat Cerebrocortical Synaptosomes

Background Previous electrophysiologic studies have implicated voltage‐dependent Na+ channels as a molecular site of action for propofol. This study considered the effects of propofol on Na+ channel‐mediated Na+ influx and neurotransmitter release in rat brain synaptosomes (isolated presynaptic nerve terminals). Methods Purified cerebrocortical synaptosomes from adult rats were used to determine the effects of propofol on Na+ influx through voltage‐dependent Na+ channels (measured using22 Na+) and intracellular [Na+] (measured by ion‐specific spectrofluorimetry). For comparison, the effects of propofol on synaptosomal glutamate release evoked by 4‐aminopyridine (Na+ channel dependent), veratridine (Na (+) channel dependent), and KCl (Na+ channel independent) were studied using enzyme‐coupled fluorimetry. Results Propofol inhibited veratridine‐evoked22 Na+ influx (inhibitory concentration of 50% [IC50] = 46 micro Meter; 8.9 micro Meter free) and changes in intracellular [Na+] (IC50 = 13 micro Meter; 6.3 micro Meter free) in synaptosomes in a dose‐dependent manner. Propofol also inhibited 4‐aminopyridine‐evoked (IC50 = 39 micro Meter; 19 micro Meter free) and veratridine (20 micro Meter)‐evoked (IC (50) = 30 micro Meter; 14 micro Meter free), but not KCl‐evoked (up to 100 micro Meter) glutamate release from synaptosomes. Conclusions Inhibition of Na+ channel‐mediated Na+ influx, increases in intracellular [Na+], and glutamate release occurred in synaptosomes at concentrations of propofol achieved clinically. These results support a role for neuronal voltage‐dependent Na+ channels as a molecular target for presynaptic general anesthetic effects.
Major Antigenic Proteins of the Agent of Human Granulocytic Ehrlichiosis Are Encoded by Members of a Multigene Family

ABSTRACT Western blot analysis of proteins from a cell culture isolate (USG3) of the human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE) agent has identified a number of immunoreactive proteins, including major antigenic proteins of 43 and 45 kDa. Peptides derived from the 43- and 45-kDa proteins were sequenced, and degenerate PCR primers based on these sequences were used to amplify DNA from USG3. Sequencing of a 550-bp PCR product revealed that it encodes a protein homologous to the MSP-2 proteins of Anaplasma marginale. Concurrently, an expression library made from USG3 genomic DNA was screened with granulocytic Ehrlichia (GE)-positive immune sera. Analysis of two clones showed that they contain one partial and three full-length highly related genes, suggesting that they are part of a multigene family. Amino acid alignment showed conserved amino- and carboxy-terminal regions which flank a variable region. The conserved regions of these proteins are also homologous to the MSP-2 proteins of A. marginale; thus, they were designated GE MSP-2A (45 kDa), MSP-2B (34 kDa), and MSP-2C (38 kDa). The PCR fragment obtained as a result of peptide sequencing was completely contained within the msp-2A clone, and all of the sequenced peptides were found in the GE MSP-2 proteins. Recombinant MSP-2B protein and an MSP-2A fusion protein were expressed inEscherichia coli and reacted with human sera positive for the HGE agent by immunofluorescence assay. These data suggest that the 43- and 45-kDa proteins of the HGE agent are encoded by members of the GE MSP-2 multigene family.
Learning Through Participatory Resource Management Programs: Case Studies From Costa Rica

Based on an ongoing qualitative case study in Costa Rica, this article presents the participatory work that the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) is doing with farmers to protect watersheds from erosion and contamination. Specifically, it includes a description of ICE's Watershed Management Agricultural Programme and how farmers participate in it and a qualitative analysis of the kind of learning that participants are experiencing. ICE uses collaborative and hands-on activities to raise awareness and promote alternative environmentally sustainable farming practices and technologies. These activities result in instrumental and communicative learning as found in transformative learning theory. The instrumental learning that occurs includes acquiring skills and information, determining cause–effect relationships, and task-oriented problem solving. The communicative learning that occurs includes understanding values, concepts, and others' points of view. In conclusion, the learning that occurred resulted in transformations in the conditions of life that promoted sustainability.
An Information-theoretic Framework for Visualization

In this paper, we examine whether or not information theory can be one of the theoretic frameworks for visualization. We formulate concepts and measurements for qualifying visual information. We illustrate these concepts with examples that manifest the intrinsic and implicit use of information theory in many existing visualization techniques. We outline the broad correlation between visualization and the major applications of information theory, while pointing out the difference in emphasis and some technical gaps. Our study provides compelling evidence that information theory can explain a significant number of phenomena or events in visualization, while no example has been found which is fundamentally in conflict with information theory. We also notice that the emphasis of some traditional applications of information theory, such as data compression or data communication, may not always suit visualization, as the former typically focuses on the efficient throughput of a communication channel, whilst the latter focuses on the effectiveness in aiding the perceptual and cognitive process for data understanding and knowledge discovery. These findings suggest that further theoretic developments are necessary for adopting and adapting information theory for visualization.
An Observational Study of the Assimilation of the Newcomer to the Preschool.

FELDBAUM, CRAIG L. ; CmuSTENSON, TERRY E. ; and O'NEAL, EDGAR C. An Observational Study of the Assimilation of the Newcomer to the Preschool. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1980, 51, 497507. This study sought to distinguish between the behaviors of children entering relatively stable preschool groups (6 males, 6 females) and those of their host classmates, and to trace a particularly visible aspect of assimilation into the group: the process by which new children come to approximate host frequencies of interaction and social participation. A sequential timesampling procedure was employed to obtain behavioral data on both newcomers and host children in free play during the newcomer's first 4 weeks in the class. During their initial week, newcomers exhibited significantly higher levels of spatial isolation and off-task behaviors, and even when on task their activities were seldom synchronous with those of their classmates. Their host classmates engaged in more parallel play, verbalizing to peers, and cooperative play (activities generally requiring proximity, communication, mutual goal orientation, division of labor, and synchronization with the activities of other children). Reliable newcomer sex differences in teacher orientation were evident at entry: new females displayed higher levels than their male counterparts, who were low relative to both female newcomers and host children of both sexes. Male newcomers appeared selectively responsive to their same-sex peers. These differences in orientation are discussed as a possible factor in the differential rate of behavioral assimilation: by week 4, male newcomers had essentially approximated host levels of interaction, whereas female newcomers remained spatially isolated, objectoriented, and engaged in high levels of on-task behaviors which were not synchronous with the activities of their peers.
The Escherichia coli Common Pilus and the Bundle-Forming Pilus Act in Concert during the Formation of Localized Adherence by Enteropathogenic E. coli

ABSTRACT Although the bundle-forming pilus (BFP) of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) mediates microcolony formation on epithelial cells, the adherence of BFP-deficient mutants is significantly abrogated, but the mutants are still adherent due to the presence of intimin and possibly other adhesins. In this study we investigated the contribution of the recently described E. coli common pilus (ECP) to the overall adherence properties of EPEC. We found that ECP and BFP structures can be simultaneously observed in the course (between zero time and 7 h during infection) of formation of localized adherence on cultured epithelial cells. These two pilus types colocalized at different levels of the microcolony topology, tethering the adhering bacteria. No evidence of BFP disappearance was found after prolonged infection. When expressed from a plasmid present in nonadherent E. coli HB101, ECP rendered this organism highly adherent at levels comparable to those of HB101 expressing the BFP. Purified ECP bound in a dose-dependent manner to epithelial cells, and the binding was blocked with anti-ECP antibodies, confirming that the pili possess adhesin properties. An ECP mutant showed only a modest reduction in adherence to cultured cells due to background expression levels of BFP and intimin. However, isogenic mutants not expressing EspA or BFP were significantly less adherent when the ecpA gene was also deleted. Furthermore, a ΔespA ΔecpA double mutant (unable to translocate Tir and to establish intimate adhesion) was at least 10-fold less adherent than the ΔespA and ΔecpA single mutants, even in the presence of BFP. A Δbfp ΔespA ΔecpA triple mutant showed the least adherence compared to the wild type and all the isogenic mutant strains tested, suggesting that ECP plays a synergistic role in adherence. Our data indicate that ECP is an accessory factor that, in association with BFP and other adhesins, contributes to the multifactorial complex interaction of EPEC with host epithelial cells.