Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Why Wait to Settle? An Experimental Test of the Asymmetric Information Hypothesis

The US legal system encourages civil litigants to quickly settle their disputes, yet lengthy and expensive delays often precede private settlements. The causes of these delays are uncertain. This paper describes an economic experiment designed to test one popular hypothesis: that asymmetric information might be a contributing cause of observed settlement delays. Experimental results provide strong evidence that asymmetric information can delay settlements, increasing average time to settlement by as much as 90 percent in some treatments. This causal relationship is robustly observed across different bargaining environments. On the other hand, results do not obviously confirm all aspects of the game-theoretic explanation for this relationship and suggest that asymmetric information may be only one of several contributing causes of settlement delay.
School Promotion of Healthful Diet and Physical Activity: Impact on Learning Outcomes and Self-Reported Behavior

The Go For Health Program included classroom health education and environmental changes in school lunch and physical education to foster healthful diet and exercise among elementary school children. Interventions were based on social learning theory and implementation was based on an organizational change strategy for school innovations. Two schools were assigned to intervention and two to control conditions. Cognitive measures (behavioral capability, self-efficacy, behavioral expectations) and self-reported diet and exercise behavior were assessed at baseline and following intervention. Data were analyzed by ANOVA using the student and then the school as the unit of analysis. Statistically significant changes were observed for diet behavioral capability, self-efficacy, and behavioral expectations, use of salt, and exercise behavioral capability (fourth grade), self-efficacy (fourth grade) and frequency of participation in aerobic activity. The results provide evidence for program impact on learning outcomes and student behavior.
Social interactions elicit rapid shifts in functional connectivity in the social decision-making network of zebrafish

According to the social decision-making (SDM) network hypothesis, SDM is encoded in a network of forebrain and midbrain structures in a distributed and dynamic fashion, such that the expression of a given social behaviour is better reflected by the overall profile of activation across the different loci rather than by the activity of a single node. This proposal has the implicit assumption that SDM relies on integration across brain regions, rather than on regional specialization. Here we tested the occurrence of functional localization and of functional connectivity in the SDM network. For this purpose we used zebrafish to map different social behaviour states into patterns of neuronal activity, as indicated by the expression of the immediate early genes c-fos and egr-1, across the SDM network. The results did not support functional localization, as some loci had similar patterns of activity associated with different social behaviour states, and showed socially driven changes in functional connectivity. Thus, this study provides functional support to the SDM network hypothesis and suggests that the neural context in which a given node of the network is operating (i.e. the state of its interconnected areas) is central to its functional relevance.
Functional consequence of mutation in rat cardiac troponin T is affected differently by myosin heavy chain isoforms

Cardiac troponin T (cTnT) is an essential component of the thin filament regulatory unit (RU) that regulates Ca2+ activation of tension in the heart muscle. Because there is coupling between the RU and myosin crossbridges, the functional outcome of cardiomyopathy‐related mutations in cTnT may be modified by the type of myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoform. Ca2+ activation of tension and ATPase activity were measured in muscle fibres from normal rat hearts containing α‐MHC isoform and propylthiouracil (PTU)‐treated rat hearts containing β‐MHC isoform. Muscle fibres from normal and PTU‐treated rat hearts were reconstituted with two different mutations in rat cTnT; the deletion of Glu162 (cTnTE162DEL) and the deletion of Lys211 (cTnTK211DEL). α‐MHC and β‐MHC isoforms had contrasting impact on tension‐dependent ATP consumption (tension cost) in cTnTE162DEL and cTnTK211DEL reconstituted muscle fibres. Significant increases in tension cost in α‐MHC‐containing muscle fibres corresponded to 17% (P < 0.01) and 23% (P < 0.001) when reconstituted with cTnTE162DEL and cTnTK211DEL, respectively. In contrast, tension cost decreased when these two cTnT mutants were reconstituted in muscle fibres containing β‐MHC; by approximately 24% (P < 0.05) when reconstituted with cTnTE162DEL and by approximately 17% (P= 0.09) when reconstituted with cTnTK211DEL. Such differences in tension cost were substantiated by the mechano‐dynamic analysis of cTnT mutant reconstituted muscle fibres from normal and PTU‐treated rat hearts. Our observation demonstrates that qualitative changes in MHC isoform alters the nature of cardiac myofilament dysfunction induced by mutations in cTnT.
Tympanometry Revealing Middle Ear Pathology

In order to evaluate the usefulness of impedance audiometry as a screening method for school children, two different pilot studies were performed. The results indicated that impedance audiometry (tympanometry and stapedius reflex test) was more efficient than otoscopy and pure tone screening in the detection of ears with secretory otitis media (SOM). In order to gain some more experience, an extended study of 800 7-year-olds was performed. The results from this investigation showed 6.5% pathological values with pure tone screening, 13.5% pathological values with tympanometry and 32% elevated or nonelicitable stapedius reflexes. Analysis of our observations indicates that the stapedius reflex may be too sensitive a test to be used as a screening method. Tympanometry, however, is recommended as a complement to pure tone screening in screening of children. A 6–12 months follow-up was also performed on 357 ears in which an initial study had shown a middle ear pressure of ≤ −100 mm H2O. At the repeated test 20% had pathological pure tone screening, 40% had a middle ear pressure of ≤ −100 mm H2O, 57% had elevated or nonelicitable stapedius reflexes, and 14% had middle ear effusion. The high frequency of persisting abnormal middle ear pressure and effusion in these 357 ears suggests that a middle ear pressure of ≤ −100 mm H2O can be a predisposing factor for SOM. In an experimental study on human temporal bones it was demonstrated that the tympanogram preserves its original appearance when the water level is low in the middle ear, while a higher level gives rise to a pathological tympanogram. It is also demonstrated that there is a discrepancy between the tympanometrically, indirectly recorded middle ear pressure and the middle ear pressure as measured manometrically, directly from the middle ear.
Surface leakage current in 12.5  μm long-wavelength HgCdTe infrared photodiode arrays.

Long-wavelength (especially >12 μm) focal plane array (FPA) infrared detection is the cutting edge technique for third-generation infrared remote sensing. However, dark currents, which are very sensitive to the growth of small Cd composition HgCdTe, strongly limits the performance of long wavelength HgCdTe photodiode arrays in FPAs. In this Letter, 12.5 μm long-wavelength Hg1-xCdxTe (x≈0.219) infrared photodiode arrays are reported. The variable-area and variable-temperature electrical characteristics of the long-wavelength infrared photodiodes are measured. The characteristics of the extracted zero-bias resistance-area product (l/R0A) varying with the perimeter-to-area (P/A) ratio clearly show that surface leakage current mechanisms severely limit the overall device performance. A sophisticated model has been developed for investigating the leakage current mechanism in the photodiodes. Modeling of temperature-dependent I-V characteristic indicates that the trap-assisted tunneling effect dominates the dark current at 50 K resulting in nonuniformities in the arrays. The extracted trap density, approximately 1013-1014 cm-3, with an ionized energy of 30 meV is determined by simulation. The work described in this Letter provides the basic mechanisms for a better understanding of the leakage current mechanism for long-wavelength (>12 μm) HgCdTe infrared photodiode arrays.
Selective Effects of Physical Exercise on Choice Reaction Processes

The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of an exercise of moderate intensity (60% of maximal aerobic power) on specific information-processing mechanisms. 22 students completed 3 10-min. exercise bouts on a bicycle ergometer. Concomitantly, participants performed six manual choice-reaction tasks manipulating task variables (Signal Intensity, Stimulus–Response Compatibility, and Time Uncertainty) on two levels. Reaction tests, randomly ordered, were administered at rest and during exercise. A significant underadditive interaction between Time Uncertainty and exercise was found for the highest quartiles of the distribution of reaction times. No other interaction effects were obtained for the other variables. These results reasonably support that moderate aerobic exercise showed selective rather than general influences on information processing.
Impact of foliar-applied Hoagland’s nutrient solution on growth and yield of mash bean (Vigna mungo L.) under different growth stages

Abstract In a field experiment, various strengths of Hoagland’s nutrient solutions were sprayed to mitigate the deleterious effects of nutrient stresses at different growth stages on mash bean cultivars. Hoagland’s nutrient solution strengths of 0, 25, 50, and 75% were applied at 7, 14, and 21 days after emergence on mash bean cultivars namely Mash-2 and Mash-88. Hoagland’s nutrient solution of 75% strength markedly increased the growth and yield of mash bean cultivars if applied at 21 days after crop emergence. The Mash-88 showed superiority in terms of growth and yield traits as compared to Mash-2. The results suggested that growth and yield was not enhanced effectively by a low strength of Hoagland’s nutrient solution applied at initial growth stages. It is concluded that foliar-applied Hoagland’s nutrient solution of 75% strength can be used as an efficient tool when applied at appropriate growth stage (21 days after emergence) to get optimal yield.
Color me, store me, know me not: Supporting image color transfer and storage in encrypted domain over cloud

Color transfer is a well known methodology to transfer color between images such that color palette of the resulting image should match as of the reference image. Current trend towards cloud computing has initiated the requirement of performing color transfer remotely by untrusted third party servers. To address this requirement, we present a system that addresses the challenge of performing color transfer between images when the test images are in encrypted form. While standard methods accomplish the task of color transfer in plain domain, our approach is the first known scheme to perform color transfer in encrypted domain. Furthermore, the proposed approach also solves the problem of privacy preserving storage over cloud infrastructures given that the test images can remain in encrypted form without requiring any decryption. Experimental results and security analysis demonstrate the potential and effectiveness of our approach with various application scenarios.
Dynamic profile based paging in mobile communication

In cellular network finding a mobile terminal effectively is a vital component and it has a strong impact on signaling load. Location management has a set of techniques such as location update and paging implemented to reduce this mobility based signaling traffic. Paging and location update techniques work together with to decide in searching of the user on the arrival of a call. Here a profile based paging algorithm is proposed in terms of paging success rate and bandwidth conservation comparing with various other paging algorithms. This work is validated by taking a novel data to profile the users and simulated the algorithm with actual user data. In this work the proposed algorithm gives improved better paging success rate of 3% to 9% and saves bandwidth of 60% to 20% compared to conventional paging and sequential paging respectively.
PENGARUH KUALITAS PELAYANAN DAN PRODUK PEMBIAYAAN TERHADAP MINAT DAN KEPUTUSAN MENJADI NASABAH DI BANK SYARIAH

Abstrak: Pengaruh Kualitas Pelayanan dan Produk Pembiayaan Terhadap Minat dan Keputusan Menjadi Nasabah di Bank Syariah. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh kualitas pelayanan terhadap minat menjadi nasabah, pengaruh kualitas pelayanan terhadap keputusan menjadi nasabah, pengaruh produk pembiayaan terhadap minat menjadi nasabah dan pengaruh produk pembiayaan terhadap keputusan menjadi nasabah. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian asosiatif kausal. Penelitian ini menggunakan simple random sampling dan kuota sampling , sedangkan analisis data menggunakan analisis jalur. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa ada pengaruh positif kualitas pelayanan terhadap minat menjadi nasabah. Kualitas pelayanan juga berpengaruh positif terhadap keputusan menjadi nasabah. Penelitian ini juga menemukan bahwa produk pembiayaan juga berpengaruh positif terhadap minat menjadi nasabah. Produk pembiayaan juga berpengaruh positif terhadap keputusan menjadi nasabah. Selain itu minat menjadi nasabah juga berpengaruh positif terhadap keputusan menjadi nasabah. Kata kunci: kualitas pelayanan, produk pembiayaan, bank syariah Abstract: The Effecs of Service Quality and Financing Product on The Interest and Decision in Becoming A Customer of Sharia Banks. This study aims to investigate the effect of service quality on the interest in becoming a customer, the effect quality service on the decision in becoming a customer, the effect financing of product on the interest in becoming a customer, the effect of financing product on the decision in becoming a customer, and the effect of the interest in becoming a customer on the decision in becoming a customer. This was a causal associative study. The research use by means simple random sampling and quota sampling techniques, an were analysed by means of the path analysis. The results of the study show that there is a positive effect of service quality on the interest becoming a customer. Service quality also has a positive effect on the decisions in becoming a customer. The study also finds out that there is a positive effect of financing product on the interest in becoming a customer. Financing product also has a positive effect on the decision in becoming a customer. In additionthe interest in becoming a customer has a positive effect on th decision in becoming customer. Keywords: Quality service, financing product, sharia bank.
SUSCEPTIBILITY OF PSAMMOMYS OBESUS AND MERIONES TRISTRAMI TO TACHYZOITES OF NEOSPORA CANINUM

The susceptibility of Psammomys obesus (sand rat) and Meriones tristrami (Tristram's jird) to Neospora caninum was investigated by subcutaneous (s.c.) and intraperitoneal (i.p.) inoculation of 10-fold doses of culture-derived tachyzoites. Groups of 5 animals were inoculated with doses of 10–107 parasites via each route of inoculation. All but 2 of the sand rats inoculated with doses of 10–104 parasites succumbed to the infection by 7–18 days postinfection. All jirds inoculated with 107 tachyzoites succumbed by 5–16 days postinfection and those inoculated with 106 tachyzoites by 9–25 days. A considerable proportion of the jirds inoculated with 10–105 tachyzoites survived. Fibrinous peritonitis with ascites containing numerous tachyzoites was observed in the i.p.-inoculated sand rats and jirds that succumbed to the infection. In the jirds, tachyzoites were also found in pleural exudate. A considerable number (42.8%) of the jirds inoculated s.c. or i.p. exhibited neuromuscular symptoms, expressed in ataxia, head tilt, circling movement, and posterior paralysis. Seven successive passage of tachyzoites were achieved in sand rats with doses of 105 parasites and in jirds with doses of 107 parasites. All surviving jirds became seroconverted and were immune to lethal challenge.
Oncocytic Adrenocortical Tumors: Diagnostic Algorithm and Mitochondrial DNA Profile in 27 Cases

The pathologic diagnosis of adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) relies on microscopic features that are sometimes equivocal in special variants, including oncocytic adrenocortical tumors (OACTs). We report a series of 27 unpublished OACTs (15 pure and 12 mixed or focal) and assess for the first time in OACTs the diagnostic utility of an algorithm recently proposed by our group (“reticulin” algorithm) for conventional ACCs on the basis of a combination of reticulin staining and assessment of only 3 Weiss parameters. Overall, 12 cases were malignant according to the Lin-Weiss-Bisceglia (L-W-B) system for pure tumors and the original Weiss system for mixed or focal tumors; extensive or focal disruption of the reticulin network was found in 16 of 27 OACTs. This was associated with either a high mitotic index, presence of necrosis, and/or vascular invasion in 14 of these, which were thus considered malignant according to our algorithm. From a clinical standpoint, OACTs, at least in the pure form, are “low grade” lesions with a low mean Weiss score, mitotic and Ki-67 indices, and uncommon capsular or vascular invasion. They, including unequivocal morphologically malignant cases, generally pursue an indolent clinical course. In addition, the 4977 bp mitochondrial DNA “common deletion” was detected using real-time polymerase chain reaction in 54% of cases from this study and an additional validation series of 23 OACTs, with a heterogenous (heteroplasmic) intratissue and intracellular distribution (as detected by a modified FISH procedure) and a marked association with the presence of intact reticulin framework.
Quality of life assessment in patients with implant-supported and resin-bonded fixed prosthesis for bounded edentulous spaces.

OBJECTIVES Dental implants have become increasingly popular in the prosthetic rehabilitation of patients with bounded edentulous spaces. Oral condition-related quality of life (QOL) levels have rarely been assessed in these patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS Two groups of subjects with bounded edentulous spaces were studied: an implant-supported fixed prosthesis group (11 patients) and a resin-bonded fixed prosthesis group (33 patients). The two groups were well matched in terms of sex, age, missing units and location of missing units. The patients were requested to answer a self-administered QOL questionnaire with two major subscales - oral condition- and general condition-related QOL scores. The test-retest reliability of each question was pre-examined and found acceptable (mean Spearman rank correlation coefficient was 0.55 +/- 0.16). Mean QOL score differences between the two groups were analyzed by the Mann-Whitney U-test. RESULTS Mean oral condition-related QOL scores of the implant-supported and resin-bonded fixed prosthesis groups were 87.8 +/- 9.5 and 87.1 +/- 12.3% (P = 0.85), and mean general condition-related QOL scores were 73.8 +/- 14.8 and 71.6 +/- 15.2% (P = 0.95), respectively. No significant QOL differences between the two groups were observed in the two subscales. CONCLUSION In patients with bounded edentulous spaces, multidimensional QOL levels of patients with an implant-supported fixed prosthesis do not exceed those of patients with a resin-bonded fixed prosthesis in a short follow-up period.
Sexual Dysfunction in Two Types of Hormonal Contraception: Combined Oral Contraceptives versus Depot Medroxyprogesterone Acetate

Background & aim: Sexual health is an essential element of quality of life, affecting both physical and psychological domains. Hormones used in contraceptive methods have contradictory effects on sexual function. In this study, we aimed to compare sexual function in women using combined oral contraceptives (COC) and depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA), referred to healthcare centers affiliated to Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in Tehran, Iran in 2013. Methods: This descriptive, comparative study was performed on 240 women (n=120 per group), selected through multistage sampling in Tehran, Iran. A questionnaire consisting of three parts, General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), demographic characteristics, and Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), was completed through interviews. For data analysis, descriptive statistics were calculated, and independent t-test, Mann-Whitney test, Chi-square, and Fisher's exact test were performed, using SPPS version 16. P-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The mean age at marriage in women using DMPA was lower than those using COC (18.55±3.61 vs. 19.92±3.98 years). Based on the findings, the menstrual status in the majority of DMPA users was irregular (46.7% in DMPA group vs. 8.3% in COC group). The difference in sexual function between the COC and DMPA groups was significant. Sexual arousal and lubrication were more favorable in the COC group in comparison with the DMPA group; also, pain in this group was lower than the DMPA group. Scores of total sexual function (27.35±5.22 in DMPA group vs. 29.15±6.13 in COC group), sexual arousal (4.11±0.90 in DMPA group vs. 4.51±1.39 in COC group), and vaginal lubrication (4.82±1.30 in DMPA group vs. 5.26±1.35 in COC group) were lower in the DMPA group, compared to the COC group. Pain scores (4.91±1.25 in DMPA group vs. 5.28±1.19 in COC group) were higher in the DMPA group in comparison with the COC group (P<0.05). Conclusion: Sexual dysfunction seems to be more prevalent among DMPA users. Therefore, healthcare providers should pay particular attention to sexual function and contraceptive methods. Also, we recommend further research to determine the best way to inform women about the potential risks and benefits of hormonal contraception.
Cyclic AMP Activation of the Extracellular Signal-regulated Kinases 1 and 2

The proliferative compartment of the intestinal crypt is critical in the process of intestinal epithelial cell homeostasis. The ability of these progenitor crypt cells to resist apoptosis and ensure restitution during a potentially lethal insult, but retain the ability to remove damaged or altered cells afterward, is necessary for preservation of the crypt-villus unit. We have examined the ability of cAMP to transiently inhibit apoptosis via the extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1/2), in T84 cells, an intestinal crypt-like cell line. Using the cAMP analog 8-bromo-cAMP and cholera toxin (CT), cAMP-mediated ERK1/2 activation was first measured by Western blot analysis of the phosphorylated (activated) and total (activated and inactivated) forms of ERK1/2. Cyclic AMP activated ERK1/2 in a time- and dose-dependent manner, and the effect was inhibited by PD098059, an inhibitor of the ERK1/2 signaling pathway. However, inhibition of protein kinase A (PKA) did not alter the activation of ERK1/2. CT transiently inhibited both staurosporine and Fas antibody mediated apoptosis as measured by a caspase-3 activation assay and the detection of nucleosomes in an apoptosis based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. This inhibitory effect was reversed by the simultaneous addition of PD098059. Our data suggest that in the T84 cell line, cAMP activates ERK1/2 in a PKA independent fashion and a physiological consequence of this activated pathway is the transient inhibition of apoptosis. These findings suggest a novel pathway that intestinal cells use to protect against injury while maintaining the overall ability to remove damaged cells and preserve intestinal homeostasis.