Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Unique Relationships Between Self-Related Constructs, Social Anxiety, and Depression in a Non-Clinical Sample

Self-related constructs feature prominently in cognitive models of both social anxiety and depression. However, few studies have simultaneously investigated the unique relationship between self-related constructs and social anxiety and depression, while also controlling for the association between the two variables. In the present study, 522 undergraduate students completed measures of maladaptive self-beliefs, self-esteem, self-criticism, self-focused attention, self-concept clarity, social comparison, and social anxiety and depression. Bivariate correlations demonstrated that self-related constructs not only significantly correlated with social anxiety but also with depression and other self-variables. When entered simultaneously, multiple regression analyses indicated that maladaptive self-beliefs were uniquely and positively associated with social anxiety and depression, while self-esteem and self-concept clarity were uniquely and negatively associated with social anxiety and depression. A unique positive association between private self-consciousness and depression was also found. Maladaptive self-beliefs and self-esteem were the constructs most strongly associated with social anxiety and depression respectively. These findings underscore the importance of a negative self-concept even in subclinical presentations and suggest that several key self-related constructs may represent transdiagnostic vulnerability factors linking social anxiety and depression. Future research should continue to uncover unique relationships between self-related variables and social anxiety and depression in both clinical and non-clinical samples.
Thyrocyte-specific inactivation of p53 and Pten results in anaplastic thyroid carcinomas faithfully recapitulating human tumors

Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) is the most aggressive form of thyroid cancer, and often derives from pre-existing well-differentiated tumors. Despite a relatively low prevalence, it accounts for a disproportionate number of thyroid cancer-related deaths, due to its resistance to any therapeutic approach. Here we describe the first mouse model of ATC, obtained by combining in the mouse thyroid follicular cells two molecular hallmarks of human ATC: activation of PI3K (via Pten deletion) and inactivation of p53. By 9 months of age, over 75% of the compound mutant mice develop aggressive, undifferentiated thyroid tumors that evolve from pre-existing follicular hyperplasia and carcinoma. These tumors display all the features of their human counterpart, including pleomorphism, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, aneuploidy, local invasion, and distant metastases. Expression profiling of the murine ATCs reveals a significant overlap with genes found deregulated in human ATC, including genes involved in mitosis control. Furthermore, similar to the human tumors, [Pten, p53]thyr−/− tumors and cells are highly glycolytic and remarkably sensitive to glycolysis inhibitors, which synergize with standard chemotherapy. Taken together, our results show that combined PI3K activation and p53 loss faithfully reproduce the development of thyroid anaplastic carcinomas, and provide a compelling rationale for targeting glycolysis to increase chemotherapy response in ATC patients.
Memory Enhancement with Event-Related Stimulation of the Rostral Intralaminar Thalamic Nuclei

The rostral intralaminar thalamic nuclei (ILn) are organized to activate pathways originating in medial prefrontal cortex (mPF) that mediate memory-guided responding during alert, wakeful states. Previous studies have shown that rostral ILn or mPF lesions produce deficits in delayed matching to position (DMTP). Here, we manipulated rostral ILn activity in rats by microinjecting drugs or applying electrical current and examined effects on DMTP. Inhibiting activity with the GABAA agonist muscimol impaired DMTP. Decreasing GABAA tone with FG-7142 (N-methyl-β-carboline-3-carboxamide) improved DMTP at low but not high doses. Orexin A, which depolarizes thalamocortical neurons locally within the ILn, improved DMTP, whereas the cholinergic agonist carbachol impaired performance at the highest dose tested. These drug effects were unaffected by partial mPF lesions in a subset of animals. Microinjection results are consistent with an inverted-U relationship between thalamic activity and DMTP. This relationship was confirmed by event-related electrical stimulation, which produced improvement at low stimulation currents and impairment at higher currents. Electrical stimulation affected DMTP when applied at the start of the memory delay or choice response, but not earlier when trials began or the sample lever was presented. Our results are consistent with evidence that the rostral ILn play a role in retrieval, carrying response-related information across brief memory delays and facilitating memory-guided responding. They also provide evidence that treatments stimulating rostral ILn activity may be an effective means to enhance working memory and related cognitive processes and thus to treat disorders that affect these functions.
Adaptive Bayesian Procedures Using Random Series Priors

We consider a general class of prior distributions for nonparametric Bayesian estimation which uses finite random series with a random number of terms. A prior is constructed through distributions on the number of basis functions and the associated coefficients. We derive a general result on adaptive posterior contraction rates for all smoothness levels of the target function in the true model by constructing an appropriate ‘sieve’ and applying the general theory of posterior contraction rates. We apply this general result on several statistical problems such as density estimation, various nonparametric regressions, classification, spectral density estimation and functional regression. The prior can be viewed as an alternative to the commonly used Gaussian process prior, but properties of the posterior distribution can be analysed by relatively simpler techniques. An interesting approximation property of B‐spline basis expansion established in this paper allows a canonical choice of prior on coefficients in a random series and allows a simple computational approach without using Markov chain Monte Carlo methods. A simulation study is conducted to show that the accuracy of the Bayesian estimators based on the random series prior and the Gaussian process prior are comparable. We apply the method on Tecator data using functional regression models.
Co-occurrence of Risk Alleles in or Near Genes Modulating Insulin Secretion Predisposes Obese Youth to Prediabetes

OBJECTIVE Paralleling the rise of pediatric obesity, the prevalence of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) is increasing among youth. In this study, we asked whether the co-occurrence of risk alleles in or near five genes modulating insulin secretion (TCF7L2 rs7903146, IGF2BP2 rs4402960, CDKAL1 rs7754840, HHEX rs1111875, and HNF1A rs1169288) is associated with a higher risk of IGT/T2D in obese children and adolescents. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We studied 714 obese subjects (290 boys and 424 girls; mean age 13.6 ± 3.1 years; mean z score BMI 2.2 ± 0.4) and evaluated the insulin secretion by using the oral minimal model and, in a subgroup of 37 subjects, the hyperglycemic clamp. Also, 203 subjects were followed up for a mean of 2.1 years. RESULTS We observed that the increase of risk alleles was associated with a progressive worsening of insulin secretion (P < 0.001) mainly due to an impairment of the dynamic phase of insulin secretion (P = 0.004); the higher the number of the risk alleles, the higher the chance of progression from normal glucose tolerance (NGT) to IGT/T2D (P = 0.022). Also, for those who were IGT at baseline, a higher risk score was associated with a lower odds to revert to NGT (P = 0.026). CONCLUSIONS Obese children and adolescents developing IGT/T2D have a higher genetic predisposition than those who do not show these diseases, and this predisposition is mainly related to gene variants modulating the early phase of insulin secretion. Although these data are very interesting, they need to be replicated in other cohorts.
Testing the impact of citizen characteristics and demeanor on police officer behavior in potentially violent encounters

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether citizen characteristics (race/ethnicity and attire) or demeanor predicted how officers interacted in simulation scenarios that could turn violent. Design/methodology/approach Controlled-laboratory experiments were conducted during which police participants (n=50) responded to equivalent numbers of black, white, and Hispanic individuals in multiple branching video scenarios in a use-of-force simulator. Within these scenarios, the attire of on-screen individuals was varied (“street” or “business” clothing) as was their demeanor – individuals were either friendly or confrontational. Each scenario had the potential to end peaceably or turn violent, depending on how the officers treated people in the simulator. Findings Multi-level modeling revealed that neither the race/ethnicity nor the attire of on-screen individuals predicted how officers interacted with them. However, the demeanor of on-screen individuals did – officers were significantly more likely to verbally escalate and end up with a deadly outcome when faced with confrontational individuals (f=3.96; df=1, 558; p<0.05). Research limitations/implications These findings offer important new insight into how fairly officers interact with people during routine encounters that have the potential to turn violent, and what this means for perceptions of police legitimacy, procedural justice, and allegations of racial bias. Originality/value This is the first laboratory study to test the impact of citizen characteristics and demeanor on how officers escalate and de-escalate encounters.
Corporate Reorganizations and Non-Cash Auctions

This paper extends the theory of non-cash auctions by considering the revenue and efficiency of using different securities. Research on bankruptcy and privatization suggests using non-cash auctions to increase cash-constrained bidder participation. We examine this proposal and demonstrate that securities may lead to higher revenue. However, bidders pool unless bids include debt,which results in possible repossession by the seller. This suggests all-equity outcomes are unlikely and explains the high debt of reorganized firms. Securities also inefficiently determine bidders' incentive contracts and the firm's capital structure. Therefore, we recommend a new cash auction for an incentive contract. Copyright The American Finance Association 2000.
A Review of Exposure Assessment Methods in Epidemiological Studies on Incinerators

Incineration is a common technology for waste disposal, and there is public concern for the health impact deriving from incinerators. Poor exposure assessment has been claimed as one of the main causes of inconsistency in the epidemiological literature. We reviewed 41 studies on incinerators published between 1984 and January 2013 and classified them on the basis of exposure assessment approach. Moreover, we performed a simulation study to explore how the different exposure metrics may influence the exposure levels used in epidemiological studies. 19 studies used linear distance as a measure of exposure to incinerators, 11 studies atmospheric dispersion models, and the remaining 11 studies a qualitative variable such as presence/absence of the source. All reviewed studies utilized residence as a proxy for population exposure, although residence location was evaluated with different precision (e.g., municipality, census block, or exact address). Only one study reconstructed temporal variability in exposure. Our simulation study showed a notable degree of exposure misclassification caused by the use of distance compared to dispersion modelling. We suggest that future studies (i) make full use of pollution dispersion models; (ii) localize population on a fine-scale; and (iii) explicitly account for the presence of potential environmental and socioeconomic confounding.
Do Organic Results Help or Hurt Sponsored Search Performance?

We study the impact of changes in the competitors’ listings in organic search results on the performance of sponsored search advertisements. Using data from an online retailer’s keyword advertising campaign, we measure the impact of organic competition on both click-through rate and conversion rate of sponsored search advertisements. We find that an increase in organic competition leads to a decrease in the click performance of sponsored advertisements. However, organic competition helps the conversion performance of sponsored ads and leads to higher revenue. We also find that organic competition has a higher negative effect on click performance than does sponsored competition. Our results inform advertisers on how the presence of organic results influences the performance of their sponsored advertisements. Specifically, we show that organic competition acts as a substitute for clicks, but has a complementary effect on the conversion performance.
Swan conductors for p-adic differential modules. II Global variation

Abstract Using a local construction from a previous paper, we exhibit a numerical invariant, the differential Swan conductor, for an isocrystal on a variety over a perfect field of positive characteristic overconvergent along a boundary divisor; this leads to an analogous construction for certain p-adic and l-adic representations of the étale fundamental group of a variety. We then demonstrate some variational properties of this definition for overconvergent isocrystals, paying special attention to the case of surfaces.
The Intermediate-Age Globular Cluster NGC 1783 in the Large Magellanic Cloud

We present Hubble Space Telescope ACS deep photometry of the intermediate-age globular cluster NGC 1783 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. By using this photometric data set, we have determined the degree of ellipticity of the cluster (ϵ = 0.14 ± 0.03) and the radial density profile. This profile is well reproduced by a standard King model with an extended core (rc = 24.5″) and a low concentration (c = 1.16), indicating that the cluster has not experienced the collapse of the core. We also derived the cluster age using the Pisa Evolutionary Library isochrones, with three different amounts of overshooting (namely, Λos = 0.0, 0.10, and 0.25). From a comparison of the observed color-magnitude diagram and main-sequence luminosity function (LF) with the theoretical isochrones and LFs, we find that only models with the inclusion of some overshooting (Λos = 0.10-0.25) are able to reproduce the observables. By using the magnitude difference δV = 0.90 between the mean level of the He clump and the flat region of the SGB, we derive an age τ = 1.4 ± 0.2 Gyr.
S2RDF: RDF Querying with SPARQL on Spark

RDF has become very popular for semantic data publishing due to its flexible and universal graph-like data model. Thus, the ever-increasing size of RDF data collections raises the need for scalable distributed approaches. We endorse the usage of existing infrastructures for Big Data processing like Hadoop for this purpose. Yet, SPARQL query performance is a major challenge as Hadoop is not intentionally designed for RDF processing. Existing approaches often favor certain query pattern shapes while performance drops significantly for other shapes. In this paper, we introduce a novel relational partitioning schema for RDF data called ExtVP that uses a semi-join based preprocessing, akin to the concept of Join Indices in relational databases, to efficiently minimize query input size regardless of its pattern shape and diameter. Our prototype system S2RDF is built on top of Spark and uses SQL to execute SPARQL queries over ExtVP. We demonstrate its superior performance in comparison to state of the art SPARQL-on-Hadoop approaches.
Neural Correlates of Memory Retrieval during Recognition Memory and Cued Recall

Regional brain activity, measured by H215O PET, was investigated during recognition memory and word-stem cued recall of words in order to compare the neural correlates of two components of memory retrieval-effort and success-as a function of task. For each task there was a baseline and two retrieval conditions. In one retrieval condition (zero density), none of the test items corresponded to words encoded in a preceding study phase. Differences in activity between this condition and the baseline were employed to characterize the neural correlates of retrieval effort in each task. In the other retrieval condition (high density), 80% of the test items had been studied previously. Differences in brain activity between this condition and the zero-density condition were taken to represent the neural correlates of successful retrieval. The principal findings concern the right anterior prefrontal cortex, a region demonstrated previously to be active during episodic retrieval. Relative to baseline, this region showed no evidence of activation in the zero-density condition of the recognition task, but did show enhanced activity in the equivalent condition of the cued-recall task. In contrast, relative to the zero-density condition, the high-density condition was associated with increased right prefrontal activity during recognition, but reduced activity during cued recall. It is proposed that the right prefrontal cortex supports cognitive processes that operate on information retrieved in response to a test item and that these processes contribute to the evaluation of whether the information represents an appropriate prior episode.
Computer Training: The Role of Computer Attitudes and Behavior Modeling in the Acquisition of Declarative and Procedural Knowledge.

M e t h o d . 59 Results. 77 D i s c u s s i o n . 110 R e f e r e n c e s . 164 Appendix A Outline for Key Learning Points Lecture 171 Appendix B Task List for Practice Session . 177 Appendix C Sample Modeling Intervention Script . 182 Appendix D Declarative Knowledge Test . 184 Appendix E Procedural Knowledge Test . 186 Appendix F ~ Computer Performance Test . 189 Appendix G Beneficial Tool Attitude Scale . 192 Appendix H Autonomous Entity Attitude Scale . 194 Appendix I Factor Loadings for Knowledge Items . 196 V i t a . 197
Idiosyncratic volatility and stock returns: a cross country analysis

Empirical evidences regarding the association of idiosyncratic volatility and stock returns are inconsistent with the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), which implies that idiosyncratic risk should not be priced because it would be fully eliminated through diversification. Using Exponential Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (EGARCH) estimated conditional idiosyncratic volatility of individual stocks across 36 countries from 1973 to 2007, we find that idiosyncratic risk is priced on a significantly positive risk premium for stock returns. The evidence is statistically and economically significant. It overwhelmingly supports the prediction of existing theories that idiosyncratic risk is positively related to expected returns.
The Effects of Asynchronous Computer Voice Conferencing on L2 Learners' Speaking Anxiety

This study investigated the influence of a computer voice conferencing environment (Wimba) on learners’ anxiety when speaking in a foreign language. Several instruments were used for data collection: A demographic survey, the Computer Anxiety Index (CAIN), the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS), the Wimba Anxiety Scale, student interviews, and a rubric developed for the evaluation of risk-taking. Results indicate that there is a strong potential for the reduction of anxiety associated with the Wimba environment. This was due to the elimination of the time pressure of the classroom and opportunity to edit student contributions. Increased risk-taking, in terms of the quantity and quality of the output produced by students, and reduced fear of negative evaluation were also found in the electronic environment. The conditions of the facility where the Wimba environment is accessed, i.e. a language laboratory, were found to hinder Wimba’s anxiety-reducing potential.
Forcing minimal extensions of Boolean algebras

We employ a forcing approach to extending Boolean algebras. A link between some forcings and some cardinal functions on Boolean algebras is found and exploited. We find the following applications: 1) We make Fedorchuk’s method more flexible, obtaining, for every cardinal λ of uncountable cofinality, a consistent example of a Boolean algebra Aλ whose every infinite homomorphic image is of cardinality λ and has a countable dense subalgebra (i.e., its Stone space is a compact S-space whose every infinite closed subspace has weight λ). In particular this construction shows that it is consistent that the minimal character of a nonprincipal ultrafilter in a homomorphic image of an algebra A can be strictly less than the minimal size of a homomorphic image of A, answering a question of J. D. Monk. 2) We prove that for every cardinal of uncountable cofinality it is consistent that 2ω = λ and both Aλ and Aω1 exist. 3) By combining these algebras we obtain many examples that answer questions of J.D. Monk. 4) We prove the consistency of MA + ¬CH + there is a countably tight compact space without a point of countable character, complementing results of A. Dow, V. Malykhin, and I. Juhasz. Although the algebra of clopen sets of the above space has no ultrafilter which is countably generated, it is a subalgebra of an algebra all of whose ultrafilters are countably generated. This proves, answering a question of Arhangel′skii, that it is consistent that there is a first countable compact space which has a continuous image without a point of countable character. 5) We prove that for any cardinal λ of uncountable cofinality it is consistent that there is a countably tight Boolean algebra A with a distinguished ultrafilter ∞ such that for every a 63 ∞ the algebra A|a is countable and ∞ has hereditary character λ.
The construct validity of the NEO PI-R personality inventory in high stakes employee selection

The purpose of this study was to establish the construct validity of the NEO PI-R personality measure when used for high stakes employee selection purposes. Based on extant research from industrial/organisational psychology, social psychology, and behavioural economics it is argued that deliberate impression management, or faking good, by job candidates in high stakes selection contexts can occur. This can be regarded as a form of moral hypocrisy. Theoretical research showed that moral hypocrisy occurs in ambiguous contexts in the absence of reminders of moral standards. It was hypothesised that the use of a formal warning would eliminate or minimise faking good by participants in a field study of job applicants in a high stakes contexts, thereby allowing construct valid inferences to be made about the participant’s personality traits. To test this hypothesis a formal verbal warning about measures included in the assessment to detect deliberate impression management was given to the participants. They completed the NEO PI-R as part of the battery of tests used in the selection process for middle and senior management positions in a range of organisations. A bespoke impression management measure, based on a widely used measure used to detect deliberate impression management, was included in the battery of tests. A second field study sample was used to validate the findings of the managerial field study. Using confirmatory factor analysis the results showed that faking good was minimised, but not eliminated. Monte Carlo simulations showed that it was still possible that participants, who faked good in spite of the warning, could be selected from a short list of job applicants. The use of the bespoke impression management measure was shown to be of benefit in minimising bias and unfairness arising from the use of the personality measure when selecting a candidate from a short list.