Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Methodology for the objective measurement of body image

An apparatus for the objective measurement of the conscious aspects of body image is described. The method involves photographing subjects and scanning the photograph with a video camera. The subject adjusts a control that varies the image on a television monitor to give a representative continuum from endomorphy through mesomorphy to ectomorphy without distorting height. A permanent photographc record of the subject's judgment can be taken. A permanent graphic record of the accuracy of the judgment and of the judgment time can be registered by a pen recorder as impulses from the control are relayed as the subject adjusts the dial. Data on the body image of a group of 60 obese females, 25 hospitalized anorexics, and 50 controls are presented. Implications for therapy and further research are discussed.
Elemental analysis of freeze-dried thin sections of Samanea motor organs: barriers to ion diffusion through the apoplast

Leaflet movements in the legume Samanea saman are dependent upon massive redistribution of potassium (K), chloride (Cl), and other solutes between opposing (extensor and flexor) halves of the motor organ (pulvinus). Solutes are known to diffuse through the apoplast during redistribution. To test the possibility that solute diffusion might be restricted by apoplastic barriers, we analyzed elements in the apoplast in freeze-dried cryosections of pulvini using scanning electron microscopy/x-ray microanalysis. Large discontinuities in apoplastic K and Cl at the extensor-flexor interface provide evidence for a barrier to solute diffusion. The barrier extends from the epidermis on upper and lower sides of the pulvinus to cambial cells in the central vascular core. It is completed by hydrophobic regions between phloem and cambium, and between xylem rays and surrounding vascular tissue, as deduced by discontinuities in apoplastic solutes and by staining of fresh sections with lipid-soluble Sudan dyes. Thus, symplastic pathways are necessary for ion redistribution in the Samanea pulvinus during leaflet movement. In pulvini from leaflets in the closed state, all cells on the flexor side of the barrier have high internal as well as external K and Cl, whereas cells on the extensor side have barely detectable internal or external K or Cl. Approximately 60% of these ions are known to migrate to the extensor during opening; all return to the flexor during subsequent closure. We propose that solutes lost from shrinking cells in the outer cortex diffuse through the apoplast to plasmodesmata-rich cells of the inner cortex, collenchyma, and phloem; and that solutes cross the barrier by moving through plasmodesmata.
Increased fMRI Sensitivity at Equal Data Burden Using Averaged Shifted Echo Acquisition

There is growing evidence as to the benefits of collecting BOLD fMRI data with increased sampling rates. However, many of the newly developed acquisition techniques developed to collect BOLD data with ultra-short TRs require hardware, software, and non-standard analytic pipelines that may not be accessible to all researchers. We propose to incorporate the method of shifted echo into a standard multi-slice, gradient echo EPI sequence to achieve a higher sampling rate with a TR of <1 s with acceptable spatial resolution. We further propose to incorporate temporal averaging of consecutively acquired EPI volumes to both ameliorate the reduced temporal signal-to-noise inherent in ultra-fast EPI sequences and reduce the data burden. BOLD data were collected from 11 healthy subjects performing a simple, event-related visual-motor task with four different EPI sequences: (1) reference EPI sequence with TR = 1440 ms, (2) shifted echo EPI sequence with TR = 700 ms, (3) shifted echo EPI sequence with every two consecutively acquired EPI volumes averaged and effective TR = 1400 ms, and (4) shifted echo EPI sequence with every four consecutively acquired EPI volumes averaged and effective TR = 2800 ms. Both the temporally averaged sequences exhibited increased temporal signal-to-noise over the shifted echo EPI sequence. The shifted echo sequence with every two EPI volumes averaged also had significantly increased BOLD signal change compared with the other three sequences, while the shifted echo sequence with every four EPI volumes averaged had significantly decreased BOLD signal change compared with the other three sequences. The results indicated that incorporating the method of shifted echo into a standard multi-slice EPI sequence is a viable method for achieving increased sampling rate for collecting event-related BOLD data. Further, consecutively averaging every two consecutively acquired EPI volumes significantly increased the measured BOLD signal change and the subsequently calculated activation map statistics.
A Multi-Platform Evaluation of the Randomized CX Low-Rank Matrix Factorization in Spark

We investigate the performance and scalability of the randomized CX low-rank matrix factorization and demonstrate its applicability through the analysis of a 1TB mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) dataset, using Apache Spark on an Amazon EC2 cluster, a Cray XC40 system, and an experimental Cray cluster. We implemented this factorization both as a parallelized C implementation with hand-tuned optimizations and in Scala using the Apache Spark high-level cluster computing framework. We obtained consistent performance across the three platforms: using Spark we were able to process the 1TB size dataset in under 30 minutes with 960 cores on all systems, with the fastest times obtained on the experimental Cray cluster. In comparison, the C implementation processed the 1TB size dataset 21X faster on the Amazon EC2 system, due to careful cache optimizations, bandwidth-friendly access of matrices and vector computation using SIMD units. We report these results and their implications on the hardware and software issues arising in supporting data-centric workloads in parallel and distributed environments.
Male Victims of Former-Intimate Stalking: A Selected Review

Over the past decade, there has been an increase of research on former-intimate stalking, with many studies examining female victims and male perpetrators of this crime. Most of this research has shown that males form a significant proportion of those who are stalked by a former-intimate partner, and in more recent years, some studies have found that former-intimate stalking, like “domestic violence,” is gender neutral or gender-inclusive. Experimental research on perceptions of stalking has revealed that male stalking victimization is considered less concerning and less dangerous than female victimization and that males should be able to control their own stalking experience. Clearly, female stalking victimization is a serious social problem and studies on this are common. However, this is not the case for male stalking victims. This selected review will examine the prevalence of stalking for males across different samples, male and female perceptions of the acts that may constitute stalking, perceptions of male and female stalking perpetrators, and perceptions of male victimization and their impact on men.
Note on Absence of Proactive Interference in Motor Long-Term Memory

3 groups of 10 subjects made and recalled a linear arm-positioning movement after a 10-min. retention interval. One of the groups made and recalled four similar movements immediately prior to the last movement (a Brown-Peterson proactive design) and another learned all five movements and then recalled them in reverse order after the retention interval. The control group made and recalled only one movement. Significant forgetting was evident for all groups in terms of absolute error, but there was no significant difference between the groups in either absolute, constant, or variable errors.
Vitreous humor and albumin augment the proliferation of cultured retinal precursor cells

Intravitreal injection is an important delivery route for studies involving the transplantation of various types of precursor cells to the retina; however, the effect on these cells of exposure to the vitreous microenvironment has not been specifically investigated. Here vitreous humor was evaluated for the potential to influence the proliferation of rat retinal precursor cells in vitro. Cells were isolated at embryonic day 19 and plated in standard proliferation medium in the presence or absence of fluid expressed from porcine vitreous humor. Cellular proliferation at different concentrations of vitreous fluid supplementation was quantified by using a 3H‐thymidine incorporation assay. Active components of vitreous fluid were partially characterized by gel filtration chromatography (GFC) and UV spectral analysis. The effect of each vitreous fraction on proliferation was determined as well. Results showed that addition of 20% vitreous fluid to primary rat retinal cultures significantly increased 3H‐thymidine incorporation compared with growth medium without vitreous supplementation. A vitreous fraction showing growth‐promoting activity was localized to a molecular mass range <1000 Da, consistent with ascorbic acid. Ascorbic acid was confirmed in vitreous fluid by UV spectral analysis. Growth‐augmenting activity was present in higher molecular mass vitreous fractions, consistent with protein components. Albumin, the major protein in vitreous fluid, was found to augment proliferation. Because vitreous‐associated augmentation of retinal precursor proliferation remains an epidermal growth factor‐dependent phenomenon, the proliferative status of transplanted cells in the vitreous cavity is likely determined by a combination of factors. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Predicting grade point average from the hybrid model of learning in personality: consistent findings from Ugandan and Australian students

Jackson developed a hybrid model of learning in personality, known as the Learning Styles Profiler (LSP), which seeks to explain personality in terms of biological, socio‐cognitive and experiential processes. The hybrid model argues that functional learning outcomes can be understood in terms of how cognitions and experiences re‐express sensation seeking as functional learning. In two studies from Uganda and Australia (n = 136 and n = 290 respectively), grade point average (GPA) of students was successfully predicted from the hybrid model. Results show evidence of three indirect pathways from sensation seeking through cognitions to GPA and provide a new understanding of the way in which personality can predict performance.
Textile Art Promoting Well‐being in Long‐term Illness: Some General and Specific Influences

Abstract The paper reviews previous research into the meanings of textile art making for people living with long‐term illness. Qualitative accounts of the creative process suggest that textile art making is a multi‐dimensional experience. Some practitioners regard textile artwork as a means of coping with discomfort and other symptoms. For a minority, it enables expressions of anxiety and feelings about loss. Nevertheless, participants place more emphasis on the role of textile art making in rebuilding a satisfactory identity and restoring autonomy and quality to life. It fills occupational voids following early retirement and enables social contacts. Textile artwork also stimulates learning and personal development. It remains possible that any creative occupation delivers such benefits. The paper analyses qualitative accounts from seven participants to identify whether textile art making has any distinctive experiential qualities. As a creative occupation, it seems to be quite distinctive in being readily accessible even to those who do not consider themselves as artistic. Modern textile art embraces diverse techniques and forms, and practitioners’ choice and autonomy are enhanced by having several different projects in process at once. It accepts the use of assistive technology, thereby enabling people with a variety of physical impairments to produce ‘mainstream’ art. It draws upon rich social traditions, facilitating social contact. Many forms of textile art making are highly time‐consuming, fostering a future orientation, and the creative process is often socially visible within the home, with positive consequences for self‐image. This study is exploratory. Further enquiry into the distinctive influences of different creative occupations upon well‐being is recommended.
Lightness and Junctions

The lightness of a test patch completely surrounded by an inducing field can be predicted by variants of Wallach's ratio rule. When a patch is surrounded by two or more regions with different luminances, a plausible extension of the ratio rule would predict that the effect of the surrounding regions should correlate with the length of the border they share with the test patch. However, as shown by the Wertheimer–Benary and White effects, lightness of such patches can depart appreciably from these predictions. It is argued that a fruitful approach toward the explanation of such effects is based on the analysis of junctions (such as T-junctions and X-junctions) between regions. Several new displays and variations of old displays involving such junctions are used to illustrate this approach. An alternative analysis of a lightness effect introduced by Adelson is provided, and the role of depth effects in achromatic perception is discussed. A number of limitations of the approach and possible ways to overcome them are noted.
p39, the Primary Activator for Cyclin-dependent Kinase 5 (Cdk5) in Oligodendroglia, Is Essential for Oligodendroglia Differentiation and Myelin Repair*

Background: Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5) is crucial for brain development. Results: In contrast to neurons that utilize p35 as the primary Cdk5 activator, oligodendroglia employ p39-dependent Cdk5 activation to advance differentiation and myelin repair. Conclusion: p39 is the primary Cdk5 activator in oligodendroglia, essential for oligodendroglia development. Significance: Our study revealed distinct mechanisms controlling Cdk5 activity in neurons and oligodendroglia. Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5) plays key roles in normal brain development and function. Dysregulation of Cdk5 may cause neurodegeneration and cognitive impairment. Besides the well demonstrated role of Cdk5 in neurons, emerging evidence suggests the functional requirement of Cdk5 in oligodendroglia (OL) and CNS myelin development. However, whether neurons and OLs employ similar or distinct mechanisms to regulate Cdk5 activity remains elusive. We report here that in contrast to neurons that harbor high levels of two Cdk5 activators, p35 and p39, OLs express abundant p39 but negligible p35. In addition, p39 is selectively up-regulated in OLs during differentiation along with elevated Cdk5 activity, whereas p35 expression remains unaltered. Specific knockdown of p39 by siRNA significantly attenuates Cdk5 activity and OL differentiation without affecting p35. Finally, expression of p39, but not p35, is increased during myelin repair, and remyelination is impaired in p39−/− mice. Together, these results reveal that neurons and OLs harbor distinct preference of Cdk5 activators and demonstrate important functions of p39-dependent Cdk5 activation in OL differentiation during de novo myelin development and myelin repair.
Maintenance and induction of naphthalene degradation activity in Pseudomonas putida and an Alcaligenes sp. under different culture conditions

The expression of xenobiotic-degradative genes in indigenous bacteria or in bacteria introduced into an ecosystem is essential for the successful bioremediation of contaminated environments. The maintenance of naphthalene utilization activity is studied in Pseudomonas putida (ATCC 17484) and an Alcaligenes sp. (strain NP-Alk) under different batch culture conditions. Levels of activity decreased exponentially in stationary phase with half-lives of 43 and 13 h for strains ATCC 17484 and NP-Alk, respectively. Activity half-lives were 2.7 and 5.3 times longer, respectively, in starved cultures than in stationary-phase cultures following growth on naphthalene. The treatment of starved cultures with chloramphenicol caused a loss of activity more rapid than that measured in untreated starved cultures, suggesting a continued enzyme synthesis in starved cultures in the absence of a substrate. Following growth in nutrient medium, activity decreased to undetectable levels in the Alcaligenes sp. but remained at measurable levels in the pseudomonad even after 9 months. The induction of naphthalene degradation activities in these cultures, when followed by radiorespirometry with 14C-labeled naphthalene as the substrate, was consistent with activity maintenance data. In the pseudomonad, naphthalene degradation activity was present constitutively at low levels under all growth conditions and was rapidly (in approximately 15 min) induced to high levels upon exposure to naphthalene. Adaptation in the uninduced Alcaligenes sp. occurred after many hours of exposure to naphthalene. In vivo labeling with 35S, to monitor the extent of de novo enzyme synthesis by naphthalene-challenged cells, provided an independent confirmation of the results.
Perceptions of Power in Client/Worker Relationships

Recent literature on empowerment-oriented social work practice raises intriguing questions about the nature of power in client/worker relationships. This qualitative study explores client and worker perceptions of power in their relationships with each other. Individual and focus group interviews were conducted in residential settings serving men and women with histories of homelessness and psychiatric hospitalization. Staff and residents' experiences with helping relationships were probed, with particular attention to characteristics of mutuality, equality, and power. Client and worker preferences were conceptualized as ranging from partnership-oriented relationships to mentorship-oriented relationships. The author draws on empowerment and feminist theory in analyzing the study simplications for social work practice. The question is posed as to whether social work practice can fully realize the goals of shared power, mutuality, and collaboration associated with feminist and empowerment-oriented practice models when client/worker relationships are embedded in a hierarchical power structure.
The universality of relationship characteristics: A cross-cultural comparison of different types of attachment and loneliness in Canadian and visiting Chinese students

In this study we investigated the universality of loneliness and attachment in family, romantic, and social relationships by comparing Canadian home students with Chinese visiting students. A total of 223 students completed measures assessing peer, parent, and romantic attachment, and emotional and social loneliness. The results revealed significant main effects of culture and gender for both attachment and loneliness, as well as a significant 2-way interaction for family loneliness. The findings support the universality of loneliness and attachment, but also lend credence to the notion that the expression, or intensity, of these constructs may differ among cultures and genders.
Human cactin interacts with DHX8 and SRRM2 to assure efficient pre-mRNA splicing and sister chromatid cohesion

ABSTRACT Cactins constitute a family of eukaryotic proteins broadly conserved from yeast to human and required for fundamental processes such as cell proliferation, genome stability maintenance, organismal development and immune response. Cactin proteins have been found to associate with the spliceosome in several model organisms, nevertheless their molecular functions await elucidation. Here we show that depletion of human cactin leads to premature sister chromatid separation, genome instability and cell proliferation arrest. Moreover, cactin is essential for efficient splicing of thousands of pre-mRNAs, and incomplete splicing of the pre-mRNA of sororin (also known as CDCA5), a cohesin-associated factor, is largely responsible for the aberrant chromatid separation in cactin-depleted cells. Lastly, cactin physically and functionally interacts with the spliceosome-associated factors DHX8 and SRRM2. We propose that cellular complexes comprising cactin, DHX8 and SRRM2 sustain precise chromosome segregation, genome stability and cell proliferation by allowing faithful splicing of specific pre-mRNAs. Our data point to novel pathways of gene expression regulation dependent on cactin, and provide an explanation for the pleiotropic dysfunctions deriving from cactin inactivation in distant eukaryotes. Summary: Human cactin interacts with spliceosome-associated DHX8 and SRRM2 to support efficient pre-mRNA splicing of thousands of genes, including cohesin-associated CDCA5, and promote chromosome stability.
Evaluating NoC and WiNoC Architectures for Multicore Architecture Performance

To mitigate potential scalability challenges in future many-core architectures' on-chip communication systems, the wireless Network-on-Chip (WiNoC) design concept has arisen as a compelling choice. It offers a viable approach to address these issues effectively. This paper delves into an extensive analysis of the performance evaluation concerning Network-on-Chip (NoC) and Wireless Network-on-Chip (WiNoC) configurations within the framework of a 64-core multicore system. The study encompasses a thorough evaluation across four synthetic traffic profiles, namely random, shuffle, butterfly, and transpose traffic distributions, offering a comprehensive understanding of their impact on system performance. This evaluation involved a thorough analysis of data transmission latency, the efficiency of network data throughput, and the amount of energy consumed. In order to substantiate our conclusions, we conducted simulations encompassing the 64-core mesh-based NoC and WiNoC architectures. These simulations were executed utilizing the Noxim simulator, a well-recognized tool acclaimed for its capacity to provide cycle-accurate simulations. Analyzing the simulation outcomes, it becomes evident that the 64-core WiNoC architecture performs better in terms of network performance. This is evident from its ability to handle heavier workloads and achieve lower delays in all traffic situations, when compared to the 64-core NoC architecture.
The effects of status-organizing and social identity processes on patterns of social influence

Two theories of social influence, status characteristics theory (SCT) and social identity theory (SIT), have achieved an uncommon degree of theoretical cumulation. SCT focuses on the influence of status-differentiated actors in goal-oriented settings, while SIT addresses the influence of in-group versus out-group members in intergroup contexts. We explore the joint effect of status and social identity. Using a modification of SCT's standardized experimental setting, we found that status-organizing and social identity processes operated concurrently: group membership combined with a diffuse status characteristic in a manner consistent with the aggregation assumption of SCT The study has implications for the theoretical integration of SCT with SIT The avenue we suggest would describe how status-organizing and social identity processes are interrelated through their interactive effect on the legitimation of informal power and prestige orders.
Characteristics analysis and modeling of frame traffic in 802.11 wireless networks

Xiao-hu Ge1∗,†, Yang Yang2,, Cheng-Xiang Wang3, Ying-Zhuang Liu1, Chuang Liu1 and Lin Xiang1 1Department of Electronics and Information Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, P.R. China 2Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K. 3Joint Research Institute for Signal and Image Processing, School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, U.K.