Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Aortic stiffness aging is influenced by past profound immunodeficiency in HIV-infected individuals: results from the EVAS-HIV (EValuation of Aortic Stiffness in HIV-infected individuals)

Objective: We compared aortic stiffness between HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected individuals and examined the determinants of vascular aging during HIV infection. Methods: Aortic stiffness using carotid–femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV) was evaluated cross-sectionally between HIV-infected individuals and uninfected controls frequency-matched for age and sex, and longitudinally in a subgroup of HIV-infected individuals. Determinants of elevated cf-PWV levels were assessed using logistic regression. Changes in cf-PWV levels during follow-up (mixed-effect linear regression) and risk factors for achieving cf-PWV below (Group 1) or above the median (Group 2) at last follow-up visit were evaluated only in HIV-infected individuals. Results: A total of 133 HIV-infected and 135 HIV-uninfected individuals (mean age: 47.7 ± 8.9 years, 91% men) were enrolled. Median cf-PWV at baseline was similar between HIV-infected individuals and controls [7.5 m/s (interquartile range = 6.7–8.4) vs. 7.5 m/s (interquartile range = 6.6–8.4), respectively; P = 0.64]. In multivariable analysis, only mean arterial pressure showed significant association with elevated cf-PWV in the overall population (P = 0.036). In HIV-infected individuals, elevated cf-PWV was associated with current smoking (P = 0.042), and nadir CD4+ T-cell count less than 200 cells/&mgr;l (P = 0.048). Ninety-one HIV-infected individuals were followed for a mean 7.6 ± 2.0 years. cf-PWV progression was associated with age (P = 0.018), mean arterial pressure (P = 0.020), and nadir CD4+ T-cell count (P = 0.005). Patients from Group 2 had higher baseline waist circumference, pulse pressure, and nadir CD4+ T-cell count less than 200 cells/&mgr;l. Conclusion: We observed no difference in aortic stiffness between HIV-infected and controls. Moreover, aortic stiffness aging was independently associated with past severe immunodeficiency, along with other traditional risk factors. Our results call for early antiretroviral initiation.
The challenges and opportunities of transboundary cooperation through the lens of the East Carpathians Biosphere Reserve

A significant challenge of our time is conserving biological diversity while maintaining economic development and cultural values. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has established biosphere reserves within its Man and the Biosphere program as a model means for accomplishing this very challenge. The East Carpathians Biosphere Reserve (ECBR), spreading across Poland, Slovakia, and Ukraine, represents a large social-ecological system (SES) that has been protected under the biosphere reserve designation since 1998. We have explored its successes and failures in improving human livelihoods while safeguarding its ecosystems. The SES framework, which includes governance system, actors, resources, and external influences, was used as a frame of analysis. The outcomes of this protected area have been mixed; its creation led to national and international collaboration, yet some actor groups remain excluded. Implementation of protocols arising from the Carpathian Convention has been slow, while deforestation, hunting, erosion, temperature extremes, and changes in species behavior remain significant threats but have also been factors in ecological adaptation. The loss of cultural links and traditional knowledge has also been significant. Nevertheless, this remains a highly biodiverse area. Political barriers and institutional blockages will have to be removed to ensure this reserve fulfills its role as a model region for international collaboration and capacity building. These insights drawn from the ECBR demonstrate that biosphere reserves are indeed learning sites for sustainable development and that this case is exemplary in illustrating the challenges, but more importantly, the opportunities that arise when ensuring parallel care and respect for people and ecosystems through the model of transboundary protected areas around the world.
Imaginary Versus Virtual Loci: Evaluating the Memorization Accuracy in a Virtual Memory Palace

The Method of Loci (MOL) is a mnemonic strategy to memorize declarative knowledge. In the late 90s researchers started to experimentally analyze the MOL by providing their participants a virtual world. This digital environment was meant to serve the users as a template for their personal memory palace. Past studies differed in central aspects of their experimental design. One difference is that earlier studies integrated the learning content in multiple and different ways. The design of the learning content is an essential aspect and should make a difference based on cognitive theories. This study analyzes if participants perform better with virtually presented learning content or if the MOL works better when users have to imagine the content. Results encourage future concepts of the virtual MOL to implement the learning content in the environment.
Tragverhalten von Stahlfaserbeton

Steel fibre reinforced concrete has been the subject of considerable research since the early 1960's. However, the use of steel fibre reinforced concrete in civil engineering has in general been limited to non-structural applications. This is due to the inherent softening behaviour of steel fibre reinforced concrete after cracking. To alleviate the problem steel fibre reinforced concrete can be used in combination with conventional reinforcement. This study aims at a better understanding of the load carrying behaviour of steel fibre reinforced concrete and reinforced steel fibre concrete. Accordingly, the study is organized in two main parts. The first part deals with (i) the pull-out behaviour of thin, flexible fibres from a cementitious matrix and (ii) the influence of steel fibres on the behaviour of concrete subjected to tension, compression and bending. In order to assess the fibre effectiveness analytical stress-crack width relationships are derived. These distinguish between an initial strain hardening behaviour (fibre activation) and a subsequent softening behaviour (fibre pullout). Provided that the fibres are pulled out without fracturing this model and its extension to bending allow to describe the fibre effectiveness with only two parameters which can be determined from simple tests. It is shown that the addition of steel fibres may result in an increase of the tensile strength of up to 25 %. However, due to the reduced workability of fresh concrete with high fibre contents such a strength increase is hardly achievable in practice. The second part presents a theoretical model capable of predicting the load-deformation response of reinforced steel fibre concrete. The model combines the tension chord model with the fibre effectiveness model developed in this study. It allows crack spacings and crack widths to be predicted with good approximation. It is verified by comparisons with results from tension and bending tests and a parameter study is performed to discuss the most important influences. The study shows that the addition of fibres has a favourable effect on crack spacings, crack widths and deformations provided that the conventional reinforcement remains elastic. However, the hardening response of ordinary reinforced concrete is changed to a softening response – even with low fibre contents – after onset of yielding of the conventional reinforcement. The softening response is associated with a localization of deformations that may reduce the deformation capacity of a structural member. Hence, in order to achieve a satisfactory behaviour of a structural member the contents and properties of steel fibres and conventional reinforcement have to be carefully selected based on a thorough investigation of the load-deformation behaviour. In order to facilitate this task approximate procedures for the design of structural members subjected to tension and bending are developed and complemented with simple relationships to account for the fibre effectiveness.
On the Value of Monitoring Information for the Structural Integrity and Risk Management

This article introduces an approach and framework for the quantification of the value of structural health monitoring (SHM) in the context of the structural risk and integrity management for systems. The quantification of the value of SHM builds upon the Bayesian decision and utility theory, which facilitates the assessment of the value of information associated with SHM. The principal approach for the quantification of the value of SHM is formulated by modeling the fundamental decision of performing SHM or not in conjunction with their expected utilities. The expected utilities are calculated accounting for the probabilistic performance of a system in conjunction with the associated structural integrity and risk management actions throughout the life cycle, the associated benefits, structural risks, and costs and when performing SHM, the SHM information, their probabilistic outcomes, and costs. The calculation of the expected utilities necessitates a comprehensive and rigorous modeling, which is introduced close to the original formulations and for which analysis characteristics and simplifications are described and derived. The framework provides the basis for the optimization of the structural risk and integrity management based on utility gains including or excluding SHM and inspection information. Studies of fatigue deteriorating structural systems and their characteristics (1) provide decision support for the performance of SHM, (2) explicate the influence of the structural component and system characteristics on the value of SHM, and (3) demonstrate how an integral optimization of SHM and inspection strategies for an efficient structural risk and integrity management can be performed.
Gaetbulibacter lutimaris sp. nov., isolated from a tidal flat sediment.

A Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, non-flagellated, non-gliding, rod-shaped bacterial strain, D1-y4(T), was isolated from a tidal flat sediment of the South Sea in South Korea and subjected to a polyphasic study. Strain D1-y4(T) grew optimally at 25 °C, at pH 7.0-7.5 and in the presence of 2-3 % (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain D1-y4(T) belonged to the genus Gaetbulibacter, joining the type strain of Gaetbulibacter marinus, with which it exhibited 97.8 % similarity. Sequence similarities to Gaetbulibacter saemankumensis SMK-12(T) and Gaetbulibacter aestuarii KYW382(T) were 96.5 and 96.2 %, respectively. Strain D1-y4(T) contained MK-6 as the predominant menaquionone and iso-C15 : 0, iso-C15 : 1 G and anteiso-C15 : 0 as the major fatty acids. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine and one unidentified lipid. The DNA G+C content of strain D1-y4(T) was 34.6 mol% and its mean DNA-DNA relatedness value with G. marinus KCTC 23046(T) was 7 %. The phylogenetic and genetic distinctiveness and differential phenotypic properties revealed that strain D1-y4(T) is distinguishable from the three recognized Gaetbulibacter species. On the basis of the data presented here, strain D1-y4(T) is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Gaetbulibacter, for which the name Gaetbulibacter lutimaris sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is D1-y4(T) ( = KCTC 23716(T) = CCUG 61504(T)).
Comparison of the Effects of Walking and Weight Training Programs on Body Image in Middle-Aged Women: An Experimental Study

Purpose. This study was conducted to determine the effect of a resistive training intervention on body image in middle-aged women compared to an exercise walking program. Another purpose was to develop two multivariate models to explain improvement in body image among the lifters and walkers. Design. A pretest-posttest experimental design with random assignment of subjects to two exercise groups was employed. Setting. Subjects trained in their own homes and were tested at the university. Subjects. Participants were 60 women recruited from the local community with an average age of 42.5 ± 4.2 years. Intervention. Subjects were randomly assigned to a resistive training or exercise walking program, both of which were three days per week and 12 weeks in duration. Measures. Body cathexis was assessed using the Body Cathexis Scale; cardiovascular endurance was measured using the one-mile walk test, and muscular strength was assessed using standard weight training procedures. Results. After completion of the exercise interventions, lifters showed greater muscular strength than walkers, and walkers displayed greater cardiorespiratory endurance than lifters, as expected. Lifters also improved significantly more in body image than the walkers. Conclusions. Participation in a three-day-per-week resistive training program seems to improve body image in middle-aged women more than participation in a three-day per week walking program. Further, it appears that hard work and fitness improvements contribute significantly toward positive changes in body image.
Private Labels: Facilitators or Impediments to Supply Chain Coordination

We consider a retailer’s decision of whether to develop an internally produced, private label version of a national brand and the role that this decision plays in coordinating the supply chain. Our model assumes that the perceived quality of the private label is lower than that of the national brand, and we allow for the two products to have different marginal costs. We further allow for a fixed development cost that the retailer must incur to develop private label capability, and distinguish two types of private labels depending upon whether they would or would not be developed as product line extensions by a vertically integrated supply chain. We refer to these two types as first-best (FB) and non-first-best (NFB) product line extensions, respectively. When the private label can be characterized as a NFB product line extension, its development creates adverse cannibalization effects, yet it also helps to mitigate the effects of double marginalization with respect to the national brand. We characterize the conditions under which the retailer will develop private label capability, and distinguish among the conditions under which this is either beneficial or detrimental to the overall performance of the supply chain.
Fatigue behavior of adhesively bonded glass fiber reinforced plastic composites with different overlap lengths

The joining techniques of lightweight and strong materials in the transport industry (e.g. automotive, aerospace, shipbuilding industries) are very important for the safety of the entire structure. In these industries, when compared with other joining methods, the use of adhesively bonded joints presents unique properties such as greater strength, design flexibility, and reduction in fuel consumption, all thanks to low weight. The aim of this study was the analysis of the tensile fatigue behavior of adhesively bonded glass fiber/epoxy laminated composite single-lap joints with three different specimen types including 30, 40 and 50 mm overlap lengths. In this study, composite adherents were manufactured via vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding and were bonded using Loctite 9461 A&B toughened epoxy adhesive. The effect of a surface treatment method on the bonding strength was considered and it led to an increment of about 40%. A numerical analysis based on a finite element model was performed to predict fatigue life curve, and the predicted results showed good agreement with the experimental investigation.
Internet Appendix: Anatomy of Corporate Borrowing Constraints

This Internet Appendix has nine sections.  Section IA1 provides a detailed explanation of our classification procedures for assetbased lending and cash flow-based lending.  Section IA2 analyzes the variation in the prevalence of cash flow-based lending across different countries, and the relationship with bankruptcy laws.  Section IA3 provides more discussions of the earnings-based borrowing constraints (EBCs), including those imposed through financial covenants (earnings-based covenants) and through credit market norms.  Section IA4 discusses other types of financial covenants.  Section IA5 provides a simple framework to further illustrate the foundations and implications of cash flow-based lending and EBCs.  Section IA6 describes variable constructions for firm-level analyses.  Section IA7 describes the construction of real estate value measures.  Section IA8 presents additional empirical results.  Section IA9 analyzes financial acceleration dynamics with different forms of corporate borrowing constraints.
A differentiable BLEU loss. Analysis and first results

In natural language generation tasks, like neural machine translation and image captioning, there is usually a mismatch between the optimized loss and the de facto evaluation criterion, namely token-level maximum likelihood and corpus-level BLEU score. This article tries to reduce this gap by defining differentiable computations of the BLEU and GLEU scores. We test this approach on simple tasks, obtaining valuable lessons on its potential applications but also its pitfalls, mainly that these loss functions push each token in the hypothesis sequence toward the average of the tokens in the reference, resulting in a poor training signal.
Anti-Tumor and Radiosensitization Effects of N-Butylidenephthalide on Human Breast Cancer Cells

N-Butylidenephthalide (BP), which is extracted from a traditional Chinese medicine, Radix Angelica Sinensis (danggui), displays antitumor activity against various cancer cell lines. The purpose of this study was to investigate the cytotoxic and radiosensitizing effect of BP and the underlying mechanism of action in human breast cancer cells. BP induces apoptosis in breast cancer cells, which was revealed by the TUNEL assay; the activation of caspase-9 and PARP was detected by western blot. In addition, BP-induced G2/M arrest was examined by flow cytometry and the expression levels of the G2/M regulatory protein were detected by western blot. BP also suppresses the migration and invasion of breast cancer cells, which was tested by wound healing and the matrigel invasion assay; the involvement of EMT-related gene expressions was detected by real-time PCR. Furthermore, BP enhanced the radiosensitivity of breast cancer cells, which was measured by the colony formation assay and comet assay, where the foci of γ-H2AX after radiation significantly increased in BP pretreated cells and was evidenced by immunocytochemistry staining and western blot. The homologous recombination (HR) repair protein Rad51 was down-regulated after BP pretreatment. These results indicate that BP might be a potential chemotherapeutic and radiosensitizing agent for breast cancer therapy.
Cyclical Job Ladders by Firm Size and Firm Wage

We study whether workers progress up firm wage and size job ladders, and the cyclicality of this movement. Search theory predicts that workers should flow toward larger, higher paying firms. However, we see little evidence of a firm size ladder, partly because small, young firms poach workers from all other businesses. In contrast, we find strong evidence of a firm wage ladder that is highly procyclical. During the Great Recession, this firm wage ladder collapsed, with net worker reallocation to higher wage firms falling to zero. The earnings consequences from this lack of upward progression are sizable.
The role of copper and vitamin A deficiencies leading to neurological signs in captive cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) and lions (Panthera leo) in the United Arab Emirates

Neurological signs like ataxia and hind limb paresis have often been reported in cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus), lions (Panthera leo) and snow leopards (Panthera unica). As a cause, copper and Vitamin A deficiencies have been discussed. Many cases were seen in cheetahs and lions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) within the last years. The aim of this study was to find correlations between nutrition, serum, and tissue levels, focusing on copper and Vitamin A. Blood and tissue samples of affected and unaffected animals were analyzed at the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory in Dubai, UAE. Animals were split into three different groups (A, B and C) according to their diets. Minerals were determined in serum, tissue, food and water samples, and serum was additionally analyzed for Vitamin A and E. Liver, kidney and spinal cord samples were taken for histopathological investigations. Mean serum copper and liver copper levels of animals fed pure chicken muscle meat without supplements were significantly lower (0.41 ± 0.71 μM/L; 2.16 ± 0.95 ppm wet weight) than in animals fed a whole carcass prey diet (12.16 ± 3.42 μM/L; 16.01 ± 17.51 ppm wet weight) (p < 0.05). Serum Vitamin A and E levels were highest in animals fed whole carcass prey diets (1.85 ± 0.68; 27.31 ± 5.69 μM/L). Liver zinc concentrations were highest in animals fed pure chicken meat only (43.75 ± 16.48 ppm wet weight). In histopathology, demyelination of the spinal cord was found in all of the affected animals and most commonly when fed a diet based on poultry without supplements.
Thermoplastic composites based on flax fibres and polypropylene: Influence of fibre length and fibre volume fraction on mechanical properties

Natural-fibre-mat-reinforced thermoplastic (NMT) composites based on flax fibre mats and a Polypropylene (PP) matrix were manufactured using (i) a film-stacking method and (ii) a paper making process. The influence of fibre length and fibre content on stiffness and strength is reported and compared with data for glassmat-reinforced thermoplastic (GMT) composites, including the influence of using maleic-anhydride grafted PP. The data is also compared with existing micromechanical models like Kelly-Tyson and Cox-Krenchel for strength and stiffness, respectively. A good agreement was found between theory and experiment in case of stiffness while in case of strength the experimental values fall well below the theoretical predictions. Results indicated that NMTs are of interest for low-cost engineering applications and can compete with commercial GMTs, especially when a high stiffness per unit weight is desirable. Results also indicated that the key area for future development lies not only in improved adhesion but mainly in improving the fibre strength.
High-Frame-Rate Echocardiography Using Coherent Compounding With Doppler-Based Motion-Compensation

High-frame-rate ultrasonography based on coherent compounding of unfocused beams can potentially transform the assessment of cardiac function. As it requires successive waves to be combined coherently, this approach is sensitive to high-velocity tissue motion. We investigated coherent compounding of tilted diverging waves, emitted from a 2.5 MHz clinical phased array transducer. To cope with high myocardial velocities, a triangle transmit sequence of diverging waves is proposed, combined with tissue Doppler imaging to perform motion compensation (MoCo). The compound sequence with integrated MoCo was adjusted from simulations and was tested in vitro and in vivo. Realistic myocardial velocities were analyzed in an in vitro spinning disk with anechoic cysts. While a 8 dB decrease (no motion versus high motion) was observed without MoCo, the contrast-to-noise ratio of the cysts was preserved with the MoCo approach. With this method, we could provide high-quality in vivo B-mode cardiac images with tissue Doppler at 250 frames per second. Although the septum and the anterior mitral leaflet were poorly apparent without MoCo, they became well perceptible and well contrasted with MoCo. The septal and lateral mitral annulus velocities determined by tissue Doppler were concordant with those measured by pulsed-wave Doppler with a clinical scanner (r2 = 0.7, y = 09.x + 0.5, N = 60). To conclude, high-contrast echo-cardiographic B-mode and tissue Doppler images can be obtained with diverging beams when motion compensation is integrated in the coherent compounding process.