Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Designing Secure Data Warehouses by Using MDA and QVT

This work has been partially supported by the METASIGN project (TIN2004-00779) from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science, of the Regional Government of Valencia, and by the QUASIMODO and MISTICO projects of the Regional Science and Technology Ministry of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain).
The moderating role of socio-demographics on smartphone adoption

This study investigated the extent to which the perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived enjoyment and social influence of smartphones affected word of mouth, as well as the moderating role of customer socio-demographic characteristics. Data were collected through a cross-sectional survey of 481 South Korean smartphone consumers. The results indicated that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and social influence affected word of mouth. Moreover, hierarchical regression analyses confirmed that the effect of perceived enjoyment on word of mouth was moderated by customer gender, age and education. Finally, the relationship between perceived ease of use and word of mouth was moderated by gender. These results suggest the need to design targeted smartphone marketing strategies that consider users' gender, age and education.
New sampling-based summary statistics for improving approximate query answers

In large data recording and warehousing environments, it is often advantageous to provide fast, approximate answers to queries, whenever possible. Before DBMSs providing highly-accurate approximate answers can become a reality, many new techniques for summarizing data and for estimating answers from summarized data must be developed. This paper introduces two new sampling-based summary statistics, concise samples and counting samples, and presents new techniques for their fast incremental maintenance regardless of the data distribution. We quantify their advantages over standard sample views in terms of the number of additional sample points for the same view size, and hence in providing more accurate query answers. Finally, we consider their application to providing fast approximate answers to hot list queries. Our algorithms maintain their accuracy in the presence of ongoing insertions to the data warehouse.
Conversion of Wet Glass to Melt at Lower Seismogenic Zone Conditions: Implications for Pseudotachylyte Creep

Coseismic frictional melting and the production of quenched glass called pseudotachylyte is a recurring process during earthquakes. To investigate how glassy materials affect the postseismic strength and stability of faults, obsidian gouges were sheared under dry and wet conditions from 200°C to 300°C at ~150 MPa effective normal stress. Dry glass exhibited a brittle rheology at all conditions tested, exhibiting friction values and microstructures consistent with siliciclastic materials. Likewise, wet glass at 200°C exhibited a brittle rheology. In contrast, wet gouges at 300°C transitioned from brittle sliding to linear‐viscous (Newtonian) flow at strain rates <3 × 10−4 s−1, indicating melt‐like behavior. The viscosity ranged from 2 × 1011 to 7.8 × 1011 Pa‐s. Microstructures show that viscous gouges were fully welded with rod‐shaped microlites rotated into the flow direction. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy along with electron backscatter imaging demonstrate that hydration of the glass by diffusion of pore water was the dominant process reducing the viscosity and promoting viscous flow. As much as 5 wt % water diffused into the glass. These results may provide insight into postseismic‐slip behaviors and challenge some interpretations of fault kinematics based on studies assuming that pseudotachylyte formation and flow is solely coseismic.
Electricity Production Potential of Decayed Tectona grandis Using Microbial Fuel Cell

The potential of decayed Tectona grandis wood to generate current and voltage due to the inherent microorganism present in it was determined in this study. The decayed wood was collected from the Federal University of Technology Akure forest plantation. Microorganisms were isolated from the decayed Tectona grandis wood and the organisms were identified using both cultural and molecular methods. The microbial fuel experimental set up was carried out for 14 days. The microbial fuel cell was made up of two chambers which are the anodic i.e where bacteria oxidise the organic matter present in the wood and cathodic chamber, this contained the substrate (decayed wood) and water respectively. Current and voltage generated by the decayed wood was measured using a multimeter. Results revealed that the microorganisms isolated include Bacillus licheniformis, Micrococcus luteus, Bacillus sp, Acinetobacter iwoffii Bacillus cereus, Pseudomonas putida, Bacillus thuringiensis, Penicillum notantum, Rhizopus stolonifer, Aspergillus penicilloides, Rhizopus oryzae and Aspergillus flavus. It also showed that there was a continuous increase in the current generated which was within the range from (0.032 ± 0.00 to 0.441 ± 0.02) mA. The highest voltage was generated on day 12 with the value (0.369 ± 0.02) mV. It was shown that there was a progressive increase in the voltage generated from day 1 to day 12 with the range of values from 0.023 ± 0.01 to Original Research Article Adegunloye and Ojo; JAMB, 14(3): 1-8, 2019; Article no.JAMB. 44635 2 0.369 ± 0.02) mV. Findings from this study affirmed that decayed Tectona grandis wood has the ability to generate current and voltage using microbial fuel cell due to the microorganisms present in them which initiate oxidation reaction.
SCH 9 , a putative protein kinase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae , affects HOT 1-stimulated recombination

HOT1 is a mitotic recombination hotspot derived from yeast rDNA. To further study HOT1 function, trans-acting H OT1 recombination mutants (hrm) that alter hotspot activity were isolated. hrm2-1 mutants have decreased HOT1 activity and grow slowly. The HRM2 gene was cloned and found to be identical to SCH9, a gene that affects a growth-control mechanism that is partially redundant with the cAMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA) pathway. Deletion of SCH9 decreasesHOT1 and rDNA recombination but not other mitotic exchange. Although high levels of RNA polymerase I transcription initiated atHOT1 are required for its recombination-stimulating activity, sch9mutations do not affect transcription initiated within HOT1. Thus, transcription is necessary but not sufficient for HOT1 activity. TPK1, which encodes a catalytic subunit of PKA, is a multicopy suppressor of the recombination and growth defects of sch9 mutants, suggesting that increased PKA activity compensates for SCH9 loss. RAS2 , which codes for a hyperactive RAS protein and increases PKA activity, suppresses both phenotypic defects of sch9 mutants. In contrast to TPK1 and RAS2 , the gene for split zinc finger protein 1 (SFP1) on a multicopy vector suppresses only the growth defects of sch9 mutants, indicating that growth and HOT1 functions of Sch9p are separable. Sch9p may affect signal transduction pathways which regulate proteins that are specifically required for HOT1-stimulated exchange.
Effects of low-level laser therapy on the modulation of tissue temperature and hyperalgesia following a partial Achilles tendon injury in rats

ABSTRACT The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) on the modulation of tissue temperature and hyperalgesia following a partial injury to the Achilles tendon in rats. Forty-five rats were randomly divided into three groups: a control group, a group treated with LLLT at a dose of 1.4 J (808 nm, 50 mW, 1.4 J), and a group treated with LLLT at a dose of 2.1 J (808 nm, 50 mW, 2.1 J). LLLT was administered to a single point immediately following the partial injury of the Achilles tendon. Tissue temperature and hyperalgesia were evaluated 6, 24, and 48 hours following the injury. Thus, a significant group-versus-time interaction was found for tissue temperature (F = 4.097, p = 0.001) and hyperalgesia (F = 106.605, p < 0.001), with a greater reduction in theses outcomes in the group that received LLLT at a dose of 2.1 J evaluated 48 hours after the injury. Therefore, LLLT at a wavelength of 808 nm and dose of 2.1 J administered immediately following a partial injury to the Achilles tendon led to a reduction in tissue temperature and hyperalgesia at the injury site in rats, especially 48 hours after injury.
On the frequency of lake-effect snowfall in the Catskill Mountains

ABSTRACT Meltwater from snow that falls in the Catskill/Delaware watershed in the Catskill Mountains in south-central New York contributes to reservoirs that supply drinking water to approximately nine million people in and near New York City (NYC). Using the Interactive Multisensor Snow and Ice Mapping System (IMS) 4-km snow maps from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Ice Center, we identified and tracked 28 lake-effect (LE) storms that deposited snow in the Catskills (2004–2017). These storms, which generally originated from Lake Ontario, but sometimes from Lake Erie, represent an underestimate of the number of LE storms that contribute snowfall to the Catskills snowpack because snowstorms are not visible on IMS maps when they travel over already-snow-covered terrain. Using satellite, meteorological (including NEXRAD and National Weather Service Cooperative Observer Program), and reanalysis data, we identified conditions that contributed to the LE snowstorms and mapped snow-cover extent (SCE) following the storms. We show that LE snow makes an important contribution to the Catskills snowpack because of the frequency of events, even though the total amount of each event may, on average, be small. The IMS 4-km maps tend to overestimate SCE compared to MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer and Landsat snow maps. Climate change could impact LE storms and the distribution of rain versus snow in the Catskills, which may affect future reservoir operations in the NYC Water Supply System and winter recreation in the Catskills.
A Permutation Test to Compare Receiver Operating Characteristic Curves

Summary. We developed a permutation test in our earlier paper (Venkatraman and Begg, 1996, Biometrika83, 835–848) to test the equality of receiver operating characteristic curves based on continuous paired data. Here we extend the underlying concepts to develop a permutation test for continuous unpaired data, and we study its properties through simulations.
The clinicopathological significance of BUBR1 overexpression in hepatocellular carcinoma

Background and aims: BUBR1 is a key component of the mitotic spindle checkpoint, and its roles in human cancers are controversial and unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinicopathological significance of BUBR1 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: The BUBR1 protein and its mRNA levels were measured in 58 HCCs, nine high-grade dysplastic nodules and their paired non-tumorous liver tissues by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and western blot, respectively. In addition, immunochemical analysis of the BUBR1 protein was performed in 458 HCCs and 46 dysplastic nodules, and the clinicopathological significance of the BUBR1 expression was evaluated. Results: The BUBR1 expression at both mRNA and protein levels was elevated in two of nine high-grade dysplastic nodules and in 37 of 58 (64%) HCCs. BUBR1 was overexpressed in 207 of 458 (45%) HCCs by immunohistochemistry. Intriguingly, high expression of the BUBR1 was correlated with larger tumour size, higher histological grade, advanced pathological stage, and poor overall and recurrence-free survival. There was a higher frequency of BUBR1 overexpression in cases with positive serum HBsAg than those with negative HBsAg. Moreover, BUBR1 overexpression was associated with P53 staining and high Ki67 labelling indices in HCC tissues. Conclusions: BUBR1 was overexpressed in about 45% HCCs, and its overexpression may be a relative lately event in HCC progression. Overexpression of BUBR1 was associated with worse prognosis and is a potential prognostic factor for patients with HCC.
A distributed economic MPC scheme for coordination of self-interested systems

In this work, we propose a distributed economic MPC framework for cooperative control of self-interested interacting dynamical systems. The self-interest of the systems is reflected by an individual local cost function each agent is trying to minimize, while cooperation is enforced by means of coupling constraints. We show that satisfaction of both transient and asymptotic coupling constraints as well as closed-loop convergence to the overall optimal steady-state can be established. A specific feature of the proposed control scheme is that the overall optimal steady-state needs not be known a priori, but can be determined online via distributed optimization. We illustrate our results with the problem of reaching consensus under conflicting objectives.
Barriers to Spectacle Use in Tanzanian Secondary School Students

Purpose: Screening school students for refractive errors is a component of many primary eye care programs. In 2004 a trial of two approaches of spectacle-delivery to Tanzanian secondary school students found that only one third of students were using their spectacles at three months. Barriers to spectacle use were investigated using questionnaires and focus group discussions. Methods: At the three months follow-up survey a questionnaire explored satisfaction with spectacles and the attitudes of trial participants (median age 15 years). Attitudes and reactions of friends, teachers and families were also explored. Students also discussed their experience with spectacle use and reasons for non-use in 8 focus groups divided by intervention, sex and spectacle use. Results: In general, students seemed happy with the appearance of their spectacles and the beneficial impact on their vision. Peer pressure and parental concerns about safety of spectacle use, cost of purchasing spectacles and difficulties in accessing good local optical services were identified as the main barriers. Students criticized prescribing practices of local opticians and favored alternative and traditional treatments for visual impairment. Conclusion: To increase the effectiveness of school vision screening in Tanzania, barriers such as peer pressure or concerns about safety need to be addressed, in addition to provision of affordable, good quality spectacles. Barriers to spectacle use in children are likely to exist in all populations, but may vary in their nature and importance and therefore should be investigated in existing and new screening programs.
Coordinates for instant image cloning

Seamless cloning of a source image patch into a target image is an important and useful image editing operation, which has received considerable research attention in recent years. This operation is typically carried out by solving a Poisson equation with Dirichlet boundary conditions, which smoothly interpolates the discrepancies between the boundary of the source patch and the target across the entire cloned area. In this paper we introduce an alternative, coordinate-based approach, where rather than solving a large linear system to perform the aforementioned interpolation, the value of the interpolant at each interior pixel is given by a weighted combination of values along the boundary. More specifically, our approach is based on Mean-Value Coordinates (MVC). The use of coordinates is advantageous in terms of speed, ease of implementation, small memory footprint, and parallelizability, enabling real-time cloning of large regions, and interactive cloning of video streams. We demonstrate a number of applications and extensions of the coordinate-based framework.
Changes in Astrocyte Shape Induced by Sublytic Concentrations of the Cholesterol-Dependent Cytolysin Pneumolysin Still Require Pore-Forming Capacity

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a common pathogen that causes various infections, such as sepsis and meningitis. A major pathogenic factor of S. pneumoniae is the cholesterol-dependent cytolysin, pneumolysin. It produces cell lysis at high concentrations and apoptosis at lower concentrations. We have shown that sublytic amounts of pneumolysin induce small GTPase-dependent actin cytoskeleton reorganization and microtubule stabilization in human neuroblastoma cells that are manifested by cell retraction and changes in cell shape. In this study, we utilized a live imaging approach to analyze the role of pneumolysin’s pore-forming capacity in the actin-dependent cell shape changes in primary astrocytes. After the initial challenge with the wild-type toxin, a permeabilized cell population was rapidly established within 20-40 minutes. After the initial rapid permeabilization, the size of the permeabilized population remained unchanged and reached a plateau. Thus, we analyzed the non-permeabilized (non-lytic) population, which demonstrated retraction and shape changes that were inhibited by actin depolymerization. Despite the non-lytic nature of pneumolysin treatment, the toxin’s lytic capacity remained critical for the initiation of cell shape changes. The non-lytic pneumolysin mutants W433F-pneumolysin and delta6-pneumolysin, which bind the cell membrane with affinities similar to that of the wild-type toxin, were not able to induce shape changes. The initiation of cell shape changes and cell retraction by the wild-type toxin were independent of calcium and sodium influx and membrane depolarization, which are known to occur following cellular challenge and suggested to result from the ion channel-like properties of the pneumolysin pores. Excluding the major pore-related phenomena as the initiation mechanism of cell shape changes, the existence of a more complex relationship between the pore-forming capacity of pneumolysin and the actin cytoskeleton reorganization is suggested.
Genome-Wide Mapping of in Vivo Protein-DNA Interactions

In vivo protein-DNA interactions connect each transcription factor with its direct targets to form a gene network scaffold. To map these protein-DNA interactions comprehensively across entire mammalian genomes, we developed a large-scale chromatin immunoprecipitation assay (ChIPSeq) based on direct ultrahigh-throughput DNA sequencing. This sequence census method was then used to map in vivo binding of the neuron-restrictive silencer factor (NRSF; also known as REST, for repressor element–1 silencing transcription factor) to 1946 locations in the human genome. The data display sharp resolution of binding position [±50 base pairs (bp)], which facilitated our finding motifs and allowed us to identify noncanonical NRSF-binding motifs. These ChIPSeq data also have high sensitivity and specificity [ROC (receiver operator characteristic) area ≥ 0.96] and statistical confidence (P <10–4), properties that were important for inferring new candidate interactions. These include key transcription factors in the gene network that regulates pancreatic islet cell development.
What Makes People Bond?: A Study on Social Interactions and Common Life Points on Facebook

In this paper we aim at understanding if and how, by analysing people's profile and historical data (such as data available on Facebook profiles and interactions, or collected explicitly) we can motivate two persons to interact and eventually create long-term bonds. We do this by exploring the relationship between connectedness, social interactions and common life points on Facebook. The results are of particular importance for the development of technology that aims at reducing social isolation for people with less chances to interact, such as older adults.
Disordered Porphyrin Metabolism: A Potential Biological Marker for Autism Risk Assessment

Autism (AUT) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder that, together with Asperger's syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorder‐Not Otherwise Specified (PDD‐NOS), comprises the expanded classification of autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). The heterogeneity of ASD underlies the need to identify biomarkers or clinical features that can be employed to identify meaningful subtypes of ASD, define specific etiologies, and inform intervention and treatment options. Previous studies have shown that disordered porphyrin metabolism, manifested principally as significantly elevated urinary concentrations of pentacarboxyl (penta) and coproporphyrins, is commonly observed among some children with ASD. Here, we extend these observations by specifically evaluating penta and coproporphyrins as biological indicators of ASD among 76 male children comprising 30 with validated AUT, 14 with PDD‐NOS, and 32 neurotypical (NT) controls. ASD children (AUT and PDD‐NOS) had higher mean urinary penta (P < 0.006) and copro (P < 0.006) concentrations compared with same‐aged NT children, each characterized by a number of extreme values. Using Receiver Operating Characteristic curve analysis, we evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of penta, copro, and their combined Z‐scores in ASD detection. The penta sensitivity was 30% for AUT and 36% for PDD‐NOS, with 94% specificity. The copro sensitivity was 33% and 14%, respectively, with 94% specificity. The combined Z‐score measure had 33% and 21% sensitivity for AUT and PDD‐NOS, respectively, with 100% specificity. These findings demonstrate that porphyrin measures are strong predictors of both AUT and PDD‐NOS, and support the potential clinical utility of urinary porphyrin measures for identifying a subgroup of ASD subjects in whom disordered porphyrin metabolism may be a salient characteristic. Autism Res 2012,••: ••–••. © 2012 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Determination of Natural Radionuclides for Water Resources on the West Bank of the Nile River, Assiut Governorate, Egypt

Estimations of natural radioactivity levels were carried out for water (surface and groundwater) samples collected from the west bank of the Nile River in Assiut Governorate, Egypt. The activity concentrations in the water samples ranged from 19.20 ± 2.40 to 492.26 ± 71.52 mBq/L, from 15.58 ± 2.62 to 351.39 ± 66.13 mBq/L, and from 50.31 ± 5.58 to 2255.03 ± 249.42 mBq/L for 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K, respectively. In this work, the recorded activity concentrations have been organized statistically using a dendrogram cluster and a principal coordinate analysis. In view of the groupings of radionuclide activity, the average annual effective doses through ingestion for adults, children, and infants, despite the responsibility of each explicit radionuclide to the total dose, were assessed and debated. Children had the most important measurement calculations, making them the most regarded mass gathering. All estimations for each different water type, as well as for each individual population group, scored well under the recommended reference value of 0.1 mSv resulting from a one year’s intake of drinking water in accordance with the recommendations of the European Commission (EC) in 1998.