Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Substrate- and Calcium-Dependent Differential Regulation of Mitochondrial Oxidative Phosphorylation and Energy Production in the Heart and Kidney

Mitochondrial dehydrogenases are differentially stimulated by Ca2+. Ca2+ has also diverse regulatory effects on mitochondrial transporters and other enzymes. However, the consequences of these regulatory effects on mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OxPhos) and ATP production, and the dependencies of these consequences on respiratory substrates, have not been investigated between the kidney and heart despite the fact that kidney energy requirements are second only to those of the heart. Our objective was, therefore, to elucidate these relationships in isolated mitochondria from the kidney outer medulla (OM) and heart. ADP-induced mitochondrial respiration was measured at different CaCl2 concentrations in the presence of various respiratory substrates, including pyruvate + malate (PM), glutamate + malate (GM), alpha-ketoglutarate + malate (AM), palmitoyl-carnitine + malate (PCM), and succinate + rotenone (SUC + ROT). The results showed that, in both heart and OM mitochondria, and for most complex I substrates, Ca2+ effects are biphasic: small increases in Ca2+ concentration stimulated, while large increases inhibited mitochondrial respiration. Furthermore, significant differences in substrate- and Ca2+-dependent O2 utilization towards ATP production between heart and OM mitochondria were observed. With PM and PCM substrates, Ca2+ showed more prominent stimulatory effects in OM than in heart mitochondria, while with GM and AM substrates, Ca2+ had similar biphasic regulatory effects in both OM and heart mitochondria. In contrast, with complex II substrate SUC + ROT, only inhibitory effects on mitochondrial respiration was observed in both the heart and the OM. We conclude that the regulatory effects of Ca2+ on mitochondrial OxPhos and ATP synthesis are biphasic, substrate-dependent, and tissue-specific.
Pre-service Teachers’ Perceptions of Professional Standards and their Integration into Pre-service Training: A Comparative Study of Australia and Pakistan

This paper critically analyses 52 Australian and 68 Pakistani pre-service teachers’ (PST) perceptions of professional standards for teachers enabling the comparison of teacher preparation in the two countries. A multivariate analysis of variance tested the hypothesis that an integrated standards-based teacher preparation program was more effective for professional skills and competencies development than a non-integrated one. While the Australian PSTs undertaking a standards-integrated curriculum reported significantly higher levels of professional preparation in ten areas of professional Standards, their Pakistani counterparts - who were not exposed to such curriculum - reported inadequate preparation. The findings have implications for teacher educators and policy makers involved in the development of pre-service teacher programs.
Exploring Ethnic Minority First-Year College Students’ Well-Being and Sense of Belonging: A Qualitative Investigation of a Brief Intervention

Sense of belonging is associated with students’ social adjustment and academic success, especially during the first-year of college. In this study, ethnic minority first-year college students were exposed to a brief belonging video intervention designed to alter self-beliefs, antisocial behaviors and personally threatening interpretations of academic-related adversities. Using an innovative qualitative approach, the researcher assessed college students’ perceptions of the intervention on their health, well-being, and sense of belonging in the first year. Findings reveal that the video intervention helped first-year college students of color at PWIs reframe negative academic, financial, and social experiences while facilitating supportive networks, community, and belonging. Implications for research, policy, and practice are delineated.
COVID-19 in Children and Adolescents: Characteristics and Specificities in Immunocompetent and Oncohematological Patients

SARS-CoV-2 pandemic affected fewer children and adolescents with lower morbidity and mortality rates than those reported for adults. This review focused on the clinical course, risk factors for severe COVID 19, mortality, treatment options, and prevention measures in the pediatric and adolescent setting with special attention to pediatric oncohematological patients. SARS-CoV-2 infection was often asymptomatic in these subgroups of patients, but 47 to 68% of them required hospitalization, and 9–10% of those hospitalized needed intensive care with a COVID 19 attributable mortality of about 4%. The multisystem inflammatory syndrome associated with COVID 19 was less frequent than that reported in the non-oncohematological pediatric population. Noteworthy, the course of COVID 19 was more severe in low-middle income countries. The key measures to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection are reducing patient exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 and vaccination, now available for parents and caregivers and patients and siblings above 12 years of age. The treatment of COVID 19 in pediatric patients is mainly based on supportive care with dexamethasone and heparin prophylaxis for severely ill patients. Other measures, such as convalescent plasma, remdesivir, and monoclonal antibodies, have been used in limited cases or within experimental protocols. Further studies are needed regarding the risks factors and outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection in pediatric immunocompromised patients.
Meckel’s Diverticulum in Children: A Monocentric Experience and Mini-Review of Literature

Vitelline duct anomalies (VDA, including Meckel’s diverticulum (MD)) result from failed embryologic obliteration. This study aimed for characteristics in symptomatic versus asymptomatic VDA, analyzing clinico-laboratory data from 73 children, aged 1 day to 17 years, treated at a tertiary Pediatric Surgery Institution from 2002–2017. A male preponderance was obtained (ratio 3.6:1). MD accounted for 85% of VDA. Incidence of symptomatic VDA decreased with older age. Leading symptoms were intestinal obstruction and hemorrhage. Mucosal heterotopia (present in 39% of symptomatic MD) was associated with anemia and lowered CRP-levels. On ROC-analysis, hemoglobin < 8.6 g/dL, CRP < 0.6 mg/dL and MD distance to ileocecal valve >40 cm were predictors of ectopic tissue in symptomatic MD. Our data confirmed known characteristics as male preponderance, declined incidence of symptomatic cases with age and predominance of gastric ectopia in symptomatic MD. Moreover, anemia and prolonged distance of MD to ileocecal valve were predictors of ectopic mucosa in symptomatic MD.
Impact of women and ethics committees on firms’ value and financial performance

Abstract The literature on the impact of gender diversity on firms’ value and performance is mixed. To shed light on these mixed results, we consider that other mechanisms in place, such as committees, could help gender diversity prosper. We investigate the joint effects of whether women acting on the corporate board or as executive officers, and the presence of an ethics and compliance committee (ECC), impact on firms’ value and financial performance. Our identification strategy covers three different methods (i) system GMM, (ii) generalized structural equation model approach, and (iii) propensity score matching approach. The results show that firms’ value and performance increase when a woman is in the corporate board or as an executive officer, and the firm has an ECC. Unlike previous literature, we show that ECCs, further than just a monitoring mechanism, support minority groups (women), and this has second-order effects on firms’ value and performance. Besides, we provide evidence for practitioners to foster the increase of quotas for women in top executive roles and consider fostering the creation of ECCs.
Multi-Threshold Structural Equation Model

Abstract In this article, we consider the instrumental variable estimation for causal regression parameters with multiple unknown structural changes across subpopulations. We propose a multiple change point detection method to determine the number of thresholds and estimate the threshold locations in the two-stage least square procedure. After identifying the estimated threshold locations, we use the Wald method to estimate the parameters of interest, that is, the regression coefficients of the endogenous variable. Based on some technical assumptions, we carefully establish the consistency of estimated parameters and the asymptotic normality of causal coefficients. Simulation studies are included to examine the performance of the proposed method. Finally, our method is illustrated via an application of the Philippine farm households data for which some new findings are discovered.
Adaptive reuse of industrial buildings in a new precinct in Auckland’s CBD

The conversion of former industrial buildings and identifying heritage as a commodity has become a pervasive trend, especially over the last decade. Adaptive re-use of old industrial buildings is often seen as an alternative to demolition and replacement and as the primary development solution for an existing building when it no longer meets expectations. Building adaptation plays an important role in urban regeneration through the preservation of urban heritage while achieving major economic benefits. The aim of this paper is to examine the key areas of consideration involved in the conversion of former industrial buildings in a new large-scale precinct in Auckland’s CBD (central business district). A case study research, which employs multiple sources of empirical evidence, such as fieldwork, documentary research and semi-structured interviews, was considered most appropriate as it offered a multi-faceted approach to the research investigation. The findings of the study indicate that preserving historical character through adequate design approaches was the main area of consideration for all parties the architect, structural engineer, urban planner, heritage advisor and property developers. However, creating economic value and commercial potential through careful financial considerations was also particularly important for the property developers. Furthermore, this study identified that property developers, responsible for the initial physical upgrading of old buildings, played a leading role in urban redevelopment and were the main initiators of urban transformation. Until recently, adaptive re-use has received limited attention in New Zealand as new builds have been perceived as the sole answer to client demands. However, building adaptation is proving to be an effective alternative in urban regeneration campaigns through the creation of attractive work environments. This research provides the foundations for an overall integrated approach to adaptive re-use which is at the heart of post-industrial real estate development driven by proactive property developers. Keywords-adaptive re-use; industrial buildings, urban regeneration, Auckland’s CBD
Vector and Scalar IMs in Structural Response Estimation, Part I: Hazard Analysis

A realistic assessment of building economic losses and collapse induced by earthquakes requires the monitoring of several response measures, both story-specific and global. The prediction of such response measures benefits from using multiple ground motion intensity measures (IMs) that are, in general, correlated. To allow the inclusion of multiple IMs in the risk assessment process, it is necessary to have a practical tool that computes the vector-valued hazard of all such IMs at the building site. In this paper, vector-valued probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (VPSHA) is implemented here as a post-processor to scalar PSHA results. A group of candidate scalar and vector IMs based on spectral acceleration values, ratios of spectral acceleration values, and spectral accelerations averaged over a period range are defined and their hazard evaluated. These IMs are used as structural response predictors of three-dimensional (3-D) models of reinforced concrete buildings described in a companion paper (Kohrangi et al. 2016).
Cyberchondria and its Impact on Self-Medication and Self Care in CovId-19 Pandemic – A Cross Sectional Study

Background: Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has brought several impacts on the health of people. The infodemic which accompanied the pandemic can lead to cyberchondria, fear and anxiety accompanying excessive online search of COVID-19 related information. Most of the people try to avoid getting infected with this virus by taking adequate protective measures. Hence the aim of this study was to analyze the impact of COVID-19 related cyberchondria on self-medication and self care. Materials and Methods: An online cross-sectional semi-structured questionnaire based study was done and a total of 323 responses were obtained. Participants were segregated into two clusters based on the cyberchondria severity score which included four constructs using k-means cluster analysis considering the score obtained in each construct. The impact of cyberchondria on self care and self care among medical practitioners between the clusters was analyzed using independent t-test. Qualitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: This study found that 35% of the participants were categorized in the cluster with high cyberchondria score. A marked proportion of the participants who have taken self-medication for COVID-19 prophylaxis belonged to this cluster. A statistically significant difference was observed in the mean of the scores used to assess self care between the clusters (p = 0.003) whereas no significant difference was observed among registered medical practitioners (p=0.222). Conclusion: Anxiety related with excessive online COVID-19 information seeking behaviour had effects in terms of enhanced self care and self-medication in the respondents. Hence it is important to use internet wisely for self well being.
The Water Quality and Nutrients Status in the Dungun River Basin, Terengganu

This study investigated the spatial variation of nitrogen (N)-based and phosphorus (P)-based nutrients together with water quality parameters (temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand and total suspended solids) in the Dungun River basin, Terengganu. The Water Quality Index (WQI) of the river was applied according to the Malaysian Department of Environment (DOE-WQI) and classified based on the Malaysian National Water Quality Standard (NWQS). Results showed that the major source of nutrients and water quality deterioration in the basin was most likely due to the effluent discharged from the nearby palm oil factory. The overall WQI mean value obtained was 85.44%, which indicated that the Dungun River basin was in a clean condition and categorised into Class II based on the NWQS classification. The overall mean mass N:P ratio was 19.8:1 which indicated that the algal growth was generally controlled by the P-based nutrients. Based on this study, it is suggested continuous monitoring necessary to be carried out for proper management of this river basin.
Characterization of a new class of surface micromachined pumps.

This is the latest in a series of LDRD's that we have been conducting with Florida State University/Florida AM ''Development of Highly Integrated Magnetically and Electrostatically Actuated Micropumps'' (SAND2003-4674) and ''Development of Magnetically and Electrostatically Driven Surface Micromachined Pumps'' (SAND2002-0704P). In this year's LDRD we designed 2nd generation of surface micromachined (SMM) gear and viscous pumps. Two SUMMiT{trademark} modules full of design variations of these pumps were fabricated and one SwIFT{trademark} module is still in fabrication. The SwIFT{trademark} fabrication process results in a transparent pump housing cover that will enable visualization inside the pumps. Since the SwIFT{trademark} pumps have not been tested as they are still in fabrication, this report will focus on the 2nd generation SUMMiT{trademark} designs. Pump testing (pressure vs. flow) was conducted on several of the SUMMiT{trademark} designs resulting in the first pump curve for this class of SMM pumps. A pump curve was generated for the higher torque 2nd generation gear pump designed by Jason Hendrix of FSU. The pump maximum flow rate at zero head was 6.5 nl/s for a 30V, 30 Hz square wave signal. This level of flow ratemore » would be more than adequate for our typical SMM SUMMiT{trademark} or SwIFT{trademark} channels which have typical volumes on the order of 50 pl. « less
Intelligent Jamming Strategies for Secure Spectrum Sharing Systems

This paper investigates the secrecy performance of a spectrum sharing network, where <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${N}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> legitimate source-destination pairs orderly access the shared spectrum for communication, while an eavesdropper (E) attempts to tap the legitimate information transmission. To improve the physical layer security, we propose two jamming strategies that can intelligently switch between jamming and non-jamming, namely, suboptimal jammer selection (SJS) scheme and optimal jammer selection (OJS) scheme. Specifically, when a user pair is assigned to access the shared spectrum, another source is chosen as a friendly jammer in order to create intentional interference at E. For the purpose of comparison, we present the non-jammer selection (NJS) scheme as a benchmark. Analytical closed-form secrecy outage probability expressions of NJS, SJS and OJS schemes are derived over Nakagami-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> fading channels. We further present an asymptotic secrecy outage probability analysis to evaluate the secrecy diversity gain performance of NJS, SJS and OJS schemes. Numerical results show that the secrecy outage probability performance of OJS scheme is better than SJS and NJS schemes in the low average channel power gain <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\mathop \Omega \nolimits _{D} }$ </tex-math></inline-formula> region. Furthermore, the secrecy outage probabilities of NJS as well as SJS and OJS schemes converge to each other with the increase of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\mathop \Omega \nolimits _{D} }$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, due to the fact that the OJS and SJS scheme will switch to NJS scheme when <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\mathop \Omega \nolimits _{D} }$ </tex-math></inline-formula> tends to infinity.
Investigation of Beta-Lactam and Tetracycline Group Antibiotic Residues in Bovine Liver, Kidney and Muscle Tissue

In this study, beta-lactam and tetracycline antibiotic residues were investigated in cattle liver, kidney and muscle samples. For this purpose, a total of 75 bovine tissue samples (each of 25 from liver, kidney, muscle) taken from 25 cattle slaughtered in a local slaughterhouse in Sivas were used as materials. ELISA method was applied in the analysis and it was studied with commercial test kits. According to the results of the analysis; beta-lactam and tetracycline residues were detected in all bovine tissue samples. Beta-lactam level was determined between 0.75-1.07 ppb (mean 0.94 ± 0.01) in liver samples, 0.67-1.05 ppb (mean 0.81 ± 0.01) in kidney samples and 0.70-2.57 ppb (mean 0.97 ± 0.07) in muscle samples. Tetracycline level was detected in the range of 4.48-8.50 ppb (mean 6.14 ± 0.17) in liver samples, 1.73-6.39 ppb (mean 4.90 ± 0.24) in kidney samples and 3.31-7.45 ppb (mean 5.67 ± 0.25) in muscle samples. The residue levels determined in the examples complied with the legal limits reported in the European Commission and the Turkish Food Codex Communiqué.
Single-point incremental forming of sheet metals: Experimental study and numerical simulation

In this article, the single-point incremental forming of sheet metals made of micro-alloyed steel and Al alloy is investigated by combining the results of numerical simulation and experimental characterization, performed during the process, as well as on the final product. A finite element model was developed to perform the process simulation, based on an explicit dynamic time integration scheme. The finite element outcomes were validated by comparison with experimental results. In particular, forming forces during the process, as well as the final shape and strain distribution on the finished component, were measured. The obtained results showed the capability of the finite element modelling to predict the material deformation process. This can be considered as a starting point for the reliable definition of the single-point incremental forming process parameters, thus avoiding expensive trial-and-error approaches, based on extensive experimental campaigns, with beneficial effects on production time.
Informed Decision Making on the Uptake of Evidence-Based Smoking Cessation Assistance by Individuals Motivated to Quit Smoking

Evidence-based cessation assistance increases cessation rates. Activating preferences during decision making could improve effectiveness further. Decision aids (DAs) facilitate deciding by taking preferences into account. To develop effective DAs, potential end users' (i.e., individuals motivated to quit) needs and experts' viewpoints should be considered. Therefore, the aim of this needs assessment was: (1) To explore end users' needs and (2) to obtain consensus among smoking cessation counsellors and scientific experts to develop a self-administered DA to support end users in choosing cessation assistance. Data was gathered via two approaches: (1) twenty semi-structured interviews with potential end users and (2) two three-round Delphi studies with 61 counsellors and 44 scientific experts. Interview data and the first Delphi rounds were analysed qualitatively, the other Delphi rounds were analysed quantitatively. Potential end users acquired information in different ways, e.g., via own experiences. Important characteristics to decide between tools varied, however effectiveness and costs were commonly reported. Experts reached consensus on 38 and 40 statements, e.g., tools should be appropriate for users' addiction level. Although some trends emerged, due to the variation among stakeholders, a 'one size fits all'-approach is undesirable. This heterogeneity should be considered, e.g., by enabling users to customise the DA.
Comparative Study of DEM Reconstruction Accuracy Between Single- and Multibaseline InSAR Phase Unwrapping

Phase unwrapping (PU) is a key processing step in interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR). To date, a number of skillful single-baseline (SB) and multibaseline (MB) PU methods exhibiting different advantages have been proposed. However, as the basic principles of SB and MB PUs are essentially different, it is difficult to effectively and systematically compare the performance of SB and MB PUs, despite the knowledge that this type of analysis is important for allowing the ever-increasing number of InSAR practitioners to choose a suitable approach for practical applications and to optimally plan future InSAR satellite missions. Recently, the framework of the two-stage programming approach (TSPA) was proposed, and this allows for the majority of the existing SB PU methods to be transplanted into the MB domain, to allow practitioners to feasibly and comprehensively compare SB and MB PU methodologies. In this study, the digital elevation model (DEM) reconstruction accuracy is compared between the classical SB PU methods and their corresponding TSPA-framework-based MB PU methods using the $L^{p}$ -norm model. Interestingly, we observed that although the number of PU residues in the MB case is larger than that in the SB case, the MB PU performance is better. The reason for this is that the type of MB residue is typically dipole, so the average length of the required MB branch-cut is shorter than that of SB. It is also demonstrated that the TSPA framework can effectively improve the PU accuracy of many existing SB PU methods when the number of input interferograms is sufficient.