Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bud and spear development of asparagus under constant temperature

Objectives of our study were to quantify the effects of apical dominance and bud cluster activity on asparagus yield patterns and to collect data for process-oriented modeling of the asparagus crop. Plants were grown in 40 L containers. After four years the soil above the asparagus crowns was removed and the containers were placed in a growth chamber at 20°C for three months. During this time, spear length was measured daily except at weekends, and spears were cut when longer than 25 cm. Each spear was assigned to a bud cluster, defined as a dense group of buds clearly distinct from other bud groups on the crown. Although temperature was constant, several properties measured in this study changed during the experiment. The number of active bud clusters first increased then decreased, the lag time between spears growing at the same cluster increased, and the relative growth rate of spears decreased. The constant increase of harvested spears per plant stopped abruptly when the plants ran out of viable buds. At the crop level, i.e. the average for all plants, which is normally monitored in field trials, the transition from linear yield increase to zero increase was less abrupt since plants stopped growing spears on different dates. In our study asparagus yield, i.e. the number of harvested spears, was not limited by low carbohydrate in storage roots, but by a lack of viable buds. This was concluded from the abrupt halt in spear production observed in all plants despite the fact that some plants still had considerable carbohydrate content.
Community-level sociodemographic characteristics and patient-centered medical home capacity.

PURPOSE Longitudinally (2008-2012) assess whether community-level sociodemographic characteristics were associated with patient-centered medical home (PCMH) capacity among primary care and specialty physician practices, and the extent to which variation in PCMH capacity can be accounted for by sociodemographic characteristics of the community. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH Linear growth curve models among 523 small and medium-sized physician practices that were members of a consortium of physician organizations pursuing the PCMH. FINDINGS Our analysis indicated that the average level of sociodemographic characteristics was typically not associated with the level of PCMH capacity, but the heterogeneity of the surrounding community is generally associated with lower levels of capacity. Furthermore, these relationships differed for interpersonal and technical dimensions of the PCMH. IMPLICATIONS Our findings suggest that PCMH capabilities may not be evenly distributed across communities and raise questions about whether such distributional differences influence the PCMH's ability to improve population health, especially the health of vulnerable populations. Such nuances highlight the challenges faced by practitioners and policy makers who advocate the continued expansion of the PCMH as a means of improving the health of local communities. ORIGINALITY/VALUE To date, most studies have focused cross-sectionally on practice characteristics and their association with PCMH adoption. Less understood is how physician practices' PCMH adoption varies as a function of the sociodemographic characteristics of the community in which the practice is located, despite work that acknowledges the importance of social context in decisions about adoption and implementation that can affect the dissemination of innovations.
Plantar and Pedal Puncture Wounds in Children: A Case Series Study From a Single Level I Trauma Center

ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to describe our experience in treatment of pediatric patient presenting with pedal puncture wound to our level I trauma center and describe our results for the need for hospitalization and/or surgery for these patients. MethodsChildren and adolescents 18 years and younger presenting with pedal puncture wounds from September 2009 to December of 2013 were retrospectively studied. Exclusion criteria included adult patients, wounds related to animal bites, lacerations associated with a motor vehicle collision or all-terrain vehicle accidents, gunshot wounds, degloving injuries, or injuries resulting in complex lacerations to the foot. ResultsA total of 147 children presented to emergency department (ED) with a pedal puncture wound. Average age was 9.8 years. Prophylactic antibiotic therapy was administered in 107 cases (72.8%). Fifteen patients (10%) were treated with intravenous or intramuscular antibiotics in the ED or after hospital admission, 81 patients (55%) were treated with oral medications (prescribed for them to be taken after discharge), and 35 patients (24%) received topical antibiotic treatment. Of the 147 patients included in the study, 9 patients (6%) required the need for hospitalization. Two patients were admitted for parenteral antibiotic treatment only, and 7 patients required formal surgical debridement in the operating room in addition to parenteral antibiotic therapy. ConclusionsThe majority of pediatric patients with pedal puncture wounds were treated in the ED with only a small percentage of patients requiring admission for either parenteral antibiotic treatment or formal surgical debridement.
The abundance, distribution and speciation of mercury in waters and sediments of the Adriatic Sea: a review

This review focuses on mercury speciation in the Adriatic Sea, a marginal sea of the Mediterranean, which represents its distinct biogeochemical subunit due to anthropogenic mercury loadings. The current knowledge about mercury cycling in the Adriatic is presented through an overview of the state of the art of research in this area: temporal and spatial distributions and occurrence of mercury species in seawater and sediment, and chemical transformations. We summarised research results of mercury speciation in order to describe its presence and fate in the Adriatic Sea. The Adriatic Sea represents a net source of mercury to the Mediterranean Sea due to the highest total mercury concentrations observed in the North Adriatic Sea and the highest methylmercury concentrations in the South Adriatic Pit. However, the biogeochemical cycle of mercury is not completely known and our understanding of mercury transport between compartments and its (bio)transformations is limited. Future research needs to focus on microbial and chemical processes of mercury transformations to improve our understanding of the impacts of mercury contamination on the environment and human health in the Adriatic Sea.
Behavior of dense and porous hydroxyapatite implants and tissue response in rat femoral defects.

Porous and dense hydroxyapatite cylinders (PHA and DHA) were implanted into cavities produced in rat femora and the sites of implantation were examined at different times over a period of 24 weeks by microradiologic and histological techniques. Microradiographs showed the presence of a layer of trabecular bone around the implants, which became more radiopaque and thinner along the experimental time. The microradiologic methodology used was suitable for the evaluation of the interface between hydroxyapatite and newly formed bone in nondecalcified materials. Microscopic observations showed that young bone grew over the surface of both types of implants after 1 and 2 weeks of surgery and that bone also grew inside PHA implants. Progressive bone absorption was observed in both types of implants after the fourth week. A layer of fibrous tissue was formed in the interface between new bone and DHA. Mature bone with haversian systems surrounded DHA implants and filled the pores of PHA implants throughout the experimental period. The pores of PHA implants were smaller than those commonly reported, which should have been a disadvantage, although it was observed that the extra cellular fluid induced disintegration of the ceramic granules, allowing the gradual growth of bone tissue into the spaces among them, without the interposition of fibrous tissue.
What drives compliance? The effect of deterrence and shame emotions on young drivers’ compliance with road laws

ABSTRACT Graduated driver licensing (GDL) is designed to reduce young driver injuries and fatalities on the road. While GDL systems impose additional restrictions on new drivers to reduce this crash risk, compliance with these restrictions and other licensing requirements can be low for young drivers. This research examines the influence of informal and formal deterrence measures on the compliance of provisionally licensed drivers, and the role that shame plays in mediating these relationships. The key independent variables measured were informal deterrence imparted by parents, formal deterrence imparted by police, and shame-related emotion, while compliance with road laws was the dependent variable. Using survey data from 151 young provisionally licensed drivers from Australia, the results indicate that informal deterrence, but not formal deterrence, is related to young drivers’ compliance with road rules. Further, the effect of informal deterrence on compliance behaviour was mediated by young drivers’ feelings of shame over wrong-doing. These findings suggest that internal psychological mechanisms need to be examined in addition to deterrence processes to understand young drivers’ compliance behaviour. Importantly, this study has key policy implications including the utilisation of third-party policing practices such as the inclusion of parents in monitoring young drivers’ behaviour on the road.
A sociological perspective of consumption morality

This paper considers how a sociological perspective of morality can inform understandings of consumption. In light of recent research that identifies moral forms of consumption practice at a socio-cultural level (e.g. ‘ethical consumers’ and ‘voluntary simplifiers’) it is apparent that an important relationship between consumption, society and morality continues to be of relevance and interest to consumer research. However, research into ethical consumption, fair trade, sustainability, green consumption and more recently consumer citizenship presuppose certain assumptions about the moral nature of the subject at the centre of their investigations whilst not evidencing an explicit or coherent understanding of the underlying sociological conception of morality itself. Accordingly, there is a need for consumer researchers framing their studies at a sociological level to be clearer about the conceptual nature of morality and, moreover, how it relates in a meaningful way to the theoretical claims made in their research. In response, this paper examines the dominant paradigmatic conceptualisations that constitute a sociological perspective of morality. Particularly, it considers (1) how a number of key sociological perspectives on morality can locate streams of consumer research better than is currently the case, (2) how these perspectives suggest that current research into fair trade and ethical consumption invoke a certain type of morality whereas a broader concept is available and finally (3) how a pluralist sociological conception of morality will allow consumer researchers to reframe the types of questions they can ask and so too the types of answers they may find. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Fear and Loathing in the Housing Market: Evidence from Search Query Data

We use Google search data to develop a broad-based and real-time index of housing distress. Unlike established indicators, this new Housing Distress Index (HDI) directly reflects sentiment revealed through search queries. Research findings indicate that the HDI provides important new insights in determination of national and city-specific housing returns, the VIX, foreclosures, and returns on subprime mortgage credit-default swaps. Further, the effects of housing distress on returns are asymmetric and stronger during times of crisis. Overall, results suggest that real estate and related markets are highly sensitive to vulnerabilities in household finances as captured by our measure of housing distress.
Comparing ISO/IEC 12207 and CMMI-DEV: Towards a mapping of ISO/IEC 15504-7

Software process improvement is a planned, managed and controlled effort which aims to enhance the capability of the software development processes of an organization. In particular, SPI often involves process reference models, process assessment methods and models that guide process improvement though specific standards such as the ISO and CMMI families. Recently, growing interest has been shown towards the need for harmonization of different improvement technologies with the aim of presenting an integrated vision about the standards. In this sense this paper presents a comparison between the process areas of CMMI-DEV and the processes described in the latest version of ISO/IEC 12207:2008. Based on these results we investigate the relationship between the CMMI-DEV and ISO/IEC 15504-7 models with the aim of identifying the degree of coverage of CMMI-DEV maturity levels in relation to ISO/IEC 15504-7.
Effects of Line Length, Line Spacing, and Line Number on Proofreading Performance and Scrolling of Chinese Text

Objective: The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effects and interactions of line length, line number, and line spacing on Chinese screen-based proofreading performance and amount of scrolling. Background: Proofreading is an important process, and much of it is now done on screen. The Chinese language is increasingly important, but very little work has been done on the factors that affect proofreading performance for Chinese passages. Method: Three display factors related to screen size, namely line length, line number, and line spacing, were selected to be investigated in an experiment to determine their effects on proofreading performance and amount of scrolling. Correlations between proofreading performance in time and accuracy and scrolling amount were also analyzed. Results: The results showed that line number and line spacing had significant main and interaction effects on both proofreading time and detection rate. Line length and line number influenced scrolling amount significantly, but there was no interaction effect for scrolling. Scrolling amount was negatively correlated with proofreading time and typo detection rate such that more scrolling movement was associated with faster proofreading, but lower detection rate. There was a trade-off between time and accuracy. Conclusion: For balancing time and detection rate and improving performance for on-screen Chinese proofreading, the display setting of medium line length (36 characters per line) with four lines and 1.5 line spacing should be used. Application: The findings provide information and recommendations for display factors and the screen design that should prove useful for improving proofreading time and accuracy.
Genetic Influences on Political Ideologies: Genome-Wide Findings on Three Populations, and a Mega-Twin Analysis of 19 Measures of Political Ideologies from Five Western Democracies

1. Genetic Epidemiology, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia 2. United States Studies Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia 3. Political Science, Microbiology and Biochemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, USA 4. Institut for Statskundskab, Syddansk Universitet, Odense, Denmark 5. Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Richmond, USA 6. Department of Government, Uppsala University, Sweden 7. Department of Political Science, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary 8. Wilf Family Department of Politics, New York University, NY 9. Political Science, Brown University, RI, USA 10. Casey Klofstad, University of Miami, FL, USA 11. Department of Economics, Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm, Sweden
Prevalence of eye disease in Brazilian patients with psoriatic arthritis

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to report the type and frequency of ocular manifestations in Brazilian psoriatic arthritis patients. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study in a Brazilian tertiary hospital. The test group included 40 patients who had psoriatic arthritis according to the Classification Criteria for Psoriatic Arthritis. A control group of 40 individuals was matched for age and gender. All of the patients underwent ophthalmic evaluation, which included best-corrected visual acuity, slit lamp and fundus examinations, and dry eye diagnostic tests (Schirmer I, tear break-up time and rose bengal). Demographic parameters were also evaluated. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 53.9±13.1 years; the mean disease duration was 8±10.5 years. Most of the patients were women (60%), and the majority had polyarticular disease (57.5%). Several ocular abnormalities were found, including punctate keratitis, pinguecula, blepharitis, pterygium, cataract, glaucoma, uveitis, and retinal microvascular abnormalities. There were no significant differences in the rates of these abnormalities compared with the control group, however. The Keratoconjunctivitis sicca and dry eye diagnostic tests were more often positive in the patients with psoriatic arthritis than in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, keratoconjunctivitis sicca was the most common ocular finding related to psoriatic arthritis. Therefore, we recommend early ophthalmologic evaluations for all psoriatic arthritis patients who complain of eye symptoms.
Cognitive Appraisal, Emotional Adjustment, and Adherence to Rehabilitation Following Knee Surgery

Cognitive appraisal models of adjustment to sport injury hold that cognitive appraisals of the injury determine emotional responses to the injury, which in turn influence behavioral responses (e.g., adherence to rehabilitation). To test this model, recreational and competitive athletes undergoing rehabilitation following knee surgery (N = 31) appraised their ability to cope with their injury and completed a measure of mood disturbance. Adherence to rehabilitation was measured in terms of attendance at rehabilitation sessions and physical therapist/athletic trainer ratings of patient behavior during rehabilitation sessions. As predicted, cognitive appraisal was associated with emotional disturbance. Emotional disturbance was inversely related to one measure of adherence (attendance) but was unrelated to the other measure of adherence (physical therapist/athletic trainer ratings). The results of this study provide support for cognitive appraisal models and suggest that emotional disturbance may be a marker .
The finance-growth nexus and financial sector environment: New evidence from Southeast Europe

Recent research has established a positive and causal link between financial development and economic growth in the long run. For this reason, financial sector reform has been regarded as conducive to faster growth in transition countries. In Southeast Europe, however, reform efforts in the first half of the 1990s failed to prevent inflationary finance in many countries, ultimately contributing to crises and large output losses. Only since the late 1990s, have tightened regulations and supervision as well as the opening of domestic banking sectors to foreign investors changed the environment of the financial sector in Southeast Europe positively. Our empirical evidence confirms that the improved quality of the financial sector and its environment has borne favourably on growth, more than financial deepening per se. Indeed, we do not find evidence of a positive impact of financial deepening on growth in the region. Conversely, together with macroeconomic stability, better creditor right protection and increasing foreign bank penetration are found to have a positive and significant impact on growth. JEL classification number: G21, G38, O16, P27 * ( ) European Central Bank and ( ) Ecares, Universite libre de Bruxelles. The paper builds on earlier versions presented at the KfW conference on “Innovative approaches to financial sector development in volatile environments”, Berlin, November 2002, and at the 9 Dubrovnik Economic Conference on “Banking and the Financial Sector in Transition and Emerging Market Economies”, Dubrovnik, June 2003. The authors are grateful to the conference participants, Roland Beck, Matthieu Bussiere, Francois Gurtner, Oscar CalvoGonzalez, Francesco Mazzaferro, Tomasz Michalski, Ralph Suppel, Franziska Schobert, Nikolaus Siegfried, Christian Thimann, Pierre van der Haegen and Andrea Wolfel for helpful comments on earlier drafts. Research assistance from Andre Geis and Calin Arcalean is gratefully acknowledged. The views expressed in the paper do not necessarily represent those of the European Central Bank. E-mail for correspondence: adalbert.winkler@ecb.int. Draft 20 October 2005
HOMA1-IR and HOMA2-IR indexes in identifying insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome: Brazilian Metabolic Syndrome Study (BRAMS).

OBJECTIVE To investigate cut-off values for HOMA1-IR and HOMA2-IR to identify insulin resistance (IR) and metabolic syndrome (MS), and to assess the association of the indexes with components of the MS. METHODS Nondiabetic subjects from the Brazilian Metabolic Syndrome Study were studied (n = 1,203, 18 to 78 years). The cut-off values for IR were determined from the 90th percentile in the healthy group (n = 297) and, for MS, a ROC curve was generated for the total sample. RESULTS In the healthy group, HOMA-IR indexes were associated with central obesity, triglycerides and total cholesterol (p < 0.001). The cut-off values for IR were: HOMA1-IR > 2.7 and HOMA2-IR > 1.8; and, for MS were: HOMA1-IR > 2.3 (sensitivity: 76.8%; specificity: 66.7%) and HOMA2-IR > 1.4 (sensitivity: 79.2%; specificity: 61.2%). CONCLUSION The cut-off values identified for HOMA1-IR and HOMA2-IR indexes have a clinical and epidemiological application for identifying IR and MS in Westernized admixtured multi-ethnic populations.
Cross-phase modulation distortion measurements in multispan WDM systems

We present an experimental study of cross phase modulation crosstalk in wavelength-division-multiplexed systems. Measurements were performed with single and multiple spans of conventional single-mode and nonzero dispersion-shifted fiber. We show that the magnitude of cross phase modulation induced crosstalk is linearly proportional to the powers of the interfering channels and inversely proportional to their wavelength separation. This is consistent with previously obtained theoretical results.
Pre-treatment and post-treatment changes in platelet indices in patients with immune thrombocytopenia.

OBJECTIVES To investigate if there is a correlation between pre- and post-treatment mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet size deviation width (PDW), and platecrit (PCT) values and to investigate whether we can use them as laboratory parameters to estimate the relapses of immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) patients. METHODS Patients with ITP diagnosed at the Hematology Clinic, School of Medicine, Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey between January 2005 and December 2011 were evaluated by a retrospective review of our patients' records. Eighty-one patients with ITP were collected. The first relapse was termed as the hospitalization day before second-line therapy, and the second relapse was termed as the hospitalization day before alternate second-line therapy. We provided the following data of ITP patients at diagnosis, before and after first relapses, and before and after second relapses: presenting symptoms, platelet count, MPV, PDW, and PCT values. RESULTS We obtained significant statistical differences between MPV values after initial treatment and before second-line therapy (first relapse) (p=0.005), between MPV values after splenectomy and before immunosuppressive or immune modulator therapy (second relapse) (p=0.028), and also, between PCT values after splenectomy and before second relapse (p=0.043). CONCLUSION Mean platelet volume is gradually increasing before first and second relapses, and again normal values are being obtained after appropriate therapies. We conclude that MPV is a useful parameter as a predictor of relapses.