Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of an Introductory Economics Course on Student Political Attitudes

So much has been done in terms of measuring the impact of economics courses on student knowledge and understanding of facts, concepts and principles, and so little research has dealt with the possible effects on student political attitudes, that this study by Scott and Rothman should be of great interest to economics instructors. The authors address themselves to George Stigler's assertion that “the education of an economist makes the person who receives it more conservative. ” They report on the use of their own “Social Opinion Questionnaire” and how it was employed to investigate “the different effects, if any, introductory economics and introductory psychology have on opinions related to economic issues. ”
The Regionalization of Political Careers in Spain and the UK

The conventional wisdom of career studies holds that the central state is at the apex of political careers. In this study the traditional notion is contrasted with two extreme cases, where regionalism in conjunction with political professionalization makes for a strong regional career orientation. The empirical analysis, based on an extensive data set on political careers in Catalonia and Scotland, shows political career patterns in both cases to differ not only from the standard pattern, but also from each other. Explaining the institutional opportunity structures operant in each case, the article illuminates the ‘black box’ of how regional politicians pursue their careers and how rather similar territorial identities may translate into rather different career patterns.
Arp2/3- and Cofilin-coordinated Actin Dynamics Is Required for Insulin-mediated GLUT4 Translocation to the Surface of Muscle Cells

Insulin increases GLUT4 at the muscle cell surface, and this process requires actin remodeling. We show that a dynamic cycle of actin polymerization and severing is induced by insulin, governed by Arp2/3 and dephosphorylation of cofilin, respectively. The cycle is self-perpetuating and is essential for GLUT4 translocation.
A Comparative Study on the Performance of Wireless Sensor Networks

To increase the lifetime of the sensor networks, a recognized method is to switch off/on some sensor nodes between "sleep" and "activity" mode in order to save the energy. The performance metrics of an individual node can be calculated by using its DTMC model, the theoretical results include the average number of data units generated in a time slot Xe, the sensor throughput T, the average buffer occupancy B. In our research, we have implemented a wireless sensor network on NS2 in which the sensors nodes can be either or activity modes. Our simulations have produced the experiment results of performance metrics. By comparing the experiment results with the theoretical results, we demonstrate the DTMC model is able to accurately describe the behavior dynamics of a sensor node.
Sirt1 regulates canonical TGF-β signalling to control fibroblast activation and tissue fibrosis

Background Sirt1 is a member of the sirtuin family of proteins. Sirt1 is a class III histone deacetylase with important regulatory roles in transcription, cellular differentiation, proliferation and metabolism. As aberrant epigenetic modifications have been linked to the pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis (SSc), we aimed to investigate the role of Sirt1 in fibroblast activation. Methods Sirt1 expression was analysed by real-time PCR, western blot and immunohistochemistry. Sirt1 signalling was modulated with the Sirt1 agonist resveratrol and by fibroblast-specific knockout. The role of Sirt1 was evaluated in bleomycin-induced skin fibrosis and in mice overexpressing a constitutively active transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) receptor I (TBRIact). Results The expression of Sirt1 was decreased in patients with SSc and in experimental fibrosis in a TGF-β-dependent manner. Activation of Sirt1 potentiated the profibrotic effects of TGF-β with increased Smad reporter activity, elevated transcription of TGF-β target genes and enhanced release of collagen. In contrast, knockdown of Sirt1 inhibited TGF-β/SMAD signalling and reduced release of collagen in fibroblasts. Consistently, mice with fibroblast-specific knockdown of Sirt1 were less susceptible to bleomycin- or TBRIact-induced fibrosis. Conclusions We identified Sirt1 as a crucial regulator of TGF-β/Smad signalling in SSc. Although Sirt1 is downregulated, this decrease is not sufficient to counterbalance the excessive activation of TGF-β signalling in SSc. However, augmentation of this endogenous regulatory mechanism, for example, by knockdown of Sirt1, can effectively inhibit TGF-β signalling and exerts potent antifibrotic effects. Sirt1 may thus be a key regulator of fibroblast activation in SSc.
Motorische Entwicklung vom frühen Kindes- bis zum frühen Erwachsenenalter im Kontext der Persönlichkeitsentwicklung

Zusammenfassung. Die Entwicklung von motorischen Leistungen und des motorischen Selbstkonzepts wurde in einer Langsschnittstichprobe (N = 146) vom Kindergartenalter bis ins fruhe Erwachsenenalter im breiteren Kontext der Personlichkeitsentwicklung untersucht. Im Kindergartenalter fanden sich positive Beziehungen der getesteten motorischen Leistungen nicht nur zu Intelligenz, sondern unabhangig davon auch zu sozialer Ungehemmtheit und (nur bei Jungen) zu niedriger Aggressivitat. Das motorische Selbstkonzept zeigte eine geringere Stabilitat als die motorischen Leistungen, vor allem bei Madchen. Signifikante Einflusse des motorischen Selbstkonzepts auf die motorischen Leistungen konnten nicht gefunden werden, was den Skill-Development Ansatz unterstutzt. Auser den motorischen Leistungen beeinflusste auch das allgemeine Selbstwertgefuhl in der Kindheit das motorische Selbstkonzept, insbesondere bei Madchen. Einflusse der sozial-emotionalen Personlichkeit auf die motorischen Testleistungen waren bis zum jungen Erwachsenenalter nachweisbar. Wir konnen die motorische Entwicklung besser verstehen, wenn wir sie im Kontext der gesamten Personlichkeitsentwicklung betrachten. Schlusselworter: Motorische Leistungen, Selbstkonzept, Personlichkeit, Intelligenz, Langsschnittstudie Motor development between early childhood and early adulthood in the context of personality development
Clients’ experiences of relational depth in person-centred counselling

This study explored clients’ experiences of relational depth using a qualitative methodology. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 participants who had been clients of predominately person-centred counselling. Participants were asked to focus on specific moments which they had experienced as relational depth. The clients’ descriptions of those experiences showed some similarity to therapists’ descriptions, including feelings of aliveness, realness, and openness, although there were also some significant differences described. Participants experienced their therapists as being holding, accepting, and ‘really real’, and as offering something over and above what they had expected from a professional therapeutic relationship. Such moments were often seen by participants as being highly significant moments in the therapy with an enduring positive effect. The implications of these findings are discussed and areas for further research highlighted.
Water Complexes of Cytochrome P450: Insights from Energy Decomposition Analysis

Water is a small molecule that nevertheless perturbs, sometimes significantly, the electronic properties of an enzyme’s active site. In this study, interactions of a water molecule with the ferric heme and the compound I (Cpd I) intermediate of cytochrome P450 are studied. Energy decomposition analysis (EDA) schemes are used to investigate the physical origins of these interactions. Localized molecular orbital EDA (LMOEDA) implemented in the quantum chemistry software GAMESS and the EDA method implemented in the ADF quantum chemistry program are used. EDA reveals that the electrostatic and polarization effects act as the major driving force in both of these interactions. The hydrogen bonding in the Cpd I•••H2O complex is similar to that in the water dimer; however, the relative importance of the electrostatic effect is somewhat larger in the water dimer.
Ethnic differences during social interactions of preschoolers in same-ethnic and cross-ethnic dyads

Dyadic interactions of 30 Asian-Canadian and 30 French-Canadian preschool children were analyzed in term of social participation, initiation, responses strategies and social interchange. Results showed a preference for same-ethnic partners to play more interactively together, while with a cross-ethnic partner they played more solitarily in the presence of the peer. To initiate their interactions, Asian-Canadian children made more co-operative initiations (helping or assisting the peer largely nonverbally) whereas French-Canadian children used more affiliative verbalizations to initiate the interaction. Moreover, Asian-Canadian children initiated more conflictual interactions, during same-ethnic interactions, by taking an object from the other child, and they used more of both submission and counter-attack behaviours than French-Canadian children. Finally, children of both groups showed synchronous activity regardless of the ethnicity of the play partner. Consistent with studies with older children, findings from the present study revealed that the quality of preschoolers' social interactions is influenced by the ethnicity of the playmate.
Documentary in a Culture of Clearance: A Study of Knowledge of and Attitudes Toward Copyright and Fair Use Among Norwegian Documentary Makers

Copyright law is a mechanism for regulation of production and dissemination of cultural products. In documentary storytelling, reuse of copyrighted material such as footage and music is of great importance. This requires filmmakers to get permission from right holders, obtain a license, or invoke fair use under copyright law. As most documentarians must handle copyright issues in production, copyright law is influencing the practice of documentary filmmaking in various ways. This article presents a study of Norwegian filmmakers' experiences with and attitudes toward copyright. A key finding is a widespread uncertainty on copyright issues in general and in terms of invoking exception from copyright, such as fair use, in particular. It also discusses the wider implications of the current copyright regime on fundamental democratic ideals of cultural creativity and free speech.
Ten years on: The Hong Kong Language Proficiency Assessment for Teachers of English (LPATE)

The impetus for the creation of the LPATE arose, in 1996, because of concerns in business and education communities over falling English language standards among teachers in Hong Kong, supported by evidence from Tsui, Coniam, Sengupta and Wu (1994) that less than 20% of English language teachers were both subject and professionally trained. With a view to upgrading teacher language standards, the Hong Kong Government thus decided, in 1996, to investigate the establishment of language ‘benchmarks’ – minimum standards of competence in English language – for all teachers in Hong Kong (of 42,000 primary and secondary school teachers, approximately 12,500 were English language teachers) and initiated the process by commissioning a consultancy study for the LPATE. A representative committee was established in late 1997 to agree on assessment constructs, establish specifications, create exemplar tasks, assemble scales and descriptors for criterion-referenced task assessment and monitor the piloting of the assessment instruments. It was agreed that the target model for English would not be a native speaker but an ‘educated Hong Kong speaker of English’. It was also agreed that the assessment should consist of a battery of ‘formal’ tests (i.e. Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking), and a live performance test of Classroom Language. The Reading and Listening Tests were to be analytically marked. The composition element in the Writing Test, the Speaking Test and Classroom Language Assessment (CLA) components were to be scale-based with descriptors specifying levels of achievement on different scales. Failure to reach accepted standards would result in retraining and possible dismissal from the profession 459485 LTJ30110.1177/0265532212459485Language TestingConiam and Falvey 2013
Status processes in enduring work groups.

We examine the impact of team, organizational, and societal status characteristics on interaction patterns in long-term work groups. Data are from 2077 respondents representing 224 research and development teams drawn from 29 large corporations. Hypotheses based on status characteristic theory are supported: Both external (organizational and societal) and internal (team) status characteristics affect team interaction. When status within a team is controlled, only one external characteristic has a significant positive effect. Team status, in turn, is significantly affected by each of the external characteristics studied. While most of these external characteristics may reflect a team member's past performance, gender, when past performance is controlled, also has an independent effect on team status with males being accorded higher status. This suggests that competence and performance are not the sole bases for team status. Status processes in enduring work teams behave very much like those observed in ad hoc groups: Beliefs associated with diffuse status characteristics affect the ordering of interaction.
Bayesian assessment of newborn brain maturity from sleep electroencephalograms

In this thesis, we develop and test a technology for computer-assisted assessments of newborn brain maturity from sleep electroencephalogram (EEG). Brain maturation of newborns is reflected in rapid development of EEG patterns over a number of weeks after conception. Observing the maturational patterns, experts can assess newborn’s EEG maturity with an accuracy ±2 weeks of newborn’s stated age. A mismatch between the EEG patterns and newborn’s physiological age alerts clinicians about possible neurological problems. Analysis of newborn EEG requires specialised skills to recognise the maturity-related waveforms and patterns and interpret them in the context of newborns age and behavioural state. It is highly desirable to make the results of maturity assessment most accurate and reliable. However, the expert analysis is limited in capability to estimate the uncertainty in assessments. To enable experts quantitatively evaluate risks of brain dysmaturity for each case, we employ the Bayesian model averaging methodology. This methodology, in theory, provides the most accurate assessments along with the estimates of uncertainty, enabling experts to take into account the full information about the risk of decision making. Such information is particularly important when assessing the EEG signals which are highly variable and corrupted by artefacts. The use of decision tree models within the Bayesian averaging enables interpreting the results as a set of rules and finding the EEG features which make the most important contribution to assessments. The developed technology was tested on approximately 1,000 EEG recordings of newborns aged 36 to 45 weeks post conception, and the accuracy of assessments was comparable to that achieved by EEG experts. In addition, it was shown that the Bayesian assessment can be used to quantitatively evaluate the risk of brain dysmaturity for each EEG recording.
Influence of the connector and implant design on the implant-tooth-connected prostheses.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to evaluate stress transfer patterns between implant-tooth-connected prostheses comparing rigid and semirigid connectors and internal and external hexagon implants. MATERIALS AND METHODS Two models were made of photoelastic resin PL-2, with an internal hexagon implant of 4.00 x 13 mm and another with an external hexagon implant of 4.00 x 13 mm. Three denture designs were fabricated for each implant model, incorporating one type of connection in each one to connect implants and teeth: 1) welded rigid connection; 2) semirigid connection; and 3) rigid connection with occlusal screw. The models were placed in the polariscope, and 100-N axial forces were applied on fixed points on the occlusal surface of the dentures. RESULTS There was a trend toward less intensity in the stresses on the semirigid connection and solid rigid connection in the model with the external hexagon; among the three types of connections in the model with the internal hexagon implant, the semirigid connection was the most unfavorable one; in the tooth-implant association, it is preferable to use the external hexagon implant. CONCLUSIONS The internal hexagon implant establishes a greater depth of hexagon retention and an increase in the level of denture stability in comparison with the implant with the external hexagon. However, this greater stability of the internal hexagon generated greater stresses in the abutment structures. Therefore, when this association is necessary, it is preferable to use the external hexagon implant.
A Genetic Association Study of the Functional A118G Polymorphism of the Human &mgr;-Opioid Receptor Gene in Patients with Acute and Chronic Pain

In this prospective, observational study we explored whether A118G single nucleotide polymorphism in the human &mgr;-opioid receptor (MOR) gene could explain the inter-individual differences in opioid analgesic requirements in patients with acute postoperative pain and chronic pain. The frequency of the wild-type A118 MOR (major) and variant G118 MOR (minor) alleles in the subjects with chronic, noncancer pain (n = 121) and opioid-naïve subjects with acute postoperative pain (n = 101), serving as the control group, were examined. The relationships among the A118G MOR genotype, opioid requirements, and the numerical pain score were analyzed in both groups. The frequency of the minor allele was significantly lower in the subjects with chronic pain when compared with the group with acute postoperative pain (0.079 versus 0.158; P = 0.009 by &khgr;2 test). No statistically significant association was observed between the presence of A118G MOR polymorphism and the average postoperative pain score or the doses of morphine used in the immediate postoperative period. In the high-quartile, opioid utilization, chronic pain patients, the homozygotic carriers of the major allele required significantly higher opioid dose than did the carriers of the minor allele. The results indicate that although the presence of the minor allele does not appear to affect opioid analgesic use in acute postoperative pain, the minor allele is less common in chronic pain patients, especially in those requiring higher doses of opioid analgesics.
Phenotypic Characterization and Multivariate Analysis to Explain Body Conformation in Lesser Known Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) from North India

Phenotypic characterization and body biometric in 13 traits (height at withers, body length, chest girth, paunch girth, ear length, tail length, length of tail up to switch, face length, face width, horn length, circumference of horn at base, distances between pin bone and hip bone) were recorded in 233 adult Gojri buffaloes from Punjab and Himachal Pradesh states of India. Traits were analysed by using varimax rotated principal component analysis (PCA) with Kaiser Normalization to explain body conformation. PCA revealed four components which explained about 70.9% of the total variation. First component described the general body conformation and explained 31.5% of total variation. It was represented by significant positive high loading of height at wither, body length, heart girth, face length and face width. The communality ranged from 0.83 (hip bone distance) to 0.45 (horn length) and unique factors ranged from 0.16 to 0.55 for all these 13 different biometric traits. Present study suggests that first principal component can be used in the evaluation and comparison of body conformation in buffaloes and thus provides an opportunity to distinguish between early and late maturing to adult, based on a small group of biometric traits to explain body conformation in adult buffaloes.
Negation in English speech and writing : a study in variation

Toward a pragmatic theory of negation why is there twice as much negation in spoken as in written discourse? affixal negation in speech and writing - a question of discourse strategy constraints on affixal and non-affixal negation not-negation vs no-negation - an introduction to the problem not-negation and no-negation in speech and writing - material, method and problems of variability and semantic equivalence overall results and factor assignments global factors.
Cognitive‐Experiential Leadership Model: How Leaders’ Information‐Processing Systems Can Influence Leadership Styles, Influencing Tactics, Conflict Management, and Organizational Outcomes

The current article provides empirical evidence in support of a new Cognitive-Experiential Leadership Model. The foundation of the model is based on the integration of the Cognitive-Experiential Theory (CET; Epstein, 2014), a personality-based theory, and the Full-Range Leadership Theory (FRLT; Bass, 1985). Results show a strong connection between the rational system and constructive elements of the CET’s experiential system, and transformational leadership and conflict-handling styles. There is also preliminary evidence that developing leaders’ CET information-processing systems could increase transformational leadership. Leaders who are high in rational thinking and constructive thinking may also elicit extra effort from their followers, effectively manage conflict, choose effective influencing tactics, and achieve positive organizational outcomes. Implications and future research directions examining the Cognitive-Experiential Leadership Model are discussed.
Do Hispanic-Serving Institutions Have What it Takes to Foster Information Literacy? One Case

Postsecondary Hispanic-serving institutions must foster information literacy in their students. Research has shown that faculty may not understand the information needs of their students or may be unwilling or unable to address those needs. This study surveyed faculty at a Hispanic-serving institution on their knowledge of information literacy and their attitudes toward fostering it in students. Respondents had medium-high levels of competency, and realized that students needed information literacy education. However, respondents did not demonstrate a strong commitment to promoting information literacy in students. We recommend ways for content area faculty, librarians, higher education leaders, and researchers to promote the information literacy of Hispanic students.
Management of the behavioral aspects of Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive and debilitating movement disorder that is diagnosed by its motor signs. The behavioral manifestations of Parkinson’s disease are prevalent and frequently complicate the course of the disease. These may be due to the illness itself or its treatment and are often more disabling than the motor symptoms. This review focuses on the management of the most common behavioral symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, including depression, anxiety, psychosis, dementia, delirium, sleep disorders, fatigue, apathy, emotionalism and compulsive behaviors.
Certolizumab Pegol Efficacy Across Methotrexate Regimens: A Pre‐Specified Analysis of Two Phase III Trials

Anti–tumor necrosis factor (anti‐TNF) agents are frequently used in combination with methotrexate (MTX) to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We investigated the effect of a background MTX dose, in combination with anti‐TNF certolizumab pegol (CZP), on treatment efficacy and safety in RA patients.