Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adoption of Telecenters in South Wollo Zone of Amhara Regional State in Ethiopia: Special Emphasis on Internet Services

Information Communication Technology (ICT) has become driving force in today’s society strengthening national economies and supporting democratic processes worldwide. ICT has been a significant area of research, but its nature changed considerably with the emergence of the Internet. The Internet service is provided through different means including telecenters. New technologies should be adopted and accepted by the society to benefit from their potential advantage. Many researchers, in the field of ICT, have studied and proposed models of technology acceptance. One of those models is the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) which was proposed by Venkatesh et al (2003) and used in this research to find out direct determinant factors of telecenters for Internet services. In this research it is tried to find out the core constructs of telecenters’ Internet services intention to use and use behavior. Literature review has been done with respect to models of technology acceptance, ICT, telecenters and technology adoption. Self-administered questionnaire was used to collect primary data from 200 users of telecenters for Internet services. All the 200 questionnaires were usable; and demographic and descriptive statistics and Partial Least Square (PLS) regression were used to analyze the data. The study has found that performance expectancy and effort expectancy have positive influence in behavioral intention and behavioral intention has positive influence in use behavior of telecenters’ Internet services.
Genome Sequence of the Emerging Plant Pathogen Dickeya solani Strain RNS 08.23.3.1A

ABSTRACT Here we present the genome sequence of Dickeya solani strain RNS 08.23. 3.1A (PRI3337), isolated from Solanum tuberosum. Dickeya solani, recently described on potato cultures in Europe, is a proposed new taxon closely related to the Dickeya dianthicola and Dickeya dadantii species.
EGFL 6 regulates hypoxia-induced angiogenic factors in retinal pigment epithelial cells

Epidermal growth factor like domain 6 (EGFL6), which is a member of the epidermal growth factor repeat superfamily of proteins, has been demonstrated to be important in angiogenesis. However, the expression and role of EGFL6 in the retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells remains to be elucidated. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of EGFL6 in cultured human RPE cells. ARPE-19 cells were pretreated by 200 μM CoCl2 for 24 h, then transfected with siRNA-EGFL6 or control siRNA. Cell proliferation was measured using the MTT assay. The expression protein levels of EGFL6, VEGF, pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF), stromal cell-derived factor (SDF)-1 and IL-1β were detected using western blotting. The expression of EGFL6 was significantly elevated under hypoxic conditions. EGFL6 knockdown inhibited hypoxia-induced RPE cell proliferation. In addition, knockdown of EGFL6 inhibited hypoxia-induced pro-angiogenic factor expression and the expression of inflammatory factors in RPE cells. These results suggested that the knockdown of EGFL6 suppressed pro-angiogenic factors induced by hypoxia in RPE cells. Therefore, EGFL6 may be a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration.
Ambivalence in rehabilitation: thematic analysis of the experiences of lower limb amputated veterans

Abstract Background: Knowledge about the organization and factors of importance to rehabilitation of veterans with lower limb amputation is sparse. The aim of this study was, therefore, to improve understanding of the influences of “military identity” on the organization of rehabilitation services and to investigate those factors influential in achieving successful rehabilitation, including interprofessional collaboration between different sectors involved in the rehabilitation of veterans with lower limb amputations. Methods: We used a qualitative exploratory design, triangulating interviews and participant observation. Data were generated using in-depth semi-structured interviews (n = 6) exploring in-hospital and post-hospital rehabilitation in Danish veterans after unilateral lower limb amputation due to trauma. We conducted four sessions of participant observation, during weekly post-hospitalization rehabilitation and included field notes in the dataset. Results: Two main themes emerged: “experiencing different identities” and “experiencing discontinuity in rehabilitation. ” The first theme illustrated how veterans actively shift between the identities of disabled person, wounded veteran and athlete according to the context. The second theme illustrated the frustration of negotiating military versus civilian mindsets during rehabilitation and lack of coordination between the public healthcare system, municipal services and the military. Conclusion: Veterans live with shifting identities after returning to civilian life, increasing their awareness of the transition from active service to a new life as a civilian. During rehabilitation, it is important to acknowledge the disparities between the military and civilian mindsets and to integrate the different sets of values, such as structure versus autonomy. IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION Recommendations for the improvement of rehabilitation of amputated veterans include: Rehabilitation professionals working with veterans should focus on abilities instead of disabilities, in order to support their active identity. Rehabilitation professionals working with veterans should understand and integrate military key components, such as autonomy, structure, clear expectations, goal setting and ongoing testing and adjustment of goals. Rehabilitation professionals working with veterans should facilitate collaboration between civilian and military rehabilitation services, in order to secure both physical and psychosocial reintegration.
Determinants of e-government extension

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on research that models factors that favour the extension of e‐government. Hypotheses were proposed regarding the role of municipal resources, politicians and environment as elements that stimulate e‐government. It aims to argue that larger municipalities have more resources available to implement technological initiatives, that politicians receptive to the use of technology to communicate with citizens encourage e‐government, and that the local environment, as measured by citizens' wealth and business activity, is influential.Design/methodology/approach – The proposed model was tested using data from 92 Spanish city councils. A structural equation model, estimated using partial least squares, was employed as an analysis technique.Findings – The data supported the model, emphasising that municipal resources are the most important factor.Research limitations/implications – The researchers analysed only one year of data from one country.Practical implications.
ADRC based clutch slip control for automatic transmission

In this paper, an active disturbance rejection controller (ADRC) is proposed for the gear shift operation of automatic transmissions. With this approach, model uncertainties including steady state errors, unmodelled dynamics and disturbances which are known or unknown are treated as a total disturbance. The total disturbance can be estimated using the extended state observer (ESO), and a nonlinear state error feedback controller is designed to make the clutch speed difference tracking the desired reference. Finally, the designed controller is tested on an AMESim power-train simulation model. Simulation results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.
Combined improved Frequency-Tuned with GMM algorithm for moving target detection

A new moving target detection algorithm is proposed by the integration of improved Frequency-Tuned and GMM (Gaussian Mixture Model) algorithm. This algorithm aims at the problem of random noise in detecting dynamic significant information by Frequency-Tuned(FT) algorithm and the problem of large computation in detecting the moving target by GMM algorithm. Firstly, FT algorithm was improved from two aspects: distance metric and feature fusion. Then the dynamic saliency map was detected by the improved FT algorithm. Finally, the detected saliency map could be further detected by Gaussian Mixture Model to get the final conclusions. The experimental results prove that the proposed method can avoid the random noise and highlight the significance of the moving target, improve the detection rate with good robustness.
Adipokines and the risk of fracture in older adults

Adiponectin and leptin are adipokines that influence bone metabolism in vitro and in animal models. However, less is known about the longitudinal association of leptin and adiponectin with fracture. We tested the hypothesis that low leptin and high adiponectin levels are each individually associated with fracture risk in a prospective cohort study in Memphis and Pittsburgh among 3075 women and men aged 70 to 79 years from the Health Aging and Body Composition (Health ABC) study. There were 406 incident fractures (334 nonvertebral and 72 vertebral) over a mean of 6.5 ± 1.9 years. Cox regression was used to estimate the hazard ratios for fracture. Sex modified the association between adiponectin and fracture (p = .025 for interaction). Men with the highest adiponectin level (tertile 3) had a 94% higher risk of fracture [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.94; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.20–3.16] compared with the lowest tertile (tertile 1; p = .007 for trend) after adjusting age, race, body mass index (BMI), education, diabetes, weight change, and hip bone mineral density (BMD). Among women, after adjusting for age and race, this association was no longer significant (p = .369 for trend). Leptin did not predict fracture risk in women (p = .544 for trend) or men (p = .118 for trend) in the multivariate models. Our results suggest that adiponectin, but not leptin, may be a novel risk factor for increased fracture risk independent of body composition and BMD and that these relationships may be influenced by sex. More research is needed to understand the physiologic basis underlying these sex differences. © 2011 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
Robust Motion Control of a Linear Motor Positioner Using Fast Nonsingular Terminal Sliding Mode

A robust motion control system is essential for the linear motor (LM)-based direct drive to provide high speed and high-precision performance. This paper studies a systematic control design method using fast nonsingular terminal sliding mode (FNTSM) for an LM positioner. Compared with the conventional nonsingular terminal sliding mode control, the FNTSM control can guarantee a faster convergence rate of the tracking error in the presence of system uncertainties including payload variations, friction, external disturbances, and measurement noises. Moreover, its control input is inherently continuous, which accordingly avoids the undesired control chattering problem. We further discuss the selection criteria of the controller parameters for the LM to deal with the system dynamic constraints and performance tradeoffs. Finally, we present a robust model-free velocity estimator based on the only available position measurements with quantization noises such that the estimated velocity can be used for feedback signal to the FNTSM controller. Experimental results demonstrate the practical implementation of the FNTSM controller and verify its robustness of more accurate tracking and faster disturbance rejection compared with a conventional NTSM controller and a linear H∞ controller.
A GRASP Heuristic in the Choice of Clusterheads for Wireless Sensor Networks Provided as a Service

In Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), the efficient use of sensor energy is a crucial point to extend the network lifetime and has been the focus of many industrial and academic researchers, since it is not a trivial task. Several methodologies for clustering, routing and energy saving in WSNs are available in the literature. However, the lack of detailed and crucial information from the analyzed studies made it possible to propose and develop a new approach. In this way, in this paper we propose and develop a new strategy to choose clusterheads in WSNs, based on the GRASP metaheuristic, in order to increase the energy autonomy and, consequently, the system lifetime. Based on experiments and comparative analyzes, it was verified that the application of our algorithm in the process of choices of clusterheads allowed to obtain a longer life and a lower energy consumption when compared to other algorithms such as LEACH and LEACH-C.
Nicotine dependence mediates the relations between insomnia and both panic and posttraumatic stress disorder in the NCS‐R sample

Although a growing literature has demonstrated elevations in insomnia symptoms among persons with either panic disorder (PD) or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) relative to people without psychopathology, comparably little is known about processes underlying these associations. In recognition of this important gap in the literature, this study tested nicotine dependence as a partial mediator of the relations between insomnia symptoms and both PD and PTSD among a nationally representative sample of 5,692 (3,311 females; Mage=43.33, SD=16.55) adults from the National Comorbidity Survey‐Replication. Consistent with hypotheses, nicotine dependence partially mediated the relations between insomnia and both PD and PTSD after controlling for variance accounted for by diagnoses of major depressive episodes, drug and alcohol dependence, and gender. Overall, results suggest nicotine dependence may be a possible mechanism that underlies insomnia among those with PD and PTSD. Depression and Anxiety 0:1–10, 2007. Published 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
VIA THE EXPLICIT CHINESE REMAINDER THEOREM

Fix pairwise coprime positive integers p1, p2, . , ps. We propose representing integers u modulo m, where m is any positive integer up to roughly √ p1p2 · · · ps, as vectors (u mod p1, u mod p2, . . . , u mod ps). We use this representation to obtain a new result on the parallel complexity of modular exponentiation: there is an algorithm for the Common CRCW PRAM that, given positive integers x, e, and m in binary, of total bit length n, computes xe mod m in time O(n/lg lg n) using nO(1) processors. For comparison, a parallelization of the standard binary algorithm takes superlinear time; Adleman and Kompella gave an O((lg n)3) expected time algorithm using exp(O( √ n lg n)) processors; von zur Gathen gave an NC algorithm for the highly special case that m is polynomially smooth.
Assessing the clinical outcome of nab‐paclitaxel in Chinese patients with advanced non‐small‐cell lung cancer

Nab‐paclitaxel [nab‐P, 130‐nm albumin‐bound paclitaxel particles] is a new solvent‐free paclitaxel that allows for high intratumoral concentration and has been approved for use in various solid tumours. The aim of our study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of nab‐paclitaxel in the treatment of advanced non‐small‐cell lung cancer [NSCLC].
High Order Tensor Formulation for Convolutional Sparse Coding

Convolutional sparse coding (CSC) has gained attention for its successful role as a reconstruction and a classification tool in the computer vision and machine learning community. Current CSC methods can only reconstruct singlefeature 2D images independently. However, learning multidimensional dictionaries and sparse codes for the reconstruction of multi-dimensional data is very important, as it examines correlations among all the data jointly. This provides more capacity for the learned dictionaries to better reconstruct data. In this paper, we propose a generic and novel formulation for the CSC problem that can handle an arbitrary order tensor of data. Backed with experimental results, our proposed formulation can not only tackle applications that are not possible with standard CSC solvers, including colored video reconstruction (5D- tensors), but it also performs favorably in reconstruction with much fewer parameters as compared to naive extensions of standard CSC to multiple features/channels.
Constraints for improving the generation of intentional answers in a deductive database

It is shown how intentional answers can be generated as logical consequences of the query and of deduction rules and how integrity constraints can filter out inadequate answers and produce simpler and more informative answers. An efficient organization for the combination of answers and constraints is presented. The authors focus on the design of mechanisms for controlling the generation of intentional answers using integrity constraints. The assertions specified by constraints bear not only on the database but also on queries and intentional answers, since the latter specify sets of values from the database. <<ETX>>
Chibby 1: a new component of β-catenin-signaling in chronic myeloid leukemia

Chibby 1 (CBY1) is a small and evolutionarily conserved protein, which act as β-catenin antagonist. CBY1 is encoded by C22orf2 (22q13.1) Its antagonistic function on β-catenin involves the direct interaction with: The C-terminal activation domain of β-catenin, which hinders β-catenin binding with Tcf/Lef transcription factors hence repressing β-catenin transcriptional activation. 14-3-3 scaffolding proteins (σ or ξ), which drive CBY1 nuclear export into a stable tripartite complex with β-catenin. The relative proximity of C22orf2 gene encoding for CBY1 to the BCR breakpoint on chromosome 22q11, whose translocation and rearrangement with the c-ABL is the causative event of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), suggested that gene haploinsufficiency may play a role in the disease pathogenesis and progression. We found CBY1 down-modulation associated with the BCR-ABL1, promoted by transcriptional mechanisms (promoter hyper-methylation) and post-transcriptional events, addressing the protein towards proteasome-dependent degradation through SUMOylation. CBY1 reduced expression in clonal progenitors and, more importantly, in leukemic stem cells (LSC), is contingent upon the tyrosine kinase (TK) activity of BCR-ABL1 fusion protein. Accordingly, its induction by Imatinib (IM) and second generation TK inhibitors contributes to β-catenin inactivation through multiple events encompassing the activation of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-associated unfolded protein response (UPR) and autophagy, eventually leading to apoptotic death. These findings support the advantage of combined regimens including drugs targeting DNA epigenetics and/or proteasome to eradicate the BCR-ABL1+ hematopoiesis.
The Neurospora circadian clock regulates a transcription factor that controls rhythmic expression of the output eas(ccg‐2) gene

The circadian clock provides a link between an organism's environment and its behaviour, temporally phasing the expression of genes in anticipation of daily environmental changes. Input pathways sense environmental information and interact with the clock to synchronize it to external cycles, and output pathways read out from the clock to impart temporal control on downstream targets. Very little is known about the regulation of outputs from the clock. In Neurospora crassa, the circadian clock transcriptionally regulates expression of the clock‐controlled genes, including the well‐characterized eas(ccg‐2) gene. Dissection of the eas(ccg‐2) gene promoter previously localized a 68 bp sequence containing an activating clock element (ACE) that is both necessary and sufficient for rhythmic activation of transcription by the circadian clock. Using electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSAs), we have identified light‐regulated nuclear protein factors that bind specifically to the ACE in a time‐of‐day‐dependent fashion, consistent with their role in circadian regulation of expression of eas(ccg‐2). Nucleotides in the ACE that interact with the protein factors were determined using interference binding assays, and deletion of the core interacting sequences affected, but did not completely eliminate, rhythmic accumulation of eas(ccg‐2) mRNA in vivo, whereas deletion of the entire ACE abolished the rhythm. These data indicate that redundant binding sites for the protein factors that promote eas(ccg‐2) rhythms exist within the 68 bp ACE. The ACE binding complexes formed using protein extracts from cells with lesions in central components of the Neurospora circadian clock were identical to those formed with extracts from wild‐type cells, indicating that other proteins directly control eas(ccg‐2) rhythmic expression. These data suggest that the Neurospora crassa circadian clock regulates an unknown transcription factor, which in turn activates the expression of eas(ccg‐2) at specific times of the day.
Associations with worry about dying and hopelessness in ambulatory ovarian cancer patients

Abstract Objective: Women with ovarian cancer face a poor prognosis, with prolonged periods of treatment but relatively high levels of physical functioning. Their thoughts and feelings regarding the prospect of dying are complex and have not been adequately studied. Various demographic, medical and psychosocial factors were examined to determine their independent associations with fear of dying and hopelessness in a cross-sectional design. Method: Two hundred fifty-four ovarian cancer patients were assessed at the beginning of a new chemotherapy regimen. Separate logistic regressions were performed for worry about dying and loss of hope. For each analysis, psychosocial variables were entered after the demographic and medical variables to determine whether the psychosocial variables had an independent association with the respective outcome. Results: Fifty-five percent of the sample acknowledged fear of dying, and 31.6% acknowledged loss of hope in the fight against their illness. Being younger (p = .001), being of non-Hispanic White ethnicity (p = .026), and having poorer physical well-being (p = .000) were significantly associated with worry about dying after controlling for all other variables in the model. Regarding loss of hope, depressive symptoms (p = .002), lack of social support/well-being (p = .001), and number of treatments (p = .04) were significant. Significance of results: This is one of the largest studies to examine end-of-life concerns in a sample of advanced cancer patients. Our results underscore the importance of demographic and psychosocial variables in the examination of ovarian cancer patients' end-of-life concerns. Their fears and concerns should be openly acknowledged, even when the clinical focus is still on curative treatment.