Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Modulation of Ownership and Agency in the Virtual Hand Illusion under Visuotactile and Visuomotor Sensory Feedback

It is well known by the virtual hand illusion (VHI) that simultaneous and synchronous visuotactile sensory feedback within a virtual environment elicits the feeling of ownership of a virtual hand, by observing for some seconds in a scene a virtual hand being touched while at the same time receiving tactile stimulation on the real hand in the corresponding positions. In this paper, we investigate possible modulations in the feeling of ownership (sensation of owning a virtual hand) and of agency (sensation of owning virtual movements and actions) according to whether or not the participant's own motor acts (1) induce coherent self-activated visuotactile sensory stimulations; and (2) generate plausible consequences in the simulated environment. For this purpose, we elicited the VHI within a group of participants through a cross-modal integration of visuo-tactile sensory stimulations within a dynamic and physically plausible immersive virtual environment, where they were able to perform natural tasks in both passive and active agency conditions. Our results indicate that both feelings of ownership and agency can be achieved in immersive virtual environments, when the subject is realistically interacting and performing natural upper limb movements. We did not observe any significant difference in the VHI in terms of ownership and agency between the active and passive conditions, but we observed that a physically incongruent simulated interaction with the virtual world can lead to a significant disruption of ownership. Moreover, in the passive agency condition, a plausible physical behavior of the virtual hand was sufficient to elicit a partially complete sense of ownership, if measured in terms of proprioceptive drift, even in the presence of an asynchronous visuotactile sensory feedback. All these findings suggest that the multisensory feedback associated with a subject's own actions and the physical plausibility of the environment both act as determinant factors, influencing and modulating the vividness of the VHI.
Mapping Data Centre Business Types with Power Management Strategies to Identify Demand Response Candidates

Data centres are key to a future energy system with a high share of intermittent renewable energy sources. They form the cloud that enables a modern life-style and cyber-physical based production; however, fulfilling these tasks makes them the fastest growing component of IT power demand. In the future energy system the flexibility of consumers' power demand will be a necessary response to the growing intermittency of power supply. Therefore, data centres as big consumers become one target power consumer group to integrate their flexibility potential into daily business operation. Research has seen this necessity for some years and developed technical strategies to control the power profile of a data centre, identifying a huge demand response potential. To date, however, hardly any data centre offers their flexbility to the power market. The reasons for the gap between the technical potential and realized valorization of a data centre's power flexibility are manifold. This paper aims at analysing this gap from a business viewpoint: Which data centre types do generally have customer contracts allowing for the necessary power flexibility? And to which degree do data centres have the necessary control over their power profile? In order to approach this set of questions, in a first step, typologies of data centres and of power saving strategies are created. Then data centre types are mapped with suitable power management strategies, and finally the results of this mapping process are discussed.
Failure of Thrombus to Resolve in Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator Gene-Knockout Mice: Rescue by Normal Bone Marrow-Derived Cells

Background—Monocytes may have an important role in the resolution of venous thrombosis. Increased expression of tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) and urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) is associated with an ingress of monocytes into the thrombus. This study was designed to evaluate the importance of these activators in thrombus resolution. Methods and Results—Inferior caval vein thrombosis was induced in cohorts of adult wild-type, uPA gene-knockout (uPA−/−), and tPA gene-knockout (tPA−/−) mice in a flow model. Thrombi were harvested from wild-type and uPA−/− mice (n=60 per group) between 1 and 60 days. Thrombi were also obtained from groups of wild-type and tPA−/− mice (n=24 per group) between 1 and 28 days. Thrombus size and macrophage content were measured by computer-assisted image analysis. Thrombus resolution was significantly impaired in the uPA−/− mice compared with wild-type controls (P <0.0001) but was unaffected in tPA−/− mice. Monocyte content in wild-type mice was highest at 14 days after thrombus induction and was ≈4 times greater than in uPA−/− mice (P =0.0043). Thrombus size in uPA−/− mice transplanted with wild-type marrow (0.29±0.06 mm2) was significantly smaller than in uPA−/− mice given uPA−/− bone marrow (3.9±1.1 mm2) (P =0.0022). Donor bone marrow–derived cells expressing LacZ were present in the thrombus after transplantation. Conclusions—The resolution of experimental venous thrombus is dependent on uPA but is unaffected by the absence of tPA. Absence of uPA is also associated with delayed monocyte recruitment into the thrombus. Transplanting wild-type bone marrow restores thrombus resolution in uPA−/− animals, suggesting an important role for bone marrow–derived cells in this process.
Evaluation of Facial Esthetics in Rehabilitated Adults with Complete Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate: A Comparison between Professionals with and without Experience in Oral Cleft Rehabilitation

Objectives. The aim of this study was to evaluate the facial esthetics of White-Brazilian adults with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) rehabilitated at a single center. Design. 30 patients (13 females; 17 males; mean age of 24.0 years), rehabilitated at a single center, were photographed and evaluated by 25 examiners, 5 orthodontists, and 5 plastic surgeons dealing with oral clefts, 5 orthodontists and 5 plastic surgeons with no experience in the cleft treatment, and 5 laymen. Their facial profiles were classified into esthetically unpleasant, esthetically acceptable, and esthetically pleasant. Results. Orthodontists dealing with oral clefts classified the majority of the sample as esthetically pleasant. Plastic surgeons dealing with oral cleft, orthodontists, and plastic surgeons without experience with oral clefts classified most of the sample as esthetically acceptable. Laymen evaluation also considered the majority of the sample as esthetically acceptable. Conclusions. The facial profiles of rehabilitated adults with UCLP were classified mostly as esthetically acceptable, with variations among the categories of examiners. The examiners dealing with oral clefts gave higher scores to the facial esthetics when compared to professionals without experience in oral clefts and laypersons, probably due to their knowledge of the limitations involved in the rehabilitation process.
Cytoskeleton and morphogenesis in brown algae.

BACKGROUND Morphogenesis on a cellular level includes processes in which cytoskeleton and cell wall expansion are strongly involved. In brown algal zygotes, microtubules (MTs) and actin filaments (AFs) participate in polarity axis fixation, cell division and tip growth. Brown algal vegetative cells lack a cortical MT cytoskeleton, and are characterized by centriole-bearing centrosomes, which function as microtubule organizing centres. SCOPE Extensive electron microscope and immunofluorescence studies of MT organization in different types of brown algal cells have shown that MTs constitute a major cytoskeletal component, indispensable for cell morphogenesis. Apart from participating in mitosis and cytokinesis, they are also involved in the expression and maintenance of polarity of particular cell types. Disruption of MTs after Nocodazole treatment inhibits cell growth, causing bulging and/or bending of apical cells, thickening of the tip cell wall, and affecting the nuclear positioning. Staining of F-actin using Rhodamine-Phalloidin, revealed a rich network consisting of perinuclear, endoplasmic and cortical AFs. AFs participate in mitosis by the organization of an F-actin spindle and in cytokinesis by an F-actin disc. They are also involved in the maintenance of polarity of apical cells, as well as in lateral branch initiation. The cortical system of AFs was found related to the orientation of cellulose microfibrils (MFs), and therefore to cell wall morphogenesis. This is expressed by the coincidence in the orientation between cortical AFs and the depositing MFs. Treatment with cytochalasin B inhibits mitosis and cytokinesis, as well as tip growth of apical cells, and causes abnormal deposition of MFs. CONCLUSIONS Both the cytoskeletal elements studied so far, i.e. MTs and AFs are implicated in brown algal cell morphogenesis, expressed in their relationship with cell wall morphogenesis, polarization, spindle organization and cytokinetic mechanism. The novelty is the role of AFs and their possible co-operation with MTs.
Central Retinal Artery Occlusion in a Patient with Metabolic Syndrome X

Purpose To report a case of central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO) in a patient with metabolic syndrome X. Case Report A 64 year-old-man presented with abrupt, painless, and severe loss of vision in his left eye. Indirect ophthalmoscopy disclosed signs compatible with CRAO and laboratory investigations revealed erythrocyte sedimentation rate of 74 mm/h, C-reactive protein (CRP) level of 21 mg/l, hyperglycemia, hyperuricemia, hypertriglyceridemia and hypercholesterolemia. Fluorescein angiography and immunological studies excluded other systemic disorders. The patient met the full criteria of the National Cholesterol Education Program for metabolic syndrome X. Conclusion In addition to different vascular complications such as stroke, and cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome X may be associated with retinal vascular occlusions.
Corporate Responsibility and Corporate Reputation: Case of Gulf Petroleum & Investment Company

1 arpita.dutta@amaiu.edu. bh 2amir.imeri@amaiu.edu. bh Abstracts: Corporate Social Responsibility is “the responsibility of enterprises for their impact on society”. “An enterprise should have in place a process to integrate social, environmental, ethical human rights and consumer concerns into their business operations and core strategy in close collaboration with their stakeholders”. As such, the main idea of this research is to examine the link between CSR dimensions and reputation of oil company, GPIC in the kingdom of Bahrain. This study also has integrated two theories, namely the RBV and the Stakeholder theory. The congruence model used was inspired by combining the theories, in order to study the effects of CSR on company reputation. The data for this study was analyzed, using SPSS 17. Descriptive, correlation and were run to test these hypotheses. The study found Ethics, and philanthropic had a direct significant relationship with company performance. The following conclusion was drawn based on the extracted results: there is very strong reliability in the data among all variables, the respondents confirmed the effectiveness of all variables, there are significant relationships between independent variables and dependent variables. Theoretical, practical and managerial implementations are also discussed, along with suggestions for future research avenues. The way GPICs follows its environmental policy, the way they take care and treat their and local communities are all part of their overall behaviour and this in turn has formed their public image. Studies have proved again and again that public image gets created because of company behaviour, hence business ethics influences public image. Public image is important factor for the growth and success in most cases, This study proved that any company that wants to expand and grow should have a strong sense of business ethics. The concept of social responsibility has turned out to be a significant theme in the global business. This could be accepted as the main motive for the competitive advantage for all companies worldwide.
Transdisciplinary Perspectives on Environmental Sustainability: A Resource Base and Framework for IT-Enabled Business Transformation

The quality and future of human existence are directly related to the condition of our natural environment, but we are damaging the environment. Scientific evidence has mounted a compelling case that human behavior is responsible for deterioration in the Earth's natural environment, with the rate of deterioration predicted to increase in the future. Acknowledging this evidence, the governments of 192 countries have formally agreed to take action to resolve problems with the climate system, one of the most highly stressed parts of the natural environment. While the intention is clear, the question of how best to proceed is not. The research reported here undertook a three-phase approach of selecting, analyzing, and synthesizing relevant literature to develop a holistic, transdisciplinary, integrative framework for IT-enabled business transformation. The focus on business transformation is because business is recognized as being a critical contributor in realizing the challenges of environmental sustainability due to its potential capacity for innovation and change-locally, nationally, and globally. This article also serves as a resource base for researchers to begin to undertake significant information systems and multidisciplinary work toward the goal of environmental sustainability. Through selection and analysis of illustrative examples of current work from 12 academic disciplines across 6 core categories, the framework addresses the key issues of uncertainty: (1) What is meant by environmental sustainability? (2) What are its major challenges? (3) What is being done about these challenges? (4) What needs to be done?
Serbian version of the Women’s Health Questionnaire: psychometric properties

Abstract Objective The aim of this study was to translate the Women’s Health Questionnaire (WHQ) into the Serbian language and assess its validity and reliability in a population of Serbian menopausal women. Methods The study included peri- and postmenopausal women from two Community Health Centers in Belgrade. Women filled out the WHQ, the Short Form-36 questionnaire (SF-36) and Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI). The WHQ was translated according to recommended methodology for cultural adaptation of questionnaires and its psychometric characteristics (internal consistency, inter-rater reliability, factor analysis, sensitivity, discriminant, construct and criterion validity) were tested. Results In the Serbian population, the mean values of the WHQ domains were mostly comparable with reference Mediterranean countries. Whole-scale Cronbach’s α was 0.838. Moreover, five WHQ domains had a value of Cronbach’s α above the acceptable limit. There were no significant differences in WHQ scores between our two investigators. On exploratory factor analysis, we obtained ten factors (two items formed a new factor – ‘Menstrual pathology’). Almost all SF-36 domains were significantly associated with WHQ domains, while the BDI was associated with domains: depressive mood, anxiety and sleep problems. Based on ROC analysis, WHQ is slightly more reliable for perimenopausal than postmenopausal Serbian women. Conclusion The Serbian version of the WHQ showed very good reliability and validity in assessment of quality of life among menopausal women. The WHQ is applicable for both peri- and postmenopausal women.
The circular chromatic numbers of planar digraphs

The circular chromatic number is a refinement of the chromatic number of a graph. It has been established in [3,6,7] that there exists planar graphs with circular chromatic number r if and only if r is a rational in the set {1} ∪ [2,4]. Recently, Mohar, in [1,2] has extended the concept of the circular chromatic number to digraphs and it is interesting to ask what the corresponding result is for digraphs. In this article, we shall prove the new result that there exist planar digraphs with circular chromatic number r if and only if r is a rational in the interval [1,4]. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 55: 14–26, 2007
Test compaction by test cube merging for four-way bridging faults

Test compaction that accommodates the constraints of test data compression can be achieved by generating test cubes for target faults, and then merging the test cubes. This paper describes an improved test cube merging procedure for four-way bridging faults. The procedure is motivated by the prevalence of bridging defects and the fact that test sets for bridging faults are larger than test sets for single stuck-at faults. A four-way bridging fault g<sub>i</sub>/a<sub>i</sub>/h<sub>i</sub> models the case where a value a<sub>i</sub> of a line h<sub>i</sub> dominates the value of a line g<sub>i</sub>. A basic test cube merging procedure considers a set of test cubes C<sub>det</sub> that detects target faults. The paper extends the set of test cubes to include, in addition to C<sub>det</sub>, a set of test cubes C<sub>dom</sub> that assign values to dominating lines. Test cubes from C<sub>dom</sub> have significantly fewer specified values than test cubes from C<sub>det</sub>. When test cubes from C<sub>dom</sub> are merged with test cubes from C<sub>det</sub>, each resulting test cube detects more faults, and fewer test cubes are needed for detecting the same set of target faults.
Novel Information Dissemination Solutions in Biologically Inspired Networks

Nowadays mobile communications gain more and more importance. The increased usage requires more sophisticated services. In this paper a possible, future network architecture is examined, called BIONETS. In this case the mobile nodes for the entire network, without dedicated backbone is present. We pursue the goal of finding an optimal information dissemination model over some mobility model. The investigation covers our previously defined protocol called IOBIO, classical broadcast and a newly developed adaptive broadcast algorithm. We run several simulations-with an own simulator created in OMNeT++ in order to decide which one is the optimal information dissemination method for the given mobility environment. The results give us the advantage to further improve the communication in such networks.
PLASMA-INITIATED IGNITION OF ENGINES

Laser ignition is considered to be one of the most promising future ignition concepts for internal combustion engines. It combines the legally required reduction of pollutant emissions and higher engine efficiencies. The igniting plasma is generated by a focussed pulsed laser beam. Having pulse durations of a few nanoseconds, the pulse energy Ep for reliable ignition amounts to the order of 10 mJ. The lack of adequate compact high-power laser systems on the market with the mentioned specifications led to the development of such a solid-state laser. A fiber-coupled, longitudinally diode-pumped, passively Q-switched solid-state laser was realized. Nd:YAG was chosen as laser active medium emitting at λem = 1064 nm, and Cr:YAG as passive saturable absorber. A 300 W quasi-cw laser diode as pump source provided pump pulses with energy up to Epump=150 mJ. Experimental studies were carried out to find the optimum component specifications like reflectivity of the output coupler R, initial transmission T0 of the absorber or optimum in-coupling optics. Single pulse energies of more than 10 mJ at pulse durations of 1.5 ns were yielded. Further on, the in-coupling optics was analyzed in detail in order to draw conclusions with respect to optimum output power. The maximum pulse energy Ep was achieved at R = 60% and T0 ≈ 60%.
Butyrylcholinesterase reactivity differentiates the amyloid plaques of aging from those of dementia

In a sample of consecutively received, 4 demented and 4 age‐matched nondemented brains, the total cortical area covered by plaque‐like Aβ amyloid and butyrylcholinesterase deposits was measured at two regions of the temporal cortex with the help of computed densitometry. Demented as well as age‐matched nondemented brains contained Aβ and butyrylcholinesterase‐positive plaques. The total cortical area covered by the Aβ precipitates was higher in demented individuals but there was overlap with the values seen in the specimens from nondemented individuals. The proportinal plaque area displaying butyrylcholinesterase reactivity was very significantly and fivefold to sixfold higher in the demented than in the nondemented group and there was no overlap between the two populations. Diffuse Aβ deposits in nondemented elderly brains may represent a benign or preclinical stage of plaque deposition with relatively little pathological effect on brain tissue and mental function. Our results suggest that the progressively more extensive butyrylcholinesterase reactivity of plaques may participate in their transformation from a relatively benign form to pathogenic structures associated with neuritic degeneration and dementia.
WWOX suppresses prostate cancer cell progression through cyclin D1-mediated cell cycle arrest in the G1 phase

WW domain-containing oxidoreductase (WWOX) has been reported to be a tumor suppressor in multiple cancers, including prostate cancer. WWOX can induce apoptotic responses to inhibit tumor progression, and the other mechanisms of WWOX in tumor suppression have also been reported recently. In this study, we found significant down-regulation of WWOX in prostate cancer specimens and prostate cancer cell lines compared with the normal controls. In addition, an ectopically increased WWOX expression repressed tumor progression both in vitro and in vivo. Interestingly, overexpression of WWOX in 22Rv1 cells led to cell cycle arrest in the G1 phase but did not affect sub-G1 in flow cytometry. GFP-WWOX overexpressed 22Rv1 cells were shown to inhibit cell cycle progression into mitosis under nocodazole treatment in flow cytometry, immunoblotting and GFP fluorescence. Further, cyclin D1 but not apoptosis correlated genes were down-regulated by WWOX both in vitro and in vivo. Restoration of cyclin D1 in the WWOX-overexpressed 22Rv1 cells could abolish the WWOX-mediated tumor repression. In addition, WWOX impair c-Jun-mediated cyclin D1 promoter activity. These results suggest that WWOX inhibits prostate cancer progression through negatively regulating cyclin D1 in cell cycle lead to G1 arrest. In summary, our data reveal a novel mechanism of WWOX in tumor suppression.
Oscillatory entrainment of subthalamic nucleus neurons and behavioural consequences in rodents and primates

We investigated the functional role of oscillatory activity in the local field potential (LFP) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) in the pathophysiology of Parkinson’s disease (PD). It has been postulated that beta (15–30 Hz) oscillatory activity in the basal ganglia induces PD motor symptoms. To assess this hypothesis, an LFP showing significant power in the beta frequency range (23 Hz) was used as a stimulus both in vitro and in vivo. We first demonstrated in rat brain slices that STN neuronal activity was driven by the LFP stimulation. We then applied beta stimulation to the STN of 16 rats and two monkeys while quantifying motor behaviour. Although stimulation‐induced behavioural effects were observed, stimulation of the STN at 23 Hz induced no significant decrease in motor performance in either rodents or primates. This study is the first to show LFP‐induced behaviour in both rats and primates, and highlights the complex relationship between beta power and parkinsonian symptoms.