Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interactive Advertising and Presence

Abstract New communication technologies are creating new challenges for the advertising industry. While digital and high definition television, e-mail, the World Wide Web, and other new technologies represent new possibilities for advertisers, there is little information available regarding how to take advantage of them. There are indications that applying traditional models, designed for media that provide users with a passive, impersonal experience, will be unsuccessful for the new interactive digital media. A growing body of research and theory on the concept of presence may provide a valuable framework for advertisers as they try to adapt to the changing media environment. This paper considers some of the ways advertising is evolving to incorporate interactive media and how work on presence can guide that evolution.
Enhancement of spatial-temporal reasoning after a Mozart listening condition in Alzheimer's disease: a case study.

Several recent studies have investigated the effectiveness of various behavioral interventions on the cognitive performance of subjects with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Simulations of Shaw's structured model of the cortex led to the predictions that music might enhance spatial-temporal reasoning. A subsequent behavioral study in college students documented an improvement in scores on a spatial-temporal task after listening to a Mozart piano sonata. In this study, we investigated the enhancement of scores on a spatial-temporal task after a Mozart listening condition in a set of twins who are discordant for AD. After listening to an excerpt from a Mozart piano sonata, the AD twin showed considerable improvement on the spatial-temporal task when compared with pretest scores. Furthermore, no enhancement of scores was seen following either of the control conditions (i.e., silence or 1930s popular tunes). This finding suggests that music may be used as a tool to investigate functional plasticity in Alzheimer's disease and to better understand the underlying pathophysiology.
Milk, butter, and heart disease

SIR,-The MRC epidemiology unit in Wales has attracted a considerable amount of media attention as a result ofreports that people who drink milk are less prone to heart attacks than those who do not and that butter eaters experience fewer heart attacks than those using polyunsaturated margarines. ' This information has not been formally presented in the medical journals, but it seems important to discuss the findings that are available in the report published and distributed by the unit. ' Milk in Caerphilly-The dietary data presented are from 2818 middle aged men (45-59 years at screening) from Caerphilly and five adjacent villages. The men were asked, "How much milk (not skimmed or dried) do you drink per day in tea
Trading volume and returns relationship in SET50 index futures market

This study investigates the relationship between trading volume and returns in SET50 index Futures market in the period from April 2006 to December 2008 using 653 observations. From previous studies, we include three methodologies namely the GARCH model, the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) to estimate systems of equations and the Granger causality test to investigate the relationship more thoroughly. In addition, we introduce the lagged volume as a new explanatory variable in the GARCH model. Overall, the results show the significant contemporaneous and dynamic relationships between trading volume and returns volatility which support the sequential information arrival hypothesis and imply some degree of market inefficiency. The results from this study also show that past information of trading volume can be used to improve the prediction of price volatility. Therefore, regulators and traders could include past information of trading volume of SET50 index futures in tracking and monitoring the market volatility level and the investment risk in order to make a timely decision.
Exposure Rate of Hydroxyapatite Spheres in the Anophthalmic Socket: Histopathologic Correlation and Comparison with Silicone Sphere Implants

We retrospectively reviewed enucleations and secondary anophthalmic socket sphere implantations for a 3 year period. We compared the incidence of exposure of hydroxyapatite implants to the incidence of exposure of silicone implants. We found that the incidence of hydroxyapatite exposure following enucleation was 3 of 27 (11.1%), and following secondary anophthalmic socket implantation was 3 of 32 (9.4%). The incidence of silicone sphere exposure following enucleation was 0 of 48 (0%), and following secondary implantation was 1 of 30 (3.3%). The difference in exposure rate between hydroxyapatite and silicone reached statistical significance in the enucleation group (p = 0.043) and in the combined enucleation and secondary implantation group (p = 0.033), but not in the secondary implantation group when considered separately. Osteoinduction and fibrovascular infiltration were found in all hydroxyapatite specimens examined histopathologically. In the exposed implants, liquefaction necrosis of the implant occurred. In the nonexposed implant, complete fibrovascular ingrowth was noted at 7 months. We believe that the hydroxyapatite anophthalmic sphere is associated with a higher incidence of exposure and postoperative inflammation when compared to silicone anophthalmic spheres. Patient selection and technique modification may reduce the incidence of hydroxyapatite implant exposure.
Differentiation and Structure in Sulfolobus islandicus Rod-Shaped Virus Populations

In the past decade, molecular surveys of viral diversity have revealed that viruses are the most diverse and abundant biological entities on Earth. In culture, however, most viral isolates that infect microbes are represented by a few variants isolated on type strains, limiting our ability to study how natural variation affects virus-host interactions in the laboratory. We screened a set of 137 hot spring samples for viruses that infect a geographically diverse panel of the hyperthemophilic crenarchaeon Sulfolobus islandicus. We isolated and characterized eight SIRVs (Sulfolobus islandicus rod-shaped viruses) from two different regions within Yellowstone National Park (USA). Comparative genomics revealed that all SIRV sequenced isolates share 30 core genes that represent 50–60% of the genome. The core genome phylogeny, as well as the distribution of variable genes (shared by some but not all SIRVs) and the signatures of host-virus interactions recorded on the CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) repeat-spacer arrays of S. islandicus hosts, identify different SIRV lineages, each associated with a different geographic location. Moreover, our studies reveal that SIRV core genes do not appear to be under diversifying selection and thus we predict that the abundant and diverse variable genes govern the coevolutionary arms race between SIRVs and their hosts.
Developmental Patterns of Child Emotion Dysregulation as Predicted by Serotonin Transporter Genotype and Parenting

Individual differences in emotion regulation are central to social, academic, occupational, and psychological development, and emotion dysregulation (ED) in childhood is a risk factor for numerous developmental outcomes. The present study aimed to (a) describe the developmental trajectory of ED across early childhood (3–6 years) and (b) examine its sensitivity to youth serotonin transporter genotype, positive and negative parenting behaviors, and their interaction. Participants were 99 families in the Collaborative Family Study, a longitudinal study of children with or without developmental delays. Child ED and early parenting were coded from parent–child interactions. To examine serotonin transporter genotype as a moderator between parenting and child emotion dysregulation (ED), children with the homozygous short (SS) genotype were compared to children with the homozygous long (LL) or heterozygous (SL) genotype. We used latent growth curve modeling (LGCM) to model yearly change in ED from child age 3 to 6 years. LGCM revealed that ED decreased overall across early childhood. In addition, we observed separate Genotype × Positive and Genotype × Negative parenting behavior interactions in predictions of ED growth curves. Children with the SL/LL genotype had ED trajectories that were minimally related to positive and negative parenting behavior, whereas ED decreased more precipitously among children with the SS genotype when exposed to low negative parenting or high positive parenting. These findings provide evidence for Gene × Environment interactions (G×Es) in the development of ED in a manner that is conceptually consistent with vantage sensitivity, and they improve inferences afforded by prospective designs.
An activity-based costing model for stategic decisions in transportation on demand projects

Today there are many people who lack access to adequate means of transportation (people with reduced mobility, elderly, people in rural areas of low population density, etc.). In these cases the conventional solutions do not serve and tend to worsen due to increased costs of private transport and the reduction of conventional transmission lines at these sites. In this context, emerged alternative transportation models called "transportation on demand". However, although there are some experiments, these new models are still not consolidated due to problems of technical and conomic. Beyond the technical aspects necessary to develop cost models suitable for designing a system with economic viability and to set prices and pricing policies that ensure the attractiveness of the service without compromising their economic viability (namely with recipe above cost). The complexity of this system and the relative weight of significant indirect costs justify the application of a costing system based on activities. In this article we present a cost analysis based on the strategic ABCM model to discuss the conditions of economic viability of a transport on demand system applied to the municipality of Terras de Bouro. These results are important to support strategic and operational decisions.
PERCEIVED SURVEY QUALITY AND RESPONDENT PARTICIPATION

This paper addresses the problem of decreasing response rates in telephone survey research. It theoretically and empirically investigates three important factors of survey participation, namely survey quality, respondent satisfaction and trust. For this purpose an interdisciplinary approach is adopted, where services marketing framework is applied to the field of survey research. The results confirm the hypothesized relations among all three investigated constructs and intended survey participation. Moreover, when they are compared to a set of demographic variables, perceived survey quality, respondent satisfaction and respondent trust exhibit stronger relatedness with intended survey participation. Additionally, results provide an insight into how survey participation can be improved by focusing on specific elements of interviewer conduct and questionnaire design. Some further theoretical and research implications of the applied framework and empirical results are also discussed.
RADIO-FREQUENCY DENSITY-INDEPENDENT MOISTURE DETERMINATION IN WHEAT

A technique to rapidly determine the moisture content of hard red winter wheat, Triticum aestivum L. , independent of density, is presented. The complex impedance of bulk samples at 1 and 10 MHz was used along with a density-independent function to predict moistures ranging from approximately 11 to 22% in samples with bulk densities ranging from 0.65 to 0.85 g/cm3. Calibration was performed on wheat of two cultivars harvested in 1991, and verification was tested on a different cultivar harvested in 1990. Measurements of the system were compared to air-oven moisture determinations with a standard deviation of the differences of 0.5% moisture content.
Nature of the Receptor Substance of Mycobacterium smegmatis for D4 Bacteriophage Adsorption

The acetone-soluble fraction extracted from lyophilized cells of Mycobacterium smegmatis ATCC 607 inhibited D4, a species-specific phage active against M. smegmatis. Evidence is presented indicating that the D4 inhibition was caused by the phage receptor substance(s) contained in this fraction. A fraction eluted from silicic acid with chloroform-methanol (95:5, v/v) showed the strongest inhibition of D4 phage. This fraction contained sugars and amino acids, and its infrared absorption spectrum was practically identical with those of the mycoside C isolated from the other species of mycobacteria. Further fractionation revealed that the active material was a mixture of several closely related peptidoglycolipids all of which showed, more or less, the phage inhibition. One of the compounds was purified and partially characterized; it contains three different amino acids, allo-threonine, alanine, and phenylalanine, at a molar ratio of 1:1:1, and also three different deoxyhexoses, probably 6-deoxytalose, 3,4-di-o-methylrhamnose, and 2,3,4-tri-o-methylrhamnose. A tentative name of “mycoside Csm” is proposed for this substance which possesses a slightly different structure from the known types of mycoside C and is probably specific for the species of M. smegmatis. A fraction extracted from the D4-resistant mutant of M. smegmatis ATCC 607 by acetone and then by chloroform-methanol (95:5, v/v) showed no phage inhibition and had no sugar component. In addition, this fraction contained lysine, serine, and a small amount of both glycine and an unidentified amino acid.
Adaptation to Multiple Sclerosis: The Role of Social Support, Functional Disability, and Perceived Uncertainty

This study was designed to test a path model depicting the relationships among social support, functional disability, perceived uncertainty, and psychosocial adaptation in 38 men and 80 women with multiple sclerosis, a chronic, unpredictable disease. Results from the regression analyses indicated that 35% of the variance in depression and 33% of the variance in purpose-in-life, respectively, were explained by age, sex, social status, and the perceived supportiveness and unsupportiveness of social network interactions. The path analyses showed that the perceived supportiveness of interactions was directly related to purpose-in-life but not to depression; both the direct path between the perceived unsupportiveness of interactions and adaptation and the indirect one through perceived uncertainty were related to depression and to purpose-in-life; and functional disability had a direct effect on adaptation, but the indirect path through perceived uncertainty was not corroborated.
The Patient Scar Assessment Questionnaire: A Reliable and Valid Patient-Reported Outcomes Measure for Linear Scars

Background: There is a lack of rigorously validated patient-based outcomes measures of scarring. The aim of this study was to construct such a scale and demonstrate reliability and validity by applying the scale in a wide range of scarring samples. Methods: The Patient Scar Assessment Questionnaire with five subscales (i.e., Appearance, Symptoms, Consciousness, Satisfaction with Appearance, and Satisfaction with Symptoms) was constructed using multiple categorical response items. The Patient Scar Assessment Questionnaire was applied to various surgical samples (total scar assessments n = 667) at months 3, 6, and 12 after surgery (and preoperatively in the scar revision group) and tested for internal consistency, test-retest reliability, convergent validity, known group differences, and sensitivity, against widely accepted criteria from psychometric measurement science. Results: Subscales showed high internal consistency (Cronbach &agr;, 0.73 to 0.93), except the Symptoms subscale. Test-retest reliability was high across all subscales (intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.74 to 0.87) across all groups except the scar revision group. Change in Patient Scar Assessment Questionnaire scores was significant between months 3 and 6 postoperatively (p < 0.001) and subscales demonstrated known group differences (p < 0.001). Convergent validity was demonstrated by significant moderate correlations with various measures of similar constructs (r = 0.26 to 0.61, p < 0.001). Conclusions: The Patient Scar Assessment Questionnaire is a reliable and valid measure of the patient’s perception of scarring, although the Symptoms subscale requires further refinement. Subscales can be used independently of each other to allow assessment of scar change in specific domains.
Do protocol transplant biopsies improve kidney transplant outcomes?

Purpose of reviewThe research undertaken on ‘protocol’ renal transplant biopsies has provided a rich, if not the richest, approach to better understanding of the immune and nonimmune impacts upon the transplant. The purpose of this review is to detail how the direct benefit to the patient also lies in these renamed ‘surveillance’ biopsies. Recent findingsUndertaken at fixed time points after transplantation, biopsy provides individual diagnoses with which the clinician can vary immunosuppression both in intensity and in the type of agent used to modify pathological processes early in their course. Initial nonfunction from acute tubular necrosis, subclinical cellular and humoral rejection, calcineurin inhibitor nephrotoxicity, BK virus nephropathy and recurrent glomerulonephritis are all important diagnoses for which early intervention provides better therapeutic outcomes than delaying until they are clinically evident. SummaryThis review provides the recent evidence that has convinced many transplant units to embark upon surveillance programmes for their patients in order to individualize their immunosuppression and thus gain better outcomes.
Adoption of Anglo-American Models of Corporate Governance and Financial Reporting in China

This monograph critically examines the adoption of Anglo-American models of corporate governance and financial reporting in China. More specifically, it examines whether measures taken by the Chinese government, including the adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards, the introduction of independent directors and audit committees, and the strengthening of auditor independence, are likely to improve the quality of financial reporting. A comprehensive theoretical framework based on institutional theory, which incorporates international influences, domestic influences, and intraorganizational dynamics, was developed. The findings suggest that the current institutional environment in China does not yet fully support Anglo-American practices. The implementation of internationally acceptable principles and standards is largely symbolic rather than instrumental. This monograph shows how contradictory institutional pressures shape the process and outcome of loose coupling between regulations and actual operations, which are intertwined with organizations' conflicts of interest and power dependence within China's institutional setting.
The p.A2215D thyroglobulin gene mutation leads to deficient synthesis and secretion of the mutated protein and congenital hypothyroidism with wide phenotype variation.

CONTEXT Thyroglobulin (TG) is a large glycoprotein and functions as a matrix for thyroid hormone synthesis. TG gene mutations give rise to goitrous congenital hypothyroidism (CH) with considerable phenotype variation. OBJECTIVES The aim of the study was to report the genetic screening of 15 patients with CH due to TG gene mutations and to perform functional analysis of the p.A2215D mutation. DESIGN Clinical evaluation and DNA sequencing of the TG gene were performed in all patients. TG expression was analyzed in the goitrous tissue of one patient. Human cells were transfected with expression vectors containing mutated and wild-type human TG cDNA. RESULTS All patients had an absent rise of serum TG after stimulation with recombinant human TSH. Sequence analysis revealed three previously described mutations (p.A2215D, p.R277X, and g.IVS30+1G>T), and two novel mutations (p.Q2142X and g.IVS46-1G>A). Two known (g.IVS30+1G/p.A2215D and p.A2215D/p.R277X) and one novel (p.R277X/g.IVS46-1G>A) compound heterozygous constellations were also identified. Functional analysis indicated deficiency in TG synthesis, reduction of TG secretion, and retention of the mutant TG within the cell, leading to an endoplasmic reticulum storage disease, whereas small amounts of mutant TG were still secreted within the cell system. CONCLUSION All studied patients were either homozygous or heterozygous for TG gene mutations. Two novel mutations have been detected, and we show that TG mutation p.A2215D promotes the retention of TG within the endoplasmic reticulum and reduces TG synthesis and secretion, causing mild hypothyroidism. In the presence of sufficient iodine supply, some patients with TG mutations are able to compensate the impaired hormonogenesis and generate thyroid hormone.
The monoclonal antibody MEL‐14 can block lymphocyte migration into a site ofchronic inflammation

The effect of MEL‐14, a monoclonal antibody which binds to the lymphocyte homing receptor (MEL‐14 Ag) on lymphocytes for peripheral lymph node (PLN) high endothelial venules (HEV), was investigated on lymphocyte migration into a delayed‐type hypersensitivity (DTH)‐like lesion produced by sensitization and challenge to Bordetella pertussis vaccine (BPV). Pretreatment of lymphocytes with saturating concentrations of MEL‐14 caused a highly significant inhibition of lymphocyte migration into the chronically inflamed site and PLN. This finding suggests that lymphocyte migration into the BPV‐induced site of chronic inflammation may be regulated by the same mechanism as lymphocyte migration into the PLN. It further indicates that the ligand for the MEL‐14 Ag adhesion molecule, recognized by lymphocyte which home to the PLN, may also be expressed on HEV‐like vessels at sites of BPV‐induced chronic inflammation.
High ethanol tolerance of the thermophilic anaerobic ethanol producer Thermoanaerobacter BG1L1

The low ethanol tolerance of thermophilic anaerobic bacteria, generally less than 2% (v/v) ethanol, is one of the main limiting factors for their potential use for second generation fuel ethanol production. In this work, the tolerance of thermophilic anaerobic bacterium Thermoanaerobacter BG1L1 to exogenously added ethanol was studied in a continuous immobilized reactor system at a growth temperature of 70°C. Ethanol tolerance was evaluated based on inhibition of fermentative performance e.g. inhibition of substrate conversion. At the highest ethanol concentration tested (8.3% v/v), the strain was able to convert 42% of the xylose initially present, indicating that this ethanol concentration is not the upper limit tolerated by the strain. Long-term strain adaptation to high ethanol concentrations (6–8.3%) resulted in an improvement of xylose conversion by 25% at an ethanol concentration of 5% v/v, which is the concentration required in practice for economically efficient product recovery. For all ethanol concentrations tested, relatively high and stable ethanol yields (0.40–0.42 g/g) were seen. The strain demonstrated a remarkable ethanol tolerance, which is the second highest displayed by thermophilic anaerobic bacteria known to the authors. This appears to be the first study of the ethanol tolerance of these microorganisms in a continuous immobilized reactor system.
Other Assets' Risk: Asset-Prices and Perceptions of Asset-Risk

Due to wealth effects, the price of a security may vary with the realization of an underlying risk factor even when the security's dividend is independent of that factor. This paper highlights a crucial component of these effects hitherto ignored by the literature: changes in wealth do not alter only an agent's risk aversion, but also her perceived "riskiness" of the security. The latter enhances significantly the extent to which market-clearing leads to endogenously-generated correlation across asset prices and returns, over and above that induced by correlation between payoffs, giving the appearance of "contagion".