Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
User Acceptance of Key Performance Indicators Management Systems in a Higher Education Institution in Malaysia: A Pilot Study

Article History: Received 14.07. 2012 Received in revised form 28.09. 2012 Accepted 12.12. 2012 Available online 10.04. 2013 This article discusses the users’ acceptance of two performance management systems, namely Excel Spreadsheet System (ESS) and Key Performance Indicator Monitoring System (KPI-MS). Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is an index used in measuring an individual’s, organization’s or institution’s performance. ESS is a system provide by Malaysia Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) and has been in used since year 2008. KPI-MS was developed later as a tool using PHP 5.2 and MySQL Community Server 5.0 databases with determination to replace ESS which has several shortcomings. The acceptance study of both management systems is in terms of its accuracy, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. This study was done by using a survey questionnaire. The instrument of this study was developed and modified from Davis’s Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). A total of 19 participants from two of the campuses of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) participated in this study. This research instrument had been validated by three experts in the related field and scored reliability at Cronbach alpha value of 0.843. A comparison study was done to evaluate the accuracy of KPI-MS while descriptive analysis was conducted to determine the mean scores of KPI-MS and ESS rated by users. The findings showed that KPI-MS computed KPI marks accurately and the users also rated KPI-MS as more useful in monitoring KPI performance of their schools or centres compared to ESS. Besides, the users also indicated KPI-MS is more user-friendly. In conclusion, KPI-MS system is prefered by the users as an effective system. © 2013 IOJES. All rights reserved
Basophils as Key Regulators of Allergic Inflammation and Th2-type Immunity

Basophils have long been suspected as playing more than a bystander role in initiating and maintaining allergic disorders, despite their relatively low numbers compared with other effector cells, such as mast cells and eosinophils. In vitro studies clearly demonstrated their propensity to generate proallergic cytokines, such as interleukin 4 and interleukin 13, as well as histamine and leukotrienes after simulation with allergens and innate IgE-dependent triggers. However, only very recently have mouse basophils been identified as key regulators of allergy in vivo, including orchestrating Th2 immunity to protease allergens in the induction phase. This review highlights these exciting advances that go far in unraveling our understanding of basophil function in the orchestration of allergic inflammation.
Knowledge, practice & patient behavior regarding the health issues in Northern region of Bangladesh: A cross sectional study

A health survey was conducted from January to July 2017 in 6 districts of Rajshahi division. The study was conducted with structured questionnaire. A total of 1800 participants were involved in this study among them 58.94% are male and 41.06% female and their age limit lies between 18-80 years old. The data was collected from all the areas like village, Upazila town, District town and City corporations to identify exact scenario and to eliminate biasness of respondents. The study was conducted to investigate the knowledge, practice and behavior of respondents regarding health issue. Among the participants, 44.22% are higher educated, 17.83% are educated at higher secondary level 16.00% are secondary level and 12.94% are educated at primary level. About one third of the participants are unaware about their health right and one half of the respondents has no vivid idea about the specialty of doctor. Only 5% participants has health insurance and only 45.89% completely know about component of ideal diet. Only 12.44% participants are checking their health regularly and they are checked their health mainly for chronic disease 57.59%. About 35% patients are used normal food for nutritional make up, 42% use special food and 22% use medicine.
Strawberry cultivation in southern Punjab Pakistan

Strawberry, Fragaria × ananassa Duch. , is an emerging exotic fruit crop in subtropical regions of Pakistan. It was first introduced during early 1980s in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly NWFP) and was locally called as ground mulberry. It remained unnoticed until commercial production came from sporadic plantations of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Owing to its unique, desirable taste and high profitability, it was introduced in Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan. 'Chandler', 'Corona', 'Douglas', 'Tufts', 'Gorella' and 'Toro' are the important cultivars of strawberry. The climate of South Punjab is not ideal for production of strawberry runners. However, sourcing of runners from the Swat region (80% success rate) each year has made its cultivation a success in this region. It is now commercially cultivated on raised beds with double rows on loamy soils along the riverine belts of Chenab. Mostly, fruits are marketed using wooden baskets with 8-9 kg net fruit weight fetching US$ 1-2 kg-1 in local market (from February to April in Multan district). Average yield ha-1 varies between 5-10 t. Over 95% fruit is domestically consumed as fresh with little processing and negligible exports. Postharvest losses are very high (>40%) mainly due to non-selective harvesting, poor packaging and transportation and almost absence of cold chain. Lack of systematic R&D, shortage of quality runners, prevalence of insect pest and diseases, occurrence of high postharvest losses and limited processing facilities are the main impediments of strawberry industry development. At present, in South Punjab, cultivation of strawberry has not been exploited for its full production potential. Therefore, with improved infrastructure, production practices and postharvest facilities its quality production can be increased for domestic as well as export markets. The present study will provide comprehensive information on strawberry industry, along with its future prospects in South Punjab.
Transmission of Multidrug-Resistant and Drug-Susceptible Tuberculosis within Households: A Prospective Cohort Study

Background The “fitness” of an infectious pathogen is defined as the ability of the pathogen to survive, reproduce, be transmitted, and cause disease. The fitness of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB) relative to drug-susceptible tuberculosis is cited as one of the most important determinants of MDRTB spread and epidemic size. To estimate the relative fitness of drug-resistant tuberculosis cases, we compared the incidence of tuberculosis disease among the household contacts of MDRTB index patients to that among the contacts of drug-susceptible index patients. Methods and Findings This 3-y (2010–2013) prospective cohort household follow-up study in South Lima and Callao, Peru, measured the incidence of tuberculosis disease among 1,055 household contacts of 213 MDRTB index cases and 2,362 household contacts of 487 drug-susceptible index cases. A total of 35/1,055 (3.3%) household contacts of 213 MDRTB index cases developed tuberculosis disease, while 114/2,362 (4.8%) household contacts of 487 drug-susceptible index patients developed tuberculosis disease. The total follow-up time for drug-susceptible tuberculosis contacts was 2,620 person-years, while the total follow-up time for MDRTB contacts was 1,425 person-years. Using multivariate Cox regression to adjust for confounding variables including contact HIV status, contact age, socio-economic status, and index case sputum smear grade, the hazard ratio for tuberculosis disease among MDRTB household contacts was found to be half that for drug-susceptible contacts (hazard ratio 0.56, 95% CI 0.34–0.90, p = 0.017). The inference of transmission in this study was limited by the lack of genotyping data for household contacts. Capturing incident disease only among household contacts may also limit the extrapolation of these findings to the community setting. Conclusions The low relative fitness of MDRTB estimated by this study improves the chances of controlling drug-resistant tuberculosis. However, fitter multidrug-resistant strains that emerge over time may make this increasingly difficult.
On the value of learning from defect dense components for software defect prediction

BACKGROUND: Defect predictors learned from static code measures can isolate code modules with a higher than usual probability of defects. AIMS: To improve those learners by focusing on the defect-rich portions of the training sets. METHOD: Defect data CM1, KC1, MC1, PC1, PC3 was separated into components. A subset of the projects (selected at random) were set aside for testing. Training sets were generated for a NaiveBayes classifier in two ways. In sample the dense treatment, the components with higher than the median number of defective modules were used for training. In the standard treatment, modules from any component were used for training. Both samples were run against the test set and evaluated using recall, probability of false alarm, and precision. In addition, under sampling and over sampling was performed on the defect data. Each method was repeated in a 10-by-10 cross-validation experiment. RESULTS: Prediction models learned from defect dense components out-performed standard method, under sampling, as well as over sampling. In statistical rankings based on recall, probability of false alarm, and precision, models learned from dense components won 4--5 times more often than any other method, and also lost the least amount of times. CONCLUSIONS: Given training data where most of the defects exist in small numbers of components, better defect predictors can be trained from the defect dense components.
Extended Kalman Filter-Based Codec for Chaotic Communication Systems

Two methods are presented to encode and decode messages accurately with an expanded matrix representation of linear multivariable systems in which parameters are used to describe three-port chaotic secure communication networks. The matrix representation includes an optimal extended Kalman filter (EKF)-based observer, which is linear with time. The optimal linearization technique is used to find the exact linear models of the chaotic system at operating states of interest. Subsequently, the EKF algorithm is used to estimate the parameters and states in which a message is embedded. Using the EKF with the optimal linear model, the message can be adequately recovered at the receiver. However, the bit error rate is insufficiently small; therefore, presynchronizations and the carrier-digitalized sources are used to reduce the error rate to obtain robust communications. Numerical examples and simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.
Physical Exercise Enhances Cognitive Flexibility as Well as Astrocytic and Synaptic Markers in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex

Physical exercise enhances a wide range of cognitive functions in humans. Running-induced cognitive enhancement has also been demonstrated in rodents but with a strong emphasis on tasks that require the hippocampus. Additionally, studies designed to identify mechanisms that underlie cognitive enhancement with physical exercise have focused on running-induced changes in neurons with little attention paid to such changes in astrocytes. To further our understanding of how the brain changes with physical exercise, we investigated whether running alters performance on cognitive tasks that require the prefrontal cortex and whether any such changes are associated with astrocytic, as well as neuronal, plasticity. We found that running enhances performance on cognitive tasks known to rely on the prefrontal cortex. By contrast, we found no such improvement on a cognitive task known to rely on the perirhinal cortex. Moreover, we found that running enhances synaptic, dendritic and astrocytic measures in several brain regions involved in cognition but that changes in the latter measures were more specific to brain regions associated with cognitive improvements. These findings suggest that physical exercise induces widespread plasticity in both neuronal and nonneuronal elements and that both types of changes may be involved in running-induced cognitive enhancement.
Code ownership in open-source software

Context: Ownership metrics measure how the workload of software modules is shared among their developers. They have been shown to be accurate indicators of software quality. Objective: Since ownership metrics studies were done only on industrial software projects, we replicated such a study on Java free/libre and open source software (FLOSS) projects. Our goal was to generalize an "ownership law" that stated that minor developers should be avoided. Method: We explored the relationship between ownership metrics and fault-proneness on seven FLOSS projects, using publicly available corpora to retrieve the fault-related information. Results: In our corpus, the relationship between ownership metrics and module faults is weak. At best, less than half of projects exhibit a significant correlation, and at worst, no projects at all. Moreover, fault-proneness seems to be much more influenced by module size than by ownership. Conclusion: The results of ownership studies done on closed-source projects do not generalize to FLOSS projects. To understand the reasons for that, we performed an in-depth analysis and found that the lack of correlation between ownership metrics and module faults is due to the distributions of contributions among developers and the presence of "heroes" in FLOSS projects.
How many samples are needed to prove the absence of contamination? An example using arsenic

If a change of use for industrial land is proposed in the UK, there is usually a requirement to demonstrate that the change of use will not result in the land becoming Contaminated Land, as defined under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Under certain circumstances, this demonstration can be made by showing that the mean concentration of contaminants of potential concern is below a suitable assessment level appropriate to the proposed new use. How much sampling effort is required for this purpose? Using a relatively large dataset for arsenic in soil, a developed approach is presented to determine the number of measurements required for a clearance investigation to demonstrate absence of contamination based on minimizing expectation of financial loss, taking into account both the actual cost of investigation and the possible cost of incorrectly determining that contamination is still present and undertaking unnecessary remediation. Abstract probabilities are discussed in terms of money spent and money potentially saved. Supplementary material: an Excel spreadsheet containing the full dataset, showing its sub-sampling, is available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare. c.4415039
The decadal shift of the long persistent rainfall over the northern part of China and the associated ocean conditions

The long persistent rainfall (LPR) over the northern part of China has a great impact on its society and economics. This study investigates the decadal shift of the regional‐mean LPR frequency over the northern part of China (LPR frequency) from 1971 to 2014 and the associated ocean conditions. The LPR frequency has experienced a significant decadal shift around 1996, with an enhanced (reduced) anomaly before (after) 1996, which is closely associated with a meridional tri‐pole sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly over the central Pacific, a La Niña‐like anomaly for the pre‐1996 epoch (1971–1996) and an obvious warming over the south Indian Ocean and the western part of south Pacific Ocean in the post‐1996 epoch (1997–2014). In the pre‐1996 epoch, associated with the typical SSTs, the ascent motion with increasing humidity anomalies are over the northern part of China. Meanwhile, high (low) pressure anomalies are over western Asia and East Asia (Europe and central Asia), which resembles as the positive phase of the Silk Road pattern (SRP). It would be associated with the polewards shift of the East Asian jet stream (EAJS) and therefore result in the northwards shift of the rain belt and benefit the occurrence of the LPR. In the post‐1996 epoch, associated with the warming over the specific south oceans, a descend anomaly dominates over the northern part of China, as well as the resembled negative phase of the SRP over mid‐high latitudes and equatorwards shift of the EAJS. These would suppress the rainfall over the northern part of China and reduce the LPR frequency over there after 1996.
Exploring the Influence of Coal Rubble and Pine Bark Substrate Mixes on Germination, Spiral Rooting, Substrate Chemical and Physical Properties: Using Tobacco as Test Crop

A study was carried out under greenhouse conditions to establish the role of substrate physical and chemical properties. Pine bark and coal rubble were mixed at 100, 75, 50, 25, and 0% by volume. A farmers’ standard practice (50% pine bark + 50% sand) was included as a control. The experiment was made up of three blocks and six treatments arranged in a randomized complete block design. The particle density of the substrates in this study was virtually the same. The bulk density, total porosity, and aeration porosity, however, were highest with 100% coal rubble and decreased with decreasing coal rubble proportion while water holding porosity increased with decreasing coal proportion. Germination decreased with increasing coal rubble at 14 to 28 and at 35 days after sowing (DAS). A mix of between 0 to 50% coal rubble with pine bark seemed ideal for germination. Aeration porosity, total porosity, and bulk density were negatively correlated to germination (14 to 28 DAS) while water holding porosity was positively correlated. Overall, the best germination was for 0 to 50 % coal rubble with subsequent bulky density of 0.46 to 0.83, total porosity 71 to 63%, aeration porosity 21 to 35% and water holding porosity 49 to 31% respectively. However, the measured total porosity and water holding porosity of the standard substrate (50%S0%CR50%PB) used normally by farmers were below the expected range, while the aeration porosity was on the low end. This makes this mix prone to aeration problems. The pH of the float water decreased with increase in time from sowing and proportion of coal in the mix while EC was not affected.
Inflammatory and anti-inflammatory effects of soybean agglutinin.

Soybean agglutinin (SBA) lectin, a protein present in raw soybean meals, can bind to and be extensively endocytosed by intestinal epithelial cells, being nutritionally toxic for most animals. In the present study we show that SBA (5-200 micrograms/cavity) injected into different cavities of rats induced a typical inflammatory response characterized by dose-dependent exudation and neutrophil migration 4 h after injection. This effect was blocked by pretreatment with glucocorticoid (0.5 mg/kg) or by co-injection of N-acetyl-galactosamine (100 x [M] lectin), but not of other sugars (100 x [M] lectin), suggesting an inflammatory response related to the lectin activity. Neutrophil accumulation was not dependent on a direct effect of SBA on the macrophage population since the effect was not altered when the number of peritoneal cells was increased or decreased in vivo. On the other hand, SBA showed chemotactic activity for human neutrophils in vitro. A slight increase in mononuclear cells was observed 48 h after i.p. injection of SBA. Phenotypic analysis of these cells showed an increase in the CD4+/CD8- lymphocyte population that returned to control levels after 15 days, suggesting the development of an immune response. SBA-stimulated macrophages presented an increase in the expression of CD11/CD18 surface molecules and showed some characteristics of activated cells. After intravenous administration, SBA increased the number of circulating neutrophils and inhibited in a dose-dependent manner the neutrophil migration induced by i.p. injection of carrageenan into peritoneal cavities. The co-injection of N-acetyl-galactosamine or mannose, but not glucose or fucose, inhibited these effects. The data indicate that soybean lectin is able to induce a local inflammatory reaction but has an anti-inflammatory effect when present in circulating blood.
Adopt or Adapt: Sanitation Technology Choices in Urbanizing Malawi

This paper presents the results of a mixed-methods study examining adaptation strategies that property owners in low-income, rapidly urbanizing areas in Malawi adopt to address the limitations of pit latrines, the most common method of disposing human excreta. A particular challenge is lack of space for constructing new latrines as population density increases: traditional practice has been to cap full pits and simply move to a new site, but increasing demands on space require new approaches to extend the service life of latrines. In this context, we collected data on sanitation technology choices from January to September 2013 through 48 in-depth interviews and a stated preference survey targeting 1,300 property owners from 27 low-income urban areas. Results showed that property owners with concern about space for replacing pit latrines were 1.8 times more likely to select pit emptying service over the construction of new pit latrines with a slab floor (p = 0.02) but there was no significant association between concern about space for replacing pit latrines and intention to adopt locally promoted, novel sanitation technology known as ecological sanitation (ecosan). Property owners preferred to adapt existing, known technology by constructing replacement pit latrines on old pit latrine locations, reducing the frequency of replacing pit latrines, or via emptying pit latrines when full. This study highlights potential challenges to adoption of wholly new sanitation technologies, even when they present clear advantages to end users. To scale, alternative sanitation technologies for rapidly urbanising cities should offer clear advantages, be affordable, be easy to use when shared among multiple households, and their design should be informed by existing adaptation strategies and local knowledge.
Evolutionary Foundation of Bounded Rationality in a Financial Market

This paper provides a foundation for decision making with bounded rationality in economic entities from the viewpoint of evolutionary theory. To this end, first, we conducted an investment test with participants to extract a behavioral learning model for activities with bounded rationality. We found that the decision-making model obtained from this behavioral science approach has characteristics that are frequently seen in the results of observations of instances of bounded rationality. Furthermore, the model presents some well-known biases in decision making, such as profit-and-loss asymmetry in risk avoidance, reference point dependence, and the asset effect. Next, using agent-based simulations, we examined whether our behavioral-learning model for activities had the capacity to become a stable strategy in a market environment where selection pressure exists. When, in response to maximum loss, a drawdown is set as an evaluation criterion for selection, the results of our simulations imply the following: 1) our decision-making model with bounded rationality has the capacity to become a stable evolutionary strategy and 2) entities with bounded rationality can survive in a competitive market. These results are antithetical to the evolutionary explanations used as a basis for rationality in traditional economics, and they indicate the possibility that many well-known biases in decision making can be derived evolutionarily from a single criterion.