Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Use of Potential Probiotic Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) Biofilms for the Control of Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella Typhimurium, and Escherichia coli O157:H7 Biofilms Formation

Use of probiotic biofilms can be an alternative approach for reducing the formation of pathogenic biofilms in food industries. The aims of this study were (i) to evaluate the probiotic properties of bacteriocinogenic (Lactococcus lactis VB69, L. lactis VB94, Lactobacillus sakei MBSa1, and Lactobacillus curvatus MBSa3) and non-bacteriocinogenic (L. lactis 368, Lactobacillus helveticus 354, Lactobacillus casei 40, and Weissela viridescens 113) lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolated from Brazilian’s foods and (ii) to develop protective biofilms with these strains and test them for exclusion of Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli O157:H7, and Salmonella Typhimurium. LAB were tested for survival in acid and bile salt conditions, surface properties, biosurfactant production, β-galactosidase and gelatinase activity, antibiotic resistance and presence of virulence genes. Most strains survived exposure to pH 2 and 4% bile salts. The highest percentages of auto-aggregation were obtained after 24 h of incubation. Sixty-seven percentage auto-aggregation value was observed in W. viridescens 113 and Lactobacillus curvatus MBSa3 exhibited the highest co-aggregation (69% with Listeria monocytogenes and 74.6% with E. coli O157:H7), while the lowest co-aggregation was exhibited by W. viridescens 113 (53.4% with Listeria monocytogenes and 38% with E. coli O157:H7). Tests for hemolytic activity, bacterial cell adherence with xylene, and drop collapse confirmed the biosurfactant-producing ability of most strains. Only one strain (L. lactis 368) produced β-galactosidase. All strains were negative for virulence genes cob, ccf, cylLL, cylLs, cyllM, cylB, cylA and efaAfs and gelatinase production. The antibiotic susceptibility tests indicated that the MIC for ciprofloxacin, clindamycin, gentamicin, kanamycin, and streptomycin did not exceed the epidemiological cut-off suggested by the European Food Safety Authority. Some strains were resistant to one or more antibiotics and resistance to antibiotics was species and strain dependent. In the protective biofilm assays, strains L. lactis 368 (bac-), Lactobacillus curvatus MBSa3 (bac+), and Lactobacillus sakei MBSa1 (bac+) resulted in more than six log reductions in the pathogens counts when compared to the controls. This effect could not be attributed to bacteriocin production. These results suggest that these potential probiotic strains can be used as alternatives for control of biofilm formation by pathogenic bacteria in the food industry, without conferring a risk to the consumers.
Political Neuroscience: The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship

The emergence of political neuroscience—an interdisciplinary venture involving political science, psychology, and cognitive neuroscience—has piqued the interests of scholars as well as the mass public. In this chapter, we review evidence pertaining to four areas of inquiry that have generated most of the research in political neuroscience to date: (1) racial prejudice and intergroup relations; (2) the existence of partisan bias and motivated political cognition; (3) the nature of left-right differences in political orientation; and (4) the dimensional structure of political attitudes. Although these topics are well-known to political psychologists, the application of models and methods from neuroscience has renewed interest in each of them and yielded novel insights. There is reason to believe that many other areas of political psychology await similarly promising renewals and that innovative methods will continue to advance our understanding of the physiological processes involved in political cognition, evaluation, judgment, and behavior. We address limitations, criticisms, and potential pitfalls of existing work—including the “chicken-and-egg problem”—and propose an ambitious agenda for the next generation of research in political neuroscience.
Chronic Gastritis in Morbidly Obese Patients with Sleeve Gastrectomy

Introduction Obesity is a condition that has significant impact on public health. Recent exciting studies have linked chronic gastritis and H. pylori infection to obesity. Chronic gastritis has shown increased prevalence in obesity, more particularly H. pylori-related gastritis. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of chronic gastritis in morbidly obese patients who were subjected to sleeve gastrectomy, with focus on H. pylori-related gastritis. The aim was to demonstrate any influence on chronic gastritis of the surgical procedure or its post-operative course. Methods One hundred six morbidly obese patients were subjected to vertical sleeve gastrectomy in King Abdulaziz University Hospital (KAUH) from March 2014 to April 2015. After full pre-operative preparation, sleeve gastrectomy was carried out, followed by histological examination of the specimen to view the chronic gastritis and H. pylori-related cases. All epidemiological data of the patients, including age, gender, body mass index (BMI), as well as mean operative time, length of hospital stay, and post-operative complications were documented and analyzed by IBM-SPSS version 22. Results Female patients presented the higher prevalence, i.e., 66% among the group of patients with sleeve resection, while 33% had chronic gastritis and 8.5% had H. pylori-related gastritis. Conclusion This study highlights the high prevalence of chronic gastritis in morbidly obese patients with reference to the high incidence of H. pylori-related gastritis among them, however no relationship was found between this infection and the post-operative outcome.
Islet-Specific CTL Cloned from a Type 1 Diabetes Patient Cause Beta-Cell Destruction after Engraftment into HLA-A2 Transgenic NOD/SCID/IL2RG Null Mice

Despite increasing evidence that autoreactive CD8 T-cells are involved in both the initiation of type 1 diabetes (T1D) and the destruction of beta-cells, direct evidence for their destructive role in-vivo is lacking. To address a destructive role for autoreactive CD8 T-cells in human disease, we assessed the pathogenicity of a CD8 T-cell clone derived from a T1D donor and specific for an HLA-A2-restricted epitope of islet-specific glucose-6-phosphatase catalytic-subunit related protein (IGRP). HLA-A2/IGRP tetramer staining revealed a higher frequency of IGRP-specific CD8 T-cells in the peripheral blood of recent onset human individuals than of healthy donors. IGRP265–273-specific CD8 T-cells that were cloned from the peripheral blood of a recent onset T1D individual were shown to secrete IFNγ and Granzyme B after antigen-specific activation and lyse HLA-A2-expressing murine islets in-vitro. Lytic capacity was also demonstrated in-vivo by specific killing of peptide-pulsed target cells. Using the HLA-A2 NOD-scid IL2rγnull mouse model, HLA-A2-restricted IGRP-specific CD8 T-cells induced a destructive insulitis. Together, this is the first evidence that human HLA-restricted autoreactive CD8 T-cells target HLA-expressing beta-cells in-vivo, demonstrating the translational value of humanized mice to study mechanisms of disease and therapeutic intervention strategies.
Convex Relaxation Techniques for Segmentation , Stereo and Multiview Reconstruction

1 Convex Relaxation Techniques for Segmentation, Stereo and Multiview Reconstruction 2 1.1 Variational Methods, Partial Differential Equations and Convexity 2 1.2 Image Segmentation and Minimal Partitions 4 1.2. 1 Classical Variational Approaches 4 1.2. 2 A General Variational Formulation 5 1.2. 3 Convex Representation 6 1.2. 4 Convex Relaxation 8 1.2. 5 Experimental Segmentation Results 9 1.3 Stereo Reconstruction 10 1.3. 1 Experimental Stereo Results 11 1.4 Multiple View Reconstruction 13 1.4. 1 Experimental Multiview Results 17 1.5 Summary and Conclusion 18
A Novel Framework for Functionally Untestable Transition Fault Avoidance during ATPG

Delay fault testing has proven to be a signifi- cant part of modern manufacturing testing. It has also be- come a source of overtesting due to detection of function- ally untestable faults by invalid transitions that would not occur during functional operation of the chip. There has been previous work in the field that identifies these faults allowing them to be removed from active fault lists from ATPG tools. However, due to the random fill of don't- care bits in test patterns, incidental detection of functio n- ally untestable faults becomes possible. In this paper, we propose a novel framework that will generate patterns us- ing any commercial ATPG that avoid detection of these functionally untestable transition faults. Previous meth- ods have required modification of the ATPG tool itself or designing a new ATPG to avoid such faults, making the immediate use of these tools very difficult. Our frame- work builds upon a commercial ATPG tool and modifies the netlist rather than the tool. By using the present function- ality of the ATPG tool and a modified netlist, pattern gener- ation is structurally constrained to avoid generating a pat- tern that will incidentally detect a functionally untestab le fault. The proposed minimally affects test coverage of func- tionally testable faults and does not significantly increas e the amount of effort needed by the ATPG tool.
Hydrodynamics of rotating stars and close binary interactions: Compressible ellipsoid models

We develop a new formalism to study the dynamics of fluid polytropes in three dimensions. The stars are modeled as compressible ellipsoids, and the hydrodynamic equations are reduced to a set of ordinary differential equations for the evolution of the principal axes and other global quantities. Both viscous dissipation and the gravitational radiation reaction are incorporated. We establish the validity of our approximations and demonstrate the simplicity and power of the method by rederiving a number of known results concerning the stability and dynamical oscillations of rapidly rotating polytropes. In particular, we present a generalization to compressible fluids of Chandrasekhar's classical results for the secular and dynamical instabilities of incompressible Maclaurin spheroids. We also present several applications of our method to astrophysical problems of great current interest, such as the tidal disruption of a star by a massive black hole, the coalescence of compact binaries driven by the emission of gravitational waves, and the development of instabilities in close binary systems.
The Role of Oligarchs in Russian Capitalism

Using a unique dataset, we describe the degree of ownership concentration in Russian economy and its role in shaping economic and political institutions in Russia. In particular, we find that Russian "oligarchs" do control a substantial part of the economy. While the relative weight of their firms in Russian economy is huge, they do not seem to be excessively large by the standards of the global economy where most of them are operating. The oligarchs seem to run their firms more efficiently than other Russian owners controlling for industry, region and size.
The effect of CS unplugged on middle-school students' views of CS

Many students hold incorrect views of what computer science (CS) is, and they have negative attitudes towards the field. In order to address these difficulties, a series of learning activities called Computer Science Unplugged was developed by Bell et al. [3]. These activities expose young people to central concepts in CS in an entertaining way, without requiring a computer. Using questionnaires and interviews, we examined the effect of the activities on middle-school students' views of CS, specifically, on their views of: (a) the nature of CS; (b) the characteristics of computer scientists and work in CS; (c) the variety of employment in CS. The results indicate that 'although the students generally understood what CS is' they perceived the computer as the essence of CS and not primarily as a tool, contrary to the intention of the CS Unplugged activities. We suggest additions to the activities intended to increase the change in the views of CS that students have.
Students’ experiences of teaching at secondary school and university: sharing responsibility for classroom engagement

Abstract Recently much research has focused on student engagement, both at school and at university. This attention is motivated by the role that engagement plays in student learning and in the student experience. Acknowledging that student engagement is a multifaceted construct we focus on the contribution that teaching and teacher traits make to the quality of student engagement, from the student’s perspective. In this small scale study, we adopt a qualitative methodology to investigate students’ perceptions of what factors impact on their engagement and what role the students themselves have in fostering such engagement. Focus group and one-to-one interviews with students in the last year of school and at university were analysed to reveal four overarching themes related to engagement in classroom life including the importance of active listening on the part of both students and teachers. The resulting Refined Quality Teaching Initiatives Framework outlines how dual engagement and active listening can be viable pedagogical strategies both at school and university. The framework also brings to the fore the active role and responsibilities that students have, in their own perceptions, for engagement in the classroom. We conclude with a reflection on the implications of our findings for teaching and teacher training.
Pairwise structural testing of object and aspect-oriented Java programs

Most structural testing approaches are targeted at units of implementation (i.e., unit testing). A problem that is not addressed by unit testing is the interaction among units, with respect to the correctness of their interfaces. We present a structural integration testing approach for object-oriented (OO) and aspect-oriented (AO) Java programs as an extension of a unit testing approach we have developed before. To make the activity feasible, instead of considering arbitrary call depths, we address the testing of pairs of units. We propose a model called PWDU (PairWise Def-Use) graph to represent the control and data-flow of pairs of units. Based on the PWDU , three testing criteria are defined: all-pairwise-integrated-nodes, all-pairwise-integrated-edges (controlflow based criteria), and all-pairwise-integrated-uses (a data-flow based criterion). We also present the implementation of our approach as an extension to the Java Bytecode Understanding and Testing (JaBUTi) family of testing tools along with an example of usage.
Statistics and Phonotactical Rules in Finding OCR Errors

This report describes two experiments in finding errors in optically scanned Swedish without lexicon. First, statistics were used to find unexpectedly frequent trigrams and correction rules were created. Second, Bengt Sigurds model of Swedish phonotax was used to detect words with phonotactically illegal beginning or end. The phonotax did not perform as well as the statictic rules did on their training material, but outscored them by far on new text. A correction tool was created with the phonotax as means of error detection. The tool displays every occurrence of an error string at the same time and gives the user the possibility to give different corrections to each occurrence. This work shows that it is possible to find errors in optically scanned text without relying on a lexicon, and that word structure can provide useful information to the correction process.
ADAPTATION TO CHRONIC ILLNESS – IS NEUROCOGNITIVE DETERIORATION ALWAYS A THREAT ?

Compliance is a measure of good adaptation to illness by persons in self-managed health care. Although it is directly connected with treatment effectiveness, compliance can be disturbed by a cognitive decline resulting from the illness itself. The present study was designed to explore the nature of neurocognitive (NC) impairment as a potential threat to behavioral adaptation (BA) to chronic disease. A battery of neuropsychological tests was used along with self-reported measures of health behaviors and medical compliance. Four groups of participants (N=126) were examined, including three clinical groups with chronic illnesses affecting NC resources to various extents. Although differences were found in NC functioning be tween the groups, there was no group effect in BA. More over, somewhat surprisingly, analysis revealed a ne gative correlation between NC and BA scores, indicating that participants affected by NC decline were more prone to engage in self-management of their illnesses. The study confirmed NC deficits in vulnerable clinical groups, but the level of BA did not differ between the groups. Nevertheless, participants with lower NC scores seem to reveal better behavioral adaptation.
Prediction of Optimal Reversal Dose of Sugammadex after Rocuronium Administration in Adult Surgical Patients

The objective of this study was to determine the point after sugammadex administration at which sufficient or insufficient dose could be determined, using first twitch height of train-of-four (T1 height) or train-of-four ratio (TOFR) as indicators. Groups A and B received 1 mg/kg and 0.5 mg/kg of sugammadex, respectively, as a first dose when the second twitch reappeared in train-of-four stimulation, and Groups C and D received 1 mg/kg and 0.5 mg/kg of sugammadex, respectively, as the first dose at posttetanic counts 1–3. Five minutes after the first dose, an additional 1 mg/kg of sugammadex was administered and changes in T1 height and TOFR were observed. Patients were divided into a recovered group and a partly recovered group, based on percentage changes in T1 height after additional dosing. T1 height and TOFR during the 5 min after first dose were then compared. In the recovered group, TOFR exceeded 90% in all patients at 3 min after sugammadex administration. In the partly recovered group, none of the patients had a TOFR above 90% at 3 min after sugammadex administration. An additional dose of sugammadex can be considered unnecessary if the train-of-four ratio is ≥90% at 3 min after sugammadex administration. This trial is registered with UMIN000007245.
The Effect of Collaborative Writing on Iranian EFL Learners’ L2 Writing Anxiety and Attitudes

The study investigated the effects of Individual and collaborative teaching on the writing anxiety of Iranian EFL learners. Moreover, the participants’ attitudes towards collaborative writing were explored. To this end, sixty were divided into two groups. The participants in both groups were asked to compose a story based on the provided picture sheet. One group worked individually, and the other group worked in pairs. Additionally, the Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI) and the Collaborative Writing Questionnaire (CWQ) were administered after the treatment. The results disclosed that collaboration led to the reduction of learners’ writing anxiety rates. Furthermore, it was found that the participants had a positive attitude towards collaborative writing. The findings developed the understanding of social and affective factors involved in L2 writing.
The impact of cooling and feedback on disc galaxies

In the standard picture of galaxy formation, mass and angular momentum are the two main parameters that determine the properties of disc galaxies. The details of how the gas inside dark matter haloes is transformed into a luminous disc, however, depend strongly on the physics of star formation, feedback and cooling, which are poorly understood. The efficiencies of these astrophysical processes are ultimately responsible for setting the galaxy mass fractions fgal defined as the ratio of galaxy mass (disc plus bulge) to total virial mass. Therefore, if we could somehow determine fgal(Mvir) from observations of the luminous component of disc galaxies, this would allow us to put stringent constraints on the efficiencies of cooling and feedback. This, however, requires estimating the total virial mass, which is a delicate problem. In this paper we use detailed, analytical models for the formation of disc galaxies to investigate the impact that cooling and feedback have on their structural properties. In particular, we investigate which observables extracted directly from the models are best suited as virial mass estimators, and to what extent they allow the recovery of the model input parameters regarding the feedback and cooling efficiencies. Contrary to naive expectations, the luminosities and circular velocities of disc galaxies are extremely poor indicators of total virial mass. Instead, we show that the product of disc scalelength and rotation velocity squared yields a much more robust virial mass estimate, which allows a fairly accurate recovery of the galaxy mass fractions as a function of the virial mass. We also show that feedback can cause a narrow correlation between fgal and the halo spin parameter, as found recently by van den Bosch, Burkert & Swaters from an analysis of dwarf galaxy rotation curves. Finally, we investigate the impact that cooling and feedback have on the colours, metallicities, star formation histories and Tully–Fisher relation of disc galaxies.
Economization, moralization, and the changing moral economies of ‘capitalism’ and ‘communism’ among Cuban migrants in Spain

This article aims to establish a dialogue between approaches in economic anthropology and the anthropology of ethics and morality, assessing the complementarity and the possible points of juncture between these two theoretical lines of enquiry, their analytical potential, as well as their limits. It highlights the importance, for research on moral economies, of uncovering what counts as ‘economic’ and as ‘moral’ in a given empirical context, and proposes the analytical lenses of economization and moralization as a productive way to address such question. The theoretical contribution is grounded in ethnographic research in Spain that examines how Cuban migrants seeking to improve their lives and livelihoods navigate different political-economic systems and changing material conditions. While discussing their trajectories, future projects, and the expectation they associate with ‘capitalism’, ‘communism’ and their respective changes and crises, people are led to articulate different moral economies that delineate conflicting regimes of value and evaluations of what makes for a good life, and what ought to be the place of the economic in it. The analysis of the empirical material enables us to consider various instantiations of the moral economy, to explore the different realities the term can cover, and to clarify the scope and applicability of this notion.
Gop structure adaptive to the video content for efficient H.264/AVC encoding

This paper presents a new method for high efficiency video coding using an adaptive GOP structure based on video content for the H.264/AVC standard. The available H.264/AVC encoders typically use static GOP sizes that define how the frames I (Intra), P (Predictive) and B (Bi-predictive) are positioned during de coding process. However, by analyzing the video content it is possible to identify the optimum position for each type of frame inside the GOP. The proposed method analyses the video content and finds the best position for inserting I frames in the video sequence. Thus the GOP structure can assume different sizes, depending on the video content. The results for test sequences and real videos show that the proposed method can significantly reduce the required bit rate, comparing to the static GOP sizes, with reduced PSNR losses. The proposed adaptive GOP presents a gain, in terms of bit rate reduction for real movies, of 8.6%, 15%, 24.7% and 40.8% in comparison with static GOP sizes 32, 16, 8 and 4, respectively.