Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fighting fire and fatigue: sleep quantity and quality during multi-day wildfire suppression

Abstract This study examined firefighters’ sleep quantity and quality throughout multi-day wildfire suppression, and assessed the impact of sleep location, shift length, shift start time and incident severity on these variables. For 4 weeks, 40 volunteer firefighters’ sleep was assessed using wrist actigraphy. Analyses revealed that the quantity of sleep obtained on fire days was restricted, and pre- and post-sleep fatigue ratings were higher, compared to non-fire days. On fire days, total sleep time was less when: (i) sleep location was in a tent or vehicle, (ii) shifts were greater than 14 h and (iii) shifts started between 05:00 and 06:00 h. This is the first empirical investigation providing objective evidence that firefighters’ sleep is restricted during wildfire suppression. Furthermore, sleep location, shift length and shift start time should be targeted when designing appropriate controls to manage fatigue-related risk and preserve firefighters’ health and safety during wildfire events. Practitioner Summary: During multi-day wildfire suppression, firefighters’ sleep quantity was restricted, and pre- and post-sleep fatigue ratings were higher, compared to non-fire days. Furthermore, total sleep time was less when: (i) sleep occurred in a tent/vehicle, (ii) shifts were >14 h and (iii) shifts started between 05:00 and 06:00 h.
Continuum quantum ferromagnets at finite temperature and the quantum Hall effect.

We study finite temperature ($T$) properties of the continuum quantum field theory of systems with a ferromagnetic ground state. A scaling theory of the $T=0$ system is discussed carefully, and its consequences for crossovers between different finite $T$ regimes in dimensions 1, 2, and 3 are described. The results are compared with recent NMR measurements of the magnetization of a quantum Hall system with filling factor $\nu=1$; we predict that the relaxation rate $1/T_1$ of this system may have a finite $T$ ``ferromagnetic coherence peak''.
FROM ACTION TO WRITING : MODES OF REPRESENTING AND KNOWING

In his book, Before Writing, Gunter Kress (1997) discusses the many modes in which children represent meaning before they master the system of writing. His illustrations include: drawings, some of them coloured in, or cut out and adorned with further material; three-dimensional figures; and my favorite a photograph of a ‘pillow car’, made from two wire-mesh drawers, a pillow, a red toolbox and other objects, all carefully arranged so that the two girls who made it could sit in the car with their doll passengers. Surprisingly, it might seem, it has neither gear shift nor steering wheel. However, as Kress comments, this is “not because this car’s makers do not know about them, but because they are not relevant for the purposes of this car’s users and makers” (p. 32). The point of the illustrations is to support his central argument: In making meaning with and through signs of various kinds, people old as well as young act out of their current interest and put to use in sign-making whatever is to hand. Furthermore, since the sign is almost always a means to an end in some larger activity, usually involving others as well as the signmaker, he claims that “all signs show rationality, logic, human desire and affect” (p. 19).
A Genome-Wide Association Scan on the Levels of Markers of Inflammation in Sardinians Reveals Associations That Underpin Its Complex Regulation

Identifying the genes that influence levels of pro-inflammatory molecules can help to elucidate the mechanisms underlying this process. We first conducted a two-stage genome-wide association scan (GWAS) for the key inflammatory biomarkers Interleukin-6 (IL-6), the general measure of inflammation erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1), and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) in a large cohort of individuals from the founder population of Sardinia. By analysing 731,213 autosomal or X chromosome SNPs and an additional ∼1.9 million imputed variants in 4,694 individuals, we identified several SNPs associated with the selected quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and replicated all the top signals in an independent sample of 1,392 individuals from the same population. Next, to increase power to detect and resolve associations, we further genotyped the whole cohort (6,145 individuals) for 293,875 variants included on the ImmunoChip and MetaboChip custom arrays. Overall, our combined approach led to the identification of 9 genome-wide significant novel independent signals—5 of which were identified only with the custom arrays—and provided confirmatory evidence for an additional 7. Novel signals include: for IL-6, in the ABO gene (rs657152, p = 2.13×10−29); for ESR, at the HBB (rs4910472, p = 2.31×10−11) and UCN119B/SPPL3 (rs11829037, p = 8.91×10−10) loci; for MCP-1, near its receptor CCR2 (rs17141006, p = 7.53×10−13) and in CADM3 (rs3026968, p = 7.63×10−13); for hsCRP, within the CRP gene (rs3093077, p = 5.73×10−21), near DARC (rs3845624, p = 1.43×10−10), UNC119B/SPPL3 (rs11829037, p = 1.50×10−14), and ICOSLG/AIRE (rs113459440, p = 1.54×10−08) loci. Confirmatory evidence was found for IL-6 in the IL-6R gene (rs4129267); for ESR at CR1 (rs12567990) and TMEM57 (rs10903129); for MCP-1 at DARC (rs12075); and for hsCRP at CRP (rs1205), HNF1A (rs225918), and APOC-I (rs4420638). Our results improve the current knowledge of genetic variants underlying inflammation and provide novel clues for the understanding of the molecular mechanisms regulating this complex process.
Dangers inherent in the use of techniques: identifying framing influences

The literature about the development of information systems tends to concentrate on methodologies, techniques and tools. There is significant published research about the potential negative aspects of using methodologies and tools (along with that discussing their potential benefits). Techniques, on the other hand, are seen largely as benign, very often as simple aids to help carry out a task, and are used in many methodologies. They might be seen as supporting the collection, collation, analysis, representation or communication of information about system requirements and attributes (or a combination of these). However, it is argued in this paper that techniques also have negative aspects and there are as many dangers in their use as in using methodologies and tools. In particular, techniques may restrict understanding by framing the ways of thinking about the problem situation. In other words, people’s understanding of a problem can be profoundly influenced by how the problem is presented to them by the technique. Different development techniques can represent the same problem situation differently, and the way in which it is represented has considerable potential for influencing problem understanding and resultant decision making. Drawing on the cognitive psychology literature enables one to show how specific visual and linguistic characteristics of techniques may influence problem understanding. In addition, examining the taken‐for‐granted paradigm of a particular technique provides a further dimension influencing problem understanding. This knowledge of visual/language and paradigm attributes is applied to over 80 techniques used to a greater or lesser extent in IS development, indicating how different types of technique are likely to influence problem cognition. This serves two purposes. First, it exposes potential biases of a particular technique and makes users aware of the potential dangers. Second, the overall categorization may provide guidance to users in selecting appropriate techniques and combinations of techniques to help reduce any negative framing influences, provide a more holistic view of a problem situation and support a more appropriate problem‐learning environment.
Self-assembled InGaAs/GaAs, quantum dots

M. Sugawara, Theoretical Bases of the Optical Properties of Semiconductor Quantum Nano-Structures. Y. Nakata, Y. Sugiyama and M. Sugawara, Molecular Beam Epitaxial Growth of Self-Assembled InAs/GaAs Quantum Dots. K. Mukai, M. Sugawara, M. Egawa, N. Ohtsuka, Metalorganic Vapor Phase Epitaxial Growth of Self-Assembled InGaAs/GaAs Quantum Dots Emitting at 1.3 um. K. Mukai and M. Sugawara, Optical Characterization of Quantum Dots. K. Mukai, M. Sugawara, Phonon Bottleneck Effect in Quantum Dots. H. Shoji, Self-Assembled Qunatum Dot Lasers. H. Ishikawa, Applications of Quantum Dot to Optical Devices.
Skeletal Muscle Mitochondrial Function/Dysfunction and Type 2 Diabetes

© 2012 Gonzalez-Franquesa et al., licensee InTech. This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Improved Photometry of Sloan Digital Sky Survey Crowded-Field Images: Structure and Dark Matter Content in the Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy Leo I

We explore how well crowded-field point-source photometry can be accomplished with Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data. For this purpose, we present a photometric pipeline based on DoPHOT and tuned for analyzing crowded-field images from the SDSS. Using Monte Carlo simulations we show that the completeness of source extraction is above 80% to an i-band AB magnitude of ≲21 and a stellar surface density of ∼200 arcmin-2. Hence, a specialized data pipeline can be efficiently used for, e.g., nearby resolved galaxies in SDSS images, where the standard SDSS photometric package Photo, when applied in normal survey mode, gives poor results. We apply our pipeline to an area of ∼3.55 deg2 around the dwarf spheroidal galaxy (dSph) Leo I and construct a high signal-to-noise ratio star count map of Leo I via an optimized filter in color-magnitude space (g, r, i). This filter reduces the foreground contamination by ∼80% and enhances the central stellar surface density contrast of the dwarf by a factor of ≳4, making this study the deepest wide-field study of the Leo I dSph based on accurate CCD photometry. Although the radial surface density profile deviates from the best-fit empirical King model toward outer radii, we find no evidence for tidal debris out to a stellar surface density of 4 × 10-3 of the central value. We determine the total luminosity of Leo I and model its mass using the spherical and isotropic Jeans equation. Assuming that mass follows light, we constrain a lower limit on the total mass of the dSph to be (1.7 ± 0.2) × 107 M⊙. On the other hand, if the mass in Leo I is dominated by a constant-density dark matter (DM) halo, then the mass within the central 12′ is (2 ± 0.6) × 108 M⊙. This leads to a mass-to-light ratio of ≫6 in I-band solar units, and possibly >75 if the DM halo dominates the mass and extends further out than 12′. In summary, our results show that Leo I is a symmetric, relaxed, and bound system; this supports the idea that Leo I is a DM-dominated system.
Microtubule binding distinguishes dystrophin from utrophin

Significance Our in vitro analyses reveal that dystrophin, the protein absent in Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients, binds microtubules with high affinity and pauses microtubule polymerization, whereas utrophin, the autosomal homologue of dystrophin thought to mirror many known functions of dystrophin, has no activity in either assay. We also report that transgenic utrophin overexpression does not correct subsarcolemmal microtubule lattice disorganization, physical inactivity after mild exercise, or loss of torque production after in vivo eccentric contraction in dystrophin-deficient skeletal muscle. Finally, our data demonstrate that microtubule lattice disorganization contributes to the greater eccentric contraction-induced injury experienced by dystrophin-deficient skeletal muscle, demonstrating a phenotype of dystrophin deficiency that utrophin-based therapy may not be able to correct. Dystrophin and utrophin are highly similar proteins that both link cortical actin filaments with a complex of sarcolemmal glycoproteins, yet localize to different subcellular domains within normal muscle cells. In mdx mice and Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients, dystrophin is lacking and utrophin is consequently up-regulated and redistributed to locations normally occupied by dystrophin. Transgenic overexpression of utrophin has been shown to significantly improve aspects of the disease phenotype in the mdx mouse; therefore, utrophin up-regulation is under intense investigation as a potential therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Here we biochemically compared the previously documented microtubule binding activity of dystrophin with utrophin and analyzed several transgenic mouse models to identify phenotypes of the mdx mouse that remain despite transgenic utrophin overexpression. Our in vitro analyses revealed that dystrophin binds microtubules with high affinity and pauses microtubule polymerization, whereas utrophin has no activity in either assay. We also found that transgenic utrophin overexpression does not correct subsarcolemmal microtubule lattice disorganization, loss of torque production after in vivo eccentric contractions, or physical inactivity after mild exercise. Finally, our data suggest that exercise-induced inactivity correlates with loss of sarcolemmal neuronal NOS localization in mdx muscle, whereas loss of in vivo torque production after eccentric contraction-induced injury is associated with microtubule lattice disorganization.
Distinct Labels Attenuate 15-Month-Olds’ Attention to Shape in an Inductive Inference Task

We examined the role of distinct labels on infants’ inductive inferences. Thirty-six 15-month-old infants were presented with target objects that possessed a non-obvious property, followed by test objects that varied in shape similarity relative to the target. Infants were tested in one of two groups, a Same Label group in which target and test objects were labeled with the same noun, and a Distinct Label group in which target and test objects were labeled with different nouns. When target and test objects were labeled with the same count noun, infants generalized the non-obvious property to both test objects, regardless of similarity to the target. In contrast, labeling the target and test objects with different count nouns attenuated infants’ generalization of the non-obvious property to both high and low-similarity test objects. Our results suggest that by 15 months, infants recognize that object labels provide information about underlying object kind and appreciate that distinct labels are used to designate members of different categories.
Effectiveness of pharmacist‐participated warfarin therapy management: a systematic review and meta‐analysis

Summary. Objective: Although pharmacist‐participated warfarin therapy management (PWTM) has been accepted and implemented in various parts of the world, the evidence demonstrating the effects of PWTM compared with usual care on clinical outcomes is lacking. We performed a systematic review and meta‐analysis to compare the effects of PWTM with usual care on bleeding and thromboembolic outcomes. Methods: We searched MEDLINE, SCOPUS, EMBASE, IPA, CINAHL, Cochrane CENTRAL, Thai Index Medicus and Thai Medical Index, and reference lists of studies, without language restriction. Databases were searched from their inception to July 2009. The studies using warfarin as an anticoagulant with sufficient data for compilation of 2 × 2 tables were included. Both randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non‐RCTs were considered. Two authors independently reviewed each study, assigned quality scores and extracted data for all outcomes using a standardized form. Pooled effect estimates (risk ratio; RR) were obtained using a random effects model. Result: Of 661 articles identified, 24 studies with 728,377 patients were included. In the random‐effects meta‐analysis of RCTs, the PWTM group had statistically significant effects on the prevention of total bleeding [RR, 0.51; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.28–0.94]. However, the effects on major bleeding (RR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.18–2.36), thromboembolic events (RR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.33–1.93), all‐cause mortality (RR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.41–2.13) and warfarin‐related mortality (RR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.18–2.42) were not significant. Conclusion: Pharmacist’s participation in the management of warfarin therapy significantly reduces total bleeding, with a non‐significant trend towards decreases in other warfarin‐related complications.
Body Composition in Neonates: Relationship Between Measured and Derived Anthropometry with Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry Measurements

This study examined the relationship between measured and derived anthropometric measurements with dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry measured lean and fat mass at 3.0 ± 2.8 (SD) days in 120 neonates with birth weights appropriate (AGA; n = 74), large (LGA; n = 30); or small (SGA, n = 16) for gestational age. Anthropometric measurements, including total body weight and length, and regional measurements, including circumferences of head, chest, abdomen, midarm, and midthigh and dynamic skinfold thickness (15 and 60 s) at tricep, subscapular, suprailiac, and midthigh, were performed. Derived anthropometry included muscle and fat areas, and ratios were calculated from direct measurements. The skinfold thickness measurements between 15 and 60 s were highly correlated (r = 0.973–0.996, p < 0.001 for all comparisons). Strong correlations existed within the four circumferences of trunk and extremities, the four skinfolds, and the ratios of weight to length and its higher powers. Weight and length accounted for >97% of the variance of lean mass in AGA and SGA infants and 46% of the variance in LGA infants and for 80, 82, and 84% of the variance of fat mass in SGA, AGA, and LGA infants, respectively, whereas midarm:head circumference ratio and arm muscle and fat areas are the most important derived anthropometry in the prediction for body composition. They independently accounted for up to 16.5 and 10.2%, respectively, of the variance in body composition depending on the state of in utero growth. Thus, total body weight and length and some selected regional and derived anthropometry accounted for the vast majority of the variance of body composition.
Optimal photometry for colour–magnitude diagrams and its application to NGC 2547

We have developed the techniques required to use Naylor's optimal photometry algorithm of to create colour-magnitude diagrams with well-defined completeness functions. To achieve this we first demonstrate that the optimal extraction is insensitive to uncertainties in the measured position of the star. We then show how to correct the optimally extracted fluxes such that they correspond to those measured in a large aperture, so aperture photometry of standard stars can be used to place the measurements on a standard system. The technique simultaneously removes the effects of a position-dependent point spread function. Finally, we develop a method called 'ghosting', which calculates the completeness corrections in the absence of an accurate description of the point spread function.We apply these techniques to the young cluster NGC 2547 (=C0809-491), and use an X-ray-selected sample to find an age of 20-35 Myr and an intrinsic distance modulus of 8.00-8.15 mag. We use these isochrones to select members from our photometric surveys. Our derived luminosity function shows a well-defined Wielen dip, making NGC 2547 the youngest cluster in which such a feature has been observed. Our derived mass function spans the range 0.1-6 M-circle dot and is similar to that for the field and the older, more massive clusters M35 and the Pleiades, supporting the idea of a universal initial mass function.
Plant Glandular Trichomes as Targets for Breeding or Engineering of Resistance to Herbivores

Glandular trichomes are specialized hairs found on the surface of about 30% of all vascular plants and are responsible for a significant portion of a plant’s secondary chemistry. Glandular trichomes are an important source of essential oils, i.e., natural fragrances or products that can be used by the pharmaceutical industry, although many of these substances have evolved to provide the plant with protection against herbivores and pathogens. The storage compartment of glandular trichomes usually is located on the tip of the hair and is part of the glandular cell, or cells, which are metabolically active. Trichomes and their exudates can be harvested relatively easily, and this has permitted a detailed study of their metabolites, as well as the genes and proteins responsible for them. This knowledge now assists classical breeding programs, as well as targeted genetic engineering, aimed to optimize trichome density and physiology to facilitate customization of essential oil production or to tune biocide activity to enhance crop protection. We will provide an overview of the metabolic diversity found within plant glandular trichomes, with the emphasis on those of the Solanaceae, and of the tools available to manipulate their activities for enhancing the plant’s resistance to pests.
Spectral Analysis of a Preconditioned Iterative Method for the Convection-Diffusion Equation

The convergence features of a preconditioned algorithm for the convection‐diffusion equation based on its diffusion part are considered. Analyses of the distribution of the eigenvalues of the preconditioned matrix in arbitrary dimensions and of the fundamental parameters of convergence are provided, showing the existence of a proper cluster of eigenvalues. The structure of the cluster is not influenced by the discretization. An upper bound on the condition number of the eigenvector matrix under some assumptions is provided as well. The overall cost of the algorithm is $O(n)$, where n is the size of the underlying matrices.
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES, INNOVATION AND FIRM PERFORMANCE-AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

This work investigates, from the knowledge-based view of the firm, whether there are groups of firms with homogeneous behaviours, as regards to knowledge management strategies (KMS) and tries to identify their influence on innovation management and firm performance. We focus on the following domains of KMS: conception, objectives, development over time and extension, introduction mechanisms and practice and support systems. These dimensions allow overcome some difficulties of earlier studies, because establishes a new KMS typology, with a holistic view of KMS, a greater number of variables and a multi-sectorial analysis. A postal survey was sent to a sample of Spanish firms for empirical research. The results show important differences in the conception and implementation of KMS, and significant relationships between the performance of some firms and their efficiency in the transmission and application of existing knowledge. They also show that the complexity of a knowledge strategy has performance implications.