Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assimilation and Contrast Effects in Part-Whole Question Sequences: A Conversational Logic Analysis

A theoretical model of the emergence of assimilation and contrast effects in part-whole question sequences is pre- sented. When one specific question precedes a general question and the two are not assigned to the same conversational context, respondents use the information primed by the specific question to form the general judgment. This results in part-whole assimila- tion effects. If both questions are perceived as belonging to- gether, however, conversational norms of nonredundancy pro- hibit the repeated use of information that has already been provided in response to the specific question when making the general judgment. Accordingly, respondents interpret the general question to refer to aspects other than the ones covered by the specific question. Contrast effects may emerge in that case under specified conditions. If several specific questions precede the general question, however, the general one is always interpreted as a request for a summary judgment. This results in assimilation effects, even under conditions that would foster contrast effects if only one specific question is asked. The model is supported by experimental data and provides a coherent account of apparently contradictory findings previously reported in the survey liter-
THE R OLE O F C ROSS-LINGUISTIC A ND CROSS-CULTURAL E XPERIENCES I N BILINGUALS' D IVERGENT T HINKING

Research addressing the possible consequences of bilingualism for individuals’ creative abilities has revealed a contradiction between experimental findings of bilinguals’ superiority in creative tasks and real life observations of no significant relationship between being bilingual and being creative. This chapter makes an attempt to resolve this contradiction and investigates a possible effect that bilingualism might have on creative abilities. Three factors in cross-linguistic and cross-cultural experiences of bilingual individuals are examined: language proficiency, age of second language acquisition, and experience and participation in two cultures. The empirical study with Russian-English bilingual immigrants living in the United States and English monolingual native speakers revealed that cross-linguistic factors in bilinguals’ development had an influence on their divergent thinking abilities, which is a necessary component of creative thought. These findings suggest that although bilingualism may lay the foundation of creative thinking it does not necessarily imply being creative. To account for these findings, a cross-language transfer is proposed as a cognitive mechanism facilitating divergent thinking in bilinguals. A specific architecture of bilingual memory in which two lexicons are mutually linked to the shared conceptual system is theorized to facilitate the functioning of the cross-language transfer. The present study contributes to creativity research by examining the effect of bilingualism on creative thinking. It will start out with a brief survey of existing literature on the relationship between bilingualism and creativity and discuss an apparent contradiction therein. Although it is suggested that bilinguals show greater performance on creativity tests, we do not see outbursts of creativity among nationals of bilingual countries. To account for this contradiction, the study will offer a perspective on the relationship between bilingualism and creativity, in which bilingualism facilitates divergent thinking. Divergent thinking is assumed as a necessary but not sufficient trait of creative behavior. Subsequently, it will present empirical findings indicating the factors in bilingual development that may contribute to bilinguals’ superiority in divergent thinking. The following discussion will outline a model of bilingual memory, whose structure is suggested to facilitate cognitive processes underlying this trait. It will specifically
Nucleosome Positioning Pattern Derived from Oligonucleotide Compositions of Genomic Sequences

Abstract Availability of nucleosome positioning pattern(s) is crucial for chromatin studies. The matrix form of the pattern has been recently derived (I. Gabdank, D. Barash, E. N. Trifonov. J Biomol Struct Dyn 26, 403–412 (2009), and E. N. Trifonov. J Biomol Struct Dyn 27, 741746 (2010)). In its simplified linear form it is described by the motif CGRAAATTTYCG. Oligonucleotide components of the motif (say, triplets GRA, RAA, AAA, etc.) would be expected to appear in eukaryotic sequences more frequently. In this work we attempted the reconstruction of the bendability patterns for 13 genomes by a novel approach-extension of highest frequency trinucleotides. The consensus of the patterns reconstructed on the basis of trinucleotide frequencies in 13 eukaryotic genomes is derived: CRAAAATTTTYG. It conforms to the earlier established sequence motif. The reconstruction, thus, attests to the universality of the nucleosome DNA bendability pattern.
Training or Search ? Evidence and an Equilibrium Model ∗

Training programs are a major tool of labor market policies in OECD countries. I use a unique panel data set on the labor market experience of individual German workers between 2000 and 2002 to estimate a dynamic model of search and training, which allows me to quantify the impact of training programs and unemployment benefits on employment, unemployment, output, and the government expenditures. The model extends Ljungqvist and Sargent (JPE, 1998) by incorporating a training decision and a broader menu of unemployment benefits. Government-sponsored training programs feature a key trade-off with respect to unemployment insurance programs: they offer more generous unemployment benefits but require more time and effort from workers to generate higher skills. As a result, unemployed workers with different human capital and benefits make different decisions about training, search, and job acceptance. I use the model to quantitatively study the recent reforms implemented in Germany and run more counterfactual experiments. I simulate the transition path under back-toback unexpected reforms in 2003-2006 and find the dynamics of the models unemployment rates are close to the data. In a counterfactual experiment in which I model an economy with a German-like training system and a US-like unemployment benefit structure (roughly, benefits are lower), I find that employment and output rise substantially. JEL classification: E24; J08; J24; J45
Using Social Stories to Teach Choice and Play Skills to Children With Autism

Social stories have become increasingly popular for teaching appropriate behavioral skills to children With autism, yet current literature Warns that little empirical evidence is available that documents the effects of this intervention. Research that does exist targets participants With mild to moderate disabilities. In this study, a special education teacher used social stories in her classroom to teach 2 children With severe autism hoW to make activity choices, play appropriately With materials chosen, and play appropriately With peers in an Exceptional Student Education (ESE) classroom. The classroom teacher and a teacher's aide measured student abilities in choice-making and time spent playing appropriately during a free-play setting. The researchers found support for the use of social stories to teach choice-making and play skills to children With autism.
LEADERSHIP SELF-PERCEPTIONS OF WLC PARTICIPANTS

This study addresses the relationship between Washington Leadership Conference (WLC) participants’ self-perception of their leadership skills and their chapter size, length of membership, level of involvement, and involvement in an officer position. The accessible study population was 2,086 FFA members who attended the WLC during the summer of 1997. A selfselected sample of 291 FFA members completed the Leadership Skills Inventory (LSI) before the opening session of the conference. Subjects ranged from 15 to 18 years of age, with females representing 56.6% of the respondents. The LSI was developed using FFA defined indicators of personal development characteristics including: communication, decision making, working in groups, leadership, and understanding self. Size of FFA chapter, involvement in activities, and holding an officer position all showed a slight positive correlation with one or more of the WLC participants’ self-perceived leadership skills.
The association between intraoperative correction of Dupuytren’s disease and residual postoperative contracture

The purpose of this study was to determine whether preoperative contracture and the amount of intraoperative correction can be used to predict the postoperative outcome of fasciectomy for Dupuytren’s disease. A prospective study of 52 patients undergoing primary fasciectomy during an 18 month period was undertaken. The contracture of each joint was measured preoperatively, after fasciectomy during the operation and 6 months after surgery. Forty-two metacarpophalangeal (MCPJ) and 58 proximal interphalangeal (PIPJ) joints were treated surgically. Full intraoperative correction was achieved in 41 MCPJs. Thirty-seven had full correction at follow-up. Full intraoperative correction was obtained in 35 PIPJs and 13 had complete correction at follow-up. The extent of the preoperative deformity was a significant predictor of complete intraoperative correction. The extent of both preoperative deformity and intraoperative correction were significant predictors of loss of surgical correction after operation.
Genetic evaluation of the mating system in the blue-and-yellow macaw (Ara ararauna, Aves, Psittacidae) by DNA fingerprinting

More than 90% of birds are socially monogamous, although genetic studies indicate that many are often not sexually monogamous. In the present study, DNA fingerprinting was used to estimate the genetic relationships between nestlings belonging to the same broods to evaluate the mating system in the socially monogamous macaw, Ara ararauna. We found that in 10 of 11 broods investigated, the nestlings showed genetic similarity levels congruent with values expected among full-sibs, suggesting that they shared the same parents. However, in one brood, the low genetic similarity observed between nestlings could be a result of intraspecific brood parasitism, intraspecific nest competition or extra-pair paternity. These results, along with available behavioral and life-history data, imply that the blue-and-yellow macaw is not only socially, but also genetically monogamous. However, the occurrence of eventual cases of extra-pair paternity cannot be excluded.
Journalism and Mass Communication students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Predominantly White Institutions: Saying Goodbye to the Digital Divide

The digital divide has been described as the distance or gap in access to information based on race, ethnicity, income, education and geographical location. This study examined how freshmen and first-semester journalism and mass communications students at five Historically Black Colleges and Universities have been able to bridge the divide. It is important to know that HBCUs educate more than African-Americans, however the majority of students at HBCUs come from lower socio-economic levels than students that attend Predominantly White Institutions. The respondents in this study are self-described as daily moderate to heavy Internet users. Their parents and guardians are also frequent Internet users. The study examines the uses and gratifications of the respondents and if their institutions were able to help them find information on school funding. The study’s results are completely portable to other disciplines and all colleges and universities regardless of size or scope.
Genotyping of Toxoplasma gondii Strains from Immunocompromised Patients Reveals High Prevalence of Type I Strains

ABSTRACT Toxoplasma gondii is an important food- and waterborne opportunistic pathogen that causes severe disease in immunocompromised patients. T. gondii has an unusual clonal population structure consisting of three widespread lineages known as I, II, and III. To establish the genotypes of strains of T. gondii associated with human toxoplasmosis, we have developed a set of four highly sensitive and polymorphic nested PCR markers. Multiplex nested PCR analysis was used to genotype parasites in cerebral spinal fluid samples from 8 of 10 human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients. Remarkably, a majority of these patients had infections with type I strains or strains containing type I alleles, despite the fact that this lineage is normally uncommon in humans and animals. Multiplex analysis of these four unlinked makers was able to distinguish all three common genotypes and also detected two strains with mixed genotypes. Further analysis based on sequencing of a polymorphic intron revealed that one of these recombinant strains was an exotic lineage distinct from the archetypal clonal lineages. The multiplex nested PCR analysis described here will be useful for analyzing the contribution of parasite genotype to toxoplasmosis.
Evaluation of kV Cone-Beam CT Performance for Prostate IGRT: A Comparison of Automatic Grey-Value Alignment to Implanted Fiducial-Marker Alignment

Purpose: Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) is a new image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) technique for patient alignment in radiotherapy. The CBCT x-ray volume imaging system from Elekta allows for a variety of alignment methods. The aim of this study is to assess the accuracy of soft-tissue-based automatic alignment as compared with manual alignment using intraprostatic fiducials. Methods and Materials: All patients were treated on an Elekta Synergy S linear accelerator with kilovoltage CBCT. All alignments were performed using the x-ray volume imaging system and associated software. Automatic alignment with gray-value-based registration and manual alignment to fiducial markers were performed. Transitional corrections along each axis as well as 3-dimensional vectors were compared with evaluate the accuracy of gray-value-based registration compared with fiducials. Results: The distribution of the 3-dimensional vectors between gray-value and fiducial registrations demonstrated notable differences. The mean summed vector was 0.75 cm, with a standard deviation (SD) of 0.52 cm and range from 0.04 to 2.06 cm. There was minimal difference along the lateral direction, with a mean ± SD of −0.02 cm ± 0.13 cm. However, there were large discrepancies along the superior-inferior and anterior-posterior direction alignments, with mean ± SD values of −0.55 ± 0.48 cm and −0.31 ± 0.43 cm, respectively. Conclusions: CBCT with soft-tissue-based automatic corrections is not an accurate alignment compared with manual alignment to fiducial markers for prostate IGRT. We have concluded that a daily manual alignment to fiducials is one of the most reliable methods to maintain accuracy in prostate IGRT.
Modulation of Brain Activity during Action Observation: Influence of Perspective, Transitivity and Meaningfulness

The coupling process between observed and performed actions is thought to be performed by a fronto-parietal perception-action system including regions of the inferior frontal gyrus and the inferior parietal lobule. When investigating the influence of the movements' characteristics on this process, most research on action observation has focused on only one particular variable even though the type of movements we observe can vary on several levels. By manipulating the visual perspective, transitivity and meaningfulness of observed movements in a functional magnetic resonance imaging study we aimed at investigating how the type of movements and the visual perspective can modulate brain activity during action observation in healthy individuals. Importantly, we used an active observation task where participants had to subsequently execute or imagine the observed movements. Our results show that the fronto-parietal regions of the perception action system were mostly recruited during the observation of meaningless actions while visual perspective had little influence on the activity within the perception-action system. Simultaneous investigation of several sources of modulation during active action observation is probably an approach that could lead to a greater ecological comprehension of this important sensorimotor process.
Patient safety culture in Norwegian primary care: A study in out-of-hours casualty clinics and GP practices

Abstract Objective. This study aimed to investigate patient safety attitudes amongst health care providers in Norwegian primary care by using the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire, in both out-of-hours (OOH) casualty clinics and GP practices. The questionnaire identifies five major patient safety factors: Teamwork climate, Safety climate, Job satisfaction, Perceptions of management, and Working conditions. Design. Cross-sectional study. Statistical analysis included multiple linear regression and independent samples t-tests. Setting. Seven OOH casualty clinics and 17 GP practices in Norway. Subjects. In October and November 2012, 510 primary health care providers working in OOH casualty clinics and GP practices (316 doctors and 194 nurses) were invited to participate anonymously. Main outcome measures. To study whether patterns in patient safety attitudes were related to professional background, gender, age, and clinical setting. Results. The overall response rate was 52%; 72% of the nurses and 39% of the doctors answered the questionnaire. In the OOH clinics, nurses scored significantly higher than doctors on Safety climate and Job satisfaction. Older health care providers scored significantly higher than younger on Safety climate and Working conditions. In GP practices, male health professionals scored significantly higher than female on Teamwork climate, Safety climate, Perceptions of management and Working conditions. Health care providers in GP practices had significant higher mean scores on the factors Safety climate and Working conditions, compared with those working in the OOH clinics. Conclusion. Our study showed that nurses scored higher than doctors, older health professionals scored higher than younger, male GPs scored higher than female GPs, and health professionals in GP practices scored higher than those in OOH clinics – on several patient safety factors.
Logged on to learning? assessing the impact of technology on participation in lifelong learning

The role of information and communications technology (ICT) in widening participation in lifelong learning, and thereby establishing the UK as a bona fide ‘learning society’, is now enshrined in a series of multi-million pound government initiatives such as the University for Industry, learndirect and UK Online. Although politicians and educationalists have been quick to herald such initiatives as revolutionizing post-compulsory education and extending learning opportunities to ‘anyone’ on an ‘anytime, anywhere’ basis, there has been little empirical analysis of how ICT is actually impacting on patterns of lifelong learning in the UK. With this in mind, the present paper presents an analysis of data from the 2002 National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) survey of 5885 households, focusing on learners' access to technology and the role that technology is playing in facilitating learning.
Bayesian galaxy shape measurement for weak lensing surveys – III. Application to the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope Lensing Survey

A likelihood-based method for measuring weak gravitational lensing shear in deep galaxy surveys is described and applied to the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) Lensing Survey (CFHTLenS). CFHTLenS comprises 154 deg^2 of multi-colour optical data from the CFHT Legacy Survey, with lensing measurements being made in the i′ band to a depth i′_(AB) < 24.7, for galaxies with signal-to-noise ratio ν_(SN) ≳ 10. The method is based on the lensfit algorithm described in earlier papers, but here we describe a full analysis pipeline that takes into account the properties of real surveys. The method creates pixel-based models of the varying point spread function (PSF) in individual image exposures. It fits PSF-convolved two-component (disc plus bulge) models to measure the ellipticity of each galaxy, with Bayesian marginalization over model nuisance parameters of galaxy position, size, brightness and bulge fraction. The method allows optimal joint measurement of multiple, dithered image exposures, taking into account imaging distortion and the alignment of the multiple measurements. We discuss the effects of noise bias on the likelihood distribution of galaxy ellipticity. Two sets of image simulations that mirror the observed properties of CFHTLenS have been created to establish the method's accuracy and to derive an empirical correction for the effects of noise bias.
Hypothesis for the Role of Nutrient Starvation in Biofilm Detachment

ABSTRACT A combination of experimental and theoretical approaches was used to investigate the role of nutrient starvation as a potential trigger for biofilm detachment. Experimental observations of detachment in a variety of biofilm systems were made with pure cultures of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. These observations indicated that biofilms grown under continuous-flow conditions detached after flow was stopped, that hollow cell clusters were sometimes observed in biofilms grown in flow cells, and that lysed cells were apparent in the internal strata of colony biofilms. When biofilms were nutrient starved under continuous-flow conditions, detachment still occurred, suggesting that starvation and not the accumulation of a metabolic product was responsible for triggering detachment in this particular system. A cellular automata computer model of biofilm dynamics was used to explore the starvation-dependent detachment mechanism. The model predicted biofilm structures and dynamics that were qualitatively similar to those observed experimentally. The predicted features included centrally located voids appearing in sufficiently large cell clusters, gradients in growth rate within these clusters, and the release of most of the biofilm with simulated stopped-flow conditions. The model was also able to predict biofilm sloughing resulting solely from this detachment mechanism. These results support the conjecture that nutrient starvation is an environmental cue for the release of microbes from a biofilm.
Therapeutic Interaction and the Management of Challenge during the Beginning Minutes of Sensory Integration Treatment

In sensory integration treatment, the child and therapist manage challenging tasks in an interdependent process of action and response. This descriptive and relational study examined patterns of child-therapist action and interaction during the management of challenge in videotaped segments of the early minutes of treatment. Two dimensions emerged from these patterns: playfulness and task-orientation. Observer therapist judges perceived that a match between the task challenge and the child's ability was achieved when the child was working hard, showing initiative, and obviously enjoying the process. Simultaneously, the therapist was providing positive support, but not directly intervening to manipulate the child or the task. The validity of the measurement of challenge management is discussed.