Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
TELEMEDICAL VERSUS CONVENTIONAL HEART PATIENT MONITORING: A SURVEY STUDY WITH GERMAN PHYSICIANS

Objectives: In this study, we explored crucial factors that explain a person's attitude toward and his or her assessment of telemedical systems. Special focus lies on the link between the perspective of physicians (telemedicine users) and technicians (telemedicine designers) to find potential barriers hindering the broad application of telemedical systems in hospitals and doctors’ offices. Methods: A survey among medical professionals (n = 34), technical professionals (n = 39), and a control group (n = 44) was conducted. The collected data were assessed in terms of domain knowledge, attitudes toward telemedicine, and potential implementation barriers. Results: Participants favored the conventional method over telemedical monitoring in regards to privacy, security, and time efficiency. In contrast, telemedicine was preferred with reference to efficiency of data analysis, long-term care, and emergency adequacy. Significant differences between the professional groups were found regarding perceived cost effectiveness, patients’ compliance, privacy protection, and false alarm sensitivity. Medical professionals exhibited the most reluctance toward using telemedical treatments. Conclusions: The perceived drawbacks are attributed to a general uncertainty about the reliability of telemedical systems, in combination with concerns about personal data privacy, security, and loss of control. The reported fear of not being able to correctly use and handle the systems assumes a low usability of devices. To acquaint medical professionals with the benefits and limitations of telemedical systems, telemonitoring and tele-treatment should be included in the education of medical personnel at an early stage.
Antibacterial Activity of N-Pentylpantothenamide Is Due to Inhibition of Coenzyme A Synthesis

ABSTRACT Growth inhibition by the pantothenate analog N-pentylpantothenamide (N5-Pan) has been attributed to the accumulation of acyl carrier protein carrying a prosthetic group modified by incorporation of N5-Pan. This was attributed to an inability of the AcpH acyl carrier protein phosphodiesterase to cleave the N5-Pan-modified prosthetic group from the protein moiety. We report that AcpH readily removes the N5-Pan-modified prosthetic group both in vivo and in vitro and show that N5-Pan blocks coenzyme A synthesis.
PLANT U-BOX PROTEIN10 Regulates MYC2 Stability in Arabidopsis

The transcriptional activator MYC2 is targeted by PUB10 for ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis in jasmonic acid responses. MYC2 is an important regulator for jasmonic acid (JA) signaling, but little is known about its posttranslational regulation. Here, we show that the MYC2 C-terminal region interacted with the PLANT U-BOX PROTEIN10 (PUB10) armadillo repeats in vitro. MYC2 was efficiently polyubiquitinated by PUB10 with UBC8 as an E2 enzyme and the conserved C249 in PUB10 was required for activity. The inactive PUB10(C249A) mutant protein retained its ability to heterodimerize with PUB10, thus blocking PUB10 E3 activity as a dominant-negative mutant. Both MYC2 and PUB10 were nucleus localized and coimmunoprecipitation experiments confirmed their interaction in vivo. Although unstable in the wild type, MYC2 stability was enhanced in pub10, suggesting destabilization by PUB10. Moreover, MYC2 half-life was shortened or prolonged by induced expression of PUB10 or the dominant-negative PUB10(C249A) mutant, respectively. Root growth of pub10 seedlings phenocopied 35S:MYC2 seedlings and was hypersensitive to methyl jasmonate, whereas 35S:PUB10 and jin1-9 (myc2) seedlings were hyposensitive. In addition, the root phenotype conferred by MYC2 overexpression in double transgenic plants was reversed or enhanced by induced expression of PUB10 or PUB10(C249A), respectively. Similar results were obtained with three other JA-regulated genes, TAT, JR2, and PDF1.2. Collectively, our results show that MYC2 is targeted by PUB10 for degradation during JA responses.
Increased lymphatic elimination of interstitial hyaluronan during E. coli sepsis in sheep.

The effect of septicemia on the elimination of hyaluronan (HA) from the lung interstitium was investigated in awake sheep with chronic lung lymph and thoracic duct fistulas. The result was compared with that after elevation of left atrial pressure (LAP). Lymph was sampled before and after a 20-min infusion of Escherichia coli (10(9) bacteria/kg body wt. ), after elevation of LAP, or both. Infusion of E. coli caused an increased flux of HA in lung lymph and thoracic duct lymph. After an elevation of LAP, the HA flux in lung lymph was increased to a comparable extent. In animals subjected to an increase in LAP and subsequently to infusion of E. coli, no additive effect on HA flux was seen. The weight-average molecular weight of HA in lung lymph was increased both after sepsis and after elevation of LAP. The findings show that sepsis and elevated transvascular hydrostatic pressure result in increased mobilization of HA from the interstitium. This might partly explain the increased HA concentrations in plasma in clinical sepsis and may also lead to a change in the characteristics of the interstitial matrix in this condition.
A Mechanism of Automatic 3D Object Modeling

The symbolic representation of 3D objects is the fundamental knowledge for computer systems to understand the environment. This knowledge is usually assumed to exist in a computer but can also be acquired by accumulating spatial features extracted from sensory inputs at different viewing directions. This paper first investigates surface visibility and, then, after introducing mass vector chains (MVC), discusses the relationship between MVC and the spatial closure of object models. An automatic modeling mechanism is established with the observation that the boundary of an object is closed only if the MVC of its model is closed or, alternatively, the tail-to-head vector of an unclosed MVC estimates the visible direction of the missing surfaces. Experimental results and an algorithm are also given at the end. >
EFFECTS OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT REPORTING IN THAILAND

The aims of this research are to investigate the extent of sustainable development reporting (SDR) by listed companies in the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), to determine the differences in the intra-group SDR scores, and to test for the relationships between corporate governance and the SDR scores. The study population was top-100 SET-listed companies and the research data were collected from their 2011-2013 annual reports. The results showed that the SET-listed sampled companies earned an average SDR score of 33.5 (out of a total of 70) during the study period of 2011-2013; and that state-owned companies had higher scores on SDR than private firms. In addition, significant relationships existed between the variables of family ownership, audit type and industry type and the SDR scores. The limitations include the sole dependence on the annual reports as the credible source of data, the length of study, and the type of research information. This research study is the first that attempts to examine the influence of corporate governance on SDR in the Thai context.
The Dynamics for the Adoption of Electronic Marketing Innovation among Nigerian Manufacturing Firms

The emergence of e-Marketing innovation as a new communication tool is increasing globally and it provides exceptional opportunities for firms to enjoy improved sales, performance and competitiveness in the market place. The Nigerian manufacturing sector has in recent times placed much importance on innovative marketing for stimulating firm’s efficiency and accomplishing a sustainable development, but firms’ decisions to adopt and deploy e-Marketing innovation are conceptually based on organizational, technological, environmental and behavioural factors which could either influence or impede its adoption. This study measured the relationships between e-Marketing innovation and key factors influencing its adoption among the Nigerian manufacturing firms, while major interactions among these factors were also examined using appropriate statistical methods. Furthermore, the study ascertained the level disparity among factors determining e-Marketing adoption. It was found that firms’ decisions to adopt eMarketing innovation were primarily driven by the availability of financial resources, external pressure, cost of technology and market acceptability of e-Marketing services. They were discovered to be more significant and dominant factors for e-Marketing adoption. The study recommends that e-Marketing adoption by firms should embrace sustainable strategies such as strategic planning, need assessment/analysis, substantial financial resources and focus driven investment decisions.
Autologous apoptotic T cells interact with dendritic cells, but do not affect their surface phenotype or their ability to induce recall immune responses

Dendritic cells (DCs) play an important role in determining immunogenicity and the subsequent immune response. They may also have a role in maintaining peripheral tolerance to self‐antigens by initiating an immune response only in the context of danger signals released from cells during stress, damage or death. These signals may originate from surrounding T cells as well as from other cells. Therefore, in this study the effect of autologous T cell injury on DC morphology and function has been investigated. Co‐incubation of apoptotic or necrotic T cells with immature DCs altered their morphology towards a more mature appearance, with more cells showing activation as judged by spreading and formation of arborizing long processes. The apoptotic autologous T cells were rarely phagocytosed by immature DCs, compared to macrophages. The DC surface phenotype was not affected by the co‐incubation with autologous injured T cells. The ability of DCs to elicit a secondary immune response was not altered by exposure to autologous injured T cells. These findings suggest that DC can continue to function in T cell activation, rather than in tolerogenic mode, even in the presence of large numbers of dying autologous T cells, such as may be present in the aftermath of an acute antiviral response.
Speculose: Analyzing the Security Implications of Speculative Execution in CPUs

Whenever modern CPUs encounter a conditional branch for which the condition cannot be evaluated yet, they predict the likely branch target and speculatively execute code. Such pipelining is key to optimizing runtime performance and is incorporated in CPUs for more than 15 years. In this paper, to the best of our knowledge, we are the first to study the inner workings and the security implications of such speculative execution. We revisit the assumption that speculatively executed code leaves no traces in case it is not committed. We reveal several measurable side effects that allow adversaries to enumerate mapped memory pages and to read arbitrary memory---all using only speculated code that was never fully executed. To demonstrate the practicality of such attacks, we show how a user-space adversary can probe for kernel pages to reliably break kernel-level ASLR in Linux in under three seconds and reduce the Windows 10 KASLR entropy by 18~bits in less than a second.
Diversification of plant species in a subtropical region of eastern South American highlands: a phylogeographic perspective on native Petunia (Solanaceae)

In the Southern and Southeastern Brazilian highlands, a clade of seven species of Petunia that are endemic to the region (P. altiplana, P. bonjardinensis, P. guarapuavensis, P. mantiqueirensis, P. reitzii, P. saxicola and P. scheideana) exists in association with grassland formations. These formations are isolated in high‐altitude regions, being surrounded by forested areas, and experienced contraction–expansion cycles associated with the glacial cycles of the Pleistocene. To understand the evolutionary history of this group, the divergence of which is probably linked to these past shifts in habitat, we analysed the sequences of the plastidial intergenic spacers trnH‐psbA and trnS‐trnG from populations throughout the known distributions of all seven species. The common ancestor of this highland clade started to differentiate ∼0.9 million years (Myr) ago, which corresponds to a high diversification rate of 2.06 species per Myr in the intervening period. The high level of haplotype sharing among several species in the clade and the absence of reciprocal monophyly suggest the persistence of ancestral polymorphisms during speciation events and/or past hybridization, because no hybrid was found. Four of the five species displayed very low genetic diversity and possessed either one or two haplotypes, which is consistent with long‐term isolation in restricted areas. The three more diverse species displayed significant population structure, and P. altiplana showed a clear signs of population growth during the last glacial period. These results suggest that diversification occurred as a result of expansion of the ancestral species of the clade during glacial periods followed by fragmentation and isolation during retraction in interglacial periods.
Programming in Slovak Primary Schools

In our paper, we want to present the conception of elementary programming in primary Informatics education in Slovakia and the process of its integration into ordinary classrooms. First, we will familiarize the reader with the tradition of so called ‘Informatics education’ in Slovakia and with the various stages of the process of its integration. We will formulate the learning objectives of the elementary informatics as a school subject in Slovakia (referring to Blaho and Salanci, 2011) and give reasons why we believe that it offers an important opportunity for developing informatics knowledge, computational thinking and problem solving skills. We will primarily focus on the presentation of our arguments why we consider programming (in the form rigorously respecting the age of the primary pupils) to be appropriate and productive constituent of learning already for this age group. Several recent research findings, presented by Ackermann (2012) and others support our position here. In the next chapter, we will present in detail the conception of elementary programming and how it is implemented in the continuing professional development (CPD) of primary teachers in Slovakia. We will examine which programming environments are being used, what kind of pedagogies and which specific learning objectives our teachers apply. We will list programming concepts and identify corresponding cognitive operations, which we find appropriate for primary pupils. Then we will present and analyse the CPD of our in-service teachers (and the position of programming in this process) which we have recently implemented in Slovakia. Another important element of our CPD strategy is the well-known Bebras contest (in Slovakia it is called ‘iBobor’ or ‘Informatics Beaver’). In the next chapter of our paper, we will apply qualitative educational inquiry methods to examine how our conception of elementary programming has really penetrated into primary classes in Slovakia. We are also interested in how it is being received by the teachers and pupils. Through interviews with the teachers we will identify different aspects of the whole process and main risk factors, which may complicate or hinder the implementation. In the final chapter, we will study the tendency to develop informatics and programming at the primary level in the context of various research projects presented in the academic research literature. We will compare various key findings of other research projects with our own experience.
Response inhibition in preschoolers at familial risk for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a behavioral and electrophysiological stop-signal study.

Children participating in the Ben-Gurion Infant Development Study were assessed with a dynamic-tracking version of the stop-signal task at the age of 5 years. The sample consisted of 60 males. Stop-signal reaction time (SSRT) was correlated with concurrent ratings of the child's attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms. Paternal symptoms measured in the child's early infancy predicted the child's performance in the stop-signal task: Paternal inattentiveness predicted SSRT, whereas hyperactivity predicted error proportion. Maternal symptoms were not correlated with the performance of the child in the task. A subsample of children, who were tested while electrophysiological brain activity was measured, showed that having higher ADHD symptomatology, especially hyperactivity, correlated with less activity in the brain areas that are usually recruited by children for successful inhibition.
Serum carboxymethyl-lysine, an advanced glycation end product, is associated with arterial stiffness in older adults

Objective: The objective of this study is to examine the relationship of serum carboxymethyl-lysine (CML), an advanced glycation end product (AGE), with pulse pressure (PP), aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV) and hypertension in older adults. Background: AGEs are bioactive molecules that accumulate in tissues with ageing and can both cross-link collagen and induce inflammation in model systems. The relationship of AGEs with arterial stiffness and hypertension has not been well characterized in community-dwelling older adults. Methods: We measured serum CML and blood pressure in 3044 adults, aged 70–79 years, who participated in the Health, Aging and Body Composition Study, a population-based study of ageing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Memphis, Tennessee. aPWV was measured in 2468 participants. Results: Participants in the highest tertile of serum CML had higher PP (highest tertile: beta = 2.85, SE = 0.82, P = 0.0005; middle tertile: beta = 0.60, SE = 0.80, P = 0.45), and higher aPWV (highest tertile: beta = 51.4, SE = 20.1, P = 0.01; middle tertile: beta = 3.2, SE = 19.8, P = 0.87) than those in the lowest tertile in multivariable linear regression models adjusting for age, sex, race, education, BMI, smoking, alcohol use, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease. Participants in the highest and middle tertiles of serum CML had higher odds of hypertension [odds ratio (OR) 1.32, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.06–1.60, P = 0.005; OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.05–1.53, P = 0.01, respectively] than those in the lowest tertile in a multivariable logistic regression model adjusting for the same covariates. Conclusion: Elevated serum CML was associated with arterial stiffness, as reflected by higher PP and aPWV, in older, community-dwelling adults.
Characterization of Phosphopeptide Motifs Specific for the Src Homology 2 Domains of Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 1 (STAT1) and STAT3*

Signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT) 1 and STAT3 are activated by overlapping but distinct sets of cytokines. STATs are recruited to the different cytokine receptors through their Src homology (SH) 2 domains that make highly specific interactions with phosphotyrosine-docking sites on the receptors. We used a degenerate phosphopeptide library synthesized on 35-μm TentaGel beads and fluorescence-activated bead sorting to determine the sequence specificity of the peptide-binding sites of the SH2 domains of STAT1 and STAT3. The large bead library allowed not only peptide sequencing of pools of beads but also of single beads. The method was validated through surface plasmon resonance measurements of the affinities of different peptides to the STAT SH2 domains. Furthermore, when selected peptides were attached to a truncated erythropoietin receptor and stably expressed in DA3 cells, activation of STAT1 or STAT3 could be achieved by stimulation with erythropoietin. The combined analysis of pool sequencing, the individual peptide sequences, and plasmon resonance measurements allowed the definition of SH2 domain binding motifs. STAT1 preferentially binds peptides with the motif phosphotyrosine-(aspartic acid/glutamic acid)-(proline/arginine)-(arginine/proline/glutamine), whereby a negatively charged amino acid at +1 excludes a proline at +2 and vice versa. STAT3 preferentially binds peptides with the motif phosphotyrosine-(basic or hydrophobic)–(proline or basic)–glutamine. For both STAT1 and STAT3, specific high affinity phosphopeptides were identified that can be used for the design of inhibitory molecules.
Micro-Gated-Field Emission Arrays with Single Carbon Nanotubes Grown on Mo Tips

Using our approach previously reported, we have fabricated relatively large area micro-gated-field emission arrays with carbon nanotube (CNT) grown on Mo tips. By redesigning the device and fabrication processes, the percentage of single CNTs increased to about 50-70% with a substantial improvement in leakage current between gate and cathode and gate interceptive current. The I-V measurement of a 11000 cell array at a gate-to cathode voltage of 92 V showed an anode current of 1.2 mA, corresponding a current density of 0.57 A/cm2, with a gate current only 3.3% of the anode current.
Adoption of farm management practices by smallholder cocoa farmers in Prestea Huni-Valley district, Ghana

As part of Ghana’s quest to increase cocoa production, Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana has recommended farm management practices to help boost production levels. However, adoption of these management practices had been low, leading to yield levels below potential. This study investigates the adoption intensity and factors explaining the variation in adoption among smallholder cocoa farmers in Prestea Huni-Valley district of Ghana. A sample size of 180 cocoa farm households from eight communities were randomly selected and interviewed through a well-structured questionnaire. Majority (80%) of the sampled farmers have adopted four to six out of seven cocoa farm management practices identified. The Poison regression model was used to examine the determinants of intensity of adoption of the farm management practices. The results generally revealed that, marital status of the farmer, household size, educational attainment, membership of farmer-based organization and farmer receiving extension services are all significant variables explaining farmer’s decision to adopt cocoa farm management practices. The study concludes by suggesting that farm level policies such as extension service delivery system should be strengthen in terms of staff and methodologies.
WITS – WORLD INTEGRATED TRADE SOLUTION

AbstractThe following sections are included:What is WITS? The Cost of WITSHow to Install WITS? To Obtain WITS softwareTo Install WITSTo Access WITSData ExtractionQuick Database QueryUN COMTRADE DatabaseQuick Database Query by Country/PeriodQuick Query: TRAINSTRAINS-View and Export Raw DataWTO Integrated DatabaseAdvanced QueryQuery ProcedureWhat is the next step for WITS? References
No technical innovation without social innovation : the logic of social innovation in market-oriented firms

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