Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Variable X-ray absorption in the mini-BAL QSO PG 1126-041

Context. X-ray studies of AGN with powerful nuclear winds are important to constrain the physics of the inner accretion/ejection flow around SMBH, and to understand the impact of such winds on the AGN environment. Aims. Our main scientific goal is to constrain the properties of a va riable outflowing absorber that is thought to be launched nea r the SMBH of the mini-BAL QSO PG 1126-041 using a multi-epoch observational campaign performed with XMM-Newton. Methods. We performed temporally resolved X-ray spectroscopy and simultaneous UV and X-ray photometry on the most complete set of observations and on the deepest X-ray exposure of a mini-BAL QSO to date. Results. We found complex X-ray spectral variability on time scales of both months and hours, best reproduced by means of variable massive ionized absorbers along the line of sight. As a consequence, the observed optical-to-X-ray spectral index is found to be variable with time. In the highest signal-to-noise observa tion we detected highly ionized X-ray absorbing material outflowing much faster (υX∼ 16 500 km s −1 ) than the UV absorbing one (υuv∼ 5 000 km s −1 ). This highly ionized absorber is found to be variable on very short (a few kiloseconds) time scales. Conclusions. Our findings are qualitatively consistent with line driven a ccretion disk winds scenarios. Our observations have opened the time-resolved X-ray spectral analysis field for mini-BA L QSOs; only with future deep studies will we be able to map the dynamics of the inner flow and understand the physics of AGN winds and th eir impact on the environment.
Major merging history in CANDELS - I. Evolution of the incidence of massive galaxy–galaxy pairs from z = 3 to z ∼ 0

The rate of major galaxy–galaxy merging is theoretically predicted to steadily increase with redshift during the peak epoch of massive galaxy development (1 ≤ z ≤ 3). We use close-pair statistics to objectively study the incidence of massive galaxies (stellar M1 > 2 × 1010 M⊙) hosting major companions (1 ≤ M1/M2 ≤ 4; i.e. 4:1) companions at z > 1. We show that these evolutionary trends are statistically robust to changes in companion proximity. We find disagreements between published results are resolved when selection criteria are closely matched. If we compute merger rates using constant fraction-to-rate conversion factors (Cmerg,pair = 0.6 and Tobs,pair = 0.65 Gyr), we find that MR rates disagree with theoretical predictions at z > 1.5. Instead, if we use an evolving Tobs,pair(z) ∝ (1 + z)−2 from Snyder et al., our MR-based rates agree with theory at 0 < z < 3. Our analysis underscores the need for detailed calibration of Cmerg,pair and Tobs,pair as a function of redshift, mass, and companion selection criteria to better constrain the empirical major merger history.
Glaucoma Change of b-Zone Parapapillary Atrophy During Axial Elongation : Boramae Myopia Cohort Study Report 3

Kyoung Min Lee, Ho-Kyung Choung, Martha Kim, Sohee Oh, and Seok Hwan Kim Department of Ophthalmology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea Department of Ophthalmology, Seoul National University Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, Korea Department of Ophthalmology, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, Korea Department of Biostatistics, Seoul National University Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, Korea
The Effect Of Seating Orientation And A Spatial Boundary On Students' Experience Of Person-Centered Counseling

The purpose of this study was to understand how seating orientation and the presence of a spatial boundary influences students’ experience of person-centered counseling. Twenty-three students at Cornell University with ages between 18-22 were asked to speak about their career aspirations in an environment with chairs placed in one of four conditions: face-to-face with no table between, face-to-face with a table between, at a ninety-degree angle with no table between or at a ninety-degree angle with a table between. Participants were then asked to rate their perceptions of counselor empathy, counselor affect, satisfaction with the session, and to describe their experience of the session. Findings show a close to significant effect of a spatial boundary on perceptions of empathy, with no table resulting in higher perceived empathy. Findings also show that the majority of participants’ responses about the counselors were based on characteristics of the counselor or the counselor-client interaction.
Medicinal properties of Mediterranean plants against glucose and lipid disorders

There are several components isolated from plants grown in Mediterranean environment exhibiting significant beneficial properties against a variety of disorders related to lipid or glucose metabolism. In this context, plant species (e.g. Salvia officinalis, Rosmarinus officinalis, Lavandula stoechas, Melissa officinalis, Mentha piperita, Thymus vulgaris, Origanum majorana, Sideritis raeseri, Ocimum basilicum, Pistacia lentiscus, Crocus sativus, Daucus carota) may act against lipid or carbohydrate metabolic disorders through their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory or other properties, or due to the beneficial actions of their compounds. New horizons are very promising, since these plant species have been used both in Traditional Medicine and in current clinical practice.
Title A Pilot study of the Sharing Risk Information Tool ( ShaRIT ) for Families with Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome Permalink

Background: Individuals who carry deleterious BRCA mutations face significantly elevated risks of breast, ovarian, and other cancers. These individuals are also responsible for informing relatives of their increased risk for carrying the family BRCA mutation. Few interventions have been developed to facilitate this family communication process. Methods: We developed the Sharing Risk Information Tool (ShaRIT), a personalized educational intervention, to support BRCA carriers as they discuss BRCA positive results and their implications with relatives. We conducted a pilot study of 19 BRCA carriers identified through the University of California San Francisco Cancer Risk Program. Our study had two aims: 1) to assess the feasibility and acceptability of ShaRIT, and 2) describe characteristics associated with increased family communication and BRCA testing. Participants in our study were divided into two groups: those who had not received ShaRIT as part of their genetic counseling protocol (control group, n = 10) and those who received ShaRIT (n = 9). Results: All 9 women who received ShaRIT reported that it was a useful resource. Characteristics associated with increased sharing and testing included: female gender, degree of relationship, and frequency of communication. Increased pedigree knowledge showed a trend toward higher rates of sharing. Conclusions: Both participants and genetic counselors considered ShaRIT a well-received, comprehensive tool for disseminating individual risk information and clinical care guidelines to Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome families. Because of this, ShaRIT has been incorporated as standard of care at our institution. In the future we hope to evaluate the effects of ShaRIT on family communication and family testing in larger populations of BRCA positive families.
Effect of temperature and dissolved oxygen on swimming performance in crucian carp

Changing environmental conditions may affect the swimming performance of fish by affecting energy sources through changes in temperature and concentration of dissolved oxygen (DO). It has become increasingly important to investigate the effect of temperature and DO on the swimming performance of fish species as hypoxia in aquatic environments worldwide is increas- ing due to the effects of anthropogenic global warming. To test how different swimming modes respond to thermal and DO changes, 3 measures of swimming performance were tested: critical swimming speed (Ucrit), constant acceleration speed (Ucat), and maximum speed during a fast-start (Ufast). The changes in these 3 aspects of swimming performance in juvenile crucian carp Caras- sius carassius were quantified at 2 different temperatures (10 and 20°C) and 3 different DO con- centrations (2.5, 5, and 9 mg l �1 ). Ucat was ca. 110 to 156% of Ucrit, whereas Ufast was ca. 394 to 472% of Ucrit, depending on the experimental conditions. Temperature had a significant effect on all 3 measures of swimming performance, whereas DO had significant effects only on Ucat and Ucrit (Ucrit but not Ucat decreased in the 2.5 mg l �1 DO group). The active metabolic rate (MO2active) under the different experimental conditions suggested that the decrease in Ucrit at a lower temperature and DO level could be partially explained by a decrease in oxygen uptake capacity. These results indicate that all 3 swimming measurements should be used when addressing how temperature affects swimming performance.
Fractionation of Th-230 , Pa-231 , and Be-10 induced by particle size and composition within an opal-rich sediment of the Atlantic Southern Ocean

Publisher Rights Statement: Author's final version as submitted for publication. Cite As: Kretschmer, S, Geibert, W, van der Loeff, MMR, Schnabel, C, Xu, S & Mollenhauer, G 2011, 'Fractionation of Th-230, Pa-231, and Be-10 induced by particle size and composition within an opal-rich sediment of the Atlantic Southern Ocean' Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, vol 75, no. 22, pp. 6971-6987. _______________________________________________________________ NOTICE: This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta copyright of Elsevier (2011) _______________________________________________________________
Effect of cattle trampling on ground nesting birds on pastures: an experiment with artificial nests

Abstract 1. In semi-natural grasslands, nest trampling by cattle can have a strong effect on hatching success but the relationship linking cattle density, incubation time and nest survival has for now only been hypothesized. 2. Based on an experiment with artificial nests, the objective of this study was to test the theoretical model generally used to estimate nest survival. In spring 2009, we conducted a one-month experiment on permanent grasslands of the French western marshlands grazed at three different stocking rates (1 LU.ha-1, 2 LU.ha-1 and 4 LU.ha-1). 3. The results confirmed that trampling depended on stocking rates. 4. Trampling had a major effect on nest survival (32-85% of nests destroyed). 5. The theoretical model classically used by managers and modellers proved to be a good approximation of the dynamics of nest trampling. 6. Synthesis and applications: We conclude that nest trampling has a major impact on nest survival in pastures and that the use of such a model could help managers to define acceptable levels of cattle densities.
Estudo comparativo entre a miniesternotomia em "L" invertido e esternotomia longitudinal total na correção cirúrgica da comunicação interatrial Comparative study between inverted "L" mini- sternotomy and complete sternotomy for the surgical treatment of the atrial septal defect (ASD)

Objective: To compare the results obtained from two distinct surgical approaches in patients undergoing surgical correction of an atrial septal defect (ASD). Method: The study series consisted of 20 patients, with a mean age of 24.1 ± 14.2 years, distributed in two groups. In group A, 10 patients (80% female, with a mean age of 20.9 ± 12.0 years) underwent surgical correction of ASD through a complete sternotomy. In group B, 10 patients (80% of females, with a mean age of 27.4 ± 16.1 years) were operated through an inverted ‘L’ ministernotomy. A p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: There was no statistical significance for demographics variables, duration of surgery, cardiopulmonary bypass time, clamping time, amount of cardioplegia administered, thoracic drainage, ICU stay, duration of mechanical ventilatory support, amount of blood and its components transfused, arrhythmia or pacemaker usage. There was statistical significance (p= 0.00001) between incision size performed by complete sternotomy (group A) and inverted ‘L’ mini-sternotomy (group B), with mean incision sizes of 15.7 ± 0.8 and 6.8 ± 0.6 cm, respectively. There was a difference in the mean hospital stay between the groups but without statistical significance (7.5 ± 1.6 days in group A and 6.4 ± 1.3 days in group B, with a p-value = 0.12). There was no mortality or complications reported in either surgical approach. Conclusion: There was no difference in the operative and postoperative periods between the techniques that were performed except for the incision size, with a better cosmetic result seen with the inverted ‘L’ ministernotomy.
The Many Faces of Human Sociality: Uncovering the Distribution and Stability of Social Preferences

There is vast heterogeneity in the human willingness to weigh others’ interests in decision making. This heterogeneity raises the question how one can parsimoniously model and characterize heterogeneity across several dimensions of social preferences while still being able to predict behavior over time and across situations. We tackle this task with an experiment and a structural model of preferences that allows us to simultaneously estimate outcome-based and reciprocity-based social preferences. We find that non-selfish preferences are the rule rather than the exception. Neither at the level of the representative agent nor when we allow for several preference types do purely selfish types emerge. Instead, three qualitatively different other-regarding types emerge endogenously, i.e., without pre-specifying assumptions about the characteristics of types. When ahead, all three types value others’ payoffs significantly more than when behind. The first type, denoted strongly altruistic type, is characterized by a relatively large weight on others’ payoffs and moderate levels of reciprocity. The second type is, moderately altruistic and also puts positive weight on others’ payoff, yet at a considerable lower level, and displays no positive reciprocity while the third type is behindness averse, i.e., puts a large negative weight on others’ payoffs when behind and behaves selfishly otherwise. We also find that there is an unambiguous and temporally stable assignment of individuals to these types. Moreover, the three-type model substantially improves the predictions of individuals’ behavior across additional games while the information contained in subject-specific parameter estimates leads to no or only minor additional predictive power. This suggests that a parsimonious model with three types captures the bulk of the predictive power contained in the preference estimates.
An Investigation of the Impact of Research-led Education on Student Learning and Understandings of Research.

This study investigated the impact of two approaches to research-led education on students’ learning and their understandings of research in the context of two university courses in international business involving third year undergraduate and graduate students. One approach involved the lecturer using his research as the basis for a case-study assignment involving an intercultural business negotiation. In the second approach students conducted a research project in which they reviewed the academic literature to identify practical implications for business and theoretical gaps as the basis for future research. A questionnaire was used to explore students’ perceptions of the impacts on their learning and understandings of research. Students’ understandings of research were most informed by the research based learning project which was presented to them as an experience of doing research. Students valued the lecturer using his research in the course because of his enthusiasm and his expertise and mentoring in doing research. However many students developed only limited understandings of research in the subject area, despite their direct experience of the lecturers’ research. The implications for the design of research-led education approaches are explored.
Modeling Fatigue Damage Onset and Progression in Composites Using an Element-Based Virtual Crack Closure Technique Combined With the Floating Node Method

A new methodology is proposed to model the onset and propagation of matrix cracks and delaminations in carbon-epoxy composites subject to fatigue loading. An extended interface element, based on the Floating Node Method, is developed to represent delaminations and matrix cracks explicitly in a mesh independent fashion. Crack propagation is determined using an element-based Virtual Crack Closure Technique approach to determine mixed-mode energy release rates, and the Paris-Law relationship to obtain crack growth rate. Crack onset is determined using a stressbased onset criterion coupled with a stress vs. cycle curve and Palmgren-Miner rule to account for fatigue damage accumulation. The approach is implemented in Abaqus/StandardÂ® via the user subroutine functionality. Verification exercises are performed to assess the accuracy and correct implementation of the approach. Finally, it was demonstrated that this approach captured the differences in failure morphology in fatigue for two laminates of identical stiffness, but with layups containing I¸Â° plies that were either stacked ini€ i€ i€ single i€ i€ i€ i€ i€ i€ i€ i€ i€ distributed through the laminate thickness.
Oxidative alterations during human platelet storage

Transfuzyon icin aferezle elde edilen trombositlerde trombosit cevabinda depolama sirasinda cesitli degisiklikler olusur. Bu calismanin amaci depolamanin trombosit aktivasyonu, apoptozu, protein icerigi, lipid peroksidasyonu, nitrik oksit (NO) ve glutatyon (GSH) seviyelerine etkisini incelemektir. Bu calismada saglikli vericilerden aferezle elde edilen trombositler calkalayicida 20-24°C’de 9 gun saklandi.1. ,3. ,5. ,9. gunlerde trombositler toplandi ve cokturuldu. Trombosit aktivasyonu PAC-1 ve CD62-P antikorlari ile, trombosit apoptozu ise Annexin-V ile flovsitometrede olculdu.Trombositler dort kez eritip donduruldu ve sonra NO, GSH ve malondialdehit (MDA) seviyeleri spektrofotometre ile tayin edildi. Protein dagilimi sodyum dodesil sulfat poliakrilamid jel elektroforezi (SDS-PAGE) ile arastirildi. 1. gunle karsilastirildiginda, CD62-P, PAC-1 ekspresyonlari ve Annexin-V seviyeleri 3. ,5. , ve 9. , gunlerde anlamli duzeyde artti. 1. gunle karsilastirildiginda trombosit NO ve GSH seviyeleri 3. , 5. , ve 9. gunlerde azaldi, bununla birlikte MDA seviyeleri sadece 5. ve 9. gunlerde anlamli duzeyde artti. Trombosit protein bandlarinda hafif degisiklikler gozlendi. Bizim sonuclarimiz transfuzyon icin hazirlanan trombositlerde trombosit aktivitesindeki degisikliklerin ilerde in vivo dolasimda prokoagulant aktiviteyi ve boylece trombojenik riski artirabilecegini gostermektedir. Bu nedenle transfuzyon icin taze orneklerin kullanilmasi ya da trombositlerin iyi korunmasi in vivo durumdaki trombosit davranisi icin cok onemlidir
Bio-inspired motion estimation { From modelling to evaluation, can biology be a source of inspiration?

We propose a bio-inspired approach to motion estimation based on recent neuroscience ndings concerning the motion pathway. Our goal is to identify the key biological features in order to reach a good compromise be- tween bio-inspiration and computational eciency. Here we choose the neural eld formalism which provides a sound mathematical framework to describe the model at a macroscopic scale. Within this framework we dene the cortical ac- tivity as coupled integro-dierenti al equations and we prove the well-posedness of the model. We show how our model performs on some classical computer vision videos, and we compare its behaviour against the visual system on a simple classical video used in psychophysics. Following this idea, we propose a new benchmark to evaluate models against visual system performance. Baseline results are provided for both bio-inspired and computer vision models. Results conrm the good performance of recent computer vision approaches even on such synthetic stimuli, and also show that taking biology into account in mod- els can improve performance. As a whole, this article aords a considerable insight into how biology can bring new ideas in computer vision at dierent lev- els: modelling principles, mathematical formalism and evaluation methodology. Perspectives around this work are promising and cover the addition of delays to constrain propagation as well as the extension of our benchmark to better characterise the visual system performance.
Trade-off shapes diversity in 1 eco-evolutionary dynamics 2

*For correspondence: farnoush.farahpour@uni-due.de; daniel.hoffmann@uni-due.de 1Bioinformatics and Computational Biophysics, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany; 5 2Biofilm Center, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany; 3Center for Computational 6 Sciences and Simulation, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany; 4Center for Medical 7 Biotechnology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany; 5Center for Water and 8 Environmental Research, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany 9
Current concepts to reduce mechanical stiffness in locked plating systems: a review article

Locking plates can be used in a bridging mode to treat fractures by means of sec- ondary bone healing. This requires stimulation by interfragmentary micromotion. Recent data suggest that up to 20% of fractures fixed with locking plates may encounter suboptimal fracture healing. Three main systems have been developed to improve bone healing, thereby reducing the risks of delayed or nonunion: overdrilling the near cortex; far cortical locking (FCL) screw; and dynamic locking screw (DLS). Overdrilling the near cortex offers a cheap alternative to screw technology by reducing construct stiffness; overdrilling potentially causes repetitive load- ing and thus has consequences postoperatively such as failure and fatigue. FCL screws reduce construct stiffness and maintain construct strength but cannot be used in dynamic compression mode and therefore, require adequate fracture reduction. DLS is a new generation of locking screw, amalgamating locking technology with dynamic motion with the aim of improving interfragmentary motion at the near cortex.