Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The benefits of believing you can change: implicit malleability theories moderate the relationship between low self-esteem and negative outcomes

There are at least two ways to combat the negative effects of low self-esteem: directly improve people’s self-esteem, or to decouple the link between low self-esteem and negative outcomes (Hayes & Ciarrochi, 2015). Incremental theories are implicit beliefs that people’s attributes are malleable. In this thesis I argue that subscription to these beliefs may help combat the negative effects of low self-esteem. Incremental theories make individuals less likely to make trait attributions as a result of failure and so may prevent low-self-esteem from occurring in response to failure. Incremental theories may also make people less likely to treat negative self-evaluations as truths that permanently define them, thus decoupling the link between low self-esteem and negative outcomes. In study 1, I conducted a systematic review to examine the link between incremental theories and self-concept. I synthesize the results of 34 studies and found that incremental theories and self-esteem were modestly correlated (r = .16; 95% CI [0.11, 0.2]). In study 2 and 3, I examined the extent that perceptions of self-malleability moderated the link between self-esteem and negative outcomes. I surveyed 489 Australian female high school students (age: M = 14.7; SD = 1.5) and a representative sample of 7,884 adult Americans of both genders (age: M = 47.9; SD = 16; 52.5% female) respectively. Moderation analyses in both samples showed that the links between low self-esteem and negative outcomes (lower wellbeing and achievement) were weaker for those with stronger incremental theories. While in those with high self-esteem there was little difference in wellbeing and achievement regardless of the level of incremental theories; in those with low self-esteem strong incremental theories had substantially higher levels of wellbeing and achievement. People are likely to experience fluctuations in self-esteem due to success, failure, and social rejection. Incremental theories may help people respond to low self-esteem in more adaptive ways resulting in improved wellbeing and achievement.
Clustering Learning for Robotic Vision

We present the clustering learning technique applied to multi-layer feedforward deep neural networks. We show that this unsupervised learning technique can compute network filters with only a few minutes and a much reduced set of parameters. The goal of this paper is to promote the technique for general-purpose robotic vision systems. We report its use in static image datasets and object tracking datasets. We show that networks trained with clustering learning can outperform large networks trained for many hours on complex datasets.
Healthy CD4+ T lymphocytes are not affected by targeted therapies against the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia

An attractive molecular target for novel anti-cancer therapies is the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway which is commonly deregulated in many types of cancer. Nevertheless, the effects of PI3K/Akt/mTOR inhibitors on T lymphocytes, a key component of immune responses, have been seldom explored. In this study we investigated the effects on human CD4+ T-cells of a panel of PI3K/Akt/mTOR inhibitors: BGT226, Torin-2, MK-2206, and ZSTK474. We also assessed their efficacy against two acute leukemia T cell lines. T lymphocytes were stimulated with phytohemagglutinin. Inhibitor effects on cell cycle and apoptosis were analyzed by flow cytometry, while cytotoxicity was assessed by MTT assays. In addition, the activation status of the pathway as well as induction of autophagy were analyzed by Western blotting. Quiescent healthy T lymphocytes were unaffected by the drugs whereas mitogen-stimulated lymphocytes as well as leukemic cell lines displayed a cell cycle block, caspase-dependent apoptosis, and dephosphorylation of key components of the signaling pathway. Autophagy was also induced in proliferating lymphocytes and in JURKAT and MOLT-4 cell lines. When autophagy was inhibited by 3-methyladenine or Bafilomycin A1, drug cytotoxicity was increased, indicating that autophagy is a protective mechanism. Therefore, our findings suggest that PI3K/Akt/mTOR inhibitors preserve lymphocyte viability. This is a valuable result to be taken into account when selecting drugs for targeted cancer therapy in order to minimize detrimental effects on immune function.
First-Generation Students: Undergraduates Whose Parents Never Enrolled in Postsecondary Education. Statistical Analysis Report. Postsecondary Education Descriptive Analysis Reports.

This report uses data from the 1989-90 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study and the 1993 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study to examine the postsecondary experiences and outcomes of first-generation students relative to their peers. After an overview of the demographic, aspirational, and enrollment characteristics of first-generation and non-first-generation students, the report compares the persistence and attainment rates of these groups; it also examines the labor market and further postsecondary outcomes of these students. The major findings are: (1) first-generation students were more likely to be older, have lower incomes, be married, and have dependents than non-first-generation peers; (2) first-generation students were more likely than their peers to enroll in postsecondary education part-time, and to attend public two-year institutions, for-profit institutions, or other less-than-four-year institutions; (3) first-generation students were equally as likely to take remedial classes as peers, though there were differences by sector on this measure; (4) first-generation students were more likely than peers to say that being very well off financially was very important to them; (5) first-generation students persisted in postsecondary education and attained credentials at lower rates than peers; and (6) overall, first-generation status had a negative effect on persistence and attainment. A glossary and technical notes are appended. (DB)
Effects of thermal conduction in sonoluminescence

We show by numerical hydrodynamic calculations that there are two important effects of thermal conduction in sonoluminescence: (i) the bubble remains close to being isothermal during the expansion phase; and (ii) a cold, dense layer of air is formed at the bubble wall during the contraction phase. These conclusions are not sensitive to the particular equation of state used, although details of the dynamical evolution of the bubble are.
Risk-Based Testing of Safety-Critical Embedded Systems Driven by Fault Tree Analysis

One important aspect of the quality assurance process of safety-critical embedded systems is verifying the appropriateness, correctness of the implementation and effectiveness of safety functions. Due to the rapid growth in complexity, manual verification activities are no longer feasible. This holds especially for testing. A popular method for testing such complex systems is model-based testing. Recent techniques for model-based testing do not sufficiently take into consideration the information derived from the safety analyses like Failure Mode and Effect Analysis and Fault Tree Analyses (FTA). In this paper, we describe an approach to use the results of FTA during the construction of test models, such that test cases can be derived, selected and prioritized according to the severity of the identified risks and the number of basic events that cause it. This approach is demonstrated on an example from the automation domain, namely a modular production system. We find that the method provides a significant increase in coverage of safety functions, compared to regular model based testing.
On the Evaluation of Outlier Detection and One-Class Classification Methods

It has been shown that unsupervised outlier detection methods can be adapted to the one-class classification problem. In this paper, we focus on the comparison of oneclass classification algorithms with such adapted unsupervised outlier detection methods, improving on previous comparison studies in several important aspects. We study a number of one-class classification and unsupervised outlier detection methods in a rigorous experimental setup, comparing them on a large number of datasets with different characteristics, using different performance measures. Our experiments led to conclusions that do not fully agree with those of previous work.
Stress Recognition Using Non-invasive Technology

The need to provide computers with the ability to estimate the affective state of their users is a major requirement for the practical implementation of Affective Computing concepts. This research aims at sensing and recognizing typical negative emotional states, especially “stress”, when the user is interacting with the computer. An integrated hardware – software setup has been developed to achieve automatic assessment of the affective status of a computer user. A computer-based “Paced Stroop Test” is designed to act as a stimulus to elicit emotional stress in the subject. Four signals: Blood Volume Pulse (BVP), Galvanic Skin Response (GSR), Pupil Diameter (PD) and Skin Temperature (ST) are monitored and analyzed to differentiate affective states in the user. Several signal processing techniques are applied to the signals collected to extract the most relevant features in the physiological responses and feed them into learning systems, to accomplish the affective state classification. Three learning algorithms are applied to this classification process and their performance is compared. Results indicate that the physiological signals monitored do, in fact, have a strong correlation with the changes in emotional state of our experimental subjects.
The role of authenticity, experience quality, emotions, and satisfaction in a cultural heritage destination

ABSTRACT Recent studies have shown the increasing importance of affective and subjective variables, such as experience quality, authenticity, and emotions in the formation of tourist satisfaction. This paper is a pioneer in jointly analysing the influence of authenticity in its double dimension, experience quality, and emotions variables on satisfaction in a cultural context. This study uses the structural equation modelling approach (Partial Least Square) and shows the direct and positive influence of objective and existential authenticity on the quality of the experience, as well as the direct and positive influence of the quality of experience on emotions. It is highly relevant to focus on both cognitive and affective dimensions of authenticity to improve the quality of the tourists’ experience. No previous studies in the literature examine the possible relationships between the different dimensions of authenticity on the quality of the experience and on emotions. The work reveals the importance of such variables in generating greater tourist satisfaction with the visited destination.
Big Bad Banks? The Impact of U.S. Branch Deregulation on Income Distribution

Policymakers and economists disagree about the impact of bank regulations on the distribution of income. Exploiting cross-state and cross-time variation, the authors test whether liberalizing restrictions on intra-state branching in the United States intensified, ameliorated, or had no effect on income distribution. The analysis finds that branch deregulation lowered income inequality by affecting labor market conditions, not by boosting the business income of the poor, nor by enhancing educational attainment. Reductions in the earnings gap between men and women and between skilled and unskilled workers account for the bulk of the explained drop in income inequality.
Influenza Virus Transmission Is Dependent on Relative Humidity and Temperature

Using the guinea pig as a model host, we show that aerosol spread of influenza virus is dependent upon both ambient relative humidity and temperature. Twenty experiments performed at relative humidities from 20% to 80% and 5 °C, 20 °C, or 30 °C indicated that both cold and dry conditions favor transmission. The relationship between transmission via aerosols and relative humidity at 20 °C is similar to that previously reported for the stability of influenza viruses (except at high relative humidity, 80%), implying that the effects of humidity act largely at the level of the virus particle. For infected guinea pigs housed at 5 °C, the duration of peak shedding was approximately 40 h longer than that of animals housed at 20 °C; this increased shedding likely accounts for the enhanced transmission seen at 5 °C. To investigate the mechanism permitting prolonged viral growth, expression levels in the upper respiratory tract of several innate immune mediators were determined. Innate responses proved to be comparable between animals housed at 5 °C and 20 °C, suggesting that cold temperature (5 °C) does not impair the innate immune response in this system. Although the seasonal epidemiology of influenza is well characterized, the underlying reasons for predominant wintertime spread are not clear. We provide direct, experimental evidence to support the role of weather conditions in the dynamics of influenza and thereby address a long-standing question fundamental to the understanding of influenza epidemiology and evolution.
Feature-Oriented Model-Driven Software Product Lines: The TENTE Approach

In recent years, modern techniques for advanced separation of concerns and Model-Driven Development (MDD) have provided new means for improving the current methods of Software Product Line (SPL) Engineering. Mechanisms such as family polymorphism and mixin composition can be used to improve the separation and composition of features of an SPL. Using MDD repetitive, laborious and time consum- ing tasks of SPL processes can be automated. Nevertheless, there is a general lack of SPL processes that integrate advanced mechanisms for separation of concerns with MDD techniques. This paper presents an in- novative process, called TENTE, which combines both technologies. The result is a model-driven process that maintains the separation of features both at the architectural design and implementation stages, improving separation of variants; at the same time repetitive, laborious and time consuming tasks are automated.
Ionizing radiation induces immediate protein acetylation changes in human cardiac microvascular endothelial cells

Reversible lysine acetylation is a highly regulated post-translational protein modification that is known to regulate several signaling pathways. However, little is known about the radiation-induced changes in the acetylome. In this study, we analyzed the acute post-translational acetylation changes in primary human cardiac microvascular endothelial cells 4 h after a gamma radiation dose of 2 Gy. The acetylated peptides were enriched using anti-acetyl conjugated agarose beads. A total of 54 proteins were found to be altered in their acetylation status, 23 of which were deacetylated and 31 acetylated. Pathway analyses showed three protein categories particularly affected by radiation-induced changes in the acetylation status: the proteins involved in the translation process, the proteins of stress response, and mitochondrial proteins. The activation of the canonical and non-canonical Wnt signaling pathways affecting actin cytoskeleton signaling and cell cycle progression was predicted. The protein expression levels of two nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+)-dependent deacetylases, sirtuin 1 and sirtuin 3, were significantly but transiently upregulated 4 but not 24 h after irradiation. The status of the p53 protein, a target of sirtuin 1, was found to be rapidly stabilized by acetylation after radiation exposure. These findings indicate that post-translational modification of proteins by acetylation and deacetylation is essentially affecting the radiation response of the endothelium.
Knowledge and Misconceptions about Malaria among Pregnant Women in a Post-Conflict Internally Displaced Persons' Camps in Gulu District, Northern Uganda

Background. In Uganda Malaria continues to be a major public health problem accounting for about 30–50% of all outpatient consultations and 35% of hospital admissions and a leading cause of mortality and morbidity. Pregnant women and their unborn children are vulnerable to malaria. Methods. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 20 postconflict IDP camps of Gulu district selected randomly as clusters. 769 pregnant women were interviewed. Results. The majority of the respondents 85% have ever heard about malaria. Most (80%) 571 respondent attributed malaria to be transmitted by mosquito bites, 15 said cold weather, 53 said dirt, and 35 said not sleeping under net. Most (91%) 683 respondents mentioned that malaria was caused by mosquito, 28 mentioned cold food, 3 mentioned playing in the rain, 19 mentioned cold weather, and 6 mentioned eating mangos. Conclusion. Most pregnant women in the post conflict IDP camps have relatively high knowledge about malaria transmission, signs, symptoms, and consequences during pregnancy. However, majority of respondents had misconception about the cause of malaria while a few had misconception about the mode of malaria transmission.
Finance and Growth: Institutional Considerations and Causality

This paper re-examines the question of causality between financial development and economic growth. We argue that recent results obtained from cross-section country studies are not able to address this issue satisfactorily. Drawing on the distinction between "bank-based" and "capital-market-based" financial systems and the literature on financial repression we also argue that country specific factors are likely to influence the causal nature of the relationship between financial development and economic growth; as a result this is expected to vary across countries. We conduct cointegration and causality tests using time series data for twelve representative countries which corroborate our analysis.
Social support and mental health outcomes in battered women

This study utilized a quantitative survey design with a sample of 120 battered women from four domestic violence agencies throughout Riverside and San Bernardino counties. In this study, the relationship between perceived social support and negative mental health outcomes in battered women was examined. Specifically, correlations between perceived social support and depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder were analyzed. Perceived social support, particularly from family members, was found to be significantly related to mental health outcomes. Results indicate that agencies that work with battered women should include social support in the assessment and intervention processes.
The evaluation of iron content in Alzheimer's disease by magnetic resonance imaging: Phase and R2 * methods

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the best imaging examination to evaluate abnormal iron deposition in the brain. Although phase of susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) and R2* values have been used to probe iron deposition in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) brain, no study has exploited both techniques for quantification of iron deposition in AD. Purpose: Use phase and R2* to evaluate iron changes in AD brain. Investigate the correlation of two methods with the severity of cognitive impairment in AD patients.Materials and methods: Twenty-three patients with AD and eighteen normal controls underwent SWI and multi-echo gradient recalled-echo (GRE) imaging on a 3T MR scanner. The phase values from SWI and R2* values calculated from multi-echo GRE imaging of bilateral hippocampus, globus pallidus, putamen, caudate nucleus, thalamus, substantia nigra, red nucleus and dentate nucleus were evaluated. Results: In AD group, the phase values of bilateral hippocampus, globus pallidus, caudate nucleus, substantia nigra and left putamen were significantly lower than the control group. The R2* values of bilateral hippocampus, caudate nucleus, putamen and right globus pallidus were significantly higher than the control group. The phase and R2* values of the left putamen had the most significant correlation with mini-mental state examination (MMSE) scores in AD patients. Conclusion: The SWI phase value and R2* value can be used as effective methods to study the abnormality of iron deposition in AD brain, wherein phase had advantages in small brain structure. Phase value showed a higher correlation coefficient with MMSE scores, moreover the iron deposition of left putamen has a close relationship with the progression of AD.
Anaerobic Dehalogenation of Hydroxylated Polychlorinated Biphenyls by Desulfitobacterium dehalogenans

ABSTRACT Ten years after reports on the existence of anaerobic dehalogenation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in sediment slurries, we report here on the rapid reductive dehalogenation ofpara-hydroxylated PCBs (HO-PCBs), the excreted main metabolites of PCB in mammals, which can exhibit estrogenic and antiestrogenic activities in humans. The anaerobic bacteriumDesulfitobacterium dehalogenans completely dehalogenates all flanking chlorines (chlorines in ortho position to thepara-hydroxyl group) from congeners such as 3,3′,5,5′-tetrachloro-4,4′-dihydroxybiphenyl.
Competition in e-Markets : Price Levels and Price Dispersion in the on-line Music Market

This paper examines competition in e-markets by comparing price levels and price dispersion in the on-line music market. The data consists of price information on CDs pure-play Internet and hybrid firms in North American and European markets. The sellers are divided in groups according to a geographical location, a brand valuation and a variety of product offerings. We find that pure price levels are significantly different between the North American and European sellers and between the sellers of a wide product offering and a simple product offering. Branding does not seem to allow for a price premium. Price dispersion exists in the market. Prices are more dispersed among fringe sellers than branded sellers. The results indicate that the market is characterized by practices of imperfect competition: collusion, oligopoly and monopolistic competition. Our tests show that geographical location matters in e-markets, and a variety of product offerings can create price premiums. The North American music market has a group of firms or a single dominant firm, with whom most sellers are willing to match their prices. We also suggest that the fringe sellers act as competitive monopolists. However, the pureplay branded sellers are locked in oligopoly or they collude in pricing, whereas the existence of physical retail channel influences pricing strategies employed by the hybrid sellers. Therefore, the on-line music market proves that expectations of free competition in on-line markets are not fulfilled.