Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lung function changes as a reflection of tissue aging in young adults.

We studied 198 healthy young men and women 17 to 40 years of age, 110 blacks and 88 whites, all current non-smokers, with a view to identifying the changes, if any, consistent with lung tissue aging. Measurements were made of the maximal expiratory flow-volume (MEFV) curves (from which were derived forced vital capacity (FVC) and flow rates (Vmax) at 75%, 50% and 25% of expired VC), and transfer factor for carbon monoxide (TL). To describe aging trends, results were corrected for height differences and analysed by sex and race for five age groups. Certain changes (e.g. the age-related increase in FVC in men in the early 20's and decrease in the late 20's in both men and women) may be accounted for by changes in respiratory muscle force and/or increasing weight; in addition, the changes in FVC itself (used as the reference lung volume for reading flow rates off the MEFV curves) may have accounted in part for the age-related changes in Vmax at 75% and 50% VC. Likewise, increasing weight by influencing lung emptying may have contributed to the decrease in the diffusion constant in women. Only the age-related decline in Vmax at 25% VC (seen in women of both races and starting in the early 20's) could not be explained by the above factors, and may therefore reflect tissue aging.
Optimal motion planning for overhead cranes

Overhead cranes are widely used in industrial applications for material displacing. Many linear or non-linear control schemes have been proposed for overhead cranes and implemented on electronic systems, but energy efficiency of transportation has seldom been considered in motion planning. This study aims at finding an optimal solution of motion planning in terms of energy efficiency for overhead cranes. Using the optimal control method an optimal trajectory is obtained with less energy consumption than the compared trajectories and is also satisfying physical and practical constraints such as swing, acceleration and jerk. Besides the energy optimal model, the authors also propose two other models to optimise time efficiency and safety during transportation. The results obtained have been compared with some existing motion trajectories, and have been shown to be superior to these benchmarks in terms of energy efficiency, time efficiency and safety, respectively.
Prevalence of hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal carcinoma (HNPCC).

Hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) is an autosomal dominant disease characterized by the early occurrence of colorectal cancer--usually located in the right colon--frequent synchronous and metachronous colorectal malignancies, and association with tumors of other organs (especially endometrium, skin and stomach). In typical cases the diagnosis may be easy, but in many other instances small size of families, possible low penetrance and frequency of phenocopies may render the identification of these families extremely more complex. To provide a basis of uniformity in assessing HNPCC families, well-defined clinical guidelines have recently been proposed (the "Amsterdam Criteria"). Various studies, in different countries, indicate that the frequency of HNPCC is in the order of 3 to 5% of all colorectal tumors; at variance with these observations, much lower rates have recently been detected in Northern Ireland. The reasons of these differences are unclear. Segregation analysis repeatedly showed that the autosomal dominant inheritance was the most plausible model in order to explain cancer aggregation and verticality in HNPCC families; in accordance with this view, recessive and polygenic models were usually rejected. In addition, various anecdotal reports support the Mendelian nature of HNPCC. In conclusion, the identification of HNPCC remains a difficult task in many cases; moreover, it is likely that in analogy with adenomatosis coli 'single cases' (i.e., first mutation) might be frequent, and at present we can only suspect the disease in a single individual. It is likely, however, that the recent and exciting results of molecular biology will give in a few years of substantial contribution in the management of these patients.
Farm economic thinking and the genetic improvement of fertility in northern beef herds

Low levels of reproduction efficiency have been considered a key constraint of the economic performance of beef herds grazing the rangelands of northern Australia. Considerable effort has been directed at resolving the issue and beef geneticists have developed technologies to allow the selection of animals with superior traits for fertility. It has been shown that incorporating selection for these traits with other herd management strategies will lead to herds with higher reproduction efficiency. However, modifying rates of reproduction efficiency will impact herd structures and output over time, making prediction of the economic value of the genetic improvement of fertility a relatively complex task. Consideration of alternative management strategies available to improve herd performance is also necessary to understand the relative value of improving reproduction efficiency. This analysis evaluated the profitability of genetically changing fertility in two regions of northern Australia: the Katherine region of the Northern Territory and the Fitzroy Natural Resource Management (NRM) region of central Queensland, using property-level, regionally-relevant property models that determine whole-of-business productivity and profitability over a 30-year investment period. We assessed the value of the genetic improvement of fertility by comparison to baseline production systems with typical reproduction efficiency for each region and to alternative management strategies available to the property manager. We demonstrate that appropriately assessing the biological, financial and economic components is critical to estimating the value of genetically improving the reproduction efficiency of a beef herd in northern Australia. An alternative approach of generating $Indexes represents a flawed approach to identifying the value of genetically improving fertility in northern beef herds giving potentially misleading and incorrect results. Our analyses indicated that purchasing bulls with different genes for fertility is likely to have variable impacts and unexpected outcomes on the profitability and riskiness of beef enterprises in northern Australia. Furthermore, there are alternative investments available to beef producers that can produce better economic outcomes. Good quality science in the area of genetic improvement of fertility needs to be paired with equally sound economic methods to ensure appropriate conclusions are reached about value to beef producers and the industry.
Is earnings management associated with corporate environmental disclosure?

This study aims to investigate the association between corporate environmental disclosure (CED) and earnings management (EM) in a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) emerging market, namely, Kuwait. ,Using panel data from firms listed on the Kuwaiti stock exchange from 2010 to 2014, this paper applies a fixed-effects model to examine the CED-EM nexus. This analysis was supplemented with estimating a two-stage least-squares (2SLS) model and a generalised method of moment model to address any concerns regarding endogeneity problems. ,The results are suggestive of a significant and negative relationship between CED and EM in Kuwait. This implies that the environmentally responsible managers are less likely to be engaged in EM practices in Kuwait. ,The theoretical implication of the results of this study is that managers in Kuwait seem to use CED as a method to decrease the possibility of any formal or informal actions that could be imposed upon their activities. ,So far, a limited number of studies focused on examining the CED-EM nexus internationally. Furthermore, studies carried out to examine the CED-EM link within a GCC market is virtually non-existent. This study, therefore, presents the first empirical analysis of this relationship in Kuwait. Also, this study is of a significant value stemming from the environmental challenges that are facing Kuwait as an oil-reliant economy coupled together with the crucial economic development in Kuwait and its critical contribution to the GCC economy.
Towards a holistic assessment of the user experience with hybrid BCIs

Objective. In recent years, brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) have become mature enough to immensely benefit from the expertise and tools established in the field of human–computer interaction (HCI). One of the core objectives in HCI research is the design of systems that provide a pleasurable user experience (UX). While the majority of BCI studies exclusively evaluate common efficiency measures such as classification accuracy and speed, single research groups have begun to look at further usability aspects such as ease of use, workload and learnability. However, these evaluation metrics only cover pragmatic aspects of UX while still not considering the hedonic quality of UX. In order to gain a holistic perspective on UX, hedonic quality aspects such as motivation and frustration were also taken into account for our evaluation of three BCI-driven interfaces, which were proposed to be used as a two-stage neuroprosthetic control within the EU project MUNDUS. Approach. At the first stage, one of six possible actions was selected and either confirmed or cancelled at the second stage. For the experiment, a solely event-related-potential-based interface (ERP–ERP) and two hybrid solutions were tested that were controlled by ERP and motor imagery (MI)—resulting in the two possible combinations: ERP selection/MI confirmation (ERP–MI) or MI selection/ERP confirmation (MI–ERP). Behavioural, subjective and encephalographic (EEG) data of 12 healthy subjects were collected during an online experiment with the three graphical user interfaces (GUIs). Main results. Results showed a significantly greater pragmatic quality (in terms of accuracy, efficiency, workload, use quality and learnability) for the ERP–ERP and ERP–MI GUIs in contrast to the MI–ERP GUI. Consequently, the MI–ERP GUI is least suited for use as a neuroprosthetic control. With respect to the comparison of the ERP–ERP and ERP–MI GUIs, no significant differences in pragmatic and hedonic quality of UX were found. Since throughout better results were obtained for the conventional approach and it was most preferred by the subjects, the ERP–ERP GUI seems more suitable for its deployment in actual end-users. Nevertheless, for individuals with stable MI patterns, the hybrid interface can be provided as an additional option of choice within the MUNDUS framework. Significance. Although the paramount goal in BCI research still remains the improvement of classification accuracy and communication speed, it is of significance to note that it is equally important for end-users to keep up their motivation and prevent frustration. By including pragmatic as well as hedonic quality aspects, this study is the first effort to gain a holistic perspective of the UX while interacting with BCI-driven assistive technology aimed at actual end-users. The broad-scale methodology provided valuable insights into the underlying dynamics causing the users’ experience to differ across the GUIs. The results will be used to refine a BCI-driven neuroprosthesis and test it with end-users.
Unusual forest growth decline in boreal North America covaries with the retreat of Arctic sea ice

The 20th century was a pivotal period at high northern latitudes as it marked the onset of rapid climatic warming brought on by major anthropogenic changes in global atmospheric composition. In parallel, Arctic sea ice extent has been decreasing over the period of available satellite data records. Here, we document how these changes influenced vegetation productivity in adjacent eastern boreal North America. To do this, we used normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data, model simulations of net primary productivity (NPP) and tree‐ring width measurements covering the last 300 years. Climatic and proxy‐climatic data sets were used to explore the relationships between vegetation productivity and Arctic sea ice concentration and extent, and temperatures. Results indicate that an unusually large number of black spruce (Picea mariana) trees entered into a period of growth decline during the late‐20th century (62% of sampled trees; n = 724 cross sections of age >70 years). This finding is coherent with evidence encoded in NDVI and simulated NPP data. Analyses of climatic and vegetation productivity relationships indicate that the influence of recent climatic changes in the studied forests has been via the enhanced moisture stress (i.e. greater water demands) and autotrophic respiration amplified by the declining sea ice concentration in Hudson Bay and Hudson Strait. The recent decline strongly contrasts with other growth reduction events that occurred during the 19th century, which were associated with cooling and high sea ice severity. The recent decline of vegetation productivity is the first one to occur under circumstances related to excess heat in a 300‐year period, and further culminates with an intensifying wildfire regime in the region. Our results concur with observations from other forest ecosystems about intensifying temperature‐driven drought stress and tree mortality with ongoing climatic changes.
First-principles investigation of anisotropic constitutive relationships in pentaerythritol tetranitrate

First-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations have been used to obtain the constitutive relationships of pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN-I), a crystalline energetic material. The isotropic equation of state (EOS) for hydrostatic compression has been extended to include uniaxial compressions in the , , , , , , and crystallographic directions up to a compression ratio of V/V0=0.70. DFT predicts equilibrium properties such as lattice parameters and elastic constants, as well as the hydrostatic EOS, in agreement with available experimental data. Our results show a substantial anisotropy of various properties of PETN-I upon uniaxial compression. To characterize the anisotropic traits of PETN, different physical properties of the uniaxially compressed crystal such as the energy per atom, band gap, and stress tensor have been evaluated as a function of compression ratio. The maximum shear stresses were calculated and examined for a correlation with the anisotropy in shock-initiation sensitivity.
Expression and Function of Ryanodine Receptors in Nonexcitable Cells (*)

We have used reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction to investigate the expression of ryanodine receptors in several excitable and nonexcitable cell types. Consistent with previous reports, we detected ryanodine receptor expression in brain, heart, and skeletal muscle. In addition, we detected ryanodine receptor expression in various other excitable cells including PC12 and A7r5 cells. Several muscle cell lines (BCH1, C2C12, L6, and Sol8) weakly expressed ryanodine receptor when undifferentiated but strongly expressed type 1 and type 3 ryanodine receptor isoforms when differentiated into a muscle phenotype. Only 2 (HeLa and LLC-PK1 cells) out of 11 nonexcitable cell types examined expressed ryanodine receptors. Expression of ryanodine receptors at the protein level in these cells was confirmed using [3H]ryanodine binding. We also investigated the function of ryanodine receptors in Ca signaling in HeLa cells using single-cell Fura-2 imaging. Neither caffeine nor ryanodine caused a detectable elevation of cytoplasmic Ca in single HeLa cells. However, ryanodine caused a significant decrease in the amplitude of Ca signals evoked by repetitive stimulation with ATP. These studies show that ryanodine receptors are expressed in some nonexcitable cell types and furthermore suggest that the ryanodine receptors may be involved in a subtle regulation of intracellular Ca responses.
Factors affecting consumers’ intention towards purchasing halal food in South Africa: a structural equation modelling

ABSTRACT This research study highlighted the factors that influence the intention of consumers to buy halal food products. In this study, the researchers have chosen to address the gap in the literature pertaining to non-South African consumers’ purchase intention. Non-South Africans are foreign people who reside in South Africa including immigrants, workers, and students. Through utilising the theory of planned behaviour, this study aims to determine the attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behaviour control, and awareness of non-South African towards purchasing halal food products. This also attempts to identify the strongest factor that influences the purchasing intention of halal food by non-South African consumers. The sample of the study consisted of 230 non-South African consumers in Cape Town. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaires. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to identify the structural relationships among the constructs identified and to test the study hypotheses. The findings of this study indicate that there is a significant relationship between awareness and buying behaviour. Interestingly it found that only the attitude dimension of TPB had a significant relationship with purchase intention, whereas subjective norms and perceived behavioural control did not show a significant relationship with the consumer intention variable.
Power of personalized smoking cessation: A unified lifecycle framework for policy evaluation

Cigarette smoking leads to large healthcare and morbidity costs, and mortality losses, and smoking cessation plays a key role in reducing health risk and economic costs. While medical evidence suggests that some smokers are more likely to respond to medication treatment than others depending on genetic markers, it remains unexplored whether pharmacogenetic testing is cost-effective in treating potential quitters of smoking. We address this knowledge gap by developing a lifecycle model in which individuals make smoking, health investment and consumption-savings decisions. Depending on an individualâ€™s genotype and demographics, smoking may bring enjoyment but deteriorates oneâ€™s health, and the dynamic evolution of health capital determines life expectancy. We incorporate various aspects of behavioral considerations that justify policy intervention. We calibrate this model to fit key economic and medical observations in the U.S. We then propose three smoking cessation policies, two with standard treatments and one personalized depending on genetic markers, all under the same program costs. We construct two unified measures of effectiveness and subsequently compute the cost-effectiveness ratio. We find that personalized treatment is the most cost-effective: for each dollar of program cost, it generates $4:59 value in effectiveness, which is 22 43% higher than those under standard treatments. The result is robust to several variations to the benchmark setting, including most importantly second-hand smoking, incomplete health knowledge, and bounded rationality.
The Natural History of Acute, Isolated, Nonoperatively Treated Posterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries

We sought to determine prospectively the natural history of acute, isolated, nonoperatively treated posterior cruciate ligament injuries in athletically active patients. The study population consisted of 133 patients (average age, 25.2 years at time of injury). All patients completed a subjective questionnaire each year for an average of 5.4 years (range, 2.3 to 11.4). Sixty-eight of the 133 patients returned to the clinic for long-term follow-up evaluation. Objectively, physical examination revealed no change in laxity from initial injury to followup. No correlation was found between radiographic joint space narrowing and grade of laxity. The mean modified Noyes knee score was 84.2 points, the mean Lysholm score was 83.4, and the mean Tegner activity score was 5.7. Patients with greater laxity did not have worse subjective scores. No correlation was found between subjective knee scores and time from injury. Regardless of the amount of laxity, half of the patients returned to the same sport at the same or higher level, one-third returned to the same sport at a lower level, and one-sixth did not return to the same sport. Results of this study suggest that athletically active patients with acute isolated posterior cruciate ligament tears treated nonoperatively achieved a level of objective and subjective knee function that was independent of the grade of laxity.
Metabolic Pathways Involved in 2-Methoxyestradiol Synthesis and Their Role in Preeclampsia

Preeclampsia (PE) remains a major cause of maternal/fetal morbidity–mortality worldwide. The first stage of PE is characterized by placental hypoxia due to a relative reduction in uteroplacental blood flow, resulting from restricted trophoblast invasion. However, hypoxia is also an essential element for the success of invasion. Under hypoxic conditions, 2-methoxyestradiol (2-ME) could induce the differentiation of cytotrophoblast cells into an invasive phenotype in culture. 2-Methoxyestradiol is generated by catechol-O-methyltransferase, an enzyme involved in the metabolic pathway of estrogens. During pregnancy, circulating 2-ME levels increase significantly when compared to the menstrual cycle. Interestingly, plasma levels of 2-ME are lower in women with PE than in controls, and these differences are apparent weeks or even months before the clinical manifestations of the disease. This article reviews the metabolic pathways involved in 2-ME synthesis and discusses the roles of these pathways in normal and abnormal pregnancies, with particular emphasis on PE.
Mathematical Modeling of Storm Surge in Three Dimensional Primitive Equations

The mathematical modeling of storm surge in sea and coastal regions such as the South China Sea (SCS) and the Gulf of Thailand (GoT) are important to study the typhoon characteristics. The storm surge causes an inundation at a lateral boundary exhibiting in the coastal zones particularly in the GoT and some part of the SCS. The model simulations in the three dimensional primitive equations with a high resolution model are important to protect local properties and human life from the typhoon surges. In the present study, the mathematical modeling is used to simulate the typhoon–induced surges in three case studies of Typhoon Linda 1997. The results of model simulations at the tide gauge stations can describe the characteristics of storm surges at the coastal zones. Keywords—lateral boundary, mathematical modeling, numerical simulations, three dimensional primitive equations, storm surge.
Credit Ratings and Firm Innovation: Evidence from Sovereign Downgrades

This study investigates how credit ratings affect firm innovation. By exploiting sovereign downgrades as an exogenous shock to corporate credit ratings, we show that a sovereign downgrade leads to significant reductions in innovation among firms that have a rating at the sovereign bound ex ante. The effect is concentrated in firms with high external finance dependence. Also, we identify the shift in debt choice towards bank loans and the increase in creditor control as potential channels of the causal relation. Further evidence suggests that firms are more likely to acquire innovative targets to mitigate the decline in innovativeness following downgrades.