Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gender issues for Italian young people: exploring gender identity and cultures in social autobiographies

ABSTRACT The transformations of gender cultures are among the most powerful cultural and social processes of our age: at different speeds, these changes are affecting all societies in the world. Feminist thought and struggles, LGBTQ+ movements and new masculinities are eroding the pillars of patriarchy. Changes of this magnitude, destined to overturn centuries-old systems and power relations in public and private life, have been met with widespread resistance. Even the most progressive societies have experienced backlash, and gender-based discrimination and violence are still topical phenomena. This research investigates how today's young people are living this phase of tension between opportunities for change and the persistence of traditional mentalities. Specifically, what awareness do 20-year-olds have of the gender revolution underway? What influences do the family and the school exert? What conceptions do they hold, what practices do they follow? The strength of the research lies in its empirical corpus: it includes about 300 gender-focused social autobiographies, written by young Italian university students, men and women, and analysed with a qualitative method. This study offers an important insight into contemporary gender cultures in Italy.
Does an Exchange-Traded Fund Converge to its Benchmark in the Long Run? Evidence from Ishares MSCI in Asia-Pacific Countries

This study examines the linkages between exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and their benchmark indices from 2013 to 2019 using iShares MSCI of ten Asia-Pacific countries. Our results show, first, that there is a long-run causality running from the benchmark index to ETFs. These findings imply that ETFs may replicate the performance of the benchmark index over the long run. Second, there is a unidirectional causal relationship from ETFs to the benchmark index in the short run, which indicates that benchmark index prices respond to the short-run changes in the ETF prices when new information is available. Third, there is a significant tracking error between ETFs and the benchmark index. This finding justifies the existence of stock selection and market timing abilities among the ETF managers. Lastly, fund managers add value to the ETFs and generate better than the market returns. This paper provides new evidence to support this new stylized fact of ETFs.
Conceptual Model to Assess Factors Affecting Productivity of University Staff; An Exploratory Factor Analysis Approach

Productivity of university members has been defined in different forms; however, no specific definition is presented to evalu - ate factors that determine the productivity of university members. This study intends to provide a certain definition for the productivity of university members including five major constructs that impact productivity and employs an Exploratory Factor Analysis Approach to propose a conceptual model for evaluation of the impact of these factors on the productivity of the staff in university.
Spiral waves within a bistability parameter region of an excitable medium

Spiral waves are a well-known and intensively studied dynamic phenomenon in excitable media of various types. Most studies have considered an excitable medium with a single stable resting state. However, spiral waves can be maintained in an excitable medium with bistability. Our calculations, performed using the widely used Barkley model, clearly show that spiral waves in the bistability region exhibit unique properties. For example, a spiral wave can either rotate around a core that is in an unexcited state, or the tip of the spiral wave describes a circular trajectory located inside an excited region. The boundaries of the parameter regions with positive and ‘negative’ cores have been defined numerically and analytically evaluated. It is also shown that the creation of a positive or ‘negative’ core may depend on the initial conditions, which leads to hysteresis of spiral waves. In addition, the influence of gradient flow on the dynamics of the spiral wave, which is related to the tension of the scroll wave filaments in a three-dimensional medium, is studied.
Synergy Analysis of Knowledge Transfer for the Energy Sector within the Framework of Sustainable Development of the European Countries

The target for 2030 of reaching a 32% share of renewable energy in the gross final energy consumption can be achieved by speeding up the transformation pending the implementation of knowledge transfer (KT) policies that foster regional cooperation for the cost-effective development of renewables. The research purpose is the analysis of important factors in the development of the renewable energy sector through knowledge sharing and collaboration across the Member States in a comparable manner. The hypotheses are as follows: Hypothesis 1 (H1) there are synergies between knowledge transfer and economic impact through income and jobs for the renewable energy sector and Hypothesis 2 (H2) the EU countries have different profiles of synergy. The research proposition was established through the employment of a quantitative synergy and trade-offs analysis based on the knowledge transfer indicators and the sustainable development framework. The research method, namely the advanced sustainability analysis (ASA), uses the quantitative assessment tool for the understanding of synergies between two or three dimensions of sustainable development, presuming that the combined effect of the factors is greater than the sum of their individual effects. The current research comprises an evaluation of the renewable energy sector knowledge transfer policy models at the national level for 24 EU countries and four other European states, focusing on the capabilities to create synergies. The results of the study represent a valuable input for the policy makers, allowing for a coherent and sustainable planning and programming of the new electricity market, adopted through the Clean Energy Package, and following a highly dynamic and radically disruptive background, exploiting the ‘successful’ profiles.
Establishment of a Prognostic Prediction and Drug Selection Model for Patients with Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma by Multiomics Data Analysis

Methods This study was based on the multiomics data (including mRNA, lncRNA, miRNA, methylation, and WES) of 258 ccRCC patients from TCGA database. Firstly, we screened the feature values that had impact on the prognosis and obtained two subtypes. Then, we used 10 algorithms to achieve multiomics clustering and conducted pseudotiming analysis to further validate the robustness of our clustering method, based on which the two subtypes of ccRCC patients were further subtyped. Meanwhile, the immune infiltration was compared between the two subtypes, and drug sensitivity and potential drugs were analyzed. Furthermore, to analyze the heterogeneity of patients at the multiomics level, biological functions between two subtypes were compared. Finally, Boruta and PCA methods were used for dimensionality reduction and cluster analysis to construct a renal cancer risk model based on mRNA expression. Results A prognosis predicting model of ccRCC was established by dividing patients into the high- and low-risk groups. It was found that overall survival (OS) and progression-free interval (PFI) were significantly different between the two groups (p < 0.01). The area under the OS time-dependent ROC curve for 1, 3, 5, and 10 years in the training set was 0.75, 0.72, 0.71, and 0.68, respectively. Conclusion The model could precisely predict the prognosis of ccRCC patients and may have implications for drug selection for ccRCC patients.
The Making of American Industrial Research

This book tells the story of how and why industrial research was established in America by two large and innovative corporations: General Electric, formed in a merger of Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston in 1892, and the dominant force in the American electrical industry ever since; and American Telephone and Telegraph, the commercial outgrowth of Alexander Graham Bell's invention of the telephone. Important lessons can be drawn from the early efforts of these two corporations. Through industrial research - and particularly through the development of patented products and processes - large companies could begin to exert a new degree of market control by strongly influencing the rate and direction of technological change. The development of industrial research also had a profound impact on science and technology in America. It affected the content and methods of both by providing new opportunities, incentives, and constraints to the growing community of students and engineers.
European Grapevine Moth and Vitis vinifera L. Phenology in the Douro Region: (A)synchrony and Climate Scenarios

The European grapevine moth (Lobesia botrana; Denis and Schiffermüller, 1775) is considered a key pest for grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) in the Douro Region, Portugal. The phenology of both the grapevine and the pest has changed in the last decades due to the increase in temperature. Here, we assess the potential impact of climate change on the (a)synchrony of both species. The results show that the phenological stages (budburst, flowering and veraison) undergo an advancement throughout the region (at an ~1 km resolution) under a climate change scenario (Representative Concentration Pathways, RCP8.5) for the period 2051–2080, with respect to the historic period (1989–2015). For cv. Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca, the budburst advances up to 14 days, whereas for flowering and veraison the advancements are up to 10 days (mainly at low elevations along the Douro River). For the phenology of Lobesia botrana, earliness was also verified in the three flights (consequently there may be more generations per year), covering the entire region. Furthermore, the third flight advances further compared to the others. For both varieties, the interaction between the third flight (beginning and peak) and the veraison date is the most relevant modification under the future climate change scenario (RCP8.5, 2051–2080). The aforementioned outcomes from the phenology models help to better understand the possible shifts of both trophic levels in the region under future climate, giving insights into their future interactions.
Evaluation of building and occupant response to temperature and humidity: non-traditional heat stress considerations A comparison of different construction types used by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice

Evaluation of Building and Occupant Response to Temperature and Humidity: Non-Traditional Heat Stress Considerations A Comparison of Different Construction Types Used by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. (December 2004) Joseph Torey Nalbone, B.S., Baylor University: M.S., University of Texas at Dallas Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. James C. Rock This study examined the effects of construction types on the indoor environment of selected prison facilities in the State of Texas. Three collocated facilities of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice were monitored for temperature, relative humidity and barometric pressure over a period of fifteen months. The objectives of the study were to examine the response of the built environment to the stressors of ambient conditions, characterize the influence of the construction method for each facility and study the responses of the occupants of the buildings. From the data, an apparent temperature was calculated and then compared to the data collected by the regional National Weather Service facility for ambient conditions. A relationship between the type of facility and the resulting indoor environmental conditions was established. The construction materials chosen for a particular facility affected not only the rate of heating of the indoor environment but also the maximum temperature, apparent temperature and thermal variation experienced by the occupants. The peak temperature and relative
A Comparative Study of Association Rules Mining Algorithms

Association rule mining (ARM) is used to improve decisions making in the applications. ARM became essential in an information- and decision-overloaded world. They changed the way users make decisions, and helped their creators to increase revenue at the same time. Bringing ARM to a broader audience is essential in order to popularize them beyond the limits of scientific research and high technology entrepreneurship. It will be able to expand and apply effective marketing strategies and in disease identification frequent patterns are generated to discover the frequently occur diseases in a definite area which would be helpful to find new solution for the Problems found in these algorithms and also presents a comparison between different association mining algorithms. Association rule mining is the one of the most important technique of the data mining. Its aim is to extract interesting correlations, frequent patterns and association among set of items in the transaction database.
Business-Information Technology Alignment and Sustainability of State-Owned Tertiary Institutions in Rivers State, Nigeria

Purpose: This work examined Business-Information Technology Alignment and Sustainability of State-Owned Tertiary Institutions in Rivers State, Nigeria. The objective was to investigate the relationship between strategy-driven alignment and sustainability of state-owned tertiary institutions in Rivers State, Nigeria. Methodology: To achieve this, two research questions and hypotheses were designed to guide the study. The population for this work comprised 1,224 staff between grade level 11 and above in the five state-owned tertiary institutions in Rivers State. The sample size of this study consisted of 302 selected using the Taro-Yamane sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was the questionnaire. The test for the internal regularity of the instrument was conducted using Spearman Rank Order correlation. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions; Statistical Package for Social Science out version 23.0 was used to test the null hypotheses. Findings: It was found that strategy-driven alignment significantly influenced the sustainability of quality service delivery of the state-owned tertiary institutions in Rivers State, Nigeria; the study therefore concluded that adopting the concept of business-information technology alignment will invariably result to sustainability in tertiary institutions. Recommendation: The study recommended among other things that: Federal and state governments as well as tertiary institution’s management should, as a matter of urgency, develop credible strategy-driven alignment approach that will ensure that the unique objectives of the tertiary institutions are derived seamlessly while using IT, that tertiary institution management should fore-handily train all IT staff on the objectives of the institution so that everyone in IT has a visceral understanding of the institutions intention with regards to quality service delivery.
Sarcopenia, Precardial Adipose Tissue and High Tumor Volume as Outcome Predictors in Surgically Treated Pleural Mesothelioma

Background: We evaluated the prognostic value of Sarcopenia, low precardial adipose-tissue (PAT), and high tumor-volume in the outcome of surgically-treated pleural mesothelioma (PM). Methods: From 2005 to 2020, consecutive surgically-treated PM-patients having a pre-operative computed tomography (CT) scan were retrospectively included. Sarcopenia was assessed by CT-based parameters measured at the level of the fifth thoracic vertebra (TH5) by excluding fatty-infiltration based on CT-attenuation. The findings were stratified for gender, and a threshold of the 33rd percentile was set to define sarcopenia. Additionally, tumor volume as well as PAT were measured. The findings were correlated with progression-free survival and long-term mortality. Results: Two-hundred-seventy-eight PM-patients (252 male; 70.2 ± 9 years) were included. The mean progression-free survival was 18.6 ± 12.2 months, and the mean survival time was 23.3 ± 24 months. Progression was associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (p = <0.001), tumor-stage (p = 0.001), and type of surgery (p = 0.026). Three-year mortality was associated with higher patient age (p = 0.005), presence of COPD (p < 0.001), higher tumor-stage (p = 0.015), and higher tumor-volume (p < 0.001). Kaplan-Meier statistics showed that sarcopenic patients have a higher three-year mortality (p = 0.002). While there was a negative correlation of progression-free survival and mortality with tumor volume (r = 0.281, p = 0.001 and r = −0.240, p < 0.001; respectively), a correlation with PAT could only be shown for epithelioid PM (p = 0.040). Conclusions: Sarcopenia as well as tumor volume are associated with long-term mortality in surgically treated PM-patients. Further, while there was a negative correlation of progression-free survival and mortality with tumor volume, a correlation with PAT could only be shown for epithelioid PM.
Factors that influence cloud adoption in the public sector: The case of an emerging economy—Thailand

Abstract The use of information and communications technology (ICT) can improve business competitiveness and provide competitive advantages for organisations—from small to large enterprises. The public sector is even investigating whether cloud-based services can transform its ICT infrastructure to not only reduce costs but also ease maintenance, support and upgradeability. This study aims to analyse the order of important factors influencing cloud adoption and examine the group of causal relationships among the factors influencing cloud adoption in Thailand’s public sector. The data were collected quantitatively through self-administered questionnaires, randomly distributed to 210 sample respondents who had previously used the government cloud service. Then, 16 experts were consulted to determine the degree of direct influence between two factors in the scales of 0 and 4 through a pairwise comparison using purposive sampling. Assurance was identified as the most significant factor, which is also a significant causal factor, and flexibility as the least important one that influence cloud adoption in Thailand’s public sector. Moreover, the key criteria for each factor were identified, and the impact relation maps were obtained. This study contributes to the literature on cloud adoption, provides future research directions and includes suggestions that could help managers and policymakers develop better cloud service platforms for Thailand’s public sector.
Effects of low‐dose metformin on pre‐frailty among middle‐aged and elderly pre‐diabetic people

Pre‐frailty has been identified as a clinically silent mechanism pre‐disposing people to frailty. The goal of this study is to investigate the impact of low‐dose metformin on pre‐diabetic pre‐frail patients (>50 years) on skeletal muscle mass, speed of gait, handgrip power, and health‐related quality of life (HR‐QoL).
PFDA-FMEA-VSM Application for Outsourcing Risk Analysis

Manufacturing corporations has the acceptance of the Outsourcing Process (OP) to improve industrial activities as well as to archive the revenue objectives, and with this, Risk Analysis (RA) tools are constantly used to assure expected results. Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) is one of preferred RA tools, moreover, it is proven that FMEA adds uncertainty because of the human participation at the RA, afterward it is demonstrated that Pythagorean Fuzzy Dimensional Analysis – FMEA – Value Stream Mapping (PFDA-FMEA-VSM) method removes the uncertainty in RA, likewise it aids to the stakeholders for decision making, giving more advantages improving the use of the resources on the project. This document exhibits a real case scenario in a manufacturing firm applying PFDA-FMEA-VSM method adapted for manufacturing OP. The application of PFDA-FMEA-VSM shows solid RA results, removing the human intervention uncertainty added to the risk ranking, gives advantages to the stakeholders for visualize the main risks in detailed diagram, as well as make easier to take better decisions on where to apply resources and mitigate risks during OP.
Coronary centerline tracking in CT images with use of an elastic model and image moments.

This coronary-artery extraction method uses one initialization point per vessel. First, a mask is computed by use of a region-growing algorithm, which starts from the initial point and stops when no more connected voxels fall within an interactively defined intensity range. The centerline tracking is then performed within the mask, starting from the same initial point. This algorithm is based on a prediction/estimation scheme. It uses the first- and second-order image moments calculated within a spherical volume that slides along the vessel, and the radius of which is automatically adjusted to the local radius of the vessel. The evolution of the radius of the sphere is based on the analysis of the eigenvalues of the inertia matrix in a multi-scale framework. The estimation of the current point location makes use of an elastic model similar to ”snakes”. The point iteratively moves under the action of an image-force attracting it to the local gravity center, and under the reaction of the internal forces of the model, which reflect its shape constraints: continuity and smoothness. The prediction makes use of the eigenvectors of the inertia matrix. The stopping criteria of the centerline tracking are based on the size of the sphere and on the percentage of the masked voxels within the sphere. On 8 training CT datasets, the following mean results were obtained. Overlap with reference: considering the whole length (OV) 80.1%, until the first failure (OF) 48.9%, in clinically relevant segments (radius > 1.5 mm, OT) 81.7%. Average distance from reference: considering the whole length (AD) 4.32 mm, limited to segments where the semiautomatic centerline remains within the vessel (AI) 0.39 mm, in clinically relevant segments (AT) 4.13 mm. On 16 testing datasets, these results were respectively: OV =80.2%, OF =39.3%, OT =82.1%, AD =5.05 mm, AI =0.41 mm and AT =4.58 mm. A number of failures was due to the the fact that the model does not handle the bifurcations.