Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Humor Improves Women’s but Impairs Men’s Iowa Gambling Task Performance

The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is a popular method for examining real-life decision-making. Research has shown gender related differences in performance, in that men consistently outperform women. It has been suggested that these performance differences are related to decreased emotional control in women compared to men. Given the likely role of emotion in these gender differences, in the present study, we examine the effect of a humor induction on IGT performance and whether the effect of humor is moderated by gender. IGT performance and parameters from the Expectancy Valence Model (EVM) were measured in 68 university students (34 men; mean age 22.02, SD = 4.3 and 34 women; mean age 22.3, SD = 4.1) during a 100 trial-IGT task. Participants were exposed to a brief video before each of the IGT decisions available; one half of the samples (17 men and 17 women) was exposed to 100 humor videos, while the other half was exposed to 100 non-humor videos during the task. We observed a significant interaction between gender and humor, such that under humor, women’s performance during the last block (trials 80–100) improved (compared to women under non-humor), whereas men’s performance during the last block was worse (compared to men under non-humor). Consistent with previous work, under non-humor, men outperformed women in the last block. Lastly, our EVM results show that humor impacts the learning mechanisms of decision-making differently in men and women. Humor impaired men’s ability to acquire knowledge about the payoff structure of the decks, and as a consequence, they were stuck in suboptimal performance. On the other hand, humor facilitated women’s ability to explore and to learn from experience, improving performance. These findings deepen our understanding of the mechanisms underlying IGT decision-making and differential effects of humor in men and women.
Prevalence and Risk Factors of Depression and Anxiety in Essential Tremor Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study in Southwest China

Background: Essential tremor (ET) is one of the most common movement disorders, and it has been associated with anxiety and depression, but risk factors for these mental symptoms are unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and potential risk factors of depression and anxiety in ET patients in China. Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 245 Han Chinese patients with ET. Depression was assessed using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-24 Items, and anxiety was assessed using the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale. Clinico-demographic characteristics were compared between patients with or without depression or anxiety. Results: We revealed that 63.3% of patients had at least mild anxiety and 54.3% had at least mild depression. Severity of anxiety or depression was correlated with lower Mini-Mental State Exam score (P = 0.028 and P = 0.002, respectively), higher self-report functional disability score (P = 0.027 and P = 0.003, respectively), as well as the presence of tremor in the neck (both P < 0.001), face (P = 0.025 and P < 0.001, respectively), or voice (both P < 0.001). Binary logistic regression identified female sex, presence with cranial tremor, and greater functional disability score as risk factors of anxiety; the last two factors were also the determinants of depression. Neither anxiety nor depression correlated with physician-assessed severity of arm or leg tremor. Conclusion: Chinese ET patients show high prevalence of depression and anxiety. ET patients should be screened for these mental symptoms, especially women and those with cranial tremor and self-reported functional disability.
A COMPARATIVE ANTI-TUSSIVE ACTIVITY OF LAGHU GOKSHURA (Tribulus terrestris Linn.) AND BRIHAT GOKSHURA (Pedalium murex Linn.) PANCHANGA IN SWISS ALBINO MICE

Gokshura is one of the ingredients of Dashamoola (Group of ten root drugs) mentioned in Ayurveda. In routine Ayurvedic practice, in the name of Gokshura , two plants viz., Laghu Gokshura [Tribulus terrestris Linn. ] and Brihat Gokshura [Pedalium murex Linn. ] are used. Texts of Ayurveda mentioned Dashamoola and Gokshura for the treatment of Kasa . As it is used in the treatment of Kasa , in the present study a comparative anti-tussive activity of whole plant (Panchanga ) of Laghu and Brihat Gokshura was evaluated against sulphur dioxide induced cough in mice. Both the varieties of Gokshura were collected from their natural habitat, authenticated and processed to fine powder form. The mice were used as experimental animals and were randomly divided in to three groups of 6 animals each. The test drugs were administered orally at a dose of 780 mg/kg. Recodex, which contains codeine phosphate (2 mg/ml) and chlorpheniramine maleate (0.8 mg/ml), was used as standard anti-tussive drug for comparison. The Panchanga of Laghu Gokshura and Brihat Gokshura have shown moderate anti-tussive activity, among them Brihat Gokshura was found to be better. Hence in non-availability of root samples of these plants and also to prevent destructive harvesting, whole plants can be used in the treatment of Kasa . Further detailed studies are required to prove this claim.
A TetR-Family Protein (CAETHG_0459) Activates Transcription From a New Promoter Motif Associated With Essential Genes for Autotrophic Growth in Acetogens

Acetogens can fix carbon (CO or CO2) into acetyl-CoA via the Wood–Ljungdahl pathway (WLP) that also makes them attractive cell factories for the production of fuels and chemicals from waste feedstocks. Although most biochemical details of the WLP are well understood and systems-level characterization of acetogen metabolism has recently improved, key transcriptional features such as promoter motifs and transcriptional regulators are still unknown in acetogens. Here, we use differential RNA-sequencing to identify a previously undescribed promoter motif associated with essential genes for autotrophic growth of the model-acetogen Clostridium autoethanogenum. RNA polymerase was shown to bind to the new promoter motif using a DNA-binding protein assay and proteomics enabled the discovery of four candidates to potentially function directly in control of transcription of the WLP and other key genes of C1 fixation metabolism. Next, in vivo experiments showed that a TetR-family transcriptional regulator (CAETHG_0459) and the housekeeping sigma factor (σA) activate expression of a reporter protein (GFP) in-frame with the new promoter motif from a fusion vector in Escherichia coli. Lastly, a protein–protein interaction assay with the RNA polymerase (RNAP) shows that CAETHG_0459 directly binds to the RNAP. Together, the data presented here advance the fundamental understanding of transcriptional regulation of C1 fixation in acetogens and provide a strategy for improving the performance of gas-fermenting bacteria by genetic engineering.
AN ANALYSIS OF THE EARLY IMPLEMENTATION PHASE OF A CHANGE PROCESS AT A CATHOLIC JUNIOR/SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL IN SUFFOLK COUNTY, NEW YORK

The process of change at a Catholic junior/senior high school in Suffolk County, New York, was investigated using an assessment model developed specifically for this case study. A mixed methodology, consisting of a survey of and an interview with staff and faculty, assessed the presence of key predictors of success, which were drawn from the literature. Survey data were factor-analyzed, and two consolidated factors emerged: vision-focused communication and cultural readiness. Using quantitative and qualitative analyses, findings indicated that there were significant differences between the staff and faculty’s perceptions of the importance of these factors and their existence in the school.
Understanding Human Behaviour in Industrial Human-Robot Interaction by Means of Virtual Reality

As industry automation is evolving, the barriers between humans and machines are slowly disappearing. With humans and intelligent robots working closer together it is imperative to ensure not only physical safety but also the mental and emotional well-being of the workers. This paper uses the HTC Vive Virtual Reality headset to simulate different Human-Robot Interaction situations in which humans and robots constantly operate in a common workspace. It analyses the influence of an industrial robot’s actions on human behaviour. The results show that the robot’s behaviour does not influence the performance of human in a significant way, however, it has a large impact on their posture, focus and trust. It is shown that the human tends to naturally regain trust over time, however, the rate at which this takes place is variable and dependent on the robot’s behaviour.
Microbiota-derived peptide mimics drive lethal inflammatory cardiomyopathy

Peptide mimicry breaks the heart Myocarditis, a prolonged chronic inflammation of heart muscle, can eventually progress to inflammatory cardiomyopathy, a serious condition associated with heart failure. Activated T helper (TH) cells that recognize myosin heavy chain 6–derived peptides are thought to play a central role in this pathogenesis. Using a mouse model of myocarditis, Gil-Cruz et al. found that cardiac myosin–reactive TH cells are initially primed by myosin-peptide mimics derived from commensal Bacteroides species in the gut (see the Perspective by Epelman). Unlike heathy controls, human myocarditis patients also showed detectable immune reactivity to both Bacteroides and cardiac myosin antigens. Treatment with antibiotics dampened inflammatory responses and prevented lethal heart disease. Science, this issue p. 881; see also p. 806 Restraining cardiotoxic T cells through manipulation of the microbiome transforms inflammatory cardiomyopathy into a targetable disease. Myocarditis can develop into inflammatory cardiomyopathy through chronic stimulation of myosin heavy chain 6–specific T helper (TH)1 and TH17 cells. However, mechanisms governing the cardiotoxicity programming of heart-specific T cells have remained elusive. Using a mouse model of spontaneous autoimmune myocarditis, we show that progression of myocarditis to lethal heart disease depends on cardiac myosin–specific TH17 cells imprinted in the intestine by a commensal Bacteroides species peptide mimic. Both the successful prevention of lethal disease in mice by antibiotic therapy and the significantly elevated Bacteroides-specific CD4+ T cell and B cell responses observed in human myocarditis patients suggest that mimic peptides from commensal bacteria can promote inflammatory cardiomyopathy in genetically susceptible individuals. The ability to restrain cardiotoxic T cells through manipulation of the microbiome thereby transforms inflammatory cardiomyopathy into a targetable disease.
The Impact of Remote User’s Role in a Mixed Reality Mixed Presence System

Research has shown that Mixed Presence (MP) systems are a valuable collaboration tool. However current research into MP systems is limited to a handful of tabletop and Virtual Reality (VR) systems with no exploration of Head-Mounted Display (HMD) based Mixed Reality (MR) solutions. In this paper, we present a prototype HMD based MR Mixed Presence system we designed and developed. We conducted a user study to investigate how different role assignment affects coordination and engagement in a group task with two local users using MR HMDs, and one remote user with a desktop-based Augmented Reality (AR) interface. The results indicated that the role of coordinator significantly increased the remote user’s engagement with increased usage of visual communication cues. This is further supported by the mental effort and perceived dominance reported by users. Feedback from users also indicated visual communication cues are valuable for remote users in MP systems.
The Data Hungry Home

It's said that the pleasure is in the giving, not the receiving. This belief is validated by how humans interact with their family, friends and society as well as their gardens, homes, and pets. Yet for ubiquitous devices, this dynamic is reversed with devices as the donors and owners as the recipients. This paper explores an alternative paradigm where these devices are elevated, becoming members of Data Hungry Homes, allowing us to build relationships with them using the principles that we apply to family, pets or houseplants. These devices are developed to fit into a new concept of the home, can symbiotically interact with us and possess needs and traits that yield unexpected positive or negative outcomes from interacting with them. Such relationships could enrich our lives through our endeavours to “feed” our Data Hungry Homes, possibly leading us to explore new avenues and interactions outside and inside the home.
Abnormal Connectivity Within Anterior Cortical Midline Structures in Bipolar Disorder: Evidence From Integrated MRI and Functional MRI

Background: Aberrant functional and structural connectivity across multiple brain networks have been reported in bipolar disorder (BD). However, most previous studies consider the functional and structural alterations in isolation regardless of their possible integrative relationship. The present study aimed to identify the brain connectivity alterations in BD by capturing the latent nexus in multimodal neuroimaging data. Methods: Structural and resting-state images were acquired from 83 patients with BD and 94 healthy controls (HCs). Combined with univariate methods conducted to detect the dysconnectivity in BD, we also employed a semi-multimodal fusion framework fully utilizing the interrelationship between the two modalities to distinguish patients from HCs. Moreover, one-way analysis of variance was adopted to explore whether the detected dysconnectivity has differences across stages of patients with BD. Results: The semi-multimodal fusion framework distinguished patients from HCs with 81.47% accuracy, 85.42% specificity, and 74.75% sensitivity. The connection between the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and superior medial prefrontal cortex (sMPFC) contributed the most to BD diagnosis. Consistently, the univariate method also identified that this ACC–sMPFC functional connection significantly decreased in BD patients compared to HCs, and the significant order of the dysconnectivity is: depressive episode < HCs and remission episode < HCs. Conclusions: Our findings, by adopting univariate and multivariate analysis methods, shed light on the decoupling within the anterior midline brain in the pathophysiology of BD, and this decoupling may serve as a trait marker for this disease.
Transcriptome sequencing of Verticillium dahliae from a cotton farm reveals positive correlation between virulence and tolerance of sugar-induced hyperosmosis

Verticillium dahliae causes disease symptoms in its host plants; however, due to its rapid variability, V. dahliae is difficult to control. To analyze the reason for this pathogenic differentiation, 22 V. dahliae strains with different virulence were isolated from a cotton farm. The genetic diversity of cotton varieties make cotton cultivars have different Verticillium wilt resistance, so the Xinluzao 7 (susceptible to V. dahliae), Zhongmian 35 (tolerant), and Xinluzao 33 (resistant) were used to investigate the pathogenicity of the strains in a green house. Vegetative compatibility groups (VCGs) assays, Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) PCR, and pathogenicity analysis showed that SHZ-4, SHZ-5, and SHZ-9 had close kinship and significantly different pathogenicity. Transcriptome sequencing of the three strains identified 19 of 146 unigenes in SHZ-4_vs_ SHZ-5, SHZ-5_vs_ SHZ-9, and SHZ-4_vs_ SHZ-9. In these unigenes, three proteinase and four polysaccharide degrading hydrolases were found to be associated with the pathogenicity. However, due to a number of differentially expressed genes in the transport, these unigenes not only played a role in nutrition absorption but might also contribute to the resistance of sugar-induced hyperosmosis. Moreover, the tolerance ability was positively related to the pathogenicity of V. dahliae. This resistance to sugar-induced hyperosmosis might help V. dahliae to access the nutrition of the host. The pathogenicity of V. dahliae correlated with the resistance of sugar-induced-hyperosmosis, which provides clues for the cultivation of V. dahliae resistant varieties.
How Are You, Chatbot? Evaluating Chatbots in Educational Settings - Results of a Literature Review

: Evaluation studies are essential for determining the utilization of technology-enhanced learning systems. Prior research often focuses on evaluating specific factors like the technology adoption or usability aspects. However, it needs to be questioned if evaluating only specific factors is appropriate in each case. The aim of this research paper is to outline which methods are suited for evaluating technology-enhanced learning systems in interdisciplinary research domains. Specifically, we focus our analysis on pedagogical conversational agents – i.e. learning systems that interact with learners using natural language. For instance, in addition to technology acceptance, further factors like learning success are more important in this case. Based on this assumption, we analyze the current state-of-the-art literature of pedagogical conversational agents to identify evaluation objectives, procedures and measuring instruments. Afterward, we use the results to propose a guideline for evaluations of pedagogical conversational agents.
Effect of NGR1 on the Atopic Dermatitis Model and its Mechanisms

Abstract Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a highly pruritic chronic inflammatory skin disease. Notoginsenoside R1 (NGR1), a unique ingredient of P. notoginseng which is a well-known medicinal herb for its long history of use in traditional Chinese medicine, has been identified to have various biologically active properties that include anti-inflammatory effects. However, the effects of NGR1 on AD remain unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect and mechanism of NGR1 on the in vitro cell model of AD induced by LPS stimulation. RAW264.7 cells were stimulated with 1 μg/ml LPS to establish the in vitro cell inflammation model of AD. RAW264.7 cells were treated with various concentrations of NGR1 (0.1, 1, and 10 μM); then, an MTT assay was performed to determine the cell viability. An ELISA assay detected the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (interleukin-1β, IL-1β; interleukin-6, IL-6; tumor necrosis factor-α, TNF-α). Additionally, NO production was measured using a nitrate/nitrite assay kit. Results indicated that LPS induced increases in the levels of TNFα, IL-1β, IL-6, and NO production was significantly reduced by NGR1 treatment in a dose-dependent manner. Further, NGR1 treatment inhibited the activation of the NF-κB pathway, and the NLRP3 inflammasome in LPS stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. The study data indicated that NGR1 might relieve atopic dermatitis via inhibiting inflammation through suppressing the NF-κB signaling pathway and NLRP3 inflammasome activation.
Thermally condensing photons into a coherently split state of light

Irreversible splitting of light Prisms and dielectric beam splitters tend to be unitary and reversible optical elements, with the quantum properties of the photons largely irrelevant. Kurtscheid et al. introduce a method of irreversibly, but coherently, populating a split state with photons by thermalizing the photons into a low-energy ground state by repeated absorption-emission interaction with a fluorescent dye within a double-dimple optical cavity. Generation of such a coherent split state could be used as a precursor step to the quasi-continuous creation of many-body entangled states of light, which could be useful in applications in quantum communication, computing, and simulation. Science, this issue p. 894 Photons cooled into a split Bose-Einstein condensate could be used as a quantum source of light. The quantum state of light plays a crucial role in a wide range of fields, from quantum information science to precision measurements. Whereas complex quantum states can be created for electrons in solid-state materials through mere cooling, optical manipulation and control builds on nonthermodynamic methods. Using an optical dye microcavity, we show that photon wave packets can be split through thermalization within a potential with two minima subject to tunnel coupling. At room temperature, photons condense into a quantum-coherent bifurcated ground state. Fringe signals upon recombination show the relative coherence between the two wells, demonstrating a working interferometer with the nonunitary thermodynamic beam splitter. Our energetically driven optical-state preparation method provides a route for exploring correlated and entangled optical many-body states.
Evidence-Based Treatment of Dysthymia in Primary Care

INTRODUCTION The prevalence of dysthymic disorder in primary care approaches that for major depression [1–4]. Dysthymia, however, is much less likely than major depression to be treated by primary care providers (PCPs), in part because historically it has been thought to be untreatable [5,6]. Recent scientific advances in the treatment of dysthymia may now help PCPs to confidently and effectively care for patients with this condition. Specifically, the increased availability of screening tools may aid in identification of the disorder, and clinicians can now choose from a battery of treatment options, including various antidepressants and psychotherapeutic techniques that have been shown to be effective. Dysthymia is characterized by chronically depressed mood for most of the day, for more days than not, for at least 2 years [7–9]. Left untreated, more than two thirds of patients remain symptomatic for 10 years or more, with mean durations reported to be as long as 30 years [10–14]. In addition to this personal suffering, dysthymia is associated with high medical utilization and costs and a high degree of somatic, social, and occupational impairment [11,15–20]. The deficits in quality of life, functional impairment, and disability days are similar to or worse than those associated with major depression and cause more impairment than other chronic conditions such as diabetes, asthma, and arthritis [21,22]. PCPs play a critical role in the initial recognition, diagnosis, and treatment of dysthymia and associated mood disorders. Fifty-four percent of depressed patients first seek mental health care in a primary care setting, meaning that PCPs often represent the “point-of-first-contact” with the health care system. Indeed, PCPs are often the only mental health providers for certain subpopulations of patients, such as the elderly and chronically ill, who rarely use specialty mental health care. The purpose of this paper is to provide information about the differential diagnosis of dysthymia and effective pharmacologic and psychotherapeutic treatments presented in the context of a clinical case. The report reviews findings from the Cochrane Collaboration [23–26], the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) evidence report on newer pharmacotherapies [27], and more recently published articles. CASE STUDY Initial Presentation A 38-year-old woman presents to her PCP with chronic fatigue.
Grammar of VR Storytelling: Narrative Immersion and Experiential Fidelity in VR Cinema

As grammar of VR storytelling evolves, we must look beyond the technical capabilities of the medium and associated perceptual immersion, in order to better understand the effect of narrative on the users. This paper presents a qualitative analysis of the experience of a VR Cinema and the experiencer’s connection to the narrative. The study attempts to illustrate the significance of narrative immersion with respect to the 360° medium of storytelling in VR. In addition how the various elements in such a narrative lead to experiential fidelity is examined. We believe that the insights gathered would help VR filmmakers in creating effective narrative experiences.