Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of calcium and vitamin D therapy on arterial and cardiac disease in young adults with childhood-onset end stage renal disease

mouse bone marrow cell cultures. Although these observations are still preliminary, some conjecture may be offered regarding the potential effect of LC on differentiation during RBC maturation. Programmed cell death is known to occur during the differentiation of progenitor cells. Erythropoietin contributes to RBC maturation by retarding apoptosis, thus allowing erythroid progenitors to complete their differentiation programmes. Indeed, a major negative regulation of erythropoiesis is the caspase-mediated cleavage of GATA-1 or other erythropoietic factors [9]. Mutomba et al. [10] reported that LC at millimolar levels inhibits the activation of caspases at various point in the Fas ligation pathway in Jurkat cells. Collectively, these reports suggest that LC influences erythropoiesis, possibly by inhibiting the apoptosis of progenitor cells. A better understanding of the mechanisms involved in LC-mediated effect on uraemic anaemia, peripheral and/or central action, will help to clarify the role of LC in the treatment of renal anaemia.
KENESEI, ZSÓFIA., KESZEY, TAMARA: (2014): An enhanced SERVQUAL approach to measure service quality in higher education, In: Bigné, E. (szerk.): Paradigm

This paper explores the factors of service quality in higher education and how they contribute to the overall satisfaction and behavioral intentions of students. Our research has three facets. The first is a conceptual issue: using different instrument for the measurement of academic and administrative quality as opposed to an overall assessment of quality. The second is a measurement issue: measuring directly disconfirmation instead of separately measuring perception and expectation. The third issue concerns the concept of minimum service quality level versus an ideal one (zone of tolerance), and their inferences with the disconfirmation concept.
Use of Rendered Animal Protein Meals as Fish Meal Replacer in the Diets of the African Catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) Juveniles

Summary Feeding trials were conducted to investigate the growth response, nutrient utilization and the flesh quality of the juveniles of the African catfish, Clarias gariepinus fed with five different dietary protein sources. Five dry diets containing shrimp meal, blood meal, maggot meal, LT 94 fish meal and tilapia meal respectively were prepared and fed to duplicate groups of C. gariepinus juveniles (18.8 ± 0.7 g) to satiation for 70 days. Weight gain, growth response and feed utilization indices, and carcass composition did not vary significantly (P> 0.05) between treatments. Average daily growth was highest (0.93 g) in diet AM1 (fish meal), followed by diet AM5, 0.91 g (maggot meal) and the least (0.83 g) was recorded in diet AM2 (shrimp meal). The highest specific growth rate (SGR) was recorded (0.93) in diet AM1, while the least (0.87) was from diet AM2. Results indicate that diet fortified with fish meal as protein source had the highest final body weight (83.36 g), followed by maggot meal (82.21 g). Diet with shrimp meal gave the poorest average daily growth. The most cost effective diet in terms of cost per unit gain in weight of fish was obtained from maggot meal.
A New Design of AIC Structure for UWB Signal Sampling in the Application of Localization

UWB signals are very suitable for localization, since their high time resolution can provide precise time of arrival (TOA) estimation. However, a major challenge in UWB signal processing is the requirement for high sampling rate. The theory of compressive sensing (CS) makes processing UWB signal at a low sampling rate possible via analog-to- information converter (AIC) if the signal has a sparse representation in a certain space. In this paper, a new framework called residual analog-to-information converter (RAIC) is proposed to improve AIC performance by adding a signal prediction/cancellation module in front of AIC. The structure of RAIC is designed and analyzed.
Uniform approximation of the CIR process via exact simulation at random times

In this paper we uniformly approximate the trajectories of the Cox-IngersollRoss (CIR) process. At a sequence of random times the approximate trajectories will be even exact. In between, the approximation will be uniformly close to the exact trajectory. From a conceptual point of view the proposed method gives a better quality of approximation in a path-wise sense than standard, or even exact simulation of the CIR dynamics at some deterministic time grid. AMS 2010 subject classication. Primary 65C30; secondary 60H35.
Development Possibilities and Constraints of Croatian Management in the European System of Corporate Governance

In the recent conditions of dynamic technological and scientific development, management has developed an entrepreneurial technology of production and intellectual capital management – the fundamental source of competitiveness. By taking over the entrepreneurial role, previously belonging to the owners of the material capital, contemporary management, in addition to developing its social function, has become the initiator of the development of science, institutions and systems of value. The development of the competitiveness of Croatian economy in the institutional, social and cultural environments of the EU has brought about the need to institutionalize the dominant role of management in the supervisory systems of corporate governance. The development and protection of creative entrepreneurial management within the European system of corporate governance demands an institutional regulation of the position of intellectual capital, the management’s role and social responsibility depending on their role in the production of the company’s and overall society’s added value.
Inflation Dynamics and an Extended New Keynesian Phillips Curve for China

This paper shows that the error term in the stylized New Keynesian Phillips curve (NKPC) model for China is significantly serially correlated. We propose an extended NKPC model for China, which can be easily rationalized in terms of sticky-price setting of backward-looking firms. Empirical results show that further lags of inflation are needed in the hybrid specification of the NKPC in order to rule out serial correlation; forward-looking behavior has a relatively larger impact on inflation dynamics than backward-looking behavior; and conventional output measures remain valid inflation forces in the extended model. Open economy augmentations, nevertheless, indicate that neither exchange rate nor import prices exert a significant impact on inflation in China.
Payload Maximization for Mobile Flexible Manipulators in an Environment with Obstacle

Mobile flexible manipulator is developed in order to achieve the high performance requirements such as high-speed operation, increased high payload to mass ratio, less weight, and safer operation due to reduced inertia. Hence, this paper presents a method for finding the Maximum Allowable Dynamic Load (MADL) of geometrically nonlinear flexible link mobile manipulators. Full dynamic model of wheeled mobile base and mounted flexible manipulator is considered with respect to the dynamic of non-holonomic constraint in an environment including obstacle. In dynamic analysis, an efficient model is employed to describe the treatment of flexible structure, in which both the geometric elastic nonlinearity and the foreshortening effects are considered. Then, a path planning algorithm is developed to find the maximum payload that the optimal strategy is based on the indirect solution of the open-loop optimal control problem. In order to verify the effectiveness of the presented algorithm, several simulation studies are carried out for finding the optimal path between two points in the presence of obstacles. The results clearly show the effect of flexibility and proposed approach on the mobile flexible manipulators.
Harnack inequality for non-self-adjoint evolution equations

Many years ago, S. Y. Cheng, P. Li and myself [1] gave an estimate of the heat kernel for the Laplacian. This was later improved by P. Li and myself in [2]. The key point of this later paper was a parabolic Harnack inequality that generalized an elliptic Harnack inequality that I developed more than twenty years ago. Since many evolution equations in applied mathematics are not selfadjoint and have a convection term, I propose here to generalize the parabolic Harnack inequality that Li and I developed to cover the non-selfadjoint case. The Harnack inequality is considerably stronger than the estimates of the heat kernel. I hope that it will be useful for questions in control theory and fluid dynamics. The applications will be studied on a later occasion.
The Theory of Community Structure: Applications in Marine Ecosystems

Work Package Deliverable MAFCONS Report 2003:002 Managing Fisheries to Conserve Groundfish and Benthic Invertebrate Species Diversity ____________ (MAFCONS Project: EC project number Q5RS-2002-00856)____________ MAFCONS P R 1 F Y S G O L C Y M R U A B E R T A W E U N I V E R S I T Y O F W A L E S S W A N S E A P i A N I M A L S C I E N C E S G R Q U P l senckenberg forschungsinstitut und naturmuseum
Convergence of sequential and asynchronous nonlinear paracontractions

We establish the convergence of sequential and asynchronous iteration schemes for nonlinear paracontracting operators acting in finite dimensional spaces. Applications to the solution of linear systems of equations with convex constraints are outlined. A first generalization of one of our convergence results to an infinite pool of asymptotically paracontracting operators is also presented.
Impact of the Number of Scale Points on Data Characteristics and Respondents’ Evaluations: An Experimental Design Approach Using 5-Point and 7-Point Likert-type Scales

A remarkable deal of social research is based on data collected through the use of Likerttype scales. The optimal number of response categories in Likert-type scales has been subject to an academic debate for years. This article studies the differences between 5- and 7-point Likert-type scales using the SERVPERF Scale, which was developed by Cronin and Taylor in 1992, as the measuring instrument. A pretest-posttest control group experimental design was used to test whether the differently pointed response categories lead to any statistical differences in data characteristics, dimensional structure of the scale and data fit. Results do not show any statistically significant differences in terms of normality and reliability whereas different dimensional structures are achieved for the 5- and 7-point scale formats of SERVPERF using Exploratory Factor Analysis. ANCOVA results reveal that the number of response categories is not affective on the participants’ evaluations of SERVPERF. The results of confirmatory factor analysis show that the best fit is achieved for the 7-point SERVPERF.
Modelling the effect of the position of cooling elements on the vertical profile of transpiration in a greenhouse tomato crop

Semi-closed greenhouse management may increase greenhouse productivity. However, it relies on the application of mechanical cooling. Cooling can be applied from above or below the canopy. The positioning of the cooling affects the vertical climate profile in the canopy. In order to determine how this affects the vertical profile of transpiration and crop temperature, in this work we used the energy balance of different crop layers to develop a modified “big leaf” model for its temperature and transpiration. The model was validated with data from a large greenhouse experiment (tomato) where the position of cooling elements and climate set-points ensured different vertical profiles of air properties. In particular, we had the combination of two positions of cooling elements (above and below the crop) and two temperature set-points; and a control (not cooled and naturally ventilated) compartment. For the validation we used measurements of crop temperature at different heights in the canopy and of transpiration of the whole crop. Finally we used the model to determine and discuss the effect of the various types of air conditioning on the vertical profile of transpiration within the crop. The compartment with natural ventilation had the highest simulated transpiration (which agreed with the measurements) and the largest uniformity of distribution of transpiration among layers. The least homogeneous distribution was with the cooling elements below, which had also the smallest total transpiration, which was 95% of the transpiration of the crop cooled from above.
Intergenerational Income Mobility Among Daughters

New evidence on daughters' intergenerational mobility in a framework that encompasses women not in the labor force, using broader measures of economic status than just the women's own earnings, is presented, and the role of husbands' earnings is highlighted. A parallel analysis of sons' mobility is performed. Intergenerational transmission of income status may be weaker for daughters than for sons, but is still quite substantial. Assortative mating is an important element in the intergenerational transmission process.
Vibration-Actuated Bistable Micromechanism for Microassembly

This paper proposes a novel method to switch an onsubstrate bistable micromechanism. An external vibration is exploited to switch the micromechanism between its bistable positions. There is no need to build any actuators on substrate with this method. The vibration-actuated bistable micromechanism (VABM) is vibrated by shaking the entire substrate with a piezo actuator. The vibration provides a simple means of switching the VABM. Finite element analyses are utilized to obtain the nonlinear spring stiffness of the VABM and an analytical model is derived in order to analyze its dynamic behavior. Prototypes of the VABM are fabricated using elecroforming. A scenario of the VABM for on-substrate fine positioning of micro components is presented.
In vitro antihyperglycaemic effects of some Malaysian plants

MOHAMAD JEMAIN MR, NIK MUSA'ADAH M, ROHAYA A, ABDUL RASHID L & NOR HAD I AN11. 2011. In vitro antihyperglycaemic effects of some Malaysian plants. Uncontrolled postprandial hyperglycaemia increases the risk of vascular diabetic complications. One of the therapeutic approaches to control postprandial hyperglycaemia is by inhibiting a-amylase and a-glucosidase enzyme activities. In this study, 47 extracts from 22 Malaysian tropical plants were assayed for a-amylase and a-glucosidase inhibitory activities. Four plant species demonstrated potent a-amylase inhibition. The plants were Burkillantus malaccensis (stem), Horsfieldia polyspherula (leaf and stem), Labisia pumila (leaf and root) and Phyllanthus pulcher (stem). The IC50 values of the extracts ranged from 1.2 to 2.8 pg ml"1. Four plant species could be classified as strong a-glucosidase inhibitors with IC50 values ranging from 2.4 to 6.1 pg ml"1. The plants were Gironniera parvifolia (stem), H. polyspherula (leaf and stem), P. pulcher (leaf and stem) and Rothmannia schoemanii (stem). Extracts of P. pulcher (stem) and H. polyspherula (leaf and stem) showed potent inhibitory activity against both enzymes. The plant extracts are potentially useful in the development of new antidiabetic remedies.
Magnetite lamellae in olivine and clinohumite from Dabie UHP ultramafic rocks, central China

Abstract Ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) minerals of the Maowu mafic-ultramafic complex in the Dabieshan, east-central China exhibit many exsolution textures. Magnetite lamellae are common in olivines and Ti clinohumites from harzburgite and garnet pyroxenite. Monazite-(Ce) lamellae occur in apatites from the garnet pyroxenite. Independent P-T estimates suggest that these ultramafic rocks formed at P > 5 GPa and T = 700 ± 50 °C. The lamellae-bearing minerals are believed to preserve an earlier, higher P-T record prior to exsolution. Compositions and unit-cell parameters of the magnetite and host olivine and intergrowth relations were determined using a newly developed X-ray diffraction microprobe technique employing synchrotron radiation. The host olivine and magnetite lamellae bear a topotaxial relation with [220]Mag | | [200]Ol, [111]Mag | | [33̅1̅]Ol, [111̅] Mag | | [331]Ol, [242]Mag | | [22̅0]Ol. The recalculated composition of primary olivine may contain up to 1.5 wt% Fe2O3. Four hypotheses may explain the observed intergrowths of oriented magnetite lamellae in olivine: (1) oxidation of olivine; (2) decomposition of Fe3+-bearing olivine formed at >6 GPa; (3) exsolution of a spinel (wadsleyite) solid-solution Fe3O4-(Fe,Mg)2SiO4 during decompression; and (4) breakdown of phase A [Mg7Si2(OH)6] + enstatite. The third hypothesis appears to be the most likely inasmuch as no additional silicate phase occurs as associated inclusions in the olivine host. However, the actual mechanism for exsolution of magnetite from olivine remains to be studied experimentally.
Morphology, phylogeography and drumming behaviour of a New Zealand ground weta, Hemiandrus pallitarsis : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Conservation Biology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

ii Acknowledgements . iii List of Tables . vii List of Figures . ix Chapter 1: Thesis Introduction. 1 1.1 Species concepts. 1 1.2 New Zealand ground weta . 2 1.3 Taxonomic history and systematics of Hemiandrus pallitarsis . 3 1.4 Mating behaviour of Hemiandrus pallitarsis . 4 1.5 Thesis outline and chapter aims . 5 1.6 References . 8 Chapter 2: Morphometric variation in Hemiandrus pallitarsis 2.
Economic Growth of Industrial Sector and Strength of Environment Regulation

With the increasingly urgency of the environment problem, research on issues about environment problem has been a difficult but hot spot. However, there’s few scholars study on the convergence in intensity of environment regulation and the relationship between the differences of GDP per worker and those of intensity of environment regulation. Based on this reason, this paper studied above issues by the panel data of industrial sectors of each province in China in 1999-2008, and got conclusions as follows: (1) Among the national group and four individual groups, only some groups existed absolute convergence in the two indexes of GDP per worker and the intensity of environment regulation, but conditional convergence of the two indexes was existed in all groups. Specific to the convergence speed, the high-yield low-emission group per worker (group I) was slower than the high-yield high-emission group per worker (group II), the low-yield low-emission group per worker (group III) and the low-yield high-emission group per worker (group IV). (2) While the chasing group narrowed the gap in GDP per worker with group I, it was also narrowing the gap in the intensity of environment regulation, but the convergence speed of the later is slower than the former's. However, the specific situations of the chasing group in 19 provinces are all different; there are four tendencies that are strong convergence, weak convergence, strong divergence and weak divergence.
MULTICRITERIA DECISION ANALYSIS: STATE OF THE ART SURVEYS

Multicriteria analysis and its methods have developed very rapidly in the last few decades. Basically, multicriteria analysis deals with solving unstructured management problems and, in practical terms, facilitates making an optimal decision. In order to make a good decision, however, it is necessary to specify possible alternatives by defining appropriate criteria. Multicriteria analysis belongs to the decisionmaking field, where the following meet: economics, mathematics, statistics, psychology, sociology, organizational theory, philosophy, information technology and other sciences.
Introduction of HPV vaccination in Kenya

HPV vaccination prevents cervical cancer, the fourth most common cancer among women worldwide. Measured HPV vaccine acceptability is often high but does it also lead to high uptake? Methodology: A cohort was set up assessing HPV vaccine acceptability and other health behav- iour constructs before, and vaccine uptake after an HPV vaccination programme in Eldoret, Kenya. Focus groups shed light on the motivation for vaccine uptake or refusal. Results: Acceptability was high but was no strong predictor of uptake, and neither were the constructs of the Health Belief Model. Lack of information and fear of side effects were major barriers. Feeling uncomfortable to discuss cervical cancer hampered open communication. Discussion: Distrust towards new vaccines and the health system blocked translation from willingness-to-vaccinate to actual uptake, as did organizational factors such as poor promotion. Conclusion: Future research should include broader concepts such as vaccine hesitancy and factors beyond personal control in order to predict vaccine uptake. Key words: HPV vaccination, acceptability, uptake, longitudinal study, Kenya
Pricing Convertible Bonds by Simulation

Convertible bonds are complex hybrid securities subject to multiple sources of risk. Many exhibit exotic path dependent features. Monte Carlo simulation methods are usually the favorite choice for solving high-dimensional problems and pricing path dependent securities. This paper breaks away from the tradition established in the literature of pricing convertible bonds with finite difference and lattice methods, and suggests a simulation methodology for convertible bond pricing. We introduce the dividend process for convertible bonds, and formulate the pricing problem according to the probabilistic martingale approach. The proposed methodology deals with callable and puttable convertible bonds. The early exercise rules are estimated by means of least squares regressions as in Longstaff and Schwartz (2001). The accuracy of the simulation algorithm is tested in the context of a two factor model. The algorithm performs fairly well, and shows potential for further extension to include many complexities inherent in convertible bonds, as well as additional risk factors.
Denominational Schools and Returns to Education - Gender Socialization in Multigrade Classrooms?

Denominational schools are an important provider of education in many countries around the world. Due to their focus, these schools often operate with multigrade classes, in which more than one age cohort is taught in one classroom. Multigrade classes are a cost-effective way to provide education and play a crucial role in education policy in the context of demographic change. This paper presents estimates of the causal effect of attending denominational schools with multigrade classes on schooling and short-run labor market outcomes. The analysis combines administrative records of schools with comprehensive population census data, and exploits the abolition of denominational schools in the Saarland, a German state, in 1969, for identification of the effect. The findings document significantly detrimental effects on final grade attainment, labor market participation and socioeconomic mobility. Notably, the negative impact is most pronounced in the outcomes of girls. Disentangling the confounding role of variation between Catholic and Protestant schools suggests that this effect might be driven by socialization early in life.