Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Social capital: a road map of theoretical frameworks and empirical limitations

The general idea of social capital is that relationships matter. In this sense, trust, cooperation and reciprocity involved in these relationships can have a positive impact on the wealth of the society by reducing transaction costs, facilitating collective actions and lowering opportunistic behaviour. This work sheds light on the different theoretical and empirical problems that a scholar is likely to face in dealing with social capital research and analysis. We propose a critical road map of the social capital theories and applications for a general audience, non-users included, with particular attention to the works of political and social economists. We provide a critical debate on the different definitions and measures produced, the theoretical frameworks developed and the empirical techniques adopted so far in the analysis of the impact of social capital on socio-economic outcomes. We stress on the limitations of these techniques and we suggest some basic strategies to reduce the magnitude of these limitations.
Depletion of ceramides with very long chain fatty acids causes defective skin permeability barrier function, and neonatal lethality in ELOVL4 deficient mice

Very long chain fatty acids (VLCFA), either free or as components of glycerolipids and sphingolipids, are present in many organs. Elongation of very long chain fatty acids-4 (ELOVL4) belongs to a family of 6 members of putative fatty acid elongases that are involved in the formation of VLCFA. Mutations in ELOVL4 were found to be responsible for an autosomal dominant form of Stargardt's-like macular dystrophy (STGD3) in human. We have previously disrupted the mouse Elovl4 gene, and found that Elovl4+/- mice were developmentally normal, suggesting that haploinsufficiency of ELOVL4 is not a cause for the juvenile retinal degeneration in STGD3 patients. However, Elovl4-/- mice died within several hours of birth for unknown reason(s). To study functions of ELOVL4 further, we have explored the causes for the postnatal lethality in Elovl4-/- mice. Our data indicated that the mutant mice exhibited reduced thickness of the dermis, delayed differentiation of keratinocytes, and abnormal structure of the stratum corneum. We showed that all Elovl4-/- mice exhibited defective skin water permeability barrier function, leading to the early postnatal death. We further showed that the absence of ELOVL4 results in depletion in the epidermis of ceramides with ω-hydroxy very long chain fatty acids (≥C28) and accumulation of ceramides with non ω-hydroxy fatty acids of C26, implicating C26 fatty acids as possible substrates of ELOVL4. These data demonstrate that ELOVL4 is required for VLCFA synthesis that is essential for water permeability barrier function of skin.
Low Prepregnant Body Mass Index and Breastfeeding Practices

The relationship of low prepregnant body mass index with breastfeeding was investigated in 1272 women who delivered a term infant with birthweight ≥ 2500 g at the San Paolo Hospital in Milan, Northern Italy. Underweight was defined using the Institute of Medicine’s cutoff of 19.8 kg/m2. Women were interviewed via telephone through 12 months postdelivery about breastfeeding practices. Education level (high versus low, odds ratio [OR], 1.41), primiparity (OR, 1.35), vaginal delivery (OR, 0.74), and birthweight of the infant (normal versus high, OR, 1.89) were associated with low, as opposed to normal, pre-pregnant body mass index. After adjustment for these confounders, no difference was found between underweight and normal weight women for initiation or duration of breastfeeding (mean adjusted difference, 0.4; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], -0.1 to 0.9 months) or exclusive breastfeeding (0.1 [95% CI, -0.1 to 0.3] months). Underweight mothers of healthy term infants may not be at increased risk for not initiating or shorter breastfeeding.
The BDI Driver in a Service City (Extended Abstract)

Most trac simulation frameworks move vehicles from some location A to some location B as the result of dierent equations of motion or fluid dynamics. As it is, reality is much more complex because what actually happens on the road is not only determined by physics of motion, but also by the perception and attitudes of the drivers. In this work, we introduce an approach which considers a driver’s state of mind within large scale trac simulations. For this purpose we describe a BDI based conceptualisation of a driver and extend common simulation topologies with service oriented concepts.
Robust genetic programming‐based detection of atrial fibrillation using RR intervals

In this study, two variants of genetic programming, namely linear genetic programming (LGP) and multi‐expression programming (MEP) are utilized to detect atrial fibrillation (AF) episodes. LGP‐ and MEP‐based models are derived to classify samples of AF and Normal episodes based on the analysis of RR interval signals. A weighted least‐squares (WLS) regression analysis is performed using the same features and data sets to benchmark the models. Another important contribution of this paper is identification of the effective time domain features of heart rate variability (HRV) signals upon an improved forward floating selection (IFFS) analysis. The models are developed using MIT‐BIH arrhythmia database. The diagnostic performances of the LGP and MEP classifiers are evaluated through receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis. The results indicate that the LGP and MEP models are able to diagnose the AF arrhythmia with an acceptable high accuracy. The proposed models have significantly better diagnosis performances than the regression and several models found in the literature.
Investigating the complete corpus of referendum and elections tweets

Today, a considerable proportion of the public political discourse that proceeds nationwide elections is happening through Online Social Networks. Through analyzing this content, we can discover the major themes that prevailed during the discussion, investigate the temporal variation of positive and negative sentiment and examine the semantic proximity of these themes. According to existing studies, the results of similar tasks are heavily dependent on the quality and completeness of dictionaries for linguistic preprocessing, entity discovery and sentiment analysis. Additionally, noise reduction is achieved with methods for sarcasm detection and correction. Here we report on the application of these methods on the complete corpus of tweets regarding two local electoral events of worldwide impact: the Greek referendum of 2015 and the subsequent legislative elections. To this end, we compiled novel dictionaries for sentiment and entity detection for the Greek language tailored to these events. We subsequently performed volume analysis, sentiment analysis and sarcasm correction. Results showed that there was a strong anti-austerity sentiment accompanied with a critical view on European and Greek political actions.
L/S-Band Dual-Circularly Polarized Antenna Fed by 3-dB Coupler

A dual-band dual-circularly polarized (CP) antenna fed by a dual-band 3-dB substrate integrated coaxial line coupler is designed, fabricated, and measured. The proposed antenna is excited by two planar L-probes that are connected to two output ports of the coupler. This dual-band dual-CP antenna effectively covers the L-band of 1.62 GHz and S-band of 2.50 GHz, respectively. Simulation and measurement results show that, considering reflection coefficient, gain, and axial ratio together, the relative bandwidth is about 10% at the lower band and about 4% at the upper band. The maximum measured antenna gains are 8.5 and 8.2 dBi, respectively.
A homogeneous domination approach for global output feedback stabilization of a class of nonlinear systems

In this paper, a novel systematic design method, namely homogeneous domination approach, is developed for the global output feedback stabilization of nonlinear systems. The nonlinearities of the systems considered in this paper are neither linearly growing nor Lipschitz in immeasurable states, which make the most of existing methods inapplicable to solve the problem. By utilizing the homogeneous domination approach, a global output feedback stabilizer is explicitly constructed in two steps: i) we first design for the nominal linear system a unique homogeneous output feedback controller whose construction is genuinely nonlinear, rather than linear as used in the literature; ii) then we scale the homogeneous observer and controller with an appropriate choice of gain to render the nonlinear system globally asymptotically stable. The homogeneous domination approach not only enables us to completely remove the linear growth condition, which has been the common assumption for global output feedback stabilization, but also provides us a new perspective to deal with the output feedback control problem for nonlinear systems.
Recent star formation at low metallicities. The star-forming region NGC 346/N66 in the Small Magellanic Cloud from near-infrared VLT/ISAAC observations

We perform a photometric analysis on deep, seeing-limited near-IR VLT images of the region NGC 346/N66 and a nearby control field of the SMC in order to locate the centres of active high- and intermediate-mass star formation through the identification of near-IR bright objects as candidate stellar sources under formation.We use archived imaging data obtained with the high-resolution camera ISAAC at VLT of NGC 346/N66 and we construct the near-IR colour-magnitude (CMD) and colour-colour diagrams (C-CD) of all detected sources. We investigate the nature of all stellar populations in the observed CMDs, and we identify all stellar sources that show significant near-IR excess emission in the observed C-CD. We select, thus, the best candidates for being young stellar sources. Based on their near-IR colours we select 263 candidate young stellar sources. This sample comprises a variety of objects such as intermediate-mass PMS and Herbig Ae/Be stars and possibly massive YSOs, providing original near-IR colours for them. The spatial distribution of the selected candidate sources shows that they are located along the dusty filamentary structures of N66 seen in mid- and far-IR dust emission and agrees very well with that of previously detected candidate YSOs and PMS stars. Our study provides an original accurate set of near-IR colours for candidate young stellar sources. While this adds significant information on the star formation process in NGC 346/N66, it is still necessary to reveal the exact nature of these objects, a process that requires the combination of multi-wavelength data, so that complete Spectral Energy Distributions can be constructed for individual sources. This would be a quite important follow-up study to that presented here.
Protein and its function based on a subcellular localization

Protein p21Cip1/Waf1 is a cyclin‐dependent kinase inhibitor, which is important in the response of cells to genotoxic stress and a major transcriptional target of p53 protein. Based on the localization, p21Cip1/Waf1 protein executes various functions in the cell. In the nucleus p21Cip1/Waf1 binds to and inhibits the activity of cyclin dependent kinases Cdk1 and Cdk2 and blocks the transition from G1 phase into S phase or from G2 phase into mitosis after DNA damage. This enables the repair of damaged DNA. p21Cip1/Waf1 was also found as an important protein for the induction of replication senescence as well as stress‐induced premature senescence. In the cytoplasm, p21Cip1/Waf1 protein has an anti‐apoptotic effect. It is able to bind to and inhibit caspase 3, as well as the apoptotic kinases ASK1 and JNK. The function of p21Cip1/Waf1 in response to a DNA damage probably depends on the extent of the damage. In the case of low‐level DNA damage, the expression of p21Cip1/Waf1 is increased, it induces cell cycle arrest, and performs also anti‐apoptotic activities. However, after extensive DNA damage the amount of p21Cip1/Waf1 protein is decreased and the cell undergoes apoptosis. Dual function of p21Cip1/Waf1 was also observed in cancerogenesis. On the one hand, p21Cip1/Waf1 acts as a tumor suppressor; on the other hand it prevents apoptosis and acts as an oncogene. Better understanding of the role of p21Cip1/Waf1 in various conditions would help to develop better cancer‐treatment strategies. J. Cell. Biochem. 112: 3502–3506, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Effectiveness of antibiotics in preventing meningococcal disease after a case: systematic review

Objective To summarise the evidence for the role of antibiotics in preventing further cases of meningococcal disease through chemoprophylaxis given to the index patient, household contacts, and children in day care settings after a single case. Design Systematic review. Methods Studies were identified by searching Embase (1983-2003), Medline (1965-2003), and CAB Health (1973-2003) and by contacting the World Health Organization and the European meningococcal disease surveillance network and examining references of identified papers. The review included all studies with at least 10 cases in which outcomes were compared between treated and untreated groups. Main outcome measure Subsequent cases of meningococcal disease 1-30 days after onset of disease in the index patient. Results Four observational studies and one small trial met the inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis of studies on chemoprophylaxis given to household contacts showed a significant reduction in risk (risk ratio 0.11, 95% confidence interval 0.02 to 0.58). The number needed to treat to prevent a case was estimated as 218 (121 to 1135). Primary outcome data were not available in studies of chemoprophylaxis given to the index patient: when prophylaxis had not been given, rate of carriage after discharge from hospital was estimated as 3% (0 to 6), probably an underestimate of the true rate. No studies of chemoprophylaxis in day care settings were identified that met the inclusion criteria. Conclusion There have been no high quality experimental trials looking at control policies for meningococcal disease. The best available evidence is from retrospective studies. The risk of meningococcal disease in household contacts of a patient can be reduced by an estimated 89% if they take antibiotics known to eradicate meningococcal carriage. Chemoprophylaxis should be recommended for the index patient and all household contacts.
Technical Operations (TOPS) IV Task Order 0003: Responsive Interface for Transport Tuning (RITT)

Abstract : This report summarizes research activity performed under this task order. The overall objective was to develop novel material interfaces with the potential to respond to changes in mechanical, thermal, or electromagnetic stimulus. The primary thrust was on the further development of artificial hair sensors (AHS) featuring a responsive carbon nanotube (CNT) array to serve as a piezoresistive element. This report outlines the fabrication and modeling of these systems, along with investigation of their potential for several applications of AFRL interest. Additionally, the task order included a preliminary investigation of polymer matrix composites under laser irradiation, which is reported under separate cover, as AFRL Interim Report AFRL-RX-WP-TR-2016-0071 dated 30 October 2015.
MAKING INTERACTIVE GUIDES MORE ATTRACTIVE

We investigate the different roads that should be taken to make 2D and 3D guides on webpages and in (augmented) virtual reality environments more attractive. Currently, most of the approaches have been done from a graphics point of view. Often research stops when we have to model how these graphically well-designed agents are going to do something useful and have to interact with the user or a visitor of an environment. What does the virtual guide know about the environment, what are its goals and how does it recognize and handle the characteristics and desires of the users/vistors it has to deal with? We survey the different approaches we take and mention some shortcomings and how they can be overcome. Topics that will be mentioned are multimodal and affective interaction, social relationships, the role of humor in interactions, web-based applications, and verbal and nonverbal communication modeling.
Membrane guanylyl cyclase complexes shape the photoresponses of retinal rods and cones

In vertebrate rods and cones, photon capture by rhodopsin leads to the destruction of cyclic GMP (cGMP) and the subsequent closure of cyclic nucleotide gated ion channels in the outer segment plasma membrane. Replenishment of cGMP and reopening of the channels limit the growth of the photon response and are requisite for its recovery. In different vertebrate retinas, there may be as many as four types of membrane guanylyl cyclases (GCs) for cGMP synthesis. Ten neuronal Ca2+ sensor proteins could potentially modulate their activities. The mouse is proving to be an effective model for characterizing the roles of individual components because its relative simplicity can be reduced further by genetic engineering. There are two types of GC activating proteins (GCAPs) and two types of GCs in mouse rods, whereas cones express one type of GCAP and one type of GC. Mutant mouse rods and cones bereft of both GCAPs have large, long lasting photon responses. Thus, GCAPs normally mediate negative feedback tied to the light-induced decline in intracellular Ca2+ that accelerates GC activity to curtail the growth and duration of the photon response. Rods from other mutant mice that express a single GCAP type reveal how the two GCAPs normally work together as a team. Because of its lower Ca2+ affinity, GCAP1 is the first responder that senses the initial decrease in Ca2+ following photon absorption and acts to limit response amplitude. GCAP2, with a higher Ca2+ affinity, is recruited later during the course of the photon response as Ca2+ levels continue to decline further. The main role of GCAP2 is to provide for a timely response recovery and it is particularly important after exposure to very bright light. The multiplicity of GC isozymes and GCAP homologs in the retinas of other vertebrates confers greater flexibility in shaping the photon responses in order to tune visual sensitivity, dynamic range and frequency response.
Rigid multimodality registration of medical images using point similarity measures

Rigid registration is usually performed as an optimization procedure that searches for an image transformation that gives best similarity between the registered images. Similarity is used as a measure of image correspondence. In this work we present an implementation of rigid multimodality registration based on point similarity measures, which were developed for non-rigid registration tasks. The system was evaluated by The retrospective registration evaluation project. The obtained results prove that point similarity measures are also suitable for various rigid registration tasks.
StackGuard: Automatic Adaptive Detection and Prevention of Buffer-Overflow Attacks

This paper presents a systematic solution to the persistent problem of buffer overflow attacks. Buffer overflow attacks gained notoriety in 1988 as part of the Morris Worm incident on the Internet. While it is fairly simple to fix individual buffer overflow vulnerabilities, buffer overflow attacks continue to this day. Hundreds of attacks have been discovered, and while most of the obvious vulnerabilities have now been patched, more sophisticated buffer overflow attacks continue to emerge. We describe StackGuard: a simple compiler technique that virtually eliminates buffer overflow vulnerabilities with only modest performance penalties. Privileged programs that are recompiled with the StackGuard compiler extension no longer yield control to the attacker, but rather enter a fail-safe state. These programs require no source code changes at all, and are binary-compatible with existing operating systems and libraries. We describe the compiler technique (a simple patch to gcc), as well as a set of variations on the technique that trade-off between penetration resistance and performance. We present experimental results of both the penetration resistance and the performance impact of this technique.
Severe retinopathy of prematurity predicts delayed white matter maturation and poorer neurodevelopment

Objective To determine whether severe retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is associated with (1) abnormal white matter maturation and (2) neurodevelopmental outcomes at 18 months’ corrected age (CA) compared with neonates without severe ROP. Design We conducted a prospective longitudinal cohort of extremely preterm neonates born 24–28 weeks’ gestational age recruited between 2006 and 2013 with brain MRIs obtained both early in life and at term-equivalent age. Severe ROP was defined as ROP treated with retinal laser photocoagulation. Using diffusion tensor imaging and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS), white matter maturation was assessed by mean fractional anisotropy (FA) in seven predefined regions of interest. Neurodevelopmental outcomes were assessed with Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development-III (Bayley-III) composite scores at 18 months’ CA. Subjects were compared using Fisher’s exact, Kruskal-Wallis and generalised estimating equations. Setting Families were recruited from the neonatal intensive care unit at BC Women’s Hospital. Patients Of 98 extremely preterm neonates (median: 26.0 weeks) assessed locally for ROP, 19 (19%) had severe ROP and 83 (85%) were assessed at 18 months’ CA. Results Severe ROP was associated with lower FA in the posterior white matter, and with decreased measures of brain maturation in the optic radiations, posterior limb of the internal capsule (PLIC) and external capsule on TBSS. Bayley-III cognitive and motor scores were lower in infants with severe ROP. Conclusions Severe ROP is associated with maturational delay in the optic radiations, PLIC, external capsule and posterior white matter, housing the primary visual and motor pathways, and is associated with poorer cognitive and motor outcomes at 18 months’ CA.
Validity and Reliability of the Brazilian Version of the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Dentistry – BREALD-30

Objective The aim of the present study was to translate, perform the cross-cultural adaptation of the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Dentistry to Brazilian-Portuguese language and test the reliability and validity of this version. Methods After translation and cross-cultural adaptation, interviews were conducted with 258 parents/caregivers of children in treatment at the pediatric dentistry clinics and health units in Curitiba, Brazil. To test the instrument's validity, the scores of Brazilian Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Dentistry (BREALD-30) were compared based on occupation, monthly household income, educational attainment, general literacy, use of dental services and three dental outcomes. Results The BREALD-30 demonstrated good internal reliability. Cronbach’s alpha ranged from 0.88 to 0.89 when words were deleted individually. The analysis of test-retest reliability revealed excellent reproducibility (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.983 and Kappa coefficient ranging from moderate to nearly perfect). In the bivariate analysis, BREALD-30 scores were significantly correlated with the level of general literacy (rs = 0.593) and income (rs = 0.327) and significantly associated with occupation, educational attainment, use of dental services, self-rated oral health and the respondent’s perception regarding his/her child's oral health. However, only the association between the BREALD-30 score and the respondent’s perception regarding his/her child's oral health remained significant in the multivariate analysis. Conclusion The BREALD-30 demonstrated satisfactory psychometric properties and is therefore applicable to adults in Brazil.