Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Examining the impact of L2 English on L3 selves: A case study

In this Swedish case study of four upper secondary students engaged in simultaneous second language (L2; English) and third language (L3; Spanish, French and Russian) learning, a possible selves perspective was used to investigate the impact of English on L3 motivation. Using a maximum variation sampling strategy, participants were selected from a larger dataset (n=101). Semi-structured interviews were conducted using interpretive phenomenological analysis techniques. In analysing the data, Markus and Nurius’ theory of the working self-concept was used to examine the components and processes active in cognition in L3 learning situations. The results indicate that for these individuals an L2 English self-concept can, in L3 learning situations, be an active constituent in the working self-concept and that it has a referential function. To offset the potentially negative effects of the incursion of the L2 English self-concept, some individuals recruited different forms of positive self-knowledge into the working self-concept. For one participant, the systematic referential effect of English was such that it became difficult to sustain a viable L3-speaking/using self. The results suggest that the inclusion of a working self-concept component in possible selves motivational research may be methodologically rewarding, particularly in multilingual settings and/or where contextual or process factors are in focus.
Prevalência de Fatores de Risco Cardiovascular em Idosos Usuários do Sistema Único de Saúde de Goiânia Prevalence of Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Elderly Individuals treated in the Brazilian Public Health System in Goiânia

2 , Goiânia, Goias - Brasil Abstract Background: Cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) present a high prevalence and have an impact on the morbimortality of the elderly; however, this question is still unknown by the elderly treated in the Brazilian Public Health System (SUS). Objective: To investigate the prevalence of CVRF among the elderly treated by SUS in the city of Goiânia, state of Goias, Brazil. Methods: Cross-sectional study using a multiple-stage sampling method, carried out through a home-based interview with 418 elderly individuals aged > 60 years treated by SUS in the city of Goiânia, state of Goias, Brazil. Socioeconomic and demographic data, as well as data on lifestyle, weight, height, waist circumference, blood pressure and medications used were collected. The studied CVRF were: arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, total obesity, central obesity, dyslipidemias, smoking, sedentary lifestyle and alcohol consumption. The Chi- square test was used for the analyses of the associations, with significance being set at 5%. Results: The prevalences of the CVRF were: 80.4% of arterial hypertension; 83.3% of central obesity; 59.8% of sedentary lifestyle; 32.2% of total obesity; 23.4% of dyslipidemias; 19.1% of diabetes mellitus; 10.0% of smoking and 5.9% of alcohol consumption. As for the simultaneity, 2.4% of the elderly did not present CVRF. The simultaneity of two or more CVRF occurred in 87.3% of the elderly and was more frequent among women. Conclusion: The CVRF occur simultaneously in more than half of the elderly individuals, and the most prevalent ones were: arterial hypertension, central obesity and sedentary lifestyle. It is necessary to foster the strategies of health promotion and prevention of cardiovascular injury in elderly individuals treated by SUS in the city of Goiânia, especially among those with simultaneous CVRF. (Arq Bras Cardiol 2010; 95(5): 621-628)
Cutaneous Chromatophoromas in Captive Snakes

Chromatophoromas are neoplasms arising from pigment-bearing cells (chromatophores) of the dermis. While isolated cases have been reported in the literature, the prevalence and biological behavior of chromatophoromas in snakes are unknown. Forty-two chromatophoromas were identified among 4663 submissions (0.9%) to a private diagnostic laboratory in a 16-year period. The most commonly affected snakes were colubrids (23 cases, 55%) and vipers (8 cases, 19%). The San Francisco garter snake was the most commonly affected species (6 cases; 14% of all affected snake species and 3.7% of all garter snake submissions). No sex predilection was found. The age of 28 snakes ranged from 5 to 27 years. Single cutaneous chromatophoromas were most commonly observed and presented as pigmented cutaneous masses or plaques along any body segment. Euthanasia or death due to progressive neoplastic disease or metastasis was reported in 8 (19%) and 4 (10%) cases, respectively. The survival time of 4 animals ranged from 4 to 36 months. Microscopically, xanthophoromas, iridophoromas, melanocytic neoplasms, and mixed chromatophoromas were identified, with melanocytic neoplasms being most common. Microscopic examination alone was generally sufficient for the diagnosis of chromatophoroma, but immunohistochemistry for S-100 and PNL-2 may be helpful for diagnosing poorly pigmented cases. Moderate to marked nuclear atypia appears to be consistently present in cutaneous chromatophoromas with a high risk of metastasis, while mitotic count, lymphatic invasion, the level of infiltration, and the degree of pigmentation or ulceration were not reliable predictors of metastasis.
Perceptions of Trust, Compliance and Accommodation in Police-Civilian Encounters: A Russian, Turkish and Americ an Cross-National Analysis

Research in Asia, South Africa, and the United States has produced models of police-civilian interaction that highlight the effect of officers’ communication accommodation on attitudinal outcomes. Specif ically, this research has demonstrated that of ficers’ accommodative practices are potent predictors of civilians’ attributed trust in police and their perceived likelihood of compliance with police requests. The present study continued this line of work in Russia, using Turkish and American comparison groups; 617 univ ersity students reported how accommodating they perceived police to be, the degree to which they trusted officers, and their inclinations to comply with them. In addition to intriguing differences that emerged between the nations, overall results revealed that officer accommodativeness indirectly predicted civilian compliance through trust. The hypothesized model was largely supported and culturally sensitive.
Issues affecting Australian grandparents who are primary caregivers of grandchildren: a review

ABSTRACT The aim of this review was to identify current issues affecting grandparents who are raising their grandchildren in Australia. The study systematically reviewed 12 studies that evaluated supports for grandparents. The Checklist Analysis of Research for Systematic Review and the Quantitative and Qualitative Checklist were used to evaluate the studies. Five support issues affecting grandparent-headed families were evidenced in the literature as being of priority. These include stress, intergenerational conflict, community support, legal and financial aspects, policies and service frameworks. The paucity of research implies that further funding for large-scale research is required. Implications for informal primary carers of grandchildren are that the lack of legal status and the sustained burden of care will continue to negatively impact upon the grandparents’ well-being. Further research to identify priorities and develop intervention strategies supported by policy development is required to enhance the health and well-being of grandparent carers and their grandchildren.
H2 production by water radiolysis in presence of M/TiO2 (M=3D Pt; Au) nanocomposite films

In the present work we report on the synthesis of M/TiO2 (M=3DPt, Au) nanocomposite films processed on Si-substrate. X-Ray diffraction and Raman experiments allowed the identification of formed phases. The hydrogen production has been carried out by γ-irradiation of water in the presence of the nanocomposite films. The existence of Au- and Pt-TiO2 thin films resulted in a significant enhancement of H2 production which is promising for clean energy applications.
One or two lexicons for reading and writing words: Can misspellings shed any light?

Abstract Words that were consistently misspelled by two young adult English undergraduate students who had difficulties in reading and writing were examined in order to establish whether one or two lexicons are used for reading and writing. The generation of consistent misspellings in the first place is suggestive of a separate device for spelling than for reading words. These students were unable to judge whether their own consistent misspellings were or were not the correct forms of the word, yet their ability to judge the correct forms of these misspellings was similar to that of undergraduates with no reading problems. It was not perfect. It is argued that separate lexicons for reading and for spelling seem to provide a better explanatory framework than a single lexicon used for both reading and spelling known words for these poor readers' patterns of performance. Whether other reader-spellers may also be assumed to have two lexicons cannot be addressed using this method. However, it is not claimed th.
Accentuate the Negative

Three studies investigated the capacity of negative acknowledgment, the admission of an unfavorable quality, to elicit relatively positive responses. In Study 1, an acknowledgment that a written paragraph was confusing led individuals to rate the paragraph as clearer than they did when no acknowledgment was offered. In Study 2, a foreign speaker was rated as possessing a clearer voice when he acknowledged his strong accent than when he did not. In Study 3, a hypothetical college applicant's acknowledgment of receiving less than stellar high school grades resulted in a more positive evaluation of those grades. The interpersonal risks and benefits of negative acknowledgment as an impression-management strategy are discussed.
Bacterial secreted proteins are required for the internalization of Campylobacter jejuni into cultured mammalian cells

Presented here is the first evidence that Campylobacter jejuni secrete proteins upon co‐cultivation with host cells and in INT 407 cell‐conditioned medium. A C. jejuni gene designated ciaB for Campylobacter invasion antigen B was identified, using a differential screening technique, which is required for this secretion process and the efficient entry of this bacterium into a host cell. The C. jejuni ciaB gene encodes a protein of 610 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 73 154 Da. The deduced amino acid sequence of the CiaB protein shares similarity with type III secreted proteins associated with the invasion of host cells from other more extensively characterized bacterial pathogens. In vitro binding and internalization assays revealed that the binding of C. jejuni ciaB null mutants was indistinguishable from that of the parental isolate, whereas a significant reduction was noted in internalization. Confocal microscopic examination of C. jejuni‐infected cells revealed that CiaB was translocated into the cytoplasm of the host cells. Culturing C. jejuni with INT 407 cells or in INT 407‐conditioned medium resulted in the secretion of at least eight proteins, ranging in size from 12.8 to 108 kDa, into the culture medium. C. jejuni ciaB null mutants were deficient in the secretion of all eight proteins, indicating that CiaB is required for the secretion process. The identification of the C. jejuni ciaB gene represents a significant advance in understanding the molecular mechanism of C. jejuni internalization and the pathogenesis of C. jejuni‐mediated enteritis.
Motivation and personality: A revised scoring system for the power motive

INTRODUCTION This revised scoring manual for the power motive is parallel to the earlier scoring systems for the achievement and affiliation motives, as well as the original power motive manual developed by Veroff (1957; see chapter 20). Essentially two tasks confront the scorer. First, is there evidence that the story contains any concern about power? Thus the scorer first searches for evidence of power concern, according to the criteria listed in this chapter for scoring Power Imagery. Second, how extensive or elaborated is the power concern? If the story is concerned with power and has been scored for Power Imagery, the scorer then goes on to search for the presence of subcategories that elaborate the basic power concern. If Power Imagery has not been scored, then the scorer simply proceeds to the next story. The subcategories are organized in a logical manner around a behavioral sequence. The scorer may find it helpful to keep the behavioral sequence in mind as an aid to scoring the subcategories. The power behavioral sequence originates in persons who experience a state of need or desire ( N ). They take action ( I ) toward a goal. Blocks or obstacles ( Bw ) may interfere with the action. They may anticipate attainment of the goal ( Ga +) or failure ( Ga −).
0 " Naturally-occurring Sleep Choice and Time of Day Effects on P-beauty Contest Outcomes. "

We explore the behavioral consequences of sleep loss and time-of-day (circadian) effects on a particular type of decision making. Subject sleep is monitored for the week prior to a decision experiment, which is then conducted at 8 a.m. or 8 p.m. A validated circadian preference instrument allows us to randomly assign subjects to a more or less preferred time-of-day session. The well-known p-beauty contest (a.k.a., the guessing game) is administered to examine how sleep loss and circadian mismatch affect subject reasoning and learning. We find that the subject responses are consistent with significantly lower levels of iterative reasoning when ‘sleep deprived’ or at non-optimal times-of-day. A non-linear effect is estimated to indicate that too much sleep also leads to choices consistent with lower levels of reasoning, with an apparent optimum at close to 7 hours sleep per night. However, repeated play shows that sleep loss and non-optimal times-of-day do not affect learning or adaptation in response to information feedback. Our results apply to environments where anticipation is important, such as in coordination games, stock trading, driving, etc. These findings have important implications for the millions of adults considered sleep deprived, as well as those employed in shift work occupations. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The authors wish to thank Clare Anderson for helpful comments, as well as seminar participants at the University of Arizona (Institute for Behavioral Economics), University of Calgary (Psychology), GATE economics research institute, the University of Luxembourg (Law, Economics and Finance) and Appalachian State University. Funding is gratefully acknowledged from Appalachian State University’s Research Development Award Program. Finally, we thank Valerie Sanchez, Andrew Hunt, Myra Miller, Katie Lambert, and Holt Menzies for valuable research assistance.
Estimation of travel distance from visual motion in virtual environments

Distance estimation of visually simulated self-motion is difficult, because one has to know or make assumptions about scene layout to judge ego speed. Discrimination of the travel distances of two sequentially simulated self-motions in the same scene can be performed quite accurately (Bremmer and Lappe 1999; Frenz et al., 2003). However, the indication of the perceived distance of a single movement in terms of a spatial interval results in a depth scaling error: Intervals are correlated with the true travel distance, but underestimate travel distance by about 25% (Frenz and Lappe, 2005). Here we investigated whether the inclusion of further depth cues (disparity/motion parallax/figural cues) in the virtual environment allows more veridical interval adjustment. Experiments were conducted on a large single projection screen and in a fully immersive computer-animated virtual environment (CAVE). Forward movements in simple virtual environments were simulated with distances between 1.5 and 13 m with varying speeds. Subjects indicated the perceived distance of each movement in terms of a depth interval on the virtual ground plane. We found good correlation between simulated and indicated distances, indicative of an internal representation of the perceived distance. The slopes of the fitted regression lines revealed an underestimation of distance by about 25% under all conditions. We conclude that estimation of travel distance from optic flow is subject to scaling when compared to static intervals in the environment, irrespective of additional depth cues.
Influence of large follicles on oestrus induction and ovulation after embryo collection in superovulated Japanese Black cows

This study evaluated whether large follicles (LF; greater than 18 mm in diameter) affect the return to oestrus and ovulation after embryo collection. Eleven superovulated Japanese Black cows were used as donors. Group 1 had LF (N = 6), and Group 2 had no LF (N = 5). All cows received 0.5 mg prostaglandin F2α after embryo collection. No differences were observed between the two groups with regard to the superovulatory response and hormonal state at the time of embryo collection. Moreover, the interval to luteolysis, defined by plasma progesterone levels lower than 1ng/mL, did not differ between the two groups. However, the interval from embryo collection to the appearance of the dominant follicle, to oestrus and to ovulation was longer in Group 1. The present results suggest that the presence of LF prolongs the interval to the appearance of the new dominant follicle, thereby delaying oestrus and ovulation induction after embryo collection.
Atmospheric deuterium fractionation: HCHO and HCDO yields in the CH 2 DO + O 2 reaction

The formation of formaldehyde via hydrogen atom transfer from the methoxy radical to molecular oxygen is a key step in the atmospheric photochemical oxidation of methane, and in the propagation of deuterium from methane to molecular hydrogen. We report the results of the first in- vestigation of the branching ratio for HCHO and HCDO for- mation in the CH2DO + O2 reaction. Labeled methoxy rad- icals (CH2DO) were generated in a photochemical reactor by photolysis of CH2DONO. HCHO and HCDO concentra- tions were measured using FTIR spectroscopy. Significant deuterium enrichment was seen in the formaldehyde prod- uct, from which we derive a branching ratio of 88.2±1.1% for HCDO and 11.8±1.1% for HCHO. The implications of this fractionation on the propagation of deuterium in the at- mosphere are discussed.
Personality traits and fear response to print advertisements: Theory and an empirical study

This study investigates the hypothesis that different personality traits influence fear responses to advertising appeals for two types of driver safety behavior. An experiment was conducted in which personality traits taken from the 3M model of motivation and personality (Mowen, 2000) were employed to predict fear responses to advertisements that targeted either aggressive driving or inattentive driving. For the aggressive-driving ad, introversion and need to protect and enhance body resources positively predicted fear response. For the inattentive-driving ad, introversion and need to protect and enhance body resources were again positive predictors of fear, but so also were emotional instability and agreeableness, whereas competitiveness, need for arousal, and the need for material resources were negative predictors. It is not clear why more traits predicted fear for inattentive driving than for aggressive driving. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Asynchronous stochastic convex optimization: the noise is in the noise and SGD don't care

We show that asymptotically, completely asynchronous stochastic gradient procedures achieve optimal (even to constant factors) convergence rates for the solution of convex optimization problems under nearly the same conditions required for asymptotic optimality of standard stochastic gradient procedures. Roughly, the noise inherent to the stochastic approximation scheme dominates any noise from asynchrony. We also give empirical evidence demonstrating the strong performance of asynchronous, parallel stochastic optimization schemes, demonstrating that the robustness inherent to stochastic approximation problems allows substantially faster parallel and asynchronous solution methods.
Similarity of Activity Preferences among Friends: Those Who Play Together Stay Together.

Responses to attitude and activity preference surveys were compared for the degrees of real and perceived similarity within,male (n = 13) and female (n = 11) friendship pairs. Activity preference similarity was substantially greater than attitudinal similarity, in fact: friends' attitudinal similarity was no greater than strangers'; individuals were able to predict the friend's responses to the activity survey more accurately than to the attitude survey; and activity similarity was a better predictor of liking than was attitudinal similarity. The findings were the same for males and females. These results suggest that the opportunity to engage in mutually pleasurable activities may be a stronger motive in friendship choice and friendship maintenance than is the satisfaction of knowing the friend agrees with you.
Household Income Histories and Child Mental Health Trajectories∗

Although it is widely accepted that low household income is associated with worse child mental health, less is known about whether income histories, often differentiated into stable and dynamic components, also matter. Using longitudinal data from the Child Supplement of the National Longitudinal Study of Youth, comprising the repeated measures of children ages 4 to 14 from 1986 to 1998 inclusive, I estimate generalized linear mixed models to evaluate the influence of household income histories on child depression and antisocial behavior over time. Results indicate that, at initial interview, low household income is associated with higher levels of depression and antisocial behavior; subsequent improvements in household income reduce child mental health problems. Further, the effect of initial household income on the rate of change in child depression attenuates as children grow older, whereas for antisocial behavior the effect of initial household income becomes stronger over time. These findings highlight the importance of understanding the ways in which children are influenced by their families' income histories.
Cooperative Resource Allocation Games Under Spectral Mask and Total Power Constraints

Resource allocation problems in multi-user systems, modeled as Nash bargaining (NB) cooperative games, are investigated under different constraints. Using the joint time division multiplexing and frequency division multiplexing (TDM/FDM) scheme as a manner of cooperation in the NB resource allocation game with only spectrum mask constraints (SMCs), it is shown that the efficiency of the corresponding solution depends on both the interference-to-signal and interference-to-noise ratios of the users. Sufficient conditions under which the joint TDM/FDM based NB solution outperforms a noncooperative Nash equilibrium solution are derived and shown to be mild. A semi-distributed algorithm is proposed for finding the NB solution of the corresponding game with SMCs only. The NB based resource allocation game with both SMCs and total power constraints (TPCs) is shown to be a nonconvex optimization problem of high complexity. For such a game, a classification of two-user systems into bandwidth- and power-dominant systems is proposed based on the concept of Pareto-optimality. This classification gives insights to the resource allocation problem by showing that the benefits of both users are guaranteed to increase simultaneously only when the dominant resource in the system increases. Using this classification, efficient suboptimal algorithms of low complexity are derived based on the idea of optimally allocating the dominant resource and suboptimally allocating the other resource. Simulation results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed cooperative NB resource allocation strategies.