Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Self-Regulation of Amygdala Activation Using Real-Time fMRI Neurofeedback

Real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (rtfMRI) with neurofeedback allows investigation of human brain neuroplastic changes that arise as subjects learn to modulate neurophysiological function using real-time feedback regarding their own hemodynamic responses to stimuli. We investigated the feasibility of training healthy humans to self-regulate the hemodynamic activity of the amygdala, which plays major roles in emotional processing. Participants in the experimental group were provided with ongoing information about the blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) activity in the left amygdala (LA) and were instructed to raise the BOLD rtfMRI signal by contemplating positive autobiographical memories. A control group was assigned the same task but was instead provided with sham feedback from the left horizontal segment of the intraparietal sulcus (HIPS) region. In the LA, we found a significant BOLD signal increase due to rtfMRI neurofeedback training in the experimental group versus the control group. This effect persisted during the Transfer run without neurofeedback. For the individual subjects in the experimental group the training effect on the LA BOLD activity correlated inversely with scores on the Difficulty Identifying Feelings subscale of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale. The whole brain data analysis revealed significant differences for Happy Memories versus Rest condition between the experimental and control groups. Functional connectivity analysis of the amygdala network revealed significant widespread correlations in a fronto-temporo-limbic network. Additionally, we identified six regions — right medial frontal polar cortex, bilateral dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, left anterior cingulate cortex, and bilateral superior frontal gyrus — where the functional connectivity with the LA increased significantly across the rtfMRI neurofeedback runs and the Transfer run. The findings demonstrate that healthy subjects can learn to regulate their amygdala activation using rtfMRI neurofeedback, suggesting possible applications of rtfMRI neurofeedback training in the treatment of patients with neuropsychiatric disorders.
A Baseline System for Chinese Near-Synonym Choice

Near-synonym sets represent groups of words with similar meaning, which are useful knowledge resources for many natural language applications such as query expansion for information retrieval (IR) and computer-assisted language learning. However, near-synonyms are not necessarily interchangeable in contexts due to their specific usage and syntactic constraints. Previous studies have developed various methods for near-synonym choice in English sentences. To our best knowledge, there is no such evaluation on Chinese sentences. Therefore, this paper implements two baseline systems: pointwise mutual information (PMI) and a 5-gram language model that are widely used in previous work for Chinese nearsynonym choice evaluation. Experimental results show that the 5-gram language model achieves higher accuracy than PMI.
The influence of complex action knowledge on representations of novel graspable objects: Evidence from functional magnetic resonance imaging

The influence of action knowledge associated with novel objects was investigated using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Participants were trained on complex actions associated with novel objects (“tools”) and had experience manipulating other visually similar novel objects (“shapes”). During scanning, participants viewed, imagined grasping, and imagined using the objects. Based on previous neuroimaging and neuropsychological findings, our primary goal was to examine frontal and parietal regions subserving action representations associated with visual objects, namely the left inferior parietal lobule (IPL), the left ventral premotor cortex (VPM) and the presupplementary motor cortex (pre-SMA). We predicted differences between the tool and shape stimuli, modulated also by task demands. In viewing, we found greater effect sizes in the left VPM and IPL for tools versus shapes. In grasping, there was similar activation with both object types. The largest differences existed in using, in which greater effect sizes were found for tools versus shapes in left IPL and pre-SMA, and marginally in the left VPM. We suggest that representations of tools extend beyond classically defined affordances and recruit processing about both graspability and known action plans in tasks involving visual memory, motor imagery, and motor execution. (JINS, 2007, 13, 1009–1020.)
A Pornography Literacy Class for Youth: Results of a Feasibility and Efficacy Pilot Study

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to evaluate the preliminary efficacy of a media literacy curriculum focused on pornography among a sample of U.S-based, urban-residing youth. Participants were 24 youth between the ages of 15–24 years old, although 65% were 17–18 years old. The sample was 43% female, 43% male, 9% transgender, 52% Black, 22% Hispanic, 13% other race, 64% heterosexual, 14% gay, lesbian or bisexual, and 18% other sexual orientation. Participants completed a pre-test prior to the first class session and a post-test after the fifth and final session. Pornography-related knowledge increased from pre- to post-test. A change in the anticipated direction was observed for some pornography-related attitudes, and some pornography-related behavioral intentions. Pornography-related behavior (e.g., seeking out pornography for the first time) did not change from pre- to post-test. The novelty of these findings are two-fold. First, the study demonstrated that it is feasible to implement a pornography literacy curriculum in a nonschool setting, and second, that this particular curriculum may have had some positive impact.
EKMAN MASS AND HEAT TRANSPORT IN THE INDONESIAN SEAS

The Indonesian throughfl ow (ITF) is the fl ow of warm, relatively fresh waters into the southeast Indian Ocean from the western Pacifi c Ocean via the series of passages between the islands of the Indonesian archipelago and Australia (see Figure 1 in Gor-don, this issue). As the world's only low-latitude interocean conduit, the ITF plays an integral role in the global thermohaline circulation and directly impacts the basin heat and freshwater budgets of both the Pacifi c and Indian Oceans (Bryden and Im-awaki, 2001). We presently view the ITF as a low-frequency geostrophic fl ow combined with a surface wind-driven current (e.g., Meyers, 1996; Potemra et al., 1997). The large-scale steric height gradient between the easterly tradewinds in the western Pacifi c and the reversing monsoonal winds over the southern Indonesian seas drives the ITF's variable annual cycle (Wyrtki, 1987). During the northwest monsoon from November to March, the winds are to the southeast. The resulting Ekman fl ow causes warm waters to accumulate in the Banda Sea (Figure 1a), reducing ITF transport. The fl ow from the Banda Sea towards the Indian Ocean is strongest during the southeast monsoon from July to September when the winds are to the northwest and more intense, and the surface waters are cooler (Figure 1b). These strong winds result in a lower sea level along the south coast of the Nusa Tenggara island chain; the ITF is thought to be enhanced by this local Ekman response. Although the geostrophic component and the total (ageostrophic plus geostrophic) ITF have been the subject of much historical and ongoing fi eldwork in the Indonesian seas (e.g., Sprintall et al., 2004), the wind-driven Ekman contribution to the ITF has received relatively little attention. Arief (1992) observed a complex and inconsistent relationship between the east-west wind and the north-south current through Lom-bok Strait in which overall correlation was low, but strong events could be matched quite well. Murray and Arief (1988) explained the strong northward fl ow events observed in their northern current meters as being due to Ekman transport associated
A comparison of the impact of organizational climate on the job satisfaction of manufacturers’ agents and company salespeople: An exploratory study

AbstractThis study examines the impact of several perceived organizational climate variables on the job satisfaction of manufacturers' agents and internal salespeople. The study analyzes the relationship between each climate variable and each component of job satisfaction for both groups. Climate variables include closeness of supervision, influence over standards, role ambiguity, and role conflict. The study suggests that the organizational climate variables are more important for explaining the variation in total job satisfaction for internal salespeople than is the case for manufacturers' agents. Finally, the study considers the managerial implications of the findings relating to manufacturers' agents and suggests actions for improving their morale.
Credit ratings and credit risk

This paper investigates the information in corporate credit ratings. We examine the extent to which firms' credit ratings measure raw probability of default as opposed to systematic risk of default, a firm's tendency to default in bad times. We find that credit ratings are dominated as predictors of corporate failure by a simple model based on publicly available financial information (`failure score'), indicating that ratings are poor measures of raw default probability. However, ratings are strongly related to a straightforward measure of systematic default risk: the sensitivity of firm default probability to its common component (`failure beta'). Furthermore, this systematic risk measure is strongly related to credit default swap risk premia. Our findings can explain otherwise puzzling qualities of ratings.
Cash-flow maturity and risk premia in CDS markets

I study the returns of portfolios of Credit Default Swaps of different maturities but the same volatility. I find average returns decrease with maturity. This variation in expected returns is captured by betas with respect to a factor: a portfolio that sells short-maturity CDSs and buys long-maturity ones. This portfolio is a market-timing factor. Its CDS-market betas are high when the price of CDS-market risk is high, but low otherwise. Accordingly, a conditional CDS CAPM explains the crosssectional variation in returns by maturity. I embed a conditional CAPM within a structural model of credit risk and show the maturity-related beta dynamics emerge endogenously. ⇤I would like to thank my advisers, John Cochrane, Lars Hansen, Ralph Koijen, Ľuboš Pástor for the guidance. I am grateful for comments and suggestions from Rui Cui, George Constantinides, Stefano Giglio, Filipe Lacerda, Bryan Kelly, Serhiy Kozak, Pietro Veronesi and participants in the Economic Dynamics Working Group at the University of Chicago and the Finance Brownbag at Chicago Booth. I would also like to gratefullly acknowledged research support from the Stevanovich Center for Financial Mathematics. †Booth School of Business and Department of Economics, University of Chicago. Email: dpalhares@chicagobooth.edu. Phone Number: 773-456-5695. Website: http://home.uchicago. edu/~dpalhares/. 1
The ‘Learning in Regular Classrooms’ initiative for inclusive education in China

ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to understand the Learning in Regular Classrooms (LRC) initiative for inclusive education in China. First, the paper reviews the policy, legislation, and practice in relation to the LRC. It then goes on to explore the specific social–political context of the LRC, and compares the Chinese LRC with the Western approaches to inclusion and integration. The authors then discuss the challenges posed by the attempt to further promote the LRC or inclusive education in the collectivist culture and socialist political context of modern China.
Hippocampal theta activity and behavioral sequences in a reward‐directed approach locomotor task

Hippocampal rhythmic slow wave activity (theta) has been implicated in the processing of stimuli associated with movement. This study determined whether the theta rhythm showed phase relationships or changes in amplitude and frequency with the onset of stimuli and behavioral sequences in a skilled locomotor approach task. Rats with bipolar electrodes spanning CA1 approached a stall, turned to enter it, approached and depressed a treadle, waited 1.35 s, and approached a milk reward located forward either to the right or to the left. Auditory cues indicated the location of the reward during the waiting period and at the reward onset. A video capture system (20‐ms sampling) was synchronized to the hippocampal recording system (10‐ms sampling). Behavioral events identified by motion analysis were used to generate averages of hippocampal slow wave activity, theta peak amplitudes, and intervals between peaks. Theta activity at 8–10 Hz was almost continuous during the behavioral sequences. Phase relations with stimuli or movement onsets occurred infrequently and were not consistent across the four subjects. Theta peak amplitude and frequency decreased as the rat slowed locomotion in the stall and reached the treadle. Onset of locomotion directed to a reward location occurred on a positive peak of averaged theta activity. When locomotion had short latencies, increases in theta frequency appeared after the onset but, when it had longer latencies, frequency increases appeared 200 ms before onset. The results indicate that the execution of instrumental movement modulates both theta amplitude and frequency, and that the preparation for locomotion modulates theta frequency. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Zeno Meets Modern Science

“No one has ever touched Zeno without refuting him”. We will not refute Zeno in this paper. Instead we review some unexpected encounters of Zeno with modern science. The paper begins with a brief biography of Zeno of Elea followed by his famous paradoxes of motion. Reﬂections on continuity of space and time lead us to Banach and Tarski and to their celebrated paradox, which is in fact not a paradox at all but a strict mathematical theorem, although very counterintuitive. Quantum mechanics brings another ﬂavour in Zeno paradoxes. Quantum Zeno and anti-Zeno eﬀects are really paradoxical but now experimental facts. Then we discuss supertasks and bifurcated supertasks. The concept of localization leads us to Newton and Wigner and to interesting phenomenon of quantum revivals. At last we note that the paradoxical idea of timeless universe, defended by Zeno and Parmenides at ancient times, is still alive in quantum gravity. The list of references that follows is necessarily incomplete but we hope it will assist interested reader to ﬁll in details.
Simulations of minor mergers - I. General properties of thick discs

We present simulations of the formation of thick discs via the accretion of two-component satellites onto a pre-existing thin disc. Our goal is to establish the detailed characteristics of the thick discs obtained in this way, as well as their dependence on the initial orbital and internal properties of the accreted objects. We find that mergers with 10-20 per cent mass of the host lead to the formation of thick discs whose characteristics are similar, both in morphology as in kinematics, to those observed. Despite the relatively large mass ratios, the host discs are not fully destroyed by the infalling satellites: a remaining kinematically cold and thin component containing similar to 15-25 per cent of the mass can be identified, which is embedded in a hotter and thicker disc. This may for example, explain the existence of a very old thin disc stars in the Milky Way. The final scaleheights of the discs depend both on the initial inclination and properties of the merger, but the fraction of satellite stellar particles at similar to 4 scaleheights directly measures the mass ratio between the satellite and host galaxy. Our thick discs typically show boxy isophotes at very low surface brightness levels (>6 mag below their peak value). Kinematically, the velocity ellipsoids of the simulated thick discs are similar to that of the Galactic thick disc at the solar radius. The trend of sigma(Z)/sigma(R) with radius is found to be a very good discriminant of the initial inclination of the accreted satellite. In the Milky Way, the possible existence of a vertical gradient in the rotational velocity of the thick disc as well as the observed value of sigma(Z)/sigma(R) at the solar vicinity appear to favour the formation of the thick disc by a merger with either low or intermediate orbital inclination.
Factors influencing the induction of neuroplastic changes in human motor cortex.

Viewer/Itinerary Planner. Washington DC. Society for Neuroscience 2007. Online Sale MV, Ridding MC, Nordstrom MA (2006) Variability of two paired associative stimulation (PAS) protocols used to induce neuroplastic changes in human motor cortex. Proceedings of the Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research 24:10.5 Chapter 7 Bibliography
Could Social Cognition Training Reduce Externalizing Behaviors and Social Maladjustment in Preschoolers

Background: Recently, a social cognition training model has been developed and showed significant improvements on social cognition, social adjustment and externalizing behaviors in typically developing preschoolers. Objectives: Such model has been replicated in the current study in preschoolers with externalizing behaviors to test whether deficits in social cognition could cause deficits in social adjustment and externalizing behaviors in preschoolers. The effects of training in social information processing and Theory of Mind on social cognition, on emotion regulation, on social adjustment and on externalizing behaviors were examined. Methodology: After a pre-test, 37 children with externalizing behaviors were allocated either to an experimental group, which received 15 sessions of social cognition training in groups of 3-4 children, or to a control group. Results and conclusion: Through regression analyses, the Theory of Mind indirect, social information processing, emotion regulation and social adjustment measures were significantly predicted by group condition. The hypothesis that difficulties in social adjustment can be caused by deficits in social cognition is discussed.
Discourse and Emotions in International Relations

The field of International Relations (IR) has recently witnessed the emergence of a wide variety of different approaches to make sense of the many ways emotions work in and through discourse. This forum takes stock of and investigates this link based on two interrelated questions: Why study emotions through discourse? How can we study emotions through discourse? Concerning the first question, we argue that textual and verbal utterances provide us with a promising way to make emotions empirically accessible for researchers. Regarding the second question, we argue that it is essential to develop specific criteria for the study of emotions via speech acts. We propose three criteria that the study of emotion discourse must answer to, which revolve around theory (what is an emotion? ), expression (how are emotions communicated? ), and effects (what do emotions do? ). In a step toward fostering engagement and dialogue on these questions, the contributors of this forum propose a variety of approaches to study emotion discourse in world politics. The idea is to explore the ways in which discourse evokes, reveals, and engages emotions and how these effects can speak to larger questions in IR. Precisely, the goal with this forum is to go beyond the “emotions matter” approach of the first wave of emotions scholarship in IR to offer more specific ways to integrate the consideration of emotion into existing research, particularly that of a constructivist vein.
Project- versus lecture-based courses: Assessing the role of course structure on perceived utility, anxiety, academic performance, and satisfaction in the undergraduate research methods course

ABSTRACT Previous research suggests that undergraduate research methods students doubt the utility of course content and experience math and research anxiety. Research also suggests involving students in hands-on, applied research activities, although empirical data on the scope and nature of these activities are lacking. This study compared academic performance, research methods anxiety, perceived utility of research methods, and course satisfaction across students in a large lecture-based course and a smaller project-based course. Results show minimal differences in student outcomes between the courses. Limitations are discussed, as is the ideal scope of project-based learning in the undergraduate mass media research methods course.
Evidence for distinct verbal memory pathologies in severely and mildly disturbed schizophrenics.

It is well known that schizophrenics have difficulty in effectively encoding verbal materials into their long-term memories and consequently show a deficit in recall. Recently, orienting tasks were introduced as a method for achieving equivalent to normal encoding and mnemonic organization in schizophrenics; consequently, their deficit in recall disappeared. A detailed review of the literature, however, showed that such effective orienting tasks had only been applied to mildly disturbed schizophrenics (nonchronic, in a good condition). This report presents three experiments which show that more severely disturbed (chronic, hospitalized) schizophrenics, unlike mildly disturbed patients, have memory deficits that cannot be located at the encoding stage. Severely disturbed schizophrenics show (1) a recall deficit, even after effective encoding and mnemonic organization are induced; (2) excessive forgetting over 24- and 48-hour periods; and (3) a recognition memory deficit. These deficits are in addition to their encoding deficit. The use of a matched-tasks check in experiments 2 and 3 suggests that this postencoding deficit is a differential deficit and does not is a differential deficit and does not simply reflect the schizophrenic generalized deficit. Theoretical implications, also supported by the use of various organizational indices (e.g., clustering, hierarchical clustering schemes, and hierarchical grouping analysis), are discussed.
Skin Beauty as Erotic Capital and Production of “Luckiness”: A Look at Menopausal Women Using Hormone Therapy Replacement for Skin Treatment in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

According to social and cultural constructs of aging and femininity, menopausal women‘s bodily transitions cause them to initiate hormone therapy replacement (HRT) to restore their youth and beauty. For example, they might take HRT to improve their wrinkled and sagging skin. A problem emerges, however, because there is little systematic research that explains the specific factors that motivate women to take HRT for the purpose of anti-aging skin treatment. This study aims to examine the intertwined social and cultural contexts influencing menopausal women’s choice of HRT in a dermatological hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Four dermatologists and 15 menopausal women patients were interviewed regarding their experiences with HRT. Results suggest that skin conditions are closely related with Vietnamese notions of femininity, sexuality, youth, health, and beauty. An ideal skin condition carries cultural auspiciousness, sexual attractiveness, and a positive indication of health. Use of HRT does not merely aim at improving skin condition but also at maintaining beauty and overcoming sexual dysfunction in general—to fix the body from inside. The emphasis on the ideal skin as the key to beauty, sexuality, youth, and social and physical well-being reflects how the female body has been influenced by a social and cultural construction of menopause. While fitting the traditional paradigm of “improving from within,” HRT also repairs women’s sense of luckiness by removing wrinkles, which are perceived as bringing bad luck to family and business. This notion of being lucky enables menopausal women to rebuild their social-sexual agency without being judged against the moral norms for well-behaved older women when they reach menopause.