Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neighbors in the Pews: Social Status Diversity in Religious Congregations

For the most part, Americans interact with other people like themselves—those with similar social and economic backgrounds. This homogeneity of social networks contributes in turn to social stratification and to the unequal distribution of social capital and civic integration. Religious congregations offer a rare opportunity for Americans to interact across social status lines. I use data from the 2001 U.S. Congregational Life Survey, which includes survey responses from relatively large samples of attendees nested within a large random sample of congregations, to examine the prevalence of income and education diversity in religious congregations. In contrast to racial diversity, which is minimal, there are high levels of social status diversity in most congregations. Status diversity in congregations also varies with congregational characteristics, such as religious tradition, age of the congregation, and racial makeup of the congregation; neighborhood characteristics, such as urbanity and proportion racial minority; and region of the country. I conclude by discussing the implications of the opportunities for cross-status interactions in religious congregations.
Distinct Ca2+ Requirement for NO Production between Proteinase-Activated Receptor 1 and 4 (PAR1 and PAR4) in Vascular Endothelial Cells

Proteinase-activated receptors 1 and 4 (PAR1 and PAR4) are the major receptors mediating thrombin-induced NO production in endothelial cells. The intracellular signaling following their activation still remains to be elucidated. The present study provides the first evidence for the distinct Ca2+ requirement for the NO production between PAR1 and PAR4. The activation of PAR1 by the activating peptide (PAR1-AP) elevated cytosolic Ca2+ concentrations ([Ca2+]i) and activated NO production in porcine aortic and human umbilical vein endothelial cells, whereas it had little effect on bovine aortic endothelial cells. PAR4 activation by PAR4-AP consistently induced NO production without an appreciable [Ca2+]i elevation in three types of endothelial cells. The PAR1-mediated NO production was significantly inhibited by 1,2-bis(2-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N′,N′-tetraacetic acid (BAPTA), whereas the PAR4-mediated NO production was resistant. NO production following the PAR1 and PAR4 activation was significantly inhibited by pertussis toxin, but it was resistant to a Gαq/11 inhibitor, YM254890 [(1R)-1-{(3S,6S,9S,12S,18R,21S,22R)-21-acetamido-18-benzyl-3-[(1R)-1-methoxyethyl]-4,9,10,12,16,22-hexamethyl-15-methylene-2,5,8,11,14,17,20-heptaoxo-1,19-dioxa-4,7,10,13,16-pentaazacyclodocosan-6-yl}-2-methylpropyl rel-(2S,3R)-2-acetamido-3-hydroxy-4-methylpentanoate]. However, YM254890 abrogated the PAR1-mediated Ca2+ signal. PAR4-mediated NO production was substantially inhibited by the inhibitors of phosphotidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K) and Akt, as well as by the dominant negative mutant of Akt. The PAR1-mediated NO production was relatively resistant to inhibitors of PI3K. An immunoblot analysis revealed a transient increase in the phosphorylation of Akt and endothelial NO synthase following the PAR4 stimulation. In conclusion, PAR1 and PAR4 engage distinct signal transduction mechanisms to activate NO production in vascular endothelial cells. PAR4 preferably activates Gαi/o and induced NO production in a manner mostly independent of Ca2+ but dependent on the PI3K/Akt pathway, whereas PAR1 activates both the Ca2+-dependent and -independent mechanisms.
Building an Eco-System of Trusted Services through user Transparency , Control and Awareness on Personal Data Privacy

The increasing adoption of smartphones and their capability of collecting personal and contextual information have generated a tremendous increment in the production of Personal Data (PD). The amount of PD that is available and generated on a daily basis is rapidly growing also due to the increasing number of activities performed online and, in particular, in mobility. Nowadays, a constantly increasing number of users access the internet and an innumerable variety of online/Web services mostly (or exclusively) by mean of their smartphones/tablets, often through specifically designed mobile applications (shortly apps). Very often these apps, which possibly connect external devices/sensors, are their-self source of novel types of PD that are transmitted and collected server-side. The availability of such a huge amount of data represents an invaluable opportunity for organizations and individuals to enable new application scenarios and to benefit from innovative services. Nevertheless, they represent the commodity of a flourishing market mostly fostered by the biggest ICT companies. However, it has also significantly increased the public concern on data privacy. In fact users have, in general, very scarce opportunities to control how their data are accessed and collected and to use them for their purposes. Some OS (see Android) inform users about the accessed resources at installation time but, mainly, such information are not user-friendly and users can either avoid install the App or grant unlimited access to all the required resources, without means to further control permissions or to audit the access to PD. This is far from the desired scenarios in which PD enable and contribute-to the generation of widespread socioeconomic benefits to the collectivity. In order to reach these benefits, we believe that we need a fair PD management, where individuals, empowered with control and awareness over their PD, are enabled to actively and knowingly participate to PD eco-system. We present the design of My Data Store, currently validated in a living-lab: a privacy preserving service that enable users to collect, control and exploit PD generated in mobility. We integrated My Data Store into an innovative framework which enable the development of trusted and transparent (in terms of access and use of PD) services and apps whose behavior can be controlled and audited by the user, enabling the growth of an eco-system of PD-based apps/services.
Volcan Popocatepetl, Mexico. Petrology, magma mixing, and immediate sources of volatiles for the 1994 - Present eruption

Volcan Popocatepetl has been the site of voluminous degassing accompanied by minor eruptive activity from late 1994 until the time of writing (August 2002). This contribution presents petrological investigations of magma erupted in 1997 and 1998, including major-element and volatile (S, Cl, F, and H2O) data from glass inclusions and matrix glasses. Magma erupted from Popocatepetl is a mixture of dacite (65 wt % SiO2, two-pyroxenes þ plagioclase þ Fe–Ti oxides þ apatite, 3 wt % H2O, P 1⁄4 1 5 kbar, f O2 1⁄4 DNNO þ 0 5 log units) and basaltic andesite (53 wt % SiO2, olivine þ two-pyroxenes, 3 wt % H2O, P 1⁄4 1–4 kbar). Magma mixed at 4–6 km depth in proportions between 45:55 and 85:15 wt % silicic:mafic magma. The pre-eruptive volatile content of the basaltic andesite is 1980 ppm S, 1060 ppm Cl, 950 ppm F, and 3 3 wt % H2O. The pre-eruptive volatile content of the dacite is 130 50 ppm S, 880 70 ppm Cl, 570 100 ppm F, and 2 9 0 2 wt % H2O. Degassing from 0 031 km of erupted magma accounts for only 0 7 wt % of the observed SO2 emission. Circulation of magma in the volcanic conduit in the presence of a modest bubble phase is a possible mechanism to explain the high rates of degassing and limited magma production at Popocatepetl.
The role of dynamic cultural theories in explaining the viability of international strategic alliances: A focus on Indo‐French alliances

Purpose – Many managers of Indo‐French alliances consider culture to be a failure, rather than a success factor because they address the national or corporate level for cross‐cultural comparisons. In contrast, this study proposes using the Douglasian Cultural Theory (CT) to address the transactional level of culture. In so doing, it aims to overcome some of the limitations of the national, corporate and transactional approaches and provide a systematic framework for discussing the viability of international alliances.Design/methodology/approach – An analysis of 48 ethnographic interviews and field studies was conducted in 25 Indo‐French alliances.Findings – Through an analysis of the ethnographic interviews and field studies conducted, the paper offers the following guidelines to managers for the design of viable alliances: the commonly‐cited interdependence of the hierarchical and competitive solidarities is not sufficient to ensure the viability of international alliances; the presence of a third solida.
Thiolase from Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824 and Its Role in the Synthesis of Acids and Solvents

Thiolase (acetyl-coenzyme A [CoA] acetyltransferase, E.C. 2.3.1.19) from Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824 has been purified 70-fold to homogeneity. Unlike the thiolase in Clostridium pasteurianum, this thiolase has high relative activity throughout the physiological range of internal pH of 5.5 to 7.0, indicating that change in internal pH during acid production is not an important factor in the regulation of this thiolase. In the condensation direction, the thiolase is inhibited by micromolar levels of CoA, and this may be an important factor in modulating the net condensation of acetyl-CoA to acetoacetyl-CoA. Other cofactors and metabolites that were tested and shown to be inhibitors are ATP and butyryl-CoA. The native enzyme consists of four 44,000-molecular-weight subunits. The kinetic binding mechanism is ping-pong. The Km value for acetyl-CoA is 0.27 mM at 30°C and pH 7.4. The Km values for sulfhydryl-CoA and acetoacetyl-CoA are, respectively, 0.0048 and 0.032 mM at 30°C and pH 8.0. The active site apparently contains a sulfhydryl group, but unlike other thiolases, this thiolase is relatively stable in the presence of 5,5′-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid). Studies of thiolase specific activity under various types of continuous fermentations show that regulation of this enzyme at both the genetic and enzyme levels is important.
Purification and Identification of Recombinant Hirudin and Its Degradation Products Expressed in Pichia pastoris

Abstract The purification and identification of recombinant hirudin (r‐hirudin) (rHV2‐Lys47) and its several C‐terminal proteolytic degradation derivatives, produced by Pichia pastoris, were described. The high‐purity rHV2‐Lys47 of above 99% and its three degradation products were obtained by a straightforward two‐step chromatography procedure, a combination of cation exchange and reverse phase chromatography, with a recovery yield of 74% for hirudin. The purified rHV2 had the predicted N‐terminal amino acid sequence and the derivatives were the degradation products of hirudin, short of one to three amino acid residues at C‐terminal.
Kinship Systems, Cooperation, and the Evolution of Culture

An influential body of psychological and anthropological theories holds that societies exhibit heterogeneous cooperation systems that differ both in their level of in-group favoritism and in the tools that they employ to enforce cooperative behavior. According to some of these theories, entire bundles of functional psychological adaptations – religious beliefs, moral values, negative reciprocity, emotions, and social norms – serve as “psychological police officer” in different cooperation regimes. This paper uses an anthropological measure of the tightness of historical kinship systems to study the structure of cooperation patterns and enforcement devices across historical ethnicities, contemporary countries, ethnicities within countries, and among migrants. The results document that societies with loose ancestral kinship ties cooperate and trust broadly, which appears to be enforced through a belief in moralizing gods, individualizing moral values, internalized guilt, altruistic punishment, and large-scale institutions. Societies with a historically tightly knit kinship structure, on the other hand, cheat on and distrust the out-group but readily support in-group members in need. This cooperation regime in turn is enforced by communal moral values, emotions of external shame, revenge-taking, and local governance structures including strong social norms. These patterns suggest that various seemingly unrelated aspects of culture are all functional and ultimately serve the same purpose of regulating economic behavior.
Application-Level Multicast Transmission Techniques Over The Internet. (Techniques de Transmission Multipoint de Niveau Applicatif pour l'Internet)

Dans cette these, nous presentons une proposition pour etablir un service Alternatif de communication de groupe qui deplace le support de multipoint depuis les routeurs vers les extremites. Notre proposition, appelee HBM fonctionne au niveau applicatif et fournit un service efficace de distribution multipoint de donnees de type un-vers-plusieurs ou plusiers-vers-plusieurs. Avec cette approche les machines terminales, les serveurs et/ou des routeurs de bordure s'organisent automatiquement une topologie de distribution de recouvrement grâce a laquelle des donnees sont diffusees. Cette topologie de recouvrement peut se composer a�� la fois de connections point a point et de zones beneficient d'un routage multicast natif (par exemple dans chaque site). Par consequent elle offre un service de communication de groupe a tous les hotes, meme ceux situes dans un site qui n'a pas acces, une quelconque raison, au routage multicast natif. HBM est une solution centralisee, ou tout, y compris la gestion d'adhesion de groupe et la creation de topologie de recouvrement, est de la responsabilite d'un unique point de Rendez-vous (RP). Cette these se concentre sur trois aspects principaux : scalabilite, robustesse et securite. La scalabilite peut etre en grande partie amelioree, avec quelques ajustements simples de certains parametres de HBM tels la frequence et la taille des messages de controle. La robustesse est un aspect pratique important, et nous presentons des techniques de reduction de pertes de paquet, tels l'addition des liens virtuels redundants qui evitent la partition de topologie en cas de panne d'un nœud de transit. Enfin nous etudions l'utilisation de HBM afin d'etablir un service entierement securise mais efficace de communication de groupe entre plusieurs sites au moyen de VPN IPSec.
Hydroxycinnamic Acid-derived Polymers Constitute the Polyaromatic Domain of Suberin (*)

Suberin is an abundant, complex, intractable, plant cell wall polymeric network that forms both protective and wound-healing layers. Its function is, therefore, critical to the survival of all vascular plants. Its chemical structure and biosynthesis are poorly defined, although it is known to consist of both aromatic and aliphatic domains. While the composition of the aliphatic component has been fairly well characterized, that of the phenolic component has not. Using a combination of specific carbon-13 labeling techniques, and in situ solid state C NMR spectroscopic analysis, we now provide the first direct evidence for the nature of the phenolic domain of suberin and report here that it is almost exclusively comprised of a covalently linked, hydroxycinnamic acid-derived polymeric matrix.
Nitric Oxide Suppresses the Expression of Bcl-2 Binding Protein BNIP3 in Hepatocytes*

Nitric oxide (NO) is not only an important signaling molecule, but it also regulates the expression of a number of genes in the liver. We have previously shown that apoptosis in hepatocytes exposed to tumor necrosis factor-α and actinomycin D is prevented by NO derived from the inducible nitric-oxide synthase (iNOS), by mechanisms that are both dependent on and independent of modulation of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) subsequent to activation of soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC). We hypothesize that one mechanism by which NO exerts these effects is by regulating the expression of genes involved in apoptosis. We used differential display-polymerase chain reaction to isolate NO-regulated genes in hepatocytes from iNOS knockout mice (to eliminate endogenous inducible NO production). Using this analysis, we identified a NO-suppressed gene fragment homologous with the pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 binding protein BNIP3. Northern analysis confirmed the NO-dependent suppression of BNIP3 in cultured cells. Similarly, the NO donorS-nitroso-N-acetyl-dl-penicillamine (1–1000 μm) down-regulated the expression ofBNIP3 in both iNOS knockout and wild-type hepatocytes. This effect of NO was reversed by the sGC inhibitor 1H-(1,2,4)-oxadiazole[4,3-a]quinoxalon-1-one (ODQ),suggesting the involvement of the sGC/cGMP pathway in the modulation of BNIP3 by NO. We propose that suppression of BNIP3 expression is one sGC/cGMP-dependent mechanism by which NO might affect the process of hepatocyte apoptosis.
Systematics of the poorly known treefrog Leptopelis fiziensis (Anura: Arthroleptidae), with a description of its call

Abstract Leptopelis fiziensis was described as a subspecies of L. modestus from specimens that were collected in 1956 in the region in and around Fizi, in present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo. We recently discovered L. fiziensis in transitional and montane forest near the type locality and the south-eastern Itombwe Plateau, respectively. A phylogenetic analysis (16S mitochondrial sequence data) of these samples and other Leptopelis species recovered L. fiziensis as sister to L. karissimbensis with strong support, and rejected a close relationship between L. fiziensis and both topotypic L. modestus from Cameroon and L. mackayi from Kenya. Herein, we provide a detailed description of the morphometrics, colour pattern, male advertisement call and natural history of this little-known species. At least one literature record of L. fiziensis from Tanzania has notable differences from our data, and requires further study to ascertain its taxonomic status.
State Feedback Decoupling Problem with Stability for (A, B, C, D) Quadruples

The state feedback decoupling problem with stability for general proper systems described by $(A,B,C,D)$ quadruples has been studied for a long time. But, it is still an open problem in the sense that there is still a lack of numerically verifiable solvability conditions and numerically implementable methods for solving it in the existing literature. In this paper numerically verifiable solvability conditions and a numerical method for solving this open problem are developed. The proposed method is based on orthogonal transformations and hence can be implemented in a numerically reliable manner.
Occupational exposure assessment using antibody levels: exposure to avian leukosis/sarcoma viruses in the poultry industry

Avian leukosis/sarcoma viruses (ALSV) infect and cause cancers in chickens. Poultry workers are exposed to ALSV and other infectious agents in the workplace. This study examines if industrial hygiene assessment of antibody levels in poultry workers can identify risky job tasks at the higher exposure risk to an infectious agent, i.e., ALSV. We compared ALSV antibody levels in poultry workers and control subjects. Occupational and demographical factors were examined for an association with the exposure risk in poultry workers. We found that the antibody levels were significantly higher in poultry workers than in control subjects. Job category and age together were significantly associated with the antibody levels in workers. Certain job tasks were identified with significantly higher antibody levels as compared to others, implying that recommendations should be made to protect workers at these jobs. The findings of this study indicate that the measurement of antibody levels in workers can be useful for industrial hygiene assessment of exposure to infectious agents.
Associative memory for geon-based object identification

Online inspection for defects in manufactured parts is a challenging problem and a crucial issue for any production process. Precise and extended CAD data describe the manufactured part under inspection and can be stored in a database in order to perform comparisons between the measured observed part (with a 3D laser camera, for instance) and its CAD description. The problem is very slow access time to find the right CAD model, because of the huge amount of data necessary to represent even a very simple manufactured piece. We propose a fast access to the database based on a vision-derived representation of the part, much less precise than the CAD representation but which offers a very low storage requirement. CAD representations of the models are converted off-line into a vision-based representation used to train a neural network. Volumetric projected components (geons) and their interrelationship are extracted from the digitized image of the piece under inspection and input to a neural network whose outputs point to the most probable models in the large database. Corresponding CAD data is then available for the inspection module.
[Clinical course and prognostic factors in newborns with very low birth weight].

OBJECTIVE We report the results of survival and incidence of neurodevelopmental sequelae in a group of 249 infants treated in our hospital between 1986-91, whose birth weight was under 1,500 grams. METHOD We perform a follow-up at corrected ages of 3, 6, 10, 18, 36 months and 5 years thought results only included children followed until 18. Sequelae were classified in three groups, according to the disability degree. RESULTS Survival resulted to be 69.87% (174), 38.7% for the group under 1,000 grams and 84.7% for those over 1,000 grams. Sequelae were present in 22.6% (11.6% moderate and 10.9% severe). The incidence of severe sequelae was very different on basis of the birth weight, 25.8% for children under 1,000 grams, 13.9% for 1,000-1,249 grams and 1.6% for 1,250-1,500 grams. CONCLUSIONS Intracranial haemorrhage, hyperbilirubinemia, assisted ventilation and persistence of ductus arteriosus were significantly associated sequelae. We didn't find differences with respect to multiple pregnancy, seizures, sepsis or neonatal hypoxia.
An unusual barrier to gene flow: perpetually immature larvae from inter‐population crosses in the flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum

We genetically characterize an unusual hybrid incompatibility phenotype manifest in F1 offspring of crosses between two populations of Tribolium castaneum. Hybrid larvae cease development at the third larval instar, persisting as ‘perpetually immature larvae’ thereafter. Although unable to produce viable adult hybrid offspring with one another, each population produces abundant, fertile hybrids with other populations, indicating a recent origin of the incompatibility and facilitating genetic studies. We mapped the paternal component of the hybrid phenotype to a single region, which exhibits two characteristics common to hybrid incompatibility: marker transmission ratio distortion within crosses and elevated genetic divergence between populations. The incompatible variation and an elevation in between‐population genetic divergence is associated with a region containing the T. castaneum ecdysone receptor homologue, a major regulatory switch, controlling larval moults, pupation and metamorphosis. This contributes to understanding the genetics of speciation in the Coleoptera, one of the most speciose of all arthropod taxa.