Dark Character Research Articles

Human blood group type detection prototype focusing on agglutinin using microcontroller based photodiode

Blood is a fluid in the body that mainly serves as a medium for transporting various substances in the body. Detection of human blood group types with this microcontroller utilizes dark and light properties. The dark character appears due to agglomeration, while the light nature arises because of no agglomeration, for this to happen, a liquid reagent is needed. Administration of this liquid uses the aviator's breathing oxygen (ABO) system, which consists of reagent a, reagent b, and reagent c and mixing it with blood on the test paper. The number of blood samples in each reagent is based on blood lancet. Furthermore, the sensors used to detect these properties are photodiode and light emitting diode (LED) each of 3 pieces. The Arduino Uno is used to process sensor input while at the same time producing displayed human blood group type on the display screen. The test is carried out involving 12 blood samples and a medical officer. Medical officer are tasked reading directly the results of mixing between reagents and blood samples, after that are compared with the system. The results show that the deviation of the system reading is 0.167 for the sensor reading distance with the sample as far as 0.5 cm.

The Homo Economicus as a Prototype of a Psychopath? A Conceptual Analysis and Implications for Business Research and Teaching

AbstractSince the beginning of business research and teaching, the basic assumptions of the discipline have been intensely debated. One of these basic assumptions concerns the behavioral aspects of human beings, which are traditionally represented in the construct of homo economicus. These assumptions have been increasingly challenged in light of findings from social, ethnological, psychological, and ethical research. Some publications from an integrative perspective have suggested that homo economicus embodies to a high degree dark character traits, particularly related to the construct of psychopathy, representing individuals who are extremely self-centered and ruthless, without feelings of remorse or compassion. While a growing body of research notes such a similarity on a more or less anecdotal basis, this article aims to explore this connection from a more rigorous perspective, bridging insights from psychological, economic, and business research to better understand the potentially dark traits of homo economicus. The analysis shows that homo economicus is not simply some kind of psychopath, but specifically a so-called subclinical or Factor 1 psychopath, who is also referred to as a “corporate psychopath” in business research. With such an analysis, the paper adds an additional perspective and a deeper psychological level of understanding as to why homo economicus is often controversially debated. Based on these insights, several implications for academic research and teaching are discussed and reflected upon in light of an ethics of virtue and care.

Sounding saxophones like flutes

The saxophone can be modified with alternative non-single-reed tone generators, including double and free reeds and brass-instrument mouthpieces. It can also be played as a rim flute on the neck, which is a known extended technique for the saxophone. Flutes differ fundamentally from the other tone-generator types as they do not act like a valve, and their flutes are so-called open-open resonator instruments, while reeds and the lips in brass instruments effectively close one end of the resonator. As a practical consequence, all open-close hole key combinations result in fundamentally different pitches known from the regular saxophone. The fact that the saxophone is conically shaped, while the flute is typically cylindrical or inverse conical, further complicates the matter. Approaches to playing the saxophone as flute using alternative fingering combinations will be discussed along with measures of pitch accuracy, timbral, and level balance. While the achievable range aligns with many orchestral wind instruments, complex cross-fingerings make it difficult to play fast chromatic lines. The large bore of the saxophone gives the flute sound a dark character, more like a Native American flute or shakuhachi than a Western concert flute or recorder.

Production of the prolyl endoprotease (PEP) from Aspergillus sp. FSDE 16 by solid-state fermentation (SSF) and use for producing a gluten-free beer.

Beer is a beverage that contains gluten and cannot be consumed by people with celiac disease. In this context, the enzyme prolyl endoprotease (PEP) can be used to reduce the gluten content in beer. The present study aimed to produce the PEP from Aspergillus sp. FSDE 16 using solid-state fermentation with 5 conditions and comparing with a similar commercial enzyme produced from Aspergillus niger in the production of a gluten-free beer. The results of the performed cultures showed that during the culture, the most increased protease activity (54.46U/mL) occurred on the 4th day. In contrast, for PEP, the highest activity (0.0356U/mL) was obtained on the 3rd day of culture in condition. Regarding beer production, cell growth, pH, and total soluble solids showed similar behavior over the 7 days for beers produced without enzyme addition or with the addition of commercial enzyme and with the addition of the enzyme extract produced. The addition of the enzyme and the enzyme extract did not promote changes, and all the beers produced showed similar and satisfactory results, with acid pH between 4 and 5, total soluble solids ranging from 4.80 to 5.05, alcohol content ranging from 2.83% to 3.08%, and all beers having a dark character with deep amber and light copper color. Gluten removal was effectively using the commercial enzyme and the enzyme produced according to condition (v) reaching gluten concentrations equal to 17±5.31 and 21.19±11.28ppm, respectively. In this way, the production of the enzyme by SSF and its application in the removal of gluten in beer was efficient.

Consumer preference for some genotypes of ornamental chili (Capsicum spp.) population F2

The experiment was conducted to determine the characteristics of ornamental chili plants from several genotypes in the F2 population by consumer desires. This research performed using a single plant method. The planted community consists of all the elders (P) and crossing results. This study uses survey techniques and questionnaires as research aids in obtaining ornamental chili character information that is the public likes. Consumer preference test results (I) against 14 genotypes show that the average consumer most wants TR 23 x TR 25U (1) in some of the characters tested: the leaf color, habitus, and fruit color characters. Genotype TR23 x TR 25U (1) has a dark green leaf color character with a scale of 5 based on the IRRI Leaf Color Chart, a compact habitus, and has two color changes in the fruit, green-red and purple-red. Based on the results of the consumer preference test (II) on four genotypes, it shows that there is no difference in the average value of consumer preferences in the genotypes TR 23B x Ayesha (3), TR 25U, and TR 25 x Ayesha (2) in the characters tested.

“If you want to learn the secrets, close your eyes”: Bruce Dickinson’s “Gates of Urizen” as Contrary Version of <i>The</i> [<i>First</i>] <i>Book of Urizen</i>

Urizen, the protagonist of William Blake’s The [First] Book of Urizen (1794), is a dark character who represents tyranny, suppression, and reason. While Urizen retells events in the form of a book, depicting an unchangeable past, Bruce Dickinson’s song “Gates of Urizen” (The Chemical Wedding, 1998) concentrates on enlightenment and the escape from Urizenic restrictions. Both focus on contrasts—​imagination and reason, open space and enclosure, mind and body, mobility and fixture, success and failure. Whereas the separation of contraries Los and Urizen leads to misery and chaos in Urizen, it produces positive results in “Gates”: Dickinson’s adaptation changes the outcome of Urizen and turns the plot into practical advice on how to pass the gates of Urizen. By comparing metaphors of imprisonment and freedom in both texts, such as impaired vision and prophetic sight or the contrast between being earthbound and airborne, I shed light on how “Gates” turns a dystopic mythology into a philosophy of life.

Excitation of symmetry protected modes in a lithium niobate membrane photonic crystal for sensing applications

Our theoretical study reveals the opportunity to develop an electric field sensor based on the exploitation of the symmetry protected mode (SPM) that we excite within an electro-optical material, namely lithium niobate (LN). The SPM consists of a dark Fano-like resonance that results from the combination of a discrete Bloch mode of a photonic crystal (PhC) with a continuum mode of a membrane, both of them made in LN. The dark character is linked to the structure geometry having a high degree of symmetry. The SPM excitation is then made possible thanks to an illumination under small oblique incidence, which breaks the symmetry of the configuration. This results in several ultra-sensitive and tunable Fano-like resonances with high quality factors up to 105 in the telecoms spectral range. Some of these resonances provide modes with a highly confined electric field inside LN. This confinement allows the enhancement of the electro-optic Pockels effect by a factor up to 5 × 104, thus exacerbating the detection sensitivity of the designed sensor.

How "dirty" is the Dark Triad? Dark character profiles, swearing, and sociosexuality.

Malevolent character traits (i.e., the Dark Triad: Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) are associated to emotional frigidity, antagonism, immoral strategic thinking, betrayal, exploitation, and sexual promiscuity. Despite the fact that character is a complex adaptive system, almost every study has solely investigated the linear association between malevolent character and attitudes towards both swearing and sociosexual orientation (i.e., behavior, attitude, and desire regarding promiscuous sexual behavior). In contrast, the aim in this set of studies was to evaluate these associations in relation to specific profiles of malevolent character (i.e., the Dark Cube). In two studies participants responded to the Dark Triad Dirty Dozen, the Taboo Words’ Offensiveness and Usage Inventories (i.e., attitudes towards 30 swear words’ level of offensiveness and usage) (Study 1: N1 = 1,000) and the Sociosexual Orientation Inventory Revised (Study 2: N2 = 309). Participants were clustered according to all eight possible combinations based on their dark trait scores (M/m = high/low Machiavellianism; N/n = high/low narcissism; P/p = high/low psychopathy). The results of this nonlinear approach suggested that the frequent usage, not level of offensiveness, of swear words was associated to Machiavellianism and narcissism. In other words, individuals with high levels in these traits might swear and are verbally offensive often, because they do not see swearing as offensive (cf. with the attitude-behavior-cognition-hypothesis of taboo words; Rosenberg, Sikström & Garcia, 2017). Moreover, promiscuous sociosexual attitude and desire were related to each dark trait only when the other two were low. Additionally, promiscuous sociosexual behavior was not associated to these malevolent character traits. That is, individuals high in the dark traits are willing to and have the desire to engage in sexual relations without closeness, commitment, and other indicators of emotional bonding. However, they do not report high levels of previous sexual experience, relationships, and infidelity. Hence, they approve and desire for it, but they are not actually doing it. The use of person-centered and non-linear methods, such as the Dark Character Cube, seem helpful in the advancement of a coherent theory of a biopsychosocial model of dark character.

Personality underpinnings of dark personalities: An example of Dark Triad and deadly sins

The Dark Triad of personality is most commonly studied model of dark personality traits. The current study attempts to empirically compare the Dark Triad to other catalog of dark personality traits, namely the seven deadly sins, and locate them within the broader model of personality – the Circumplex of Personality Metatraits model. We examined this problem from two perspectives: self- (N = 280) and other-report (N = 412) using the Short Dark Triad, Vices and Virtues Scales, and the Circumplex of Personality Metatraits Questionnaire. The Dark Triad and the seven deadly sins were substantially interrelated. Moreover, both analyzed models of dark personality traits were strongly associated with Alpha-Minus (both, in self- and other-report), providing evidence about their dark character. The expected locations within the Circumplex of Personality Metatraits were generally supported, nevertheless there were some discrepancies between self- and other report. Results of our study reveals that the Dark Triad of personality does not fully exhaust the possible catalog of the dark personality and future research is needed to fill this gap.

The ground exciton state of formamidinium lead bromide perovskite nanocrystals is a singlet dark state.

Lead halide perovskites have emerged as promising new semiconductor materials for high-efficiency photovoltaics, light-emitting applications and quantum optical technologies. Their luminescence properties are governed by the formation and radiative recombination of bound electron-hole pairs known as excitons, whose bright or dark character of the ground state remains unknown and debated. While symmetry analysis predicts a singlet non-emissive ground exciton topped with a bright exciton triplet, it has been predicted that the Rashba effect may reverse the bright and dark level ordering. Here, we provide the direct spectroscopic signature of the dark exciton emission in the low-temperature photoluminescence of single formamidinium lead bromide perovskite nanocrystals under magnetic fields. The dark singlet is located several millielectronvolts below the bright triplet, in fair agreement with an estimation of the long-range electron-hole exchange interaction. Nevertheless, these perovskites display an intense luminescence because of an extremely reduced bright-to-dark phonon-assisted relaxation.

Image fusion for MODIS and Landsat images using top hat based moving technique with FIS

The image fusion technique is widely used in various applications like military, remote sensing, security and medical imaging. In image fusion, two different images with similar index is fused to extract the exact information. The Landsat and Moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer images taken from artificial satellite are not perfectly distinguishable. The principal component analysis, discrete cosine transform and discrete wavelet transform with spatial frequency are the existing methods used for fusing images. The principal component analysis and discrete cosine transform were applicable only for low precision and low quality applications. Also, the output image faced drawbacks that resulted in blurred image with low recognition rate. In order to obtain image clarity and accuracy, the top hat based moving technique with fuzzy inference system is proposed in this paper. The white top hat and black top hat techniques filter the light and dark character of the image. Then the fusion is performed by fuzzy inference system. The proposed method is used to retrieve satellite images which are highly informative and the image clarity is also high since the entropy value of the proposed method is high when compared to other conventional techniques. The proposed method has higher PSNR value compared with the state-of-the-art techniques which indicates the proposed fused image has good quality.

Dark Time Matter: Dark Character Profiles and Time Perspective

Background: Humans seem to have a unique ability to consciously organize the flow of time (i.e., past, present, and future) and to intentionally choose goals and values (i.e., character: self, others, the universe). These two parts of human awareness have implications for individuals’ relation to a society that will flourish or perish. In fact, a balanced time perspective is suggested as necessary for the experience of well-being and optimal societal functioning. Nevertheless, low character development might be expressed as a Dark Triad: Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy. In the present study, we aimed to investigate if individuals differ in their outlook on time depending on their dark character profiles. Method: We re-analyzed data from a previous study in which participants (N = 338) responded to the Short Dark Triad Inventory and the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory. However, here we use the Dark Cube (Garcia, 2017a), a model of malevolent character based on Cloninger’s biopsychosocial theory of personality and in the assumption of a Dark Triad, thus, clustering individuals in eight profiles (i.e., the combination of high/low in three malevolent character traits). Results: The results for each trait suggest multi-finality (i.e., same antecedents, different outcomes) and equifinality (i.e., different antecedents, same outcomes). For example, individuals high in narcissism presented a balanced time perspective when manipulative behavior was also high and psychopathy was low. Conclusions: In certain conditions, malevolent character is associated to a balanced time perspective. Thus, suggesting that in order to understand well-being and optimal societal functioning, we need to look at human awareness in relation to both time (i.e., past, present, future) and space (i.e., character: self, others, the universe).

The Dark Cube: dark character profiles and OCEAN.

BackgroundThe Big Five traits (i.e., openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism: OCEAN) have been suggested to provide a meaningful taxonomy for studying the Dark Triad: Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy. Nevertheless, current research consists of mixed and inconsistent associations between the Dark Triad and OCEAN. Here we used the Dark Cube (Garcia & Rosenberg, 2016), a model of malevolent character theoretically based on Cloninger’s biopsychosocial model of personality and in the assumption of a ternary structure of malevolent character. We use the dark cube profiles to investigate differences in OCEAN between individuals who differ in one dark character trait while holding the other two constant (i.e., conditional relationships).MethodParticipants (N = 330) responded to the Short Dark Triad Inventory and the Big Five Inventory and were grouped according to the eight possible combinations using their dark trait scores (M, high Machiavellianism; m, low Machiavellianism; N, high narcissism; n, low narcissism; P, high psychopathy; p, low psychopathy): MNP “maleficent”, MNp “manipulative narcissistic”, MnP “anti-social”, Mnp “Machiavellian”, mNP “psychopathic narcissistic”, mNp “narcissistic”, mnP “psychopathic”, and mnp “benevolent”.ResultsHigh narcissism-high extraversion and high psychopathy-low agreeableness were consistently associated across comparisons. The rest of the comparisons showed a complex interaction. For example, high Machiavellianism-high neuroticism only when both narcissism and psychopathy were low (Mnp vs. mnp), high narcissism-high conscientiousness only when both Machiavellianism and psychopathy were also high (MNP vs. MnP), and high psychopathy-high neuroticism only when Machiavellianism was low and narcissism was high (mNP vs. mNp).ConclusionsWe suggest that the Dark Cube is a useful tool in the investigation of a consistent Dark Triad Theory. This approach suggests that the only clear relationships were narcissism-extraversion and psychopathy-agreeableness and that the malevolent character traits were associated to specific OCEAN traits only under certain conditions. Hence, explaining the mixed and inconsistent linear associations in the Dark Triad literature.

THE ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF NANOSCALE SnO2 FILMS, STRUCTURED BY POLYMERS

The electrical characteristics of nanoscale tin dioxide layer were studied. They showed the significant differences in the conductivity values of films in vacuum and in air, which indicates a visible influence of adsorption interaction with oxygen in the air. The dark current temperature dependence activation character was established due to different donors type centers contribution to the conductivity which are “shallow” at low temperatures and are more “deep” at high temperatures. The values of the energy depth of these levels were calculated. The films’ conductivity changes at their heating at vacuum and at the subsequent cooling at vacuum till the initial temperature are reversible and repeatable many times, which testifies the stability of the electrical characteristics of the SnO2 films and is perspective for use of the layers as adsorptive-sensitive elements of gas sensors.

LHC signatures of scalar dark energy

Scalar dark energy fields that couple to the Standard Model can give rise to observable signatures at the LHC. In this work we show that $t\bar t+$missing energy and mono-jet searches are suitable probes in the limit where the dark energy scalar is stable on collider distances. We discuss the prospects of distinguishing the dark energy character of new physics signals from dark matter signatures and the possibility of probing the self-interactions of the dark energy sector.

The dark cube: dark and light character profiles.

Background. Research addressing distinctions and similarities between people’s malevolent character traits (i.e., the Dark Triad: Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) has detected inconsistent linear associations to temperament traits. Additionally, these dark traits seem to have a common core expressed as uncooperativeness. Hence, some researchers suggest that the dark traits are best represented as one global construct (i.e., the unification argument) rather than as ternary construct (i.e., the uniqueness argument). We put forward the dark cube (cf. Cloninger’s character cube) comprising eight dark profiles that can be used to compare individuals who differ in one dark character trait while holding the other two constant. Our aim was to investigate in which circumstances individuals who are high in each one of the dark character traits differ in Cloninger’s “light” character traits: self-directedness, cooperativeness, and self-transcendence. We also investigated if people’s dark character profiles were associated to their light character profiles.Method. A total of 997 participants recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) responded to the Short Dark Triad and the Short Character Inventory. Participants were allocated to eight different dark profiles and eight light profiles based on their scores in each of the traits and any possible combination of high and low scores. We used three-way interaction regression analyses and t-tests to investigate differences in light character traits between individuals with different dark profiles. As a second step, we compared the individuals’ dark profile with her/his character profile using an exact cell-wise analysis conducted in the ROPstat software (http://www.ropstat.com).Results. Individuals who expressed high levels of Machiavellianism and those who expressed high levels of psychopathy also expressed low self-directedness and low cooperativeness. Individuals with high levels of narcissism, in contrast, scored high in self-directedness. Moreover, individuals with a profile low in the dark traits were more likely to end up with a profile high in cooperativeness. The opposite was true for those individuals with a profile high in the dark traits. The rest of the cross-comparisons revealed some of the characteristics of human personality as a non-linear complex dynamic system.Conclusions. Our study suggests that individuals who are high in Machiavellianism and psychopathy share a unified non-agentic and uncooperative character (i.e., irresponsible, low in self-control, unempathetic, unhelpful, untolerant), while individuals high in narcissism have a more unique character configuration expressed as high agency and, when the other dark traits are high, highly spiritual but uncooperative. In other words, based on differences in their associations to the light side of character, the Dark Triad seems to be a dyad rather than a triad.

The dark cube: Dark and light character profiles

The dark cube: Dark and light character profiles

Probing plasmonic breathing modes optically

The confinement of surface plasmon modes in flat nanoparticles gives rise to plasmonic breathing modes. With a vanishing net dipole moment, breathing modes do not radiate, i.e., they are optically dark. Having thus escaped optical detection, breathing modes were only recently revealed in silver nanodisks with electron energy loss spectroscopy in an electron microscope. We show that for disk diameters >200 nm, retardation induced by oblique optical illumination relaxes the optically dark character. This makes breathing modes and thus the full plasmonic mode spectrum accessible to optical spectroscopy. The experimental spectroscopy data are in excellent agreement with numerical simulations.

Real-time in vivo imaging of butterfly wing development: revealing the cellular dynamics of the pupal wing tissue.

Butterfly wings are covered with regularly arranged single-colored scales that are formed at the pupal stage. Understanding pupal wing development is therefore crucial to understand wing color pattern formation. Here, we successfully employed real-time in vivo imaging techniques to observe pupal hindwing development over time in the blue pansy butterfly, Junonia orithya. A transparent sheet of epithelial cells that were not yet regularly arranged was observed immediately after pupation. Bright-field imaging and autofluorescent imaging revealed free-moving hemocytes and tracheal branches of a crinoid-like structure underneath the epithelium. The wing tissue gradually became gray-white, epithelial cells were arranged regularly, and hemocytes disappeared, except in the bordering lacuna, after which scales grew. The dynamics of the epithelial cells and scale growth were also confirmed by fluorescent imaging. Fluorescent in vivo staining further revealed that these cells harbored many mitochondria at the surface of the epithelium. Organizing centers for the border symmetry system were apparent immediately after pupation, exhibiting a relatively dark optical character following treatment with fluorescent dyes, as well as in autofluorescent images. The wing tissue exhibited slow and low-frequency contraction pulses with a cycle of approximately 10 to 20 minutes, mainly occurring at 2 to 3 days postpupation. The pulses gradually became slower and weaker and eventually stopped. The wing tissue area became larger after contraction, which also coincided with an increase in the autofluorescence intensity that might have been caused by scale growth. Examination of the pattern of color development revealed that the black pigment was first deposited in patches in the central areas of an eyespot black ring and a parafocal element. These results of live in vivo imaging that covered wide wing area for a long time can serve as a foundation for studying the cellular dynamics of living wing tissues in butterflies.

Novel patterns of torsion-inversion-rotation energy levels in the ν11 asymmetric CH-stretch spectrum of methylamine

The high-resolution infrared spectrum of methylamine (CH3NH2) has been recorded using slit-jet direct absorption spectroscopy in the ν11 CH-stretch region (2965-3005 cm(-1)) with a resolution of 0.0025 cm(-1). The 621 lines assigned by ground state combination differences represent 27 substates with |K(')| ≤ 2 for the A, B, E1, and E2 symmetries. The spectrum of CH3NH2 is complicated by torsion and inversion tunneling connecting six equivalent minima. The upper states K(') = 0, ± 1 for E1 and E2 are substantially perturbed by "dark" states. The result in the spectrum is multiplets of 2 or 3 states with mixed bright∕dark character. The analysis of the spectrum reveals two qualitative differences in the energy level pattern relative to the vibrational ground state and relative to available data on the lower frequency vibrations (NH2 wag and CN stretch). First at J(') = 0, there is a different ordering of the levels connected by torsion-inversion tunneling. Second, the low-J splittings indicative of torsion-rotation coupling are greatly reduced in the ν11 excited state relative to the vibrational ground state for both the E1 and E2 species, suggesting the partial suppression of torsional tunneling in the ν11 CH-stretch excited state.