Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Markers of Endothelial Activation and Impaired Autonomic Function in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndromes – Potential Prognostic and Therapeutic Implication

Atherosclerosis is increasingly considered as a low grade inflammatory response of the arterial wall to a variety of stimuli [FusterL Libby, 2001]. It is accepted that the adhesion of circulating leukocytes and monocytes to endothelial cells (EC) and subsequent transendothelial migration are an important step in the initiation and the development of atherosclerotic lesions [HillisF Jang, 1994]. This process is mediated by receptors expressed on the surface of vascular EC – cell adhesion molecules (CAM) under the action of an enhanced oxidative stress, lipopolysaccharide and proinflammatory cytokines. Vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM-1) and intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM-1) are two members of the immunoglobulin gene superfamily that play important but different roles in the adhesion of blood cells to the vascular endothelium. The significance of these molecules in the course of atherogenesis is confirmed by their immunohistochemically established elevated expression in the atherosclerotic plaques [CybulskyG O’Brien et al., 1993] and by experimental models proving a delayed lesion development in case of their absence [Cybulsky et al., 2001]. Circulating forms of adhesion molecules that have been described are probably generated by cleavage to a site close to membrane insertion. The amount of ICAM-1 released has been demonstrated to be directly correlated with the surface expression of ICAM-1 in EC in culture and a correlation between plasma VCAM-1 and VCAM-1 mRNA has been reported in human atherosclerotic aorta [Leuwenberg et al., 1992; Pigott et al., 1992]. Levels of soluble cell adhesion molecules have been postulated to be useful risk predictor of cardiovascular events in healthy populations and various settings of ischemic heart disease [de Lemos et al., 2000; Hwang et al., 1997; Mulvihill et al., 2000, 2001; O’Malley et al., 2001; Ridker et al., 1998]. Nonetheless, the pathologic role of different soluble adhesion molecules in various stages of coronary artery disease is not fully defined. Two electrocardiographic markers ventricular arrhythmias (VA), [Bigger et al., 1981; Farrell et al., 1991; Kostis et al., 1987] and impaired cardiac autonomic function, as indicated by depressed heart rate variability (HRV), [Bigger at al., 1992; Farrell et all, 1991;
Information use in supply chain forecasting

Demand forecasting to support supply chain planning is a critical activity, recognized as pivotal in manufacturing and retailing operations where information is shared across functional areas to produce final detailed forecasts. The approach generally encountered is that a baseline statistical forecast is examined in the light of shared information from sales, marketing and logistics and the statistical forecast may then be modified to take these various pieces of information into account. This experimental study explores forecasters’ use of available information when they are faced with the task of adjusting a baseline forecast for a number of retail stock keeping units to take into account a forthcoming promotion. Forecasting demand in advance of promotions carries a particular significance given their intensive supply chain repercussions and financial impact. Both statistical and qualitative information was provided through a forecasting support system typical of those found in practice. Our results show participants responding to the quantity of information made available, though with decreasing scale effects. In addition, various statistical cues (which are themselves extraneous) were illustrated to be particularly important, including the size and timing of the last observed promotion. Overall, participants appeared to use a compensatory strategy when combining information that had either positive or negative implications for the success of the promotions. However, there was a consistent bias towards underestimating the effect of the promotions. These observed biases have important implications for the design of organizational sales and operations planning processes and the forecasting support systems that such processes rely on.
Convergence Hypotheses are Ill-Posed:Non-stationarity of Cross-Country Income Distribution D

The recent literature on A¢â‚¬A“convergenceA¢â‚¬? of cross-country per capita incomes has been dominated by two competing hypotheses: A¢â‚¬A“global convergenceA¢â‚¬? and A¢â‚¬A“club-convergenceA¢â‚¬? This debate has recently relied on the study of limiting distributions of estimated income distribution dynamics. Utilizing new measures of A¢â‚¬A“stochastic stabilityA¢â‚¬? , we establish two stylized facts that question the fruitfulness of the literatureA¢â‚¬â„¢s focus on asymptotic income distributions. The first stylized fact is non-stationarity of transition dynamics, in the sense of changing transition kernels, which renders all A¢â‚¬A“convergenceA¢â‚¬? hypotheses that make long-term predictions on income distribution, based on relatively short time series, less meaningful. The second stylized fact is the periodic emergence, disappearance, and re-emergence of a A¢â‚¬A“stochastically stableA¢â‚¬? middle-income group. We show that the probability of escaping a low-income poverty-trap depends on the existence of such a stable middle income group. While this does not answer the perennial questions about long-term effects of globalization on the cross-country income distribution, it does shed some light on the types of environments that are conducive to narrowing/
Migratory patterns in hawksbill turtles described by satellite tracking

The advent of telemetry has improved knowledge of the spatio-temporal distribution of marine species of conservation concern. Among the sea turtles, the movements of the hawksbill turtle Eretmochelys imbricata are among the least well described. We tracked 10 adult female hawksbill turtles by satellite after nesting in the Dominican Republic (DR) and describe a dichotomy in patterns of movement: some (n = 2) turtles remained in the DR, while others migrated to waters off Honduras and Nicaragua (n = 5) and the Bahamas (n = 1). Transmitters on 2 turtles failed during migration, before they reached their final foraging grounds. We present results from long tracking durations for 3 turtles, including 3 entire remigration intervals, high- lighting foraging ground and nest-site fidelity. Threats to hawksbill turtles are not well docu- mented for Nicaragua or neighbouring Honduras and represent a major information gap. We sug- gest that directing conservation efforts to regionally important foraging areas, such as those in Nicaragua, and strengthening national conservation in each nation with significant hawksbill nesting offers a clear way forward for the conservation of hawksbill turtles in the region.
The Determinants of Chief Executive Officer Compensation in Jordanian Industrial Corporations

The main objective of the study is to investigate factors that may affect the CEO compensation in developing countries namely in Jordan. In order to achieve this objective, a sample of 266 industrial companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange during the period 2005–2010 was used to examine the determinants of compensation of CEO. The findings of regression analysis revealed that CEO compensation is strongly affected by company’s size and CEO tenure, where CEOs with long tenure or in large firms are more compensated. Results also showed that the board of directors is influenced by the presence of the CEO among them in deciding his/her compensation. However, results revealed a significant inverse relationship between CEO age and CEO compensation. This result is largely consistent with many of the guidelines for improving corporate governance that have been recently promulgated by various groups.
The differentiation of the health situation in European post-Communist countries after 1990

: The objective of the study is to evaluate changes in the health situation in European post-Communist countries in the period of 1990–2012. The spatial range covers the European part of the former Warsaw Pact (within the limits from 1956) plus the former Yugoslavia, but without the former German Democratic Republic and Russia. Five variables were analysed: crude death rate per 1,000 population; estimated infant deaths per 1,000 live births; difference between life expectancy at birth between males and females (in years); incidence of tuberculosis per 100,000 population; incidence of syphilis and gonorrhoea infections per 100,000 population. Four groups of countries differing from one another in the health situation in the analysed period. The first two groups (with a relatively good or average health situation) include the former Communist countries that in the past did not belong to the former Soviet Union. All post-Soviet countries plus Bulgaria and Romania qualified as countries with a poor or very poor health situation. Belonging or not to the former USSR in the past and fast and efficient system reforms were considered to be the main factors differentiating the situation. Of secondary importance are regional factors, such as: substantial demographic age in some societies, the status of women as a result of historical circumstances, civil wars and a different diet.
Induction of β-lactamase activity in Vibrio alkaline phosphatase

Modern enzymes are known to be very efficient at catalysing one type of reaction. Recent studies have shown that despite their specialized function, some enzymes tend to retain very low levels of ancient activity. This has been referred to as promiscuous activity. Previously it has been shown that minor changes in enzymes can significantly increase the promiscuous activity of enzymes. The hypothesis tested in this project is that by mutating a single amino acid it is possible induce β-lactamase activity in the Vibrio strain G15-21 alkaline phosphatase (VAP). Computational calculations were performed to predict the mutations needed in the active site of VAP to induce a electrostatic environment similar to that of a metalloβ-lactamase. The proposed mutations were D12E, D12A and D12W. Results indicated that β-lactamase activity was not present in the selected variants.
Development of Crystallization in PLA during Solid-State Foaming Process using Sub-Critical CO2

Crystallinity of PLA is an important factor that affects its processability, mechanical strength, biodegradability, and service temperature. In this paper crystallization of PLA in solid state foaming process was studied in two main aspects: gas sorption in saturation stage, and heating as well as stretching in foaming stage. During CO2 saturation the equilibrium crystallinity jumped from 9.7% at 2 MPa to 26.4% at 3 MPa CO2 pressure. Further increases in saturation pressure did not increase the crystallinity. In the gas sorption stage of the process, it was found that the crystallization reached equilibrium at approximately the same time as the gas sorption reached equilibrium. Within the range of 2 to 5 MPa saturation pressures and 60 to 100°C foaming temperatures, a maximum crystallinity of 26.8% was observed in the foamed PLA. Crystallinity increased with the extent of cell-wall stretching during the foaming process.
Identification of prohibited red piranha, Pygocentrus nattereri (Kner 1858) from confiscated juvenile fish in Manila, Philippines

Trade has significantly influenced marine and freshwater biodiversity because of overexploitation, habitat degradation, and invasive species introduction. Despite the developed international control measures, cases of illegal trade were proven to be rampant by reported cases of wildlife trafficking. In this regard, species authentication in traded fishery products through DNA barcoding is considered to be a more efficient technique in the confirmation of species identity since morphological characterization is difficult in juvenile species. In this study, confiscated live fish fingerlings, declared as "pacu", were brought to the Genetic Fingerprinting Laboratory (GFL) by the Manila Police District - District Special Operations Unit (MPD-DSOU) for species identification. Three random samples were subjected to DNA barcoding by the amplification of cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene and alignment of generated sequence with reference sequences for Pygocentrus nattereri and Piaractus brachypomus in the GenBank database. The Kimura 2- parameter (K2P) distance model was used to compute genetic distances and to generate Neighbour-Joining (NJ) tree. The results confirm that the three samples are P. nattereri as shown by a monophyletic cluster of sample sequences with reference sequences for P. nattereri. The mean genetic distance between the samples and P. nattereri was 1.1%. This report shows that the trade of prohibited red piranha is still happening in spite of the ban. This study aims to emphasize the significance of species authentication in strengthening law implementation and the capability of DNA barcoding to support it. Keywords—Trade, Juvenile, Red piranha, DNA barcoding, Cytochrome oxidase I
Heat shock effect in breaking physical dormancy in seeds of Lupinus elegans and L. rotundiflorus from Jalisco, México

Most wild Lupinus spp. (Fabaceae) grow in pine and pine-oak forests with natural and induced fi res. Their seeds have physical dormancy, which can be broken in response to appropriate environmental signals, such as high temperatures, humidity, and fi re. We applied heat treatments to break seed dormancy of L. elegans and L. rotundifl orus from the State of Jalisco, Mexico, with different storage times (0, 1, and 2 yr for L. elegans and 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 yr for L. rotundifl orus). One set of seeds were immer- sed in boiling water for 5, 10, and 15 s, another set were incubated in wet or dry sand at 100 °C, 120 °C, and 150 °C during 60 min and 90 min. Germination trials were set at 25 °C with 12 h of irradiance per day. For both species, no germination resulted after incubation at 120 and 150 °C. For L. rotundifl orus, germination was higher for seeds incubated in wet sand for 60 min than for those incubated for 90 min. Fresh seeds of L. rotundifl orus showed higher germination than stored seeds across treatments. After scarifi cation with boiling water, fresh seeds of L. elegans, germinated more than those stored for 1 and 2 year, whereas incubation in wet and dry sand resulted in higher germination for 1 and 2 year old seeds than for fresh seeds. Our results may be useful for
IB and NIB Hypotheses and their possible discrimination by GRACE

The NASA, the GFZ and the DLR plan the GRACE satellite mission to obtain an accurate gravity field after every 2‐4 weeks. Because of its extreme high precision, GRACE is expected to determine the temporal variations of the gravity fields due to time varying geophysical phenomena. Among them, the effects of the atmospheric surface pressure have the largest signals and we investigated its effects mainly from the viewpoint of degree amplitudes. Behaviour of atmospheric variations over oceanic areas is unknown. The response of the ocean is essentially important not only for the corrections of the atmospheric effects on gravity fields, but also for many other studies such as satellite altimetry, crustal deformation and the Earth rotations. We proposed and applied several ocean response models, i.e., IB, NIB, and intermediate ones, and evaluated the degree power differences between each one of them. The results show that almost all the differences are distinguishable by GRACE.
Simplified Building Thermal Model Used for Optimal Control of Radiant Cooling System

MPC has the ability to optimize the system operation parameters for energy conservation. Recently, it has been used in HVAC systems for saving energy, but there are very few applications in radiant cooling systems. To implement MPC in buildings with radiant terminals, the predictions of cooling load and thermal environment are indispensable. In this paper, a simplified thermal model is proposed for predicting cooling load and thermal environment in buildings with radiant floor. In this thermal model, the black-box model is introduced to derive the incident solar radiation, while the genetic algorithm is utilized to identify the parameters of the thermal model. In order to further validate this simplified thermal model, simulated results from TRNSYS are compared with those from this model and the deviation is evaluated based on coefficient of variation of root mean square (CV). The results show that the simplified model can predict the operative temperature with a CV lower than 1% and predict cooling loads with a CV lower than 10%. For the purpose of supervisory control in HVAC systems, this simplified RC thermal model has an acceptable accuracy and can be used for further MPC in buildings with radiation terminals.
Achieving Goals through Architectural Design Decisions

problem statement: the main problem in building any system is that many decisions appear through its design. These decisions are affected mainly by the goals that the architect wants to achieve. These goals shape the architectural design of a system; the architect needs to know the best decisions to use them through building the design of a system. Approach: Design fragments used to solve the problem, design decisions controlled by fragments. Fragments themselves need to be controlled to mange the quality that results from them so quality management activities deal in controlling the fragments. Results: Using design fragments helped the architect to choose the most important design decisions to achieve high quality. Conclusion: Goals are affected mainly with quality attributes. Choosing the right decisions made building the good quality software.
THE EFFECT OF INCUBATION TIME AND LEVEL OF UREA ON DRY MATTER, ORGANIC MATTER AND CRUDE PROTEIN DIGESTIBILITY OF PASSION FRUIT (Passiflora edulis var. flavicarpa) HULLS

This research was aimed to evaluate the effect of incubation time and level of urea on dry matter,organic matter and crude protein digestibility of Passion fruit hulls. The research was conducted by twophases. The first, the research was conducted to analyze of Passion fruit hulls before and afterammoniation, and then conducting digestibility of Passion fruit hulls using rumen fluid. FactorialRandomized Block design 2x3, with factor A was incubation time of ammoniated Passion fruit hulls (2weeks, 3 weeks) and factor B was the level of urea used (4%, 6% and 8%) was used in this study. Theresults showed that there was no significantly effects among treatments on dry matter and organic matterdigestibilities, but significant effect (P<0.05) on crude protein digestibility by level of urea treatment,even those there was no interaction between each treatment. The research showed that increasing levelof urea could increase in-vitro digestibility of crude protein nutrients. In conclusion, the best treatmentwas 8% level of urea with 2 weeks of incubation length.
Multi-level Threshold Handover for Homogeneous Wireless Mobile Networks

Handover latency is one of the major problems in wireless mobile networks since it prevents users from seamless mobility. When a mobile node moves from one wireless access point to another in a homogeneous network environment, it has to perform horizontal handover. During the handover procedure the mobile node can neither send nor receive any data packets. This results in packet delay and in some cases packet loss. These two factors severely affect the Quality of Service (QoS), particularly for real-time applications. To address this problem, we have proposed a multi-level threshold handover concept. An algorithm has been developed to verify the proposed concept. The results show that the proposed approach has an improvement (reduction in handover latency) of 67 - 98 % (based on different scenarios) when compared with the standard FMIPv6.
Exploring the integration of social media feedback for user-oriented product development

Product designers thrive on designing products to fulfil various expectations and needs from customers. To understand the customer expectation and needs, it is crucial to have the information on customer feedback that is generated during product usage phase. For this purpose, social media has attracted strong interest, as increasing amount of information is published daily by customers. This information is related to a wide range of products and contains product specific feedbacks. To make use of the feedbacks, different approaches were developed and described in literature. Most of them focused on the extraction of limited information to support specific tasks, which is however not flexible and general enough. Little research has provided a practicable and flexible solution to support different design tasks in various domains. This article suggests a social media wrapper approach, which can be flexibly configured to address this issue. It provides designers a holistic view of the feedbacks that widely distributed in different social media channels as well as in diversity data sources. This holistic view of feedbacks can be analyzed to earn necessary knowledge for design tasks.
Trade effects of the Transatlantic trade and investment partnership

In this paper we estimate the trade effects of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership by means of a gravity model. Even if making some assumptions related to the specificity of this trade agreement, our results are in line with the existing studies, implying unambiguously that a significant increase in trade is expected to follow a positive conclusion of the negotiation. Furthermore, the impact of the agreement increases significantly as the depth and the scope of the agreement grows. The results also show that there is a small but significant trade diversion effect, meaning that the agreement between EU and the US could produce a small reduction in trade with other areas. But given the much smaller coefficient of trade diversion compared to the trade creation effect, the expected net effect on trade remains strongly positive.
The Role of Oxidative Stress and NADPH Oxidase P22phox Polymorphism in Acute Kidney Injury Patients

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common condition with significant associated morbidity and mortality. Although several studies have been done to understand the molecular and biochemical mechanisms of kidney injury. Results were static over the last 30 years. Increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is thought to play a major role in the pathogenesis of AKI and its complications. The NADPH oxidase complex is an important source of ROS in AKI. Its p22 subunit is polymorph with a C242T variant that changes histidine-72 for a tyrosine in the potential heme binding site. The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of this polymorphism in 75 patients with AKI and correlate the genotype to the extent of the load of the circulating ROS and its association with the unfavorable course of the disease. This study included 75 hospitalized patients in the Internal Medicine Department Menofiya University Hospital with established AKI. We had done genotyping for the C242T polymorphism of the p22 subunit of the NADPH oxidase gene using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) technique. The extent of the ROS load was estimated by measuring the level of plasma nitrotyrosine level and then correlation to the severity of the course of the disease and its outcome was made. The results revealed that, compared to CC group, the T- allele carrier was associated with higher levels of serum urea, creatinine and plasma nitrotyrosine (p<0.01) and the levels of plasma nitrotyrosine are correlated with age of the patient and length of hospital stay. Also the T- allele carries (CT and TT groups) showed higher cumulative probability of remaining hospitalized, while there was no significant difference concerning requirement for dialysis, for ICU admission and dialysis dependency. It is concluded that the polymorphism C242T in the gene encoding p22phox of NADPH oxidase is associated with the severity of the course of the disease and the adverse outcome in cases with AKI.