Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tropical cyclone track and structure sensitivity to initialization in idealized simulations: A preliminary study

In the absence of environmental steering, tropical cyclone (TC) motion largely reflects “beta drift” owing to differential planetary vorticity advection by the storm’s outer circulation. It is known that model physics choices (especially those relating to convection) can significantly alter these outer winds and thus the storm track. Here, semi-idealized simulations are used to explore the influence of the initialization on subsequent vortex evolution and motion. Specifically, TCs bred from a buoyant “bubble” are compared to bogussed vortices having a wide variety of parameterized shapes and sizes matching observations.As expected, the bogussed storms commencing with the strongest outer winds propagated fastest and, as a result, huge structure-dependent position differences quickly appeared. However, the forward speed variation among the initially bogussed TCs subsequently declined as a progressive homogenization harmonized the initially supplied structural differences. The homogenization likely involved model physics such as microphysics. This result casts doubt on the ability of models to retain and propagate forward information supplied at the initialization by advanced data assimilation techniques or parameterized vortex wind profiles.Asymmetries in near-core convective heating emerged as an important structural aspect that survived the homogenization tendency. The bubble and bogussed TCs developed markedly different heating patterns, which appear to help explain why the artificially-established storms tended to move about three times faster than their bubble counterparts. The reasons for this are not presently understood fully.
Protective effects of Punica granatum in experimentally-induced gastric ulcers

In the present investigation standardized aqueous methanolic extract of Punica (AMP) was used for its possible ulcer protective activity in wistar rats against different experimental models. Preliminary phytochemical screening of AMP reveals the presence of saponin, tannins, and flavonoids, which may be responsible for its activity. HPTLC finger prints of AMP showed the presence of 12 spots at different (retention factor) rf values. Oral administration of AMP (490 and 980 mg/kg bw) significantly reduced the ulcer lesion index produced by alcohol, indomethacin, and aspirin, at both doses in rats. Further, in pylorus-ligated rats AMP significantly reduces the ulcer lesions, gastric volume, and total acidity. It prevents the ulceration by increasing the pH and mucus secretion in pylorus ligated rats. The present study shows the anti-ulcer activity of AMP in experimentally-induced gastric ulcers.
Pitavastatin Effect on ATP Binding Cassette A1-Mediated Lipid Efflux from Macrophages: Evidence for Liver X Receptor (LXR)-Dependent and LXR-Independent Mechanisms of Activation by cAMP

The promotion of lipid efflux from macrophages is an important ATP binding cassette A1 (ABCA1)-mediated antiatherosclerotic mechanism that prevents peripheral tissues from foam cell accumulation. Statins exert beneficial antiatherosclerotic effects on cardiovascular disease correlated to the cholesterol-lowering properties and the pleiotropic activities. In this work, we investigated the ability of statins to modulate ABCA1-mediated lipid efflux from macrophages, where the protein expression was differently induced. Pitavastatin (0.1–10 μM) and compactin (10 μM) reduced both cholesterol and phospholipid efflux up to 60% from macrophages expressing ABCA1 upon treatment with 8-(4-chlorophenylthio)-cyclic AMP (cpt-cAMP), and this was secondary to a reduction of ABCA1 mRNA and protein content. Conversely, statins did not affect ABCA1 activity when the protein was up-regulated by 22-hydroxycholesterol/9-cis-retinoic acid or through cholesterol loading. Statin inhibition of lipid efflux induced by cpt-cAMP was reversed in the presence of mevalonate, 22-hydroxycholesterol, and cholesterol but not geranyl geraniol. In macrophages obtained from liver X receptor (LXR)-deficient mice, cpt-cAMP still promoted cholesterol efflux, but pitavastatin did not exert any effect. The present work shows that statins may inhibit ABCA1-mediated lipid efflux in macrophages only when ABCA1 protein expression is induced by cpt-cAMP and provides evidence that cAMP may activate ABCA1 independently of an increase of intracellular sterol synthesis but through at least two pathways: one independent of LXR and one involving an intracellular sterol(s) acting as LXR ligand(s). In addition, the lack of inhibitory effect on lipid efflux in cholesterol-loaded macrophages is likely to exclude a potential negative pleiotropic effect by statins.
Risk factors for recurrence of maltreatment: a systematic review

Background: Children who have been maltreated are at increased risk of further maltreatment. Competent identification of those at highest risk of further maltreatment is an important part of safe and effective practice, but is a complex and demanding task. Aim: To systematically review the research base predicting those children at highest risk of recurrent maltreatment. Methods: Systematic review of cohort studies investigating factors associated with substantiated maltreatment recurrence in children. Results: Sixteen studies met the inclusion criteria. The studies were heterogeneous. A variety of forms of maltreatment were considered. Four factors were most consistently identified as predicting future maltreatment: number of previous episodes of maltreatment; neglect (as opposed to other forms of maltreatment); parental conflict; and parental mental health problems. Children maltreated previously were approximately six times more likely to experience recurrent maltreatment than children who had not previously been maltreated. The risk of recurrence was highest in the period soon after the index episode of maltreatment (within 30 days), and diminished thereafter. Conclusions: There are factors clearly associated with an increased risk of recurrent maltreatment, and these should be considered in professional assessments of children who have been maltreated. A comprehensive approach to risk assessment, including but not solely based on these factors, is likely to lead to interventions which offer greater protection to children.
Resistance to cellular autophagy by Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing strains

Autophagy represents a key pathway in innate immune defense to restrict Mycobacterium tuberculosis growth inside host macrophages. Induction of autophagy has been shown to promote mycobacterial phagosome acidification and acquisition of lysosomal hydrolases, resulting in the elimination of intracellular M. tuberculosis reference strains such as H37Rv. The notorious Beijing genotype has been previously shown to be hyper-virulent and associated with increased survival in host cells and a high mortality rate in animal models, but the underlying mechanism that renders this family to have such advantages remains unclear. We hypothesize that autophagic control against M. tuberculosis Beijing strains may be altered. Here, we discovered that the Beijing strains can resist autophagic killing by host cells compared with that of the reference strain H37Rv and a strain belonging to the East African Indian genotype. Moreover, we have determined a possible underlying mechanism and found that the greater ability to evade autophagic elimination possessed by the Beijing strains stems from their higher capacity to inhibit autophagolysosome biogenesis upon autophagy induction. In summary, a previously unrecognized ability of the M. tuberculosis Beijing strains to evade host autophagy was identified, which may have important implications for tuberculosis treatment, especially in regions prevalent by the Beijing genotype.
Two new cases with microdeletion of 17q23.2 suggest presence of a candidate gene for sensorineural hearing loss within this region

Microdeletion of the 17q23.2 region has very recently been suggested as a new emerging syndrome based on the finding of 8 cases with common phenotypes including mild‐to‐moderate developmental delay, heart defects, microcephaly, postnatal growth retardation, and hand, foot, and limb abnormalities. In this report, we describe two new 17q23.2 deletion patients with mild intellectual disability and sensorineural hearing loss. They both had submicroscopic deletions smaller than the common deleted region for the 8 previously described 17q23.2 microdeletion cases. TBX4 was previously suggested as the responsible gene for the heart or limb defects observed in 17q23.2 deletion patients, but the present cases do not have these features despite deletion of this gene. The finding of sensorineural hearing loss in 5 of the 10 cases, including the present cases, with a microdeletion at17q23.2, strongly suggests the presence of a candidate gene for hearing loss within this region. We screened 41 patients with profound sensorineural hearing loss for mutations of TBX2 and detected no mutations. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Efficient management of rheumatoid arthritis significantly reduces long-term functional disability

Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the effect of efficient management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in relation to disability levels in a large cohort of patients with RA over a period of 3 years. Methods: We studied 2775 patients with RA who had continuous enrolment for at least 3 years from 7511 patients with RA enrolled in an observational cohort study (Institute of Rheumatology, Rheumatoid Arthritis (IORRA)) from October 2000 to April 2005. The 28-joint Disease Activity Scores (DAS28) were calculated at 6 month intervals for all the patients and a value <2.6 was considered as a tight control. We have set up a new variable for each patient, “Avg-Dscore”, based on the transition of each patient’s DAS28 value, taking the threshold level of 2.6 into consideration. The “Avg-DAS28” is the average of DAS28 values over all the phases. Functional disability status was assessed by J-HAQ, the validated Japanese version of the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ). The relationship of “Avg-Dscore” and “Avg-DAS28” with the functional disability level was determined using Spearman correlation coefficients and multiple linear regression models. Results: The baseline features of these 2775 patients were: female 83.7%, mean age 56.8 years, mean RA duration 9.5 years, mean initial DAS28 4.0, mean initial J-HAQ score 0.79, and mean final J-HAQ score 0.86. There was a statistically significant correlation between “Avg-DAS28” and final J-HAQ score (r = 0.57, p<0.001), indicating that tighter disease control has significant association with lower disability levels. A similar relationship was observed between “Avg-Dscore” and final J-HAQ score (r = 0.47, p<0.001). Multiple linear regression analysis, after adjusting for all the covariates, revealed that “Avg-Dscore” and “Avg-DAS28” were the most significant factors contributing to final J-HAQ score, and confirmed the strong relationship between disease activity and functional disability. Conclusions: In patients with RA efficient disease management, by maintaining the DAS28 values at a level under 2.6, has significant association with improving functional capability. The threshold DAS28 level of 2.6 may be useful in developing targeted treatment guidelines for patients with RA.
Company law and corporate finance

PART I. THE FRAMEWORK OF CORPORATE ACTIVITY 1. The Company and the Corporate Group 2. Corporate Finance Structure: Basic Legal, Accounting and Financing Considerations 3. The Company as a Business Operator PART II. CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 4. Management of Companies 5. Controlling Management: Duties of Honesty, Propriety and Loyalty 6. Controlling Management: Duties of Care and Skill Non Executive Directors 7. Controlling Management: Corporate Democracy and the Role of Institutional Investors PART III. SHARE CAPITAL 8. Shares and Share Capital 9. Rights Attaching to Shares 10. Maintenance and Reduction of Capital 11. Financial Assistance 12. Distributions to Shareholders 13. Share Buy Backs and Redeemable Shares PART IV. LOAN CAPITAL 14. Loan Capital - General Considerations 15. Secured Debt 16. Subordinated Debt PART V. RAISING FINANCE FROM CAPITAL MARKETS 17. Initial Public Offers of Securities 18. Secondary Offers of Securities
HIV-related felt stigma among Puerto Ricans living with HIV/AIDS: A focus group study

Stigma negatively impacts the wellbeing of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). Feeling stigmatized is known to affect key areas of daily lives of PLWHA. This study characterizes the experience of perceived stigma among a group of Puerto Ricans LWHA, through a focus group (FG) approach. A total of 40 participants were recruited from Ryan White agencies at the southern area of Puerto Rico. A qualitative study was performed to gather data concerning participants’ feelings, opinions, and perceptions. The FG were audio recorded and transcribed into a written report. Content analysis was performed and the topics were coded for inter-rate reliability. The topics derived were related to: stigma experiences of rejection, emotional reactions, disclosure, reactions of others, PLWHA coping, physical appearance, and affective relationships.
Project management assets and project management performance: Preliminary findings

The objective of this research is to examine the degree of competitive advantage from project management assets by exploring the link between the characteristics of project management assets as independent variables and project management performance outcomes as dependent variables. This paper analyses data from responses to an online survey by 198 North American Project Management Institute® members. Factor analysis is used to identify the characteristics of project management assets and the project management performance outcome factors. Seven factors that comprised the characteristics of project management assets, three factors that comprised organizational support for project management assets, and two factors that comprised the project management performance outcomes were extracted from the data analysis. Preliminary findings are presented in the paper. We draw on the Resource Based View of the firm as a lens to examine and validate project management capabilities as a source of competitive advantage. This paper contributes an improved understanding of project management as a source of competitive advantage for scholars and practitioners interested in project management.
Presenting a model for dynamic facial expression changes in detecting drivers’ drowsiness

Drowsiness while driving is a major cause of accidents. A driver fatigue detection system that is designed to sound an alarm, when appropriate, can prevent many accidents that sometime leads to the loss of life and property. In this paper, we classify drowsiness detection sensors and their strong and weak points. A compound model is proposed that uses image processing techniques to study the dynamic changes of the face to recognize drowsiness during driving.
The impact of risk management processes on clinical negligence claims across NHS acute hospital trusts

The pursuit of healthcare quality is a global trend as countries attempt to maximise the usage of resources amidst concerns about increasing costs and patient safety. The incentives for high quality care were traditionally provided by the tort system of medical negligence; however, modifications to this system saw it replaced in the UK in 1990 with a fault-based enterprise liability system (NHS Indemnity) - NHS trusts were now indemnified for clinical negligence claims in return for the payment of insurance premiums to the NHSLA which assumed responsibility for claims management. The incentives for quality care in this system evolved to a system of risk management standards in the 2002-2009 period – such standards offered reputational and financial benefits to trusts who achieved higher risk management levels (the attainment of such higher levels is proposed to be dependent on the trust governance structure and financial health), and the impact of this system on the clinical negligence outcomes of NHS trusts is the particular focus of this study. A lack of suitable data restricted previous studies of the effectiveness of risk management standards; however, the availability of such data permitted an empirical analysis of a unique panel database. This analysis initially found that the adoption of a new governance structure (i.e. foundation trust) is significantly associated with higher risk management levels, while efficient risk management processes are found to be significantly associated with lower numbers of clinical negligence claims. Finally, foundation trusts were found to be associated with higher closed claim values i.e. such trusts are willing to offer higher amounts to settle claims early. Overall, this study supports the proposition that more efficient risk management processes will lead to improved clinical negligence outcomes for NHS trusts, and recommendations are offered to assist trusts to become more efficient at risk management.
Regulation through social norms

Social norms can have a powerful influence on behavior. We posit that peer pressure may lead companies to behave in ways that are not dictated by direct economic incentives. Extending prior research findings that the introduction of state-level anti-takeover laws affected transparency levels among firms incorporated in those states, we analyze the behavior of peer firms that were not covered by the new laws, and thus had no direct incentives to change their behavior. We find that changes in practice among the largest firms alter the practices of firms in the same industry that are not subject to the change in legal regime. Comparative statics indicate that the effect is stronger when signals sent by the ‘trendsetters’ are more salient, but is not affected by the economic or legal situation of the “followers”. Firms mimicking the trendsetters experienced a decline in stock price.
ADHD in Tunisian Adolescents: Prevalence and Associated Factors

Objective: The aims of the study were to determine the prevalence of ADHD in a population of high school students and to explore the factors associated with this disorder. Method: This was a cross-sectional study that had included 447 high school students. The diagnosis of ADHD was made by the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale translated in Arabic language. The sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were evaluated by a preestablished questionnaire. The self-esteem was assessed by the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Results: The prevalence of ADHD was 18.1%. The logistic regression analysis showed an association between the diagnosis of ADHD and the bad relationships with parents (odds ratio [OR] = 16.43; p < 10-3), the presence of personal psychiatric antecedents (OR = 12.16; p < 10-3), internet misuse (OR = 2.39; p = .014), and maltreatment antecedents (OR = 3.16; p = .009). Conclusion: The prevalence of ADHD in this study was one of the highest prevalence reported. The factors associated with ADHD may have diagnostic and therapeutic implications.
Genetic mixed-stock analysis of lake-run brown trout Salmo trutta fishery catches in the Inari Basin, northern Finland: implications for conservation and management.

Genetic mixed-stock analysis (MSA) of wild lake-run brown trout Salmo trutta fishery catches (n = 665) from the Inari Basin (northern Finland) between 2006 and 2008 was carried out using a previously characterized baseline with 30 populations (n = 813) and 13 microsatellite loci. Altogether, 12 populations contributed significantly to mixed-stock fisheries, with the Ivalojoki system being the major contributor (70%) to the total catch. When catches were analysed regionally, geographically nearby populations were the main contributors to the local catches, indicating that a large proportion of S. trutta occupy lacustrine areas near the natal river mouth rather than dispersing throughout the lake. Similarly, far upstream populations contributed insignificantly to catches. These findings have important implications for the conservation and sustainable fishery management of the Inari system.
Coupling of organotypic brain slice cultures to silicon-based arrays of electrodes.

Fetal or early postnatal brain tissue can be cultured in viable and healthy condition for several weeks with development and preservation of the basic cellular and connective organization as so-called organotypic brain slice cultures. Here we demonstrate and describe how it is possible to establish such hippocampal rat brain slice cultures on biocompatible silicon-based chips with arrays of electrodes with a histological organization comparable to that of conventional brain slice cultures grown by the roller drum technique and on semiporous membranes. Intracellular and extracellular recordings from neurons in the slice cultures show that the electroresponsive properties of the neurons and synaptic circuitry are in accordance with those described for cells in acutely prepared slices of the adult rat hippocampus. Based on the recordings and the possibilities of stimulating the cultured cells through the electrode arrays it is anticipated that the setup eventually will allow long-term studies of defined neuronal networks and provide valuable information on both normal and neurotoxicological and neuropathological conditions.
Delay performance analysis of cooperative cell caching in future mobile networks

Due to the exponentially increasing demands for multimedia services over recent years, the growing network traffic load becomes a severe concern for the mobile network operators (MNOs). However, the wireless link capacity, the radio access networks, and MNOs' backhaul networks cannot deal with the traffic load effectively. To solve this problem, content caching is regarded as an effective emerging technique to reduce the duplicated transmissions of the content downloads demanded by mobile users and improve users' quality of service (QoS). Therefore, in this paper, we mainly focus on the cooperative cell caching for future mobile networks, where each cell (e.g., base station) can cache popular contents for improving QoS especially on the overall delay performance of users. The task is formulated as a problem of minimizing the expected overall user delay of accessing the demanded contents. Instead of rewriting it as a non-linear and non-convex problem based on an approximate transformation, we convert it to a linear programming problem by using a novel equivalent transformation. To solve the problem, rather than using the existing branchand-bound (BNB) method, which suffers from exponential-time and exponential-space complexity, we propose a new distributed suboptimal algorithm, which has polynomial-time and linearspace complexity. Numerical evaluation results demonstrate that our proposed cooperative cell caching framework can reduce the expected overall delay significantly.
Bird Species Recognition by Comparing the HMMs of the Syllables

In this study, a bird species recognition system based on their sounds is proposed. In this system, the birdsong of a bird species is segmented into many syllables, from which several primary frequency sequences can be obtained. By using the statistics of the principle frequency sequences, all the syllables are clustered with the fuzzy C-mean clustering method so that each syllable group can be modeled by a hidden Markov model (HMM) characterizing the features of the song of the bird species. Using the Viterbi algorithm, the recognition process is achieved by finding the template bird species that has the most probable HMMs matching the frequency sequences of the test birdsong. Experimental results show that the proposed system can achieve a recognition rate of over 78% for 420 kinds of bird species.