Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Redundant morphological marking facilitates children's learning of a novel construction

The presence of redundant marking in languages raises interesting questions about the balance of different pressures in language learning and use. Speakers tend to avoid redundant elements in production: omitting (or reducing) more predictable elements. At the same time, languages maintain different types of redundant marking, such as encoding thematic assignment by both word order and case marking. Why is redundancy found in languages even though speakers seem to avoid it? Here, we propose that redundant cues can facilitate learning. We test this hypothesis in an artificial language learning study with children, where either word order alone or both word order and case marking serve as cues for thematic assignment in a novel construction. Results show that children learned the redundant language better despite having to learn an additional morpheme. We discuss implications for the effect of different cognitive pressures on language change.
When is a Visual Perceptual Deficit More Holistic but Less Right-lateralized? The Case of High-school Students with Dyslexia in Chinese

Expert face recognition has been marked by holistic processing and left-side bias/right hemisphere involvement. Hence recognition for Chinese characters, sharing many visual perceptual properties with face perception, was thought to induce stronger holistic processing and left-side bias effect. However, Hsiao & Cottrell (2009) showed that expertise in Chinese character recognition involved reduced holistic processing, while Tso, Au & Hsiao (2014) suggested this effect may be modulated by writing experiences; in contrast, left-side bias was found to be a consistent expertise marker regardless of writing experiences. Here we examine holistic processing and left-side bias effect of Chinese character recognition between adolescents with and without dyslexia. Students with dyslexia were found to recognize Chinese characters with a stronger holistic processing effect than the typical controls. However, compared with the controls, dyslexics showed a more reduced left-side bias in processing mirror-symmetric Chinese characters. The theoretical and educational implications of these results were discussed.
Does Video Content Facilitate or Impair Comprehension of Documentaries? The Effect of Cognitive Abilities and Eye Movement Strategy

It remains unclear whether multimedia facilitates or impairs knowledge acquisition. Here we examined whether subtitles and video content facilitate comprehension of documentaries consisting of statements of facts and whether the comprehension depends on participants’ cognitive abilities and eye movement strategies during video watching. We found that subtitles facilitated comprehension regardless of participants’ cognitive abilities or eye movement strategies for video watching. In contrast, with video content but not subtitles, comprehension depended on participants’ auditory working memory, task switching ability, and eye movement strategy. Through the Eye Movement analysis with Hidden Markov Models (EMHMM) method, we found that a centralized (looking mainly at the screen center) eye movement strategy predicted better comprehension as opposed to a distributed strategy (with distributed regions of interest) after contributions from cognitive abilities were controlled. Thus, whether video content facilitates comprehension of documentaries depends on the viewers’ eye movement strategy in addition to cognitive abilities.
Norms and the meaning of omissive enabling conditions

People often reason about omissions. One line of research shows that people can distinguish between the semantics of omissive causes and omissive enabling conditions: for instance, not flunking out of college enabled you (but didn’t cause you) to graduate. Another line of work shows that people rely on the normative status of omissive events in inferring their causal role: if the outcome came about because the omission violated some norm, reasoners are more likely to select that omission as a cause. We designed a novel paradigm that tests how norms interact with the semantics of omissive enabling conditions. The paradigm concerns the circuitry of a mechanical device that plays music. Two experiments used the paradigm to stipulate norms and present a distinct set of possibilities to participants. Participants chose which causal verb best described the operations of the machine. The studies revealed that participants’ responses are best predicted by their tendency to consider the semantics of omissive relations. In contrast, norms had little to no effect in participants’ responses. We conclude by marshaling the evidence and considering what role norms may play in people’s understanding of omissions.
Decoy Effect and Violation of Betweenness in Risky Decision Making: A Resource-Rational Mechanistic Account

A wealth of experimental evidence shows that, contrary to normative models of choice, people’s preferences are markedly swayed by the context in which options are presented. In this work, we present the first resource-rational, mechanistic account of the decoy effect—a major contextual effect in risky decision making. Our model additionally explains a related, well-known behavioral departure from expected utility theory: violation of betweenness. We demonstrate that, contrary to widely held views, these effects can be accounted for by a variant of normative expected-utility-maximization, which acknowledges cognitive limitations. Our work is consistent with two empirically well-supported hypotheses: (i) In probabilistic reasoning and judgment, a cognitive system accumulates information through sampling, and (ii) People engage in pairwise comparisons when choosing between multiple alternatives.
Stochastic Modeling of Stem Cells

Author(s): Yang, Jienian | Advisor(s): Komarova, Natalia | Abstract: Stem cells (SCs) are the body's raw materials - cells from which all other cells with specialized functions are generated. Understanding the dynamics of SC lineages is of central importance both for healthy and cancerous tissues. We study stochastic population dynamics of the two-compartment (stem and differentiated cells) system and the three-compartment (SCs, intermediate cell type and differentiated cells) model. Cell decisions such as proliferation vs. differentiation decisions are under regulation from surrounding cells. Successful maintenance of cellular lineages depends on the fate decision dynamics of SCs upon division. There are three possible strategies with respect to SC fate decision symmetry: (a) asymmetric mode, (b) symmetric mode and (c) mixed mode. Theoretically, either of these strategies can achieve lineage homeostasis. We start the whole project by only considering symmetric mode for the two-compartment system. We derive simple explicit expressions for the means and the variances of SC and differentiated cell number. The methodology is formulated without any specific assumptions on the functional form of the controls, and thus can be used for any biological system. We then extend the study of the two-compartment system to include asymmetric mode. In particular, we focus on minimal control mechanisms and networks of the two-compartment system. Through stochastic analysis and simulations we show that asymmetric divisions can either stabilize or destabilize the lineage system, depending on the underlying control network. Next, we propose an algorithm to identify a set of candidate control networks that are compatible with (1) measured means and variances of cell populations, (2) qualitative information on cell population dynamics, and (3) statistical information on intra-crypt cell type correlations. We apply the algorithm on the data of human colon crypts, where lineages are an example of the three-compartment model. We start with 32 minimal control networks compatible with tissue stability, and zero in on only three networks that are most compatible with the measurements.
Users’ Psychological Perceptions of Information Sharing in the Context of Social Media: A Comprehensive Model

ABSTRACT Internet users have been actively using social media to share various kinds of information online, offering opportunities for companies to gain valuable data from their customers. Although researchers have paid considerable attention to users’ information-sharing behavior, few studies have attempted to explore their psychological perceptions in decision-making about sharing information on social media. To gain further insights into users’ information-sharing behavior, our work aims to develop a comprehensive model illustrating individuals’ information-sharing behavior by integrating social-media-based technology features, social capital factors, and personal factors into the theory of reasoned action. Our research results strongly support the research model, which involves using an online survey to collect data. In particular, social media technology features (viz., interactivity and social presence), privacy, social capital (viz., commitment and social ties), and outcome expectations affect users’ information-sharing behavior on social media directly and indirectly. Our work contributes to the information-sharing literature by advancing it in a social media context and exploring individuals’ psychological perceptions. It also advances social capital theory by incorporating social media design features and providing further insights into how they can build individuals’ social capital online. Practically, our work delivers insights for companies (including social media providers) regarding how to encourage users’ information-sharing behaviors and demonstrate business values.
Politically Motivated Causal Evaluations of Economic Performance

The current study seeks to extend research on motivated reasoning by examining how prior beliefs influence the interpretation of objective graphs displaying quantitative information. The day before the 2018 midterm election, conservatives and liberals made judgments about four economic indicators displaying real-world data of the US economy. Half of the participants were placed in an 'alien cover story' condition where prior beliefs were reduced under the guise of evaluating a fictional society. The other half of participants in the 'authentic condition' were aware they were being shown real-world data. Despite being shown identical data, participants in the Authentic condition differed in their judgments of the graphs along party lines. The participants in the Alien condition interpreted the data similarly, regardless of politics. There was no evidence of a „backfire‟ effect, and there was some evidence of belief updating when shown objective data.
Contextual Determinants of Adjective Order: Beyond Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

Previous research on adjective ordering in linguistics and psychology has focused primarily on the unmarked or default order of adjectives, as in large blue car. Inverted word order, as in blue large car, which violates the proposed semantic constraints on adjective placement, received relatively little attention. In two studies we show that the inverted order is not as limited in scope as previous researchers have argued. We propose that the inverted word order reflects the subjective distance principle: the attribute that is psychologically closer to the speaker is mentioned first. Our explanation draws on research on word order in binomials, thus connecting two previously unrelated research traditions on word order in linguistics and cognitive psychology.
Influential Nodes Identification Based on Activity Behaviors and Network Structure With Personality Analysis in Egocentric Online Social Networks

Online social network (OSN) platforms have become a place where the users share their details through various activities. Nowadays, OSNs have major impact not only on the users' lives but also on business and society. Organizations use OSN platforms to reach the target audiences and influential nodes may perform a major role to reach the target audience effectively and efficiently. In this article, a model has been proposed to identify influential nodes for a user in egocentric online social networks by considering the activity behaviors of the user and its network members along with network structure of the user. Finally, the personalities of both the user and the influencers has been analyzed using sentiment analysis and hashtag terms analysis. This article has derived a novel and efficient influence measurement model to evaluate an influence factor of each influential interacted node in the user's network for any of the classified social fields with sentiment types. To achieve that, the influence measurement process has been divided into three different categories namely behavioral influence, structural influence, and collaborative influence which is derived from the first two. Finally, the model for personality analysis has been incorporated.
A comparative study: the prospective influence of nanovectors in leveraging the chemopreventive potential of COX-2 inhibitors against skin cancer

Introduction This study was conducted to elucidate the chemopreventive potential, cytotoxic, and suppression of cellular metastatic activity of etodolac (ETD)-loaded nanocarriers. Methods To esteem the effect of charge and composition of the nanovectors on their performance, four types of vectors namely, negative lipid nanovesicles; phosalosomes (N-Phsoms), positive phosalosomes (P-Phsoms), nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) and polymeric alginate polymer (AlgNPs) were prepared and compared. ETD was used as a model cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor to evaluate the potency of these nanovectors to increase ETD permeation and retention through human skin and cytotoxicity against squamous cell carcinoma cell line (SCC). Moreover, the chemopreventive activity of ETD nanovector on mice skin cancer model was evaluated. Results Among the utilized nanovectors, ETD-loaded N-Phsoms depicted spherical vesicles with the smallest particle size (202.96±2.37 nm) and a high zeta potential of −24.8±4.16 mV. N-Phsoms exhibited 1.5, and 3.6 folds increase in the ETD amount deposited in stratum corneum, epidermis and dermis. Moreover, cytotoxicity studies revealed a significant cytotoxic potential of such nanovector with IC50=181.76 compared to free ETD (IC50=982.75), correlated to enhanced cellular internalization. Its efficacy extended to a reduction in the relative tumor weight with 1.70 and 1.51-fold compared to positive control and free ETD, that manifested by a 1.72-fold reduction in both COX-2 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen mRNA (PCNA-mRNA) levels and 2.63-fold elevation in caspase-3 level in skin tumors relative to the positive control group with no hepato-and nephrotoxicity. Conclusion Encapsulation of ETD in nanovector enhances its in-vitro and in-vivo anti-tumor activity and opens the door for encapsulation of more relevant drugs.
A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Of Pregabalin For The Treatment Of Patients With Chronic Cervical Pain With A Neuropathic Component In Japan

Purpose To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of pregabalin versus other analgesics among patients with chronic cervical pain with neuropathic components during routine clinical practice in Japan. Patients and methods The analysis considered patients with chronic cervical pain with a neuropathic pain component (radiating pain to the upper limb) and who were treated with pregabalin with or without other analgesics (pregabalin-containing treatments) or other analgesics alone (usual care) for 8 weeks. Other analgesics included non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), weak opioids, antidepressants, and antiepileptic drugs. A Markov cohort simulation model was constructed to estimate costs and effectiveness (in terms of quality-adjusted life-years, QALYs) of each treatment over a 12-month time horizon. In the model, patients transitioned among three states of pain severity (no/mild, moderate, and severe). Data were derived from a previous observational study (pregabalin-containing treatments, n = 138; usual care, n = 211). Cost inputs included medical costs and productivity losses. QALYs were calculated using the EuroQol five-dimensional, five-level questionnaire. The cost-effectiveness was evaluated using incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs). Sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess the robustness of results. Results From the payer’s perspective, pregabalin-containing treatments were more costly (JPY 61,779 versus JPY 26,428) but also more effective (0.763 QALYs versus 0.727 QALYs) than the usual care, with an ICER of JPY 970,314 per QALY gained. From the societal perspective, which also included productivity losses, the ICER reduced to JPY 458,307 per QALY gained. One-way sensitivity analyses demonstrated the robustness of the results. Given a hypothetical threshold value of one additional QALY of JPY 5,000,000, the probability of pregabalin-containing treatments being cost-effective was 100%. Conclusion Compared with using other analgesics alone, the use of pregabalin, alone or in addition to other analgesics, was cost-effective for the treatment of chronic cervical pain with a neuropathic pain component in Japan.
A single dose of tramadol in continuous wound analgesia with levobupivacaine does not reduce post-sternotomy pain: a randomized controlled trial

Background Medial sternotomy is commonly used in cardiac surgery, although it results in intense post-operative pain. The placement of a sternal wound catheter for the administration of local anesthetic represents an effective technique. An initial bolus of tramadol in the sternal wound catheter could potentiate the effect of the local anesthetic and decrease both the post-operative pain and the morphine consumption. Patients and methods We conducted a prospective, randomized, double-blind study at the University Hospital Center, Dijon, France. Patients requiring scheduled or non-extreme emergency surgery for valve disease, aorta disease, atrial myxoma, or coronary artery bypass graft via sternotomy were included. A sternal wound catheter was inserted at the end of the surgery. The patients were randomized to receive either a 2 mg/kg bolus of tramadol (n=80) or a placebo (n=80) in the wound catheter. The bolus administration was followed by a continuous infusion of 1.25% levobupivacaine for the first 48 hrs following surgery. The patients’ morphine consumption during the first 48 hrs after extubation was recorded. The other investigated variables were the patients’ rescue analgesia, arterial blood gasses, and length of stay in the intensive care unit and in hospital, as well as the incidence of chronic pain at the four-month follow-up point. Results The morphine consumption was found to be comparable in the two groups (38 mg vs 32 mg, p=0.102). No effect was found in terms of the arterial blood gasses, lengths of stay, or incidence of chronic pain. Conclusion The addition of tramadol to the local anesthetic delivered via a wound catheter following sternotomy did not reduce the patients’ post-operative morphine consumption. Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT02851394.
Liver slice culture as a model for lipid metabolism in fish

Hepatic lipid metabolism is traditionally investigated in vitro using hepatocyte monocultures lacking the complex three-dimensional structure and interacting cell types essential liver function. Precision cut liver slice (PCLS) culture represents an alternative in vitro system, which benefits from retention of tissue architecture. Here, we present the first comprehensive evaluation of the PCLS method in fish (Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L.) and validate it in the context of lipid metabolism using feeding trials, extensive transcriptomic data, and fatty acid measurements. We observe an initial period of post-slicing global transcriptome adjustment, which plateaued after 3 days in major metabolic pathways and stabilized through 9 days. PCLS fed alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and insulin responded in a liver-like manner, increasing lipid biosynthesis gene expression. We identify interactions between insulin and ALA, where two PUFA biosynthesis genes that were induced by insulin or ALA alone, were highly down-regulated when insulin and ALA were combined. We also find that transcriptomic profiles of liver slices are exceedingly more similar to whole liver than hepatocyte monocultures, both for lipid metabolism and liver marker genes. PCLS culture opens new avenues for high throughput experimentation on the effect of “novel feed composition” and represent a promising new strategy for studying genotype-specific molecular features of metabolism.
Association Of GSTM1, GSTT1 And GSTP1 Polymorphisms With Breast Cancer Among Jordanian Women

Purpose: Genetic predisposition to disease has become one of the most investigated risk factors in recent years, and breast cancer (BC) is no exception. In this study, we investigated speci ﬁ c genetic variants of three candidate genes belonging to the glutathione-S-transferase superfamily that have been implicated in increased risk of cancers. Materials and methods: This case-control study comprised 241 Jordanian women who were diagnosed with BC in addition to 219 matched controls. Gel electrophoresis of PCR products was used to visualize and genotype both the GSTM1 and GSTT1 genes, while PCR-RFLP was employed to genotype the rs1695 of the GSTP1 gene. Results: Our ﬁ ndings did not reveal any correlation between the investigated polymorphisms of GST genes and BC risk among Jordanian women. Otherwise, the combination of GSTM1 entire gene deletion and (GG) genotype of GSTP1 polymorphism (rs1695) was signi ﬁ cantly associated with BC with p-value <0.05 (i.e. p-value was not signi ﬁ cant after correcting for multiple comparison). Conclusion: We suggest that the interaction between GSTM1 polymorphism and rs1695 of GSTP1 may in ﬂ uence BC development and progression among Jordanian women. More epidemiological studies are needed to provide a baseline for the underlying role of GSTs polymorphisms in tumorigenesis.
CTHRC1 May Serve As A Prognostic Biomarker For Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background Hepatocellular carcinoma is a common malignant cancer and the second most common cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Collagen triple helix repeat containing 1 (CTHRC1) has been increasingly reported to be involved in tumorigenesis and/or tumor progression. However, limited data are available regarding the role of CTHRC1 in hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods Paraffin-embedded specimens from a total of 29 patients with HCC were collected in our study. The expression of CTHRC1 in hepatocellular carcinoma was evaluated using immunohistochemistry and bioinformatics analysis. Furthermore, Spearman analysis was performed to identify factors of correlation between CTHRC1 and clinicopathological features. Survival curves for hepatocellular carcinoma were produced using the Kaplan-Meier method and the log rank test. Results In this study, we confirmed that CTHRC1 is highly expressed in tissues and hepatoma cell lines. The statistical analysis revealed that the levels of CTHRC1 were significantly correlated with cirrhosis (P=0.024), tumor size (P=0.006), vascular invasion (P<0.001), TNM stage (P<0.001), and BCLC stage (P<0.001). High expression of CTHRC1 in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues is significantly associated with poor survival. Conclusion CTHRC1 may serve as a prognostic biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma.