Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Happiness is a warm abstract thought: Self-construal abstractness and subjective well-being

Research investigating the relationship between self-construals and subjective well-being has traditionally focused on understanding how dimensions such as positivity–negativity and internality–externality relate to well-being. This paper presents two studies that investigate how a potentially important yet unexamined dimension, the abstractness versus concreteness of people's self-construals, is related to life satisfaction. Study 1 showed that happier people tend to think about themselves with higher level of abstraction than less happy people, even after controlling for the overall valence and internality of their construals. Study 2 found that people randomly assigned to think about themselves in abstract rather than concrete terms reported greater pre- to post-manipulation increases in reports of life satisfaction. Implications of these findings for understanding individual differences in well-being are discussed, and directions for future research are presented.
Alexithymia and Irony Comprehension and their Relations with Depression, Anxiety, General Symptomatology and Personality Disorders: A Comparison Between Clinical and Non-Clinical Participants

Poor awareness of one's own emotions and theory of mind appears to be a feature of many adult psychiatric conditions. In this study, we explored whether alexithymia and poor understanding of irony, both elements of the metacognitive system, were impaired in a clinical sample ( n = 20) when compared to a non-clinical group ( n = 35). We expected that both elements were impaired in the clinical group and explored whether they were correlated with personality disorder traits, global symptomatology, depression and anxiety. Finally, we sought to investigate whether alexithymia and difficulties in irony comprehension were related to each other. Results partially supported our hypotheses. Both emotional awareness and irony comprehension were impaired in the clinical vs. non-clinical sample. Alexithymia was related to personality disorder traits in both groups, and was linked with depression in the clinical group only. Irony understanding was not related to any elements of personality or symptoms, though time in reacting to irony vignettes was linked with cluster A and B traits in the clinical group only. Finally, the two elements were not significantly related to one another, except for a link between alexithymia and time spent in reacting to irony vignettes. With the caveat that the size of the clinical sample was small, results are consistent with the contention that many with psychiatric conditions experience metacognitive deficits which could be the target of intervention.
Full Diversity Non-Coherent Alamouti-Based Toeplitz Space-Time Block Codes

Recently, the Liu-Zhang-Wong's Toeplitz space-time block code and the Shang-Xia's Alamouti code-based overlapped space-time block code have been developed to enable coherent full diversity with the linear receivers for a wireless communication system having multiple transmitter antennas and a single receiver antenna. In this paper, such a noncoherent system is considered, in which channel state information is unavailable at both the transmitter and receiver. Using the Alamouti coding scheme and the Toeplitz matrix structure, a novel noncoherent nonunitary space-time block code, which is called an Alamouti-based Toeplitz space-time block code, is proposed. By the fundamentals of Galois theory and algebraic number theory, two important properties on the two Alamouti codes generated from a pair of coprime phase shift keying (PSK) constellations, i.e., the uniqueness of factorization itself and the shift-invariant uniqueness of factorization, are first revealed and rigorously proved. Then, it is further shown that it is these two kinds of unique factorizations that enable the unique blind identification of both the channel coefficients and the transmitted signals by only processing two block received signals, as well as noncoherent full diversity with a generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT) receiver. In addition, a full diversity unitary code design is also proposed by simply applying the QR decomposition to the full diversity nonunitary Alamouti-based Toeplitz space-time block code. Computer simulations demonstrate that the nonunitary and unitary codes presented in this paper outperform the differential codes and the signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR)-efficient training scheme based on the coherent orthogonal space-time block codes in the current literature.
Pre- and post-natal stress in context: effects on the stress physiology in a precocial bird

SUMMARY Developmental stress can significantly influence physiology and survival in many species. Mammalian studies suggest that pre- and post-natal stress can have different effects (i.e. hyper- or hypo-responsiveness) on the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, the main mediator of the stress response. In mammals, the physiological intimacy between mother and offspring constrains the possibility to control, and therefore manipulate, maternal pre- and post-natal influences. Here, using the Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) as our model, we elevated levels of the glucocorticoid stress hormone corticosterone in ovo and/or in the endogenous circulation of hatchlings. We examined the effects of treatments on corticosterone and glucose stress responses at two different ages, in juvenile and adult quail. In juveniles, corticosterone data revealed a sex-specific effect of post-natal treatment regardless of the previous pre-natal protocol, with post-natally treated females showing shorter stress responses in comparison with the other groups, while no differences were observed among males. In adulthood, birds previously stressed as embryos showed higher corticosterone concentrations over the stress response compared with controls. This effect was not evident in birds subjected to either post-natal treatment or the combined treatments. There were no effects on glucose in the juveniles. However, adult birds previously stressed in ovo showed opposite sex-specific basal glucose patterns compared with the other groups. Our results demonstrate that (1) early glucocorticoid exposure can have both transient and long-term effects on the HPA axis, depending upon the developmental stage and sex and (2) post-natal stress can modulate the effects of pre-natal stress on HPA activity.
Evaluation of Academic Capabilities in Science by Students with and without Learning Disabilities and their Teachers

The purpose of this study was to determine whether students with and without learning disabilities (LD) who attended general education science classes differed in their evaluations of their learning capabilities, whether changes in selfevaluation occurred over a 3year period, and whether over this period the teachers' ratings of the students with LD differed from those of the students without LD. Two cohorts of students (including students with and without LD) were followed for 3 years (Grades 4 to 6 and 6 to 8); in each year they and their teachers were asked to evaluate their capabilities and efforts in science. The results showed that the students with LD in the younger cohort rated themselves as less capable in science than did the students without LD in all 3 years, but the students with and without LD in the older cohort differed only in the first year. For both cohorts, the teachers consistently rated the students with LD as having significantly less adequate learning capabilities, and they placed the students with LD at lower levels of achievement than their peers without LD. Comparisons of student and teacher ratings suggest that teachers often have higher expectations for students than students have for themselves and that the students with LD fall particularly short of these standards. Implications for helping students with LD adjust to learning in general education science classes and for further research studies are discussed.
Individual Differences in Self-Compassion: The Role of Attachment and Experiences of Parenting in Childhood

Much evidence indicates that self-compassion is related to a wide range of positive outcomes, yet remarkably little is known as to the origins of self-compassion. Here we present two studies that investigate the potential origins of individual differences in self-compassion. In Study 1, participants' (N = 329) recall of high parental rejection and overprotection, and low parental warmth in childhood predicted low self-compassion, and this was mediated by attachment anxiety. Attachment avoidance did not mediate any association. Study 2 (N = 32) extended this cross-sectional study by experimentally enhancing attachment security, which led to an increase in state self-compassion. Results suggest that early childhood experiences and attachment may influence the development of self-compassion.
Improved group off-the-record messaging

Off-the-Record Messaging (OTR) is an online analogy of face-to-face private chat -- messages are confidential and authenticated at the time of the conversation, but cannot later be used to prove authorship. The original OTR protocol is limited to two parties, and is extended by multi-party OTR (mpOTR) to the group chat setting. In doing this, mpOTR unintentionally weakens the security properties provided by its two-party predecessor. We propose an improved group OTR (GOTR)protocol that provides unconditional repudiability, and show how to obtain data origin authentication given this level of repudiability. GOTR resists network failure, colluding and independent malicious insiders, and provides efficient and flexible membership management. We analyze the security properties and performance of GOTR, and present measurement results of a proof-of-concept implementation of GOTR.
Saving Energy by Adjusting Transmission Power in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have attracted a great deal of study due to the low cost of sensors and their wide range of applications. Most of the sensors used so far are point sensors which have disc-shaped sensing and communication areas. Energy-efficient communication is an important issue in WSNs because of the limited power resource and the inconvenience to recharge sensor batteries frequently. In this paper, we propose distributed algorithms to reduce communication energy consumption in WSNs by minimizing the total transmission power of sensors while maintaining the connectivity of the network. We first develop a distributed algorithm called DTRNG (Determine the Transmission power using RNG) based on RNG (Relative Neighborhood Graph) to let each sensor determine its transmission power. Then we point out that although RNG can maintain the connectivity of the network, it is not adequate to minimize the total transmission power of sensors. So we enhance it to algorithm DTCYC (Determine the Transmission power by removing the largest edge in CYCles). Mathematical proofs show that the result of the DTCYC algorithm is a minimal spanning tree, which can not only minimize the total sensor transmission power but maintain the connectivity of the network as well. Therefore, DTCYC algorithm is efficient in saving energy and can thus prolong the lifetime of WSNs.
Explorando a Relação entre Autoeficácia e Atitude Positiva face à Introdução de uma Nova Tecnologia

O surgimento de novas tecnologias da informacao e comunicacao, como os sistemas integrados de gestao, tem influenciado nao so o mundo empresarial, mas tambem as universidades. Com base nisso, destaca-se que compreender os fatores que influenciam a decisao de um individuo em usar uma nova tecnologia vem se tornando um desafio na area de tecnologia da informacao. Em survey com 174 discentes de uma universidade federal brasileira, esta pesquisa desenvolve uma escala para associar autoeficacia e atitude positiva face a introducao do modulo de atividades academicas de um sistema integrado de gestao. Entre os resultados, apresenta-se a estrutura fatorial dos construtos e discute-se a associacao entre eles. As contribuicoes desta pesquisa sao de natureza conceitual (aspectos cognitivos e atitudinais da interacao pessoa-computador) e metodologica (mensuracao de escala). Como contribuicao gerencial, a universidade podera elaborar programas voltados a promover eficiencia no uso do SIGAA com maior possibilidade de adocao por parte de seus discentes.
Neurostimulationsverfahren in der Epilepsiebehandlung

Zusammenfassung Neurostimulationsverfahren zur Epilepsietherapie haben in den vergangenen Jahren eine rasche Weiterentwicklung erlebt. Neben der Vagusnervstimulation liegen nun auch für die tiefe Hirnstimulation des Nucleus anterior thalami und die responsive Fokusstimulation positive Ergebnisse aus Phase-III-Studien vor. Mit den transkutanen Stimulationsverfahren der externen trigeminalen Stimulation und der transkutanen Vagusnervstimulation stehen zudem auch nicht invasive Stimulationsmethoden zur Verfügung, welche jedoch noch einer weiteren klinischen Prüfung bedürfen. Der vorliegende Artikel soll die einzelnen Stimulationsverfahren beleuchten und ihren Einsatz in der Epilepsiebehandlung einordnen.
The small molecular mass ubiquinone-binding protein (QPc-9.5 kDa) in mitochondrial ubiquinol-cytochrome c reductase: isolation, ubiquinone-binding domain, and immunoinhibition.

The small molecular mass ubiquinone-binding protein (QPc-9.5 kDa) was purified to homogeneity from 3-azido-2-methyl-5-methoxy-6-(3,7-dimethyl[3H]octyl)-1,4-benzoquinol+ ++- labeled bovine heart mitochondrial ubiquinol-cytochrome c reductase. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the isolated protein is Gly-Arg-Gln-Phe-Gly-His-Leu-Thr-Arg-Val-Arg-His-, which is identical with that of a Mr = 9500 protein in the reductase [Borchart et al. (1986) FEBS Lett. 200, 81-86]. A ubiquinone-binding peptide was prepared from [3H]azidoubiquinol-labeled QPc-9.5 kDa protein by trypsin digestion followed by HPLC separation. The partial N-terminal amino acid sequence of this peptide, Val-Ala-Pro-Pro-Phe-Val-Ala-Phe-Tyr-Leu-, corresponds to amino acid residues 48-57 in the reported Mr = 9500 protein. According to the proposed structural model for the Mr = 9500 protein, the azido-Q-labeled peptide is located in the membrane on the matrix side. These results confirm our previous assessment that the Mr = 13,400 subunit is not the small molecular weight Q-binding protein. Purified antibodies against QPc-9.5 kDa have a high titer with isolated QPc-9.5 kDa protein and complexes that contain it. Although antibodies against QPc-9.5 kDa do not inhibit intact succinate- and ubiquinol-cytochrome c reductases, a decrease of 85% and 20% in restoration of succinate- and ubiquinol-cytochrome c reductases, respectively, is observed when delipidated succinate- or ubiquinol-cytochrome reductases are incubated with antibodies prior to reconstitution with ubiquinone and phospholipid, indicating that epitopes at the catalytic site of QPc-9.5 kDa are buried in the phospholipid environment. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Investigating the relationships between informal learning and player involvement in digital games

In the last few years, digital games have become increasingly popular with both ‘hardcore’ and ‘casual’ audiences. At the same time, it has been argued that games can be powerful learning environments, since they are seen to encourage active and critical learning through participation in affinity groups and semiotic domains but there is a need for further empirical evidence to explore how this participation occurs and how prevalent it actually is. In addition the effectiveness of games within education indicates mixed results, though it has been suggested that this may indicate that learning through immersive worlds involves a more complex understanding of learning, one that is not so easy to tie to specified learning outcomes. It would seem the area would benefit from research that seeks to develop our understanding of how player involvement and learning come together in this context. This paper presents the preliminary results of a survey carried out in order to explore these issues. The initial findings suggest that how a player identifies as a gamer relates to what they think they gain from their gaming experiences with respect to learning.
The Effect of Ascorbic Acid over the Etoposide- and Temozolomide-Mediated Cytotoxicity in Glioblastoma Cell Culture: A Molecular Study.

AIM Glioblastoma (GBM) is one of the lethal central nervous system tumors. One of the widely used chemical agents for the treatment of glioblastoma is temozolomide. It is an orally administered, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) alkylating agent. DNA alkylation triggers the death of tumor cells. However, some tumor cells are able to repair this type of DNA damage and thus lower the therapeutic effect of temozolomide. Laboratory and clinical studies indicate that temozolomide"s anticancer effects might be strengthened when combined with other chemotherapeutic agents like etoposide or antioxidant agents like ascorbic acid. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the cytotoxic and oxidative stress effects of ascorbic acid (1000 ? M), temozolomide (100 ? M) and etoposide (25 ? M) agents alone and in dual and triple combinations in a glioblastoma U87 MG cell culture. MATERIAL AND METHODS The cytotoxic and oxidative stress effects were investigated by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5- diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis methods. RESULTS Cytotoxicity tests showed that etoposide, temozolomide, "etoposide+ascorbic acid", "temozolomide+ascorbic acid", "temozolomide+etoposide" and "temozolomide+etoposide+ascorbic acid" combinations have anti-proliferative effects. The maximum anti-proliferation response was observed in the "temozolomide+etoposide+ascorbic acid"-added group. Similarly LCMS/ MS analyses showed that minimum oxidative DNA damage occurred in the "temozolomide+etoposide+ascorbic acid"-added group. CONCLUSION Ascorbic acid decreases the cytotoxic and genotoxic effect of etoposide and etoposide-temozolomide combination but it has no meaningful effect on temozolomide"s toxicity.
Thromboembolism—an Important Manifestation of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Thromboembolism is an extraintestinal manifestation and an important cause of mortality in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The risk of thromboembolism appears to be multifactorial and related to mucosal inflammatory activity in most patients. Various laboratory markers such as thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) levels have been linked with thrombophilia in IBD but no single laboratory marker has emerged with sufficient predictive value to identify patients at particular risk. Prospective multifactorial analyses will be required; in the interim, clinicians must be vigilant and address common risk factors for thromboembolism in all patients with IBD.
Lexical and Acoustic Factors in the Perception of the Spanish Diphthong vs. Hiatus Contrast

The present study considers the case of exceptional hiatus which recent literature reports to exist in the syllabification of certain vocoid sequences in Peninsular varieties of Spanish. The potential influence of lexical and acoustic factors on the perception of the syllabification of these vocoid sequences is considered. It is shown that both lexical and acoustic factors influence perception. An experiment was conducted to determine the relative strength of the lexical and the acoustic factors in stress perception, but the results were confounded by the dominance of an unexpected factor in perception. The frequency of occurrence of different syllabification patterns proved to play a large role in the perception, causing subjects to employ linguistic prediction based on the most common patterns found in the language. This study provides insight into the perception of syllabification patterns in Spanish, and presents new data in support of usage-based models of lexical storage.
Correctional Remediation Meets Neuropsychological Rehabilitation

Many correctional services have dedicated considerable effort toward offender rehabilitation programs that aim to reduce recidivism. During the past three decades, cognitive-skills-based programs have been the foundational remediation offered within correctional facilities. These programs appear to reduce recidivism in the range of 10%. One potential for further reductions is to address deficits in offenders’ executive cognitive functioning (ECF), a constellation of abilities that includes planning, inhibition, and thought flexibility. The documented ECF deficits of offenders resemble the deficits experienced by individuals with acquired brain injury or diagnosed with schizophrenia. The body of literature addressing rehabilitation efforts of these two distinct populations provides innovative and empirically supported behavioral treatment strategies that may enrich current offender rehabilitation. Recommendations for assessment and rehabilitation of ECF deficits are discussed.
Fas regulates neutrophil lifespan during viral and bacterial infection

The regulation of neutrophil lifespan is critical for a circumscribed immune response. Neutrophils are sensitive to Fas/CD95 death receptor signaling in vitro, but it is unknown if Fas regulates neutrophil lifespan in vivo. We hypothesized that FasL‐expressing CD8+ T cells, which kill antigen‐stimulated T cells during chronic viral infection, can also induce neutrophil death in tissues during infection. With the use of LysM‐Cre Fasfl/fl mice, which lack Fas expression in macrophages and neutrophils, we show that Fas regulates neutrophil lifespan during lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) infection in the lung, peripheral blood, and spleen. Fas also contributed to the regulation of neutrophil numbers in the colon of Citrobacter rodentium‐infected mice. To examine the effects of infection on Fas activation in neutrophils, we primed neutrophils with TLR ligands or IL‐18, resulting in ablation of Fas death receptor signaling. These data provide the first in vivo genetic evidence that neutrophil lifespan is controlled by death receptor signaling and provide a mechanism to account for neutrophil resistance to Fas stimulation during infection.