Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Collaborative innovation networks, virtual communities and geographical clustering

This paper describes the emergence of collaborative knowledge networks (CKNs), distributed communities taking advantage of the wide connectivity and the support of communication technologies, spanning beyond the organisational perimeter of companies on a global scale. CKNs are made up of groups of self-motivated individuals, linked by the idea of something new and exciting and by the common goal of improving existing business practices, new products or services for which they see a real need. Their strength is related to their ability to activate creative collaboration, knowledge sharing and social networking mechanisms, affecting positively individual capabilities and organisations' performance. We describe the case of a global consulting community to highlight the cultural and structural aspects of this phenomenon. Our case study also illustrates the composition of the CKN ecosystem, which are made up by a combination of collaborative innovation, learning and interest networks. Empirical evidence suggests physical proximity as a supporting success factor of such communities, depending on the capital and knowledge intensity of the target industry.
Elite and ethical: The defensive distinctions of middle-class bicycling in Bangalore, India

This article applies social practice theory to study the emergence of sustainable consumption practices like bicycling among the new middle classes of Bangalore, India. I argue that expansions of bicycling practices are dependent on the construction of defensive distinctions, which I define as distinctions that draw equally on lifestyle-based and ethics-based discourses to normalize bicycling among Bangalore’s middle classes. With their environmental discourses and signage, middle-class cyclists make claims to being ethical actors and ecological citizens concerned about global environments. Their high-end bicycles and special gear enable them to maintain their social status in personal and professional circles, despite adopting what is an essentialized and stigmatized mobility practice in a social context where personal automobiles are a dominant symbol of respectability and propertied citizenship. These defensive distinctions are anchored in communities that facilitate social learning, skill-building, and the creation of collective identities. I highlight the importance of considering the role of ethical discourses in consolidating “low-status” social practices among “high-status” class fractions and discuss the implications of promoting sustainable consumption through the othering of the poor. By applying a social practice analytic to study middle-class bicycling practices, this article makes a significant contribution to the growing literature that investigates the applicability of practice-based approaches to environmental behaviors and sustainable consumption in a novel context.
High density EEG studies of local sleep changes following synaptic plasticity in humans

Recent experiments showed that sleep SWA can be regulated locally in the cerebral cortex, pointing to a link between SWA regulation and synaptic plasticity, and, more specifically, that local SWA may increase after manipulations that favor local synaptic potentiation and decrease after those that promote local synaptic depression. To further investigate the connection between cortical plasticity and sleep SWA, in the first study presented on this dissertation we employed hd-EEG recordings together with a paired associative stimulation TMS protocol. As expected, such a protocol lead to a sustained increase (LTP-like) or decrease (LTD-like) of cortical excitability as measured by both motor evoked potentials and TMS-evoked cortical responses over sensorimotor cortex. During subsequent sleep, SWA increased locally in subjects whose TMS-evoked cortical responses had increased after PAS, and decreased in subjects whose cortical responses had decreased. Changes in TMS-evoked cortical EEG response and change in sleep SWA were localized to similar cortical regions and were positively correlated. In the second study, a whole night hd-EEG recording was adopted in order to assess the effects of an implicit visuomotor learning task -performed 12 hours before sleep time- over sleep SWA. The predicted increase in SWA was found over a cluster of five electrodes projecting over the right parietal cortex -a region whose circuits are specifically involved during task execution- thus confirming a close relationship between learning processes, synaptic plasticity and local sleep regulation. Together, these results suggest that changes in cortical excitability lead to corresponding changes in local sleep regulation, as reflected by SWA, thus providing evidence for a tight relationship between cortical plasticity and sleep intensity and suggesting a role for sleep in regulating cortical connection strength at synapses as proposed by the Synaptic Homeostasis Hypothesis (Tononi and Cirelli, 2003).
Field Evidence of Social Influence in the Expression of Political Preferences: The Case of Secessionists Flags in Barcelona

Models of social influence have explored the dynamics of social contagion, imitation, and diffusion of different types of traits, opinions, and conducts. However, few behavioral data indicating social influence dynamics have been obtained from direct observation in “natural” social contexts. The present research provides that kind of evidence in the case of the public expression of political preferences in the city of Barcelona, where thousands of citizens supporting the secession of Catalonia from Spain have placed a Catalan flag in their balconies and windows. Here we present two different studies. 1) During July 2013 we registered the number of flags in 26% of the electoral districts in the city of Barcelona. We find that there is a large dispersion in the density of flags in districts with similar density of pro-independence voters. However, by comparing the moving average to the global mean we find that the density of flags tends to be fostered in electoral districts where there is a clear majority of pro-independence vote, while it is inhibited in the opposite cases. We also show that the distribution of flags in the observed districts deviates significantly from that of an equivalent random distribution. 2) During 17 days around Catalonia’s 2013 national holiday we observed the position at balcony resolution of the flags displayed in the facades of a sub-sample of 82 blocks. We compare the ‘clustering index’ of flags on the facades observed each day to thousands of equivalent random distributions. Again we provide evidence that successive hangings of flags are not independent events but that a local influence mechanism is favoring their clustering. We also find that except for the national holiday day the density of flags tends to be fostered in facades located in electoral districts where there is a clear majority of pro-independence vote.
A conjecture of Procesi and the straightening algorithm of Rota.

Let R = Q[x1, x2,. , xn] and R* denote the quotient of R by the ideal generated by the elementary symmetric functions. R*, under the action of Sn, yields a graded version of the left regular representation. Procesi asked for a basis of R* consisting of homogeneous polynomials Gamma[S, C] indexed by pairs of tableaux, with S standard and C cocharge, that exhibits the decomposition of R* into its irreducible components. Procesi also suggested a way to construct the Gamma[S, C]. Using Rota's straightening algorithm, I show that certain polynomials [S, C] closely related to the Gamma[S, C] terms yield the desired basis. Parallel to the ring R* there is a family of Sn-modules R that have recently been studied by Garsia and Procesi. These modules have a graded character that is closely related to the q-Kostka-Foulkes polynomials Klambdamu(q). The [S, C] can be shown to yield also a basis when restricted to a given R. Through this connection the work reported here leads to an additional way of proving the charge interpretation for the polynomials Klambdamu(q).
Firm Financing Over the Business Cycle

In the data, large public firms substitute between debt- and equity financing over the business cycle whereas small firms' financing policy is pro-cyclical for debt and equity. This paper proposes a mechanism that explains these cyclical patterns. Small firms grow faster and need therefore more funds compared to large firms. During times with high aggregate productivity, they quickly exhaust their endogenous debt limit and must turn to equity financing. In contrast, large firms are close to their efficient scale and want to payout to shareholders. Good times lower the probability of default, decreasing the costs of debt financing for large firms so that debt is used to payout to shareholders. We embed this mechanism in a quantitative firm industry model with endogeneous firm dynamics and explore how macroeconomic shocks get amplified.
Pre-school children's absenteeism from Swedish municipal day-care centres in 1977 and 1990: methodology and socio-demographic factors.

The absenteeism of Swedish pre-school children from municipal day-care centre departments (DCCDs) was studied for the years 1977 and 1990. The research questions were: (1) has absenteeism due to illness changed from 1977 to 1990? ; and (2) is absenteeism caused by illness which is influenced by socio-demographic factors? Absenteeism was recorded during February, March and April for 92% of 0-6 year olds enrolled in 476 DCCDs in 1977, and for 88% of the children in 561 DCCDs in 1990. It was measured as the number of days the children were not in attendance due to any illness, divided by the total number of days they could have attended their DCCD. Absenteeism was higher in 1977 than in 1990 for all ages. In 1977 and 1990, among 0-1 year olds it was 20.5% and 14.3%, respectively. The proportion of 0-2 year olds who had been absent for 25% or more of possible days of attendance was 24.5% in 1977 and 14.0% in 1990. Children 0-2 years of age with self-employed mothers were absent less from their DCCD than those whose mothers were manual workers or non-manual employees. Among 0-2 year olds living in the largest cities, absenteeism was higher for those living in apartments compared with the children living in single-family houses.
Educational interventions for knowledge on the disease, treatment adherence and control of diabetes mellitus

Abstract Objective: to assess the effect of educational interventions for knowledge on the disease, medication treatment adherence and glycemic control of diabetes mellitus patients. Method: evaluation research with "before and after" design, developed in a sample of 82 type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. To collect the data, the Brazilian version of the Diabetes Knowledge Scale (DKN-A), the Measure of Adherence to Treatments and the electronic system at the place of study were used. The data were collected before and after the end of the educational interventions. The educational activities were developed within 12 months, mediated by the Diabetes Conversation Maps, using the Cognitive Social Theory to conduct the interventions. Results: the knowledge on the disease (p<0.001), the medication treatment (oral antidiabetics) (p=0.0318) and the glycated hemoglobin rates (p=0.0321) improved significantly. Conclusion: the educational interventions seem to have positively contributed to the participants' knowledge about diabetes mellitus, the medication treatment adherence and the glycated hemoglobin rates.
Up-Regulation of AGS3 during Morphine Withdrawal Promotes cAMP Superactivation via Adenylyl Cyclase 5 and 7 in Rat Nucleus Accumbens/Striatal Neurons

Effective medical treatment of opiate addiction is limited by a high relapse rate in abstinent addicts. Opiate withdrawal causes cAMP superactivation, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are not clear. Recent evidence implicates an activator of G-protein signaling 3 (AGS3) in opiate addiction. We found previously that during a 10-min activation of opioid receptors, AGS3 binds Gαi-GDP to promote free Gβγ stimulation of adenylyl cyclase (AC) 2 and 4, and/or inactivate Gαi inhibitory function, thereby transiently enhancing cAMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA) activity. In contrast, we report here that in nucleus accumbens/striatal neurons, morphine withdrawal induces cAMP superactivation, which requires up-regulation of AGS3. cAMP increases as a function of withdrawal time, by approximately 20% at 10 min and 75% at 5 h. However, cAMP superactivation does not require Gβγ. Instead, adenosine A2A receptor activation of Gαs/olf seems to initiate cAMP superactivation and promote AGS3 up-regulation. Elevated AGS3 binds to Gαi to prevent its inhibition on AC activation. Moreover, withdrawal-induced increases in cAMP/PKA activate phospholipase C and ϵ protein kinase C to further stimulate AC5 and AC7, causing cAMP superactivation. Our findings identify a critical role for AC 5 and 7 and A2A receptors for up-regulation of AGS3 in morphine withdrawal-induced cAMP superactivation.
Immunochemistry and localization of the enzyme disaggregatase in Methanosarcina mazei

The enzyme disaggregatase (Dag) from Methanosarcina mazei was studied immunochemically. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of purified Dag under reducing and nonreducing conditions revealed a single band with a 94-kDa molecular mass. Dag was found to be immunogenic in rabbits; a polyclonal antibody probe was prepared and used to detect the enzyme by slide immunoenzymatic assay, immunofluorescence, and immunoblotting in various species of Methanosarcina known to convert from packets to single cells, including M. mazei. The enzyme could not be detected in other members of the family Methanosarcinaceae that do not convert. By immunogold electron microscopy, Dag was mapped to the cell wall of packets and to the cell membrane of single cells of two M. mazei strains.
Comparison of positivity frequency of bcl-2 expression in prostate adenocarcinoma with low and high Gleason score.

CONTEXT Multiple genetic and epigenetic factors have been implicated in the oncogenesis and progression of prostate cancer. The major difficulty is in that the clinical management stems from the reality that reliable and accurate prognostic biomarkers are not available and that effective treatment regimens forming hormone-resistant prostate cancers are yet to be developed. Among the most important regulators of apoptosis and programmed cell death is the bcl-2 gene and its related proteins. Elevated levels of bcl-2 protein may contribute to the progression of prostate cancers to a metastatic and hormone-insensitive state characterized by poor responses to chemotherapy. OBJECTIVE To characterize the expression of bcl-2 proteins as a prognostic factor in humans. DESIGN A retrospective approach. SETTING Urology section, Federal University of São Paulo. DIAGNOSTIC TEST USED: Immunohistochemical analysis using bcl-2 protein antibody and normal staining by hematoxylin-eosin. MAIN MEASUREMENTS Prognostic relations and protein expression were evaluated considering the total sample (28) divided into two groups, high (8 to 10) and low (2 to 4), separated according to the histological differentiation grade (Gleason score) with 10 and 18 samples, respectively. RESULTS The differentiation of grade into two groups separated according to the Gleason score in low and high types presented different bcl-2 expression (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION The higher frequency of bcl-2 immunostaining in tumor samples was observed in association with more advanced Gleason scores and suggests that an increase in the ratio of this anti-apoptotic protein often occurs during progression of prostate cancers.
Economic effect of a smoke-free law in a tobacco-growing community

Objective: To determine whether Lexington, Kentucky’s smoke-free law affected employment and business closures in restaurants and bars. On 27 April 2004, Lexington-Fayette County implemented a comprehensive ordinance prohibiting smoking in all public buildings, including bars and restaurants. Lexington is located in a major tobacco-growing state that has the highest smoking rate in the US and was the first Kentucky community to become smoke-free. Design: A fixed-effects time series design to estimate the effect of the smoke-free law on employment and ordinary least squares to estimate the effect on business openings and closings. Subjects and settings: All restaurants and bars in Lexington-Fayette County, Kentucky and the six contiguous counties. Main outcome measures: ES-202 employment data from the Kentucky Workforce Cabinet; Business opening/closings data from the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department, Environmental Division. Results: A positive and significant relationship was observed between the smoke-free legislation and restaurant employment, but no significant relationship was observed with bar employment. No relationship was observed between the law’s implementation and employment in contiguous counties nor between the smoke-free law and business openings or closures in alcohol-serving and or non-alcohol-serving businesses. Conclusions: No important economic harm stemmed from the smoke-free legislation over the period studied, despite the fact that Lexington is located in a tobacco-producing state with higher-than-average smoking rates.
REPRESENTATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF FELDER-SILVERMAN LEARNING STYLES : AN EMPIRICAL MODEL *

Learning styles are more and more incorporated in technology enhanced learning and a lot of research work is done in this area. For example, systems are developed which provide adaptivity according to the learning styles of students; relationships to students’ performance and other characteristics of students such as cognitive traits are investigated, and techniques are designed to derive the learning styles from the behaviour of students during an online course. The more information about learning styles is available and the more detailed the description of learning styles is, the better such approaches can work and can be investigated. The aim of this paper is to analyse data about learning styles with respect to the Felder-Silverman learning style model (FSLSM), in order to provide a more detailed description of the learning style dimensions. Therefore, we used linear discriminant analysis in order to detect the most representative characteristics of learning styles as represented in the gathered data. Furthermore, we analysed how representative these characteristics are for the specific learning style dimensions. For cross-validation, we conducted empirical frequencies analysis as well as correlation analysis. As a result, we provide a more detailed description of the learning style dimensions of FSLSM. This description is especially important when learning styles are incorporated in technology enhanced learning.
X-RAY AND OPTICAL CONTINUA OF ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI WITH EXTREME FE II EMISSION

We present the results of ROSAT PSPC observations of three active galactic nuclei (AGN) with extremely strong Fe IT emission (PHL 1092, lRAS 07598 + 6508 and I Zw 1) and two AGN with very weak Fe IT emission (Mrk 10 and 110). The weak Fe II emitters have X-ray spectra typical of Type 1 AGN (OC = 1.35 and 1.41, where oc is the spectral energy index). Of the strong Fe II emitters, two have steep spectra (PHL 1092 has oc = 3.5, and I Zw 1 has = 2.0) and the third, lRAS 07598 + 6508, is barely detected and so is extremely X-ray-quiet (ocox =2.45). During our observations, PHL 1092 varied by a factor of 4, unusually fast for such a high­ luminosity object, and requiring an efficiency of matter-to-energy conversion of 2 per cent or more. Compiling recently published data on other strong Fe II emitters, we find that they are always X-ray-quiet, and usually X-ray-steep. Adding these data to the complete uvx: -selected quasar sample of Laor et aI. , we find a statistical connection of Fe IIIHP with ex. : but not a simple relationship: weak Fe II emitters always have flat spectra, but strong Fe II emitters can be either flat or steep. A much cleaner relationship exists between Fe II strength and X-ray loudness, as quantified by OCix' the spectral index between 11lII1 and 2 keY. We also confirm that Fe IIIHP anticorrelates with Balmer line velocity width, which in tum correlates well with both ex. : and OCix in the sense that AGN with narrow lines are X-ray-quiet. There is also marginal evidence that Fe IIIHP correlates with both optical continuum slope and the curvature of the optical-UV-X-ray continuum: strong Fe IT objects tend to have steeper continua and weaker 'blue bumps'. The amount of extinction required to explain the optical steepening compared to normal quasars [E (B - V) in the range 0.2 to 0.6] suggests absorbing columns in the range (1- 3) x 1021 cm -2, just about the right amount to reduce the ROSAT-band X-ray flux by enough to explain
Effective treatment strategies for paediatric community-acquired pneumonia

Pneumonia is the leading cause of death in children under 5 years of age worldwide and a cause of morbidity in a considerable number of children. A number of studies have sought to identify the ideal choice of antibiotics, route of administration and optimum duration of treatment based on the most likely aetiological agents. Emerging bacterial resistance to antibiotics is also an important consideration in treatment. However, inconsistent clinical and radiological definitions of pneumonia make comparison between studies difficult. There is also a lack of well designed adequately powered randomised controlled trials. This review describes the difficulties encountered in diagnosing community-acquired pneumonia, aetiology, treatment strategies with recommendations and highlights areas for further research.
Proton transport inside the biofilm limits electrical current generation by anode‐respiring bacteria

Anode‐respiring bacteria (ARB) in a biofilm anode carry out an oxidation half‐reaction of organic matter, producing an electrical current from renewable biomass, including wastes. At the same time, ARB produce protons, usually one proton for every electron. Our study shows how current density generated by an acclimated ARB biofilm was limited by proton transport out of the biofilm. We determined that, at high current densities, protons were mainly transported out of the biofilm by protonating the conjugate base of the buffer system; the maximum current generation was directly related to the transport of the buffer, mainly by diffusion, into and out of the biofilm. With non‐limiting acetate concentrations, the current density increased with higher buffer concentrations, going from 2.21 ± 0.02 A m−2 with 12.5‐mM phosphate buffer medium to 9.3 ± 0.4 A m−2 using a 100‐mM phosphate buffer at a constant anode potential of Eanode = −0.35 V versus Ag/AgCl. Increasing the concentration of sodium chloride in the medium (0–100 mM) increased current density by only 15%, indicating that ion migration was not as important as diffusion of phosphate inside the biofilm. The current density also varied strongly with medium pH as a result of the buffer speciation: The current density was 10.0 ± 0.8 A m−2 at pH 8, and the pH giving one‐half the maximum rate was 6.5. A j–V curve analysis using 100 mM phosphate buffer showed a maximum current density of 11.5 ± 0.9 A m−2 and half‐saturation potential of −0.414 V versus Ag/AgCl, a value that deviated only slightly from the standard acetate potential, resulting in small anode‐potential losses. We discuss the implications of the proton‐transport limitation in the field of microbial fuel cells and microbial electrolytic cells. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2008;100: 872–881. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.