Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mood and representations of behaviour: The how and why

Based on the idea that mood helps to tune cognitive processes to current demands, we hypothesised that mood should influence the abstraction level in which people think about behaviour, and that such mood-induced differences in cognitive attention should be manifested in behaviour descriptions. In this study, participants re-described a number of daily behaviours in their own words after a mood manipulation. As predicted, people in a positive mood were more likely to redescribe behaviours in general why terms, whereas people in a negative mood were relatively more likely to re-describe behaviours in specific how terms. The findings are discussed with respect to the role of mood in processes of behaviour regulation. When thinking about, for example, writing a scientific paper, a person can think about many different features of this behaviour. One can think about the general goals that are pursued with this behaviour (e.g., ‘‘getting published’’, ‘‘being a scientist’’). Alternatively, one can think about the specific means to accomplish it (e.g., ‘‘typing words’’, ‘‘writing an introduction’’). These examples demonstrate that one can think about behaviour at different levels of abstraction. That is, the second set of examples entails more specific and feasible representations of behaviour than the first set, which entails more general and abstract representations. The question we address here is whether a person’s mood influences the level of specificity or generality to which one will cognitively tune when thinking about simple acts of behaviour. Based on the body of research that has demonstrated how mood influences cognitive processes (for an overview, see Martin & Clore, 2001), we predicted that mood should influence a person’s interpretation of a simple act. This, in our view, is an important issue as it may shed more light on the role of mood in processes of behaviour regulation, an issue that, to our knowledge, has not as yet been addressed empirically.
GSC 07396–00759 = V4046 Sgr C[D]: A WIDE-SEPARATION COMPANION TO THE CLOSE T TAURI BINARY SYSTEM V4046 Sgr AB

We explore the possibility that GSC 07396–00759 (spectral type M1e) is a widely separated (∼2.′82, or projected separation ∼12,350 AU) companion to the “old” (age ∼12 Myr) classical T Tauri binary system V4046 Sgr AB, as suggested by the proximity and similar space motions of the two systems. If the two systems are equidistant and coeval, then GSC 07396–00759, like V4046 Sgr AB, must be a spectroscopic binary with nearly equal-mass components, and V4046 Sgr must be at least ∼8 Myr old. Analysis of a serendipitous Chandra X-ray grating spectrum and light curve as well as XMM-Newton light curves and CCD spectra of GSC 07396–00759 obtained during long exposures targeting V4046 Sgr AB reveals a relatively hard (TX ∼ 107 K) X-ray spectrum, strong flaring, and relatively low-density plasma. These X-ray characteristics of GCS 07396–00759 are indicative of a high level of coronal activity, consistent with its apparent weak-lined T Tauri star status. Interactions between V4046 Sgr AB and GCS 07396–00759 when the two systems were more closely bound may be responsible for (1) their dissolution ∼106 yr ago, (2) the present tight, circular orbit of V4046 Sgr AB, and (3) the persistence of the gaseous circumbinary disk still orbiting V4046 Sgr AB.
Capillary rarefaction: an early marker of microvascular disease in young hemodialysis patients

Background Pediatric patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are at increased risk of early cardiovascular disease and premature death. Abnormalities in microvascular structure and function may presage end-organ damage including vascular calcification and myocardial ischemia associated with disordered mineral metabolism. Early detection of microvascular rarefaction (reduced density of capillaries) may identify at-risk patients and prompt timely therapeutic interventions. Our objective was to study capillary rarefaction in pediatric hemodialysis (HD) patients and to determine possible associations with mineral metabolism and cardiac risk biomarkers. Methods Capillary density (CD) was measured by nailfold capillaroscopy in 19 pediatric HD patients and 20 healthy controls. Demographic and biochemical markers were collected at entry and 6-month follow-up. Results CD was significantly decreased in HD patients compared with controls with a deficit of 24 and 31% at baseline and subsequent follow-up. Maximal CD correlated significantly with intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) (r = −0.45; P = 0.005), serum calcium (r = −0.38; P = 0.02) and 25(OH) vitamin D levels (r = +0.36; P = 0.03) in HD patients. Capillary functional measures were similar to controls. By multivariate analysis, the primary negative determinants of CD were African American race and hyperparathyroidism; whereas, glomerular disease had a positive influence on capillary rarefaction (R2 = 64.2% variance; P = 0.001). Conclusion Pediatric HD patients demonstrate a ‘structural deficit’ in CD but show preserved ‘functional integrity’. Capillary rarefaction, an early risk factor of incipient vascular calcification, was strongly associated with biomarkers of altered mineral metabolism. Further studies are warranted to determine the impact of optimizing blood pressure and metabolic control on changes in capillary rarefaction in young CKD patients.
Four Pathways Involving Innate Immunity in the Pathogenesis of Preeclampsia

The maternal innate immune system plays an important role both in normal pregnancy as well as hypertensive disorders of pregnancy including preeclampsia (PE). We propose four pathways that involve excessive innate immunity that lead to most forms of PE. Pre-existing endothelial dysfunction plus pregnancy leads to an excessive innate immune response resulting in widespread inflammation, placental and renal dysfunction, vasoconstriction, and PE. Placental dysfunction due to shallow trophoblast invasion, inadequate spiral artery remodeling, and/or low placental perfusion initiates an innate immune response leading to excessive inflammation, endothelial and renal dysfunction, and PE. A heightened innate immune system due to pre-existing or acquired infections plus the presence of a paternally derived placenta and semi-allogeneic fetus cause an excessive innate immune response which manifests as PE. Lastly, an abnormal and excessive maternal immune response to pregnancy leads to widespread inflammation, organ dysfunction, and PE. We discuss the potential role of innate immunity in each of these scenarios, as well as the overlap, and how targeting the innate immune system might lead to therapies for the treatment of PE.
Bringing Financial Literacy and Education to Low and Middle Income Countries: The Need to Review, Adjust, and Extend Current Wisdom

This paper presents a World Bank led and Russia trust fund financed work program to measure financial capability and the effectiveness of financial education in low and middle income countries. The two activities and their staging have been motivated by the lessons of high-income countries with financial literacy programs and the deviating characteristics of low and middle income countries. While progress has been made in high-income countries to measure financial capability, there is little robust empirical evidence that financial education can improve it. While applying the financial capability concept in low and middle-income countries looks promising it will need to be adjusted to their characteristic and supported by innovative interventions and rigorous impact evaluation to improve it.
Accounting for Taste: Consumer Valuations for Food-Safety Technologies

Consumers’ willingness-to-pay (WTP) for post-harvest processed (PHP) raw oysters – oysters without health risks – is studied in experimental nth-price auction markets. The experimental design decomposes the effects of taste, objective risk information, and information on four PHP technologies on consumers’ valuations. Results show that relatively uninformed consumers are willing to pay equivalent amounts for PHP and traditional raw oysters. However, after a blind taste test consumers are willing to pay a significant premium for traditional raw oysters. The premium for traditional oysters persists after objective information on risk and processing technology is provided. The results are robust over PHP technologies. Key Words: experimental auction market, food safety, risk preference elicitation, consumer perceptions, oysters
MERIT-Infonomics Research Memorandum series Reverse Technology Transfer: A Patent Citation Analysis of the European Chemical and Pharmaceutical sectors

One consequence of the internationalisation of R&D, particularly in high-tech sectors such as chemicals and pharmaceuticals, may be the transfer of foreign technology from the multinational to other firms in its home country. This phenomenon, which may be termed inter-firm reverse technology transfer, has not yet been directly analysed by either the international management literature or the literature on foreign direct investment. But its implications for policy – particularly in Europe – may be significant. Drawing on the evolutionary theory of the multinational, and on the concept of embeddedness, this paper is a first attempt at addressing this issue. We test the hypothesis of inter-firm reverse technology transfer by performing a patent citation analysis on a database of USPTO patents applied for by 29 chemical and pharmaceutical companies over the period 1980-99. Our findings suggest that multinationals, especially in the pharmaceutical sector, act as a channel for the transmission of knowledge developed abroad to other home country firms. These results point to an alternative understanding of foreign direct R&D investment and its implications for both the home country’s technological activity, and its competitive performance in general.
The First Korean Case of Sphingobacterium spiritivorum Bacteremia in a Patient with Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Sphingobacterium spiritivorum has been rarely isolated from clinical specimens of immunocompromised patients, and there have been no case reports of S. spiritivorum infection in Korea to our knowledge. We report a case of S. spiritivorum bacteremia in a 68-yr-old woman, who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and subsequently received chemotherapy. One day after chemotherapy ended, her body temperature increased to 38.3℃. A gram-negative bacillus was isolated in aerobic blood cultures and identified as S. spiritivorum by an automated biochemical system. A 16S rRNA sequencing analysis confirmed that the isolate was S. spiritivorum. The patient received antibiotic therapy for 11 days but died of septic shock. This is the first reported case of human S. spiritivorum infection in Korea. Although human infection is rare, S. spiritivorum can be a fatal opportunistic pathogen in immunocompromised patients.
A Comparison of Artificial Diet and Hybrid Sweet Corn for the Rearing of Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Based on Life Table Characteristics

ABSTRACT The demographic characteristics of Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) reared on hybrid sweet corn (Zea mays L. variety saccharata) (hybrid super sweet corn KY bright jean) and on an artificial diet were compared by using the age-stage, two-sex life table. Because the hatch rate of eggs varies with maternal age, age-specific fecundity was calculated based on the numbers of hatched eggs to reveal the biological characteristics of H. armigera accurately. The intrinsic rate of increase (r), finite rate (&lgr;) and mean generation time (T) of H. armigera were 0.0853 d-1, 1.0890 d-1, and 46.6 d, respectively, on Z. mays and 0.1015 d-1, 1.1068d-1, and 46.3 d, respectively, on the artificial diet. There were significant differences in the intrinsic rate of increase and finite rate between two treatments. The age-stage life expectancy and reproductive value also were calculated. The relationships among the net reproductive rate, the mean female fecundity, the number of emerged females, and the total number of individuals used in the life table study are consistent with theoretical expectations. We recommend the age-stage, two-sex life table for use in insect demographic studies to incorporate both sexes and the variation in developmental rate among individuals and to obtain accurate population parameters. The artificial diet is more suitable for the mass rearing of H. armigera.
Cross-cultural study of expressive avatars

Avatars play an important role in international online communities. While certain simple expressions, such as facial emotional expressions are cultural independent, more complex expressions might not be. Therefore we conducted a cross-cultural study to investigate the influence of the users’ cultural background (Japanese or Dutch) on their perception of avatar’s expressions in terms of perceived arousal and valence. A significant gender difference was found for valence. Women and in particular Japanese women rated the expressions more positive.
Carotid Intima-Media Thickness Progression in HIV-Infected Adults Occurs Preferentially at the Carotid Bifurcation and Is Predicted by Inflammation

Background Shear stress gradients and inflammation have been causally associated with atherosclerosis development in carotid bifurcation regions. The mechanism underlying higher levels of carotid intima-media thickness observed among HIV-infected individuals remains unknown. Methods and Results We measured carotid intima-media thickness progression and development of plaque in the common carotid, bifurcation region, and internal carotid artery in 300 HIV-infected persons and 47 controls. The median duration of follow-up was 2.4 years. When all segments were included, the rate of intima-media thickness progression was greater in HIV-infected subjects compared with controls after adjustment for traditional risk factors (0.055 vs. 0.024 mm/year, P=0.016). Rate of progression was also greater in the bifurcation region (0.067 vs. 0.025 mm/year, P=0.042) whereas differences were smaller in the common and internal regions. HIV-infected individuals had a greater incidence of plaque compared with controls in the internal (23% vs. 6.4%, P=0.0037) and bifurcation regions (34% vs. 17%, P=0.014). Among HIV-infected individuals, the rate of progression in the bifurcation region was more rapid compared with the common carotid, internal, or mean intima-media thickness; in contrast, progression rates among controls were similar at all sites. Baseline hsCRP was elevated in HIV-infected persons and was a predictor of progression in the bifurcation region. Conclusions Atherosclerosis progresses preferentially in the carotid bifurcation region in HIV-infected individuals. hsCRP, a marker of inflammation, is elevated in HIV and is associated with progression in the bifurcation region. These data are consistent with a model in which the interplay between hemodynamic shear stresses and HIV-associated inflammation contribute to accelerated atherosclerosis. (J Am Heart Assoc. 2012;1:jah3-e000422 doi: 10.1161/JAHA.111.000422.) Clinical Trial Registration URL: http://clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01519141
Query session detection as a cascade

We propose a cascading method for query session detection, the problem of identifying series of consecutive queries a user submits with the same information need. While the existing session detection research mostly deals with effectiveness, our focus also is on efficiency, and we investigate questions related to the analysis trade-off: How expensive (in terms of runtime) is a certain improvement in F-Measure? In this regard, we distinguish two major scenarios where query session knowledge is important: (1) In an online setting, the search engine tries to incorporate knowledge of the preceding queries for an improved retrieval performance. Obviously, the efficiency of the session detection method is a crucial issue as the overall retrieval time should not be influenced too much. (2) In an offline post-retrieval setting, search engine logs are divided into sessions in order to examine what causes users to fail or to identify typical reformulation patterns etc. Here, efficiency might not be as important as in the online scenario but the accuracy of the detected sessions is essential. Our cascading method provides a sensible treatment for both scenarios. It involves different steps that form a cascade in the sense that computationally costly and hence time-consuming features are applied only after cheap features "failed. " This is different to previous session detection methods, most of which involve many features simultaneously. Experiments on a standard test corpus show the cascading method to save runtime compared to the state of the art while the detected sessions' accuracy is even superior.
The Chill of the Moment: Emotions and Proenvironmental Behavior

Many serious problems, including those associated with the environment, warrant a sustained response, but the emotions that motivate action are often transient. The authors conducted five online experiments examining the impact of affective ads about global warming on proenvironmental behaviors. They find that sadness-inducing videos lead to more time devoted to an energy-footprint calculator and greater donations to an environmental organization than nonaffective videos. However, once emotions have cooled off after a delay, there are no differences in induced behavior between affective and nonaffective messages. Warning people that emotions, and their effects on behavior, cool off does not reverse the effects of the time delay unless people make a nonbinding commitment just after watching the affective ad. These results help to explain why emotion-evoking ads designed to promote proenvironmental behaviors, such as cutting energy use, often fail to produce sustained behavior change, and they suggest that those who seek to promote a sustained response may need to elicit behavioral commitments in moments of high emotion.
A Tonsillar PolyICLC/AT-2 SIV Therapeutic Vaccine Maintains Low Viremia Following Antiretroviral Therapy Cessation

Background HIV-infected individuals rely on antiretroviral therapy (ART) to control viral replication. Despite abundant demonstrable benefits, the multiple limitations of ART point to the potential advantages of therapeutic vaccination approaches that could provide sustained host control of viral replication after discontinuation of ART. We provide evidence from a non-human primate model that a therapeutic vaccine applied to the tonsils can maintain low viral loads after cessation of ART. Methodology/Principal Findings Animals received 40 weeks of ART initiated 9 weeks after rectal SIVmac239 infection. During ART, animals were vaccinated (or not) with AT-2 inactivated SIVmac239 using CpG-C ISS-ODN (C274) or polyICLC as adjuvants. PolyICLC/AT-2 SIV vaccinated animals maintained viral loads <3×103 copies/ml for up to 16 weeks post-ART, whereas the C274/AT-2 SIV vaccinated and non-vaccinated animals' viremia ranged between 1×104–4×105 copies/ml (p<0.03). Neutralizing Ab activity in plasma was increased by polyICLC/AT-2 tonsillar vaccination under ART, compared to controls (p<0.03). Subsequent vaccination of all animals with polyICLC/AT-2 SIV in the absence of ART did not alter viral loads. Other immune parameters measured in blood and tissues were comparable between groups. Conclusions/Significance These results provide support for the potential benefit of mucosally delivered vaccines in therapeutic immunization strategies for control of AIDS virus infection.
Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Test for Trypanosoma gambiense Group 1 with Stem Primers: A Molecular Xenomonitoring Test for Sleeping Sickness

The World Health Organization has targeted Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) for elimination by 2020 with zero incidence by 2030. To achieve and sustain this goal, accurate and easy-to-deploy diagnostic tests for Gambian trypanosomiasis which accounts for over 98% of reported cases will play a crucial role. Most needed will be tools for surveillance of pathogen in vectors (xenomonitoring) since population screening tests are readily available. The development of new tests is expensive and takes a long time while incremental improvement of existing technologies that have potential for xenomonitoring may offer a shorter pathway to tools for HAT surveillance. We have investigated the effect of including a second set of reaction accelerating primers (stem primers) to the standard T. brucei gambiense LAMP test format. The new test format was analyzed with and without outer primers. Amplification was carried out using Rotorgene 6000 and the portable ESE Quant amplification unit capable of real-time data output. The stem LAMP formats indicated shorter time to results (~8 min), were 10–100-fold more sensitive, and indicated higher diagnostic sensitivity and accuracy compared to the standard LAMP test. It was possible to confirm the predicted product using ESE melt curves demonstrating the potential of combining LAMP and real-time technologies as possible tool for HAT molecular xenomonitoring.
Emerging Methodologies in Engineering Education Research

SCOPE/METHOD Seven methodologies are outlined and for each an exemplar paper is analyzed in order to demonstrate the methodology in operation and to highlight its particular contribution. The methodologies are: Case Study, Grounded Theory, Ethnography, Action Research, Phenomenography, Discourse Analysis, and Narrative Analysis. It is noted that many of the exemplar papers use some of these methodologies in combination.