Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Garlic and ginger are not like apples and oranges: Effects of mass/count information on the production of noun phrases in English

In this study a picture–word interference paradigm was used to investigate how grammatical mass/count information is processed during noun phrase production in English. Theories of lexical processing distinguish between two different types of lexical–syntactic information: variable extrinsic lexical–syntactic features, such as number (singular, plural), and fixed intrinsic lexical–syntactic properties, such as grammatical gender (e.g., masculine, feminine). Previous research using the picture–word interference paradigm has found effects of distractor lexical–syntactic congruency for grammatical gender but no congruency effects for number. We used this phenomenon to investigate whether mass/count information is processed similarly to grammatical gender. In two experiments, participants named pictures of mass or count objects using determiner noun phrases (e.g., Experiment 1 with mass and plural count nouns: “not muchmass ricemass”, “not manycount pegscount”; Experiment 2 with mass and singular count nouns: “some ricemass”, “a pegcount”), while ignoring distractors that were countability congruent or incongruent nouns. The results revealed a countability congruency effect for mass and plural count nouns in Experiment 1 and for singular count nouns, but not mass nouns in Experiment 2. This is similar to grammatical gender suggesting that countability processing is predominantly driven by a noun’s lexical–syntactic information.
Duloxetine in acute major depression: review of comparisons to placebo and standard antidepressants using dissimilar methods

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of duloxetine (DLX), an inhibitor of both norepinephrine and serotonin transporters (SNRI), have tested its efficacy in acute major depressive disorder (MDD) versus placebo (PBO) or standard serotonin‐reuptake inhibitors (SRIs) and require review, comparing analytical methods.
The bilateral field advantage effect in memory precision

Previous research has demonstrated that visual working memory performance is better when visual items are allocated in both left and right visual fields than within only one hemifield. This phenomenon is called the bilateral field advantage (BFA). The BFA is thought to be driven by an enhanced probability of storage, rather than by greater precision. In the present experiments, we sought to test whether the BFA can also extend to precision when the parameters of the task are modified. Using a moderate number of to-be-remembered items and 400 ms presentation time, we found better precision in the bilateral condition than in the unilateral condition. The classic BFA was still found in the form of an enhanced probability of storage, when presentation time was 200 ms. Thus, the BFA appears to convey both enhanced precision and greater probability of storage. The BFA is most likely due to the allocation of more attentional resources, when items are presented in both left and right visual fields.
Influence of social anxiety on recognition memory for happy and angry faces: Comparison between own- and other-race faces

The reported experiment investigated memory of unfamiliar faces and how it is influenced by race, facial expression, direction of gaze and observers’ level of social anxiety. In total, 87 Japanese participants initially memorized images of Oriental and Caucasian faces displaying either happy or angry expressions with direct or averted gaze. They then saw the previously seen faces and additional distractor faces displaying neutral expressions and judged whether they had seen them before. Their level of social anxiety was measured with a questionnaire. Regardless of gaze or race of the faces, recognition for faces studied with happy expressions was more accurate than for those studied with angry expressions (happiness advantage), but this tendency weakened for people with higher levels of social anxiety, possibly due to their increased anxiety for positive feedback regarding social interactions. Interestingly, the reduction in the happiness advantage observed for the highly anxious participants was more prominent for the own-race faces than for the other-race faces. The results suggest that angry expression disrupts processing of identity-relevant features of the faces, but the memory for happy faces is affected by the social anxiety traits, and the magnitude of the impact may depend on the importance of the face.
A closer look at strengthened readings of scalars

The majority of the extensive experimental and theoretical literature on scalar strengthening assumes that the phenomenon is uniform across all types of scalars. The experiment reported here contributes to the growing evidence against scalar uniformity, while also exploring the suggestion of Van Tiel, Van Miltenburg, Zevakhina, and Guerts, (2014) of the role of boundedness in the observed variation. The current experiment utilizes a novel approach to exploring the interpretation of scalars, and also investigates the content of strengthened interpretations.
Counter-regulation in affective attentional biases: Evidence in the additional singleton paradigm

We investigated motivational influences on affective processing biases; specifically, we were interested in whether anticipating positive versus negative future outcomes during goal pursuit affects attentional biases toward positive or negative stimuli. Attentional valence biases were assessed with the additional singleton task, with the task-irrelevant singleton colors being positive, negative or neutral. The motivational relevance of colors was established in a preceding task: In a balanced design, one color acquired positive valence by indicating the chance to win money, and a different color acquired negative valence by indicating the danger to lose money. Blocks of the additional singleton task were associated with either the chance of winning money (positive outcome focus) or the danger of losing money (negative outcome focus). We found an interaction of outcome focus and singleton valence in the accuracy rates, indicating an incongruency effect: Attentional capture was stronger for positive (negative) singletons in the negative (positive) outcome focus conditions. This result further corroborates the counter-regulation hypothesis, extending previous findings on the motivational top-down regulation of affective processing to the domain of early attentional processes.
The analysis of microsatellite instability in extracolonic gastrointestinal malignancy

Summary Microsatellite instability (MSI) is a genetic feature of sporadic and familial cancers of multiple sites and is related to defective mismatch repair (MMR) protein function. Lynch syndrome (LS) is a familial form of MMR deficiency that may present with a spectrum of MSI positive cancers including gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies. The incidence of high level MSI (MSI-H) in colorectal carcinoma is well defined in both familial and sporadic cases and these tumours portend a better overall prognosis in colorectal carcinoma (CRC). There are certain morphological features that suggest MSI-H CRC and international guidelines have been established for the evaluation of MSI in CRC. The prevalence and morphological features of extracolonic GI MSI-H tumours are less well documented. Furthermore, it is unclear whether the guidelines for the assessment of MSI in CRC are appropriate for application to extracolonic GI malignancies. This review aims to summarise the recent literature on MSI in extracolonic LS-related GI tract malignancies with special attention to the assessment of the MMR system by evaluation of specific microsatellite markers and/or immunohistochemical evaluation of MMR protein expression. The reported prevalence of sporadic and LS-related MSI-H tumours along with their associated unique morphological patterns and related prognostic or therapeutic implications will be discussed.
Remember some or remember all? Ageing and strategy effects in visual working memory

Recent research has indicated that visual working memory capacity for unidimensional items might be boosted by focusing on all presented items, as opposed to a subset of them. However, it is not clear whether the same outcomes would be observed if more complex items were used which require feature binding, a potentially more demanding task. The current experiments, therefore, examined the effects of encoding strategy using multidimensional items in tasks that required feature binding. Effects were explored across a range of different age groups (Experiment 1) and task conditions (Experiment 2). In both experiments, participants performed significantly better when focusing on a subset of items, regardless of age or methodological variations, suggesting this is the optimal strategy to use when several multidimensional items are presented and binding is required. Implications for task interpretation and visual working memory function are discussed.
To what extent is dementia underreported on british death certificates?

Of 1042 elderly people randomly sampled from the community in a longitudinal study of ageing, 512 had died in the period 1985–1994, with 44 of these deaths occurring among respondents who, at clinical interview, met DSM‐III‐R criteria for dementia. The presence of dementia, however, was recorded on only 15 (34%) of the 44 death certificates from this group. This low level of recording was not significantly related to the patient's gender, age or place of death. The likelihood of dementia being recorded was also unrelated to date of death, with earlier (1985–1990) and later (1990–1994) certificates showing similar levels of non‐recording. Analyses of all 512 certificates showed that cases of dementia were 2.5 times more likely than the non‐demented to have bronchopneumonia recorded as a principal cause of death. These results confirm earlier links between dementia and death from respiratory disease but suggest that, when assessed in random community samples, the extent to which dementia is under reported on British death certificates is greater than previously estimated.
On the sources of forgetting in working memory: The test of competing hypotheses

Whether forgetting from working memory (WM) is only due to interference or is also caused by temporal decay is still a matter of debate. In the present study, this question was examined using complex span tasks in which each memory item was followed by a series of processing episodes, the duration and number of which were varied. It is known that recall performance in these tasks depends on the cognitive load (CL) of concurrent processing conceived as the ratio between processing time and free time, higher CL resulting in lower spans. The decay-and-refresh hypothesis accounts for this effect by assuming that memory traces decay during processing but are refreshed during free time. This hypothesis predicts lower recall performance with longer processing episodes, but no effect of their number as long as CL remains constant. The interference-only hypothesis supposes that free time is used to alleviate the interference created by processing distractors. This hypothesis is potentially compatible with an effect of the duration of processing episodes through increased interference, but predicts a detrimental effect of their number. In three experiments, the recall pattern fitted the predictions of the decay-and-refresh hypothesis for verbal WM, but that of the interference-only hypothesis for visuospatial WM. Although the entire pattern of data is more easily accommodated by the decay-and-refresh hypothesis than by its interference-only contender, our results suggest that it is unwise to aim at identifying a unique source to a complex phenomenon like WM forgetting.
No association between BDNF Val66Met polymorphism and emergence of psychiatric symptoms in systemic lupus erythematosus patients

Brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays an important role in the regulation of synaptic plasticity and neurotransmitter release across multiple neurotransmitter systems. Recent studies have suggested that BDNF plays a role in the pathogenesis of psychiatric symptoms in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
Análise do preenchimento dos dados de imunização da caderneta de saúde da criança

The objective of this study was to analyze the records of immunization data in the health books of children one year old and younger. This descriptive, cross-sectional study was performed in family health units of Cuiaba/MT, with 950 health books, from which data were collected in the second stage of the 2011 poliomyelitis immunization campaign. Of all health books, 60.3% (573) presented the complete immunization schedule while 39.7% (377) showed some delays. No associations were found between mothers’ variables and immunization schedule. It was observed that over 92% of the information was filled out, such as the immunization date, lot number and the signature of the health care professional. Furthermore, 98.7% (938) of health books reported the dates of the next doses. The study showed that although most health books presented an up-to-date immunization situation, the delay rate is concerning as immunizations are mandatory in children’s first year of life. Descriptors: Child Health; Pediatric Nursing; Primary Health Care; Immunization.
Ambulatory Cardiovascular Activities in L-NAME-Treated Mice

Objective: High blood pressure (BP) is a dominant risk factor in cardiovascular diseases. An experimental model of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor induced hypertension was developed to study some etiologic mechanisms in cardiovascular parameters. Methods: Cardiovascular rhythm characteristics were documented in mice following the N-omega-nitro-L-arginine- methyl-ester (L-NAME)-treatment (Rx). Radio-telemetered BP, heart rate (HR), and locomotor activity (LA) were measured every 4 min for 5 days before and for 14 days after Rx. Data was converted into an hourly average and analyzed by the linear least square rhythmometry. Results: L-NAME-Rx increased systolic BP (SBP) significantly without significant changes in diastolic BP and markedly reduced HR: SBP (mm Hg) 143.4 ± 0.6 versus 148.9 ± 0.4, P <0.0001; HR (beat/min): 552.13 ± 2.7 vs. 481 ± 1.8, P <0.0001, with markedly depleted amplitude. SBP variations were mainly during the night time, while HR variations were almost every time-point comparison throughout the 24-h span. Although the overall LA was not significantly changed with L-NAME-Rx, time-point depleted LA was noted, especially when the light was off at 18:00 hour through midnight (P <0.0001), while an opposite result was observed at noon with significantly increased LA in this nocturnal animal (P <0.005), with markedly decreased amplitude (P <0.01). Interestingly, we observe reduced HR with L-NAME-Rx contradicted to other reports. Conclusion: The results suggest that the NOS blockade may impair cardiovascular autonomic adaptations and arterial baroreflex integration, resulting in an increased vascular tone during the systole, but not an end diastole in the relaxed cardiac autonomic tonus.
The self as a moral agent: Linking the neural bases of social agency and moral sensitivity

Abstract The human brain is inherently able to understand the world in moral ways, endowing most of us with an intuitive sense of fairness, concern for others, and observance of cultural norms. We have argued that this moral sensitivity ability depends on a sophisticated integration of cognitive, emotional, and motivational mechanisms, which are modulated by individual experience in different cultural milieus. Different lines of investigation on agency and morality have pointed to overlapping neural systems. Therefore, understanding the relationships between morality and agency may provide key insights into the mechanisms underlying human behavior in several clinical and societal settings. We used functional MRI to investigate the contribution of agency and of specific moral emotions to brain activation using action scripts. Results showed that emotionally neutral agency recruited neural networks previously associated with agency, intentionality and moral cognition, encompassing ventral and subgenual sectors of the medial prefrontal cortex (PFC), insula, anterior temporal cortex and superior temporal sulcus (STS). Compared to emotionally neutral agency, different categories of moral emotions led to distinct activation patterns: (1) prosocial emotions (guilt, embarrassment, compassion) activated the anterior medial PFC and STS, with (2) empathic emotions (guilt and compassion) additionally recruiting the mesolimbic pathway; (3) other-critical emotions (disgust and indignation) were associated with activation of the amygdala—parahippocampal and fusiform areas. These findings indicate that agency related to norm-abiding social behaviors of emotionally neutral scripts share neural substrates both with the “default mode” of brain function and with the moral sensitivity network. Additional activation in specific components of this network is elicited by different classes of moral emotions, in agreement with recent integrative models of moral cognition and emotion.
Individual Mortality and Macro Economic Conditions from Birth to Death

This paper analyzes the effects of macro-economic conditions throughout life on the individual mortality rate. We estimate flexible duration models where the individual's mortality rate depends on current conditions, conditions earlier in life (notably during childhood), calendar time, age, individual characteristics, including individual socio-economic indicators, And interaction terms. We use individual data records from Dutch registers of birth, marriage, and death certificates, covering an observation window of unprecedented size (1812-1999). These are merged with historical data on macro-economic and health indicators. The results indicate a strong effect of macro-economic conditions during childhood on mortality at all ages. Those who are born in bad times on average have a high mortality rate throughout life, in particular during childhood itself and at ages above 50. Current macro-economic conditions mostly have an effect on youths and on the elderly.
Putting oneself in the perspective of the other: A framework for self–other differentiation

Abstract Self–other differentiation requires both that one can understand the actions others perform, and that one can attribute these actions to them. Understanding implies that a complete description of the actions of other agents can be available in the brain of the observer. Attributing implies that the agent can be clearly differentiated from the self. The model for the self–other differentiation proposed here can therefore involve two steps: I first displace myself at the location of the person I observe in order to specify her/his location in space. Then, I simulate the action I observe from that person in order to understand what she/he is doing. Assuming that the two operations are more or less synchronous, the action I simulate is automatically attributed to the person I observe, not to myself. The simulation network in the observer's brain overlaps with the execution network in the agent's brain; by contrast, the rotation network is specific to the observer's brain. In a neuroimaging experiment using PET, we compared brain activity during a task where the subjects simulated an action of grasping an object from either first-person or third-person perspectives. This comparison revealed an activation limited to the parieto-occipital junction (area 19), which appeared to be specific to the third-person perspective. The activation of this area is proposed to represent a cue for the self–other differentiation.
Sharing secrets: Oxytocin and trust in schizophrenia

Abstract Previous studies indicated that oxytocin plays an important role in human trust, which is impaired in patients with severe mental disorders. In this study, we measured plasma oxytocin levels in patients with schizophrenia (n=50) and in healthy controls (n=50) after neutral and trust-related interpersonal interactions. Trust-related interactions were associated with increased oxytocin levels in controls. This effect was absent in patients with schizophrenia. Low oxytocin levels measured after trust-related interactions significantly predicted the negative symptoms of schizophrenia but were not related to positive symptoms, depression, anxiety, and neuropsychological functions. These results suggest that decreased trust-related oxytocin release is related to the negative symptoms and may be associated with social withdrawal, isolation, and flattened affect in schizophrenia.
Modulation of medial prefrontal and inferior parietal cortices when thinking about past, present, and future selves

Abstract Recent functional neuroimaging studies have shown that reflecting on representations of the present self versus temporally distant selves is associated with higher activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC). In the current fMRI study, we investigated whether this effect of temporal perspective is symmetrical between the past and future. The main results revealed that the MPFC showed higher activity when reflecting on the present self than when reflecting on past and future selves, with no difference between past and future selves. Temporal perspective also modulated activity in the right inferior parietal cortex but in the opposite direction, activity in this brain region being higher when reflecting on past and future selves relative to the present self (with again no difference between past and future selves). These findings show that differences in brain activity when thinking about current versus temporally distant selves are symmetrical between the past and the future. It is suggested that by processing degrees of self-relatedness, the MPFC might sustain the process of identifying oneself with current representations of the self, whereas the right inferior parietal cortex might be involved in distinguishing the present self from temporally distant selves.
How images of old age vary with age: an exploratory study among the Portuguese population

Agism was the term chosen by Butler to name the process of discrimination based on chronological age, which usually results in an image of the elderly as unproductive, sick, depressed and with cognitive impairment. This form of bias, like others that devaluate and stereotype groups of people, has a marked effect on social interaction, influencing social attitudes and perceptions in a covert manner. The use of negative images relating to old age and the aging process promotes negative attitudes relating to elderly people, affects the way they live and the way people of other ages prepare to face their old age.