Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Towards the ubiquitous computer: A mobile agent approach

New advances in mobile computing devices allow us to think about new approaches such as a functional ubiquitous computer. In particular, it would be very useful for users to move from one place to another having all his data and applications available, in the same state, and without doing anything special (a real ubiquitous computer). In this paper we propose an infrastructure that makes the user independent from a specific computer/location. The intelligent environment detects the location of the user and presents his computer workspace on the closest computer. The system finds the optimal balance between remote and local access to user files and applications, to reduce the use of remote resources whenever possible. This is achieved by using mobile agents that manage the mobility of users. All the data (and applications’ state) “move” wherever the user goes, giving him the impression of controlling a computer just by getting close to it. We have done some tests that proof the flexibility of our approach.
Evidence that ADH-stimulated intramembrane particle aggregates are transferred from cytoplasmic to luminal membranes in toad bladder epithelial cells

In freeze-fracture (FF) preparations of ADH-stimulated toad urinary bladder, characteristic intramembrane particle (IMP) aggregates are seen on the protoplasmic (P) face of the luminal membrane of granular cells while complementary parallel grooves are found on the exoplasmic (E) face. These IMP aggregates specifically correlate with ADH-induced changes in water permeability. Tubular cytoplasmic structures whose membranes contain IMP aggregates which look identical to the IMP aggregates in the luminal membrane have also been described in granular cells from unstimulated and ADH-stimulated bladders. The diameter of these cytoplasmic structures (0.11 +/- 0.004 micrometers) corresponds to that of tubular invaginations of the luminal membrane seen in thin sections of ADH-treated bladders (0.13 +/- 0.005 micrometers). Continuity between the membranes of these cytoplasmic structures (which are not granules) and the luminal membrane has been directly observed in favorable cross-fractures. In FF preparations of the luminal membrane, these apparent fusion events are seen as round, ice-filled invaginations (0.13 +/- 0.01 micrometer Diam), of which about half have the characteristic ADH-associated aggregates near the point of membrane fusion. They are less numerous than, but linearly related to, the number of aggregates counted in the same preparations (n = 78, r = 0.71, P less than 0.01). These observations suggest that the IMP aggregates seen in luminal membrane after ADH stimulation are transferred preformed by fusion of cytoplasmic with luminal membrane.
Epidemiology of pertussis in adolescents and adults in Turkey

SUMMARY Two hundred and fourteen patients who had a cough illness lasting at least 2 weeks were studied to investigate Bordetella pertussis as a cause of prolonged cough in adolescents and adults. Medical history and nasopharyngeal swab specimens for culture and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were obtained at presentation. Three (1·4%) patients were B. pertussis culture-positive; 15 (7%) were B. pertussis PCR-positive (including the culture-positive patients) and 11 (5·1%) were Bordetella spp. PCR-positive. Symptom combinations were significantly high both in patients with pertussis and patients with indeterminate results (P < 0·05). We conclude that B. pertussis should be considered among differential diagnoses of prolonged cough in adolescents and adults and PCR and culture should be used to detect these cases and facilitate public health response.
A Review of Separating Mechanical Load Effects from Rotor Faults Detection in Induction Motors

Motor current signature analysis (MCSA) is usually used to detect rotor faults in induction motors. However, some abnormal mechanical load conditions such as load torque oscillation have similar effects in the stator current spectrum and often cause ambiguity in online motor condition monitoring. This paper first compares the effects of different types of rotor faults and mechanical load anomalies on the stator current spectra. After that, a comprehensive literature review is presented to evaluate different diagnostic techniques on separating these two effects. Based on their respective merits and limitations, an effective and computationally efficient strategy is proposed to reliably detect rotor faults under arbitrary load conditions without dependence on the accurate estimation of motor parameters.
Health Insurance and Consumption: Evidence from China’s New Cooperative Medical Scheme

We exploit a quasi-natural experiment arising from the introduction of a health insurance program in rural China to examine how the insurance coverage affects household consumption. Results show that, on average, the health insurance coverage increases nonmedical-related consumption by more than 5 percent. This insurance effect is observed even in households with no out-of-pocket medical spending. In addition, the insurance effect is stronger in poorer households and households with worse self-reported health status. These results are consistent with the precautionary savings argument. The insurance effect also varies by household experience with the program. In particular, the effect is significant only in villages where some households have actually obtained reimbursement from the insurance program. The program within these villages stimulates less consumption among new participants than among households that have participated in the program for more than a year.
Extraction of bulk DNA from Thar Desert soils for optimization of PCR-DGGE based microbial community analysis

Electronic Journal of Biotechnology ISSN: 0717-3458 Vol.10 No.3, Issue of July 15, 2007 © 2007 by Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso -- Chile Received May 22, 2006 / Accepted January 19, 2007
Long-term memory of cocaine-associated context: disruption and reinstatement

Long-term memory of cocaine-associated context was established by conditioned place preference learning. After 1 week, exposure to context in the absence of cocaine (memory retrieval) was paired with one of the following treatments: saline, scopolamine (muscarinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist), dizocilpine (MK-801; noncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist) or D-cycloserine (partial N-methyl-D-aspartate agonist). In subsequent conditioned place preference tests, place preference was suppressed in the drug-treated groups but not saline-treated groups. Results suggest that the amnesic agents, scopolamine and MK-801, disrupted reconsolidation of cocaine-associated contextual memory. In contrast, the mnemonic agent D-cycloserine might have facilitated extinction learning during context exposure in the absence of cocaine. Challenge administration of cocaine reinstated place preference in all groups except the MK-801 group, suggesting that suppression of conditioned response may or may not suppress memory evoked by drug-context reexposure.
Measuring the Engagement Level of Political Parties with Public on Facebook: The Case of Turkey

Political parties have not been indifferent to the opportunities offered by the internet-based technologies. Today, political parties use the social media tools to communicate, organize and mobilize. However, few studies focus on the use of social media by the political parties and these studies analyze the use of social media in election campaigns. Therefore, in the relevant literature, there is a need for empirical studies to analyze the use of social media for political communication by political parties during nonelection periods. In this context, this study, using a metrics set, aims to analyze the engagement level and engagement type of the political parties with public in Turkey on Facebook as a social media tool in a non-election period. The findings of our analysis show that the engagement level of the political parties with public on Facebook in Turkey is low. Moreover, political parties in Turkey fail to communicate with the public in a bidirectional way on Facebook.
48×10 Gbps Cost-Effective FPC-Based On-Board Optical Transmitter with PGA Connector

High bandwidth density on-board optical transmitter is reported in this paper. This on-board transmitter contains 4×12-channel 10Gbps CMOS driver ICs and 4×12-channel 850nm Multimode (MM) VCSEL arrays, with a total 48×10Gbps bandwidth and is packaged through flip-chip bonding on a flexible printed circuit (FPC) with SnAg solder bumps. Due to the compact package design, based on a commercial 1mm pitch ISI HoLi pin grid array (PGA) connector, the size of FPC is only 31.5mm × 31.5mm and it offers a state-of-art bandwidth density of 0.483Gbps/mm2. Investigation of RF signal propagation on the FPC is carried out for design validation at 10Gbps and to further explore the potential of the suggested platform differential pairs are simulated up to 30Gbps. An optical straight lens connector is used to couple the light to a single 48 fibers MT connector. To validate the design concept the fully assembled transmitter is tested at 10Gbps. Bit error rates for all 48 channels at 10Gbps as well as eye diagrams for few representative channels are reported.
Application of Multivariate Statistical Analysis for Query-Driven Visualization

: Abstract? Driven by the ability to generate ever-larger, increasingly complex data, there is an urgent need in the scientific community for scalable analysis methods that can rapidly identify salient trends in scientific data. Query-Driven Visualization (QDV) strategies are among the small subset of techniques that can address both large and highly complex datasets. This paper extends the utility of QDV strategies with a statistics-based framework that integrates non-parametric distribution estimation techniques with a new segmentation strategy to visually identify statistically significant trends and features within the solution space of a query. In this framework, query distribution estimates help users to interactively explore their query's solution and visually identify the regions where the combined behavior of constrained variables is most important, statistically, to their inquiry. Our new segmentation strategy extends the distribution estimation analysis by visually conveying the individual importance of each variable to these regions of high statistical significance. We demonstrate the analysis benefits these two strategies provide and show how they may be used to facilitate the refinement of constraints over variables expressed in a user's query. We apply our method to datasets from two different scientific domains to demonstrate its broad applicability.
The ethical significance of the virtuous organization inspired by Catholic mission for the delivery of health care

iv DEDICATION . vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENT . vii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION . 1 A. Part One: Theory and Theology . 2 B. Part Two: Application of the Ethics Hermeneutic. 9 CHAPTER TWO: THE VIRTUOUS ORGANIZATION . 12 A. Organizational Theory . 16 B. Business and Health Care Organizational Ethics . 23 C. The Virtuous Organization and the Component of Agency . 28 D. The Virtuous Organization and the Component of Social Responsibility . 33 E. The Virtuous Organization and the Component of Ethical Environment . 38 CHAPTER THREE: CATHOLIC MISSION . 45 A. Agency and the Mission Theme of Sanctity of Human Person . 45 1. Image of God . 47 2. Theology of Person . 51 3. Juridical Person . 56 4. Conclusion . 60 B. Social Responsibility and the Mission Theme of Common Good . 60 1. Care for the Poor and the Vulnerable. 64 2. Solidarity and Subsidiarity . 73
Role of aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 Glu504lys polymorphism in acute coronary syndrome

This study aimed to investigate the association of the aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) Glu504Lys polymorphism, which exists in 30–50% of East Asians, and risk of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). We enrolled 1092 unrelated Han Chinese, including 546 with ACS and 546 age‐ and sex‐matched controls. Subjects with ALDH2 mutant genotypes showed significantly higher ACS than did controls (46.7% versus 31.9%, P < 0.001). Logistic regression analysis revealed the ALDH2 mutant independently associated with ACS (odds ratio [OR] 1.95, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.31–2.92, P = 0.001), but the association was weaker on adjusting for alcohol consumption (OR 1.82, 95% CI: 1.23–2.70, P = 0.003). Similar results were found in a subgroup analysis of patients with primary ST‐segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). The ALDH2 mutant was significantly associated with level of high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein (hs‐CRP) in patients with ACS (P = 0.002) and in controls (P = 0.009) and number of circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) (P = 0.032); furthermore, inclusion of hs‐CRP level and EPCs number as independent variables in regression analysis reduced the importance of ALDH2 polymorphism in ACS or primary STEMI. However, ALDH2 polymorphism was not associated with number of coronary arteries with significant stenosis, Gensini score or flow‐mediated dilation of the brachial artery. Our results suggest that ALDH2 mutation is a genetic risk marker for ACS, which is explained in part by alcohol consumption, inflammation and number of circulating EPCs.
Executive functioning in children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure.

BACKGROUND Children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure have well documented deficits in overall cognitive ability. Recently, attention has turned to the executive function (EF) domain in this population. Until recently, comprehensive measures of EF have not been available within one test battery. This study used a battery of tests to assess four domains of EF in alcohol-exposed children. METHODS The Delis-Kaplan Executive Function Scale was used to evaluate EF in 18 children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure, with and without a diagnosis of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), and 10 nonexposed controls. Children ranged in age from 8 to 15 years. Measures from four domains of executive functioning were analyzed: planning ability, cognitive flexibility, selective inhibition, and concept formation and reasoning. Tasks consisted of primary EF measures as well as measures of secondary component skills. RESULTS Alcohol-exposed children were deficient on EF measures compared with nonexposed controls. Furthermore, in most cases, children with and without the FAS diagnosis did not differ from one another. These deficits were not entirely explainable by concomitant deficits on component skills. Specific impairments were identified within the domains of planning and response inhibition, with additional deficits in abstract thinking and flexibility. CONCLUSIONS Deficits in executive functioning were observed in alcohol-exposed children with or without the diagnosis of FAS and in the absence of mental retardation. Performance on these EF tasks provides insight into the cognitive processes driving overall performance and has implications for adaptive and daily functions. These results are consistent with anecdotal and empirical reports of deficits in behavioral control and with neuroanatomical evidence of volumetric reductions in structures within the frontal-subcortical system in children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure.
Progranulin is Neurotrophic In Vivo and Protects against a Mutant TDP-43 Induced Axonopathy

Mislocalization, aberrant processing and aggregation of TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) is found in the neurons affected by two related diseases, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobe dementia (FTLD). These TDP-43 abnormalities are seen when TDP-43 is mutated, such as in familial ALS, but also in FTLD, caused by null mutations in the progranulin gene. They are also found in many patients with sporadic ALS and FTLD, conditions in which only wild type TDP-43 is present. The common pathological hallmarks and symptomatic cross over between the two diseases suggest that TDP-43 and progranulin may be mechanistically linked. In this study we aimed to address this link by establishing whether overexpression of mutant TDP-43 or knock-down of progranulin in zebrafish embryos results in motor neuron phenotypes and whether human progranulin is neuroprotective against such phenotypes. Mutant TDP-43 (A315T mutation) induced a motor axonopathy characterized by short axonal outgrowth and aberrant branching, similar, but more severe, than that induced by mutant SOD1. Knockdown of the two zebrafish progranulin genes, grna and grnb, produced a substantial decrease in axonal length, with knockdown of grna alone producing a greater decrease in axonal length than grnb. Progranulin overexpression rescued the axonopathy induced by progranulin knockdown. Interestingly, progranulin also rescued the mutant TDP-43 induced axonopathy, whilst it failed to affect the mutant SOD1-induced phenotype. TDP-43 was found to be nuclear in all conditions described. The findings described here demonstrate that progranulin is neuroprotective in vivo and may have therapeutic potential for at least some forms of motor neuron degeneration.
Operating strategies for congestion management of HV lines using NaS batteries

The sudden development of distributed generation from renewable energy sources, mainly windfarms, can cause congestions on the existing transmission grids. Due to the difficult authorization procedure for the construction of HV overhead lines, or even for the refurbishment of the existing ones, Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) can be an useful solution to local congestions. NaS batteries are the most mature and widespread solution for energy-intensive BESS, due to their relatively low cost and long lifecycle. However due to the high operating temperature, their efficiency decreases in case of low utilization. The present paper deals with NaS battery operation for congestion management, showing that the choice of a correct operating strategy can generate significantly larger benefits for the electrical system.
Migration through the Extracellular Matrix by the Parasitic Protozoan Leishmania Is Enhanced by Surface Metalloprotease gp63

ABSTRACT Leishmania species engineered to express high levels of the surface metalloprotease gp63 have enhanced capacity of migration through extracellular matrix in vitro. This correlates with gp63 degradation of extracellular matrix components, such as collagen type IV and fibronectin, and suggests an important role for gp63 in the pathogenesis of leishmaniasis.
Synaptic cell adhesion molecule SynCAM 1 is a target for polysialylation in postnatal mouse brain

Among the large set of cell surface glycan structures, the carbohydrate polymer polysialic acid (polySia) plays an important role in vertebrate brain development and synaptic plasticity. The main carrier of polySia in the nervous system is the neural cell adhesion molecule NCAM. As polySia with chain lengths of more than 40 sialic acid residues was still observed in brain of newborn Ncam−/− mice, we performed a glycoproteomics approach to identify the underlying protein scaffolds. Affinity purification of polysialylated molecules from Ncam−/− brain followed by peptide mass fingerprinting led to the identification of the synaptic cell adhesion molecule SynCAM 1 as a so far unknown polySia carrier. SynCAM 1 belongs to the Ig superfamily and is a powerful inducer of synapse formation. Importantly, the appearance of polysialylated SynCAM 1 was not restricted to the Ncam−/− background but was found to the same extent in perinatal brain of WT mice. PolySia was located on N-glycans of the first Ig domain, which is known to be involved in homo- and heterophilic SynCAM 1 interactions. Both polysialyltransferases, ST8SiaII and ST8SiaIV, were able to polysialylate SynCAM 1 in vitro, and polysialylation of SynCAM 1 completely abolished homophilic binding. Analysis of serial sections of perinatal Ncam−/− brain revealed that polySia-SynCAM 1 is expressed exclusively by NG2 cells, a multifunctional glia population that can receive glutamatergic input via unique neuron-NG2 cell synapses. Our findings sug-gest that polySia may act as a dynamic modulator of SynCAM 1 functions during integration of NG2 cells into neural networks.
Imaging Features following Thermal Ablation of Lung Malignancies

Abstract Percutaneous image-guided thermal ablation is gaining attraction as an effective alternative to surgical resection for patients with primary and secondary malignancies of the lung. Currently, no standard follow-up imaging protocol has been established or uniformly accepted. The early identification of residual or recurrent tumor would in theory enable the practitioner to offer expeditious retreatment or alternative treatment. This review elaborates on the imaging findings following thermal ablation, both heat- and cold-based, of nonresectable pulmonary malignancies.
Values and Organizational Culture Perceptions: A Study of Relationships and Antecedents to Managerial Moral Judgment

Rachel Vannatta Reinhart, Advisor “At this moment, America’s highest economic need is higher ethical standards. ” (Former U.S. President George W. Bush, 2002). That statement was made in the aftermath of the Enron and WorldCom fiascos in the early 2000s. Seven years later, newly elected U.S. President Obama (2009) said in his inauguration speech “Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. ” There is a repeated calling to increase the understanding of how to make “hard choices. ” It is the leadership of an organization that is one of the most important components of an organization’s ethical culture (Brown & Treviño, 2006; Treviño, 1990) and researchers have called for additional studies “to identify the factors that influence the levels of moral judgment used in the workplace” (Loviscky, Treviño, & Jacobs, 2007, p.276). The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between values, organization culture perceptions, and managerial moral reasoning. Data for this study were collected from 100 managers from a variety of industries and organizations through an online survey. Using a Likert-scale, the Schwartz Values Survey (SVS) (Schwartz, 1992) measured four meta-values and ten value types. A 12 item version of the Likert-scale Competing Values Framework (CVF) (Quinn and Rohrbaugh, 1983) was used to measure four different organization culture perceptions. Cognitive moral development was assessed by the Managerial Moral Judgment Test (MMJT) (Loviscky, Treviño, & Jacobs, 2007) which determined levels of moral reasoning using