Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Waterpipe Tobacco Use in the United Kingdom: A Cross-Sectional Study among University Students and Stop Smoking Practitioners

Introduction Despite cigarette-like adverse health outcomes associated with waterpipe tobacco smoking and increase in its use among youth, it is a much underexplored research area. We aimed to measure the prevalence and patterns of waterpipe tobacco use and evaluate tobacco control policy with respect to waterpipe tobacco, in several universities across the UK. We also aimed to measure stop smoking practitioners’ encounter of waterpipe tobacco smoking. Methods We distributed an online survey to six UK universities, asking detailed questions on waterpipe tobacco. Multivariable logistic regression models, adjusted for age, gender, ethnicity, graduate status, university and socioeconomic status (SES) assessed associations between waterpipe tobacco smoking (single use and dual use with cigarettes) and sociodemographic variables. SES was ascertained by average weekly self-spend on non-essentials. We also descriptively analysed data from a 2012 survey of stop smoking practitioners to assess the proportion of clients that used waterpipe regularly. Results f 2217 student responses, 66.0% (95% CI 63.9–68.0%) had tried waterpipe tobacco smoking; 14.3% (95% CI 12.8–15.8%) reported past-30 day use, and 8.7% (95% CI 7.6–9.9%) reported at least monthly users. Past-30 day waterpipe-only use was associated with being younger (AOR 0.95, 95% CI 0.91–0.99), male (AOR 1.44, 95% CI 1.08–1.94), higher SES (AOR 1.16, 95% CI 1.06–1.28) and belonging to non-white ethnicities (vs. white, AOR 2.24, 95% CI 1.66–3.04). Compared to less than monthly users, monthly users were significantly more likely to have urges to smoke waterpipe (28.1% vs. 3.1%, p<0.001) report difficulty in quitting (15.5% vs. 0.8%, p<0.001), report feeling guilty, and annoyed when criticised about waterpipe smoking (19.2% vs. 9.2%, p<0.001). Nearly a third (32.5%) of respondents who had tried waterpipe had violated the UK smokefree law and a quarter (24.5%) reporting seeing health warnings on waterpipe tobacco packaging or apparatuses. Of 1,282 smoking cessation practitioners, a quarter (23.4%, 95% CI 21.5–26.1%) reported having some clients who regularly use waterpipes, but 69.5% (95% CI 67.0–72.0%) never ask clients about waterpipe use. Three quarters (74.8%, 95% CI 72.4–77.1%) want more information about waterpipe tobacco smoking. Conclusions While two thirds of university students have ever tried waterpipe tobacco, at least monthly use is less common. Regular users display features of waterpipe tobacco dependence, and a substantial minority of SSS practitioners encounter clients who regularly use waterpipe. The lack of training on waterpipe for SSS practitioners and reported violations of smokefree laws for waterpipe highlight the need for regular surveillance of and a coordinated tobacco control strategy for waterpipe use.
Activation of carbide-derived carbons: a route to materials with enhanced gas and energy storage properties

Thermal halogenation of a wide range of metal carbides provides a simple route to a class of so-called carbide-derived carbon (CDC) materials. The porosity of the CDCs, which is mainly in the microporous regime, may be modulated by the choice of metal carbide precursor and halogenation temperature. However, although the pore size of CDCs can be fine-tuned by the choice of synthesis process, the maximum surface area achieved is only up to 2500 m2 g−1, which limits their use in gas storage or in electrochemical capacitor applications that require larger surface areas. The article is focussed on what has and can be done to enhance the textural properties of CDCs via further post-synthesis treatments and the ramifications of such modifications on their gas/energy storage capacity. The main developments in physical and chemical activation of CDCs and consequences on gas and energy storage are summarised.
STANDARDIZATION BY CREATING NEW SYMBOLOGY

Original scientific paper This paper proposes a new symbology which eases the use of any two-dimensional matrix bar code on the market from a user perspective, respecting the rules of each 2D matrix bar code. By proposing a new symbology, the exisiting function patterns are transfered into a digital space and additional parts are added. By adding a part called the rim, any 2D matrix bar code can have the same function patterns and can be recognizable to the user, which enables the bar code standardization. For each 2D matrix bar code the rim can be precisely calculated. It can also carry two different 2D bar codes by implementing masks which can rearrange bits to form the desired graphic pattern. This research will contribute overall 2D matrix bar code standardization which will enable users to identify 2D matrix bar codes in the same way as other 2D matrix bar code symbologies. With this method a more user friendly bar code can be achieved.
Conceptualising the EU/LMF Financial Assistance Process

This paper provides an analytical approach to the negotiation process for financial assistance in Latvia. We believe that auditing the negotiation process may help us gain a better understanding of financial assistance programmes’ outcomes. More specifically, we assume that decision-makers engaged in a financial assistance negotiation might need to place a high priority on determining the difference that the process makes, net of other influences, to the outcome.The paper is structured as follows: The first part constructs an analytical framework for conceptualising financial stabilization negotiations. This framework allows for testing hypotheses concerning the negotiation process based on evidence from actual experience, in addition to laboratory evidence. It then outlines the various international negotiation strategies that debtors and lenders can use to affect the outcome. It also discusses the importance of actors’ negotiation ‘capability’ in shaping negotiation strategies and outcome. The second part presents findings on the Latvian case, with a brief review of the negotiation process and outcome in the form of a description of policy interaction with policy circles and a review of core areas of policy conditionality. The paper then explains the factors that account for the negotiating strategies attempted by the lenders (e.g.,IMF and the European Commission) and the debtors (e.g., the Latvian government and other key stakeholders) as well as their influence on the outcome. Finally, it concludes by summarizing lessons that can be learned from the negotiation process surrounding financial assistance in Latvia.
Inactivation of miR-34a by aberrant CpG methylation in multiple types of cancer

Recently, we and others identified the microRNA miR-34a as a target of the tumor suppressor gene product p53. Ectopic miR-34a induces a G1 cell cycle arrest, senescence and apoptosis. Here we report that miR-34a expression is silenced in several types of cancer due to aberrant CpG methylation of its promoter. 19 out of 24 (79.1%) primary prostate carcinomas displayed CpG methylation of the miR-34a promoter and concomitant loss of miR-34a expression. CpG methylation of the miR-34a promoter was also detected in breast (6/24; 25%), lung (7/24; 29.1%), colon (3/23; 13%), kidney (3/14; 21.4%), bladder (1/5; 20%) and pancreatic (3/19; 15.7%) carcinoma lines, as well as in melanoma cell lines (19/44; 43.2%) and primary melanoma (20/32; 62.5%). Silencing of miR-34a was dominant over its transactivation by p53/DNA damage. Re-expression of miR-34a in prostate and pancreas carcinoma cell lines induced senescence and cell cycle arrest at least in part by targeting CDK6. These results show that miR-34a represents a tumor suppressor gene which is inactivated by CpG methylation and subsequent transcriptional silencing in a broad range of tumors.
DNA Methylation Density Influences the Stability of an Epigenetic Imprint and Dnmt3a/b-Independent De Novo Methylation

ABSTRACT DNA methylation plays an important role in transcriptional repression. To gain insight into the dynamics of demethylation and de novo methylation, we introduced a proviral reporter, premethylated at different densities, into a defined chromosomal site in murine erythroleukemia cells and monitored the stability of the introduced methylation and reporter gene expression. A high density of methylation was faithfully propagated in vivo. In contrast, a low level of methylation was not stable, with complete demethylation and associated transcriptional activation or maintenance-coupled de novo methylation and associated silencing occurring with equal probability. Deletion of the proviral enhancer increased the probability of maintenance-coupled de novo methylation, suggesting that this enhancer functions in part to antagonize such methylation. The DNA methyltransferases (MTases) Dnmt3a and Dnmt3b are thought to be the sole de novo MTases in the mammalian genome. To determine whether these enzymes are responsible for maintenance-coupled de novo methylation, the unmethylated or premethylated proviral reporter was introduced into DNA MTase-deficient embryonic stem cells. These studies revealed the presence of a Dnmt3a/Dnmt3b-independent de novo methyltransferase activity that is stimulated by the presence of preexisting methylation.
Planning for ERP systems: analysis and future trend

The successful implementation of various enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems has provoked considerable interest over the last few years. Management has recently been enticed to look toward these new information technologies and philosophies of manufacturing for the key to survival or competitive edges. Although there is no shortage of glowing reports on the success of ERP installations, many companies have tossed millions of dollars in this direction with little to show for it. Since many of the ERP failures today can be attributed to inadequate planning prior to installation, we choose to analyze several critical planning issues including needs assessment and choosing a right ERP system, matching business process with the ERP system, understanding the organizational requirements, and economic and strategic justification. In addition, this study also identifies new windows of opportunity as well as challenges facing companies today as enterprise systems continue to evolve and expand.
Predicting Emotional Reaction Distributions from BuzzFeed Articles

In this paper, we explore how to predict the emotional response distribution of an article with text and images, based solely on the article’s text. In particular, we establish a new data corpus of Buzzfeed articles. We run Bayesian estimators with dependency parses and neural networks on this dataset and find that while dependency parses with linear models (JensenShannon (J-S) distance 0.319, lower is better) do not improve over our baseline prediction (J-S distance 0.286), the recurrent neural network (RNN) is able to significantly outperform the baseline prediction (J-S distance 0.248). Since this is a novel dataset, more testing with this corpus is necessary to determine if our results are competitive.
Marketing process adaptation: Antecedent factors and new product performance implications in export markets

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the marketing “processes” of governing multiple export relationships under the theoretical framework of governance value analysis (GVA). Specifically, this work examines the internal exchange attributes of transaction-specific investments and psychic distance on the adaptation/standardization of relational behavior and detailed contracting and how process adaptation/standardization influences new product outcomes and jointly created value in the focal export relationship. Design/methodology/approach – A survey was conducted of 151 US manufacturers regarding their relationship with their primary foreign buyers. Data were analyzed with partial least squares estimation. Findings – The results indicate that high levels of transaction-specific investments lead to the adaptation of relational behaviors whereas high levels of psychic distance lead to less adaptation of detailed contracting. The adaptation of relational behaviors and detailed contracting reflect d.
Adaptive PID Speed Control Design for Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor Drives

This paper proposes an adaptive proportional-integral-derivative (PID) speed control scheme for permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) drives. The proposed controller consists of three control terms: a decoupling term, a PID term, and a supervisory term. The first control term is employed to compensate for the nonlinear factors, the second term is made to automatically adjust the control gains, and the third one is designed to guarantee the system stability. Different from the offline-tuning PID controllers, the proposed adaptive controller includes adaptive tuning laws to online adjust the control gains based on the gradient descent method. Thus, it can adaptively deal with any system parameter uncertainties in reality. The proposed scheme is not only simple and easy to implement, but also it guarantees an accurate and fast speed tracking. It is proven that the control system is asymptotically stable. To confirm the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, the comparative experiments between the proposed adaptive PID controller and the conventional PID controller are performed on the PMSM drive. Finally, it is validated that the proposed design scheme accomplishes the superior control performance (faster transient response and smaller steady-state error) compared to the conventional PID method in the presence of parameter uncertainties.
Privacy-Preserving Symptoms-to-Disease Mapping on Smartphones

Today, several smartphone applications can be used to map user symptoms to the corresponding diseases. However, these applications have several shortcomings, including limited usability and lack of privacy. In particular, user queries are satisfied by remote servers, which learn all symptoms associated with each request – and therefore, with each user. In this paper we present the design of a privacy-preserving framework and mobile application for mapping symptoms to diseases. The goal of our framework is to suggest a list of diseases, based on user symptoms, without revealing sensitive information to the service provider. Although our work is preliminary, it shows that complex medical applications can be implemented with privacy. In particular, sophisticated functionalities such as NLP and symptoms-to-diseases mapping can be performed without disclosing any information about the user.
Rhabdomyosarcoma: targeted therapy Guided by Genetic analysis and a patient-Derived Xenograft study

Citation: Cramer SL, Miller AL, Pressey JG, Gamblin TL, Beierle EA, Kulbersh BD, Garcia PL, Council LN, Radhakrishnan R, Hendrix SV, Kelly DR, Watts RG and Yoon KJ (2018) Pediatric Anaplastic Embryonal Rhabdomyosarcoma: Targeted Therapy Guided by Genetic Analysis and a Patient-Derived Xenograft Study. Front. Oncol. 7:327. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2017. 00327 pediatric anaplastic embryonal Rhabdomyosarcoma: targeted therapy Guided by Genetic analysis and a patient-Derived Xenograft study
Industry attitudes and behaviour towards web accessibility in general and age-related change in particular and the validation of a virtual third-age simulator for web accessibility training for students and professionals

While the need for web accessibility for people with disabilities is widely accepted, the same visibility does not apply to the accessibility needs of older adults. This research initially explored developer behaviour in terms of how they presented accessibility on their websites as well as their own accessibility practices in terms of presentation of accessibility statements, the mention of accessibility as a selling point to potential clients and homepage accessibility of company websites. Following from this starting point the research focused in on web accessibility for ageing in particular. A questionnaire was developed to explore the differences between developer views of general accessibility and accessibility for older people. The questionnaire findings indicated that ageing is not seen as an accessibility issue by a majority of developers. Awareness of ageing accessibility documentation was also very low, highlighting the need for raising awareness of accessibility practices for ageing. Current age-related documentation developed by the Web Accessibility Initiative was then examined and critiqued. The findings show a tension between the machine-centric Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0) and the needs of older people. Examination of guidelines when compared to research-derived findings reveal that the Assistive Technology (AT) centric structure of the documentation does not appropriately highlight accessibility practices in a context that matches the observed behaviour of older people. The documentation also fails to appropriately address the psycho-social ramifications of how older people choose to interact with technology as well as how they identify themselves in relation to any conditions they have which may be considered disabling. The need for a novel, engaging and awareness-raising tool resulted in the development of what is essentially a "Virtual third-age simulator". This ageing simulator is the first to combine multiple impairments in an active simulation and uses eye-tracking technology to increase the fidelity of conditions resulting in partial sightedness. It also allows for developers to view their own web content in addition to the lessons provided using the simulations presented in the software. The simulator was then validated in terms of its ability to raise awareness as well as its ability to affect web industry professionals' intentions towards accessible practices that benefit older people.
A faster way to compute the noise-adjusted principal components transform matrix

The matrix for the noise-adjusted principal components (NAPC) transform is the solution of a generalized symmetric eigenvalue problem. Applied to remote sensing imagery, this entails the simultaneous diagonalization of data and noise covariance matrices. One of the two PC transforms of the original NAPC transform is replaced by several short, fast procedures. The total operation count for the computation of the NAPC transform matrix is halved. >
Factors Affecting Usage of Internet Banking Services

Information technology services is considered as the key driver for the changes taking place around the world. Internet banking is the latest and most innovative service and the new trend among the consumers. The shift from the formal banking to e-banking has been a 'leap' change. It is a form of self-service technology. Apart from the traditional type of banking services, customers today require more personalized products and services, and are able to access such services at any time and any place. It is one of the advanced information technology they can be employed to achieve a high level of customer services. Nowadays, the concept of internet banking is getting popular among various levels of consumers but still internet banking is still at infancy stage in the world. This study empirically explores factors like perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived risk, subjective or social norms and behavioral intention of consumers affecting the usage of internet banking among consumers. The research is being conducted at Jaipur and through this we have found out the impact of factors that can affect customers' intention for using internet banking services.
Electric drive emulator using dSPACE real time platform for VHDL verification

The use of programmable logic devices e.g. field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) in the motor control devices increase the complexity of the testing and verification. Simulation and verification can be linked together using Simulink, HDL-simulation library and dSPACE real time platform. VHDL co-simulations with Simulink model allows control algorithms to be simulated together with the rest of the system model. dSPACE real time platform allows Simulink models to be executed in real time. dSPACE can be used to emulate inverter and motor in the verification phase where control algorithms run in FPGA circuit and control the whole emulated electric drive system.
Managing Performance in Local Government

Old ways of assessing performance on an ad hoc basis at individual, service and organizational levels are no longer relevant. In the late 1990s the new local government environment is rapidly changing, demanding quality, value for money and social justice. This means managers must adopt a much more coherent and holistic approach for their mixed economy of service provision. This text develops a performance management framework that embraces a range of management approaches. It is relevant to managers across the local government sector, helping them to understand the connections between different techniques at different levels within the organization, from the strategic to the operational.
A Research Proposal: The Relationship between Customer Satisfaction and Consumer Loyalty

The purpose of this research is to study the relationship between customer satisfaction and consumer loyalty and apply its relationship into all the market industries including products and services, particularly in financial institutions. Preliminary sample data (N=80) will be collected from faculties and students at Johnson and Wales University of all ethnicities, national and international students. The hypothesis of the study is developed as H1: There is a significant positive relationship between customer loyalty and customer satisfaction. A t-test for independent samples is used to address the hypothesis. The discussion of the study indicated that there is a significant positive relationship between customer loyalty and customer satisfaction, however, it is important to fully understand that the loyalty which is the main goal of each industry is very hard to achieve and is not very easy to be reached by industries due to the customer satisfaction which is very hard to reach by itself, and the service quality as well. There are many other variables that can affect the consumer loyalty such as the high level of competition among today’s companies and the fast track of technological advancement. These reasons indicate that companies should work hard because loyalty is a fleeting issue, today’s loyal customer would not be tomorrow’s loyal customer.
Efficient Model Generation through Compilation

We present a collection of simple but powerful techniques for enhancing the efficiency of model-generation theorem provers such as Satchmo. The central ideas are to compile a clausal first order theory into a procedural Prolog program and to avoid redundant work of a naive implementation. We also give an efficient implementation for complement splitting, a method for minimizing the first generated model and for pruning the search space. Furthermore we show that it is not efficient to ensure fair selection of clauses by a purely breadth-first search strategy and present a significantly more efficient strategy.