Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Microbiological Quality of Carcasses from Healthy Slaughtered Ostriches ( Struthio camelus ) in Southern Italy

To obtain microbiological data from ostrich carcasses at slaughter, a total of 130 samples were collected using the double wet/dry swab technique from the thigh and rib site of 65 carcasses. Total bacterial count (TBC) and Enterobacteriaceae were detected at level of 1.35 Log CFU/cm 2 in the thigh site and 1.62 Log CFU/cm 2 in the rib site and 0.57 Log CFU/cm 2 in the thigh site and 0.53 Log CFU/ cm 2 in the rib site, respectively. Campylobacter jejuni was isolated in one rib sample (0.8%). Salmonella derby was isolated in two thigh site samples and one rib site sample (2.3%).
Distilled Contrastive Learning for Sentence Embeddings

This paper proposes the DistillCSE framework, which performs contrastive learning under the self-training paradigm with knowledge distillation. The potential advantage of DistillCSE is its self-enhancing feature: using a base model to provide additional supervision signals, a stronger model may be learned through knowledge distillation. However, the vanilla Dis-tillCSE through the standard implementation of knowledge distillation only achieves marginal improvements due to severe overfitting. The further quantitative analyses demonstrate the reason that the standard knowledge distillation exhibits a relatively large variance of the teacher model’s logits due to the essence of contrastive learning. To mitigate the issue induced by high variance, this paper accordingly proposed two simple yet effective solutions for knowledge distillation: a Group-P shuffling strategy as an implicit regularization and the averaging logits from multiple teacher components. Experiments on standard benchmarks demonstrate that the proposed DistillCSE out-performs many strong baseline methods and yields a new state-of-the-art performance.
Clinical and Histopathologic Features of Chordomas in Children and Young Adults

Chordoma is a tumor of the axial skeleton that is distinctly uncommon in children and adolescents. Previous observations have suggested that chordomas in pediatric patients differ from adult chordomas in presentation, morphology, and behavior. This study examines the clinical and histologic features of chordomas in young patients (≤25 years old). All cases from the Mayo Clinic files were graphed according to age and a bimodal distribution was observed. The 35 cases representing the youngest population were selected for review. Histopathology ranged from low cellularity tumors with lobulated architecture and abundant myxoid matrix (conventional chordoma), to those with varying amounts of chondroid matrix (chondroid chordoma), to more cellular tumors (atypical chordoma), and finally to neoplasms with high-grade spindle-cell differentiation (dedifferentiated chordoma). Over an average follow-up period of 129 months (range 1 to 501 months), there were 13 deaths (37%) and 3 patients with metastasis. This survival rate was slightly better than the reported mortality rate for adults with chordoma, but there was a subset of young patients (those with atypical chordoma) that had a significantly worse survival rate, suggesting that histologic subtyping may be predictive of prognosis.
Lidar Observation of the Cirrus Cloud in the Tropopause at Chung-Li (25 (cid:56) N, 121 (cid:56) E)

The authors have detected a cirrus cloud near the tropopause by using a lidar system located at Chung-Li, Taiwan (25 (cid:56) N, 121 (cid:56) E). The cloud usually appeared between the month of May and September. In 1993–95, the cloud was observed almost 50% of the time that the lidar operated. The cloud was detected in the heights between 15 and 17 km; the region of the atmosphere had a temperature ranging between (cid:50) 70 (cid:56) and (cid:50) 83 (cid:56) C. It was never detected above the tropopause. The cloud was characterized by its very thin structure. The geometrical and optical thicknesses are about 0.6 km and 0.008, respectively, which can be considered as a subvisual cloud. This paper reports more than 20 cloud events observed in the years between 1993 and 1995. Some properties of the clouds are listed and compared with other references.
Structured Deformations as Energy Minimizers in Models of Fracture and Hysteresis

This paper reviews recent theories of nonclassical, structured deformations and integral representations for their Helmholtz free energy. Energy minimizers for a body undergoing shearing at two different length scales and for a bar experiencing both smooth extension and macroscopic fractures are determined, and applications to the shearing of single crystals and to the cohesive fracture of solids are discussed. Yield, hysteresis, and the associated dissipation in two-level shears are shown to arise from instabilities at the micro level, and the dichotomy between brittle and ductile fracture is related precisely to a critical length of a bar.
Vision for Future Management of Groundwater in the Nile Delta of Egypt After Construction of the Ethiopian Dams

Many studies and researches have been published discussed water resources in the Nile Delta in Egypt and have dealt with them in different ways, these studies have always been local, and do not cover the entire Nile Delta. Furthermore, most adaptation and mitigation policies and strategies focus only on small and limited areas and do not take into account the common effects that may be seen when examining the Nile Delta from a regional perspective, such as depletion of groundwater levels, pollution, sea level rise, climate change impacts, and expected changes in the future after the completion of the Ethiopian dams. This study aims to develop a future vision for the groundwater system management in the Nile Delta in Egypt, which will take into account the existing issues and challenges, including the depletion of groundwater aquifers, quality deterioration, pollution, and sea water intrusion, moreover the arising future challenges from the completion of the Ethiopian dams and its potential impacts on the Egyptian water resources system, especially, groundwater aquifer in the delta of Nile. Also, this study prompts for reviewing, analyzing the problem and identifying future adaptation strategies that can mitigate the negative impacts of the Ethiopian dams on groundwater water system, and development a capacity for coping with any future effects and impacts. The most important conclusions of this study are; (i) the water policy in Egypt should be modified to overcome the major expected challenges of building the Ethiopian dams, (ii) the agricultural areas at the end of the irrigation canals are expected to be one of the first affected areas by the lack of surface water in the Nile Delta due to the construction of the Ethiopian dams. , (iii) the use of groundwater in the Nile Delta is strongly linked to availability of Nile water and any shortage as a result of the Ethiopian dams will be covered by drilling more of groundwater wells, whether legally or illegally, (iv) the basic pillars of the future vision for groundwater management in the Nile Delta are directly related to solve the end user issues such as; fragmentation of ownership agriculture lands, applying new technologies, groundwater wells registration, and groundwater aquifer protection.
Consumption Growth, Household Splits and Civil War

We analyse the effect of civil war on household welfare. Using Burundian panel data for the 1998-2007 period in which we re-interviewed original as well as newly formed households (split-offs), we show that headcount poverty decreased by 3.5 % points when split-off households are taken into account and 1% when splits are left out. Poverty is persistent while prosperity is not, in particular in war-affected areas. We find that 25 war-related deaths or wounded at the village level reduce consumption growth by 13%. We also find that violence afflicted on household members decreases growth whereas membership of rebel groups increases it. Apart from such war-related effects - and controlling for initial levels of consumption - we find that temporarily famine-induced migration and illness decrease growth while good harvests, more split-offs and higher initial levels of education increase it. Good harvests are found to have persistent positive effects on growth. Our results are robust for different household and province fixed effects specifications.
Electrical balance duplexing for small form factor realization of in-band full duplex

Transceiver architectures utilizing various self-interference suppression techniques have enabled simultaneous transmission and reception at the same frequency. This full-duplex wireless offers the potential for a doubling of spectral efficiency; however, the requirement for high transmit-to-receive isolation presents formidable challenges for the designers of full duplex transceivers. Electrical balance in hybrid junctions has been shown to provide high transmit- to-receive isolation over significant bandwidths. Electrical balance duplexers require just one antenna, and can be implemented on-chip, making this an attractive technology for small form factor devices. However, the transmit-to-receive isolation is sensitive to antenna impedance variation in both the frequency domain and time domain, limiting the isolation bandwidth and requiring dynamic adaptation. Various contributions concerning the implementation and performance of electrical balance duplexers are reviewed and compared, and novel measurements and simulations are presented. Results demonstrate the degradation in duplexer isolation due to imperfect system adaptation in user interaction scenarios, and requirements for the duplexer adaptation system are discussed.
The entropy of design: A study on the meaning of creativity

A view on the design process based on the information flow that occurs during this process is presented. The detailing step paradigm is used as the modeling primitive, and the formalization is based on simple expressions and rules from information theory. A formal medium is provided for studying the relationship between the complexity of a design and the creativity involved in the design process. By making reasoning more precise when speaking about designing, creativity, model information, complexity, etc., understanding of the design process will increase. The aim is to improve the methods and techniques for the design of complex systems by formalizing the basic mechanisms involved and incorporating the acquired knowledge into these methods.
Predicting the development of diabetes in older adults: the derivation and validation of a prediction rule.

OBJECTIVE To create a simple prediction rule that could perform as well as the 2-h postchallenge plasma glucose (PCPG) test to predict those at risk for diabetes. We created a prediction rule in one sample and prospectively validated it for incident diabetes in a separate cohort. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A cross-sectional analysis with data from the Rancho Bernardo Study (age 67 +/- 11 years) to derive a rule predicting abnormal PCPG >/=140 mg/dl, using demographic, clinical, and laboratory data of nondiabetic participants with fasting plasma glucose (FPG) <126 mg/dl. Data from the Health, Aging and Body Composition study (age 74 +/- 3 years) were used to prospectively validate this rule for incident diabetes and compare it with the predictive ability of the PCPG test. RESULTS Of 1,549 RBS participants, 514 (33%) had PCPG >/=140 mg/dl. Female sex, age, triglycerides, and FPG were most significantly associated with abnormal PCPG. Based on standardized beta-coefficients, we allotted 1 point for female sex, triglycerides >/=150 mg/dl, or FPG 95-104 mg/dl. Age >/=70 years or FPG 105-115 mg/dl were given 2 points, and FPG 116-125 mg/dl received 3 points. In the validation cohort, this simple prediction rule was as good as the 2-h PCPG test for predicting incident diabetes (C-statistic: 0.71 for both). CONCLUSIONS Advanced age, female sex, FPG, and triglycerides were able to predict adults at risk for diabetes equally well as the 2-h PCPG test. Using this rule, clinicians may better identify older persons who should receive intensive lifestyle intervention to prevent type 2 diabetes.
Differential cellular and molecular effects of bortezomib, a proteasome inhibitor, in human breast cancer cells

The cellular and molecular effects of the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib on breast cancer cells are as yet poorly characterized. Here, in a panel of six breast cancer cell lines, bortezomib reduced viability in a concentration-dependent, time-dependent, and cell line–dependent manner. Proteasome activity was relatively high in two of the three more resistant cell lines. No relationship was observed between bortezomib effects on cell viability and expression/phosphorylation of HER-2, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), AKT, or extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2). Molecular effects of bortezomib were further studied in SK-BR-3 and BT-474 cells because they share expression of EGFR and overexpression of HER-2 while, in contrast, SK-BR-3 cells were 200-fold more sensitive to this agent. Proteasome activity was inhibited to a similar extent in the two cell lines, and known proteasome substrates accumulated similarly. In SK-BR-3 cells, a marked inhibition of EGFR, HER-2, and AKT phosphorylation was observed at a clinically relevant concentration of bortezomib. In contrast, phosphorylation of Raf/mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 1/2 (MEK 1/2)/ERK1/2 increased by bortezomib. In BT-474 cells, the effects were much less pronounced. Treatment of SK-BR-3 cells with bortezomib combined with pharmacologic inhibitors of EGFR, phosphatidylinositol 3′-kinase, or MEK resulted in modest or no enhancement of the effects on cell viability. Collectively, these results show that bortezomib has differential cellular and molecular effects in human breast cancer cells. The bortezomib-observed effects on signaling transduction molecules might be relevant to help to design mechanistic-based combination treatments. [Mol Cancer Ther 2006;5(3):665–75]
Edinburgh Research Explorer TRIM25 inhibits influenza A virus infection, destabilises viral mRNA, but is redundant for activating the RIG-I pathway

The E3 ubiquitin ligase TRIM25 is a key factor in the innate immune response to RNA viruses. TRIM25 has been shown to play a role in the retinoic-acid-inducible gene-1 (RIG-I) pathway, which triggers expression of type 1 interferons upon viral infection. We and others have shown that TRIM25 is an RNA-binding protein; however, the role of TRIM25 RNA-binding in the innate immune response to RNA viruses is unclear. Here, we demonstrate that in-ﬂuenza A virus (IAV A / PR / 8 / 34 NS1(R38A / K41A)) infection is inhibited by TRIM25. Surprisingly, previously identiﬁed RNA-binding deﬁcient mutant TRIM25 (cid:2) RBD and E3 ubiquitin ligase mutant TRIM25 (cid:2) RING, which lack E3 ubiquitin ligase activity, still inhibited IAV replication. Furthermore, we show that in human-derived cultured cells, activation of the RIG-I / interferon type 1 pathway mediated by either an IAV-derived 5 (cid:2) -triphosphate RNA or by IAV itself does not require TRIM25 activity. Additionally, we present new evidence that instead of TRIM25 directly inhibiting IAV transcription it binds and desta-bilizes IAV mRNAs. Finally, we show that direct tethering of TRIM25 to RNA is sufﬁcient to downregulate the targeted RNA. In summary, our results uncover a potential mechanism that TRIM25 uses to inhibit IAV infection and regulate RNA metabolism
MBE-grown long wavelength InGaAlAs/InP laser diodes

An attempt was made to achieve high-performance 1.55I m semiconductor laser diodes based on the InGaAlAs material system with solid-source molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) technology. The primary motivation for this attempt was the possibility for enhanced QW laser performance with large conduction band offsets provided by InGaAlAs which, furthermore, can be realized with toxic-gas-free solid-source MBE technology. In order to realize this goal, the technique of growing high-quality InGaAlAs with MBE was first established and the resulting InGaAlAs bulk and quantum well samples were extensively characterized by double-crystal xray diffraction, transmission and photoluminescence measurements. 1.55 pm graded-index separateconfinement strained multiple quantum well lasers were then designed, epitaxially grown, and fabricated into broad-area and ridge-waveguide devices. The resulting devices were characterized for their threshold currents and quantum efficiencies, and these were compared with other reported values obtained from different material systems and/or epitaxy techniques. In addition, in order to realize distributed-feedback (DFB) lasers that do not require any epitaxial regrowth, a novel ridge-waveguide DFB structure was proposed, analyzed, and fabricated with x-ray lithography. Finally, an assessment was made on the future of MBE-grown InGaAlAs lasers for the fiber-optic application. Thesis Supervisor: Clifton G. Fonstad Title: Professor of Electrical Engineering
DOES THE LOAD-VELOCITY RELATIONSHIP PREDICT MAXIMUM DYNAMIC STRENGTH IN POWER CLEAN FROM THE KNEE?

: This study investigated the predictive validity and reliability of the load-velocity relationship with the one-repetition maximum test (1RM) in power clean from the knee exercise (PC). Initially, 12 healthy young males, with no PC experience, underwent eight sessions to learn the PC technique. After the learning period, the participants visited the laboratory on four more occasions with intervals between the visits from 72 to 96 h. The first two sessions were dedicated to the actual 1RM tests, while the last two sessions were performed to measure the barbell’s load-velocity relationship at 30%, 45%, 60%, 75%, and 90% of PC 1RM. The highest peak velocity recorded at each load was used to establish the linear regression equation and, consequently, to predict 1RM values. As a result, a low validity was observed between the highest actual 1RM value and the predicted 1RM in sessions 1 and 2 (typical errors = 3.6 to 5.0 kg, coefficients of variation = 6.03 to 8.21%, effect sizes = -1.23 to -1.00, and Bland-Altman bias = 8.5 to 11.7 kg). For reliability, higher measurement errors (intraclass correlation coefficient, typical error, coefficient of variation, and width of limits of agreement at 95%) were observed for the predicted 1RM compared to the actual 1RM test. In conclusion, the load-velocity relationship was not able to predict the 1RM value with high accuracy in the PC from the knee. Moreover, the predicted 1RM presented inferior reliability than the actual 1RM test.
Cooperative MAC for Rate Adaptive Randomized Distributed Space-Time Coding

In a distributed wireless network, it is possible to employ several relays and mimic a multiple antenna transmission system. In this paper we propose a MAC layer solution that allows multiple relays to send information to the receiver at unison, using a randomized distributed space time code. The randomized space-time coding can recruit relays on the fly, thus significantly reducing signaling overhead. The cross-layer design between physical layer and MAC layer involves relay discovery and rate adaptation, and results in improvements in throughput and delay performance. The design is dynamic and can be adapted to changing network conditions. The proposed MAC scheme can be integrated into various wireless technologies such as distributed contention based networks (e.g., IEEE 802.11 BSS and ad hoc mode) as well as centralized multiple access networks (e.g., IEEE 802.16).
The β-effect in tropical cyclones: impact on intensity and sensitivity to temperature

Tropical cyclones are large weather systems whose development is characterised by complex physical processes that are not yet fully understood. A better understanding of how cyclones work is vital to help forecasters make more accurate predictions. The objective of this study is to contribute to the understanding of the track and intensity evolution in relation to the β-effect. While the β-effect has been widely studied, its response to changes in environmental conditions has been investigated only marginally. To this end a series of idealised experiments using the Weather Research and Forecasting model is performed. The sensitivity of the β-drift is investigated with no background flow by changing uniformly sea surface and atmospheric temperature. With increasing temperature tropical cyclones become more intense, larger and move faster with a stronger westward deflection. In particular, there is a linear relationship between the β-drift speed and size above a gale-force wind radius of 250 km. Another aspect investigated is the impact of the β-effect on cyclone intensity. A comparison between an experiment with variable Coriolis parameter f and one on an f -plane shows that after the initial intensification the former has a lower intensity and undergoes a weakening not present in the latter. The main reason behind this weakening is the dry intrusion of a mid-upper tropospheric westerly flow. Back-trajectories show that the intrusion originates from the anticyclonic recirculation of the air expelled from
Aalborg Universitet High-Tech Clusters and Multinational Corporation : Subsidiaries in Political Games

High-tech Clusters and Multinational Corporations: Subsidiaries in Political Games Kristian Hegner Reinau Ph.D. Fellow and Fixed-Term Lecturer at Department of Development and Planning, Aalborg University. Year of enrolment 2006, expected final date summer 2011 Reinau@plan.aau. dk This paper explores the relationship between high-tech clusters and Multinational Corporations (MNCs). When MNCs enter high-tech R&D clusters through acquisitions of high-tech R&D companies, the outcome often is that an initial successful phase lasting some years after the acquisition is followed by a closure or a sale of the subsidiary. This tendency has for example been seen a number of times in the NorCOM wireless telecommunications cluster in Northern Jutland, Denmark. This article explores why this course of events occurs in high-tech R&D clusters. It is argued, using literature on MNCs as social constructions (Dörrenbächer & Geppert 2006), that it is necessary to investigate the socio-political underpinnings of MNCs empirically, if we are to understand how and why such change through time. MNC subsidiaries located in clusters are positioned between two worlds . One is the world within the MNC characterized by socio-political processes shaping the identities and behaviors of employees in the MNC. The other is the world within the cluster characterized by a buzz (Bathelt, Malmberg, & Maskell 2004), which shapes institutions, shared understandings etc. in the cluster. Both of these two worlds influence the dynamics within MNC subsidiaries located in clusters, and hence their evolution. To uncover the dynamics leading to the course of events described above, it is therefore necessary to investigate the socio-political processes occurring in an MNC subsidiary located between two such worlds empirically. A detailed case study of one such MNC subsidiary in the NorCOM wireless telecommunications cluster was therefore conducted. Detailed case studies are a methodology widely employed in the MNC literature treating MNCs as social constructions. The case study showed, that after the initial successful phase, employees in the subsidiary had to participate in political games about new work tasks and new competences, to claim a position within the MNC, and hence a raison d ́être, and the study illuminates the dynamics of this political game in detail. JEL codes: F23, O19, O32 Kristian Hegner Reinau DRUID WINTER 2010 Aalborg University 1 High-tech Clusters and Multinational Corporations: Subsidiaries in Political Games Kristian Hegner Reinau Ph.D. Fellow and Fixed-Term Lecturer Department of Development and Planning Aalborg University Reinau@plan.aau. dk Paper for the DRUID-DIME Academy Winter Conference 2010 January 21 23, Rebild, Denmark