Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Contributions and complexities from the use of in vivo animal models to improve understanding of human neuroimaging signals

Many of the major advances in our understanding of how functional brain imaging signals relate to neuronal activity over the previous two decades have arisen from physiological research studies involving experimental animal models. This approach has been successful partly because it provides opportunities to measure both the hemodynamic changes that underpin many human functional brain imaging techniques and the neuronal activity about which we wish to make inferences. Although research into the coupling of neuronal and hemodynamic responses using animal models has provided a general validation of the correspondence of neuroimaging signals to specific types of neuronal activity, it is also highlighting the key complexities and uncertainties in estimating neural signals from hemodynamic markers. This review will detail how research in animal models is contributing to our rapidly evolving understanding of what human neuroimaging techniques tell us about neuronal activity. It will highlight emerging issues in the interpretation of neuroimaging data that arise from in vivo research studies, for example spatial and temporal constraints to neuroimaging signal interpretation, or the effects of disease and modulatory neurotransmitters upon neurovascular coupling. We will also give critical consideration to the limitations and possible complexities of translating data acquired in the typical animals models used in this area to the arena of human fMRI. These include the commonplace use of anesthesia in animal research studies and the fact that many neuropsychological questions that are being actively explored in humans have limited homologs within current animal models for neuroimaging research. Finally we will highlighting approaches, both in experimental animals models (e.g. imaging in conscious, behaving animals) and human studies (e.g. combined fMRI-EEG), that mitigate against these challenges.
Rationalizing Delinquency: Understanding the Person-situation Interaction through Item Response Theory

Objectives: I argue that a person-situation complex of delinquent rationalizations can be conceptualized by relating rationalizations to item response theory (IRT), where approval of delinquency is predominately a function of the individual willingness to rationalize (θ j) and situational difficulty of applying a rationalization (bi ). This framework offers testable predictions and addresses extant criticisms. Method: Adolescents from a public high school (N = 223) and subjects from the National Youth Survey (N = 1,436) were asked their degree of approval for delinquency under various circumstances. Graded response models assessed the joint effects of individual and situational characteristics on approval of delinquency. I test whether differences in self-reported offending (SRO) and willingness to offend (WTO) are consistent with predictions derived from IRT models. Results: Approval of delinquency is a joint function of individual and situational characteristics. Some situations are so “easy” to rationalize that most everyone is predicted to approve of delinquency, and others are so “difficult” that only those very high in θ are predicted to express approval. SRO and WTO differences between individuals and situations are consistent with the IRT predictions. Conclusion: The findings demonstrate the utility of IRT for understanding delinquent rationalizations. The implications of the findings for theory and person-situation explanations are discussed.
Methodological issues in family expatriation studies and future directions

Abstract As scholars uncovered the crucial role of the family in the relocation of organization-assigned expatriates, the investigation of the expatriate’s family became of interest to management researchers and practitioners alike. While recently the number of studies evaluating the family interface of international assignments has risen significantly, the topic remains at an emerging stage. In order to support the future development of trustworthy and credible empirical research, this article examines the research methodology and the associated issues of the extant literature. To investigate the family expatriation topic, we included articles by pre-defined criteria with a management focus from the international business, (international) human resource, as well as management and psychology disciplines. By critically assessing how research has been conducted in family expatriation studies, we provide a foundation from which future studies can infer the appropriate choice and application of research methods. In order to achieve this objective, we discuss the research methodology of 69 published articles, identify methodological issues, and offer recommendations.
Child-to-Child Interaction and Corrective Feedback in a Computer Mediated L2 Class

The current study examined the provision of corrective feedback and learner repair following feedback in the interactional context of child-to-child conversations, particularly computer mediated, in an elementary Spanish immersion class. The relationship among error types, feedback types, and immediate learner repair were also examined. A total of 46, fifth-grade children participated in the study. Using Blackboard, the instructor randomly paired students and created a "virtual group" for each pair. Each pair was asked to interact and complete a jigsaw task in the "virtual classroom. " Blackboard recorded the pairs' interactions, which were later printed and coded for types of error (syntactic/lexical), types of negative feedback (explicit/recasts/negotiation) and immediate learner repairs. Findings indicate that learners did not provide explicit negative feedback. Learners provided implicit negative feedback (recasts and negotiation) while completing the jigsaw task in the virtual classroom. The majority of lexical errors and syntactic errors were corrected using negotiation. Over half of feedback moves led to immediate repair. Negotiation moves proved more effective at leading to immediate repair of errors than did recasts.
Reciprocal relationships between State gratitude and high- and low-arousal positive affects in daily life: A time-lagged ecological assessment study

ABSTRACT This study assessed whether state gratitude and high and low-arousal positive affect show reciprocal relationships in daily life, and whether these relationships are dependent of inter-individual differences in positive mental health or psychopathology. 106 participants reported on momentary gratitude and positive affects throughout 7 consecutive days, using the Experience Sampling Method. Multilevel time-lagged regression analyses showed that state gratitude, cheerfulness and satisfaction reciprocally predict one another from one moment to the next. The strength of the prospective relationships between state gratitude(t-1) and both cheerfulness(t) and satisfaction(t) did not vary as a function of inter-individual differences in positive mental health or psychopathology. However, the prospective effects of both cheerfulness(t-1) and satisfaction(t-1) on state gratitude(t) were significantly stronger for individuals with low vs. high levels of psychopathology. In addition, the prospective effect of cheerfulness(t-1) on state gratitude(t) was significantly stronger for those with high vs. low positive mental health.
The Effects of Potato Puree and Bread Crumbs on Some Quality Characteristics of Low Fat Meatballs

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of using different amounts of potato puree (PP) (10 or 20%) and 10% bread crumbs (BC) as an extender and also control samples (C) with no added extender on chemical composition, energy values, cooking analyses, colour measurements, water holding capacity (WHC), penetration values, thiobarbituric acid value (TBA) and sensory analyses of meatballs. Meatball samples were cooked in a pre-heated 180℃ electric oven. Uncooked meatballs formulated with 20% PP had the highest moisture content. No significant differences were recorded for protein contents of uncooked samples. The highest cooking yield was found in samples extended with 10% BC. Increasing PP from 10% to 20% increased cooking yield of meatballs. 20% PP increased moisture and fat retention values and water holding capacity of meatballs. Meatballs with 10% BC had the lowest (the hardness in the texture) and meatballs with the 20% PP had the highest (the softness in the texture) penetration values. Formulating meatballs at a level of 20% resulted lower L* values. TBA values of control samples were higher than in PP added samples at the end of the storage period. Flavour scores for meatballs formulated with PP were higher than control and meatballs formulated with BC. Meatballs formulated with 10% PP had similar overall acceptability with meatballs added with 10% BC.
Construction and Validation of a Regulatory Network for Pluripotency and Self-Renewal of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells

A 30-node signed and directed network responsible for self-renewal and pluripotency of mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) was extracted from several ChIP-Seq and knockdown followed by expression prior studies. The underlying regulatory logic among network components was then learned using the initial network topology and single cell gene expression measurements from mESCs cultured in serum/LIF or serum-free 2i/LIF conditions. Comparing the learned network regulatory logic derived from cells cultured in serum/LIF vs. 2i/LIF revealed differential roles for Nanog, Oct4/Pou5f1, Sox2, Esrrb and Tcf3. Overall, gene expression in the serum/LIF condition was more variable than in the 2i/LIF but mostly consistent across the two conditions. Expression levels for most genes in single cells were bimodal across the entire population and this motivated a Boolean modeling approach. In silico predictions derived from removal of nodes from the Boolean dynamical model were validated with experimental single and combinatorial RNA interference (RNAi) knockdowns of selected network components. Quantitative post-RNAi expression level measurements of remaining network components showed good agreement with the in silico predictions. Computational removal of nodes from the Boolean network model was also used to predict lineage specification outcomes. In summary, data integration, modeling, and targeted experiments were used to improve our understanding of the regulatory topology that controls mESC fate decisions as well as to develop robust directed lineage specification protocols.
Knowledge Management Practices (KMP) and Academic Performance in Universiti Teknologi Mara (UITM) Terengganu, Malaysia

4 Abstract: Knowledge management is one of the significant fields in the current organization in order to improve the performance. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between knowledge management practices and academic performance in public institution of higher learning. A questionnaire was used as the main instrument for the data collection. A total of 100 respondents answered the questionnaires which represented 54% of response rate. It was found that knowledge management practices namely knowledge generation, knowledge codification, knowledge sharing and knowledge utilization had positive and significant relationship with academic performance. Thus, in order to achieve higher academic performance, UiTM Terengganu has to ensure that the knowledge management practices were excellent.
The effects of organizational controls on innovation modes: An ambidexterity perspective

Abstract Some critical limitations of prior research on organizational controls stem from the scant theory identifying the coexistence of contradictions and interrelations between differing organizational controls and exploring how the contradictory but interrelated controls affect innovation modes. To address this gap, this research links Hitt’s internal control system framework and the ambidexterity perspective by building on their focus on the interplay and tensions between different organizational controls. Using survey data from 182 Chinese firms in innovation-intensive industries, the results show that besides the independent use of strategic control, both the combined and balance use of strategic and financial controls are important for internal innovation. For firms specializing in cooperative innovation, however, financial control is more effective, and the combined use of strategic and financial controls has negative effect on cooperative innovation. These findings contribute to our understanding of organizational control itself and its connection to the ambidexterity perspective and innovation theory.
Promoting science motivation in American Indian middle school students: an intervention

Abstract U.S. national data show that American Indians earn lower math and science scores than other ethnic/racial groups. In the current study, a brief, self-affirmation intervention was aimed at increasing science motivational beliefs in American Indian middle school students (n = 212, Mage = 12.7 years). Students, each read a biography of a successful scientist who was matched to them on both ethnicity and gender; ethnicity but not gender; gender but not ethnicity; or no match. Students then wrote a short essay describing traits they shared with the scientist. Pre- and post-intervention science self-efficacy, individual interest, and goal orientations were measured to assess intervention efficacy immediately following the intervention and one week later. Results revealed no benefits of the intervention in increasing motivational beliefs for students in any experimental condition. We discuss the fragile fidelity of self-affirmation interventions and conditions that might be necessary for intervention success.
Increased self‐focus in major depressive disorder is related to neural abnormalities in subcortical‐cortical midline structures

Patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) often show a tendency to strongly introspect and reflect upon their self, which has been described as increased self‐focus. Although subcortical‐cortical midline structures have been associated with reflection and introspection of oneself in healthy subjects, the neural correlates of the abnormally increased attribution of negative emotions to oneself, i.e. negative self‐attribution, as hallmark of the increased self‐focus in MDD remain unclear. The aim of the study was, therefore, to investigate the neural correlates during judgment of self‐relatedness of positive and negative emotional stimuli thereby testing for emotional self‐attribution. Using fMRI, we investigated 27 acute MDD patients and compared them with 25 healthy subjects employing a paradigm that focused on judgment of self‐relatedness when compared with mere perception of the very same emotional stimuli. Behaviourally, patients with MDD showed significantly higher degrees of self‐relatedness of specifically negative emotional stimuli when compared with healthy subjects. Neurally, patients with MDD showed significantly lower signal intensities in various subcortical and cortical midline regions like the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC), supragenual anterior cingulate cortex, precuneus, ventral striatum (VS), and the dorsomedial thalamus (DMT). Signal changes in the DMPFC correlated with depression severity and hopelessness whereas those in the VS and the DMT were related to judgment of self‐relatedness of negative emotional stimuli. In conclusion, we present first evidence that the abnormally increased negative self‐attribution as hallmark of the increased self‐focus in MDD might be mediated by altered neural activity in subcortical‐cortical midline structures. Hum Brain Mapp, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Objectifying objectification: When and why people are cognitively reduced to their parts akin to objects

ABSTRACT Objectification occurs when people are seen and treated similarly to things. Research on this topic has been dominated by an interest in the content of impressions people form of targets, but much less is known about the processes involved in the objectification of others. To fill this gap, this paper reviews a recent line of research that investigates the cognitive objectification of others (i.e., the processes – early visual processing, attention and memory – through which a person is no longer perceived as a global physical entity, thereby reduced to its parts akin to objects). We consider research that examined when and why this cognitive objectification occurs using methods borrowed from cognitive psychology and neuroscience. In doing so, we provide information for the sequential ordering of cognitive objectification processes that may occur during person perception. We finally propose a novel process-oriented model aimed at understanding the antecedents and outcomes of cognitive objectification.
Documents de Travail du Centre d ’ Economie de la Sorbonne Emerging Countries Sovereign Rating Adjustment using Market Information : Impact on Financial Institutions Investment Decisions

Assets, debts and other financial products issued by emerging countries are usually considered more speculative than those issued by developed economies. Therefore, relying on traditional rating agencies to invest in these countries is problematic as the information used to assess the economic and market condition in these economies is quickly outdated. Consequently, both the investment opportunities and the necessity to clear particular positions may be missed, respectively resulting in potential significant costs of opportunity or losses. Therefore, an approach taking into account the latest information displayed by financial markets may enable us bypassing the traditional limits. As a result, this chapter proposes a creditworthiness evaluation methodology based on adjusting ratings obtained from macroeconomic fundamentals (GDP growth rate, inflation, external debts, etc.) and financial market movements (bonds, equity volume, volatility, etc.). In the first step, a general panel model is applied on country-specific information to generate fundamental ratings. In the second step, applying a multi-factor model to market indicators and breaking down long-term sovereign bond yields into different risk premia, market implied ratings are obtained. Finally, the rating to be considered (denoted “δ-Rating”) for investment purposes is a combination of fundamental ratings and market implied ratings carrying out an adapted Bühlmann-Straub method (Credibility Theory). Then, emerging countries “δ-Rating” will be compared to those obtained from developed countries and discussed against financial institutions risk appetite.
Moral Economies or Hidden Talents? A Longitudinal Analysis of Union Decline and Wage Inequality, 1973–2015

Abstract:The decline of labor unions in the United States has been central to the rise of wage inequality since the early 1970s. Recently, sociologists have noted that unionization influences inequality through both direct and indirect pathways, reconciled with the concept of the moral economy, broadly shared norms of fairness institutionalized in market rules and customs that can reduce inequality in pay. While the theory of the moral economy has been resonant in the stratification literature, few have held it to empirical scrutiny. The current study assesses how selection bias from unobserved worker-level heterogeneity influences the associations between unionization and wage attainment and dispersion. To do so, I merge data from the Current Population Survey to 33 waves of longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Using combinations of variance function regression models, fixed-effects regression models, and dynamic panel models, I find that the magnitudes of associations tend to be reduced by around half after accounting for unobserved heterogeneity. Yet, more critically, the pathways linking unions and wage inequality via the moral economy prove to be remarkably robust to all tests cast upon them. Results highlight the fundamental importance of labor power resources for the contemporary rise of inequality. They provide a micro-level foundation for theories linking unionization and stratification. They identify the importance of union decline for rising earnings volatility. And they provide implications for the fallout of economic well-being for workers following antiunion policy change. Additional theoretical and policy implications are discussed.
Differential expression of the cell adhesion molecules ICAM-1, VCAM-1, and E-selectin in normal and posttransplantation myocardium. Cell adhesion molecule expression in human cardiac allografts.

BACKGROUND Cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) have been implicated in cardiac allograft rejection. However, previous studies have used qualitative analysis of immunohistochemical data and did not exclude patients with infection or malignancy. METHODS AND RESULTS We analyzed 40 endomyocardial biopsy specimens from 25 cardiac transplant patients and 8 specimens from patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Patients with evidence of infection or malignancy were excluded. Specimens were stained with monoclonal antibodies against ICAM-1, E-selectin, VCAM-1, and PECAM-1 (which labels all vessels). ICAM-1 expression was assessed by counting ICAM-1-positive vessels and dividing by the total number of vessels (measured by PECAM staining). Specimens were scored as positive or negative for VCAM-1 and E-selectin. We also determined whether serum-soluble ICAM-1 levels (sICAM) correlated with rejection by evaluating 145 serum specimens from 48 cardiac transplant patients and 8 specimens from patients undergoing diagnostic cardiac catheterization. ICAM-1 was present on 50% to 60% of vessels in normal and nonrejecting specimens. Specimens with histologically significant rejection (focal moderate, moderate, or severe) had an increased percentage of ICAM-1-positive vessels: focal moderate, 77%; moderate/severe, 92% (P < .01). E-selectin expression did not differ between groups. VCAM-1 frequently was not present on rejecting specimens. No correlation was noted between sICAM levels and the presence or absence of rejection. CONCLUSIONS (1) ICAM-1 expression is strongly correlated with histologically significant cardiac allograft rejection. (2) The use of PECAM-1 staining as a vascular marker permits quantitative analysis of ICAM-1 expression. (3) VCAM-1 and E-selectin are not consistently increased during cardiac allograft rejection. (4) sICAM levels do not accurately reflect endomyocardial biopsy results.
Distributed Tracking of Correlated Equilibria in Regime Switching Noncooperative Games

We consider a class of regime-switching noncooperative repeated games where agents exchange information over a graph. The parameters of the game (number of agents, payoffs, information exchange graph) evolve randomly over time according to a Markov chain. We present a regret-based stochastic approximation algorithm with constant step-size that prescribes how individual agents update their randomized strategies over time. We show that, if the Markov chain jump changes on the same timescale as the adaptation rate of the stochastic approximation algorithm and agents independently follow this algorithm, their collective behavior is agile in tracking the time-varying convex polytope of correlated equilibria. The analysis is carried out using weak convergence methods and Lyapunov stability of switched Markovian differential inclusions.