Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Correlation of pulse wave velocity with left ventricular mass in patients with hypertension once blood pressure has been normalized

Vascular stiffness has been proposed as a simple method to assess arterial loading conditions of the heart which induce left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). There is some controversy as to whether the relationship of vascular stiffness to LVH is independent of blood pressure, and which measurement of arterial stiffness, augmentation index (AI) or pulse wave velocity (PWV) is best. Carotid pulse wave contor and pulse wave velocity of patients (n=20) with hypertension whose blood pressure (BP) was under control (<140/90 mmHg) with antihypertensive drug treatment medications, and without valvular heart disease, were measured. Left ventricular mass, calculated from 2D echocardiogram, was adjusted for body size using two different methods: body surface area and height. There was a significant (P<0.05) linear correlation between LV mass index and pulse wave velocity. This was not explained by BP level or lower LV mass in women, as there was no significant difference in PWV according to gender (1140.1+67.8 vs 1110.6+57.7 cm/s). In contrast to PWV, there was no significant correlation between LV mass and AI. In summary, these data suggest that aortic vascular stiffness is an indicator of LV mass even when blood pressure is controlled to less than 140/90 mmHg in hypertensive patients. The data further suggest that PWV is a better proxy or surrogate marker for LV mass than AI and the measurement of PWV may be useful as a rapid and less expensive assessment of the presence of LVH in this patient population.
Micro- and meso-level influences on obesity in the former Soviet Union: a multi-level analysis.

BACKGROUND Limited evidence exists on obesity in the former Soviet Union (fSU), particularly its micro- and meso-level determinants. The objectives of this study were to determine age- and gender-adjusted prevalence of self-reported overweight and obesity in nine fSU countries; explore the relationship between individual and household (micro-level) factors and obesity; and explore the relationship between features of nutritional and physical environments (meso-level) and obesity. METHODS Data were collected from 18,000 adults using household surveys and from 333 communities using community profiles in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine in 2010. Individual- and community-level determinants of self-reported obesity (body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m(2)) were analysed using multi-level random intercept logistic regression models. RESULTS A total of 13% of the males and 18% of the females were categorized as obese. Factors associated with obesity in males were older age, increasing educational achievement, declining self-reported health, alcohol consumption and automobile ownership. Males who were current smokers, not married and perceived physical activity to be important were less likely to be obese. For females, obesity was associated with older age, completion of secondary-level education, declining self-reported health and average household financial situation. Unmarried women were less likely to be obese. Multi-level analysis indicated that individuals living in communities with higher presence of garbage were more likely to be obese. CONCLUSIONS This is the first study to examine both micro- and meso-level influences on obesity in fSU using multi-level analysis. Findings indicate a similar obesity risk profile to countries in Western Europe and North America.
HIERARCHICAL COMPOSITES WITH CARBON NANOTUBE GRAFTED FIBRES

The study of reinforcing conventional fibre/matrix composites by grafting carbon nanotubes (CNTs) onto fibre surfaces is reported. Carbon nanotubes were grown on silica and carbon fibres using the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method; however, two different methods were used for introducing the iron catalyst. The morphology of the products was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), which showed a higher density of CNT grafting on silica fibres compared to that on carbon fibres. Single fibre tensile tests on individual fibres, before and after the CNT growth, indicated a degradation in fibre strength that has been attributed either to the catalyst etching or dissolution of the fibre surface. Model composites based on CNT-grafted fibres/PMMA were fabricated in order to examine apparent interfacial shear strength (IFSS). A dramatic improvement in IFSS over silica fibre-based composites was observed, but relatively less improvement was shown in the case of carbon fibres. The different IFSS results were provisionally attributed to the different morphology and density of CNT grafting on fibres.
Analysing design and technology as an educational construct: an investigation into its curriculum position and pedagogical identity

ABSTRACT The hierarchal status of academic disciplines, what defines valuable or legitimate knowledge and what should we teach our children is a topic of much debate. Amidst concerns of an academic decline, tackling the culture of low expectation and anti-intellectualism, the need to address social justice, and its by-product of cultural reproduction, is the focus of current education policy. Set within the UK, this paper presents a critical review of the literature relating to disciplinary knowledge and teaching and learning regimes, specifically seeking to explore the subcultures which exist between design and technology and its associated curricula counterparts that combine to produce science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The purpose being to proffer an explanation that is supportive in developing an understanding as to why design and technology is perceived by many to be of less value than its STEM counterparts. Situation within a functionalist approach to STEM education policy, findings are discussed in relation to design and technology, which as a subject is caught between the identities of academic and vocational exponents, and it is from this perspective that complex nature and perceived value of design and technology is explored.
RELATIVIZABLE AND NONRELATIVIZABLE THEOREMS IN THE POLYNOMIAL THEORY OF ALGORITHMS

Starting with the paper of Baker, Gill, and Solovay [BGS 75] in complexity theory, many results have been proved that separate certain relativized complexity classes or show that they have no complete language. All results of this kind were, in fact, based on lower bounds for Boolean decision trees of a certain type or for machines with polylogarithmic restrictions on time. The following question arises: Are these methods of proving “relativized” results universal? In the first part of the present paper a general framework is proposed in which assertions of universality of this kind may be formulated and proved as convenient criteria. Using these criteria we obtain, as easy consequences of the known results on Boolean decision trees, some new “relativized” results and new proofs of some known results. In the second part of the paper, these general criteria are applied to many particular cases. For example, for many of the complexity classes studied in the literature all relativizable inclusions between the classes are found.
A morphological comparison between the central region in AGN and normal galaxies using HST data

We study the morphology of the central region of a sample of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and a "control" sample of normal galaxies using archival observations of the WFPC2 instrument onboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). We use the ellipse fitting technique in order to get a good description of the inner "smooth" light distribution of the galaxy. We then divide the observed galaxy image by the artificial image from the fitted ellipses in order to detect morphological signatures in the central region around the nucleus of the galaxy. We perform quantitative comparisons of different subgroups of our sample of galaxies (according to the Hubble type and the nuclear activity of the galaxies) by calculating the average amplitude of the structures that are revealed with the ellipse fitting technique. Our main conclusions are as follows: 1) All AGNs show significant structure in their inner 100 pc and 1 kpc regions whose amplitude is similar in all of them, independent of the Hubble type of the host galaxy. 2) When considering early-type galaxies, non-AGN galaxies show no structure at all, contrary to what we find for AGN. 3) When considering late-type galaxies, both AGN and non-AGN galaxies show significant structure in their central region. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that all early-type galaxies host a supermassive black hole, but only those that have enough material in the central regions to fuel it show an active nucleus. The situation is more complicated in late-type galaxies. Either not all of them host a central black hole, or, in some of them, the material inside the innermost 100 pc region is not transported to the scales of the central engine for some reason, or the large amount of gas and dust hides the active nucleus from our sight.
Subculturas e Cultura de Consumo: Diferenciações e uma Agenda de Pesquisa para o Brasil Subcultures and Consumption Culture: Differentiations and a Research Agenda for Brazil

A CCT ( Consumer Culture Theory ) estabeleceu-se como uma corrente teorica que busca analisar os significados culturais que o consumidor busca ou cria em produtos. Trabalhos de autores como Shouten e McAlexander (1995), Belk (1988), McCracken (1986;2003) e Kozinets (1997;2001) apontam para a importância que a posse de alguns produtos tem na vida de individuos e grupos de individuos, que formam, segundo alguns desses autores, subculturas ou culturas de consumo. Esses grupos ou subgrupos de individuos sao unidos por compartilhamento de valores, experiencias e admiracao a um produto ou tipo de produtos. O presente artigobuscou discutir e diferenciar alguns conceitos importantes tratados em CCT nos ultimos anos, atentando, por fim, para a importância do estudo de possiveis subculturas de consumo no Brasil, em especial uma possivel subcultura de consumo em torno da atividade esportiva do Surf, que movimenta bilhoes de reais em consumo anualmente no pais.Conforme a discussao proposta aponta, existe um caminho fertil para a investigacao e diferenciacao desses grupos ou subgrupos no Brasil, tendo como arcabouco teorico a Consumer Culture Theory . A diferenciacao pratica desses conceitos pode representar um importante avanco teorico nos estudos relacionados a cultura e ao consumo.
The Haptic Creature Project : Social Human-Robot Interaction through Affective Touch

The communication of emotion plays an important role in social interaction. Research in affective display both in the social sciences and in social human-robot interaction has focused almost exclusively on the modalities of vision and audition; however, touch has received disproportionate attention. This paper presents an overview of the Haptic Creature project, where we seek to develop a deeper understanding of affect display through touch in the context of social interaction between human and robot. We also hope to gain knowledge on the role affective touch plays in supporting companionship. Drawing from studies on human-animal interaction, we are developing the Haptic Creature, a robot that mimics a small pet that interacts through touch. Details of the robot and related user studies are presented.
Characterization of a Recombinant Cathepsin B-Like Cysteine Peptidase from Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Liviidae): A Putative Target for Control of Citrus Huanglongbing

Huanglonbing (HLB) is one of the most destructive disease affecting citrus plants. The causal agent is associated with the phloem-limited bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas) and the psyllid Diaphorina citri, vector of disease, that transmits the bacterium associated with HLB. The control of disease can be achieved by suppressing either the bacterium or the vector. Among the control strategies for HLB disease, one of the widely used consists in controlling the enzymes of the disease vector, Diaphorina citri. The insect Diaphorina citri belongs to the order Hemiptera, which frequently have cysteine peptidases in the gut. The importance of this class of enzymes led us to search for enzymes in the D. citri transcriptome for the establishment of alternatives strategies for HLB control. In this study, we reported the identification and characterization of a cathepsin B-like cysteine peptidase from D. citri (DCcathB). DCcathB was recombinantly expressed in Pichia pastoris, presenting a molecular mass of approximately 50 kDa. The enzyme hydrolyzed the fluorogenic substrate Z-F-R-AMC (K m = 23.5 μM) and the selective substrate for cathepsin B, Z-R-R-AMC (K m = 6.13 μM). The recombinant enzyme was inhibited by the cysteine protease inhibitors E64 (IC50 = 0.014 μM) and CaneCPI-4 (Ki = 0.05 nM) and by the selective cathepsin B inhibitor CA-074 (IC50 = 0.095 nM). RT-qPCR analysis revealed that the expression of the DCcathB in nymph and adult was approximately 9-fold greater than in egg. Moreover, the expression of this enzyme in the gut was 175-fold and 3333-fold higher than in the remaining tissues and in the head, respectively, suggesting that DCcathB can be a target for HLB control.
A neural-network reinforcement-learning model of domestic chicks that learn to localize the centre of closed arenas

Previous experiments have shown that when domestic chicks (Gallus gallus) are first trained to locate food elements hidden at the centre of a closed square arena and then are tested in a square arena of double the size, they search for food both at its centre and at a distance from walls similar to the distance of the centre from the walls experienced during training. This paper presents a computational model that successfully reproduces these behaviours. The model is based on a neural-network implementation of the reinforcement-learning actor–critic architecture (in this architecture the ‘critic’ learns to evaluate perceived states in terms of predicted future rewards, while the ‘actor’ learns to increase the probability of selecting the actions that lead to higher evaluations). The analysis of the model suggests which type of information and cognitive mechanisms might underlie chicks' behaviours: (i) the tendency to explore the area at a specific distance from walls might be based on the processing of the height of walls' horizontal edges, (ii) the capacity to generalize the search at the centre of square arenas independently of their size might be based on the processing of the relative position of walls' vertical edges on the horizontal plane (equalization of walls' width), and (iii) the whole behaviour exhibited in the large square arena can be reproduced by assuming the existence of an attention process that, at each time, focuses chicks' internal processing on either one of the two previously discussed information sources. The model also produces testable predictions regarding the generalization capabilities that real chicks should exhibit if trained in circular arenas of varying size. The paper also highlights the potentialities of the model to address other experiments on animals' navigation and analyses its strengths and weaknesses in comparison to other models.
Responding to Directives: What can Children do when a Parent Tells them what to do?

Purpose – This chapter examines children's options for responding to parental attempts to get them to do something (directives). Methodology/approach – The data for the study are video recordings of everyday family mealtime interactions. The study uses conversation analysis and discursive psychology to conduct a microanalysis of sequences of everyday family mealtimes interactions in which a parent issues a directive and a child responds. Findings – It is very difficult for children to resist parental directives without initiating a dispute. Immediate embodied compliance was the interactionally preferred response option to a directive. Outright resistance was typically met with an upgraded and more forceful directive. Legitimate objections to compliance could be treated seriously but were not always taken as grounds for non-compliance. Research implications – The results have implications for our understandings of the notions of compliance and authority. Children's status in interaction is also discussed in light of their ability to choose whether to ratify a parent's control attempt or not. Originality/value of chapter – The chapter represents original work on the interactional structures and practices involved in responding to control attempts by a co-present participant. It offers a data-driven framework for conceptualising compliance and authority in interaction that is based on the orientations of participants rather than cultural or analytical assumptions of the researcher.
A Critical Assessment of Business Model Research

Ever since the Internet boom of the mid-1990s, firms have been experimenting with new ways of doing business and achieving their goals, which has led to a branching of the scholarly literature on business models. Three interpretations of the meaning and function of “business models” have emerged from the management literature: (1) business models as attributes of real firms, (2) business models as cognitive/linguistic schemas, and (3) business models as formal conceptual representations of how a business functions. Relatedly, a provocative debate about the relationship between business models and strategy has fascinated many scholars. We offer a critical review of this now vast business model literature with the goal of organizing the literature and achieving greater understanding of the larger picture in this increasingly important research area. In addition to complementing and extending prior reviews, we also aim at a second and more important contribution: We aim at identifying the reasons behind the apparent lack of agreement in the interpretation of business models, and the relationship between business models and strategy. Whether strategy scholars consider business model research a new field may be due to the fact that the business model perspective may be challenging the assumptions of traditional theories of value creation and capture by focusing on value creation on the demand side and supply side, rather than focusing on value creation on the supply side only as these theories have done. We conclude by discussing how the business model perspective can contribute to research in different fields, offering future research directions.
Saturated Fatty Acids Modulate Cell Response to DNA Damage: Implication for Their Role in Tumorigenesis

DNA damage triggers a network of signaling events that leads to cell cycle arrest or apoptosis. This DNA damage response acts as a mechanism to prevent cancer development. It has been reported that fatty acids (FAs) synthesis is increased in many human tumors while inhibition of fatty acid synthase (FASN) could suppress tumor growth. Here we report that saturated fatty acids (SFAs) play a negative role in DNA damage response. Palmitic acid, as well as stearic acid and myristic acid, compromised the induction of p21 and Bax expression in response to double stranded breaks and ssDNA, while inhibition or knockdown of FASN enhanced these cellular events. SFAs appeared to regulate p21 and Bax expression via Atr-p53 dependent and independent pathways. These effects were only observed in primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts and osteoblasts, but not in immortalized murine NIH3T3, or transformed HCT116 and MCF-7 cell lines. Accordingly, SFAs showed some positive effects on proliferation of MEFs in response to DNA damage. These results suggest that SFAs, by negatively regulating the DNA damage response pathway, might promote cell transformation, and that increased synthesis of SFAs in precancer/cancer cells might contribute to tumor progression and drug resistance.
Design of a Simulation Framework to Evaluate Trust Models for Collaborative Intrusion Detection

Different trust models have been developed for dealing with possible dishonest behavior and attacks from malicious peer Intrusion Detection Systems (IDSs) in a collaborative Intrusion Detection Network (IDN). For evaluating and comparing these models, this paper introduces a simulation framework that incorporates different components namely expertise model, deception model, attack model, and evaluation metrics. The proposed framework offers flexibility for users to adjust the simulation parameters according to their needs. We then compare three existing trust models in this domain to demonstrate the effectiveness of our framework when used in analyzing their efficiency, robustness and scalability.
International Journal of Hospitality Management Hotel Attribute Performance, Ewom Motivations, and Media Choice

The objectives of this study are to match the motivations for posting about hotel experiences with the online media chosen and to identify the electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) motivations that are affected by hotel attribute performance. The results show that altruism and platform assistance motivations were positively correlated with consumer opinion sites. Extraversion, social benefits, and dissonance reduction were positively correlated with social network sites. Economic incentives did not improve the likelihood of posting eWOM on consumer opinion sites but reduced the likelihood of posting on social network sites. Finally, hotel attribute performance had a significant effect only on extraversion and dissonance reduction motivations.
ON AN IDENTITY FOR THE CHEBYCHEV FUNCTIONAL AND SOME RAMIFICATIONS

An identity for the Chebychev functional is presented in which a Riemann-Stieltjes integral is involved. This allows bounds for the functional to be obtained for functions that are of bounded variation, Lipschitzian and monotone. Some applications are presented to produce bounds for moments of functions about a general point γ and for moment generating functions.
Effective implementation of void filling in OBS networks with service differentiation

In this paper the problem of channel reservation in Optical Burst Switching nodes is considered with the aim to reduce the scheduling processing time and, at the same time, to maintain burst loss probability as low as possible. A new implementation of the void filling problem related to a multi-class traffic environment is proposed based on the binary heap tree data structure. Fast search of the void intervals for burst scheduling is achieved by means of vector implementation of the tree that contains information about voids. The search is further optimized by reducing the search interval to obtain a good trade off between processing time and burst loss probability in relation to traffic load. Results obtained by simulation show interesting improvements of the scheduling time compared with other implementations of void filling, while, at the same time, maintaining burst loss probability low, especially for high quality traffic.