Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessing memory control beliefs: The memory controllability inventory

Abstract The Memory Controllability Inventory (MCI) was developed to assess beliefs about memory ability and the controllability of memory. the four subscales are: Present Ability, Potential Improvement, Effort Utility, and Inevitable Decrement. Factor structure, reliability and validity were evaluated with three samples of adults. MCI scores were related to depression, problem-solving resourcefulness, and memory performance in the expected directions. Possible uses of the MCI for research and intervention are discussed.
The Times of Migration

Time and migration have become fundamental themes in recent debates about modernity, globalisation, mobility and other contemporary issues. However, the relationship between the two has rarely figured as an explicit object of research. And yet, the analysis of the mutual implications between migration and time can be crucial for the understanding of several theoretical and practical problems associated with immigration, nation-states and multicultural societies. This article examines some of the complex temporal dimensions of the migration process. It reveals that time has often appeared as an important dimension in various accounts of immigration. On the basis of empirical research conducted with a particular immigrant group, namely Brazilians in London, the article suggests a number of conceptual tools for the analysis of the temporal aspects of migration. This conceptual framework is based on the development of the notions of the strange, heteronomous, asynchronous, remembered, collage, liminal, diasporic and nomadic times of migration. Finally, I briefly discuss the relationship between these times, the nation-states' responses to immigration, and the constitution of new forms of transnational social and cultural practices.
Association study between genetic variants at the VAMP2 and VAMP3 loci and bipolar affective disorder

Objectives Vesicle-associated membrane proteins 2 and 3 (VAMP2 and VAMP3) are required for the release of D-serine, a competitive agonist of the neurotransmitter glycine at the glutamatergic N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors. Several lines of evidence point to an involvement of altered D-serine levels in the central nervous system in the aetiology of bipolar affective disorder (BPAD). Strong association findings between BPAD and two genes, G72 and DAAO, which are involved in the enzymatic degradation of D-serine, are reported. Based on the functional evidence and on the hypothesis that further genes, which are involved in the regulation of D-serine, could be involved in the disease aetiology, we considered VAMP2 and VAMP3 as candidate genes for BPAD. Methods We analyzed three and four single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers covering VAMP2 and VAMP3, respectively, in an initial BPAD case–control sample of German descent (409 cases, 407 controls). For replication, we analyzed three SNP markers covering VAMP2 in a second sample of the same ethnicity (378 cases, 384 controls). Results Although no association was found for VAMP3 markers, we observed evidence of association with SNPs at the VAMP2 locus in the initial sample (P values between 0.005 and 0.033). To validate these findings, we analyzed a second BPAD sample and failed to replicate the initial findings at the single-marker and haplotypic level. Conclusion In conclusion, our results do not suggest that a common genetic variant at VAMP2 or VAMP3 contributes to the development of BPAD in German patients.
Cellular Specificity of the Blood–CSF Barrier for Albumin Transfer across the Choroid Plexus Epithelium

To maintain the precise internal milieu of the mammalian central nervous system, well-controlled transfer of molecules from periphery into brain is required. Recently the soluble and cell-surface albumin-binding glycoprotein SPARC (secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine) has been implicated in albumin transport into developing brain, however the exact mechanism remains unknown. We postulate that SPARC is a docking site for albumin, mediating its uptake and transfer by choroid plexus epithelial cells from blood into cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). We used in vivo physiological measurements of transfer of endogenous (mouse) and exogenous (human) albumins, in situ Proximity Ligation Assay (in situ PLA), and qRT-PCR experiments to examine the cellular mechanism mediating protein transfer across the blood–CSF interface. We report that at all developmental stages mouse albumin and SPARC gave positive signals with in situ PLAs in plasma, CSF and within individual plexus cells suggesting a possible molecular interaction. In contrast, in situ PLA experiments in brain sections from mice injected with human albumin showed positive signals for human albumin in the vascular compartment that were only rarely identifiable within choroid plexus cells and only at older ages. Concentrations of both endogenous mouse albumin and exogenous (intraperitoneally injected) human albumin were estimated in plasma and CSF and expressed as CSF/plasma concentration ratios. Human albumin was not transferred through the mouse blood–CSF barrier to the same extent as endogenous mouse albumin, confirming results from in situ PLA. During postnatal development Sparc gene expression was higher in early postnatal ages than in the adult and changed in response to altered levels of albumin in blood plasma in a differential and developmentally regulated manner. Here we propose a possible cellular route and mechanism by which albumin is transferred from blood into CSF across a sub-population of specialised choroid plexus epithelial cells.
Social Self-Control Is a Statistically Nonredundant Correlate of Adolescent Substance Use

ABSTRACT The social self-control scale (SSCS), which taps provocative behavior in social situations, was compared with five potentially overlapping measures (i.e., temperament-related impulsivity, psychomotor agitation-related self-control, perceived social competence, and rash action in response to negative and positive affectively charged states) as correlates of tobacco use and other drug use among a sample of 3,356 ninth-grade youth in Southern California high schools. While there was a lot of shared variance among the measures, the SSCS was incrementally associated with both categories of drug use over and above alternate constructs previously implicated in adolescent drug use. Hence, SSC may relate to adolescent drug use through an etiological pathway unique from other risk constructs. Given that youth who tend to alienate others through provocative social behavior are at risk for multiple drug use, prevention programming to modify low SSC may be warranted.
Self-assessment, preparation and response time on a computerized oral proficiency test

Two studies investigated technical aspects of a computer-mediated test, the Computerized Oral proficiency Instrument (COPI), particularly in contrast to a similar tape-mediated test, the Simulated Oral proficiency Interview (SOPI). The first study investigated how examinees used self-assessment to choose an appropriate starting level on the COPI. The second study looked at examinees’ planning and response time on the COPI, and the factors that affected their use of time. Fifty-five university students took the COPI and SOPI in one of three languages: Arabic, Chinese, or Spanish. Results show that the majority of examinees (92%) were able to use the self-assessment instrument to select test tasks at appropriate difficulty levels. However, the COPI starting level (which was based on examinees’ self-assessment) might have been problematic for a small proportion (8%) of the examinees who appeared to choose tasks that were too difficult for them. As for planning and response time on the COPI, different amounts of time were used across four main levels of proficiency. Examinees with the highest proficiency levels tended to use less planning time but gave longer responses.
Trophic position of zebra mussel veligers and their use of dissolved organic carbon

We evaluated by stable isotope analysis the trophic structure of an estuarine transition zone (ETZ) food web and the role of an invasive species, the veliger stage of the zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha. In the St. Lawrence ETZ, where zebra mussel veligers are now the dominant zooplankton in summer, δ13C ranged from −31.2‰ (seston) to −16.1‰ (adult fish) and δ15N ranged from 2.6‰ to 17.4‰. Isotopic analysis of samples indicated that the overall food web was largely supported by autochthonous phytoplankton rather than by allochthonous terrestrial carbon. Large differences among the isotopic signals of veligers, cladocerans, and copepods suggested the use of different proportions of food items, and the isotopic values of fish larvae indicated no significant assimilation of veligers. The δ13C signature of the veligers was in a range consistent with feeding on free‐living bacteria and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) or both, and freshwater algae incubated in situ. To investigate the possibility of DOC uptake by the veligers, we incubated veligers on 14C‐labelled algal lysates. There was rapid uptake of DOC and incorporation into biomass, equivalent to 6% of the soft tissue dry weight per hour. Zebra mussel veligers are likely using autochthonous DOC as an alternate food source, and they occupy an exotic trophic position in which there is little direct interaction with other major components of the ETZ food web.
Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin C‐terminal domain labeled to fluorescent dyes for in vivo visualization of micrometastatic chemotherapy‐resistant ovarian cancer

Identification of micrometastatic disease at the time of surgery remains extremely challenging in ovarian cancer patients. We used fluorescence microscopy, an in vivo imaging system and a fluorescence stereo microscope to evaluate fluorescence distribution in Claudin‐3‐ and ‐4‐overexpressing ovarian tumors, floating tumor clumps isolated from ascites and healthy organs. To do so, mice harboring chemotherapy‐naïve and chemotherapy‐resistant human ovarian cancer xenografts or patient‐derived xenografts (PDXs) were treated with the carboxyl‐terminal binding domain of the Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin (c‐CPE) conjugated to FITC (FITC‐c‐CPE) or the near‐infrared (NIR) fluorescent tag IRDye CW800 (CW800‐c‐CPE) either intraperitoneally (IP) or intravenously (IV). We found tumor fluorescence to plateau at 30 min after IP injection of both the FITC‐c‐CPE and the CW800‐c‐CPE peptides and to be significantly higher than in healthy organs (p < 0.01). After IV injection of CW800‐c‐CPE, tumor fluorescence plateaued at 6 hr while the most favorable tumor‐to‐background fluorescence ratio (TBR) was found at 48 hr in both mouse models. Importantly, fluorescent c‐CPE was highly sensitive for the in vivo visualization of peritoneal micrometastatic tumor implants and the identification of ovarian tumor spheroids floating in malignant ascites that were otherwise not detectable by conventional visual observation. The use of the fluorescent c‐CPE peptide may represent a novel and effective optical approach at the time of primary debulking surgery for the real‐time detection of micrometastatic ovarian disease overexpressing the Claudin‐3 and ‐4 receptors or the identification of residual disease at the time of interval debulking surgery after neoadjuvant chemotherapy treatment.
Beyond Compliance – Below Expectations? CSR in the Context of International Development

In this paper, the results of an empirical analysis of a set of 416 descriptive case studies published by corporate members of the UN Global Compact are presented. Although these cases cannot be viewed as representative of the Compact itself or of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and development in general, they can illustrate which kinds of projects are deemed appropriate as best practice examples among Compact members, and therefore indicate the direction, in which predominantly voluntary and business-led CSR might at best be evolving. To help contextualize the analysis, the paper starts with a brief overview of recent academic work on the strengths and limitations of CSR in the light of international development, followed by the empirical analysis of Compact case studies. The results raise doubts regarding the general suitability of contemporary CSR initiatives to tackle some of the most pressing developmental challenges. Instead, only certain topics are commonly addressed, while a number of issues such as anti-corruption measures or labour rights are underrepresented in the case study sample. Regarding the target regions of the best practice examples, the majority is reported on activities based in OECD countries and a small number of emerging markets such as South Africa, India or China, while neglecting other regions such as sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa). From a European Union policy perspective, these results indicate that there is a role to play for the state in order to create a better fit between CSR agendas and the actual developmental needs in the South.
Multiple effects of human resource development interventions

Purpose – This study aims to explore the simultaneous impact of employees' participation in non‐technical training, technical training, and coaching on subsequent job performance, job involvement, and job satisfaction.Design/methodology/approach – The present study was based on a sample of German call center employees and on a longitudinal, multiple‐sources‐of‐data research design.Findings – It was found that non‐technical training impacted subsequent soft skills and that technical training predicted subsequent hard skills as well as job involvement. Moreover, employees' participation in coaching predicted job satisfaction.Research limitations/implications – The present study was the first to demonstrate positive effects of technical training on job involvement, and of coaching on job satisfaction. In sum, validity of several developmental interventions was highlighted.Practical implications – Organizations designing and implementing various developmental interventions should pay attention to the relative.
Universal Honeyfarm Containment

The growing sophistication of self-propagating worms and botnets presents a significant challenge for investigators to understand. While honeyfarms have emerged as a powerful tool for capturing and analyzing rapid malware, the size and complexity of large scale, high fidelity honeyfarms make them problematic to operate in a simultaneously safe and effective manner. This paper introduces a universe abstraction that guarantees isolation between multiple malware infestations in a single honeyfarm while maximizing the realism of the honeyfarm as observed by a propagating worm. We demonstrate that each malware strain can be completely isolated without distorting malware spreading behavior, and that this can in fact increase the scalability of honeyfarms.
Influence of oral prednisone on eczematous patch test reactions.

The effect of systemic corticosteroid therapy on eczematous patch test reactions was studied in 20 subjects. Fourteen subjects continued to develop positive reactions to standard concentrations of allergens while receiving a daily oral dose of 40 mg prednisone. In six other subjects strongly positive patch test reactions were reversed during treatment with prednisone. Other evidence of corticosteroid effect included changing patterns of reaction to a series of graded dilutions of allergens and the delayed appearance of positive reactions in some subjects.
Heterogeneous built-in resiliency of application specific programmable processors

Using the flexibility provided by multiple functionalities we have developed a new approach for permanent fault-tolerance: Heterogeneous Built-In-Resiliency (HBIR). HBIR processor synthesis imposes several unique tasks on the synthesis process: (i) latency determination targeting k-unit fault-tolerance, (ii) application-to-faulty-unit matching and (iii) HBIR scheduling and assignment algorithms. We address each of them and demonstrate the effectiveness of the overall approach, the synthesis algorithms, and software implementations on a number of designs.
Classification Based IP Geolocation Approach to Locate Data in the Cloud Datacenters

Cloud subscribers would like to verify the location of outsourced data in the cloud datacenters to ensure that the availability of data satisfies the Service Level Agreement. Cloud users may not have access to their outsourced data in the event of operational failures in datacenters or occurrence of natural disasters and/or power outages. Recently, IP geolocation techniques have been proposed to locate data files in cloud datacenters. However these techniques exploit relationships between Internet delays and distance and are not extensible to incorporate different network measurements, which may be used along with Internet delay to improve accuracy. Also, most of the existing techniques have only been validated with one cloud provider (Amazon Web Services). In this paper, we propose a classification based IP geolocation algorithm, which incorporates multiple network measurements to improve the accuracy of geolocating data files in datacenters in four commercial cloud providers. To demonstrate the accuracy of our approach, we evaluate the performance on Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google App Engine and Rackspace. Our experimental results demonstrate that our approach is geolocating data files accurately and more closely to the true location.
Empirical studies of test‐suite reduction

Test‐suite reduction techniques attempt to reduce the costs of saving and reusing test cases during software maintenance by eliminating redundant test cases from test suites. A potential drawback of these techniques is that reducing the size of a test suite might reduce its ability to reveal faults in the software. Previous studies have suggested that test‐suite reduction techniques can reduce test‐suite size without significantly reducing the fault‐detection capabilities of test suites. These studies, however, involved particular programs and types of test suites, and to begin to generalize their results, further work is needed. This paper reports on the design and execution of additional studies, examining the costs and benefits of test‐suite reduction, and the factors that influence these costs and benefits. In contrast to previous studies, results of these studies reveal that the fault‐detection capabilities of test suites can be severely compromised by test‐suite reduction. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Immunoglobulin class responses to Taenia taeniaeformis in susceptible and resistant mice

Summary The immunoglobulin class response of two inbred strains of mice, C57BL/6 and C3H/He, to infection and challenge with Taenia taeniaeformis larvae was compared using the enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay and gel electrophoresis followed by immunoelectrotransfer blot (Western blotting) techniques. The C57BL/6 mice, which are relatively resistant to infection, had a more restricted humoral response than the more susceptible, C3H/He mice. C3H/He mice produced a wider range of immunoglobulin classes, in particular IgA and IgG3, to those antigens recognized by both strains of mice. In addition they produced antibodies to a wider range of antigens. The production of these additional antibodies by the susceptible strain raises the possibility that some of the antibodies may have specificities which interfere, or block the action of potentially protective antibodies. Antibodies, mainly of the IgG1, IgG2a and IgG2b classes, to antigens of approximately < 21000, 21000–23000, 30000 and 60000 mol. wt, present both in the oncosphere and the metacestode extracts, were found in serum from previously infected and resistant mice of both strains. These antigens may be important in stimulating protective concomitant immunity.
Development of a humanoid robot for emotion recognition

This paper deals with a humanoid robot system of recognizing human's expression from a detected human's face and then showing human's emotion. A face detection method is as follows. First, change RGB color space to CIElab color space. Second, extract skin candidate territory. Third, detect a face through facial geometrical interrelation by face filter. Then, the position of eyes, a nose and a mouth which are used as the preliminary data of expression recognition are distinguished using geometrical features. Usually, when a person shows expression, he uses eyebrows, eyes and a mouth. In this paper, the change of eyebrows and a mouth are used as feature values of expression recognition. Feature values which are gained in this way are sent to a robot through serial communication. Then the robot operates a motor that is installed and shows human's emotion. The result of experiments on 60 persons shows 77.9% accuracy.
Less Commonly Taught Language and Commonly Taught Language Students: A Demographic and Academic Comparison

Abstract: Efforts to fund the teaching of critical languages, along with increasing enrollments in less commonly taught language (LCTL) classes, have evidenced a renewed interest in LCTL pedagogy. While much is known about enrollment trends, materials development, and professional training, far less research has compared LCTL and commonly taught language (CTL) students. Students from 83 classes (nine different languages) at a large university completed a questionnaire containing items requesting demographic and academic information. The results of a chi-square analysis demonstrated that LCTL learners were older, expected higher grades, reported higher GPAs, found their courses more difficult, and had studied a third language at a much higher rate. Although far from conclusive, these data begin to identify differences that may exist between LCTL and CTL students, specifically in university, introductory-level courses. Key words: academic questionnaire, 1st-/2nd-year foreign language courses, LCTL/CTL comparisons, student demographics, student self-perceptions Language: relevant to all languages Background Although the teaching of less commonly taught languages (LCTL) has been part of scholarly dialogue in the field of foreign language pedagogy for several decades, the recent governmental focus on funding the teaching and learning of critical languages has once again brought to the pedagogical forefront many languages considered LCTLs in academe. In 1991, President George H. W. Bush signed into law the David L. Boren National Security Education Act (retrieved June 30, 2008, from http://www.ndu. edu/nsep/index.cfm? pageID=168t emphasis added) For centuries, major international events and, unfortunately, conflicts have exerted tremendous influence on national language policy and planning. In the 20th century alone, such events as World War II, the launching of Sputnik by the Russians accompanied by the subsequent passing of the National Defense Education Act, and the arrival of several waves of Spanish-speaking immigrants notably influenced language teaching policy and funding. In most cases, these events have brought to the collective conscious the recognition that the United States' citizenry is woefully "unprepared" with respect to functional foreign language proficiency, especially in certain languages. There is no question that the terms less commonly taught languages (LCTL) in the academic world and critical languages in governmental circles have resulted for very different reasons; the former referring to the frequency with which languages are taught in formal academic settings, and the latter referring to languages spoken in regions and countries where the United States has sociopolitical, security, or economic interests. …