Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Emotional Intelligence, Communication Competence, and Student Perceptions of Team Social Cohesion

Students generally report poor experiences of group work in university settings. This study examines whether individual student perceptions of team social cohesion are determined by their level of emotional intelligence (EI) and whether this relationship is mediated by their communication skills. Business students (N = 273) completed the 16-item self-report Workplace Emotional Intelligence Profile—Short Version (WEIP-S; Jordan & Lawrence, 2009) before forming teams. Students worked in teams for 8 weeks to complete group work. Afterwards, peer ratings of student communication appropriateness and effectiveness were collected as was each student’s self-report perceptions of the level of team social cohesion. The effect of management of others’ emotions on team social cohesion was mediated by communication effectiveness. The authors discuss the implications of EI training and student team allocation as possible ways to improve student team cohesion.
Elimination of quiescent slow-cycling cells via reducing quiescence depth by natural compounds purified from Ganoderma lucidum

The medical mushroom Ganoderma lucidum has long been used in traditional Chinese medicine and shown effective in the treatment of many diseases including cancer. Here we studied the cytotoxic effects of two natural compounds purified from Ganoderma lucidum, ergosterol peroxide and ganodermanondiol. We found that these two compounds exhibited cytotoxicity not only against fast proliferating cells, but on quiescent, slow-cycling cells. Using a fibroblast cell-quiescence model, we found that the cytotoxicity on quiescent cells was due to induced apoptosis, and was associated with a shallower quiescent state in compound-treated cells, resultant from the increased basal activity of an Rb-E2F bistable switch that controls quiescence exit. Accordingly, we showed that quiescent breast cancer cells (MCF7), compared to its non-transformed counterpart (MCF10A), were preferentially killed by ergosterol peroxide and ganodermanondiol treatment presumably due to their already less stable quiescent state. The cytotoxic effect of natural Ganoderma lucidum compounds against quiescent cells, preferentially on quiescent cancer cells vs. non-cancer cells, may help future antitumor development against the slow-cycling cancer cell subpopulations including cancer stem and progenitor cells.
Institutionalized Ableism and the Misguided “Disability Awareness Day”: Transformative Pedagogies for Teacher Education

Despite acknowledgement among social justice educators about the need to infuse anti-bias lessons in K-12 curricula, discussions of disability oppression are silent in schools. Token efforts at addressing the topic of disability generally manifest as “disability awareness day(s)” and often include “disability simulations,” which have been long condemned by disability rights activists as promoting cultural attitudes that are ableist in nature. In this article, we discuss a qualitative inquiry that examines shifts in the perceptions of graduate students, with regard to the pedagogical use of disability simulations for teaching children about disability. The context of this study is a teacher education course informed by critical disability studies perspectives. The findings indicate transformations in students’ thinking about the ableism implicit in disability simulations. We discuss the implications of this inquiry for social justice education, and suggest ways to prepare educators to disrupt the socio-political dimensions of disability oppression.
Michel Foucault and the Problematization of European Governance

If I were to make a list of the articles that have influenced me most in my academic writing, Richard Ashley's “Imposing International Purpose” (Ashley 1989) would definitely be on it. In a period when it had become fashionable for those who wanted to be progressive to talk about “global governance” and “governance without government” (see Rosenau and Czempiel 1992), Ashley developed a distinctly Foucauldian theme to problematize the governance fad. Problems of transnational or global governance, he argued, do not simply exist as objectively given, but are constructed by discourses that “impose” a “purpose” on international society. This may have been a rather obvious statement, but it is easy to forget how uncontested the principal idea of governance was at the time, and how rarely challenged its positive connotations. The problems of the global governance literature, however, ran even deeper through the work on European integration and governance. Andrew Moravcsik's liberal-intergovernmentalist voice, giving prominence to the power of domestic interest groups within member states in …
Impact of a University-Level Environmental Studies Class on Students' Values

This study evaluates the impact of an introductory university-level environmental studies class on the environmental values of students. Interviews and questionnaires were used to determine whether values changed or developed after taking the class. Three stage unstructured interviews were conducted throughout the academic year. Questionnaires were administered in a pretest, posttest fashion at the beginning and the end of the 8-month class. The students were found to deepen their environmental values after taking the class, becoming more ecocentric, and less homocentric. They showed greater sophistication in their answers to the final questionnaire and interview questions. The participants reported that the components of the class that had the greatest effect on their values were the ecological footprint exercise and the video "Who's Counting. "
Self-Disclosure on Online Social Networks: Motives, Context Feature, and Media Capabilities

On online social networks (OSNs) such as Facebook and Twitter, the massive selfdisclosure has attracted the attention of both academic researchers and marketers. Despite of the impressive scope of this phenomenon, few studies have systematically studies why people self disclose so much on OSNs; let alone what context feature or media capabilities within OSNs will influence people’s voluntary self-disclosure behavior. In this study, we propose a theory-grounded model to better understand people’s self-disclosure behavior on OSNs. Three leading motives (i.e., relationship development, social validation, and self-expression) are identified. In addition, we carefully investigate the moderating effects of the specific online social network context feature (i.e., anonymity) and media capabilities (i.e., reprocessability, symbol sets) on the relationships between the three motives and self-disclosure behavior. Thereby, this provides theoretical contributions for online human behavior research and practical implications for OSNs providers, policymakers and OSNs participants.
Effects of explicit and implicit self-esteem on in-group favoritism

従来，自尊心が高いことは望ましいこととされてきた。 しかし自尊心が高いと，課題に失敗したときなどの自我脅威状況において，他者に攻撃的にふるまいやすいことが示されている（Baumeister, Smart, & Boden, 1996）。 そこでJordan, Spencer, Zanna, Hoshino-Browne, & Correll（2003）は顕在的自尊心と共に，潜在的自尊心も合わせて考慮することによって，内集団ひいきなどのようなさまざまな防衛的な行動が明らかになると仮定した。 結果，顕在的自尊心が高くかつ潜在的自尊心が低い人が，最も防衛的であることが示された。 しかしながらそうした知見は，最小条件集団パラダイムによって実験的に作られた集団場面でのみ検討されたものである。 そこで私たちの研究では，顕在的自尊心および潜在的自尊心が，現実に存在する集団に対しての内集団ひいきに及ぼす効果の検討を行なった。 結果はJordan et al.（2003）と一致したものであった。 しかしその効果は，場面によって異なることも示唆された。
Polar codes: Characterization of exponent, bounds, and constructions

Polar codes were recently introduced by Arıkan. They achieve the symmetric capacity of arbitrary binary-input discrete memoryless channels under a low complexity successive cancellation decoding strategy. The original polar code construction is closely related to the recursive construction of Reed-Muller codes and is based on the 2 × 2 matrix of the given equation. It was shown by Arıkan and Telatar that this construction achieves an error exponent of 1/2, i.e., that for sufficiently large blocklengths the error probability decays exponentially in the square root of the length. It was already mentioned by Arıkan that in principle larger matrices can be used to construct polar codes. A fundamental question then is to see whether there exist matrices with exponent exceeding 1/2. We characterize the exponent of a given square matrix and derive upper and lower bounds on achievable exponents. Using these bounds we show that there are no matrices of size less than 15 with exponents exceeding 1/2. Further, we give a general construction based on BCH codes which for large matrix sizes achieves exponents arbitrarily close to 1 and which exceeds 1/2 for size 16.
Utility and Relationships of Biomarkers of Smoking in African-American Light Smokers

Although expired carbon monoxide (CO) and plasma cotinine (COT) have been validated as biomarkers of self-reported cigarettes per day (CPD) in heavy smoking Caucasians, their utility in light smokers is unknown. Further, variability in CYP2A6, the enzyme that mediates formation of COT from nicotine and its metabolism to trans-3′-hydroxycotinine (3HC), may limit the usefulness of COT. We assessed whether CO and COT are correlated with CPD in African-American light smokers (≤10 CPD, n = 700), a population with known reduced CYP2A6 activity and slow COT metabolism. We also examined whether gender, age, body mass index, smoking mentholated cigarettes, or rate of CYP2A6 activity, by genotype and phenotype measures (3HC/COT), influence these relationships. At baseline, many participants (42%) exhaled CO of ≤10 ppm, the traditional cutoff for smoking, whereas few (3.1%) had COT below the cutoff of ≤14 ng/mL; thus, COT seems to be a better biomarker of smoking status in this population. CPD was weakly correlated with CO and COT (r = 0.32-0.39, P < 0.001), and those reporting fewer CPD had higher CO/cigarette and COT/cigarette, although the correlations coefficients between these variables were also weak (r = −0.33 and −0.08, P < 0.05). The correlation between CPD and CO was not greatly increased when analyzed by CYP2A6 activity, smoking mentholated cigarettes, or age, although it appeared stronger in females (r = 0.38 versus 0.21, P < 0.05) and obese individuals (r = 0.38 versus 0.24, P < 0.05). Together, these results suggest that CO and COT are weakly associated with self-reported cigarette consumption in African-American light smokers, and that these relationships are not substantially improved when variables previously reported to influence these biomarkers are considered. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2009;18(12):3426–34)
Combining video modeling and least‐to‐most prompting for establishing response chains

Video modeling combined with least-to-most intrusive prompting was compared using a parallel-treatments design to least-to-most intrusive prompting alone in teaching daily-living skills in the form of response chains. Two boys with the diagnosis of autism (ages 8 and 9) participated in the study. The results showed that the participants acquired skills taught with video modeling plus least-to-most prompting in fewer trials and with fewer prompts than skills taught with least-to-most prompting alone. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Political Ecologies of Gentrification

This article explores the possibilities for a political ecology of gentrification. Gentrification research, while firmly rooted in materialist social science, has not yet broadened its interests to consider ecological aspects of, or the role in gentrification of, discourses, social movements, and state policies of the environment. Understanding the political ecologies of gentrification involves recognizing the ways in which material relations and uneven resource consumption, concepts of nature, and the politics of urban environmental management affect gentrification processes. By synthesizing diverse literatures in urban studies, political ecology, urban environmental governance, consumption studies, and gentrification, this study argues that Vancouver, British Columbia represents a well-developed urban crucible for the new political ecologies of gentrification in North America. New developments in Vancouver increasingly contribute to gentrification using languages of sustainability and green consumption in a process of ecological gentrification.
Evaluation of three methods for estimating fetal weight

Three ultrasonic methods for estimating fetal weight (Campbell, Warsof, and Shepard) were compared in 124 singleton pregnancies. Fetal abdominal circumference was obtained by use of a map measurer and from diameter measurements and the equation for the circumference of a circle. Campbell's formula for estimating fetal weight was superior between 2,000 and 4,000 g, whereas Shepard's method was slightly better below 2,000 g and over 4,000 g. Hence, varied fetal anthropometric characteristics make it mandatory that several methods be evaluated by each institution before one is selected. With the methods of Campbell and Shepard, use of diameter measurements and the equation for the circumference of a circle resulted in a more accurate estimated fetal weight than when a map measurer was used.
Attitudes About Human Immunodeficiency Virus Immunization: The Influence of Health Beliefs and Vaccine Characteristics

Background and Objectives: The development of a vaccine to prevent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is a highly desirable goal. However, there may be a number of psychosocial barriers to HIV vaccine acceptance. The purpose of this study was to begin to examine some factors that might influence attitudes about HIV immunization. Goal: To evaluate the relationship of health beliefs and vaccine characteristics to acceptability of hypothetical HIV immunization. Study Design: The subjects were 222 college students who completed self‐administered questionnaires that addressed health beliefs, vaccine characteristics, and acceptability of hypothetical HIV vaccines. Results: Health beliefs independently predictive of HIV vaccine acceptability included perceived susceptibility to HIV, perceived nonmembership in a traditionally defined acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) risk group, and fear of the vaccine causing AIDS. Of the vaccine characteristics, efficacy influenced vaccine acceptability most strongly, followed by type of vaccine. Conclusion: These results suggest that universal HIV vaccine acceptance cannot be assumed and that vaccine characteristics and individuals' health beliefs are likely to influence decisions regarding HIV immunization.
Multiplex PCR assay for species identification of bovine mastitis pathogens

Aim: To develop and evaluate a multiplex PCR (mPCR) assay for simultaneous detection of 10 bacterial species causing bovine mastitis namely, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus chromogenes, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus sciuri, Staphylococcus haemolyticus, Staphylococcus simulans, Streptococcus agalactiae, Streptococcus dysgalactiae, Streptococcus uberis and Escherichia coli in milk.
Polymorphisms of apolipoprotein E gene and cognitive functions of postmenopausal women, measured by battery of computer tests - Central Nervous System Vital Signs.

OBJECTIVES Apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene belongs to the group of genes increasing the risk of the Alzheimer's disease (AD) development. The purpose of the study was the analysis of cognitive functions in postmenopausal women having different polymorphisms of APOE gene; battery of computer tests - Central Nervous System Vital Signs (CNS-VS) were employed. METHODS The women were qualified into the examined group on the grounds of clinical symptoms (minimum 2 years after the last menstruation), as well as on the basis of FSH concentration. At the qualification stage, a short test - Montreal Scale of Cognitive Function Assessment (MoCA) was conducted. The assessment of cognitive functions was made with the use of diagnostic CNS-Vital Signs equipment. Genomic DNA isolation was extracted from human whole blood. Multiplex PCR reactions have been performed in a single reaction tube with six (6) primers, consisting of 2 common primers and 4 specific primers [2 - for each of 2 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) sites]. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS About half of the examined postmenopausal women were placed below average in the majority of the examined cognitive functions. The biggest impairments occurred in the field of processing speed, and the smallest - in the field of verbal and visual memory. Polymorphisms of APOE gene were considerably linked with the level of results of the majority of cognitive functions among postmenopausal women, as measured by battery of computer tests - CNS-VS. The presence of ε2/ε3 polymorphism of APOE gene impacted positively the obtained results of cognitive functions, whereas the presence of ε3/ε4, or ε4/ε4 polymorphisms worsened the obtained results.
Primates and philosophers: how morality evolved

A publicação, em 1859, da obra seminal de Charles Darwin (1809-1882) “A Origem das Espécies”, afetou de forma drástica nossa visão de mundo. Com ela, completava-se a demolição do mito de que seríamos o centro do universo, iniciada três séculos atrás com a demonstração de que o sol, e não a Terra, era o centro de nosso sistema solar. A elucidação dos fundamentos do processo evolucionário, que culminou recentemente com a chamada “revolução molecular”, deixou claro que a nossa irmandade com os outros seres vivos não é mais uma alegoria, mas uma fria constatação científica. Com isso, ficava abalada uma tradição judaico-cristã de milênios, de que o mundo fora criado para nos servir e que éramos completamente distintos dos animais, seres sem alma. Essas considerações foram determinadas pela leitura da excelente obra de Frans de Waal. O livro compõe-se de uma Introdução (11 páginas) feita pelos editores da Série do Centro Universitário para Valores Humanos da Universidade de Princeton, Stephen Macedo e Josiah Ober, seguida por três grandes subdivisões. Na Parte I, o autor, membro do Departamento de Psicologia da Universidade de Emory, em Atlanta, EUA, apresenta um resumo de seus estudos de várias décadas sobre o comportamento de primatas, especialmente do chimpanzé (gênero Pan) e do macaco sul-americano Cebus. O eixo mestre deste primeiro ensaio é um ataque decidido ao que ele denominou “Teoria do Verniz”, segundo a qual os seres humanos seriam basicamente maus, e a moralidade humana apenas uma fina camada de verniz desenvolvida pela cultura sobre um conteúdo anti-social, amoral e egoísta. Ao contrário, argumenta ele, uma visão evolucionária da ética permite vislumbrar suas raízes em nossos parentes biológicos mais próximos, como os chimpanzés, nos quais se observa empatia (a condição de poder se colocar na posição de outro ser), simpatia (resposta afetiva ao sofrimento dos outros), comportamento de consolo, gratidão, imparcialidade e preocupação com a comunidade. Em três apêndices, ele considera: a) antropomorfismo e antropo-negação (o perigo de transferir a outros características humanas, ou a fobia para evitar isto); b) sobre se os grandes macacos têm uma teoria da mente; e c) direitos dos animais. No total, são 78 páginas.
The Parallel BGL : A Generic Library for Distributed Graph Computations

This paper presents the Parallel BGL, a generic C ++ library for distributed graph computation. Like the sequential Boost Graph Library (BGL) upon which it is based, the Parallel BGL applies the paradigm of generic programming to the domain of graph computations. Emphasizing efficient generic algorithms and the use of concepts to specify the requirements on type parameters, the Parallel BGL also provides flexible supporting data structures such as distributed adjacency lists and external property maps. The generic programming approach simultaneously stresses flexibility and efficiency, resulting in a parallel graph library that can adapt to various data structures and communication models while retaining the efficiency of equivalent hand-coded programs. Performance data for selected algorithms are provided demonstrating the efficiency and scalability of the Parallel BGL.
Changes in blood pressure in the rainbow trout during hypoxia.

1. Methods for cannulating the ventral aorta of the trout, which permit the measurement of blood pressure in the unanaesthetized, unrestrained, intact fish are described. 2. Rate and amplitude of breathing and blood pressure in the dorsal and ventral aortae increase during hypoxia. These changes are associated with a marked bradycardia. 3. There are increases in vascular resistance to blood flow in both respiratory and systemic circulations during hypoxia. 4. Post hypoxia is associated with large increases in ventral aortic and dorsal aortic pressures.
Haplotype‐Based Regression Analysis and Inference of Case–Control Studies with Unphased Genotypes and Measurement Errors in Environmental Exposures

Summary It is widely believed that risks of many complex diseases are determined by genetic susceptibilities, environmental exposures, and their interaction. Chatterjee and Carroll (2005, Biometrika92, 399–418) developed an efficient retrospective maximum‐likelihood method for analysis of case–control studies that exploits an assumption of gene–environment independence and leaves the distribution of the environmental covariates to be completely nonparametric. Spinka, Carroll, and Chatterjee (2005, Genetic Epidemiology29, 108–127) extended this approach to studies where certain types of genetic information, such as haplotype phases, may be missing on some subjects. We further extend this approach to situations when some of the environmental exposures are measured with error. Using a polychotomous logistic regression model, we allow disease status to have K+ 1 levels. We propose use of a pseudolikelihood and a related EM algorithm for parameter estimation. We prove consistency and derive the resulting asymptotic covariance matrix of parameter estimates when the variance of the measurement error is known and when it is estimated using replications. Inferences with measurement error corrections are complicated by the fact that the Wald test often behaves poorly in the presence of large amounts of measurement error. The likelihood‐ratio (LR) techniques are known to be a good alternative. However, the LR tests are not technically correct in this setting because the likelihood function is based on an incorrect model, i.e., a prospective model in a retrospective sampling scheme. We corrected standard asymptotic results to account for the fact that the LR test is based on a likelihood‐type function. The performance of the proposed method is illustrated using simulation studies emphasizing the case when genetic information is in the form of haplotypes and missing data arises from haplotype‐phase ambiguity. An application of our method is illustrated using a population‐based case–control study of the association between calcium intake and the risk of colorectal adenoma.
Why multicollinearity matters: A reexamination of relations between self-efficacy, self-concept, and achievement

Multicollinearity is a well-known general problem, but it also seriously threatens valid interpretations in structural equation models. Illustrating this problem, J. Pietsch, R. Walker, and E. Chapman (2003) found paths leading to achievement were apparently much larger for self-efficacy (.55) than self-concept (-.05), suggesting-erroneously, as the authors' reanalysis shows-that self-efficacy was a better predictor of achievement. However, because standard errors for these two paths were so huge (.25) thanks to the extremely high correlation between self-concept and self-efficacy (r = .93), interpretations were problematic. In a model comparison approach to this multicollinearity problem, constraining these two paths to be equal provided a better, more parsimonious fit to the data and also substantially reduced the standard errors (from .25 to .03).