Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of contour on aesthetic judgments and approach-avoidance decisions in architecture

On average, we urban dwellers spend about 90% of our time indoors, and share the intuition that the physical features of the places we live and work in influence how we feel and act. However, there is surprisingly little research on how architecture impacts behavior, much less on how it influences brain function. To begin closing this gap, we conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging study to examine how systematic variation in contour impacts aesthetic judgments and approach-avoidance decisions, outcome measures of interest to both architects and users of spaces alike. As predicted, participants were more likely to judge spaces as beautiful if they were curvilinear than rectilinear. Neuroanatomically, when contemplating beauty, curvilinear contour activated the anterior cingulate cortex exclusively, a region strongly responsive to the reward properties and emotional salience of objects. Complementing this finding, pleasantness—the valence dimension of the affect circumplex—accounted for nearly 60% of the variance in beauty ratings. Furthermore, activation in a distributed brain network known to underlie the aesthetic evaluation of different types of visual stimuli covaried with beauty ratings. In contrast, contour did not affect approach-avoidance decisions, although curvilinear spaces activated the visual cortex. The results suggest that the well-established effect of contour on aesthetic preference can be extended to architecture. Furthermore, the combination of our behavioral and neural evidence underscores the role of emotion in our preference for curvilinear objects in this domain.
Learning with Media

This article describes learning with media as a complementary process within which representations are constructed and procedures performed, sometimes by the learner and sometimes by the medium. It reviews research on learning with books, television, computers, and multimedia environments. These media are distinguished by cognitively relevant characteristics of their technologies, symbol systems, and processing capabilities. Studies are examined that illustrate how these characteristics, and the instructional designs that employ them, interact with learner and task characteristics to influence the structure of mental representations and cognitive processes. Of specific interest is the effect of media characteristics on the structure, formation, and modification of mental models. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
Laying the Foundations for Electoral Success: Conservative Pre-Campaign Canvassing before the 2010 UK General Election

The Conservatives needed a net gain of 116 seats at the 2010 general election if they were to win an overall majority and form the next government. From 2007 onwards, a unit in the central party organization, led by Conservative Deputy Chairman Lord Ashcroft, worked with local parties to promote their candidates' cause in a substantial number of marginal constituencies. The efforts of Lord Ashcroft's team involved the expenditure of several million pounds during the pre-election campaign period in an effort to win over voters in key battleground seats. But was it effective? Using a path modelling approach, we provide substantial evidence that it was. Not only did it have both a significant direct effect and an indirect effect, through “short campaign” effort, on Conservative Party support in 2010, but the Conservatives were significantly more likely to win key battleground seats against Labour where larger grant allocations were made. Frequency also mattered. The Conservatives were far more likely to win Labour-held seats if constituencies received money from Lord Ashcroft's team on two or more occasions.
Empirical Investigation of Finding 'Person' in Social Network using Clustering

We are trying to identify person as an entity from social network data by grouping the person with some characteristics. It is very difficult to identify people on social networks especially for specific names in different cultures like India, and other ethnic places whose names are difficult to trace. This is a small effort to bridge the gap of identifying person with features like name, date of birth and address containing state, city etc. We are trying to make use of clustering algorithms to uniquely identify people/person on social networks. An empirical analysis of the same is presented here.
What higher education students do with teacher feedback: Feedback-practice implications

Abstract Writing pedagogy research has constantly maintained that feedback is ‘an essential component of virtually every model of the writing process’ (Hall, 1990: 43) as it motivates writers to improve their next draft. Feedback during the writing process improves not only student attitude to writing but writing performance if students are given unlimited opportunities to respond to teacher feedback and continue writing (Ferris, 1995). Feedback research, therefore, suggests a causal relationship between teacher feedback practices during text production, student attitude and writing performance. However, a four-year longitudinal study conducted at a higher education institution monitoring student perceptions of written feedback on essay drafts found that the impact of feedback practices on writing performance was limited (Harran, 1999). The article briefly overviews the longitudinal study's findings and then describes a second study conducted at the same institution to pursue research assertions that specific, non-directive and interactive feedback practices have a causal relationship not only with student attitude to writing and writing performance but motivates action to improve writing. The article describes the feedback practices implemented in the second study which students perceived as motivating and improved writing quality though redrafting.
Assessment of Caspase Activities in Intact Apoptotic Thymocytes Using Cell-Permeable Fluorogenic Caspase Substrates

To detect caspase activities in intact apoptotic cells at the single cell level, cell-permeable fluorogenic caspase substrates were synthesized incorporating the optimal peptide recognition motifs for caspases 1, 3/7, 6, 8, and 9. Caspase activities were then assessed at various times after in vitro treatment of mouse thymocytes with dexamethasone or anti-Fas antibody. Dexamethasone induced the following order of appearance of caspase activities as judged by flow cytometry: LEHDase, WEHDase, VEIDase, IETDase, and DEVDase. Since the relative order of caspases 3 (DEVDase) and 6 (VEIDase) in the cascade has been controversial, this caspase activation order was reexamined using confocal microscopy. The VEIDase activity appeared before DEVDase in every apoptotic cell treated with dexamethasone. In contrast, anti-Fas stimulation altered this sequence: IETDase was the first measurable caspase activity and DEVDase preceded VEIDase. In an attempt to determine the intracellular target of the potent antiapoptotic agent carbobenzoxy-valyl-alanyl-aspartyl(β-methyl ester)-fluoromethyl ketone (Z-VAD[OMe]-FMK), we examined its ability to inhibit previously activated intracellular caspases. However, no significant reductions of these activities were observed. These fluorogenic caspase substrates allow direct observation of the caspase cascade in intact apoptotic cells, showing that the order of downstream caspase activation is dependent on the apoptotic stimulus.
Aminoindoles, a Novel Scaffold with Potent Activity against Plasmodium falciparum

ABSTRACT This study characterizes aminoindole molecules that are analogs of Genz-644442. Genz-644442 was identified as a hit in a screen of ∼70,000 compounds in the Broad Institute's small-molecule library and the ICCB-L compound collection at Harvard Medical School. Genz-644442 is a potent inhibitor of Plasmodium falciparum in vitro (50% inhibitory concentrations [IC50s], 200 to 285 nM) and inhibits P. berghei in vivo with an efficacy of >99% in an adapted version of Peters' 4-day suppressive test (W. Peters, Ann. Trop. Med. Parasitol. 69:155–171, 1975). Genz-644442 became the focus of medicinal chemistry optimization; 321 analogs were synthesized and were tested for in vitro potency against P. falciparum and for in vitro absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) properties. This yielded compounds with IC50s of approximately 30 nM. The lead compound, Genz-668764, has been characterized in more detail. It is a single enantiomer with IC50s of 28 to 65 nM against P. falciparum in vitro. In the 4-day P. berghei model, when it was dosed at 100 mg/kg of body weight/day, no parasites were detected on day 4 postinfection. However, parasites recrudesced by day 9. Dosing at 200 mg/kg/day twice a day resulted in cures of 3/5 animals. The compound had comparable activity against P. falciparum blood stages in a human-engrafted NOD-scid mouse model. Genz-668764 had a terminal half-life of 2.8 h and plasma trough levels of 41 ng/ml when it was dosed twice a day orally at 55 mg/kg/day. Seven-day rat safety studies showed a no-observable-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) at 200 mg/kg/day; the compound was not mutagenic in Ames tests, did not inhibit the hERG channel, and did not have potent activity against a broad panel of receptors and enzymes. Employing allometric scaling and using in vitro ADME data, the predicted human minimum efficacious dose of Genz-668764 in a 3-day once-daily dosing regimen was 421 mg/day/70 kg, which would maintain plasma trough levels above the IC90 against P. falciparum for at least 96 h after the last dose. The predicted human therapeutic index was approximately 3, on the basis of the exposure in rats at the NOAEL. We were unable to select for parasites with >2-fold decreased sensitivity to the parent compound, Genz-644442, over 270 days of in vitro culture under drug pressure. These characteristics make Genz-668764 a good candidate for preclinical development.
A New Model for the Galactic Distribution of Free Electrons and its Fluctuations

We present a new model for the Galactic distribution of free electrons. It (a) describes the distribution of the free electrons responsible for pulsar dispersion measures and thus can be used for estimating the distances to pulsars; (b) describes large-scale variations in the strength of fluctuations in electron density that underly interstellar scattering; (c) can be used to interpret interstellar scattering and scintillation observations of Galactic objects and of extragalactic objects, such as intrinsically compact AGNs and Gamma-ray burst afterglows; and (d) serves as a preliminary, smooth spatial model of the warm ionized component of the interstellar gas. This work builds upon and supercedes the Taylor & Cordes (1993) model by exploiting new observations and analysis methods. For lines of sight directed out of the Galactic plane, the new model yields substantially larger values for pulsar dispersion measures, except for directions dominated by the local hot bubble. Unlike the TC93 model, the new model provides sufficient electrons to account for the dispersion measures of the vast majority of known, Galactic pulsars. The new model is described and exemplified using plots of astronomically useful quantities on Galactic-coordinate grids. Software available on the Internet is also described. Future observations and analysis techniques that will improve the Galactic model are outlined.
Hyper rectangular trend analysis application to Islamic rulings (fatwas)

Trend analysis is a research field with a large number of applications ranging from monitoring potential rivals to analyzing interests of a certain category of people. Applying trend analysis to the Islamic domain makes it possible to have a general idea about topics discussed by Muslims all over the world. It helps both scholars and social science researchers understanding the needs and the interest domains of each Muslim society. In this paper, we present a trend analysis method based on hyper-concepts. Hyper-concepts make it possible to decompose any corpus into non-overlapping rectangular relations and to highlight the most representative attributes or keywords. We illustrate the effectiveness of our method in identifying relevant keywords related to the Islamic context and we show how to use our method for identifying trending topics with respect to time.
Goals for Solving Everyday Problems across the Life Span: Age and Gender Differences in the Salience of Interpersonal Concerns.

The authors examined age and gender differences in the salience of interpersonal concerns in individuals' representations of their own everyday problems. One hundred and seven preadolescents, 128 college students, 130 middle-aged adults, and 131 older adults described a problem and goal for dealing with that problem. Interpersonal elements of problem descriptions and goal content and focus were coded. Interpersonal elements of everyday problems were most salient to females and middle-aged adults. Across age and gender, individuals reported interpersonal goals when other people were viewed as central to the problem. Age differences in problem-solving goals reflected developmental life tasks. Implications for work on everyday problem solving, which has typically focused on individualistic rather than interpersonal aspects of problem solving, are discussed.
The Use of Imperialist Competitive Algorithm for the Optimization of Heat Transfer in an Air Cooler Equipped with Butterfly Inserts

In this paper the use of a novel optimization algorithm based on imperialist competitive algorithm (ICA) for optimizing the heat transfer in an air cooled heat exchanger equipped with the butterfly inserts has been reported. Experiments included the inclined angle of the butterfly inserts ranging from 45 o to 135 o . Also, the Reynolds number varied from 4021 to 16118. After data reduction, the regression equation of average Nusselt number was obtained as a function of Reynolds number and the inclined angle. Then the cost function was optimized by the use of ICA. One can be sure that the Nusselt number will be optimized due to the optimization of the cost function. Computational results indicate that the proposed optimization algorithm is quite effective and powerful in optimizing the cost function. According to the results, in order to obtain maximum heat transfer, the inclined angle must be 87 o . from the air cooler. Also, they showed that by using the butterfly insert with an inclined angle of 90 ◦ , maximum heat transfer is obtained. Also, their results have revealed that the difference between the heat transfer rates obtained by employing the classic and jagged inserts reduces by decreasing twist ratio. The main focus of the present study is to utilize imperialist competitive algorithm (ICA), to obtain the maximum heat transfer from the air cooler equipped with the butterfly inserts. ICA is a new evolutionary algorithm in the evolutionary computation field based on the human's socio-political evolution. The proposed method for the optimization was developed using MATLAB functions. This method has some advantages, such as simplicity, accuracy, and time saving.
Genetic Diversity of Benzoyl Coenzyme A Reductase Genes Detected in Denitrifying Isolates and Estuarine Sediment Communities

ABSTRACT Benzoyl coenzyme A (benzoyl-CoA) reductase is a central enzyme in the anaerobic degradation of organic carbon, which utilizes a common intermediate (benzoyl-CoA) in the metabolism of many aromatic compounds. The diversity of benzoyl-CoA reductase genes in denitrifying bacterial isolates capable of degrading aromatic compounds and in river and estuarine sediment samples from the Arthur Kill in New Jersey and the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland was investigated. Degenerate primers were developed from the known benzoyl-CoA reductase genes from Thauera aromatica, Rhodopseudomonas palustris, and Azoarcus evansii. PCR amplification detected benzoyl-CoA reductase genes in the denitrifying isolates belonging to α-, β-, or γ-Proteobacteria as well as in the sediment samples. Phylogenetic analysis, sequence similarity comparison, and conserved indel determination grouped the new sequences into either the bcr type (found in T. aromatica and R. palustris) or the bzd type (found in A. evansii). All the Thauera strains and the isolates from the genera Acidovorax, Bradyrhizobium, Paracoccus, Ensifer, and Pseudomonas had bcr-type benzoyl-CoA reductases with amino acid sequence similarities of more than 97%. The genes detected from Azarocus strains were assigned to the bzd type. A total of 50 environmental clones were detected from denitrifying consortium and sediment samples, and 28 clones were assigned to either the bcr or the bzd type of benzoyl-CoA reductase genes. Thus, we could determine the genetic capabilities for anaerobic degradation of aromatic compounds in sediment communities of the Chesapeake Bay and the Arthur Kill on the basis of the detection of two types of benzoyl-CoA reductase genes. The detected genes have future applications as genetic markers to monitor aromatic compound degradation in natural and engineered ecosystems.
Statistical Machine Reordering

Reordering is currently one of the most important problems in statistical machine translation systems. This paper presents a novel strategy for dealing with it: statistical machine reordering (SMR). It consists in using the powerful techniques developed for statistical machine translation (SMT) to translate the source language (S) into a reordered source language (S'), which allows for an improved translation into the target language (T). The SMT task changes from S2T to S'2T which leads to a monotonized word alignment and shorter translation units. In addition, the use of classes in SMR helps to infer new word reorderings. Experiments are reported in the EsEn WMT06 tasks and the ZhEn IWSLT05 task and show significant improvement in translation quality.
Short- and Long-Term Effects of Inpatient Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Adolescents With Anxious-Depressed School Absenteeism: A Within-Subject Comparison of Changes

The effects of inpatient treatment, including manual-guided cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT), were examined for 36 adolescents (12–18 years) with chronic school absenteeism and mental health problems. Using a within-subject control group design, no changes were noted during the untreated waiting period, whereas there was a strong, statistically significant reduction in school absence rates and mental health problems from the start to the end of inpatient treatment. At discharge, 88.9% of adolescents attended school regularly or were employed (86.1 and 63.9% at 2- and 9-months follow-up, respectively). Self- and parent-reported mental health problems were significantly reduced during treatment and remained stable during follow-up.
The Overshoot Problem and Giant Structures

Models of small-field inflation often suffer from the overshoot problem. A particularly efficient resolution to the problem was proposed recently in the context of string theory. We show that this resolution predicts the existence of giant spherically symmetric overdense regions with radius of at least 110 Mpc. We argue that if such structures will be found they could offer an experimental window into string theory.
Correlation of clinical, surgical, pathologic, and MR fat suppression results for head and neck cancer

Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging provides superior soft tissue delineation of head and neck tumors compared to previous radiologic studies. Further refinements using fat suppression and gadolinium (Gd‐DTPA) enhancement have added to these improved images. We performed MR studies of 16 patients with head and neck tumors with detailed clinical, surgical, and pathologic information. MR studies included standard spin‐echo T1‐weighted images (T1WI) with and without fat suppression and T2‐weighted images (T2WI) with fat suppression. Gadolinium was also administered with fat suppression. Conventional and paired fat suppression MR images were compared by a grading system. Post‐Gd‐DTPA fat suppression T1WI, and T2WI with fat suppression, showed superior sensitivity for tumor delineation when compared to conventional T1WI. Fat suppression T2WI was the best technique to delineate squamous cell carcinoma both in the primary site and regional lymph nodes. Clinical, surgical, and pathologic results correlated perfectly with imaging findings. These refinements in MR imaging represent a significant advance in the radiologic evaluation of head and neck tumors. © 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Novel Gigantol Derivatives as Potential Agents in Prevention of Diabetic Cataract

As a continuation of our efforts directed towards the development of natural anti-diabetic cataract agents, gigantol was isolated from Herba dendrobii and was found to inhibit both aldose reductase (AR) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) activity, which play a significant role in the development and progression of diabetic cataracts. To improve its bioefficacy and facilitate use as a therapeutic agent, gigantol (compound 14f) and a series of novel analogs were designed and synthesized. Analogs were formulated to have different substituents on the phenyl ring (compounds 4, 5, 8, 14a-e), substitute the phenyl ring with a larger steric hindrance ring (compounds 10, 17c) or modify the carbon chain (compounds 17a, 17b, 21, 23, 25). All of the analogs were tested for their effect on AR and iNOS activities and on D-galactose-induced apoptosis in cultured human lens epithelial cells. Compounds 5, 10, 14a, 14b, 14d, 14e, 14f, 17b, 17c, 23, and 25 inhibited AR activity, with IC50 values ranging from 5.02 to 288.8 μM. Compounds 5, 10, 14b, and 14f inhibited iNOS activity with IC50 ranging from 432.6 to 1188.7 μM. Compounds 5, 8, 10, 14b, 14f, and 17c protected the cells from D-galactose induced apoptosis with viability ranging from 55.2 to 76.26%. Of gigantol and its analogs, compound 10 showed the greatest bioefficacy and is warranted to be developed as a therapeutic agent for diabetic cataracts.
The impact of regular ecstasy use on memory function.

AIM To assess memory impairment in a group of regular users of ecstasy compared with a group of regular users of cannabis, after accounting for possible confounding factors such as other drug use, premorbid intelligence and psychopathology. METHOD Comparative and regression analysis was used to determine the presence or absence of a difference in memory function between 40 regular ecstasy users and 37 regular users of cannabis, who were interviewed at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre in Sydney, Australia. Regression analysis was used to find associations between life-time exposure to ecstasy use and memory performance. Memory function was assessed using an age-standardized memory test. Other scales were used to assess premorbid intelligence, physical and psychological health, drug withdrawal and other drug use. RESULTS Initial comparative analysis showed a trend towards a significantly poorer performance by the regular ecstasy-using group on the 'auditory immediate memory' and 'auditory delayed memory' indices. When regression analysis was performed an estimate of verbal intelligence was found to be the most predictive of most memory indices including 'auditory immediate memory' and 'auditory delayed memory'. Life-time exposure to ecstasy was not predictive of the memory indices. The current frequency of cannabis use was found to have some predictive effect for immediate and delayed visual memory. CONCLUSION This study does not show memory impairment in a group of ecstasy users relative to cannabis using controls. The previously reported association of life-time exposure to ecstasy and memory was not found. The findings may indicate a confounding role of cannabis use, as has been recently reported.