Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Perceived Control and Adaptive Coping: Programs for Adolescent Students who have Learning Disabilities

This study explored the effect of a coping program and a teacher feedback intervention on perceived control and adaptive coping for 98 adolescent students who had specific learning disabilities. The coping program was modified to build personal control and to address the needs of students who have specific learning disabilities. The teacher feedback program emphasized use of effort and strategy in the face of difficulty. Oneway analyses of covariance of student responses indicated a greater perceived control of external situations and increased use of productive coping strategies for the group who received the coping program. There was no change in internal control of feelings or of use of non-productive coping. These results were maintained over the two-month follow-up period. The study provides preliminary evidence that it is possible to facilitate positive change in both sense of control and coping patterns for students who have learning disabilities.
Challenging changes in a secondary teacher education programme

Abstract Teacher education has become the subject of increasing scrutiny and general reviews often recommend change. This article reports the author's perceptions of and reflection on an evolving secondary teacher education programme. It outlines the reasons for change, some difficulties encountered and some steps taken to address these. The case to change the secondary teacher education programme considers how general criticisms of teacher education are influencing an ostensibly successful programme. Despite its success and attractiveness, the programme appeared to have a key problem: a perceived lack of relevance according to beginning teachers, though not to current teacher education students. Specific modifications to the programme are presented which set out, primarily, to increase the relevance of the teacher education experience. The reflection on the programme change, as it occurred, reports how university culture and development of partnership between school and university present a challenge to the proposed development of the teacher education course.
The dynamics of doping: Lance Armstrong, the United States Anti‐Doping Agency and the regulatory governance of professional cycling

On 10 October 2012, the United States Anti-Doping Agency published an investigative report on the use of performance-enhancing drugs by professional cyclist Lance Armstrong. The report paints a disconcerting picture of the doping program that Armstrong and his US Postal Service professional cycling team managed to carry out for several years, despite being subject to many inspections. It contains a wealth of unique empirical data, including a large number of affidavits. In this article, we use this data to answer the question of how Armstrong was able to prolong prohibited behavior. In doing so, we focus in particular on the interactions between Armstrong and the many doping inspectors he encountered. Our analysis results in a variety of answers to this question. First, inspectors were confronted with an inspectee who behaved as an “amoral calculator” and acted strategically. The strategies of inspectors were not adequately attuned to such behavior. Second, the team's internal professional control was neutralized by various factors, including its strict hierarchy and the many friendships within the team. And, finally, the environment created strong incentives to start doping and subsequently deny doing so. We argue that the dynamics underlying doping necessitate a combination of measures to regulate the use of performance-enhancing drugs in the field of professional cycling and beyond.
Decrements in Neuromuscular Performance and Increases in Creatine Kinase Impact Training Outputs in Elite Soccer Players

Abstract Malone, S, Mendes, B, Hughes, B, Roe, M, Devenney, S, Collins, K, and Owen, A. Decrements in neuromuscular performance and increases in creatine kinase impact training outputs in elite soccer players. J Strength Cond Res 32(5): 1342–1351, 2018—The aim of the current investigation was to understand the impact of pretraining neuromuscular performance and creatine kinase (CK) status on subsequent training performance in elite soccer players. Thirty soccer players (age: 25.3 ± 3.1 years; height: 183 ± 7 cm; mass: 72 ± 7 kg) were involved in this observational study. Each morning before training, players completed assessments for neuromuscular performance (countermovement jump; CMJ) and CK levels. Global positioning technology provided external load: total distance, high-speed distance, sprint distance, accelerations, decelerations, average metabolic power, explosive distance, and high metabolic power distance (>25.5 W·kg−1). Mixed-effect linear models revealed significant effects for CK and CMJ Z-score on total high-speed distance, very high-speed distance, accelerations, decelerations, explosive distance, and maximal velocity. Effects are reported with 90% confidence limits. A CK Z-score of +1 corresponded to a −5.5 ± 1.1, −3.9 ± 0.5, −4.3 ± 2.9%, −4.1 ± 2.9%, −3.1 ± 2.9%, and −4.6 ± 1.9%, reduction in total high-speed distance, very high-speed distance, accelerations, decelerations, explosive distance, and maximal velocity, respectively. Countermovement jump Z-score of −1 corresponded to a −3.5 ± 1.1, −2.9 ± 0.5, −2.1 ± 1.4, −5.3 ± 2.9%, −3.8 ± 2.9%, −1.1 ± 2.9%, and −5.6 ± 1.2% reduction in these external load measures. Magnitude-based analysis revealed that the practical size of the effect of a pretraining CMJ Z-score of −1 and CK Z-score of +1 would have on total high-speed distance, very high-speed distance, high metabolic power distance (>25.5 W·kg−1), accelerations, decelerations, explosive distance, and maximal velocity was likely negative. The results of this study suggest that systematic pretraining monitoring of neuromuscular and muscle stress within soccer cohorts can provide coaches with information about the training output that can be expected from individual players during a training session.
Sociocultural Context Effects on Teacher's Readiness to Refer for Learning Disabilities

The social context of the special education referral process is influenced by a number of variables. Demographic and perception data were collected from 63 first-through fifth-grade general education teachers from three Midwestern public school districts to determine the impact of sociocultural variables on teachers' perceptions of classroom behavior, management, and referral tendencies. Teacher, classroom, and school variables including teachers' perception of a learning disability, educational level, grade level, instructional practices, and prereferral intervention models significantly influenced teachers' behavioral perceptions and referral tendencies. These results can inform teacher-training programs to ensure that general educators increase their ability to accurately detect learning difficulties and their awareness of the importance of their perceptions, instructional practices, and school factors on special education referral.
Percutaneous Unilateral Biliary Metallic Stent Placement in Patients with Malignant Obstruction of the Biliary Hila and Contralateral Portal Vein Steno-Occlusion

Objective To investigate the outcomes of percutaneous unilateral metallic stent placement in patients with a malignant obstruction of the biliary hila and a contralateral portal vein steno-occlusion. Materials and Methods Sixty patients with a malignant hilar obstruction and unilobar portal vein steno-occlusion caused by tumor invasion or preoperative portal vein embolization were enrolled in this retrospective study from October 2010 to October 2013. All patients were treated with percutaneous placement of a biliary metallic stent, including expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE)-covered stents in 27 patients and uncovered stents in 33 patients. Results A total of 70 stents were successfully placed in 60 patients. Procedural-related minor complications, including self-limiting hemobilia (n = 2) and cholangitis (n = 4) occurred in six (10%) patients. Acute cholecystitis occurred in two patients. Successful internal drainage was achieved in 54 (90%) of the 60 patients. According to a Kaplan-Meier analysis, median survival time was 210 days (95% confidence interval [CI], 135-284 days), and median stent patency time was 133 days (95% CI, 94-171 days). No significant difference in stent patency was observed between covered and uncovered stents (p = 0.646). Stent dysfunction occurred in 16 (29.6%) of 54 patients after a mean of 159 days (range, 65-321 days). Conclusion Unilateral placement of ePTFE-covered and uncovered stents in the hepatic lobe with a patent portal vein is a safe and effective method for palliative treatment of patients with a contralateral portal vein steno-occlusion caused by an advanced hilar malignancy or portal vein embolization. No significant difference in stent patency was detected between covered and uncovered metallic stents.
Adolescents, place experience and visual intelligence: Implications for educators

Abstract The influence on thinking from the totality of informal contexts such as home, neighbourhood and community seems largely unexplored in research. Some neighbourhood differences have been observed in attitudes and achievement but these have been largely undefined or linked to one or two variables such as socioeconomic status and levels of general reasoning ability. In the research described two hundred and ten adolescents located in seven places were randomly selected for study. Data collected related to experience of, and attitudes towards, travel, leisure activities, visual skills, learning and study approaches, attention and concentration, and general reasoning ability. Statistically significant differences were recorded between all places in all thinking skills variables (p < .001) and three of the six learning approaches variables (p < .01). Data from the study evinced support for the hypothesis that interactions between people and places result in place‐specific skills and behaviour.
Notas sobre el clientelismo político en la ciudad de México

Este ensayo aborda el intercambio de favores por votos entre los pobres del sector urbano y los partidos políticos en la ciudad de México. Basado en un trabajo etnográfico realizado en una colonia popular, se estudian las condiciones sociales de las prácticas clientelares y las interpretaciones elaboradas por los propios “clientes” y “mediadores” a fin de clarificar las relaciones de poder, la distribución de recursos, el papel del líder y las alternativas de acción de los habitantes pobres del sector urbano. Se analizan los cambios operados en las prácticas clientelares a partir del aumento de la competencia electoral, las alianzas y compromisos resultantes, la relación entre necesidades, política y legitimidad, y las posibilidades de autonomía de los colonos.
Cuing methodologies in mental time travel

The following review attempts to bring together two converging areas of research: mental time travel (MTT) and sensory cuing. Based on the literature presented here stating an overlap in the underlying neural networks involved in MTT, one could hypothesize that the cuing of future projections will have results similar to the cuing of past memories. Alternatively, based on the sensory cuing literature and more recent behavioral findings within MTT, predictions could be made involving the interaction effects produced when directly examining different cuing techniques. A brief overview is given of both literatures before converging on a more recent study examining the effects of different cuing techniques on MTT.
Resource-Allocation Behavior under Certainty, Risk, and Uncertainty

Abstract Decisions about the allocation of resources are common in everyday life, but little is known about resource-allocation behavior. Once the variables of certain resource-allocation decisions have been identified, the optimal solution can be calculated by linear programming. Subjects allocated resources under conditions of certainty, risk, and uncertainty. Results indicated that subjects can learn to perform a resource-allocation task with surprising success, that subjects perform best under certainty and worst under uncertainty, that subjects lend to allocate more resources early in a time period, and that subjects prefer to hold some resources in reserve in case of unanticipated needs.
Is Perioperative Chemotherapy Useful for Solitary, Metachronous, Colorectal Liver Metastases?

Background:Chemotherapy is increasingly used in colorectal liver metastases (CRLMs) even when they are initially resectable. The aim of our study was to address the still pending question of whether perioperative chemotherapy is really beneficial in patients developing solitary metastases at a distance from surgery of the primary. Methods:We analyzed a multicentric cohort of 1471 patients resected for solitary, metachronous, primarily resectable CRLMs without extrahepatic disease in the LiverMetSurvey International Registry over a 15-year period. Patients who received at least 3 cycles of oxaliplatin- or irinotecan-based chemotherapy before liver surgery (group CS, n = 169) were compared with those who were resected upfront (group S, n = 1302). Results:Patients of group CS were more frequently females (49% vs 36%, P = 0.001) and had larger metastases (≥5 cm, 33% vs 23%, P = 0.007); no difference was observed with regard to age, site of the primary tumour, time delay to occurrence of metastases, and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels at the time of diagnosis in the 2 groups. The rate of postoperative complications was significantly higher in group CS (37.2% vs 24% in group S, P = 0.006). At univariate analysis, preoperative chemotherapy did not impact the overall survival (OS) (60% at 5 years in both groups); however, postoperative chemotherapy was associated with better OS (65% vs 55% at 5 years, P < 0.01). At multivariate analysis, age 70 years or older (P = 0.05), lymph node positivity in the primary tumor (P = 0.02), a primary-to-metastases time delay of less than 12 months (P = 0.04), raised CEA levels of more than 5 ng/mL at diagnosis (P < 0.01), a tumor diameter of 5 cm or more (P < 0.01), noncurative liver resection (P < 0.01), and the absence of postoperative chemotherapy (P < 0.01) were independent prognostic factors of survival. The disease-free survival (DFS) was negatively influenced by CEA level of more than 5 ng/mL (P < 0.01), size of the metastases 5 cm or more (P = 0.05), and the absence of postoperative chemotherapy (P < 0.01). When patients with metastases of less than 5 cm in size were compared to those with metastases of size 5 cm or more, preoperative chemotherapy did not influence the OS or DFS in either group. Postoperative chemotherapy, on the other hand, improved OS and DFS in patients with metastases of size 5 cm or more but not in patients with metastases of less than 5 cm in size. Conclusions:Although preoperative chemotherapy does not seem to benefit the outcome of patients with solitary, metachronous CRLM, postoperative chemotherapy is associated with better OS and DFS, mainly when the tumor diameter exceeds 5 cm.
Emotional state detection based on EMG and EOG biosignals: A short survey

With its acquisition of muscular potentials linked to displays of affective state, facial Electromyography (EMG) is the most fitting physiological signal for performing emotional expressions detection. EMG and computer vision-based facial recognition have very different strengths and weaknesses, but their information may complement each other. Additionally, Electrooculographic (EOG) signals can enable gaze tracking and detection of eye movements, but blinks and saccades cannot directly indicate emotional state. In this paper, we survey and analyze the methods, strengths and challenges of using these biosignal sources for detecting emotional states, and then we propose a framework that combines simultaneously facial expression detection, using EMG, with saccade detection using EOGs, to classify four basic expressions: neutral, sad, happy, and angry.
Attention‐related modulation of activity in primary and secondary auditory cortex

WE investigated the effects of auditory attention on brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Subjects listened to three word lists, three times each, and were instructed to count the number of times they heard a target word during two of these presentations. For the third, they listened to the words without counting. All subjects showed significant areas of activation in auditory cortex during the listening conditions compared to rest. There was significantly more activation and a larger area of activation, particularly in association cortex, in the left temporal lobe during counting of targets compared to the no-target conditions, with a similar trend in the right hemisphere. These results provide evidence of an attention-related enhancement of both activation magnitude and extent in auditory cortex.
Pairwise error probability of space-time codes for a keyhole channel

A closed-form upper bound is presented for the average pairwise error probabilities (PEP) of space-time codes for a keyhole channel. It is derived from the exact conditional PEP for given fading channel coefficients using a moment generating function-based approach. Simulation results are included for varying numbers of antennas that affirm that the proposed PEP serves as a tight bound for codes in a keyhole channel
From lexical to grammatical to social meaning

It is argued that a grammaticization perspective affords insights on the problem of functional equivalence in variables “above and beyond phonology. ” This is a study of variation between aspectual expressions involving Spanish estar ‘be located’ and andar ‘go around’ + gerund. An analysis of Mexican oral corpora shows both linguistic and social conditioning: Each auxiliary is favored by certain classes of main verbs, and andar is favored in popular varieties. Semantic bleaching along parallel paths results in layering in the domain of progressive aspect, while retention results in synchronic distribution patterns congruent with the original meaning of the source constructions. Thus, once meaningful aspectual differences become distributional routines. At the same time, the patterning of verbs denoting outdoor activities with andar leads to social differences and the association of this variant with rural and popular varieties.
Who should I add as a "friend"?: a study of friend recommendations using proximity and homophily

We receive many recommendations of friends in online social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn. These friend recommendations are based usually on common friends or similar profile such as having the same interest or coming from the same company, a trait known as homophily. However, many times people do not know why they should add this friend. Should I add this friend because we met from a conference and if so, what conference? Existing friend recommendation systems cannot answer this question easily. In this paper, we create a friend recommendation system using proximity and homophily, that we conduct in the workplace and conference. Besides common friends and common interests (homophily features), we also include encounters and meetings (proximity features) and messages sent and question and answer posts (social interaction features) as reasons for adding this person as a friend. We conduct a user study to examine whether our friend recommendation is better than common friends. Results show that on average, our algorithm recommends more friends to participants that they add and more recommendations are ranked as good, compared with the common friend algorithm. In addition, people add friends due to having encountered them before in real life. The results can be used to help design context-aware recommendations in physical environments and in online social networks.
Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience Integrative Neuroscience

not, even when they yield comparable rates of reward (Dickinson et al., 1983). In this respect they have been contrasted with ratio schedules, the other major class of reinforcement schedules, in which the rate of reinforcement is a monotonically increasing function of the rate of behavior. Indeed, the distinction between actions and habits was initially based on results from a direct experimental comparison between these two types of schedules In ratio schedules, the more one performs the action (e.g. presses a lever) the higher the rate of reward. But in interval schedules, the correlation between behavior and reward is more limited. Higher rates of lever pressing do not result in higher reward rates, since the reward is depleted and the feedback function quickly asymptotes (Figure 1). For example, under a random interval (RI) 60 schedule, the maximum reward rate is on average about one reward per minute, and cannot be increased no matter how quickly the animal presses the lever. The ability of interval schedules to promote habit formation has been attributed to their low instrumental contingency, defined as the correlation between the reward rate and lever press rate (Dickinson, 1985, 1994). Although the reduced instrumental contingency in interval schedules is evident from their feedback functions (Figure 1), it is not clear whether such feedback functions per se can explain behavior (Baum, 1973). What is the time window used to detect relationships between actions and consequences? Is an animal's behavioral policy based on the correlation experienced, say, in the last hour, or in the last 10 s? These two alternatives are
Initialization of an ENSO Forecast System Using a Parallelized Ensemble Filter

Abstract As a first step toward coupled ocean–atmosphere data assimilation, a parallelized ensemble filter is implemented in a new stochastic hybrid coupled model. The model consists of a global version of the GFDL Modular Ocean Model Version 4 (MOM4), coupled to a statistical atmosphere based on a regression of National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis surface wind stress, heat, and water flux anomalies onto analyzed tropical Pacific SST anomalies from 1979 to 2002. The residual part of the NCEP fluxes not captured by the regression is then treated as stochastic forcing, with different ensemble members feeling the residual fluxes from different years. The model provides a convenient test bed for coupled data assimilation, as well as a prototype for representing uncertainties in the surface forcing. A parallel ensemble adjustment Kalman filter (EAKF) has been designed and implemented in the hybrid model, using a local least squares framework. Comparison experiments demonstrate that t.