Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An analysis of Kanban as a project monitoring tool in undergraduate courses

Project monitoring poses a relevant role for project success and it is considered more fundamental in a distributed environment since it confronts additional risks such as culture, geographical, and temporal barriers. Recognizing the complexity and importance of a distributed project, it is vital that undergraduate students receive practical experience and are trained to face the obstacles this form of development imposes, as well as be able to monitor the project progress. The challenge is to take all of these concepts and apply them to a technology course that will not only provide a mechanism for teachers to monitor the evolution of students' projects but also expose students to a production environment for the application of Kanban in monitoring projects in a distributed environment. To validate the efficiency of the technique introduced in this paper, an experimental test was carried out with undergraduate students from different careers, skills, cultures, personalities, and professional experiences to enhance the obstacles encountered in a real distributed environment. The outcome demonstrates the students are partially able to monitor their project and based on the results, some recommendations were made for the use of the Kanban tool in project monitoring during the education process.
Structural asset pricing theory with wavelets

We apply Fourier and wavelet decompositions to structural asset pricing models with time non-separable utility. Through simulations, we show how Fourier decompositions of the utility function, coupled with isolating certain frequencies of the stochastic consumption process, reveal a preference for temporal allocations. We demonstrate the usefulness of wavelets by highlighting their ability to isolate frequency and time, simultaneously. While much work has been devoted to wavelet applications of financial data, we are unaware of papers that use wavelets to analyze structural aspects of asset pricing models.
Suddenly Married: Joint Taxation and the Labor Supply of Same-Sex Married Couples AfterU.S. v. Windsor

Joint taxation can exacerbate the deadweight loss of taxation due to labor supply responses, but evidence is scarce. I estimate the efficiency costs and labor supply effects of joint taxation in the United States by leveraging tax variation created by federal same-sex marriage recognition following the 2013 United States v. Windsor Supreme Court ruling. I find moderate hours responses among primary earners and larger labor force participation responses among secondary earners. My findings suggest that joint taxation is less efficient and generates less tax revenue than individual taxation, and that lowering tax rates for secondary earners could improve efficiency.
Accuracy of ovarian cancer ICD-10 diagnosis in a Danish population-based hospital discharge registry.

OBJECTIVE We estimated the accuracy of ICD-10 diagnosis of ovarian cancer in a Danish discharge registry (HDR) by comparing it with Cancer Registry data (DCR). STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING Patients (N=489) living in North Jutland County, Denmark with ovarian cancer or borderline tumour registered in the HDR or the DCR. We estimated the completeness and positive predictive value (PPV) of ovarian cancer discharge diagnosis. Mortality rates were constructed for both registries. RESULTS The completeness in the HDR for ovarian cancer was 96% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 94%-98%) and PPV was 87% (95% CI: 85%-90%). 87 (18%) of the patients coded with ovarian cancer in the HDR had borderline tumours. When borderline tumours were excluded from the DCR, the PPV declined to 69% and the completeness did not change. The mortality rate ratio for ovarian cancer registered in the HDR compared to the DCR was 1.08 (95% CI: 0.90-1.29). CONCLUSION The discharge data (ICD-10) had some misclassification, but can be a valuable tool in assessment of the prognosis of ovarian cancer.
Germline DICER1 mutations and familial cystic nephroma

Background Multilocular cystic nephroma (CN) is a benign kidney tumour and is part of a family of kidney neoplasms including cystic partially differentiated nephroblastoma and Wilms tumour (WT). CN is rarely familial or bilateral, but it occurs in about 10% of families where pleuropulmonary blastoma (PPB) is present. Recently, germline mutations in DICER1 were found in familial PPB. Objective To search for DICER1 mutations in two families with familial CN; PPB was present in one family. Additionally, to test germline DNA from 50 children with sporadic WT for DICER1 mutations. Results Both families with multiple CN were found to have mutations in DICER1 leading to premature stop codons, predicted to result in loss of the ribonuclease and dsRNA binding domains. These domains are essential to the function of DICER1. No germline mutations were found in any of the 50 children who had developed WT. Conclusion It has been established that DICER1 mutations cause familial CN and may be implicated in bilateral CN. No germline mutations were found in the patients with WT, suggesting that DICER1 mutations are unlikely to have a major role in the aetiology of sporadic WT. These results provide further evidence implicating miRNA dysregulation in tumourigenesis.
Functions of Aggression and Delinquency: The Moderating Role of Parent Criminality and Friends’ Gang Membership

This study examined the relationships between two functions of aggression (i.e., reactive and proactive) and delinquency, including the moderating effects of parent criminality and friends’ gang membership, in a sample of 1,027 Singaporean adolescents from Grade 7 to Grade 9, with age ranging from 12 to 19 years (M = 14.10, SD = 1.15). Findings suggested that both reactive aggression and proactive aggression significantly and positively predicted delinquency (after controlling for proactive aggression and reactive aggression, respectively), with proactive aggression being a stronger predictor. Friends’ gang membership was found to moderate the relationship between reactive aggression and delinquency, and proactive aggression and delinquency, with stronger moderator effects for the latter. Those who were aggressive proactively and who had friends in a gang appear to be impacted most negatively with respect to delinquency. Parent criminality did not moderate these relationships. These findings highlight the need to effectively address the issues of child and adolescent aggression. Also, developing positive peer relations early is crucial for delinquency prevention.
Real-time measurements of cAMP production in live Dictyostelium cells

Cyclic AMP has a crucial role during the entire developmental program of the social amoebae Dictyostelium, acting both as an intracellular second messenger and, when secreted, as a directional cue that is relayed to neighboring cells during chemotaxis. Although significant knowledge about cAMP production in chemotaxing cells has been derived from studies performed on cell populations, cAMP dynamics at the single cell level have not been investigated. To examine this, we used a FRET-based cAMP sensor that possesses high cAMP sensitivity and great temporal resolution. We show the transient profile of cAMP accumulation in live Dictyostelium cells and establish that chemoattractants control intracellular cAMP dynamics by regulating synthesis via the adenylyl cyclase ACA. aca– cells show no significant change in FRET response following chemoattractant addition. Furthermore, cells lacking ACB, the other adenylyl cyclase expressed in chemotaxing cells, behave similarly to wild-type cells. We also establish that the RegA is the major phosphodiesterase that degrades intracellular cAMP in chemotaxis-competent cells. Interestingly, we failed to measure intracellular cAMP compartmentalization in actively chemotaxing cells. We conclude that cytosolic cAMP, which is destined to activate PKA, is regulated by ACA and RegA and does not compartmentalize during chemotaxis.
Disruptive Innovation in Automotive Retailing

Abstract Purpose: The paper explores the paradigm shift occurring in the automotive retailing industry since the advent of technological innovations and different solutions in mobility. Existing studies and literature focus on the specific aspects of this changing trend, which is why this paper concentrates on the holistic changes that include various approaches to the issue of disruptive innovation in automotive retailing. Methodology: To answer the research questions, the article utilizes qualitative research approach in combination with inductive-interpretive analysis. Interviews with eight top-level professionals from the automotive industry reveal three different perspectives on the subject. The study analyzes interview results with coding methodology and MaxQDA software. Findings: The findings center on two components of research: major trends and impacts. The trends include the changing approach towards usership rather than ownership and to clustered habitation in mega cities. What is evident is the stark impact of such trends as the rising popularity of battery electric vehicles, autonomous cars, and mobility as a service on the dealership model of retailing. The impacts include the falling need and demand for personal cars, the rise of large fleet services like car subscription or lower maintenance needs that are expected to drastically reduce the importance of dealership. Limitations: To further understand the trends in automotive retailing, future researchers should focus on local trends in specific regions. Another limitation is linked with exclusive concentration on experienced professionals as sources of data.
How Much Is Too Much Reading for Medical Students? Assigned Reading and Reading Rates at One Medical School

Purpose To determine how medical students' reading rates affect their ability to complete assigned reading. Method The authors calculated the total amount of reading assigned during 71 weeks in 12 modules of the preclinical basic science curriculum at Mercer University School of Medicine for the 2009–2010 academic year. In September 2010, they surveyed the 351 enrolled students, asking them to estimate their reading rates, number of hours spent reading each day, and the amount of the assigned reading they had completed. The authors used the data collected to estimate time required to complete the reading assignments over a range of reading rates and compared these rates with previously published reading rates. Results Faculty assigned 29,239 pages of reading across the modules. The 104 respondents (30% response rate) reported they could read an average of 6 hours per day. The authors calculated that 17% of the students read no faster than 150 words per minute (WPM), whereas another 66% did not exceed 100 WPM. If students reserved the last week of each module for review prior to an examination, they would need to read 496 pages per week, which would require 28 to 41 hours per week at these rates, to complete the assigned reading only once. Conclusions Medical students require significant time to complete assigned reading just once at the reading rates required to comprehend the cognitively challenging material. Before assigning reading, faculty should consider the amount that could reasonably be accomplished by their students.
Management of Challenges of Conjugal Loss among Chinese Widowers: An Exploratory Study

This study presents an exploration of significant coping strategies for Chinese widowers' healthy adjustment to conjugal loss. The informants, 17 Chinese widowers, were asked to share strategies they have adopted to achieve healthy adjustment to spousal loss. The results reveal that loss-orientation coping, consisting of: 1) emotion-focused coping; 2) social coping; and 3) meaning-focused coping, was the key strategy in dealing with challenges posed by the past. Restoration-orientation coping, consisting of: 1) problem-focused coping; 2) social coping; 3) future-focused coping and 4) meaning-focused coping; was the key to managing challenges posed by present and future needs. It is hoped that insights from this study will inform social workers' practice with Chinese widowers experiencing poor adjustment to conjugal loss.
Predicting physical variables in time-delay embedding.

In time-delay reconstruction of chaotic attractors we can accurately predict the short-term future behavior of the observed variable [ital x]([ital t])=[ital x]([ital n])=[ital x]([ital t][sub 0]+[tau][sub [ital s]n]) without prior knowledge of the equations of motion by building local or global models in the state space. In many cases we also want to predict variables other than the one which is observed and require methods for determining models to predict these variables in the same space. We present a method which takes measurements of two variables [ital x]([ital n]) [ital and] [ital z]([ital n]) and builds models for the determination of [ital z]([ital n]) in the phase-space made out of the [ital x]([ital n]) and its time lags. Similarly we show that one may produce models for [ital x]([ital n]) in the [ital z]([ital n]) space, except where special symmetries prevent this, such as in the familiar Lorenz model. Our algorithm involves building local polynomial models in the reconstructed phase space of the observed variable of low order (linear or quadratic) which approximate the function [ital z]([ital n])=[ital F]([bold x]([ital n])) where [bold x]([ital n]) is a vector constructed from a sequence of values of observed variables in a timemore » delay fashion. We train the models on a partial data set of measured values of both [ital x]([ital n]) and [ital z]([ital n]) and then predict the [ital z]([ital n]) in a recovery set of observations of [ital x]([ital n]) alone. In all of our analyses we assume that the observed data alone are available to us and that we possess no knowledge of the dynamical equations. We test this method on the numerically generated data set from the Lorenz model and also on a number of experimental data sets from electronic circuits. « less
Bis(μ-N-benzyl-N-tetradecyldithiocarbamato-κ2 S:S′)bis[(N-benzyl-N-tetradecyldithiocarbamato-κ2 S,S′)zinc(II)]

In the title compound, [Zn2(C22H36NS2)4], two bidentate dithiocarbamate groups chelate directly to the ZnII atoms, whereas the two remaining dithiocarbamate ligands bridge the Zn atoms via a crystallographic inversion centre. The Zn atoms show a strongly distorted tetrahedral geometry. Adding the long S⋯S distance with the inversion centre being in the middle, the resulting five-coordinate geometry around the Zn atoms can be considered to be between distorted rectangular pyramidal and trigonal bipyramidal, with a calculated τ value of 0.31. In this dimer complex, two inversion-related tetradecyl carbon chains exhibit all-trans conformations, and the other two chains show a cis conformation at the end of the chains.
Characterization of B-cell epitopes on IpaB, an invasion-associated antigen of Shigella flexneri: identification of an immunodominant domain recognized during natural infection

The invasion plasmid antigen B (IpaB), a 62-kDa plasmid-encoded protein associated with the ability of shigellae to invade epithelial cells, is the bacterial antigen most strongly and consistently recognized by the host during infection. The strong systemic and mucosal immune responses observed against this invasin prompted us to map its B-cell epitopes. For this purpose, IpaB was first overexpressed in Shigella flexneri and used to raise rabbit polyclonal antiserum and murine monoclonal antibodies, which were subsequently used to screen a lambda gt11 ipaB library. Inserts of recombinant DNA clones that were specifically recognized by the antisera and antibodies were sequenced, and three distinct determinants were identified. Further characterization of these determinants showed that they were recognized by sera from patients convalescent from shigellosis, suggesting that they are relevant to the humoral response during natural infection. Moreover, the IpaB region comprising the three determinants was systematically recognized by all sera from infected patients that we tested, whereas other regions of the protein were not. These data suggest that this region, located between amino acid residues 147 and 258, is the major immunogenic domain of the invasin in the course of natural infection.
The Invasive Phenotype of Shigella flexneri Directs a Distinct Gene Expression Pattern in the Human Intestinal Epithelial Cell Line Caco-2*

Invasion of the human colonic epithelium by Shigella flexneri causes inflammation that disrupts the intestinal barrier. Invaded intestinal epithelial cells are the major source of mediators recruiting the inflammatory infiltrate. To better characterize the global response of intestinal epithelial cells to Shigella invasion, Caco-2 cells were infected by an invasive isolate of S. flexneri 5a, and their transcriptome was analyzed by Affymetrix (Santa Clara, CA) microarrays (12,000 genes) and compared with these elicited by a non-invasive Shigella mutant and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α. The invasive and non-invasive strains enhanced transcription of a common pattern of 240 genes, among which genes encoding isoforms of cytochrome P-450 were induced. These genes were not induced by TNF-α. Conversely, both the invasive strain and TNF-α induced a common set of 18 genes, mainly encoding proinflammatory molecules. They also induced specific sets of genes. The transcriptome induced by the invasive strain was characterized by the induction of early genes (i.e. expressed within the first 45 min of invasion) and late genes (i.e. after 60 min of invasion) whose pattern was strongly biased toward stimulation of granulopoiesis, chemoattraction, activation, and adherence of polymorphonuclear leukocytes. When compared with a non-invasive Shigella and TNF-α, invasive Shigella induced a narrow transcriptome that seems to program infected epithelial cells to recruit a mucosal polymorphonuclear leukocyte to infiltrate. Dramatic increase in IL-8 gene transcription points to this chemokine as the major molecule orchestrating mucosal inflammation in shigellosis.
Clinicians' prescribing practices for bariatric surgery patients: is there an issue?

Patients undergoing Roux‐en‐Y gastric bariatric (RYGB) surgery present a reduced absorption site, and special attention should therefore be taken when prescribing oral‐dosage forms. This study was carried out to investigate the extent to which non‐bariatric clinicians are aware of this issue when prescribing medicines for this population, and what type of information is available to aid them in their decision‐making.
Maternal infant-feeding style and children's adiposity at 5 years of age.

OBJECTIVES To examine the relationship between maternal infant-feeding style and adiposity in childhood and to determine whether feeding style explains any of the association between maternal obesity and childhood adiposity. DESIGN Prospective cohort study. SETTING Cincinnati metropolitan area. PARTICIPANTS A total of 313 preschool children; 80% were white and 20% were black. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Seven factors describing maternal infant-feeding style derived from the Infant Feeding Questionnaire administered at age 3 years; maternal obesity, defined as a body mass index of 30 or higher before pregnancy; and adiposity at 5 years of age as assessed by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. RESULTS The mean +/- SD fat mass was 4.55 +/- 1.64 kg. Seventeen percent of the mothers were obese before pregnancy. Children whose mothers had high concern about the infant overeating or becoming overweight (the highest tertile of the "overeating" factor) had 0.67 kg (95% confidence interval, 0.31-1.03 kg) higher fat mass than children whose mothers did not have high concern (the other 2 tertiles). None of the other 6 feeding factors were related to childhood adiposity. Children of obese mothers had 0.54 kg (95% confidence interval, 0.10-0.98 kg) higher fat mass than children of nonobese mothers. High concern about the infant overeating, which was more common in obese mothers, accounted for 15% of this 0.54-kg difference. CONCLUSION High maternal concern about an infant overeating or becoming overweight was associated with higher adiposity at 5 years of age and explained some of the association between maternal obesity and child adiposity.
Interleukin-2 receptor downstream events in regulatory T cells: Implications for the choice of immunosuppressive drug therapy

Naturally occurring CD4+CD25highFOXP3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) constitute a powerful mechanism of immune regulation and therefore, have important therapeutic potential for disorders such as autoimmune diseases, allograft rejection and graft-versus-host disease. Disruption of the IL-2R signalling pathway by genetic defects of the interleukin (IL)-2 gene or components of the IL-2 receptor (R) complex results in severe T cell-mediated autoimmunity rather than immunodeficiency, indicating a crucial role for IL-2R signalling for Treg development and function. Signalling downstream of the IL-2R can act through the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt/mTOR pathway, the Janus kinase (JAK)/Signal transducers and Activators of Transcription (STAT) pathway and the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. In this report we focus on the relevance of these pathways as well as the impact of immunosuppressive drugs that may affect or enhance Treg function by targeting IL-2R signalling.
Meta-analysis of plasma homocysteine content and cognitive function in elderly patients with Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the relationship between homocysteine and cognitive function of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and vascular dementia (VD) patients. METHODS By Cochrane system evaluation we retrieved relevant publications from MEDLINE, Embase, OVID, controlled clinical trial database of the Cochrane library and others. Two evaluators jointly assessed the research quality of the retrieved publications and carried out meta-analysis on the homogeneous study. RESULTS MMSE score in the AD group was lower than that in normal control group (MD = -11.98, 95% CI (-13.30, -10.65)), and the homocysteine content was higher than that in the normal control group (MD = 2.72, 95% CI (1.79, 3.64)), with a statistical difference between the two groups (P < 0.05). The homocysteine content in the AD group was higher than that in the VD group (MD = -4.76, 95% CI (-7.59, -1.93), P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS MSE score and homocysteine content can be used as useful indicators to distinguish AD and normal subjects; homocysteine content can be used as an indicator to differentiate AD from VD. Clinically, more randomized controlled trials are needed to test and verify the relationship in cognitive function between homocysteine and AD and VD.