Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Implicit Trust Relation Extraction Based on Hellinger Distance

Recent studies have shown that adding explicit social trust information to social recommendation significantly improves the prediction accuracy of ratings, but it is difficult to obtain a clear trust data among users in real life. Scholars have studied and proposed some trust measure methods to calculate and predict the interaction and trust between users. In this article, a method of social trust relationship extraction based on hellinger distance is proposed, and user similarity is calculated by describing the f-divergence of one side node in user-item bipartite networks. Then, a new matrix factorization model based on implicit social relationship is proposed by adding the extracted implicit social relations into the improved matrix factorization. The experimental results support that the effect of using implicit social trust to recommend is almost the same as that of using actual explicit user trust ratings, and when the explicit trust data cannot be extracted, our method has a better effect than the other traditional algorithms.
Purification and characterization of phosphoenolpyruvate phosphomutase from Pseudomonas gladioli B-1

Phosphoenolpyruvate phosphomutase (PEPPM) catalyzes C-P bond formation by intramolecular rearrangement of phosphoenolpyruvate to phosphonopyruvate (PnPy). We purified PEPPM from a gram-negative bacterium, Pseudomonas gladioli B-1 isolated as a C-P compound producer. The equilibrium of this reaction favors the formation of the phosphate ester by cleaving the C-P bond of PnPy, but the C-P bond-forming reaction is physiologically significant. The C-P bond-forming activity of PEPPM was confirmed with a purified protein. The molecular mass of the native enzyme was estimated to be 263 and 220 kDa by gel filtration and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, respectively. A subunit molecular mass of 61 kDa was determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, indicating that the native protein was a tetramer. The optimum pH and temperature were 7.5 to 8.0 and 40 degrees C, respectively. The Km value for PnPy was 19 +/- 3.5 microM, and the maximum initial velocity of the conversion of PnPy to phosphoenolpyruvate was 200 microM/s/mg. PEPPM was activated by the presence of the divalent metal ion, and the Km values were 3.5 +/- 1.4 microM for Mg2+, 16 +/- 5 nM for Mn2+, 3.0 +/- 1.5 microM for Zn2+, and 1.2 +/- 0.2 microM for Co2+.
Heat production and chemical changes during isometric contractions of the human quadriceps muscle.

1. Development of a new thermal probe and use in conjunction with chemical analysis of needle biopsy samples, has made possible a thermodynamic study of the energetics of muscular contraction in the human quadriceps. 2. The observed rate of muscle temperature rise was proportional to the force of the contraction. During maximal contractions the rate of heat production was 54 +/‐8‐5 W/kg wet muscle (mean +/‐ s.d.). 3. The observed rates of muscle temperature rise agreed well with the rates calculated from the measured metabolite changes when standard values for the enthalpy changes of the reactions involved were used. 4. During prolonged stimulation of the quadriceps at 15/sec via the femoral nerve, the rate of heat production per unit force fell to nearly half the initial value. It is estimated that this represented a two‐ to fourfold increased in economy of ATP turn‐over required to maintain a given force. 5. Relaxation becomes progressively slower during prolonged contractions and it is suggested that the slowing of relaxation and the increased economy of force maintenance may both be due to an increased cross‐bridge cycle time in the fatigued muscle.
Microfauna associated with amoebic gill disease in sea-farmed Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., smolts.

A study of microfauna, associated with pathological changes in the gills of Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L. , was conducted over 2001-2002. Monthly samples of 1(+) salmon smolts were taken, protozoan populations were quantified and gill health was assessed histologically. Protozoan densities were correlated with pathological changes, in order to determine their possible role in lesions in the gills. The most severe gill tissue changes were observed in summer/autumn and the least in spring. A diverse polyphyletic protozoan community was observed colonizing the gills, including Neoparamoeba sp. , other amoebae, scuticociliates, Ichthyobodo-like flagellates, trichodinid ciliates and prostomatean ciliates. The earlier gill tissue changes in the gill were not always associated with the presence of these microorganisms, whereas amoebae (other than Neoparamoeba sp.), Ichthyobodo-like flagellates and trichodinid ciliates correlated with augmenting gill lesions. Neoparamoeba sp. was present, but its abundance did not correlate with the disease. This study suggests that a diversity of protozoans including Ichthyobodo-like flagellates, trichodinid ciliates and amoebae other than Neoparamoeba sp. are involved in the aetiology of amoebic gill disease in the Irish situation.
Six‐minute walk distance and dyspnoea scores to assess the course of COPD exacerbation in elderly patients

While the severity of stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been defined in a valid and relevant prognostic manner, parameters that describe the course of COPD exacerbations are not yet established. Physical performance and dyspnoea are of prognostic relevance in stable COPD. The issue investigated was to assess the course of COPD exacerbations to find parameters that describe this situation better.
The role of professional development in adjunct nursing faculty identity salience

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to understand how adjunct nursing faculty integrate their pedagogical professional development (PD) experiences to develop identity salience as an educator, and understand how PD affects their perceptions of commitment, satisfaction, and time spent in the adjunct role. Administrators of nursing programs can use the results as evidence of the importance of providing PD to their adjunct faculty. Ten adjunct nursing faculty who participated in PD were interviewed using phenomenological qualitative methods comprised of interviewing and gathering field notes. The themes emerging from the interview revealed that ongoing PD fosters a teaching identity, reduces adjunct isolation, and leads to higher satisfaction through peer mentoring. The results also showed that a lack of PD lead to a reduced commitment to the adjunct role. In addition, quantitative data were gathered through the distribution of the Adjunct Faculty Identity Salience Survey (AFISS). The AFISS required the participants to answer 68 questions related to how PD affects their role as an adjunct. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, crosstabs, correlations, and exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The results generated from the AFISS supported the qualitative findings that pedagogical PD does contribute to salience as an educator. The EFA revealed the extent of the relationship that PD had on the independent variables. A positive, statistically significant relationship was revealed between PD and identity salience, commitment, time spent in the adjunct role, and satisfaction. Professional development had a stronger relationship with identity salience (r = .560), commitment (r = .535) and time spent in the adjunct role (r = .665) than it did on satisfaction (r = .123). The results can be incorporated by nursing programs utilizing adjunct
A Small GTP-binding Protein, Rho, Associates with the Platelet-derived Growth Factor Type- Receptor upon Ligand Binding (*)

Ligand binding to the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) receptor initiates a complex and diverging cascade of signaling pathways. GTP-binding proteins with intrinsic GTPase activity (G-proteins) frequently link cell surface receptors to intracellular signaling pathways, but no close associations of the PDGF receptor and any small G-proteins, nor any such associations activated by ligand binding to the receptor have been previously reported. We demonstrate that a small GTP-binding protein binds specifically to the murine and human PDGF type-β receptor. In response to PDGF-BB stimulation, there is an increase in the amount of labeled small G-protein associated with the PDGF type-β receptor. The GTP-binding protein did not undergo ligand-induced association with a mutant receptor protein that was unable to bind ATP. Proteolytic cleavage analysis, together with two-dimensional separation techniques, identified the small G-protein specifically associating with the PDGF type-β receptor after ligand binding as a member of the Rho family. This was confirmed by demonstration that the small G-protein co-immunoprecipitated by the anti-PDGF receptor antibody was a substrate for the ADP-ribosyltransferase C3 exoenzyme. Thus, the PDGF type-β receptor may form a complex with one or more small G-proteins upon binding PDGF-BB, and the Rho small G-protein is likely to be an important component of the proteins making up the multimeric signaling complex of the PDGF type-β receptor.
Interfering with the Central Executive by Means of a Random Interval Repetition Task

Four dual-task experiments are reported in which a short-term memory task is performed concurrently with a random interval repetition task, which was designed to interfere with functions normally attributed to the central executive in the working memory model of Baddeley and Hitch (1974). The task was found to interfere with supra-span serial recall and with backward memory span, but did not disrupt performance on a forward-memoryspan task. The effects were observed in dissociation with effects of articulatory suppression and matrix tapping, so that the locus of the effects of the new task is not due to the slave systems. In addition, single-task random-interval repetition performance was sampled and compared to performance in the dual-task conditions of all four experiments. Although quality of tapping performance differed between the single-task and the dual-task conditions, it was not related to recall performance. All the results are discussed with reference to the working memory model.
Keloids and Hypertrophic Scars: Pathophysiology, Classification, and Treatment

BACKGROUND Keloid and hypertrophic scars represent an aberrant response to the wound healing process. These scars are characterized by dysregulated growth with excessive collagen formation, and can be cosmetically and functionally disruptive to patients. OBJECTIVE Objectives are to describe the pathophysiology of keloid and hypertrophic scar, and to compare differences with the normal wound healing process. The classification of keloids and hypertrophic scars are then discussed. Finally, various treatment options including prevention, conventional therapies, surgical therapies, and adjuvant therapies are described in detail. MATERIALS AND METHODS Literature review was performed identifying relevant publications pertaining to the pathophysiology, classification, and treatment of keloid and hypertrophic scars. RESULTS Though the pathophysiology of keloid and hypertrophic scars is not completely known, various cytokines have been implicated, including interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, and IL-10, as well as various growth factors including transforming growth factor-beta and platelet-derived growth factor. Numerous treatments have been studied for keloid and hypertrophic scars,which include conventional therapies such as occlusive dressings, compression therapy, and steroids; surgical therapies such as excision and cryosurgery; and adjuvant and emerging therapies including radiation therapy, interferon, 5-fluorouracil, imiquimod, tacrolimus, sirolimus, bleomycin, doxorubicin, transforming growth factor-beta, epidermal growth factor, verapamil, retinoic acid, tamoxifen, botulinum toxin A, onion extract, silicone-based camouflage, hydrogel scaffold, and skin tension offloading device. CONCLUSION Keloid and hypertrophic scars remain a challenging condition, with potential cosmetic and functional consequences to patients. Several therapies exist which function through different mechanisms. Better understanding into the pathogenesis will allow for development of newer and more targeted therapies in the future.
Improvements on the equity-indexed annuity market /

Equity indexed annuities (EIA’s) were introduced to the market in the early 1995 and ever since then they have been producing a lot of interest and excitement in the option market. An EIA is an equity linked annuity whose return is based on the performance of an equity mutual fund or a stock index. These annuities have some really nice features such as: minimum guaranteed return, tax-deferral, and locking in of a credited interest rate, and also each EIA customer takes part in some way in the stock market. A typical example of an EIA is a “point-to-point” design. If S&P 500 has a realized 5-year return of 8% and the participation rate is set at 90%, then the actual interest rate credited to the policy will be 8%× 90% = 7.2% if this is bigger than the minimum guaranteed rate (usually around 3%). There are also some other classic designs like “annual reset” and “continuous lookback” that we discuss in Chapter 2. The problem the EIA market is facing today is the increased volatility of the market as well as an abrupt stop in the phenomenal growth of the stock market. Insurers aren’t able to offer the same participation rates as they used to in the late 90’s, and lower participation rates mean lower sale numbers. The need for some new designs or models of EIA’s is clear and that’s what this thesis will answer. We will show how to improve the classic EIA designs using a “multibarrier approach” and we will also introduce a few other new designs that perform much better then the classic ii ones in today’s volatile market. These last designs are based on a “path-dependence approach” where we look at the value of the respective index throughout the period of the policy or just on an arbitrary period. So we introduced 5 new types of EIA’s and derived closed form formulae for the price of these new designs. We also provide tables and plots of the classic designs versus the new design which show that the new ones are better than the old ones and also show how much better they are in terms of actual numbers for the participation rates for different prices.
Responses in Zimbabwe to children affected by AIDS.

Providing support to children affected by AIDS (CABA) and other vulnerable children in Zimbabwe is not simply a humanitarian necessity: meeting the basic needs of growing numbers of children is a developmental necessity too. It is difficult to envisage the possibility of protecting CABA from exploitation and preventing them from becoming HIV-infected unless their basic needs are met Communities and families are seeking to provide children with protection education and a basic quality of life because they see them as their future investment. Strengthening community efforts is an investment in development as well as an investment in the prevention of future HIV infection an investment in a shrinking HIV epidemic. (authors)
Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Events After Successful Renal Transplantation

Background. Cardiovascular disease is a frequent cause of morbidity after renal transplantation. The aims of this study were to evaluate the incidence of cardiovascular events and to identify the main risk factors for cardiovascular complications and mortality in 2071 white adults with a renal transplant functioning for at least 1 year. Methods. Clinical events, routine biochemistry, and prescribed drugs at month 1, month 6, and yearly after transplantation were analyzed. Results. The incidence of cardiovascular events increased over time. At 15 years after transplantation, only 47% of surviving patients had not experienced any cardiovascular event. Risk factors associated with cardiovascular complications were male gender (P=0.04), age (P<0.0001), arterial hypertension before transplantation (P<0.0001), longer pretransplant dialysis (P<0.0001), cardiovascular event before transplantation (P<0.0001), older era of transplantation (P=0.0009), center-specific effect (P=0.003), posttransplant diabetes mellitus (P=0.01), increased pulse pressure after transplantation (P=0.02), intake of corticosteroids (P=0.016), intake of azathioprine (P=0.016), lower serum albumin after transplantation (P=0.004), and higher serum triglyceride levels after transplantation (P=0.007). The risk of death was increased in patients with low or elevated hematocrit, while it was minimal with values around 38%. Conclusions. The occurrence of fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular events after successful renal transplantation not only relates to baseline cardiovascular risk factors present at transplantation, but also to immunosuppressive drugs and posttransplantation traditional and nontraditional risk factors.
The influence of the design of mandibular major connectors on gingival health.

BACKGROUND The objective of this study was to assess the influence of lingual bar and lingual plate major connectors on plaque retention and gingival health among patients who presented in University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Nigeria. METHODS This comparative intervention study was carried out among fifteen patients aged 28 to 60 years with Kennedy class III lower edentulous arch. Two metal dentures with different major connector designs (lingual plate and lingual bar) were fabricated for each patient. After professional scaling and polishing, a baseline score of the oral hygiene was done using the plaque index of Sillness and Loe and the gingival health using the gingival index of Loe and Sillness. Each patient was randomly assigned either a denture with the plate or bar design to use for three months and then recalled for reassessment of oral hygiene and gingival health. Professional scaling and polishing was done post removal and a new baseline assessment of oral hygiene and gingival health recorded. The dentures were now exchanged and the second major connector design inserted. Each patient was recalled for reassessment of the oral hygiene and gingival health after three months. The level of plaque accumulation and gingival inflammation with the use of lingual plate and bar dentures were determined and compared. RESULTS There was no statistically significant difference in the mean plaque index score for the lingual bar design at three months and the mean plaque index score at three months for the lingual plate (p > 0.05). However, a statistically significant lower mean gingival index score was noted three months post insertion for lingual bar designs when compared to plate designs. CONCLUSION Within the limitation of this study, better gingival health was noted with the bar designs when compared with the plate designs.
Daily temperature extremes play an important role in predicting thermal effects

ABSTRACT Organisms in natural environments experience diel temperature fluctuations, including sporadic extreme conditions, rather than constant temperatures. Studies based mainly on model organisms have tended to focus on responses to average temperatures or short-term heat stress, which overlooks the potential impact of daily fluctuations, including stressful daytime periods and milder night-time periods. Here, we focus on daily maximum temperatures, while holding night-time temperatures constant, to specifically investigate the effects of high temperature on demographic parameters and fitness in the English grain aphid Sitobion avenae. We then compared the observed effects of different daily maximum temperatures with predictions from constant temperature–performance expectations. Moderate daily maximum temperatures depressed aphid performance while extreme conditions had dramatic effects, even when mean temperatures were below the critical maximum. Predictions based on daily average temperature underestimated negative effects of temperature on performance by ignoring daily maximum temperature, while predictions based on daytime maximum temperatures overestimated detrimental impacts by ignoring recovery under mild night-time temperatures. Our findings suggest that daily maximum temperature will play an important role in regulating natural population dynamics and should be considered in predictions. These findings have implications for natural population dynamics, particularly when considering the expected increase in extreme temperature events under climate change. Summary: Different daily maximum temperatures under fluctuating thermal conditions impact life history traits in a manner that is not predictable from constant-temperature exposure.
Vibration perception in normal man and medical patients.

Interest in sensitivity to vibration as an aid to neurological diagnosis began in 1889 when Rumpf tested this function in a case of syringomyelia (Fox and Klemperer, 1942). Subsequent investigators found altered vibratory sensitivity in various disorders of the nervous system (e.g., Williamson, 1922). Reduced sensitivity, for example, has been reported in peripheral neuritis, diabetes mellitus, and pernicious anaemia (e.g., Cosh, 1953), while hypersensitivity has been seen in the Parkinsonian syndrome (Gordon, 1945). 'Changes in vibratory sensitivity have been used as positive or negative diagnostic indicators (e.g., Canelas, 1958). Unfortunately, efforts to establish a simple, standard clinical routine for testing vibratory sensitivity have been plagued by a variety of problems. The first one concerns age and sex differences. Although vibratory sensitivity diminishes with ageing (e.g., Newman and Corbin, 1936; Laidlaw and Hamilton, 1937), few clinical investigations have allowed for this effect. This is quite surprising when one considers the high mean age of patients displaying certain clinical neurological symptoms. Possible sex differences also have been investigated (Mirsky, Futterman, and Broh-Kahn, 1953; Steiness, 1957; Detre, Feldman, Rosner, and Ferriter, 1962), but the results are inconclusive. Many approaches to clinical testing of vibration also have suffered procedural difficulties, such as inadequate control of the stimulus or of the routine (see discussion in Steiness, 1957). In earlier investigations, furthermore, thresholds were measured at one. or, at most, a few frequencies. Since vibratory thresholds are a U-shaped function of frequency (Goff, 1959), measurements at one frequency give much less information than is necessary to assess vibratory functions. Attempts to secure more clinically sensitive tests of vibratory sensitivity have prompted introduction of such techniques as the use of a pneumatic cuff (Steiness, 1959), the in-
Expression of anger in university students according to perceived quality of sleep

Objective We analyzed the expression of anger according to the perceived quality of sleep in university students. Methods A total sample of 1252 students participated in the study, with an average age of 23.58 years. Using an ex-post facto design and an incidental sampling procedure, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2 were applied. Results Students with poor sleep quality (PSQI scores> 5) scored higher on the subscales of STAXI-2, showing higher risk of obtaining superior values in Trait Anxiety [OR=1.90] and in the Index of Expression of Anger [OR=1.56], but not in Internal Control of Anger. Conclusions There appears to be a marked relationship between quality of sleep and anger, and it is suggested that sleep hygiene programs can help to reduce the negative consequences of poor sleep quality in terms of health and academic performance in students.