Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Predictors of physical activity, healthy eating and being smoke-free in teens: A theory of planned behaviour approach

This paper elicited context specific underlying beliefs for physical activity, fruit and vegetable consumption and smoke-free behaviour from the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), and then determined whether the TPB explained significant variation in intentions and behaviour over a 1 month period in a sample of grade 7–9 (age 12–16 years) adolescents. Eighteen individual interviews and one focus group were used to elicit student beliefs. Analyses of this data produced behavioural, normative and control beliefs which were put into a TPB questionnaire completed by 183 students at time 1 and time 2. The Path analyses from the main study showed that the attitude/intention relationship was moderately large for fruit and vegetable consumption and small to moderate for being smoke free. Perceived behavioural control had a large effect on being smoke free and a moderately large effect for fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity. Intention had a large direct effect on all three behaviours. Common (e.g. feel better, more energy) and behaviour-specific (e.g., prevent yellow fingers, control my weight) beliefs emerged across the three health behaviours. These novel findings, to the adolescent population, support the importance of specific attention being given to each of the behaviours in future multi-behavioural interventions.
A Functional Interaction between the Neuronal Adhesion Molecules TAG1 and F 3 Modulates Neurite Outgrowth and Fasciculation of Cerebellar Granule Cells

1Laboratoire de Génétique et de Physiologie du Développement, UMR 6545 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut de Biologie du Développement de Marseille, Parc Scientifique de Luminy, 13288 Marseille cedex 9, France, 2Department of Basic Science, University of Crete Medical School and Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Heraklion, 71110 Crete, Greece, and 3Developmental Genetics Programme, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, England
Assessment of Left Ventricular Outflow Tract Dynamics During the Cardiac Cycle by Three-Dimensional Echocardiography

Background Anatomical and anatomo-functional disorders of the left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) are subject of numerous studies. However, LVOT normal dynamic behavior, especially in procedures involving this area is also relevant, and may be evaluated with new three-dimensional imaging methods. Objective The aim of this study was to assess LVOT dynamics during the cardiac cycle with three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). Material and methods Forty two patients referred for transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) were prospectively included. All TEE studies were performed with a three-dimensional transesophageal probe. For complete volume images, 4 gated beats were acquired for off-line analysis. The cardiac cycle was divided in proto-systole (S1), mid-systole (S2) and tele-systole (S3) and proto-diastole (D1), mid-diastole (D2) and tele-diastole (D3). The LVOT area was measured by planimetry of the short axis, through orthogonal sections to the long axis of the LVOT in each phase. Results Mean age was 67±10 years, and 63% of the patients were male. The LVOT area (cm 2 ) in the different phases of the cardiac cycle was: S1: 4.44±1.02; S2: 4.15±0.91; S3: 3.9±0.89; D1: 3.76±0.98; D2: 3.89±1.04; D3: 4.34±1.11. Maximum area was observed in S1, corresponding to the closed position of the anterior leaflet of the mitral valve (AL) and reduced motion of the interventricular septum (IVS) towards LVOT; minimum area was obtained in D1 consistent with a certain persistence of IVS in the LVOT and maximal AL opening occupying part of the LVOT. Total area reduction was 15±11% (p<0.0001), changing the LVOT from a partially elliptical or circular shape (systole) to a markedly elliptical or semilunar one (diastole). Conclusion The LVOT changes its area and shape during the cardiac cycle, depending basically on the movement of the IVS (during systole) and mitral valve opening (during diastole). Rev Argent Cardiol 2012;80.
Transverse linearization for mechanical systems with several passive degrees of freedom with applications to orbital stabilization

A class of mechanical systems with many unactuated degrees of freedom is studied. An analytical method for computing coefficients of a linear controlled system, solutions of which approximate dynamics of transverse part of coordinates of an underactuated mechanical system along a feasible motion, is proposed. The procedure is constructive and is based on a particular choice of coordinates in a vicinity of the motion. It allows explicit introduction of the so-called moving Poincaré section associated with a finite-time or periodic motion. It is shown that the coordinates admit analytical linearization of transverse part of the system dynamics prior to any controller design. If the motion is periodic, then these coordinates are used for developing feedback controllers. Necessary and sufficient conditions for exponential orbital stabilization of a cycle for underactuated mechanical systems are derived. Two illustrative examples are elaborated in details.
Improving accuracy of joint attention assessment by extending the observation period after toy activation

The purpose of this study was to examine IJA [Initiating Joint Att ention] scores of 34 children with autism [CWA] and 34 typically developing children [TDC] during and after toy activation. Composite scores summarized performance of three behaviors (ges tures, eye contact, and vocalizations) across toys. Performance was evaluated during to y ac ivation only, and two seconds and five seconds after activation. Results of the analysis indicated that for 13 out of 34 CWA and 13 out of 34 TDC, joint attention occurred within two seconds af ter the activation period. When observations included five seconds after the toy stopped, joi nt attention occurred for 22 of 34 CWA and 19 of 34 TDC. Extending the observation period after toy activation from 2-s to 5-s resulted in the number of joint attention initiations incr easing. To obtain the most accurate assessment of joint attention behavior, observation and scoring should continue until five seconds after the activation period. JOINT ATTENTION ASSESSMENT 6 Improving Accuracy of Joint Attention Assessment by Extending the Observa tion Period After Toy Activation Table of
Internal shocks in relativistic jets with time-dependent sources

We present a ballistic description of the formation and propagation of the working surface of a relativistic jet. Using simple laws of conservation of mass and linear momentum at the working surface, we obtain a full description of the working surface flow parametrized by the initial velocity and mass injection rate. This allows us to compute analytically the energy release at any time in the working surface. We compare this model with the results obtained numerically through a new hydrodynamical code applied to the propagation of a relativistic fluid in one dimension in order to test the limits of our study. Finally, we compare our analytical results with observed light curves of five long gamma ray bursts and show that our model is in very good agreement with observations using simple periodic variations of the injected velocity profiles. This simple method allows us to recover initial mass discharge and energy output ejected during the burst.
Carbon nanospheres mediated delivery of nuclear matrix protein SMAR1 to direct experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in mice

Owing to the suppression of immune responses and associated side effects, steroid based treatments for inflammatory encephalitis disease can be detrimental. Here, we demonstrate a novel carbon nanosphere (CNP) based treatment regime for encephalomyelitis in mice by exploiting the functional property of the nuclear matrix binding protein SMAR1. A truncated part of SMAR1 ie, the DNA binding domain was conjugated with hydrothermally synthesized CNPs. When administered intravenously, the conjugate suppressed experimental animal encephalomyelitis in T cell specific conditional SMAR1 knockout mice (SMAR−/−). Further, CNP-SMAR1 conjugate delayed the onset of the disease and reduced the demyelination significantly. There was a significant decrease in the production of IL-17 after re-stimulation with MOG. Altogether, our findings suggest a potential carbon nanomaterial based therapeutic intervention to combat Th17 mediated autoimmune diseases including experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.
CREDENCE: A Carrier Grade Software Defined Networking control environment based on the JAIN SLEE component model

Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) are catching the attention of telecom operators. Telecom environments establish a set of Carrier Grade requirements such as high availability, high throughput and low latency. To address these challenges SDN deploys logically-centralized controllers, such as ONOS and OpenDayLight. Based on the JAIN SLEE component model, which is a Carrier Grade component already deployed at telecom operators, and the Libfluid OpenFlow driver, this work presents the CREDENCE, a carrier grade SDN controller, which in our evaluation shows that it offers a higher throughput and a lower latency when compared to ONOS, OpenDayLight, Ryu and POX.
Ethnic nationalism, evolutionary psychology and Genetic Similarity Theory n

Genetic Similarity Theory extends Anthony D. Smith's theory of ethno-symbolism by anchoring ethnic nepotism in the evolutionary psychology of altruism. Altruism toward kin and similar others evolved in order to help replicate shared genes. Since ethnic groups are repositories of shared genes, xenophobia is the 'dark side' of human altruism. A review of the literature demonstrates the pull of genetic similarity in dyads such as marriage partners and friendships, and even large groups, both national and international. The evidence that genes incline people to prefer others who are genetically similar to themselves comes from studies of social assortment, differential heritabilities, the comparison of identical and fraternal twins, blood tests, and family bereavements. DNA sequencing studies confirm some origin myths and disconfirm others; they also show that in comparison to the total genetic variance around the world, random co-ethnics are related to each other on the order of first cousins.
Entity-Supported Summarization of Biomedical Abstracts

The increasing amount of biomedical information that is available for researchers and clinicians makes it harder to quickly find the right information. Automatic summarization of multiple texts can provide summaries specific to the user’s information needs. In this paper we look into the use named-entity recognition for graph-based summarization. We extend the LexRank algorithm with information about named entities and present EntityRank, a multi-document graph-based summarization algorithm that is solely based on named entities. We evaluate our system on a datasets of 1009 human written summaries provided by BioASQ and on 1974 gene summaries, fetched from the Entrez Gene database. The results show that the addition of named-entity information increases the performance of graph-based summarizers and that the EntityRank significantly outperforms the other methods with regard to the ROUGE measures.
CB2 cannabinoid receptors in trabecular meshwork cells mediate JWH015-induced enhancement of aqueous humor outflow facility.

PURPOSE To study the effects of JWH015, a CB2-selective agonist, on aqueous humor outflow facility, to investigate whether functional CB2 cannabinoid receptors are expressed in trabecular meshwork cells, and to study whether these receptors are involved in the enhancement of outflow facility induced by JWH015. METHODS A porcine anterior segment perfused organ culture model was used to measure the effects of JWH015 on aqueous humor outflow facility. Immunofluorescence microscopy, Western blot analysis, and mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase activity assays were used to study the expression of CB2 cannabinoid receptors on cultured porcine trabecular meshwork cells and the coupling of these receptors to p42/44 MAP kinase. RESULTS The outflow facility was increased dose dependently within 1 hour after adding 10, 30, and 100 nM of JWH015, a CB2 agonist. In addition, the effect of 100 nM of JWH015 was completely blocked by SR144528, a selective CB2 antagonist. Furthermore, the outflow-enhancing effect of JWH015 was blocked by pretreatment with PD98059, an inhibitor of the p42/44 MAP kinase pathway. In immunofluorescence microscopy and Western blot studies, positive signals were detected on cultured porcine trabecular meshwork cells with an anti-CB2 antibody. In MAP kinase assays, treatment of porcine trabecular meshwork cells with 100 nM of JWH015 activated p42/44 MAP kinase activity. Pretreatment with SR144528 blocked the effect of JWH015 on p42/44 MAP kinase activity. CONCLUSIONS The data from this study demonstrate that the CB2-selective cannabinoid agonist JWH015 increases aqueous humor outflow facility. The results also indicate that functional CB2 cannabinoid receptors are expressed in trabecular meshwork cells, and these receptors are involved in the enhancement of outflow facility induced by JWH015.
A Federated Physical and Logical Access Control Enforcement Model

This paper addresses the confidentiality of valuable content while the content is being accessed. Confidentiality threats such as information leakage by shoulder surfing or content theft may occur on critical assets. A person having access to a protected zone may therefore access to content which is unauthorized to him. This could be disastrous for the information of a top secret document or for a valuable digital film. An unprotected content could be attacked in two conditions: one if a protected content can be accessed without protected zone access restrictions or second if a protected zone can be accessed without logical access restrictions. To tackle these threats, this paper proposes a Federated Physical and Logical Access Control Enforcement Model. The model enforces a protected zone access control for logical content access together with a content-based access control for physical zone access. The access authorizations to content and to zone are dynamically linked together. Accordingly, it ensures that at every moment, contents currently edited can be processed by any user inside the protected zone. A formalized model example enforces a global Bell-Lapadula policy for a protected zone. Applicability is discussed for post-production film facilities and high sensitive protected zones such as government or defense facilities.
Leveraging Natural Language Processing Applications and Microblogging Platform for Increased Transparency in Crisis Areas

Through microblogging applications, such as Twitter, people actively document their lives even in times of natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes. While first responders and crisis-teams can help people who call 911, or arrive at a designated shelter, there are vast amounts of information being exchanged online via Twitter that provide real-time, location-based alerts that are going unnoticed. To effectively use this information, the tweets must be verified for authenticity and categorized to ensure that the proper authorities can be alerted. In this paper, we create a Crisis Message Corpus from geotagged tweets occurring during 7 hurricanes in the United States. Using this annotated corpus, we train a machine learning classifier to identify requests for help in real time. Through a deep learning model, we remove tweets that are below our classification confidence threshold of 98%. Using this model in conjunction with a front-end dashboard can allow service teams in crisis areas to be notified of alert-tweets without having to sift through hundreds of non-relevant tweets.
Pasture management and south Taranaki pasture species for improved dry matter production in

Dry matter (DM) production and seasonal distribution of old ryegrass/white clover pasture defoliated at 14and 28day intervals, and new sowings of ‘Grasslands Maru’ phalaris (Phaluris aquatica L.), ‘Grasslands Roa’ tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.), and ‘Grasslands Kara’ cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.) at 28day defoliation intervals were evaluated in an environment prone to grass grub damage and dry summer/autumn periods. Under a 28&y defoliation interval old ryegrass produced 2O%more DM that the 14-day defoliation interval, the difference occuring mainly in spring. Annual production, in the initial 4 years, of phalaris and tall fescue was respectively 17 % and 20 % more than that of old ryegrass. Phalaris was superior to old ryegrass in all seasons. Cocksfoot annual production was similar to that of old ryegrass, producing more in summer (9%) and autumn (19%) but 15% less in spring. Results from year 5 and 6 suggest that phalaris may not be as persistent as tall fescue. A 28-day rotation in spring is recommended to maximise production of old ryegrasslclover pasture. Phalaris and tall fescue are recommended as alternative species to old ryegrass in a grass grub prone and/or summer dry environment. Cocksfoot is not recommended.
Database and Distributed Computing Foundations of Blockchains Sujaya Maiyya

The uprise of Bitcoin and other peer-to-peer cryptocurrencies has opened many interesting and challenging problems in cryptography, distributed systems, and databases. The main underlying data structure is blockchain, a scalable fully replicated structure that is shared among all participants and guarantees a consistent view of all user transactions by all participants in the system. In this tutorial, we discuss the basic protocols used in blockchain, and elaborate on its main advantages and limitations. To overcome these limitations, we provide the necessary distributed systems background in managing large scale fully replicated ledgers, using Byzantine Agreement protocols to solve the consensus problem. Finally, we expound on some of the most recent proposals to design scalable and efficient blockchains in both permissionless and permissioned settings. The focus of the tutorial is on the distributed systems and database aspects of the recent innovations in blockchains.
High‐affinity binding of the basement membrane protein collagen type IV to the crystalline virulence surface protein array of Aeromonas salmonicida

The surface of the fish pathogen Aeromonas salmonicida is covered by a paracrystalline array (the A‐layer) which is a virulence factor for the organism. Quantification of the ability of A. salmonicida cells to bind collagen types I and IV in a 125I‐radiolabelled liquid‐phase assay showed that A‐layer‐positive cells bound high levels of collagen type IV, but significantly lower levels of collagen type I. Collagen type IV binding was confirmed using non‐radiolabelled enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assays. 125I‐Collagen type IV binding was rapid, specific, saturable, high affinity, and essentially irreversible by unlabelled collagen type IV. The A‐layer was responsible for collagen type IV binding because binding was inactivated by selective removal of the A‐layer at pH 2.2, and neither isogenic A‐layer‐deficient A. salmonicida mutants nor strains of Aeromonas hydrophila possessing a morphologically similar paracrystalline array bound this basement membrane protein.
Serum Osteoprotegerin Levels Are Associated With the Presence and Severity of Coronary Artery Disease

Background—Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is a secretory glycoprotein that belongs to the tumor necrosis factor receptor family. OPG-deficient mice develop severe osteoporosis and medial arterial calcification of the aorta and renal arteries. OPG immunoreactivity was demonstrated in the normal blood vessels and in early atherosclerotic lesions. A recent clinical study suggests that there is a significant correlation between elevated serum OPG levels and cardiovascular mortality. We examined whether serum OPG levels are associated with the progression of coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods and Results—Serum OPG levels were examined in 201 patients who underwent coronary angiography because of stable chest pain. The number of diseased vessels was used to represent the severity of CAD. Serum OPG levels were measured by ELISA and were significantly greater in patients with significant stenosis of the coronary arteries than in those without stenosis. As the severity of CAD increased, there was a significant increase in serum OPG levels. Serum OPG levels were 0.94±0.34, 1.04±0.38, 1.19±0.38, and 1.44±0.54 ng/mL (medians 0.91, 0.99, 1.09, and 1.37) for the subjects with normal coronary arteries or luminal irregularities, 1-vessel disease, 2-vessel disease, and 3-vessel disease, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that serum OPG levels were significantly associated with the presence of CAD [odds ratio, 5.2; 95% confidence interval, 1.7 to 16.0]. Conclusions—Our data show that serum OPG levels are associated with the presence and severity of CAD, suggesting that OPG may be involved in the progression of CAD.
A robust Speaker Identification System based on the combination of GFCC and MFCC methods

The performances of Speaker Identification Systems (SIS) are strongly influenced by the quality and quantity of the used speech signal. Most of these systems are based on Gaussian Mixture Models (GMM) that is trained using a training speech database. The mismatch between the training conditions and the testing conditions has a deep impact on the accuracy of these systems and represents a barrier for their operation in real conditions generally affected by noises disturbances. The Voice Activity Detection (VAD) is a very useful technique for improving the performance of these systems working in these scenarios. In this paper we have used within the feature extraction process, a robust VAD module, that yield high speech/non-speech discrimination accuracy and improve the performance of the SIS in noisy environments. A set of experiments which we have conducted on our proper database containing 37 Arabic speaker in order to evaluate the performances of our SIS, show 9.48% average improvement of accuracy performance of the system based on the combination of GFCC and MFCC front-ends compared to a baseline MFCC method. 2% average improvement accuracy as a benefit of VAD technique is observed when the level of Signal per Noise Ratio (SNR) changes from 40 dB to 0 dB.