Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Edinburgh Research Explorer Optimism as a Prior Belief about the Probability of Future Reward

Optimists hold positive a priori beliefs about the future. In Bayesian statistical theory, a priori beliefs can be overcome by experience. However, optimistic beliefs can at times appear surprisingly resistant to evidence, suggesting that optimism might also influence how new information is selected and learned. Here, we use a novel Pavlovian conditioning task, embedded in a normative framework, to directly assess how trait optimism, as classically measured using self-report questionnaires, influences choices between visual targets, by learning about their association with reward progresses. We find that trait optimism relates to an a priori belief about the likelihood of rewards, but not losses, in our task. Critically, this positive belief behaves like a probabilistic prior, i.e. its influence reduces with increasing experience. Contrary to findings in the literature related to unrealistic optimism and self-beliefs, it does not appear to influence the iterative learning process directly.
Traditional Chinese Medicine Prescriptions Enhance Growth Performance of Heat Stressed Beef Cattle by Relieving Heat Stress Responses and Increasing Apparent Nutrient Digestibility

The present aim was to investigate the effects of traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions (TCM) on body temperature, blood physiological parameters, nutrient apparent digestibility and growth performance of beef cattle under heat stress conditions. Twenty-seven beef cattle were randomly divided into three groups as following; i) high temperature control (HTC), ii) traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions I+high temperature (TCM I) and iii) traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions II+high temperature (TCM II) (n = 9 per group). The results showed that the mean body temperature declined in TCM II treatment (p<0.05). Serum T3 and T4 levels with TCM I and TCM II treatments elevated (p<0.05), and serum cortisol levels of TCM I treatments decreased (p<0.05), compared with the HTC group. Total protein, albumin, globulin in TCM II treatments elevated and blood urea nitrogen levels of both TCM treatments increased, but glucose levels of both TCM treatments decreased, compared with the HTC group (p<0.05). The apparent digestibility of organic matter and crude protein with TCM I treatment increased, and the apparent digestibility of acid detergent fiber elevated in both TCM treatments (p<0.05). Average daily feed intake was not different among three groups, however average daily gain increased and the feed:gain ratio decreased with both TCM treatments, compared with the HTC group (p<0.05). The present results suggest that dietary supplementation with TCM I or TCM II improves growth performance of heat stressed beef cattle by relieving heat stress responses and increasing nutrient apparent digestibility.
Bottom‐up, not top‐down, modulation of imitation by human and robotic models

Visual observation of human actions provokes more motor activation than observation of robotic actions. We investigated the extent to which this visuomotor priming effect is mediated by bottom‐up or top‐down processing. The bottom‐up hypothesis suggests that robotic movements are less effective in activating the ‘mirror system’ via pathways from visual areas via the superior temporal sulcus to parietal and premotor cortices. The top‐down hypothesis postulates that beliefs about the animacy of a movement stimulus modulate mirror system activity via descending pathways from areas such as the temporal pole and prefrontal cortex. In an automatic imitation task, subjects performed a prespecified movement (e.g. hand opening) on presentation of a human or robotic hand making a compatible (opening) or incompatible (closing) movement. The speed of responding on compatible trials, compared with incompatible trials, indexed visuomotor priming. In the first experiment, robotic stimuli were constructed by adding a metal and wire ‘wrist’ to a human hand. Questionnaire data indicated that subjects believed these movements to be less animate than those of the human stimuli but the visuomotor priming effects of the human and robotic stimuli did not differ. In the second experiment, when the robotic stimuli were more angular and symmetrical than the human stimuli, human movements elicited more visuomotor priming than the robotic movements. However, the subjects' beliefs about the animacy of the stimuli did not affect their performance. These results suggest that bottom‐up processing is primarily responsible for the visuomotor priming advantage of human stimuli.
C-Reactive Protein in Heart Failure: Prognostic Value and the Effect of Valsartan

Background—The role of C-reactive protein (CRP) in heart failure is not well studied. We assessed the prognostic value of CRP in patients randomized in Val-HeFT (Valsartan Heart Failure Trial) and studied changes in CRP that were associated with valsartan. Methods and Results—Characteristics of patients with baseline CRP levels above and below the median value were compared. Univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to examine the relationship of CRP to mortality and morbidity. Interactions were tested to determine whether differences in CRP changes from baseline to 4 and 12 months between groups randomly assigned to valsartan or placebo depended on baseline ACE inhibitor use. Median plasma CRP was 3.23 mg/L (interquartile range 1.42 to 7.56 mg/L), which is higher than in the general population. Patients with CRP above the median had features of more severe heart failure than those with CRP levels below the median. The cumulative likelihood of death and first morbid event increased with increasing quartile of CRP. Relative to the lowest CRP quartile, the risk of mortality (hazard ratio 1.51, 95% CI 1.2 to 1.9) and first morbid event (hazard ratio 1.53, 95% CI 1.28 to 1.84) was increased in the highest CRP quartile in multivariable models. CRP added incremental prognostic information to that provided by brain natriuretic peptide alone. CRP did not change significantly over time in the placebo group; however, after 12 months, valsartan was associated with a decrease in CRP in patients not receiving ACE inhibitors but not in those receiving ACE inhibitors at 12 months. Conclusions—CRP is increased in heart failure. Higher levels are associated with features of more severe heart failure and are independently associated with mortality and morbidity. The ability of treatments to reduce CRP levels and the prognostic importance of reducing CRP require further study.
The psychological development of children of epileptic parents. I. Study design and comparative findings

We studied the genetic, neurobiological, teratogenic and psychosocial risks for the development of children born to epileptic parents in (a) children of epileptic mothers with intrauterine exposure to anticonvulsants, (b) children of epileptic mothers without intrauterine exposure to anticonvulsants and (c) children of epileptic fathers. In addition, three matched control groups were also considered. The longitudinal design of the study covered newborns to children of six years of age. A wide range of developmental and psychological tests and a structured interview for the assessment of psychiatric symptoms were used. It was shown that teratogenic factors are operant, whereas there was no indication that the condition of epilepsy in the parents per se had any effect on the developmental outcome of the children. The possible teratogenic effect of anticonvulsants should be studied in more detail.
Event-related brain responses to emotional words, pictures, and faces – a cross-domain comparison

Emotion effects in event-related brain potentials (ERPs) have previously been reported for a range of visual stimuli, including emotional words, pictures, and facial expressions. Still, little is known about the actual comparability of emotion effects across these stimulus classes. The present study aimed to fill this gap by investigating emotion effects in response to words, pictures, and facial expressions using a blocked within-subject design. Furthermore, ratings of stimulus arousal and valence were collected from an independent sample of participants. Modulations of early posterior negativity (EPN) and late positive complex (LPC) were visible for all stimulus domains, but showed clear differences, particularly in valence processing. While emotion effects were limited to positive stimuli for words, they were predominant for negative stimuli in pictures and facial expressions. These findings corroborate the notion of a positivity offset for words and a negativity bias for pictures and facial expressions, which was assumed to be caused by generally lower arousal levels of written language. Interestingly, however, these assumed differences were not confirmed by arousal ratings. Instead, words were rated as overall more positive than pictures and facial expressions. Taken together, the present results point toward systematic differences in the processing of written words and pictorial stimuli of emotional content, not only in terms of a valence bias evident in ERPs, but also concerning their emotional evaluation captured by ratings of stimulus valence and arousal.
Practitioners’ attitudes towards the use of standardized diagnostic assessment in routine practice: A qualitative study in two Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services

There is tension within Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) assessments between the richness of differing practitioner’s perspectives and maintaining a basic level of assessment that is acceptable to all disciplines. Standardized assessments are mandatory in research, yet are rarely applied systematically across CAMHS.The use of standardized assessments in routine practice might aid the allocation of families to the practitioners best able to meet their needs and free up time for intervention. However, practitioners’ attitudes towards standardized assessment will dictate the success of such an approach. Fifty practitioners working in two CAMHS completed semi-structured interviews that explored their attitudes towards the use of standardized assessments in clinical practice, which were analysed using thematic analysis. Practitioners could identify both advantages and disadvantages of the routine use of standardized assessment. While they valued standardization, opportunities for service organization and increased information, some expressed concerns related to the choice, accuracy and influence of measures, as well as labelling. Almost one-third complained about their lack of pre-registration training in working with children, let alone their assessment. Practitioners, clinicians and policy makers need to consider these issues if they wish to introduce standardized assessments into routine practice. Senior staff need to be aware how unskilled some junior practitioners feel when they start working in CAMHS and offer appropriate support and supervision.
Impact of Hot-Water Extraction on Acetone-Water Oxygen Delignification of Paulownia Spp. and Lignin Recovery

A hardwood-based biorefinery process starting with hot-water extraction (HWE) is recommended in order to remove most of the hemicelluloses/xylans before further processing. HWE may be followed by delignification in acetone/water in the presence of oxygen (AWO) for the production of cellulose and lignin. In this study, the HWE-AWO sequence was evaluated for its effectiveness at removing lignin from the fast-growing species Paulownia tomentosa (PT) and Paulownia elongata (PE), in comparison with the reference species, sugar maple ( Acer saccharum , SM). HWE might lead to a remarkable increase in lignin accessibility, and as a result, a greater AWO delignification degree was observed for extracted PT, PE, and SM than for unextracted ones. Organosolv lignin was recovered from the spent liquor of AWO delignification of PT with/without prior HWE and characterized to evaluate the benefits of HWE on the lignin structure and purity. The lignin recovered from the spent liquor of HWE-AWO sequence is of higher purity and lighter color than that recovered from the AWO spent liquor. These properties along with low sulfur content are desirable for lignin high-value applications.
Human, Oceanographic and Habitat Drivers of Central and Western Pacific Coral Reef Fish Assemblages

Coral reefs around US- and US-affiliated Pacific islands and atolls span wide oceanographic gradients and levels of human impact. Here we examine the relative influence of these factors on coral reef fish biomass, using data from a consistent large-scale ecosystem monitoring program conducted by scientific divers over the course of >2,000 hours of underwater observation at 1,934 sites, across ~40 islands and atolls. Consistent with previous smaller-scale studies, our results show sharp declines in reef fish biomass at relatively low human population density, followed by more gradual declines as human population density increased further. Adjusting for other factors, the highest levels of oceanic productivity among our study locations were associated with more than double the biomass of reef fishes (including ~4 times the biomass of planktivores and piscivores) compared to islands with lowest oceanic productivity. Our results emphasize that coral reef areas do not all have equal ability to sustain large reef fish stocks, and that what is natural varies significantly amongst locations. Comparisons of biomass estimates derived from visual surveys with predicted biomass in the absence of humans indicated that total reef fish biomass was depleted by 61% to 69% at populated islands in the Mariana Archipelago; by 20% to 78% in the Main Hawaiian islands; and by 21% to 56% in American Samoa.
Trends in the relationship between sex and psychological distress: 1957-1976.

In recent years a great deal of interest has developed in the "sex role hypothesis" as a way of understanding the high rates of psychological distress among women in our society. Although this work has been almost entirely cross-sectional, the underlying hypothesis predicts that the relationship between sex and distress should decline as sex roles become more comparable. Basing our analysis on three national surveys and two community surveys spanning the years 1957 to 1976 -a period of rapid changes in the roles of women-we document a reduction in the relationship between sex and one indicator of distress, a screening scale of psychophysiological symptoms. Specification analyses show that the increased labor-force participation of women has been responsible for part of this trend. However, there appear to be no relationships between the decline in psychophysiological symptoms and changes in educational attainment, rates of marriage, marital dissolution, or childbearing.
Automatic Model Creation to Support Network Monitoring

The large variety of network traffic sets many challenges in modeling the essential aspects of network traffic flows. Analyzing and collecting features for the model creation process from the network traffic traces is a time-consuming and error-prone task. Automating these procedures are a challenge. The research problem discussed in this paper concentrates on the analysis and collection of features from the network traffic traces for the model development process, by automating the analysis and collection. The proposed system of this paper, called MGtoolV2, supports the model development process through the automation of collection and analysis in the actual model creation procedures. The model development process aims to enhance the development of a model by reducing the development cost and time. The proposed tool automatically creates large sets ofmodels according to the network traffic traces andminimizes the errors of manual modeling. The experiments conducted with MGtoolV2 indicate that the tool is able to create the models from the traffic traces cost effectively. MGtoolV2 is able to unify similarities between packets, to create very detailed models describing specific information, and to raise the abstraction level of the created models. The research is based on the constructive method of the related publications and technologies, and the results are established from the testing, validation, and analysis of the implemented MGtoolV2. INDEX TERMS Network monitoring, modeling, MSC, Pcap, XML.
Do Moderate‐Intensity and Vigorous‐Intensity Physical Activities Reduce Mortality Rates to the Same Extent?

Background Limited data exist directly comparing the relative benefits of moderate‐ and vigorous‐intensity activities with all‐cause and cardiovascular (CV) disease mortality rates when controlling for physical activity volume. Methods and Results We followed 7979 men (Harvard Alumni Health Study, 1988–2008) and 38 671 women (Women's Health Study, 1992–2012), assessing their physical activity and health habits through repeated questionnaires. Over a mean follow‐up of 17.3 years in men and 16.4 years in women, there were 3551 deaths (1077 from CV disease) among men and 3170 deaths (620 from CV disease) among women. Those who met or exceeded an equivalent of the federal guidelines recommendation of at least 150 minutes of moderate‐intensity activity, 75 minutes of vigorous‐intensity activity, or a combination of the 2 that expended similar energy experienced significantly lower all‐cause and CV disease–related mortality rates (men, 28% to 36% and 31% to 34%, respectively; women: 38% to 55% and 22% to 44%, respectively). When comparing different combinations of moderate‐ and vigorous‐intensity activity and all‐cause mortality rates, we observed sex‐related differences. Holding constant the volume of moderate‐ to vigorous‐intensity physical activity, men experienced a modest additional benefit when expending a greater proportion of moderate‐ to vigorous‐intensity physical activity in vigorous‐intensity activities (Ptrend=0.04), but women did not (Ptrend<0.001). Moderate‐ to vigorous‐intensity physical activity composition was not associated with further cardiovascular mortality rate reductions in either men or women. Conclusions The present data support guidelines recommending 150 minutes of moderate‐intensity activity per week, 75 minutes of vigorous‐intensity activity per week, or an equivalent combination for mortality benefits. Among men, but not women, additional modest reductions in all‐cause mortality rates are associated with a greater proportion of moderate‐ to vigorous‐intensity physical activity performed at a vigorous intensity.
The Return of the Gibson Paradox ∗

Before World War I, nominal interest rates were approximately uncorrelated with inflation, a fact known as Gibson’s paradox. This correlation increased after World War II, however, and the paradox vanished during the Great Inflation of the 1970s. By estimating vector autoregressions with drifting parameters and stochastic volatility, we show that the statistical association between inflation and nominal interest rates decreased in the U.S. in the late 1980s and that Gibson’s paradox reappeared after 1995. We estimate a new Keynesian DSGE model for two subsamples – the Great Inflation and the period after 1995 – to identify structural changes that contributed to its reappearance. Counterfactual experiments point to two (related) features: a more anti-inflationary monetary-policy rule and a decline in the extent of price indexation to past inflation. Changes in these features account for the return of the Gibson paradox. JEL classification: E4, E5, N1
Antecedents of Language Competence and Social-Emotional Adjustment of Young Deaf Children. Final Report.

A study of 41 toddlers (ages 18-25 months) with hearing impairments and their hearing mothers and 54 typical toddlers and their hearing mothers, investigated whether the development of a normal mother-child relationship is disrupted by the inability of the child to understand his/her mother's normal means of communication. The study also explored what aspects of the mother-child relationship related to subsequent language and socio-emotional development. A majority of the dyads were reassessed when the children were 3 years old and again assessed when the children were 4 years old. Findings indicate: (1) toddlers with hearing impairments and their mothers miscommunicated much more frequently; (2) toddlers with hearing impairments frequently did not respond to their mothers' communication because they did not seem to hear or see it; (3) toddlers with hearing impairments and their mothers spent less time interacting; (4) toddlers with hearing impairments used more visual and little verbal communication and were more likely to start a new topic rather than continue one; and (5) despite their communicative difficulties and their delayed language development, toddlers with hearing impairments were as likely to establish a positive, reciprocal, secure relationship with their mothers as were typical toddlers. Appendix A contains the coding manuals for the project, including "Microanalysis of Communication between Mother and Child" (Amy R. Lederberg and others); "Interaction Coding Manual: Mother-Child Interaction" (Amy R. Lederberg); and "Quality of Mother-Child Interaction" (Amy R. Lederberg and others); and a reprint of an article, "The Effect of Hearing Impairment on the Quality of Attachment and Mother-Toddler Interaction," by Amy R. Lederberg and Caryl E. Mobley. (Contains 43 references.) (CR) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** Antecedents of Language Competence and Social-Emotional Adjustment of Young Deaf Children Amy R. Lederberg Principal Investigator Department of Educational Foundations Georgia State University Atlanta, Georgia
Huygens wavefront tracing: A robust alternative to conventional ray tracing

We present a method of ray tracing that is based on a system of differential equations equivalent to the eikonal equation, but formulated in the ray coordinate system. We use a first-order discretization scheme that is interpreted very simply in terms of the Huygens’ principle. The method has proved to be a robust alternative to conventional ray tracing, while being faster and having a better ability to penetrate the shadow zones.
Sharply increased insect herbivory during the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum

The Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM, 55.8 Ma), an abrupt global warming event linked to a transient increase in pCO2, was comparable in rate and magnitude to modern anthropogenic climate change. Here we use plant fossils from the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming to document the combined effects of temperature and pCO2 on insect herbivory. We examined 5,062 fossil leaves from five sites positioned before, during, and after the PETM (59–55.2 Ma). The amount and diversity of insect damage on angiosperm leaves, as well as the relative abundance of specialized damage, correlate with rising and falling temperature. All reach distinct maxima during the PETM, and every PETM plant species is extensively damaged and colonized by specialized herbivores. Our study suggests that increased insect herbivory is likely to be a net long-term effect of anthropogenic pCO2 increase and warming temperatures.
Morphophonological or S yntactic T ransfer in the A cquisition of English A rticles by L 1 S peakers of Syrian Arabic ?

It is a well documented phenomenon in L2 studies that learners of English have difficulty acquiring articles. Recent studies have suggested the presence of a binary feature parameter for English articles; definiteness and specificity. Informants whose L1s lack articles (e.g. Russian and Korean) fluctuate between taking articles to encode either definiteness or encode specificity (Ionin 2003, Ionin et al 2004). In contrast, learners of L1s that encode definiteness (e.g. Greek and Spanish) do not show similar patterns of fluctuation. Languages under investigation in this study are Syrian Arabic and French.