Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Article in Press G Model Journal of Neuroscience Methods Quantifying the Time for Accurate Eeg Decoding of Single Value-based Decisions

• We outline a novel method for assessing time-unlocked topographic EEG activity. • We apply this method for accurately predicting accept vs. reject decisions. • The time when decisions have been made is modulated by task difficulty. • It occurs well before subjects' button press (∼340 ms). • This time is compatible with a diffusion process, evaluated at behavioral level. a b s t r a c t Background: Recent neuroimaging studies suggest that value-based decision-making may rely on mechanisms of evidence accumulation. However no studies have explicitly investigated the time when single decisions are taken based on such an accumulation process. New method: Here, we outline a novel electroencephalography (EEG) decoding technique which is based on accumulating the probability of appearance of prototypical voltage topographies and can be used for predicting subjects' decisions. We use this approach for studying the time-course of single decisions, during a task where subjects were asked to compare reward vs. loss points for accepting or rejecting offers. Results: We show that based on this new method, we can accurately decode decisions for the majority of the subjects. The typical time-period for accurate decoding was modulated by task difficulty on a trial-by-trial basis. Typical latencies of when decisions are made were detected at ∼500 ms for 'Easy' vs. ∼700 ms for 'Hard' decisions, well before subjects' response (∼340 ms). Importantly, this decision time correlated with the drift rates of a diffusion model, evaluated independently at the behavioral level. Comparison with existing method(s): We compare the performance of our algorithm with logistic regression and support vector machine and show that we obtain significant results for a higher number of subjects than with these two approaches. We also carry out analyses at the average event-related potential level, for comparison with previous studies on decision-making. Conclusions: We present a novel approach for studying the timing of value-based decision-making, by accumulating patterns of topographic EEG activity at single-trial level.
Leadership Communication During Group Resource Dilemmas

A resource dilemma is a circumstance in which an aggregate of people share a slowly replenishing resource pool out of which each person can harvest for her or his own use. Successful management of a resource pool demands adequate leadership, but the content of leadership-relevant communication and its relationship with group performance and group members' perceptions of their experience has not been examined. In a study of 97 experimental simulations of a group resource dilemma, procedural leadership and three types of substantive leadership (information giving, initiating, and evaluating) were consistently, although weakly, associated with total group harvesting and/or with participant judgments relevant to group cooperation.
Measurement of “Extracellular Fluid Space” In Infants by Equilibration Technic Using Inulin and Sodium Ferrocyanide

Summary A close correlation of “extracellular fluid volume” as measured at equilibration and after collection of totally excreted inulin and sodium ferrocyanide was obtained in infants, thus shortening considerably the time needed for the determination. The ratios between the sodium ferrocyanide and inulin spaces were 0.96 to 1.04. Sodium ferrocyanide equilibrated in a much shorter time than did inulin. The comparative rate of glomerular filtration as measured by inulin and sodium ferrocyanide suggests tubular reabsorption of the latter substance in infants. No evidence of urinary disturbance was found in the infants given sodium ferrocyanide.
Comparative in vitro evaluation of efficacy of mouthrinses against Streptococcus mutans, Lactobacilli and Candida albicans.

PURPOSE The present study was undertaken to compare the relative antimicrobial efficacy of two commercially available mouthrinses, Hexidine (0.12% chlorhexidine mouthrinse) and S-Flo (0.2% sodium fluoride), and a laboratory-manufactured propolis mouthrinse (10%) tincture with a dilution of 1:5 with water and their combinations against Streptococcus mutans, lactobacilli and Candida albicans. MATERIALS AND METHODS Unstimulated saliva samples were obtained from the patients using the spitting method and the isolates of Streptococcus mutans, Lactobacillus and Candida albicans were obtained. The agar diffusion method was used to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of these test solutions and their combinations. RESULTS Hexidine (0.12% chlorhexidine gluconate mouthrinse) showed the best antimicrobial efficacy against all the tested microorganisms. The laboratory manufactured propolis mouthrinse showed an effective antimicrobial action only against Streptococcus mutans. The antimicrobial efficacy of propolis (P) against Streptococcus mutans was similar to that of chlorhexidine (CHX) and the combination of propolis with chlorhexidine (CHX+P). S-Flo mouthrinse (0.2% sodium fluoride) showed the least efficacy against Streptococcus mutans among all tested solutions, but had better efficacy than propolis against lactobacilli and Candida albicans. The antimicrobial efficacy of the combination of chlorhexidine and fluoride mouthrinse and the combination of chlorhexidine and propolis mouthrinse was less than chlorhexidine mouthwash alone. Among all the tested combinations, the combination of fluoride and propolis showed the least efficacy against all the tested microorganisms. CONCLUSION The results of the study indicate that 0.12% chlorhexidine gluconate mouthrinse (Hexidine) has the best anti-microbial efficacy against all the tested microorganisms, with laboratory-manufactured propolis mouthrinse showing an equivalent efficacy against Streptococcus mutans only. No added advantage of using the tested mouthrinse combinations was observed.
Editorial: Research on the Effectiveness of Technology in Schools: The Roles of Pedagogy and Content

The field of educational technology is under external pressure to provide evidence of identifiable learning outcomes that can be attributed to technology. Leaders within the educational technology research community agree about the importance of such evidence. Each year the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE) jointly sponsors a National Technology Leadership Summit (NTLS) to consider such issues in concert with partner associations. Ten national education associations are currently partners in the National Technology Leadership Coalition (www.NTLCoalition.org).
Robust heart rate from fitness videos

Remote photoplethysmography (rPPG) enables contactless heart-rate monitoring using a regular video camera. Objective: This paper aims to improve the rPPG technology targeting continuous heart-rate measurement during fitness exercises. The fundamental limitation of the existing (multi-wavelength) rPPG methods is that they can suppress at most n − 1 independent distortions by linearly combining n wavelength color channels. Their performance are highly restricted when more than n − 1 independent distortions appear in a measurement, as typically occurs in fitness applications with vigorous body motions. Approach: To mitigate this limitation, we propose an effective yet very simple method that algorithmically extends the number of possibly suppressed distortions without using more wavelengths. Our core idea is to increase the degrees-of-freedom of noise reduction by decomposing the n wavelength camera-signals into multiple orthogonal frequency bands and extracting the pulse-signal per band-basis. This processing, namely Sub-band rPPG (SB), can suppress different distortion-frequencies using independent combinations of color channels. Main results: A challenging fitness benchmark dataset is created, including 25 videos recorded from 7 healthy adult subjects (ages from 25 to 40 yrs; six male and one female) running on a treadmill in an indoor environment. Various practical challenges are simulated in the recordings, such as different skin-tones, light sources, illumination intensities, and exercising modes. The basic form of SB is benchmarked against a state-of-the-art method (POS) on the fitness dataset. Using non-biased parameter settings, the average signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) for POS varies in [−4.18, −2.07] dB, for SB varies in [−1.08, 4.77] dB. The ANOVA test shows that the improvement of SB over POS is statistically significant for almost all settings (p-value <0.05). Significance: The results suggest that the proposed SB method considerably increases the robustness of heart-rate measurement in challenging fitness applications, and outperforms the state-of-the-art method.
Emotion and support perceptions in everyday social interaction: Testing the “less is more” hypothesis in two cultures

The study examined emotional experience and perceived social support during naturally occurring social interactions in Greece and Britain. Multilevel analyses found that people in Greece (a more interdependent culture) perceived less support and experienced less positive and more negative affect in social interactions than those in the UK (a more independent culture). Positive relationships between positive affect and perceptions of support were stronger in Greece than in the UK. Global perceptions of social support did not differ between the two samples, and global perceptions were weakly related to perceived support in interaction. The results support the “less is more” hypothesis (Oishi, S., Diener, E., Choi, D. W., Kim-Prieto, C., & Choi, I. (2007). The dynamics of daily events and well-being across cultures: When less is more. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93, 685-698) concerning cultural differences in social support and distal and proximal antecedents of interaction-level relational processes.
Measuring mental health in the clinical setting: what is important to service users? The Mini-Service user Recovery Evaluation scale (Mini-SeRvE)

Abstract Background: Since 2001, a policy of positive mental health recovery has been promoted in the UK, with service user involvement. This has not been easy to implement in the clinical setting. Aims: To develop and validate a brief self-report, service user-designed, outcome measure (Mini-SeRvE), for clinical use, including spiritual and religious issues. Methods: From the previously developed Service user Recovery Evaluation scale (SeRvE), 15 questions were selected for Mini-SeRvE which was self-completed by 207 people; 100 service users and, for comparison, 107 staff. Results were analysed using SPSS software (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). Results: Mini-SeRvE is reliable, Cronbach’s alpha 0.852. Correlation with another recovery scale, Mental Health Recovery Measure, was high, r = 0.819. Three reliable subscales emerged; existential well-being (EWB), mental ill-being (MIB) and religious well-being (RWB). Scores of the EWB and MIB subscales were higher for staff, consistent with higher mental well-being. Religious well-being scores were higher in service users, who also rated religion as more important to them. Conclusions: Mini-SeRvE is a valid measure of service user recovery. The importance of religion/spiritual belief for our users is highlighted, this being reflected in the subject matter of Mini-SeRvE. Mini-SeRvE assessments could show individual priorities, evaluate therapy and aid clinical decision-making.
Prevalence of prehypertensive state and other cardiovascular risk factors in the First Infantry Regiment, the King's own bodyguard.

OBJECTIVE The objective of the present study was to identify the prevalence of pre-hypertension in the Army officers in a combat unit and to characterize the factors that are associated with increased prevalence of pre-hypertension. MATERIAL AND METHOD This was a cross sectional study performed in all officers of the 1st Infantry Regiment, the King's own bodyguard, in June 2007. Baseline demographic data were obtained and physical examination was performed in all participants. Apart from serum hemoglobin and urinalysis, which were studied in all participants, other laboratory examination were studied in officers whose age was 35 years old or more. All participants were classified into three groups according to their blood pressure using the Joint National Committee (JNC) 7 criteria; Group 1: Normal (BP < 120/80 mmHg), Group 2: Pre-hypertension (BP 120-139/ 80-89 mmHg), and Group 3: Hypertension (BP > or = 140/90 mmHg). The prevalence of pre-hypertension was calculated and the factors that correlated with increasing prevalence of prehypertension were identified using logistic regression analysis. RESULTS There were 1,472 officers who participated in the present study, all of them were male. The mean age of the studied population was 36.25 +/- 8.98 years. The mean weight, height, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference were 68.66 +/- 9.61 kilograms, 169.60 +/- 4.85 centimeters, 23.87 +/- 3.21 and 32.40 +/- 3.39 inches, respectively. The prevalence of normotension, pre-hypertension and hypertension were 40.01%, 41.44% and 18.55% respectively. The factors that were correlated with increasing prevalence of pre-hypertension (p < 0.05) were older age; overweight and obesity (compared with normal BMI); high serum uric acid, hemoglobin, aspatate aminotransferase (AST); and proteinuria and metabolic syndrome. CONCLUSION The prevalence of pre-hypertension in this population was relatively high. Pre-hypertension was found more often in older persons, with the increase in BMI, serum AST, hemoglobin and uric acid, proteinuria and metabolic syndrome.
The Effectiveness of Multistrategies on Disruptive Vocalization of People With Dementia in Institutions: A Multicentered Observational Study

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the daily interventions used by the nurses on disruptive vocalization (DV). DV includes all types of disturbing or unacceptable vocal expression: repetitive vocalization, verbal or nonverbal utterances, presented as inappropriate language, repeated and insistent demands, repeated calling out, shouting, complaining, or moaning that does not pertain to their circumstances or environment. A convenience sample of five nursing homes from the north of Italy, in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, was included in the study. A randomized selection of 87 daily shifts was selected. Institutionalized patients with dementia, but with no associated psychiatric disorders, were eligible. Nurses involved in the study added patients progressively. Nurses involved were asked to keep diaries to record strategies and durations for each episode of DV encountered during the allotted shift. In the total amount of observation time (36,540 minutes), 23.6% (8,653 minutes) of nursing care time involved working with and managing DV patients. The nurses recorded an average of 6.5 (302/46) vocalizations on morning shifts and 7.3 (302/41) during afternoon shifts, with an average duration of about a quarter of an hour each. Managing DV with multistrategies reduces the duration of the DV episode and increases the perceived effectiveness of management.
Thinking Levels of Questions in Christian Reading Textbooks

If Christian schools desire students to achieve higher-level thinking, then the textbooks that teachers use should reflect such thinking. Using Risner's (1987) methodology, raters classified questions from two Christian publishers’ fifth grade reading textbooks based on the revised Bloom's taxonomy (Anderson et al., 2001). The questions in the A Beka Book textbook contained 57.6% lower-level and 42.4% higher-level thinking; the questions in the Bob Jones University Press textbook contained 45.8% lower-level and 54.2% higher-level thinking. Analysis revealed a statistically significant difference between the percentages of thinking in the two publishers (p < .05).
Parental Experiences of Information Within Pediatric Oncology

Parents of children with cancer use information to create knowledge about their child’s disease. Information can help parents reduce chaos and create a feeling of control, but there are often obstacles to its acquisition, which has been described as similar to learning a new language. The purpose of this study was to describe parents’ experiences of acquiring and using information to create knowledge about their child’s cancer during the course of the illness. The authors used qualitative content analysis on data from focus groups and individual interviews with 14 parents of children with cancer. Two themes were constructed: (a) feeling acknowledged as a person of significance included feeling safe and secure in spite of uncertainty, having one’s hopes supported, and getting relief from other families’ experiences; (b) feeling like an unwelcome guest included feeling abandoned at important milestones, feeling forced to nag for information, and feeling burdened by the obligation to inform others. Parents may need extra attention at important milestones such as treatment cessation, with information meetings grounded in the parents’ own needs.
Toward Reliable Power Electronics: Challenges, Design Tools, and Opportunities

A new era of power electronics was created with the invention of the thyristor in 1957. Since then, the evolution of modern power electronics has witnessed its full potential and is quickly expanding in the applications of generation, transmission, distribution, and end-user consumption of electrical power. The performance of power electronic systems, especially in terms of efficiency and power density, has been continuously improved by the intensive research and advancements in circuit topologies, control schemes, semiconductors, passive components, digital signal processors, and system integration technologies.
Betwixt and between: Temporary Employees as Liminal Subjects in Flexible Organizations

As organizations change to become more flexible and transient, the use of a flexible workforce becomes an attractive solution. Temporary employees are here tentatively viewed as being `betwixt and between' organizational structures, in transit between the relatively fixed positions of full-time, regular employment. Building on previous fieldwork and recent interviews among temporary employees in Sweden and the US, the notion of liminality is employed to explore aspects of temporary work. The liminal position of `temporaries', it is suggested, is an ambiguous position involving both risks and opportunities for individuals, temporary staffing agencies, and client organizations alike. It may be seen as a seedbed of cultural creativity, where old perspectives on work and subjectivity are contested and new ones created. Related to the transient, mobile character of temporary employment, is an enhanced awareness of substitutability and a continuous reflexive monitoring of manners and competencies. Furthermore, the mobile and temporary character of assignments lead to the development of transient and episodic imagined communities of the workplace. Through the lens of liminality then, temporal and contractual flexibilization of work is seen to challenge the old boundaries of industrial society and to suggest new ways of organizing and experiencing work, as well as new ways of constructing organizational subjectivity.
From Uncertain Intentions to Actual Behavior: A Threshold Model of Whether and When Salespeople Quit

In this article, the authors focus on the formation of intentions to quit among salespeople and the link between these intentions and subsequent quitting behavior. Building on the foundations of the recently developed judgment uncertainty and magnitude parameters (JUMP) model, which statistically and simultaneously separates the drivers of judgment magnitude from those of judgment uncertainty, the authors present a model of the formation of uncertain intentions that decomposes a stated intention into a magnitude and an uncertainty dimension. The authors then develop hypotheses regarding the impact of affective and continuance commitment and critical sales events on intention magnitude and the effect of critical sales events and role stress on intention uncertainty. Subsequently, the authors develop a threshold model of the intention-behavior link that articulates a psychological mechanism within which uncertainty-laden intentions translate into actual behavior. Empirically, results from sales force intention and turnover data provide strong support for the theorizing. In addition to identifying some drivers of intention-to-quit magnitude and uncertainty, the authors identify the crucial role of intention uncertainty in shaping both the probability and timing of subsequent behavior. Consistent with the psychological underpinnings of the threshold model, the authors find that intention uncertainty lowers the probability of intended behavior. The results regarding the timing of quitting support an uncertainty avoidance conjecture: Given a stated intention, likely quitters with greater intention uncertainty quit faster than those with lower intention uncertainty.
NICMOS Imaging of DRGs in the HDF-S: A Relation between Star Formation and Size at z ~ 2.5

We present deep, high angular-resolution HST NICMOS imaging in the Hubble Deep Field South (HDF-S), focusing on a subset of 14 distant red galaxies (DRGs) at z ~ 2.5 that have been preselected to have J - K > 2.3. We find a clear trend between the rest-frame optical sizes of these sources and their luminosity-weighted stellar ages as inferred from their broadband spectral energy distributions (SEDs). Galaxies whose SEDs are consistent with being dusty and actively star-forming generally show extended morphologies in the NICMOS images (re ≳ 2 kpc), while the five sources that are not vigorously forming stars are extremely compact (re ≲ 1 kpc). This trend suggests a direct link between the mean ages of the stars and the size and density of the galaxies and supports the conjecture that early events quench star formation and leave compact remnants. Furthermore, the compact galaxies have stellar surface mass densities that exceed those of local galaxies by more than an order of magnitude. The existence of such massive dense galaxies presents a problem for models of early-type galaxy formation and evolution. Larger samples of DRGs and higher spatial resolution imaging will allow us to determine the universality of the results presented here for a small sample.
The Effects of an Age‐appropriate Intervention on Young Children's Understanding of Inheritance

ABSTRACT The present study explored 4(N = 22) and 7‐year‐olds’ (N = 24) under‐Standing of biological inheritance in cows and horses. An intervention technique adapted from Springer (1995) in which children are taught the basic facts of intrauterine development and birth, in story form, was used in an attempt to improve children's conceptual understanding of inheritance. All children were pre‐tested about inheritance and subsequently half were trained using the intervention (the others were controls). All children were post‐tested within a week of pre‐test, and about 4 weeks later completed delayed post‐tests. Results showed that at pre‐test there were significant age differences in both judgements and explanations of inheritance with 7‐year‐olds exhibiting more sophisticated biological reasoning. Surprisingly, there were no significant improvements for either age in judgements or explanations of inheritance as a function of the intervention at post‐test or delayed post‐test. The findings are discussed wit.