Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Predictors and Consequences of Prejudice in Online Video Games

More than half of the people in North America play video games, and most play often. Despite their popularity, video games are controversial and have been heavily criticized for fostering toxic environments in which racism, sexism, and heterosexism occur frequently. In a series of four studies I explore several possible explanations for why prejudice is more common in video games than in other contexts and what effect prejudice in this environment has on gamers. In Study 1, I test if people perceive online gaming differently from face-to-face interactions. In Study 2, I develop a more nuanced understanding of people’s perceptions of video games by testing whether different genres of games are perceived differently (e.g., puzzle games versus role-playing games). In Studies 1 and 2, I establish that people perceive video games as more prejudiced environments than face-to-face interactions, with action and role-playing games being seen particularly negatively. In Study 3, I explore what might account for why prejudiced behaviour seems to be common in video games. I explore the role of norms and of individual differences in a structural equation model predicting bigoted behaviour. Both norms (how often other gamers make bigoted comments) and individual differences (Right-Wing Authoritarianism, Social Dominance Orientation, Empathy and Internal Motivation to Respond without Prejudice) predict self-reported prejudiced behaviour. Study 3 emphasizes the importance of taking a iii multifaceted approach to understanding prejudiced behaviour. Finally, in my fourth study, I explore the consequences of prejudice in online gaming. Using a daily diary study I found that female gamers experience more bigoted comments than male gamers and are more strongly affected than are male gamers. These four studies provide an introduction to the online gaming environment and lay a foundation for future work to reduce prejudice in online gaming.
Design of a New Firewall Based on Netfilter

In the current network environment, applications have been the main carrier of network. More and more threats come from the application layers which bring about higher requirements to the network access control. The problems of how to accurately recognize the users and applications, to block up the applications with potential safety hazards, to ensure the normal use of legitimate applications and prevent port stealing and others, have been the focus of current network safety. Since IP is not equal to the user, and the port is not equal to application either, the traditional firewall based on the five-tuple array access control strategy of IP/port cannot effectively adapt to the huge changes of current network environment any more. Based on the firewall of next generation, this paper takes the instant messaging software QQ as an analysis object to propose an improved content filter firewall which could block QQ login through extracting, analyzing and judging the content of data packet in the network. The technology proposed by this paper can accurately identify the users, applications and contents according to their behaviors and characteristics, with the ability of complete safety protection.
Incremental Learning Algorithm based on Support Vector Machine with Mahalanobis distance (ISVMM) for intrusion prevention

In this paper we propose a new classifier called an Incremental Learning Algorithm based on Support Vector Machine with Mahalanobis distance (ISVMM). Prediction of the incoming data type by supervised learning of Support Vector Machine (SVM), reducing the step of calculation and complexity of the algorithm by finding a support set, error set and remaining set, providing of hard and soft decisions, saving the time for repeatedly training the datasets by applying the incremental learning, a new approach for building an ellipsoidal kernel for multidimensional data instead of a sphere kernel by using Mahalanobis distance, and the concept of handling the covariance matrix from dividing by zero are various features of this new algorithm. To evaluate the classification performance of the algorithm, it was applied on intrusion prevention by employing the data from the third international knowledge discovery and data mining tools competition (KDDcup'99). According to the experimental results, ISVMM can predict well on all of the 41 features of incoming datasets without even reducing the enlarged dimensions and it can compete with the similar algorithm which uses a Euclidean measurement at the kernel distance.
Performance analysis for DS-CDMA systems with UCHT signature sequences over fading channels

The bit-error-rate (BER) performance for a direct-sequence code-division multiple access (DS-CDMA) system with complex signature sequences is investigated in fading channels. Due to the availability of potentially large sets of complex sequences with good correlation characteristics, the interest of using complex spreading sequences in a CDMA system has increased dramatically. The average BER for asynchronous DS-CDMA with general complex signature sequences is derived based on the Gaussian approximation method. We investigate the recently introduced orthogonal unified complex Hadamard transform (UCHT) sequences. Numerical examples show that BER performance of UCHT sequences is better than that of Gold sequences for the system under consideration.
On evaluating social welfare by sequential generalized Lorenz dominance

The sequential generalized Lorenz (SGL) ordering is introduced by Atkinson and Bourguignon (1987) to rank heterogeneous income distributions. It is well-known that this ordering has a strong utilitarian support. In this note, we show that one does not have to be a utilitarian to accept this welfare ordering: the SGL ordering is supported by all increasing SWFs which record an increase in overall welfare when a (cardinal) welfare transfer is made from less needy to needier.  1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.
Comparison of Four Verbal Memory Tests for the Diagnosis and Predictive Value of Mild Cognitive Impairment

Background: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is considered to be an early stage of a neurodegenerative disorder, particularly Alzheimer’s disease, and the clinical diagnosis requires the objective demonstration of cognitive deficits. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the predictive value of MCI for the conversion to dementia when using four different verbal memory tests (Logical Memory, LM; California Verbal Learning Test, CVLT; Verbal Paired-Associate Learning, VPAL; and Digit Span, DS) in the MCI criteria. Methods: Participants were consecutive patients with subjective cognitive complaints who performed a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation and were not demented, observed in a memory clinic setting. Results: At baseline, 272 non-demented patients reporting subjective cognitive complaints were included. During the follow-up time (3.0 ± 1.9 years), 58 patients converted to dementia and 214 did not. Statistically significant differences between the converters and non-converters were present in LM, VPAL, and CVLT. A multivariate Cox regression analysis combining the four memory tests revealed that only the CVLT test remained significant as a predictor of conversion to dementia. Non-demented patients with cognitive complaints diagnosed as having MCI according to abnormal (<1.5 SD) learning in the CVLT test had a 3.61 higher risk of becoming demented during the follow-up. Conclusion: The verbal memory assessment using the CVLT should be preferred in the diagnostic criteria of MCI for a more accurate prediction of conversion to dementia.
Field report: Autonomous lake bed depth mapping by a portable semi-submersible USV at Mt. Zao Okama Crater lake

This work presents a design and a field test result of a small USV system that has portability and wind tolerance for a lake bed depth mapping of volcanic crater lakes. The depth map of the crater lakes indicates an amount of water, crater wall caving, and volcanic upthrust, which is used for volcanic disaster prevention. However, todayfs depth surveillance is achieved by using a manned canoe on a lake in high-altitude, strong-winded, and restricted areas. This research is aiming to realize the autonomous Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) for volcanic crater lake surveillance in reducing risks to surveyors. In this research, the authors have developed the lightweight semisubmersible USV system with a high draft that has portability and wind tolerance. The result of a field test at Mt. Zao Okama Crater Lake is shown. A depth map of the north half of the Okama Crater Lake was autonomously measured by using the USV system.
Science Teachers’ Conceptions of Teaching, Attitudes Toward Testing, and Use of Contemporary Educational Activities and Assessment Tasks

ABSTRACT As explicit administrative expectations to use meaningful inquiry-based instructional activities and formative assessment tasks might influence teachers’ classroom practices, this study assessed science teachers’ use of contemporary educational activities and assessment tasks above and beyond their conceptions of traditional teaching and learning and their attitudes toward using final tests. Data were gathered from 127 primary school science teachers from 60 Israeli public schools. The results showed that although used less frequently than final tests, formative assessment tasks were used to some extent by the participants during learning processes. Partial least squares structural equation modeling results pointed to the mediating role of teachers’ positive attitudes toward tests in linking their conceptions of traditional teaching to increased use of summative assessment tasks (final tests). Moreover, teachers who reported using constructivist educational activities, more specifically collaborative practices, also reported using formative assessment tasks. Contrary to expectations, this study’s model did not point to a significant negative connection between teachers’ traditional conceptions of teaching and learning and their tendency to use constructivist activities in their classes. It is inferred that in practice teachers need to respond to explicit administrative expectations to use meaningful inquiry-based instructional activities and formative assessment and therefore might use those activities in spite of their traditional conceptions of teaching and learning.
Polarimetric X-band radar measurements of the development of precipitation observed during COPE

The COPE field campaign operated from the 3rd July to the 20 th August 2013, with ground operations based in Davidstow Cornwall where the X-band polarimetric Doppler radar was located. Figure 1 shows the location of Davidstow, the Chilbolton S-band polarimetric Doppler radar and the C-band radars within the Met Office network. The Met Office Cobbacombe C-band radar was operational although not with Doppler velocity or dual polarization capability, whereas the Predannack C-band radar was not operational during COPE. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the use or benefits of the various polarization parameters produced by the X-band radar.
Gradient method based design methodology for time and area optimization of a pipelined attached processor architecture

A procedure for producing a design of a pipelined attached processor is described. It assumes that a set of algorithms and their frequencies of execution are specified. Then it determines designs that tend to minimize the execution time-cost product and execution time/sup 2/-cost product, using gradient methods involving steepest descent. The designs are produced by allocating hardware subsystems such as memory subsystems, processors and routers subject to user resource constraints. The processors are assumed to be constructed of dynamic memory-to-memory pipelines.
The Surprisingly Powerful Influence of Drawing on Memory

The colloquialism “a picture is worth a thousand words” has reverberated through the decades, yet there is very little basic cognitive research assessing the merit of drawing as a mnemonic strategy. In our recent research, we explored whether drawing to-be-learned information enhanced memory and found it to be a reliable, replicable means of boosting performance. Specifically, we have shown this technique can be applied to enhance learning of individual words and pictures as well as textbook definitions. In delineating the mechanism of action, we have shown that gains are greater from drawing than other known mnemonic techniques, such as semantic elaboration, visualization, writing, and even tracing to-be-remembered information. We propose that drawing improves memory by promoting the integration of elaborative, pictorial, and motor codes, facilitating creation of a context-rich representation. Importantly, the simplicity of this strategy means it can be used by people with cognitive impairments to enhance memory, with preliminary findings suggesting measurable gains in performance in both normally aging individuals and patients with dementia.
The Levels of Empathy and Social Problem Solving Skills of Physical Education and Sports Teacher Candidates.

The purpose of the current study is to investigate the empathy and levels of social problem solving skills of physical education and sports teacher candidates. The research group of the study, which was carried out through relational screening model was made up of 148 candidate teachers of physical education (53 female, 95 male) in total studying in the departments of Physical Education and Sport Teaching in 5 universities in Turkey. As a data collection tool, the information form including personal characteristics of the participants, Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), and Social Problem Solving Inventory – Short Form (SPSI-SF) were used. For the analysis of the data, descriptive statistics, independent t-test, and Pearson Correlation Analysis were employed. The data obtained in the study indicated that there was a significant relationship between the emphatic skills of the physical education candidate teachers and of social problem solving skills. Depending on the variable of gender, the mean scores of the females were higher in the sub dimension of emphatic concern compared to those of males. In addition, males had higher scores in the avoidance style, which was considered the sub-dimension of social problem solving skills compared to females. As for the age factor, while there was no difference in the empathy variable, a significant and positive relationship was found in the social problem solving skills. In addition, it was determined that those doing non-contact sports approached the problem positively, while the ones doing contact sports approached the problem in an avoidance style. As a conclusion, it is likely to say that the empathy skills of the physical education candidate teachers are directly and positively related to their social problem solving skills. In this sense, the empathy education that physical education candidate teachers who are in an active relationship with students must have in order that they could have a solution based approach to the problem they are likely to encounter in this communication is of great importance.
Stress gene (hsp70) sequences and quantitative expression in Milnesium tardigradum (Tardigrada) during active and cryptobiotic stages

SUMMARY The eutardigrade Milnesium tardigradum can undergo cryptobiosis, i.e. entry into a reversible ametabolic stage induced by dehydration, cooling and, probably, osmotic and anoxic stress. For the first time in tardigrades, we described partial sequences of three heat-shock protein (hsp70 family) genes and examined gene expression on the way from an active to a cryptobiotic and back to an active stage again. Results showed different patterns of gene expression in the hsp70 isoforms. All three isoforms seem to be true heat-shock proteins since transcription could be clearly enhanced by temperature elevation. Isoform 1 and, at a lower level, isoform 3 do not seem to have a specific function for cryptobiosis. By contrast, transcription of isoform 2 is significantly induced in the transitional stage between the active and the cryptobiotic stage, resulting in a comparatively high mRNA copy number also during cryptobiosis. This pattern of induction implies that isoform 2 is the most relevant hsp70 gene for M. tardigradum individuals entering the cryptobiotic stage.
Contrasting Effects on Discrimination Learning after Hippocampal Lesions and Conjoint Hippocampal–Caudate Lesions in Monkeys

Eighteen monkeys with lesions of the hippocampal region (the hippocampus proper, the dentate gyrus, and the subiculum) made by an ischemic procedure, radio frequency, or ibotenic acid were tested on a simple, two-choice object discrimination learning task that has been shown to be sensitive to large lesions of the medial temporal lobe. The monkeys were also tested on two other discrimination tasks (pattern discrimination and eight-pair concurrent discrimination) that can be learned normally by monkeys with large medial temporal lobe lesions. All of the lesion groups were impaired at learning the simple object discrimination task. Seven of the monkeys who had sustained damage to the hippocampal region also sustained damage to the tail of the caudate nucleus. These seven monkeys, but not the other 11 monkeys with hippocampal lesions, were impaired on pattern discrimination and concurrent discrimination learning. The results suggest that the hippocampal region is important for learning easy, two-choice discriminations, whereas the caudate nucleus is necessary for the normal learning of more difficult, gradually acquired discrimination tasks. The findings support the distinction between declarative memory, which depends on the hippocampus and related medial temporal lobe structures, and habit learning, which depends on the caudate nucleus.
Overcoming Drug-Resistant Cancer by a Newly Developed Copper Chelate through Host-Protective Cytokine-Mediated Apoptosis

Purpose: Previously, we have synthesized and characterized a novel Cu(II) complex, copper N-(2-hydroxy acetophenone) glycinate (CuNG). Herein, we have determined the efficacy of CuNG in overcoming multidrug-resistant cancer using drug-resistant murine and human cancer cell lines. Experimental Design: Action of CuNG following single i.m. administration (5 mg/kg body weight) was tested in vivo on doxorubicin-resistant Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC/Dox)–bearing mice and doxorubicin-resistant sarcoma 180–bearing mice. Tumor size, ascitic load, and survival rates were monitored at regular intervals. Apoptosis of cancer cells was determined by cell cycle analysis, confocal microscopy, Annexin V binding, and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase–mediated dUTP nick end labeling assay ex vivo. IFN-γ and tumor necrosis factor-α were assayed in the culture supernatants of in vivo and in vitro CuNG-treated splenic mononuclear cells from EAC/Dox-bearing mice and their apoptogenic effect was determined. Source of IFN-γ and changes in number of T regulatory marker-bearing cells in the tumor site following CuNG treatment were investigated by flow cytometry. Supernatants of in vitro CuNG-treated cultures of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from different drug-insensitive cancer patients were tested for presence of the apoptogenic cytokine IFN-γ and its involvement in induction of apoptosis of doxorubicin-resistant CEM/ADR5000 cells. Results: CuNG treatment could resolve drug-resistant cancers through induction of apoptogenic cytokines, such as IFN-γ and/or tumor necrosis factor-α, from splenic mononuclear cells or patient peripheral blood mononuclear cells and reduce the number of T regulatory marker-bearing cells while increase infiltration of IFN-γ-producing T cells in the ascetic tumor site. Conclusion: Our results show the potential usefulness of CuNG in immunotherapy of drug-resistant cancers irrespective of multidrug resistance phenotype.
Blistering of Moisture Saturated Graphite/Polyimide Composites Due to Rapid Heating

Polyimide matrices extend the role of composite materials to applications in extreme temperature environments. However, composites can be susceptible to damage under extreme hygrothermal environments such as rapid heating of moisture saturated materials. Here, rapid is defined as reaching high temperature in less than the drying time at that temperature. A new method to predict initiation of steam-pressure induced damage for rapidly heated neat resin and graphite/polyimide composites is proposed. This method entails comparing the calculated, available steam pressure within the laminate to an experimentally determined critical pressure—temperature envelope. Through experiments performed in a thermal mechanical analyzer it is shown that the onset of steam-induced damage can be detected by measuring the expansion of moisture-saturated specimens subjected to a rapid temperature ramp. Optical microscopy of damaged samples shows that the process of initiation and evolution of damage in neat resin and laminates begins with void growth and coalescence in the polyimide resin matrix. Data from tests performed over a range of heating rates and initial moisture saturations are used to develop a critical pressure—temperature envelope. With this envelope we show the dependence of damage on initial moisture content and heating rate and propose an application of this envelope to failure prediction and design of laminated structures subjected to rapid heating.
Nogo Stimuli Do Not Receive More Attentional Suppression or Response Inhibition than Neutral Stimuli: Evidence from the N2pc, PD, and N2 Components in a Spatial Cueing Paradigm

It has been claimed that stimuli sharing the color of the nogo-target are suppressed because of the strong incentive to not process the nogo-target, but we failed to replicate this finding. Participants searched for a color singleton in the target display and indicated its shape when it was in the go color. If the color singleton in the target display was in the nogo color, they had to withhold the response. The target display was preceded by a cue display that also contained a color singleton (the cue). The cue was either in the color of the go or nogo target, or it was in an unrelated, neutral color. With cues in the go color, reaction times were shorter when the cue appeared at the same location as the target compared to when it appeared at a different location. Also, electrophysiological recordings showed that an index of attentional selection, the N2pc, was elicited by go cues. Surprisingly, we failed to replicate cueing costs for cues in the nogo color that were originally reported by Anderson and Folk (2012). Consistently, we also failed to find an electrophysiological index of attentional suppression (the PD) for cues in the nogo color. Further, fronto-central event-related potentials to the cue display showed the same negativity for nogo and neutral stimuli relative to go stimuli, which is at odds with response inhibition and conflict monitoring accounts of the Nogo-N2. Thus, the modified cueing paradigm employed here provides little evidence that features associated with nogo-targets are suppressed at the level of attention or response selection. Rather, nogo-stimuli are efficiently ignored and attention is focused on features that require a response.
Isoindolinones as Michael Donors under Phase Transfer Catalysis: Enantioselective Synthesis of Phthalimidines Containing a Tetrasubstituted Carbon Stereocenter

Readily available chiral ammonium salts derived from cinchona alkaloids have proven to be effective phase transfer catalysts in the asymmetric Michael reaction of 3-substituted isoindolinones. This protocol provides a convenient method for the construction of valuable asymmetric 3,3-disubstituted isoindolinones in high yields and moderate to good enantioselectivity. Diastereoselectivity was also investigated in the construction of contiguous tertiary and quaternary stereocenters. The use of acrolein as Michael acceptor led to an interesting tricyclic derivative, a pyrroloisoindolinone analogue, via a tandem conjugated addition/cyclization reaction.