Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The missing pieces in the scientific study of bodily awareness

Abstract Research on bodily awareness has focused on body illusions with an aim to explore the possible dissociation of our bodily awareness from our own body. It has provided insights into how our sensory modalities shape our sense of embodiment, and it has raised important questions regarding the malleability of our sense of ownership over our own body. The issue, however, is that this research fails to consider an important distinction in how we experience our body. There are indeed two ways in which we can be aware of our body: via observational awareness, which involves attending to the body as an object, and via non-observational awareness, where the body is given as the subject of experience and does not involve attention. The research to date has focused on the former—observational bodily awareness—and has left the latter—non-observational bodily awareness—in the dark. This is detrimental to ever formulating a complete account of how we are aware of our body. It is understandable, however, because of the inherent problem in studying non-observational bodily awareness: how would you instruct subjects to report on their unattended bodily awareness? In view to resolving this problem, I propose here a working hypothesis on the basis of research on interoception and the rubber hand illusion, and on the effect of meditation on awareness and attention. This working hypothesis can show us a way to begin studying non-observational bodily awareness, and finally build a complete theory of bodily awareness.
Interchangeable Concept of Cognitive Styles and Learning Styles: a Conceptual Analysis

Inquiries into the nature and effects of cognitive and learning style constructs are mounting daily, regardless of criticism and confusion about the boundaries, natures and to some extent overlapping issues of these two constructs. These issues raise several questions about the credibility of these two constructs with regard to further research, application and development. Therefore, there is a need to crystallize their natures to pave the way for further research and for a better understanding of individual’s learning. The current scientific review strengthens the concept of these two constructs as separate and independent, each contributing in its own way to different fields of human learning. Both constructs have different histories and schools of thought directed toward different ends. The relationship of these constructs undeniably establishes their usefulness and value as research subjects. However, specific concerns is required in defining cognitive and learning styles which may hinder the credibility and usefulness of further research, including valid and reliable measurements, cohesive theory, application oriented studies, use of multiple methods in research, and the origin and development of these constructs. This article explores the discourse in these fields and highlights potential issues with the constructs to assist researchers in constructing a more comprehensive understanding of the research framework.
Seasonal Variations and Sources of 17 Aerosol Metal Elements in Suburban Nanjing, China

In this work, the seasonal variations and sources of trace metal elements in atmospheric fine aerosols (PM2.5) were investigated for a year-long field campaign from July 2012 to June 2013, conducted in suburban Nanjing, eastern China, at a site adjacent to an industry zone. The PM2.5 samples collected across four seasons were analyzed for 17 metal elements, namely, Sodium (Na), Magnesium (Mg), Aluminum (Al), Vanadium (V), Chromium (Cr), Manganese (Mn), Nickel (Ni), Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Arsenic (As), Selenium (Se), Strontium (Sr), Cadmium (Cd), Barium (Ba), Lead (Pb), Molybdenum (Mo), and Antimony (Sb) using an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). We found that the total concentration of all 17 metal elements was 1.23 μg/m3, on average accounting for 1.0% of the total PM2.5 mass. For our data, mass concentrations of Al, Cd, Ba were highest in summer, Mg, Cu, Zn, Se, Pb peaked in autumn, Cr, Mn, Ni, As, Sr, Sb increased significantly in winter, while the concentrations of Na, V, Mo were at their highest levels in spring. Air mass back trajectory analysis suggested that air parcels that arrived at the site originated from four dominant regions (Japan, yellow sea and bohai; Southeast of China, the Pacific Ocean; Southwest of Jiangsu and Anhui province; Northern Asia inland and Mongolia region), in particular, the one from Northern Asia inland and Mongolia contained the highest concentrations of As, Sb, Sr, and was predominant in winter. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) analyses revealed that the industrial emission is the largest contributor (34%) of the observed metal elements, followed by traffic (25%), soil dust (19%), coal combustion (10%), incineration of electronic waste (9%), and a minor unknown source (3%). In addition, we have also investigated the morphology and composition of particles by using the scanning electron microscopy (SEM)/energy-dispersive spectrometry (EDS) techniques, and identified particles from coal burning sources, etc., similar to the PMF results.
The Impact of Goal Disturbance after Cancer on Cortisol Levels over Time and the Moderating Role of COMT

Due to physical hindrance and time spent in hospital, a cancer diagnosis can lead to disturbance of personally important goals. Goal disturbance in cancer patients has been related to poorer psychological well-being. However, the relation with physiological measures is yet unknown. The purpose of the current study is to examine the impact of goal disturbance on cortisol as a measure of response to stress over time, and a possibly moderating role of a DNA genotype associated with HPA-axis functioning, Catechol-O-Methyl transferase (COMT). We examined the predictive value of goal disturbance on Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR) and Diurnal Cortisol Slope (DCS) over two periods: 1–7 and 7–18 months post-diagnosis, and the moderating role of COMT during these periods. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that goal disturbance 7 months post-diagnosis significantly predicted a steeper CAR a year later. During that period, the slow COMT variant moderated the relation, in that patients reporting high goal disturbance and had the Met/Met variant, had a more flattened CAR. No other significant effects were found. As steeper CARs have been related to adverse health outcomes, and COMT genotype may modify this risk, these results indicate that goal disturbance and genotype may be important factors to consider in maintaining better psychological and physical health in the already vulnerable population of cancer patients.
A Micro-Mirror Array based System for Compressive Sensing of Hyperspectral Data

We introduce a system for hyperspectral imaging, which includes a micro-mirror array that projects subsets of image pixels onto a prism (or diffraction grating), followed by a CCD-type sensor. This system allows generalized sampling schemes termed as Compressed Sensing (CS). We acquire only a fraction of the samples that are required to obtain the full-resolution signal (hyperspectral cube in our case), and by means of non-linear optimization recover the underlying signal. We use a prior knowledge about the signal sparsity in some fixed dictionary, and also its limited total variation. In the practical setting developed here, the feasible sampling is not ideal for CS due to practical limitations, and the sensed signal does not necessarily meet the strict sparsity demands of CS theory. Therefore we introduce additional measurements of full-resolution image using small number of filters similar to RGB. As a result, we obtain a feasible system for hyperspectral imaging that enables faster acquisition compared to traditional sampling systems.
A Biopsychosocial Model for Understanding Media Internalization and Appearance Dissatisfaction Among Preadolescent Boys and Girls

Sociocultural models emphasize the role of media internalization in preadolescents’ appearance dissatisfaction. The present three-wave panel study sought to examine how biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors jointly contribute to preadolescents’ (N = 973, Mage = 11.15 years) media internalization and appearance dissatisfaction over time. Structural equation modeling was conducted to test a hypothetical model in which media internalization mediated the effect of (a) pubertal timing, (b) media-related conversations with friends, and (c) perceptions of media as a good source of information regarding appearance and attractiveness, on change in appearance satisfaction. The model also examined the protective role of social self-esteem against the internalization of media ideals. For girls, pubertal timing was associated with increases in media internalization over time, directly and indirectly through media information and media-related conversations. For boys, pubertal timing indirectly predicted increases in media internalization over time, through media-related conversations. Media internalization positively predicted body dissatisfaction over time, and vice versa. Social self-esteem did not serve as a buffer against media internalization.
Film flow over heated wavy inclined surfaces

The two-dimensional problem of gravity-driven laminar flow of a thin layer of fluid down a heated wavy inclined surface is discussed. The coupled effect of bottom topography, variable surface tension and heating has been investigated both analytically and numerically. A stability analysis is conducted while nonlinear simulations are used to validate the stability predictions and also to study thermocapillary effects. The governing equations are based on the Navier–Stokes equations for a thin fluid layer with the cross-stream dependence eliminated by means of a weighted residual technique. Comparisons with experimental data and direct numerical simulations have been carried out and the agreement is good. New interesting results regarding the combined role of surface tension and sinusoidal topography on the stability of the flow are presented. The influence of heating and the Marangoni effect are also deduced.
Increased non-linear locomotion alters diaphyseal bone shape

SUMMARY Comparative studies of vertebrate morphology that link habitual locomotor activities to bone structural properties are often limited by confounding factors such as genetic variability between groups. Experimental assessment of bone's adaptive response to altered activity patterns typically involves superimposing exercise onto a normal locomotor repertoire, making a distinction between qualitative changes to locomotor repertoires and quantitative increases in activity level difficult. Here, we directly tested the hypothesis that an increase in turning activity, without the application of exercise per se, will alter femoral cross-sectional shape. Thirty day-old female BALB/cByJ mice (n=10 per group) were single-housed for 8 weeks in custom-designed cages that either accentuated linear or turning locomotion or allowed subjects to freely roam standard cages. Consistent with a lack of difference in physical activity levels between groups, there were no significant differences in body mass, femoral length, midshaft cortical area, and individual measures of mediolateral (ML) and anteroposterior (AP) bending rigidity. However, the ratio of ML to AP diaphyseal rigidity, an indicator of cross-sectional shape, was significantly greater (P<0.05) in turning subjects than in linear or control subjects. Considering that across all groups mice were genetically identical and had equivalent levels of bone quantity and physical activity, differences in femoral shape were attributed to qualitative differences in locomotor patterns (i.e. specific locomotor modes). These data indicate that increased turning can alter distribution of bone mass in the femoral diaphysis, and that turning should be considered in efforts to understand form–function relationships in vertebrates.
Spinal Cord Neurofibrillary Pathology in Alzheimer Disease and Guam Parkinsonism‐Dementia Complex

We examined spinal cords of neurodegenerative disease patients and controls living on the Island of Guam and in the continental United States. These patients had pathologically confirmed parkinsonism dementia-complex (PDC) with or without amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Alzheimer disease (AD), respectively. Nearly all of the spinal cords examined from both groups of patients contained neurofibrillary tangles (NFT). The immunohistochemical profile of these NFTs indicates that they are composed of hyperphosphorylated tau protein like their counterparts in the brains of these patients. Western blot analysis confirmed this by revealing that sarcosyl insoluble tau in spinal cord extracts from patients with NFTs exhibited the presence of all 6 tau isoforms similar to that from AD and ALS/PDC cortical gray matter.
Random gap detection threshold: a useful measure of auditory aging?

EFAS/DGA 2007 Random gap detection threshold: a useful measure of auditory aging? Owens, D. (1, 2), Campbell, P.E. (1), Liddell, A. (1, 2), DePlacido, C. (1), Wolters, M. (2) (1) Audiology Division, Speech and Hearing Science Department, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK (2) Centre for Speech Technology Research, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK OBJECTIVE: Temporal processing deficits are believed to contribute to older adults difficulties in understanding speech in background noise. Recent consensus studies have advocated the use of at least one measurement of temporal processing in the diagnosis of auditory processing disorders. However, there has been little or no evidence to support the use of such testing particularly among older adults. This is further compounded by the lack of age related normative data for the click gap detection subtest. We present our recent findings from a commercially available Random Gap Detection Test (RGDT). DESIGN: The RGDT recording consists of six subtests using tones (500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz, with 7 ms duration) and click pairs presented randomly with inter-stimulus intervals of 0 to 40 ms. The RGDT was administered to 29 normal hearing adults. Subjects were divided into two groups: younger group (aged 20-30 years; 2 males, n=11) and an older group (aged 5065 years; 9 males, n=18). RESULTS: Results showed mean gap detection thresholds of 14.6 ms for 500 Hz, 11.8 ms for 1000 Hz, 10.8 ms for 2000 Hz, 8.4 ms for 4000 Hz and 10.3 ms for the click stimuli. We could find no evidence to suggest a significant relationship between the two groups for tonal stimuli (1000, 2000, 4000 Hz) or paired click stimuli (Kruskal-Wallis chi-squared test, df= 1, p > 0.05). However there was a significant difference between the two groups for tonal stimuli presented at 500 Hz (Kruskal-Wallis chi-squared test, df= 1, p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the first study of normative data for the click gap detection subtest in an older population. We present our normative data for future comparison with other studies. We discuss these findings and the clinical usefulness of RGDT as a measure of temporal resolution in an older population. 8th Congress of the European Federation of Audiological Societies EFAS 10th Annual Congress of the German Society of Audiology DGA Heidelberg, 06 – 09 June 2007 FP20 Age related hearing loss 08. Jun. 07 Session 16:45 18:15
Academic Help Seeking as a Self-Regulated Learning Strategy

Karabenick, S. A. , & Berger, J.-L. (2013). Help seeking as a self-regulated learning strategy. In H. Bembenutty, T. Cleary & A. Kitsantas (Eds.), Applications of self-regulated learning across diverse disciplines: A tribute to Barry J. Zimmerman (pp. 237–261). Greenwich, CT: IAP Press. Help Seeking as a Self-Regulated Learning Strategy Stuart A. Karabenick University of Michigan & Jean-Louis Berger Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training
Stops walking when talking: a predictor of falls in older adults?

The objective of this study was to systematically review all published articles examining the relationship between the occurrence of falls and changes in gait and attention‐demanding task performance whilst dual tasking amongst older adults. An English and French Medline and Cochrane library search ranging from 1997 to 2008 indexed under ‘accidental falls’, ‘aged OR aged, 80 and over’, ‘dual task’, ‘dual tasking’, ‘gait’, ‘walking’, ‘fall’ and ‘falling’ was performed. Of 121 selected studies, fifteen met the selection criteria and were included in the final analysis. The fall rate ranged from 11.1% to 50.0% in retrospective studies and from 21.3% to 42.3% in prospective ones. Amongst the three retrospective and eight prospective studies, two and six studies, respectively, showed a significant relationship between changes in gait performance under dual task and history of falls. The predictive value for falling was particularly efficient amongst frail older adults compared with healthy subjects. Two prospective studies challenged the usefulness of the dual‐task paradigm as a significant predictor compared to single task performance and three studies even reported that gait changes whilst dual tasking did not predict falls. The pooled odds ratio for falling was 5.3 (95% CI, 3.1–9.1) when subjects had changes in gait or attention‐demanding task performance whilst dual tasking. Despite conflicting early reports, changes in performance whilst dual tasking were significantly associated with an increased risk for falling amongst older adults and frail older adults in particular. Description of health status, standardization of test methodology, increase of sample size and longer follow‐up intervals will certainly improve the predictive value of dual‐task‐based fall risk assessment tests.
Executive functions in children

Two well-established methods, the Flanker and the Wisconsin card sorting test, were used to measure executive functions while controlling for age, intelligence and socio-economic status. This study examined four groups of 9- and 10-year-old Dutch monolinguals, Frisian-Dutch bilinguals, Dutch foreign language learners, and Frisian-Dutch foreign language learners and the relationship between bilingualism and executive function performance. In addition to the contrast between monolingual and bilingual children, two groups of foreign language learning children were included to provide more insight in the amount of language input needed to investigate whether a ‘bilingual advantage’ could be observed. The results of both the Flanker and Wisconsin Card sorting task gave no indication that bilingual children or foreign language learning children benefit in terms of executive function performance. It did become clear, however, that there were two influences on executive functions - age and intelligence - affect one of the executive functions tasks, namely the Flanker task.
Finite element modelling and robust control of fast trilayer polypyrrole bending actuators

Conjugated polymer actuators can be employed to achieve micro scale precision positioning, having a wide range of application including biomimetic robots, and biomedical devices. They can operate with low voltage while producing large displacement, in comparison to robotic joints, they do not have friction or backlash, but on the other hand, they have complicated electro-chemo-mechanical dynamics, which makes accurate and robust control of the actuator difficult. Th ere has been extensive research on modeling the electrochemical dynamics of polypyrrole bending actuators. However the mechanical dynamics modeling of actuator remains to be unexplored. In this paper finite element modeling and robust control of fast t rilayer polypyrrole bending actuators is proposed. In the modeling part the infinite-dimensional admittance model of actuator will be replaced with a family of linear uncertain transfer functio ns based on Golubev Method. Further model development will take into account the proper mechanical dynamics, which is essential, when using fast conducting polymer actuators. The purposed modeling approach will be validated based on the existing experimental data. In the controlling part the robust control QFT will be applied to control the highly uncertain dynamics of the conjugated polymer actuators while the actuator carrying variable tip loadings. Finally the analysis of design shows that QFT controller has consistent and robust tracking performance.
Less sickness with more motion and/or mental distraction.

BACKGROUND Motion sickness may reduce passenger comfort and crew performance. Countermeasures are dominated by medication with specific and often undesirable side effects. OBJECTIVE To shown that sickness due to motion can be reduced by adding an inherent non-sickening vibration and by mental distraction. METHODS Eighteen blindfolded subjects were exposed to 20 minutes of off-vertical axis rotation (OVAR). Vibration was added by means of a head rest. Effects of OVAR and vibration were tested separately and in combination, while the subjects were performing an audio letter memorising task. This task was absent to test the effect of mental distraction. Effects were quantified by rating subjective misery and objective task performance. RESULTS Sixteen subjects completed the experiment and showed in mutual comparable conditions that head vibration reduced the amount of sickness by 25%, the mental distraction did so by 19%, and the combined effect resulted in a reduction of 39%. Their task performance decreased with increasing sickness. CONCLUSION Sickness due to low-frequency motion can be reduced by adding a high-frequency vibration and by mental distraction. The effect of vibration can be understood by assuming an internal model used by the central nervous system to optimise the control of body motion.
Bangladesh: a political history since independence

Chapter 4 uses surveys and demographic data, as well as interviews, to map out existing patterns of South Asian political participation and representation. In this chapter, Mishra highlights the contradictions between elite South Asians’ increasing political success, and the continued lack of wide-scale mobilization and inclusion of South Asians in the political process. The final two chapters (Chapters 5 and 6) turn their attention slightly away from the question of ethno-racial mobilization, to consider the transnational political investments of South Asian Americans. Whereas existing scholarship on diasporic South Asians’ transnationalist projects focuses on South Asians’ political engagements in their home countries – at the expense of those in the US, or other countries of settlement –Mishra connects transnational practices explicitly to South Asians’ political projects in the US. He examines two specific transnational projects: South Asian Americans’ role in the US–India Civil Nuclear Deal in 2006, and their involvement in proand anti-Hindu Nationalist movements both in the US and in India, in order to show how diasporic mobilization simultaneously relies on a discourse of unified community, while also exacerbating the contested notions of home and belonging among those diasporic communities. Desis Divided is just as important an addition to scholarly debates about political incorporation as it is to the growing body of scholarship on the South Asian diasporic experiences. Mishra’s shift away from ethno-racial mobilization as a model for political incorporation importantly allows scholars to more productively address the internal and cross-cutting distinctions among South Asian Americans.