Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Body dissatisfaction and influence of media in women who undergo plastic surgery

1 Faculdade do Sudoeste Mineiro, Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil. 2 Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora Campus Governador Valadares, Governador Valadares, MG, Brazil. 3 Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil. 4 Instituto Mineiro de Estudos e Pesquisas em Nefrologia, Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil. Introduction: Brazil is the world leader in the number of plastic surgeries being performed. Body dissatisfaction and sociocultural influence are the main factors that lead persons to undergo these procedures. Thus, in this study, we aimed to compare the levels of body dissatisfaction and sociocultural influence among women who have already undergone some type of plastic surgery and those who have never undergone such procedures. Method: A total of 115 volunteers were divided into groups according to the number of surgeries. The Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ, for body dissatisfaction) and the Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ-3, for sociocultural influence) were used. A normality test was performed, and descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated. The KruskalWallis test was performed for the comparison between groups in terms of the analyzed variables. Results: Body dissatisfaction was observed in 25.71% of the unoperated group, in 17.78% of women who had undergone one plastic surgery, and in 20% of the group with more than one surgery. In SATAQ-3, no statistically significant difference was found in the subscale scores. Conclusion: The body dissatisfaction of women who had undergone plastic surgeries was not different from those who have not undergone such procedures. Moreover, the sociocultural influence was not different between the groups. The contribution of body satisfaction and the influence of media on the decision to undergo plastic surgery may be modulated by other factors. ■ ABSTRACT
Nitric Oxide and Modulatory Effects of the Root extracts of Phlogacanthus tubiflorus against Oxidative Stress induced by Hydrogen Peroxide

ABSTRACT Introduction: Nitric oxide (NO) mediated signaling is known to influences tumor progression and has been implicated as a novel therapeutic target cancer therapy. Methods: In the present study, we have reported the modulatory effects of the root extracts of Phlogacanthus tubiflorus on NO levels in the lymphocytes cultured in vitro and exposed to oxidative stress induced by H 2 O 2 . Results: Increase in the levels of NO was observed in the lymphocyte treated with increasing concentration of H 2 O 2 (0.1, 0.2, 0.5 and 1.0%), but the cell viability declined significantly. Treatment of Lymphocyte with root extract resulted in the decrease of NO level and increase in the Cell Viability. We also observed declined in NO levels and increase in cell viability in the lymphocyte pre-treated with the different concentrations of (50, 100, and 200 μg/ml) of root extracts and followed by the 1% H 2 O 2 treatment. Conclusion: The present data suggests that NO and cell viability are inter related and extract used is rich in phytochemicals with modulatory effect on both NO and cell viability and hence, might find relevance in chemoprevention of oxidative stress related diseased conditions.
The Significance of Attachment Representations for Quality of Life One Year Following Gastric Bypass Surgery: A Longitudinal Analysis

Background: Quality of life after bariatric surgery may, among other things, depend on patients’ attachment representations such as anxiety about rejection and abandonment (attachment anxiety) and avoidance of intimacy and interdependence (attachment avoidance). The aim of this study was to examine whether attachment representations, independent of body mass index (BMI), are associated with the level and course of physical functioning and mental well-being after gastric bypass surgery. Method: A total of 131 patients applying for a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass operation agreed to participate in this longitudinal study. Patients’ attachment representations (ECR-R) were measured before surgery, and quality of life dimensions (physical functioning and mental well-being, SF-36) were measured before surgery and 1, 3, 6, and 12 months following surgery. Linear mixed effect models were used in analyses. Results: Physical functioning (p < 0.001) improved, and mental well-being worsened (p = 0.002) in the postoperative interval. Both attachment anxiety (p = 0.005) and attachment avoidance (p < 0.001) were associated with a lower level of mental well-being, but not with the postoperative course of quality of life. Conclusions: Our study suggests that bariatric surgery leads to improvement in physical functioning but not mental well-being. Results highlight that patients with insecure attachment representations should be protected against unrealistic expectations regarding improvement of mental well-being after surgery.
Effect of Aloe vera on nitric oxide production by macrophages during inflammation

OBJECTIVE : To demonstrate the mechanism of action mediating the acute and chronic antiinflammatory activity of leafy exudate of Aloe vera (AVL) in animal models of inflammation. MATERIALS AND METHODS : The acute antiinflammatory activity of AVL was evaluated using carrageenan and dextran as phlogistic agents while its chronic antiinflammatory effect was investigated in a complete Freund's adjuvant-induced model of arthritis. The degree of inflammation in all models was measured plethysmographically. The effect of AVL on nitric oxide production in mouse peritoneal macrophages was measured by the Griess reagent. RESULTS : AVL (25 mg/kg) significantly reduced carrageenan and dextran-induced pedal edema in rats by 61.9% and 61.7%, respectively. In the Freund's adjuvant-induced model of chronic inflammation, AVL showed chronic antiinflammatory activity but failed to decrease the arthritic index indicating the absence of antiarthritic activity. AVL (10 µg/ml) caused a decrease in NO production in macrophages without causing toxicity. CONCLUSION : AVL possesses acute and chronic antiinflammatory activity, which is partly mediated by reduced production of NO, which in turn prevents the release of inflammatory mediators.
Serological and molecular detection of Toxoplasma gondii in dogs of urban and rural areas of Cuiaba, Mato Grosso Detecção sorológica e molecular de Toxoplasma gondii em cães de áreas urbanas e rurais de Cuiabá, Mato Grosso

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection using serological and molecular analyses in dogs from Cuiaba, a municipality of the Brazilian Cerrado, and the associated factors involved in the transmission cycle. A cross-sectional study was conducted with dogs from the rural and urban areas of Cuiaba (Mato Grosso) from February 2010 to January 2011, and antibodies and the DNA of Toxoplasma gondii were evaluated using indirect immunofluorescence (IFA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In the study, a total of 269 dogs were evaluated using IFA considering positive titer threshold of ≥ 16 and buffy coat PCR. Of the 269 dogs surveyed, 48.7% had anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies according to IFA, and 15.6% had the parasite’s DNA. The seroprevalence was 62.4% in the rural districts and 40.4% in the urban areas, and the difference between these areas was significant (p = 0.0007). The most common levels of antibody titers were 256 in 51 (39%) dogs, followed by 1024 in 37 (28.2%) dogs. The infectious agent was associated with breed, age, access to the street and the environment in which the animal lived (p <0.05). The serological and molecular results showed that T. gondii infection is active in the canine population in the rural and urban areas of Cuiaba, with a higher risk in dogs residing in rural areas.
Cost-driven framework for progressive compression of textured meshes

Recent advances in digitization of geometry and radiometry generate in routine massive amounts of surface meshes with texture or color attributes. This large amount of data can be compressed using a progressive approach which provides at decoding low complexity levels of details (LoDs) that are continuously refined until retrieving the original model. The goal of such a progressive mesh compression algorithm is to improve the overall quality of the transmission for the user, by optimizing the rate-distortion trade-off. In this paper, we introduce a novel meaningful measure for the cost of a progressive transmission of a textured mesh by observing that the rate-distortion curve is in fact a staircase, which enables an effective comparison and optimization of progressive transmissions in the first place. We contribute a novel generic framework which utilizes the cost function to encode triangle surface meshes via multiplexing several geometry reduction steps (mesh decimation via half-edge or full-edge collapse operators, xyz quantization reduction and uv quantization reduction). This framework can also deal with textures by multiplexing an additional texture reduction step. We also design a texture atlas that enables us to preserve texture seams during decimation while not impairing the quality of resulting LODs. For encoding the inverse mesh decimation steps we further contribute a significant improvement over the state-of-the-art in terms of rate-distortion performance and yields a compression-rate of 22:1, on average. Finally, we propose a unique single-rate alternative solution using a selection scheme of a subset among LODs, optimized for our cost function, and provided with our atlas that enables interleaved progressive texture refinements.
Volumetric Michell trusses for parametric design & fabrication

We present the first algorithm for designing volumetric Michell Trusses. Our method uses a parametrization-based approach to generate trusses made of structural elements aligned with the primary direction of an object's stress field. Such trusses exhibit high strength-to-weight ratio while also being parametrically editable which can be easily integrated with parametric editing tools such as Autodesk Fusion. We show a number of examples that demonstrate that the output of our algorithm produces truss structures that are aligned with an object's underlying stress tensor field, are structurally sound and that their global parametrization facilitates the creation of unique structures in a number of domains.
Economic impact of farmers-driven vertical integration: the case of safe vegetable chains in Northern Vietnam

The paper investigates the respective profitability of contractual arrangements, direct sales and spot marketing for "safe vegetable" farmers in Northern Vietnam. This is based on a survey of 137 peri-urban vegetable farmers, with a minimum of 30 farmers in each category. Selection biases are corrected using propensity score matching methods. The results show that direct sales have a positive significant impact on income relative to contractual arrangements and spot marketing when selection biases are corrected. Contractual arrangements have no significant impact on income compared with the other two categories after correction of selection bias. This may be due to the involvement of purchasers in the production process being still limited. The paper illustrates that direct relations between farmers and consumers, often described in the literature as efficient in the development of consumer confidence as regards quality, can indeed translate into higher incomes than anonymous exchange, or than contractual arrangements with retailing companies. Some limitations of the research and policy recommendations are given in the conclusion. (Resume d'auteur)
Simple-sum versus Divisia monetary aggregates for Malaysia: cointegration, error-correction model and exogeneity

In this study we attempt to investigate the long run relationship between money and income in Malaysia. We constructed Divisia monetary aggregates for Malaysia and compared its performance with the Simple-sum monetary aggregates for the period 1980:1 to 1994:4. The long run relationship between the monetary aggregates and income were evaluated using the Engle-Granger's two-step procedure (testing for cointegration) and the error-correction for weak exogeneity-and superexogeneity. Our result suggest that the use of monetary aggregates as policy indicators are not subject to the Lucas critique and that there is potential role for Divisia monetary aggregates as a useful guide for monetary policy purpose in Malaysia.
Skills, Education, and Canadian Provincial Disparity

We derive synthetic time series over the 1951-2001 period of the skills of labor market entrants for the 10 Canadian provinces from the 2003 ALL survey. The effect of the skills variable on regional income is significant and substantial. Skills acquired by one extra year of schooling result in an increase in per capita income of around 5 percent, which is close to microeconomic Mincerian estimates. Our literacy indicator does not outperform human capital indicators based on education. This contrasts sharply with recent cross-country evidence and suggests substantial measurement error in cross-country schooling data. Copyright Blackwell Publishing, Inc. 2007
The Effects of Anthropometric Parameters on the Breathing Sound Features while Screening Obstructive Sleep Apnea during Wakefulness

Anthropometric characteristics, such as gender, body mass index (BMI), age, etc. are considered as risk factors for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). These information are used for screening OSA during wakefulness, but they provide a poor specificity compared to our screening method using tracheal breathing sound analysis. Despite that, one of the main challenges of using breathing sounds analysis for classification of OSA during wakefulness is the effect of confounding variables. Breathing sounds are not only affected by OSA, but also by the anthropometric factors. In this work, we investigated which sound features show the least correlation to anthropometric factors. Tracheal breathing sounds of 114 individuals (66 subjects with apnea/hypopnea index (AHI)<15 and 48 with AHI>15) were recorded during wakefulness in supine position. Spectra and bi-spectra of the signals of the two AHI groups were analyzed to extract the most significant features. Our results suggest it is possible to find the best features with high sensitivity to AHI and least sensitivity to confounding variables.
Plant- and stand-level variation in biophysical and physiological traits along tree density gradients in the Cerrado

The objective of this study was to characterize and understand morphological and physiological variation in traits related to water economy, at the plant and stand level, along a gradient of tree density in a Neotropical savanna (Cerrado). Cerrado plots subjected to long-term fertilization and gallery forests were also included in the analysis to expand the axes of ecosystem variation. Consistent changes in stand level biophysical traits observed along the gradient of increasing tree density included a decrease in weighted-average wood density, and increases in leaf surface area per plant, leaf specific hydraulic conductivity, specific leaf area and stomatal conductance. A conceptual model of biophysical, morphological and physiological trait interactions was developed in an attempt to explain determinants of hydraulic architecture and variations in water economy of Cerrado trees. Consistent with the model minimum leaf water potentials were higher, during the dry season, in low wood density trees compared to high wood density trees, and higher leaf water potential was associated with higher stomatal conductance. On the other hand, variations in stand level physiological and morphological traits along the tree density gradient could not be explained by variations in single environmental factors. Some of the potential contributing factors are: higher concentration and availability of soil nutrients in the upper portion of the gradient where tree density is greatest and constrains to tree establishment and growth by waterlogging and presence of concretions in the soil profile where tree density is lowest.
Scrounger narratives and dependent drug users: welfare, workfare and warfare

Since 2008 political and media attention has focused on the allegedly problematic behaviour of drug users who ‘choose’ to pursue their ‘habit’ at the expense of the hardworking taxpayer. This forms part of the ‘new welfare commonsense’, which censures welfare dependency and stigmatises drug users as ‘undeserving’ claimants, entrenching the ‘war on drug user’ discourse. This article makes a significant contribution to recognising that stigma is a substantial barrier to recovery. It identifies ways of challenging the ‘scrounger’ narrative as applied to drug users through more informed media reporting and less coercive approaches to address drug and welfare dependency.
Random walks in asian foreign exchange markets:evidence from new multiple variance ratio tests

This paper revisits the random walk hypothesis for ten Pacific Basin foreign exchange markets. The results suggest that the null hypothesis of random walk is rejected based on the Lo-MacKinlay variance ratio tests, under conditions of both homoskedasticity and heteroskedasticity for the examined series. The use of a battery of new joint variance ratio tests provide further evidence against the random walk behavior than the conventional variance ratio tests. Therefore, we conclude that these Pacific Basin exchange markets violate the random walk hypothesis and are not in line with the weak-form efficient market hypothesis.
Three Facets of Maritime Archaeology: society, landscape and critique

This essay arose from the session 'Theoretical Advances in Maritime Archaeology' at TAG '93 in Durham, for which I was a discussant. The essay was submitted together with other papers from that session to the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, but its suitability for the readership of that journal was questioned. Written whilst I was at the University of Southampton, the essay in the form here was published on the Department of Archaeology’s research pages in March 1995 (http:/avebury.arch.soton.ac.uk/Research\Firth\). As those pages are no longer available the essay is republished here (April 2010) to maintain accessibility.
Simple sequence repeat-based assessment of genetic diversity in 'Dimrit' and 'Gemre' grapevine accessions from Turkey

It is widely believed that Turkey has played an important role in the evolution of modern day grapes due to its unique geographical location with close proximity to the regions of grape diversity. Despite this, the rich grape germplasm found in Turkey has not been sufficiently analyzed genetically. In this study, 31 grapevine accessions from 'Dimrit' (or 'Dilmit') and 'Gemre' grape groups were genetically analyzed at eight SSR (microsatellite) loci (VVS2, VVMD5, VVMD7, VVMD24, VVMD27, VVMD28, VrZAG62 and VrZAG79) and for a number of ampeolographic characteristics. These analyses identified sufficient genetic diversity between these two grape groups that, in general, clustered separately in the dendrogram constructed based on the SSR data. However, the ecogeographical distribution and genetic relationship of the genotypes did not show any significant correlation. Two 'Gemre' accessions were determined as genetically identical. In addition, one case of synonym and several cases of homonym genotypes were identified. The results reported here are important first steps towards better characterization of these grape genotypes and would aid future germplasm management and breeding efforts.
Confound it! That pesky little scale constant messes up our convenient assumptions

Since the early 1990s there has been much progress in understanding and taking into account preference heterogeneity in probabilistic discrete choice models (e.g., Wedel and Kamakura '1999;McFadden and Train 2000). The vast majority of models applied in marketing and applied economics try to represent heterogeneity as some type of discrete or continuous distribution of preferences. These relatively new types of statistical models have done well in comparisons against simpler model forms like conditional multinomiallogit in terms of inand out-of-sample ! fits,with fit performance often assessed against so-called "hold-out" sets. It is fair to say that these models are long on statistical theory, but short on behavioral theory; the latter aspect is the focus of this paper.
On the derivation of the Khokhlov-Zabolotskaya-Kuznetsov (KZK) equation and validation of the KZK-approximation for viscous and non-viscous thermo-elastic media

We consider the derivation of the Khokhlov-Zabolotskaya-Kuznetzov (KZK) equation from the nonlinear isentropic Navier-Stokes and Euler systems. The KZK equation is a mathematical model that describes the nonlinear propagation of a finite-amplitude sound pulse in a thermo-viscous medium. The derivation of the KZK equation has to date been based on the paraxial approximation of small perturbations around a given state of the Navier-Stokes system. However, this method does not guarantee that the solution of the initial Navier-Stokes system can be reconstructed from the solution of the KZK equation. We introduce a corrector function in the derivation ansatz that allows one to validate the KZK-approximation. We also give the analysis of other types of derivation. We prove the validation of the KZK-approximation for the non-viscous case, as well as for the viscous nonlinear and linear cases. The results are obtained in Sobolev spaces for functions periodic in one of the space variables and with a mean value of zero. The existence of a unique regular solution of the isentropic Navier-Stokes system in the half space with boundary conditions that are both periodic and mean value zero in time is also obtained.
To enhance Effectiveness of Crowdsource Software Testing by applying Personality Types

Crowdsource testing is an evolving trend in software testing, which incorporate benefits of crowd sourcing in software testing. Testers used to perform testing at various places and they are given the tasks involving different types of techniques through open call format. It means software is tested under multiple testers using different platforms, which makes it more reliable and error free. Appropriate task selection in a crowdsourced testing from a large number of tasks required different types of testing that is a complex job for the testers in crowd testing environment. In addition, platform has to involve in an arduous work to evaluate a lot of testing tasks submitted by testers involved in a crowd sourcing environment. Assigning task require testing technique that is improper for a crowdsourced tester does not only reduce the software product's quality, but also overload the platform which assign task to the testers. The core purpose of this paper is to make crowdsourced testing more efficient by finding what personality types are suitable for which type of testing techniques used in crowd sourcing environment. Moreover, this research has conducted a practical experiment to realize which personality type is more suitable for which type of testing in a crowd sourced environment. In total 92 students from Mehran university of engineering and technology has participated in this research. The Myers-Briggs type indicator was used to measure the personality types of students.