Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Social Comparison Theory in the Context of Chronic Illness: Predictors and Consequences of Target Selection among Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes

Individuals often compare themselves to others (i.e., social comparisons) in order to determine their status in a given domain. Social comparisons may be particularly important for patients with chronic illness; patients often experience uncertainty and anxiety about their health, which increase the likelihood and utility of social comparisons. Among patients, social comparisons can have both positive and negative health-related consequences (for affect, motivation to improve one’s health care behaviors, etc.), depending upon several contextual features. Various steps in the social comparison process have been proposed, but not tested directly. The present study is an examination of the social comparison process among patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) – a condition that is a growing public health concern for which psychosocial interventions can be beneficial. Patient participants used a web-mediated program to self-report individual difference characteristics prior to selecting from four comparison targets (descriptions of other patients with T2DM). Patients then rated their motivations for selection, read a description of their chosen patient, and reported on their response (e.g., current affect, motivation to improve self-care). Patients who endorsed greater symptom severity were more likely to choose sicker comparison targets, but choice was unrelated to personality characteristics. A model that incorporated several individual difference factors thought to be related to social comparison had moderate predictive value for comparison choice. The extent to which patients focused on differences and similarities between themselves and their chosen targets moderated affective and motivational response (respectively). These findings may contribute to the improvement of psychosocial interventions for patients with T2DM and other illnesses (e.g., components of cognitive intervention, educational materials that include patient testimonials, the composition of support groups). Social Comparison Theory in the Context of Chronic Illness: Predictors and Consequences of Target Selection among Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes By Danielle Arigo B.S., Drexel University, 2005 M.S., Syracuse University, 2007 DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology Syracuse University August 2012 Copyright Danielle Arigo, 2012 All Rights Reserved
Human vs machine spoofing detection on wideband and narrowband data

How well do humans detect spoofing attacks directed at automatic speaker verification systems? This paper investigates the performance of humans at detecting spoofing attacks from speech synthesis and voice conversion systems. Two speaker verification tasks, in which the speakers were either humans or machines, were also conducted. The three tasks were carried out with two types of data: wideband (16kHz) and narrowband (8kHz) telephone line simulated data. Spoofing detection by humans was compared to automatic spoofing detection (ASD) algorithms. Listening tests were carefully constructed to ensure the human and automatic tasks were as similar as possible taking into consideration listener’s constraints (e.g., fatigue and memory limitations). Results for human trials show the error rates on narrowband data double compared to on wideband data. The second verification task, which included only artificial speech, showed equal overall acceptance rates for both 8kHz and 16kHz. In the spoofing detection task, there was a drop in performance on most of the artificial trials as well as on human trials. At 8kHz, 20% of human trials were incorrectly classified as artificial, compared to 12% at 16kHz. The ASD algorithms also showed a drop in performance on 8kHz data, but outperformed human listeners across the board.
On the universal structure of human lexical semantics

Significance Semantics, or meaning expressed through language, provides indirect access to an underlying level of conceptual structure. To what degree this conceptual structure is universal or is due to properties of cultural histories, or to the environment inhabited by a speech community, is still controversial. Meaning is notoriously difficult to measure, let alone parameterize, for quantitative comparative studies. Using cross-linguistic dictionaries across languages carefully selected as an unbiased sample reflecting the diversity of human languages, we provide an empirical measure of semantic relatedness between concepts. Our analysis uncovers a universal structure underlying the sampled vocabulary across language groups independent of their phylogenetic relations, their speakers’ culture, and geographic environment. How universal is human conceptual structure? The way concepts are organized in the human brain may reflect distinct features of cultural, historical, and environmental background in addition to properties universal to human cognition. Semantics, or meaning expressed through language, provides indirect access to the underlying conceptual structure, but meaning is notoriously difficult to measure, let alone parameterize. Here, we provide an empirical measure of semantic proximity between concepts using cross-linguistic dictionaries to translate words to and from languages carefully selected to be representative of worldwide diversity. These translations reveal cases where a particular language uses a single “polysemous” word to express multiple concepts that another language represents using distinct words. We use the frequency of such polysemies linking two concepts as a measure of their semantic proximity and represent the pattern of these linkages by a weighted network. This network is highly structured: Certain concepts are far more prone to polysemy than others, and naturally interpretable clusters of closely related concepts emerge. Statistical analysis of the polysemies observed in a subset of the basic vocabulary shows that these structural properties are consistent across different language groups, and largely independent of geography, environment, and the presence or absence of a literary tradition. The methods developed here can be applied to any semantic domain to reveal the extent to which its conceptual structure is, similarly, a universal attribute of human cognition and language use.
Author ' s personal copy Event segmentation ability uniquely predicts event memory

Memory for everyday events plays a central role in tasks of daily living, autobiographical memory, and planning. Event memory depends in part on segmenting ongoing activity into meaningful units. This study examined the relationship between event segmentation and memory in a lifespan sample to answer the following question: Is the ability to segment activity into meaningful events a unique predictor of subsequent memory, or is the relationship between event perception and memory accounted for by general cognitive abilities? Two hundred and eight adults ranging from 20 to 79 years old segmented movies of everyday events and attempted to remember the events afterwards. They also completed psychometric ability tests and tests measuring script knowledge for everyday events. Event segmentation and script knowledge both explained unique variance in event memory above and beyond the psychometric measures, and did so as strongly in older as in younger adults. These results suggest that event segmentation is a basic cognitive mechanism, important for memory across the lifespan. 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Use of spatial interpolation technique for determination of geoclimatic factor and fade depth calculation in Southern Africa

Different authors have adopted various techniques to resolve the clear-air radio-propagation effect problems. These authors have presented different modeling techniques based on the radio propagation variables of the region in question. These variables are determinable from the local radio propagation data of the region in question. This paper uses the radiometeorological data collected in Durban, South Africa and in Maun, Botswana to determine the geoclimatic factor (K) variable. This is then used in implemented link designs to calculate the fade depth and worst month for these two locations.
DIFFERENTIATED READING INSTRUCTION IN ONE EXEMPLARY TEACHER'S CLASSROOM: A CASE STUDY

A single case study design was employed to describe the nature of one exemplary second grade teacher's differentiated reading instruction. The teacher participant was selected from a group of exemplary teachers nominated from one rural school district in southwestern Pennsylvania. Data collection consisted of classroom observations, teacher interviews, and classroom artifacts. An analysis of the data revealed that the participating teacher differentiated the following aspects of small group reading instruction: materials, time spent in small group meetings, lesson structure and focus, teacher talk, and post-reading assignments. Ongoing assessments were used as the basis for decision-making about how to differentiate each lesson. A microanalysis of teacher talk was conducted to provide insight regarding the nature of verbal scaffolding in the classroom. Teacher-student interactions were analyzed and coded at the level of utterance. The following categories were used to define the different types of talk used by the teacher to promote the independent use of strategies in reading: direct explanation, explicit modeling, invitations to participate, clarification, verification, and telling. This analysis revealed that the needs of the children created changes in the way the teacher interacted with group members.
Dynamic frequency and resource allocation with adaptive error control based on RTP for multimedia QoS guarantees in wireless networks

Providing QoS guarantees in wireless networks is a much more complex problem than in fixed networks. Conventional fixed allocation schemes are not suitable for these traffic patterns and it becomes necessary to design new dynamic resource allocation schemes. This paper deals with three of the main wireless network problems to provide multimedia QoS guarantees, i.e., frequency assignation, bandwidth requirements and error rate. For the former problem, several frequency assignment algorithms have been evaluated. For the second, a dynamic resource allocation algorithm is proposed. The goal of this algorithm is to share the available wireless bandwidth between the major number of connections, and offer the maximum QoS to all of them depending on the connection state. For the latter, error rate effects are corrected by means of an adaptive error control algorithm based on RTP. This algorithm tries to balance the channel quality of the on-going calls to obtain a fair error quality for all of them.
Doc2b Is a High-Affinity Ca2+ Sensor for Spontaneous Neurotransmitter Release

“Spontaneous” Release Trigger Synaptic vesicle release occurs in different phases that can be tightly coupled to action potentials (synchronous), immediately following action potentials (asynchronous), or as stochastic events not triggered by action potentials (spontaneous). The vesicle protein synaptotagmin is thought to act as the Ca2+ sensor in the synchronous phase, but for the other two phases, Ca2+ sensors have not been identified. Groffen et al. (p. 1614, published online 11 February) now show that cytoplasmic proteins known as Doc2 (double C2 domain) proteins are required for spontaneous release. Doc2 proteins promote membrane fusion in response to exceptionally low increases in Ca2+, and are several orders of magnitude more sensitive to Ca2+ than synaptotagmin. Doc2 and synaptotagmin compete for SNARE-complex binding during membrane fusion. A mutation that abolishes the Ca2+ dependence of Doc2b also abolishes the Ca2+ dependence of spontaneous release. Thus, Doc2 is a high-affinity Ca2+ sensor for spontaneous release that competes with synaptotagmin for SNARE complex binding. Spontaneous synaptic vesicle fusion is triggered by soluble proteins that compete with synaptotagmins to induce membrane curvature. Synaptic vesicle fusion in brain synapses occurs in phases that are either tightly coupled to action potentials (synchronous), immediately following action potentials (asynchronous), or as stochastic events in the absence of action potentials (spontaneous). Synaptotagmin-1, -2, and -9 are vesicle-associated Ca2+ sensors for synchronous release. Here we found that double C2 domain (Doc2) proteins act as Ca2+ sensors to trigger spontaneous release. Although Doc2 proteins are cytosolic, they function analogously to synaptotagmin-1 but with a higher Ca2+ sensitivity. Doc2 proteins bound to N-ethylmaleimide–sensitive factor attachment receptor (SNARE) complexes in competition with synaptotagmin-1. Thus, different classes of multiple C2 domain–containing molecules trigger synchronous versus spontaneous fusion, which suggests a general mechanism for synaptic vesicle fusion triggered by the combined actions of SNAREs and multiple C2 domain–containing proteins.
Cooperative Learning: Effects of Task, Reward, and Group Size on Individual Achievement

Abstract : This research sought to (a) determine whether cooperative learning can effectively promote individual achievement, and if so, (b) identify specific conditions under which a benefit can be expected. In each of two experiments, trainee Equipment Records and Part Specialists, Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) 76C, received 15 blocks of instruction on how to perform specific supply- related tasks as part of Advanced Individual Training (AIT). Experiment 1 compared the test performance of 280 trainees after they had completed practical exercises (PEs) under either cooperative or individual learning. Under cooperative learning, trainees worked together in groups of two or four and helped each other learn. Under individual learning, they worked alone and obtained help from an instructor rather than from each other. In addition, group members were rewarded (i.e., allowed to proceed through the course with attending remedial study halls) either independently or as a group for their subsequent individual test performance. Results revealed that (a) cooperative learning improved individual trainee test scores but only when coupled with a group reward contingency, and (b) significant benefits occurred once group size reached four members. The significance of these findings for Army training dis that individual achievement gains can be obtained through cooperative learning in four-member groups without modifying training materials and without increasing the demand for training resources.
Ovarian Modulators of 11β-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase (11βHSD) Activity in Follicular Fluid from Bovine and Porcine Large Antral Follicles and Spontaneous Ovarian Cysts1

Abstract In the ovary, cortisol is oxidized to cortisone by 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11βHSD). The present study investigated whether follicular fluid (FF) from large antral follicles and spontaneous ovarian cysts, isolated from bovine and porcine ovaries, contained modulators of 11βHSD activity. Whereas FF from antral follicles had no significant effect over 1 h on NADP+-dependent 11βHSD activity in rat kidney homogenates, enzyme activity was inhibited by FF from bovine and porcine ovarian cysts (80.5% ± 2.3% and 72.8% ± 3.4% of control, respectively). Following C18 reverse-phase chromatography, the hydrophilic fractions of FF from bovine and porcine antral follicles stimulated NADP+-dependent 11βHSD activities (111.5% ± 21.6% and 55.2% ± 5.7% respectively). Hydrophobic compounds inhibited NADP+-dependent cortisol oxidation by 58.2% ± 5.1% (bovine) and 45.7% ± 2.0% (porcine). In both species, FF from ovarian cysts appeared to contain less of the hydrophilic stimuli to 11βHSD activity and more of the hydrophobic inhibitors. The FF from antral follicles and ovarian cysts, and the C18 fractions thereof, had no significant effect on NAD+-dependent cortisol oxidation. The ovarian modulators of NADP+-dependent 11βHSD activities did not coelute with cortisol, cortisone, estradiol, testosterone, progesterone, pregnenolone, and cholesterol. However, the 11βHSD stimuli in porcine FF from both antral follicles and cysts coeluted with prostaglandin (PG) E2 and PGF2α. We conclude that large antral follicles and spontaneous ovarian cysts, in both the cow and the pig, contain ovarian modulators of the NADP+-dependent 11βHSD activity. Moreover, FF from spontaneous ovarian cysts, because of decreased content of the 11βHSD stimulus accompanied by increased content of the 11βHSD inhibitors, exerts a net inhibitory effect on 11βHSD activity.
A live attenuated influenza A(H5N1) vaccine induces long-term immunity in the absence of a primary antibody response.

BACKGROUND Highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) causes severe infections in humans. We generated 2 influenza A(H5N1) live attenuated influenza vaccines for pandemic use (pLAIVs), but they failed to elicit a primary immune response. Our objective was to determine whether the vaccines primed or established long-lasting immunity that could be detected by administration of inactivated subvirion influenza A(H5N1) vaccine (ISIV). METHODS The following groups were invited to participate in the study: persons who previously received influenza A(H5N1) pLAIV; persons who previously received an irrelevant influenza A(H7N3) pLAIV; and community members who were naive to influenza A(H5N1) and LAIV. LAIV-experienced subjects received a single 45-μg dose of influenza A(H5N1) ISIV. Influenza A(H5N1)- and LAIV-naive subjects received either 1 or 2 doses of ISIV. RESULTS In subjects who had previously received antigenically matched influenza A(H5N1) pLAIV followed by 1 dose of ISIV compared with those who were naive to influenza A(H5N1) and LAIV and received 2 doses of ISIV, we observed an increased frequency of antibody response (82% vs 50%, by the hemagglutination inhibition assay) and a significantly higher antibody titer (112 vs 76; P = .04). The affinity of antibody and breadth of cross-clade neutralization was also enhanced in influenza A(H5N1) pLAIV-primed subjects. CONCLUSIONS ISIV administration unmasked long-lasting immunity in influenza A(H5N1) pLAIV recipients, with a rapid, high-titer, high-quality antibody response that was broadly cross-reactive across several influenza A(H5N1) clades. CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION NCT01109329.
Physical Analysis of a Biomimetic Microphone With a Central-Supported (C-S) Circular Diaphragm for Sound Source Localization

This paper presents a physical analysis of the biomimetic microphone designed with a central-supported (C-S) diaphragm for the sound source localization. A clover-stem-like C-S design is proposed and achieving 47% improvement of net diaphragm displacement in comparison with the conventional C-S diaphragm design. The new design can effectively not only compensate undesired deformation of sensing diaphragm due to gravity and residual stresses but also make the diaphragm more flexible for better sound pressure sensitivity.
Team Maturity in Software Engineering Teams: A Work in Progress

Psychology and Business Administration have been studying maturity for a long time. On Software Engineering field, most of work has been focusing on maturity of technical practices and processes. Teams with high levels of maturity are associated to more positive relations between the quality of intra-team relationships and the quality and quantity of team outcomes. Aiming to understand how Software Engineers understand the concept of Team Maturity, we performed a qualitative research, collecting data from 32 team members from 6 different companies in Brazil, in the cities of Brasilia, Recife and Rio de Janeiro. So far, we identified some characteristics that are described as making part of a mature team, which also leaded us to some hypothesis to be confirmed in future studies.
Arrest of Afferent Axon Extension by Regulated by the NMDA Receptor Target Neurons

Cerebellar granule neurons in vitro specifically arrest the extension of their appropriate presynaptic axons, mossy fibers. This “stop-growing signal” may be an essential step in the formation and specificity of synapses. Here, we have tested whether ionotropic glutamate receptors are involved in the stop-growing signal. When explants of basilar pontine nuclei, a mossy fiber source, were cultured on granule neurons, most pontine neurites terminated ~200 pm from their explant of origin, a criterion for the stop-growing signal. In contrast, treatment with the NMDA antagonist D(-)-2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid (D-AP5) greatly increased the number of pontine neurites extending beyond 300 pm, whereas treatment with NMDA reduced the number of pontine neurites extending beyond 200 pm. A non-NMDA agonist (AMPA) and antagonist (6-cyano-7nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione) did not alter pontine neurite lengths. None of these agents affected neurite outgrowth from pontine explants in the absence of granule neurons, nor did any agent affect the survival of granule neurons. These results indicate that NMDA and D-AP5 specifically perturb an interaction between axons and target cells necessary for the stopgrowing signal, and that NMDA receptors are critical for the development of a major cerebellar afferent system. These findings also suggest that NMDA-sensitive refinement of axon arbors during later development may involve the direct regulation of axon extension by target neurons.
LOSS AND BEREAVEMENT

items that described their experience of loneliness. RESULTS: Results suggested that the three populations did, indeed, differ in their experience of loneliness. More specifically, dying patients and their caregivers had significantly higher subscale scores on the Growth and Discovery and the Self-alienation subscales than the general population did. It was also found that the number of hospitalization days was significantly negatively correlated to the Emotional Distress and Self-alienation subscales. SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS: The present results indicate that loneliness is experienced differently in or out of the hospice and by the dying patient, his or her caregiver, and the general population. This may be the first study to examine the qualitative aspects of the loneliness experienced by the dying and by their caregivers. More research is needed to replicate the present study, using larger samples.