Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Computer-Mediated Communication and Its Influence on Psychological Functioning

This study applied online disinhibition effect (1) to examine perceived psychological benefits (PPB) derived from computer-mediated communication (CMC). The models examined the relationship between psychological health (loneliness, self-esteem and social anxiety) and CMC for social interaction (to seek romantic/sexual relationships and emotional/social support), compulsive internet use (CIU) and PPB derived from CMC. Group comparisons across sex were also examined. The sample included 167 (47 men and 120 women) university students from Malaysia. Results suggest loneliness, low self-esteem and social anxiety in men can help explain CIU. For women, only social anxiety explains CIU. However, group comparison indicated that socially anxious men were less likely to be compulsive Internet users. Contrary to expectation, CMC for social interaction was perceived as a negative influence to psychological functioning by men and women. Results further suggest that women's PPB from using CMC to seek emotional/social support was significantly less compared to men's. Bidirectional relationship was indicated only in the men's model between self-esteem with CIU, and self-esteem and CMC for romantic/sexual relationship.
Clinical and pathological aspects and cerebellar lectin binding in cattle poisoned with Solanum fastigiatum var. fastigiatum and Solanum bonariense.

Microscopic and lectin histochemical studies were performed using the cerebella of 33 natural cases of Solanum fastigiatum var. fastigiatum intoxication in cattle from southern Brazil and 2 natural and 4 experimental cases of Solanum bonariense from Uruguay. The following biotinylated lectins were used in both cases: WGA, sWGA, BS-I, Con-A, RCA-I, DBA, and UEA-I, with the addition of LCA in S. fastigiatum poisoning cases. Histologically, the lesions consisted of fine vacuolization, distention of portions of the Purkinje cells, axonal spheroids measuring 14-50 μm in the granular cell layer and adjacent white matter and, proliferation of the Bergmann’s glia. Lectin histochemistry revealed strong reactivity of stored material in Purkinje neurons with the lectins sWGA, Con-A, and LCA in S. fastigiatum cases. A similar pattern was found in S. bonariense cases with a most intense reaction to WGA, and less intense reaction to Con-A, whereas BS-I and RCA-I binding was absent to poor in these neurons in all the cases studied. Lectin reactivity in Purkinje cells between cases was independent of cell damage (from mild to severe loss of neurons). Both S. fastigiatum and S. bonariense have similar lectin binding, suggesting a similar pathogenesis. Since comparable binding patterns have been described in animals poisoned with swainsonine-containing plants, perhaps the toxins in these plants contain related glycosidase-inhibiting toxins or inhibit glycoprotein and lysosomal metabolism through some related mechanism. The results of this study showed that in spontaneous poisoning by S. fastigiatum and S. bonariense in cattle, the pattern of lectin binding is similar to those observed in S. fastigiatum experimental conditions.
Towards an accurate mass function for precision cosmology

Cosmological surveys aim to use the evolution of the abundance of galaxy clusters to accurately constrain the cosmological model. In the context of CDM, we show that it is possible to achieve the required percent level accuracy in the halo mass function with gravity-only cosmological simulations, and we provide simulation start and run parameter guidelines for doing so. Some previous works have had sucient statistical precision, but lacked robust verication of absolute accuracy. Convergence tests of the mass function with, for example, simulation start redshift can exhibit false convergence of the mass function due to counteracting errors, potentially misleading one to infer overly optimistic estimations of simulation accuracy. Percent level accuracy is possible if initial condition particle mapping uses second order Lagrangian Perturbation Theory, and if the start epoch is between 10 and 50 expansion factors before the epoch of halo formation of interest. The mass function for halos with fewer than 1000 particles is highly sensitive to simulation parameters and start redshift, implying a practical minimum mass resolution limit due to mass discreteness. The narrow range in converged start redshift suggests that it is not presently possible for a single simulation to capture accurately the cluster mass function while also starting early enough to model accurately the numbers of reionisation era galaxies, whose baryon feedback processes may aect later cluster properties. Ultimately, to fully exploit current and future cosmological surveys will require accurate modeling of baryon physics and observable properties, a formidable challenge for which accurate gravity-only simulations are just an initial step.
Virulence Factors of Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli Isolated from Broilers from the South of Brazil

SUMMARY. Sixty-three Escherichia coli strains isolated from broilers with respiratory problems were examined for virulence factors, hemolysin synthesis ability, motility, hemagglutination capacity, operon pap presence, colicin production, and serum resistance. The capacity to hemagglutinate guinea pig erythrocytes was found in 53 (84.1%) of the samples, but only 30 (47.6%) agglutinated chicken erythrocytes. d-mannose-sensitive hemagglutination against guinea pig erythrocytes was found in 19 (30.2%) samples and against chicken erythrocytes, in 15 (23.8%) samples, whereas the d-mannose-resistant hemagglutination with guinea pig erythrocytes was found in 34 (54%) samples, and 13 of these (20.6%) showed this characteristic against chicken erythrocytes. Operon pap, P fimbria codifier, was detected in 26 samples in a total of 34 d-mannose-resistant samples. Colicin production was observed in 55 (87.3%) of the strains, and 41.8% presented V colicin production. Of the samples analyzed, 56 (88.9%) presented serum resistance, six (9.5%) were intermediate, and only one (1.6%) was sensitive to the action of the complement. The diversity of virulence profiles detected in the samples in this study explains in part the multifactorial characteristics of avian colibacillosis.
Influence of systolic pressure profile on rate of left ventricular pressure fall.

We examined the influence of the systolic left ventricular pressure (LVP) waveform on the rate of isovolumetric LVP fall, as assessed by the time constant tau. Seven open-chest dogs were instrumented with a micromanometer in the left ventricle, with segment length gauges in the anterior and posterior midwall of the left ventricle, and with a balloon-tipped catheter in the proximal aorta. The intra-aortic balloon was inflated before the onset of ejection (early) or during midejection (late) to produce timed and graded increases in peak LVP of 2-20 mmHg. The rate of LVP fall slowed significantly more with late than with early increases in LVP (tau increased 1.5 +/- 0.5 vs. 0.5 +/- 0.3%/mmHg increase in peak LVP, respectively, P less than 0.001). For a similar increase in peak LVP, there was a progressively greater increase in tau when the timing of balloon inflation was progressively delayed from early to late ejection (in 10-ms increments). The differential effect of early vs. late pressure increases on tau was not related to regional differences in segment length behavior nor to an increase in regional nonuniformity between anterior and posterior sites. We conclude that under the experimental conditions of an intact, ejecting left ventricle, the systolic pressure profile is an important determinant of the rate of pressure fall. The rate of LVP fall slows in direct proportion to the magnitude of increase in systolic pressure. The sensitivity to systolic load increases progressively throughout the ejection period, so that the rate of LVP fall slows significantly more with late than with early pressure increases. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Acid-base status in liver cirrhosis. Disturbances in stable, terminal and portal-caval shunted patients.

Acid-base status was determined in 86 patients with cirrhosis of the liver. Group I comprised 55 patients living more than 3 months after examination (stable). Another 18 stable patients with a surgical porta-caval shunt (p.c.a.) formed group II. Group III consisted of 12 terminal patients without p.c. a. examined within the last week of life. With respect to liver function group II was intermediate between I and III. The most common acid-base disturbance in group I was compensated respiratory alkalosis (20%) followed by compensated metabolic alkalosis (15%). 50% of group II presented compensated respiratory alkalosis. 85% of group III showed metabolic acidosis, which was compensated in only half of the patients. Respiratory alkalosis seemed more related to impairment of liver function than to portasystemic shunting. The genesis of the terminal metabolic acidosis was complex. Renal function was reduced in 92% of group III, and lactic acidosis was found in 36%. In this group hepatic function was most severely impaired, and 60% were hypotensive. These disturbances were not related to aetiology or treatment of the liver disease.
Resonant Microcantilevers for the Determination of the Loss Modulus of Thin Polymer Films

The increasing interest in polymer materials creates the need for accurate tools to characterize their mechanical properties. Due to energy dissipation in polymers during deformation, these materials exhibit viscoelastic behavior. Accurate determination of these viscoelastic properties and, more specifically, viscous losses, remains challenging and mainly unknown for thin polymer films. In this paper, a straightforward method to determine the loss modulus of organic materials using resonating microcantilevers has been developed. The extracted results for polyisobutylene show the variation of viscous losses over a large range of frequencies (7-350 kHz).
Controlled Protein Degradation Regulates Ribonucleotide Reductase Activity in Proliferating Mammalian Cells during the Normal Cell Cycle and in Response to DNA Damage and Replication Blocks*

Ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) plays a central role in the formation and control of the optimal levels of deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates, which are required for DNA replication and DNA repair processes. Mammalian RNRs are composed of two nonidentical subunits, proteins R1 and R2. The levels of the limiting R2 protein control overall RNR activity during the mammalian cell cycle, being undetectable in G1 phase and increasing in S phase. We show that in proliferating mammalian cells, the transcription of the R2 gene, once activated in the beginning of S phase, reaches its maximum 6–7 h later and then declines. Surprisingly, DNA damage and replication blocks neither increase nor prolong the R2 promoter activity in S phase. Instead, the cell cycle activity of the mammalian enzyme is controlled by an S phase/DNA damage-specific stabilization of the R2 protein, which is effective until cells pass into mitosis.
WALKING ON DIFFERENT SLOPES FOR NAO HUMANOID ROBOT FOR AN OPEN LOOP DESIGN

: Dynamic gait planning for humanoid robots encounters difficulties such as stability, speed, and smoothness. In most of previous studies, joints’ trajectories are calculated in 3D Cartesian space, then, introducing boundary conditions and using polynomials, the first and second derivatives of the motion are ensured to be continuous. Then, the stability of the motion is guaranteed using Zero Moment Point (ZMP)stability criterion. In this study, a trajectory planner is presented using the semi-ellipse equations of the motion; the continuity of the derivatives is preserved. Stabilization of motion is attained through using ZMP criterion and 3d inverted pendulum equations in three slope conditions. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is investigated using Webots software. Implementing proposed approach, smoothness, stability, and convenient speed (rather than 17 cm/s in flat condition) are achieved.
Adaptive Simultaneous-FETI: scalability results, robustness assessments and application to finite displacement problems

Classic Domain Decomposition methods like FETI are known to slowly converge when applied to real engineering problems involving for instance, automatic partitioning, quasi-incompressible materials or large heterogeneities. To ensure robustness in those cases, the Simultaneous-FETI (S-FETI) algorithm was recently proposed [1] as an alternative to GENEO approaches [2] where an augmentation space is preprocessed by solving a generalized eigenvalue problem. The S-FETI method is essentially a multi preconditioned conjugate gradient that exploits the additive structure of the preconditioner. At each iteration, the S-FETI algorithm generates as many search directions as there are domains in the decomposition. In this contribution, the parallel scalability and the robustness of the S-FETI method are assessed. Then, observing that the search space may be oversized in some cases, an adaptive variant is introduced. At each iteration, the Adaptive Simultaneous-FETI (AS-FETI) tries to compose the smallest search space which ensures a sufficient decrease of the residual. The theoretical result driving the adaptivity process was lately proven by one of the authors [3]. Finally, slight modifications allowing SFETI to deal with large displacement finite element problems are proposed, and we present the application of these methods to real engineering tests cases.
Influence of congenital heart disease on survival in children with congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

OBJECTIVE We sought to assess outcome in patients with CDH and HD to determine if LHR is also predictive of outcome in this subset of patients. STUDY DESIGN We carried out a retrospective review (April 1996-October 2000) of patients with isolated CDH (n = 143, 82.2%) and patients with HD (n = 31, 17.8%) to determine the incidence of additional anomalies, survival to term, CDH repair, cardiac repair, and survival to discharge. Survival based on LHR was analyzed in a subset of fetuses. RESULTS The risk of death from birth to last follow-up was 2.9 times higher for patients with CDH plus HD than for patients with CDH alone (P <.0001). Of 11 patients with CDH plus HD who had CDH repair (5 of whom also had HD repair), 5 survived. All 10 patients with an LHR <1.2 died; 3 of 6 with an LHR >1.2 survived (Fisher exact test, P =.04). CONCLUSION Heart disease remains a significant risk factor for death in infants with CDH. The LHR helps predict survival in this high-risk group of patients.
Penicillinase production and in vitro susceptibilities of Staphylococcus lugdunensis

Of 59 clinical isolates of Staphylococcus lugdunensis, 76% were beta-lactamase negative, with penicillin G MICs of less than or equal to 0.13 microgram/ml, and 24% were beta-lactamase positive, with penicillin MICs of greater than or equal to 0.5 microgram/ml. Bimodal distributions were observed also with ampicillin, ampicillin-sulbactam, and amoxicillin-clavulanate. All strains were susceptible to oxacillin, cephalothin, gentamicin, rifampin, and vancomycin; 98% were erythromycin susceptible.
Factors contributing to lower metabolic demand of eccentric compared with concentric cycling.

This study compared muscle-tendon behavior, muscle oxygenation, and muscle activity between eccentric and concentric cycling exercise at the same work output to investigate why metabolic demand is lower during eccentric cycling than with concentric cycling. Eleven untrained men (27.1 ± 7.0 y) performed concentric cycling (CONC) and eccentric cycling (ECC) for 10 min (60 rpm) at 65% of the maximal concentric cycling power output (191 ± 45 W) 4 wk apart. During cycling, oxygen consumption (V̇o2), heart rate (HR), vastus lateralis (VL) tissue total hemoglobin (tHb), and oxygenation index (TOI) were recorded, and muscle-tendon behavior was assessed using ultrasonography. The surface electromyogram (EMG) was recorded from VL, vastus medialis (VM), rectus femoris (RF), and biceps femoris (BF) muscles, and cycling torque and knee joint angle during each revolution were also recorded. Average V̇o2 (-65 ± 7%) and HR (-35 ± 9%) were lower and average TOI was greater (16 ± 1%) during ECC than CONC, but tHb was similar between bouts. Positive and negative cycling peak crank torques were greater (32 ± 21 and 48 ± 24%, respectively) during ECC than CONC, but muscle-tendon unit and fascicle and tendinous tissue length changes during pedal revolutions were similar between CONC and ECC. VL, VM, RF, and BF peak EMG amplitudes were smaller (24 ± 15, 22 ± 18, 16 ± 17, and 18 ± 9%, respectively) during ECC than CONC. These results suggest that the lower metabolic cost of eccentric compared with concentric cycling was due mainly to a lower level of muscle activation per torque output.NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study shows that lower oxygen consumption of eccentric compared with concentric cycling at the same workload is explained by lower muscle activity of agonist and antagonist muscles during eccentric compared with during concentric cycling.
Spatio-temporal Neuroimaging of Visual Processing of Human and Robot Actions in Humans

Successfully perceiving and recognizing the actions of others is of utmost importance for the survival of many species. For humans, action perception is considered to support important higher order social skills, such as communication, intention understanding and empathy, some of which may be uniquely human. Over the last two decades, neurophysiological and neuroimaging studies in primates have identified a network of brain regions in occipito-temporal, parietal and premotor cortex that are associated with perception of actions, also known as the Action Observation Network (AON). Despite growing body of literature, the functional properties and connectivity patterns of this network remain largely unknown. The goal of this dissertation is to address questions about functional properties and connectivity patterns of AON with a specific focus on whether this system shows specificity for biological agents. To this end, we collaborated with a robotics lab, and manipulated the humanlikeness of agents that perform recognizable actions by varying visual appearance and movement kinematics. We then used a range of measurement modalities including cortical EEG oscillations, event-related brain potentials (ERPs), and fMRI together with a range of analytical techniques including pattern classification, representational similarity analysis (RSA), and dynamical causal modeling (DCM) to study the functional properties, temporal dynamics, and connectivity patterns of the AON. While our findings shed light whether the human brain shows specificity for biological agents, the interdisciplinary work with robotics also allowed us to address questions regarding human factors for artificial agent design in social robotics and human-robot interaction such as uncanny valley, which is concerned with what kind of artificial agents we should design so that humans can accept them as social partners.
Spectral-domain analysis of a resistive patch antenna with uniaxial substrate

The moment method technique has been developed to examine the scattering properties of a rectangular microstrip patch antenna with a surface resistance. Entire domain sinusoid basis functions without edge condition and roof top sub-domain basis functions are introduced to expand the unknown current on the metal patches. The boundary condition for the electric field was used to derive an integral equation for the electric current. The necessary terms for representing the surface resistance on the patch were derived and were included in the equation in the form of a resistance matrix. Effects of uniaxial anisotropy in the substrate on the complex resonant frequency, the half band width, the radar cross section and the radiation of the microstrip patch antenna are also investigated. Comparative study between our results and those available in the literature is done and showed a very good agreement.
Serum endothelin concentrations in workers exposed to vibration.

OBJECTIVES: Endothelin 1 (ET1) is one of a newly discovered family of potent naturally occurring vasoconstrictors produced by the endothelium. A few publications indicated that the peptide may have a role in idiopathic Raynaud's phenomenon and Raynaud's phenomenon secondary to connective tissue disease. The aim of this study was to compare serum endothelin concentrations in people with vibration induced white finger (VWF) with those of controls exposed to vibration, and unexposed (pure) controls. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Male volunteers from a stonemasonry, two quarries, and an insurance company were classified by questionnaire and clinical examination into men with VWF (cases, n = 31), exposed controls (n = 22), or pure controls (n = 36). All subjects were asked to provide two venous blood specimens: a baseline sample after a period of warm equilibration (30 minutes seated in a warm room and 20 minutes with both hands immersed in a water bath at 37 degrees C); and again after cold challenge (both hands immersed in a water bath at 6 degrees C for six minutes). Serum concentrations of the 21 amino acid peptide endothelin ET1-21 were measured by radioimmunoassay. RESULTS: Baseline concentrations of ET1-21 were found to be lower in cases (mean = 12.2 pmol/l) than in the two control groups (mean = 14.7 pmol/l in exposed controls; mean = 14.3 pmol/l in pure controls). Among cases there was a broad inverse relation between severity, as measured by the Griffin blanching score, and baseline ET1-21 (Spearman rank correlation coefficient -0.58, P < 0.001). Cold challenge provoked an overall rise in ET1-21 in all groups, but larger and significant mean absolute and percentage rises were found in cases (4.1 pmol/l and 54%) than in the control groups (2.6 pmol/l and 21% in exposed controls; 1.5 pmol/l and 20% in pure controls). Similar but more obvious differences occurred when controls were compared with those cases who gave a more severe history of disease (Griffin blanching score > or = 24) and those cases found to blanch after cold challenge. In these case subsets baseline ET1-21 was nearly 50% lower than for controls and a four and a half to fivefold greater percentage rise in ET1-21 occurred upon cold challenge. Differences were significant. Close matching for age and smoking did not alter the principal findings. No significant differences, whether in baseline or cold response, were found between unexposed and exposed controls. CONCLUSIONS: Baseline findings seem to contradict various published series and attempts are made to reconcile the differences. It is suggested that a lower baseline ET1-21 in cases may result from a disease compensation mechanism or damage effect. The large relative rise in serum ET1-21 when cases are cold challenged may contribute directly or indirectly to vasospasm, but a simple mechanism is unlikely and interpretation is limited by the absence of measurements of forearm blood flow.