Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improving the use of interorganisational ICT in a project-based environment

The objective of this study is to provide insights in current barriers to the intended use of interorganisational ICT in a project-based environment and to formulate strategies for change to eliminate these barriers. Habermas' critical social theory, in particular his concepts of system and lifeworld, is used for a critical analysis. From this perspective, the use of ICT – document and workflow management systems – is studied in four construction projects. The study shows that financial and interests' constraints, time constraints, knowledge constraints, and authority constraints impede actors in using ICT in the intended way. Most of the barriers to the intended use of interorganisational ICT can be traced back to the pre-usage phase. Based on the critical perspective, we formulate suggestions for change to eliminate these barriers.
Inflammasome polymorphisms in juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus

Abstract Inflammasome is the cytoplasmic complex responsible for pro-IL1 β cleavage and secretion of IL-1β. Recently our group reported the first association between polymorphisms in the inflammasome receptor NLRP1 and adult-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) “di per se” and especially in SLE-associated renal disease, suggesting the involvement of NLRP1-inflammasome in the immune dysregulation characteristic of SLE patients. Considering that juvenile-onset SLE (JSLE) is more severe than adult SLE, and that the genetic background plays a major role in the early development of autoimmune diseases, we analysed selected polymorphisms in inflammasome genes (NLRP1, NLRP3, CARD8, IL1B, TNFAIP3) of children and adolescents with JSLE (n = 90) and in healthy controls (n = 144). A single polymorphism in IL1B, and not NLRP1, gene resulted in association with JSLE, suggesting that IL-1 β is involved in the pathogenesis of SLE, but different genes could play specific role in adult- or early-onset disease.
Current status of antiangiogenic therapies for glioblastomas

Introduction: Glioblastoma (GBM), the most common primary malignant brain tumor in adults, lacks effective long-term treatment. The tumor is dependent on neovascularization for survival, making angiogenesis an attractive target for therapeutic intervention. The exact mechanism underlying the effects of antiangiogenic agents on GBM remains debatable, although it likely involves vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and other proangiogenic growth factors. Early studies in the recurrent GBM setting were promising and prompted two multinational randomized phase three trials (AVAglio and RTOG 0825) investigating the effect of bevacizumab, an anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody, in newly diagnosed GBM. Areas covered: In this article, the authors discuss the basic mechanisms of angiogenesis and antiangiogenic resistance. The authors additionally summarize the current state of clinical research and how it will impact both future research and the development antiangiogenic therapies. Expert opinion: The ultimate utility of antiangiogenic therapy in the management of GBM remains unclear. In an effort to improve outcomes, there remains an urgent need to better understand the biology underlying angiogenesis and tumor survival, as well as mechanisms of antiangiogeneic resistance. Ultimately, combinatorial approaches using antiangiogenic agents, targeted molecular therapy, immunotherapy or cytotoxics may be needed to improve treatment outcomes.
Effects of Color Perception and Enacted Avoidance Behavior on Intellectual Task Performance in an Achievement Context

Previous research has established performance impairment in intellectual tasks as a consequence of brief exposure to the color red. Furthermore, previous research has established a mediational process in which avoidance-grounded processes mediate the effect of color perception on intellectual performance. A separate line of research has shown that enacting (i.e., physically engaging in) avoidance behavior elicits avoidance processes in a similar fashion as color. The present research focused on further documenting the relationship between color perception, intellectual performance, and avoidance motivation. Participants were exposed to a color (i.e., red, green, or gray) manipulation and subsequently engaged in an anagram task. Anagrams are often used as a measure of intellectual performance. Anagram tasks require a participant to find a correct solution word from a scrambled set of letters. Additionally, a variable of enacted avoidance behavior (EAB) was included to further assess the color’s role as an avoidance cue. Results indicated that both red and EAB influenced anagram performance relative to other colors. However, potential artifacts were discovered in the anagram task. The discussion concludes with suggestions for anagram testing and ways to pursue similar studies in the future.
Implementing Data Cubes E ciently

Decision support applications involve complex queries on very large databases. Since response times should be small, query optimization is critical. Users typically view the data as multidimensional data cubes. Each cell of the data cube is a view consisting of an aggregation of interest, like total sales. The values of many of these cells are dependent on the values of other cells in the data cube. A common and powerful query optimization technique is to materialize some or all of these cells rather than compute them from raw data each time. Commercial systems di er mainly in their approach to materializing the data cube. In this paper, we investigate the issue of which cells (views) to materialize when it is too expensive to materialize all views. A lattice framework is used to express dependencies among views. We then present greedy algorithms that work o this lattice and determine a good set of views to materialize. The greedy algorithm performs within a small constant factor of optimal under a variety of models. We then consider the most common case of the hypercube lattice and examine the choice of materialized views for hypercubes in detail, giving some good tradeo s between the space used and the average time to answer a query.
Coercive Capability in Conflict: A Test of Bilateral Deterrence Versus Conflict Spiral Theory

This research investigates how the magnitude of coercive power capability affects the use of punitive tactics in an explicit bargaining context. Two theories offer contradictory predictions for equal and unequal power situations. Bilateral deterrence theory predicts that when actors have equal power, higher levels of coercive capability will reduce the frequency of punitive tactics; conflict spiral theory predicts that higher levels of coercive capability will increase the frequency of punitive tactics. Comparing equal with unequal power relationships, bilateral deterrence predicts further that actors will use more punitive tactics under conditions of unequal power, while conflict spiral predicts that they will use fewer punitive tactics under such conditions. These predictions were tested in a two-party bargaining setting which manipulated the magnitude of coercive power available to actors and which allowed them to exchange offers and administer threats and punishments to one another. The results of two experiments support bilateral deterrence theory and generally contradict conflict spiral theory.
Hardwired for News: Affective Intelligence and Political Attention

Research on citizens’ inattentiveness to political news has built a theoretical base for understanding political judgment in the American electorate. The research, however, has a strong cognitive orientation with surprisingly little attention to the dynamic interaction between emotional and attentional factors. To broaden our understanding of these potential emotional influences, we assessed levels of enthusiasm, anger/aversion, and anxiety in response to brief summaries of 50 news stories of diverse character and provenance selected to be representative of quotidian news. The analysis reveals dramatic variation across news stories and across subjects responding to the same story on all 3 emotional dimensions. We also examine an unexpected inverse correlation between education and level of emotional response to news.
Text and Non-text Segmentation and Classification from Document Images

Text and non-text segmentation and classification is very important in document layout analysis system before it is presented to an OCR system. Heuristic rules have been used in segmenting and classifying the text and non-text blocks. This research focuses on the classification of non-text block in technical documents into table, graph, and figure. A comparative study is conducted between backpropagation neural network and support vector machine and the result shows that support vector machine classifies better than back propagation neural network.
Object-Relational DBMS for Packet-Level Traffic Analysis: Case Study on Performance Optimization

Analyzing Internet traffic at packet level involves generally large amounts of raw data, derived data, and results from various analysis tasks. In addition, the analysis often proceeds in an iterative manner and is done using ad-hoc methods and many specialized software tools. These facts together lead to severe management problems that we propose to address using a DBMS-based approach, called In TraBase. The challenge that we address in this paper is to have such a database system (DBS) that allows to perform analysis efficiently. Off-the-shelf DBMSs are often considered too heavy and slow for such usage because of their complex transaction management properties that are crucial for the usage that they were originally designed for. We describe in this paper the design choices for a generic DBS for packet-level traffic analysis that enable good performance and describe how we implement them in the case of the InTraBase. Furthermore, we demonstrate their importance through performance measurements on the InTraBase. These results provide valuable insights for researchers who intend to utilize a DBMS for packet-level traffic analysis.
Social Norms, Attitudes and Perceptions of Alcohol and Drinking and Their Relationship with Risky Behavior Among Young Adults: A Comparative Study in Neiva, Colombia and Pittsburgh, USA

Background: Drinking patterns, including behavioral beliefs among young adults may vary from one country to another or be heavily influenced by cultural/regional factors. In order to identify opportunities for targeted interventions to reduce alcohol-related injuries and illnesses, improved understanding of drinking patterns, beliefs and perceptions of the target population are necessary. Methods: Survey questionnaires among young adult patients at two academic, tertiary-care emergency departments (ED) were conducted to determine the similarities and differences in patient characteristics, drinking patterns and behavioral beliefs associated with drinking. Two independent samples, one consisting of Colombian (n=132) and the other of American (n=91) young adult patients, were recruited. Participants’ drinking status was determined using the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test-Consumption (AUDIT C). Patient demographics and behavioral beliefs about drinking behaviors were obtained through guided self-administered survey questionnaires. Specifically, beliefs about how many drinks it would take to get drunk, intention to drink, feelings about drinking, including perceived drinking norms, control and situational confidence were examined. Results: Comparison analysis indicates that within the studied sample, young adults from Pittsburgh on average drink more frequently per month (7.47 vs. 3.96 days, p-value < 0.001). However, young adults from Neiva are more likely on average to consume a greater volume of alcohol per drinking session (13.3 vs. 5.59 drinks, p-value < 0.001). Further, results indicate that social norms, attitudes and perceptions differ among the samples and may be indicative of drinking behavior. For instance, high-risk drinkers from the Neiva sample reported having positive attitudes and desires towards drinking. They were also more likely to believe that drinking among young adults was the social norm (55.45% vs. 35.5%, p-value = 0.04). These findings are in line with the Theory of Planned Behavior. Conclusions and public health relevance: This study identified important differences in drinking behavior as well as beliefs and attitudes that may contribute to drinking and alcohol abuse among young adults within two very different cultural settings. These findings have potential to inform the development of targeted intervention programs to reduce injury and illness related to alcohol abuse among young adults presenting at ED in similar settings.
Agents collaboration‐based service provisioning strategy for large enterprise business in hybrid cloud

The paper proposes agent collaboration‐based service provisioning strategy for large enterprise business in hybrid cloud environment. The proposed service provisioning model is constructed by the agents, which include hybrid cloud user agent, hybrid cloud service agent and hybrid cloud provider agent. Hybrid cloud user agents adjust needed service according to the prices of hybrid cloud services. Hybrid cloud service agents compete actively for the requests from hybrid cloud user agents and execute them for gaining profits. Hybrid cloud service agents dynamically change cloud services' prices and send updated prices to all hybrid cloud user agents. Hybrid cloud services' prices are adjusted to accommodate the service demands from hybrid cloud user agents. Hybrid cloud provider agent tries to maximise its profit based on its resource capability and energy consumption. The paper also presents an agent collaboration‐based service provisioning algorithm. The simulations are designed to compare the performance of the proposed algorithm with the other related works. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Packet-length adaptive CLSP/DS-CDMA: performance in burst-error correlated fading channels

The authors analyze throughput-delay performance of an unslotted channel load sensing protocol (CLSP)/direct sequence (DS)-code division multiple access (CDMA) packet radio network (PRN) with adaptive packet length over burst-error correlated fading channels. CLSP controls the packet access in uplink of unslotted ALOHA/DS-CDMA systems so that contention is avoided and throughput is maximized. However, due to high uncertainty of radio channels, the performance of CLSP/DS-CDMA PRN may suffer from notable degradations. Using theoretical analysis and simulation, the authors show that in highly correlated fading environments adapting the length of radio packets to fading conditions significantly improves system performance and energy efficiency of mobile terminals. In their modeling, they study the relation between the fade statistics and the packet length in correlated Rayleigh fading channels. The effects of reception diversity, imperfect transmit power control (TPC), and user mobility are considered. The results are used to develop simple, energy-efficient, and robust adaptation mechanisms.
Max-min d-cluster formation in wireless ad hoc networks

An ad hoc network may be logically represented as a set of clusters. The clusterheads form a d-hop dominating set. Each node is at most d hops from a clusterhead. Clusterheads form a virtual backbone and may be used to route packets for nodes in their cluster. Previous heuristics restricted themselves to 1-hop clusters. We show that the minimum d-hop dominating set problem is NP-complete. Then we present a heuristic to form d-clusters in a wireless ad hoc network. Nodes are assumed to have a non-deterministic mobility pattern. Clusters are formed by diffusing node identities along the wireless links. When the heuristic terminates, a node either becomes a clusterhead, or is at most d wireless hops away from its clusterhead. The value of d is a parameter of the heuristic. The heuristic can be run either at regular intervals, or whenever the network configuration changes. One of the features of the heuristic is that it tends to re-elect existing clusterheads even when the network configuration changes. This helps to reduce the communication overheads during transition from old clusterheads to new clusterheads. Also, there is a tendency to evenly distribute the mobile nodes among the clusterheads, and evently distribute the responsibility of acting as clusterheads among all nodes. Thus, the heuristic is fair and stable. Simulation experiments demonstrate that the proposed heuristic is better than the two earlier heuristics, namely the LCA and degree-based solutions.
The Single Intranigral Injection of LPS as a New Model for Studying the Selective Effects of Inflammatory Reactions on Dopaminergic System

We have injected lipopolysaccharide (LPS) into the nigrostriatal pathway of rats in order to address the role of inflammation in Parkinson's disease (PD). LPS induced a strong macrophage/microglial reaction in Substantia nigra (SN), with a characteristic clustering of macrophage cells around blood-vessels. The SN was far more sensitive than the striatum to the inflammatory stimulus. Moreover, only the dopaminergic neurons of the SN were affected, with no detectable damage to either the GABAergic or the serotoninergic neurons. The damage to the DA neurons in the SN was permanent, as observed 1 year postinjection. Unlike the direct death of dopaminergic neurons caused by agents as MPP(+) or 6-OHDA, LPS seems to cause indirect death due to inflammatory reaction. Therefore, we suggest that the injection of a single dose of LPS within the SN is an interesting model for studying the selective effects of inflammatory reaction on dopaminergic system and also potentially useful for studying PD.
Incident Coronary Heart Disease After Preeclampsia: Role of Reduced Fetal Growth, Preterm Delivery, and Parity

Background Preeclampsia is a severe pregnancy disorder often complicated by reduced fetal growth or preterm delivery and is associated with long‐term maternal morbidity and mortality. We aimed to assess the association between preeclampsia phenotypes and risk of subsequent coronary heart disease and maternal cardiovascular mortality. Methods and Results Women aged 16 to 49 years who gave birth during 1980–2002 and registered in the Medical Birth Registry of Norway were followed prospectively (1–29 years) for an incident major coronary event and mortality through linkage with the Cardiovascular Disease in Norway 1994–2009 (CVDNOR) project and the Norwegian Cause of Death Registry. Preeclampsia was subdivided based on the presence of a child born small for gestational age or preterm delivery. Among 506 350 women with 1 to 5 singleton births, there were 1275 (0.3%) occurrences of major coronary event, 468 (0.1%) cardiovascular deaths, and 5411 (1.1%) deaths overall. Compared with women without preeclampsia, the hazard ratio (95% CI) for major coronary event was 2.1 (1.73–2.65) after preeclampsia alone, 3.3 (2.37–4.57) after preeclampsia in combination with small for gestational age, and 5.4 (3.74–7.74) after preeclampsia in combination with preterm delivery. Analyses distinguishing women with 1 (n=61 352) or >1 (n=281 069) lifetime pregnancy and analyses with cardiovascular mortality as outcome followed the same pattern. Conclusions The occurrence of major coronary events was increased among women with preeclampsia and highest for preeclampsia combined with a child born small for gestational age and/or preterm delivery.
Mechano‐ and chemosensitivity of rat nodose neurones – selective excitatory effects of prostacyclin

Nodose ganglion sensory neurones exert a significant reflex autonomic influence. We contrasted their mechanosensitivity, excitability and chemosensitivity in response to the stable prostacyclin (PGI2) analogue carbacyclin (cPGI) in culture. Under current clamp conditions we measured changes in membrane potential (ΔmV) and action potential (AP) responses to mechanically induced depolarizations and depolarizing current injections before and after superfusion of cPGI (1 μm and 10 μm). Chemosensitivity was indicated by augmentation of AP firing frequency and increased maximum gain of AP frequency (max. dAP/dΔmV), during superfusion with cPGI. Results indicate that two groups of neurones, A and B, are mechanosensitive (MS) and one group, C, is mechanoinsensitive (MI). Group A shows modest depolarization without AP generation during mechanical stimulation, and no increase in max. dAP/dΔmV, despite a marked increase in electrical depolarization with cPGI. Group B shows pronounced mechanical depolarization accompanied by enhanced AP discharge with cPGI, and an increase in max. dAP/dΔmV. Group C remains MI after cPGI but is more excitable and markedly chemosensitive (CS) with a pronounced enhancement of max. dAP/dΔmV with cPGI. The effect of cPGI on ionic conductances indicates that it does not sensitize the mechanically gated depolarizing degenerin/epithelial Na+ channels (DEG/ENaC), but it inhibits two voltage‐gated K+ currents, Maxi‐K and M‐current, causing enhanced AP firing frequency and depolarization, respectively. We conclude that MS nodose neurones may be unimodal MS or bimodal MS/CS, and that MI neurones are unimodal CS, and much more CS to cPGI than MS/CS neurones. We suggest that the known excitatory effect of PGI2 on baroreceptor and vagal afferent fibres is mediated by inhibition of voltage‐gated K+ channels (Maxi‐K and M‐current) and not by an effect on mechanically gated DEG/ENaC channels.
Contribution of FGFR1 Variants to Craniofacial Variations in East Asians

FGFR1 plays an important role in the development of the nervous system as well as the regulation of the skeletal development and bone homeostasis. Mutations in FGFR1 genes affect skull development, specifically suture and synchondrosis, resulting in craniosynostosis and facial abnormalities. We examined subjects with normal skull morphology for genetic polymorphisms that might be associated with normal craniofacial variations. Genomic DNA was obtained from 216 Japanese and 227 Korean subjects. Four FGFR1 SNPs, namely, rs881301, rs6996321, rs4647905, and rs13317, were genotyped. These SNPs were tested for association with craniofacial measurements obtained from lateral and posteroanterior cephalometries, in which principle component analysis was performed to compress the data of the craniofacial measurements. We observed that SNPs rs13317 and rs6996321 were correlated with the overall head size and midfacial development, indicating that FGFR1 SNPs played crucial roles in the normal variation of human craniofacial morphology. Subjects with the derived alleles of SNPs rs13317 and rs6996321 had a small face and a facial pattern associated with a retruded midface and relatively wide-set eyes. These facial features were similar to but were milder than those of individuals with Pfeiffer syndrome, which is caused by a dysfunctional mutation in FGFR1.