Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
How reappraisal of new information contributes to optimistic belief updating

People update their beliefs selectively in response to good news and disregard bad news, referred to as the optimism bias. Yet, the precise cognitive mechanisms underlying this asymmetry in belief updating are largely unknown. In three experiments, we tested the hypothesis that cognitive immunisation against new information contributes to optimistic belief updating (e.g. through questioning the reliability of new information). In each study, participants received new information in relation to their prior beliefs, and we examined the influence of cognitive immunisation on belief updating by using a three-group modulation protocol: In one group, cognitive immunisation against new information was promoted; in another group, cognitive immunisation was inhibited; and a control group received no manipulation. This modulation protocol was applied to beliefs about the self, i.e. performance expectations (Experiment 1&2; N=99 and N=93), and beliefs about climate change (Experiment 3; N=227) as an example of factual beliefs. The results of Experiments 1&2 showed that the cognitive immunisation manipulation had no influence on the update of performance-related expectations. In Experiment 3, we did find significant group differences in belief updating, and this effect interacted with participants’ general attitudes towards climate change: people who were sceptical about man-made climate change lowered their estimates of the projected temperature rise particularly if they perceived scientific information on climate change as being fraught with uncertainty. These findings suggest that the importance of cognitive immunisation in belief updating may depend on the content of beliefs (i.e. self-related vs. factual) and participants’ attitudes to the subject in question.
Effect of design parameters on the dynamic response of bridges.

Engineers and researchers have long recognized the importance of vehicle-induced vibration with regard to the response and service life of bridges. In spite of the recognition of the importance and role of dynamic response in deterioration and fatigue damage, the use of current design practices can still result in bridges with undesirable dynamic response characteristics. The primary objective of this study was to develop a procedure for representing moving loads on a bridge model within the context of a commercially available computer code. Such an evaluation might reveal ways to improve design procedures to mitigate unacceptable dynamic response. To achieve this goal, it was necessary to employ a moving load, and, thus, a secondary objective was to develop a procedure for representing moving loads on a bridge model within the context of a commercially available computer code. A third objective was to evaluate the relative effects of various parameters that have a substantial effect on dynamic response. Finite element models of typical bridge structures were developed using ANSYS, a commercially available computer code. A feature of this program, the ANSYS Parametric Design Language (APDL), was employed to represent moving loads with various characteristics. The algorithm developed to represent transient loads in the finite element beam model solution provided results essentially identical with those determined from theory. The relative influence of various design and load parameters was investigated using a finite element model of a section of an actual bridge. Midspan displacements of the bridge were calculated and normalized with respect to the static displacement. Changes in displacement attributable to modifications of the bridge characteristics and to loading parameters were determined.
Spanning Silos: The New CMO Imperative

Introduction: The New Cmo--Why? Chapter 1: Find The Right Role And Scope: The CMO's New Job Description Chapter 2: Gain Credibility And Buy-In Chapter 3: Use Teams and Other Routes To Silo Linking Chapter 4: Develop Common Planning Processes, Information Systems, and Market Analysis Chapter 5: Adapt The Master Brand To Silo Markets Chapter 6: Prioritize Brands In The Portfolio Chapter 7: Conduct A Silo Audit Conclusion - The CMO's First 90 Days
Factors Affecting Student Attitudes Toward Flexible Online Learning in Management Education

In response to recent technological advances and the trend toward flexible learning in education, the authors examined the factors affecting student satisfaction with flexible online learning. The authors identified 2 key student attributes of student satisfaction: (a) positive perceptions of technology in terms of ease of access and use of online flexible learning material and (b) autonomous and innovative learning styles. The authors derived measures of perceptions of technology from research on the Technology Acceptance Model and used locus of control and innovative attitude as indicators of an autonomous and innovative learning mode. First-year students undertaking an introductory management course completed surveys at the beginning (n = 248) and at the end (n = 256) of course work. The authors analyzed the data by using structural equation modeling. Results suggest that student satisfaction is influenced by positive perceptions toward technology and an autonomous learning mode.
Chestnut tannins and their relationship in promoting broiler growth by altering the metabolic phenotype in the cecum.

Abstract Background As the demand for alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) increases in food animal production, phytobiotic compounds gain in popularity due to their ability to mimic the desirable bioactive properties of AGPs. Chestnut tannins (ChT) are one of many phytobiotic compounds utilized as feed additives, particularly in South America, for broiler chickens due to its favorable antimicrobial and growth promotion capabilities. While studies have observed the microbiological and immunological effects of ChT, there is a lack of studies evaluating the metabolic function of ChT in the host. Therefore, the objective of this study was to characterize the cecal metabolic changes induced by ChT inclusion and how they relate to growth promotion. Results A total of 500 day-of-hatch Cobb 500 chicks were separated into five feed treatment groups: control, 1% ChT, 0.2% ChT, 0.08% ChT, and 0.03% ChT. The cecas from all the chicks in the treatment groups were collected on days 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 post-hatch. The cytokine mRNA qRT-PCR was determined using TaqMan gene expression assays for IL-1B, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and IFN-γ quantification. The cytokine expression showed highly significant increased expressions of IL-6 and IL-10 on days 2 and 6, while the other pro-inflammatory cytokines did not have significantly increased expression. The results from the kinome array demonstrated that the cecas from birds fed with 1% ChT had significant (p < 0.05) metabolic alterations based on the number of peptides when compared to the control group across all days tested. Conclusions Based on the results, the increased expression of IL-6 appeared to be strongly indicative of altered metabolism while the increased expression of IL-10 indicated the regulatory effect against other pro-inflammatory cytokines other than IL-6. The ChTs initiate a metabolic mechanism during the first ten days in the broiler. For the first time, we show that a phytobiotic product initially modulates metabolism rather than immunity while also potentially supporting growth and feed efficiency downstream. In conclusion, an IL6-mediated immunometabolic phenotypic alteration in the ceca of chickens fed ChT may indicate the importance in the gut of enhanced broiler health.
Carbon Fluxes Over an Even-Aged Pure Masson pine (Pinus Massoniana) Stand

Masson pine (Pinus massoniana) is a tree species widely planted in central and south China. In the present pioneer study, we reported about our two years of carbon flux observations over an even-aged pure Masson pine stand. Light intensity could explain nearly half (47%) of the variance in daytime net ecosystem exchange (NEE). Daytime dark respiration was lower than nighttime NEE, suggesting a possible effect of light inhibition on respiration. The mean annual NEE was -557 g C m-2 yr-1, which indicated that this stand is a medium to large carbon sink. This NEE estimates were defensive because we checked the data with thorough quality controls and in consistency with previous independent estimates. An unexpected seasonal pattern of NEE was observed with a clear reduction around the transitional period between summer and autumn (around July). This NEE reduction is probably a consequence of water stress induced stomatal control, and not of a decrease in light intensity. The updated optimal stomatal theory did not provide the best description of stomatal control in relation to photosynthesis. Whether this is a new emergent property of the ecosystem scale needs further investigation.
Evaluation of Serum Magnesium Level Among Patients with Essential Hypertension in Erbil-Iraq

Background: Hypertension is a well-established risk factor for cardiovascular diseases with an ongoing global increase in incidence. Low Magnesium may play a critical role in cardiovascular physiology. Although many reports have mentioned the correlation between low serum magnesium levels and hypertension, the results were conflicting. Objective: To measure the levels of serum magnesium in hypertensive patients, and to evaluate the prevalence of hypomagnesemia among them. Patients and Methods: A case-control study from June 2019 to December 2019 was carried out in Rizgary Teaching Hospital and Nawroz Health Center involving 100 adult patients with essential hypertension (group I ) and 100 normotensive age and gender-matched controls ( group II). The serum magnesium level was measured in all participants. Results: Females constitute 64 % of both study groups. The means of the age of both study groups show no significant difference (p=0.82). Although the means of Mg level in hypertensive and control groups were within the normal range, it was significantly lower in hypertensive patients (p=0.004). Besides, 4 hypertensive patients (4%) had hypomagnesemia compared with zero in controls (p=0.043). Conclusion: There was a significantly lower mean magnesium level in hypertensives compared to controls. A relationship was assumed between serum magnesium level and hypertension. However; hypomagnesemia was not common in hypertensive patients.
AUDITORY ICONS FOR COLLISION-AVOIDANCE WARNINGS

The auditory modality has particular advantages over the visual or haptic for collision-avoidance warnings, including increased reaction times and eyes-free use. It has been argued that "auditory icons," conveying information about system events by analogy with everyday events, can further improve these benefits. To test these assumptions, an experiment was carried out to compare the effects of conventional auditory collision warnings with auditory icon warnings in terms of reaction times and driver preferences.
Distributed fiber optic sensors for monitoring pressure and stiffness changes in out‐of‐round pipes

Distributed fiber optic sensors have been shown to be promising when used to monitor the structural health of pipes. The body of work thus far has only considered pipes whose cross sections are assumed to remain circular under load. In some applications, the cross section of the pipe has been known to deform when loaded. Subsequent loading on a deformed pipe then generates additional stresses that may have been unaccounted for when designing the pipe. This paper addresses the effects of the initial non‐circular cross section of a pipe under internal pressure and its detection with a distributed fiber optic sensor based on Brillouin Optical Time Domain Analysis. This ability of the Brillouin Optical Time Domain Analysis sensor to detect local stiffness irregularities on an out‐of‐round pipe subjected to internal pressures is also demonstrated. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Impact of Education and Awareness Programs on the Usage and Attitude Towards Texting While Driving Among Young Drivers

Several studies have been completed about reasons why young drivers are attracted to texting while driving. However, there is a lack of studies in the area of impact of education and awareness programs about the danger of texting while driving. In this study, two different education and awareness programs were designed based on the input from the young drivers. 72 randomly selected participants were divided into three groups: control, awareness treatment and education treatment. A pre-test-post-test experiment was conducted on each group. The results of these experiments measured the effectiveness of the selected programs. The major findings of the research are: (1) Young drivers are generally aware of the danger of texting while driving. (2) The majority of young drivers do text while driving. (3) Young drivers receive different risk level for reading text than either initiating new conversation or replying to the text message. (4) After treatments, drivers perceived texting while driving as more dangerous activity than before treatment. (5) After both treatments, there was a slight reduction in the texting-while-driving behavior. The video treatment (public service announcements (PSAs)) group showed more reduction than the lecture group. (6) Participants with higher educational achievements show a slight reduction in texting while driving. (7) Increased awareness of the danger of texting while driving is a positive sign. It indicates that repeated consistent messaging about the danger of texting while driving may help in reducing texting while driving among young drivers.
Silicon Photonic Device for Wavelength Sensing and Monitoring

OF THE DISSERTATION SILICON PHOTONIC DEVICE FOR WAVELENGTH SENSING AND MONITORING by Germán R Vargas López Florida International University, 2012 Miami, Florida Professor Roberto R Panepucci, Major Professor Over the last decade advances and innovations from Silicon Photonics technology were observed in the telecommunications and computing industries. This technology which employs Silicon as an optical medium, relies on current CMOS micro-electronics fabrication processes to enable medium scale integration of many nano-photonic devices to produce photonic integrated circuitry. However, other fields of research such as optical sensor processing can benefit from silicon photonics technology, specially in sensors where the physical measurement is wavelength encoded. In this research work, we present a design and application of a thermally tuned silicon photonic device as an optical sensor interrogator. The main device is a micro-ring resonator filter of 10 μm of diameter. A photonic design toolkit was developed based on open source software from the research community. With those tools it was possible to estimate the resonance and spectral characteristics of the filter. From the obtained design parameters, a 7.8 x 3.8 mm optical chip was fabricated using standard micro-photonics techniques. In order to tune a ring resonance, Nichrome micro-heaters were fabricated on top of the device. Some fabricated devices were systematically characterized and their tuning response were determined. From measurements,
Priorities for roadside hazard modification: A study of 300 fatal roadside object crashes

Surveys of road curvature, superelevation, gradient, and number and distance from the roadway of roadside hazards were conducted at 300 sites in Georgia of fatal crashes into fixed objects and 300 comparison sites 1 mile away on the road that the vehicle likely had traveled. More than 26 percent of fatal crash sites had curvature greater than 6 degrees combined with downhill gradient of 2 percent or steeper in the roadway at or approaching the sites. Only 8 percent of comparison sites had such roadway characteristics. Half the fatal crashes occurred at or near curves greater than 6 degrees irrespective of gradient. Only 23 percent of comparison sites had such curvature and state study found only 22 percent of roadway with curvature more than 5.5 degrees throughout the state. Non-local roads accounted for 83 percent of the fatal crashes into fixed objects but comprised only 33 percent of the roads in the state. Ninety-eight percent of the objects struck were within 50 feet of the pavement edge. Top priority should be given to roadside hazard modification on and near curves greater than 6 degrees, particularly those accompanied by downhill grades of 2 percent or steeper, on non-local roads.
Assessment of soil microbial and enzyme activity in the rhizosphere zone under different land use/cover of a semi-arid ecosystem, India

Background Land use/cover changes and management practices are widely known to influence SOM quality and quantity. The present study investigated the effect of different land uses i.e. forests viz. mixed forest cover (MFC), Prosopis juliflora (Sw.) DC dominated forest cover (PFC), and cultivated viz. agriculture field (AF), vegetable filed (VF), respectively, on soil parameter, microbial activity, and enzymes involved in soil nutrient cycle in a semi-arid ecosystem.Results The results showed a significant reduction (P < 0.05) in soil carbon (SC), soil nitrogen (SN) content (~ 30–80%) and consequently the soil microbial biomass carbon (SMBC) (~ 70–80%), soil basal respiration (SBR), soil substrate induced-respiration (SSIR), and soil enzyme activities (β-glucosidase, acid phosphatase, and dehydrogenase) under cultivated sites in comparison to forest analogs due to land use management practices. Pearson’s correlation showed a positive correlation of SC with SMBC, SBR, and SSIR (P < 0.01) and enzymatic activities i.e. β-glucosidase, dehydrogenase (P < 0.05) suggesting the critical role of SC in regulating microbial and enzymatic activity. Also, a positive correlation of SM with urease (P < 0.01) was observed indicating the importance of soil abiotic factors in controlling enzymatic activities. Additionally, based on the PCA analysis, we observed the clustering of SMBC/SC ratio and qCO2 nearby AF.Conclusion Our study suggested that degraded sites are more sensitive to the land management practices and land use changes and needed immediate attention in future studies related to SC dynamics in semi-arid ecosystems.
Market Imperfections and Crowdfunding

This paper o¤ers a model of crowdfunding that represents a growing area of interest among practitioners and theorists. It is one of the rst articles analyzing the choice between the di¤erent types of crowdfunding (reward-based vs. equity-based) and the choice between crowdfunding and traditional nancing. The model is based on standard market imperfections such as asymmetric information and moral hazard as well as on some speci c features of crowdfunding including the market feedback regarding new projects. The model provides several implications, most of which have not yet been tested. For example, we nd that when asymmetric information is important, high-quality projects prefer reward-based crowdfunding. The choice of an all-or-nothing mechanism as opposed to a keep-it-all can serve as a signal of a rms quality ("signalling by riskbearing"). Crowdfunding is selected over a traditional bank loan if the demand for the product is either very small or very large.
Effects of forming velocity on micro deep drawing performance with different blank thickness

Micro deep drawing is a promising manufacturing method to produce the hollow, thin walled, cup or box like products at micro scale. Forming velocity can affect the products’ quality significantly due to the size effect, and this effect can be various with different thickness material. In this study, 30, 40, and 50 µm thickness stainless steels were annealed at 950 °C for 2 min under protection of argon gas ambient respectively. These different thickness steels were utilized in the micro deep drawing with different forming velocities. The experimental results show that, the profile accuracy and surface quality of the micro product are affected by changing the forming velocity with different thickness blanks. The micro cup has a less indentation area at the bottom and becomes rounder and more symmetrical with a thicker blank. Besides, the wrinkling phenomenon turns distinct with a thinner blank, and the earing becomes more significantly when increasing the drawing velocity or decreasing the blank thickness. When the drawing velocity or blank thickness increases, the surface of the micro cup becomes smooth and even. The experimental results are in good agreement with the simulation results, which confirms the developed finite element simulation model is applicable.
The Extent of User Involvement in the Design of Self-tracking Technology for Bipolar Disorder: Literature Review

Background The number of self-monitoring apps for bipolar disorder (BD) is increasing. The involvement of users in human-computer interaction (HCI) research has a long history and is becoming a core concern for designers working in this space. The application of models of involvement, such as user-centered design, is becoming standardized to optimize the reach, adoption, and sustained use of this type of technology. Objective This paper aims to examine the current ways in which users are involved in the design and evaluation of self-monitoring apps for BD by investigating 3 specific questions: are users involved in the design and evaluation of technology? If so, how does this happen? And what are the best practice ingredients regarding the design of mental health technology? Methods We reviewed the available literature on self-tracking technology for BD and make an overall assessment of the level of user involvement in design. The findings were reviewed by an expert panel, including an individual with lived experience of BD, to form best practice ingredients for the design of mental health technology. This combines the existing practices of patient and public involvement and HCI to evolve from the generic guidelines of user-centered design and to those that are tailored toward mental health technology. Results For the first question, it was found that out of the 11 novel smartphone apps included in this review, 4 (36%) self-monitoring apps were classified as having no mention of user involvement in design, 1 (9%) self-monitoring app was classified as having low user involvement, 4 (36%) self-monitoring apps were classified as having medium user involvement, and 2 (18%) self-monitoring apps were classified as having high user involvement. For the second question, it was found that despite the presence of extant approaches for the involvement of the user in the process of design and evaluation, there is large variability in whether the user is involved, how they are involved, and to what extent there is a reported emphasis on the voice of the user, which is the ultimate aim of such design approaches. For the third question, it is recommended that users are involved in all stages of design with the ultimate goal of empowering and creating empathy for the user. Conclusions Users should be involved early in the design process, and this should not just be limited to the design itself, but also to associated research ensuring end-to-end involvement. Communities in health care–based design and HCI design need to work together to increase awareness of the different methods available and to encourage the use and mixing of the methods as well as establish better mechanisms to reach the target user group. Future research using systematic literature search methods should explore this further.