Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modelling Dynamic Affective and Decision Making Processes during Approach and Avoidance Goal Striving

This thesis examined the cognitive processes by which individuals engage in goal level choice and the affective processes that individuals experience during approach and avoidance goal striving. The aim was to develop a set of formal theories that can explain and predict the trajectories in goal level choice and affective states as individuals strive towards goals framed as desirable or undesirable end-states. These formal theories provide an explanation of processes at multiple levels of analysis, and incorporate constructs from the work motivation, self-regulation, emotion, personality, and decision making literatures. Data from three experimental studies were analysed using multi-level techniques and computational modelling in order to test the proposed theories. The findings are reported within three manuscripts that form the body of this thesis. Manuscript 1 investigated goal level choice as a cognitive process involving an interaction of decision making, risk preferences, personality, and learning. A computational model was developed in order to describe and predict how individuals make goal level choices over time. Drawing from the decision making literature, the model specifies that goal level choice at the within-person level can be explained by a dynamic anchoring and adjustment process and a risk preference bias. The model further specifies that between-person variability in risk preferences can be partly explained by an interaction of goal framing and trait neuroticism. An experimental study was conducted to evaluate this model. Participants were randomly allocated to strive towards approach or avoidance framed goals as they performed a medium-fidelity Air Traffic Control (ATC) simulation task across 10 trials. At the beginning of each trial, participants chose among five goal levels. The findings of this study indicated that our hypothesized model was able to account for the trajectories of goal level choices over time. Manuscript 1 contributed to the goal striving literature by identifying relevant cognitive processes in goal level choice. Manuscripts 2 and 3 investigated the affective processes that emerge as individuals strive towards a chosen goal level in approach and avoidance contexts. Manuscript 2 presented a scale validation study for the momentary affect scale (MAS), which was developed in order to measure the dynamics of affective experiences during goal striving. As part of the scale validation, it was necessary to address the conceptual question of whether the affect scale should consist of unipolar or bipolar items. Participants performed a medium-fidelity ATC simulation task and were repeatedly measured on a set of unipolar and bipolar affect items. Multi-level confirmatory factor analyses were used to evaluate the problem of unipolarity versus bipolarity and to validate the MAS against the latent constructs being measured. The findings of this study provided evidence of bipolarity in the structure of affect and indicated that the MAS can be used to measure rapid changes in affective states during goal striving.
Effective Fault Localization using Code Coverage

Localizing a bug in a program can be a complex and time- consuming process. In this paper we propose a code coverage-based fault localization method to prioritize suspicious code in terms of its likelihood of containing program bugs. Code with a higher risk should be examined before that with a lower risk, as the former is more suspicious (i.e., more likely to contain program bugs) than the latter. We also answer a very important question: how can each additional test case that executes the program successfully help locate program bugs? We propose that with respect to a piece of code, the aid introduced by the first successful test that executes it in computing its likelihood of containing a bug is larger than or equal to that of the second successful test that executes it, which is larger than or equal to that of the third successful test that executes it, etc. A tool, chiDebug, was implemented to automate the computation of the risk of the code and the subsequent prioritization of suspicious code for locating program bugs. A case study using the Siemens suite was also conducted. Data collected from our study support the proposal described above. They also indicate that our method (in particular Heuristics III (c), (d), and (e)) can effectively reduce the search domain for locating program bugs.
A 0.18µm CMOS low-power charge-integration DPS for X-ray imaging

This paper presents a new CMOS active pixel sensor specifically for digital X-ray imagers. The proposed DPS architecture includes a novel lossless A/D conversion scheme, a dark current self-cancellation mechanism, as well as self-biasing and built-in test capabilities, all at pixel level. Furthermore, FPN compensation is achieved by introducing gain programmability inside the A/D converter of each individual pixel. The proposed CMOS circuits make extensive use of subthreshold transistor operation and circuit reuse to obtain a low-power and compact DPS cell. A circuit implementation in standard 0.18 μm CMOS 1-polySi 6-metal technology is presented together with experimental preliminary results.
Progression of coronary artery calcification seems to be inevitable, but predictable - results of the Heinz Nixdorf Recall (HNR) study

Aim Coronary artery calcification (CAC), as a sign of atherosclerosis, can be detected and progression quantified using computed tomography (CT). We develop a tool for predicting CAC progression. Methods and results In 3481 participants (45–74 years, 53.1% women) CAC percentiles at baseline (CACb) and after five years (CAC5y) were evaluated, demonstrating progression along gender-specific percentiles, which showed exponentially shaped age-dependence. Using quantile regression on the log-scale (log(CACb+1)) we developed a tool to individually predict CAC5y, and compared to observed CAC5y. The difference between observed and predicted CAC5y (log-scale, mean±SD) was 0.08±1.11 and 0.06±1.29 in men and women. Agreement reached a kappa-value of 0.746 (95% confidence interval: 0.732–0.760) and concordance correlation (log-scale) of 0.886 (0.879–0.893). Explained variance of observed by predicted log(CAC5y+1) was 80.1% and 72.0% in men and women, and 81.0 and 73.6% including baseline risk factors. Evaluating the tool in 1940 individuals with CACb>0 and CACb<400 at baseline, of whom 242 (12.5%) developed CAC5y>400, yielded a sensitivity of 59.5%, specificity 96.1%, (+) and (−) predictive values of 68.3% and 94.3%. A pre-defined acceptance range around predicted CAC5y contained 68.1% of observed CAC5y; only 20% were expected by chance. Age, blood pressure, lipid-lowering medication, diabetes, and smoking contributed to progression above the acceptance range in men and, excepting age, in women. Conclusion CAC nearly inevitably progresses with limited influence of cardiovascular risk factors. This allowed the development of a mathematical tool for prediction of individual CAC progression, enabling anticipation of the age when CAC thresholds of high risk are reached.
The Role of Mood, Habitual Goals and Primed Goals in Painful and Non-Painful Task Persistence

A prevailing model that provides an explanation for the development of chronic pain, is the Fear-Avoidance model. Despite the accumulating evidence in favour of the Fear-Avoidance model, it appears less applicable when pain disability is associated with pain syndromes involving increased levels of activity and persistence behavior rather than avoidance behavior. A promising alternative model that provides an explanatory framework for both persistence behavior and avoidance behavior associated with pain disability is the Mood-asInput model. This model proposes a statistical interaction between current mood and goals (stop rules). The Mood-as-Input model predicts that the same mood state can have differential effects on task persistence, dependent on the goal context in which it appears, being either an achievement or a hedonic context. To date, this model has primarily been tested with the use of explicit goal instructions. The main objective of this dissertation is to test the applicability of the Mood-as-Input Model by means of goal priming and by habitual goal preferences, and in particular to the domain of chronic pain. In this introduction, the state of the art evidence for the Mood-as-Input model will be discussed and the advantages of the Mood-as-Input model in light of other models explaining task persistence (the Fear-Avoidance model, the Mood-Congruency model, the Behavioral Goal-Congruency model, the Ergomania model, the Avoidance-Endurance model, and the Operant-Behavioral model) will be highlighted. Finally, the main research questions for the present dissertation are formulated and the outline is presented.
A Computer-Aided Diagnosis for Evaluating Lung Nodules on Chest CT: the Current Status and Perspective

As the detection and characterization of lung nodules are of paramount importance in thoracic radiology, various tools for making a computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) have been developed to improve the diagnostic performance of radiologists in clinical practice. Numerous studies over the years have shown that the CAD system can effectively help readers identify more nodules. Moreover, nodule malignancy and the response of malignant lung tumors to treatment can also be assessed using nodule volumetry. CAD also has the potential to objectively analyze the morphology of nodules and enhance the workflow during the assessment of follow-up studies. Therefore, understanding the current status and limitations of CAD for evaluating lung nodules is essential to effectively apply CAD in clinical practice.
Biased information processing as an endophenotype for depression.

Cognitive theories assume a uniform processing bias across different samples, but the empirical support for this claim is rather weak and inconsistent. Therefore, coherence between biases across different cognitive domains in a sample of 133 non-depressed (Study 1) and a sample of 266 formerly depressed individuals (Study 2) was examined. In both studies, individuals were selected after a successful sad mood induction procedure. A Dot Probe task, an Emotional Stroop task and a self-referential Incidental Learning and Free Recall task were administered to all participants. Principle component analyses indicated coherence between attentional and memory bias in non depressed, while in formerly depressed individuals distinct components for attentional biases and for memory bias were uncovered. The data suggest that in formerly depressed individuals, self-referent processing during encoding may be related to memory bias, whereas in non-depressed individuals memory bias may be related to both attentional bias and self-referent processing.
Getting the Structure Right for Word Alignment: LEAF

Word alignment is the problem of annotating parallel text with translational correspondence. Previous generative word alignment models have made structural assumptions such as the 1-to-1, 1-to-N, or phrase-based consecutive word assumptions, while previous discriminative models have either made such an assumption directly or used features derived from a generative model making one of these assumptions. We present a new generative alignment model which avoids these structural limitations, and show that it is effective when trained using both unsupervised and semi-supervised training methods.
The Relationship between Emotional Intelligence, Leader-Member Exchange andOrganizational Commitment

The purpose of this paper was to hypothesize the mediating impact of leader-member exchange (LMX) on the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and organizational commitment. A total of 98 participants voluntarily participated in the study. They represented four different organizations located in Balochistan province, Pakistan. Hypothesized relationships were examined using partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modeling. Results indicated that EI was positively related to LMX, which in turn was positively related to organizational commitment. In addition, the results indicated that LMX fully mediated the relationship between EI and organizational commitment.
Characterization of Escherichia coli O157:H7 from Downer and Healthy Dairy Cattle in the Upper Midwest Region of the United States

ABSTRACT While cattle in general have been identified as a reservoir of Escherichia coli O157:H7, there are limited data regarding the prevalence and clonality of this pathogen in downer dairy cattle and the potential impact to human health that may occur following consumption of meat derived from downer dairy cattle. In the present study, conducted at two slaughter facilities in Wisconsin between May and October of 2001, we established a higher prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 in fecal and/or tissue samples obtained aseptically from intact colons of downer dairy cattle (10 of 203, 4.9%) than in those from healthy dairy cattle (3 of 201, 1.5%). Analyses of 57 isolates, representing these 13 positive samples (one to five isolates per sample), by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, revealed 13 distinct XbaI restriction endonuclease digestion profiles (REDP). Typically, isolates from different animals displayed distinct REDP and isolates from the same fecal or colon sample displayed indistinguishable REDP. However, in one sample, two different, but highly related, REDP were displayed by the isolates recovered. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing indicated that 10 of the 57 isolates, recovered from 2 (1 downer and 1 healthy animal) of the 13 positive samples, were resistant to at least 1 of 18 antimicrobials tested. However, there was no appreciable difference in the frequency of resistance of isolates recovered from downer and healthy dairy cattle, and not all isolates with the same REDP displayed the same antimicrobial susceptibility profile. Lastly, it was not possible to distinguish between isolates recovered from downer and healthy cattle based on their XbaI REDP or antimicrobial susceptibility. These results indicate that downer cattle had a 3.3-fold-higher prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 than healthy cattle within the time frame and geographic scope of this study.
The Preferences in Wine of Various Aged Consumers

When marketing wine to potential customers wine companies need to know that different consumer groups are not all going to have the same preferences. Between younger and older age wine drinkers some preferences and demographics they have are distinctive. This research study analyzes these different wine preferences between 21 to 40 year olds and 41 plus year olds. 115 respondents were asked in a survey about their demographics what characteristics they liked in wine. The surveys were distributed at two grocery stores in San Luis Obispo in February of 2013. The data was then logged into a computer software program called SPSS to analyze the results. Frequency, descriptive statistic, Chi-square, and independent sample T-tests ran the survey data to determine what characteristics of wine were most preferred by the respondents. This study reports the primary and secondary research for local wineries to use in marketing strategies.
Contraceptive practices and trends in France.

CONTEXT Contraceptive use has been legal in France for the past 30 years, and patterns of use changed substantially from the 1960s to the 1980s. Given the rapidity with which use patterns change and the possible impact of rising concern about infection with HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, it is important to determine trends of contraceptive practice into the 1990s. METHODS A total of 5,900 French households were selected in 1994 for inclusion in the Fertility and Family Survey. Respondents were questioned about their contraceptive use patterns and family formation status. The results were compared with those of comparable surveys conducted in 1978 and 1988. RESULTS Two-thirds of French women used some form of reversible contraceptive method in 1994. Oral contraceptive use has grown steadily in France: About 40% of women aged 20-44 reported using the pill alone or combined with another method in 1994, compared with 34% in 1988 and 28% in 1978. Condom use has also been on the rise: Nearly 8% of women were using condoms alone or combined with another method in 1994, up from 5% in 1988 and 6% in 1978. IUD use has declined from 19% in 1988 to 16% in 1994, and both male and female sterilizations remain rare. CONCLUSIONS Contraceptive behavior in France appears unique among developed countries, with fairly high levels of oral contraceptive use--even among older women--relatively high levels of IUD use and little reliance on either male or female sterilization. As with other countries, however, condom use has climbed in recent years, and is especially common at first intercourse.
Inter-leg coordination in the control of walking speed in Drosophila

SUMMARY Legged locomotion is the most common behavior of terrestrial animals and it is assumed to have become highly optimized during evolution. Quadrupeds, for instance, use distinct gaits that are optimal with regard to metabolic cost and have characteristic kinematic features and patterns of inter-leg coordination. In insects, the situation is not as clear. In general, insects are able to alter inter-leg coordination systematically with locomotion speed, producing a continuum of movement patterns. This notion, however, is based on the study of several insect species, which differ greatly in size and mass. Each of these species tends to walk at a rather narrow range of speeds. We have addressed these issues by examining four strains of Drosophila, which are similar in size and mass, but tend to walk at different speed ranges. Our data suggest that Drosophila controls its walking speed almost exclusively via step frequency. At high walking speeds, we invariably found tripod coordination patterns, the quality of which increased with speed as indicated by a simple measure of tripod coordination strength (TCS). At low speeds, we also observed tetrapod coordination and wave gait-like walking patterns. These findings not only suggest a systematic speed dependence of inter-leg movement patterns but also imply that inter-leg coordination is flexible. This was further supported by amputation experiments in which we examined walking behavior in animals after the removal of a hindleg. These animals show immediate adaptations in body posture, leg kinematics and inter-leg coordination, thereby maintaining their ability to walk.
Fibrin degradation product (FnDP) assays: analysis of standardization issues and target antigens in plasma

The in vivo formation of fibrin and its subsequent secondary fibrinolytic digestion yields a variety of crosslinked fibrin degradation products (XL/FnDP). One of these is known as D‐dimer and a variety of ELISA‐type commercial kits using monoclonal antibodies to D‐dimer have been developed. We have investigated the possibility of establishing a standard such that these various kits might indicate the same levels of D‐dimer in the same samples. We have concluded that because it seems that each individual monoclonal antibody to D‐dimer targets a unique and distinct epitope in the FnDP fraction the notion of introducing a standard D‐dimer which will respond uniformly to each D‐dimer monoclonal antibody is not feasible. Using various monoclonal and polyclonal anti‐ bodies in conjunction with gel exclusion chromatography we have examined human plasma derived from patients with disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) which contained high levels of fibrin degradation products (FnDP). The data suggested that the FnDP fraction in plasma contained mostly high molecular weight (>2xl06 daltons) crosslinked fragments which contain high levels of fibrino‐peptide A. Many of these crosslinked fragments crossreact with antibodies to D‐dimer because they each contain D‐dimer as a structural component. On the basis of this data, a novel sequence of events is proposed which may occur during the aggregation of fibrin in vivo.
The missing links: bugs and bug-fix commits

Empirical studies of software defects rely on links between bug databases and program code repositories. This linkage is typically based on bug-fixes identified in developer-entered commit logs. Unfortunately, developers do not always report which commits perform bug-fixes. Prior work suggests that such links can be a biased sample of the entire population of fixed bugs. The validity of statistical hypotheses-testing based on linked data could well be affected by bias. Given the wide use of linked defect data, it is vital to gauge the nature and extent of the bias, and try to develop testable theories and models of the bias. To do this, we must establish ground truth: manually analyze a complete version history corpus, and nail down those commits that fix defects, and those that do not. This is a diffcult task, requiring an expert to compare versions, analyze changes, find related bugs in the bug database, reverse-engineer missing links, and finally record their work for use later. This effort must be repeated for hundreds of commits to obtain a useful sample of reported and unreported bug-fix commits. We make several contributions. First, we present Linkster, a tool to facilitate link reverse-engineering. Second, we evaluate this tool, engaging a core developer of the Apache HTTP web server project to exhaustively annotate 493 commits that occurred during a six week period. Finally, we analyze this comprehensive data set, showing that there are serious and consequential problems in the data.
Discourse Markers in College English Listening Instruction: An Empirical Study of Chinese Learners.

Discourse markers can clearly indicate the organization of discourse, remind the hearer of the preceding and the following contents, and express clearly the concrete speech acts. The aims of this study are to explore the relationship between the discourse-marker-based model and listening comprehension as well as the different effects of such a kind of instruction on liberal arts and science students. 120 Chinese college students of non-English major, who are from two different departments of Xi’an University of Science and Technology, are the research subjects. An experiment has been carried out by applying the theory of discourse markers to enhance the English listening skill proficiency. Based on the results of the data analysis, the conclusion can be drawn that discourse-marker-based listening instruction can improve students’ listening comprehension of non-English major and liberal arts students benefit more from discourse-marker-based listening instruction.