Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Paradoxical Thinking as a Conflict-Resolution Intervention: Comparison to Alternative Interventions and Examination of Psychological Mechanisms

Conflict-resolution interventions based on the paradoxical thinking principles, that is, expressing amplified, exaggerated, or even absurd ideas that are congruent with the held conflict-supporting societal beliefs, have been shown to be an effective avenue of intervention, especially among individuals who are adamant in their views. However, the question as to why these interventions have been effective has remained unanswered. In the present research, we have examined possible underlying psychological mechanisms, focusing on identity threat, surprise, and general disagreement. In a small-scale lab study and a large-scale longitudinal study, we compared paradoxical thinking interventions with traditional interventions based on providing inconsistent information. The paradoxical thinking interventions led rightists to show more unfreezing of held conflict-supporting beliefs and openness to alternative information, whereas the inconsistency-based interventions tended to be more effective with the centrist participants. Both studies provide evidence that the effects were driven by identity threat, surprise, and lower levels of disagreement.
Racial differences in potassium disposal.

BACKGROUND African Americans appear relatively potassium (K(+))-deficient compared with Caucasian Americans whether on unregulated diets or on diets controlled for K(+) content. METHODS To determine whether extrarenal K(+) disposal was affected by race, KCl (0.5 mEq/kg in 0.9% saline) was infused over 48 minutes to 12 African American and 12 Caucasian American normotensive, healthy subjects. Identical infusions were administered before and after 10 days of fixed electrolyte intake. In addition to serum K(+), glucose, insulin, renin, and aldosterone were measured in blood, and K(+) and sodium (Na(+)) in urine voided spontaneously during the infusions. Data were analyzed using a two-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures. RESULTS Basal serum K(+) did not differ between races (African American 3.97 +/- 0.06 mEq/L and Caucasian American 3.98 +/- 0.05, P= NS). The rise in serum K(+) during the infusion and the area under the curve of serum K(+) over the 3.5 hours of observation were both greater in African American (African American +0.82 +/- 0.07 mEq/L and Caucasian American +0.61 +/- 0.06, P= 0.001; and African American 6.9 +/- 0.5 units and Caucasian American 5.1 +/- 0.6, P= 0.0012). The 10-day period of controlled intake did not abolish these differences. Aldosterone at baseline was lower and insulin was higher in African Americans at the end of the infusion. Urinary K(+), plasma glucose, and renin levels did not differ between African Americans and Caucasian Americans. CONCLUSION Disposal of an intravenous (iv) K(+) load is decreased in African Americans compared with Caucasian Americans, which may reflect decreased Na(+),K(+)-ATPase activity in African Americans in vivo.
Evaluation of New Vegetable-Based Cutting Fluids on Thrust Force and Surface Roughness in Drilling of AISI 304 Using Taguchi Method

This study focused on both formulation of vegetable-based cutting fluids (VBCFs) and machining with these cutting fluids. For this purpose, characterizations of chemical and physical analyses of these formulated cutting fluids were carried out. Performances of five cutting fluids, three VBCFs developed from crude and refined sunflower oils, and two commercial types, were investigated for thrust force and surface roughness during drilling of AISI 304 with HSS-E tool. Spindle speed, feed rate and drilling depth were considered as machining parameters. L9 orthogonal array was used for the experiment plan. Results were evaluated using regression analysis and ANOVA.
2′-Phosphate cyclase activity of RtcA: a potential rationale for the operon organization of RtcA with an RNA repair ligase RtcB in Escherichia coli and other bacterial taxa

This paper describes an enzymatic analysis of RNA terminal phosphate cyclase. This enzyme was previously thought to only act on RNAs terminated with a 3′-phosphate, but the authors demonstrate that it can cyclize 2′-phosphates as well, albeit at a much slower rate. The results provide a plausible explanation for the organization of bacterial operons which contain both the cyclase and an RNA ligase.
Educational Attainment is Associated with Health Care Utilization and Self-Care Behavior by Individuals with Diabetes

The aim of this study was to examine the association between educational attainment and utilization of the health care system and self-care behavior by individuals with diabetes. The Barriers to Diabetes Care Survey asked indi- viduals with diabetes about their care. The questionnaire was completed using computer-assisted telephone interviewing techniques. Participants were found by random digit dialing across Ontario, Canada (eligible n = 1,031). We dichotomized educational attainment at high school. We examined the relationship of educational attainment with measures of health care system utilization and of self-care behavior. We adjusted for age, sex, income, health insurance status, and diabetes type, duration and treatment regimen. Individuals with high educational attainment were more likely to have had an oph- thalmologic examination during the previous year (odds ratio 1.37, 95% confidence interval 1.04-1.82), and were more likely to report having a specialist (OR 2.08, 95% CI 1.31-3.31) or other paramedical professional (OR 1.91, 95% CI 1.19-3.07) as their most responsible provider of care, rather than a family doctor. Smoking (OR 0.64, 95% CI 0.45-0.90) and blood sugar monitoring (OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.50-0.98) were associated with low educational attainment, while follow- ing a meal plan was associated with high educational attainment (OR 1.39, 95% CI 1.07-1.80). Since appropriate utiliza- tion of the health care system and self-care behavior are essential for diabetes management, our findings suggest that peo- ple with low educational attainment are independently at risk for worse diabetes care. Health care providers should ensure that their communications, teaching materials and instructions are suitable for these higher-risk patients.
Targetable kinase-activating lesions in Ph-like acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

BACKGROUND Philadelphia chromosome-like acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph-like ALL) is characterized by a gene-expression profile similar to that of BCR-ABL1-positive ALL, alterations of lymphoid transcription factor genes, and a poor outcome. The frequency and spectrum of genetic alterations in Ph-like ALL and its responsiveness to tyrosine kinase inhibition are undefined, especially in adolescents and adults. METHODS We performed genomic profiling of 1725 patients with precursor B-cell ALL and detailed genomic analysis of 154 patients with Ph-like ALL. We examined the functional effects of fusion proteins and the efficacy of tyrosine kinase inhibitors in mouse pre-B cells and xenografts of human Ph-like ALL. RESULTS Ph-like ALL increased in frequency from 10% among children with standard-risk ALL to 27% among young adults with ALL and was associated with a poor outcome. Kinase-activating alterations were identified in 91% of patients with Ph-like ALL; rearrangements involving ABL1, ABL2, CRLF2, CSF1R, EPOR, JAK2, NTRK3, PDGFRB, PTK2B, TSLP, or TYK2 and sequence mutations involving FLT3, IL7R, or SH2B3 were most common. Expression of ABL1, ABL2, CSF1R, JAK2, and PDGFRB fusions resulted in cytokine-independent proliferation and activation of phosphorylated STAT5. Cell lines and human leukemic cells expressing ABL1, ABL2, CSF1R, and PDGFRB fusions were sensitive in vitro to dasatinib, EPOR and JAK2 rearrangements were sensitive to ruxolitinib, and the ETV6-NTRK3 fusion was sensitive to crizotinib. CONCLUSIONS Ph-like ALL was found to be characterized by a range of genomic alterations that activate a limited number of signaling pathways, all of which may be amenable to inhibition with approved tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Trials identifying Ph-like ALL are needed to assess whether adding tyrosine kinase inhibitors to current therapy will improve the survival of patients with this type of leukemia. (Funded by the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities and others.).
Arm Posturing in a Patient Following Stroke: Dystonia, Levitation, Synkinesis, or Spasticity?

Background Post-stroke movement disorders occur in up to 4% of stroke patients. The movements can be complex and difficult to classify, which presents challenges when attempting to understand the clinical phenomenology and provide appropriate treatment. Case Report We present a 64-year-old male with an unusual movement in the arm contralateral to his ischemic stroke. The primary feature of the movement was an involuntary elevation of the arm, occurring only when he was walking. Discussion The differential diagnosis includes dystonia, spontaneous arm levitation, synkinesis, and spasticity. We discuss each of these diagnostic possibilities in detail.
Biological sequence analysis

This talk will review a little over a decade's research on applying certain stochastic models to biological sequence analysis. The models themselves have a longer history, going back over 30 years, although many novel variants have arisen since that time. The function of the models in biological sequence analysis is to summarize the information concerning what is known as a motif or a domain in bioinformatics, and to provide a tool for discovering instances of that motif or domain in a separate sequence segment. We will introduce the motif models in stages, beginning from very simple, non-stochastic versions, progressively becoming more complex, until we reach modern profile HMMs for motifs. A second example will come from gene finding using sequence data from one or two species, where generalized HMMs or generalized pair HMMs have proved to be very effective.
The Relationship Between Semantic Knowledge and Conceptual Apraxia in Alzheimer Disease

Background:Conceptual apraxia (CA), a feature of Alzheimer disease (AD), can be detected by asking participants to identify the correct tool to act on an object. Assessment can be based on either learned associations (a tool selection test) or the mechanical properties that the tool needs to alter the target object (an alternative tool selection test). Objectives:We wanted to determine whether knowledge of semantic taxonomic relations (intrinsic properties shared by items) correlated with performance on tests for CA in people with AD or amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). Methods:We tested 10 participants with AD, 12 with aMCI, and 18 healthy older adults for CA using an alternative tool selection test, a tool selection test, and a test of taxonomic relations. Results:The aMCI group did not differ from the control group on the CA tests. The patients with AD were impaired on all tests except tool selection; their performance on the alternative tool selection test correlated significantly with their performance on the taxonomic relations test. Conclusions:The correlation between performances on the alternative tool selection test and the taxonomic relations test in AD suggests a common pathophysiologic substrate, either impairment in accessing conceptual-semantic representations or a degradation of these representations.
Iron-Based Nanomaterials/Graphene Composites for Advanced Electrochemical Sensors

Iron oxide nanostructures (IONs) in combination with graphene or its derivatives—e.g., graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide—hold great promise toward engineering of efficient nanocomposites for enhancing the performance of advanced devices in many applicative fields. Due to the peculiar electrical and electrocatalytic properties displayed by composite structures in nanoscale dimensions, increasing efforts have been directed in recent years toward tailoring the properties of IONs-graphene based nanocomposites for developing more efficient electrochemical sensors. In the present feature paper, we first reviewed the various routes for synthesizing IONs-graphene nanostructures, highlighting advantages, disadvantages and the key synthesis parameters for each method. Then, a comprehensive discussion is presented in the case of application of IONs-graphene based composites in electrochemical sensors for the determination of various kinds of (bio)chemical substances.
An architecture for transforming graphical interfaces

While graphical user interfaces have gained much popularity in recent years, there are situations when the need to use existing applications in a nonvisual modality is clear. Examples of such situations include the use of applications on hand-held devices with limited screen space (or even no screen space, as in the case of telephones), or users with visual impairments. We have developed an architecture capable of transforming the graphical interfaces of existing applications into powerful intuitive nonvisual interfaces. Our system, called Mercator, provides new input and output techniques for working in the nonvisual domain. Navigation is accomplished by traversing a hierarchical tree representation of the interface structure. Output is primarily auditory, although other output modalities (such as tactile) can be used as well. The mouse, an inherently visually-oriented device, is replaced by keyboard and voice interaction. Our system is currently in its third major revision. We have gained insight into both the nonvisual interfaces presented by our system and the architecture necessary to construct such interfaces. This architecture uses several novel techniques to efficiently and flexibly map graphical interfaces into new modalities.
Performance Evaluation of a Space Time Trellis Coded MIMO-OFDM Wireless Communication System

In wireless communication systems, popularly known as MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) technology, the use of multiple antennas at the transmitter and receiver has rapidly gained in popularity over the past decade due to its powerful performance-enhancing capabilities. This research incorporates a comprehensive BER simulation study undertaken on the effectiveness of a Space-Time Trellis Coded multiple-input multiple-output orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) communication system. The STTC encoded MIMO-OFDM Communication system under present study has integrated two digital modulation schemes (QAM, QPSK) over fading (Rayleigh and Rician) and Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) channels for two transmitting and two receiving antennas. Minimum Mean-Square-Error (MMSE) channel equalization algorithm has been implemented here. Computer simulations are performed with synthetically generated data from audio signal and the results on bit error rate (BER) reveals that the MIMO-OFDM system with STTC coding under QAM modulation technique is highly effective to combat inherent interferences under Rayleigh, Rician fading and Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) channels. It is projected from the study that the retrieving performance of the communication system degrades with the lowering of the signal to noise ratio (SNR).
A Novel Watermarking Algorithm Based on Feature Points and SVD

In order to protect the copyright of digital productions, a novel watermarking algorithm based on feature points and Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) is presented. By introducing the SIFT's key points matching and geometric distortion estimation, the attacked watermarked image can be corrected and the watermark synchronization is realized. In this way, the feature regions detected by the Harris corner detector, which are used for information hiding, can be correctly detected even after signal processing and geometric attacks. The characteristic of U matrix in the result of SVD is finally applied for watermark embedding. The application of the proposed method makes the watermark capable of transparent hiding. Simulation results show that our method performs better than traditional methods under different attacks.
Older workers in the hospitality industry: valuing experience and informal learning

The research sets out to identify the learning processes adopted by older workers in the hospitality and visitor attraction industry in Scotland, with a view to determining how employers may better support their education and training within enterprises. The study was undertaken as part of the ESRC project on ‘Sustaining the employability of older workers in the hospitality sector: personal learning strategies and cultures of learning’. The data collection period was from 2008–2010 and focused on six case studies; three in hospitality and three visitor attraction centres. The conceptual framework of the research is based upon the simple yet important notion of experience and how this enhances the learning lives of older employees. It will be argued that the learning processes used by older employees are primarily recognisable as social practices, based upon the utilisation of existing knowledge and skills. The analysis suggests that organisations should be encouraged to avoid using a ‘one size fits all’ approach to education and training and, in the case of older workers, to make more use of their past work and life experiences in order to facilitate their own and others’ learning.
Analysis of coating layer formedon steel strips during aluminising by hot dipping in Al-Si baths

AbstractAluminising of low carbon (0.19 wt-%C) steel was carried out using AI-0, 4, 8, and 12 wt-%Si melts. Different dipping times and melt superheat were used. In all cases, a coating layer was formed which is composed of an intermetallic layer and an aluminium top coat layer. The thickness of the intermetallic layer increased with bath temperature, especially in pure aluminium baths, and decreased with increasing silicon content. Addition of more than 8 wt-%Si to the bath had no detectable effect on the thickness. This thickness X increased with time following the parabolic relationship X =KTn, where the growth rate constant K decreased with silicon content. Energy dispersive X-ray analysis revealed that the intermetallic layer is composed of a thick layer of AI5Fe2 followed by a much thinner one of Al3Fe on the aluminium side. In the case of a silicon containing bath, different AlxFeySiz compounds were identified. The kinetics of the reaction between solid steel and liquid aluminium were studied. In A.
Evaluation of Carbon Nanotube Thin Films for Optically Transparent Microwave Applications Using On-Wafer Probing of Corbino Disc Test Structures

Abstract : We present a generalized technique, involving the on-wafer probing of Corbino disc test structures, for conveniently evaluating conducting films of arbitrary thickness in terms of complex conductivity and related physical parameters. Using this method, we have electrically characterized partially transparent carbon nanotube thin films at DC and microwave frequencies (including the L-, S- and C-bands). Test structures with disc diameters ranging from 50 m to 500 m and disc-to-concentric-ring gaps ranging from 30 m to 150 m were investigated at temperatures ranging from (295.85 +/- 0.62) K to (396.75 +/- 0.72) K. Additionally, we characterized the thin film in terms of its room temperature optical transmission, at wavelengths ranging from 200 to 2500 nm, in order to evaluate this material as an optically transparent microwave conductor.
Soft decoding techniques for codes and lattices, including the Golay code and the Leech lattice

Two kinds of algorithms are considered. 1) If *** is a binary code of length n , a "soft decision" decoding algorithm for *** changes an arbitrary point of R^{n} into a nearest codeword (nearest in Euclidean distance). 2) Similarly, a decoding algorithm for a lattice \Lambda in R^{n} changes an arbitrary point of R^{n} into a closest lattice point. Some general methods are given for constructing such algorithms, ami are used to obtain new and faster decoding algorithms for the Gosset lattice E_{8} , the Golay code the Leech lattice.
DIFFERENTIAL PERCEPTIONS OF BODY IMAGE AND BODY WEIGHT AMONG ADULTS OF DIFFERENT SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS IN A SUB-URBAN POPULATION

Summary This study explored the association of socioeconomic status with individuals' perception of their body image (BI) and body weight (BW) among adults in a sub-urban Nigerian population. The cross-sectional sample comprised 1521 residents (775 males and 746 females) of the town of Nnewi. Perceived BI was assessed using figural representations of different sizes for males and females. Perceived BW was determined by presenting participants with BW category options to choose from. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated from objectively measured BW and height using standardized procedures. Actual BW categories were derived from participants' BMIs using WHO criteria. Perceived BI and BW differed from actual BW among unskilled and non-tertiary males (p<0.001) and female (p<0.001 to p<0.04) in all BW categories whereas these variables differed (p<0.001) among skilled and tertiary males and females in normal weight, overweight and obese categories. Perceived BW differed (p<0.001) from actual BW among unskilled and non-tertiary males in underweight, overweight and obese categories whereas these variables differed (p<0.001) among unskilled and non-tertiary females, skilled and tertiary males and females in overweight and obese categories. Underweight ‘unskilled’ and ‘non-tertiary’ males perceived their BI to be different from their actual BW (p<0.001). Overweight and obese ‘skilled’ and ‘unskilled’, and ‘tertiary’ and ‘non-tertiary’, males and females perceived their BI and BW to be different from their actual BW (p<0.001). Significant differences in perceived BI existed between ‘skilled’ and ‘unskilled’ (p<0.001), and ‘tertiary’ and ‘non-tertiary’ (p=0.005), overweight males, and between ‘skilled’ and ‘unskilled’ (p<0.001), and ‘tertiary’ and ‘non-tertiary’ (p=0.008), normal-weight females. The ‘skilled’ participants had a lower risk of perceiving a larger BI (OR 0.51, 95% CI 0.41–0.64; p<0.001) and larger BW (OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.53–0.96; p=0.03) than the ‘unskilled’ participants. The ‘tertiary’ participants had a lower risk of perceiving a larger BI (OR 0.51, 95% CI 0.40–0.63; p<0.001) and larger BW (OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.53–0.95; p=0.02) than the ‘non-tertiary’ participants. After adjusting for possible confounders, all the risks became insignificant except for perception of BI by the ‘skilled’ participants (OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.50–0.99; p=0.04). Individuals in the different occupational and educational categories perceived their BI differently but their BW similarly. Given the same BMI, age, perceived ideal BI and sex, only occupation is found to be associated with perception of BI.