Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Understanding consumer behaviour: the social embeddedness of food practices

This paper aims at understanding the ways in which spatially connected socio-cultural and gendered practices of food production and preparation determine consumer behavior. Qualitative case studies were conducted in Nairobi and Berlin examining the change and persistence in consumption towards African indigenous vegetables and Swiss chard in urban areas. By focusing on those different varieties in distinct sociocultural and spatial settings differences, similarities and trends in consumer behavior are being identified. Finally, the article argues that consumption is deeply embedded in gender relations as well as individuals’ ideas about sustainability, safety and quality of a product, which significantly affects everyday food practices.
A wavelet-based high-frequency analysis of fragmented QRS complexes in patients with myocardial infarction

Fragmented QRS (fQRS) is an important and noninvasive marker for evaluating myocardial scar in patients with coronary artery disease, which is defined as additional spikes within the QRS wave. It is not easy to detect the fQRS accurately because of a variety of fQRS morphologies. This study is to analyze the high-frequency (HF) potentials of fQRS complexes using a continuous wavelet transform-based method in patients with myocardial infarction (MI). The HF parameter is defined as the root-mean-square (RMS) value of wavelet coefficients at the central frequencies of 100Hz, 150Hz, 200Hz, or 250Hz further normalized by the RMS value of the entire QRS complex, which is defined as the HF ratio. There were 76 MI patients and 43 Normal subjects recruited in this study. All of the ECG recordings were obtained from the PTB Diagnostic ECG Database including the conventional 12-lead and Frank XYZ lead ECGs. A signal averaging technology was adopted to reduce the background noise. The fQRS complexes were defined by the presence of an additional R wave, or notching in the nadir of the S wave, notching of the R wave, or the presence of more than one R prime. All of the mean HF ratios of the fQRS complexes are significantly larger than those of the non-fQRS complexes (p<;0.001). The total accuracy of the HF ratio for detecting the fQRS complex is about 80% (specificity 84% and sensitivity 60%) in the 12-lead ECGs, and about 84% (specificity 88% and sensitivity 65%) in the Frank lead ECGs.
A distributed alternative to finite-state-machine specifications

A specification technique, formally equivalent to finite-state machines, is offered as an alternative because it is inherently distributed and more comprehensible. When applied to modules whose complexity is dominated by control, the technique guides the analyst to an effective decomposition of complexity, encourages well-structured error handling, and offers an opportunity for parallel computation. When applied to distributed protocols, the technique provides a unique perspective and facilitates automatic detection of some classes of error. These applications are illustrated by a controller for a distributed telephone system and the full-duplex alternating-bit protocol for data communication. Several schemes are presented for executing the resulting specifications.
Daily consumption of vitamin D- or vitamin D + calcium-fortified yogurt drink improved glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND Low serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] have been associated with impaired glucose tolerance and diabetes. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to compare the effects of daily intake of vitamin D- or vitamin D(3) + calcium-fortified yogurt drink on glycemic status in subjects with type 2 diabetes (T2D). DESIGN Ninety diabetic subjects were randomly allocated to 3 groups to consume plain yogurt drink (PY; containing no vitamin D and 150 mg Ca/250 mL), vitamin D-fortified yogurt drink (DY; containing 500 IU vitamin D(3) and 150 mg Ca/250 mL), or vitamin D + calcium-fortified yogurt drink (DCY; containing 500 IU vitamin D(3) and 250 mg Ca/250 mL) twice per day for 12 wk. Fasting serum glucose (FSG), glycated hemoglobin (Hb A(1c)), homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), serum lipid profile, and percentage fat mass (FM) were assessed before (baseline) and after the intervention. RESULTS In both the DY and DCY groups, mean serum 25(OH)D(3) improved (+32.8 ± 28.4 and +28.8 ± 16.1 nmol/L, respectively; P < 0.001 for both), but FSG [-12.9 ± 33.7 mg/dL (P = 0.015) and -9.6 ± 46.9 mg/dL (P = 0.035)], Hb A(1c) [-0.4 ± 1.2% (P < 0.001) and -0.4 ± 1.9% (P < 0.001)], HOMA-IR [-0.6 ± 1.4 (P = 0.001) and -0.6 ± 3.2 (P < 0.001)], waist circumference (-3.6 ± 2.7 and -2.9 ± 3.3; P < 0.001 for both), and body mass index [in kg/m(2); -0.9 ± 0.6 (P < 0.001) and -0.4 ± 0.7 (P = 0.005)] decreased significantly more than in the PY group. An inverse correlation was observed between changes in serum 25(OH)D(3) and FSG (r = -0.208, P = 0.049), FM (r = -0.219, P = 0.038), and HOMA-IR (r = -0.219, P = 0.005). CONCLUSION Daily intake of a vitamin D-fortified yogurt drink, either with or without added calcium, improved glycemic status in T2D patients. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01229891.
A 10-kV Large-Area 4H-SiC Power DMOSFET With Stable Subthreshold Behavior Independent of Temperature

This paper presents the development and demonstration of large-area 10-kV 4H-SiC DMOSFETs that maintain a classically stable low-leakage normally off subthreshold characteristic when operated at les200degC. This is achieved by an additional growth (epitaxial regrowth) of a thin epitaxial layer on top of already implanted p-well regions in conjunction with a N20-based gate oxidation process. Additionally, the design space of the DMOSFET structure was explored using analytical and numerical modeling together with experimental verification. The resulting 0.15-cm2 active 0.43-cm2 die DMOSFET with 10-kV breakdown provides IDS = 8 A at a gate field of 3 MV/cm, along with a subthreshold current at VGS = 0 V that decreases from 1 muA (6.7 muA/cm2) at 25degC to 0.4 muA (2.7 muA/cm2) at 200degC.
A Role for Cdc42 in Macrophage Chemotaxis

Three members of the Rho family, Cdc42, Rac, and Rho are known to regulate the organization of actin-based cytoskeletal structures. In Bac1.2F5 macrophages, we have shown that Rho regulates cell contraction, whereas Rac and Cdc42 regulate the formation of lamellipodia and filopodia, respectively. We have now tested the roles of Cdc42, Rac, and Rho in colony stimulating factor-1 (CSF-1)–induced macrophage migration and chemotaxis using the Dunn chemotaxis chamber. Microinjection of constitutively activated RhoA, Rac1, or Cdc42 inhibited cell migration, presumably because the cells were unable to polarize significantly in response to CSF-1. Both Rho and Rac were required for CSF-1–induced migration, since migration speed was reduced to background levels in cells injected with C3 transferase, an inhibitor of Rho, or with the dominant-negative Rac mutant, N17Rac1. In contrast, cells injected with the dominant-negative Cdc42 mutant, N17Cdc42, were able to migrate but did not polarize in the direction of the gradient, and chemotaxis towards CSF-1 was abolished. We conclude that Rho and Rac are required for the process of cell migration, whereas Cdc42 is required for cells to respond to a gradient of CSF-1 but is not essential for cell locomotion.
Content-Based Musical Similarity Computation using the Hierarchical Dirichlet Process

We develop a method for discovering the latent structure in MFCC feature data using the Hierarchical Dirichlet Process (HDP). Based on this structure, we compute timbral similarity between recorded songs. The HDP is a nonparametric Bayesian model. Like the Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM), it represents each song as a mixture of some number of multivariate Gaussian distributions However, the number of mixture components is not fixed in the HDP, but is determined as part of the posterior inference process. Moreover, in the HDP the same set of Gaussians is used to model all songs, with only the mixture weights varying from song to song. We compute the similarity of songs based on these weights, which is faster than previous approaches that compare single Gaussian distributions directly. Experimental results on a genre-based retrieval task illustrate that our HDPbased method is both faster and produces better retrieval quality than such previous approaches.
Alberta Stroke Program Early Computed Tomographic Scoring Performance in a Series of Patients Undergoing Computed Tomography and MRI: Reader Agreement, Modality Agreement, and Outcome Prediction

Background and Purpose— In this study, we compare the performance of pretreatment Alberta Stroke Program Early Computed Tomographic scoring (ASPECTS) using noncontrast CT (NCCT) and MRI in a large endovascular therapy cohort. Methods— Prospectively enrolled patients underwent baseline NCCT and MRI and started endovascular therapy within 12 hours of stroke onset. Inclusion criteria for this analysis were evaluable pretreatment NCCT, diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI), and 90-day modified Rankin Scale scores. Two expert readers graded ischemic change on NCCT and DWI using the ASPECTS. ASPECTS scores were analyzed with the full scale or were trichotomized (0–4 versus 5–7 versus 8–10) or dichotomized (0–7 versus 8–10). Good functional outcome was defined as a 90-day modified Rankin Scale score of 0 to 2. Results— Seventy-four patients fulfilled our study criteria. The full-scale inter-rater agreement for CT-ASPECTS and DWI-ASPECTS was 0.579 and 0.867, respectively. DWI-ASPECTS correlated with functional outcome (P=0.004), whereas CT-ASPECTS did not (P=0.534). Both DWI-ASPECTS and CT-ASPECTS correlated with DWI volume. The receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed that DWI-ASPECTS outperformed both CT-ASPECTS and the time interval between symptom onset and start of the procedure for predicting good functional outcome (modified Rankin Scale score, ⩽2) and DWI volume ≥70 mL. Conclusion— Inter-rater agreement for DWI-ASPECTS was superior to that for CT-ASPECTS. DWI-ASPECTS outperformed NCCT ASPECTS for predicting functional outcome at 90 days.
uvrA Is an Acid-Inducible Gene Involved in the Adaptive Response to Low pH inStreptococcus mutans

ABSTRACT The pH-inducible acid tolerance response (ATR) is believed to play a major role in acid adaptation and virulence of Streptococcus mutans. To study this phenomenon in S.mutans JH1005, differential display PCR was used to identify and clone 13 cDNA products that had increased expression in response to pH 5.0 compared to that of pH 7.5-grown cells. One of these products, confirmed to be pH inducible by RNA dot blot and reverse transcription-PCR analyses, had 67% identity to auvrA-UV repair excinuclease gene inBacillus subtilis. Further sequence analysis of theuvrA homologue using the S.mutans genome database revealed that the complete gene was encoded in an open reading frame (ORF) of 2,829 bp (944 amino acids; 104.67 kDa). Immediately 3′ of uvrA was an ORF encoding a putative aminopeptidase gene (pepP). uvrA knockouts were constructed in S.mutans strains JH1005, NG8, and UA159 using allelic-exchange mutagenesis, replacing the entire gene with an erythromycin resistance cassette. As with uvrA mutants in other bacteria, the S. mutans uvrAmutants were extremely sensitive to UV irradiation. TheuvrA mutant of S. mutansJH1005 was also more sensitive than the wild type to growth at pH 5.0, showing a 15% reduction in growth rate and a 14% reduction in final resting culture density. Acid-adapted S.mutans JH1005 uvrA mutants were shown to be more resistant to UV irradiation than was the parent but were unable to survive exposure to a killing pH of 3.0. Moreover, agarose gel electrophoretic analysis of chromosomal DNA isolated fromuvrA-deficient cells exposed to low pH demonstrated more DNA damage than that for the wild-type strain. Here we suggest thatuvrA and the nucleotide excision repair pathway are involved in the repair of acid-induced DNA damage and are associated with successful adaptation of S. mutansto low pH.
Nonlinear Waves in Transmission Lines Periodically Loaded with Tunneling Diodes

We review the properties of nonlinear waves on the electrical transmission lines periodically loaded with tunneling diodes (TDs) termed—TD lines.In general, the transmission equation of a linear dispersive line allows both sinusoidal and exponential solutions. However, exponential solutions are usually discarded because they diverge at infinity, and therefore, do not satisfy any physically meaningful boundary conditions. In a TD line, once the input pulse crosses the peak voltage of the loaded TDs, the exponential wave develops atsmaller voltagesthan the peak, and the ordinary sinusoidal wave is coupled to it atgreater voltages. The sinusoidal part can continuously unite with the leading exponential wave, so that the exponential wave can be formed along the dispersive line without violating physical boundary conditions. By developing exponential waves, a TD line exhibits technologically useful properties that result in the generation and management of short pulses.When an impulse is input to a TD line, the resulting exponential wave is much steeper than the input; therefore, the input pulse experiences significant shortening. Moreover, when a rising step pulse, whose bottom and top voltage levels lie in the voltage ranges below and above the peak voltage is input, the pulse edge oscillates on the line. This chapter discusses nonlinear wave propagation on TD lines in detail. We first define TD lines and describes their circuit configuration and principle of operation. We employ an idealized model of a TD line, which makes a comprehensive description of the operating principles possible. It also gives us design criteria for a short-pulse generator or oscillator using TD lines. We then examine the validity of the analytically obtained design criteria through numerical integration of the transmission equations of a TD line. We alsocharacterize the line using full-wave calculations for monolithically integrated lines. Next, severalexperimental results are described, which are obtained by the time-domain measurements using TD lines breadboarded with Esaki diodes. Finally, we describe the potential of TD lines for the management of short pulses.
Landslide Hazard Zonation and Slope Instability Assessment using Optical and InSAR Data: A Case Study from Gidole Town and its Surrounding Areas, Southern Ethiopia

The present study was carried out in and around Gidole Town in Southern Ethiopia which is about 580km from Addis Ababa. The main objective of the study was to prepare a landslide hazard zonation (LHZ) map by using Bivariat statistical information value model and to assess the slope instability in the area by using InSAR approach. For LHZ six causative factors such as; slope, land-use/land-cover, slope-material, elevation, aspect, and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) were considered. For the sub-classes of these causative factors weights were obtained from the information value model. The results showed that very high hazard zones and high hazard zones covers 6.63% (14.12 km2) and 15.36% (32.72 km2) of the area, respectively. Whereas, moderate hazard, low hazard and very low hazard zones covers 7.47% (15.9 km2), 34.2% (72.85 km2) and 36.34% (77.4 km2) of the area, respectively. Further, validation of the LHZ map showed that 92.3% of the past landslides fall in very high hazard and high hazard zones. Thus, the hazard zones delineated in the present study has reasonably validated with the past landslide data and the potential zones depicted in the prepared LHZ map can be applied for the safe planning of the area. Further, the results of the PS-InSAR processing indicates that the average downward displacement in the study area is gradually increasing from 15.3mm/yr (2014) to −19.2 mm/yr (2018) and the rate of displacement in general increases with increase in the average monthly precipitation at all selected persistence scattered points.
Measurement of aortic input impedance in mice: effects of age on aortic stiffness.

Mice are used with increasing frequency as models of human cardiovascular diseases, but significant gaps exist in our knowledge of vascular function in the aging mouse. We determined aortic input impedance spectra, pulse wave velocity, and augmentation index in adult (8-mo-old) and old (29-mo-old) mice to determine whether arterial stiffening occurred with age in mice as it does in humans. Pressure and blood velocity signals measured simultaneously from the same location in the ascending aorta were used to determine input impedance spectra (0-10 harmonics). The first minimum of the impedance modulus occurred at the second harmonic in adult mice but shifted to the fourth harmonic in old mice. Characteristic impedance (average of 2nd-10th harmonic) was 57% higher in old mice: 471 +/- 62 vs. 299 +/- 10 (SE) dyn.s. cm-3 (P < 0.05). Pulse pressure and augmentation index, determined from the aortic pressure signals, were also higher in old mice: 42 +/- 2.2 vs. 29 +/- 4.9 mmHg (P < 0.05) and 37 +/- 5 vs. 14 +/- 2% (P < 0.005). Aortic pulse wave velocity measured from the timing of upstrokes of the Doppler velocity signals was 45% higher in old mice: 416 +/- 22 vs. 286 +/- 14 cm/s (n = 3, P < 0.01). These results reproduce age-related findings reported in humans and confirm that mice may be used as models of age-related vascular stiffening.
Vulnerability of soil organic matter of anthropogenically disturbed organic soils

Abstract. Drained peatlands are hotspots of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from agriculture. As a consequence of both drainage-induced mineralisation and anthropogenic mixing with mineral soils, large areas of former peatlands under agricultural use now contain soil organic carbon (SOC) at the boundary between mineral and organic soils and/or underwent a secondary transformation of the peat (e.g. formation of aggregates). However, low carbon organic soils have rarely been studied since previous research has mainly focused on either mineral soils or true peat soils. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the soil organic matter (SOM) vulnerability of the whole range of organic soils including very carbon rich mineral soils (73 g kg−1
Lung Ultrasound for the Diagnosis of Pneumonia in Children: A Meta-analysis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Pneumonia is the leading cause of death of children. Diagnostic tools include chest radiography, but guidelines do not currently recommend the use of lung ultrasound (LUS) as a diagnostic method. We conducted a meta-analysis to summarize evidence on the diagnostic accuracy of LUS for childhood pneumonia. METHODS: We performed a systematic search in PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, Scopus, Global Health, World Health Organization–Libraries, and Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature of studies comparing LUS diagnostic accuracy against a reference standard. We used a combination of controlled key words for age <18 years, pneumonia, and ultrasound. We identified 1475 studies and selected 15 (1%) for further review. Eight studies (765 children) were retrieved for analysis, of which 6 (75%) were conducted in the general pediatric population and 2 (25%) in neonates. Eligible studies provided information to calculate sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative likelihood ratios. Heterogeneity was assessed by using Q and I2 statistics. RESULTS: Five studies (63%) reported using highly skilled sonographers. Overall methodologic quality was high, but heterogeneity was observed across studies. LUS had a sensitivity of 96% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 94%–97%) and specificity of 93% (95% CI: 90%–96%), and positive and negative likelihood ratios were 15.3 (95% CI: 6.6–35.3) and 0.06 (95% CI: 0.03–0.11), respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.98. Limitations included the following: most studies included in our analysis had a low number of patients, and the number of eligible studies was also small. CONCLUSIONS: Current evidence supports LUS as an imaging alternative for the diagnosis of childhood pneumonia. Recommendations to train pediatricians on LUS for diagnosis of pneumonia may have important implications in different clinical settings.
The Open University at TREC 2006 Enterprise Track Expert Search Task

The Multimedia and Information Systems group at the Knowledge Media Institute of the Open University participated in the Expert Search task of the Enterprise Track in TREC 2006. We have proposed to address three main innovative points in a two-stage language model, which consists of a document relevance model and a cooccurrence model, in order to improve the performance of expert search. The three innovative points are based on characteristics of documents. First, document authority in terms of their PageRanks is considered in the document relevance model. Second, document internal structure is taken into account in the co-occurrence model. Third, we consider multiple levels of associations between experts and query terms in the co-occurrence model. Our experiments on the TREC2006 Expert Search task show that addressing the above three points has led to improved effectiveness of expert search on the W3C dataset.
Restricted feeding with scheduled sucrose access results in an upregulation of the rat dopamine transporter.

Recent studies suggest that the mesoaccumbens dopamine system undergoes neurochemical alterations as a result of restricted feeding conditions with access to sugars. This effect appears to be similar to the neuroadaptation resulting from drugs of abuse and may underlay some pathological feeding behaviors. To further investigate the cellular mechanisms of these alterations, the present study used quantitative autoradiography and in situ hybridization to assess dopamine membrane transporter (DAT) protein density and mRNA expression in restricted-fed and free-fed adult male rats. The restricted feeding regimen consisted of daily limited access to either a normally preferred sucrose solution (0.3 M) or a less preferred chow in a scheduled (i.e., contingent) fashion for 7 days. Restricted-fed rats with the contingent sucrose access lost less body weight, ate more total food, and drank more fluid than free-fed, contingent food, or noncontingent controls. In addition, these animals had selectively higher DAT binding in the nucleus accumbens and ventral tegmental area. This increase in protein binding also was accompanied by an increase in DAT mRNA levels in the ventral tegmental area. In contrast to the restricted-fed groups, no differential effect in DAT regulation was observed across free-fed groups. The observed alteration in behavior and DAT regulation suggest that neuroadaptation in the mesoaccumbens dopamine system develops in response to repeated feeding on palatable foods under dietary constraints. This supports the notion that similar cellular changes may be involved in restrictive eating disorders and bingeing.
Combining Stochastic and Greedy Search in Hybrid Estimation

Techniques for robot monitoring and diagnosis have been developed that perform state estimation using probabilistic hybrid discrete/continuous models. Exact inference in hybrid dynamic systems is, in general, intractable. Approximate algorithms are based on either 1) greedy search, as in the case of k-best enumeration or 2) stochastic search, as in the case of Rao-Blackwellised Particle Filtering (RBPF). In this paper we propose a new method for hybrid state estimation. The key insight is that stochastic and greedy search methods, taken together, are often particularly effective in practice. The new method combines the stochastic methods of RBPF with the greedy search of k-best in order to create a method that is effective for a wider range of estimation problems than the individual methods alone. We demonstrate this robustness on a simulated acrobatic robot, and show that this benefit comes at only a small performance penalty.