Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A closer look into the materialism construct: the antecedents and consequences of materialism and its three facets

Purpose – This study aims to unbundle the materialism construct into its three facets – centrality, success and happiness – to provide a fine-grained model that delineates the relationship between some of its antecedents (i.e. depression, anxiety, self esteem and affect) and consequences (life satisfaction, innovativeness, time spent shopping and environmentalism). Design/methodology/approach – Using a convenience sample of 568 adult consumers, this study tests a model in which a set of psychological variables serve as antecedents of materialism and its three facets, which in turn affect a set of cognitive, psychological and behavioral consequences. Findings – Results indicate that specific facets have more weight than others, depending on the nature of the needs individuals seek to fulfill through possessions, or their resulting behaviors and cognitions. Results validate the view of materialism as a coping mechanism, but also show that the consequences of materialism can be both positive and negative dep.
Comparison of the Phonological Awareness Abilities of Monolingual Cantonese and Putonghua-Speaking Children

Abstract The experiment reported here examined the phonological awareness (PA) abilities of four- and five-year-old children learning Cantonese in Hong Kong and Putonghua in China. The four-year-olds had no exposure to formal literacy teaching, whereas the five-year-olds were exposed to different orthographic systems: the Puntonghua-speaking children learned Pinyin (a Romanized alphabet) and the Cantonese-speaking children learned to recognize words in a logographic orthographic system. These data allow investigation of the effect of the acquisition of an alphabetic orthography on phonological awareness. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether syllable and onset-rime awareness emerge in the absence of knowledge about alphabetically written words. Two syllable tasks, one rhyme task, a word-initial phoneme detection tasks and a task assessing tone discrimination were administered. The results indicated that exposure to Pinyin (the five-year-old Putonghua-speakers) significantly enhanced their overall phonological awareness mean score. The only task showing a significantly better performance by the older Putonghua participants in comparison to all other groups was phoneme detection. The older Putonghua children also performed better than the younger Putonghua-speakers on the syllable deletion and rhyme detection task. The performance of the younger and older Cantonese-speakers, who were exposed to a logographic orthography, did not differ. These data suggest that knowledge of alphabetic orthography is important for phonological awareness at the phoneme level, and also contributes some advantage at syllable and rhyme levels. The relationship between phonological awareness and the acquisition of alphabetic literacy is considered in the discussion.
Interpersonal Communication: The Social Exchange Approach

This is a book which examines the social exchange theories of relations between people. These theories tend to view communication as an exchange or extraction of benefit undertaken out of self interest. The book attempts to answer three questions: What are these theories and how do their assumptions differ? How do they view a variety of interpersonal communication phenomena? And, what are their strengths and weaknesses? 'This highly readable book contributes by abstracting the substance of exchange, then attributing it to the human communication processes. ' - "Sociology: Review of New Books", Vol 9 No 3.
First results observed with test X-CT system using GaAs radiation detector working in single photon counting regime

The aim of present work is application of novel single photon counting system for detection of gamma-rays in CT using semiconductor radiation detector based on semi-insulating (SI) GaAs compound. A simple positioning test system consisting of two stepper motors with 241 Am gamma source of 60 keV photons and single SI GaAs radiation detector operated in single photon counting mode is used for taking CT projections. First, rather preliminary results of CT reconstruction applied to imaging of inner structure of a small phantom using developed reconstruction algorithms is demonstrated
Effects of Verb’s Trait of Continuance and Adverb of Instantaneous Time about Representation of Events of Temporal Shifts in Chinese Text Readin

Situation model is the deep representation of events described formed by readers in text reading. How the temporal shifts of story are represented is an important dimension and a controversial issue. Scenario model considered that the units of time representation were the separated chunk (Anderson, Garrod, & Sanford, 1983); strong iconicity assumption reckoned that readers relied on sequence and continuity to process time information(Zwaan,1996) and in his experiments instantaneous temporal shifts and short temporal shifts were confused. Kelter, Kaup & Claus (2004) argued that obvious temporal discontinuity produced temporal shifts. But compared Zwaan’s experiments with examples presented by Kelter et al, the trait of verb’s continuance for temporal shifts was not clear. Thus it seemed that representing temporal shifts was not only determined by temporal adverbs, but also determined by the verb’s trait of continuance of front event. Besides, in Chinese text reading, the adverb of instantaneous temporal shifts could function as a cue followed by different temporal intervals. Hence the present study is to explore the effect of verb’s trait of continuance of mental temporal shifts”. "Time of mental temporal shifts" is the subjective time interval formed by readers in the process of processing temporal shifts according to their understanding of relations of events before and after temporal shifts. The verb’s trait of continuance and the adverb of instantaneous time are the important factors in influencing the "time of mental temporal shifts".
Three-dimensional analysis of the early development of the dentition

Tooth development has attracted the attention of researchers since the 19th century. It became obvious even then that morphogenesis could not fully be appreciated from two-dimensional histological sections. Therefore, methods of three-dimensional (3D) reconstructions were employed to visualize the surface morphology of developing structures and to help appreciate the complexity of early tooth morphogenesis. The present review surveys the data provided by computer-aided 3D analyses to update classical knowledge of early odontogenesis in the laboratory mouse and in humans. 3D reconstructions have demonstrated that odontogenesis in the early stages is a complex process which also includes the development of rudimentary odontogenic structures with different fates. Their developmental, evolutionary, and pathological aspects are discussed. The combination of in situ hybridization and 3D reconstruction have demonstrated the temporo-spatial dynamics of the signalling centres that reflect transient existence of rudimentary tooth primordia at loci where teeth were present in ancestors. The rudiments can rescue their suppressed development and revitalize, and then their subsequent autonomous development can give rise to oral pathologies. This shows that tooth-forming potential in mammals can be greater than that observed from their functional dentitions. From this perspective, the mouse rudimentary tooth primordia represent a natural model to test possibilities of tooth regeneration.
Four-Step Approach Model of Inspection (FAMI) for Effective Defect Management in Software Development

IT industry should inculcate effective defect management on a continual basis to deploy nearly a zerodefect product to their customers. Inspection is one of the most imperative and effective strategies of defect management. Nevertheless, existing defect management strategies in leading software industries are successful to deliver a maximum of 96% defect-free product. An empirical study of various projects across several service-based and product-based industries proves the above affirmations. This paper provides an enhanced approach of inspection through a Four-Step Approach Model of Inspection (FAMI). FAMI consists of i) integration of Inspection Life Cycle in V-model of software development, ii) implementation of process metric Depth of Inspection (DI), iii) implementation of people metric Inspection Performance Metric (IPM), iv) application of Bayesian probability approach for selection of appropriate values of inspection affecting parameters to achieve the desirable DI. The managers of software houses can make use of P2 metric as a benchmarking tool for the projects in order to improve the in-house defect management process. Implementation of FAMI in software industries reflects a continual process improvement and leads to the development of nearly a zero-defect product through effective defect management.
Butterworth filtering and implicit fairing of irregular meshes

In this paper, we propose efficient numerical techniques for Butterworth filtering and implicit fairing of large irregular triangle meshes, where the corresponding filters are rational polynomials and the resulting large linear systems need to be solved iteratively. We show that significant speed-up can be achieved for Butterworth filtering by factorizing the linear system in the complex domain. As for implicit fairing, with our estimate of the optimal extrapolation parameter /spl omega/, successive overrelaxation (SOR) offers great improvements, both in speed and space usage, over the more familiar conjugate gradient type solvers.
TPH2 gene polymorphisms and bipolar disorder: A meta‐analysis

Background: Disturbance of the serotonergic system contributes to the etiology of bipolar disorder (BD). Tryptophan hydroxylase‐2 (TPH2) is an important rate‐limiting enzyme in the synthetic pathway for brain serotonin and has been suggested to play a role in BD. Materials and methods: We performed a systematic review and meta‐analysis of all studies to date investigating the association studies between TPH2 and BD published before Aug 2014. All studies were abstracted from PubMed, Embase, HuGNet, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). Manuscripts and the supplementary documents of published genome‐wide association studies in the field were also included. Effect sizes of independent loci that have been studied in more than three articles were synthesized using fixed and random effects models. Results: Eight eligible studies addressed association between 63 TPH2 gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with BD, after linkage disequilibrium analysis, 12 independent SNPs were identified. Finally, three SNPs (rs4760820, rs11178998, and rs7954758) were found associated with BD using fixed effects models, and rs4760820 and rs11178998 were still associated with BD even with the more conservative random effects models. Conclusions: rs4760820 and rs11178998 were identified to have strong genetic association with BD in present study though confirmation will require larger sample sizes and in additional populations. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Single-sex schools and physics achievement: are girls really advantaged?

The assertion that girls and boys in single‐sex schools outperform their peers attending co‐educational schools was investigated in this study with particular reference to physics achievement. The relationship between the school, the home and the student's performance in physics was also explored tentatively using multilevel analysis. The average home background (called socio‐educational level in this study) was found to contribute towards student achievement to a greater extent when compared with such school effects as school type and the sex composition of the school. The importance of the use of the multilevel model in estimating microparameters such as sex differences, as well as macroparameters such as school type, is illustrated in this study by the significant influence of the school aggregate variable, socio‐educational level. This is a preliminary report describing some of the school and home effects influencing student performance using multilevel statistical methodology.
Type III secretion in plant growth‐promoting Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25

In vivo expression technology (IVET) analysis of rhizosphere‐induced genes in the plant growth‐promoting rhizobacterium (PGPR) Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25 identified a homologue of the type III secretion system (TTSS) gene hrcC. The hrcC homologue resides within a 20‐kb gene cluster that resembles the type III (Hrp) gene cluster of Pseudomonas syringae. The type III (Rsp) gene cluster in P. fluorescens SBW25 is flanked by a homologue of the P. syringae TTSS‐secreted protein AvrE. P. fluorescens SBW25 is non‐pathogenic and does not elicit the hypersensitive response (HR) in any host plant tested. However, strains constitutively expressing the rsp‐specific sigma factor RspL elicit an AvrB‐dependent HR in Arabidopsis thaliana ecotype Col‐0, and a host‐specific HR in Nicotiana clevelandii. The inability of wild‐type P. fluorescens SBW25 to elicit a visible HR is therefore partly attributable to low expression of rsp genes in the leaf apoplast. DNA hybridization analysis indicates that rsp genes are present in many plant‐colonizing Pseudomonas and PGPR, suggesting that TTSSs may have a significant role in the biology of PGPR. However, rsp and rsc mutants retain the ability to reach high population levels in the rhizosphere. While functionality of the TTSS has been demonstrated, the ecological significance of the rhizosphere‐expressed TTSS of P. fluorescens SBW25 remains unclear.
Validation of Walk Score® for Estimating Neighborhood Walkability: An Analysis of Four US Metropolitan Areas

Neighborhood walkability can influence physical activity. We evaluated the validity of Walk Score® for assessing neighborhood walkability based on GIS (objective) indicators of neighborhood walkability with addresses from four US metropolitan areas with several street network buffer distances (i.e., 400-, 800-, and 1,600-meters). Address data come from the YMCA-Harvard After School Food and Fitness Project, an obesity prevention intervention involving children aged 5–11 years and their families participating in YMCA-administered, after-school programs located in four geographically diverse metropolitan areas in the US (n = 733). GIS data were used to measure multiple objective indicators of neighborhood walkability. Walk Scores were also obtained for the participant’s residential addresses. Spearman correlations between Walk Scores and the GIS neighborhood walkability indicators were calculated as well as Spearman correlations accounting for spatial autocorrelation. There were many significant moderate correlations between Walk Scores and the GIS neighborhood walkability indicators such as density of retail destinations and intersection density (p < 0.05). The magnitude varied by the GIS indicator of neighborhood walkability. Correlations generally became stronger with a larger spatial scale, and there were some geographic differences. Walk Score® is free and publicly available for public health researchers and practitioners. Results from our study suggest that Walk Score® is a valid measure of estimating certain aspects of neighborhood walkability, particularly at the 1600-meter buffer. As such, our study confirms and extends the generalizability of previous findings demonstrating that Walk Score is a valid measure of estimating neighborhood walkability in multiple geographic locations and at multiple spatial scales.
Analysis of HTTP Performance Joe Touch ,

1 We discuss the performance effects of using per-transaction TCP connections for HTTP access, and the proposed optimizations of avoiding per-transaction re-connection and TCP slow-start restart overheads. We analyze the performance penalties of the interaction of HTTP and TCP. Our observations indicate that the proposed optimizations do not substantially affect Web access for the vast majority of users, who typically see end-to-end latencies of 100-250 ms and use low bandwidth lines. Under these conditions, there are only 1-2 packets in transit between the client and server, and the optimizations reduce the overall transaction time by only 11%. Rates over 200 Kbps are required in order to achieve at least a 50% reduction in transaction time, resulting in a user-noticeable performance enhancement. There have been several recent discussions about the performance problems of HTTP over TCP. This Web page continues that discussion with a description of the performance benefits of the proposed approaches. We discuss the evolution of the HTTP protocol, and the potential for inefficiencies. We then present analysis of these inefficiencies in current Web systems. We have found that, except for users with Ethernet-speed end-to-end links between the client and server, the performance enhancements proposed in [16] and [9] have limited benefit. The proposed application-layer persistent connection mechanisms achieve only a 11-27% reduction in response time for low bandwidth access, whereas we consider a 50% reduction in response time the minimum for substantial user benefit (i.e., the transaction is twice as fast). We conclude that such mechanisms are of limited benefit, and observe that they may interfere with emerging Internet services. The HTTP protocol was originally developed to reduce the inefficiencies of the FTP protocol [14], [1]. The goal was fast request-response interaction without requiring state at the server. To see the performance advantage of HTTP over FTP, we can compare the process of file retrieval transactions in each protocol. Both protocols use TCP, a reliable, connection-oriented transport protocol [13]. In FTP, a client opens a TCP connection with the server for control (Figure 1). Once that connection is established, a request for a file is sent on that channel. The server then opens a separate TCP connection for the file transfer, and returns the file in that other connection. Each connection requires one round-trip time (RTT) to open. The request takes 1/2 a RTT to get to the server, and the response takes another 1/2 RTT to return, …
Appraising the trustworthiness of qualitative studies : Guidelines for occupational therapists.

Qualitative research provides a valuable source of evidence to enhance occupational therapy practice. Occupational therapists need to consider the issue of trustworthiness prior to deciding whether the findings of qualitative research have relevance to their day-to-day work. By trustworthiness we mean the extent to which the findings are an authentic reflection of the personal or lived experiences of the phenomenon under investigation. In this article we provide guidance to enable occupational therapists to competently determine the trustworthiness of a qualitative research project. We do this by explaining, and illustrating with examples, six considerations that should be taken into account when determining whether the method, findings and interpretation of a qualitative research have been conducted in a trustworthy manner. These considerations are evidence of thick description, triangulation strategies, member-checking, collaboration between the researcher and the researched, transferability and reflexivity. Once the trustworthiness of a qualitative research has been determined, occupational therapists are in a better position to consider how the research findings may impact on their practice.
A topology management protocol with bounded delay for Wireless Sensor Networks

In wireless sensor networks (WSNs) used in monitoring applications, the need to provide real-time traffic with an appropriate QoS typically clashes with the energy consumption constraints of the nodes, which have to work for long periods without the possibility of replacing their batteries. When both energy and QoS constraints are present, the role of topology control mechanisms is fundamental. This paper presents a topology control protocol to support energy-efficient real-time communication over WSNs. The aim of this work is to provide bounded delay for data traffic while reducing the energy consumption of the nodes. Detailed description of the protocol is given and both analytical and simulation results are presented that show the effects of our topology control protocol in terms of reduced energy consumption, increased network capacity and reduced packet loss rate.
Vehicle stability enhancement based on second order sliding mode control

The vehicle handling and stability in emergency situation can be enhanced with direct yaw moment control (DYC). In this paper, a new controller using super twisting technique based on second order sliding mode control (SOSM) is proposed for the yaw moment control. The controller is designed based on two degree of freedom (2DOF) nonlinear model. The effectiveness of the proposed controller is compared to PI controller and conventional sliding mode controller by co-simulations in CarSim and Matlab/Simulink. The results show that the SOSM give better performance in tracking the desired response necessary for the vehicle handling and stability. In addition, the chattering phenomenon is also reduced, giving a smooth tracking trajectory.
Safety envelope for security

We present an approach for detecting sensor spoofing attacks on a cyber-physical system. Our approach consists of two steps. In the first step, we construct a safety envelope of the system. Under nominal conditions (that is, when there are no attacks), the system always stays inside its safety envelope. In the second step, we build an attack detector: a monitor that executes synchronously with the system and raises an alarm whenever the system state falls outside the safety envelope. We synthesize safety envelopes using a modifed machine learning procedure applied on data collected from the system when it is not under attack. We present experimental results that show effectiveness of our approach, and also validate the several novel features that we introduced in our learning procedure.
La comprensión y recuerdo de textos expositivos a través del análisis de algunas variables del texto y lector

In the present study, we investigated the effects of the lexical and semantic complexity on the text comprehension and recall in different reader groups who differenciated in their comprehension and previous knowledge level about the topics of the text. Subjects were 48 «experts» (post-graduates students) and 96 «novices» (junior high school students), 48 good readers and 48 poor readers. All of the subjects read two expository texts at different levels of difficulty. Two recall tests were made, inmediate free recall and delayed free recall (seven days). The results demonstrated that this feature texts, complexi, of the text, were an essentuil factor in the comprehension, unce it decide the conduct of the different reader groups. So, althought the results in general demonstrated that the expert readers obtain the best scores, especially in the macrostructure, these results depend on the comprehension difficulty of the text.