Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Auditory comprehension and aging: Decline in syntactic processing

ABSTRACT Comprehension of six syntactic structures was tested across four age groups. Each structure was presented with both plausible and implausible content. The contribution of cognitive nonlinguistic factors important for comprehension (attention, short-term memory, and mental control) was tested via standard neuropsychological tasks. Sixty-six women aged 30–79 were tested. Both errors and reaction times increased with age, especially for more complex syntactic types and implausible sentences. The neuropsychological factors tested contributed minimally to an age-related decline in comprehension, suggesting that the subtle breakdown seen in syntactic processing may be a language-specific impairment.
The Finger-Joint Gesture Wearable Keypad

A wearable, fragmentised, idiomatic, generic and mobile keypad concept, making use of well-established metaphors, is suggested for entering digits and characters. The “Finger-Joint Gesture Wearable Keypad” terminal utilises the inside of the phalanges of the fingers as a wearable telephone keypad. Negligible training time is required. By employing the thumb as an operator, depressing the insides of the finger’s phalanges, the familiar keypad digits and characters are created. By generating finger gestures by letting the operator depress the nail of a finger, different telephone functions are accomplished. The concept is generic and several other functions can easily be generated. The context as a necessary prerequisite for inducing restrictions is discussed as a viable way for creating support for suggesting new design approaches.
Effects of osteopontin on the expression of IL-6 and IL-8 inflammatory factors in human knee osteoarthritis chondrocytes.

OBJECTIVE Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic musculoskeletal disease characterized by progressive destruction of articular cartilage, OA lead to chronic pain and functional restrictions in affected joints. The present study was to investigate the role of osteopontin (OPN) in the athogenesis of OA through studying the effect of OPN on expression of IL-6 and IL-8 inflammatory factors in human OA chondrocytes. PATIENTS AND METHODS One-step type II collagenase digestive method was used to isolate OA chondrocytes from sectional cartilage specimens of 16 primary knee OA patients received total knee replacement surgery. Synchronized first-generation chondrocytes were then treated with OPN (100 ng/ml or 1 µg/mL). The changes in cell morphology of OA chondrocytes were analyzed before and after treated with OPN; and the expression levels of IL-6 and IL-8 were evaluated by real-time q-PCR. RESULTS Chondrocytes were successfully isolated from human OA knee cartilage, and the viability of isolated chondrocytes was 92.11±3.13%. Adherent chondrocytes formed clusters of irregular polygonal shape with intercellular pseudopodia extension. After OPN treatment, cells became fusiform or irregularly shaped, and the number of intercellular pseudopodia decreased significantly. The mRNA expression of IL-6 increased to 1.83 times at 0.1 µg/ml of OPN and 3.1 times at the dose of 1 µg/ml; the expression of IL-8 increased to 1.57 and 3.27 times at the dose of 0.1 µg/ml and 1 µg/ml respectively. CONCLUSIONS OPN could up-regulate expression of IL-6 and IL-8 cytokines in human OA chondrocytes, and the expression increased with the increasing concentration of OPN, which might be one of the potential mechanisms of OPN in the development of OA.
What’s in a name? Identifying and accommodating labelling effects within discrete choice experiments

Discrete choice experiment data aimed at eliciting the demand for recreational walking trails on farmland in Ireland is used to explore whether some respondents reach their choices solely on the basis of the alternative's label. To investigate this type of processing strategy, the paper exploits a discrete mixtures approach which encompasses random parameters for the attributes. We find evidence that respondents employ different processing strategies for different alternatives and differences in processing emerge between rural and urban based respondents. Results highlight that model fit and policy conclusions are sensitive to assumptions related to processing strategies among respondents.
Dadirri: Using a Philosophical Approach to Research to Build Trust between a Non-Indigenous Researcher and Indigenous Participants

This article reflects on a methodology employed in a PhD research project that set out to investigate sport career transition (SCT) experiences of elite Indigenous Australian sportsmen. The research was necessary as little is known about the transition of this cohort to a life after sport, or their experiences of retirement. A key problem within the SCT paradigm is a presumption that an end to elite sport requires a process of adjustment that is common to all sportspeople—a rather narrow perspective that fails to acknowledge the situational complexity and socio-cultural diversity of elite athletes. With such a range of personal circumstances, it is reasonable to suppose that athletes from different cultural groups will have different individual SCT needs. The researcher is non-Indigenous and mature aged: she encountered a number of challenges in her efforts to understand Indigenous culture and its important sensitivities, and to build trust with the Indigenous male participants she interviewed. An Indigenous methodology known as Dadirri, which emphasises deep and respectful listening, guided the development of the research design. Consistent with previous studies conducted by non-Indigenous researchers, an open-ended and conversational approach to interviewing Indigenous respondents was developed. The objective was for the voices of the athletes to be heard, allowing the collection of rich data based on the participants’ perspectives about SCT. An overview of the findings is presented, illustrating that Indigenous athletes’ experience SCT in complex and distinctive ways. The article provides a model for non-Indigenous researchers to conduct qualitative research with Indigenous people.
Is "Culture" a Workable Concept for (Cross- )Cultural Psychology?

In this essay three points are addressed: First, despite repeated findings of limited cross-cultural variation for core areas of study, research in cross-cultural psychology continues to be directed mainly at finding differences in psychological functioning. This often happens at the cost of attention for similarities between groups, or invariance. As a consequence, cross-cultural psychology as a field is feeding into stereotyped views of “them” versus “us”. Second, the notion of culture implies a holistic perspective, in which various aspects of the behavior repertoire within a group tend to be seen as hanging together. Such views tend to contribute to ideas of coherence of observed differences between human groups that are supported insufficiently by empirical findings. Researchers need to avoid overgeneralizations when they interpret their findings and should refrain from construing causal or functional patterns of differences when the available evidence is limited to correlations, which may reflect only coincidental relationships. Third, it has been argued by various authors that the notion of culture escapes unambiguous definition. If this view is correct, researchers can choose their own meaning, which may suit Humpty Dumpty, but is not good for scientific analysis and communication. Giving up the notion of culture in research may facilitate a reorientation in cross-cultural psychology, leading to a better balance in emphasis between what is common to humans and what is unique to some group in distinction of other groups.
THE SUBGROUPS OF A FREE PRODUCT OF TWO GROUPS WITH AN AMALGAMATED SUBGROUP!1)

We prove that all subgroups H of a free product G of two groups A, B with an amalgamated subgroup V are obtained by two constructions from the inter-section of H and certain conjugates of A, B, and U. The constructions are those of a tree product, a special kind of generalized free product, and of a Higman-Neumann-Neumann group. The particular conjugates of A, B, and U involved are given by double coset representatives in a compatible regular extended Schreier system for G modulo H. The structure of subgroups indecomposable with respect to amalgamated product, and of subgroups satisfying a nontrivial law is specified. Let A and B have the property P and U have the property Q. Then it is proved that G has the property P in the following cases: P means every f.g. (finitely generated) subgroup is finitely presented, and Q means every subgroup is f.g. ; P means the intersection of two f.g. subgroups is f.g. , and Q means finite; P means locally indicable, and Q means cyclic. It is also proved that if A' is a f.g. normal subgroup of G not contained in U, then NU has finite index in G.
Comparison of the Story Production of LD, Normal-Achieving, and Low-Achieving Children under Two Modes of Production

Using two modes of production, writing and dictation, this study compared the story production, coherence, and fluency of learning disabled (LD) children with that of normal-achieving and low-achieving subjects across three grade levels. Results indicated that: (a) mode of production had no effect upon story production or fluency for any of the subjects; (b) all children made more errors in coherence using dictation; (c) LD children produced fewer stories, were less fluent than the other subjects regardless of mode, and did not improve greatly with maturation; (d) third-grade children of all ability levels produced few stories; (e) there were few differences between the performance of the fifth- and seventh-grade students on all variables; and (6) story producers were more fluent than producers of other types of compositions.
Modeling and predicting user behavior in sponsored search

Implicit user feedback, including click-through and subsequent browsing behavior, is crucial for evaluating and improving the quality of results returned by search engines. Several recent studies [1, 2, 3, 13, 25] have used post-result browsing behavior including the sites visited, the number of clicks, and the dwell time on site in order to improve the ranking of search results. In this paper, we first study user behavior on sponsored search results (i.e., the advertisements displayed by search engines next to the organic results), and compare this behavior to that of organic results. Second, to exploit post-result user behavior for better ranking of sponsored results, we focus on identifying patterns in user behavior and predict expected on-site actions in future instances. In particular, we show how post-result behavior depends on various properties of the queries, advertisement, sites, and users, and build a classifier using properties such as these to predict certain aspects of the user behavior. Additionally, we develop a generative model to mimic trends in observed user activity using a mixture of pareto distributions. We conduct experiments based on billions of real navigation trails collected by a major search engine's browser toolbar.
Analysis of the Mediating Effect of Personal-Psychological Variables on the Relationship Between Socioeconomic Status and Political Participation: A Structural Equations Framework

The goal of this research was to test whether the relationship between socioeconomic status and political participation is direct or mediated by personal variables such as self-esteem, locus of control, and political efficacy, and to detect how such a mediating process might operate if it exists. Two forms of participation, namely active political participation and the more passive psychological involvement of citizens in the democratic process, were treated as separate but related facets of participation. Four competing models were advanced and tested. The data were collected from 434 citizens in the north of Israel who were interviewed by questionnaire. The analysis was performed by structural equations modeling with LISREL VIII. The findings show that the relationship between socioeconomic status and political participation can be better understood as being mediated by personal variables rather than direct. This is demonstrated by the many nonsignificant paths in the direct model. The findings also reveal that active political participation and psychological involvement are distinct but related constructs, where involvement leads to active participation. In addition, all research variables were related more strongly to psychological involvement than to active political participation. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for future research on political participation.
Left ventricular long axis dysfunction in adults with “corrected” aortic coarctation is related to an older age at intervention and increased aortic stiffness

Objectives: This study examined the prevalence of left ventricular (LV) long axis dysfunction (LAD, septal annulus pulsed-wave (PW) tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) early diastolic velocity ⩽8 cm/s) in patients with “corrected” aortic coarctation and its relationship to patient demographics and aortic elastic properties. Methods: A retrospective study of 80 consecutive patients with “corrected” aortic coarctation (aged 27 (SD 6) years, seven postballoon aortoplasty, 41 poststenting and 32 postsurgical repair) was carried out. Patients’ ages at intervention, comorbidities and medications were recorded. The LV long axis motions were recorded by M-mode and PW TDI. Aortic stiffness indices were calculated from the aortic diameters and pulse pressures. Results: Forty-seven patients (59%) had LAD. They were older (28 (5) vs 9 (6) years) at treatment, had stiffer aorta (stiffness index 18.4 (6.0) vs 9.2 (2.3)), thicker LV walls (146.7 (59.7) vs 103.8 (44.9) g/m2), higher wall stress (80 (6) vs 70 (7) 103 dynes/cm2), larger left atria (31.7 (4.6) vs 24.5 (5.3) ml/m2) and higher LV filling pressures (p<0.01 for all) compared with those without LAD, despite a similar prevalence of antihypertensive use and bicuspid aortic valves. The age at intervention (OR 2.92, 95% CI 1.29 to 6.60, p<0.01) and aortic stiffness index (OR 1.98, 95% CI 1.41 to 2.79, p<0.001) were the two independent predictors for LAD in patients on multivariate analysis. A cut-off age of ⩾25 year at intervention was 89% sensitive and 76% specific in predicting LAD (AUC = 0.90, p<0.001). Conclusions: LAD is common in adults with aortic coarctation despite apparently successful treatment. Its presence is related to older age at intervention and increased aortic stiffness.
Voter Learning in the 1988 Presidential Election: Did the Debates and the Media Matter?

This study found that the 1988 televised debates between Republican George Bush and Democrat Michael Dukakis did lead to greater knowledge of campaign issues. The debates proved more influential on knowledge than did exposure to other types of news that were measured in the study. Higher levels of education and campaign interest also were related to more issue knowledge. Image knowledge, however, was better predicted by political party loyalties. The study was based on a survey of 252 people of voting age in Bloomington, Indiana. The study concludes that televised debates—often criticized for being contrived—make a contribution to political learning.
The Logic of Conversation and the Fault Tree

Human rationality has been depicted in a pessimistic way in psychology such that people are described as biased and flawed. However, the conversational logic approach argues that biases and errors are exaggerated to a certain degree because research settings often violate the common assumptions in normal conversations. Our research tested the thesis of the conversational logic approach with respect to the fault tree phenomenon. A fault tree is a list of potential causes designed to help people find a cause when something goes wrong. Past research has shown that people are insensitive to omitted alternatives in the fault tree and that they underestimate the likelihood of the omitted alternatives (the fault tree phenomenon; Fischhoff, Slovic, & Lichtenstein, 1978). When participants were induced to believe that their conversational assumptions might not be applied in the experimental setting, the fault tree phenomenon diminished. Implications for human rationality and research methodology are discussed.
Nurses' perceptions of evidence-based nursing practice.

AIM This paper is a report of a study to investigate Registered Nurses' perceptions, attitudes and knowledge/skills associated with evidence-based practice. BACKGROUND Evidence-based practice has emerged as a marker for healthcare quality. Previous studies have primarily used researcher-developed descriptive surveys to examine nurses' perceptions, as well as facilitators and barriers, related to evidence-based practice. Research suggests the value of understanding the organizational context prior to taking steps to implement evidence-based practice. METHODS This study, conducted in 2006, had a descriptive, cross-sectional survey design using a psychometrically-validated measure of evidence-based practice. All Registered Nurses (n = 1031) employed by a large medical centre in the United States of America were asked to complete the questionnaires. The final response rate was 40.9% (n = 422). FINDINGS Participants had moderate scores on practice and attitudes towards evidence-based practice. The knowledge/skills mean scores were somewhat lower. Statistically significant differences were found for attitudes between those with baccalaureate and higher education compared to those with associate and diploma education. The two most cited barriers to implementing evidence-based practice were time and knowledge. CONCLUSION The findings suggest the value of a methodical assessment when developing a systematic plan for implementing an institutional culture of evidence-based practice.
Addressing Cyberbullying in School Using the Quality Circle Approach

Abstract Cyberbullying has become a significant area of concern, yet research is still at an early stage. The Quality Circle approach allows explorative analysis of cyberbullying in school settings by identifying issues for further consideration. In this study of cyberbullying in one UK secondary school, Quality Circle participants were required to establish a small anti-bullying taskforce, and then with the guidance of a facilitator, embark on a problem-solving exercise over a period of time. The process involves identifying key issues and prioritising concerns, analysing problems and generating solutions, through participation in a series of themed workshops. Six Quality Circle groups were formed, and the work produced during practical activities was documented and discussions recorded as evidence of emerging themes. The areas of interest regarding cyberbullying were the differing perceptions reported by each representative group, and collectively the range of problems and solutions identified.
Damper Design for Improving S/N Ratio of the Seismocardiogram Monitoring in the OpenMRI-guided Operating Theater

The final goal of this study is to establish a method of measuring precisely the seismocardiogram (SCG) of a patient who lying in an open magnetic resonance imaging (openMRI) machine for myocardial ischemia monitoring during surgery. Vibration isolation from the gantry vibration during MRI scan is essential for clinical use. Authors previously reported the comparison between the SCG and the gantry vibration. A damper to decrease vibration below 30 Hz should be designed. In this paper, authors fabricated a damper model to check the feasibility of the damping effect, and compared with the patient bed mat. Experiment using a vibrator showed 1) the viscosity damping coefficient of the current damper was 2 kN s/m, 2) owing to the damper, peak ratio between input and output amplitude decreased from 2.5 to 1.2, and 3) natural frequency decreased from 12 Hz to 5 Hz. Damping below 30 Hz was successfully achieved. The maximum S/N ratio was calculated 6, improving from 1.8. Simulation showed that the maximum S/N would be 75 under the viscosity damping coefficient of 1 N s/m.
Treating chronic food refusal in young children: home-based parent training.

We evaluated the effects of behavioral parent training program on parent and child feeding-related behaviors in the home. We trained mothers to initiate regular offerings of previously rejected (target) foods and to provide contingent attention (i.e., specific prompts, positive reinforcement) to increase their child's acceptance of nonpreferred foods. For 1 subject, we also directed training at increasing self-eating. Results of a nonconcurrent multiple baseline design across 3 mother-child dyads demonstrated that, with training, all mothers increased offerings of target foods and use of specific prompts, and 2 mothers increased levels of positive attention. In turn, children increased their acceptance of target foods and self-eating, thus demonstrating the functional effects of parent training on in-home meal times. Temporary increases in food refusals occurred when treatment was initiated but declined as treatment continued. We discuss the results in terms of the potential benefits and limitations of a home-based treatment model.
Isoflurane Preserves Spatial Working Memory in Adult Mice After Moderate Hypoxia

Perioperative hypoxia may contribute to postoperative cognitive impairment. It is unknown, however, whether anesthetics exacerbate or protect against hypoxia-related central nervous system impairment. We sought to determine whether hypoxia alone or in combination with isoflurane disrupts working memory in mice. To this extent, we assigned adult mice to one of four treatments for 1 h: oxygen 21%, oxygen 21% + isoflurane 1.2%, oxygen 8%, or oxygen 8% + isoflurane 1.2%. Mice breathed spontaneously throughout the experiment. Body temperature was maintained at 37°C + 0.5°C. Mice were allowed to recover for 24 h to avoid the confounding influence of residual anesthetics on neurobehavioral performance. Working memory was assessed by use of a Y maze modified for mice. For the training trial, entry to one arm was blocked and mice were permitted to run between the two open arms for 15 min and inspect the objects outside. For the test trial, carried out 1 h later, all arms were open. Time spent in each arm was automatically recorded by a camera and associated software. Mice were tested 1, 4, and 7 days after anesthesia. A different arm was used as the novel arm for each test. Performance was analyzed with repeated-measurements analysis of variance, followed by analysis of simple main effects and by post hoc comparison using Newman-Keuls test when appropriate. P values <0.05 were considered significant. Animals subjected to hypoxia (8% oxygen for 1 h) spent significantly less time in the novel arm 1 day after the insult. The impairment, however, was transient. Hypoxic mice performance improved to the level of the control animals on the fourth post-treatment day. Mice subjected to hypoxia plus isoflurane exhibited no impairment and were comparable to the control group at all time points. Hypoxia transiently impairs performance in a spatial memory task. It appears that isoflurane protects against this deleterious effect of hypoxia.