Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Privacy Concerns on Privacy Recommenders

Location-sharing services such as Facebook and Foursquare/Swarm have become increasingly popular, due to the ease at which users can share their locations, and participate in services, games and other applications that leverage these locations. But it is important for people who use these services to configure appropriate location-privacy preferences so that they can control to whom they want to share their location information. Manually configuring these preferences may be burdensome and confusing, and so location-privacy preference recommenders based on crowdsourcing preferences from other users have been proposed. Whether people will accept the recommended preferences acquired from other users, who they may not know or trust, has not, however, been investigated. In this paper, we present a user experiment (n=99) to explore what factors influence people's acceptance of location-privacy preference recommenders. We find that 44% of our participants have privacy concerns about such recommenders. These concerns are shown to have a negative effect (p<0.001) on their acceptance of the recommendations and their satisfaction about their choices. Furthermore, users' acceptance of recommenders varies according to both context and recommendations being made. Our findings are potentially useful to designers of location-sharing services and privacy recommenders.
Understanding Linkage Rules in Plant-Pollinator Networks by Using Hierarchical Models That Incorporate Pollinator Detectability and Plant Traits

The analysis of mutualistic networks has become a central tool in answering theoretical and applied questions regarding our understanding of ecological processes. Significant gaps in knowledge do however need to be bridged in order to effectively and accurately be able to describe networks. Main concern are the incorporation of species level information, accounting for sampling limitations and understanding linkage rules. Here I propose a simple method to combine plant pollinator effort-limited sampling with information about plant community to gain understanding of what drives linkage rules, while accounting for possible undetected linkages. I use hierarchical models to estimate the probability of detection of each plant-pollinator interaction in 12 Mediterranean plant-pollinator networks. As it is possible to incorporate plant traits as co-variables in the models, this method has the potential to be used for predictive purposes, such as identifying undetected links among existing species, as well as potential interactions with new plant species. Results show that pollinator detectability is very skewed and usually low. Nevertheless, 84% of the models are enhanced by the inclusion of co-variables, with flower abundance and inflorescence type being the most commonly retained co-variables. The predicted networks increase network Connectance by 13%, but not Nestedness, which is known to be robust to sampling effects. However, 46% of the pollinator interactions in the studied networks comprised a single observation and hence could not be modeled. The hierarchical modeling approach suggested here is highly flexible and can be used on binary or frequency networks, accommodate different observers or include collection day weather variables as confounding factors. An R script is provided for a rapid adoption of this method.
Distributed and Truncated Reduced-Order Observer Based Output Feedback Consensus of Multi-Agent Systems

This technical note is concerned with output feedback consensus of both continuous-time and discrete-time multi-agent systems (MASs) characterized by high-order linear systems with directed communication topologies. Distributed reduced-order observer based protocols are established by only using the relative outputs and inputs of neighboring agents. It is shown that consensusability by the proposed output feedback protocols is equivalent to the consensusability by state feedback protocol. Under the condition that the open-loop dynamics of the MASs is not exponentially unstable, a truncated reduced-order observer based protocol utilizing only the relative outputs of neighboring agents is also established. A numerical example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approaches.
A Study on the Relationship between Organizational Justice and Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Hospitals

This study was conducted in order to determine organizational justice and organizational citizenship behavior levels of hospital workers and test the relationship between the perception of organizational justice and organizational citizenship behavior. To that end, Organizational Justice Scale, Organizational Citizenship Behavior Scale and a questionnaire about personality traits of participants were applied to the personnel serving at a public hospital in Turkey. As a result of the study, it was found that general justice perception of the participants is at a high level, while their perception of organizational citizenship behavior is at a moderate level. In the correlation analysis, positive and significant relations were determined between the dimensions of organizational justice and organizational citizenship behavior. Results of the correlation analysis indicated that the variables of procedural justice, distributive justice, interactional justice and informational justice, the dimensions of organizational justice, account for 22.7% of change in organizational citizenship behavior. Furthermore, it was observed that only the dimensions of procedural justice and interactional justice have significant impact on organizational citizenship behavior. The findings that were obtained as a result of the study are evaluated under the literature and necessary recommendations are made for healthcare administrators and researchers.
Toxicity of Urban PM10 and Relation with Tracers of Biomass Burning

The chemical composition of particles varies with space and time and depends on emission sources, atmospheric chemistry and weather conditions. Evidence suggesting that particles differ in toxicity depending on their chemical composition is growing. This in vitro study investigated the biological effects of PM10 in relation to PM-associated chemicals. PM10 was sampled in ambient air at an urban traffic site (Borgerhout) and a rural background location (Houtem) in Flanders (Belgium). To characterize the toxic potential of PM10, airway epithelial cells (Beas-2B cells) were exposed to particles in vitro. Different endpoints were studied including cell damage and death (cell viability) and the induction of interleukin-8 (IL-8). The mutagenic capacity was assessed using the Ames II Mutagenicity Test. The endotoxin levels in the collected samples were analyzed and the oxidative potential (OP) of PM10 particles was evaluated by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Chemical characteristics of PM10 included tracers for biomass burning (levoglucosan, mannosan and galactosan), elemental and organic carbon (EC/OC) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Most samples displayed dose-dependent cytotoxicity and IL-8 induction. Spatial and temporal differences in PM10 toxicity were seen. PM10 collected at the urban site was characterized by increased pro-inflammatory and mutagenic activity as well as higher OP and elevated endotoxin levels compared to the background area. Reduced cell viability (−0.46 < rs < −0.35, p < 0.01) and IL-8 induction (−0.62 < rs < −0.67, p < 0.01) were associated with all markers for biomass burning, levoglucosan, mannosan and galactosan. Furthermore, direct and indirect mutagenicity were associated with tracers for biomass burning, OC, EC and PAHs. Multiple regression analyses showed levoglucosan to explain 16% and 28% of the variance in direct and indirect mutagenicity, respectively. Markers for biomass burning were associated with altered cellular responses and increased mutagenic activity. These findings may indicate a role of biomass burning in the observed adverse health effect of particulate matter.
Effect of Lanthanum Addition on the Microstructure ofMg-4Al Alloy

This research was to determine the effect of rare earth metal (REM) on the as-cast microstructure of Mg-4Al alloy. The rare earth metal used here is Lanthanum to produce Mg-4Al-1.5La alloy. The microstructure was characterized by optical microscopy. The phases of this alloy were identified by X-ray diffraction. The microstructure of Mg-4Al consists of α-Mg and grain boundaries with precipitated phase particles. With the addition of Lanthanum, three distinct phases were identified in the X-ray diffraction patterns of the as cast Mg-4Al-1.5La: Mg, Al11La3, Al4La. The Mg17Al12 phase was not detected. The addition of Lanthanium increases the hardness and decrease the wear rate of Mg-4Al.
Herbicides as Potential Chemotherapeutic Agents Against Parasitic Protozoa

Herbicides refer to a large number of compounds widely used to kill plants that interfere with the growth of desired crops, thereby improving the productivity of the crop system. One group of herbicides that includes compounds generally designated as dinitroanilines has been shown to interfere with plant cells by interrupting mitosis and the formation of multinucleated cells. Research has shown that these effects are due to interference with microtubules, i.e., a cytoskeleton structure that is ubiquitous in eukaryotic cells and plays a fundamental role in several biological processes, including the determination and maintenance of cell shape, the motility of several cell types that use flagella and cilia for locomotion, the intracellular transport of organelles, and the movement of chromosomes during cell division. Other processes involving microtubules are not as well characterized. Previous research has shown that dinitroanilines interfere with microtubules by binding to sites on the surface of the longitudinal contacts established between the tubulin subunits that contain lysine and arginine residues, which in turn bind to the nitrile group of dinitroaniline [1,2].
Extraction and Characterization of Essential Oils from Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsl.) A. Gray

The essential oils associated with the flowers of Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsl.) A. Gray were extracted and characterized via hydrodistillation and Gas Chromatography. Hydrodistillation was done in an all-glass Clevenger-type apparatus. The extracts from the hydrodistillation were subjected to gas chromatography where the components of the essential oils were separated based on their molecular weights, identified and characterized. The study characterized forty-five components (essential oils) and these include: Cymene, Cinnamic aldehyde, Tricyclene, α-Pinene, β-Pinene, Sabinene, Camphene, Limonene, Benzyl alcohol, Cisocimene, Myrcene, Allo-ocimene, Pinene-2-ol, α-Thujene, Thymol, Carvacrol, 3-Methoxyacetophenone, γ-Terpinene, Citronellal, Neral, Geranial, Borneol, Citronellol, Linalool, 1,8-Cineole, α-Terpineol, Terpinen-4-ol, Germacrene D, Thymyl Methl Ether, Linalyl acetate, Borneol acetate, Geranyl acetate, αCubebene, β-Caryophyllene, γ-Cardinene, β-Elemene, Germacrene B, α-Caryophyllene, α-Copane, Acetyleugenol, α-Selinene, γ-Muurolene, Elemicin, β-Selinene and Caryophyllene oxide. Out of these, αpinene, β-caryophyllene, β-pinene, Germacrene D and 1,8-Cineole were found to be the major constituents with 34.42%, 22.34%, 11.14%, 11.13% and 8.76% respectively.
Cortical actin contributes to spatial organization of ER–PM junctions

Endoplasmic reticulum–plasma membrane (EM–PM) junctions serve as the platform for several key cellular activities. Super/high-resolution imaging combined with quantitative analysis reveals morphology and distribution of ER–PM junctions. Evidence suggests the importance of F-actin to these junctional properties and cellular activities mediated by ER–PM junctions.
A Randomized Study of Standard versus Double dose Oseltamivir for Treating Influenza in the Community

Background The neuraminidase inhibitors are the treatment of choice for influenza virus infection. Oseltamivir-resistant (OsR) strains of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 are described, but the effect of higher dose oseltamivir on efficacy, safety and emergence of resistance has not been addressed in the developed setting in outpatients. The objectives of the study were to compare standard dose (SD) versus double dose (DD) oseltamivir regimens for frequency of detecting OsR influenza virus, clinical disease resolution, virological clearance and adverse events. Methods This was an unblinded randomized controlled trial of community-based patients with confirmed influenza. Participants were randomized to a 5-day regimen of either SD or DD oseltamivir. Results Of 52 participants (aged 4.8–54.8 years), 25 received SD and 27 DD oseltamivir. Clinical resolution did not differ by dosing regimen (P=0.43); neither did virological clearance differ for either influenza A (P=0.20) or B (P=0.70). Adverse events, predominantly gastrointestinal, were greater with DD than SD (P=0.04). One OsR strain was detected prior to treatment and two individuals developed OsR strains during treatment, one each on SD and DD. Those with OsR strains did not appear to have a different clinical course. Conclusions DD oseltamivir did not appear to provide a clinical or virological advantage, nor reduce the emergence of oseltamivir resistance, but our study was underpowered. Adverse events occurred more frequently on DD compared to SD oseltamivir.
Factors associated with polypharmacy in primary care: a cross-sectional analysis of data from The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA)

Objectives While older age and ill health are known to be associated with polypharmacy, this paper aims to identify whether wealth, body mass index (BMI), smoking and alcohol consumption are also associated with polypharmacy (5–9 prescribed medications) and hyperpolypharmacy prevalence (≥10 prescribed medications), among older people living in England. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing Wave 6 (2012–2013). Participants 7730 participants aged over 50 years. Data synthesis Two multivariate models were created. HR with corresponding 95% CI, for polypharmacy and hyperpolypharmacy, were calculated after adjusting for gender, age, wealth, smoking, alcohol consumption, BMI, self-rated health and the presence of a chronic health condition. Results Lower wealth (lowest wealth quintile vs highest wealth quintile, adjusted HR 1.28; 95% CI 1.04 to 1.69, P=0.02) and obesity (adjusted HR 1.81; 95% CI 1.53 to 2.15, p<0.01) were significantly associated with polypharmacy. Increasing age (50–59 years vs 70–79 years, adjusted HR 3.42; 95% CI 2.81 to 4.77, p<0.01) and the presence of a chronic health condition (adjusted HR 2.94; 95% CI 2.55 to 3.39, p<0.01) were also associated with polypharmacy. No statistically significant association between smoking and polypharmacy (adjusted HR 1.06; 95% CI 0.86 to 1.29, P=0.56) was established; while, very frequent alcohol consumption (consuming alcohol >5 times per week) was inversely associated with polypharmacy (never drank alcohol vs very frequently, adjusted HR 0.64; 95% CI 0.52 to 0.78, p<0.01). The adjusted HR for hyperpolypharmacy was accentuated, compared with polypharmacy. Conclusion This study has identified that lower wealth, obesity, increasing age and chronic health conditions are significantly associated with polypharmacy and hyperpolypharmacy prevalence. The effect of these factors, on polypharmacy and especially hyperpolypharmacy prevalence, is likely to become more pronounced with the widening gap in UK wealth inequalities, the current obesity epidemic and the growing population of older people. The alcohol findings contribute to the debate on the relationship between alcohol consumption and health.
Voyellation automatique de l’arabe

We tackle the problem of automatic, or at least assisted, vocalization, a problem that arises from the almost universal absence of vowels in Arabic texts. We show that the problem of vocalization resides in the fact that the majority of Arabic words accept several potential vocalizations and are therefore ambiguous. In essence, the problem reduces to choosing, in context, the correct vocalization from among several. We focus here on the results obtained by starting with morphological analysis and proceeding to a grammatical (part-of-speech) tagging. In the proposed system, the vocalic ambiguity is detected by means of a double dictionary of voweled and non-voweled forms. The process of resolution is set in motion starting with morphological analysis and continuing through subsequent steps. The experiments described here concern the treatment as far as grammatical (part-of-speech) tagging.
Effects of Intrachain Interactions on the Knot Size of a Polymer

Knots occur frequently in our daily life and also in long polymers. Studies of spontaneously occurring knots in a linear polymer have focused on their size and probabilities. In this work, we report counterintuitive phenomena about knot sizes and explain them by an analytic theory. Our simulations show that short-range intrachain attractions (repulsions) lead to shrinking (swelling) of knot sizes, trends which follow intuition. However, long-range attractions (repulsions) surprisingly lead to swelling (shrinking) of knot sizes. Such counterintuitive trends are because larger knots contain more interacting monomer pairs if the interaction range is larger than a critical value. The critical interaction range varies from a fraction of to multiple persistence lengths, and so the long-range interaction regime can be reached for DNA, peptide chains, or synthetic polymers under depletion attractions induced by colloids (e.g., proteins) or via Coulomb repulsions. Our results suggest that probabilities and sizes o.
Coherent polariton laser

S. K. , Z. B. , Z. W. , and H. D. acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant No. DMR 1150593 and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under Grant No. FA9550-15-1-0240. C. S. , S. B. , M. K. , and S. H. acknowledge support from the State of Bavaria, Germany.
Protective effect of resveratrol on kidney in rats with diabetic nephropathy and its effect on endoplasmic reticulum stress.

OBJECTIVE Diabetic nephropathy (DN) can cause chronic renal insufficiency and significantly reduce the life quality of patients with diabetes mellitus, and may eventually lead to death. The study investigated the expression of endoplasmic reticulum stress-related factors, which have important roles in the progress of DN and to explore effects of resveratrol on DN and the possible mechanism. MATERIALS AND METHODS Specific pathogen free (SPF) grade healthy male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were divided into different groups for different treatments. The diabetic rat model was established by intraperitoneal injection of low-dose streptozotocin (STZ) (40 mg/kg). The normal rats and diabetes model rats were divided into four groups including normal control group (N), normal control + resveratrol (N+R), model group (M), and model + resveratrol group (M+R) for different treatments. The changes of renal histology were observed by immunohistochemistry. Glucose oxidase/peroxidase method was used to measure FPG, UP 24 h content was measured by bicinchoninic acid (BCA) assay, BUN, Scr and Cys C content were measured by automatic biochemical analyzer. The expressions of 78 kDa glucose-regulated protein (GRP78), protein kinase RNA-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK), and activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4) and C/EBP-homologous protein (CHOP) were analyzed by Western blot. RESULTS Resveratrol treatment significantly reduced the fasting blood glucose level, urinary protein level and renal pathological damage. The phosphorylation of PERK in the kidney of rats with diabetes was up-regulated, while resveratrol treatment reduced this change. The expression of p- PERK, GRP78, ATF4, and CHOP was significantly increased in rats with diabetes, while resveratrol treatment can reduce the increased level of those endoplasmic reticulum stress related factors. CONCLUSIONS Resveratrol has a good therapeutic effect on DN in rats without side effect. The mechanism may be related to the regulation of endoplasmic reticulum stress response.
Assessing electronic cigarette emissions: linking physico-chemical properties to product brand, e-liquid flavoring additives, operational voltage and user puffing patterns

Abstract Users of electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) are exposed to particles and other gaseous pollutants. However, major knowledge gaps on the physico-chemical properties of such exposures and contradictory data in published literature prohibit health risk assessment. Here, the effects of product brand, type, e-liquid flavoring additives, operational voltage, and user puffing patterns on emissions were systematically assessed using a recently developed, versatile, e-cig exposure generation platform and state-of-the-art analytical methods. Parameters of interest in this systematic evaluation included two brands (A and B), three flavors (tobacco, menthol, and fruit), three types of e-cigs (disposable, pre-filled, and refillable tanks), two puffing protocols (4 and 2 s/puff), and four operational voltages (2.2–5.7 V). Particles were generated at a high number concentration (106–107 particles/cm3). The particle size distribution was bi-modal (∼200 nm and 1 µm). Furthermore, organic species (humectants propylene glycol and glycerin, nicotine) that were present in e-liquid and trace metals (potassium and sodium) that were present on e-cig heating coil were also released into the emission. In addition, combustion-related byproducts, such as benzene and toluene, were also detected in the range of 100–38,000 ppbv/puff. Parametric analyzes performed in this study show the importance of e-cig brand, type, flavor additives, user puffing pattern (duration and frequency), and voltage on physico-chemical properties of emissions. This observed influence is indicative of the complexity associated with the toxicological screening of emissions from e-cigs and needs to be taken into consideration.
Abdominal Pain-Predominant Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders in Jordanian School Children

Background Recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) is a common complaint in children. Significant portion of them are of functional origin. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of abdominal pain-predominant functional gastrointestinal disorder (FGID) and its types in Jordanian school children. Methods This is a school-based survey at south Jordan. Information using the self-reporting form of the Questionnaire on Pediatric Gastrointestinal Symptoms-Rome III Version (QPGS-RIII) - the official Arabic translation - was collected. Classes from academic years (grades) 6 - 8 were selected. SPSS Statistical Package Version 17 (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA) was used. Categorical data were analyzed using Fisher’s exact test, and continuous data were analyzed using t-test. P < 0.05 was considered significant. Results Five hundred questionnaires were distributed, and 454 returned answered (91%). Two hundred twenty-nine (50.8%) were males. The average age of participants was 12.7 years (11 - 15 years). One hundred sixteen (25.7%) had abdominal pain-predominant FGID. Seventy-nine (68%) of them were females. Forty-seven (10.6%) had irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Thirty-six (8%), 17 (3.8%), 11 (2.4%) and five (1.1%) had abdominal migraine, functional abdominal pain, functional abdominal pain syndrome and functional dyspepsia, respectively. Conclusion Abdominal pain-predominant FGID has become a major health issue in Jordanian children. One of four children between the ages of 11 and 15 years exhibits at least one abdominal pain-predominant FGID. The most common form of abdominal pain-predominant FGID in our children was IBS. Females are affected more often than males. Intestinal and extra-intestinal symptoms are seen regularly with abdominal pain-predominant FGIDs.