Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pathophysiology of Adipocyte Defects and Dyslipidemia in HIV Lipodystrophy: New Evidence from Metabolic and Molecular Studies

Despite a burgeoning mass of descriptive information regarding the epidemiology, clinical features, body composition changes, hormonal alterations and dyslipidemic patterns in patients with HIV lipodystrophy syndrome (HLS), the specific biochemical pathways that are dysregulated in the condition and the molecular mechanisms that lead to their dysfunction, remain relatively unexplored. In this paper, we review studies that detail the metabolic basis of the dyslipidemia - specifically, the hypertriglyceridemia - that is the serologic hallmark of HLS and present new data relevant to mechanisms of dyslipidemia in the postprandial state. We also describe preliminary experiments showing that in addition to the well-known effects of highly-active antiretroviral drugs, the functional disruption of adipocytes and preadipocytes by factors intrinsic to HIV-infected immunocytes may play a role in the pathogenesis of HLS.
The Effect of Cover Crop Management on Soil Conditions and Weed 6ontrol in a Colombar Vineyard in Oudtshoorn

Wimmera and vetch were used as vineyard cover crops in the hot and dry Klein Karoo region. The effect of different masses of dry cover crop residues used as mulches, as well as that of a growing crop, on soil moisture conservation was compared with the effect of a "bare soil" treatment. Data obtained comrrmed the common notion that in vineyards under dry-warm conditions any growing plants other than vines removed water from the soil which should have been available to the vines. Accumulative water consumption over the whole season on the mulched plots was 50 mm less than the total of 530 mm on plots with a growing cover crop. The mulch played an important role in moisture conservation, especially in the early and critical growth phase of the vines. The higher moisture content on the mulched plots was determined not only in the top layers, but also down to a depth of 120 cm. Under these climatic conditions a crop factor of0,50 for vineyards with growing cover crops is suggested. The implications of growing a cover crop in dry areas for organic matter production, weed control and moisture conservation are discussed. It was concluded that biological weed control by means of mulches, produced by growing cover crops in the vineyard, can replace pre-emergence herbicides.
Optimally weighting higher-moment instruments to deal with measurement errors in financial return models

Factor loadings are often measured with errors in financial return models. However, these models find applications in many fields of economics and finance. We present a new procedure to optimally weight two well-known cumulant (higher moments) estimators originally designed to deal with errors-in-variables. We develop a new version of the Hausman test which relies on these new instruments in order to build an indicator of measurement errors providing information about the extent of the bias for an estimated coefficient. We apply our new methodology to a well-known financial return model, i.e. the Fama and French (1997) model, over a sample of Hedge Fund Research (HFR) returns, whose distribution is strongly asymmetric and leptokurtic. Our experiments suggest that the market beta is biased by measurement errors, especially at the level of hedge fund strategies. Nevertheless, the alpha puzzle remains robust to our cumulant instruments.
Weyl compatible tensors

We introduce the new algebraic property of Weyl compatibility for symmetric tensors and vectors. It is strictly related to Riemann compatibility, which generalizes the Codazzi condition while preserving much of its geometric implications. In particular, it is shown that the existence of a Weyl compatible vector implies that the Weyl tensor is algebraically special, and it is a necessary and sufficient condition for the magnetic part to vanish. Some theorems (Derdzinski and Shen [11], Hall [15]) are extended to the broader hypothesis of Weyl or Riemann compatibility. Weyl compatibility includes conditions that were investigated in the literature of general relativity (as in McIntosh et al. [16, 17]). A simple example of Weyl compatible tensor is the Ricci tensor of an hypersurface in a manifold with constant curvature.
Molecular cloning and characterization of cDNA encoding Camelus dromedarius putative glucose 6- phosphate dehydrogenase

This study determined the partial coding sequence of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) cDNA from the Arabian camel Camelus dromedarius using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Degenerate PCR primers were designed from the available data base deposited in the GenBank. Applying these primers to cDNA prepared from isolated and purified total RNA from Arabian camel liver led to the generation of two PCR products corresponding to 969 and 477 bp. These PCR products were cloned on pGEM-T-Easy cloning vector separately. Sequencing of the PCR generated cDNA fragments indicated that the 969 bp fragment represents partial coding sequence of camel G6PD and showed 93, 91 and 86% similarity with the Homo sapiens , Bos taurus and Rattus norvegicus G6PD, respectively. The Camelus dromedaries G6PD partial coding sequence encodes an open reading frame of a truncated protein consists of 323 amino acid residues that showed the conserved substrate binding site and the dinuclotide-binding fingerprint.
The Effect of Psychosocial Group Based on Positive Psychology on Hopefulness in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder: A Clinical Trial

Introduction & Objective:Major depression is one of the most common psychiatric illnesses and, according to the World Health Organization, by 2020, the second most common disease in the world. Since one of the important goals of treating depression is the use of measures that can, in the short term, create favorable conditions, make people change from negative emotional state to positive state of affairs. Based on theoretical knowledge, positive psychology has this feature. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of positive group psychotherapy on the hope of patients with major depressive disorder.Materials and Methods:The present study was an experimental study in which the population of this study was composed of patients with major depressive disorder in Yasuj, Shahid Rajaee Nursing and Psychiatric Hospital. Among the patients with the criteria for entering the study, 32 first cases were randomly assigned to the experimental group and the other 32 as the control group. After completing the Snyder Hearing Inventory in the pre-test, four sessions and weekly sessions a 90-minute psychotherapy group was established for positive psychology. Immediately after completing the post-test training sessions and two weeks afterwards, the follow up was assessed. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 21 through independent t-test and Mann-Whitney test, Chi-square test, Fisher exact test, and ANOVA with repeated measurements at 95% confidence level.Results:At the beginning of the study, there was no significant difference between the experimental and control groups in terms of demographic characteristics. The hopefulness of the research units at the beginning of the study was 33.31 ± 5.31 in the experimental group and 30.72 ± 5.96 in the control group. Independent T-test did not show any significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.07). The hopefulness of the research units in the experimental group was 40.44 ± 5.9 in the first post test and 41.59 ± 5.48 in the second post test was significantly increased (P <0.001), while the hopefulness Control units of the control group in the first and second posttest have a decreasing trend toward the pretest.Conclusion:According to the findings of this study, it seems that psychosocial group based on positive psychology is effective on the hope of patients with major depressive disorder.
Working Paper Series COURTS ’ INEFFICIENCY AND IRREGULAR WORKERS : IDENTIFYING THE IMPACT OF REAL EPL

The employment protection legislation is not enforced uniformly both across and within countries. Among the others, the enforcement of regulation depends on the courts’actions and on the capacity of firms to escape legislation. We exploit the variation in courts’ineffi ciency across Italian judicial districts in order to provide evidence on the impact of EPL on job reallocation and firms’productivity. We show that the ineffi ciency of the judicial system has a causal effect on job flows by reducing both job creation and job destruction with a detrimental impact on firms’ labour productivity. Moreover, we find that the negative impact of firing costs on job turnover and productivity is weaker in regions with a large share of irregular workers, since firms can partially adjust their labour force through the informal channel. JEL CODES: D24, J63; K31; K41
Support Vector Machines for Nuclear Reactor

Validation of nuclear power reactor signals is often performed by comparing signal prototypes with the actual reactor signals. The signal prototypes are often computed based on empirical data. The implementation of an estimation algorithm which can make predictions on limited data is an important issue. A new machine learning algorithm called support vector machines (SVMS) recently developed by Vladimir Vapnik and his coworkers enables a high level of generalization with finite high-dimensional data. The improved generalization in comparison with standard methods like neural networks is due mainly to the following characteristics of the method. The input data space is transformed into a high-dimensional feature space using a kernel function, and the learning problem is formulated as a convex quadratic programming problem with a unique solution. In this paper we have applied the SVM method for data-based state estimation in nuclear power reactors. In particular, we implemented and tested kernels developed at Argonne National Laboratory for the Multivariate State Estimation Technique (MSET), a nonlinear, nonparametric estimation technique with a wide range of applications in nuclear reactors. The methodology has been applied to three data sets from experimental and commercial nuclear power reactor applications. The results are promising. The combination of MSET kernels with the SVM method has better noise reduction and generalization properties than the standard MSET algorithm.
Adsorption of Citric Acid from Aqueous Solution onto Activated P. Lentiscus Leaves

The removal of citric acid, an organic ligand, from aqueous solution by adsorption onto activated Pistacia Lentiscus leaves’ powder was investigated. Batch adsorption studies were performed to evaluate the effect of various operating parameters affecting the adsorption process such as pH, contact time, initial citric acid concentration and adsorbent dose. The optimum contact time for the equilibrium condition was 75 min. at the sorbent dose rate of 2.5g/L, while the best removal of CA was at pH 6. Isothermal and kinetic models were also carried out. The experimental kinetic adsorption data were in close agreement with second order rate kinetics expression. The obtained data were found to follow the three investigated isothermal models in the following order: Freundlich> Temkin> Langmuir, implying a heterogeneous sorption phenomenon. The infra red spactra of native and treated P. Lentiscus leaves confirmed adsorbate –adsorbent interaction responsible for sorption.
Effects of mindfulness on aggression following social rejection

Mindful people are attentive to what is going on around them without being judgmental (Brown & Ryan, 2003) and without being concerned about their self-esteem. In this study, I examined the possibility that being mindful would decrease aggressiveness following social rejection (Twenge, Baumeister, Tice & Stucke, 2001). I hypothesized that a mindfulness induction performed before receiving social rejection feedback would reduce later aggression, making aggression level similar to participants who received acceptance feedback. Planned comparisons showed that mean aggression levels between acceptance (M= -.623) and rejection (M= .725) conditions were significantly different (p<.01), and the difference between mindfulrejected (M= -.173) and rejection conditions was marginally significant (p<.06). Importantly, aggression in the acceptance and mindfulness conditions did not differ (p>.33). These results suggest that mindfulness can reduce the sting of social rejection by activating a relatively low level of ego-involvement. INDEX WORDS: Mindfulness, Aggression, Social rejection, Ego-involvement EFFECTS OF MINDFULNESS ON AGGRESSION FOLLOWING SOCIAL REJECTION
Do increases in petroleum product prices put the incumbent party at risk in US presidential elections?

This article investigates the impact of petroleum product prices on recent United States’ presidential elections by modelling the probability of the incumbent presidential party losing a state (under the United States’ electoral college system) it had carried the previous presidential election. The main finding is that the probability of the incumbent party losing a state previously carried increases with petroleum product prices but only in those states that have primarily energy consuming economies. We also find that increases in the number of international conflicts, increases in real state per-capita income growth, and increases in state per capita grants-in-aid all reduce the likelihood of losing previously carried states while higher taxation growth increases this likelihood.
LOCAL FEEDBACK APPLICATION IN TLS

The various orbit perturbations are enhanced after many insertion devices are installed in the storage ring of TLS. These sources will interfere to system performance. The local orbit feedback system is used to suppress miscellaneous local orbit perturbation. The feedback system consists of sensor and feedback control loop. The sensors are electron beam position monitor (BPM) and photon monitor of elliptical polarization undulator (EPU). The feedback control loop architecture share same hardware with global orbit feedback. The VME-based crates interconnected with high performance daisychained global reflective memory networks are used to share position data with DSP. The result is shown in this report.
Understanding Interaction Capacity of CO2 with Organic Compounds at Molecular Level: A Theoretical Approach

In this chapter, interactions of CO2 with a number of organic compounds at molecular level are discussed in detail. The naked and substituted hydrocarbons along with compounds functionalized by hydroxyl, carbonyl, thiocarbonyl, carboxyl, sulfonyl, and amide groups have attracted much attention as CO2-philic agents. In general, interaction capacity between the functionalized organic compounds with CO2 is stronger than the hydrocarbon and its derivatives. An addition of more CO2 molecules into the interaction system formed by the functionalized organic compounds and CO2 leads to an increase in the stability of the complexes. The obtained results indicate that π. π linkages between CO2 and aromatic rings can significantly contribute to the interactions between CO2 and MOF/ZIF materials. Formic acid (HCOOH) is likely to be the most soluble compound as compared to the remaining host molecules (CH3OH, CH3NH2, HCHO, HCOOCH3, and CH3COCH3) when dissolved in CO2. The carbonyl (>C═O, >C═S) and sulfonyl (>S═O, >S═S) compounds have presented a higher stability, as compared to other functionalized groups, when they interact with CO2. Therefore, they can be valuable candidates in the design of CO2-philic materials and in the search of materials to adsorb CO2.
The effect of physically effective fiber and soy hull on the ruminal cellulolytic bacteria population and milk production of dairy cows.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of the particle size (PS) of alfalfa hay (AH) and soybean hull (SH) on milk production of dairy cows and the population of major cellulolytic bacteria in the rumen. Eight lactating Holstein cows, averaging 590±33 kg BW and 47±13 days in milk (DIM ), were assigned in a 4x4 Latin square design to a 2x2 factorial arrangement of treatments: alfalfa hay particle size (fine vs. coarse) combined with soy hull (zero or substituted as 50% of AH). The cows were fed diets formulated according to NRC (2001). Physically effective factor (pef) and physically effective fiber (peNDF) contents of diets increased by increasing AH particle size and inclusion of SH in the diets (p<0.01). Dry matter intake was not significantly affected by treatments but intake of peNDF was increased marginally by increasing the PS of AH (p = 0.08) and by SH inclusion (p<0.01) in the diets. Milk production was increased by feeding diets containing SH (p = 0.04), but it was not affected by the dietary PS. Milk fat content was increased by increasing AH particle size (p = 0.03) and decreased by SH substitution for a portion of AH (p<0.01). The numbers of total bacteria and cellulolytic species were not affected by PS of AH or by SH. F succinogenes was the most abundant species in the rumen followed by R. albus and R. flavefaciens (p<0.01). This study showed that SH cannot replace the physically effective fiber in AH having either coarse or fine particle size. In diets containing SH, increasing of diet PS using coarse AH can maintain milk fat content similar to diets without SH. Particle size and peNDF content of diets did not affect the number of total or fibrolytic bacteria in the rumen.
Seasonal composition and population density of zooplankton in Lake Timsah, Suez Canal, Egypt

Zooplankton composition and abundance were investigated seasonally at ten sites in Lake Timsah and the adjacent, connected western lagoon in relation to the physicochemical conditions. A total of 42 taxa (including larval stages) were identified, among them 21 species of copepods, 6 rotifers, 5 cladocerans, 1 chaetognath and 1 urochordate. Copepods represented the predominant component (77.7% of the total community), followed by rotifers, molluscs, cladocerans and (9.2, 4.7 and 3.9% respectively), while other groups collectively formed about 4.5% of the total zooplankton population. Summer was the most productive season with an average count of 40 864 individuals m−3. The dominant copepod species were Paracalanus crassirostris and Oithona nana representing 28.3 and 24.3% of the total zooplankton respectively. The total zooplankton count, including copepods, and its dominant species showed significant positive correlations with temperature, pH and total phytoplankton density. However, negative correlations were detected between densities of rotifers, and salinity and dissolved oxygen.
Data-driven study: Augmenting prediction accuracy of recommendations in social learning platforms (abstract)

This study aims to develop a recommender system for a social learning platform to be provided by EU FP7 Open Discovery Space (ODS) project by taking into account social data of users to make recommendations. In this paper, we investigate which recommender algorithm can best fits social learning platforms like ODS platform. We conducted an experiment to test a set of different classical collaborative filtering algorithms on representative educational datasets similar to the future ODS dataset, as well as on the MovieLens dataset as a reference for studies on recommender systems. In addition to the classical collaborative filtering algorithms, we evaluated a graph-based recommender approach called T-index. We compare performance of the used algorithms in terms of F1 score. We also show how T-index approach can provide a balanced distribution of users degree centrality.
Real exchange rates and China's bilateral exports towards industrialized countries

A bilateral export demand function is used to estimate the effects on the Chinese bilateral exports of three real exchange rates: (1) bilateral real exchange rate capturing the price-competitiveness of the Chinese products in the market of the considered import country (traditional effect); (2) real effective exchange rate capturing the price-competitiveness of the goods of Chinese competitors in the same market (third-export-country effect); (3) real effective exchange rate capturing the price-competitiveness of the Chinese products in China's other export markets (third-import-country effect). This function is applied for the Chinese bilateral real exports towards 11 industrialized countries over the period from 1991 to 2004. The econometric results confirm the effects of the three real exchange rates, as well as the effects of the demand from developed countries.
Shell Model from a Practitioner's Point of View

The lecture presents an introduction to shell model applications in nu- clear spectroscopy. The evaluation of single particle energies, two-body interactions and effective operators and their correlation with the choice of model space is de- scribed. The results of the empirical shell model approach in a minimum valence space and of large-scale shell model calculations are summarised for various re- gions in the nuclidic chart. The mapping of the deformed and the spherical shell model is demonstrated, and the evolution of shell structure towards exotic nuclei is discussed.
Nucleation theorems, the statistical mechanics of molecular clusters, and a revision of classical nucleation theory

The nucleation theorems relate the temperature and supersaturation dependence of the rate of nucleation of droplets from a metastable vapor phase to properties of the critical molecular cluster, the size that is approximately equally likely to grow or decay. They are derived here using a combination of statistical mechanics and cluster population dynamics, using an arbitrary model cluster definition. The theorems are employed to test the validity of the classical theory of homogeneous nucleation and its “internally consistent” form. It is found that the properties of the critical cluster for these models are incorrect, and it emerges that this occurs because the classical theory employs the free energy of a fixed droplet, rather than one free to take any position in space. Thus a term representing positional, or mixing, entropy is missing from the cluster free energy. A revised model is proposed, based on the capillarity approximation but with such a term included, and it is shown that it is fully consistent with the nucleation theorems. The model increases classical rates by factors of approximately [Formula Presented]–[Formula Presented]. Other nucleation models should be tested for internal consistency using the same methods. Finally, the nucleation theorems are used to extract the excess internal energies of molecular clusters from experimental data for several substances. © 1997 The American Physical Society.
Factors Affecting FDI Flow in Ethiopia: An Empirical Investigation

This paper examined the determinants of foreign direct investment in Ethiopia. Five variables including market size, level of trade openness, inflation rate, infrastructure, and human capital were used. Time-series data covering a 21-year period (1990-2011) were obtained from the World Bank and analyzed using multivariate ordinary least square regression. The findings show that level of trade openness and inflation rate of Ethiopia have had a significant impact on the flow of foreign direct investments to Ethiopia. No clear relationship was obtained for market size, infrastructure, and human capital. Keyword s: FDI, inflation rate, trade openness, human capital