Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Repositório ISCTE-IUL

The institutionalisation of biodiversity conservation through legal instruments has led to mixed reactions at both the individual and community levels, with conflict and resistance co-existing with support. The overall purpose of this article is to describe how rural communities living in areas included in the Natura 2000 Network of protected sites, where local practices of land use are regulated by new legal directives, receive biodiversity conservation goals. Previous studies suggest that this reception is strongly shaped by place identification, but their contradictory results demand further clarification. This study examines the role of psychosocial variables identified by previous studies as potentially relevant moderators of identification: (a) vested interest in natural resources, (b) evaluation of the designation process of protected areas, and (c) institutional trust. It further extends previous research by analysing the support given to contextually relevant ecological practices. Results reveal a positive link between place identification and attitudes in the high vested interest condition and show that support for conservation practices is better predicted in the high vested interest and low trust conditions. The discussion focuses on the relevance of analysing contextually relevant psychosocial moderators when attempting to understand how local communities’ relation with biodiversity conservation is affected by legislative innovation.
Post‐verbal subjects in early east slavonic

In Contemporary Standard Russian (CSR) the subject typically appears before the verb (SV order). The high proportion of clauses in which the verb appears before the subject (VS order) in some early medieval sources of East Slavonic provenance is striking by comparison. This paper investigates the phenomenon against the background of the complex linguistic situation of the period. It uses the concepts of Functional Sentence Perspective (FSP) as set out in the Academy Grammar of Russian (Kovtunova 1980: 190–214) as basic tools for analysis and finds that, with a slight expansion of one of its central ideas, FSP can account for many of the VS orders in the medieval material. It suggests that clause patterns which resist interpretation in these terms can be understood as features characteristic of the different text types proposed by Benveniste (1966: 238–42) and Weinrich (1971).
“Buddhist Compassion” and “Animal Abuse” in Thailand’s Tiger Temple

Abstract The Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi province, western Thailand, is a popular tourist attraction, offering visitors a unique opportunity to interact closely with tigers. It presents itself as a “tiger sanctuary,” whose tigers have been tamed by nonviolent Buddhist methods. This claim has been disputed by visitors and animal welfare activists. This article confronts the Temple’s master narrative of “Buddhist compassion” with a counternarrative of “animal abuse” according to which, rather than being a “sanctuary” for tigers, the Temple in fact mistreats the animals and exploits them commercially. However, even as an animal welfare organization’s report confirmed the abuse of the tigers and called for their confiscation and for the suspension of their display to visitors, the Thai authorities granted the Temple permission to operate as a zoo. This decision highlights the profound contrast between Thai and Western-inspired international norms for the treatment of captive (wild) animals. The article examines the cultural roots of this contrast and argues that in their narrow focus on the Tiger Temple the critics have unwittingly missed the opportunity to use the Temple’s animal abuse as an instance of a wider problem in the perception and treatment of (wild) animals in Thailand.
Predicting Memory Decline Following Epilepsy Surgery: A Multivariate Approach

Summary: Background: While some patients experience a decline in memory function following an anterior temporal lobe resection, there is considerable individual variation in the extent, nature, and direction of postoperative memory change. Patients with surgically remediable temporal lobe epilepsy differ in etiology, the extent and type of underlying pathology, and on demographic and epilepsy‐related variables, all of which may have an impact on their pre‐ and postoperative neuropsychological functioning. This study examined the relationship between these variables and postoperative memory decline.
Online gaming addiction: Classification, prediction and associated risk factors

Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) have gained increased popularity over the last decade. Despite the many positives of gaming, alleged problems relating to MMORPG playing have emerged, more specifically in relation to addiction to MMORPGs among a small minority of players. This study set out to establish the prevalence of MMORPG addiction using validated addiction criteria. Factors relating to online gaming were examined to establish whether they were linked to MMORPG addiction. A self-selected sample of 1420 gamers ranging in age from 12 years to 62 years (mean age 23 years) completed an online questionnaire. The results showed that 44.5% of gamers were classified as addicted according to the polythetic format and 3.6% according to the monothetic format. Ordered logistic regression analysis showed that the variable years of gaming, total time spent playing online per week and employment status can have a major impact on the probability of MMORPG addiction. The implications of these findings for the assessment of MMORPG addiction are discussed.
Assessing Thinking Styles in the Theory of Mental Self-Government: A Hong Kong Validity Study

The purpose of this study was to examine the appropriateness in a non-Western context of the Thinking Styles Inventory and Sternberg's underlying theory of mental self-government. The way to achieve this goal was through analyzing data collected from 88 Hong Kong postsecondary students. The results indicated that the scales were reasonably reliable, and factor analysis of the scales was fairly encouraging. The discrepancy found in the number of dimensions of thinking between the current study and what underlies the inventory may represent the participants being ‘tested’ in their second language. The theory's underlying assumptions that thinking styles are socialized and that developmental changes in stylistic preference should show significant effects of age and college class were supported by group differences in certain thinking styles on such variables as sex, college major, subject area taught, age, and college class.
Effects of urban pollution on UV spectral irradiances

Spectral measurements of UV irradiances at Tokyo are compared with corresponding measurements at a pristine site (Lauder New Zealand) to identify the causes of the reductions in urban UV irradiances, and to quantify their effects. Tropospheric extinctions in Tokyo were found to be up to ~40% greater than at Lauder. Most of these differences can be explained by differences in cloud and aerosols, but ozone differences are also important in the summer. Examining spectral signatures of tropospheric transmission of both sites shows that reductions due to mean NO 2 and SO 2 amounts are generally small. However, at times the amount of NO 2 can be 10 times higher than the mean amount, and on these days it can decrease the UVA irradiance up to 40%. If SO 2 shows comparable day to day variability, it would contribute to significant reductions in UVB irradiances. The results indicate that at Tokyo, interactions between the larger burden of tropospheric ozone and aerosols also have a significant effect. These results have important implications for our ability to accurately retrieve surface UV irradiances at polluted sites from satellites that use backscattered UV. Supplementary data characterising these boundary layer effects are probably needed.
Socially constructing safety

Social scientific perspectives on occupational safety largely characterize it as a disembodied, tangible, and easily quantifiable phenomenon. Recent research efforts have focused on exploring organizational conditions that predict occupational safety outcomes, resulting in top-down, often de-contextualized prescriptions about how to control safety in the workplace (e.g. ‘management should promote a culture of safety’). There is growing interest in how social processes of organizing, wider socio-cultural considerations, and the situated production of safety can contribute to the appreciation of the ‘lived experience’ of life and death at work. This Special Issue focuses on the socially constructed nature of occupational safety and the insight it provides in understanding broader social and organizational processes. In this article, we first describe how various social scientific disciplines share an interest in occupational safety and organizational behavior, yet rarely speak to another. We provide an overview of the five articles that comprise the Special Issue, and briefly highlight some ways forward for studying safety in organizations.
Transfer and Non-Transfer: Where We Are Now

Current research into second-language learning has tended to ignore (or at best to treat incidentally) a linguistic phenomenon that once used to be a particular preoccupation of applied linguists, the interference error. Instead, the limelight is now firmly focussed on developmental phenomena, with many studies using an approach to data gathering and analytical methodology strongly reminiscent of research into child language acquisition and language contact. There have been specific attempts to establish developmental sequences in the TL, in morpheme acquisition, for instance, so as to compare first and second language learning, and not a little attention is now being paid to such sociolinguistic notions as variability, continua and simplification. In other words, the main emphasis in interlanguage research has shifted from a rather static error-oriented view of language learning to a dynamic view of learners' language as a constantly evolving system. The calls for longitudinal studies of interlanguage of the late sixties and early seventies have not gone unheeded, eve if the word ‘longitudinal’ is sometimes rather liberally interpreted, as in those cases where a tacit (and probably justifiable) assumption is made that studying groups of learners of varying proficiency in respect of given TL features at one and the same time is really the same as following the progress of one group over a long period.
Characterizing the Reuse of Learning Objects in a Specialized Repository

of digital resources for education, in particular those that contain Learning Objects have been considered as important promoters of the reuse of such documents. The variety available tools that provide for publishing, searching and retrieving objects facilitate and encourage many of the management activities of Learning Objects. An analysis of the activities performed by users in a repository allow us to identify relationships and factors affecting the recycling of a learning resource, which can be useful in developing new management tools or improving existing ones. This paper presents the results of reviewing activities involved in the exchange of digital resources for education by the users of AGORA platform, a Learning Object Management System.
Cognitive‐behavioural hypnotic treatment for managing examination anxiety and facilitating performance

This paper delineates a treatment group, including three Chinese undergraduate participants, run for managing examination anxiety and facilitating performance, principally derived from the stress management programme designed by the Hypnosis Unit of University College London. The treatment group comprised four sessions spread over two weeks and was carried out just before, in between and immediately after the examinations. Hypnosis was utilized as an adjunct to cognitive-behavioural therapy in tackling the stress in relation to examinations, and in facilitating revision, sleep and examinations. Although formal assessments of achievement anxiety showed only mild changes, personal reports reflected improvements in both anxiety management and performance during examinations along with changes of perspectives towards learning and examinations. Copyright © 2006 British Society of Experimental & Clinical Hypnosis. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Psychological Adjustment, Coping, and Emotion Regulation as Predictors of Posttraumatic Growth

Abstract The present study examined factors contributing to reported benefits of traumatic experiences or posttraumatic growth (PTG) in a college sample. Specifically, we examined dimensions typically associated with trauma recovery (i.e., psychological functioning, coping, emotion regulation) and features of the trauma (i.e., number and recency of traumatic events, average, and maximal distress). Participants (N= 193) completed standardized questionnaires measuring these constructs. Results indicated that active coping and subjective well-being independently contributed to PTG, but social desirability and symptom distress were independent of growth. These results were consistent with study expectations. Although not specifically predicted, maximal trauma distress also uniquely predicted PTG. Contrary to expectations, effective emotion regulation did not contribute to PTG.
Sinusoidal Order Estimation Using Angles between Subspaces

We consider the problem of determining the order of a parametric model from a noisy signal based on the geometry of the space. More specifically, we do this using the nontrivial angles between the candidate signal subspace model and the noise subspace. The proposed principle is closely related to the subspace orthogonality property known from the MUSIC algorithm, and we study its properties and compare it to other related measures. For the problem of estimating the number of complex sinusoids in white noise, a computationally efficient implementation exists, and this problem is therefore considered in detail. In computer simulations, we compare the proposed method to various well-known methods for order estimation. These show that the proposed method outperforms the other previously published subspace methods and that it is more robust to the noise being colored than the previously published methods.
An Examination of the Transtheoretical Model and Exercise Behavior in Older Adults

This study examined the structure of the transtheoretical model (TM) in exercise behavior change among adults age 50–65 years (n = 583). The purpose was to examine the relationship between stage of change and the constructs of processes of change, self-efficacy, and decisional balance. The results showed that 5 of the 10 processes of change, self-efficacy, and both pros and cons make significant and unique contributions to discrimination between the stages. Specifically, the use of the processes of change was shown to fluctuate across the stages, self-efficacy was shown to increase from precontemplation to maintenance, and the balance between pros and cons was shown to change from precontemplation to maintenance. The similarity of these results to previous literature suggests that the process of behavior change hypothesized within the TM holds across different age groups and cultures. Several implications for intervention design and suggestions for further research are discussed.
E‐assessment within the Bologna paradigm: evidence from Portugal

The Bologna Declaration brought reforms into higher education that imply changes in teaching methods, didactic materials and textbooks, infrastructures and laboratories, etc. Statistics and mathematics are disciplines that traditionally have the worst success rates, particularly in non‐mathematics core curricula courses. This research project, Mathematics and Statistics for the Development of Professional Skills, which is in progress at the University of Beira Interior in Portugal, has as one of its main objectives the development of the e‐assessment system as a resource for learning assessment and student self‐regulation. Based on the results of the above‐mentioned project, this paper will give evidence of how to improve the reliability of an e‐assessment system, show that e‐assessment can be a good alternative to open‐ended tests and that students tend to show a positive attitude towards its use. We show that this can be done by checking the internal consistency and measurement error of the e‐assessment tests, the analysis of the association between student scores obtained by different methods of assessment and the analysis of data survey on student opinion about e‐assessment methods.
Psychological Antecedents to Help-Seeking Behavior: A Reanalysis Using Path Modeling Structures.

Two recent studies tested whether personal distress, attitudes toward counseling, social support, and self-concealment predicted the likelihood that psychology undergraduates would seek psychological help. The present study reanalyzed the data from these investigations using path modeling. By evaluating direct and indirect effects, results supported the following hypothesized model across both samples: Individuals are more likely to seek counseling when distress is high and attitudes toward counseling are positive; distress is higher when social support networks are impaired and individuals conceal personally distressing information from others; and individuals who conceal information often have negative attitudes toward counseling and impaired social support networks. A direct path from self-concealment to help seeking provided a substantially better fit in only 1 sample. Overall, self-concealment is more important in the intensification rather than relief of psychological difficulties.
Cross-national comparative research with longitudinal data: research into youth poverty

This paper reports findings from a recent project on youth poverty across the pre-enlargement European Union. It examines the incidence of poverty among young people aged 16–29 and the association between poverty and living arrangements for this group, and how these vary between countries. It assesses the extent to which inferences on youth policy may be made from these findings, and highlights areas of interest for UK policymakers.
Desenvolvimento da criança com deficiência visual (DV) e interacção mãe-criança: algumas considerações

Various aspects of infant development can be discussed and indicated as relevant factors in the study of children with visual impairment. One of these aspects is the relation between mother-child interaction and social, affective, linguistic and cognitive child development. The aim of this article is to discuss this relation and to reflect about the importance of mother-child interaction and the role of mother promoting the development of child with visual impairment.
Power in University Budgeting: A Replication and Extension.

The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Jeanne Logsdon with the collection of some of the data and J. Richard Harrison for research assistance with the analysis. This study examines the determinants of power and budget allocations on two campuses of a large, state university system. As in previous studies, faculty positions and budget allocations were a function of student enrollment and departmental power, and departmental power was related to the amount of a department's grant and contract funds as well as enrollment. An additional variable in this study, the level of paradigm development characterizing the department's scientific field, was found to predict the levels of grant and contract funds obtained as well as to help explain budget allocations. In a comparison of resource allocation on the two campuses, it was found that for the campus that faced less scarcity of resources, enrollment was more highly related and departmental power less strongly related to allocations.
Crude Extracts of Caenorhabditis elegans Suppress Airway Inflammation in a Murine Model of Allergic Asthma

Epidemiological studies suggest an inverse relationship between helminth infections and allergic disease, and several helminth-derived products have been shown to suppress allergic responses in animals. This study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of a crude extract of Caenorhabditis elegans on allergic airway inflammation in a murine model of asthma. Allergic airway inflammation was induced in BALB/c mice by sensitization with ovalbumin. The effect of the C. elegans crude extract on the development of asthma and on established asthma was evaluated by analyzing airway hyperresponsiveness, serum antibody titers, lung histology and cell counts and cytokine levels in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. The role of IFN-γ in the suppression of asthma by the C. elegans crude extract was investigated in IFN-γ knockout and wild-type mice. When mice were sensitized with ovalbumin together with the crude extract of C. elegans, cellular infiltration into the lung was dramatically reduced in comparison with the ovalbumin-treated group. Treatment of mice with the C. elegans crude extract significantly decreased methacholine-induced airway hyperresponsiveness and the total cell counts and levels of IL-4, IL-5 and IL-13 in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid but increased the levels of IFN-γ and IL-12. Sensitization with the C. elegans crude extract significantly diminished the IgE and IgG1 responses but provoked elevated IgG2a levels. However, the suppressive effect of the C. elegans crude extract was abolished in IFN-γ knockout mice, and the Th2 responses in these mice were as strong as those in wild-type mice sensitized with ovalbumin. The crude extract of C. elegans also suppressed the airway inflammation associated with established asthma. This study provides new insights into immune modulation by the C. elegans crude extract, which suppressed airway inflammation in mice not only during the development of asthma but also after its establishment by skewing allergen-induced Th2 responses to Th1 responses.