Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Structure and Development of Pretend Play Across Childhood

Author(s): Marcelo, Ana Kamille | Advisor(s): Yates, Tuppett M. | Abstract: Pretend play is a powerful mechanism of and context for children’s cognitive, affective, and social development. Research has documented relations between features of pretend play, such as the quality of expressed fantasy and the quantity of expressed affect, and varied developmental outcomes. Although there is theoretical and empirical support for the importance of both cognitive and affective facets of play in development, little is known about changes in the form and function of play across childhood. This investigation evaluated the structure and development of children’s pretend play in a diverse community sample of 250 children across three longitudinal play assessments at ages 4, 6, and 8. The data supported a two-factor play structure across childhood and in diverse groups with regard to child gender, race/ethnicity, and poverty status. Multilevel models documented the level and linear change patterns in cognitive and affective play factors over time. Although Hispanic race/ethnicity was associated with lower levels of the cognitive play factor at age 4, and poverty status was associated with lower levels of the cognitive play factor and the affective play factor at age 4, no predictors accounted for the significant variance that remained in the linear change parameter for the cognitive, but not the affective, factor. Together, these findings extend the literature on pretend play by evaluating competing models of the structure of play and documenting patterns of cognitive and affective development in children’s pretend play over time and in diverse groups. Implications are discussed to inform research on play and adjustment and guide practice and policy efforts that foster both.
Propranolol: a Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (Ptsd) Or a Breach in Neuroethics?

To date, very little is known about the neurocircuitry of posttraumatic stress disorder, and currently 5.2 million people are suffering from PTSD in the United States alone. In hopes to treat PTSD symptoms, researchers have targeted corticosteroids, beta-adrenergic antagonists, and opiate analgesics to reduce hormonally enhanced memories and fear conditioning. This study focuses on testing propranolol, a beta-adrenergic antagonist, as a treatment for PTSD-like symptoms (anxiety and freezing behavior) in a rat model. Rats were exposed to inescapable, moderate shocks paired with a predator scent to elicit PTSD-like symptoms. Propranolol was shown to effectively reduce anxiety at 28 days post stress, but did not affect freezing behavior. Through this study, data concerning the time course for PTSD in an animal model was obtained.
Memory-based recognition of camera-captured characters

This paper addresses how to quickly recognize a character pattern using a lot of case examples without learning. Here without learning means just finding the most similar example from the case examples, and pretend as if the OCR understands the definition of the character. This strategy is expected to work well in most cases with a large dataset, however, also expected to take a lot of time for finding the most similar example. In this paper, we show that a lot of case examples can be processed in a short time. As a testbed, we handle recognition problem of camera-captured printed characters. Using a database storing 100 fonts, the proposed method achieved 97.0% of recognition rate for images captured from the right angle and 95.8% for those from 45 deg. with 4.56ms of processing time, that is about 220 characters per second including every process.
Finding Minimal Models by the Semantic Tableaux System

The semantic tableaux system is a procedure to decide whether or not a given formula is valid. The system also works for nding minimal models of formulas. In this paper, we apply this function to circumscription. We show that we can obtain the minimal models of circumscription just by checking the models produced by the system, and hence we do not need to check all possible models of it. We also present an algorithm to produce the models of circumscription based on the system.
Agricultural Economic Evaluation Based on Improved Support Vector Regression

The essence of agricultural project bid is a high-dimensional nonlinear space mathematical optimization problem. In order to improve the generalization performance of SVR algorithm, intelligent algorithm is used to train the SVR parameters, which can make the parameters of SVR optimal. The improved support vector regression evaluation model is applied to the bidding area of agricultural project. The success of some project in some agricultural company proves the reliability and enforceability of the model. The improved model reduces the influence of human factors to improve the objectivity and impartiality of evaluation results.
Fenofibrate Reduces Mortality and Precludes Neurological Deficits in Survivors in Murine Model of Japanese Encephalitis Viral Infection

Background Japanese encephalitis (JE), the most common form of viral encephalitis occurs periodically in endemic areas leading to high mortality and neurological deficits in survivors. It is caused by a flavivirus, Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), which is transmitted to humans through mosquitoes. No effective cure exists for reducing mortality and morbidity caused by JEV infection, which is primarily due to excessive inflammatory response. Fenofibrate, a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α (PPARα) agonist is known to resolve inflammation by repressing nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and enhancing transcription of anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory genes. In addition, fenofibrate also up-regulates a class of proteins, cytochrome P4504Fs (Cyp4fs), which are involved in detoxification of the potent pro-inflammatory eicosanoid, leukotriene B4 (LTB4) to 20-hydroxy LTB4. Methodology/Principal Findings The neuroprotective effect of fenofibrate was examined using in vitro (BV-2 microglial cell line) and in vivo (BALB/c mice) models of JEV infection. Mice were treated with fenofibrate for 2 or 4 days prior to JEV exposure. Pretreatment with fenofibrate for 4 but not 2 days reduced mortality by 80% and brain LTB4 levels decreased concomitantly with the induction of Cyp4f15 and 4f18, which catalyze detoxification of LTB4 through hydroxylation. Expression of cytokines and chemokine decreased significantly as did microglial activation and replication of the JEV virus. Conclusions/Significance Fenofibrate confers neuroprotection against Japanese encephalitis, in vivo, in mouse model of JEV infection. Thus, fenofibrate, a PPARα agonist that is commonly used as a hypolipidemic drug could potentially be used for prophylaxis during JE epidemics to reduce mortality and morbidity.
A Matrix Generalisation of Dimensional Analysis: New Similarity Transforms to Address the Problem of Uniqueness

On the verge of the centenary of dimensional analysis (DA), we present a new matrix generalisation of the Buckingham Theorem on which it is based. The proof is based on a solution we have found for inverting non-square block matrices and gives rise naturally to a new pair of transforms - the similarity transform (S) that converts physical dimensional data into dimensionless space and its inverse (S’). Although it is well known that DA: a) reduces the number of free parameters,
A Complementary Palette of NanoCluster Beacons

NanoCluster Beacons (NCBs), which use few-atom DNA-templated silver clusters as reporters, are a type of activatable molecular probes that are low-cost and easy to prepare. While NCBs provide a high fluorescence enhancement ratio upon activation, their activation colors are currently limited. Here we report a simple method to design NCBs with complementary emission colors, creating a set of multicolor probes for homogeneous, separation-free detection. By systematically altering the position and the number of cytosines in the cluster-nucleation sequence, we have tuned the activation colors of NCBs to green (C8–8, 460 nm/555 nm); yellow (C5–5, 525 nm/585 nm); red (C3–4, 580 nm/635 nm); and near-infrared (C3–3, 645 nm/695 nm). At the same NCB concentration, the activated yellow NCB (C5–5) was found to be 1.3 times brighter than the traditional red NCB (C3–4). Three of the four colors (green, yellow, and red) were relatively spectrally pure. We also found that subtle changes in the linker sequence (down to the single-nucleotide level) could significantly alter the emission spectrum pattern of an NCB. When the length of linker sequences was increased, the emission peaks were found to migrate in a periodic fashion, suggesting short-range interactions between silver clusters and nucleobases. Size exclusion chromatography results indicated that the activated NCBs are more compact than their native duplex forms. Our findings demonstrate the unique photophysical properties and environmental sensitivities of few-atom DNA-templated silver clusters, which are not seen before in common organic dyes or luminescent crystals.
New client puzzle approach for DoS resistance in ad hoc Networks

In this paper we propose a new client puzzle approach to prevent Denial of Service (DoS) attacks in ad hoc networks. Each node in the network first solves a computational problem and with the solution has to create and solve a client puzzle. By combining computational problems with puzzles, we improve the efficiency and latency of the communicating nodes and resistance in DoS attacks. Experimental results show the effectiveness of our approach.
Collaborative Service Enhancement in Intelligent Environments: Service Delivery from User Terminals to Infrastructure Devices

We present a service model that allows terminals to extend their capabilities by delivering services to intelligent infrastructures. For example, a terminal may deliver a pack containing a visualization application and a file to an infrastructure screen. We also present a variant where a user can invite other users to access a shared service on the infrastructure, from other terminals.
Structural Violence Effects on the Educational Life Chances of Children from Low Income Families in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

The aim of the study was to explore the structural conditions and social formations that mediate access to quality education amongst low income children in KwaZulu-Natal. Structural violence can lead to injustices to children such as the experience of hunger, disease, poverty and poor quality of education. A total of 117 students (male = 59; female = 58; age range 8 to 18 years) were drawn from three high schools, five primary schools and a special school in a district of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The study captured the voices of participants through individual interviews and focus group interviews. Data were analyzed thematically. Systemic structural conditions in society such as poverty, lack of resources in schools, poor infrastructure in communities, poorly trained teachers, lack of accountability created barriers to educational access for children from poor backgrounds.
Does One Bad Apple(Juice) Spoil the Bunch? Implicit Attitudes Toward One Product Transfer to Other Products by the Same Brand

If people like a product, they will automatically like another product from the same brand even if they do not know anything about it (demonstrated in Study 1). In one sense, this may be a reasonable inference—brands that have one good product may be likely to have other good products. But what if people learn that the second product is actually not good? Explicitly, people act as expected—the second product is disliked based on its negative features. Implicitly, however, people’s positive attitude toward the first product still influences their liking of the second (Study 2). This attitude transfer effect (Ranganath & Nosek, 2008) shows that people are able to avoid using the qualities of one product to judge another explicitly. But, implicitly, once an attitude is formed toward a brand’s product, other products by that brand will inherit some of the original evaluation regardless of their unique qualities. C � 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Note on noisy group testing: Asymptotic bounds and belief propagation reconstruction

An information theoretic perspective on group testing problems has recently been proposed by Atia and Saligrama, in order to characterise the optimal number of tests. Their results hold in the noiseless case, where only false positives occur, and where only false negatives occur. We extend their results to a model containing both false positives and false negatives, developing simple information theoretic bounds on the number of tests required. Based on these bounds, we obtain an improved order of convergence in the case of false negatives only. Since these results are based on (computationally infeasible) joint typicality decoding, we propose a belief propagation algorithm for the detection of defective items and compare its actual performance to the theoretical bounds.
Graphical fisheye views

A fisheye camera lens is a very wide angle lens that magnifies nearby objects while shrinking distant objects. It is a valuable tool for seeing both "local detail" and "global context" simultaneously. This paper describes a system for viewing and browsing graphs using a software analog of a fisheye lens. We first show how to implement such a view using solely geometric transformations. We then describe a more general transformation that allows global information about the graph to affect the view. Our general transformation is a fundamental extension to previous research in fisheye views.
Diagnostic Accuracy of Age and Alarm Symptoms for Upper GI Malignancy in Patients with Dyspepsia in a GI Clinic: A 7-Year Cross-Sectional Study

Objectives We investigated whether using demographic characteristics and alarm symptoms can accurately predict cancer in patients with dyspepsia in Iran, where upper GI cancers and H. pylori infection are common. Methods All consecutive patients referred to a tertiary gastroenterology clinic in Tehran, Iran, from 2002 to 2009 were invited to participate in this study. Each patient completed a standard questionnaire and underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Alarm symptoms included in the questionnaire were weight loss, dysphagia, GI bleeding, and persistent vomiting. We used logistic regression models to estimate the diagnostic value of each variable in combination with other ones, and to develop a risk-prediction model. Results A total of 2,847 patients with dyspepsia participated in this study, of whom 87 (3.1%) had upper GI malignancy. Patients reporting at least one of the alarm symptoms constituted 66.7% of cancer patients compared to 38.9% in patients without cancer (p<0.001). Esophageal or gastric cancers in patients with dyspepsia was associated with older age, being male, and symptoms of weight loss and vomiting. Each single predictor had low sensitivity and specificity. Using a combination of age, alarm symptoms, and smoking, we built a risk-prediction model that distinguished between high-risk and low-risk individuals with an area under the ROC curve of 0.85 and acceptable calibration. Conclusions None of the predictors demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy. While our risk-prediction model had reasonable accuracy, some cancer cases would have remained undiagnosed. Therefore, where available, low cost endoscopy may be preferable for dyspeptic older patient or those with history of weight loss.
Contextual Factors Affecting the Software Development Process – An Initial View

This paper presents the preliminary results of a research project where the context of software development is observed. The goal of this study is to observe, extract, and categorize the contextual factors that have an effect on the software development process. The study uses theme-based interviews as its data collection method and approaches the research question qualitatively. Various managers, developers, and analysts in four organizations were interviewed and the factors were extracted by interpreting them from the interview transcripts. Altogether nine contextual categories were identified. The categories are described and the need for future research is discussed.
Reduction of discrete interval system using clustering of poles with Padé approximation: a computer-aided approach

This paper presents a method for the order reduction of discrete interval systems using pole-clustering method along with Pade approximation technique. For a given discrete high-order interval system (HOIS), the denominator of the reduced-order interval model (ROIM) is obtained by pole-clustering while the numerator is obtained by minimizing errors between first r time moments of the HOIS to those of its ROIM where r is the order of ROIM. Inverse distance measure (IDM) criterion is used for clustering of poles of HOIS whereas the time moments of HOIS (or ROIM) are obtained without inverting the denominator of transfer function and presented in generalized form. The error function which is weighted squared sum of errors between first r time moments of HOIS and those of its ROIM is carried out by the algorithm due to Luus-Jaakola. The distinctive feature of this method is that the numerator coefficients are treated free in the process of minimization. A numerical example is given to illustrate the procedure. Keywords: Discrete interval system; Inverse distance measure; Kharitonov polynomials; Model reduction; Pade approximation; Pole-clustering method
Work–Family Conflict in India: Construct Validation and Current Status

In today’s dynamic world, majority of boundary-spanning professionals like sales are expected to work for longer hours, regularly interacting with clients and, in several instances, operating across various time zones which ultimately results in blurring work–family boundaries. The sample for the current study are sales employees as they are required to respond to various demands from colleagues, customers and from their respective families as well, which finally leads to conflict from both work and family. Of importance to the research is work–family construct measurement. The study first validated the Netemeyer, Boles and McMurrian (1996) work–family conflict scale in Indian context using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. The results of the data analysis are in line with the indications in the literature. In addition, the current study attempted to investigate the role of demographic variables on work to family conflict (WFC) as well as family to work conflict (FWC). The sample consisted of 330 sales employees working across different service and manufacturing sectors in Mumbai, India. Results indicated that age, marital status, hierarchy, hours worked, number and ages of children are significantly associated with both WFC and FWC. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Fusion of Protegrin-1 and Plectasin to MAP30 Shows Significant Inhibition Activity against Dengue Virus Replication

Dengue virus (DENV) broadly disseminates in tropical and sub-tropical countries and there are no vaccine or anti-dengue drugs available. DENV outbreaks cause serious economic burden due to infection complications that requires special medical care and hospitalization. This study presents a new strategy for inexpensive production of anti-DENV peptide-fusion protein to prevent and/or treat DENV infection. Antiviral cationic peptides protegrin-1 (PG1) and plectasin (PLSN) were fused with MAP30 protein to produce recombinant antiviral peptide-fusion protein (PG1-MAP30-PLSN) as inclusion bodies in E. coli. High yield production of PG1-MAP30-PLSN protein was achieved by solubilization of inclusion bodies in alkaline buffer followed by the application of appropriate refolding techniques. Antiviral PG1-MAP30-PLSN protein considerably inhibited DENV protease (NS2B-NS3pro) with half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) 0.5±0.1 μM. The real-time proliferation assay (RTCA) and the end-point proliferation assay (MTT assay) showed that the maximal-nontoxic dose of the peptide-fusion protein against Vero cells is approximately 0.67±0.2 μM. The cell-based assays showed considerable inhibition of the peptide-fusion protein against binding and proliferating stages of DENV2 into the target cells. The peptide-fusion protein protected DENV2-challeged mice with 100% of survival at the dose of 50 mg/kg. In conclusion, producing recombinant antiviral peptide-fusion protein by combining short antiviral peptide with a central protein owning similar activity could be useful to minimize the overall cost of short peptide production and take advantage of its synergistic antiviral activities.
Does Fair Trade Deliver on Its Core Value Proposition? Effects on Income, Educational Attainment, and Health in Three Countries

Alternative trade organizations (ATOs) based on philosophies of social justice and/or environmental well-being are establishing new channels of trade and marketing. Partisans promote ATOs as systems to transfer benefits from consumers in the wealthy northern hemisphere to producers in the poor southern hemisphere. The central public policy question is whether the well-being of poor agricultural producers in the southern hemisphere is actually being improved by fair-trade practices, or are consumers who buy products on this premise deceived? The research reported here partially answers the question whether participation in a fair-trade coffee marketing channel delivers benefits to small-scale producers in Latin America. The authors employ a survey methodology to compare TransFair USA (TF) cooperative participants and nonparticipating farmers in three countries on socioeconomic indicators of well-being. According to the analysis, the economic effects of fair-trade participation are unassailable; the effects on educational and health outcomes are uneven. However, TF cooperative participation positively affects educational attainment and the likelihood that a child is currently studying. The authors find positive health-related consequences of TF cooperative participation.
Stable laws arising from hitting distributions of processes on homogeneous trees and the hyperbolic half-plane

The projective line with respect to a local field is the boundary of the Bruhat-Tits tree associated to the field, much in the same way as the real projective line is the boundary of the upper half-plane. In both cases we may consider the horocycles with respect to the point at infinity. These horocycles are exactly the horizontal lines {y = a} with a > 0 in the real case, while in the case of a local field the horocycles may be thought of as discretizations of the field obtained by collapsing to a point each ball of a given radius. In this paper we exploit this geometric parallelism to construct symmetric α-stable random variables on the real line and on a local field by completely analogous procedures. In the case of a local field the main ingredient is a drifted random walk on the tree. In the real case the random walk is replaced by a drifted Brownian motion on the hyperbolic halfplane. In both cases the random processes are invariant under the automorphisms of the tree and the hyperbolic half-plane, respectively, that fix the point at infinity. These random processes determine hitting distributions on the horocycles which, in a sense to be specified, are shown to be in the domain of attraction of α-stable symmetric random variables. In both cases the exponent of α-stability is related by an explicit formula to the drift coefficient.