Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gender, Context, and Expression of Positive Emotion

This study investigated whether positive emotion is differentially prescribed for men and women in self-and other-oriented contexts. Subjects read a scene in which the main character either did or did not express positive emotion toward either the self or another person. After imagining themselves as the main character, subjects rated on a rewards/costs scale how others would respond to them if they had behaved as depicted. Females expected more rewards/fewer costs when positive emotion was expressed toward another person than when it was not, whereas expected rewards/costs did not differ when females expressed and did not express self-directed positive emotion. Males expected more rewards/fewer costs when positive emotion was expressed than when it was not expressed in both self-and other-oriented contexts. Findings indicate that norms for expression of positive emotion are gender differentiated in that women are particularly required to express positive emotion toward others.
Effects of Ethnicity and Physical Disability on Academic and Social Ratings of Photographs

120 college students used academic and social bipolar descriptors to rate color photographs of a male person which were varied to test the effect of ethnicity and physical disability of the photographic stimuli on evaluations. Analysis yielded significant main effects for disability and ethnicity on social ratings and a main effect for disability on academic ratings. No significant interactions were found.
94-GHz Imager With Extended Depth of Field

We describe a computational imaging technique to extend the depth-of-field of a 94-GHz imaging system. The technique uses a cubic phase element in the pupil plane of the system to render system operation relatively insensitive to object distance. However, the cubic phase element also introduces aberrations but, since these are fixed and known, we remove them using post-detection signal processing. We present experimental results that validate system performance and indicate a greater than four-fold increase in depth-of-field from 17rdquo to greater than 68rdquo.
Polyglutamine Disease Toxicity Is Regulated by Nemo-like Kinase in Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 1

Polyglutamine diseases are dominantly inherited neurodegenerative diseases caused by an expansion of a CAG trinucleotide repeat encoding a glutamine tract in the respective disease-causing proteins. Extensive studies have been performed to unravel disease pathogenesis and to develop therapeutics. Here, we report on several lines of evidence demonstrating that Nemo-like kinase (NLK) is a key molecule modulating disease toxicity in spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1), a disease caused by a polyglutamine expansion in the protein ATAXIN1 (ATXN1). Specifically, we show that NLK, a serine/threonine kinase that interacts with ATXN1, modulates disease phenotypes of polyglutamine-expanded ATXN1 in a Drosophila model of SCA1. Importantly, the effect of NLK on SCA1 pathology is dependent upon NLK's enzymatic activity. Consistent with this, reduced Nlk expression suppresses the behavioral and neuropathological phenotypes in SCA1 knock-in mice. These data clearly indicate that either reducing NLK enzymatic activity or decreasing NLK expression levels can have beneficial effects against the toxicity induced by polyglutamine-expanded ATXN1.
GENDER DIFFERENCES IN ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: THE ROLE OF PERSONALITY TRAITS

Abstract: Introdaction: The aims of this research were to examine the role of gender differences on personality traits, to explore the indirect effect of gender on academic performance by personality traits and to study the direct effect of personality traits on academic performance. Methods: A sample of 419 students (166 male and 253 female) completed the Big Five Inventory (BFI). In order to examine the role of gender differences on personality traits and in order to study the indirect effect of gender on academic performance by personality traits and the direct effect of personality traits on academic performance from Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) and path analysis was used, respectively. Results: The MANOVA yielded a significant main effect of gender on personality traits. Using the path analysis, results showed that the indirect and total effects of exogenous variable (gender) on academic performance only by conscientiousness and neuroticism factors were significant. The direct effect of personality traits (extraversion, conscientiousness, openness to experience, neuroticism, and agreeableness) on academic performance was significant. Conclusion: The findings of this research emphasize the mediating role of conscientiousness and neuroticism factors in the relationship between gender and academic performance. Also, these findings show that personality traits have independent and incremental effects on academic outcomes, even after controlling for traditional predictors of those outcomes such as IQ. Implications of these findings emphasizing the correlates of personality traits for improving academic performance are discussed.
Building an Empirically Founded Dialogue System

The major aim in our project is to enable flexible dialogue management for intuitive spatial communication. This requires the dynamic negotiation of spatial reference frames, spatial perspectives and discourse strategies. Speakers manage such negotiation by the fine-scale selection and alignment of linguistic forms sensitive to dialogue history, user-group defined norms, and spatial context. Such mechanisms are empirically derived and implemented within our dialogue system for natural interaction in spatiallyembedded tasks. In an iterative and cyclic approach, we combine empirical methods of discourse-analytic and psycholinguistic investigation of dialogue in the spatial domain with formal dialogue modelling and the specification and implementation of a dialogue system. From an empirical point of view, the particular challenge lies in doing adequate justice to the conflicting tensions of, first, eliciting free language production from experimental participants for realistic interactional data, second, enforcing sufficient experimental control to warrant statistically validated claims, and third, evaluating the current state of the system with untrained users interacting intuitively with the system, based on adequately projected discourse aims and tasks. In this paper we introduce our general approach, describe each of the involved research directions and their interrelation, discuss challenges, and highlight ensuing synergies, including the requirement of operationalizing annotation categories precisely.
Bacterial DNA Induces Pulmonary Damage Via TLR-9 Through Cross-talk With Neutrophils

ABSTRACT Bacterial DNA (bDNA) contains hypomethylated “CpG” repeats that can be recognized by Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR-9) as a pathogen-associated molecular pattern. The ability of bDNA to initiate lung injury via TLR-9 has been inferred on the basis of studies using artificial CpG DNA. But the role of authentic bDNA in lung injury is still unknown. Moreover, the mechanisms by which CpG DNA species can lead to pulmonary injury are unknown, although neutrophils (PMNs) are thought to play a key role in the genesis of septic acute lung injury. We evaluated the effects of bDNA on PMN–endothelial cell (EC) interactions thought critical for initiation of acute lung injury. Using a biocapacitance system to monitor real-time changes in endothelial permeability, we demonstrate here that bDNA causes EC permeability in a dose-dependent manner uniquely in the presence of PMNs. These permeability changes are inhibited by chloroquine, suggesting TLR-9 dependency. When PMNs were preincubated with bDNA and applied to ECs or when bDNA was applied to ECs without PMNs, no permeability changes were detected. To study the underlying mechanisms, we evaluated the effects of bDNA on PMN-EC adherence. Bacterial DNA significantly increased PMN adherence to ECs in association with upregulated adhesion molecules in both cell types. Taken together, our results strongly support the conclusion that bDNA can initiate lung injury by stimulating PMN-EC adhesive interactions predisposing to endothelial permeability. Bacterial DNA stimulation of TLR-9 appears to promote enhanced gene expression of adhesion molecules in both cell types. This leads to PMN-EC cross-talk, which is required for injury to occur.
Motion Planning for Legged Robots on Varied Terrain

In this paper we study the quasi-static motion of large legged robots that have many degrees of freedom. While gaited walking may suffice on easy ground, rough and steep terrain requires unique sequences of footsteps and postural adjustments specifically adapted to the terrain's local geometric and physical properties. In this paper we present a planner that computes these motions by combining graph searching to generate a sequence of candidate footfalls with probabilistic sample-based planning to generate continuous motions that reach these footfalls. To improve motion quality, the probabilistic planner derives its sampling strategy from a small set of motion primitives that have been generated offline. The viability of this approach is demonstrated in simulation for the six-legged Lunar vehicle ATHLETE and the humanoid HRP-2 on several example terrains, including one that requires both hand and foot contacts and another that requires rappelling.
The Evolution of Strong Reproductive Isolation

Felsenstein distinguished two ways by which selection can directly strengthen isolation. First, a modifier that strengthens prezygotic isolation can be favored everywhere. This fits with the traditional view of reinforcement as an adaptation to reduce deleterious hybridization by strengthening assortative mating. Second, selection can favor association between different incompatibilities, despite recombination. We generalize this “two allele” model to follow associations among any number of incompatibilities, which may include both assortment and hybrid inviability. Our key argument is that this process, of coupling between incompatibilities, may be quite different from the usual view of reinforcement: strong isolation can evolve through the coupling of any kind of incompatibility, whether prezygotic or postzygotic. Single locus incompatibilities become coupled because associations between them increase the variance in compatibility, which in turn increases mean fitness if there is positive epistasis. Multiple incompatibilities, each maintained by epistasis, can become coupled in the same way. In contrast, a single-locus incompatibility can become coupled with loci that reduce the viability of haploid hybrids because this reduces harmful recombination. We obtain simple approximations for the limits of tight linkage, and strong assortment, and show how assortment alleles can invade through associations with other components of reproductive isolation.
Development of Chip-to-Wafer (C2W) bonding process for high density I/Os Fan-Out Wafer Level Package (FOWLP)

In the current mobile electronics market, there is a great demand of electronics products with better performance, smaller foot print and greater package functionality with a lower manufacturing cost. Smart phones and tablets are some of the portable electronics devices that require more functions, smaller form factor and reduced power consumption requirements [1]. To address these requirements, the Multi-Chip Fan-Out Wafer Level Package (FOWLP) technology promises an alternative technology for high performance and multi-die packaging in FOWLP technology [2]. In conventional flip chip assembly, the advantages of using Cu pillar and solder micro bumps are mainly because of it allows for fine pitch applications and superior power management in terms of thermal and electrical [3]. The major difference in using copper pillar with solder micro bumps is that the solder volume are significantly reduced on each solder bump. Furthermore, the lesser solder volume on the Cu pillar bumps makes it difficult for solder self-alignment during solder reflow process [4]. Hence it is critical that good chip placement accuracy is needed in the flip-chip bonder for good solder interconnect formation especially for our work in the new RDL-first FOWLP technology with multiple die and high pin count applications [5]. In this paper, we present the chip to wafer assembly for multiple die on the RDL-First FOWLP approach. Chip-to-Wafer assembly is a promising technology for high density package application to overcome the limitation of Wafer-to-Wafer boding in terms of die stacking process yield and bonding placement accuracy on wafers. Our test vehicle is a large multi-chip package of 20×20mm2 fabricated using the RDL-First FOWLP approach. There are 2400 I/Os on the FOWLP package. The C2W flip chip process is done to attach the 3 test chips onto the 3 layers RDL film onto the 12 inch glass carrier with sacrificial layer using the mass reflow method. The assembly process was optimized and samples are built to subject to JEDEC Moisture Sensitivity Test Level 3 for reliability assessment.
Urban climate effects on extreme temperatures in Madison, Wisconsin, USA

As climate change increases the frequency and intensity of extreme heat, cities and their urban heat island (UHI) effects are growing, as are the urban populations encountering them. These mutually reinforcing trends present a growing risk for urban populations. However, we have limited understanding of urban climates during extreme temperature episodes, when additional heat from the UHI may be most consequential. We observed a historically hot summer and historically cold winter using an array of up to 150 temperature and relative humidity sensors in and around Madison, Wisconsin, an urban area of population 402 000 surrounded by lakes and a rural landscape of agriculture, forests, wetlands, and grasslands. In the summer of 2012 (third hottest since 1869), Madison’s urban areas experienced up to twice as many hours ⩾32.2 °C (90 °F), mean July TMAX up to 1.8 °C higher, and mean July TMIN up to 5.3 °C higher than rural areas. During a record setting heat wave, dense urban areas spent over four consecutive nights above the National Weather Service nighttime heat stress threshold of 26.7 °C (80 °F), while rural areas fell below 26.7 °C nearly every night. In the winter of 2013–14 (coldest in 35 years), Madison’s most densely built urban areas experienced up to 40% fewer hours ⩽−17.8 °C (0 °F), mean January TMAX up to 1 °C higher, and mean January TMIN up to 3 °C higher than rural areas. Spatially, the UHI tended to be most intense in areas with higher population densities. Temporally, both daytime and nighttime UHIs tended to be slightly more intense during more-extreme heat days compared to average summer days. These results help us understand the climates for which cities must prepare in a warming, urbanizing world.
Metabolic responses of healthy or prediabetic adults to bovine whey protein and sodium caseinate do not differ.

BACKGROUND Casein is considered a slowly digestible protein compared with whey protein, and this may cause differences in hormone responses and the kinetics of delivering amino acids into the circulation. OBJECTIVE We investigated whether postprandial plasma hormone and metabolite responses were different when bovine casein or whey protein was co-administered with carbohydrates in healthy and prediabetic adults. METHODS White healthy male adults (n = 15) and white, well-defined male and female prediabetic adults (n = 15) received test drinks randomly on 3 different occasions at least 2 d apart which contained 50 g of maltodextrin19 (MD19) alone or in combination with 50 g of whey protein isolate (WPI) or 50 g of sodium caseinate (SC). Blood samples were collected over a 240-min time period and were analyzed for hormone profiles and defined metabolites. RESULTS No evidence was found that gastric emptying was different between the 2 protein drinks. Both proteins increased peak plasma insulin concentrations in prediabetic persons by 96% compared with MD19 (each, P < 0.05), which was accompanied by a reduction of peak venous blood glucose by 21% (each, P < 0.0001) without a difference between the 2 proteins. Peak plasma glucagon concentrations increased by 101% in both groups after the protein drinks (P < 0.05). The WPI drink also increased peak plasma glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide concentrations in healthy volunteers by 56% (P < 0.01). Differences in plasma metabolite concentrations in volunteers could be attributed exclusively to the differences in the amino acid composition of the 2 proteins ingested. CONCLUSION The WPI and the SC drinks similarly reduced postprandial glucose excursions when ingested with carbohydrates in healthy and prediabetic volunteers. Under our experimental conditions, however, no evidence was found that gastrointestinal processing of the 2 protein varieties differed substantially. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as DRKS00005682.
Seniors' experiences of visual art environmental enrichment

The present study aimed at determining whether short-term exposure to art in shared common areas in congregate housing units could affect health and health determinants among the residents. Ten residents (mean age 80.4 years) at one block were exposed to visual art environmental enrichment in common areas over a period of three months. Thirteen persons (mean age 86.6 years) living in another block played in-house boule. Cornell’s test, Mini-Mental tests (MMT), and face recognition test were performed to assess depression, cognition, and episodic memory, respectively before and after the intervention. The results show that visual art environmental enrichment in common areas and lack of stimulating and guiding dialogues show a change in depression scores in the intervention group (p = 0.018) and the control group (p = 0.009). MMT scores improved only in the control group (p = 0.003). No changes in episodic memory in any of the groups were observed. It could be concluded that in order to obtain a positive result of short term visual art environmental enrichment, guiding art dialogues conducted by nurses, as described in previous research, should be added to visual art environmental enrichment in healthcare settings.
Anatomical, blood oxygenation level‐dependent, and blood flow MRI of nonhuman primate (baboon) retina

The goal of this study was to demonstrate high‐resolution anatomical, blood oxygenation level‐dependent, and blood flow MRI on large nonhuman primate retinas using a 3‐Tesla clinical scanner as a first step toward translation. Baboon was chosen because of its evolutionary similarity to human. Anesthetized preparation, free of eye‐movement artifacts, was used to evaluate clinical scanner hardware feasibility and optimize multimodal protocols for retinal MRI. Anatomical MRI (0.1 × 0.2 × 2.0 mm3) before contrast‐agent injection detected three alternating bright–dark–bright layers. The hyperintense inner strip nearest to the vitreous was enhanced by an intravascular contrast agent, which likely included the ganglion and bipolar cell layer and the embedded retinal vessels. The hypointense middle strip showed no contrast enhancement, which likely included the avascular outer unclear layer and photoreceptor segments. The hyperintense outer strip showed contrast enhancement, which likely corresponded to the choroid vascular layer. In the posterior retina, the total thickness including the choroid was 617 ± 101 μm (± standard deviation, n = 7). Blood oxygenation level‐dependent functional MRI (0.3 × 0.6 × 2.0 mm3) of oxygen inhalation relative to air increased the signals by 6.5 ± 1.4%. Basal blood flow (2 × 2 × 2 mm3) was 83 ± 30 mL/100 g/min (air), and hypercapnia increased blood flow by 25 ± 9% (P < 0.05). This study demonstrates multimodal MRI to image anatomy, physiology, and function on large nonhuman primate retinas using a clinical scanner, offering encouraging data to explore human applications. Magn Reson Med, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Behavior Driven Topic Transition for Search Task Identification

Search tasks in users' query sequences are dynamic and interconnected. The formulation of search tasks can be influenced by multiple latent factors such as user characteristics, product features and search interactions, which makes search task identification a challenging problem. In this paper, we propose an unsupervised approach to identify search tasks via topic membership along with topic transition probabilities, thus it becomes possible to interpret how user's search intent emerges and evolves over time. Moreover, a novel hidden semi-Markov model is introduced to model topic transitions by considering not only the semantic information of queries but also the latent search factors originated from user search behaviors. A variational inference algorithm is developed to identify remarkable search behavior patterns, typical topic transition tracks, and the topic membership of each query from query logs. The learned topic transition tracks and the inferred topic memberships enable us to identify both small search tasks, where a user searches the same topic, and big search tasks, where a user searches a series of related topics. We extensively evaluate the proposed approach and compare with several state-of-the-art search task identification methods on both synthetic and real-world query log data, and experimental results illustrate the effectiveness of our proposed model.
Strings in plane wave backgrounds

I review aspects of string theory on plane wave backgrounds emphasising the connection to gauge theory given by the BMN correspondence. Topics covered include the Penrose limit and its role in deriving the BMN duality from AdS/CFT, light‐cone string field theory in the maximally supersymmetric plane wave and extensions of the correspondence to less supersymmetric backgrounds.
Off-Site Commitment and Voluntary Turnover in GSD Projects

There is a lack of research focusing on off-site employees and their position in GSD projects. In this study we describe voluntary turnover of off-site employees and its antecedents in three GSD projects. Voluntary turnover at off-site seemed to be related to for example the levels of work autonomy, challenges provided by the work, and job security at off-site. Literature and theories of work commitment provide the theoretical background for the study. Our findings are in alignment with the main theories of work commitment, and support the proposition that turnover can be an important manifestation of low commitment. In addition, we discuss the consequences of high voluntary turnover in GSD projects, and give some suggestions for overcoming the problem of turnover and lack of commitment.
Modularly Typesafe Interface Dispatch in JPred

Multiple dispatch generalizes the receiver-oriented dyna mic dispatch of traditional object-oriented (OO) languages by all owing the run-time classes of all arguments to be employed. While rese arch over the last decade has shown how to integrate multiple disp atch with the modular static typechecking found in traditional O O languages, that work has been forced to impose unnatural restri ctions or modifications in order to safely accommodate multiple inh eritance. In the context of Java, the effect has been to make it di fficult to dispatch on interfaces. In this paper, we illustrate how the concept of predicate dispatch, which generalizes multiple dispatch by allowing each method to be guarded by a predicate indicating when the metho d should be invoked, provides a simple but practical way to sup port dispatch on interfaces while preserving modular typecheck ing. We have instantiated our approach in the context of JPred, an ex isting extension to Java supporting predicate dispatch that previ ously disallowed dispatch on interfaces altogether. We have formali zed our approach in a core subset of JPred and proven an associated ty pe soundness theorem. We have also performed two case studies u sing JPred, on the JPred compiler itself and on portions of Ecl ipse, to demonstrate the utility of our approach in practice.