Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Linguistic Style Matching and Negotiation Outcome

This research examined the relationship between Linguistic Style Matching - the degree to which negotiators coordinate their word use - and negotiation outcome. Nine hostage negotiations were divided into 6 time stages and the dialogue of police negotiators and hostage takers compared across 12 linguistic dimensions. Correlational analyses showed that successful negotiations were associated with higher aggregate levels of Linguistic Style Matching (LSM) than unsuccessful negotiations. This result was due to dramatic fluctuations of LSM during unsuccessful negotiations, with negotiators unable to maintain the constant levels of rapport and coordination that occurred in successful negotiations. A further analysis of LSM at the local turn-by-turn level revealed complex but organized variations in behavior across outcome. In comparison to unsuccessful negotiations, the dialogue of successful negotiations involved greater coordination of turn taking, reciprocation of positive affect, a focus on the present rather than the past, and a focus on alternatives rather than on competition.
ICT and Older People: Beyond Usability

This study examined the use that older, regular users of computers make of information and computer technology in their daily lives. Opinions from such users were obtained regarding what they want these technologies to offer them in the future. By means of a discussion group and an online questionnaire, our critical case examined a group of mature senior students from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (online learning) who have used computers and the Internet in their activities. In general, the participants needed to know the function of the tool beforehand and to have continued support and confidence. In particular, they need the certainty that the future technology will allow them to maintain their independence and autonomy. Older people's adoption of IT needs to be treated as more than merely a question of usability. Attitudes, experience of use, and perceived benefits are also key aspects that must be taken into account.
Are Internet offenders emotionally avoidant?

Abstract Internet child sexual offending through the use of images of child sexual abuse is a prevalent problem. Defining the characteristics of this group has become a research focus, with emotional avoidance having been investigated as one potential precipitating psychological feature. There are grounds, therefore, for investigating emotional avoidance in this group. This study investigated emotional avoidance in Internet child sexual offenders. Four groups of men recruited from the community were compared: Internet child sexual offenders; contact child sexual offenders; non-sexual offenders; and non-offenders. Self-report assessments of emotional avoidance; and measures of potential confounds (e.g. psychological distress and socioeconomic status) were used. Analyses showed that non-sexual offenders were most emotionally avoidant. Several covariates correlated with the dependent variables. Mostly not reaching statistical significance, the findings did not support current views that Internet child sexual offenders have particular difficulties with emotional avoidance. This has implications for clinical work based on such assumptions.
Approximate Moving Least-Squares Approximation: A Fast and Accurate Multivariate Approximation Method

We propose a fast and accurate approximation method for large sets of multivariate data using radial functions. In the tradi- tional radial basis function approach this task is usually accomplished by solving a large system of linear equations stemming from an inter- polation formulation. In the traditional moving least-squares method one needs to solve a small linear system for each evaluation of the ap- proximant. We present an approximation scheme { based on the work on approximate approximation by Maz'ya and Schmidt { that has ap- proximation properties similar to the moving least-squares method, but completely avoids the solution of linear systems. Moreover, the sums required for the evaluation of the approximant can be processed quickly. We establish a connection to traditional radial basis func- tion approximation by using appropriate radial generating functions. Examples of locally supported as well as globally supported functions with arbitrary approximation orders are given.
Event-Related Potential Evidence for Two Functionally Dissociable Sources of Semantic Effects in the Attentional Blink

Three target words (T1, T2, and T3) were embedded in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) stream of non-word distractors, and participants were required to report the targets at the end of each RSVP stream. T2 and T3 were semantically related words in half of the RSVP streams, and semantically unrelated words in the other half of the RSVP streams. Using an identical design, a recent study reported distinct reflections of the T2–T3 semantic relationship on the P2 and N400 components of event-related potentials (ERPs) time-locked to T3, suggesting an early, automatic, source of P2 semantic effects and a late, controlled, source of N400 semantic effects. Here, P2 and N400 semantic effects were examined by manipulating list-wide context. Relative to participants performing in a semantically unbiased context, participants over-exposed to filler RSVP streams always including semantically related T2/T3 words reported a dilution of T3-locked P2 semantic effects and a magnification of T3-locked N400 semantic effects. Opposite effects on P2 and N400 ERP components of list-wide semantic context are discussed in relation to recent proposals on the representational status of RSVP targets at processing stages prior to consolidation in visual short-term memory.
mRNA Transfection of Mouse and Human Neural Stem Cell Cultures

The use of synthetic mRNA as an alternative gene delivery vector to traditional DNA-based constructs provides an effective method for inducing transient gene expression in cell cultures without genetic modification. Delivery of mRNA has been proposed as a safer alternative to viral vectors in the induction of pluripotent cells for regenerative therapies. Although mRNA transfection of fibroblasts, dendritic and embryonic stem cells has been described, mRNA delivery to neurosphere cultures has not been previously reported. Here we sought to establish an efficient method for delivering mRNA to primary neurosphere cultures. Neurospheres derived from the subventricular zone of adult mice or from human embryonic stem cells were transfected with EGFP mRNA by lipofection and electroporation. Transfection efficiency and expression levels were monitored by flow cytometry. Cell survival following transfection was examined using live cell counting and the MTT assay. Both lipofection and electroporation provided high efficiency transfection of neurospheres. In comparison with lipofection, electroporation resulted in increased transfection efficiencies, but lower expression per cell and shorter durations of expression. Additional rounds of lipofection renewed EGFP expression in neurospheres, suggesting this method may be suitable for reprogramming applications. In summary, we have developed a protocol for achieving high efficiency transfection rates in mouse and human neurosphere cell culture that can be applied for future studies of gene function studies in neural stem cells, such as defining efficient differentiation protocols for glial and neuronal linages.
A perfect match? Pupils’ and teachers’ views of the impact of matching educators and learners by gender

British government policy on teacher recruitment gives a high priority to increasing the number of male teachers, particularly in primary schools. This focus stems from concern to challenge ‘boys’ underachievement’: policy‐makers believe that ‘matching’ teachers and pupils by gender will improve boys’ engagement with school. Yet there is little evidence to support such assumptions which, as this article notes, are predicated on out‐dated theories of social learning. This article reports findings from a large‐scale qualitative study that sought to investigate primary pupils’ and teachers’ views concerning ‘gender match’ of teacher and learner. It demonstrates that the substantial majority of pupils and teachers rejected the salience of gender in pupil–teacher relations and learning outcomes, prioritising instead the abilities of the individual teacher. The explanations of those pupils and teachers who did support the notion of ‘gender match’ are also explored, showing how some pupils drew on stereotypical gender discourses to support their constructions, and how some (usually male) teachers were invested in the notion of male role models.
A theoretical framework of organizational change

Purpose – Organizational change is a risky endeavour. Most change initiatives fall short on their goals and produce high opportunity and process costs, which at times outweigh the content benefits of organizational change. This paper seeks to develop a framework, offering a theoretical toolbox to analyze context‐dependent barriers and enablers of organizational change. Starting from an organizational identity perspective, it aims to link contingency‐based approaches, such as environmental scan, SWOT and stakeholder analysis, with insights from organizational behaviour research, such as knowledge sharing and leadership.Design/methodology/approach – The framework is informed by long‐lasting field research into organizational change in an international policing environment. The theories in the framework are selected from the perspective of field validity in two ways; they were chosen because the topics covered by these theories emerged as relevant during the field research and therefore it can be expected th.
Vitamin C in Stem Cell Biology: Impact on Extracellular Matrix Homeostasis and Epigenetics

Transcription factors and signaling molecules are well-known regulators of stem cell identity and behavior; however, increasing evidence indicates that environmental cues contribute to this complex network of stimuli, acting as crucial determinants of stem cell fate. l-Ascorbic acid (vitamin C (VitC)) has gained growing interest for its multiple functions and mechanisms of action, contributing to the homeostasis of normal tissues and organs as well as to tissue regeneration. Here, we review the main functions of VitC and its effects on stem cells, focusing on its activity as cofactor of Fe+2/αKG dioxygenases, which regulate the epigenetic signatures, the redox status, and the extracellular matrix (ECM) composition, depending on the enzymes' subcellular localization. Acting as cofactor of collagen prolyl hydroxylases in the endoplasmic reticulum, VitC regulates ECM/collagen homeostasis and plays a key role in the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells towards osteoblasts, chondrocytes, and tendons. In the nucleus, VitC enhances the activity of DNA and histone demethylases, improving somatic cell reprogramming and pushing embryonic stem cell towards the naive pluripotent state. The broad spectrum of actions of VitC highlights its relevance for stem cell biology in both physiology and disease.
Extrinsic Calibration of Multiple RGB-D Cameras From Line Observations

This letter presents a novel method to estimate the relative poses between RGB and depth cameras without the requirement of an overlapping field of view, thus providing flexibility to calibrate a variety of sensor configurations. This calibration problem is relevant to robotic applications that can benefit of using several cameras to increase the field of view. In our approach, we extract and match lines of the scene in the RGB and depth cameras, and impose geometric constraints to find the relative poses between the sensors. An analysis of the observability properties of the problem is presented. We have validated our method in both synthetic and real scenarios with different camera configurations, demonstrating that our approach achieves good accuracy and is very simple to apply, in contrast with previous methods based on trajectory matching using visual odometry or simultaneous localization and mapping.
Children's Reactions to Mitigating Accounts: Apologies, Excuses, and Intentionality of Harm

Abstract One hundred sixty-four second- and fifth-grade Japanese children were presented with two hypothetical situations in which a male harmdoer was described as either intentionally or unintentionally harming another boy and was further described as giving apologies, excuses, or no account following the act. The older children perceived the harm-doer who apologized as less intentional and more remorseful, evaluated him as morally less negative, and forgave him more than the harmdoer who made excuses or the harmdoer who gave no account. The older children accepted the harmdoer's excuses only when they believed that the harm was not intended. The younger children did not react differentially to these accounts.
The intrinsic error of exposure fusion for HDR imaging, and a way to reduce it

In this paper we present a novel approach to the problem of exposure fusion of a stack of pictures for the generation of high dynamic range (HDR) radiance maps. All exposure fusion approaches, when applied on 8-bit non-RAW pictures, perform photometric calibration by estimating and inverting the camera response function, which is assumed to be a channelwise-independent function which does not change with the exposure. Our experiments show that these assumptions do not always hold and that the camera may automatically introduce changes (in gain, white balance, gamma correction value) from one exposure to the next when performing the non-linear operations involved in recording pictures in non-RAW formats such as JPEG. The net result is that HDR radiance maps obtained from exposure fusion of non-linear data may have substantially more error than if computed directly from the linear, RAW data. Our proposed method overcomes this problem and compensates for the changes introduced by the camera by matching the color correction and gamma correction transforms of all pictures to those of a reference picture in the stack, providing a clear improvement in terms of PSNR with respect to the classical method of Debevec and Malik.
An Extension of the Four-Stage Loyalty Model: The Critical Role of Positive Switching Barriers

ABSTRACT This study broadened Oliver's (1997) four-stage loyalty theory by incorporating positive switching barriers and multiple dimensions of cognition, and altering the links in the original theory to build a robust model that offers a clearer understanding of customers' loyalty formation. A total of 394 survey responses from full-service restaurant customers was used to achieve study objectives. Findings for the measurement model revealed a satisfactory level of construct reliability and validity. Supporting all research hypotheses, results from the structural model verified the adequacy of the extended loyalty theory. In particular, five paths were added for model improvement; a sequential process of loyalty development through cognitive, affective, conative, and action loyalty was confirmed; mediating impacts of attitudinal loyalty were identified; and an asymmetric role between factors of positive switching barriers in determining action loyalty was found. Implications of this study are discussed.
Church attendance and religious belief in postcommunist societies

Research is just beginning to appear about the effects of Soviet repression on the churches and religious beliefs of the countries which constituted the former Soviet Union. Data from an opinion survey conducted in 17 countries of Western and Eastern Europe in 1991 allow some preliminary observations of a baseline nature about church membership and religious values in these countries. In this paper I compare church membership and religious belief across age categories among Western and Eastern Germans, Hungarians, and Poles. The data show variant patterns of religious affiliation and belief among each of the churches of Central Europe. State repression of churches has substantially affected church membership in Eastern Germany. There is some evidence of a secularization effect among Hungarian Protestants. Polish church membership has been less negatively affected by the years of communism. Mean levels of religious belief for each of these countries show further evidence of these country-specific patterns. Further research is needed to uncover the longer lasting trends in religious affiliation and belief in these countries.
Decentralised predictive controllers with parameterised quadratic constraints for nonlinear interconnected systems

A decentralised model predictive control scheme for nonlinear interconnected systems is developed with parameterised stabilising constraints in this paper. Both control and state constraints are inclusive in the problem formulation. An extension to the input-to-state stabilisation framework is given with a newly derived input-to-power-and-state stabilisability (IpSS) condition for interconnected systems. In this work, we consider C1 continuous nonlinear input-affine state-space models with unknown but bounded input disturbance, and develop an LMI-based robust stabilisability condition for the global system. The interactive signals are also unknown and bounded in this development. With an open-loop perspective, the stabilising constraint for model predictive control in this approach is a dynamic quadratic constraint on the initial control vector, which is converted from a dissipation-based constraint using compound output signals. Numerical simulation for three dynamically-coupled subsystems is provided to illustrate the theoretical development.
Clozapine diminishes suicidal behavior: a retrospective evaluation of clinical records.

OBJECTIVE To test the antisuicidal effect of clozapine, taking into consideration some potentially confounding variables. METHOD A retrospective evaluation was conducted of the clinical charts of 94 inpatients treated continuously with clozapine for at least 6 weeks between 1962 and 1994. In a mirror design, a period of continuous clozapine treatment (mean duration of 15 months) was compared with a pre-clozapine period of equal length, and in 17 patients also with a post-clozapine period, with regard to suicidal behavior. The role of variables such as staying in a protective hospital milieu and receiving treatment with typical neuroleptics and antidepressants was considered. RESULTS The rate of suicidal behavior was 28% (26/94) in the pre-clozapine period, 3% (3/94) in the clozapine period, and 18% (3/17) in the post-clozapine period, the corresponding figures for serious suicidal behavior requiring medical attention being 12% (11/94), 1% (1/94), and 12% (2/17), respectively. The odds ratios were 11.6 (95% CI = 3.4 to 39.9) and 12.3 (95% CI = 1.6 to 97.5) for suicidal and serious suicidal behavior, respectively, in favor of the clozapine period in comparison with the pre-clozapine period. Staying in the hospital was associated with reduction in suicidal behavior. The antisuicidal effect of clozapine possibly disappears at doses that are too low. CONCLUSION Clozapine diminishes the frequency of suicidal behavior including serious suicidal acts, regardless of comedication with antidepressants. In the protective hospital milieu, this effect is less pronounced, and it disappears after clozapine discontinuation.
In vivo Antimalarial Activities of Russelia Equisetiformis in Plasmodium Berghei Infected Mice

The rising problem of resistance to most commonly used antimalarials remains a major challenge in the control of malaria suggesting the need for new antimalarial agents. This work explores the antiplasmodial potential of ethanol extract of Russelia equisetiformis in chloroquine Plasmodium berghei infected mice. Swiss albino mice were intraperitoneally infected with chloroquine-resistant P. berghei (ANKA). Experimental mice were treated for four days consecutively with graded doses of plant extracts and standard antimalarial drugs (artesunate and chloroquine) at a dose of 10 mg/kg body weight used as control. The extract showed a dose-dependent activity in the chemosuppression of P. berghei parasites by 31.6, 44.7, 48.4 and 86.5% at doses of 100, 200, 400 and 800 mg/kg, while chloroquine (10 mg/kg) and artesunate produced 59.4 and 68.4%, respectively. The extract showed a significant decrease in parasitaemia (P<0.05). The level of parasitemia and decrease in weight in all the treated groups was significantly lower (P<0.05) compared with the infected but untreated mice. The plant extract was devoid of toxicity at the highest dose tested (5000 mg/kg). The study concluded that the ethanol extract of R. equisetiformis possesses antimalarial effect, which supports the folk medicine claim of its use in the treatment of malaria.
Development of an Occupational Embeddedness Measure

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a measure of occupational embeddedness.Design/methodology/approach – The construct of occupational embeddedness was defined in terms of the forces that bind people to their occupation. Then a four‐part study was conducted to develop a measure of it.Findings – In Part 1, items were developed and judgmental evidence for their content validity was generated. In Part 2 the initial psychometric characteristics were examined. The results supported the internal consistency reliability and factor structure of the measure. In Part 3, Part 2 was replicated and showed that occupational embeddedness had a negative relationship to occupational withdrawal intentions. In Part 4 a confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to demonstrate that occupational embeddedness was distinguishable from occupational commitment. The paper also found that occupational embeddedness was correlated with occupational commitment but not social desirability. In addition, the paper found tha.
Reinforcement Learning Using a Continuous Time Actor-Critic Framework with Spiking Neurons

Animals repeat rewarded behaviors, but the physiological basis of reward-based learning has only been partially elucidated. On one hand, experimental evidence shows that the neuromodulator dopamine carries information about rewards and affects synaptic plasticity. On the other hand, the theory of reinforcement learning provides a framework for reward-based learning. Recent models of reward-modulated spike-timing-dependent plasticity have made first steps towards bridging the gap between the two approaches, but faced two problems. First, reinforcement learning is typically formulated in a discrete framework, ill-adapted to the description of natural situations. Second, biologically plausible models of reward-modulated spike-timing-dependent plasticity require precise calculation of the reward prediction error, yet it remains to be shown how this can be computed by neurons. Here we propose a solution to these problems by extending the continuous temporal difference (TD) learning of Doya (2000) to the case of spiking neurons in an actor-critic network operating in continuous time, and with continuous state and action representations. In our model, the critic learns to predict expected future rewards in real time. Its activity, together with actual rewards, conditions the delivery of a neuromodulatory TD signal to itself and to the actor, which is responsible for action choice. In simulations, we show that such an architecture can solve a Morris water-maze-like navigation task, in a number of trials consistent with reported animal performance. We also use our model to solve the acrobot and the cartpole problems, two complex motor control tasks. Our model provides a plausible way of computing reward prediction error in the brain. Moreover, the analytically derived learning rule is consistent with experimental evidence for dopamine-modulated spike-timing-dependent plasticity.