scholarly journals Validation of the City Infant Faces Database in Student and Parent Samples

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 591-614
Author(s):  
Sandra Nakić Radoš ◽  
Marijana Matijaš ◽  
Maja Brekalo ◽  
Rebecca Webb ◽  
Susan Ayers
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Expression Recognition ◽  
Parental Sensitivity ◽  
Promising Tool ◽  
Negative Images ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Infant Faces ◽  
First Time ◽  
The City

The City Infant Faces Database (CIFD; Webb et al., 2018) is a database of 154 infant emotional expressions for use in experimental studies of infant facial communication, facial expression recognition, and parental sensitivity. The CIFD was validated only in a small sample from the general public and student midwives and nurses in the UK. This study, therefore, aimed to validate it in a larger sample of Croatian students and parents of 1-12 months old infants. Three-hundred and fifty students (Study 1), 422 mothers and 106 fathers (Study 2) were presented with images of Caucasian infant faces. The students rated images from the CIFD and Tromsø Infant Faces. They also completed questionnaires measuring empathy, alexithymia, and perceiving and expressing emotions. The parents rated the valence of facial expressions of images from the CIFD. The results were consistent with the initial validation in both the students and parents’ sample, except that agreement for negative images was lower for Croatian parents than in the UK study. Compared to the UK study, students rated images as more intense, clear, genuine, and reported stronger internal emotion. Furthermore, there was no difference in accuracy between mothers and fathers or between first-time parents and experienced parents. The CIFD is, therefore, a promising tool for research and should be further validated in other countries, focusing on its predictive validity.

Probabilistic estimation of reliability values for frame buildings based on the results of certification taking into account tectonic faults

2021 ◽  
pp. 49-60
Author(s):  
Vladimir A. Lapin ◽  
Yerkin S. Aldakhov ◽  
Serik D. Aldakhov ◽  
Alimzhan Ali
Keyword(s):  
Housing Stock ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Probabilistic Estimation ◽  
Tectonic Faults ◽  
Earthquake Resistant ◽  
Frame Buildings ◽  
The Republic ◽  
First Time ◽  
The City ◽  
Practical Recommendations

With budget funding for two years in 2017-2018, the total certification of the housing stock of multi-apartment buildings was carried out for the first time. A total of 8,171 buildings were entered into the database, of which 1,847 are multi-storey frame buildings of various storeys and design solutions. It is established that 1628 frame buildings are earthquake-resistant, 59-buildings with the first flexible floor are non-earthquake-resistant and 160-are located in the zone of tectonic faults on the territory of the city. The hypothesis is accepted that buildings located in the zone of tectonic faults will be destroyed. Under these conditions, quantitative estimates of the failure probability and reliability values for frame buildings of various types were obtained for the first time. The frequency of earthquakes is taken into account according to the current "Map of seismic zoning of the Republic of Kazakhstan". The results of the reliability and failure estimates are used for practical recommendations to reduce the risk and expected losses in possible earthquakes. Total reinforcement of frame buildings with the first flexible floors (59 buildings) is proposed. However, the conditional probability of failure for a group of residential frame buildings will remain nonzero. The method of amplification should be determined based on the results of experimental studies.

scholarly journals Revealing the threat of emerging SARS-CoV-2 mutations to antibody therapies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiahui Chen ◽  
Kaifu Gao ◽  
Rui Wang ◽  
Guo-Wei Wei
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trials ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Learning Strategy ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Protein Receptor ◽  
Data Points ◽  
The Uk ◽  
First Time ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
General Perspective

The ongoing massive vaccination and the development of effective intervention offer the long-awaited hope to end the global rage of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the rapidly growing SARS-CoV-2 variants might compromise existing vaccines and monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapies. Although there are valuable experimental studies about the potential threats from emerging variants, the results are limited to a handful of mutations and Eli Lilly and Regeneron mAbs. The potential threats from frequently occurring mutations on the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein receptor-binding domain (RBD) to many mAbs in clinical trials are largely unknown. We fill the gap by developing a topology-based deep learning strategy that is validated with tens of thousands of experimental data points. We analyze 261,348 genome isolates from patients to identify 514 non-degenerate RBD mutations and investigate their impacts on 16 mAbs in clinical trials. Our findings, which are highly consistent with existing experimental results about variants from the UK, South Africa, Brazil, US-California, and Mexico shed light on potential threats of 95 high-frequency mutations to mAbs not only from Eli Lilly and Regeneron but also from Celltrion and Rockefeller University that are in clinical trials. We unveil, for the first time, that high-frequency mutations R346K/S, N439K, G446V, L455F, V483F/A, E484Q/V/A/G/D, F486L, F490L/V/S, Q493L, and S494P/L might compromise some of mAbs in clinical trials. Our study gives rise to a general perspective about how mutations will affect current vaccines.

HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL EXPERTISE AND THE SOURCES OF THE RUSSIAN WOODEN SCULPTURE "NIKOLA MTSENSKY" ORIGINATION

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 87-100
Author(s):  
M.A. KOMOVA ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
First Time ◽  
The City

The purpose of the article is to present the history and the analysis of the Russian wooden sculpture “Nikola Мtsenskiy” results of the examination from Peter and Paul Cathedral in Mtsensk. For the first time, the author conducted a historical and cultural examination of this object for religious purposes. The article defines the historical and cultural context of this object existence, its veneration as a relic, the problem of comparing the “The Legend of the appearance of the miraculous icon of St. Nicholas Wonderworker in the city of Mtsensk” and the preserved sculpture. The author also examines the historical and artistic sources of origin of similar items in the culture of the medieval Moscow state. The author dates the preserved fragment of the sculpture from Mtsensk Peter and Paul Cathedral to the late 1600s.

Delhi in Transition, 1821 and Beyond

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
English Translation ◽  
East India Company ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Original Manuscript ◽  
English East India Company ◽  
The Times ◽  
First Time ◽  
The City

Commissioned by the English East India Company to write about contemporary nineteenth-century Delhi, Mirza Sangin Beg walked around the city to capture its highly fascinating urban and suburban extravaganza. Laced with epigraphy and fascinating anecdotes, the city as ‘lived experience’ has an overwhelming presence in his work, Sair-ul Manazil. Sair-ul Manazil dominates the historiography of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century compositions on Delhi in Persian and Urdu, and remains unparalleled in its architecture and detailed content. It deals with the habitations of people, bazars, professions and professionals, places of worship and revelry, and issues of contestation. Over fifty typologies of structures and several institutions that find resonance in the Persian and Ottoman Empires can also be gleaned from Sair-ul Manazil. Interestingly, Beg made no attempt to ‘monumentalize’ buildings; instead, he explored them as spaces reflective of the sociocultural milieu of the times. Delhi in Transition is the first comprehensive English translation of Beg’s work, which was originally published in Persian. It is the only translation to compare the four known versions of Sair-ul Manazil, including the original manuscript located in Berlin, which is being consulted for the first time. It has an exhaustive introduction and extensive notes, along with the use of varied styles in the book to indicate the multiple sources of the text, contextualize Beg’s work for the reader and engage him with the debate concerning the different variants of this unique and eclectic work.

scholarly journals Observations on Palaeogeographical Evolution of Akrotiri Salt Lake, Lemesos, Cyprus

Geosciences ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 321
Author(s):  
Miltiadis Polidorou ◽  
Niki Evelpidou ◽  
Theodora Tsourou ◽  
Hara Drinia ◽  
Ferréol Salomon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Landscape Evolution ◽  
Salt Lake ◽  
Active Tectonics ◽  
Scientific Interest ◽  
Progressive Change ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Holocene Sediment ◽  
First Time ◽  
The City

Akrotiri Salt Lake is located 5 km west of the city of Lemesos in the southernmost part of the island of Cyprus. The evolution of the Akrotiri Salt Lake is of great scientific interest, occurring during the Holocene when eustatic and isostatic movements combined with local active tectonics and climate change developed a unique geomorphological environment. The Salt Lake today is a closed lagoon, which is depicted in Venetian maps as being connected to the sea, provides evidence of the geological setting and landscape evolution of the area. In this study, for the first time, we investigated the development of the Akrotiri Salt Lake through a series of three cores which penetrated the Holocene sediment sequence. Sedimentological and micropaleontological analyses, as well as geochronological studies were performed on the deposited sediments, identifying the complexity of the evolution of the Salt Lake and the progressive change of the area from a maritime space to an open bay and finally to a closed salt lake.

scholarly journals Implementation Intentions to Reduce Smoking: A Systematic Review of the Literature

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte J Hagerman ◽  
Rebecca K Hoffman ◽  
Sruthi Vaylay ◽  
Tonya Dodge
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Implementation Intentions ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Implementation Intention ◽  
Promising Tool ◽  
Current Systematic Review ◽  
Long Term Follow Up ◽  
Positive Effect

Abstract Implementation intentions are a goal-setting technique in which an individual commits to perform a particular behavior when a specific context arises. Recently, researchers have begun studying how implementation intention (II) interventions can facilitate antismoking efforts. The current systematic review synthesized results of experimental studies that tested the effect of an II intervention on smoking cognitions and behavior. Of 29 reviewed articles, 11 studies met inclusion criteria. Nine studies (81.8%) tested an II intervention as a cessation tool for current smokers, whereas two tested II interventions as a tool to prevent smoking among predominantly nonsmoking adolescents. A majority of the studies (66.7%) testing II interventions as a cessation tool reported a positive effect on cessation at long-term follow-up. Of the two studies testing II interventions as a tool for prevention, one study found a positive effect on long-term follow-up. Methodology varied between the studies, highlighting the discrepancies between what researchers consider “implementation intentions” to be. II interventions are a promising tool for antismoking efforts, but more research is necessary to determine the best methodology and the populations for whom this intervention will be most effective. Implications Brief, free, and easily scalable, II interventions to prevent smoking are highly attractive for antismoking efforts. This review outlines the circumstances under which II interventions have demonstrated effectiveness in helping people resist smoking cigarettes. We illuminate gaps in the existing literature, limitations, methodological discrepancies between studies, and areas for future study.

scholarly journals What voiced obstruents symbolically represent in Japanese: evidence from the Pokémon universe

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-24
Author(s):  
Shigeto Kawahara ◽  
Gakuji Kumagai
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Sound Symbolism ◽  
Visual Images ◽  
General Issue ◽  
First Time

Abstract Kawahara, Noto, and Kumagai (2018b) found that within the corpus of existing Pokémon names, the number of voiced obstruents in the characters’ names correlates positively with their weight, height, evolution levels and attack values. While later experimental studies to some extent confirmed the productivity of these sound symbolic relationships (e.g. Kawahara and Kumagai 2019a), they are limited, due to the fact that the visual images presented to the participants primarily differed with regard to evolution levels. The current experiments thus for the first time directly explored how each of these semantic dimensions—weight, height, evolution levels, and attack values—correlates with the number of voiced obstruents in nonce names. The results of two judgment experiments show that all of these parameters indeed correlate positively with the number of voiced obstruents in the names. Overall, the results show that a particular class of sounds—in our case, a set of voiced obstruents—can signal different semantic meanings within a single language, supporting the pluripotentiality of sound symbolism (Winter, Pérez-Sobrino, and Brown 2019). We also address another general issue that has been under-explored in the literature on sound symbolism; namely, its cumulative nature. In both of the experiments, we observe that two voiced obstruents evoke stronger images than one voiced obstruent, instantiating what is known as the counting cumulativity effect (Jäger and Rosenbach 2006).

The Chengba site in Quxian County, Sichuan Province

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-68
Keyword(s):  
Central Government ◽  
Local People ◽  
Archaeological Survey ◽  
History Museum ◽  
Social Lives ◽  
Functional Zoning ◽  
The Social ◽  
Bamboo Slips ◽  
First Time ◽  
The City

AbstractIn 2014 through 2018, Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and History Museum of Quxian County conducted a systematic archaeological survey, detection, and excavation to the Chengba site in Quxian County. The excavation uncovered 4,000sq m in total, from which 444 various features were recovered and over 1,000 artifacts were unearthed. The functional zoning of this site has been roughly made clear; the excavations of the western gate and important building foundations of the Guojiatai city site are important archaeological discoveries of the city sites of the Han through Western Jin dynasties, and at the checkpoint site on the waterway of this period was uncovered for the first time in China. The large amounts of bamboo slips and wooden tablets unearthed in the excavation provided important materials for the explorations on the management of the central government of the Han and Jin empires to the administrative areas of commandery and district levels and the social lives of the local people at that time.

To bee or not to beet with neonicotinoids

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-109
Author(s):  
Lynda M. Warren
Keyword(s):  
Sugar Beet ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Environmental Standards ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
Precautionary Approach ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Commercial Sugar ◽  
The Uk ◽  
First Time

In January 2021 the UK government granted an application for authorisation to use thiamethoxam, a neonicotinoid pesticide, to protect commercial sugar beet crops from attack by viruses transmitted by aphids. This was the first time such an authorisation had been granted in the United Kingdom (UK) and there were concerns that it signalled a weakening of environmental standards now that the UK was no longer part of the European Union. In fact, similar authorisations had been granted by several European Member States in the last 2 years, despite the ban on the use of neonicotinoids introduced in 2018. Nevertheless, the reasons for granting the authorisation do suggest that the balance between adopting a precautionary approach to environmental protection and taking emergency action to protect economic interests may have shifted. It was acknowledged that the proposed mitigation to safeguard bees and other wildlife was not entirely satisfactory. In the end, due to unforeseen weather conditions it meant that the pesticide is not necessary, which in itself demonstrates that short-term emergency measures are unsuitable for dealing with the problem. If the sugar beet industry is to continue to prosper in the UK, it will need to be managed in a way that provides resistance to virus infection without the use of controversial chemicals.

„Die schönste griechische Stadt“. Syrakus bei Cicero und Silius Italicus

Millennium ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-53
Author(s):  
Christoph Schwameis
Keyword(s):  
Second Punic War ◽  
Silius Italicus ◽  
First Time ◽  
The City ◽  
Fourth Book

AbstractBoth in the fourth book of Cicero’s De signis (Verr. 2,4) and in the fourteenth book of Silius Italicus’ Punica, there are descriptions of the city of Syracuse at important points of the texts. In this paper, both descriptions are combined and for the first time thoroughly related. I discuss form and content of the accounts, show their functions in their oratorical and epic contexts and consider their similarities. The most important facets, where the descriptions coincide in, seem to be their link to Marcellus’ conquest in the Second Punic War, the resulting precarious beauty of the city and the specifically Roman perspective on which these ekphraseis are based.

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