Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The impact of reward and punishment on visual attention during naturalistic visual search: valence or salience?

In this thesis, I am going to address the issue of how both reward and punishment affect visual representation, by the use of a visual search paradigm performed in naturalistic scenes. More specifically, I am going to approach these two motivational forces by referring to their constituting dimensions, namely valence and salience. In fact, while being positioned in oppositely valenced space, these two outcomes share the burden of signaling stimuli with strong behavioral importance, coding therefore for motivational salience. After reviewing the main existing literature in this field (Chapter 1), I will describe a series of studies which examine how reward and punishment impact visual attention through the analysis of behavioral measures (Chapter 2) and fMRI activation (Chapter 3 and 4). The main idea resulting from these studies is that, in spite of what a rational approach to the problem would suggest, automatic visual attention does not process these two outcomes according to a salience, but rather through a valence pattern.
Multilayer Perceptron Neural Network (MLPs) For Analyzing the Properties of Jordan Oil Shale

In this paper, we introduce the multilayer preceptron neural network and describe how it can be used for function approximation. The back propagation algorithm (including its variants) is the principle procedure for training multilayer perceptrons. Car must be taken when training perceptron network to ensure that they do not over fit the training data and then fail to generalize well in new situations. So the main purpose of this paper lies in studying the effect of changing both the No of hidden layers of MLPs and the No of processing elements that exist in the hidden layers on the analyzed properties of Jordan Oil Shale. After constructing such a MLP and changing the number of hidden layers, we found that with increasing the number of processing elements in the hidden layers. We reach to an optional output results w.r. t the experimental one or the analytical formulated one. This obtained output is completely matched with the main concepts of theoretical visions of ANN.
Completeness of bladder cancer staging in the Danish Cancer Registry, 2004–2009

Objective To investigate the completeness of tumor, node, and metastasis (TNM) staging for invasive bladder cancer in the Danish Cancer Registry (DCR). Methods From the DCR, we retrieved data on TNM stage, year of diagnosis, sex, and age of all-incident invasive bladder cancer patients between 2004 and 2009. Data on comorbidity was obtained from the Danish National Patient Register. We estimated the completeness of TNM registration in the DCR overall and stratified the analysis by sex, age, year of cancer diagnosis, and Charlson comorbidity score. Through knowledge of pathophysiology and clinical coding practice, we designed a clinically based algorithm that allowed tumors with certain missing TNM-stage components to be placed in localized, regional, distant, and unknown categories. Results The overall completeness of TNM staging for bladder cancer was 44.1% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 42.7–45.5). Completeness decreased from 60.9% (95% CI: 40.6–78.6) in patients aged 0–39 years to 25.5% (95% CI: 23.2–27.9) in patients aged 80 years or older. Among patients with a low level of comorbidity, completeness was 48.4% (95% CI: 46.6–50.3), decreasing to 34.0% (95% CI: 30.4–37.8) among those with a high level of comorbidity. The highest proportion of missing TNM data was found for registration of lymph node metastases. Defining T1 cancer as completely registered, regardless of missing N and M stage, increased TNM-registration completeness to 61.8%. When we applied a clinically based algorithm, only 29.6% of tumors had an unknown stage. Conclusion The overall completeness of TNM staging for bladder cancer in the DCR was low, especially with increasing age and high level of comorbidity. Thus, restricting analyses to bladder cancer patients with complete data on stage may produce substantially selected study populations. Careful considerations should thus be made on handling missing data.
Validating the safety of embedded real-time control systems using FMEA

Traditional failure modes and effects analysis techniques have been adapted and extended to include assessment of software failures. The resulting technique is used to assess the safety of embedded real-time control systems designed for use in automotive applications. The use of FMEA techniques in assessing the software safety of those controllers has allowed analysis of the effects of a more comprehensive set of potential failures, including data corruption, than is practical using other software safety analysis techniques. The ability to assess the results of data corruption has proven to be crucial in providing feedback to design teams about the potential safety risks of the designs analyzed. <<ETX>>
Orientation-based Wi-Fi positioning on the google Nexus One

While localization systems for indoor areas using the existing wireless local area network (WLAN) infrastructure have recently been proposed, wireless LAN localization approaches suffer from a number of significant drawbacks. To begin with, there is inaccurate position tracking due to the orientation of the mobile device and signal fluctuation. In this paper, we apply an orientation filter and a Newton Trust Region (TR) algorithm to eliminate the noisy location estimation. We implement the localization algorithm on the Nexus One which is a Wi-Fi enabled device with a digital compass. The average error distance is only 1.82m. We achieve 90% precision within 2.45m. The proposed method leads to substantially more accurate and robust localization system.
To Investigate the Success and Failure Factors of ERP Implementation within Malaysian Small and Medium Enterprises

In recent years ERP, as a comprehensive new system, has been used by many Malaysian companies. It has been successful in some and in some others it has failed. This article assesses 15 success factors and 8 failure factors in SME companies and tries to recognize the effective ones. The results show that the two most important failure factors in implementing ERP in Malaysian SMEs are 'poor planning or poor management' and 'inappropriate training methods' and the most important success factors are 'Implementing team's teamwork and composition' and ' Effective training of users'. It could be conducted that team work is a key success factor in Malaysian SMEs and also training is of vital importance. As a result, by a sound investment and effective trainings we may guarantee the success of ERP in SMEs in Malaysia, failure to do so will lead to a defeat for ERP in Malaysian setting.
Capitalizing on Content: Information Adoption in Two Online communities

Online communities enable members to exchange messages, and rich content is generated in the wake of these contributions. Little research has systematically investigated how this content is utilized. In this paper we use the HeuristicSystematic Model of information processing to explore the mechanisms by which the potential value of these information assets can be realized. We argue that the extent to which message content and heuristic cues influence the validity assessment process is moderated by two factors: how consistent the new information is with what is already known and the extent to which information-seeking members are actively searching for on-topic information to satisfy their specific information needs. Survey data collected from two online communities generally support the hypotheses derived from this model. This study demonstrates that community members process information from online communities in a highly contextual manner that may extend to the functionality of the technical tools provided by the online communities. It also suggests numerous opportunities for future research and potential ways that online communities might improve their information sharing.
Age differences in emotion perception

Older adults tend to have lower emotion-perception accuracy compared to younger adults. Previous studies have centered on individual characteristics, including cognitive decline and positive attentional preferences, as possible mechanisms underlying these age differences in emotion perception; however, thus far, no perceiver-focused factor has accounted for the age differences. The present study focuses on perceived social-context factors and uses the Social Input Model as the framework for investigating the relation between the expressivity of the social environment and emotion-perception accuracy in younger and older adults. Younger (n = 32) and older adults (n = 29) reported on the make-up of their social circles and the expressivity of their three closest social partners and then completed a static facial emotion-perception task. Older adults reported greater positive and negative expressivity in their social partners compared to younger adults. Moreover, older adults were marginally less accurate than younger adults when perceiving emotions. Positive expressivity of the social partners predicted lower emotion-perception accuracy in younger but not older adults. Our findings mark the first step to identifying possible characteristics of the social environment that may contribute to the age difference in emotion-perception accuracy.
Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Catchment classification by runoff behaviour with self-organizing maps ( SOM )

Catchments show a wide range of response behaviour, even if they are adjacent. For many purposes it is necessary to characterise and classify them, e.g. for regionalisation, prediction in ungauged catchments, model parameterisation. In this study, we investigate hydrological similarity of catchments with respect to their response behaviour. We analyse more than 8200 event runoff coefficients (ERCs) and flow duration curves of 53 gauged catchments in RhinelandPalatinate, Germany, for the period from 1993 to 2008, covering a huge variability of weather and runoff conditions. The spatio-temporal variability of event-runoff coefficients and flow duration curves are assumed to represent how different catchments “transform” rainfall into runoff. From the runoff coefficients and flow duration curves we derive 12 signature indices describing various aspects of catchment response behaviour to characterise each catchment. Hydrological similarity of catchments is defined by high similarities of their indices. We identify, analyse and describe hydrologically similar catchments by cluster analysis using Self-Organizing Maps (SOM). As a result of the cluster analysis we get five clusters of similarly behaving catchments where each cluster represents one differentiated class of catchments. As catchment response behaviour is supposed to be dependent on its physiographic and climatic characteristics, we compare groups of catchments clustered by response behaviour with clusters of catchments based on catchment properties. Results show an overlap of 67 % between these two pools of clustered catchments which can be improved using the topologic correctness of SOMs. Correspondence to: R. Ley (leyrita@uni-trier.de)
Bursty topics extraction for web forums

Many bursty topics which are difficult to summarize and search exist in web forums. Most existing topic detection and tracking (TDT) methods deal with the news stories, but the language used in web forums are much casual, oral and informal compared with news data. In this paper, we present a noise-filtered model to extract bursty topics from web forums using terms and participations of users. Conducting experiments in ShuiMu community we demonstrate the efficiency of our model. Our model not only extracts bursty topics which are better organized for search and visualization, but also discoveries communities corresponding to these topics.
Promoting police legitimacy among disengaged minority groups: Does procedural justice matter more?

Procedural justice is known to enhance perceptions of police legitimacy. Studies show that procedural justice may be less effective for some individuals and groups, while others show it to be more effective. This study investigates the contingency of the procedural justice effect and considers the effectiveness of procedural justice for certain individuals through the concept of disengagement. Utilizing a survey of 1480 ethnic minority group members, the study tests whether or not disengagement moderates the effect of procedural justice on perceptions of police legitimacy. As expected, we find procedural justice is linked to enhanced perceptions of police legitimacy, while disengagement is associated with reduced perceptions of legitimacy. Interestingly, the study finds that procedural justice is more effective for building legitimacy for ethnic minority respondents who report being highly disengaged from police. These findings highlight how police might be able to improve perceptions of their legitimacy among disaffected minority communities.
Con Café, Compañerismo, y Calidad: Latina Women Fashioning a Writing Group into a Space of Praxis and Belonging

ABSTRACT This article explores the spatial practices through which a group of Mexican immigrant women, participants in a school-based writing workshop I facilitated for four years, molded and gave meaning to our weekly writing routine to foster inclusivity as the basis for collective teaching and learning—creating what I refer to as a space of praxis and belonging. Integrating the insights of Latina feminist ethnography with dialectical and dialogical approaches to spatial production, I consider how workshop participants’ attention to the material, aesthetic, and affective dimensions of the workshop were central to the creation of a space for writing and discussing stories that respected writers’ differences, dignified their life experiences, and encouraged them to consider new ways of envisioning and enacting their lives.
Commonplace forgiveness: From healthy relationships to healthy society.

Throughout history people have extolled the benefits ofinterpersonal forgiveness, and within the last two decades social scientists have uncovered many benefits, determinants, and applications of forgiveness. Though psychologists claim that the commonplace practice offorgiveness can prepare peoplefor extraordinary dilemmas offorgiveness, little research has focused on how forgiveness unfolds in everyday settings involving casual social relationships rather than close relation ships; and even less has pondered the implications commonplace forgiveness can have for social harmony and stability. Thus, this paper focuses on three studies that explore the interplay between apologies and forgiveness in commonplace circumstances to posit a functional view of interpersonal forgiveness in society. The first study examined forgiveness and apologies in the context of a staged conflict between two groups and produced evidence for leniency toward ingroup transgressors. The second two used hypothetical vignettes to examine differences in forgiveness and apologies between Sicily and the United States. Results are discussed in terms of the potential benefits that the commonplace practice of forgiveness can have on the resolution of social conflicts, relationship functioning in general, and the general health of society.
Emotion-Specific Effects of Facial Expressions and Postures on Emotional Experience

A total of 74 Ss were induced to adopt expressions of fear, anger, disgust, and sadness in Experiment 1. Each expression significantly increased feelings of its particular emotion compared with at least two of the others, a result that cannot be explained by a single dimension. Postures should play the same role in emotional experience as facial expressions. However, the demonstrated effects of postures (Riskind, 1984) could also represent a single dimension of variation. In Experiment 2, subjects were induced to adopt postures characteristic of fear, anger, and sadness. Again, the effects were specific to the postures. These two studies indicate that emotional behavior produces changes in feelings that specifically match the behavior.
Academic hardiness: Mediator between sense of belonging to school and academic achievement?

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to (a) test the relationships between sense of belonging to school, academic hardiness, and academic achievement and (b) examine the mediating role of academic hardiness (including commitment, control, and challenge) on the association between sense of belonging to school and academic achievement. Five hundred and twenty 15–21-year-old high school students (245 young women and 275 young men) from eight high schools in Tehran, Iran, participated in the study by completing a series of validated questionnaires. Partial least squares structural equation modeling provided evidence that commitment, control, challenge, and sense of belonging to school were positively associated with academic achievement. Commitment, control, and challenge partially mediated the relationship between sense of belonging to school and academic achievement. These findings enhance existing literature by revealing how sense of belonging to school may contribute to academic achievement.
Constraints on dark energy models from galaxy clusters with multiple arcs

We make an exploratory study of how well dark energy models can be constrained using lensed arcs at different redshifts behind cluster lenses. Arcs trace the critical curves of clusters, and the growth of critical curves with source redshift is sensitive to the dark energy equation of state. Using analytical models and numerically simulated clusters, we explore the key factors involved in using cluster arcs as a probe of dark energy. We quantify the sensitivity to lens mass, concentration and ellipticity with analytical models that include the effects of dark energy on halo structure. We show with simple examples how degeneracies between mass models and cosmography may be broken using arcs at multiple redshifts or additional constraints on the lens density profile. However, we conclude that the requirements on the data are so stringent that it is very unlikely that robust constraints can be obtained from individual clusters. We argue that surveys of clusters, analysed in conjunction with numerical simulations, are a more promising prospect for arc cosmography. We use such numerically simulated clusters to estimate how large a sample of clusters/arcs could provide interesting constraints on dark energy models. We focus on the scatter produced by differences in the mass distribution of individual clusters. We find from our sample of simulated clusters that at least 1000 pairs of arcs are needed to obtain constraints if the mass distribution of individual clusters is taken to be undetermined. We discuss several unsolved problems that need study to develop this method fully for precision studies with future surveys.
Framing Political Messages to Fit the Audience’s Regulatory Orientation: How to Improve the Efficacy of the Same Message Content

This research investigates how the impact of persuasive messages in the political domain can be improved when fit is created by subliminally priming recipients’ regulatory focus (either promotion or prevention) and by linguistic framing of the message (either strategic approach framing or strategic avoidance framing). Results of two studies show that regulatory fit: a) increases the impact of a political message favoring nuclear energy on implicit attitudes of the target audience (Study 1); and b) induces a more positive evaluation of, and intentions to vote for, the political candidate who is delivering a message concerning immigration policies (Study 2).
Role of Permissive Neuraminidase Mutations in Influenza A/Brisbane/59/2007-like (H1N1) Viruses

Neuraminidase (NA) mutations conferring resistance to NA inhibitors were believed to compromise influenza virus fitness. Unexpectedly, an oseltamivir-resistant A/Brisbane/59/2007 (Bris07)-like H1N1 H275Y NA variant emerged in 2007 and completely replaced the wild-type (WT) strain in 2008–2009. The NA of such variant contained additional NA changes (R222Q, V234M and D344N) that potentially counteracted the detrimental effect of the H275Y mutation on viral fitness. Here, we rescued a recombinant Bris07-like WT virus and 4 NA mutants/revertants (H275Y, H275Y/Q222R, H275Y/M234V and H275Y/N344D) and characterized them in vitro and in ferrets. A fluorometric-based NA assay was used to determine Vmax and Km values. Replicative capacities were evaluated by yield assays in ST6Gal1-MDCK cells. Recombinant NA proteins were expressed in 293T cells and surface NA activity was determined. Infectivity and contact transmission experiments were evaluated for the WT, H275Y and H275Y/Q222R recombinants in ferrets. The H275Y mutation did not significantly alter Km and Vmax values compared to WT. The H275Y/N344D mutant had a reduced affinity (Km of 50 vs 12 µM) whereas the H275Y/M234V mutant had a reduced activity (22 vs 28 U/sec). In contrast, the H275Y/Q222R mutant showed a significant decrease of both affinity (40 µM) and activity (7 U/sec). The WT, H275Y, H275Y/M234V and H275Y/N344D recombinants had comparable replicative capacities contrasting with H275Y/Q222R mutant whose viral titers were significantly reduced. All studied mutations reduced the cell surface NA activity compared to WT with the maximum reduction being obtained for the H275Y/Q222R mutant. Comparable infectivity and transmissibility were seen between the WT and the H275Y mutant in ferrets whereas the H275Y/Q222R mutant was associated with significantly lower lung viral titers. In conclusion, the Q222R reversion mutation compromised Bris07-like H1N1 virus in vitro and in vivo. Thus, the R222Q NA mutation present in the WT virus may have facilitated the emergence of NAI-resistant Bris07 variants.
Language Brokering, Prosocial Capacities, and Intercultural Communication Apprehension Among Latina Mothers and Their Adolescent Children

Past research on language brokering has primarily focused on the positive and negative outcomes that children of immigrant families experience from brokering. Little is known, however, regarding the positive experiences that language brokees—the immigrant family members for whom children broker—garner from participating in this interaction. Utilizing survey data from 120 Latina/o mother–adolescent dyads, we examined whether more frequent participation in brokering was positively related to mothers’ (i.e., brokees) and adolescents’ (i.e., brokers) prosocial capacities. In turn, we considered whether their prosocial capacities were related to feeling less apprehensive interacting with people outside their cultural group (i.e., intercultural communication apprehension). Multigroup path analyses revealed that mothers’ and adolescents’ frequent participation in brokering was positively related to general perspective-taking and empathic concern; however, only empathic concern was negatively related to intercultural communication apprehension. Our findings reveal that brokers and brokees may experience benefits with positive implications for their intercultural interactions.
Productivity and Organization in Portuguese Firms

Using employer-employee matched and firm production quantity and input data for Portuguese firms, we study the endogenous response of productivity to firm reorganizations as measured by changes in the number of management layers. We show that, as a result of an exogenous demand or productivity shock that makes the firm reorganize and add a management layer, quantity-based productivity increases by about 6%, while revenue-based productivity drops by around 3%. Such a reorganization makes the firm more productive but also increases the quantity produced to an extent that lowers the price charged by the firm and, as a result, its revenue-based productivity as well.