Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spearman's hypothesis and test score differences between whites, Indians, and blacks in South Africa.

Numerous studies in the United States have shown that mean test scores between Blacks and Whites differ by about one standard deviation. It has further been noted that the magnitudes of these differences vary on different tests. This variation can be explained by Spearman's hypothesis, which states that Black-White differences on a set of cognitive tests are positively associated with the tests' g loadings (the general intellectual ability). The present study, conducted among Black, Indian, and White secondary students in South Africa, showed mean Black-White differences of two standard deviations, indicating that the American results of one standard deviation are not universally correct. With regard to Spearman's hypothesis, it was found that, although the mean White-Indian differences were about one standard deviation, these differences did not support the hypothesis. Results pertaining to the Black-White differences were ambiguous; the correlation of . 62 (p < .05) between the Black g and the Black-White differences strongly supported the hypothesis. A nonsignificant correlation of . 23 was obtained between the White g and the Black-White differences. Possible reasons for this finding are discussed.
Older Women-Younger Men Relationships: the Social Phenomenon of 'Cougars'. A Research Note

Couples where the woman is significantly older than her male partner currently have a high prominence in national and international media and in popular culture. The women in such arrangements have attracted a colloquial label, ‘cougar’. This arrangement represents a break from the past when generally the male was the older partner. Our initial analysis of census data suggests that the extent of the older woman–younger male couple is exaggerated by the media. Nevertheless, the data indicate it is an important group and its size does seem to have been growing since the 1980s, at least for those living together in the same households. Like other researchers we also suspect that the number of couples where the woman is older who form long‐term relationships is considerably smaller than the number of such couples who have had short‐term relationships. Our brief canvassing of theories of partner choice suggests there are social and economic reasons for further growth of this type of partnering arrangement. If there is further significant growth, it is likely the somewhat negative predatory term ‘cougar’ will disappear or at least change its current connotations.
An Open-Label Trial of Divalproex Extended-Release in the Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder

ABSTRACT Introduction: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is associated with several symptoms, including impulsivity, aggression, and intense unstable affect, which can be targeted with anticonvulsant agents. Divalproex extended-release (ER) is used widely in clinical practice, which leads to the question of its efficacy and tolerability in treating BPD. Methods: This study assessed the efficacy and tolerability of divalproex ER in 20 adult outpatients with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition BPD via a 12-week openlabel trial. Primary outcome measures included the Clinical Global Impression–Improvement (CGI-I) scale and the Global Assessment Scale. Secondary outcome measures assessed aggression (Aggression Questionnaire, Overt Aggression Scale-Modified); affective disturbance (Affective Intensity Measure, Affective Lability Scale); dissociation (Dissociative Experiences Scale); and general psychopathology (Symptom-Checklist 90–Revised). Results: Thirteen subjects were male and seven were female with a mean age of 37.0±11.3 years. Treatment was associated with statistically significant improvement on the CGI-I, the Global Assessment Scale, the Overt Aggression Scale–Modified irritability subscale, and the Aggression Questionnaire. A trend toward significant improvement was observed on the Affective Intensity Measure. Seven out of 10 completers (70%) were treatment responders, with an endpoint CGI-I of 2 (much improved) or 1 (very much improved). There was no significant decline in affective lability or in dissociation. One participant discontinued treatment due to adverse events. Conclusion: These findings support that divalproex ER is an efficacious and well-tolerated pharmacologic agent for BPD, with the additional advantage of single daily dosing at bedtime. Placebo-controlled trials are needed for replication.
Data mining and machine learning in computational creativity

Creative machines are an old idea, but only recently computational creativity has established itself as a research field with its own identity and research agenda. The goal of computational creativity research is to model, simulate, or enhance creativity using computational methods. Data mining and machine learning can be used in a number of ways to help computers learn how to be creative, such as learning to generate new artifacts or to evaluate various qualities of newly generated artifacts. In this review paper, we give an overview of research in computational creativity with a focus on the roles that data mining and machine learning have had and could have in creative systems. WIREs Data Mining Knowl Discov 2015, 5:265–275. doi: 10.1002/widm.1170
Managing Employee Motivation: Exploring the Connections Between Managers’ Enforcement Actions, Employee Perceptions, and Employee Intrinsic Motivation

ABSTRACT A number of studies show that the use of external interventions such as command systems and economic incentives can decrease employee intrinsic motivation. Our knowledge of why the size of “the hidden cost of rewards” differs among organizations is, however, still sparse. In this article, we analyze whether local managers—the primary enforcers of external interventions—affect how employees perceive a command system and thereby affect employee intrinsic motivation. Using a multilevel dataset of 1,190 teachers and 32 school principals, we test whether principals’ use of “hard,” “mixed,” or “soft” actions to enforce a command system (obligatory teacher-produced student plans) is associated with teacher intrinsic motivation. Results show that teachers experiencing “hard” enforcement actions have lower intrinsic motivation than teachers experiencing “soft” enforcement actions. As expected by motivation crowding theory, part of this association is mediated by teachers’ student plan requirement perception. These findings support the motivation crowding argument that employee intrinsic motivation depend on the employees’ need for self-determination.
Finding what is hidden: a method to measure implicit attitudes for nursing and health-related behaviours.

AIM To discuss a research method, the Implicit Association Test, for use in nursing research. The Implicit Association Test measures implicit attitudes, which may mediate health-related and caregiving behaviours. BACKGROUND Implicit attitudes are automatic and often unconscious, but may affect the behaviours of nurses and their patients. The Implicit Association Test has been used to measure implicit attitudes in fields from health care to marketing, but has seldom appeared in nursing. The Implicit Association Test is a computer-based tool consisting of a series of categorization tasks. Implicit Association Tests are scored based on the speed of matching either words or images to categories. Assumptions of the Implicit Association Test method, its administration, psychometrics and potential use in nursing research are reviewed. DESIGN Discussion paper. DATA SOURCES PubMed, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PsychINFO® and Health and Psychosocial Instrument databases were searched from the Implicit Association Test's introduction in 1998-April 2013. Search terms used were 'Implicit Association Test' OR 'IAT'. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING Nursing theories include attitudes as mediators of behaviour and health, but measurement has been limited to explicit attitudes. A reliable, valid and flexible tool is available to measure implicit attitudes. This tool largely circumvents self-report bias related to socially sensitive topics. CONCLUSION Nursing research is needed to investigate implicit attitudes held by nurses and patients when these may influence health-related behaviours and outcomes. The Implicit Association Test can measure implicit attitudes and is suitable for adoption in nursing research.
Semantic memory and its role in verb processing

Semantic Memory and its Role in Verb Processing Lidia Zacharczuk University of Pittsburgh, 2014 Verbs are a fundamental component of sentences, but they are also complex and require great mental effort to process and understand. Being that verbs are crucial to sentence comprehension, it is important to understand why verbs are often selectively impaired in neurogenic language disorders, such as in certain types of aphasia. The current study tested cognitively healthy younger and older adults as they performed verb and noun-based tasks that required them to tap into their semantic memory network. The goal of this study is to understand the role semantic memory plays in understanding sentences and how impairment to semantic memory, like in the case of many patients with aphasia, can impact the processing of verbs.
Facial electromyographic responses to emotional information from faces and voices in individuals with pervasive developmental disorder.

BACKGROUND Despite extensive research, it is still debated whether impairments in social skills of individuals with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) are related to specific deficits in the early processing of emotional information. We aimed to test both automatic processing of facial affect as well as the integration of auditory and visual emotion cues in individuals with PDD. METHODS In a group of high-functioning adult individuals with PDD and an age- and IQ-matched control group, we measured facial electromyography (EMG) following presentation of visual emotion stimuli (facial expressions) as well as the presentation of audiovisual emotion pairs (faces plus voices). This emotionally driven EMG activity is considered to be a direct correlate of automatic affect processing that is not under intentional control. RESULTS Our data clearly indicate that among individuals with PDD facial EMG activity is heightened in response to happy and fearful faces, and intact in response to audiovisual affective information. CONCLUSIONS This study provides evidence for enhanced sensitivity to facial cues at the level of reflex-like emotional responses in individuals with PDD. Furthermore, the findings argue against impairments in crossmodal affect processing at this level of perception. However, given how little comparative work has been done in the area of multisensory perception, there is certainly need for further exploration.
Design of Low-Loss Transmission Lines in Scaled CMOS by Accurate Electromagnetic Simulations

Transmission lines are becoming of common use at mm-wave to implement on-chip functions as impedance matching, filtering and interconnects. Lack of an accurate and fast simulation method is nonetheless evident for transmission lines in scaled CMOS where metal dummies inserted for IC planarization make their physical structure extremely complicate. Although lines are not uniform due to displacement of small dummies, they are still periodic. In this paper, we describe an analytical procedure, leveraging lines periodicity and based on Floquet's theorem, in order to derive electromagnetic parameters from simulations. Conventional, slow-wave and shielded CPWs have been realized in a 65 nm CMOS technology. Thanks to the developed method, an optimum line design has been made possible. The lossy CMOS substrate, responsible for a significant performance degradation, can be effectively shielded and achieved performances are comparable with other technologies considered better suited to implement low-loss, high frequency passive components. Shielded CPW lines show attenuation as low as 0.65 dB/mm at 60 GHz, a record in scaled CMOS.
Tell me who your friends are and I might be able to tell you what language(s) you speak: Social network analysis, multilingualism, and identity

Social network analysis has proved particularly useful in explaining why speakers in bilingual communities maintain or change their language behavior. Researchers have employed this sociolinguistic tool to investigate language shift and maintenance among longstanding stable bilingual communities. An underlying assumption in this analysis is that language, particularly the first language or mother tongue, is an integral part of collective identities, such as national, ethnic or cultural identities, and that maintenance of language across generations is a key factor to the maintenance of such identities. Certain bilingual communities may maintain this language ideology; however, multilingual communities present a more complex picture of the situation and may thus offer a challenge to the underlying assumptions of social network analysis. This article discusses the application of social network analysis to multilingual communities by taking a point of departure in the Filipino community in Oslo, the capital of Norway, with a view towards understanding linguistic and cultural maintenance. Results from the analyses provide support for the importance of social network in understanding language choice and cultural and linguistic maintenance; however, there were some notable exceptions. In this article we discuss language ideologies and the relationship between language and identity as complementary sources of explanation for language choice and language maintenance in this relatively speaking newly established multilingual community.
Former heavy drinkers' multiple narratives of recovery

Aim This article explores the multiplicity of former heavy drinkers' narratives. The focus lies on turning points from heavy drinking among people who have recovered through self-change and among those who recovered by participating in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings. Design We conducted 42 qualitative interviews with media-recruited informants in 2009–2013. The interviews allowed the respondents to narrate their life histories of drinking and quitting drinking, including accounts of causality and order of events. Results These narratives are enactments shaped in the practice and context in which they were experienced. It is argued that the multiplicity of drinking narratives results not only from the fact that people have different experiences while drinking nor only from different people having different ways of recovering from a problematic consumption. The multiplicity is also the result of the very enactment of recovering and the lives lived after the recovery. The multiplicity is created in practice and is revealed in the narratives. Conclusions The narratives and the enactment of the narratives of one's past, present and future that occur when making momentous changes in one's life – such as stopping drinking – are all essential for the process of quitting alcohol and the life to be lived hereafter. We should therefore pay more attention to the multiplicity that is created in the enactment of narratives in the process of recovery.
Lamina puncture for central retinal vein occlusion: results of a pilot trial.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of treatment by lamina puncture, a novel procedure to create a perivascular opening within the optic nerve head by a transvitreal approach, on visual acuity after central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) in older patients. METHODS The patients comprised a nonrandomized, consecutive, interventional case series of older patients being seen with CRVO. Patients 65 years or older with CRVO and a visual acuity of 20/200 or worse were treated with vitrectomy and lamina puncture of the optic disc. Preoperative visual acuity, clinical examination results, and fluorescein angiography results were compared with postoperative results. RESULTS Twenty patients (12 men and 8 women), an average age of 72 years, were enrolled. The mean duration of CRVO was 5.4 months; 14 eyes had nonischemic CRVO when first seen, while 6 had substantial ischemia. The mean preoperative visual acuity was in the counting fingers range, and the mean postoperative visual acuity was also in the counting fingers range. Complications included 5 eyes with iris neovascularization, of which 4 progressed to neovascular glaucoma; also, preoperative ischemia seemed to predispose to neovascular complications. CONCLUSION Lamina puncture does not restore visual acuity in older patients with CRVO.
Tropical land cover change detection with polarimetric SAR data

There is an increasing need for fast and accurate data on tropical land cover status, and a baseline for land cover monitoring. Remotely sensed SAR data are not sensitive to cloud cover and can be useful for such purpose. Polarimetric SAR data are available in orbital systems, such as RADARSAT-2, and still have to be tested for the classification of tropical land cover and the detection of land cover change, particularly forest conversion. This work presents a study of RADARSAT-2 polarimetric images, acquired in two different dates (September 2008 and October 2009), to assess their potential in classifying forest and non-forest classes in Brazilian Amazonia. SAR images were acquired following different orbit and incidence angles, which anticipated varied conditions for images interpretation and classes discrimination. The complex SAR data were classified based on the distance of Wishart, and information from field campaigns was used for the training and test samples. Classification results were compared to evaluate possibilities for change detection in the forest cover. Classification accuracy figures were around 80%. The use of RADARSAT-2 images allowed the mapping of land cover and land cover change, considering forest and non-forest classes.
Detection of early glaucomatous structural damage with confocal scanning laser tomography.

PURPOSE The authors determine which optic disc topographic parameters obtained by the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph (HRT, Heidelberg Engineering, Heidelberg, Germany) are most useful in detecting individuals with early glaucomatous visual field loss. METHODS Ninety-nine eyes of 49 healthy individuals and 50 age-matched individuals with early glaucomatous visual field loss were included. Three images were obtained and the mean topography image was created and used in the analyses. The HRT discriminant analysis function (software version 2.01) was applied and compared to the Fisher linear discriminant function developed in this population. Analysis was repeated after stratifying by disc area (< 2 mm2 or 2-3 mm2). RESULTS There were statistically significant differences between the healthy and glaucomatous groups for all optic disc topographic parameters (p < 0.05) measured. These differences remained after the analysis was repeated controlling for disc size, except for height variation contour. Applying the HRT discriminant function to this study population resulted in sensitivity and specificity of 62% and 94%, respectively. The sensitivity was 83% while specificity remained high (91%) for larger disc sizes. Using this data, additional discriminant functions that differentiated similarly between the two groups were found. The best formula used cup-shape measure (third moment), rim area, height variation contour, and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and had a sensitivity and specificity of 78% and 88%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Several different discriminant analysis formulas are capable of detecting early glaucomatous visual field loss in a comparable manner. The characteristics of the study population are likely to influence the discriminating power of these various formulas.
Characterization of the budding compartment of mouse hepatitis virus: evidence that transport from the RER to the Golgi complex requires only one vesicular transport step

Mouse hepatitis coronavirus (MHV) buds into pleomorphic membrane structures with features expected of the intermediate compartment between the ER and the Golgi complex. Here, we characterize the MHV budding compartment in more detail in mouse L cells using streptolysin O (SLO) permeabilization which allowed us to better visualize the membrane structures at the ER-Golgi boundary. The MHV budding compartment shares membrane continuities with the rough ER as well as with cisternal elements on one side of the Golgi stack. It also labeled with p58 and rab2, two markers of the intermediate compartment, and with PDI, usually considered to be a marker of the rough ER. The membranes of the budding compartment, as well as the budding virions themselves, but not the rough ER, labeled with the N-acetyl- galactosamine (GalNAc)-specific lectin Helix pomatia. When the SLO- permeabilized cells were treated with guanosine 5'-(3-O- thio)triphosphate (GTP gamma S), the budding compartment accumulated a large number of beta-cop-containing buds and vesicular profiles. Complementary biochemical experiments were carried out to determine whether vesicular transport was required for the newly synthesized M protein, that contains only O-linked oligosaccharides, to acquire first, GalNAc and second, the Golgi modifications galactose and sialic acid. The results from both in vivo studies and from the use of SLO- permeabilized cells showed that, while GalNAc addition occurred under conditions which block vesicular transport, both cytosol and ATP were prerequisites for the M protein oligosaccharides to acquire Golgi modifications. Collectively, our data argue that transport from the rough ER to the Golgi complex requires only one vesicular transport step and that the intermediate compartment is a specialized domain of the endoplasmatic reticulum that extends to the first cisterna on the cis side of the Golgi stack.
Geography matters: spatial dimensions of trade, migration and growth

Diese Arbeit wurde von Thomas Steinwachs wahrend seiner Tatigkeit am ifo Zentrum fur Ausenwirtschaft angefertigt. Sie wurde im September 2018 fertiggestellt und von der Volkswirtschaftlichen Fakultat der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen als Dissertation angenommen. Es handelt sich um eine Sammlung aus vier eigenstandigen Aufsatzen in separaten Kapiteln. Jedes Kapitel betrachtet die raumliche Dimension okonomischer Prozesse in angewandter empirischer Forschung. Hierbei spielen die Definition von Messgrosen, die Verarbeitung von Geodaten und die Auswahl der okonometrischen Methodik eine tragende Rolle. Kapitel 1 wendet eine Gravitatsanalyse auf bilaterale Handelsstrome an, um die Handelseffekte des Schengener Abkommens zu quantifizieren. Hierfur wird eine neue Indikatorvariable eingefuhrt, welche die raumliche Ausdehnung des plurilateralen Abkommens berucksichtigt. Kapitel 2 umfasst eine Gravitatsanalyse von Migrationsstromen zur Untersuchung der internationalen Migrationswirkungen von Naturkatastrophen. Hierbei kommen raumlich kartierte Geoinformationen zur physischen Intensitat von Naturkatastrophen zum Einsatz. Kapitel 3 setzt den Fokus auf die lokalen Wachstumseffekte von Naturkatastrophen und untersucht die damit verbundenen raumlichen Umlenkungseffekte okonomischer Aktivitat. Zu diesem Zweck wird eine neue Datenbank vorgestellt, welche physische Intensitaten geologischer und meteorologischer Ereignisse mit Nachtlichtemissionsdaten auf raumlich desaggregierten Rasterzellen verknupft. Kapitel 4 verwertet geografische Informationen zu Landesgrenzen und Strasennetzwerken, um die Rolle raumlicher Konnektivitat bei der Ubertragung externer Effekte zu erforschen.