Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Theory in a Nutshell: A Practical Guide to Health Promotion Theories

The use of theory in the planning and implementation of health promotion programs will more reliably produce positive outcomes. Following on from the success of the second edition, 'Theory in a Nutshell 3' explores the main theoretical concepts and models in health promotion and explains the significance, practical application and impact of different theories on the individual, community and organisation. This edition includes concise reviews of established theories, such as social cognitive theory and health belief model, as well as expanding on new developments in the field including evidence-based policy making and health impact assessment. Thoroughly revised and updated, the book maintains the accessible style suitable for public health practitioners, health promotion and health education specialists, epidemiologists and social policy makers, as well as students of public health and health promotion.
Autonomous flight trajectory generation via attractor dynamics

This paper describes the use of non-linear attractor dynamics to generate trajectories free of collisions for an autonomous vehicle moving in 3D. Computer simulations are used to test the behaviour and stability of the airship motion during the task of flying toward a target destination while simultaneously avoiding collisions with (static or moving) obstacles. Results indicate that if parameter values are chosen within reasonable ranges, then the flight controller works quite well even when subject to disturbances along the generated flight path.
Where Are They Now? What States' Studies of People Who Left Welfare Tell Us. Assessing the New Federalism. An Urban Institute Program To Assess Changing Social Policies. Series A, No. A-32.

The policy brief summarizes new data on employment rates, characteristics of employment, and other indicators of well-being for former welfare recipients from 11 state studies. The studies were conducted in Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio (Cuyahoga County), South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and two in Wisconsin. The report highlights several issues to consider in comparing results from ? welfare leaver? studies now being conducted across the nation.
Integrating wireless sensor networks into web service-based business processes

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are envisioned to become an integral part of the Future Internet where they extend the Internet to the physical world. Yet, while Service-Oriented Architectures (SOA) are prospering in Enterprise-IT, wireless sensor networks have -- despite contrary prognoses -- not found their way into enterprises. A major obstacle is certainly the different and resource-constraint nature of this class of devices. We argue that approaches for the seamless integration with existing, widely deployed SOA technologies such as XML, Web Services, and the Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) are key to the success of WSNs in enterprises. In this paper, we present our approach to integrate WSNs into SOA environments using these technologies in a resource-efficient but fully standard-compliant way. We evaluate our implementation and present a case study.
The Neurotensin Receptor-1 Pathway Contributes to Human Ductal Breast Cancer Progression

Background The neurotensin (NTS) and its specific high affinity G protein coupled receptor, the NT1 receptor (NTSR1), are considered to be a good candidate for one of the factors implicated in neoplastic progression. In breast cancer cells, functionally expressed NT1 receptor coordinates a series of transforming functions including cellular migration and invasion. Methods and Results we investigated the expression of NTS and NTSR1 in normal human breast tissue and in invasive ductal breast carcinomas (IDCs) by immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR. NTS is expressed and up-regulated by estrogen in normal epithelial breast cells. NTS is also found expressed in the ductal and invasive components of IDCs. The high expression of NTSR1 is associated with the SBR grade, the size of the tumor, and the number of metastatic lymph nodes. Furthermore, the NTSR1 high expression is an independent factor of prognosis associated with the death of patients. Conclusion these data support the activation of neurotensinergic deleterious pathways in breast cancer progression.
Expression and localization of Rab 3 D in rat parotid gland

Rab3 proteins (isoforms A, B, C and D) are low molecular weight GTP-binding proteins proposed to be involved in regulated exocytosis. In the present study, Rab3 protein expression and localization was examined in rat parotid gland by reverse transcription (rt) PCR, Western blotting and immunocytochemistry. An V200 bp PCR product was obtained from parotid RNA by rtPCR and this fragment was cloned and sequenced. Nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences obtained from five clones were identical to rab3D. Membrane and cytosolic fractions prepared from parotid acini were immunoblotted with antisera specific for each of the four Rab3 isoforms. A 28 kDa protein was detected with Rab3Dspecific antisera in both fractions with staining being more intense in the membrane fraction. No other Rab3 isoforms were detected by immunoblotting, a result consistent with those obtained by rtPCR. Rab3D was enriched in zymogen granule membranes and Triton X-114 extraction revealed that this isoform is predominantly lipid-modified in parotid. Localization of Rab3D was done on frozen sections of parotid gland by immunofluorescence microscopy. Staining was observed primarily in the acinar cells and was adjacent to the acinar lumen. Incubation of dispersed acini with isoproterenol and substance P stimulated amylase secretion 4and 2-fold above basal, respectively. Isoproterenol, but not substance P, induced redistribution of Rab3D from the cytosol to the membrane fraction in dispersed parotid acini. Consistent with these findings, isoproterenol injections into fasted rats also resulted in increased membrane-associated Rab3D in the parotid acini. These results indicate that Rab3D is: (1) the major Rab3 isoform expressed in rat parotid gland; (2) localized to zymogen granule membranes; and (3) involved with regulated enzyme secretion in acinar cells. ß 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Customer Churn in Mobile Markets A Comparison of Techniques

The high increase in the number of companies competing in mature markets makes customer retention an important factor for any company to survive. Thus, many methodologies (e.g., data mining and statistics) have been proposed to analyse and study customer retention. The validity of such methods is not yet proved though. This paper tries to fill this gap by empirically comparing two techniques: Customer churn - decision tree and logistic regression models. The paper proves the superiority of decision tree technique and stresses the needs for more advanced methods to churn modelling.
IMPACTO DEL TLCAN EN EL COMERCIO AGRÍCOLA

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is a comprehensive trade liberalizing agreement among Canada, Mexico, and the United States. This is especially true for Agricultural trade between Mexico, and the United States. Agricultural trade barriers between Mexico and the United States were completely eliminated on January 1, 2008. The agreement facilitates cross-border investment, phytosanitary standards, cooperation regarding the environment and labor, and set up a dispute resolution procedure, and regular consultation procedures. Each of the countries entered NAFTA hoping to gain greater market access and growth in trade, as well as access to capital, technology, a favorable trade advantage and other gains. The question is, were these expectations met? NAFTA countries did not stop with NAFTA as their only regional trade agreement. Each of these added agreements reduced the advantage initially gained by NAFTA producers, as barriers were also reduced for other competitors. Foreign direct investment on all industries has increased from US $15 billion in 2003 to US $95 billion in 2008, but probably less than hoped for because after 2000 more capital and jobs began to flow to China and India. Industry continues to seek low cost labor, and Mexico is no longer the cheapest labor market. However agricultural trade increased between NAFTA partners from US $10 billion in 1989 to US $67 billion in 2008 with greater integration of agricultural markets. Mexico's total agricultural exports (to all countries) approached US $16.9 billion in 2008. Corresponding imports in 2008 totaled about US $23.2 billion. Mexico's NAFTA imports grew from almost US $4 billion in 1993 to US $14 billion in 2009. Mexico's NAFTA Agricultural export grew from US $2.9 to US $12.3 billion for the same period.
Mucosal Immunization with Integrase-Defective Lentiviral Vectors Protects against Influenza Virus Challenge in Mice

Recent reports highlight the potential for integrase-defective lentiviral vectors (IDLV) to be developed as vaccines due to their ability to elicit cell-mediated and humoral immune responses after intramuscular administration. Differently from their integrase-competent counterpart, whose utility for vaccine development is limited by the potential for insertional mutagenesis, IDLV possess a mutation in their integrase gene that prevents genomic integration. Instead, they are maintained as episomal DNA circles that retain the ability to stably express functional proteins. Despite their favorable profile, it is unknown whether IDLV elicit immune responses after intranasal administration, a route that could be advantageous in the case of infection with a respiratory agent. Using influenza as a model, we constructed IDLV expressing the influenza virus nucleoprotein (IDLV-NP), and tested their ability to generate NP-specific immune responses and protect from challenge in vivo. We found that administration of IDLV-NP elicited NP-specific T cell and antibody responses in BALB/c mice. Importantly, IDLV-NP was protective against homologous and heterosubtypic influenza virus challenge only when given by the intranasal route. This is the first report demonstrating that IDLV can induce protective immunity after intranasal administration, and suggests that IDLV may represent a promising vaccine platform against infectious agents.
Impaired Small-World Network Efficiency and Dynamic Functional Distribution in Patients with Cirrhosis

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a complex neuropsychiatric syndrome and a major complication of liver cirrhosis. Dysmetabolism of the brain, related to elevated ammonia levels, interferes with intercortical connectivity and cognitive function. For evaluation of network efficiency, a ‘small-world’ network model can quantify the effectiveness of information transfer within brain networks. This study aimed to use small-world topology to investigate abnormalities of neuronal connectivity among widely distributed brain regions in patients with liver cirrhosis using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). Seventeen cirrhotic patients without HE, 9 with minimal HE, 9 with overt HE, and 35 healthy controls were compared. The interregional correlation matrix was obtained by averaging the rs-fMRI time series over all voxels in each of the 90 regions using the automated anatomical labeling model. Cost and correlation threshold values were then applied to construct the functional brain network. The absolute and relative network efficiencies were calculated; quantifying distinct aspects of the local and global topological network organization. Correlations between network topology parameters, ammonia levels, and the severity of HE were determined using linear regression and ANOVA. The local and global topological efficiencies of the functional connectivity network were significantly disrupted in HE patients; showing abnormal small-world properties. Alterations in regional characteristics, including nodal efficiency and nodal strength, occurred predominantly in the association, primary, and limbic/paralimbic regions. The degree of network organization disruption depended on the severity of HE. Ammonia levels were also significantly associated with the alterations in local network properties. Results indicated that alterations in the rs-fMRI network topology of the brain were associated with HE grade; and that focal or diffuse lesions disturbed the functional network to further alter the global topology and efficiency of the whole brain network. These findings provide insights into the functional changes in the human brain in HE.
ANALISIS RASIO LIKUIDITAS, PROFITABILITAS, AKTIVITAS, SOLVABILITAS DAN INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY SET DALAM TAHAPAN SIKLUS KEHIDUPAN PERUSAHAAN MANUFAKTUR YANG TERDAFTAR DI BURSA EFEK JAKARTA (BEJ) TAHUN 2001 – 2005.

The objective of this research is to analysis of liquidity, profitability, activity andsolvency ratios on investment opportunity set (IOS) in the stages of life cycle ofmanufacturing firms that are listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange. The sample of the studyare manufacture firms listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange that distributed dividendsuccessively in 2001 – 2005. Sample size consists of total is 135 firms.This study indicates that on the start-up stage, activity and solvency ratios have effecton IOS. On the initial expansion stage, activity ratio has effect on IOS and on the finalexpansion no ratio has effect on IOS. For mature and decline stages, also no ratio has effecton IOS. Therefore, financial ratios can be used manufacture firm analysis tools at start-upand initial expansion stages, but not at final expansion, mature and decline stages.
Needles and Straw in a Haystack: Posterior concentration for possibly sparse sequences

We consider full Bayesian inference in the multivariate normal mean model in the situation that the mean vector is sparse. The prior distribution on the vector of means is constructed hierarchically by first choosing a collection of nonzero means and next a prior on the nonzero values.We consider the posterior distribution in the frequentist set-up that the observations are generated according to a fixed mean vector, and are interested in the posterior distribution of the number of nonzero components and the contraction of the posterior distribution to the true mean vector. We find various combinations of priors on the number of nonzero coefficients and on these coefficients that give desirable performance. We also find priors that give suboptimal convergence, for instance, Gaussian priors on the nonzero coefficients.We illustrate the results by simulations. © 2012 Institute of Mathematical Statistics.
Stellar abundances and ages for metal-rich Milky Way globular clusters - Stellar parameters and el

Context. Metal-rich globular clusters provide important tracers of the formation of our Galaxy. Moreover, and not less important, they are very important calibrators for the derivation of properties of extra-galactic metal-rich stellar populations. Nonetheless, only a few of the metal-rich globular clusters in the Milky Way have been studied using high-resolution stellar spectra to derive elemental abundances. Additionally, Rosenberg et al. identified a small group of metal-rich globular clusters that appeared to be about 2 billion years younger than the bulk of the Milky Way globular clusters. However, it is unclear if like is compared with like in this dataset as we do not know the enhancement of alpha-elements in the clusters and the amount of alpha-elements is well known to influence the derivation of ages for globular clusters. Aims. We derive elemental abundances for the metal-rich globular cluster NGC 6352 and we present our methods to be used in up-coming studies of other metal-rich globular clusters. Methods. We present a study of elemental abundances for a-and iron-peak elements for nine HB stars in the metal-rich globular cluster NGC 6352. The elemental abundances are based on high-resolution, high signal-to-noise spectra obtained with the UVES spectrograph on VLT. The elemental abundances have been derived using standard LTE calculations and stellar parameters have been derived from the spectra themselves by requiring ionizational as well as excitational equilibrium. Results. We find that NGC 6352 has [Fe/H] = -0.55, is enhanced in the alpha-elements to about +0.2 dex for Ca, Si, and Ti relative to Fe. For the iron-peak elements we find solar values. Based on the spectroscopically derived stellar parameters we find that an E(B - V) = 0.24 and (m - M) similar or equal to 14.05 better fits the data than the nominal values. An investigation of log g f-values for suitable Fe I lines lead us to the conclusion that the commonly used correction to the May et al. (1974) data should not be employed. (Less)
Applications of a Rapid Endospore Viability Assay for Monitoring UV Inactivation and Characterizing Arctic Ice Cores

ABSTRACT We have developed a rapid endospore viability assay (EVA) in which endospore germination serves as an indicator for viability and applied it to (i) monitor UV inactivation of endospores as a function of dose and (ii) determine the proportion of viable endospores in arctic ice cores (Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 [GISP2] cores; 94 m). EVA is based on the detection of dipicolinic acid (DPA), which is released from endospores during germination. DPA concentrations were determined using the terbium ion (Tb3+)-DPA luminescence assay, and germination was induced by l-alanine addition. The concentrations of germinable endospores were determined by comparison to a standard curve. Parallel EVA and phase-contrast microscopy experiments to determine the percentage of germinable spores yielded comparable results (54.3% ± 3.8% and 48.9% ± 4.5%, respectively), while only 27.8% ± 7.6% of spores produced CFU. EVA was applied to monitor the inactivation of spore suspensions as a function of UV dose, yielding reproducible correlations between EVA and CFU inactivation data. The 90% inactivation doses were 2,773 J/m2, 3,947 J/m2, and 1,322 J/m2 for EVA, phase-contrast microscopy, and CFU reduction, respectively. Finally, EVA was applied to quantify germinable and total endospore concentrations in two GISP2 ice cores. The first ice core contained 295 ± 19 germinable spores/ml and 369 ± 36 total spores/ml (i.e., the percentage of germinable endospores was 79.9% ± 9.3%), and the second core contained 131 ± 4 germinable spores/ml and 162 ± 17 total spores/ml (i.e., the percentage of germinable endospores was 80.9% ± 8.8%), whereas only 2 CFU/ml were detected by culturing.
Bidirectional Regulation of Hippocampal Long-Term Synaptic Plasticity and Its Influence on Opposing Forms of Memory

Reference memory characterizes the long-term storage of information acquired through numerous trials. In contrast, working memory represents the short-term acquisition of trial-unique information. A number of studies in the rodent hippocampus have focused on the contribution of long-term synaptic potentiation (LTP) to long-term reference memory. In contrast, little is known about the synaptic plasticity correlates of hippocampal-based components of working memory. Here, we described a mouse with selective expression of a dominant-negative mutant of the regulatory subunit of protein kinase A (PKA) only in two regions of the hippocampus, the dentate gyrus and area CA1. This mouse showed a deficit in several forms of LTP in both hippocampal subregions and a lowered threshold for the consolidation of long-term synaptic depression (LTD). When trained with one trial per day in a water maze task, mutant mice displayed a deficit in consolidation of long-term memory. In contrast, these mice proved to be more flexible after a transfer test and also showed a delay-dependent increased performance in working memory, when repetitive information (proactive interference) was presented. We suggest that through its bidirectional control over synaptic plasticity PKA can regulate opposing forms of memory. The defect in L-LTP disrupts long-term memory consolidation. The persistence of LTD may allow acquisition of new information by restricting the body of previously stored information and suppressing interference.
The Determinants of Cartel Duration

In this paper we model cartel duration as a mixed proportional hazard model and condition on cartel characteristics such as the agency first detecting the cartel, industry, if it is a bid rigging or price fixing cartel, the number of countries affected, the affected sales, and measures of the economic cycle and trend. Results are intuitive and fairly consistent across models, and conform well with theory and prior empirical work. We also found that the model results are sensitive to the presence of unobserved heterogeneity.Among other results, we find that cartels first detected by United States or European Union agencies tend to be longer-lived, likely because those detected by other jurisdictions are primarily follow-ups of related larger and older cartels first uncovered in the United States or Europe. Bid rigging cartels tend to be longer-lived than others, while cartels distributed across geographies tend to be shorter-lived. Cartel durations are increasing in the size of a cartel’s affected sales and sanctions. Industries such as Petroleum & Coal, Finance & Insurance, and Food, Feed, Tobacco & Transportation have shorter-lived cartels, while industries such as Electronic Products have longer-lived cartels. The state of the economy can impact the duration of a cartel as well. Cartels where the leading firm has a market share of at least 40% have longer durations. However, the wide variation in the unobserved frailty factor suggests that additional, significant covariates remain unaccounted for in our information set.
Reach of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program–Education (SNAP–Ed) Interventions and Nutrition and Physical Activity-Related Outcomes, California, 2011–2012

Introduction This study combined information on the interventions of the US Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program–Education with 5,927 interview responses from the California Health Interview Survey to investigate associations between levels of intervention reach in low-income census tracts in California and self-reported physical activity and consumption of fruits and vegetables, fast food, and sugar-sweetened beverages. Methods We determined 4 levels of intervention reach (low reach, moderate reach, high reach, and no intervention) across 1,273 program-eligible census tracts from data on actual and eligible number of intervention participants. The locations of California Health Interview Survey respondents were geocoded and linked with program data. Regression analyses included measures for sex, age, race/ethnicity, and education. Results Adults and children from high-reach census tracts reported eating more fruits and vegetables than adults and children from no-intervention census tracts. Adults from census tracts with low, moderate, or high levels of reach reported eating fast food less often than adults from no-intervention census tracts. Teenagers from low-reach census tracts reported more physical activity than teenagers in no-intervention census tracts. Conclusion The greatest concentration of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program–Education interventions was associated with adults and children eating more fruits and vegetables and adults eating fast food less frequently. These findings demonstrate the potential impact of such interventions as implemented by numerous organizations with diverse populations; these interventions can play an important role in addressing the obesity epidemic in the United States. Limitations of this study include the absence of measures of exposure to the intervention at the individual level and low statistical power for the teenager sample.