Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Essays on Antisocial Preferences, Altruism, and Information Transmission

This doctoral thesis consists of a collection of three independent chapters. The first chapter reports the results of a laboratory experiment designed to investigate whether antisocial behaviour is driven by nastiness, defined as an intrinsic pleasure derived from lowering the well-being of others. As we shall see, people are not nasty for the sake of being nasty. Rather, people become nastier when lowering somebody’s welfare is monetarily beneficial. The second chapter explores the effects of the relative price and monetary stakes on the Dictators’ decisions in three different contexts. The data shows the experimental context matter: the effect of the monetary stakes is strong and significant on giving, but is weak and insignificant on taking. The third chapter presents an experiment designed to investigate the role of ex-post acquisition information in Sender-Receiver games. The analysis reveals that deception decreases when the Receiver can learn about the structure of the payoffs. Furthermore, a significant minority of Receivers choose to get ex post information about the payoffs.
Enhanced severity of secondary dengue-2 infections: death rates in 1981 and 1997 Cuban outbreaks.

OBJECTIVE To understand the possible effect that length of time has on disease severity with sequential dengue infections. METHODS Death and hospitalization rates for dengue hemorrhagic fever/dengue shock syndrome (DHF/DSS) per 10,000 secondary dengue-2 infections were compared in the same age group for two dengue-2 (DEN-2) epidemics in Cuba. The first DEN-2 epidemic affected all of Cuba in 1981; the second one, in 1997, impacted only the city of Santiago de Cuba. The sensitizing infection for DHF/DSS for each of the DEN-2 epidemics was dengue-1 (DEN-1) serotype virus, which was transmitted in 1977-1979, that is, 4 years and 20 years before the two DEN-2 epidemics. Using published seroepidemiological data from the cities of Havana and Santiago de Cuba, we estimated the rates at which persons aged 15-39 years old and those 40 years and older were hospitalized or died of DHF/DSS in Havana and in all of Cuba in 1981 and in just Santiago de Cuba in 1997. RESULTS Among adults 15-39 years old the death rate per 10,000 secondary DEN-2 infections was 38.5 times as high in Santiago de Cuba in 1997 as in Havana in 1981. As a further indication of the increased severity coming with a longer period between the initial DEN-1 infection and the secondary DEN-2 infection, the case fatality rate for that same age group was 4.7 times as high in Santiago in 1997 as it was in Havana in 1981. CONCLUSION We found a marked increase in severity with the longer of the two intervals (20 years) between an initial DEN-1 infection and a secondary DEN-2 infection. Such a difference may be due to subtle shifts in causative dengue strains or to changes with the passage of time in the circulating population of human dengue antibodies. These observations have important implications for dengue control, pathogenic mechanisms, and vaccine development.
The cyclic and strongly connected of the products of intuitionistic fuzzy Mealy machines

This paper introduces an intuitionistic fuzzy Mealy machine(ifm) and various kinds of products of intuitionistic fuzzy Mealy machines such as intuitionistic cartesian product, intuitionistic full direct product, intuitionistic restricted direct product, intuitionistic cascade product and intuitionistic wreath product are analyzed. These products preserve the properties of cyclic, intuitionistic retrievable and strongly connected of intuitionistic fuzzy Mealy machines are examined. 2010 AMS Classification: : 18B20, 68Q70
Collaborative event detection using mobile and stationary nodes in sensor networks

Monitoring a large area with stationary sensor networks requires a very large number of nodes which with current technology implies a prohibitive cost. The motivation of this work is to develop an architecture where a set of mobile sensors will collaborate with the stationary sensors in order to reliably detect and locate an event. The main idea of this collaborative architecture is that the mobile sensors should sample the areas that are least covered (monitored) by the stationary sensors. Furthermore, when stationary sensors have a ldquosuspicionrdquo that an event may have occurred, they report it to a mobile sensor that can move closer to the suspected area and can confirm whether the event has occurred or not. An important component of the proposed architecture is that the mobile nodes autonomously decide their path based only on local information (their own beliefs and measurements as well as information collected from the stationary sensors in their communication range). We believe that this approach is appropriate in the context of wireless sensor networks since it is not feasible to have an accurate global view of the state of the environment.
Human Monoclonal Antibodies against Glucagon Receptor Improve Glucose Homeostasis by Suppression of Hepatic Glucose Output in Diet-Induced Obese Mice

Aim Glucagon is an essential regulator of hepatic glucose production (HGP), which provides an alternative therapeutic target for managing type 2 diabetes with glucagon antagonists. We studied the effect of a novel human monoclonal antibody against glucagon receptor (GCGR), NPB112, on glucose homeostasis in diet-induced obese (DIO) mice. Methods The glucose-lowering efficacy and safety of NPB112 were investigated in DIO mice with human GCGR for 11 weeks, and a hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp study was conducted to measure HGP. Results Single intraperitoneal injection of NPB112 with 5 mg/kg effectively decreased blood glucose levels in DIO mice for 5 days. A significant reduction in blood glucose was observed in DIO mice treated with NPB112 at a dose ≥5 mg/kg for 6 weeks, and its glucose-lowering effect was dose-dependent. Long-term administration of NPB112 also caused a mild 29% elevation in glucagon level, which was returned to the normal range after discontinuation of treatment. The clamp study showed that DIO mice injected with NPB112 at 5 mg/kg were more insulin sensitive than control mice, indicating amelioration of insulin resistance by treatment with NPB112. DIO mice treated with NPB112 showed a significant improvement in the ability of insulin to suppress HGP, showing a 33% suppression (from 8.3 mg/kg/min to 5.6 mg/kg/min) compared to the 2% suppression (from 9.8 mg/kg/min to 9.6 mg/kg/min) in control mice. In addition, no hypoglycemia or adverse effect was observed during the treatment. Conclusions A novel human monoclonal GCGR antibody, NPB112, effectively lowered the glucose level in diabetic animal models with mild and reversible hyperglucagonemia. Suppression of excess HGP with NPB112 may be a promising therapeutic modality for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.
Ca2+/Calmodulin-Dependent Kinase Kinase α Is Expressed by Monocytic Cells and Regulates the Activation Profile

Macrophages are capable of assuming numerous phenotypes in order to adapt to endogenous and exogenous challenges but many of the factors that regulate this process are still unknown. We report that Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent kinase kinase α (CaMKKα) is expressed in human monocytic cells and demonstrate that its inhibition blocks type-II monocytic cell activation and promotes classical activation. Affinity chromatography with paramagnetic beads isolated an approximately 50 kDa protein from nuclear lysates of U937 human monocytic cells activated with phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA). This protein was identified as CaMKKα by mass spectrometry and Western analysis. The function of CaMKKα in monocyte activation was examined using the CaMKKα inhibitors (STO-609 and forskolin) and siRNA knockdown. Inhibition of CaMKKα, enhanced PMA-dependent CD86 expression and reduced CD11b expression. In addition, inhibition was associated with decreased translocation of CaMKKα to the nucleus. Finally, to further examine monocyte activation profiles, TNFα and IL-10 secretion were studied. CaMKKα inhibition attenuated PMA-dependent IL-10 production and enhanced TNFα production indicating a shift from type-II to classical monocyte activation. Taken together, these findings indicate an important new role for CaMKKα in the differentiation of monocytic cells.
A new proposed location registration procedure in next generation cellular networks (NGCN)

— The objective of this research is to propose a new location registration procedure for System Architecture Evolution (SAE) which is the core network architecture of 3GPP’s future Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless communication standard. Under the proposed procedure, the authentication between access systems supporting different IP versions is carried out. A signaling message for a new location registration procedure is developed to evaluate the performance of the signaling procedure. The numerical results showed that the proposed procedure reduces the registration costs and latency for location registration. Therefore, this procedure results in significant performance improvements for SAE.
Field free line generation for Magnetic Particle Imaging based on the Mirror Rule

A novel approach for the generation of the Field Free Line (FFL) with four circular coils is proposed in this paper. A rule for the generation of FFL with four circular coils called Mirror Rule is established and proved based on Biot-Savart Law. Calculations of the FFL field distribution were performed. The relationships between the coil rotation angle and the field inhomogeneity as well as field efficiency were studied. The Mirror Rule for FFL generation and the calculation results were also testified by FEM simulation using the Maxwell software. Based on the Mirror Rule, MPI using a dual-surface FFL generator is able to avoid the patient rotation and promising for future clinical usage.
Análise da performance de jogadores profissionais de futebol chutando pênaltis, previamente estimulados emocionalmente: a utilização do eye tracker como ferramenta no futebol

Hoje, ja e sabido, que e impossivel desassociar o corpo da mente. Sabe-se que e no cerebro, onde ainda existe uma possibilidade de conseguir ganhos de performance e eficacia nos esportes, uma sutil diferenca que pode significar o sucesso. Em destaque encontram-se as cobrancas de penaltis que vem definindo competicoes. O objetivo deste estudo e analisar a performance de jogadores profissionais de futebol chutando penaltis, previamente estimulados emocionalmente antes da acao do chute, utilizando para tanto as respostas psicofisiologicas do seguimento ocular (Eye Tracker) buscando diferencas de perfis e padroes de eficacia e conversibilidade dos penaltis em gols. Poucos estudos combinaram acoes fisicas motoras com variaveis e estimulos emocionais psicofisiologicos, A confirmacao dos resultados empiricos e qualitativos permite aceitar as duas hipoteses de estudo: O comportamento visual possibilita avaliar padroes de eficacia na conversao dos penaltis em gols, e a previa estimulacao dos neuronios espelho proporciona um aumento de conversibilidade dos penaltis. O experimento foi feito com 2 grupos de 20 jogadores profissionais das categorias de base da equipe x. O estudo contribuiu para um aprofundamento empirico academico, que demostrou a possibilidade de utilizacao de novas metodologias e uma contribuicao pratica para a melhoria de metodos de treinamento. ABSTRACT Performance analysis of professional football players kicking penalties, previously emotionally stimulated: the use of the eye tracker as a tool in football Nowadays it is known that it is impossible to disassociate the body from the mind. Is in the brain, where there is still a possibility of achieving performance gains and effectiveness in sports, a subtle difference that can mean success. Highlights are the penalty shootouts that have been defining competitions. The objective of this study is to analyze the performance of professional football players kicking penalties, previously emotionally stimulated before the kick action, using both the psychophysiological responses of the eye tracking (Eye Tracker) seeking differences in profiles and standards of effectiveness and convertibility of the penalties in goals. Few studies have combined motor physical actions with psychophysiological variables and emotional stimuli. Confirmation of the empirical and qualitative results allows us to accept both study’s hypotheses: Visual behavior makes it possible to evaluate the effectiveness of converting the penalties into goals and the previous stimulation of the mirror neurons provides an increase in the convertibility of the penalties. The experiment was done with two groups of 20 professional football players from the base categories of team x. The study contributed to an empirical academic depth, which showed the possibility of using new methodologies and a practical contribution to the improvement of training methods.
Effective energy function for proteins in lipid membranes

A simple extension of the EEF1 energy function to heterogeneous membrane‐aqueous media is proposed. The extension consists of (a) development of solvation parameters for a nonpolar phase using experimental data for the transfer of amino acid side‐chains from water to cyclohexane, (b) introduction of a heterogeneous membrane‐aqueous system by making the reference solvation free energy of each atom dependent on the vertical coordinate, (c) a modification of the distance‐dependent dielectric model to account for reduced screening of electrostatic interactions in the membrane, and (d) an adjustment of the EEF1 aqueous model in light of recent calculations of the potential of mean force between amino acid side‐chains in water. The electrostatic model is adjusted to match experimental observations for polyalanine, polyleucine, and the glycophorin A dimer. The resulting energy function (IMM1) reproduces the preference of Trp and Tyr for the membrane interface, gives reasonable energies of insertion into or adsorption onto a membrane, and allows stable 1‐ns MD simulations of the glycophorin A dimer. We find that the lowest‐energy orientation of melittin in bilayers varies, depending on the thickness of the hydrocarbon layer. Proteins 2003;52:176–192. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Human UPF1 Participates in Small RNA-Induced mRNA Downregulation

ABSTRACT MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous antisense regulators that trigger endonucleolytic mRNA cleavage, translational repression, and/or mRNA decay. miRNA-mediated gene regulation is important for numerous biological pathways, yet the underlying mechanisms are still under rigorous investigation. Here we identify human UPF1 (hUPF1) as a protein that contributes to RNA silencing. When hUPF1 is knocked down, miRNA targets are upregulated. The depletion of hUPF1 also increases the off-target messages of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), which are imperfectly complementary to transfected siRNAs. Conversely, when overexpressed, wild-type hUPF1 downregulates miRNA targets. The helicase domain mutant of hUPF1 fails to suppress miRNA targets. hUPF1 interacts with human Argonaute 1 (hAGO1) and hAGO2 and colocalizes with hAGO1 and hAGO2 in processing bodies, which are known to be the sites for translational repression and mRNA destruction. We further find that the amounts of target messages bound to hAGO2 are reduced when hUPF1 is depleted. Our data thus suggest that hUPF1 may participate in RNA silencing by facilitating the binding of the RNA-induced silencing complex to the target and by accelerating the decay of the mRNA.
Software Vulnerabilities , Prevention and Detection Methods : A Review 1

Software is a common component of the devices or systems that form part of our actual life. These systems are usually complex and are developed by different programmers. Usually programmers make mistakes in the code which could generate software vulnerabilities. A software vulnerability is a flaw or defect in the software construction that can be exploited by an attacker in order to obtain some privileges in the system. It means the vulnerability offers a possible entry point to the system. Despite the knowledge about vulnerabilities nowadays there is still a growing tendency in the number of reported vulnerabilities, reason why software security has become an important field of research. The presence of vulnerabilities in the production of software makes necessary to have tools that can help programmers to avoid or detect them in the development of the code. Thus, in relation to our on-going research on vulnerability detection, this article presents an overview of software vulnerabilities and their prevention and detection methods.
Vertical handovers in multiple heterogeneous wireless networks: a measurement study for the future internet

As the access patterns of mobile users are diverse and their traffic demand is growing, multiple wireless access networks become dominant and their coexistence will be the norm in the future Internet infrastructure. To evaluate protocols and algorithms in these heterogeneous wireless networking environments, testbed-based experiments are of crucial importance since mathematical modeling and simulation cannot reflect the high complexity of systems and wireless link dynamics sufficiently. Leveraging femtocell technologies, we propose and build a testbed in which WiFi access points and WiMAX base stations are integrated. We also implement the vertical handover functionality through the SIP protocol, and carry out comprehensive measurements to analyze vertical handover delays. The testbed measurements of vertical handovers reveal that the DHCP mechanism, the authentication process in WiMAX, and the probing process in WiFi incur substantial delay.
Physical fitness in children and adolescents in rural and urban areas

Objective: the aim of the research was to determine the differences in fitness components among children and adolescents from urban and rural areas. Design/method: A sample of 5076 school children (2877) and adolescents (2199) from urban and rural areas from the region of Strumica (Macedonia). Physical fitness is estimated with 7 tests and that: standing long jump, sit-ups, bent arm hang, handgrip, sit and reach, speed-agility, shuttle run 4x10 and three-minute step test. The differences in fitness tests, anthropometric measures and body composition by place of residence were examined by one-way analysis of covariance. Results: Rural children and adolescent have lower height, body mass BMI and body fat % and had higher muscular mass % cardiorespiratory fitness and speed-agility (all p < 0.001), than urban young people. Regarding muscular fitness, the results differed depending on the fitness test selected. Rural children and adolescent had a better performance in standing long jump, handgrip strength bent arm hang while they had a lower performance in sit-ups in 30 s (all p < 0.001), compared to their urban peers. Effect size was small-medium (Cohen’s d = 0.1–0.5). Conclusion: children and adolescents from the rural environment show better results in cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle fitness of the upper and lower extremities and have better coordination, speed and agility in comparison with their urban peers. The place of residence, apart from other environmental factors, should be taken into account when building a state strategy and interventions through which it will promote physical activity and health.
Carotid Body Denervation Prevents the Development of Insulin Resistance and Hypertension Induced by Hypercaloric Diets

Increased sympathetic activity is a well-known pathophysiological mechanism in insulin resistance (IR) and hypertension (HT). The carotid bodies (CB) are peripheral chemoreceptors that classically respond to hypoxia by increasing chemosensory activity in the carotid sinus nerve (CSN), causing hyperventilation and activation of the sympathoadrenal system. Besides its role in the control of ventilation, the CB has been proposed as a glucose sensor implicated in the control of energy homeostasis. However, to date no studies have anticipated its role in the development of IR. Herein, we propose that CB overstimulation is involved in the etiology of IR and HT, core metabolic and hemodynamic disturbances of highly prevalent diseases like the metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and obstructive sleep apnoea. We demonstrate that CB activity is increased in IR animal models and that CSN resection prevents CB overactivation and diet-induced IR and HT. Moreover, we show that insulin triggers CB, highlighting a new role for hyperinsulinemia as a stimulus for CB overactivation. We propose that CB is implicated in the pathogenesis of metabolic and hemodynamic disturbances through sympathoadrenal overactivation and may represent a novel therapeutic target in these diseases.
Poor man's content centric networking (with TCP)

A number of different architectures have been proposed in support of data-oriented or information-centric networking. Besides a similar visions, they share the need for designing a new networking architecture. We present an incrementally deployable approach to content-centric networking based upon TCP. Content-aware senders cooperate with probabilistically operating routers for scalable content delivery (to unmodified clients), effectively supporting opportunistic caching for time-shifted access as well as de-facto synchronous multicast delivery. Our approach is application protocol-independent and provides support beyond HTTP caching or managed CDNs. We present our protocol design along with a Linux-based implementation and some initial feasibility checks.
Challenges in Web Search Engines

: In this paper we propose a new type of search engine for web personalization approach. It will capture the interests and preferences of the user in the form of concepts of mining search results and their click troughs. A web search engine consists of three parts: (1) A crawler that retrieves web pages to be put into the engine’s collection of web pages; (2) an indexer that builds the inverted index (also called the index), which is the main data structure used by the search engine and represents the crawled web pages; (3) and a query handler that answers user queries using the index. In internet, a wide range of web information increases rapidly, user wants to retrieve the information based upon his preference of using search engines. Our approach is to improve the search accuracy by means of separating the concepts into content based concepts and location based which plays an important role in global search. Moreover, recognizing the fact that different users and queries may have different emphasis on content and location information, we introduce the content and location based concepts and achieves their respective results. Additionally, search engine also provides the facility of local search by entering keywords without using internet. And feature of integrity of the search engines at one location so that user can work with different search engines in parallel.
A new architecture of planar three-degree-of-freedom parallel manipulator

In this paper a new architecture of a planar three-degree-of-freedom (3-dof) parallel manipulator is presented. In the proposed mechanism, the prismatic actuators are fixed to the base which leads to a reduction of the inertia of the moving links and hence makes it attractive, particularly when high speeds are required and electric actuation is considered. After introducing the mechanism, a kinematic analysis is reported. Then, velocity and acceleration equations are derived. Based on the geometry of the manipulator a workspace analysis is performed and a description of the boundaries of the workspace is provided. This manipulator can be used in robotic applications involving the positioning and orientation of a rigid body on the plane with high stiffness or accuracy. Additionally, the mechanism can find applications in motion simulators or other high-precision or high-speed devices.