Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cost Benefit Analysis of Public Construction Projects under PPP Operation Mode

The public-private partnership (PPP) model that the state vigorously promotes is becoming a focus of stabilizing growth and adjusting structure. However, the application of the PPP model in public construction projects in China is still in its infancy. When the government makes project decisions, how to clarify the project risks, requirements and opportunities undertaken by all participants and weigh the external benefits brought by the PPP model has become an urgent problem to be solved to promote the reform of public service projects in China. Starting from practice, this paper reviews the relationship between school infrastructure investment and student performance involved in new school projects and the pros and cons of introducing the PPP model in the education field under the PPP framework. By comparing new PPP schools and non-PPP new schools in Victoria, Australia, the case is analyzed in multiple dimensions, it is concluded that there are indeed differences in operating expenditure and education performance between PPP schools and non –PPP schools. PPP schools have higher operating expenses than non-PPP schools and their educational achievements are also more prominent. The cumulative curve shows that the PoF of PPP school project operating expenditure is 48.37%, slightly higher than 48.05% of non-PPP school project. According to conclusion of this case data statistics, the introduction of the PPP model is explained to increase school infrastructure investment and promote better educational outcomes to a certain extent. School projects under the PPP framework can promote good educational achievements and provide theoretical support and countermeasures.
Transcoronary Transplantation of Functionally Competent BMCs Is Associated With a Decrease in Natriuretic Peptide Serum Levels and Improved Survival of Patients With Chronic Postinfarction Heart Failure: Results of the TOPCARE-CHD Registry

Although intracoronary administration of bone marrow–derived mononuclear progenitor cells (BMCs) may be associated with improved cardiac function in patients with chronic postinfarction heart failure, the impact on prognosis and clinical outcome of these patients is unknown. To identify potential predictors for a favorable clinical outcome, we assessed natriuretic peptide serum levels as objective markers of heart failure and the occurrence of cardiac death in relation to functional capacity of the infused cells in a consecutive series of 121 patients with chronic ischemic heart disease treated with intracoronary infusion of BMCs. Our analyses show that both N-terminal pro–brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and N-terminal pro–atrial natriuretic peptide (NT-proANP) serum levels were significantly reduced in patients with established postinfarction heart failure 3 months after transcoronary progenitor cell administration. NT-proBNP serum levels greater than or equal to median (735 pg/mL) at baseline and a high number of infused progenitor cells with colony-forming capacity were the only independent predictors of a favorable response 3 months after intracoronary administration of BMCs. During extended clinical follow-up (577±442 days), a total of 14 deaths occurred in the overall patient population. Kaplan–Meier curves for both all cause and cardiac mortality showed that patients receiving a higher number of colony-forming cells were significantly less likely to die than those patients receiving low numbers of colony-forming cells (P=0.01). Most importantly, infusion of a high number of cells with colony-forming capacity was associated with a complete abrogation of increased mortality in patients with elevated NT-proBNP serum levels (≥735 pg/mL; median) at baseline (P<0.001). Taken together, our results show that patients with objective evidence of postinfarction heart failure demonstrate a significant reduction of both NT-proBNP and NT-proANP serum levels within 3 months following intracoronary infusion of BMCs. Importantly, infusion of progenitor cells with a high functional capacity is associated with a significantly lower mortality during further follow-up.
Growing Eucalypt Outside its Native Range: A Review on Suitability and Beneficial Role

Eucalypt is an industrial short rotation fast growing tree species (SRFGTs), having wide range regarding climatic and edaphic requirements in Indian subcontinent. Eucalyptus camaeldulensis, E. globulus, E. grandis, E. tereticornis and E. citriodora are the widely planted eucalyptus species for different purposes in the country. Oil extracted from E. globulus has medicinal value and used to inhibit the avian influenza virus H11N9, and has wide scope in cosmetics, perfume, food, beverages, phytotherapy and aromatherapy. Oil contain p-coumaric, gallic, gentisic, p-hydroxybenzoic, syringic and vanillic acids and catechol are the responsible for retarding seed germination growth and survival of Parthenium, Solanum lycopersicum, Lactuca sativa and Agrostis stolonifera. Burning of eucalypt leaves used as mosquito repellent and compound 1, 8 cineole of eucalypt oil damage and kills Pediculus humanus capitis and lice. Aqueous solutions extracted from different parts of eucalypt showed nematocidal properties. Maize, wheat, mustard, berseem, potato, lentil are agricultural crops widely grown under eucalypt based agroforestry systems. Wider spacing of eucalypt in block plantations or boundary plantation mostly adopted in the agroforestry systems. Eucalypt sequester carbon 6 – 43 Mg C ha-1 yr-1 under plantations and agroforestry systems. The species has potential to reclaim waterlogged sites and escalate soil health through improving soil physical, chemical and biological properties. In case of economic returns from eucalypt based agroforestry systems, it gives nearly 1.5 B:C ratio.
Some Insights into the Impacts of the Islamic Education on the Non-Muslims in Brunei Darussalam

A BSTRACT : This paper aims to analyse the extent at which the non-Muslims in Brunei Darussalam identify with MIB or “ Melayu Islam Beraja ” ( Malay Islamic Monarchy ) , the national philosophy of the country, by investigating the impacts of the Islamic education on the Dusun Muslim converts before their conversion to Islam. The traditionally , animistic Dusuns is one of the constitutionally recognised ethnic groups in the country and is strongly represented in Tutong District. This paper argues that the Dusuns had developed a strong sense of recognition towards Islam , even before their conversion ; and this is significantly the result of the decades-long incorporation of the Islamic knowledge into the national education system. The recognition could be seen from the considerable depth of the Islamic knowledge they acquired , where such operative understanding of Islam simultaneously facilitated mutual emulation of Muslim ways of life. As the mutual emulation was also bolstered by the increasing breakdown of social and cultural boundaries between the Dusuns and the Muslims in the country, the informants of this study began to see the appeals and benefits of Islam as a religious system. Such re-appraisal of the religion , eventually led them to forsake their ethnic religion and convert to Islam, a significant step forward in forging a closer identification with the official religion of the country and ultimately with Brunei’s national philosophy. K EY WORDS : Malay Islamic Monarchy, Islamic education, Brunei’s education policies, the role of education, the Dusuns, and religious conversion . About the Author: Dr . Asiyah az-Zahra Ahmad Kumpoh is a Senior Lecturer at the History Program, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences UBD (University of Brunei Darussalam), Jalan Tunku Link, Gadong, Negara Brunei Darussalam. For academic purposes, she can be contacted vis her e-mail at: asiyah.kumpoh@ubd.edu. bn How to cite this article? Kumpoh, Asiyah az-Zahra Ahmad. (2014). “Some Insights into the Impacts of the Islamic Education on the Non-Muslims in Brunei Darussalam” in TAWARIKH: International Journal for Historical Studies , Vol.5(2) April, pp.161-176. Bandung, Indonesia: ASPENSI [Asosiasi Sarjana Pendidikan Sejarah Indonesia] and UVRI [Universitas Veteran Republik Indonesia], ISSN 2085-0980. Chronicle of the article: Accepted (February 18, 2014); Revised (March 19, 2014); and Published (April 28, 2014).
Subtotal Parathyroidectomy: A Possible Treatment for Calciphylaxis

Calciphylaxis is a rare disorder in patients with chronic renal failure that is characterized by ischemic necrotic skin lesions. The prognosis is grave and mortality is high (80%). The precise mechanism of calciphylaxis is still unknown, but in addition to chronic renal failure, elevated parathyroid hormone levels appear to play a role. The role of parathyroidectomy in treating affected patients is questionable. In this article, we describe the case of a patient with chronic renal failure who developed rapidly progressive subcutaneous calcifications and ulcerations in the lower extremities. These lesions regressed following subtotal parathyroidectomy. We also review the literature on calciphylaxis, with a focus on treatment options.
Soft-decision decoding of Reed-Muller codes: recursive lists

Recursive list decoding is considered for Reed-Muller (RM) codes. The algorithm repeatedly relegates itself to the shorter RM codes by recalculating the posterior probabilities of their symbols. Intermediate decodings are only performed when these recalculations reach the trivial RM codes. In turn, the updated lists of most plausible codewords are used in subsequent decodings. The algorithm is further improved by using permutation techniques on code positions and by eliminating the most error-prone information bits. Simulation results show that for all RM codes of length 256 and many subcodes of length 512, these algorithms approach maximum-likelihood (ML) performance within a margin of 0.1 dB. As a result, we present tight experimental bounds on ML performance for these codes
Role of Protein Component of Endotoxin in Modification of Host Reactivity.∗

Summary The influence of endotoxins of varying nitrogen content on water intake and numbers of hemolysin-forming spleen cells in mice and on delayed skin reactivity in rabbits has been investigated. Pretreatment with an aqueous-ether endotoxin of S. enteritidis results in heightened reactivity to a subsequent test dose of the aqueous-ether or protein-free (Ribi) endotoxin, whereas pretreatment with the protein-free endotoxin fails to modify subsequent reactivity to either endotoxin. Similarly, pretreatment with the Boivin endotoxin of S. abortus equi increases reactivity on subsequent test with the Boivin or Westphal endotoxin, whereas pretreatment with the partially deproteinized Westphal endotoxin does not enhance reactivity to subsequent test with either endotoxin. The implications of these findings for the hypothesis that adult host reactivity to endotoxins is contributed to by an acquired delayed hypersensitivity are discussed.
Enrichment planting to restore degraded tropical forest fragments in Brazil

ABSTRACT In tropical areas with high levels of fragmentation due to agricultural use, forest fragments play an important role for biodiversity conservation at the landscape scale. But these fragments are subject to recurrent disturbances, which lead to arrested succession and loss of functional groups. In such cases, active restoration, such as enrichment planting, could facilitate recovery. We studied enrichment planting methods to restore tropical forest fragments in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, and we evaluated the costs to implement them in the field. We planted four later successional tree species as seeds, small seedlings, and large seedlings in three remnants embedded in a landscape dominated by sugarcane plantations. Overall, survival of seedlings was low using all methods due to a severe drought during the study period, and there were no differences in seedling survival or growth across the three study sites. Direct seeding was the least expensive technique but was successful only for one large-seeded species, Hymenaea courbaril. Large seedlings survived better than did small seedlings, for all four species, suggesting that the additional cost of growing large seedlings is warranted to enhance success. Our results highlight that a combination of planting methods at species level is likely to increase restoration success. EDITED BY John Parrotta
Erosion and refilling of the plasmasphere during a geomagnetic storm modeled by a neural network

We present a history‐dependent model of the equatorial plasma density of the inner magnetosphere using a feedforward neural network with two hidden layers. As the model inputs, we take locations and time series of SYM‐H, AL, and F10.7 indices. By considering not only the instantaneous values but also the past values of geomagnetic and solar indices, the model is history dependent on levels of geomagnetic and solar activity. The modeled electron density is continuous both spatially and temporally so that the evolution of the density can be studied (such as plasmaspheric refilling). The model is trained using the electron density inferred from the spacecraft potential from three THEMIS probes. The equatorial electron density is shown to be accurately reconstructed with a correlation coefficient of r ~ 0.953 between data and model target. Since the model is history dependent, it succeeds in reconstructing various density features and dynamic behaviors, such as the quiet time plasmasphere, erosion and recovery of the plasmasphere, as well as the plume formation during a storm on 4 February 2011. Our model may provide unprecedented insight into the behavior of the equatorial density at any time and location; as an example we show the inferred refilling rate from our model and compare it to previous estimates.
Predicting the risk of metabolic acidosis for newborns based on fetal heart rate signal classification using support vector machines

Cardiotocography is the main method used for fetal assessment in everyday clinical practice for the last 30 years. Many attempts have been made to increase the effectiveness of the evaluation of cardiotocographic recordings and minimize the variations of their interpretation utilizing technological advances. This research work proposes and focuses on an advanced method able to identify fetuses compromised and suspicious of developing metabolic acidosis. The core of the proposed method is the introduction of a support vector machine to "foresee" undesirable and risky situations for the fetus, based on features extracted from the fetal heart rate signal at the time and frequency domains along with some morphological features. This method has been tested successfully on a data set of intrapartum recordings, achieving better and balanced overall performance compared to other classification methods, constituting,therefore, a promising new automatic methodology for the prediction of metabolicacidosis
Monopoly Quality Degradation and Regulation in Cable Television

Using an empirical framework based on the Mussa‐Rosen model of monopoly quality choice, we calculate the degree of quality degradation in cable television markets and the impact of regulation on those choices. We find lower bounds of quality degradation ranging from 11 to 45 percent of offered service qualities. Furthermore, cable operators in markets with local regulatory oversight offer significantly higher quality, less degradation, and greater quality per dollar, despite higher prices.
Tension between Digital Distance and Physical Presence in Hybrid Teaching: Evidence from Two Natural Experiments During the COVID-19 Pandemic in a French Business School

The advent of digitization has promised learning paradigms based on digital communication and virtual reality at the expense of physical presence. During the COVID-19 health emergency, the tension between digital distance and physical presence evolved from competing alternatives to a more nuanced coexistence. Several organizations resorted to hybrid arrangements; hybrid teaching is a notable example. In this paper, we draw from the theory of planned behavior to theorize the effect of physical presence on learning outcomes in the context of hybrid teaching. We differentiate between individual and team learning outcomes. We predict that physical presence induces competition and has a negative effect on individual learning outcomes. For team learning outcomes, we predict that physical presence induces cooperation and has a positive impact. We exploit two natural experiments in a French business school during the fall semester of 2020. The school’s administration allocated students to subgroups randomly for fairness reasons. This context offered a natural within-subjects experiment, where every student was randomly assigned to either in-person or online lectures. Students had up to 4.9% lower likelihood of correctly answering exam questions for lectures they followed in person rather than online. However, in group-work assignments, teams with one more student following in person tended to see a 3.6% increase in their team evaluation. Digital distance, therefore, constitutes a barrier to learning in a hybrid setting only when tasks are evaluated on a team basis.
Interactions between Bortezomib and Romidepsin and Belinostat in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Cells

Purpose: The goal of this study was to characterize interactions between the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib and the histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors (HDACI) romidepsin or belinostat in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells. Experimental Design: Primary and cultured (JVM-3 and MEC-2) CLL cells were exposed to agents alone or in combination, after which cell death was determined by 7-aminoactinomycin D staining/flow cytometry. Acetylation of target proteins, activation of caspase cascades, and expression of apoptosis-regulatory proteins were monitored by Western blot analysis. Nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activity was determined by luciferase reporter assay. Cells were transiently transfected with wild-type and acetylation site-mutated (inactive) RelA(p65) (e.g., K221R, K310R, or K281/221/310R) and assessed for HDACI sensitivity. Results: Combined exposure to very low concentrations of romidepsin or belinostat (i.e., low nanomolar and submicromolar, respectively) in combination with low nanomolar concentrations of bortezomib synergistically induced cell death in primary and cultured CLL cells. These events were likely associated with prevention of HDACI-mediated RelA acetylation and NF-κB activation by bortezomib, down-regulation of antiapoptotic proteins (i.e., Bcl-xL, Mcl-1, and XIAP), as well as up-regulation of the proapoptotic protein Bim, resulting in activation of caspase cascade. Finally, CLL cells transfected with inactive RelA displayed a significant increase in HDACI lethality. Conclusions: Coadministration of the clinically relevant HDACIs romidepsin or belinostat with bortezomib synergistically induces cell death in CLL cells, likely through mechanisms involving, among other factors, NF-κB inactivation and perturbation in the expression of proapoptotic and antiapoptotic proteins. A strategy combining HDAC with proteasome inhibition warrants further attention in CLL.
Recursive Bayesian electromagnetic refractivity estimation from radar sea clutter

Estimation of the range‐ and height‐dependent index of refraction over the sea surface facilitates prediction of ducted microwave propagation loss. In this paper, refractivity estimation from radar clutter returns is performed using a Markov state space model for microwave propagation. Specifically, the parabolic approximation for numerical solution of the wave equation is used to formulate the refractivity from clutter (RFC) problem within a nonlinear recursive Bayesian state estimation framework. RFC under this nonlinear state space formulation is more efficient than global fitting of refractivity parameters when the total number of range‐varying parameters exceeds the number of basis functions required to represent the height‐dependent field at a given range. Moreover, the range‐recursive nature of the estimator can be easily adapted to situations where the refractivity modeling changes at discrete ranges, such as at a shoreline. A fast range‐recursive solution for obtaining range‐varying refractivity is achieved by using sequential importance sampling extensions to state estimation techniques, namely, the forward and Viterbi algorithms. Simulation and real data results from radar clutter collected off Wallops Island, Virginia, are presented which demonstrate the ability of this method to produce propagation loss estimates that compare favorably with ground truth refractivity measurements.
ICU Mortality Prediction: A Classification Algorithm for Imbalanced Datasets

Determining mortality risk is important for critical decisions in Intensive Care Units (ICU). The need for machine learning models that provide accurate patient-specific prediction of mortality is well recognized. We present a new algorithm for ICU mortality prediction that is designed to address the problem of imbalance, which occurs, in the context of binary classification, when one of the two classes is significantly under--represented in the data. We take a fundamentally new approach in exploiting the class imbalance through a feature transformation such that the transformed features are easier to classify. Hypothesis testing is used for classification with a test statistic that follows the distribution of the difference of two chi-squared random variables, for which there are no analytic expressions and we derive an accurate approximation. Experiments on a benchmark dataset of 4000 ICU patients show that our algorithm surpasses the best competing methods for mortality prediction.
DICER1 Mutations Are Consistently Present in Moderately and Poorly Differentiated Sertoli-Leydig Cell Tumors

Ovarian Sertoli-Leydig cell tumors (SLCTs) are uncommon sex cord-stromal tumors associated with both germ-line and somatic DICER1 mutations, the frequency of which has varied widely in different studies (0% to 62.5%). The current World Health Organization Classification includes 3 histologic types of SLCTs (well-differentiated, moderately differentiated, and poorly differentiated); heterologous elements and/or retiform patterns may be present in moderately and poorly differentiated neoplasms. We investigated the frequency of DICER1 mutations in a series of 38 ovarian tumors initially diagnosed as SLCTs, and explored whether identified mutations were associated with specific morphologic features. Specialist pathology review performed blinded to molecular results confirmed 34 tumors to be SLCTs (22 moderately differentiated, 8 poorly differentiated; 4 well-differentiated), while the remaining 4 neoplasms were considered not to represent SLCTs. Of the 34 cases diagnosed as SLCTs, 30 (88%) harbored ≥1 DICER1 mutation. All 30 moderately differentiated/poorly differentiated SLCTs contained mutations, but we did not find deleterious DICER1 mutations in the 4 well-differentiated SLCTs. Our study reports the highest DICER1 mutation frequency to date in SLCTs, with 100% of moderately differentiated and poorly differentiated tumors being DICER1-mutated. This suggests that DICER1 mutation may be a defining feature of these neoplasms. Although the number of cases is limited, well-differentiated SLCTs appear to be DICER1-independent. Moderately differentiated and poorly differentiated SLCT components often coexist with each other and form part of a spectrum, while well-differentiated SLCTs usually occur in pure form, suggesting that fundamentally, these represent 2 separate and independent tumor types with a different pathogenesis. We suggest that all patients with ovarian SLCTs undergo germ-line DICER1 mutation testing.