Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The impact of health apps on lifestyle behaviours and cardiovascular risk factors in patients with cardiovascular risk factors or established cardiovascular disease: a systematic review

Type of funding sources: Public grant(s) – EU funding. Main funding source(s): European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme Adequate levels of physical activity (PA) and a healthy diet can contribute to weight loss, improved blood pressure, improved lipid levels and higher insulin sensitivity and thus decrease the risk for the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Recently, mobile technologies, such as mobile applications (apps) have been developed for supporting adherence to a healthy lifestyle in an individualized and interactive manner. The aim of this systematic review was to summarize the effectiveness of such mobile apps targeting PA and/or dietary behavior and cardiovascular risk factors in primary and secondary prevention. Four databases (Pubmed, Sportdiscus, Cinahl, Embase) were searched to identify prospective studies evaluating mobile apps targeting healthy diet and/or PA. Rayyan software was used for screening articles. Only interventional trials that assessed the effectiveness of health apps on diet, PA and/or cardiovascular risk factors were included. Quality assessment was performed using the MINORS tool. Qualitative synthesis was performed providing data summaries according to different subgroups: healthy adults, adults who are overweight, have obesity, hypertension, CVD or diabetes. Out of 7073 records identified, 52 articles, reporting on 44 studies with variable study designs, could be included in qualitative synthesis. Interventions targeted diet, PA and/or adherence to therapy/healthy lifestyle and reported on at least one cardiovascular risk factor. In 20 studies, weight loss was a target of the mobile intervention, the vast majority (17/20 studies) reported weight loss following app usage of at least similar extent as usual care. Twenty-six mobile interventions targeted PA and/or exercise training and 23 of them resulted in an increase in PA in the short term. Four studies performed in patients with CVD showed that health app usage could be related to increased PA and improved diet, resulting in similar health benefits as usual care. The most commonly employed behavioural change methods were goal setting and self-monitoring, the use of financial incentives for inducing beneficial lifestyle changes yielded inconclusive results. Main limitations of the studies were small sample sizes, short follow-up duration and lack of controlled trial design. Mobile apps targeting healthy lifestyle for the management of cardiovascular risk factors seem to be valuable tools to add to current practice in preventive medicine. However, larger, controlled studies with longer follow-up duration are needed to confirm these early findings.
In Vitro Coliform Resistance to Bioactive Compounds in Urinary Infection, Assessed in a Lab Catheterization Model

Bioactive compounds and phenolic compounds are viable alternatives to antibiotics in recurrent urinary tract infections. This study aimed to use a natural functional product, based on the bioactive compounds’ composition, to inhibit the uropathogenic strains of Escherichia coli. E.coli ATCC 25922 was used to characterize the IVCM (new in vitro catheterization model). As support for reducing bacterial proliferation, the cytotoxicity against a strain of Candida albicans was also determined (over 75% at 1 mg/mL). The results were correlated with the analysis of the distribution of biologically active compounds (trans-ferulic acid-268.44 ± 0.001 mg/100 g extract and an equal quantity of Trans-p-coumaric acid and rosmarinic acid). A pronounced inhibitory effect against the uropathogenic strain E. coli 317 (4 log copy no./mL after 72 h) was determined. The results showed a targeted response to the product for tested bacterial strains. The importance of research resulted from the easy and fast characterization of the functional product with antimicrobial effect against uropathogenic strains of E. coli. This study demonstrated that the proposed in vitro model was a valuable tool for assessing urinary tract infections with E. coli.
No feelings for me, no feelings for you: A meta-analysis on alexithymia and empathy in psychopathy

Introduction: Psychopathy is characterized by extensive emotional impairments. However, the current empirical literature on empathy and emotional awareness in psychopathy provides heterogeneous results. Methods: Multiple random-effects models were performed on studies examining the association between psychopathy and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index as well as Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20. In total, 72 articles providing 716 effect sizes and representing 15,016 participants were included in the analyses. Furthermore, differences among psychopathy factors and the role of potential moderators were assessed. Results: We found negative relationships between psychopathy and empathy (r = -.31), empathic concern (r = -.29), perspective taking (r = -.22), and personal distress (r = -.14). In addition, our results yielded positive relationships between psychopathy and alexithymia (r = .21), difficulty describing feelings (r = .20), difficulty identifying feelings (r = .16), and externally-oriented thinking (r = .15). The results varied by psychopathy factors and were partly moderated by sample type (correctional/clinical vs. community) and gender.Conclusion: These findings contribute to a better understanding of impaired emotionality in psychopathy. We show that psychopathy is associated with profound deficits in affective and cognitive empathy, personal distress, and emotional awareness.
Corrosion Failure and Countermeasures of Air Cooler in Atmospheric and Vacuum Distillation Unit

The corrosion failure reasons of an air cooler in the atmospheric and vacuum distillation unit were analyzed.by using macroscopic appearance observation,chemcal analysis,energy spectrum analysis,X-ray diffraction and scanning electronic microscopy observation.The results indicated that the mode of the air cooler corrosion was asymmetrical general corrosion induced by HCl-H2S-H2O environment.Some countermeasures are suggested.
Bargaining in intrastate conflicts: The shifting role of ceasefires

Research shows that conflict parties engage in ceasefires in pursuit of a variety of objectives, some of which reduce while others fuel violent conflict. This article provides a framework that links these objectives to a larger process. Building on bargaining theory, three distinct bargaining contexts are specified for intrastate conflicts. In the Diminishing Opponent context, leaders believe that a military solution yields a better outcome than a political settlement. In the Forcing Concessions context, they recognize the benefit of conflict settlement, but expectations about a mutually acceptable agreement still widely diverge. In the Enabling Agreement context, expectations converge, and leaders seek to pursue settlement without incurring further costs. In line with these readings, conflict party leaders adapt their strategic goal, from seeking to set up a military advantage, to boosting their bargaining power, to increasing the chances of a negotiated settlement. They may use ceasefires in the pursuit of any of these three goals, shifting the function of a ceasefire as they gain a better understanding of bargaining dynamics. A comparison of violence and ceasefire patterns in six contemporary peace processes and a congruence test conducted on the 2012–16 peace negotiations between the Colombian government and the guerilla organization FARC offer support for the theoretical framework. The findings highlight the important, and shifting, role ceasefires play in the transition from war to negotiated peace.
None the wiser: Year-long longitudinal study on effects of adversity on wisdom

Research on consequences of adversity appears inconclusive. Adversity can be detriment to mental health, promoting maladaptive patterns of thoughts. At the same time, posttraumatic growth studies suggest that overcoming major adversity facilitates growth in wisdom-related patterns of thoughts. We address this puzzle by examining how distinct types of adversity impact wisdom over time and how individual differences in self-distanced (rather than self-immersed) reflection on adversity relate to different wisdom trajectories. In a four-wave prospective year-long study, participants (N = 499) recalled and reflected every three months on the most significant recent adverse event in their life. They reported how much they engaged in wise reasoning—intellectual humility, open-mindedness to diverse perspectives and change, search for compromises and resolution—as well as self-distancing during reflections. Independent raters identified seven distinct adversity types (e.g. social conflict, economic hardship, major trauma) in open-ended descriptions. Growth curve analyses revealed little evidence of positive change in wise-reasoning over the course of a year, and some evidence of negative change for health-related adversity. Although self-distancing was associated with stability in wisdom, self-immersing was associated with negative change in wisdom in reflections on social conflicts over time. We discuss implications these results have for adversity, change vs. resilience in character strengths, and self-distancing.
Strategic management and its effects on Serbian wood industry

According to the available data on economic trends in Serbia, it is noticeable that companies in wood in-dustry do not use their capacities to the maximum. Furthermore, a significant number of newly founded small en-terprises, shortly after their establishment, go bankrupt or go into liquidation. Research works that have beenconducted so far have indicated that, most commonly, company deterioration is caused by a lack of strategic ap-proach in business management and company development. The aim of this paper is to gain an insight into the ex-tent to which wood industry enterprises apply strategic approach (their vision, mission and development strategies)when making business decisions, as well as the effects of such approach. This will be achieved by analyzing col-lected questionnaires and interviews with competent experts from wood industry monitoring institutions. Besides,SWOT and PESTLE analyses of the surveyed companies will be conducted. Furthermore, possible solutions forovercoming weaknesses and threats emerging in Serbian wood industry development will be indicated. Likewise,the possibilities for encouraging industry development and increasing its competitiveness level will be presented.
Expansibility of vermiculite (Santa Luzia, Brazil) irradiated with microwave

Abstract The effect of microwave heating on the expansion of vermiculite was studied at a level of 700 W for 4 min exposure time and compared with raw vermiculite. In this study, the characterization of vermiculite from a mine in the northeast region of Brazil was performed using thermogravimetry, N2-adsorption, cation exchange capacity, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), infrared (IR) spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Following the microwave heating, the vermiculite was characterized using XRD, IR spectroscopy, and SEM. Microwave irradiation of the vermiculite sample caused structural changes such as loss of crystallinity and disorder, as revealed by the XRD patterns, but did not cause expansion. Results from SEM and IR spectroscopy showed that the microwave heating did not cause profound alterations to the morphology, clay structure, and chemical composition of the vermiculite.
Operationalizing the Capabilities Approach for Urban Policy Evaluation: The Travel Welfare Impacts of Government Job Resettlement

This paper operationalizes the Sen-Nussbaum Capabilities Approach (CA) towards measuring household travel welfare shifts after relocating government jobs to China’s new towns. As a major type of urban decentralization practice, government job resettlement (GJR) programs have been implemented in several Chinese cities in an attempt to provide seed employment and population in new towns. Nevertheless, the travel welfare impacts of GJR programs are largely under-examined. In this paper, we make the first attempt by proposing a quantitative modelling approach to examining how households undergoing GJR programs have experienced changes in their travel welfare after job resettlement. We contend that travel welfare evaluation should be extended from the current paradigm that focuses on subjective feelings (e.g., satisfaction and happiness) about travel activities and objective measures of trip characteristics (e.g., travel time, travel costs and travel mode choices). We argue that the current evaluative framework can be enhanced by operationalizing the CA. That is, re-conceptualizing travel welfare as having real opportunities or freedom to achieve valuable doings and beings that people have reason to value for their own travel activities. We further propose our CA-based modeling approach and illustrate its promise in correcting some of the conceptual errors in the current travel-welfare models.
The occurrence of denitrifying colourless sulphur-oxidising bacteria in marine waters and sediments as shown by the agar shake technique

The agar shake technique has been tested for the enumeration and isolation of bacteria involved in the anaerobic oxidation of reduced sulphur compounds. High numbers of colony forming units were observed from regions rich in sulphide, and the numbers of these forms were sometimes significantly correlated with the number of sulphatereducing bacteria. The isolates could oxidise not only thiosulphate but also sulphide in liquid medium at the expense of nitrate. Addition of 1 mM glucose to the medium enhanced the rate and amount of thiosulphate oxidised by many of the isolates. Hence the use of the agar shake technique is recommended for the study of these little known facultatively or even obligately chernolithotrophic bacteria involved in the anaerobic oxidation of reduced inorganic sulphur compounds in the marine and estuarine environment.
Effect of Smartphone Dependency on Smartphone Use While Driving

Distracted driving is an important risk factor for traffic accidents. In particular, smartphone use while driving has become the leading cause of distraction in recent years, with the advent of smartphones and their extended functions. One noteworthy change is the addictiveness and dependency on smartphones. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of smartphone dependency on the use of smartphones while driving. A survey of 948 Korean drivers assessed smartphone dependency as well as driver experiences of calling and manipulating the smartphone while driving. Based on the survey, the relationship between smartphone dependency and the use of smartphones was examined using factor analysis and binary logistic regression. Results reveal that drivers who had high smartphone dependency were more likely to use their smartphones while driving, and the effect of smartphone dependency on manipulation was more influential than it was on calls. The results provide compelling evidence that patterns of dependent smartphone usage affect the use of smartphones while driving, especially regarding manipulation. These findings explore smartphone usage whilst driving and can provide a stepping stone toward the formulation of future policies for traffic safety.
Tourism-based regional development: boosting and inhibiting factors

ABSTRACT There is scarce evidence on the factors that contribute to regional development based on tourism connection with agri-food sector and related sectors. The aim of this research is to identify the main stimulating and inhibiting factors of this type of development tgrough the eyes of private agents in the tourism, agri-food and related sectors of an inland region of Portugal. A qualitative study was carried out, based on interviews with 15 private agents operating in these sectors. The results highlight as inhibiting factors the problems regarding governance and the lack of manpower, and as stimulating factors the importance of diversification and differentiation through innovation, as well as resources. The conclusions indicated here should be interpreted with care.
Solving Non-Permutation Flow Shop Scheduling Problem with Time Couplings

In this paper, a non-permutation variant of the Flow Shop Scheduling Problem with Time Couplings and makespan minimization is considered. Time couplings are defined as machine minimum and maximum idle time allowed. The problem is inspired by the concreting process encountered in industry. The mathematical model of the problem and solution graph representation are presented. Several problem properties are formulated, including the time complexity of the goal function computation and block elimination property. Three solving methods, an exact Branch and Bound algorithm, the Tabu Search metaheuristic, and a baseline Genetic Algorithm metaheuristic, are proposed. Experiments using Taillard-based problem instances are performed. Results show that, for the Tabu Search method, the neighborhood based on the proposed block property outperforms other neighborhoods and the Genetic Algorithm under the same time limit. Moreover, the Tabu Search method provided high quality solutions, with the gap to the optimal solution for the smaller instances not exceeding 2.3%.
Occupational formaldehyde exposure linked to increased systemic health impairments and counteracting beneficial effects of selected antioxidants

ABSTRACT Background: Formaldehyde (FA) is a sensitizing agent that can produce an effective immune system response upon initial exposure. FA that can be used in many industries, medical and anatomical facilities, mainly cadaver-based gross anatomy laboratories, represent a risk to occupational health of professionals and students. The majority of FA exposures occur through inhalation, dermal, and eye contact. FA-induced effects are attributed to site-specific and dose-dependent health impairments in many organs and organ systems. Much progress has been reported on FA-induced health impairments in respiratory tract, but a comprehensive study in different organ systems and the reverse effects of some novel antioxidants is still lacking. This review explores the cytotoxic effects of FA and its role as key signaling molecule, site specific and or dose dependent effects of FA in nasal cavity, carcinogenic effects of FA exposure in nasopharynx, effects of FA in lung macrophage functions and development of pulmonary fibrosis, dose dependent reproductive and genetic effects of FA, neurotoxic effects of FA and potential risk of FA in some beauty salons and cosmetic products. In addition, this study shows the counteracting beneficial role of melatonin, Nigella sativa, rose oils, caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE), vitamin E, and proanthocyanidins (PAs) against FA induced tissue damage.Methods: A comprehensive literature search highlighting the health impairments of FA and counteracting beneficial effects of promising antioxidants was conducted using PubMed, Google Scholar, and Medline Cochrane, to assemble relevant publications from open access international journals published only in English.Results: The search generated 411 articles of which 70 full research articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria and included in the review. The results of this study confirmed relentless toxic effects of FA exposure on various organs of human and other animals. Multiple findings also stated the efficacy of promising antioxidants against FA-induced tissue damage in animal models.Conclusion: Occupational exposure to FA is most likely due to inattention towards its side effects and lack of appropriate air filtering equipment or unmonitored concentration of FA in the working air. Therefore, re-evaluating the concentration of FA, proper ventilation, and assessment of working practices is highly recommended. Proper monitoring is also needed to improve compliance and protection of FA-based reproductive complications in females. Despite complete prevention is not viable, exposed personnel must be aware of FA-induced health effects and require assessing risks and acquiring practical measures in their working environment.
A Pneumatic Generator Based on Gas-Liquid Reversible Transition for Soft Robots

The soft robots actuated by pressure, cables, thermal, electrosorption, combustion and smart materials are usually faced with the problems of poor portability, noise, weak load capacity, small deformation and high driving voltages. In this paper, a novel pneumatic generator for soft robots based on the gas-liquid reversible transition is proposed, which has the advantages of large output force, easy deformation, strong load capacity and high flexibility. The pressure of the pneumatic generator surges or drops flexibly through the reversible transformation between liquid and gas phase, making the soft actuator stretch or contract regularly, without external motors, compressors and pressure-regulating components. The gas-liquid reversible-transition actuation process is modeled to analyze its working mechanism and characteristics. The pressure during the pressurization stage increases linearly with a rate regulated by the heating power and gas volume. It decreases exponentially with the exponential term as a quadratic function of time at the fast depressurization stage, while with the exponential term as a linear function of time at the slow depressurization stage. The drop rate can be adjusted by changing the gas volume and cooling conditions. Furthermore, effectiveness has been verified through experiments of the prototype. The pressure reaches 25 bar with a rising rate of +3.935 bar/s when 5 mL weak electrolyte solution is heated at 800 W, and the maximum depressurization rate in air cooling is –3.796 bar/s. The soft finger actuated by the pneumatic generator can bend with an angular displacement of 67.5°. The proposed pneumatic generator shows great potential to be used for the structure, driving and sensing integration of artificial muscles.
Conjugated Linoleic Acid Reduces Body Fat Accretion and Lipogenic Gene Expression in Neonatal Pigs Fed Low-or High-Fat Formulas 1 – 3

Childhood obesity is an increasing problem and may predispose children to adult obesity. Weight gain during infancy has been linked to excessive weight later in life. Conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) have been shown to reduce fat gain and body fat mass in animal models and in humans. The effects of CLA in a piglet model of human infancy have not been determined. The objective of this experiment was to examine the regulation of body composition and lipid metabolism in pigs fed lowand high-fat milk formulas supplemented with CLA. Twenty-four piglets were fed low(3%) or high-fat (25%) diets with or without 1% CLA in a 2 3 2 factorial design. Formulas were fed for 16–17 d. Piglet body weight gains did not differ, although pigs fed the low-fat diets consumed greater amounts of diet. Piglets fed the high-fat formula accreted 50% more body fat during the feeding period than low-fat fed piglets and CLA reduced body fat accretion regardless of dietary fat content. Liver and muscle in vitro oxidation of palmitate was not influenced by dietary treatments. Adipose tissue expression of acetyl-CoA carboxylase-a and lipoprotein lipase were significantly reduced by CLA treatment. Overall, CLA reduced body fat accretion without influencing daily gain in a piglet model of human infancy. Results indicate that inhibition of fatty acid uptake and synthesis by adipose tissue, and not increased fatty acid oxidation in liver or muscle, were involved in reducing body fat gain. J. Nutr. 138: 449–454, 2008.