Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Moral Enhancement Using Non-invasive Brain Stimulation

Biomedical enhancement refers to the use of biomedical interventions to improve capacities beyond normal, rather than to treat deficiencies due to diseases. Enhancement can target physical or cognitive capacities, but also complex human behaviors such as morality. However, the complexity of normal moral behavior makes it unlikely that morality is a single capacity that can be deficient or enhanced. Instead, our central hypothesis will be that moral behavior results from multiple, interacting cognitive-affective networks in the brain. First, we will test this hypothesis by reviewing evidence for modulation of moral behavior using non-invasive brain stimulation. Next, we will discuss how this evidence affects ethical issues related to the use of moral enhancement. We end with the conclusion that while brain stimulation has the potential to alter moral behavior, such alteration is unlikely to improve moral behavior in all situations, and may even lead to less morally desirable behavior in some instances.
Demographics of Natural Oral Infection of Mosquitos by Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus

ABSTRACT The within-host diversity of virus populations can be drastically limited during between-host transmission, with primary infection of hosts representing a major constraint to diversity maintenance. However, there is an extreme paucity of quantitative data on the demographic changes experienced by virus populations during primary infection. Here, the multiplicity of cellular infection (MOI) and population bottlenecks were quantified during primary mosquito infection by Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, an arbovirus causing neurological disease in humans and equids.
2 Liouville Theory with Boundary

We study N = 2 Liouville theory with arbitrary central charge in the presence of boundaries. After reviewing the theory on the sphere and deriving some important structure constants, we investigate the boundary states of the theory from two approaches, one using the modular transformation property of annulus amplitudes and the other using the bootstrap of disc twopoint functions containing degenerate bulk operators. The boundary interactions describing the boundary states are also proposed, based on which the precise correspondence between boundary states and boundary interactions is obtained. The open string spectrum between D-branes is studied from the modular bootstrap approach and also from the reflection relation of boundary operators, providing a consistency check for the proposal.
Parallel energy analyzer for pure electron plasma devices

A technique is presented for measuring the parallel energy distribution of magnetically confined electrons in a cylindrically symmetric pure electron plasma. In essence, the technique measures how many electrons are energetic enough to escape past applied confinement potentials. The technique does not require any secondary magnetic fields. Simplified variations of the technique are also presented which can be used at the expense of some loss of information. These techniques have been successfully used in three experimental contexts.
Multiuser interference cancellation aided adaptation of a MMSE receiver for direct-sequence code-division multiple-access systems

We consider the application of iterative interference cancellation (IC) schemes to improve the convergence speed of the linear adaptive minimum mean-squared error (MMSE) receiver in a direct-sequence code-division multiple-access (DS-CDMA) system. Our aim is to reduce the overhead introduced during the training period. This will be achieved using an iterative interference cancellation algorithm such as the parallel interference cancellation (PIC) algorithm. The proposed system makes use of the available knowledge of the training sequences for all users (i.e., at the base station) to jointly cancel the multiple access interference (MAI) and adapts to the MMSE optimum filter taps using the combined adaptive MMSE/PIC. An examination of the adaptive MMSE/PIC receiver reveals that it is near-far resistant. Moreover, it is shown that using the least-mean-square (LMS) as a simple form of the adaptive MMSE receiver, the proposed algorithm requires only a few tens of symbols for convergence as compared to a few hundred training symbols needed for the conventional adaptive LMS receiver. Also employing a more complex, yet faster, a recursive-least squares algorithm (RLS) convergence is reached with few training symbols when PIC is used.
TECHNOLOGY SUPPORTED FACILITATION AND ASSESSMENT OF SMALL GROUP COLLABORATIVE INQUIRY LEARNING IN LARGE FIRST-YEAR CLASSES

Collaborative learning activities offer the potential to support mutual knowledge construction and shared understanding amongst students. Introducing collaborative tasks into large first-year undergraduate science classes to creating learning environments that foster student engagement and enhance communication skills is appealing. However, implementing group work in classes of over 1000 students presents challenges for instructors in terms of task design, group management and assessment. Interdisciplinary scenario-inquiry tasks have been designed for small group work in a large science cohort, informed by literature and current pedagogical practices relating to the integration of collaborative and active learning strategies. Facilitation and assessment of these tasks was perceived as too complex and time consuming for a single instructor to complete manually, so a web-based task management technology was developed. Evaluation of the technology supported collaborative group activities including peer assessment was conducted through questionnaires, student interviews and analysis of the artefacts of the learning process. The capabilities and limitations of the technology, and the insights into group learning gained through its use are presented. In general, students felt supported through the task. Evidence of resource interdependence was found between students in functional groups.
Models for genetic analysis of dystocia and calf mortality.

Calvings of 106,750 Israeli Holstein heifers were analyzed for dystocia and calf mortality, which were scored dichotomously. Models fitted included herd-year-season, sex of calf, calving age, calving month, sire of cow, sire of calf, and groups of sire of cow and calf. Herd-year-season, sire of cow and of calf, and residuals were random with diagonal variance-covariance matrices. Traits were analyzed with and without a herd-year-season effect, and dystocia was analyzed separately for male and female calvings and with both sexes combined. Variance components were estimated by REML for linear models and by the counterpart of REML for threshold models. Heritability estimates were two to four times larger in threshold than in linear models, but correlations between corresponding sire evaluations were all greater than . 9. Correlations between evaluations computed with and without herd-year-season effects were . 9 for sire of calf evaluations for dystocia and greater than . 97 for all other evaluations. Correlations between sire evaluations computed separately for male and female calvings were between . 3 and . 7. Thus, calving difficulty is expressed differently in male and female calvings. Genetic trends were unfavorable for dystocia but favorable for calf mortality. Phenotypic trends were curvilinear with maxima in 1982 and 1983 for calf mortality and dystocia.
Family Dynamics in a Small Consultancy Firm: A Case Study

Family-run enterprises are noted contributors to the small business population, particularly in terms of job creation and wealth generation. Moreover, it is well established that the presence of the family can be an important influence upon social relations in small firms. This paper examines whether family dynamics impinge upon the management of small consultancy firms, a sector that is closely associated with a discourse of' knowledge', `expertise', and `competence'. Based on a year-long case study of Whit Co, a husband and wife-owned small consultancy business, three questions are investigated. What is the nature of the family role in the consultancy business? How do employees in such settings view the family? What tactics do these usually credentialized workers deploy to handle family relations? The findings demonstrate that household relations rather than the activity of an `entrepreneurial individual' are important in understanding the operation of the small business; moreover, there is a tendency to underplay the role of the female partner in the initiation and maintenance of the firm. Employees value aspects of the `familyness' of the enterprise; for example, paternal approaches to social relations can generate feelings of inclusiveness. However, employees can perceive family roles as lacking in legitimacy if they are not underpinned by `competence'. Finally, employees' capacity to handle family relations is contingent upon their material importance to the firm.
Understanding patho-physiology of retained placenta and its management in cattle- a review

Retention of Placenta (ROP) in animals has adverse effects on fertility and production. However, understanding the pathophysiology and causes of ROP is important for managing this disease. The hormonal processes that lead to normal placental separation are multifactorial and begin before parturition. A variety of risk factors, including early or induced parturition, dystocia, hormonal imbalances, and immunosuppression, can interrupt these normal processes and result in retention of the placenta. Systemic administration of antibiotics can be beneficial for treating metritis after ROP, but antibiotic administration has not been shown to significantly improve future reproduction. Use of immunomodulators reduces the uterine inflammation and infection but is not used routinely. Collagenase injected into the umbilical arteries of retained placentas specifically targets the lack of placentome proteolysis and might enhance placental release. However, such therapy is costly and its benefits in terms of improving subsequent reproductive function have not been evaluated. The present review will highlight some of the effective means of management of ROP.
Two Kwakwaka'wakw Museums: Heritage and Politics

Two Kwakwaka'wakw museums were created in the late 1970s. Both of these native museums have set an example for other, similar institutions. This article focuses on the differences between the two museums with similar goals but different approaches in dealing with members of the Kwakwaka'wakw community and with a larger public, sometimes referred to as "outsiders" or tourists. I will attempt to account for some of these differences by drawing on a long-term fieldwork experience.
Clinical and radiographic disease course of hand osteoarthritis and determinants of outcome after 6 years

Objective To investigate the long-term clinical and radiographic disease course of hand osteoarthritis (OA) and determinants of outcome. Methods Clinical and radiographic measures were obtained at baseline and after 6 years in 289 patients with hand OA (mean age 59.5 years, 83.0% women). Clinical outcomes were self-reported pain and functional limitations assessed with the Australian/Canadian Osteoarthritis Hand Index (AUSCAN). Poor clinical outcome was defined as a follow-up score not fulfilling the Patient Acceptable Symptom State. Radiographic outcome was assessed by osteophytes and joint space narrowing (JSN) on standardised hand radiographs using the Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) atlas. Radiographic progression was defined as a change in osteophytes or JSN, above the smallest detectable change. Change in outcome measures was calculated and baseline determinants for poor clinical outcome and radiographic progression were assessed using logistic regression analysis. Results Clinical change showed great variation, with half of the population reporting deterioration. Poor outcome in pain was related to high levels of functional limitations and a high number of painful joints at baseline. Poor outcome on functional limitations was related to high baseline pain levels. Radiographic progression was present in 52.5% of patients and associated with high baseline levels of pain, nodes, osteophytes and the presence of erosive OA and nodal OA. Clinical change and radiographic progression were not related. Conclusions This study gives insight in the clinical and radiographic course of hand OA as well as determinants of outcome. These findings enable better patient information on prognosis. The relationship between clinical and radiographic outcome needs further investigation.
Assessing psychological health: the contribution of psychological strengths

Balanced assessment of mental health involves assessing well-being and strengths as well as psychopathology. The character strengths of curiosity, gratitude, hope, optimism and forgiveness are assessed in 214 new undergraduates and their relationships to mental health, subjective well-being and self-esteem explored. Scoring the mental health scale for psychiatric caseness, case and non-case students did not differ in character strengths, positive affect or life satisfaction, supporting a dual-factor model. Hope pathways and gratitude predicted mental health. Gratitude, hope agency and exploratory curiosity predicted positive affect. Gratitude and hope agency predicted life satisfaction. Hope agency, hope pathways, exploratory curiosity and gratitude predicted self-esteem, with absorption curiosity as a negative predictor. The benefits of assessing strengths are discussed and interventions designed to develop them.
Taming heterogeneity - the Ptolemy approach

Modern embedded computing systems tend to be heterogeneous in the sense of being composed of subsystems with very different characteristics, which communicate and interact in a variety of ways-synchronous or asynchronous, buffered or unbuffered, etc. Obviously, when designing such systems, a modeling language needs to reflect this heterogeneity. Today's modeling environments usually offer a variant of what we call amorphous heterogeneity to address this problem. This paper argues that modeling systems in this manner leads to unexpected and hard-to-analyze interactions between the communication mechanisms and proposes a more structured approach to heterogeneity, called hierarchical heterogeneity, to solve this problem. It proposes a model structure and semantic framework that support this form of heterogeneity, and discusses the issues arising from heterogeneous component interaction and the desire for component reuse. It introduces the notion of domain polymorphism as a way to address these issues.
The epigenetic paradigm in periodontitis pathogenesis

Epigenome refers to "epi" meaning outside the "genome. " Epigenetics is the field of study of the epigenome. Epigenetic modifications include changes in the promoter CpG Islands, modifications of histone protein structure, posttranslational repression by micro-RNA which contributes to the alteration of gene expression. Epigenetics provides an understanding of the role of gene-environment interactions on disease phenotype especially in complex multifactorial diseases. Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory disorder that affects the supporting structures of the tooth. The role of the genome (in terms of genetic polymorphisms) in periodontitis pathogenesis has been examined in numerous studies, and chronic periodontitis has been established as a polygenic disorder. The potential role of epigenetic modifications in the various facets of pathogenesis of periodontitis is discussed in this paper based on the available literature.
The Continuity-Change Duality in Narrative Texts of Organizational Identity

This paper focuses on how continuity and change are managed discursively in narrative texts of organizational identity and thus helps move forward the discussion about persistence and change in organizational identity. The study reports on the content, context and authorial elements of the evolving narrative composed by a Canadian bank's senior managers. The analysis indicates that the discursive strategies employed by organizational authors to establish confluence (or simultaneous continuity and change) include the selective reporting of elements from the past, present and future, the juxtaposition of the 'modern and attractive' with the 'outdated and undesirable', the persistent use of expansive labels that allow the addition and subtraction of meanings attached to the labels, and the importation of selected themes from the wider macro-discourses. In keeping with the view that organizations are plurivocal, evolving narratives of the organization in the business press are also presented. These narratives contribute themes that are at times concordant with senior managers' accounts and thus confirm the value of the changes in identity elaborated by management; at other times, press accounts are discordant with senior managers' narratives and provide alternative evaluations of the changes. The paper concludes with reflections on the indeterminacy of both organizational identity - for the texts that constitute it remain open to multiple readings and to subsequent re-writing that continually destabilize it - and the narrative research enterprise that falls short of providing comprehensive and incontrovertible accounts of the voices that constitute organizations. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2005.
Rethinking Design Thinking: Part I

ABSTRACT The term design thinking has gained attention over the past decade in a wide range of contexts beyond the traditional preoccupations of designers. The main idea is that the ways professional designers problem-solve is of value to firms trying to innovate and to societies trying to make change happen. This paper reviews the origins of the term design thinking in research about designers and its adoption by management educators and consultancies within a dynamic, global mediatized economy. Three main accounts are identified: design thinking as a cognitive style, as a general theory of design, and as a resource for organizations. The paper argues there are several issues that undermine the claims made for design thinking. The first is how many of these accounts rely on a dualism between thinking and knowing, and acting in the world. Second, a generalized design thinking ignores the diversity of designers' practices and institutions which are historically situated. The third is how design thinking rests on theories of design that privilege the designer as the main agent in designing. Instead the paper proposes that attending to the situated, embodied routines of designers and others offers a useful way to rethink design thinking.
Momentan verfügbare Selbstkontrollkraft : Vorstellung eines Messinstruments und erste Befunde aus pädagogisch-psychologischen Kontexten

Zusammenfassung.Selbstkontrolle spielt in padagogischen Kontexten oft eine entscheidende Rolle, beispielsweise wenn Lernende attraktiven Handlungsalternativen widerstehen mussen. Etliche Studien zeigen, dass die erfolgreiche Ausubung von Selbstkontrolle von der momentanen Verfugbarkeit an Selbstkontrollkraft abhangt. Zur Erfassung der momentanen Selbstkontrollkraft in deutschsprachigen Stichproben, wurde die State Self-Control Capacity Scale ins Deutsche adaptiert. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird uber funf Teilstudien berichtet, in denen die psychometrische Gute dieser Skala uberpruft wurde. Uber alle Studien hinweg erwies sich die eindimensionale Skala als sehr reliabel (Cronbachs Alphas ≥ .93). Bezuglich ihrer Validitat zeigten sich erwartete Zusammenhange mit Validitatskriterien (z. B. Angst, Stress, am gegenwartigen Tag bereits in Lehrveranstaltungen verbrachte Zeit); zusatzlich gelang die empirische Trennung von verschiedenen Stimmungsaspekten. Des Weiteren bildete die neue Skala (quasi-) experimente.
Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses Detected by Influenza-Like Illness Surveillance in Leyte Island, the Philippines, 2010–2013

This study aimed to determine the role of influenza-like illness (ILI) surveillance conducted on Leyte Island, the Philippines, including involvement of other respiratory viruses, from 2010 to 2013. ILI surveillance was conducted from January 2010 to March 2013 with 3 sentinel sites located in Tacloban city, Palo and Tanauan of Leyte Island. ILI was defined as fever ≥38°C or feverish feeling and either cough or running nose in a patient of any age. Influenza virus and other 5 respiratory viruses were searched. A total of 5,550 ILI cases visited the 3 sites and specimens were collected from 2,031 (36.6%) cases. Among the cases sampled, 1,637 (75.6%) were children aged <5 years. 874 (43.0%) cases were positive for at least one of the respiratory viruses tested. Influenza virus and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) were predominantly detected (both were 25.7%) followed by human rhinovirus (HRV) (17.5%). The age distributions were significantly different between those who were positive for influenza, HRV, and RSV. ILI cases were reported throughout the year and influenza virus was co-detected with those viruses on approximately half of the weeks of study period (RSV in 60.5% and HRV 47.4%). In terms of clinical manifestations, only the rates of headache and sore throat were significantly higher in influenza positive cases than cases positive to other viruses. In conclusion, syndromic ILI surveillance in this area is difficult to detect the start of influenza epidemic without laboratory confirmation which requires huge resources. Age was an important factor that affected positive rates of influenza and other respiratory viruses. Involvement of older age children may be useful to detect influenza more effectively.
Synthesis and pharmacological characterization of C4-disubstituted analogs of 1S,2S,5R,6S-2-aminobicyclo[3.1.0]hexane-2,6-dicarboxylate: identification of a potent, selective metabotropic glutamate receptor agonist and determination of agonist-bound human mGlu2 and mGlu3 amino terminal domain struct

As part of our ongoing research to identify novel agents acting at metabotropic glutamate 2 (mGlu2) and 3 (mGlu3) receptors, we have previously reported the identification of the C4α-methyl analog of mGlu2/3 receptor agonist 1 (LY354740). This molecule, 1S,2S,4R,5R,6S-2-amino-4-methylbicyclo[3.1. 0]hexane-2,6-dicarboxylate 2 (LY541850), exhibited an unexpected mGlu2 agonist/mGlu3 antagonist pharmacological profile, whereas the C4β-methyl diastereomer (3) possessed dual mGlu2/3 receptor agonist activity. We have now further explored this structure-activity relationship through the preparation of cyclic and acyclic C4-disubstituted analogs of 1, leading to the identification of C4-spirocyclopropane 5 (LY2934747), a novel, potent, and systemically bioavailable mGlu2/3 receptor agonist which exhibits both antipsychotic and analgesic properties in vivo. In addition, through the combined use of protein-ligand X-ray crystallography employing recombinant human mGlu2/3 receptor amino terminal domains, molecular modeling, and site-directed mutagenesis, a molecular basis for the observed pharmacological profile of compound 2 is proposed.