Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Molecular Epidemiology and Genetic Diversity of Norovirus in Young Children in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

This study investigated the genetic diversity of noroviruses identified from a previous surveillance study conducted at the National Pediatric Hospital in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, from 2004 to 2006. In the previous study, 926 stool samples were collected from children aged 3–60 months with acute diarrhea (cases) and without diarrhea (controls) with reported 6.7% of cases and 3.2% of controls being positive for norovirus. The initial norovirus diagnostic assay was performed with real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (real-time RT PCR) which also distinguished between genogroups I and II (GI and GII). Norovirus infection was most commonly detected in children aged 12–23 months in both cases and controls. Norovirus Genotyping Tool and phylogenetic analysis of partial sequences of the 3′ end of the RNA-dependent RNA Polymerase (RdRp) and the capsid domain region were employed to assign genotypes of the norovirus strains. GII.4 was the most predominant capsid genotype detected at 39.5% followed by GII.6 at 14.9%. The GII.4 Hunter 2004 variant was the predominant strain detected. Six RdRP/capsid recombinants including GII.P7/GII.6, GII.P7/GII.14, GII.P7/GII.20, GII.P12/GII.13, GII.P17/GII.16, and GII.P21/GII.3 were also identified. This study of norovirus infection in young children in Cambodia suggests genetic diversity of norovirus as reported worldwide.
Exploration of the tradeoff between effectiveness and efficiency for results merging in federated search

Federated search is the task of retrieving relevant documents from different information resources. One of the main research problems in federated search is to combine the results from different sources into a single ranked list. Recent work proposed a regression based method to download some documents from each ranked list of the different sources, calculated comparable scores for the documents and estimated mapping functions that transform source-specific scores into comparable scores. Experiments have shown that downloading more documents improves the accuracy of results merging. However downloading more documents increases the computation and communication costs. This paper proposes a utility based optimization method that enables the system to automatically decide on the desired number of training documents to download according to the user's need for effectiveness and efficiency.
Preserving synchronization accuracy in slow update Wireless Sensor Network perturbed by plug-in of multi-nodes

The plug-in of nodes in already synchronized Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) can perturb the synchronization accuracy. In the case of the plug-in of one node, the consensus based synchronization algorithm permits to deploy the local interactions among nodes, and, as a consequence, to detect and ignore the Non Synchronized Node (NSN). In the case of multiple nodes, the detection of NSNs can be misstated by different causes: (i) number and spatial distribution of nodes plugged-in, (ii) difference between the time values of the NSNs and the common sense of the time of the Already Synchronized Nodes (ASNs). In the paper, a new fully distributed and consensus based algorithm is proposed able to preserve the synchronization accuracy in the case of the plug-in of multiple NSNs. The NSNs are detected by statistical analysis of all the received messages. The messages increasing the standard deviation of the common sense of the time are rejected. Numerical and experimental tests are performed to validate the proposed algorithm.
FACTORS AFFFECTING ATTITUDE TOWARD USING MOBILE COMMERCE: MODIFIED THEORY OF TECHNOLOGY ACCEPTANCE MODEL (TAM)

The objectives of the research are to examine some factor that influence of age and gender on attitude toward using mobile commerce services by modified a model of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) developed by Davis in 1989. This research was conducted at Economic and Business Faculty of Brawijaya University in Malang by use a sample survey methodology. Researcher has got response from 244 students of Accounting Majors who ever use mobile commerce. The data were analyzed by use Partial Least Square (PLS). The result of analysis for this model shows that the construct attitude affected by perceived usefulness and perceived ease-of-use, it is also found that construct of age did not affected by perceived usefulness and perceived ease-of-use, along with the construct gender did not affected by perceived usefulness but influenced of perceived ease-of use to use mobile commerce. This means that the attitude to use mobile commerce is influenced by the construct perceived usefulness and perceived ease-of-use, also perceived ease of use is affected by gender. The implication of the research relevant to the management and system analyst to consider factors of perceived usefulness and perceived ease-of-use in applying and developing mobile commerce transaction. Moreover, it is also important to consider factor of age and gender in affect the perceived usefulness and age factor in affect the perceived ease-of-use. Key words : Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), mobile commerce, attitude, perceived usefulness. Perceived ease of use, age, gender.
Post-ruminal or intravenous infusions of carbohydrates or amino acids to dairy cows 1. Early lactation.

The objectives of this study were to compare the effects of post-ruminal and intravenous infusions of wheat starch or glucose (CHO) or a mixture of amino acids (AA) on milk protein yield, nitrogen utilisation, plasma metabolites and mammary extraction rate of dairy cows in early lactation. Eight cow, ruminally fistulated, was assigned to two 4 × 4 Latin squares during 14-day periods, where the last 7 days were for infusions. Infusions were: (1) starch in the abomasum (SP), (2) glucose in the blood (GB), (3) AA in the abomasum (AP), and (4) AA in the blood (AB). The experiment started 54 ± 4 days (mean ± s.e.) post partum (milk yield 33.4 ± 1.7 kg). Daily amounts of nutrients infused were 378, 365, 341, and 333 g for SP, GB, AP and AB, respectively. The cows were fed a basal diet consisting of a concentrate mixture and grass silage (55:45 on dry-matter (DM) basis), and DM intake was 17.2 kg/day. Milk production was affected by site of infusion within substrate, whereas infusion substrates within infusion site (CHO or AA) were of minor importance. Compared with SP infusion, GB infusion increased ( P < 0.05) milk protein yield and concentration by 55 g and 1 g/kg. The AB infusion tended to ( P < 0.10) increase milk yield and ECM and increased ( P < 0.05) protein yield and concentration by 1.8 and 2.2 kg, 83 g and 1.1 g/kg compared with AP infusion, respectively. Nitrogen balance data indicated higher losses of metabolic faecal nitrogen (MFN) by abomasal than by intravenous infusions, and an increased ( P < 0.05) catabolism for AP and AB infusions compared with SP and GB infusions. GB infusion did not increase ( P>0.10) plasma glucose or insulin concentrations above that of SP infusion. Compared with the SP infusion, the GB infusion had minor effect on plasma AA. AP infusion increased ( P < 0.05) plasma non-essential AA (NEAA) concentration compared with AB infusion, whereas infusion site of AA had no effect ( P>0.05) on essential AA (EAA) or branched-chain AA (BCAA). Although a higher milk protein synthesis was observed for AB infusion, the mammary extraction rate was not higher ( P>0.05) than for AP infusion. Across infusion site, AP and AB infusions increased plasma concentration of EAA and BCAA, but compared with GB infusion, the mammary extraction rates tended ( P < 0.10) to be lower. It is concluded that abomasal nutrient infusion increases loss of MFN and that the gastrointestinal metabolism influences the nutrients available for milk synthesis. Our conclusion is that when glucose was infused, AA limited a further milk protein synthesis, but when AA was infused, glucose or energy substrate might have been the limiting factor. Our results verify that glucogenic substrates are limiting when cows are in negative energy balance.
Lifelong engagement in sport and physical activity : participation and performance across the lifespan

Introduction - N. Holt and M. Talbot Section 1: Sport and Physical Activity During Childhood and Adolescence 1. Sport Participation During Childhood and Adolescence N. Holt & C. Knight 2. Physical Activity During Childhood and Adolescence C. Hume & J. Salmon Section 2: Transitions in Sport and Physical Activity Participation 3. Tracking Physical Activity, Energy Balance, and Health from Childhood to Adulthood P. Ford 4. Rethinking Participant Development in Sport and Physical Activity D. Collins, R. Bailey, M. Toms, G. Pearce, A. MacNamara & P. Ford 5. Transitions in Competitive Sports P. Wylleman, P. De Knop & A. Reints Section 3: Sport and Physical Activity During Adulthood Among Various Populations 6. The Transtheoretical Model and Physical Activity Adherence E. A. Fallon 7. Physical Exercise as a Social Marker among Middle-aged People in Sweden L. -M. Engstrom 8. Muslim Women's Experiences of Sport M. Koushkie Jahromi 9. Engagement of People with Disabilities in Sport and Across the Life Span H. Nixon Section 4: Sport and Physical Activity During Older Adulthood 10. Psycho-Social Perspectives on the Motivation and Commitment of Masters Athletes B. Young 11. What predicts exercise participation of older adults? M. Stiggelbout & Marijke Hopman-Rock 12. Energising Lives and the Value of Physical Activity for Older Adults L. Almond
Dual-Band Elliptical Planar Conductive Polymer Antenna Printed on a Flexible Substrate

In this communication, a fully organic dual-band antenna is presented. It consists of a coplanar waveguide coupled to an elliptical monopole antenna designed on a kapton substrate. This antenna is fabricated from a process, based on the use of a conductive polymer (Polyaniline) doped with multiwall carbon nanotubes, that has been optimized for this application. The flexibility of both kapton substrate and doped conductive polymer gives the antenna the ability to be freely crumpled paving the way to body-worn high data rate communications at microwave frequencies. Applications in wireless networks can also be addressed by using this kind of antennas. In this study, a comparison between the performance of an antenna under bending conditions (using a three-dimensional support) and its uncrumpled version is presented. We evaluate the crumpling effect on the resonant frequency, the bandwidth and the radiation patterns. A good agreement is observed between measurements and simulations data, even when the antenna is crumpled.
Learning a Mahalanobis Metric from Equivalence Constraints

Many learning algorithms use a metric defined over the input space as a principal tool, and their performance critically depends on the quality of this metric. We address the problem of learning metrics using side-information in the form of equivalence constraints. Unlike labels, we demonstrate that this type of side-information can sometimes be automatically obtained without the need of human intervention. We show how such side-information can be used to modify the representation of the data, leading to improved clustering and classification.Specifically, we present the Relevant Component Analysis (RCA) algorithm, which is a simple and efficient algorithm for learning a Mahalanobis metric. We show that RCA is the solution of an interesting optimization problem, founded on an information theoretic basis. If dimensionality reduction is allowed within RCA, we show that it is optimally accomplished by a version of Fisher's linear discriminant that uses constraints. Moreover, under certain Gaussian assumptions, RCA can be viewed as a Maximum Likelihood estimation of the within class covariance matrix. We conclude with extensive empirical evaluations of RCA, showing its advantage over alternative methods.
Prospective comparison among transient elastography, supersonic shear imaging, and ARFI imaging for predicting fibrosis in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

The diagnostic performance of supersonic shear imaging (SSI) in comparison with those of transient elastography (TE) and acoustic radiation force impulse imaging (ARFI) for staging fibrosis in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients has not been fully assessed, especially in Asian populations with relatively lean NAFLD compared to white populations. Thus, we focused on comparing the diagnostic performances of TE, ARFI, and SSI for staging fibrosis in a head-to-head manner, and identifying the clinical, anthropometric, biochemical, and histological features which might affect liver stiffness measurement (LSM) in our prospective biopsy-proven NAFLD cohort. In this study, ninety-four patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD were included prospectively. Liver stiffness was measured using TE, SSI, and ARFI within 1 month of liver biopsy. The diagnostic performance for staging fibrosis was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Anthropometric data were evaluated as covariates influencing LSM by regression analyses. Liver stiffness correlated with fibrosis stage (p < 0.05); the area under the ROC curve of TE (kPa), SSI (kPa), and ARFI (m/s) were as follows: 0.757, 0.759, and 0.657 for significant fibrosis and 0.870, 0.809, and 0.873 for advanced fibrosis. Anthropometric traits were significant confounders affecting SSI, while serum liver injury markers significantly confounded TE and ARFI. In conclusion, the LSM methods had similar diagnostic performance for staging fibrosis in patients with NAFLD. Pre-LSM anthropometric evaluation may help predict the reliability of SSI.
A swarm cognition realization of attention, action selection, and spatial memory

This article reports a study on modeling covert visual attention as a parallel process that unfolds in synergy with the embodied agent’s action selection process. The parallel nature of the proposed model is according to the multiple covert attention hypothesis and thus suitable for the concurrent search for multiple objects in the embodied agent’s visual field. In line with the active vision approach, the interaction with the action selection process is exploited by the model to deploy visual attention in a by-need way. Additionally, the multiple focuses of attention considered in the proposed model interact in a way that their collective behavior robustly self-organizes for a proper handling of the speed—accuracy trade-off inherent to visual search tasks. Besides the self-organization of a global spatiotemporal visual attention policy, the model also produces parallel, sparse, and active spatial working memories, that is, local maps of the environment. The underlying mechanisms of the model are based on the well known formalism that describes the self-organization of collective foraging strategies in social insects. This metaphor is particularly interesting because of its similarities with the problem tackled in this article, that is, the one of parallel visual attention. This claim is validated by experimental results on a simulated robot performing local navigation, where the ability of the model to generate accurate visual attention and spatial memories in a parsimonious and robust way is shown.
Clinico-epidemiological profile of HIV patients attending ART centre in rural Western Maharashtra, India

HIV infection represents a major public health problem for both developing and developed countries as it has grown to pandemic proportions worldwide. Spectrum of clinical presentation of HIV can vary with geographical distribu-tion, socioeconomic and cultural environment. The aim of this study was to examine the socio-demographic charac-teristics, clinical presentations of HIV/AIDS patients, opportunistic infections and the possible risk factors for ac-quiring HIV infection. A cross sectional study was conducted from March to September, 2011 at an antiretroviral therapy (ART) centre of a rural tertiary care hospital, situated in Maharashtra state of India. History and physical examination was done and recorded on a pre-designed schedule which included the socio-demographic and clinical profile of the patients. More than half of the subjects were in economically productive age group and male patients 166 (53.4%) outnumbered the female patients 145 (46.6%). There was a predominance of patients from rural loca-tions nearby the present ART centre. The patients were having low level of literacy and were from the lower middle and lower socio-economic classes. Among the spouses of male patients, 65 (44.8%) were HIV positive and among the spouses of female patients, 52 (35.7%) were HIV positive. Commonest mode of acquiring the infection was through heterosexual contact. Tuberculosis (62%) was the most common opportunistic infection. As per the WHO staging, 132 (42.5%) patients were in stage 3. Combination of behavioral risk factors and unawareness is responsi-ble for rapid spread of HIV/AIDS. People with high-risk behavior and spouses of affected patients need to be edu-cated for primary and secondary prevention. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.3329/seajph.v2i2. 15938 South East Asia J Public Health | Jul-Dec 2012 | Vol 2 Issue 2 | 16-21
Electrogenic active proton pump in Rana esculenta skin and its role in sodium ion transport.

Kinetic and electrophysiological studies were carried out in the in vitro Rana esculenta skin, bathed in dilute sodium solution, to characterize the proton pump and coupling between sodium absorption (JNa+n) and proton excretion (JH+n). JNa+n and JH+n were both dependent on transepithelial potential (psi ms); hyperpolarizing the skin decreased JNa+n and increased JH+n; depolarization produced the opposite effects. Amiloride (5 X 10(‐5) M) at a clamped psi ms of +50 mV inhibited JNa+n without affecting JH+n. Variations of psi ms or pH had identical effects on JH+n. Ethoxzolamide inhibited JH+n and simultaneously increased psi ms by 15‐30 mV. These changes were accompanied by depolarization of the apical membrane potential psi mc from ‐47 to ‐25 mV and an increase in apical membrane resistance of 30%; no significant effects on basolateral membrane potential (psi cs) and resistance (Rb) nor on shunt resistance (Rj) were observed. The proton pump appears to be localized at the apical membrane. The proton pump was also inhibited by deoxygenation, oligomycin, dicyclohexylcarbodiimide and vanadate (100, 78, 83 and 100% inhibition respectively). The variations of JH+n and of the measured electrical currents were significantly correlated. These findings are supportive evidence of a primary active proton pump, electrogenic and strictly linked to aerobic metabolism. The current‐voltage (I‐V) relation of the proton pump was obtained as the difference in the I‐V curves of the apical membrane extracted before and after proton‐pump inhibition by ethoxzolamide during amiloride block of sodium transport. The proton‐pump current (IP) was best described by a saturable exponential function of psi mc. Maximal pump current (ImaxP) was calculated to be 200 nequiv h‐1 cm‐2 at a psi mc of +50 mV and the pump reversal potential ERP was ‐130 mV. The effect of ethoxzolamide to depolarize psi mc was dependent on the relation between psi mc and ERP. Maximal induced depolarization occurred at a psi mc of +50 mV whereas ethoxzolamide exerted minimal effect on psi mc when the ERP was approached either by voltage clamping the apical membrane or by the addition of amiloride. We show that electroneutral sodium‐proton countertransport is not the mechanism of active proton excretion in frog skin but that it is the proton excretion which provides a favourable electrical driving force for passive apical sodium entry. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Signaling Pathways Regulating Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Differentiation

Vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) differentiation is an essential component of vascular development. These cells perform biosynthetic, proliferative, and contractile roles in the vessel wall. VSMCs are not terminally differentiated and are able to modulate their phenotype in response to changing local environmental cues. There is clear evidence that alterations in the differentiated state of the VSMC play a critical role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and intimal hyperplasia, as well as in a variety of other major human diseases, including hypertension, asthma, atherosclerosis and vascular aneurysms. The focus of this review is to provide an overview of the current state of knowledge of molecular mechanisms involved in controlling phenotypic switching of VSMCs, with particular focus on examination of the signaling pathways that regulate this process.
Histopathological changes during experimental infections of calves with Cooperia punctata

Abstract Eleven male two-month-old Holstein calves were used to determine the pathological changes induced by a Cooperia punctata infection. After weaning, ten calves received a single oral dose of 45,000 C. punctata infective larvae. One calf remained as a non-infected control. Groups of two calves were killed on days 7, 14, 21, 28 and 35 post-infection (p.i.) for determination of worm burdens and histopathological evaluation. The small intestine was sub-divided into three sections of approximately equal length, and representative samples of mucosa were fixed in 10% formalin, cut, and stained with haematoxylin-eosin. Samples of intestinal contents and mucosal digests were taken and fixed in 10% formalin for an estimation of total worm burdens. An increase in the number of adult parasites and a decrease in the number of larvae were observed with time (P<0.001). A higher concentration of worms was found in the first segment of the small intestine during the five weeks of observation. Histology showed larvae in the intestinal mucosa on day 7 p.i. , with a discrete increase in the cellular response. Adult worms and a marked cellular infiltrate with eosinophils and neutrophils were present on day 21 p.i. , and these persisted until day 35 p.i. Microcysts resulting from worm destruction were observed from day 21 p.i.
Compliance in depressed patients treated with fluoxetine or amitriptyline

Two dimensions of compliance (drop-outs and adherence) were investigated in patients treated with antidepressant drugs. Efficacy, compliance and its determinants were investigated in 66 patients suffering from major depressive disorder and treated in a double-blind manner with fluoxetine 20 mg/day or amitriptyline 150 mg/day for 9 weeks. Overall effectiveness [50% decrease in the initial Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D)] was similar in both groups (62.8% for fluoxetine, 58.1% for amitriptyline). The dropout rate due to side effects was 35.5% for amitriptyline and 5.7% for fluoxetine. A logistic regression analysis revealed that the initial HAM-D score was not predictive for dropping out, but this outcome was instead determined by sex (increased risk for males), age (increased risk for being younger) and occurrence of severe side effects. Adherence was estimated using electronic Medication Event Monitoring System and defined as the percentage of days when the correct dose was taken out of the medication container. Of the patients studied 37% had an adherence of less than 70%. There was no relationship between adherence and efficacy and adherence was similar in patients on fluoxetine or amitriptyline. Side effects were not predictive of being adherent or not, but a higher initial HAM-D score predicted a higher adherence to the medication regimen. The demographic variables bad no significant effect. The present study suggests that the link between efficacy, side effects and compliance or adherence is more complex than is generally believed and that early termination and non-adherence seem to be determined by different factors.