Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fat and Energy Balance

In summary, an imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure can explain approximately 80% of the variance in body weight gain in this dietary model of obesity. Several metabolic variables appear to contribute to differences in energy balance. A high RQ and an inappropriate suppression of glucose production by insulin appear to be linked to the increase in energy intake that occurs when obesity-prone rats are provided with the high-fat diet. In addition, early tissue enzymatic differences in obesity-prone versus obesity-resistant rats may contribute to differences in energy expenditure and/or to differences in nutrient partitioning. In this dietary model, susceptibility to dietary obesity involves a metabolic environment that includes a high RQ and a reduced ability of insulin to suppress glucose appearance (FIG. 9). However, this environment does not lead to obesity nor to a measurable difference in body weight gain when the susceptible rats are eating a low-fat diet. The high-fat diet is a necessary catalyst for the observed variability in body weight gain and the development of obesity. As a catalyst, the high-fat diet results in an imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure in some, but not all, rats. This imbalance interacts with the permissive metabolic environment (tissue enzymatic profile favoring carbohydrate utilization and lipid storage) to produce obesity on the high-fat diet. Later, in the HFD feeding period, the rate of weight gain is not significantly different between OP and OR rats, although net fat accumulation remains greater in the former group. It is interesting that this later period is characterized by a reduction in the difference in both RQ and energy intake between OP and OR rats. Thus, during the later stages of HFD feeding, the discrepancy in both energy balance and nutrient balance between OP and OR rats is reduced. This dietary model of obesity is relevant to human obesity. While the prevalence of obesity is high, the majority of people are not obese. The high prevalence of obesity may be due to environmental catalysts that interact with inherent behavioral and metabolic characteristics that favor nutrient retention. Resistance to obesity can be achieved by avoiding these environmental catalysts, by having inherent characteristics that prevent nutrient retention, or both. Our work suggests that the complete understanding of obesity will require not only the identification and functional significance of the genes that determine the inherent capacity of the behavioral and metabolic systems, but also the role of environmental catalysts in determining where and how these systems operate.
CAN system engineering - from theory to practical applications

From the Publisher: Industrial engineers increasingly make use of microprocessors to monitor and control industrial processes. This book provides a comprehensive account of how CAN (Controller Area Network) can be designed and applied in a wide variety of industrial settings. It covers thoroughly: CAN chip implementations, CAN chip programming, CAN hardware design, CAN system testing and wiring, and CAN applications. Beginning with the basic theory of industrial control systems, this book provides simple examples of networked systems. Then stepwise, readers are shown how to apply CAN systems and how to test them. As a result, electronic engineers working with industrial control systems will find this an important book to own.
Morphological changes in leech Retzius neurons after target contact during embryogenesis

Segmental variation in identified neurons may provide an opportunity to examine extrinsic influences on neuronal phenotype, since segmentally homologous neurons must contain much the same intrinsic information, having arisen from very similar or identical precursors. Two large serotonergic Retzius (Rz) cells are found in each segmental ganglion of the leech Hirudo medicinalis. While most Rz cells innervate the body wall in their own segment and, by way of axons in the interganglionic connectives, the body wall of adjacent segments, the Rz cells in ganglia 5 and 6 [Rz(5,6)] lack interganglionic axons and innervate only the reproductive tissue (Glover and Mason, 1986). Here we describe and quantify the development of differences between Rz(5,6) and other Rz cells in peripheral innervation, neuropilar arborization, and soma size. We filled individual Rz cells with Lucifer yellow or HRP in adults and in staged embryos. During the first 72 hr of outgrowth of Rz cell processes, the morphology of Rz(5,6) was indistinguishable from that of other Rz cells. Only after the processes of Rz(5,6) reached the reproductive tissue did they begin to differ from their segmental homologs. This temporal correlation suggests that these morphological differences arise because of some interaction between Rz(5,6) and their target tissue.
A Current-Mode DC-DC Buck Converter with High Stability Independent of Load and Supply Voltage

A current-mode DC-DC buck converter with high stability independent of load and supply voltage is presented. The loop gain's expression of the current-mode converter is derived by employing an advanced model of current-mode control converter. After analyzing the loop gain's expression, which illustrates the method of selecting suitable frequency compensation for control-loop, and a novel pole-zero tracking frequency compensation is proposed. Based on theoretic analysis, a DC-DC buck converter which has high stability independent of load and supply voltage is designed with 0.5 mum-CMOS technology. The simulated results revealed that stability of the converter is independent of load current and input voltage. Moreover, the converter provides a full load transient response of less than 5 mus setting time and less than 30 mV overshoots and undershoots
Postural optimization for an ergonomic human-robot interaction

In human-robot collaboration the robot's behavior impacts the worker's safety, comfort and acceptance of the robotic system. In this paper we address the problem of how to improve the worker's posture during human-robot collaboration. Using postural assessment techniques, and a personalized human kinematic model, we optimize the model body posture to fulfill a task while avoiding uncomfortable or unsafe postures. We then derive a robotic behavior that leads the worker towards that improved posture. We validate our approach in an experiment involving a joint task with 39 human subjects and a Baxter torso-humanoid robot.
Teaching and learning curriculum programs: recommendations for postgraduate pharmacy experiences in education.

PURPOSE Recommendations for the development and support of teaching and learning curriculum (TLC) experiences within postgraduate pharmacy training programs are discussed. SUMMARY Recent attention has turned toward meeting teaching- and learning-related educational outcomes through a programmatic process during the first or second year of postgraduate education. These programs are usually coordinated by schools and colleges of pharmacy and often referred to as "teaching certificate programs," though no national standards or regulation of these programs currently exists. In an effort to describe the landscape of these programs and to develop a framework for their basic design and content, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Pharmacy Practice Section's Task Force on Student Engagement and Involvement, with input from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, reviewed evidence from the literature and conference proceedings and considered author experience and expertise over a two-year period. The members of the task force created and reached consensus on a policy statement and 12 recommendations to guide the development of best practices of TLC programs. The recommendations address topics such as the value of TLC programs, program content, teaching and learning experiences, feedback for participants, the development of a teaching portfolio, the provision of adequate resources for TLC programs, programmatic assessment and improvement, program transparency, and accreditation. CONCLUSION TLC programs provide postgraduate participants with valuable knowledge and skills in teaching applicable to the practitioner and academician. Postgraduate programs should be transparent to candidates and seek to ensure the best experiences for participants through systematic program implementation and assessments.
Approximate personal name-matching through finite-state graphs

This article shows how finite-state methods can be employed in a new and different task: the conflation of personal name variants in standard forms. In bibliographic databases and citation index systems, variant forms create problems of inaccuracy that affect information retrieval, the quality of information from databases, and the citation statistics used for the evaluation of scientists' work. A number of approximate string matching techniques have been developed to validate variant forms, based on similarity and equivalence relations. We classify the personal name variants as nonvalid and valid forms. In establishing an equivalence relation between valid variants and the standard form of its equivalence class, we defend the application of finite-state transducers. The process of variant identification requires the elaboration of: (a) binary matrices and (b) finite-state graphs. This procedure was tested on samples of author names from bibliographic records, selected from the Library and Information Science Abstracts and Science Citation Index Expanded databases. The evaluation involved calculating the measures of precision and recall, based on completeness and accuracy. The results demonstrate the usefulness of this approach, although it should be complemented with methods based on similarity relations for the recognition of spelling variants and misspellings. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Phosphorylation of Sp1 by Cyclin-dependent Kinase 2 Modulates the Role of Sp1 in CTP:Phosphocholine Cytidylyltransferase α Regulation during the S Phase of the Cell Cycle*

Phosphatidylcholine is the major lipid component in mammalian membranes. Phosphatidylcholine synthesis increases in C3H10T1/2 fibroblasts during the G1 and S phases of the cell cycle. Previous studies demonstrated that the mRNA encoding CTP:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase α (CTα) increases during S phase (Golfman, L. S., Bakovic, M., and Vance, D. E. (2001) J. Biol. Chem. 276, 43688-43692) and that this activation is driven by increased binding of Sp1 to the CTα promoter (Banchio, C., Schang, L. M., and Vance, D. E. (2003) J. Biol. Chem. 278, 32457-32464). We now demonstrate that cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) phosphorylation of Sp1 activates CTα transcription during S phase. Sp1 binds in a phosphorylated state to the CTα promoter. Sp1 binding is enhanced by association with cyclin A/E and CDK2, both in vivo and in vitro. In cells that overexpress Sp1, co-expression of cyclin A and CDK2 induces a high and constant level of CTα expression, whereas reduction in the expression of cyclin A, cyclin E, and CDK2 eliminates the induction of CTα expression in S phase. Furthermore, CTα expression is decreased in cells overexpressing a dominant-negative form of CDK2 and in cells treated with the CDK2 kinase inhibitors roscovitine and olomoucine. These results enhance our understanding of the regulatory mechanisms involved in the expression of CTα in preparation for cell division.
Can Earnings Management Ease Financial Constraints? Evidence from Earnings Management Prior to Investment *

The evidence suggests that firms do manage earnings, but how earnings management impacts corporate financial decisions is not well understood. We hypothesize that if a firm is financially constrained but has positive NPV projects, it can use earnings management to signal positive prospects, enabling it to raise capital to make investments. In this the situation, earnings management corrects“ ” the market misvaluation of the firm’s investment prospects. Using abnormal accruals to detect earnings management, weempirical ly evaluate our hypotheses with a large panel of firms 1987during to 2009. We find that financially constrained firms have significantly higher discretionary accruals in the two quarters prior to investment compared to unconstrained firms. onstrained high-accrual firms have higher Cearnings-announcement returns than constrained low-accrual firms, obtain more equity and debt financing, and invest in positive NPV projects. Thus, we find support for the hypothesis that earnings management can be consistent with firm value maximization.
HAT-P-16b: A 4 MJ PLANET TRANSITING A BRIGHT STAR ON AN ECCENTRIC ORBIT,

We report the discovery of HAT-P-16b, a transiting extrasolar planet orbiting the V = 10.8 mag F8 dwarf GSC 2792-01700, with a period P = 2.775960 ± 0.000003 days, transit epoch Tc = 2455027.59293 ± 0.00031 (BJD10), and transit duration 0.1276 ± 0.0013 days. The host star has a mass of 1.22 ± 0.04 M☉, radius of 1.24 ± 0.05 R☉, effective temperature 6158 ± 80 K, and metallicity [Fe/H] = +0.17 ± 0.08. The planetary companion has a mass of 4.193 ± 0.094 MJ and radius of 1.289 ± 0.066 RJ, yielding a mean density of 2.42 ± 0.35 g cm−3. Comparing these observed characteristics with recent theoretical models, we find that HAT-P-16b is consistent with a 1 Gyr H/He-dominated gas giant planet. HAT-P-16b resides in a sparsely populated region of the mass–radius diagram and has a non-zero eccentricity of e = 0.036 with a significance of 10σ.
‘Meso’‐Foundations of Dynamic Capabilities: Team‐Level Synthesis and Distributed Leadership as the Source of Dynamic Creativity

Plain language summary Globalization has transformed the international business environment into an increasingly more complex, uncertain, and diverse entity. Multinational enterprises are under greater pressure to develop their dynamic capabilities to not only adapt to, but also proactively cope with, the speed and complexities of the fast-changing environment. Some research suggests that dynamic capabilities are closely correlated with top management functions, while counterarguments stress that dynamic capabilities are embedded in organizational activities. From the perspective of organizational knowledge creation, making a distinction between the creative and adaptive aspects of dynamic capabilities, this article argues that ‘creative’ dynamic capabilities are rooted in the activities of teams in middle levels of the organization. The article also presents leadership practices that are favorable to fostering dynamic capabilities. Technical summary This article examines the theoretical foundations of an organization's dynamic capabilities—sensing, seizing, and transforming—from the perspective of organizational knowledge creation. Making a distinction between the creative and adaptive aspects of dynamic capabilities, this article argues that the foundation of creative aspect is ‘meso:’ it stems from team-level interactions of frontline workers' capabilities facilitated by middle managers, rather than from individual-level (or micro-level) capabilities. In this middle-up-down management model, top management sets the vision of the organization, but middle managers grasp and solve the gap between the top and the frontline by facilitating team-level dialectic interactions of employees. The leadership practices of both top and middle management that facilitate this process are illustrated with four Japanese multinational companies—Fujifilm, Eisai, Mayekawa Manufacturing, and Toyota. Copyright © 2016 Strategic Management Society.
Quality of IT Enabled Services in Higher Education Insti-Tutions in Saudi Arabia

The delivery of education has improved over time by using the IT enabled services, especially in the higher education institutes. The role of the IT enabled services to disseminate effective teaching has increased over time and still improving with a great pace with emerging needs of the students and the teachers. This research paper is focused to identify and investigate the quality of IT enabled services in the higher education institutes in Saudi Arabia. The study was conducted at two model higher education institutions from public and private sector. Mixed research method has been used to attain the information and to identify the convergence of the information. It was identified that the quality of IT enabled services in better in the public sector institution ascompared to the private sector institution.
Sexual stability in the nearly dioecious Pinus johannis (Pinaceae).

UNLABELLED PREMISE OF THE STUDY Even though dioecy is a dominant sexual system among gymnosperms, little is known about its evolutionary history. Pinus johannis may represent a model system because unisexual and monoecious individuals compose its populations. The presence of unisexual individuals in other Pinus species is a consequence of sexual lability. Here we determined whether P. johannis represents the first example of a dioecious or nearly dioecious reproductive system in conifers by evaluating its sexual stability. • METHODS To assess the stability of sexual expression, we quantified the proportion of male vs. female reproductive structures produced by trees over multiple years and tested for the presence of sexual dimorphism. Sexual lability hypotheses were also examined by looking at the relationship between environmental factors and sexual expression and by comparing the reproductive behavior of P. johannis with its closest labile relative, P. edulis. • KEY RESULTS Pinus johannis is nearly dioecious: ~99% of individuals are unisexual or express a low proportion of the opposite gender with few changes in sexual expression through time. We found sexual dimorphism consistent with sexual stability. Sexual expression did not vary with tree size/age, abiotic environment, or herbivore removal, providing evidence against sexual lability. Individuals of P. johannis tended to produce only male or female strobili, whereas those of P. edulis were mainly monoecious with a gradient in the female to male strobili ratio. • CONCLUSIONS This study represents the first report of a nearly stable dioecious Pinus species. The variety of sexual morphs coexisting in the same population makes P. johannis a model for studying the evolution of dioecy in gymnosperms.
Using Role-Based Composition to Support Unanticipated , Dynamic Adaptation-Smart Application Grids

Due to the wide acceptance and distribution of mobile devices, it has become increasingly important that an application is able to adapt to a changing environment. This implies the necessity to integrate varying functionality at runtime being activated depending on the current context. A common approach is to foresee and model all possible influencing factors and to integrate the required software building blocks in advance. But, due to the constant change of the environment, as described by Lehman’s laws, it is impossible to anticipate all future situations. Hence, modeling the entire adaptation process at design time prohibits the adaptation to unanticipated scenarios and, thus, is likely to lead to the malfunctioning of the adaptive application in the future. In this paper we focus on unanticipated, dynamic selfvariation of applications (i.e., without a central coordinator) and propose a role-based composition system that enables the adjustment of the structure and functionality of softwareobjects in a fine-grained manner. Systems following our proposed approach form a Smart Application Grid (SMAG). The SMAGs-Approach is putting emphasis on dynamic collaborations between components within an application and between several different software systems. Therefore, role-modeling is used to model and perform dynamic variation of applications at runtime, whereby roles are stored in central repositories. This allows the integration of previously unknown softwarebuilding-blocks and the dynamic adaptation to situations that were not foreseen. Keywords-Dynamic Variation; Unanticipated Adaptation; Role-Modeling; Composition; Repository.
The Mars sensor network: efficient, energy aware communications

Data centric sensor networks will play an important role in planetary explorations. In the future JPL envisions sending in-situ missions with distributed instruments and sensors capable to cooperate autonomously and to collect scientific measurements (gases, chemicals, temperature, etc.). A lander or a rover functioning as a base station collects measurements and relays aggregated results to an orbiter. The wireless, multi-hop communication network connecting instruments (sensors) and the rover is functionally similar to the packet radio networks used in other ad hoc networking environments (e.g., automated battlefield, civilian emergencies, group networking, etc.). Thus, it can exploit some of the protocols developed for the latter. This paper proposes a poll-reply scheme in collecting the sensor data. Investigations of this model show an uneven distribution of energy consumption among nodes especially those close to base station. As the energy conservation and the network lifetime are critical issues for these small energy constrained sensor nodes, our paper further presents a clustering assisted, energy aware polling model. Using the passive clustering protocol, the approach provides an efficient forwarding mesh and results in more evenly distributed energy consumption without introducing extra control messages to the network. The network lifetime is prolonged while maintaining connectivity and satisfying latency constraints.
Examining consumers' intention, behavior, and beliefs in mobile banking adoption and continuous usage

Shaikh, Aijaz Ahmed Examining consumers’ intention, behavior, and beliefs in mobile banking adoption and continuous usage. Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä, 2016, 104 p. (+ articles) (Jyväskylä Studies in Business and Economics ISSN 1457-1986; 172) ISBN 978-951-39-6892-2 (nid.) ISBN 978-951-39-6893-9 (PDF) Changing consumer behavior continues to have a profound impact on digital banking adoption and prolonged usage in developed and emerging markets. Several factors influence the consumer decision journey when choosing any specific digital channel or combination of channels. Among a variety of digital banking channels, this dissertation research seeks to contribute to the mobile banking (m-banking) literature by examining consumer behavior in m-banking services as well as technology (application) adoption and continuous usage, especially after considering the fact that financial service institutions have entered a time when offering mobile-based services is no longer a novelty but a necessity. This dissertation analyzes and synthesizes a plethora of literature on information systems/information technology and m-banking and their adoption and usage across various strata of populations in developed and emerging countries. The dissertation provides useful insights into the drivers of adoption and continuous usage of m-banking services and application. The most valuable findings indicate that the m-banking adoption and usage literature is fragmented and lacks a clear road map or agenda. The extant literature appears limited by its narrow focus on SMS banking in developing countries. More surprisingly, no studies address the use of m-banking applications via smartphones or tablets or consider the consequences of such usage. Self-congruence is significantly related to perceived value (PEVA) and addresses a critical gap in the extant literature, which does not seem to have analyzed the effect of self-congruence on m-banking continuous usage. Overall, PEVA is significantly associated with increased m-banking usage, and PEVA is a significant antecedent of the intention to use for consumers in a mature market. On a different note, the main motivation for the continuous usage of mbanking is convenience. The results also indicate positive changes in bank customers’ relationship commitment after using m-banking services.