Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Growth and recrystallization of electroplated copper columns

The present paper addresses the formation and evolution of microstructure and crystal structure of electroplated copper columns. Copper columns of different size have been plated on Au seed layer for a series of periods of time from half an hour to three hours and characterized by Focused Ion Beam (FIB) and XRD. It was found that not only the growth process during plating but also accompanying recrystallization and post-plating spontaneous self-annealing account for the interesting microstructure with bi-modal or tri-modal grain size distribution. The evolution of crystal structure of the copper columns during plating and self-annealing after plating was also studied and discussed. The results indicate that the presence of organic additives is not essential for self-annealing to occur in copper columns, which is against the popular belief with respect to electroplated copper films.
TF‐Test Modified: New Diagnostic Tool for Human Enteroparasitosis

Intestinal parasitosis is highly prevalent worldwide, being among the main causes of illness and death in humans. Currently, laboratory diagnosis of the intestinal parasites is accomplished through manual technical procedures, mostly developed decades ago, which justifies the development of more sensitive and practical techniques. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to develop, evaluate, and validate a new parasitological technique referred to as TF‐Test Modified, in comparison to three conventional parasitological techniques: TF‐Test Conventional; Rugai, Mattos & Brisola; and Helm Test/Kato‐Katz. For this realization, we collected stool samples from 457 volunteers located in endemic areas of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil, and statistically compared the techniques. Intestinal protozoa and helminths were detected qualitatively in 42.23% (193/457) of the volunteers by TF‐Test Modified technique, against 36.76% (168/457) by TF‐Test Conventional, 5.03% (23/457) by Helm Test/Kato‐Katz, and 4.16% (19/457) by Rugai, Mattos & Brisola. Furthermore, the new technique presented “almost perfect kappa” agreement in all evaluated parameters with 95% (P < 0.05) of estimation. The current study showed that the TF‐Test Modified technique can be comprehensively used in the diagnosis of intestinal protozoa and helminths, and its greater diagnostic sensitivity should help improving the quality of laboratory diagnosis, population surveys, and control of intestinal parasites.
ACE and UCP2 gene polymorphisms and their association with baseline and exercise-related changes in the functional performance of older adults

Maintaining high levels of physical function is an important aspect of successful ageing. While muscle mass and strength contribute to functional performance in older adults, little is known about the possible genetic basis for the heterogeneity of physical function in older adults and in how older adults respond to exercise. Two genes that have possible roles in determining levels of muscle mass, strength and function in young and older adults are angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) and mitochondrial uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2). This study examined whether polymorphisms in these two individual genes were associated with baseline functional performance levels and/or the training-related changes following exercise in previously untrained older adults. Five-eight Caucasian older adults (mean age 69.8 years) with no recent history of resistance training enrolled in a 12 week program of resistance, balance and cardiovascular exercises aimed at improving functional performance. Performance in 6 functional tasks was recorded at baseline and after 12 weeks. Genomic DNA was assayed for the ACE intron 16 insertion/deletion (I/D) and the UCP2 G-866A polymorphism. Baseline differences among genotype groups were tested using analysis of variance. Genotype differences in absolute and relative changes in physical function among the exercisers were tested using a general linear model, adjusting for age and gender. The genotype frequencies for each of the studied polymorphisms conformed to the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The ACE I/D genotype was significantly associated with mean baseline measures of handgrip strength (II 30.9 ± 3.01 v. ID 31.7 ± 1.48 v. DD 29.3 ± 2.18 kg, p < 0.001), 8ft Up and Go time (II 6.45 ± 0.48 v. ID/DD 4.41 ± 0.19 s, p < 0.001) and 6 min walk distance (II 458 ± 28.7 v. ID/DD 546 ± 12.1m, p = 0.008). The UCP2 G-866A genotype was also associated with baseline 8ft Up and Go time (GG 5.45 ± 0.35 v. GA 4.47 ± 0.26 v. AA 3.89 ± 0.71 s, p = 0.045). After 12 weeks of training, a significant difference between UCP2 G-886A genotype groups for change in 8ft Up and Go time was detected (GG −0.68 ± 0.17 v. GA −0.10 ± 0.14 v. AA +0.05 ± 0.31 s, p = 0.023). While several interesting and possibly consistent associations with older adults’ baseline functional performance were found for the ACE and UCP2 polymorphisms, we found no strong evidence of genetic associations with exercise responses in this study. The relative equivalence of some of these training-response findings to the literature may have reflected the current study’s focus on physical function rather than just strength, the relatively high levels of baseline function for some genotype groups as well as the greater statistical power for detecting baseline differences than the training-related changes.
SUPER-LUMINOUS TYPE Ic SUPERNOVAE: CATCHING A MAGNETAR BY THE TAIL

We report extensive observational data for five of the lowest redshift Super-Luminous Type Ic Supernovae (SL-SNe Ic) discovered to date, namely, PTF10hgi, SN2011ke, PTF11rks, SN2011kf, and SN2012il. Photometric imaging of the transients at +50 to +230 days after peak combined with host galaxy subtraction reveals a luminous tail phase for four of these SL-SNe. A high-resolution, optical, and near-infrared spectrum from xshooter provides detection of a broad He i λ10830 emission line in the spectrum (+50 days) of SN2012il, revealing that at least some SL-SNe Ic are not completely helium-free. At first sight, the tail luminosity decline rates that we measure are consistent with the radioactive decay of 56Co, and would require 1–4 M☉ of 56Ni to produce the luminosity. These 56Ni masses cannot be made consistent with the short diffusion times at peak, and indeed are insufficient to power the peak luminosity. We instead favor energy deposition by newborn magnetars as the power source for these objects. A semi-analytical diffusion model with energy input from the spin-down of a magnetar reproduces the extensive light curve data well. The model predictions of ejecta velocities and temperatures which are required are in reasonable agreement with those determined from our observations. We derive magnetar energies of 0.4 ≲ E(1051 erg) ≲ 6.9 and ejecta masses of 2.3 ≲ Mej(M☉) ≲ 8.6. The sample of five SL-SNe Ic presented here, combined with SN 2010gx—the best sampled SL-SNe Ic so far—points toward an explosion driven by a magnetar as a viable explanation for all SL-SNe Ic.
Association between the ACE I/D gene polymorphism and physical performance in a homogeneous non-elite cohort.

BACKGROUND I/D polymorphism of the ACE gene may be associated with better endurance performance and a stronger response to exercise training. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between ACE gene polymorphism and athletic performance in a homogeneous cohort. METHODS Eighty-eight male non-elite Caucasian Turkish athletes with similar training backgrounds for at least for 6 months were studied for ACE gene polymorphisms by PCR analysis. Performance on the 60-meter sprint and middle-distance running tests were evaluated. RESULTS The distributions of the ACE I/D genotypes were 20.5%, 40.9%, and 38.6% for II, ID, and DD polymorphisms in the whole group (N = 88), respectively. The ACE DD genotype frequency was significantly higher in the superior group (56.7%) than in the poor (37.9%) and mediocre (20.7%) group in middle-distance running performance (chi2 = 11.778; p = 0.019). CONCLUSION The ACE DD genotype may be related to better short-duration aerobic endurance performance. Larger homogeneous cohorts may help clarify the association between ACE I/D polymorphism and physical performance.
Contrastive Rhetoric and the Teaching of Composition

The text of my sermon for today is drawn from a cartoon which appeared in the Publishers Newspaper Syndicate Sunday comics "Grin and Bear It" on February 2 of this year. The cartoon depicts an archeologist studying a stone covered with pictographs. Behind him are a fellow archeologist (both have bushy white mustaches, pith helmets, khaki shorts) and an Arab-looking individual. In the far distance one can see sand and a truck labeled "Archeological Expedition," so that there can be no misunderstanding. The archeologist who is examining the stone remarks: "If you ask me, it's overwritten! Always using a paragraph where a simple sentence would do! " Whether or not that is sound archeology, the speaker is exactly in the position of a teacher of English as a second language (or for that matter any teacher of any second language). He has done exactly what many of us do as we look at an advanced-level foreign-student composition; that is, he has judged the construction of the composition by the standards of the rhetoric which he takes for granted. But let me retrogress for a moment.
Sosyal Bilgiler Dersi Vatandaşlık Konularının Öğretiminde Bilgisayar Destekli Öğretimin Akademik Başarıya Etkisi/The Effect of Computer Supported Instruction on Students Achievements in Civics Topics of Social Studies Lesson

Bu arastirmanin amaci, sosyal bilgiler dersi vatandaslik konularinin ogretiminde bilgisayar destekli ogretimin akademik basariya etkisini belirlemektir. Arastirma, 2014 2015 egitim-ogretim yilinda Sivas ili Şarkisla Ilcesi’nde bulunan Şarkisla Mehmet Emin Tuna ortaokulunda ogrenim goren toplam 50 (25 deney, 25 kontrol) ogrenci uzerinde yurutulmustur. Deneysel yontemle yurutulen bu calismada ontest-sontest kontrol gruplu model kullanilmistir. Deneyden once gruplar yansiz (seckisiz) ornekleme yontemlerinden basit yansiz (seckisiz – random) ornekleme sekilde atanmistir. Uygulama icin deney ve kontrol gruplari belirlenirken siniflarin mevcudu, ogrencilerin hazir bulunusluk duzeyleri ve ogrenim durumlari dikkate alinmistir. Deney ve kontrol gruplarinin denkligini saglamak icin her iki gruba da ontest verilmistir. Gruplarin ontest puanlari ortalamalari arasindaki fark “t” testi ile test edilmistir. Arastirmada toplanan verilerin analizinde SPSS 18.0 paket programi kullanilmistir. Elde edilen veriler tekrarli olcumler icin “cift yonlu varyans analizi” ve “bagimsiz orneklemler icin t testi” araciligiyla cozumlenmis ve verilerin anlamli olup olmadigi 0,05 anlamlilik duzeyinde degerlendirilmistir. Dort hafta suren deney boyunca deney grubuna uniteye yonelik hazirlanan egitim yazilimi ile bilgisayar destekli ogretim yontemi uygulanirken, kontrol grubuna ise MEB tarafindan saglanan ders kitabi seti kullanilarak mevcut ogretim programina dayali olarak ders islenmistir. Arastirma sonucunda elde edilen bulgulara gore bilgisayar destekli ogretimin ogrencilerin akademik basarilarina olumlu yonde katki sagladigi belirlenmistir
Bird Species Classification Based on Color Features

This paper presents a novel approach for bird species classification based on color features extracted from unconstrained images. This means that the birds may appear in different scenarios as well may present different poses, sizes and angles of view. Besides, the images present strong variations in illuminations and parts of the birds may be occluded by other elements of the scenario. The proposed approach first applies a color segmentation algorithm in an attempt to eliminate background elements and to delimit candidate regions where the bird may be present within the image. Next, the image is split into component planes and from each plane, normalized color histograms are computed from these candidate regions. After aggregation processing is employed to reduce the number of the intervals of the histograms to a fixed number of bins. The histogram bins are used as feature vectors to by a learning algorithm to try to distinguish between the different numbers of bird species. Experimental results on the CUB-200 dataset show that the segmentation algorithm achieves 75% of correct segmentation rate. Furthermore, the bird species classification rate varies between 90% and 8%, depending on the number of classes taken into account.
The effect of an electronic health record–based tool on abnormal pediatric blood pressure recognition

BACKGROUND Recognition of high blood pressure (BP) in children is poor, partly due to the need to compute age-sex-height referenced percentiles. This study examined the change in abnormal BP recognition before versus after the introduction of an electronic health record (EHR) app designed to calculate BP percentiles with a training lecture. METHODS AND RESULTS Clinical data were extracted on all ambulatory, non-urgent encounters for children 3-18 years old seen in primary care, endocrinology, cardiology, or nephrology clinics at an urban, academic hospital in the year before and the year after app introduction. Outpatients with at least 1 BP above the age-gender-height referenced 90th percentile were included. Abnormal BP recognition was defined as a BP related ICD-9 code, referral to nephrology or cardiology, an echocardiogram or renal ultrasound to evaluate BP concern, or a follow-up primary care visit for BP monitoring. Multivariable adjusted logistic regression compared odds of recognition before and after app introduction. Of 78 768 clinical encounters, 3521 had abnormal BP in the pre- and 3358 in the post-app period. App use occurred in 13% of elevated BP visits. Overall, abnormal BP was recognized in 4.9% pre-app period visits and 7.1% of visits post-app (P < .0001). Recognition was significantly higher when the app was actually used (adjusted OR 3.17 95% CI 2.29-4.41, P < .001). Without app use recognition was not different. CONCLUSIONS BP app advent modestly increased abnormal BP recognition in the entire cohort, but actual app use was associated with significantly higher recognition. Predictors of abnormal BP recognition deserve further scrutiny.
From Pawn Shops to Banks: The Impact of Formal Credit on Informal Households

This paper examines the effects of expanding access to credit on the decisions and welfare of households. It focuses on the entry of Banco Azteca, the first bank in Mexico targeting households from the informal sector. Panel data suggest that informal households in municipalities with Banco Azteca branches experienced several changes in their saving, credit and consumption patterns. In order to estimate the impact of Azteca's entry, the paper develops a dynamic model of household choices in which the bank is endogenously selecting the municipalities for branch openings. The analysis finds that in municipalities in which the bank entered, households were better able to smooth their consumption and accumulate more durable goods even though the overall proportion of households that save went down by 6.6 percent. These results suggest that the use of savings as a buffer on income fluctuations declines once formal credit is available. What is more, these effects vary across households. Among informal households, those who never receive formal job offers have the highest decline in saving rates. The model is also used to evaluate a legislation to cap interest rates levied by formal credit institutions. Simulations suggest that if the Mexican government were to cap the interest rate of Azteca at the rate for traditional banks, Azteca would stop operating in the poorest and least populated municipalities.
Implementing lexical and creative intentionality in synthetic personality

Creating engaging, interactive, and immersive synthetic characters is a difficult task and evaluating the success of a synthetic character is often even more difficult. The later problem is solved by extending Turing's Imitation Game thusly: computational construct should be evaluated based on the criteria of how well the character can mimic a human. In order to accomplish a successful evaluation of the proposed metric, synthetic characters must be consistently believable and capable of role-appropriate emotional expression. The author believes traditional synthetic characters must be improved to meet this goal. For a synthetic character to be believable, human users must be able to perceive a link between the mental state of the character and its behaviors. That is to say, synthetic characters must possess intentionality. In addition to intentionality, the mental state of the character must be human-like in order to provide an adequate frame of reference for the human users' internal simulations, to wit, the character's mental state must be comprised of a synthetic model of personality, of personality dynamics, and of cognition, each of which must be psychologically valid and of sufficient fidelity for the type of character represented. The author proposes that synthetic characters possessing these three models are more accurately described as synthetic personalities. The author proposes and implements computational models of personality, personality dynamics, and cognition in order to evaluate the psychological veracity of these models and computational equivalence between the models and the implementation as a first step in the process of creating believable synthetic personalities.
Histopathologic Patterns of Nephropathy in Naturally Acquired Canine Visceral Leishmaniasis

Although the nephropathy of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is known both in humans and dogs, histopathologic alterations have not been thoroughly studied. We examined renal alterations in 55 dogs with naturally acquired VL compared with five noninfected dogs from an endemic area in northeastern Brazil. Glomerulonephritis was found in 55 dogs, interstitial alterations in 53 dogs, and tubular changes in 43 dogs with VL. The glomerular alterations found were minor glomerular abnormalities (n = 8, 14.5%), focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (n = 10, 18.2%), mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis (n = 17, 32.7%), membrano-proliferative glomerulonephritis ,(n = 18, 30.9%), crescentic glomerulonephritis (n = 1, 1.8%), and chronic glomerulonephritis (n = 1, 1.8%). Morphometric and ultrastructural studies complemented the analysis. The five control animals exhibited no glomerular alterations. The glomerular lesions were related to functional alterations. Considering that the alterations of canine and human nephropathy in VL are very similar, the data obtained in this study constitute an important contribution to the understanding of canine and human VL nephropathy.
Extreme Learning Machine

Slow speed of feedforward neural networks has been hampering their growth for past decades. Unlike traditional algorithms extreme learning machine (ELM) [5][6] for single hidden layer feedforward network (SLFN) chooses input weight and hidden biases randomly and determines the output weight through linear algebraic manipulations. We propose ELM as an auto associative neural network (AANN) and implement it as a single class classifier and ensemble the results (AAELF). The proposed architecture consists of three layers namely the input layer, hidden layer and the output layer which is same as the input layer. The proposed algorithm has been tested on bankruptcy prediction datasets namely Spanish banks, Turkish banks, UK banks; Credit UK dataset and phishing dataset. AAELF achieved higher sensitivity for phishing dataset when compared with algorithms used by Mayank and Ravi[1] and Credit UK and UK banks yielded better results for AAELF compared to PSOAANN [2]. It is concluded that ELM can be modified as an AANN and is an effective tool in classifying datasets, where the samples are disproportionately distributed between positive class and negative class such as phishing mails, bankruptcy datasets.
Essential Oils, A New Horizon in Combating Bacterial Antibiotic Resistance

For many years, the battle between humans and the multitudes of infection and disease causing pathogens continues. Emerging at the battlefield as some of the most significant challenges to human health are bacterial resistance and its rapid rise. These have become a major concern in global public health invigorating the need for new antimicrobial compounds. A rational approach to deal with antibiotic resistance problems requires detailed knowledge of the different biological and non-biological factors that affect the rate and extent of resistance development. Combination therapy combining conventional antibiotics and essential oils is currently blooming and represents a potential area for future investigations. This new generation of phytopharmaceuticals may shed light on the development of new pharmacological regimes in combating antibiotic resistance. This review consolidated and described the observed synergistic outcome between essential oils and antibiotics, and highlighted the possibilities of essential oils as the potential resistance modifying agent.
MR contrast enhancement of the normal neonatal brain.

PURPOSE To determine the pattern of enhancement on contrast-enhanced MR studies of the brain in neonates. METHODS Contrast-enhanced brain MR studies of 16 neonates were reviewed retrospectively. All infants had normal neonatal courses, normal noncontrast MR findings, and normal neurologic examinations at age 12 months. All enhancing regions within the brain, dura, calvaria, and orbits were recorded. An enhancement factor, F = (Ic-Ip)/Ip, was calculated from region-of-interest intensity measurements in five regions of each hemisphere (basal ganglia, thalami, and three hemispheric locations), where Ic was signal intensity after contrast administration and Ip was the noncontrast signal intensity for each region. RESULTS Enhancement was detected in the choroid plexus, pituitary infundibula, pineal glands, dura, veins and venous sinuses, cranial sutures, and irises of the orbital globes. No enhancement of the brain parenchyma was detected by visual inspection, although some change in signal intensity of the cerebral parenchyma was detected by the region-of-interest intensity measurements, with enhancement factors ranging from 0 to 0.08 (mean, 0.04). No consistent regional variation in enhancement was detected. Because the degree of enhancement was identical to that in the normal adult brain, the slight enhancement detected was attributed to contrast material in capillaries and small venules. CONCLUSION In addition to the expected findings of enhancement of the pituitary stalk, the pineal gland, the choroid plexus, the dura, and the cerebral veins, we detected enhancement of the calvarial sutures and ocular irises. No evidence of enhancement of the cerebral parenchyma was detected, suggesting that the blood-brain barrier to gadolinium chelates is intact in the neonatal brain.