Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Influence of Risk Factors in Decision-Making Process for Open Source Software Adoption

“Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM,” was a widely used cliche in the 1970s in the corporate IT (information technology) world. Since then, the traditional process of purchasing software has dramatically changed, challenged by the advent of open source software (OSS). Since its inception in the 1980s, OSS has matured, grown, and become one of the important driving forces of the enterprise ecosystem. However, it has also brought important IT security risks that are impacting the OSS IT adoption decision-making process. The recent Heartbleed bug demonstrated the grandeur of the issue. While much of the noise relates to the amplification of perceived risks by the popular mass media coverage, the effect is that many enterprises, mainly for risk reasons, have still chosen not to adopt OSS. We investigated “how do information security related characteristics of OSS affect the risk perception and adoption decision of OSS” by conducting an online survey of 188 IT decision-makers. The proposed Open Source Risk Adoption Model offers novel insights on the importance of the perceived risk antecedents. Our research brings new theoretical contributions, such as understanding the perceived IT security risk (PISR) relationship with adoption intention (AI) in the OSS context, for researchers and important insights for IT information professionals. We have found that IT security risk has a significant role in OSS adoption intention. Our results offer possible future research directions and extend existing theoretical understanding of OSS adoption.
THE EFFECTS OF STABILITY BALL TRAINING ON SPINAL STABILITY IN SEDENTARY INDIVIDUALS

Stability ball training (SBT) is believed to improve spinal stability (SS) and could reduce the risk of back pain in sedentary individuals. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of SBT on SS. Twenty sedentary individuals were randomly assigned to either an experimental group that performed SBT twice per week for 10 weeks or to a control group. Differences between groups were assessed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures. The experimental group improved significantly (p < 0.05) on the static back-endurance test from pretest (149.3 ± 72.3 seconds) to posttest (194.6 ± 56.7 seconds) and the side bridge test from pretest (45.4 ± 39.4 seconds) to posttest (71.3 ± 59.7 seconds). Back endurance for the control group did not change from pretest (123.4 ± 64.9 seconds) to posttest (87.5 ± 40.2 seconds), nor did the results of the side bridge test change for this group from pretest (41.8 ± 26.4 seconds) to posttest (51.6 ± 35.9 seconds). These findings illustrate that SBT may provide improvements in SS within this population. Practitioners might use SBT exercises where the position of the spine is maintained during the early phases of back-pain prevention programs. This type of programming might be beneficial to individuals who spend a good deal of time sitting (i.e., in corporate fitness programs) or for individuals who are prone to back pain and have been cleared to exercise. Also, the side bridge and static back endurance assessments may be good choices for measuring SS in field settings.
Patent ductus arteriosus in the preterm infant: new insights into pathogenesis and clinical management

Postnatal closure of the ductus arteriosus is crucial in the circulatory adaptation of the newborn to extrauterine life. In recent years, many studies have been performed to improve our understanding of both the physiology of the ductus arteriosus in the fetus and newborn, and the mechanisms underlying persistent ductal patency in the preterm infant. The pharmacological treatment of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) remains a controversial issue. This article reviews the recent literature on the pathogenesis and clinical management of PDA in the preterm infant.
The Incidence and Prevalence of Cluster Headache: A Meta-Analysis of Population-Based Studies

Cluster headache is a trigemino-autonomic cephalgia with a low prevalence. Several population-based studies on its prevalence and incidence have been performed, but with different methodology resulting in different figures. We analysed all available population-based epidemiological studies on cluster headache and compared the data in a meta-analysis. The pooled data showed a lifetime prevalence of 124 per 100 000 [confidence interval (CI) 101, 151] and a 1-year prevalence of 53 per 100 000 (CI 26, 95). The overall sex ratio was 4.3 (male to female), it was higher in chronic cluster headache (15.0) compared with episodic cluster headache (3.8). The ratio of episodic vs. chronic cluster headache was 6.0. Our analysis revealed a relatively stable lifetime prevalence, which suggests that about one in 1000 people suffers from cluster headache, the prevalence being independent of the region of the population study. The sex ratio (male to female) is higher than published in several patient-based epidemiological studies.
Nonlinear Reliable Control With Application to a Vehicle Antilock Brake System

This paper explores the design of active reliable control systems for a class of uncertain nonlinear affine systems using an integral-type sliding mode control (ISMC) scheme. The presented scheme not only maintains the main advantages of the ISMC design, including robustness, rapid response and easy implementation, but it can also tolerate some actuator faults when fault detection and diagnosis information is available. In this study, the uncertainties and/or disturbances are not required to be of the matched type; however, when they are matched, the state trajectories of the nominal healthy subsystem and the uncertain faulty system are identical. As a result, engineers can predictively address the matched uncertain faulty system performance in light of the performance of the nominal healthy subsystem. The analytic results are also applied to the study of a vehicle brake reliable control system. Simulation results demonstrate the benefits of the proposed scheme.
Probable Chemical Hypoxia Effects on Progress of CNV Through Induction of Promoter CpG Demethylation and Overexpression of IL17RC in Human RPE Cells

ABSTRACT Purpose: To survey the changes of promoter CpG methylation status and mRNA expression of IL17RC (interleukin 17 receptor C) gene in retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells under chemical hypoxia condition for choroidal neovascularization (CNV) modeling in vitro. Materials and Methods: RPE cells were cultured in both untreated as a control group and treated by cobalt chloride media as a hypoxia group for various concentrations (100–150μM) and times (24–36 hrs.) To confirm chemical hypoxia condition, mRNA expression of HIF (Hypoxia Inducible Factor) -1α, -2α, and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) was compared between two groups by Real-time PCR. Also, in normoxia and hypoxia conditions, IL17RC expression changes and promoter CpG methylation status were evaluated by Real-time PCR and methylation-specific PCR (MSP) techniques, respectively. Results: Overexpression of HIF-1α, HIF-2α, and VEGF was significant in hypoxia versus normoxia conditions. Our data showed overexpression of IL17RC (2.1- to 6.3-fold) and decreasing of its promoter methylation in comparison with hypoxia and normoxia conditions. It was found that there are significant association between promoter methylation status and expression of IL17RC in chemical hypoxia condition. Conclusion: Therefore, methylation of IL17RC could play as a marker in CNV and degeneration of RPE cells in vitro. Additionally, HIF-α and methylation phenomena may be considered as critical targets for blocking in angiogenesis of age-related degeneration in future studies.
Aspirin and Colorectal Cancer: Back to the Future

Abundant epidemiologic evidence indicates that regular and long-term use of aspirin is associated with a significant reduction in the incidence of colorectal cancer. The long duration of aspirin needed to prevent colorectal cancer is believed to be due to inhibition of precursor lesions known as adenomas, the recurrence of which is inhibited by aspirin in randomized trials. Aspirin intake has also been associated with a statistically significant improvement in patient survival after curative resection of colorectal cancer in large observational studies. In these cohorts, the survival benefit of aspirin was shown to depend upon the level of COX-2 expression in the primary colorectal cancer. More recent analysis of patient tumors from these observational cohorts suggests that the benefit of aspirin may be limited to specific molecular subtypes. Aspirin intake following colorectal cancer resection was associated with a significant improvement of survival in patients whose tumors carried mutant, but not wild-type, copies of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3KCA) gene, especially tumors that overexpressed COX-2. A mechanistic explanation is suggested by the finding that inhibition of COX-mediated prostaglandin E2 synthesis by aspirin attenuates PI3K signaling activity that is known to regulate cancer cell proliferation and survival. Aspirin has also been shown to reduce the incidence of colorectal cancers bearing wild-type, but not mutant alleles of the BRAFV600E oncogene. Although provocative, the potential utility of these molecular markers for predicting aspirin efficacy awaits prospective evaluation in clinical trials. If validated, these findings may support a personalized approach to using aspirin for the therapy of colorectal cancer. Clin Cancer Res; 20(5); 1087–94. ©2013 AACR.
Age-associated B vitamin deficiency as a determinant of chronic diseases

The number of elderly individuals is growing rapidly worldwide and degenerative diseases constitute an increasing problem in terms of both public health and cost. Nutrition plays a role in the ageing process and there has been intensive research during the last decade on B vitamin-related risk factors in vascular and neurological diseases and cancers. Data from epidemiological studies indicate that subclinical deficiency in most water-soluble B vitamins may occur gradually during ageing, possibly due to environmental, metabolic, genetic, nutritional and pathological determinants, as well as to lifestyle, gender and drug consumption. Older adults have distinct absorption, cell transport and metabolism characteristics that may alter B vitamin bioavailability. Case–control and longitudinal studies have shown that, concurrent with an insufficient status of certain B vitamins, hyperhomocysteinaemia and impaired methylation reactions may be some of the mechanisms involved before a degenerative pathology becomes evident. The question that arises is whether B vitamin inadequacies contribute to the development of degenerative diseases or result from ageing and disease. The present paper aims to give an overview of these issues at the epidemiological, clinical and molecular levels and to discuss possible strategies to prevent B vitamin deficiency during ageing.
Fracture behaviour of wood and its composites. A review COST Action E35 2004–2008: Wood machining – micromechanics and fracture

Abstract Fracturing of wood and its composites is a process influenced by many parameters, on the one hand coming from the structure and properties of wood itself, and on the other from influences from outside, such as loading mode, velocity of deformation, moisture, temperature, etc. Both types of parameters may be investigated experimentally at different levels of magnification, which allows a better understanding of the mechanisms of fracturing. Fracture mechanical methods serve to quantify the fracture process of wood and wood composites with different deformation and fracturing features. Since wood machining is mainly dominated by the fracture properties of wood, knowledge of the different relevant mechanisms is essential. Parameters that influence the fracture process, such as wood density, orientation, loading mode, strain rate and moisture are discussed in the light of results obtained during recent years. Based on this, refined modelling of the different processes becomes possible.
A role for neuropeptide Y in rat iridial arterioles.

A role for neuropeptide Y (NPY) in neurotransmission in rat iridial arterioles has been investigated. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis has demonstrated mRNA expression for both Y1 and Y2 receptors in the superior cervical ganglion and iris. The Y1agonist [Leu31,Pro34]NPY caused a dose-dependent constriction of iris arterioles (50% effective concentration of 10-8 M), but, at low concentrations (10-9 and 10-10 M), it failed to potentiate either submaximal responses to norepinephrine (10-6 M) or submaximal, noradrenergic responses to nerve stimulation. In contrast, 10-7 M [Leu31,Pro34]NPY potentiated submaximal, noradrenergic responses to nerve stimulation (10 Hz, ≤1 s) and to a concentration of norepinephrine (10-7 M) which produced only small contractions. The Y1antagonist 1229U91 blocked contractions induced by [Leu31,Pro34]NPY. Stimulation of the nerves for longer periods (10 or 20 Hz; 5, 30, or 60 s) revealed a component of the response which was reduced by 1229U91. This component was not apparent after brief stimuli (10 Hz, ≤1 s), even when opposing receptor pathways were blocked. The Y2 agonist N-acetyl-[Leu28,Leu31]NPY24-36had little effect on arterioles preconstricted with either high potassium or an α2-adrenoceptor agonist, or on nerve-mediated contractions. Results suggest that NPY, released from sympathetic nerves during long-duration, high-frequency stimulation, activates Y1receptors on iris arterioles to produce vasoconstriction and to potentiate responses to low concentrations of norepinephrine.
Forensic DNA identification of animal-derived trace evidence: tools for linking victims and suspects.

AIM To evaluate the population substructure of purebred dogs and cats in order to estimate the true significance of a microsatellite-based DNA match for use as evidence in legal proceedings. The high frequency of animal hair as a forensic evidence submission necessitates the development of mitochondrial analysis tools as well. METHODS Random samples from a large convenience collection of veterinary diagnostic submissions from the western USA were used, as well as contributed samples of unrelated purebred cats and dogs. Dogs (n=558) were profiled with 17 microsatellites and the data evaluated for Hardy Weinberg and linkage equilibrium. The mitochondrial control region (D loop) of dogs (n=348) and cats (n=167) was sequenced to determine the haplotype distribution. RESULTS Domestic dogs in the western United States showed significant population substructure with marked associations within loci but no disequilibrium between loci. A population substructure coefficient Theta=0.11 is recommended for calculating genotype frequencies. Mitochondrial haplotypes in cats and dogs show less variation than human haplotypes. CONCLUSION Although population substructure occurs in domestic dogs (and can be inferred in cats), the discriminatory power of microsatellite analysis is dramatic with even partial DNA types, strongly supporting the prosecution of perpetrators in five discussed cases. Mitochondrial analysis, while less powerful, adds a layer of evidence in four discussed cases.
Experimental Results on the Application of Satisfiability Algorithms to Scheduling Problems

Considerable progress has been made in recent years in understanding and solving propositional satisfiability problems. Much of this work has been based on experiments on randomly generated 3SAT problems. One generally accepted shortcoming of this work is that it is not clear how the results and algorithms developed will carry over to "real" constraint-satisfaction problems. This paper reports on a series of experiments applying satisfiability algorithms to scheduling problems. We have found that scheduling problems bear fairly little resemblance to the previously studied hard randomly generated 3SAT problems. In particular, scheduling problems tend to be quite large but under-constrained, Further, forward checking (e.g., unit propagation) seems to be much more important on these problems than on hard random 3SAT problems. We have also found that the domain-specific heuristics developed to solve scheduling problems make surprisingly little difference in the time required to solve the problems. We suggest that the best algorithms for this problem class will probably be hill-climbing algorithms that incorporate some sort of forward checking.
The dissociation of the Fgf-feedback loop controls the limbless state of the neck

In tetrapods, limbs develop at two specific positions along the anteroposterior axis of the embryo, whereas other regions of the embryo, most prominently the neck and the flank, are limbless. However, the flank can generate an ectopic limb when the Fgf-feedback loop crucial for the initiation of limb budding is activated. Thus, despite its limblessness, the flank is a limb-competent area. Using the chick embryo as model, we investigated whether the neck, as the flank, has the competence to form a limb, and what mechanism may regulate its limblessness. We show that forelimb lateral mesoderm plus ectoderm grafted into the neck can continue limb development, suggesting that the neck does not actively inhibit this process. However, neck tissues themselves do not support or take part in limb formation. Hence, the neck is limb-incompetent. This is due to the dismantling of Fgf signalling at distinct points of the MAPK signalling cascade in the neck lateral mesoderm and ectoderm.
Modeling of AlN/GaN superlattices for integration in near-UV distributed Bragg reflectors

One of the main problem for the realization of high reflectivity GaN-based Bragg mirrors operating in the near-UV wavelength range is to limit the crack formation due to the lattice mismatch between the different nitride compounds while keeping a large refractive index contrast. Recent works have demonstrated that the introduction of several AlN/GaN superlattices (SLs) in a classical AlN/GaN quarter wavelength layers mirror structure strongly improved the crystalline quality and therefore the optical properties of such a mirror. In this work, several AlN/GaN SLs were studied for their direct use as pseudo-alloy layers pair material in a Bragg mirror. Such a configuration should allow combining the limitation of cracks by SLs with the improvement of the index contrast. First, the band structure of different AlN/GaN SLs was simulated using a self-consistent 8-band-k.p Schrödinger-Poisson solver. Then, the influence of surrounding layers such as AlN bulk ones on the band structure were considered. Using miniband-to-miniband transitions deduced from these calculations, refractive indices of these SLs were finally estimated for the design of an optimized high reflective Bragg mirror at 450 nm.
Endothelial NO-Synthase Gene-Enhanced Progenitor Cell Therapy for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: The PHACeT Trial.

RATIONALE Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) remains a progressive and eventually lethal disease characterized by increased pulmonary vascular resistance because of loss of functional lung microvasculature, primarily at the distal (intracinar) arteriolar level. Cell-based therapies offer the potential to repair and regenerate the lung microcirculation and have shown promise in preclinical evaluation in experimental models of PAH. OBJECTIVE The Pulmonary Hypertension and Angiogenic Cell Therapy (PHACeT) trial was a phase 1, dose-escalating clinical study of the tolerability of culture-derived endothelial progenitor cells, transiently transfected with endothelial nitric oxide synthase, in patients with PAH refractory to PAH-specific therapies. METHODS AND RESULTS Seven to 50 million endothelial nitric oxide synthase-transfected endothelial progenitor cells, divided into 3 doses on consecutive days, were delivered into the right atrium via a multiport pulmonary artery catheter during continuous hemodynamic monitoring in an intensive care unit setting. Seven patients (5 women) received treatment from December 2006 to March 2010. Cell infusion was well tolerated, with no evidence of short-term hemodynamic deterioration; rather, there was a trend toward improvement in total pulmonary resistance during the 3-day delivery period. However, there was 1 serious adverse event (death) which occurred immediately after discharge in a patient with severe, end stage disease. Although there were no sustained hemodynamic improvements at 3 months, 6-minute walk distance was significantly increased at 1, 3, and 6 months. CONCLUSION Delivery of endothelial progenitor cells overexpressing endothelial nitric oxide synthase was tolerated hemodynamically in patients with PAH. Furthermore, there was evidence of short-term hemodynamic improvement, associated with long-term benefits in functional and quality of life assessments. However, future studies are needed to further establish the efficacy of this therapy. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION URL: http://www.clinicaltrials. gov. Unique identifier: NCT00469027.
The CQC Algorithm: Cycling in Graphs to Semantically Enrich and Enhance a Bilingual Dictionary

Bilingual machine-readable dictionaries are knowledge resources useful in many automatic tasks. However, compared to monolingual computational lexicons like WordNet, bilingual dictionaries typically provide a lower amount of structured information such as lexical and semantic relations, and often do not cover the entire range of possible translations for a word of interest. In this paper we present Cycles and Quasi-Cycles (CQC), a novel algorithm for the automated disambiguation of ambiguous translations in the lexical entries of a bilingual machine-readable dictionary. The dictionary is represented as a graph, and cyclic patterns are sought in this graph to assign an appropriate sense tag to each translation in a lexical entry. Further, we use the algorithm's output to improve the quality of the dictionary itself, by suggesting accurate solutions to structural problems such as misalignments, partial alignments and missing entries. Finally, we successfully apply CQC to the task of synonym extraction.
Associations of renal vascular resistance with albuminuria in adolescents and young adults.

BACKGROUND Renal vascular resistance [resistive index (RI)] has been associated with albuminuria in patients with type 2 diabetes. We studied the correlations between renal artery RI and urinary albumin excretion in adolescents and young adults. METHODS From May 2006 through September 2008, we established a cohort of adolescents and young adults based on previous history of elevated blood pressure (EBP) or normal blood pressure in childhood. This cohort was selected from the 1992-2000 nationwide mass urine screening of school children aged 6-18 years in Taiwan. From October through December 2008, we called back these adolescents and young adults living in Taipei to participate in a renal vascular stiffness study. Linear mixed regression models were applied to study the correlation between renal artery RI and urinary albumin excretion after controlling for cardiovascular (CV) risk factors. RESULTS Of the 147 subjects enrolled in this study, 67 had macroalbuminuria, 36 had microalbuminuria and 44 had normoalbuminuria. Except for high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, most CV risk factors did not differ significantly among these three groups. Mean RI were similar for the three groups. Neither log (urinary albumin concentration) nor log (urinary albumin:creatinine ratio) correlated with RI. Step-wise linear mixed regression models showed that RI was significantly associated only with male gender and diastolic blood pressure, but not with urinary albumin excretion or EBP in childhood. CONCLUSION Renal artery RI is not associated with urinary albumin excretion in nondiabetic adolescents and young adults.