Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of high ovarian response on the expression of endocrine gland-derived vascular endothelial growth factor (EG-VEGF) in peri-implantation endometrium in IVF women.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of ovarian stimulation on the expression of EG-VEGF mRNA and protein in peri-implantation endometrium in women undergoing IVF and its relation with endometrial receptivity (ER). DESIGN Prospective laboratory study. SETTING University hospital. PATIENTS Eighteen women in stimulated cycles (SC) as study subjects and 18 women in natural cycles (NC) as controls. Women in SC group were classified with two subgroups, high ovarian response (SC1, n=9) with peak serum E2>5,000 pg/mL and moderate ovarian response (SC2, n=9) with peak serum E2 1,000-5,000 pg/mL. INTERVENTION(S) Endometrial biopsies were collected 6 days after ovulation in NC or after oocyte retrieval in SC. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S) Endometrium histological dating was observed with HE staining. EG-VEGF mRNA expression levels determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis, and protein levels by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS All endometrial samples were in the secretory phase. The endometrial development in SC1 was 1 to 2 days advanced to NC, and with dyssynchrony between glandular and stromal tissue. Immunohistochemistry analysis showed that EG-VEGF protein was predominantly expressed in the glandular epithelial cells and endothelial cells of vessels, and also presented in the stroma. The image analysis confirmed that both the gland and stroma of endometrium in SC1 had a significantly lower EG-VEGF protein expression than that in SC2 and NC endometrium. Moreover, EG-VEGF mRNA levels were significantly lower in SC1 than in NC. Both EG-VEGF protein and mRNA levels had no significant difference between SC2 and NC. CONCLUSION Decreased expression of EG-VEGF in the peri-implantation is associated with high ovarian response, which may account for the impaired ER and lower implantation rate in IVF cycles.
Consumer Receptivity to Green Ads

Abstract The overarching goal of this study is to clarify how individual characteristics may influence consumers to be more or less receptive to ecologically themed ad claims. An experiment compares the effectiveness of strong and weak green product claims with a cause-related marketing strategy to advertise a “green” product. The results suggest that consumers with positive attitudes toward environmental protection are equally receptive to all conditions tested. An analysis using a theoretically based structural equation model points to the important role played by perceived consumer effectiveness in creating positive responses.
Current signatures: application

Analysis of IC technology trends indicates that Iddq testing may be approaching its limits of applicability. The new concept of the current signature may expand this limit under the condition that an appropriate current-signature-based test methodology is developed. This paper is a first step toward such a goal. It is focused on current signature step detection in a noisy test environment. Application of current signatures in die selection and defect diagnosis is discussed as well.
Morphometric Variation in Pine Wood Nematodes, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus and B. mucronatus, Isolated from Multiple Locations in South Korea

Intraspecific variation in morphometry of pine wood nematodes Bursaphelenchus xylophilus and B. mucronatus in relation to geographical locations in South Korea was investigated using morphometric characters (body length, a, b and c ratio, stylet length, and spicule length for a male nematode and V (%) value for a female nematode). B. xylophilus was isolated from Pinus thunbergii in Jinju (1998), Ulsan (2000), Yangsan (2000), Mokpo (2001) and Jeju (2004), and from P. densiflora in Gumi (2001). B. mucronatus was isolated from P. thunbergii in Jinju (1991) and from P. densiflora in Milyang (2001). The body length of male and female B. xylophilus had the highest coefficient of variability and showed significant differences among geographical locations. The V (%) value for female B. xylophilus showed the lowest coefficient of variability, changing little with geographical area and host plant. All morphometric characters in B. mucronatus except for stylet length and female body length showed no significant differences between locations or hosts, suggesting they may not be affected by geographical area or host plant.
Using Hyperspectral Spectrometry and Functional Models to Characterize Vine-Leaf Composition

Concentrations of certain chemical elements in plants need to be controlled to ensure good crop quality and yield. However, laboratory analyses are usually time-consuming and expensive. Although indirect methods based on leaf reflectance are both faster and less expensive, most are based on indexes that only take into account certain wavelengths and fail to take full advantage of the entire reflectance curve depicted by modern hyperspectral sensors. This paper applies two functional prediction models, i.e., functional linear regression and functional nonparametric methods, to the prediction of the chemical characteristics (moisture, dry mass, and concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, iron, and magnesium) of vine leaves, using electromagnetic reflectance between 350 and 2500 nm as the input. Cross-validation was used to obtain optimal parameters for the models, which were tested using samples reflecting 5% and 10% of the sample size. The results obtained showed different levels of correlation between reflectance and the predicted data. The nonparametric methods yielded better results as they produced smaller prediction errors than functional regression. Moisture <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$(R^{2} = 0.96)$</tex></formula> and nitrogen <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$(R^{2} = 0.95)$</tex></formula> were the best predicted components, whereas magnesium content was the worst predicted component <formula formulatype="inline"> <tex Notation="TeX">$(R^{2} = 0.77)$</tex></formula>.
Substance use in adolescents and young adults: Interactions of drugs of abuse and the role of parents and peers in early onset of substance use

Background: Misuse of substances is a major contributor to disability and mortality worldwide. The use of tobacco, alcohol, and illegal drugs in adolescence and young adulthood are well-known risk factors for subsequent substance-related harms. A better understanding of adolescent and young adult substance use behaviors and their correlates might help develop new prevention programs. This thesis aims to explore patterns of use and important risk factors for substance use among Swedish adolescents and adults. Materials and methods: The papers in this thesis are based on three data sets. The first is from a survey on substance use habits in the Swedish general population, answered by 22,095 individuals in the ages 15-64. The second data set comes from a cohort of 1,398 adolescents and their parents, followed during the course of junior high school. The third data set is a cross-sectional online survey of 1,916 Swedish and Danish young adults in the ages 18-30. The study participants were asked about current substance use habits, and retrospective reports on adolescent risk behaviors. Results: The first paper shows that adult cannabis users use other substances more compared to non-users. Frequent cannabis users were more likely to use illicit drugs, but reported much lower levels of hazardous alcohol use. In the second paper, it was found that the parents of Swedish adolescents were largely unaware of their children's substance use behaviors. In the third study, we found that parental substance use and provision of alcohol were more influential on the adolescents' substance use than parenting styles. In the fourth study, the importance of adolescent risk behaviors for subsequent patterns of substance use in young adulthood was confirmed. Conclusions: Parents typically know little about their children's substance use, and the influence of parents regarding adolescent substance use is limited. However, providing the children with alcohol is a common parenting practice that is associated with increased substance use in adolescence. Lastly, there is a need for further research on different groups of cannabis users that may have different needs for prevention and intervention efforts. (Less)
A STUDY OF STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT IN THE FIRST-YEAR OF UNIVERSITY IN CAMBODIA USING MULTI-LEVEL MODELING

〔論文審査の要旨〕 本論文は、カンボジアではまだ実証事例の少ない高等教育における学力向上に影響する学生自 身の学習行動や教員の教育行動の要因を統計分析を用いて特定することを目的とした実証研究で ある。 カンボジアでこれまで行われてきた多くの調査研究は、現地の高等教育機関で見られる制 度や教育現場の現象と傾向の測定であった。 それに対し本研究は、カンボジアの都市部にある9 大学において900名以上の被験者をランダムに抽出し、それらの学生の学力測定を単独で実施 し、そして学生の学習行動並びに教員の教育行動の要因についてアンケート調査でデータ収集 し、大掛かりな定量的分析を行った。 さらに分析の手法に、個人、クラス、そして大学の3層構 造間の詳細な関連性を相対的に分析する階層的線形モデル(HLM)を用いて、従属変数である学生の 学力と独立変数である学習行動並びに教育行動の因果関係を論証した。 第 1章では、問題の所在、本研究の目的と重要性、そして、3つの研究課題と研究方法の概念、 さらに論文全体の構成について説明した。 第 2章では、カンボジア高等教育の歴史的背景を概観し、 特に 1989年以降の民主化並びに近代化が高等教育改革に及ぼした影響について言及した。 90年代 の民主化とともに欧米諸国からの援助による教育改革は、その後の高等教育の普及・発展に大きく 貢献した。 97年には、私立大学の設置が可能になり、大学数は、2000 年の 10 校から 2013年には 100校以上に急増した。 しかし、それは同時に、高等教育全体の教育の質をさらに悪化させる状況 を生み、現在、学力の低下が深刻な課題になっており本研究の意義を再確認した。 次に第 3 章で は、(1)学習行動が学力向上に及ぼす要因と(2)大学並びに教員の教育活動が及ぼす影響の2 つの視点から、先行研究の文献調査を行い、それらの文献の論点を整理し、本研究の理論的枠組 みの形成に至るまでの経緯について概説した。
La generación interactiva en Argentina: niños y adolescentes ante las pantallas

La afinidad de los ninos con las pantallas de Internet, celulares, videojuegos y television suscita interes de investigacion al tiempo que plantea la necesidad de educar, legislar y proteger eficazmente a este grupo en un contexto de cambio tecnologico continuo y poco controlable. La investigacion que se presenta en este articulo ofrece los datos que arroja el proyecto Generaciones Interactivas que entre septiembre de 2007 y marzo de 2008 encuesto a ninos y a adolescentes, entre 6 y 18 anos, en ambitos urbanos de Argentina, constituyendose en una de las investigaciones mas ambiciosas realizadas en el pais hasta el momento sobre estos temas. Los resultados permiten tener una primera imagen de como los ninos y adolescentes argentinos estan utilizando las pantallas, base para futuras investigaciones y desarrollos normativos.
Computational study of carbon nanotube p-i-n tunnel FETs

Reducing transistor leakage current by increasing the sub-threshold slope beyond the thermal limit (60mV/decade at room temperature) could alleviate the heat dissipation requirements of high-density ICs. This paper examines the potential of a carbon nanotube p-i-n tunnel FET for less than 60mV/dec operation. Both ballistic transport and transport with inelastic scattering are considered. The device performance is compared to that of a carbon nanotube n-i-n MOSFET. An extensive discussion on device optimization for p-i-n tunnel FETs is also presented
Are Heroes common in FLOSS projects?

Several projects rely on one or more Heroes who are the only ones who understand and know certain critical parts of a system. Often Heroes are very useful in the economy of a project but, their presence can increase the risk of project failure if they decide to leave the project. For this reason, tools for measuring the amount of spread of knowledge within a team (i.e. the Truck factor) and identifying possible Heroes are welcomed. In this paper, we have implemented a tool to compute the Truck factor and identify Heroes in a project. To assess the applicability and usefulness of the tool we have applied it to 20 randomly selected FLOSS projects. Preliminary results are encouraging: the approach seems to be applicable and useful. We found that Heroes are common in the considered set of FLOSS projects and that the Truck factor is in general low.
Ethnobotany and Nutritional Value of Two Domestic Yams (Dioscorea spp.) in Abaya Woreda, Southern Ethiopia

Background : From a food security perspective, yam is an important crop in the tropics and subtropics, where it produced both as a subsistence crop and on a commercial scale. This study aimed to assess the ethnobotanical knowledge and nutritional values of two domestic yams in Abaya Woreda, southern Ethiopia. Methods : Data were collected from sixty informants in three kebeles. From each kebele, the most productive top twenty farmers were selected by researchers based on their potential cultivation of yams with the assistance of Development Agency (DA). Ethnobotanical data were collected by semi-structured interviews and edible tubers and bulbils of these crops were collected for nutritional analysis at the Hawassa University Food Laboratory. The data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) using MS-Excel and SPSS. Results : The results showed that farmers of Abaya Woreda have indigenous knowledge about forms of consumption, meal preferences, medicinal use, storage mechanisms and propagation systems of yams. Significant variation was observed in knowledge of edible plant parts and methods of tuber preservation for propagation in the study area. Similarly, the nutritional content of the crops showed variation in some of the measured parameters. For instance, Dioscorea bulbifera had higher carbohydrate content and total energy although it was the lower in moisture content. Conclusions : The present study has attempted to document ethnobotanical knowledge and nutritional values of two domestic Dioscorea species in Abaya Woreda, which should get attention by farmers, researchers, governmental and nongovernmental bodies in order to increase the food potential and indigenous knowledge in the study area. For the results presented here may help to conserve yam germplasm and create awareness about the importance of these crops to alleviate food insecurity. Key words : ethnobotany, nutritional value, yam, Abaya woreda.
Checksum-Aware Fuzzing Combined with Dynamic Taint Analysis and Symbolic Execution

Fuzz testing has proven successful in finding security vulnerabilities in large programs. However, traditional fuzz testing tools have a well-known common drawback: they are ineffective if most generated inputs are rejected at the early stage of program running, especially when target programs employ checksum mechanisms to verify the integrity of inputs. This article presents TaintScope, an automatic fuzzing system using dynamic taint analysis and symbolic execution techniques, to tackle the above problem. TaintScope has several novel features: (1) TaintScope is a checksum-aware fuzzing tool. It can identify checksum fields in inputs, accurately locate checksum-based integrity checks by using branch profiling techniques, and bypass such checks via control flow alteration. Furthermore, it can fix checksum values in generated inputs using combined concrete and symbolic execution techniques. (2) TaintScope is a taint-based fuzzing tool working at the x86 binary level. Based on fine-grained dynamic taint tracing, TaintScope identifies the “hot bytes” in a well-formed input that are used in security-sensitive operations (e.g., invoking system/library calls), and then focuses on modifying such bytes with random or boundary values. (3) TaintScope is also a symbolic-execution-based fuzzing tool. It can symbolically evaluate a trace, reason about all possible values that can execute the trace, and then detect potential vulnerabilities on the trace. We evaluate TaintScope on a number of large real-world applications. Experimental results show that TaintScope can accurately locate the checksum checks in programs and dramatically improve the effectiveness of fuzz testing. TaintScope has already found 30 previously unknown vulnerabilities in several widely used applications, including Adobe Acrobat, Flash Player, Google Picasa, and Microsoft Paint. Most of these severe vulnerabilities have been confirmed by Secunia and oCERT, and assigned CVE identifiers (such as CVE-2009-1882, CVE-2009-2688). Vendor patches have been released or are in preparation based on our reports.
Internal and external validation of a model to predict adverse outcomes in patients with left-sided infective endocarditis

Introduction Early identification of prognostic factors is essential to improve the grim prognosis associated with left-sided infective endocarditis. This group identified three independent risk factors obtained within 72 h of admission, (Staphylococcus aureus, heart failure and periannular complications) for inhospital mortality or urgent surgery in a series of 317 patients diagnosed at five tertiary centres (derivation sample). A stratification score was constructed for the test cohort by a simple arithmetic sum of the number of variables present. The goal was to validate this model internally and externally in a prospective manner with two different cohorts of patients. Methods The appropriateness of the model was tested prospectively on predicting events in two cohorts of patients with left-sided endocarditis: internally with the 263 consecutive patients diagnosed at the same centres where the model was derived (internal validation sample), and externally with 264 patients admitted at another hospital (external validation sample). Results The discriminatory power of the model, expressed as the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was similar between derivation and both validation samples (internal 0.67 vs 0.68, p=0.79; external 0.67 vs p=0.74, p=0.09). There was a progressive, significant pattern of increasing event rates as the risk stratification score increased in both validation cohorts (p<0.001 by χ2 for trend). Conclusions The early risk stratification model derived, based on variables obtained within 72 h of admission, is applicable to different populations with left-sided endocarditis. A simple bedside assessment tool is provided to clinicians that identifies patients at high risk of having an adverse event.
Effects of antifungal agent combinations administered simultaneously and sequentially against Aspergillus fumigatus

The in vitro effects of antifungal agent combinations administered simultaneously and sequentially against 15 strains of Aspergillus fumigatus were tested by the yeast-malt broth method. The synergistic effect of the combination of amphotericin B (AMPH) and miconazole was observed in nine strains (60%). However, the combinations of AMPH and fluconazole, AMPH and ketoconazole, and AMPH and itraconazole administered simultaneously showed antagonistic effects against three (20%), five (34%), and four (26%) strains, respectively. The effects of combinations of azole antifungal agents administered simultaneously were indifferent or antagonistic against A. fumigatus. In experiments measuring the effects of sequentially administered antifungal agents, however, pretreatment with AMPH and then azole antifungal agents exhibited better in vitro efficacy than that found in experiments measuring the effects of simultaneously administered AMPH and azole compounds.
Musculoskeletal sarcoidosis: spectrum of appearances at MR imaging.

Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging reveals a broad range of musculoskeletal abnormalities in patients with sarcoidosis, including focal and diffuse muscle lesions, soft-tissue masses, joint abnormalities, and marrow infiltration of small and large bones. Long bone and axial skeletal involvement may be occult at conventional radiography but depicted at MR imaging, with an appearance that resembles that of osseous metastases. Sarcoidosis-related findings may be detected at dedicated MR imaging for osteoarticular symptoms in sarcoidosis patients or encountered incidentally at MR imaging performed for other indications. Correlation with clinical and laboratory findings is essential for correct diagnosis because the MR imaging findings are nonspecific in most cases. The radiologist should be aware of potential sarcoidal causes in the differential diagnosis of musculoskeletal lesions in patients with proved or suspected sarcoidosis. Such consideration will have a profound effect on the interpretation of images and on the study of patients with dual diagnoses of sarcoidosis and neoplasm.
Transgenic Mice Overexpressing Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor (MIF) Exhibit High‐Turnover Osteoporosis

The bone phenotype of mice overexpressing MIF was studied. These mice showed decreased trabecular bone, increased bone formation rate, and increased MMP‐3, −9, and −13 mRNA expression in the femora and tibias. This model provides evidence of the role played by MIF in bone remodeling and balance in vivo.
The Excurrent Ducts of the Testis of the Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) and Ostrich (Struthio camelus): Microstereology of the Epididymis and Immunohistochemistry of its Cytoskeletal Systems

The volumetric proportion of the various ducts of the epididymis of the emu and ostrich and the immunohistochemistry of actin microfilaments, as well as cytokeratin, desmin and vimentin intermediate filaments, were studied in the various ducts of the epididymis of the emu and ostrich. The volumetric proportions of various ducts, which are remarkably different from those of members of the Galloanserae monophyly, are as follows: the rete testis, 5.2 ± 1.4% for the emu and 2.4 ± 1.8% for the ostrich; efferent ducts, 14.2 ± 2.3% (emu) and 11.8 ± 1.8% (ostrich); epididymal duct unit, 25.8 ± 5.8% (emu) and 26.1 ± 4.1% (ostrich) and connective tissue and its content, 54.7 ± 5.8% (emu) and 60.0 ± 4.9% (ostrich). Unlike in mammals and members of the Galloanserae monophyly, only vimentin was immunohistochemically demonstrated in the rete testis epithelium of the emu, and none of the cytoskeletal protein elements in the ostrich rete testis. The epithelium of the efferent ducts of the emu co‐expressed actin, cytokeratin and desmin in the non‐ciliated type I cells, and vimentin in the ciliated cell component. The ostrich demonstrated only cytokeratin in this epithelium. The ratite epididymal duct unit is different from that of mammals in lacking actin (only weaky expression in the ostrich), desmin and cytokeratin, and a moderate/strong immunoexpression of vimentin in the basal cells and basal parts of the NC type III cell in the epididymal duct unit. Immunoexpression of the microfilaments and intermediate filaments varied between the two ratite birds, as has been demonstrated previously in birds of the Galloanserae monophyly, and in mammals.
Investigation of Graphs Having Identical Path Layer Matrices

The path layer matrix of a graph G, discussed by Dobrynin [1, 2, 3] and Yang et al. [9], is the matrix τ(G) = ‖τi,j‖, where i = 1, 2, . , p(G) and j = 1, 2, . , p(G) − 1, and the value of τi,j is the number of paths with initial vertex vi having length j [1]. In this paper we seek to determine the minimal order p such that there exist nonisomorphic graphs G1 and G2 with order p and τ(G1) = τ(G2). The problem is posed for graphs in general, as well as for specialized cases of graphs, including r-regular graphs, in which each vertex is connected to r other vertices. We construct a pair of nonisomorphic 5-regular graphs G20−1 and H20−1 of order 20 such that τ(G20−1) = τ(H20−1). We approach various aspects of the problem in several interesting manners and furthermore attempt to generalize the results obtained in [8] for graphs of larger regularities.
La competencia de trabajo en grupo: una propuesta de actividad y de evaluación Groups' working skill: a proposal of activity and evaluation

The new European High Education Area has changed the traditional teaching methods. Students should be trained in specific skills to their degree and their subjects, but also in transversal or generic skills. These activities include the individual's personal skills, and among them the ability to work in groups. Although many Universities are introducing new methodologies to develop the capacity of group work in accounting courses, the student evaluation process remains focused on the specific capabilities of the subject, ie knowledge and know‐how, leaving aside transversal or generic skills. Our work presents a group activity for the subject of Management Accounting, and a proposal evaluation matrix of this