Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Search for a Psychology of Wisdom

In everyday conceptions, people have a tendency to treat aging pri marily as a phenomenon of decline. Individuals such as the octogenarian concert pianist Vladimir Horowitz or 70-year-old marathon runners who beat well-trained 30-year-olds are treated as exceptions to the rule of old age as a time of decay and loss. We believe that much of the prevail ing negative image of old age is in fluenced by the fact that in their ev eryday lives, people focus on outward bodily appearance and the age-correlated increase in illnesses, including such anxiety-provoking illnesses as Alzheimer's disease. Certainly, aging and old age are to a large degree determined by bod ily characteristics and the biological nature of aging. This nexus, how ever, is not the entire story. Behav ioral scientists and humanists inter
Affective, Normative and Continuance Commitment: Can the ‘Right Kind’ of Commitment be Managed?

This study examines the multi-dimensionality of organizational commitment: affective, normative and continuance (including the sub-components of low perceived alternatives and high personal sacrifice), and how these are differentially related to a set of antecedents and consequences (i.e. turnover intentions, absenteeism and acceptance of change). The results, based on a sample of 505 Australian male fire-fighters, indicate that organizational commitment is best represented by the four-factors of affective, normative, low perceived alternatives and high personal sacrifice. In addition, employees experience different personal, job-related and environmental causes of commitment depending on whether they feel they want to, ought to, or need to remain with the organization. Further, not all facets of commitment enhanced organizational effectiveness, with affective being the most beneficial (i.e. employees are less likely to leave, be absent and are more accepting of change) and low perceived alternatives being the most detrimental (i.e. less accepting of change). The implications of these findings for the management of desirable forms of commitment are discussed.
Attentional Modulation of the Emotional Expression Processing Studied with ERPs and sLORETA

Recent ERP studies demonstrate that the processing of facial emotional expression can be modulated by attention. The aim of the present study was to investigate the neural correlates of attentional influence on the emotional expression processing at early stages. We recorded ERP responses to facial stimuli containing neutral versus emotional expression in two different conditions. The first task was to discriminate facial expressions, while the second task was to categorize face gender. Enhanced positivity at occipital and occipito-temporal locations between 110 and 170 ms poststimulus was elicited by facial stimuli presented in the expression task when compared to the gender task. This effect temporally overlapped with the P1 and N170 components, which reflect the early stages of face processing. To localize the sources of the brain activity underlying observed attentional modulation, we used Standardized Low Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography. Enhanced activity within the extrastriate cortex for the .
Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Fine-Needle Aspiration for the Diagnosis of Anaplastic Pancreatic Carcinoma: A Single-Center Experience

Objectives: Anaplastic carcinoma of the pancreas (ACP) is an aggressive variant of ductal adenocarcinoma. The aim of this study was to describe a single-center experience with the use of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) with or without fine-needle aspiration (FNA) for the diagnosis of ACP. Methods: The cytology and surgical pathology databases were searched for a diagnosis of ACP between 1992 and 2008. Demographic, clinical, surgical, radiographic, pathological, and EUS data were abstracted. Results: Thirteen patients with ACP were identified, which represented 0.8% of all pancreatic cancers diagnosed during the study period. Six of 13 patients had EUS. Features of these 6 tumors: median diameter of 42 mm (range, 20-100 mm), hypoechoic (n = 6), solid (n = 3) or mixed solid and cystic (n = 3), heterogeneous (n = 5) or homogeneous (n = 1), and well defined (n = 2) or poorly defined (n = 4) borders. Five underwent EUS-FNA of a pancreatic mass, and cytology demonstrated ACP in 4 and ductal adenocarcinoma in 1. The diagnosis of ACP was confirmed after surgical resection in 2 of these 5, including one in whom cytology demonstrated only adenocarcinoma. The sixth patient had EUS without FNA, and surgical pathology after distal pancreatectomy found ACP. Conclusions: Anaplastic carcinoma of the pancreas has variable endosonographic features. Endoscopic ultrasound-FNA may assist in the cytological diagnosis of these tumors.
A Practical Algorithm for Topic Modeling with Provable Guarantees

Topic models provide a useful method for dimensionality reduction and exploratory data analysis in large text corpora. Most approaches to topic model inference have been based on a maximum likelihood objective. Efficient algorithms exist that approximate this objective, but they have no provable guarantees. Recently, algorithms have been introduced that provide provable bounds, but these algorithms are not practical because they are inefficient and not robust to violations of model assumptions. In this paper we present an algorithm for topic model inference that is both provable and practical. The algorithm produces results comparable to the best MCMC implementations while running orders of magnitude faster.
Champagne Prototyping: A Research Technique for Early Evaluation of Complex End-User Programming Systems

Although a variety of evaluation techniques are available to researchers of visual and end-user programming systems, they are primarily suited to evaluation of research systems. It is important to have evaluation techniques suitable for real-world programming environments, in order to satisfy real-world product managers of the usefulness of proposed new features. To help fill this gap, we present a new evaluation technique, based in part on cognitive dimensions and attention investment, called "Champagne prototyping". The technique is an early-evaluation technique that is inexpensive to do, yet features the credibility that comes from being based on the real commercial environment of interest, and from working with real users of the environment
Sensing of Immature Particles Produced by Dengue Virus Infected Cells Induces an Antiviral Response by Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells

Dengue virus (DENV) is the leading cause of mosquito-borne viral illness and death in humans. Like many viruses, DENV has evolved potent mechanisms that abolish the antiviral response within infected cells. Nevertheless, several in vivo studies have demonstrated a key role of the innate immune response in controlling DENV infection and disease progression. Here, we report that sensing of DENV infected cells by plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) triggers a robust TLR7-dependent production of IFNα, concomitant with additional antiviral responses, including inflammatory cytokine secretion and pDC maturation. We demonstrate that unlike the efficient cell-free transmission of viral infectivity, pDC activation depends on cell-to-cell contact, a feature observed for various cell types and primary cells infected by DENV, as well as West Nile virus, another member of the Flavivirus genus. We show that the sensing of DENV infected cells by pDCs requires viral envelope protein-dependent secretion and transmission of viral RNA. Consistently with the cell-to-cell sensing-dependent pDC activation, we found that DENV structural components are clustered at the interface between pDCs and infected cells. The actin cytoskeleton is pivotal for both this clustering at the contacts and pDC activation, suggesting that this structural network likely contributes to the transmission of viral components to the pDCs. Due to an evolutionarily conserved suboptimal cleavage of the precursor membrane protein (prM), DENV infected cells release uncleaved prM containing-immature particles, which are deficient for membrane fusion function. We demonstrate that cells releasing immature particles trigger pDC IFN response more potently than cells producing fusion-competent mature virus. Altogether, our results imply that immature particles, as a carrier to endolysosome-localized TLR7 sensor, may contribute to regulate the progression of dengue disease by eliciting a strong innate response.
Whole-Genome Sequencing Reveals Distinct Mutational Patterns in Closely Related Laboratory and Naturally Propagated Francisella tularensis Strains

The F. tularensis type A strain FSC198 from Slovakia and a second strain FSC043, which has attenuated virulence, are both considered to be derivatives of the North American F. tularensis type A strain SCHU S4. These strains have been propagated under different conditions: the FSC198 has undergone natural propagation in the environment, while the strain FSC043 has been cultivated on artificial media in laboratories. Here, we have compared the genome sequences of FSC198, FSC043, and SCHU S4 to explore the possibility that the contrasting propagation conditions may have resulted in different mutational patterns. We found four insertion/deletion events (INDELs) in the strain FSC043, as compared to the SCHU S4, while no single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) or variable number of tandem repeats (VNTRs) were identified. This result contrasts with previously reported findings for the strain FSC198, where eight SNPs and three VNTR differences, but no INDELs exist as compared to the SCHU S4 strain. The mutations detected in the laboratory and naturally propagated type A strains, respectively, demonstrate distinct patterns supporting that analysis of mutational spectra might be a useful tool to reveal differences in past growth conditions. Such information may be useful to identify leads in a microbial forensic investigation.
End-to-end quality-of-service coordination for mobile multimedia applications

Transmitting real-time multimedia streams over heterogeneous mobile networks is a challenging task. Variation in network and system conditions can dramatically affect application performance. When providing end-to-end quality-of-service (QoS) multiple system facets should be coordinated: orchestration of local and peer resources, reservation of network resources, adaptation of multimedia streams, etc. This paper presents an end-to-end negotiation protocol (E2ENP) for negotiating and coordinating QoS on an end-to-end basis both at application and network layer. Based on a flexible extensible markup language (XML) model and extending SDPng concepts, the protocol enables the negotiation of system capabilities and allows provider-services to effectively influence the negotiation process. The aim of the E2ENP design is to optimize the efficiency of multimedia call setup and reduce the time for QoS renegotiations, whenever vertical handovers or spontaneous network reconfigurations occur. The basic protocol is presented, together with implementation and measurement results, stemming from several studies on current and future third-generation/fourth-generation scenarios.
Preventing childhood obesity by reducing consumption of carbonated drinks: cluster randomised controlled trial

Abstract Objective To determine if a school based educational programme aimed at reducing consumption of carbonated drinks can prevent excessive weight gain in children. Design Cluster randomised controlled trial. Setting Six primary schools in southwest England. Participants 644 children aged 7-11 years. Intervention Focused educational programme on nutrition over one school year. Main outcome measures Drink consumption and number of overweight and obese children. Results Consumption of carbonated drinks over three days decreased by 0.6 glasses (average glass size 250 ml) in the intervention group but increased by 0.2 glasses in the control group (mean difference 0.7, 95% confidence interval 0.1 to 1.3). At 12 months the percentage of overweight and obese children increased in the control group by 7.5%, compared with a decrease in the intervention group of 0.2% (mean difference 7.7%, 2.2% to 13.1%). Conclusion A targeted, school based education programme produced a modest reduction in the number of carbonated drinks consumed, which was associated with a reduction in the number of overweight and obese children.
An Integrative Approach to Curriculum Development in Higher Education in the USA: A Theoretical Framework.

The role of curriculum in higher education is sine quo non for the provision of quality and relevant educational programs and services to the current and potential learners in the USA and elsewhere in the world. Regardless of sizes, types or origins, curriculum is considered the heart and soul of all educational institutions. Curriculum is crucial for the well-being and effectiveness of higher education (Barnett & Coate, 2005) both in the short and long-term. Lamentably, it is a widely recognized notion in academia that the approach to developing curriculum is disintegrated in that minimal and isolated considerations are given to the various critical elements such as institutional leadership, social trends, industry factor and the role of the government. Therefore, this paper is dedicated to the study of existing literature on an integrative approach to curriculum development as a source of relevant, timely and comprehensive knowledge management in institutions of higher education with a particular reference to the USA.
Feasibility of assessment of promoter methylation of the CD44 gene in serum of prostate cancer patients.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE CD44 is an important metastasis-suppressor gene in prostate cancer. Downregulation of the CD44 gene is attributed to transcription repression by methylation of CpG islands in the promoter region. The feasibility of CD44 promoter methylation measurement as a diagnostic tool was assessed in the serum of patients with cancer of the prostate (CAP). MATERIALS AND METHODS Seven serum samples of patients with CAP were investigated for CD44 promoter methylation by methylation-specific PCR. Three patients had proven metastatic disease, and four were free of metastases. Tissues from a variety of normal epithelia were assessed as well. RESULTS Methylation of the CD44 promoter was readily detectable in all serum samples, although no distinction could be made between patients with and those without metastatic disease on the basis of the signal intensity of methylation-specific PCR products. Remarkably, tissue specimens from different normal epithelia, especially those of the colon and rectum, repeatedly showed aberrant methylation of the promoter region of CD44. CONCLUSIONS In the serum of CAP patients, assessment of the methylation status of CpG islands in the promoter region of the CD44 gene is feasible using methylation-specific PCR. However, because of physiologic promoter methylation in normal tissues, including the colorectal mucosa, assessment of methylation of tumor-derived DNA in the serum of cancer patients lacks tissue specificity and seems not to be applicable in clinical settings.
Personality and hassles among university students: a three‐year longitudinal study

The present study had two goals. The first was to investigate concurrent relations between the five factors of personality and daily hassles experienced by university students. The second was to examine prospective relations between hassles and personality over three years in a two‐wave panel design. A sample of 119 university students responded to questionnaires about daily hassles and personality (NEO‐Five Factor Inventory) in the first semester and seventh semester. Concurrently, Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness correlated with hassles, whereas Openness to Experience correlated little and Agreeableness not at all. Surprisingly, daily hassles were relatively stable over the three years, but this stability was not mainly due to personality influences. Structural equation models showed that Neuroticism and Conscientiousness predicted two of five hassle scales prospectively. There was also a prospective effect of daily hassles on later Neuroticism. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Errors in Planning and Decision‐making and the Nature of Human Information Processing

Cet article aborde la question de la regulation de l'action humaine dans le controle des systemes hautement complexes. La “regulation de l'action” recouvre l'interaction de la fixation des objectifs, des activites de prevision, de l‘elaboration des hypotheses, du planning, de la prise de decision et de la reflexion. Des erreurs et des fautes caracteristiques relevant du planning et de la prise de decision sont decrites et rapportees a divers aspects du systeme humain de traitement de l'information. Beaucoup de fautes et d'erreurs renvoient a un nombre restreint de caracteristiques de l'esprit humain. On montre en outre qu'il n'est en rien facile d’echapper a ces fautes puisque ces processus de traitement de l'information que detient l'esprit humain sont parfaitement fonctionnels dans d'autres contextes. This article deals with human action regulation when controlling very complex systems. “Action regulation” means the interaction of goal elaboration, forecasting activities, hypothesis formation, planning, decision making, and self reflection. Typical errors and mistakes in human planning and decision making are reported and related to characteristics of the human information processing system. It is demonstrated that a lot of very different errors and mistakes are based on a few characteristies of the human mind. Additionally we demonstrate that it is in no way simple to avoid these mistakes, as these information processing characteristies of the human mind are otherwise quite functional in a number of contexts.
Examining the Factor Structure of the Personality Attributes Questionnaire

This study uses confirmatory factor analysis to assess the factor structure and unidimensionality of the Personality Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ; Spence, Helmreich, & Stapp, 1974). The results suggest that neither the original 24-item PAQ scale (Spence et al., 1974) nor the 18-item PAQ scale proposed by Ward, Thorn, Clements, Dixon, and Sanford (2006) is satisfactory. This revised scale was subjected to tests of measurement invariance and examined for its predictive utility in sex classification. Findings confirm Ward et al. The PAQ–MF (masculine or feminine traits) was identified as a statistically reasonable substitute for the PAQ–M (masculine traits) when either unidimensionality or reliability is not possible for all factors. However, the lack of unidimensionality and reliability in the metric begs the question of whether the instrument has utility in gender assessment at all.
Goal Setting Among Adolescents: A Comparison of Delinquent, At-Risk, and Not-At-Risk Youth

A series of studies was conducted to compare group differences in the goal orientations of delinquent, at-risk, and not-at-risk adolescents. An Importance of Goals Scale was developed by examining the item responses of 230 high school students and validated by administering the revised scale to 80 delinquent, 90 at-risk, and 90 not-at-risk adolescents. Results identified differences in the importance attributed to different goals by the 3 groups. Delinquent and at-risk adolescents attached significantly more importance to goals associated with developing a social image (e.g., delinquency, freedom-autonomy), whereas not-at-risk adolescents were more concerned with goals associated with an academic image (e.g., educational, interpersonal). Results are discussed in terms of their implications for school achievement, peer relations, and future life paths.
Increasing the Career Decision‐Making Self‐Efficacy of Nontraditional College Students

Nontraditional college students (29 women and 37 men) participated in a career counseling workshop based on Bandura's (1977) self-efficacy theory. Participants were randomly assigned to either an experimental treatment group or a delayed-treatment control group. Results suggested that participation in the workshop had a significant, positive effect on the career decision-making self-efficacy of the participants (p < .05) across levels of age, sex, year in college, and family income. Results provide support for career self-efficacy theory and indicate that the career decision-making self-efficacy of nontraditional college students is amenable to change through counseling interventions.
Impact of Childhood Abuse: Biopsychosocial Pathways Through Which Adult Mental Health is Compromised

Abstract The relationship between childhood abuse and adult mental and physical health problems is well documented. Over the lifespan of victims of child abuse, social, psychological and biological consequences of abuse interact in complex ways. A biopsychosocial model is applied to the experiences of adult victims of child abuse to make sense of the complex and varied impacts of child abuse. The long-term difficulties experienced by adult victims of child abuse are discussed in relation to the neuro-biological impacts of child abuse on the child's developing brain. The impact of child abuse on neuro-endocrine functioning and the structure of the brain, in particular on the amygdala, hippocampus, left hemisphere, and corpus callosum are explored. A number of implications for social work practice are outlined.
Refining the categorization of physical functional status: the added value of combining self-reported and performance-based measures.

BACKGROUND When considered individually, self-reported functional status and performance-based functional status predict functional status decline and mortality. However, what additional prognostic information is gained by combining these approaches remains unknown. METHODS The authors used three waves of three sites (5138 participants) of the Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly to determine the prognostic value of individual and combined approaches. Baseline self-reported (mobility and activities of daily living [ADL] items) and performance-based (Physical Performance Score) functional status information was classified into three and four hierarchical categories, respectively. RESULTS Based on self-reported information alone, at 1 year, 73% participants had not changed, 15% declined, 6% improved, and 6% died. At 4 years, 53% had not changed, 24% declined, 2% improved, and 22% died. Based on performance-based assessment alone, at 4 years, 33% of the sample remained stable, 37% declined, 6% improved, and 24% died. In the top two self-reported categories, functioning on the performance-based assessment varied widely. Among those who were independent in all self-reported functioning, approximately 40% scored in each of the top two performance-based categories. Among persons in the top two self-reported categories, poorer performance was associated with progressively higher 1-year and 4-year mortality rates. Among persons with impaired mobility and at least 1 ADL dependency, the mortality rate was high and was not influenced by performance-based score. CONCLUSIONS Combining self-reported and performance-based measurements can refine prognostic information, particularly among older persons with high self-reported functioning. However, if ADL dependency is present, performance-based measures do not add prognostic value regarding mortality.