Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Protective and Vulnerability Factors in Self-Esteem: The Role of Metacognitions, Brooding, and Resilience

The aim of the current study was to explore protective (resilience) and vulnerability factors (dysfunctional metacognitions and brooding) for self-esteem. A total of 725 participants were included in a cross-sectional study. A path analysis revealed five paths to self-esteem. The three main paths were as follows: (1) symptoms −> metacognitions −> brooding −> self-esteem, (2) symptoms −> resilience −> self-esteem, and (3) a direct path from symptoms. The first path corresponds with the metacognitive model of psychopathology and suggests that triggers in the form of anxiety and depression symptoms lead to the activation of metacognitive beliefs, which in turn activates brooding in response to these triggers. When a person engages in brooding, this makes the person vulnerable to experiencing low self-esteem. The second path suggests a protective role of resilience factors. The overall model explained 55% of the variance in self-esteem. Regression analysis found that unique predictors of self-esteem were female sex, symptoms of anxiety and depression, brooding, and resilience. These findings have possible clinical implications, as treatment may benefit from addressing both protective and vulnerability factors in individuals suffering from low self-esteem.
Does Blindness Boost Working Memory? A Natural Experiment and Cross-Cultural Study

Intelligence requires sufficient working-memory capacity. Traditionally, working memory was seen as a process and as a prerequisite for fluid intelligence. Working memory was assumed to be determined by maturation and health. There is a gap in the literature: It is still not fully understood to which extent and how working memory can be influenced. So this study tested how visual impairment and the extent of visual impairment are related to working memory capacity. In our study we compared N = 249 children (6–16 years) with and without visual impairment (blind, visually impaired, and sighted) in two countries (South Africa and Austria) at different development levels on their working-memory capacity and verbal comprehension. Using the WISC-IV, blind and visually impaired children showed higher working-memory capacity than sighted children (r = + 0.35, 14, and 3 IQ points, respectively). On the other hand, visually impaired children showed a weakness in verbal comprehension (r = −0.39, on average 13 IQ points lower). The pattern remained robust when SES and race-ethnicity were controlled. Our natural (quasi-)experiment shows a pattern, which is unlikely to be genetic, and so supports the view that working memory and intelligence scores can be modified.
A convenient procedure for the calibration and check of GNSS systems by using the relative static positioning method

Recent development in the area of GNSS-based measurements consists of combination of methodologies and modern manufactured antennas and receivers, which are able to provide coordinates of sub-centimeter accuracy. In order to succeed this, it is necessary that the measurement system (base and rover antennasreceivers and their ancillary equipment) to be calibrated and functioning properly, as the manufacturer defines. Therefore a full methodology that ensures the proper function of GNSS systems is indispensable. This paper describes a convenient procedure for the calibration and check of GNSS systems, using the relative static positioning method. Each one of the calibration or the check procedure can be applied individually. The appropriate statistical checks were carried out in both procedures in order to conclude with reliability about the proper function of the systems being checked. The methodology succeeds the results by using efficient number and type of observations and simple mathematical models. So it is convenient to be used by professionals in order to improve and to ensure their products. More over it could be a new supplement of the ISO 17123-8, which deals only with the real time kinematic method and informs the user only for the precision of the base system which is being checked and not about the accuracy of the measurements. An external control base of 2km length is used for the data acquisition. The control base is located at an optimum position in order to minimize the errors due to the elevation variance, the multipath effect and atmospheric conditions. Also the appropriate series of measurements are carried out in order to take into consideration the change of the satellite geometry. Consequently the proposed procedure provides an over all illustration about the status of the checked GNSS systems under any random environmental conditions. This estimation interests every professional in order to ensure the reliability of his products. Moreover it concludes not only about the precision of GNSS systems under check but also about the accuracy that they provide by the comparison to the ′′ true′′ values of the measured parameters.
In vivo Characterization of Plasmodium berghei P47 (Pbs47) as a Malaria Transmission-Blocking Vaccine Target

An effective vaccine to reduce malaria transmission is central to control and ultimately achieve disease eradication. Recently, we demonstrated that antibodies targeting the Plasmodium falciparum surface protein P47 (Pfs47) reduce parasite transmission to Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes. Here, Plasmodium berghei (Pb) was used as a model to assess the in vivo efficacy of a P47-targeted transmission blocking vaccine (Pbs47). Mice were immunized following a prime/boost regimen and infected with P. berghei. The effect of immunization on infectivity to mosquitoes was evaluated by direct feeding on P. berghei-infected mice. The key region in Pbs47 where antibody binding confers protection was mapped, and the immunogenicity of this protective antigen was enhanced by conjugation to a virus-like particle. Passive immunization with 100 and 50 μg/mL of anti-Pbs47 IgG reduced oocyst density by 77 and 67%, respectively. Furthermore, affinity purified Pbs47-specific IgG significantly reduced oocyst density by 88 and 77%, respectively at doses as low as 10 and 1 μg/mL. These studies suggest that P47 is a promising transmission blocking target and show that antibodies to the same specific region in Pfs47 and Pbs47 confer protection.
Thermal influence on the mechanical properties of cardboard during an ultrasonic-assisted embossing process

During the embossing process, a fiber sandwich is compressed between embossing tools. The use of ultrasound causes a short-term increase in the material temperature in addition to causing plastic deformation. The combination of the material compression and an increase in material temperature leads to structural changes, which can be observed by the change in mechanical properties of the cardboard. This work investigated the influence of an ultrasonically induced temperature increase on the structural changes of cardboard. Using three-parameter combinations, different temperature levels were achieved with a material densification of less than 5%. Subsequently, the samples were subjected to selected physical and visual analyses to characterize the change in the fiber structure. With the increase of 124 oC material temperature there was a decrease of about 15% in the splitting resistance and 10% in the bending stiffness.
Identification of a Multi–Long Noncoding RNA Signature for the Diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

Due to the increasing prevalence of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and its complications, there is an urgent need to identify novel methods for predicting the occurrence and understanding the pathogenetic mechanisms of the disease. Accumulated data have demonstrated the potential of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), as biomarkers in establishing diagnosis and predicting prognosis of numerous diseases. Yet, little is known about the expression patterns and regulatory roles of lncRNAs in the pathogenesis of T1DM and whether they can be used as diagnostic biomarkers for the disease. To further explore these questions, in the present study, we conducted a comparative analysis of the expression patterns of lncRNAs between 20 T1DM patients and 42 health controls by retrospectively analyzing a published microarray data set. Our results indicate that, compared with healthy controls, diabetic patients had altered levels of lncRNAs. Then, we used three time cross-validation strategy and support vector machine to propose a specific 26-lncRNA signature (termed 26LncSigT1DM). This 26LncSigT1DM signature can be used to effectively distinguish between healthy and diabetic individuals (area under the curve = 0.825) of a validation cohort. After the 26LncSigT1DM was prospectively validated, we used Pearson correlation to identify 915 mRNAs, whose expression levels were positively correlated with those of the 26 lncRNAs. According to their Gene Ontology annotations, these mRNAs participate in processes including cellular response to stimulus, cell communication, multicellular organismal process, and cell motility. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis demonstrated that the genes encoding the 915 mRNAs may be associated with the NOD-like receptor signaling pathway, transforming growth factor β signaling pathway, and mineral absorption, suggesting that the deregulation of these lncRNAs may mediate inflammatory abnormalities and immune dysfunctions, which jointly promote the pathogenesis of T1DM. Thus, our study identifies a novel diagnostic tool and may shed more light on the molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of T1DM.
Lock-free Concurrent Level Hashing for Persistent Memory

With high memory density, non-volatility, and DRAM-scale latency, persistent memory (PM) is promising to improve the storage system performance. Hashing-based index structures have been widely used in storage systems to provide fast query services. Recent research proposes crash-consistent and write-efﬁcient hashing indexes for PM. However, existing PM hashing schemes suffer from limited scalability due to expensive lock-based concurrency control, thus making multi-core parallel programing inefﬁcient in PM. The coarse-grained locks used in hash table resizing and queries (i.e., search/insertion/update/deletion) exacerbate the contention. Moreover, the cache line ﬂushes and memory fences for crash consistency in the critical path increase the latency. In order to address the lock contention for concurrent hashing indexes in PM, we propose clevel hashing, a lock-free concurrent level hashing, to deliver high performance with crash consistency. In the clevel hashing, we design a multi-level structure for concurrent resizing and queries. Resizing operations are performed by background threads without blocking concurrent queries. For concurrency control, atomic primitives are leveraged to enable lock-free search/insertion/update/deletion. We further propose context-aware schemes to guarantee the correctness of interleaved queries. Using real Intel Optane DC PMM, experimental results with real-world YCSB workloads show that clevel hashing obtains up to 4.2 × speedup than the state-of-the-art PM hashing index.
Optimizing Sequencing Resources in Genotyped Livestock Populations Using Linear Programming

Background Low-cost genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are routinely used in animal breeding programs. Compared to SNP arrays, the use of whole-genome sequence data generated by the next-generation sequencing technologies (NGS) has great potential in livestock populations. However, a large number of animals are required to be sequenced to exploit the full potential of whole-genome sequence data. Thus, novel strategies are desired to allocate sequencing resources in genotyped livestock populations such that the entire population can be sequenced or imputed efficiently. Methods We present two applications of linear programming models called LPChoose for sequencing resources allocation. The first application is to identify the minimum number of animals for sequencing while meeting the criteria that each haplotype in the population is contained in at least one of the animals selected for sequencing. The second is to sequence a fixed number of animals whose haplotypes include as large a proportion as possible of the haplotypes present in the population given a limited sequencing budget. In both cases, we assume that all animals have been haplotyped. We present results from approximation algorithms, and motivate the use of approximations through the correspondence of the problems we address with problems in computer science for which there are no known efficient algorithms. Results In both applications LPChoose performed consistently better than some existing methods making similar assumptions.
Characterization of geometric variance in the epithelial nerve net of the ctenophore Pleurobrachia pileus

Neuroscience lacks a diverse repertoire of model organisms, resulting in an incomplete understanding of the general principles of neural function. Ctenophores display many neurobiological and experimental features which make them a promising candidate to fill this gap. They possess a nerve net distributed across their body surface in the epithelial layer. There is a long‐held assumption that nerve nets are “simple” and lack distinct organizational principles. We want to challenge this assumption and determine how stereotyped the structure of this network is. We estimated body surface area in Pleurobrachia pileus using custom optical projection tomography and light sheet morphometry imaging systems. Using an antibody against tyrosinated α‐tubulin, we visualized the nerve net in situ and quantified the geometric properties using an automated segmentation approach. We characterized organizational rules of the epithelial nerve net in animals of different sizes and at different regions of the body. We found that specific morphological features within the nerve net are largely unchanged during growth. These properties must be essential to the functionality of the nervous system and therefore are maintained during a change in body size. We have also established the principles of organization of the network and showed that some of the geometric properties are variable across different parts of the body. This suggests that there may be different functions occurring in regions with different structural characteristics. This is the most comprehensive structural description of a ctenophore nerve net to date and demonstrates the amenability of P. pileus for whole organism network analysis.
Genetic control and integration of maturation and germination pathways in seed development

The viviparous and germination mutants of maize and Arabidopsis thaliana illuminate the mechanism that integrates control of morphogenetic, maturation, dormancy, and germination pathways in seed development. Key elements of this mechanism include (a) developmental control of abscisic acid and gibberellin hormone synthesis and perception, (b) integration of maturation and anthocyanin pathways in the maize seed, (c) functions of the VP1 and ABI3 factors in abscisic acid-regulated gene expression, and (d) intrinsic developmental genes that couple seed maturation to the program of embryo morphogenesis. The scarcity of mutants that affect timing or tissue specificity of hormone synthesis in the seed is an important constraint to progress in understanding the role of hormone signals. The interactions among the abscisic acid-insensitive abil, abi2, abi3, abi4, and abi5 mutants of A. thaliana are consistent with multiple pathways of abscisic acid signal transduction in the seed. The maize Vp1 and A. thaliana Abi3.
A qualitative analysis of infant and young child feeding practices in rural Rwanda

Abstract Objective: To explore and gain an in-depth understanding of the factors influencing child feeding practices among rural caregivers in Rwanda. Design: In-depth semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted. Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and coded. Data were analysed inductively using thematic analysis. Setting: Rutsiro District, Western Province, Rwanda. Participants: Participants included twenty-four mothers (median age 32 years) with children 6–23 months old. Results: We identified five key themes: (i) breast-feeding practices and role in food supply; (ii) family v. children’s food preparations; (iii) food classification systems and their influence on child feeding decisions; (iv) child feeding during diarrhoeal episodes and (v) influence of poverty on child feeding practices and child care. Conclusions: Mothers’ infant and young child feeding decisions are informed by information both from health workers and from traditional/own knowledge. Navigating through this information sometimes creates conflicts which results in less than optimal child feeding. A nutrition educational approach that is cognisant of maternal perceptions should be employed to improve child feeding practices. Efforts to improve child feeding practices must be complemented by programmes that enhance household economic opportunities and access to foods.
Piezoelectric Performance of a Symmetrical Ring-Shaped Piezoelectric Energy Harvester Using PZT-5H under a Temperature Gradient

With the rapid development of microelectronics technology, low-power electronic sensors have been widely applied in many fields, such as Internet of Things, aerospace, and so on. In this paper, a symmetrical ring-shaped piezoelectric energy harvester (SR-PEH) is designed to provide energy for the sensor to detect the ambient temperature. The finite element method is used by utilizing software COMSOL 5.4, and the electromechanical coupling model of the piezoelectric cantilever is established. The output performance equations are proposed; the microelectromechanical system (MEMS) integration process of the SR-PEH, circuit, and sensor is stated; and the changing trend of the output power density is explained from an energy perspective. In the logarithmic coordinate system, the results indicate that the output voltage and output power are approximately linear with the temperature when the resistance is constant. In addition, the growth rate of the output voltage and output power decreases with an increase of resistance under the condition of constant temperature. In addition, with an increase of temperature, the growth rate of the output power is faster than that of the output voltage. Furthermore, resistance has a more dramatic effect on the output voltage, whereas temperature has a more significant effect on the output power. More importantly, the comparison with the conventional cantilever-shaped piezoelectric energy harvester (CC-PEH) shows that the SR-PEH can improve the output performance and broaden the frequency band.
Modeling the stability of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on skin, currency, and clothing

A new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in the winter of 2019 in Wuhan, China, and rapidly spread around the world. The extent and efficiency of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is far greater than previous coronaviruses that emerged in the 21st Century. Here, we modeled stability of SARS-CoV-2 on skin, paper currency, and clothing to determine if these surfaces may factor in the fomite transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2. Skin, currency, and clothing samples were exposed to SARS-CoV-2 under laboratory conditions and incubated at three different temperatures (4C, 22C, and 37C). Stability was evaluated at 0 hours (h), 4 h, 8 h, 24 h, 72 h, 96 h, 7 days, and 14 days post-exposure. SARS-CoV-2 was shown to be stable on skin through the duration of the experiment at 4C (14 days). Virus remained stable on skin for at least 96 h at 22C and for at least 8h at 37C. There were minimal differences between the tested currency samples. The virus remained stable on the $1 U.S.A. Bank Note for at least 96 h at 4C while viable virus was not detected on the $20 U.S.A. Bank Note samples beyond 72 h. The virus remained stable on both Bank Notes for at least 8 h at 22C and 4 h at 37C. Clothing samples were similar in stability to the currency with the virus being detected for at least 96 h at 4C and at least 4 h at 22C. No viable virus was detected on clothing samples at 37C after initial exposure. This study confirms the inverse relationship between virus stability and temperature. Furthermore, virus stability on skin demonstrates the need for continued hand hygiene practices to minimize fomite transmission both in the general population as well as workplaces where close contact is common.
Characterization Of Bremsstrahlung Radiation For 10 ,30 And 60 Mev Electron Beam From Thick Tungsten

Monte Carlo calculations have been made of electron-photon cascades in thick tungsten targets bombarded by electrons with energies 10, 30 and 60 MeV. The information’s about the bremsstrahlung efficiency, the angular distribution of the emitted bremsstrahlung intensity, and the spectrum of bremsstrahlung radiation in different directions has been obtained. By thick targets we mean targets whose thickness is at least an appreciable fraction of the mean range of the incident electrons.The most complete work in which the characteristics of braking radiation were studied is the work of Berger and Seltzer [1]. This paper describes calculations of bremsstrahlung production in thick tungsten target irradiated by monoenergetic electrons with kinetic energy from 10, 30 and 60 MeV.
Genetic diversity in Swiss cattle breeds

Introduction First attempts at establishing the genetic relationships among cattle populations relied on archeological evidence (Epstein 1971; Epstein and Mason 1984) and protein polymorphisms (Baker and Manwell 1980, 1991). Loftus et al. (1994) examined mitochondrial DNA to determine the divergence time between Bos taurus and Bos indicus. Today most studies on genetic diversity are based on microsatellite analysis (Litt and Luty 1989; Tautz 1989; Weber and May 1989). Microsatellites were used in, e.g. man (Bowcock et al. 1994), canids (Roy et al. 1994; Fredholm and Wintero 1995) and sheep (Buchanan et al. 1994). Recent studies in cattle are also microsatellite based (e.g. Machugh et al. 1994; Ciampolini et al. 1995; Moazami-Goudarzi et al. 1997) and aim at facilitating the development of management programs for endangered breeds (FAO 1981). Our microsatellite-based investigation on the genetic diversity between and within Swiss cattle breeds included Original Swiss Brown, purebred Simmental, Holstein, Herens and Evolenard. Previous studies in Swiss breeds made use of blood group systems (Reuse 1969), serum transferrin and hemoglobin (Krummen 1964), amylase (Buser 1970) and carboanhydrases (Kastli et al. 1980). The Herens breed is endemic to the canton of Wallis. The Evolenard, which are very few in numbers and restricted to a single valley in the canton of Wallis, are phenotypically very similar to the Herens with the exception of the coat colour. In the Aosta valley (Italy) which borders the canton of Wallis these two breeds find their counterparts. The phenotype of the Aosta Chestnut fits the Herens and the Aosta Black Pied fits the Evolenard. The Holstein breed replaced the Fribourg breed which was a colour variant of the purebred Simmental breed (Engeler et al. 1961) and is now extinct. The Original Swiss Brown and the purebred Simmental are endemic to Switzerland.