Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Family Functioning and Parent Support Trajectories and Substance Use and Misuse among Minority Urban Adolescents: A Latent Class Growth Analysis

We sought to examine latent classes of family functioning and parent support trajectories during high school and whether these trajectories are associated with an increased risk of substance use and misuse among urban youth. A total of 850 adolescents (Mage = 15.1 years) were included in this study, assessed at baseline, 12-, 24-, and 36-months postbaseline, and completed self-report measures on past 30-day alcohol and marijuana use, binge drinking, and measures of family functioning and parent support. Latent class growth analysis revealed that trajectories of high family functioning and parent support are associated with a decreased risk of marijuana use. Findings may be helpful to inform family-based preventive interventions.
Cardiovascular fitness, physical activity and selected coronary heart disease risk factors in adults.

BACKGROUND The aim was to investigate the associations between cardiovascular fitness and physical activity, and their relationship to selected coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors. METHODS This was a cross-sectional study for one week. All participants were Japanese living in the City of Toyota, Japan. Two hundred and twenty-two healthy Japanese (104 men and 118 women), with ages between 20 and 62 years old. Cardiovascular fitness (VO2max) was measured by a progressive submaximal bicycle ergometry test. Physical activity was estimated by an accelerometers attached to the subject's waist for one week, CHD risk factors included blood pressure, fasting levels of blood lipids, and apolipoprotein concentrations. RESULTS Cardiovascular fitness and physical activity were positively related (r = 0.41 in men and 0.65 in women). For both genders, Pearson coefficients as well as age-adjusted partial correlations indicated that fitness was more closely linked to CHD risk factors than activity was. Also, CHD risk factors were analyzed by three groups of fitness and activity levels in both genders, which indicates that subjects who are physically fitter and/or more active tend to have better CHD risk profiles. CONCLUSIONS As favorable CHD risk profile was related to cardiovascular fitness, but not to physical activity in both genders, it can be concluded that fitness may be a more important independent predictor for CHD risk factors than activity measured by accelerometer over one week.
An operations centred model of service quality

Service quality is considered an important element of competitive advantage in service industries, and is increasingly being imposed upon public sector organisations as a requirement by government action and public expectation. Effective management and improvement of service quality requires a clear identification of the relevant quality issues and their relationship with the operations characteristics of the service. However service and service quality are complex and multi-dimensional and these issues and relationships are not always clear. The background to service, service operations and service quality is presented and published models of service quality are analysed. These are found wanting in terms of the ease with which they link to operations issues and decisions. A three dimensional model of service quality is described, consisting of the dimensions Soft Hard, Subjective Objective and Process Outcome, and is shown to clearly link with service operations decisions. The model is used to predict the operations characteristics which will lead to good service quality in two different service industries; Retail Banking and Primary and Secondary Education. Testing of the predictions of the model was carried out in retail banking by interviewing customers and staff at bank branches noted for a high quality awareness and the predictions were substantially fulfilled. A questionnaire survey of schools was used to test the predictions in education. The influence of external variables on quality was identified and corrected for. It was found that about 50% of quality variance was due to external factors. Internal factors which correlated with the residual performance variation were found to be consistent with the predictions of the model. The three dimensional model has been demonstrated to predict the influence of service operations decisions on quality within two quite disparate service industries. While generality cannot be claimed on the basis of only two examples it is concluded that there is enough evidence to suggest general applicability and to justify further validation.
Sex differences in the coronary vasodilation induced by 17 β‐oestradiol in the isolated perfused heart from spontaneously hypertensive rats

Aim: The relaxation induced by oestrogen in the coronary vascular bed from normotensive rats has been well described. However, almost nothing is known about this action in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). We investigated the effect of 17 β‐oestradiol (E2) in coronary arteries from SHR as well as the contribution of the endothelium and the vascular smooth muscle to this action.
ODDD‐Linked Cx43 Mutants Reduce Endogenous Cx43 Expression and Function in Osteoblasts and Inhibit Late Stage Differentiation

Introduction: Bone development and modeling requires precise gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC). Oculodentodigital dysplasia (ODDD) is an autosomal dominant human disease caused by mutations in the gene (GJA1) encoding the gap junction protein, connexin43 (Cx43). The disease is characterized by craniofacial bone deformities and limb abnormalities. It is our hypothesis that Cx43 mutation causes osteoblast dysfunction, which may contribute to the bone phenotype of ODDD.
Autocuts

We propose a UV mapping algorithm that jointly optimizes for cuts and distortion, sidestepping heuristics for placing the cuts. The energy we minimize is a state-of-the-art geometric distortion measure, generalized to take seams into account. Our algorithm is designed to support an interactive workflow: it optimizes UV maps on the fly, while the user can interactively move vertices, cut mesh parts, join seams, separate overlapping regions, and control the placement of the parameterization patches in the UV space. Our UV maps are of high quality in terms of both geometric distortion and cut placement, and compare favorably to those designed with traditional modeling tools. The UV maps can be created in a fraction of the time as existing methods, since our algorithm drastically alleviates the trial-and-error, iterative procedures that plague traditional UV mapping approaches.
Prevention of Hyperglycemia Improves the Long‐Term Result of Islet Transplantation in Streptozotocin‐Diabetic Rats

We examined the hypothesis that prevention of hyperglycemia during the critical period immediately following islet transplantation will improve the outcome of the transplantation in streptozotocin-diabetic rats. Two days after intravenous injection of streptozotocin (70 mg/kg), 400 or 1,000 islets were transplanted into the left kidney subcapsular space. A group of rats transplanted with 400 islets was treated with insulin from 1 day before transplantation and for 7 days. Intravenous glucose infusion was performed at 10 days and 3 months after transplantation. In addition, at 3 months, the grafts were examined by light and electron microscopy. We found that rats transplanted with 400 islets without any concomitant insulin administration remained diabetic throughout the 3-month period and no plasma insulin response was induced by glucose infusion in these rats. In contrast, diabetic rats transplanted with 400 islets and treated with insulin for 7 days remained normogly-cemic throughout the 3-month period, as did rats transplanted with 1,000 islets. Furthermore, these rats had normal glucose-stimulated insulin secretion both at 10 days and at 3 months after transplantation. Moreover, islet grafts from rats transplanted with 400 islets and administered insulin as well as from rats transplanted with 1,000 islets were morphologically normal, and following removal of the graft, hyperglycemia developed rapidly. In contrast, the islet grafts from rats transplanted with 400 islets without concomitant insulin administration had only few insulin cells. Thus, by preventing hyperglycemia at the time of islet transplantation, the long-term result of islet transplantation was improved. Therefore, the ambient glucose level initially following islet transplantation is critical for the long-term result.
Human papilloma virus prevalence in HIV patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Objective:The implication of human papilloma virus (HPV) in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is well established, especially in oropharyngeal SCC. HIV patients have a higher risk of persistent HPV infection. We investigated the role of HPV in HNSCC carcinogenesis in HIV population. Design:Retrospective monocentric study. Methods:We studied HIV patients who presented with HNSCC between 1994 and 2014. For each patient, tumor characteristics, HIV disease, and survival information were collected. Tumor HPV testing was performed using p16 immunohistochemistry (IHC), in-situ hybridization and PCR. We assessed the percentage of HPV in this population of HIV patients with HNSCC and compared HIV disease characteristics based on HPV status. Results:Forty-seven patients were included: 11 women/36 men, the median age was 50 years. Tumor HPV testing was performed in 40 patients. Tumors were located in oropharynx (32%), oral cavity (32%), larynx (21%), and hypopharynx (11%). At the time of diagnosis, median CD4+ level was 385 cells/&mgr;l, 31% of the patients were stage (Centers for Disease Control, stage C). The percentage of HPV linked to HNSCC for all locations in HIV patients was 30% (n = 12). HPV16 accounted for 50% of all HPV genotypes. HPV positive status was associated with a CD4+ nadir of less than 200 (P = 0.026), but not with CD4+ level at time of diagnosis (P = 0.414). HPV-negative tumors tend to be associated with poorer 5-year overall survival (hazard ratio = 2.9, P = 0.0711). Conclusion:HPV plays a critical role in HNSCC development in HIV population. HIV immunodeficiency may increase HPV persistence and progression of HNSCC.
Aftermarket price performance of initial public offerings on the JSE

Extracted from text . Number 55 - Part 1 C M'kombe and M Ward Aftermarket price performance of initial public offerings on the JSE 1. Introduction* The objective of any initial public offering (IPO) is to achieve the highest value for the issuer while ensuring a buoyant start to secondary trading and strong long-term (aftermarket) performance. A share is underpriced if its offer price at the IPO is lower than the closing price on the first day of trade. The problem of underpricing has been extensively researched and clearly indicates some loss of value to the issuer. However, underpricing can act as a positive .
Do Multinational Corporations and Domestic Corporations Differ in Leverage Policies?

This study examines the leverage policies of multinational corporations (MNCs) in comparison to those of domestic corporations (DCs). Prior studies document that MNCs have relatively low leverage levels. However, our analysis of U.S. firms over the period 1982-2006 reveals that the leverage levels of MNCs are not significantly lower than those of DCs if we control for key firm characteristics. In addition, MNCs and DCs do not differ significantly in the debt maturity structure. We also find that MNCs and DCs do not differ significantly in terms of the speed of leverage adjustments or the propensity to issue debt vs. equity (or vs. not to issue debt). While prior studies document that MNCs’ financial policies at the subsidiary level are influenced by market imperfections such as taxes and regulations, our findings suggest that their leverage policies at the corporate level are not significantly different from those of DCs. Interestingly, however, our additional analysis of MNCs from outside the U.S. reveals that non-U.S. MNCs issue securities more frequently and adjust leverages faster than their domestic peers do.
Study concerning the buying behaviour for bread in Iaşi town.

Bakery market research is a necesity because the knowledge of specific correlations determine positive effects both for producers who can properly size the activities, and consumers who can purchase their desired products in the quantities required, the price appropriate for their purchasing power and in the preferred range. Demand for bakery in general and bread in particular being inelastic, production companies must move towards diversification of the range and quality growth while focusing on the potential benefits to consumer health. Investigation on byuing and consumption behaviour contributes to choosing appropriate strategies leading to market advantages both for producers and consumers but also for the grocery stores. The present study emphasize the factors that influence the buying process for bread in the Iași town area , the trends and the main features both of the grocery stores taken into consideration by the buyer and of the buyer to wich the stores’ sales strategies adapt. It was elaborated a questionnaire applied on 34 grocery stores from different areas of the town the results indicating that 82.4% of the groceries representatives note that most customers are loyal to a brand of bread, the most frequently purchased being packaged sliced white bread weighing500 g, the trend being consistent with the national trend, packaged products being more and more frequently purchased.
Moderate-intensity running causes intervertebral disc compression in young adults.

BACKGROUND Decreased intervertebral disc (IVD) volume can result in diminished load-carrying capacity of the spinal region. Although moderate-intensity running is generally advocated for apparently healthy adults, running causes a loss in stature that is thought to reflect IVD compression. The aim of this investigation was to use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to quantify the influence of moderate-intensity treadmill running on IVD height and volume in the thoracic and lumbar regions of the vertebral column. METHODS A clinic-based repeated-measures design was used in eight healthy young asymptomatic adults. After preliminary measurements and familiarization (day 1), participants reported to the clinic on two further occasions. MRI scans and stature measurements were completed at baseline (day 2), preexercise (day 3), and after 30 min of moderate-intensity treadmill running (postexercise, day 3). Mean height and volume were derived for all thoracic and lumbar IVDs from digitized MRIs, and stature was determined with a stadiometer. RESULTS Moderate-intensity running resulted in 6.3% ± 0.9% reduction in mean IVD height and 6.9% ± 1.0% reduction in calculated IVD volume. The day-to-day variation in mean IVD height and volume were 0.6% ± 0.6% and 0.4% ± 0.6%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS This is the first study to quantify the influence of moderate-intensity running on IVD height and volume. Changes in IVD height and volume were observed throughout the thoracic and lumbar vertebral regions. These findings suggest that future studies evaluating the influence of various loading activities and recovery techniques on IVD structure should consider thoracic as well as lumbar regions of the spine.
Protecting Existing and Prospective Investors and the Role of Internal Auditors

In this study we tried to explore the idea of the independence of internal audit committee, independence of finance and accounting departments and the corporate charter followed by the board of directors of an organization and how they protect existing and prospective investors. A multiple regression analysis and analysis of covariance (ancova) 2X2 have been used to analyze the data by using the R i386 2.1 5.1. A strong and positive relation has been found in this study with a highly correlated independent variable. It has been also found that 62% of the investors believed that internal auditors and finance and accounting executives are not independent at their work place. Surprisingly 89% felt that if internal audit committee and executives of finance and accounting departments work independently and effectively, then investors will be highly protected.
Thermal influence on defensive behaviours of the Eastern garter snake,
 Thamnophis sirtalis
 


The influence of body temperature on the defensive behaviours of the Eastern garter snake was investigated. Snakes encountered in the field were grabbed by hand at mid-body to imitate the attack of a predator or were approached in the same manner but without any contact by the investigator. Behavioural responses were related to snake body and ambient temperatures. When approached without contact, snakes with higher body temperatures fled more often than snakes with lower body temperatures. Snakes that showed body flattening or flattening with mouth gaping had significantly lower average body temperatures than snakes that showed mouth gaping without flattening, those that showed neither mouth gaping nor flattening or those that showed biting (both with and without mouth gaping and flattening). The energetic constraints of a lower body temperature appear to influence the defensive behaviours of garter snakes. Colder snakes are more likely to show body flattening; warmer snakes either flee or, if they are unable to flee, are more likely to show more mouth gaping, biting or none of these behaviours.1997The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour
The Effectiveness of China’s FDI Policies with Regard to Regional Development

Foreign direct investment is an essential instrument for governments from developing countries to accumulate capital and accelerate development. History has shown how China successfully used its policies in order to attract investments from abroad to become one of the top host countries in today’s global economy. But can the Chinese government, after three decades of economic transformation, guide and control foreign direct investments to the same extent as before? A panel data analysis over a period of 16 years (1997-2012) was established to investigate this issue at a provincial level. The regression model used in this thesis examines the effect of foreign direct investments on China’s GRP from different perspectives. In general, the estimated results suggest a significantly positive effect of foreign direct investments on GRP. This effect, however, is significantly lowered for Eastern and Central China if the time period is 2005-2012.
Studies of proliferative responses by long-term-cryopreserved peripheral blood mononuclear cells to bacterial components associated with periodontitis

Freezing techniques provide a means for repeating and extending immunological assays with frozen aliquots of an individual's peripheral blood mononuclear cell fraction. Lymphocytes which are stored frozen for a limited time retain their ability to respond to polyclonal B-cell activators, mitogens, and antigens of dental interest. Our studies extend these previous findings by determining lymphocyte functional activity following frozen storage for up to 100 weeks. In addition, the autologous immune response was measured by spontaneous lymphocyte proliferation following 0, 1, 40, and 60 weeks of frozen storage. Peak responses for all individuals occurred at day 7 of incubation. The lymphocyte proliferative response to the superantigens toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1) and Staphylococcus enterotoxin A (SEA) were not changed after 100 weeks of frozen storage. Maximum responses varied among the individuals but occurred at equivalent stimulator concentrations. However, slopes generated from data obtained following 0, 4, 13, 20, 30, 50, 88, and 100 weeks of frozen storage showed no significant deviation from zero (P > 0.05) for all individuals tested. After 100 weeks of storage, the total changes in proliferative activity (counts per minute per week) were -2.1% +/- 16.8% and -5.5% +/- 17.0% for TSST-1 and SEA, respectively. The lymphocyte proliferative responses to pokeweed mitogen, concanavalin A, and sonicates of two periodontal pathogens (Porphyromonas gingivalis and Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans) following frozen storage were similar to those with TSST-1 and SEA. These results indicate that peripheral blood mononuclear cells stored frozen may serve as appropriate controls to monitor changes in the disease state long-term periodontal treatment.
The Effects of Corporate Governance on Earnings Quality: Evidence from Iran

This paper seeks to examine the association between corporate governancemechanisms and the quality of accounting earnings. We intend to highlightthe impact of a strong, religious-based, central government where certainattributes influence corporate governance. Specifically, the study empiricallyinvestigates whether the association of corporate governance mechanismswith earnings quality (in particular, accrual quality, earnings persistence,and earnings predictive ability) in Iran is different from what has beenestablished in accounting literature for other countries. Among manycorporate governance components, four (4) variables of board size, extentof independent directors, board leadership, and the frequency of the boardmeetings are considered in this paper. We test our hypothesis using asample of six hundred (600) firm-year observations of the Tehran StockExchange from 2005 to 2008. The general findings are: a larger board sizeyields a weaker earnings quality; and an increase in the number ofindependent directors and frequency of the board meetings, strengthen thefirm’s earnings quality in terms of earnings persistency and earningspredictability, however, they do not strengthen the accruals earnings. We,however, find no significant relationship between leadership structure andIranian firms’ earnings quality.
Drain-Dependence of Tunnel Field-Effect Transistor Characteristics: The Role of the Channel

Because of its different current injection mechanism, a tunnel field-effect transistor (TFET) can achieve a sub-60-m/decade subthreshold swing at room temperature, which makes it very attractive in replacing a metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor, particularly for low-power applications. It is well known that some specific TFET structures show a good drain current ID saturation in the output characteristics, whereas other structures do not. A detailed investigation, through extensive device simulations, of the role of the channel on the drain-potential dependence of double-gate TFET characteristics is presented in this paper for the first time. It is found that a good saturation of ID is observed only for devices in which a thin silicon body is used. A relatively thick silicon body or gate-drain underlaps result in the penetration of the drain electric field through the channel, which does not allow the drain current to saturate, even at higher drain voltages.