Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Erich Fromm's analytic social psychology : testing the relationships among cooperation, aggression and trait biophilia

Erich Fromm’s biophilia, a theory of personality development incorporating an interaction between existential needs and the socio-economic environment, was a significant element of Fromm’s proposed Analytic Social Psychology. Despite an enduring influence, Fromm’s theory of biophilia has been largely untested in the literature. Fromm argued that biophilia was the optimum way to conceptualise malignant aggression, and that the introduction and reward of cooperation was the best way to increase levels of biophilia, and thereby reduce levels of destructive behaviour in a population. It was the aim of this thesis to investigate whether the introduction and reward of cooperation would increase biophilia, and decrease aggression, in a population. In Studies One to Six, a trait biophilia scale was developed and psychometric validity and reliability established. In Studies Seven to Nine, scale predictive validity in comparison to existing trait measures was investigated in theoretically appropriate areas including online behaviour, positive psychology and pro-environmental behaviour. In Study Ten, a game theory paradigm for introducing and rewarding cooperation was developed, and the relationships among biophilia, cooperation and aggression were investigated. Contrary to Fromm’s theory, a positive association between aggression and cooperation, and negative associations between those and biophilia, were found. In addition, the effects of introducing and rewarding cooperation were investigated, and again contrary to Fromm’s theory, introducing and rewarding cooperation produced an increase in aggression and a reduction in biophilia. These findings may reflect an inherent tension within Fromm’s theory between the use of existential needs, that were argued to be the product of competitive natural selection, and the use of cooperative interventions derived from Marxist theory. It is proposed that the relationships among biophilia, cooperation and aggression may be mediated by frustration. Implications for interventions and future research are discussed. 2
Clusterless Decoding of Position from Multiunit Activity Using a Marked Point Process Filter

Point process filters have been applied successfully to decode neural signals and track neural dynamics. Traditionally these methods assume that multiunit spiking activity has already been correctly spike-sorted. As a result, these methods are not appropriate for situations where sorting cannot be performed with high precision, such as real-time decoding for brain-computer interfaces. Because the unsupervised spike-sorting problem remains unsolved, we took an alternative approach that takes advantage of recent insights into clusterless decoding. Here we present a new point process decoding algorithm that does not require multiunit signals to be sorted into individual units. We use the theory of marked point processes to construct a function that characterizes the relationship between a covariate of interest (in this case, the location of a rat on a track) and features of the spike waveforms. In our example, we use tetrode recordings, and the marks represent a four-dimensional vector of the maximum amplitudes of the spike waveform on each of the four electrodes. In general, the marks may represent any features of the spike waveform. We then use Bayes’s rule to estimate spatial location from hippocampal neural activity. We validate our approach with a simulation study and experimental data recorded in the hippocampus of a rat moving through a linear environment. Our decoding algorithm accurately reconstructs the rat’s position from unsorted multiunit spiking activity. We then compare the quality of our decoding algorithm to that of a traditional spike-sorting and decoding algorithm. Our analyses show that the proposed decoding algorithm performs equivalent to or better than algorithms based on sorted single-unit activity. These results provide a path toward accurate real-time decoding of spiking patterns that could be used to carry out content-specific manipulations of population activity in hippocampus or elsewhere in the brain.
Retinal and Circulating miRNAs in Age-Related Macular Degeneration: An In vivo Animal and Human Study

Age related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness among people aged 50 and over. Retinal deposition of amyloid-β (Aβ) aggregates in AMD patients has suggested a potential link between AMD and Alzheimer's disease (AD). We have evaluated the differential retinal expression profile of miRNAs in a rat model of AMD elicited by Aβ. A serum profile of miRNAs in AMD patients has been also assessed using single TaqMan assay. Analysis of retina from rats intravitreally injected with Aβ revealed that miR-27a, miR-146a, and miR-155 were up-regulated in comparison to control rats. Seven miRNA (miR-9, miR-23a, miR-27a, miR-34a, miR-126, miR-146a, and miR-155) have been found to be dysregulated in serum of AMD patients in comparison to control group. Analysis of pathways has revealed that dysregulated miRNAs, both in the AMD animal model and in AMD patients, can target genes regulating pathways linked to neurodegeneration and inflammation, reinforcing the hypothesis that AMD is a protein misfolding disease similar to AD. In fact, miR-9, miR-23a, miR-27a, miR-34a, miR-146a, miR-155 have been found to be dysregulated both in AMD and AD. In conclusion, we suggest that miR-9, miR-23a, miR-27a, miR-34a, miR-146a, miR-155 represent potential biomarkers and new pharmacological targets for AMD.
Employee Reactions to Job Insecurity in a Declining Economy

In the context of the Great Recession, we examined the relationships among perceptions of job insecurity, job embeddedness, and important individual work outcomes. Specifically, we tested the role of job embeddedness as a mediator between job insecurity and the withdrawal outcomes of intention to remain and job search behavior. Results of a longitudinal study of 115 working adults indicated that perceptions of job embeddedness fully mediated the relationship between perceptions of job insecurity and intention to remain and partially mediated job insecurity’s relationship with job search behavior.
Being an Innovative Teacher: Pre-service Teachers’ Conceptions of Technology and Innovation

The purpose of this study was to understand how first-semester, preservice teacher education students understand the concept of innovation including its role in promoting students’ learning and development. Participants included 51 (46 Female, Five Male) students enrolled in an introductory educational psychology course. As part of this course, opportunities were integrated to explore educational technologies and the role technologies play in learning and development. Qualitative data were drawn from a culminating philosophy of teaching statement and journal entries students generated as part of the normal class routine. In this paper we describe emergent themes identified across participants’ understandings of technology (e.g. shared conceptions) and individual differences in preservice teachers understandings of innovation (e.g. unique conceptions). Finally, we present a grounded model of preservice teachers’ perceptions of innovation. Findings are discussed in terms of the larger contexts of preservice teacher education and technology adoption in k-12 settings.
The Concept of Modularity in Management Studies: A Literature Review

During the last decade, modularity has attracted the attention of numerous management scholars, and both theoretical and empirical studies on this topic have flourished. However, this broad-based appeal has generated some controversies and ambiguities on how modularity should be defined, measured and used in managerially meaningful ways. This paper reviews the concept of modularity as a design principle of complex systems in management studies. Applying this criterion, 125 studies were selected and classified, grouped according to their prevalent unit of analysis: products, production systems and organizations. Although all these studies are based on Simon's seminal work on the hierarchical and nearly decomposable nature of complex systems (Simon, H.A. (1962). The architecture of complexity. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 106, 467–482), this paper shows that they offer different definitions, measures and applications of the modularity concept. This review reveals the implicit structure of meanings underlying this literature and emphasizes that ambiguity in definitions and measures impedes rigorous empirical studies capable of understanding the relationship between modularity in product, in production and in organization design. Cautions and directions for future research are discussed.
Central Centrifugal Cicatricial Alopecia: Retrospective Chart Review

Background: Few studies have investigated central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia (CCCA). Thus, our understanding of CCCA is largely based on anecdotal evidence. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate clinical characteristics and hair care practices in CCCA patients. Methods: We conducted a single-center retrospective chart review of patients with a clinicopathologic diagnosis of CCCA. Results: Medical records of 69 patients were reviewed. Of these, 97% were female. The mean ages at onset and presentation were 38.2 and 42.4 years, respectively. All subjects for whom hair care data were available had used a traumatic practice at least once, the most common being chemical relaxer. Family history data were available for 27 subjects (39%). Of these, 56% had a positive family history of hair loss. Seborrheic dermatitis was the leading concurrent diagnosis. Limitations: Limitations include lack of a control group, retrospective design, and selection bias. Conclusions: Our results confirm that CCCA primarily affects adult women of African descent. The majority of patients presented several years after onset, suggesting that efforts to encourage earlier diagnosis are warranted. Although the role of hair care remains unclear, traumatic practices were reported in all patients in our study for whom hair care was documented.
Association between interleukin-1 genotype and periodontal disease in a diabetic population.

BACKGROUND Recently, it has become evident that for many common chronic diseases, modifying factors amplify disease mechanisms to make the clinical condition more severe. The aims of this report were 1) to investigate the prevalence of periodontitis in a diabetic population, 2) to evaluate the association of periodontitis with metabolic control, and 3) to evaluate periodontitis in diabetics with different interleukin (IL)-1 genotypes. METHODS One hundred diabetic patients were screened. Type and duration of diabetes, level of control (glycosylated hemoglobin), and demographic data were recorded. Periodontal disease was defined as two or more teeth with clinical attachment loss (CAL) > or = 5 mm. Poorly controlled diabetes was defined as glycosylated hemoglobin values > 8%. Finger-stick blood samples were collected and analyzed for genotyping of IL-1A (+4845), IL-1B (+3954), IL-1B (-511), and IL-1RN (+2018) polymorphisms. RESULTS Among the diabetic patients in the study, 66% showed periodontal destruction, and 43% of those could be characterized as severe. The prevalence of severe attachment loss increased with decreasing control of diabetes. Only the IL-1B (-511) genotype was found to be associated with periodontal disease in the African American patients (P<0.05). The frequency of allele 1 was 0.77 in periodontitis affected versus 0.33 in healthy African American diabetics. A borderline significant association between IL-1B (+3954) and periodontal disease also was noted in Caribbean periodontal patients (P=0.06); however, the allele 2 frequency in this population was only 10%. CONCLUSIONS These data confirm the high prevalence and severity of periodontitis in the diabetic population, and support the association between poor glycemic control and periodontal disease. The low prevalence of some of the IL-1 gene polymorphisms in the ethnic groups included in this study limits the validity of conclusions on genotype associations with clinical findings, but there was a trend suggesting that allele 1 at IL-1B (-511) and IL-1B (+3954) was overrepresented among diabetics with periodontal disease.
Naltrexone versus acamprosate in the treatment of alcohol dependence: A multi-centre, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

AIM To compare the efficacy of acamprosate and naltrexone in the treatment of alcohol dependence. DESIGN A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. SETTING Three treatment centres in Australia. PARTICIPANTS A total of 169 alcohol dependent subjects were given naltrexone (50 mg/day), acamprosate (1998 mg/day) or placebo for 12 weeks. INTERVENTION All subjects were offered manualized compliance therapy, a brief intervention that targets problems that may affect treatment compliance such as ambivalence and misperceptions about medication. MEASUREMENTS Time to the first drink, time to first relapse, drinks per drinking day and cumulative abstinence. FINDINGS In intention-to-treat analyses, there were no differences between groups on outcome measures of drinking, craving or biochemical markers. Similarly, analyses of the 94 subjects that completed the study in full and demonstrated 80% compliance, revealed no significant treatment effects. Differential treatment effects were identified after stratification according to scores on the Alcohol Dependence Scale (ADS) and Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS). A significant beneficial treatment effect on time to first relapse was revealed for subjects with 'no depression' allocated to naltrexone (n = 56; P < 0.01). In addition, a significant beneficial treatment effect was revealed in subjects with 'low dependence' allocated to naltrexone (n = 34; P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS The results of this study support the efficacy of naltrexone in the relapse prevention of alcoholism amongst those with low levels of clinical depression and alcohol dependence severity. No effect of acamprosate was found in our sample.
Interaction between Rice MYBGA and the Gibberellin Response Element Controls Tissue-Specific Sugar Sensitivity of α-Amylase Genes[W]

Expression of α-amylase genes during cereal grain germination and seedling growth is regulated negatively by sugar in embryos and positively by gibberellin (GA) in endosperm through the sugar response complex (SRC) and the GA response complex (GARC), respectively. We analyzed two α-amylase promoters, αAmy3 containing only SRC and αAmy8 containing overlapped SRC and GARC. αAmy3 was sugar-sensitive but GA-nonresponsive in both rice (Oryza sativa) embryos and endosperms, whereas αAmy8 was sugar-sensitive in embryos and GA-responsive in endosperms. Mutation of the GA response element (GARE) in the αAmy8 promoter impaired its GA response but enhanced sugar sensitivity, and insertion of GARE in the αAmy3 promoter rendered it GA-responsive but sugar-insensitive in endosperms. Expression of the GARE-interacting transcription factor MYBGA was induced by GA in endosperms, correlating with the endosperm-specific αAmy8 GA response. αAmy8 became sugar-sensitive in MYBGA knockout mutant endosperms, suggesting that the MYBGA–GARE interaction overrides the sugar sensitivity of αAmy8. In embryos overexpressing MYBGA, αAmy8 became sugar-insensitive, indicating that MYBGA affects sugar repression. α-Amylase promoters active in endosperms contain GARE, whereas those active in embryos may or may not contain GARE, confirming that the GARE and GA-induced MYBGA interaction prevents sugar feedback repression of endosperm α-amylase genes. We demonstrate that the MYBGA–GARE interaction affects sugar feedback control in balanced energy production during seedling growth and provide insight into the control mechanisms of tissue-specific regulation of α-amylase expression by sugar and GA signaling interference.
Universal Intracultural and Intercultural Dimensions of the Recalled Frequency of Emotional Experience

This study examined the relative contribution and the nature of dimensions underlying intracultural and intercultural differences in the recalled frequency of emotional experience. From 48 nations, 9,300 participants provided self-reports of the frequency of experienced emotions and several other variables relevant to emotional experience. The data were analyzed by means of multilevel component analysis, which decomposes the data into intracultural and intercultural components. The results showed that positive affect and negative affect emerged as universal dimensions underlying intracultural differences, accounting for the relatively largest part of variance in the data (40%). These dimensions were related to life satisfaction and other variables reflecting positive and negative affectivity. Two dimensions, reflecting positive emotions and inter-personal (negative) emotions, emerged as dimensions underlying nation-level differences, accounting for a smaller proportion of the variance (6%). Intercultural differences on these dimensions were related to nation-level life satisfaction, individualism, and the cultural appropriateness of experiencing corresponding emotions. Differences among individuals affect recalled emotional experience to a greater extent than differences among nations.
Aging and age stereotypes.

The present research explored developmental differences in evaluations of older adults. Two groups, one consisting of persons 30 to 45 years old and the other of persons 55 to 70 years old, rated positive-youthful, positive-elderly, negative-youthful, and negative-elderly characteristics. In Studies 1 and 2, evaluations of older adults were assessed by asking subjects to rate the characteristics on a youthful-elderly dimension. In Study 3, evaluations of older adults were assessed by asking subjects to rate the characteristics on an admirable-unadmirable dimension. Findings from the latter study indicate an ingroup evaluative bias: Adult development is accompanied by a tendency to rate characteristics associated with older adults as more admirable. By contrast, findings from Studies 1 and 2 do not indicate an ingroup evaluative bias: Adult development is not accompanied by a tendency to assign more positive or fewer negative traits to older adults. It is suggested that the differences in findings arise be.
Movements of Blue Sharks (Prionace glauca) across Their Life History

Spatial structuring and segregation by sex and size is considered to be an intrinsic attribute of shark populations. These spatial patterns remain poorly understood, particularly for oceanic species such as blue shark (Prionace glauca), despite its importance for the management and conservation of this highly migratory species. This study presents the results of a long-term electronic tagging experiment to investigate the migratory patterns of blue shark, to elucidate how these patterns change across its life history and to assess the existence of a nursery area in the central North Atlantic. Blue sharks belonging to different life stages (n = 34) were tracked for periods up to 952 days during which they moved extensively (up to an estimated 28.139 km), occupying large parts of the oceanic basin. Notwithstanding a large individual variability, there were pronounced differences in movements and space use across the species' life history. The study provides strong evidence for the existence of a discrete central North Atlantic nursery, where juveniles can reside for up to at least 2 years. In contrast with previously described nurseries of coastal and semi-pelagic sharks, this oceanic nursery is comparatively vast and open suggesting that shelter from predators is not its main function. Subsequently, male and female blue sharks spatially segregate. Females engage in seasonal latitudinal migrations until approaching maturity, when they undergo an ontogenic habitat shift towards tropical latitudes. In contrast, juvenile males generally expanded their range southward and apparently displayed a higher degree of behavioural polymorphism. These results provide important insights into the spatial ecology of pelagic sharks, with implications for the sustainable management of this heavily exploited shark, especially in the central North Atlantic where the presence of a nursery and the seasonal overlap and alternation of different life stages coincides with a high fishing mortality.
A decomposition of irreversible diffusion processes without detailed balance

As a generalization of deterministic, nonlinear conservative dynamical systems, a notion of canonical conservative dynamics with respect to a positive, differentiable stationary density ρ(x) is introduced: x=j(x) in which ∇·(ρ(x)j(x)) = 0. Such systems have a conserved “generalized free energy function” F[u] = ∫u(x, t)ln (u(x, t)/ρ(x))dx in phase space with a density flow u(x, t) satisfying ∂ut = −∇·(ju). Any general stochastic diffusion process without detailed balance, in terms of its Fokker-Planck equation, can be decomposed into a reversible diffusion process with detailed balance and a canonical conservative dynamics. This decomposition can be rigorously established in a function space with inner product defined as ⟨ϕ, ψ⟩ = ∫ρ−1(x)ϕ(x)ψ(x)dx. Furthermore, a law for balancing F[u] can be obtained: The non-positive dF[u(x, t)]/dt = Ein(t) − ep(t) where the “source” Ein(t) ⩾ 0 and the “sink” ep(t) ⩾ 0 are known as house-keeping heat and entropy production, respectively. A reversible diffusion has Ein(t.
Semantic parsing of speech using grammars learned with weak supervision

Semantic grammars can be applied both as a language model for a speech recognizer and for semantic parsing, e.g. in order to map the output of a speech recognizer into formal meaning representations. Semantic speech recognition grammars are, however, typically created manually or learned in a supervised fashion, requiring extensive manual effort in both cases. Aiming to reduce this effort, in this paper we investigate the induction of semantic speech recognition grammars under weak supervision. We present empirical results, indicating that the induced grammars support semantic parsing of speech with a rather low loss in performance when compared to parsing of input without recognition errors. Further, we show improved parsing performance compared to applying n-gram models as language models and demonstrate how our semantic speech recognition grammars can be enhanced by weights based on occurrence frequencies, yielding an improvement in parsing performance over applying unweighted grammars.
Maternal and Perinatal Outcomes in Pregnant Women with First Trimester Vaginal Bleeding

Objective To study the pregnancy outcomes in first trimester vaginal bleeding. Materials and methods This cross sectional study was done on 60 pregnant women with first trimester vaginal bleeding referring to university hospitals affiliated to Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran. All women were evaluated for the outcomes including abortion, preterm rapture of membranes, preterm labor, second and third trimester vaginal bleeding, low birth weight and intra uterine growth retardation and the mode of delivery. Data were analyzed using SPSS- 11. Results Placenta accreta, second trimester bleeding and preterm labor were significantly more prevalent in pregnant women with first trimester bleeding (P ≤ 0.05). Conclusion According to results of present study vaginal bleeding in first trimester of pregnancy may predict further maternal and fetal complications. We recommend training pregnant women regarding those complications and their prevention.