Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Can stellar mass black holes be quark stars

We investigate the possibility that stellar mass black holes, with masses in the range of 3.8– 6M � , respectively, could be in fact quark stars in the colour–flavour-locked (CFL) phase. Depending on the value of the gap parameter, rapidly rotating CFL quark stars can achieve much higher masses than standard neutron stars, thus making them possible stellar mass black hole candidates. Moreover, quark stars have a very low luminosity and a completely absorbing surface – the infalling matter on the surface of the quark star is converted into quark matter. A possibility of distinguishing CFL quark stars from stellar mass black holes could be through the study of thin accretion discs around rapidly rotating quark stars and Kerr-type black holes, respectively. Furthermore, we show that the radiation properties of accretion discs around black holes and CFL quark stars are also very similar. However, strange stars exhibit a low-luminosity but high-temperature bremsstrahlung spectrum, which, in combination with the emission properties of the accretion disc, may be the key signature to differentiate massive strange stars from the black hole.
Proteome analysis of human cerebrospinal fluid as a diagnostic biomarker in patients with meningioma

Summary Background To identify meningioma-specific proteins, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 4 patients with a meningioma and 4 patients with a non-brain tumorous lesion were analyzed. Material/Methods Two-dimensional electrophoresis and electrospray quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry analyses revealed 10 unique spots, containing 11 independent proteins (spot #2 and #4 each contained 2 proteins and spot #3 was not identified) were evident in CSF associated with human meningioma: serum albumin precursor (3 different isoforms), Apolipoprotein E (Apo E), Apolipoprotein J precursor (Apo J), Transthyretin precursor (TTR), Prostaglandin D2 synthase 21kDa (PTGDS), proapolipoprotein, Chain D hemoglobin Ypsilanti, alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT), and beta-2-microglobulin precursor (β2M). Results The contents of Apo E, Apo J and AAT were increased, while PTGDS, TTR and β2M were decreased. Conclusions The results observed by 2-dimensional electrophoresis were verified by Western blot analysis. The unique proteins may represent possible candidate biomarkers of meningioma.
Applying Deep Learning to Stereotypical Motor Movement Detection in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are often associated with specific atypical postural or motor behaviors, of which Stereotypical Motor Movements (SMMs) interfere with learning and social interaction. Wireless inertial sensing technology offers a valid infrastructure for real-time SMM detection, whose automation would provide support for tuned intervention and possibly early alert on the onset of meltdown events. The identification and the quantification of SMM patterns remains complex due to strong inter-subject and intra-subject variability, in particular when handcrafted features are considered. This study aims at developing automatic SMM detection systems in a real world setting, based on a deep learning architecture. Here, after a review of the current state of the art of automatic SMM detection, we propose to employ the deep learning paradigm in order to learn the discriminating features from multi-sensor accelerometer signals. Our results with convolutional neural networks provided the preliminary evidence that feature learning and transfer learning embedded in deep architectures can provide accurate SMM detectors in longitudinal scenarios.
YouTube as the art commons? Strategies, perceptions and outcomes of museums’ online video portals

The current study investigates the phenomenon of museum communication through online video hostings, either by using YouTube or a customized platform. The videos uploaded by museums present a combination of educational and entertaining content depending on their objectives, attracting users to watch art content online. While the literature on uses and gratification is highly represented in media studies, few studies exist about the specific user motivations and gratifications of new media platforms in a museum context. Three types of users were identified in this study. The first type – artoriented users – display extrinsic motivation towards art exploration and seek for videos with educational content. The second type and the most widespread on these spaces – entertainment-oriented users – are intrinsically motivated and concentrate on the entertaining content of museum videos. Users of the last type are averse to exploring art content online, unless they are defined as non-art related. Overall, this paper argues that as art becomes a cultural product to be consumed online, popular video portals such as YouTube serve as an important platform to facilitate this democratizing effect, with varied implications for the art world.
Occupational factors and risk of Parkinson's disease: A population-based case-control study.

BACKGROUND Parkinson's disease (PD) has been associated with various workplace factors, but the evidence is inconsistent. OBJECTIVE To estimate the risk of PD associated with various jobs and workplace exposures. METHODS We conducted a population-based, case-control study of 404 incident PD cases and 526 age and sex-matched controls, collecting self-reported work histories including job titles and exposures to various industrial toxicants. Relative risks of PD from these exposures were estimated with odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) using logistic regression. RESULTS Risk was not significantly affected by farming work, by metal work, or by exposure to pesticides, metals, or solvents. CONCLUSIONS These findings do not provide support for the hypothesis that workplace factors affect the risk of PD.
Why Do Non-Union Employees Want to Unionize? Evidence from Britain

The introduction of a statutory recognition procedure offers British unions the opportunity to reverse membership decline by organising non-union workers. The aim of this paper is to test theories of individual union joining in order to assess the likely impact of the new procedure on British union membership. Responses of a nationally representative sample of non-union employees to the question ''how willing would you be to join a union if one were available at your workplace? '' are analysed. Results suggest that the new legislation will cause union membership to rise among manual employees, but that unions will face a much harder challenge organising non-manual employees. Unless unions can change their environment, or change themselves then long-term decline is likely.
CEO rewards: Examining the pay-for-performance link in nonprofit and for-profit organizations

I examine whether the strength of the relationship between executive pay and organizational performance increases with performance level, and how this relationship compares in the forprofit and nonprofit sectors and for female and male for-profit CEOs. The media has focused on the idea that executives are rewarded highly for performing well, but not penalized as severely for performing poorly. This suggests the link between pay and performance is weak for low levels of performance but increases as performance increases. However, many researchers of executive pay have assumed the pay-performance link is linear and report a single estimate to describe this relationship. I test this assumption using 2,678 unique for-profit firms and 13,466 unique nonprofit organizations. Controlling for size and for either individual or organizational fixed-effects, I find the relationship between for-profit CEO pay and performance is convex, that is, less strong at low levels of performance but increasingly strong at higher levels of performance. In contrast, I find a linear relationship between nonprofit CEO pay and performance across levels of performance. I find no difference in the pay-for-performance relationship between female and male CEOs. Last, I find that a number of different components of total compensation are causing the convex relationship between pay and performance in for-
Characterization of Boolean functions for rapid matching in EPGA technology mapping

The authors introduce characteristic signatures for Boolean functions. The signatures do not exhibit sensitivity to permutations of input variables. These signatures are used to develop a method of rapidly matching subcircuits with cells in a large library. The procedure is analogous to hashing. Filters are discussed that were found to be useful in improving the matching of variables before applying the equivalence verification. Experimental results and the figure of merit of various signatures are outlined. <<ETX>>
The Proline Regulatory Axis and Cancer

Studies in metabolism and cancer have characterized changes in core pathways involving glucose and glutamine, emphasizing the provision of substrates for building cell mass. But recent findings suggest that pathways previously considered peripheral may play a critical role providing mechanisms for cell regulation. Several of these mechanisms involve the metabolism of non-essential amino acids, for example, the channeling of glycolytic intermediates into the serine pathway for one-carbon transfers. Historically, we proposed that the proline biosynthetic pathway participated in a metabolic interlock with glucose metabolism. The discovery that proline degradation is activated by p53 directed our attention to the initiation of apoptosis by proline oxidase/dehydrogenase. Now, however, we find that the biosynthetic mechanisms and the metabolic interlock may depend on the pathway from glutamine to proline, and it is markedly activated by the oncogene MYC. These findings add a new dimension to the proline regulatory axis in cancer and present attractive potential targets for cancer treatment.
From Stem Cells to Viable Autologous Semilunar Heart Valve

Background—An estimated 275 000 patients undergo heart valve replacement each year. However, existing solutions for valve replacement are complicated by the morbidity associated with lifelong anticoagulation of mechanical valves and the limited durability of bioprostheses. Recent advances in tissue engineering and our understanding of stem cell biology may provide a lifelong solution to these problems. Methods and Results—Mesenchymal stem cells were isolated from ovine bone marrow and characterized by their morphology and antigen expression through immunocytochemistry, flow cytometry, and capacity to differentiate into multiple cell lineages. A biodegradable scaffold was developed and characterized by its tensile strength and stiffness as a function of time in cell-conditioned medium. Autologous semilunar heart valves were then created in vitro using mesenchymal stem cells and the biodegradable scaffold and were implanted into the pulmonary position of sheep on cardiopulmonary bypass. The valves were evaluated by echocardiography at implantation and after 4 months in vivo. Valves were explanted at 4 and 8 months and examined by histology and immunohistochemistry. Valves displayed a maximum instantaneous gradient of 17.2±1.33 mm Hg, a mean gradient of 9.7±1.3 mm Hg, an effective orifice area of 1.35±0.17 cm2, and trivial or mild regurgitation at implantation. Gradients changed little over 4 months of follow-up. Histology showed disposition of extracellular matrix and distribution of cell phenotypes in the engineered valves reminiscent of that in native pulmonary valves. Conclusions—Stem-cell tissue-engineered heart valves can be created from mesenchymal stem cells in combination with a biodegradable scaffold and function satisfactorily in vivo for periods of >4 months. Furthermore, such valves undergo extensive remodeling in vivo to resemble native heart valves.
Charitable Contributions: New Evidence on Household Behavior

In this paper I provide some new empirical evidence on the impact of tax deductibility on the level of personal charitable contributions. In order to provide empirical evidence of this kind we have to consider the broader question of the determination of the level of charitable giving by the household. The "price of contributions," which is dependent upon the tax treatment of those contributions, is only one element of this process. Efforts to quantify the impact of tax deductibility lead to an empirical model which allows us to test a number of hypotheses on the determination of the level of charitable contributions. In Section I, a model of personal charitable giving and its empirical implications are discussed. In Section 1I previous attempts to test some of these implications and to quantify the impact of tax deductibility on charitable giving are discussed. Section III presents the specification of the empirical model including a discussion of the data, and Section IV presents empirical results. In Section V the implications of these results are summarized.
Individual growth curve analysis illuminates stability and change in personality disorder features: the longitudinal study of personality disorders.

BACKGROUND The long-term stability of personality pathology remains an open question. Its resolution will come from prospective, multiwave longitudinal studies using blinded assessments of personality disorders (PD). Informative analysis of multiwave data requires the application of statistical procedures, such as individual growth curve modeling, that can detect and describe individual change appropriately over time. The Longitudinal Study of Personality Disorders, which meets contemporary methodological design criteria, provides the data for this investigation of PD stability and change from an individual growth curve perspective. METHODS Two hundred fifty subjects were examined for PD features at 3 different time points using the International Personality Disorders Examination during a 4-year study. Stability and change in PD features over time were examined using individual growth modeling. RESULTS Fitting of unconditional growth models indicated that statistically significant variation in PD features existed across time in the elevation and rate of change of the individual PD growth trajectories. Fitting of additional conditional growth models, in which the individual elevation and rate-of-change growth parameters were predicted by subjects' study group membership (no PD vs possible PD), sex, and age at entry into the study, showed that study group membership predicted the elevation and rate of change of the individual growth curves. Comorbid Axis I psychopathology and treatment during the study period were related to elevations of the individual growth trajectories, but not to rates of change. CONCLUSIONS From the perspective of individual growth curve analysis, PD features show considerable variability across individuals over time. This fine-grained analysis of individual growth trajectories provides compelling evidence of change in PD features over time and does not support the assumption that PD features are traitlike, enduring, and stable over time.
Second Language Acquisition Programs: An Assessment of the Bilingual Education Debate

Second language acquisition programs are frequently misunderstood, as various programs are often mistakenly labeled as bilingual education. Inaccurate labeling creates confusion and fuels the already heated bilingual education debate. The purpose of this research is to clearly define different second language acquisition programs, assess major arguments on opposing sides of this nationwide debate, and discuss program evaluations from the 1991 Ramirez investigation and the Rossell and Baker study (1996). In so doing, important issues regarding the world of second language acquisition programs will surface. Expectantly, this research will generate, or continue, further discussion addressing these concerns in an effort to ameliorate the confusion surrounding second language acquisition programs.
Benefits of Control, Managerial Ownership, and the Stock Returns of Acquiring Firms

This paper examines the effect of the benefits of corporate control to managers on the relationship between managerial ownership and the stock returns of acquiring firms in corporate control transactions. At low levels of managerial ownership, agency costs of equity (such as perquisite consumption) reduce the returns earned by acquirers. As the managerial stake in the acquiring firm increases, the interests of managers are more closely aligned with those of shareholders, reducing the acquisition premium. At sufficiently high levels of managerial ownership, managers value a reduction in the risk of their nondiversified financial portfolio. However, managers enjoy nonassignable private benefits of control at high levels of ownership which they are not willing to lose by selling their stake in the financial markets. These benefits of control are increasing in the managerial ownership stake and can lead to managers 'overpaying' even when they own a substantial fraction of the firm. Examining mergers that occurred during 1985 to 1991, we find evidence of such a nonmonotonic relationship between the stock returns earned by acquirers and their managerial ownership level. Further, we find that acquiring firms with high levels of managerial ownership tend to diversify more than acquiring firms with low levels of managerial ownership.
Inheritance Patterns, Dominance, Stability, and Allelism of Insecticide Resistance and Cross-Resistance in Two Colonies of Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae) Selected with Cry Toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis Subsp. israelensis

ABSTRACT Mendelian crosses were used to analyze the patterns of inheritance of Cry-toxin resistance in two colonies of Culex quinquefasciatus Say larvae resistant to bacterial toxins produced by Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis de Barjac. Resistance levels exceeded 1000-fold at 95% lethal concentration of the Cry11Aa-resistant colony (Cq11A). F1 offspring of reciprocal crosses to a susceptible colony revealed autosomal inheritance and offspring were intermediate in resistance to the susceptible and resistant parental lines. Dose-response tests on backcross offspring were consistent with polyfactorial inheritance of resistance toward Cry11Aa and Cry4Aa + Cry4Ba, whereas cross-resistance toward Cry11Ba best fit a monofactorial model. Resistance was 600-fold at 95% lethal concentration in the colony selected with Cry4A + Cry4B (Cq4AB). Inheritance of resistance in F1 offspring was autosomal and intermediate to the susceptible and resistant parents. Inheritance of Cry4Aa + Cry4Ba and Cry11Ba resistance best fit a polyfactorial model in offspring of the Cq4AB backcross, whereas Cry11Aa-resistance inheritance fit a monofactorial model. Dominance values were calculated at different Cry-toxin concentrations for F1 offspring of both resistant colonies; dominance generally decreased as treatment concentration increased. Resistance and cross-resistance remained stable in Cq11A and Cq4AB in the absence of insecticide pressure. Allelic complementation tests were complementary and suggested that Cq11A and Cq4AB evolved resistance to Cry toxins at common loci. The patterns of cross-resistance suggest cross-recognition of binding moieties by Cry11Aa, Cry4Aa + Cry4Ba, and Cry11Ba in these Culex, which may be partly responsible for the toxin synergy characteristic of B. thuringiensis subsp. israelensis de Barjac.
A global signal transduction system regulates aerobic and anaerobic CO2 fixation in Rhodobacter sphaeroides

Complementation of a mutant of Rhodobacter sphaeroides defective in photosynthetic CO2 reduction led to the identification of a gene which encodes a protein that is related to a class of sensor kinases involved in bacterial signal transduction. The nucleotide sequence and deduced amino acid sequence led to the finding that the gene which complemented the mutant is the regB (prrB) gene, previously isolated from both R. sphaeroides and Rhodobacter capsulatus and shown to regulate the anaerobic expression of structural genes required for the synthesis of the reaction center and light-harvesting systems of these organisms. The current investigation indicates that in addition to its role in the regulation of photosystem biosynthesis, regB (prrB) of R. sphaeroides is intimately involved in the positive regulation of the cbbI and cbbII Calvin cycle CO2 fixation operons. In addition to regulating the expression of structural genes encoding enzymes of the primary pathway for CO2 fixation in R. sphaeroides, regB was also found to be required for the expression of a gene(s) important for the putative alternative CO2 fixation pathway(s) of this organism. A mutation in regB also blocked expression of structural genes of the cbb regulon in a strain of R. sphaeroides capable of aerobic CO2-dependent growth in the dark. It is thus apparent that regB is part of a two-component system and encodes a sensor kinase involved in the global regulation of both anoxygenic light-dependent- and oxygenic light-independent CO2 fixation as well as anoxygenic photosystem biosynthesis.
A Case of Great Expectations

One of the current buzz-words in the field of software engineering is Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE). CASE is mainly seen as a means to improve software quality, speed up the development process and support maintenance. Despite great expectations and aspirations for its practical use, the actual diffusion process of CASE seems nevertheless to be surprisingly slow. In this article we view CASE as a technological innovation and focus on factors affecting its diffusion, based on a survey of contemporary literature. The process of introducing CASE in enterprises is characterized, and major factors affecting this process are outlined. The article concludes by pointing to some discrepancies in the literature between what is generally believed to be certain and the documented empirical foundation of this certainty. There seems to be a case of “great expectations”, in the sense that many writings are based more on expectations than empirical evidence.
The Inhibition of Lipase and Glucosidase Activities by Acacia Polyphenol

Acacia polyphenol (AP) extracted from the bark of the black wattle tree (Acacia mearnsii) is rich in unique catechin-like flavan-3-ols, such as robinetinidol and fisetinidol. In an in vitro study, we measured the inhibitory activity of AP on lipase and glucosidase. In addition, we evaluated the effects of AP on absorption of orally administered olive oil, glucose, maltose, sucrose and starch solution in mice. We found that AP concentration-dependently inhibited the activity of lipase, maltase and sucrase with an IC50 of 0.95, 0.22 and 0.60 mg ml−1, respectively. In ICR mice, olive oil was administered orally immediately after oral administration of AP solution, and plasma triglyceride concentration was measured. We found that AP significantly inhibited the rise in plasma triglyceride concentration after olive oil loading. AP also significantly inhibited the rise in plasma glucose concentration after maltose and sucrose loading, and this effect was more potent against maltose. AP also inhibited the rise in plasma glucose concentration after glucose loading and slightly inhibited it after starch loading. Our results suggest that AP inhibits lipase and glucosidase activities, which leads to a reduction in the intestinal absorption of lipids and carbohydrates.