Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dynamics of the Amount of Control in Offshore Software Development Projects

This paper investigates changes in the variety and intensity of formal and informal control mechanisms in offshore software development (OSD) projects. Based on a comparative case study approach our results confirm existing findings such as that the amount of control varies across different projects stages, but also contribute with new findings. For example, we found that particularly the quality of project deliverables in early project phases will lead to an increase of the amount of formal control. However, these quality problems do not necessarily lead to an increase of informal control. In return, an increase in quality of deliverables will subsequently decrease the amount of control. An important finding is that in contrast to prior studies our results do not support that the amount of control is directly related to project success. Altogether, our study contributes to the further understanding of the dynamics of the amount of control, its influencing factors and its relationship to project success.
Robotic impact-echo Non-Destructive Evaluation based on FFT and SVM

Previous research has shown that the impact-echo emission signals contain information about the flaws of structural integrity and deterioration levels of concrete bridges. This paper presents a method of using the mobile robot equipped with an impact-echo Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) device to autonomously collect data, perform automatic classification and 3D visualization of the detected flaws. This method is based on Power Spectral Density (PSD) analysis for the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) of the impact-echo signals, and Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification. Therefore, health condition of concrete bridge decks can be automatically recorded, analyzed and visualized in 3D.
Persuasion by a Single Route: A View From the Unimodel

Major current notions of persuasion depict it as attainable via 2 qualitatively distinct routes: (a) a central or a systematic route in which opinions and attitudes are based on carefully processed arguments in the persuasive message and (b) a peripheral or heuristic route in which they are based on briefly considered heuristics or cues, exogenous to the message. This article offers a single-route reconceptualization that treats these dual routes to persuasion as involving functionally equivalent types of evidence from which persuasive conclusions may be drawn. Previous findings in the dual-process literature are reconsidered in light of this "unimodel," and novel data are presented consistent with its assumptions. Beyond its parsimony and integrative potential, the unimodel offers conceptual, empirical, and practical advantages in the persuasion domain.
POLYMORPHISMS IN PFCRT , PFMDR 1 , DHFR GENES AND IN VITRO RESPONSES TO ANTIMALARIALS IN PLASMODIUM FALCIPARUM ISOLATES FROM BANGUI , CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

Drug resistance is probably the greatest challenge to most malaria-control programs. Given the limited resources for other malarial-control measures, rational drug used is crucial. Molecular markers for parasite resistance such as pfcrt, pfmdr-1, and dhfr have the potential to be used in an integrated fashion to provide timely information that is useful to policy makers. Therefore, we evaluated polymorphisms in these genes from Plasmodium falciparum and their association with in vitro antimalarial drug resistance to 135 parasites samples collected in Bangui in 2004. For the dhfr gene, we found a strong association between the dhfr genotype and chemosensitivity to pyrimethamine. For the pfcrt gene, we found that haplotypes with mutant-type alleles led to significant changes in the IC50 values for chloroquine, monodesethylamodiaquine, and quinine. We found no correlations for the pfmdr1 gene. These findings suggest that a regular monitoring and screening for resistance markers for antifolates and for chloroquine could act as an adjunct to in vivo trials.
Bleaching of mouse rods: microspectrophotometry and suction‐electrode recording

Key points • When photoreceptors in vertebrate retina are exposed to bright light, a significant proportion of the photopigment in the rods can be bleached. • Bleaching produces a desensitization of the visual system that recovers slowly as pigment is slowly regenerated, by a process known as dark adaptation. • Experiments on isolated amphibian rods have revealed some of the features of bleach‐induced desensitization, but such experiments have not so far been possible on mammals. • We now describe an improved method that makes possible the first direct measurements of pigment concentration and rod photoreceptor responses over a wide range of bleaching exposures from isolated cells or pieces of intact mammalian retina. • Our experiments reveal important features of mammalian bleaching adaptation and will now make possible future studies from mouse animal lines containing genetically altered photoreceptor proteins.
Influences of fundamental frequency, formant frequencies, aperiodicity, and spectrum level on the perception of voice gender.

PURPOSE To determine the relative importance of acoustic parameters (fundamental frequency [F0], formant frequencies [FFs], aperiodicity, and spectrum level [SL]) on voice gender perception, the authors used a novel parameter-morphing approach that, unlike spectral envelope shifting, allows the application of nonuniform scale factors to transform formants and more direct comparison of parameter impact. METHOD In each of 2 experiments, 16 listeners with normal hearing (8 female, 8 male) classified voice gender for morphs between female and male speakers, using syllable tokens from 2 male-female speaker pairs. Morphs varied single acoustic parameters (Experiment 1) or selected combinations (Experiment 2), keeping residual parameters androgynous, as determined in a baseline experiment. RESULTS The strongest cue related to gender perception was F0, followed by FF and SL. Aperiodicity did not systematically influence gender perception. Morphing F0 and FF in conjunction produced convincing changes in perceived gender-changes that were equivalent to those for Full morphs interpolating all parameters. Despite the importance of F0, morphing FF and SL in combination produced effective changes in voice gender perception. CONCLUSIONS The most important single parameters for gender perception are, in order, F0, FF, and SL. At the same time, F0 and vocal tract resonances have a comparable impact on voice gender perception.
Vaccines targeting IgE in the treatment of asthma and allergy

Allergic diseases including asthma are characterized by an increase of serum IgE levels. Since IgE was discovered in 1966, it has been considered to be the most important biological target in the treatment of allergy and asthma. Indeed, recent studies reveal that IgE, through its high affinity IgE receptors (FcεRI), is now considered a critical regulator of Th2 responses. This is supported by the great success of the anti-IgE monoclonal antibody (mAb) in the treatment of allergy and asthma. Nonetheless, adverse reactions such as anaphylaxis, urticaria, and serum sickness have been reported with this therapy and repeated injections at extremely high costs are required to maintain effectiveness. To overcome these disadvantages, a new strategy using vaccines against IgE that may offer long-term efficacy with fewer adverse effects is being investigated. This article reviews IgE’s role in allergy and asthma, currently used anti-IgE mAb omalizumab, and the advantages, types, effectiveness, and development stages of vaccines against IgE. This review also discusses concerns with the vaccine strategy.
Sociodemographic Differences and Infant Dietary Patterns

OBJECTIVES: To identify dietary patterns in US infants at age 6 and 12 months, sociodemographic differences in these patterns, and their associations with infant growth from age 6 to 12 months. METHODS: We analyzed a subsample (760 boys and 795 girls) of the Infant Feeding Practices Study II (2005–2007). Mothers reported their infants’ intakes of 18 types of foods in the past 7 days, which were used to derive dietary patterns at ages 6 and 12 months by principal component analysis. RESULTS: Similar dietary patterns were identified at ages 6 and 12 months. At 12 months, infants of mothers who had low education or non-Hispanic African American mothers (vs non-Hispanic white) had a higher score on “High sugar/fat/protein” dietary pattern. Both “High sugar/fat/protein” and “High dairy/regular cereal” patterns at 6 months were associated with a smaller increase in length-for-age z score (adjusted β per 1 unit dietary pattern score, −1.36 [95% confidence interval (CI), −2.35 to −0.37] and −0.30 [−0.54 to −0.06], respectively), while with greater increase in BMI z score (1.00 [0.11 to 1.89] and 0.32 [0.10 to 0.53], respectively) from age 6 to 12 months. The “Formula” pattern was associated with greater increase in BMI z score (0.25 [0.09 to 0.40]). The “Infant guideline solids” pattern (vegetables, fruits, baby cereal, and meat) was not associated with change in length-for-age or BMI z score. CONCLUSIONS: Distinct dietary patterns exist among US infants, vary by maternal race/ethnicity and education, and have differential influences on infant growth. Use of “Infant guideline solids” with prolonged breastfeeding is a promising healthy diet for infants after age 6 months.
Low cost biological lung volume reduction therapy for advanced emphysema

Background Bronchoscopic lung volume reduction (BLVR), using biological agents, is one of the new alternatives to lung volume reduction surgery. Objectives To evaluate efficacy and safety of biological BLVR using low cost agents including autologous blood and fibrin glue. Methods Enrolled patients were divided into two groups: group A (seven patients) in which autologous blood was used and group B (eight patients) in which fibrin glue was used. The agents were injected through a triple lumen balloon catheter via fiberoptic bronchoscope. Changes in high resolution computerized tomography (HRCT) volumetry, pulmonary function tests, symptoms, and exercise capacity were evaluated at 12 weeks postprocedure as well as for complications. Results In group A, at 12 weeks postprocedure, there was significant improvement in the mean value of HRCT volumetry and residual volume/total lung capacity (% predicted) (P-value: <0.001 and 0.038, respectively). In group B, there was significant improvement in the mean value of HRCT volumetry and (residual volume/total lung capacity % predicted) (P-value: 0.005 and 0.004, respectively). All patients tolerated the procedure with no mortality. Conclusion BLVR using autologous blood and locally prepared fibrin glue is a promising method for therapy of advanced emphysema in term of efficacy, safety as well as cost effectiveness.
Just Health Care

Preface Acknowledgements 1. Is health care special? 2. Health-care needs 3. Toward a distributive theory 4. Equity of access to health care 5. Am I my parents' keeper? 6. Doing justice to providers 7. Doth OSHA protect too much? 8. Risk and opportunity 9. Philosophy and public policy Index.
A network of cis and trans interactions is required for ParB spreading

Abstract Most bacteria utilize the highly conserved parABS partitioning system in plasmid and chromosome segregation. This system depends on a DNA-binding protein ParB, which binds specifically to the centromere DNA sequence parS and to adjacent non-specific DNA over multiple kilobases in a phenomenon called spreading. Previous single-molecule experiments in combination with genetic, biochemical and computational studies have argued that ParB spreading requires cooperative interactions between ParB dimers including DNA bridging and possible nearest-neighbor interactions. A recent structure of a ParB homolog co-crystallized with parS revealed that ParB dimers tetramerize to form a higher order nucleoprotein complex. Using this structure as a guide, we systematically ablated a series of proposed intermolecular interactions in the Bacillus subtilis ParB (BsSpo0J) and characterized their effect on spreading using both in vivo and in vitro assays. In particular, we measured DNA compaction mediated by BsSpo0J using a recently developed single-molecule method to simultaneously visualize protein binding on single DNA molecules and changes in DNA conformation without protein labeling. Our results indicate that residues acting as hubs for multiple interactions frequently led to the most severe spreading defects when mutated, and that a network of both cis and trans interactions between ParB dimers is necessary for spreading.
Small cell carcinoma of the gall‐bladder with intestinal metaplastic epithelium

A case of small cell carcinoma of the gall‐bladder Is described. lmmunohistochemically, the tumor cells were positive for chromogranin A, synaptophysin and neuronspecific enolase, which suggests that they derived from neuroendocrine cells. The overlying and surroundlng epithelium of the tumor showed intestinal metaplasia including goblet cells, pseudopyloric glands, Paneth's cells, and chromogranin A and synaptophysin‐positive endocrine cells. Definite adenocarcinoma was absent. The endocrine cells in the epithellum were more numerous In the vicinity of the tumor. The present case supports the supposition that endocrine cell tumor (including small cell carcinoma) of the gall‐bladder may develop from endocrine cells of the intestinal metaplastic lesion.
Immunogenetics of HIV disease

Host genetic factors are a major contributing factor to the inter‐individual variation observed in response to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and are linked to resistance to HIV infection among exposed individuals, as well as rate of disease progression and the likelihood of viral transmission. Of the genetic variants that have been shown to affect the natural history of HIV infection, the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I genes exhibit the strongest and most consistent association, underscoring a central role for CD8+ T cells in resistance to the virus. HLA proteins play important roles in T‐cell‐mediated adaptive immunity by presenting immunodominant HIV epitopes to cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) and CD4+ T cells. Genetic and functional data also indicate a function for HLA in natural killer cell‐mediated innate immunity against HIV by interacting with killer cell immunoglobulin‐like receptors (KIR). We review the HLA and KIR associations with HIV disease and discuss the mechanisms underlying these associations.
How Are Academic Age, Productivity and Collaboration Related to Citing Behavior of Researchers?

References are an essential component of research articles and therefore of scientific communication. In this study we investigate referencing (citing) behavior in five diverse fields (astronomy, mathematics, robotics, ecology and economics) based on 213,756 core journal articles. At the macro level we find: (a) a steady increase in the number of references per article over the period studied (50 years), which in some fields is due to a higher rate of usage, while in others reflects longer articles and (b) an increase in all fields in the fraction of older, foundational references since the 1980s, with no obvious change in citing patterns associated with the introduction of the Internet. At the meso level we explore current (2006–2010) referencing behavior of different categories of authors (21,562 total) within each field, based on their academic age, productivity and collaborative practices. Contrary to some previous findings and expectations we find that senior researchers use references at the same rate as their junior colleagues, with similar rates of re-citation (use of same references in multiple papers). High Modified Price Index (MPI, which measures the speed of the research front more accurately than the traditional Price Index) of senior authors indicates that their research has the similar cutting-edge aspect as that of their younger colleagues. In all fields both the productive researchers and especially those who collaborate more use a significantly lower fraction of foundational references and have much higher MPI and lower re-citation rates, i.e., they are the ones pushing the research front regardless of researcher age. This paper introduces improved bibliometric methods to measure the speed of the research front, disambiguate lead authors in co-authored papers and decouple measures of productivity and collaboration.
Predicting the Function and Subcellular Location of Caenorhabditis Elegans Proteins Similar to Saccharomyces Cerevisiae β-Oxidation Enzymes

The role of peroxisomal processes in the maintenance of neurons has not been thoroughly investigated. We propose using Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism for studying the molecular basis underlying neurodegeneration in certain human peroxisomal disorders, e.g. Zellweger syndrome, since the nematode neural network is well characterized and relatively simple in function. Here we have identified C. elegans PEX‐5 (C34C6.6) representing the receptor for peroxisomal targeting signal type 1 (PTS1), defective in patients with such disorders. PEX‐5 interacted strongly in a two‐hybrid assay with Gal4p–SKL, and a screen using PEX‐5 identified interaction partners that were predominantly terminated with PTS1 or its variants. A list of C. elegans proteins with similarities to well‐characterized yeast β‐oxidation enzymes was compiled by homology probing. The possible subcellular localization of these orthologues was predicted using an algorithm based on trafficking signals. Examining the C termini of selected nematode proteins for PTS1 function substantiated predictions made regarding the proteins' peroxisomal location. It is concluded that the eukaryotic PEX5‐dependent route for importing PTS1‐containing proteins into peroxisomes is conserved in nematodes. C. elegans might emerge as an attractive model system for studying the importance of peroxisomes and affiliated processes in neurodegeneration, and also for studying a β‐oxidation process that is potentially compartmentalized in both mitochondria and peroxisomes. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Bleeding and Thrombosis in Multiple Myeloma and Related Plasma Cell Disorders

A variety of disease- and treatment-related factors affect the coagulation system and the risk of bleeding and thrombotic complications in patients with multiple myeloma (MM) and related plasma cell disorders (PCD). As commonly observed in other cancer settings, the malignant clone induces a cytokine environment responsible for a hypercoagulable state. The increase of blood viscosity and impairment of platelet and coagulation function due to circulating monoclonal proteins are considered key mechanisms in the hemostatic abnormalities frequently detected in patients with PCD. However, clinically significant bleeding is relatively rare and poorly correlated with these abnormalities. Management is often challenging because of the multifactorial pathogenesis and underestimation or misdiagnosis of acquired bleeding disorders, particularly acquired von Willebrand syndrome. In recent years, growing interest in thromboembolic risk has emerged after the introduction of novel and more effective antimyeloma agents (thalidomide and lenalidomide), which was associated with increased risk of venous thromboembolism, particularly when associated with dexamethasone and multiagent chemotherapy in newly diagnosed patients. The clinical impact of bleeding and thrombotic complications in patients with PCD, with emphasis on MM, will be discussed in this review, reporting the current knowledge about pathophysiologic mechanisms and implications for management.
Significance of Interleukin-33 and Its Related Cytokines in Patients with Breast Cancers

Interleukin-33 (IL-33) is a recently identified cytokine, an important member of the interleukin-1 family. IL-33 binds to its receptor ST2 to induce type 2 cytokines and exert both pro-inflammatory and protective functions in host defense and disease. Murine breast carcinoma models suggest disruption of ST2 signaling may enhance the anti-tumor immune response, suggesting IL-33 impedes anti-tumor immunity. However, the role of IL-33 in patients with breast cancers (BC) is not elucidated. We detected the expression of IL-33 in tumor tissue, and IL-33 and its related cytokines in serum from BC patients. Using Luminex and immunohistochemistry methods, we found that serum levels of IL-33 were nearly twofold higher in patients with BC, compared to patients with benign breast diseases. In cancer tissues, expression of IL-33 was higher than matched normal breast tissues from the same patients, and was also associated with a well-differentiated phenotype, HER2 overexpression, more lymph nodes involvement, and a family history of malignant carcinoma. These results suggest that IL-33 may play an important role in the progress of BC and may be a useful biomarker for predicting the progress and metastasis of BC.
Effects of isotretinoin (13-cis-retinoic acid) on the development of mouse limbs in vivo and in vitro.

Isotretinoin (13-cis-RA) is known to be teratogenic in humans and laboratory animals. The relatively low potency of 13-cis-RA in NRMI mice in comparison to the all-trans isomer has been proposed to be due to minimal transfer across the placenta (Creech-Kraft et al., '87). To further delineate the teratogenic potential of 13-cis-RA, a dose-response, temporal study was conducted in vivo and in vitro using submerged limb culture and image analysis evaluation of development. Dose-dependent embryotoxicity was produced by treatment on GD 7, while later treatments produced inconsistent effects on resorption rate and fetal weight. Treatment on either GD 7 or GD 8 produced a number of malformations in dose-dependent manner. Most common were tail and cleft palate defects, which were produced by 13-cis-RA on each of the days tested (GD 7-GD 11), with peak malformations occurring on GD 9 and GD 10 for tail and cleft palate, respectively. Most limb defects were produced after GD 10 and GD 11 exposure. The observed frequency of defects confirmed that in ICR mice 13-cis-RA is about 10-fold less potent than all-trans-RA as a limb teratogen (Kwasigroch and Kochhar, '80; Kochhar and Penner, '87). Effects observed via image analysis following maintenance of limbs in serum-free culture medium were dose dependent. Low dose treatment produced occasional polydactyly. The intermediate dose caused somewhat variable region-dependent increases in cartilaginous bone anlagen area. The high dose of 13-cis-RA produced irregular limb outlines, a reduction in bone anlagen area, and an inhibition of alcian blue staining of cartilage without affecting morphogenesis of bone anlagen. These results confirm that, when the effects of the administered doses are evaluated, 13-cis-RA is a much less potent teratogen in comparison to the all-trans isomer. More importantly, the results show that retinoids can enhance (at low and intermediate doses), depress (at high doses), or eliminate (high dose) chondrogenenic expression during limb morphogenesis in vitro. This indicates that retinoids such as 13-cis-RA can manipulate events in development in a variety of ways (i.e., produce malformations, interfere with chondrogenic expression without affecting morphogenesis, and stimulate growth) in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Although the ability of RA to act as a true morphogen has recently been questioned (Wanek et al., '91; Noji et al., '91), the results presented here support the position that RA can modulate the development of the limb (and probably other organ systems) in several vertebrate species.