How to Design More Empathetic Recommender Systems in Social Media

Social media’s value proposition heavily relies on recommender systems suggesting products to buy, events to attend, or people to connect with. These systems currently prioritize user engagement and social media providers’ profit generation over individual users’ well-being. However, making these systems more “empathetic” would benefit social media providers and content creators as users would use social media more often, longer, and increasingly recommend it to other users. By way of a design science research approach, including twelve interviews with system designers, social media experts, psychologists, and users, we develop user-centric design knowledge on making recommender systems in social media more “empathetic.” This design knowledge comprises a conceptual framework, four meta-requirements, and six design principles. It contributes to the research streams “digital responsibility” and “IS for resilience” and provides practical guidance in developing socially responsible recommender systems as next-generation social media services

Writing the Rainbow: Facilitating Undergraduate Teacher Candidates’ LGBTQIA+ Allyship Through Multimodal Writing

This yearlong qualitative descriptive case study conducted by an interdisciplinary team of education faculty with pre-service elementary teacher candidates sought to disrupt heteronormativity and to increase candidates’ awareness and preparedness for inclusivity with future LGBTQIA+ elementary students. Central to our findings was that in researching and authoring multimodal texts addressing topics and concerns faced by the LGBTQIA+ community for their future classrooms, there was a shift in the perceptions and preparedness of the candidates toward working with children identifying as LGBTQIA+. However, we also encountered resistance and/or apathy that led us to develop an analytical framework for disrupting teacher candidate cisgender heteronormativity and facilitating their progression toward allyship

Keeping pain in mind: a motivational account of attention to pain

Attention is a key concept in many theories of pain perception. A clinically popular idea is that pain is more intense in persons who are hypervigilant for or bias their attention to pain information. So far, evidence for such bias in pain patients as compared to healthy persons is inconclusive. Furthermore, studies investigating the effects of distracting attention away from pain have shown contradictory results. In this review, we present a motivational perspective on attentional processing of pain that accounts for these inconclusive research findings. We argue that pain always has to be considered within a context of goal pursuit. From this perspective, two largely unexplored theoretical assumptions are introduced. First, when pain occurs during the pursuit of a certain goal, it may unintentionally capture attention although it is not relevant for the goal. Whether such unintentional attentional capture happens is not only dependent upon the characteristics of the pain but also on the characteristics of the focal goal. Second, attention to pain and pain-related information might be driven by a focal goal related to pain. Attentional processing of pain information will be particularly enhanced when the focal goal is related to pain management (e.g., attempting to gain control). Future research should systematically investigate the role of motivation and goal pursuit in the attentional processing of pain-related information. This motivational perspective offers a powerful framework to explain inter- and intraindividual differences in the deployment of attention to pain-related information

RECEPTOR FOR ADVANCED GLYCATION END-PRODUCTS: EXPRESSION AND SIGNALING

The NF-B transcription factor family plays a central role in many aspects of the immune response, and activation of this family of transcription factors has been shown to trigger many disease processes. Thus, the ability to modulate NF-kB activity may be an attractive way to treat these diseases. We used an in vitro cell-based assay to test potential NF-kB inhibitors by measuring their effect on IL-1-induced expression of the NF-B dependent intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1, CD54). To develop the cell-based system we sorted IL-1b-responsive U373 human astrocytoma cells to obtain a population of cells with minimum background expression and maximum induced expression of CD54 following stimulation with IL-1. We tested ethyl pyruvate, a novel anti-inflammatory drug candidate, and the ability of related compounds to block activation of NF-kB activity by measuring the expression of CD54 on U373 cells exposed to IL-1. 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvic acid was the best inhibitor of CD54 upregulation. We further tested the compounds using the mouse macrophage-like RAW 264.7 cell line which produce a variety of cytokines and nitric oxide (NO•) following exposure to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in an NF-kB-dependent manner. The drugs downregulated LPS-induced IL-6 production, iNOS upregulation, and NO• production following the same efficacy trend observed in the primary screening using CD54 expression in U373 cells. These studies show the ease of using an endogenous reporter gene (i.e., CD54) and FACS analysis to rapidly characterize the relative efficacy of pharmacologic inhibitors. A second completely unrelated topic of the dissertation dealt with the receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE). RAGE is thought to be important in a variety of pathological conditions, including diabetes, sepsis, atherosclerosis, renal diseases, hypertension and Alzheimer's disease. However, RAGE proximal signaling events are still unclear. We were able to establish that original RAGE, sequenced from bovine lung, is only present in the lung. This observation was based on antibody specificity, Northern blotting and N-glycosylation analysis. One of the antibodies that we used (H-300, Santa Cruz, CA) was very selective for lung RAGE and not cross-react with other RAGE isoforms. Only lung RAGE had a transcript size of 1.4 kb as determined by Northern blot and only lung RAGE was N-glycosylated. Non-lung tissues and cell lines appeared to express their own unique RAGE isoforms. Non-lung derived cell lines were permissive for lung RAGE isoform expression but lung derived cell lines were not. Interestingly, all transfected cell lines (of lung and non-lung origin) expressed RAGE mRNA transcripts. In addition, we established that previously described endogenous soluble RAGE (esRAGE) does not contain any of the canonical RAGE epitopes, but includes sequence encoded in intron 9. RAGE knockout mice lose esRAGE isoform along with the canonical one confirming that esRAGE originates from the RAGE gene. Signaling studies with pro-inflammatory stimuli in mouse lung slices of wild-type and knockout mice revealed the importance of RAGE in LPS and IL-1-induced inflammatory response, but not when reported RAGE ligands, including AGEs, HMGB1 and S100B, were applied

What is "mere" about the mere ownership effect? The role of semantic processes for the self's impact on memory

Willkürliche Zuweisung eines Objekts zur eigenen Person erhöht die Erinnerungswahrscheinlichkeit für dieses Objekt im Vergleich zur Zuweisung zu einer anderen Person (Cunningham et al., 2008). Kann dieser mere ownership-Effekt auf ähnliche Weise erklärt werden wie der Selbstreferenzeffekt, der gemeinhin als Verarbeitungstiefephänomen interpretiert wird (Craik & Lockhart, 1972)? Wir untersuchten den mere ownership-Effekt mit Fokus auf der Rolle semantischer Verarbeitung, insbesondere der Komponenten Elaboration und Organisation (Einstein & Hunt, 1981). Nach erfolgreicher Replikation prüften wir, ob der mere ownership-Effekt von semantischer Verarbeitbarkeit im weitesten Sinne abhängt: Der Effekt zeigte sich nicht für bedeutungsloses Material. Mittels einer semantischen Matching-Aufgabe versuchten wir Spuren früherer semantischer Elaboration in der Abrufphase nachzuweisen. Wir fanden Hinweise auf pontane semantische Verarbeitung unabhängig von der Selbst-/Fremdzuweisung. Zudem fanden wir Evidenz für eine Rolle semantischer Organisation: Der mere ownership-Effekt verschwand, wenn zur Selbst-/Fremdzuweisung eine semantische Klassifikationsaufgabe hinzukam, blieb aber bei einer zusätzlichen perzeptuellen Aufgabe bestehen. Zudem zeigte sich erhöhtes Clustering für dem Selbst zugewiesenes Material in der freien Wiedergabe. Schließlich untersuchten wir, ob eine implizite, indirekte Selbstzuweisung hinreichend für einen mere ownership-Effekt ist. Im Kontext einer perzeptuellen Matching-Aufgabe (Sui et al., 2012), fanden wir einen klaren Selbstpriorisierungseffekt, aber keinen späteren Rekognitionsvorteil für indirekt mit dem Selbst assoziierte Objekte. Die Ergebnisse legen nahe, dass der mere ownership-Effekt von einer expliziten Zuweisung sowie zumindest rudimentärer semantischer Verarbeitung abhängt. Insbesondere scheint semantische Organisation ein treibender Mechanismus zu sein. Der Effekt könnte auf dem Prinzip einer Einteilung in “ich” versus “nicht ich” basieren.Willkürliche Zuweisung eines Objekts zur eigenen Person erhöht die Erinnerungswahrscheinlichkeit für dieses Objekt im Vergleich zur Zuweisung zu einer anderen Person (Cunningham et al., 2008). Kann dieser mere ownership-Effekt auf ähnliche Weise erklärt werden wie der Selbstreferenzeffekt, der gemeinhin als Verarbeitungstiefephänomen interpretiert wird (Craik & Lockhart, 1972)? Wir untersuchten den mere ownership-Effekt mit Fokus auf der Rolle semantischer Verarbeitung, insbesondere der Komponenten Elaboration und Organisation (Einstein & Hunt, 1981). Nach erfolgreicher Replikation prüften wir, ob der mere ownership-Effekt von semantischer Verarbeitbarkeit im weitesten Sinne abhängt: Der Effekt zeigte sich nicht für bedeutungsloses Material. Mittels einer semantischen Matching-Aufgabe versuchten wir Spuren früherer semantischer Elaboration in der Abrufphase nachzuweisen. Wir fanden Hinweise auf pontane semantische Verarbeitung unabhängig von der Selbst-/Fremdzuweisung. Zudem fanden wir Evidenz für eine Rolle semantischer Organisation: Der mere ownership-Effekt verschwand, wenn zur Selbst-/Fremdzuweisung eine semantische Klassifikationsaufgabe hinzukam, blieb aber bei einer zusätzlichen perzeptuellen Aufgabe bestehen. Zudem zeigte sich erhöhtes Clustering für dem Selbst zugewiesenes Material in der freien Wiedergabe. Schließlich untersuchten wir, ob eine implizite, indirekte Selbstzuweisung hinreichend für einen mere ownership-Effekt ist. Im Kontext einer perzeptuellen Matching-Aufgabe (Sui et al., 2012), fanden wir einen klaren Selbstpriorisierungseffekt, aber keinen späteren Rekognitionsvorteil für indirekt mit dem Selbst assoziierte Objekte. Die Ergebnisse legen nahe, dass der mere ownership-Effekt von einer expliziten Zuweisung sowie zumindest rudimentärer semantischer Verarbeitung abhängt. Insbesondere scheint semantische Organisation ein treibender Mechanismus zu sein. Der Effekt könnte auf dem Prinzip einer Einteilung in “ich” versus “nicht ich” basieren.If an object is arbitrarily assigned to the self it is more likely to be remembered in a subsequent memory test than an object assigned to someone else (Cunningham et al., 2008). Can this mere ownership effect be accounted for in similar terms as the self-reference effect (Rogers, Kuiper & Kirker, 1977) which is typically interpreted as a depth-of- processing phenomenon (Craik & Lockhart, 1972)? We investigated the mere ownership effect more closely, with our main focus on the role of semantic processing, especially with regard to its components elaboration and semantic organization (Einstein & Hunt, 1981). Following successful replication, we investigated whether the mere ownership effect was contingent upon semantic processing. For meaningless pseudo objects, there was no effect. Testing for aftereffects of semantic elaboration using a semantic matching task at retrieval, we found evidence of spontaneous semantic processing irrespective of self- or other-assignment. Furthermore, we found evidence for a role of semantic organization. The mere ownership effect vanished if a semantic classi?cation task was added to the self/other assignment, but persisted if a perceptual classi?cation task was added. In addition, we found greater clustering of self-assigned than of other-assigned items in free recall. Finally, we investigated whether a more implicit, indirect connection to the self could produce a mere ownership effect. In the context of a perceptual matching task (Sui et al., 2012), we found a clear self-prioritization effect, but no subsequent memory advantage for objects indirectly associated with the self. Taken together, our results suggest that the mere ownership effect depends on an explicit assignment to the self, as well as on at least a rudimentary form semantic “processing”. Specifically, semantic organization appears to be a driving mechanism. The effect could be based on the organizational principle of a ‘‘me” versus ‘‘not-me” categorization.If an object is arbitrarily assigned to the self it is more likely to be remembered in a subsequent memory test than an object assigned to someone else (Cunningham et al., 2008). Can this mere ownership effect be accounted for in similar terms as the self-reference effect (Rogers, Kuiper & Kirker, 1977) which is typically interpreted as a depth-of- processing phenomenon (Craik & Lockhart, 1972)? We investigated the mere ownership effect more closely, with our main focus on the role of semantic processing, especially with regard to its components elaboration and semantic organization (Einstein & Hunt, 1981). Following successful replication, we investigated whether the mere ownership effect was contingent upon semantic processing. For meaningless pseudo objects, there was no effect. Testing for aftereffects of semantic elaboration using a semantic matching task at retrieval, we found evidence of spontaneous semantic processing irrespective of self- or other-assignment. Furthermore, we found evidence for a role of semantic organization. The mere ownership effect vanished if a semantic classi?cation task was added to the self/other assignment, but persisted if a perceptual classi?cation task was added. In addition, we found greater clustering of self-assigned than of other-assigned items in free recall. Finally, we investigated whether a more implicit, indirect connection to the self could produce a mere ownership effect. In the context of a perceptual matching task (Sui et al., 2012), we found a clear self-prioritization effect, but no subsequent memory advantage for objects indirectly associated with the self. Taken together, our results suggest that the mere ownership effect depends on an explicit assignment to the self, as well as on at least a rudimentary form semantic “processing”. Specifically, semantic organization appears to be a driving mechanism. The effect could be based on the organizational principle of a ‘‘me” versus ‘‘not-me” categorization.Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG

From comic book to graphic novel : writing, reading, semiotics

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Estrategias metacognitivas y el pensamiento creativo en los estudiantes de arquitectura de una universidad privada de Lima, 2023

La presente investigación titulada “Estrategias metacognitivas y el pensamiento creativo en los estudiantes de arquitectura de una universidad privada de Lima, 2023”, se realizó con el objetivo principal de determinar la relación entre ambas variables, mediante una investigación cuantitativa, de nivel correlacional y diseño no experimental. La muestra estuvo conformada por 77 alumnos de la facultad de Arquitectura del curso Diseño Arquitectónico VIII, en donde se aplicó dos cuestionarios para medir las variables. Asimismo, se estableció la confiabilidad de los instrumentos mediante el empleo del estadístico Alfa de Cronbach, que evidenció los siguientes resultados: estrategias metacognitivas con un valor = 0,728 y pensamiento creativo con un valor = 0,714. Para los resultados, evidenciaron un resultado positivo, determinando así, la relación existente entre ambas variables con un valor = 0,539 y un nivel de significancia de sig = 0,028 menor a 0,05. Se concluye entonces que, existe una relación entre ambas variables de estudio, además los resultados obtenidos servirán como aporte teórico para instituciones universitarias que tenga las mismas características, considerando la importancia de innovar en nuevas estrategias y métodos que permitan estimular el proceso creativo de los estudiantes

The economics of desertification, land degradation, and drought: Toward an integrated global assessment

cost of inaction, desertification, drought, Economics, Land degradation, prevention of land degradation,