Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spectrophotometric determination of malondialdehyde in urine suitable for epidemiological studies

A reliable method for spectrophotometric determination of urinary malondialdehyde (MDA), according to the thiobarbituric acid (TBA) assay, is described. To account for matrix interference and differences in individual urine composition, standard addition procedure was applied. The method is adequately selective (LoQ = 0.09 μM in the presence of 0.1 M creatinine and 0.5 M urea) and reliable (within-day and between-day variability of less than 5 %). The mean level of urinary MDA was 1.52 ± 0.73 µM that is in good agreement with spectrofluorometric determination (1.20 ± 0.56 μM; p = 0.085) as well as with previous studies that used HPLC. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that MDA is stabile in urine at room temperature for 24 h and when stored at –20 °C for 6 months. The described method enables simple, rapid and cost-effective determination of urinary MDA as a relevant and non-invasive marker of “whole-body” oxidative stress. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License .
Cannibalization may Allow a Cost-inefficient Firm to Earn more than a Cost-effcient Firm in a Duopoly with Two Vertically Differentiated Goods

We consider cannibalization in a duopoly model in which firms with diffrent costs supply two vertically differentiated products in the same market. We find that an increase in the difference in quality between the two goods or a decrease in the marginal cost of the high-quality goods leads to cannibalization, such that the high-quality goods keep out the low-quality goods from the market. We show that, in equilibrium, cannibalization aspects the product line of firms. As a result, an inefficient firm may earn more than the efficient firm. If the difference in the quality of the two goods is small enough, an increase in the production costs of the inefficient firm improves social welfare.
Detecting Hacked Twitter Accounts by Examining Behavioural Change using Twitter Metadata

Social media accounts are valuable for hackers for spreading phishing links, malware and spam. Furthermore, some people deliberately hack an acquaintance to damage his image. In this paper, a classification model is described for detecting these hacked Twitter accounts by examining changing features in behaviour. We look at changes in language, source, URL, retweets, frequency and time. Our model recognizes 99% of the malicious tweets when tested on a Twitter data set containing tweets of more than 100 Dutch users. We used the J48 machine learning algorithm, which proved to give better results than the SMO algorithm. The model proves that behavioural changes can reveal a hack and performs better than just using raw data for classification. The model could assist Twitter in detecting hacked accounts more precisely. Moreover, with the use of this algorithm the legitimate owner of the account and its followers can be warned that the account may be hacked, preventing more annoyances and reputational damage.
Social approach to pain in laboratory mice

Abstract It has been recently demonstrated that pain behavior in the mouse can be modulated by the presence of a conspecific, but what remains unclear is whether such pain behavior can serve the function of soliciting social approach. Using a novel social approach paradigm, we tested mice in various dyadic or triadic conditions, including “jailed” mice—some in pain via intraperitoneal injection of 0.9% acetic acid—and test mice free to approach or avoid the jailed mice. We observed a sex-specific effect whereby female, but not male, test mice approached a familiar same-sex conspecific in pain more frequently than an unaffected familiar or unfamiliar, but affected, conspecific. Despite a substantial literature emphasizing oxytocin's role in affiliative and pair-bonding behavior, this effect was also observed in female mice lacking the oxytocin receptor, suggesting that pain-related social approach may not be mediated by oxytocin. Furthermore, we found that the frequency of contact by the test mouse was negatively correlated with the pain behavior of the jailed mouse, suggesting that proximity of a familiar unaffected conspecific may have analgesic properties.
REITS and Underlying Real Estate Markets: Is There a Link?

This paper utilizes the Carlson, Titman, and Tiu (2010) model of REIT returns to estimate the strength of the relationship between REIT and underlying real estate returns. Our work further offers an innovative method for computing the returns of the real estate properties underlying each REIT using the Moody’s/REAL commercial property price indices by region and property type. We find a statistically significant relationship between REIT and real estate returns only in the office sector. Other property types offer only very weak and insignificant relationships. This finding suggests that direct real estate investment or investment through the property price index derivatives cannot be replicated using REITs.
Activated dynamics in a two-dimensional Ising spin glass: Rb2Cu1-xCoxF4.

Mesure de la susceptibilite complexe en fonction de la temperature et de la frequence. Analyse des resultats en terme du formalisme de Cole-Cole. Le temps de relaxation median τ c diverge vers T c =OK sur 16 decades, selon la dynamique activee. La distribution des temps de relaxation est presque symetrique en logτ, couvrant au moins 10 decades en largeur. Determination des exposants critiques
RNA editing in the anticodon of tRNALeu ( CAA ) occurs before group I intron splicing in plastids of a moss Takakia lepidozioides

RNA editing in plant mitochondria and plastids mostly involves cytidine (C) to uridine (U) transitions, and mainly affects mRNAs, thus providing the correct genetic information for the biosynthesis of proteins (Brennicke et al. 1999; Bock 2000). In seed plant mitochondria, several hundreds of editing sites are identified in most protein-coding transcripts, and editing often allows the maintenance of sequence conservation at the protein level (Shikanai 2006). Editing can also affect some of the plant mitochondrial tRNAs (Fey et al. 2002). In angiosperm plastids, 24 sites in sugarcane (Calsa et al. 2004) to 44 RNA editing sites in moth orchid (Zeng et al. 2007) were identified only for protein-coding transcripts, and all are C-to-U changes. In contrast, 942 editing sites are known in the hornwort Anthoceros angustus (Kugita et al. 2003), and 350 in the fern Adiantum capillus-veneris (Wolf et al. 2004). Of several hundreds sites, one editing site was identified in the tRNA (CAA) of A. capillus-veneris and in the tRNA (UUC) of A. angustus. Both tRNAs are encoded by an intron-containing gene. Almost 200 sequences of the trnT-UGU and trnL-UAA spacer and trnL 5¢ exon were sampled from various plant species, from bryophytes to seed plants (Quandt & Stech 2004; Quandt et al. 2004). The nucleotide at the 3¢ end of the 5¢ exon of trnL-UAA is a T in the plastid genomes from the most plant species, while it is a C in a moss Takakia lepidozioides, a gymnosperm Gingko biloba, and the leptosporangiate ferns sampled (except Osmunda regalis) (Quandt & Stech 2004; Quandt et al. 2004). A T. lepidozioides sequence of part of a group I intron to the trnL 3¢ exon was reported by Cox et al. (2004). The CAA anticodon of the intron-containing tRNA gene was predicted from the two sequences (Cox et al. 2004; Quandt & Stech 2004). Therefore, the observed
Elaborating on the Construct Validity of the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure in a Criminal Offender Sample

Patrick, Fowles, and Krueger (2009) developed the triarchic conceptualization of psychopathy in an effort to integrate historical theories and contemporary measurement models. The model proposes 3 phenotypic domains of boldness, meanness, and disinhibition. Patrick (2010) developed the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM), a 58-item self-report measure, to index these 3 domains. This study examined the construct validity of the TriPM in a sample of incarcerated offenders (N = 141) and found evidence of good construct validity in that the scales were related to conceptually relevant normal-range and dysfunctional personality trait criteria, as well as narcissism and deficits in empathy.
Financial Sophistication and Pension Plan Decisions

In this paper we use a private dataset to examine the contribution and investment decisions made by members of a large UK-based DC pension plan. We find that many employees appear to be relatively financially-sophisticated and follow approaches consistent with economic and financial theory in terms of savings rates and investment strategies. However, there are also many less sophisticated employees who stick with plan default arrangements and/or follow simple rules of thumb in saving and investing. The challenge for corporate sponsors of pension funds is in designing pension plans and communication strategies that reduce the chances of these less sophisticated plan members making mistakes. The results in this paper highlight the areas where mistakes are made and the demographic profile of members most in need of help.
IgE‐mediated large local reaction from recombinant hepatitis B vaccine

inhalation. Based on exposure and respiratory symptoms, peak flow surveillance, and specific inhalation challenge testing, OA caused by ivy was diagnosed. Regular inhaled budenoside dipropionate and, on demand, salbutamol were prescribed, and avoidance of exposure to ivy was recommended. In our patient, the mode of asthmatic reaction was immediate in the specific bronchial challenge test. This mode generally, but not necessarily, points to hypersensitivity type I reaction. However, an IgE-mediated allergy to ivy could not be proven. Therefore, the mechanism by which ivy causes asthma is unclear and requires further study.
Testing the role of service quality on the development of brand associations and brand loyalty

Purpose – The study aims to: measure brand associations in the context of a fitness club, test the influence of brand associations on the development of brand loyalty, and investigate the role of service quality on the development of brand associations.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 165 members of a managed‐owned fitness club, located in North Greece, participated in the study. They completed a 25‐item questionnaire to measure brand associations, and a 25‐item questionnaire to measure service quality.Findings – The exploratory factor analysis revealed eight brand association factors: popularity, management, logo, escape, vicarious achievement, nostalgia, pride and affect. In terms of the relationships among brand associations, loyalty and service quality, the regression analyses revealed that: five of the eight brand associations (escape, nostalgia, pride, logo, and affect) significantly contributed to the prediction of loyalty, the service quality dimensions predicted significant amount of vari.
Factors affecting goat production in a communal farming system in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa

The aim of this survey was to characterize the economic, social and nutritional importance of goat farming in the Mgwalana district of the Eastern Cape region of South Africa, and to identify critical constraints and opportunities for use in future development initiatives. The majority (68%) of de facto heads of households were males, of which 66% were older than 50 years of age. The majority (60%) had received schooling for five years or less. Most respondents (86%) kept goats. The mean flock size was 16 head, of which 76.7% consisted of does, 15.8% castrates and 7.5% bucks. The mean kidding percentage was 76% for maiden does and 64% for older does.The annual mortality rate was 7%; adult does accounted for 47% of deaths, and abortions for 29%. The main reasons given for keeping goats were for slaughter during traditional ceremonies (35%) and for cash sales (23%), and only 15% kept goats for home meat consumption. The motivation for the sale of goats was mainly to pay debts or save money (45%) and to buy other foodstuffs (27%). The majority of sales (91%) took place during the summer months, and buyers (possibly migrant workers returning home during the Christmas vacation) used the goats mainly for traditional ceremonies, funerals and weddings. Only 10% of farmers indicated that they would invest in goat farming if granted a loan that had to be paid back. This would appear to be related to labour constraints, as 44% of goat owners herded their flocks themselves and 37% relied on school-going children for this purpose. Only 19% of respondents indicated that they hired labour to herd their flocks . It would appear that future expansion of goat farming in this area is severely constrained by labour constraints and the fact that goat meat ranked lowest on the scale of eating preferences. It was concluded that initiatives aimed at improving the economic, nutritional and health status of this community through increased goat production are unlikely to be successful and that the problem of bush encroachment is likely to increase to the detriment of other ruminant species in the future.
Efficient Bag of Scenes Analysis for Image Categorization

In this paper, we address the general problem of image/object categorization with a novel approach referred to as Bag-of-Scenes (BoS). Our approach is efficient for low semantic applications such as texture classification as well as for higher semantic tasks such as natural scenes recognition or fine-grained visual categorization (FGVC). It is based on the widely used combination of i) Sparse coding (Sc), ii) Max-pooling and iii) Spatial Pyramid Matching (SPM) techniques applied to histograms of multi-scale Local Binary/Ternary Patterns (LBP/LTP) and its improved variants. This approach can be considered as a two-layer hierarchical architecture: the first layer encodes the local spatial patch structure via histograms of LBP/LTP while the second encodes the relationships between pre-analyzed LBP/LTP-scenes/objects. Our method outperforms SIFT-based approaches using Sc techniques and can be trained efficiently with a simple linear SVM.
Social comparison processes, narrative mapping and their shaping of the cancer experience: A case study of an elite athlete

Drawing on data generated by life history interviews and fieldwork observations we illuminate the ways in which a young elite athlete named David (a pseudonym) gave meaning to his experiences of cancer that eventually led to his death. Central to this process were the ways in which David utilized both social comparisons and a narrative map provided by the published autobiography of Lance Armstrong (2000). Our analysis reveals the selective manner in which social comparison processes operated around the following key dimensions: mental attitude to treatment; the sporting body; the ageing body; and physical appearance. The manner in which different comparison targets were chosen, the ways in which these were framed by Armstrong’s autobiography, and the work that the restitution narrative as an actor did in this process are also examined. Some reflections are offered regarding the experiential consequences of the social comparison processes utilized by David when these are shaped by specific forms of embodiment and selective narrative maps of cancer survival.
The Comparative Impact of Critics and Consumers: Applying the Generalisability Theory to Online Movie Ratings

This study employs a new measurement theory (i.e. Generalisability Theory) to investigate the comparative influence of early movie ratings from professional critics versus ordinary consumers on latent movie performance. The empirical results show that both ordinary consumers and critics have great impact on the latent movie performance. In particular, the main effect of rater sources and the two-way interaction between raters and movies are substantial contributors to the variation in movie performance, with the contribution from ordinary consumers even more substantial than that from professional critics. However, professional critics provide more reliable ratings (a higher G coefficient) than ordinary consumers. Moreover, we found that genre familiarity is an important factor that moderates the differential effect of these two sources of ratings. Professional critic ratings contribute more to the total variance of movie performance evaluations in the case of less familiar genres, while ordinary consumer ratings contribute more to that in the case of more familiar genres. The aggregate level validity (correlation) results for each rater source indicate that professional critics consistently provide better concurrent and predictive validity than ordinary consumers. While our analyses focused on the impact of two sources of ratings on movie performance evaluations, the findings have implications not limited to the movie industry. They are also applicable to the broad category of experience goods such as music, restaurants, video games and books, where consumers could seek opinion from both experts and ordinary consumers.
A survey on training in pediatric cardiopulmonary resuscitation in Latin America, Spain, and Portugal

Objectives: To determine how training in pediatric cardiopulmonary resuscitation is provided in the Iberoamerican countries. Design: Survey. Setting: Latin America, Spain, and Portugal. Subjects: Experts in pediatric cardiopulmonary resuscitation education. Results: A questionnaire was sent to experts in pediatric cardiopulmonary resuscitation training in 21 countries in Latin America, Spain, and Portugal; we received 15 replies. Pediatric cardiopulmonary resuscitation training is not included in medical undergraduate or nursing training in any of these countries and pediatric residents receive systematic cardiopulmonary resuscitation training in only four countries. Basic pediatric life support courses, pediatric advanced life support courses, and pediatric cardiopulmonary resuscitation instructors courses are given in 13 of 15, 14 of 15, and 11 of 15 respondent countries, respectively. Course duration and the number of hours of practical training were variable: basic life support, 5 hrs (range, 4–8 hrs); practical training, 4 hrs (range, 2–5 hrs); advanced life support, 18 hrs (range, 10–30 hrs); and practical training, 14 hrs (range, 5–18 hrs). Only nine countries (60%) had a national group that organized pediatric cardiopulmonary resuscitation training. Thirteen countries (86.6%) had fewer than five centers offering pediatric cardiopulmonary resuscitation training. Respondents considered the main obstacles to the expansion of training in pediatric cardiopulmonary resuscitation to be the shortage of instructors (28.5%), students' lack of financial resources (21.4%), and deficiencies in educational organization (21.4%). Conclusions: Pediatric cardiopulmonary resuscitation training is not uniform across the majority of Iberoamerican countries, with poor organization and little institutional involvement. National groups should be created in each country to plan and coordinate pediatric cardiopulmonary resuscitation training and to coordinate with other Iberoamerican countries.
The significance of biological, environmental, and social risk factors for prostate cancer in a cohort study in Brazil.

PURPOSE To evaluate the significance of several risk factors for prostate cancer in a cohort of Brazilian men. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Men ≥ 40 years-old participating in a prostate cancer screening program between December 2006 and April 2011 in the city of Curitiba, Brazil, were evaluated to determine the prevalence, relative risk (RR) and 95 % CI of prostate cancer according to age, race, ethnicity, family history of prostate cancer, educational level, and history of vasectomy, increased blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, and urethritis. RESULTS In 2121 men included in this study, prostate cancer prevalence was 0.6 % for men between 40-49 years versus 2.0 % (adjusted RR = 2.58), 7.7 % (adjusted RR = 5.76), and 8.4 % (adjusted RR = 4.88) for men 50-59 years, 60-69 years, and ≥ 70 years, respectively (p < 0.05 to all). The prevalence of cancer was 5.1% in blacks versus 3.3 % in whites (adjusted RR = 1.56, p > 0.05); 6.1 % in African descendants, in comparison to 3.0 % in non-African descendants (adjusted RR = 3.17, p < 0.05); 5.1% in men with a positive family history, compared to 2.5 % in those with no family history (adjusted RR = 1.55, p > 0.05); and 4.8 % in participants with incomplete elementary school level or lower, compared to 2.2 % in men with complete elementary school level or higher education (adjusted RR = 1.85, p > 0.05). Men with/without history of vasectomy, increased blood pressure, diabetes, and urethritis had a prostate cancer prevalence of 0.8 %/3.0 % (adjusted RR = 0.23, p > 0.05), 3.8 %/2.2 % (adjusted RR = 1.16, p > 0.05), 3.7 %/2.6 % (adjusted RR = 1.39, p > 0.05), and 2.6 %/2.6 % (adjusted RR = 0.99, p > 0.05), respectively. CONCLUSIONS Risk factors associated with an increased prevalence of prostate cancer in this cohort included increasing age and African ethnicity.
Is Adherence to the American College of Chest Physicians Recommended Anticoagulation Treatment Duration Associated With Different Outcomes Among Patients With Venous Thromboembolism?

Clinical and economic outcomes associated with venous thromboembolism (VTE) patient adherence to the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) anticoagulant (AC) treatment guidelines are incompletely understood. Patients with ≥1 inpatient or ≥2 separate outpatient claims for deep vein thrombosis and/or pulmonary embolism, based on International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes, were identified from the IMS PharMetrics Plus database. Patients had continuous insurance coverage for 12 months before (baseline) and after (follow-up) the index event (first VTE claim) but no baseline VTE claims. The ACCP recommends minimum AC treatment durations (3 or ≥6 months) dependent upon patient risk profiles. Patients were grouped into study cohorts based on their adherence status (adherent vs nonadherent) to the recommended minimum treatment durations. Patient baseline characteristics, health-care resource utilization, and associated costs were evaluated. The VTE recurrence and bleed-related hospitalization were measured during follow-up. Multivariate regression analysis was utilized to compare clinical and economic outcomes of cohorts. Of the 81 827 study patients, 74% (n = 60 550) were AC adherent. After controlling for key patient characteristics, risks for all-cause hospitalization (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 0.85, P < .0001), VTE recurrence (AOR = 0.92, P = .0014), and bleeding-related hospitalization (AOR = 0.74, P < .0001) were lower among adherent patients, as were all-cause health-care cost (−US$2121, P = .0003) and VTE-related (−US$2294, P < .0001) and bleed-related (−US$248, P < .0001) medical costs during the follow-up period. Approximately one-quarter of the study population was AC nonadherent; these nonadherent patients had more VTE recurrences, utilized more inpatient services, and had higher health-care costs.
Corporate Ownership Patterns in Malaysian Listed Companies

Recent studies show that Berle and Means’ image of modern ownership of corporation, which introduced widely held corporate ownership, is not common even in developed countries. In fact, large shareholders including families, financial institutions, and states control a significant number of firms in many countries, except in economies with high shareholder protection, such as the UK and the US. This study, firstly, analyzes the ownership and control of large and mid-size listed corporations in Bursa Malaysia to examine that to what extent the ultimate controlling owners have power over firms either through the one-share-one vote rule, pyramiding, or cross-holdings. Secondly, it examines the factors appear to affect Malaysia’s pattern of corporate ownership. Finally, it checks whether corporate ownership patterns in Malaysia have significant difference with other countries. With the empirical results of this paper we can understand to what extent reforms after crisis in 1997 have been able to remedy the problems in this area.