Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Entrepreneurship in tourism and financing through the regional operational programme.

The European Structural Funds have stood, as early as their very establishment back 1957, for a tool of economic and social harmonization of the Member States of the European Union. The comprehensive process of restructuring and reorganizing the process have led, in time, to emergence of new priority axis and key areas of intervention adapted to the real needs of the single European market. Whether aimed at developing the human resources, improving or creating the specific infrastructure or at fostering entrepreneurship, the Structural Funds have always pursued plugging in the development gaps at both regional and national level. In the depicted background, tourism appears as one of the priority areas for allocation of the European funding. Moreover, fostering entrepreneurship in tourism by allocating Structural Funds entails not only putting in place circumstances fostering establishment of new business entities, but also supporting any initiative which intends to enhance innovation and competitiveness of the existing companies. Further to the investigation of the current progress of the research in the industry, which relied on studies of both foreign and Romanian researchers, a niche has been articulated and become the topic of concern for this article. Thus, the main objective of the article is to determine the immediate effects of accessing the funds available under the Regional Operational Programme (ROP) for the tourism business environment, as a catalyst for entrepreneurship in the respective industry. Subsequent to researching the current economic context of tourism in terms of the specific indicators, a closer look was taken into the use of the Structural Funds under the ROP throughout the recently ended reporting period: 2007- 2013. The data produced was correlated with the SPSS econometrics software. The key outputs include the degree and intensity of the influence of these financial instruments on the tourism business environment, in the shape of future trends, and are listed in the closing section of this article.
Analysis of Microbial Biochemical Inducting Nutritional Contents in Barley

Current study focuses the biochemical analysis of the metabolites of Acetobacter aceti to explore bioactive compounds inducing nutritional elements (including vitamins) in barley seeds. Thirteen chemical compounds were isolated using bioactivity guided assay and chromatographic analyses of bacterial extracts. The, principal component analysis (PCA) indicated the most active biochemicals among them. It was resulted into five chemical compounds (i.e. Mevalonic Acid, Quinolinic Acid, Pyridoxic Acid, p.Aminobenzoate and and α-Oxobutanoic acid), which were highly associated with increased quantities of phytosterols, phenols and tested vitamins. A solvent system consisting upon chloroform:ethanol (4:1) was recommended as the best solvent system for extraction of active compounds from bacterial metabolites. Moreover, the mechanisms have been proposed according to which plant pathways were directed towards elevated biosynthesis of nutritional elements. Significant quantities of Mevalonic Acid were concluded into induction of is
Students’ Perceptions of an Online B.E.D. Program

This qualitative exploratory study of four online Caribbean students’ perceptions offers some insights into the challenges and benefits of the online learning environment. The face of education continues to be confronted with the exponential growth of technology. With such issues as learner-learner and learner-instructor interactions, this paper links the theoretical frameworks of interactions to andragogy in the online learning environment. Students discussed issues of concerns such as technological failures and workload challenges but were quick to point out the benefits of the online learning experiences of convenience, relevance, and caring, helpful and resourceful tutors. With limited research in the Caribbean, the findings herein extend the extant literature. Keywords: andragogy and online earning; interactions in online learning; Caribbean online learning
A novel tele-working platform supporting public administrational bureaus

A novel Tele-Working Platform is presented, the basis of a ready-to-be-applied multilevel Tele-Working Service supporting electronic commerce and other value-added applications business plans. Being the outcome of a large-scale common project, this Platform’s features plan to satisfy the demands of possible B2B providers and subscribers. The entities of the Platform and its major characteristics as issued from the Service’s pilot implementation are presented along to an extensive evaluation procedure utilised during this period of time. Key-Words: ATM: Asynchronous Transfer Mode, B2B: Business to business, DBMS: Data Base Management System, DCS: Distributed Computing System, DSL: Digital Subscriber Line, ISDN: Integrated Services Digital Network, ORB: Object Request Broker, PAB: Public Administrational Bureau, TWP: Tele-Working Platform, TWPL: Tele-Working Layer, TWS: Tele-Working Service
Differential Microwave Imaging for Brain Stroke Followup

This paper deals with the possibility of adopting microwave imaging to continuously monitor a patient after the onset of a brain stroke, with the aim to follow the evolution of the disease, promptly counteract its uncontrolled growth, and possibly support decisions in the clinical treatment. In such a framework, the assessed techniques for brain stroke diagnosis are indeed not suitable to pursue this goal. Conversely, microwave imaging can provide a diagnostic tool able to follow up the disease’s evolution, while relying on a relatively low cost and portable apparatus. The proposed imaging procedure is based on a differential approach which requires the processing of scattered field data measured at different time instants. By means of a numerical analysis dealing with synthetic data generated for realistic anthropomorphic phantoms, we address some crucial issues for the method’s effectiveness. In particular, we discuss the role of patient-specific information and the effect of inaccuracies in the measurement procedure, such as an incorrect positioning of the probes between two different examinations. The observed results show that the proposed technique is indeed feasible, even when a simple, nonspecific model of the head is exploited and is robust against the above mentioned inaccuracies.
Psychosocial factors related to children’s active school travel: A comparison of two European regions

Inequalities in healthbehaviors exist between regions of Europe, along a North West/South East axis. This study investigated whether prevalence of walking to school and associated psychosocial antecedents differed between these two European regions. Participants were 1,263 children aged 7-11 years, from five countries. Children from North West Europe (n = 641) and South East Europe (n = 622) completed a school travel questionnaire that measured demographics, school commuting mode, travel companion, feelings about their local area, and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) variables related to walking to school. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to investigate differences in TBP variables between children from the two regions of Europe. More children from South East Europe walked to school (70.8%) compared to those in the North West (47%). For the TPB variables, a significant multivariate main effect for region was found (Wilks' λ=.94, F (4, 1201)=20.55, pp. Inequalities in walking to school exist between European regions. Children from South East Europe walk to school more than their counterparts from the North West. However children from North West Europe display higher scores on TPB variables, suggesting that psychosocial constructs related to walking to school may not explain rates of engagement in this behaviour.
Is Paravertebral Block More Effective in Thoracotomy Patients Compared to Thoracic Epidural Block

Purpose: Paravertebral block (PVB) is a simple and safe technique that can be more efficacious than epidural block (EPB) in controlling postoperative pain. We aimed to confirm this by comparing the two methods in patients after thoracotomy. Methods: Patients were randomly divided into two groups, PVB or EPB (n=30 in each). Vital signs and the visual analog scale (VAS) were evaluated before giving the block then 30 minutes and 3, 6, 9 and 12 hours after thoracotomy. Complications and need for additional analgesic agents were also scrutinized. Results: The most significant finding was better preservation of pulmonary function tests at most time points in the PVB group (<0.05). VAS scores trended to be better in the PVB group, but the difference was significant only at 30 minutes after giving the block. There were no significant differences between the groups in the incidence of complications or the need for additional analgesic agents. Conclusion: Paravertebral and epidural blocks are effective in a similar degree in controlling post-operative pain but paravertebral block is safer and more tolerable for the patients.
Smart Materials-Fundamentals and Applications. Influence of Austenite Grain Size on Mechanical Properties of Stainless SMA.

This paper presents experimental results relating the initial austenite grain size to bulk hardness, compressive yield stress ( σ0.2%) and volume fraction of stress-induced e martensite. It is shown that the bulk hardness obeys quite closely the Hall-Petch equation while the yield stress, σ0. 2%, decreases with decrease of grain size, indicating that the induction of e martensite mechanically is easier for the materials with finer grains. This fact is corroborated by the observed increase of the volume fraction of stress-induced e martensite with decrease of grain size. Inversely, after shape recovery heating, the volume fraction of residual stress-induced e martensite increases as the grain size increases, e.g. the increase in grain size hinders the reversible martensitic transformation.
Higher Education Websites: The "Virtual Face" of Diversity

This research investigated the availability of 15 data and/or services of interest to minority students through an analysis of the websites of 40 higher education institutions; 10 each from doctoral/research, master’s, baccalaureate, and community colleges drawn from 40 different states. This descriptive study answered 3 research questions: (a) How available is information or services of interest to prospective African American and Hispanic students on higher education websites? (b) When information or services are available, how far are they from the home page? (c) How consistent is the presentation of minorities on the website with the actual proportion of minority students at institutions? Findings indicate that 51% of the information or services were missing and statistically significant differences were found in missing information by the institution’s Carnegie classification. However, 11 of 15 services or information investigated were relatively easy to locate. An analysis of minority students in rotating photos on the home page revealed that 78% of institutions used photos that overrepresented the percentage of minorities at the institution.
Common Diseases and Some Demographic Characteristics among Saudi Women.

This study aimed to detect the common diseases among Saudi women and their relationship with the level of physical activity and some variables. This study was applied to 1233 Saudi woman in different regions of the Kingdom, and adopted to explore the common diseases: obesity, hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol and asthma. The study results showed the existence of a statistically significant relationship between the common diseases among Saudi women and the variables of educational level, the nature of the profession, the social status, the justification of the practice of physical activity, the rate of participation in physical activity per week, the practice of physical activity in relation to asthma and the number of children with regard to obesity. The study provided a number of recommendations including: the need to strengthen the role of culture in promoting physical activity by women, through health education via the health centers in the Kingdom.
Bacterial Polysaccharides - Potential Candidate for Vaccine Development

Capsular polysaccharides are important surface components of bacteria. These are virulence factors. Pasteurella multocida (DP1) was isolated from ducklings. The polysaccharide components were isolated from P. multocida (DP1) strain. The structural elucidations were done by Infra-Red (IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrum. The polysaccharides are potential candidates for development of vaccines.
RESTRICTION ENDONUCLEASE DIGESTION ANALYSIS OF DNA FROM VIRUSES ISOLATED FROM DIFFERENT SITES O F TWO FATAL CASES O F HERPES SIMPLEX VIRUS

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) type1 was isolated from a fatal case of herpes simplex encephalitis (case 1) and from a fatal case of disseminated herpes simplex (case 2). The virus was isolated from the lip lesion, the frontal lobe and the temporal lobe of the brain in case 1 and from a mesenteric node, myocardium and salivary gland in case 2. Restriction endonuclease digestion analysis showed that each case was infected with different substrains of HSV. The changes in band pattern in isolates from case 1 occurred in the “variable” region of the genome, showing that viruses with such variations can be isolated simultaneously from different tissues. The changes in band patterns in isolates from case 2 indicated the presence of two virus substrains, one in the mesenteric node and salivary gland and a second in the myocardium.
The influence of seamounts on mesopelagic fish communities

The effects of decreasing water depth on vertically migrating mesopelagic fish was investigated at two shallow topographic features in the NE Atlantic, the Atlantis Seamount and the Great Meteor Seamount. For this purpose the fish assemblage was sampled by means of stratified horizontal midwater tows at three bathymetrically defined stations: plateau (water depth 2300 m). The results show reduced mesopelagic fish densities, species numbers and diversity above the flanks of Atlantis Seamount and Great Meteor Seamount compared to the surrounding oceanic deep water. Multivariate statistical analysis supplied no evidence for the existence of a seamount-associated mesopelagic community at either of the two study areas. Mesopelagic fish assemblages sampled above the seamount slopes are best described as a “thinned-out oceanic community”. A total lack of mesopelagic fish species was typical above the plateaus of both seamounts. Truncation of the vertical migration range by shallow bottom topography and enhanced predation by benthopelagic species are thought to be the main reasons for the observed gaps in mesopelagic fish abundance above the plateaus of both seamounts. Kurzfassung Einfluss von Seebergen auf mesopelagische Fischgemeinschaften An zwei subtropischen Seebergen des Nordostatlantiks, der Atlantis-Bank und der Grossen Meteorbank, wurde der Einfluss abnehmender Wassertiefe auf die Verteilung und die Zusammensetzung der mesopelagischen Fischgemeinschaft untersucht. Zu diesem Zweck wurden stratifizierte Fange mit einem pelagischen Trawl auf drei bathymetrisch definierten Stationen durchgefuhrt: a) uber dem Seebergplateau bis 500 m Wassertiefe; b) am Abhang zwischen 500 und 1500 m Tiefe; c) im ozeanischen Bereich uber Tiefen > 2300 m. Die Untersuchungen zeigten eine deutliche Abnahme der Artenzahl, Diversitat und Dichte der mesopelagischen Fischgemeinschaft uber den Abhangen beider Seeberge im Vergleich zu den ozeanischen Referenzstationen. Multivariate statistische Verfahren erbrachten keinen Nachweis fur eine Seeberg spezifische mesopelagische Artengemeinschaft. Uber den flachen Plateaus beider Seeberge fehlten mesopelagische Fische fast vollstandig. Die physikalische Begrenzung des Lebensraums durch die abnehmende Wassertiefe, sowie der erhohte Pradationsdruck durch benthopelagische Fische werden als Hauptgrunde fur den beobachteten Ausdunnungseffekt beider Seeberge auf die mesopelagische Fischgemeinschaft diskutiert.
Functional Central Limit Theorem for Susceptible-Infected Process On Configuration Model Graphs

We study a stochastic compartmental susceptible-infected (SI) epidemic process on a configuration model random graph with a given degree distribution over a finite time interval $[0,T],$ for some $ T>0$. In this setting, we split the population of graph nodes into two compartments, namely, $S$ and $I$, denoting the susceptible and infected nodes, respectively. In addition to the sizes of these two compartments, we study counts of $SI$-edges (those connecting a susceptible and an infected node) and $SS$-edges (those connecting two susceptible nodes). We describe the dynamical process in terms of these counts and present a functional central limit theorem (FCLT) for them, a scaling limit of the dynamical process as $n$, the number of nodes in the random graph, grows to infinity. To be precise, we show that these counts, when appropriately scaled, converge weakly to a continuous Gaussian vector martingale process the usual Skorohod space of real 3-dimensional vector-valued \cadlag\, functions on $[0,T]$ endowed with the Skorohod topology. We assume certain technical requirements for this purpose. We discuss applications of our FCLT in percolation theory (from a non-equilibrium statistical mechanics point of view), and in computer science in the context of spread of computer viruses. We also provide simulation results for some common degree distributions.
DNA Double-Strand Break Repair in Tumorigenesis and Anticancer Treatment

Although the generation of DNA Double-Strand Breaks (DSBs) is necessitated for a few processes such as immunoglobulin gene rearrangement and meiotic recombination, DSBs are among the most deleterious DNA lesions in the human genome because of their high levels of propensity to elicit genomic instability and cancer [1]. To counteract the pathological effects of DSBs, cells have evolved highly efficient repair mechanisms to minimize their detrimental effect [2]. It is envisaged that genomic instability can also be fueled by aberrant DSB repair in cancer cells, thereby rendering cells less susceptible to proliferation constraints. In addition, the formation of DSBs is an intrinsic part of DNA repair per se. Mutations in DSB repair proteins, such as BRCA1 and BRCA2, are frequently associated with an increased risk of cancer. On the other hand, the formation of DSBs also contributes to the therapeutic efficacy of many anticancer regimens using chemoand radio-therapeutics. It is not surprising that cancer cells may acquire anticancer drug resistance through upregulation of DSB repair pathways. Thus, a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underpinning DSB repair will be essential for creating effective means to control cancer [3].
Ethnic Identity and Accent: Exploring Phonological Acquisition for International Students from China

Sara Abercrombie, Advisor When we speak we communicate more than the sum of our words. Interlocutors give and interpret information including ethnic and cultural affiliations through those first syllables and sounds of an utterance. The goal of this research is to examine the interactions between ethnic identity constructs and degree of accent in English. Given that identity is a product of social labeling and self-identification, by linking identity and accentedness, this present study gives insight into the dynamics of cross-cultural communication. Participants consisted of 20 native Mandarin speakers recently arrived in the United States and enrolled in a Midwestern American university. This research is a quantitative investigation of the correlation between ethnic identity, other-group orientation, and phonological acquisition. Data was collected at the beginning and end of an academic term. The goal of this study is to explore whether ethnic identity and strength of accent correlate at initial measurement upon arrival to the United States and then three months later, to see if changes in pronunciation are predicted by ethnic identity. The results of a multiple regression analysis revealed that other-group orientation was the most significant predictor of accentedness upon arrival in the United States. Furthermore, repeated measures ANOVA results revealed a significant decrease in other-group orientation over the first semester, with no significant change in accent over the same time period. This means that there was a relationship between other-group orientation and strength of accent when participants arrived in the United States. The change in strength of accent was not significant, however there was a decrease in other-group orientation at the end of the first semester. This indicates that participants were less willing to interact with people from other ethnic groups. These results suggest that the social aspects of language learning, such as interactions with, and positive
Moduli of Lagrangian immersions with formal deformations

We introduce a joint project with Cheol-Hyun Cho on the construction of quantum-corrected moduli of Lagrangian immersions. The construction has important applications to mirror symmetry for pair-of-pants decompositions, SYZ and wall-crossing. The key ingredient is Floer-theoretical gluing between local moduli spaces of Lagrangians with different topologies.
Confrontation versus withdrawal: Cultural differences in responses to threats to honor

This study compares evaluations by members of an honor culture (Turkey) and a dignity culture (northern USA) of honor threat scenarios, in which a target was the victim of either a rude affront or a false accusation, and the target chose to withdraw or confront the attacker. Turkish participants were more likely than American participants to evaluate positively the person who withdrew from the rude affront and the person who confronted the false accusation. Participants in both societies perceived that others in their society would endorse confrontation more than withdrawal in both types of scenarios, but this effect was larger for Turkish than American participants. Honor values were associated with evaluations of the targets most strongly among Turkish participants who read about a person who confronted their attacker. These findings provide insight into the role of cultural norms and individual differences in the ways honor influences behavior.
Study of the antileukemic activity of Mimosa caesalpiniifolia Benth. ethanolic extract and fractions

Mimosa caesalpiniifolia Benth. is a native plant to northeastern Brazil, traditionally used in folk medicine, with several pharmacological activities reported including antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antitumor. The present study evaluated the antileukemic potential of M. caesalpiniifolia Benth. ethanolic extract (EtOH) and its n-hexanic (HexF) and dichloromethane (DCMF) fractions. Previous analysis by our team revealed the constituents of high relative abundance in EtOH, HexF, and DCMF, like phytol (11.7%), lupeol (14.7%), and betulinic acid (70.3%), respectively. In the MTT cell viability test, EtOH, HexF, and DCMF induced dose-dependent cytotoxicity in human chronic myeloid cells (K562), with IC50 of 153.6 ± 0.1, 118.40 ± 0.2, and 40.0 ± 0.1 μg/mL, respectively (p 0.05).