Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Workflow interruptions, social stressors from supervisor(s) and attention failure in surgery personnel

Workflow interruptions and social stressors among surgery personnel may cause attention failure at work that may increase rumination about work issues during leisure time. The test of these assumptions should contribute to the understanding of exhaustion in surgery personnel and patient safety. Workflow interruptions and supervisor-related social stressors were tested to predict attention failure that predicts work-related rumination during leisure time. One hundred ninety-four theatre nurses, anaesthetists and surgeons from a Swiss University hospital participated in a cross-sectional survey. The participation rate was 58%. Structural equation modelling confirmed both indirect paths from workflow interruptions and social stressors via attention failure on rumination (both p<0.05). An alternative model, assuming the reversed indirect causation—from attention failure via workflow interruptions and social stressors on rumination—could not be empirically supported. Workflow interruptions and social stressors at work are likely to trigger attention failure in surgery personnel. Work redesign and team intervention could help surgery personnel to maintain a high level of quality and patient safety and detach from work related issues to recover during leisure time.
Self-Command in Practice, in Policy, and in a Theory of Rational Choice

An increasingly familiar occurrence for obstetricians is being asked by patients to withhold anesthesia during delivery. The physician often proposes that a facemask be put beside the patient who may inhale nitrous oxide as she needs it. But some determined patients ask that no such opportunity be provided: if gas is available they will use it, and they want not to be able to. The request is interesting for decision theory, and raises questions of ethics, policy, and physician responsibility, even if the woman is merely making a mistake-if she simply does not know how painful labor will be and how glad she will be, even in retrospect, if the pain is relieved. But some women who make this request have had earlier deliveries during which they demanded anesthesia and received it. They are acquainted with the pain. They anticipate asking for relief. And they want it withheld when they do. They expect to regret afterwards any recourse to anesthesia. This particular instance of attempted selfdenial has features that are special but many that are common. The woman is, so far as we know, in good health physically and mentally. She anticipates a transient period when her usual values and preferences will be suspended or inaccessible. She has reasons for wanting to frustrate her own wishes at the critical time. She needs cooperation. She may ratify her choice afterward by expressing herself grateful that no anesthesia was offered, even when requested. There are ethical dilemmas and legal issues, and there is conflict, if, say, the husband disagrees with the physician in the delivery room about what his wife really wants.
Turkiye’de Ihracatin Gelir ve Fiyat Esnekliklerine Bir Bakis: Bolgesel Farkliliklarin Onemi

[TR] Bu notta Turkiye’de mal ihracatini belirleyen temel unsurlarin, ihracat pazarlari arasinda ne olcude farklilastigi arastirilmistir. Bu amacla, 2003-2013 donemini kapsayan VAR analizi kullanilarak ihracat talep fonksiyonundaki esneklik katsayilari hesaplanmistir. Ihracatin gelir esnekligi gelismis ulkelerde, ozellikle de Euro Bolgesi’nde, belirgin olarak daha yuksek bulunmustur. Doviz kuru esnekligi ise Orta Dogu ve Afrika bolgesinde hem mutlak deger olarak daha yuksek bulunmus, hem de diger bolgelerin aksine istatistiki olarak anlamli oldugu saptanmistir. Bu bulgular, ihracatin belirleyici faktorleri arasinda, gerceklestirilen mal ihracatinin kompozisyonundaki farkli yapiya paralel olarak, bolgesel farkliliklar oldugunu teyit etmektedir. [EN] In this note we have investigated to what extent the determinants of Turkish exports differentiate across export destinations. To this end, elasticity coefficients of export demand function are estimated by employing the VAR method for the 2003-2013 period. The estimated values for demand elasticity of exports are considerably higher in advanced countries, particularly in the Eurozone. We have found that the real exchange rate elasticity of exports in the Middle East and Africa region is not only higher in absolute terms but also statistically significant, contrary to other regions. These findings confirm that there are regional variations in the determinants of exports across destinations in accordance with the difference in the composition of export goods.
Protection of Stem Cell-Derived Lymphocytes in a Primate AIDS Gene Therapy Model after In Vivo Selection

Background There is currently no effective AIDS vaccine, emphasizing the importance of developing alternative therapies. Recently, a patient was successfully transplanted with allogeneic, naturally resistant CCR5-negative (CCR5Δ32) cells, setting the stage for transplantation of naturally resistant, or genetically modified stem cells as a viable therapy for AIDS. Hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) gene therapy using vectors that express various anti-HIV transgenes has also been attempted in clinical trials, but inefficient gene transfer in these studies has severely limited the potential of this approach. Here we evaluated HSC gene transfer of an anti-HIV vector in the pigtailed macaque (Macaca nemestrina) model, which closely models human transplantation. Methods and Findings We used lentiviral vectors that inhibited both HIV-1 and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)/HIV-1 (SHIV) chimera virus infection, and also expressed a P140K mutant methylguanine methyltransferase (MGMT) transgene to select gene-modified cells by adding chemotherapy drugs. Following transplantation and MGMT-mediated selection we demonstrated transgene expression in over 7% of stem-cell derived lymphocytes. The high marking levels allowed us to demonstrate protection from SHIV in lymphocytes derived from gene-modified macaque long-term repopulating cells that expressed an HIV-1 fusion inhibitor. We observed a statistically significant 4-fold increase of gene-modified cells after challenge of lymphocytes from one macaque that received stem cells transduced with an anti-HIV vector (p<0.02, Student's t-test), but not in lymphocytes from a macaque that received a control vector. We also established a competitive repopulation assay in a second macaque for preclinical testing of promising anti-HIV vectors. The vectors we used were HIV-based and thus efficiently transduce human cells, and the transgenes we used target HIV-1 genes that are also in SHIV, so our findings can be rapidly translated to the clinic. Conclusions Here we demonstrate the ability to select protected HSC-derived lymphocytes in vivo in a clinically relevant nonhuman primate model of HIV/SHIV infection. This approach can now be evaluated in human clinical trials in AIDS lymphoma patients. In this patient setting, chemotherapy would not only kill malignant cells, but would also increase the number of MGMTP140K-expressing HIV-resistant cells. This approach should allow for high levels of HIV-protected cells in AIDS patients to evaluate AIDS gene therapy.
Analytical analysis and feedback linearization tracking control of the general Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy dynamic systems

The Takagi-Sugeno (TS) fuzzy modeling technique, a black-box discrete-time approach for system identification, has widely been used to model behaviors of complex dynamic systems. The analytical structure of TS fuzzy models, however, is unknown, causing at two major problems. First, the fuzzy models cannot be utilized to design controllers of the physical systems modeled. Second, there is no systematic technique for designing a controller that is capable of controlling any given TS fuzzy model to achieve the desired tracking or setpoint control performance. In this paper, we provide solutions to these problems. We have proved that a general class of TS fuzzy models is a nonlinear time-varying ARX (Auto-Regressive with eXtra input) model. We have established a simple condition for analytically determining the local stability of the general TS fuzzy dynamic model. The condition can also be used to analytically check the quality of a TS fuzzy model and invalidate the model if the condition warrants. We have developed a feedback linearization technique for systematically designing an output tracking controller so that the output of a controlled TS fuzzy system of the general class achieves perfect tracking of any bounded time-varying trajectory. We have investigated the stability of the tracking controller and established a condition, in relation to the stability of non-minimum phase systems, for analytically deciding whether a stable tracking controller can be designed using our method for any given TS fuzzy system. Three numerical examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness and utility of our results and techniques.
Selectivity estimation for spatio-temporal queries to moving objects

A query optimizer requires selectivity estimation of a query to choose the most efficient access plan. An effective method of selectivity estimation for the future locations of moving objects has not yet been proposed. Existing methods for spatial selectivity estimation do not accurately estimate the selectivity of a query to moving objects, because they do not consider the future locations of moving objects, which change continuously as time passes.In this paper, we propose an effective method for spatio-temporal selectivity estimation to solve this problem. We present analytical formulas which accurately calculate the selectivity of a spatio-temporal query as a function of spatio-temporal information. Extensive experimental results show that our proposed method accurately estimates the selectivity over various queries to spatio-temporal data combining real-life spatial data and synthetic temporal data. When Tiger/lines is used as real-life spatial data, the application of an existing method for spatial selectivity estimation to the estimation of the selectivity of a query to moving objects has the average error ratio from 14% to 85%, whereas our method for spatio-temporal selectivity estimation has the average error ratio from 9% to 23%.
A Field Experiment to Improve Communications in a Product Engineering Department: The Nonterritorial Office1

A year-long investigation was undertaken to determine the impact, of a radical new scheme of office layout on work-related behavior, communication, and performance. The office layout under investigation is best described as “nonterritorial”. It is an open floor plan arrangement, but goes far beyond the traditional open-space office, removing not only office walls, but most permanent stations as well. Employees (product engineers) work at large round tables, which are distributed through the office area, and may locate themselves anywhere that they wish on any given day, or at different times during a day. The experiment was successful to the extent that employees preferred the new arrangement over the traditional one- and two-person offices they had previously occupied and that communication within the department increased significantly. It was unsuccessful in that no measurable increase in departmental performance was registered over the period of the study.
Influence of Experimental Parameters Using the Dip-Coating Method on the Barrier Performance of Hybrid Sol-Gel Coatings in Strong Alkaline Environments

Previous studies have shown that the barrier effect and the performance of organic-inorganic hybrid (OIH) sol-gel coatings are highly dependent on the coating deposition method as well as on the processing conditions. However, studies on how the coating deposition method influences the barrier properties in alkaline environments are scarce. The aim of this experimental research was to study the influence of experimental parameters using the dip-coating method on the barrier performance of an OIH sol-gel coating in contact with simulated concrete pore solutions (SCPS). The influence of residence time (Rt), a curing step between each dip step and the number of layers of sol-gel OIH films deposited on hot-dip galvanized steel to prevent corrosion in highly alkaline environments was studied. The barrier performance of these OIH sol-gel coatings, named U(400), was assessed in the first instants of contact with SCPS, using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and potentiodynamic methods. The durability and stability of the OIH coatings in SCPS was monitored during eight days by macrocell current density. The morphological characterization of the surface was performed by Scanning Electronic Microscopy before and after exposure to SCPS. Glow Discharge Optical Emission Spectroscopy was used to investigate the thickness of the U(400) sol-gel coatings as a function of the number of layers deposited with and without Rt in the coatings thickness.
Supersymmetric Wilson loops on S**3.

This paper studies in great detail a family of supersymmetric Wilson loop operators in = 4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory we have recently found. For a generic curve on an S3 in space-time the loops preserve two supercharges but we will also study special cases which preserve 4, 8 and 16 supercharges. For certain loops we find the string theory dual explicitly and for the general case we show that string solutions satisfy a first order differential equation. This equation expresses the fact that the strings are pseudo-holomorphic with respect to a novel almost complex structure we construct on AdS4 ? S2. We then discuss loops restricted to S2 and provide evidence that they can be calculated in terms of similar observables in purely bosonic YM in two dimensions on the sphere.
Cost Effective Acoustic Monitoring of Biodiversity and Bird Populations in Kenya

With the increasing need to effectively monitor a growing number of ecosystems of interest due to risks posed to these ecosystems by human activity and climate change, novel approaches to biodiversity monitoring are needed. In this work we demonstrate the application of low cost acoustic recorders based on the Raspberry Pi microprocessor to biodiversity monitoring. The recorders are capable of capturing audio recordings from which we can compute acoustic indices of biodiversity and identify bird species of interest. We compare the acoustic indices of biodiversity and results of point counts aimed at determining bird species presence and find that the acoustic complexity index has a significant positive correlation to point count results. In addition, we show that the presence of the Hartlaub’s Turaco, a ubiquitous species in montane forests in Kenya with a distinct call, can be automatically determined using recordings obtained using our setup. Montane species are of interest for long-term automatic monitoring since they are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Our system is able to deal with the large amounts of data generated by the acoustic recorders. The automatic screening of approximately five hours of recordings for presence of the Hartlaub’s Turaco call is achieved in approximately three minutes representing a large time saving that makes use of audio recordings for species identification feasible.
Contextual Bandits with Global Constraints and Objective

We consider the contextual version of a multi-armed bandit problem with global convex constraints and concave objective function. In each round, the outcome of pulling an arm is a context-dependent vector, and the global constraints require the average of these vectors to lie in a certain convex set. The objective is a concave function of this average vector. The learning agent competes with an arbitrary set of context-dependent policies. This problem is a common generalization of problems considered by Badanidiyuru et al. (2014) and Agrawal and Devanur (2014), with important applications. We give computationally efficient algorithms with near-optimal regret, generalizing the approach of Agarwal et al. (2014) for the non-constrained version of the problem. For the special case of budget constraints our regret bounds match those of Badanidiyuru et al. (2014), answering their main open question of obtaining a computationally efficient algorithm.
Real-Time Monitoring of Substation Ground Potential Rise and Grounding System Impedance Using Power System Faults

Grounding system engineers and power utility owners have a duty of care to ensure that substation grounding systems continue to meet their safety performance requirements over the operational lifetime of the installation. Changes to power system or third-party assets associated with an installation, as well as environmental factors such as temperature or moisture level fluctuations, can cause variation in a grounding system's performance. To perform a grounding system assessment, engineers must select a suitable set of fault scenarios on which to base their assessments. However, the relative risk level of hazards produced by a ground fault (GF) depends on that proportion of the fault current that passes to ground through the local grounding of the installation and the duration of the event. The consideration of all hazards posed by a single installation is thus physically and theoretically an expensive proposition, particularly for installations with complex grounding systems. An electronic recording system is proposed to capture the characteristics of power system ground potential rise (GPR) events during GFs. This system allows the failure of critical grounding system components to be highlighted as indicated by a substantial change in the measured impedance. The system also establishes the GPR event frequency, allowing the probabilistic nature of GFs associated with an installation to be assessed. This paper provides an explanation of the GPR monitoring rationale and a methodology for implementing such a system, and typical results are shown from trials undertaken in recent years.
Evolving Consensus Sequences with a Genetic Algorithm

In this paper we present an approach that employs a genetic algorithm (GA) to evolve the consensus sequences for DNA and protein sequences alignments. We have developed an encoding scheme such that the number of generations needed to find the optimal solution remains approximately the same regardless the number of sequences. The complexity instead depends only on the length of the consensus sequence and similarities among sequences. The objective function gives the sum-of-pairs (SP) scores that serve as the fitness values. We have devised a residue profiling technique that further simplifies the calculations of the SP scores. Furthermore, to facilitate the quantitative studies of our GA approach, we have developed a simulation program that incorporates the most commonly used evolutionary models and generates biologically sound sequences. We performed several experiments and compared the results with the most commonly used heuristic alignment program Clustal W [18, 19]. We conclude our research with detailed analysis and demonstrate that our GA approach offers an attractive and competitive alternative to the heuristic approach.
Television Viewing and Incident Cardiovascular Disease: Prospective Associations and Mediation Analysis in the EPIC Norfolk Study

Background Although television viewing time is detrimentally associated with intermediate cardiovascular risk factors, the relationship with incident total (i.e. combined fatal and non-fatal) cardiovascular disease (CVD), non-fatal CVD and coronary heart disease is largely unknown. This study examined whether television viewing time is associated with these three outcomes, independently of physical activity energy expenditure and other confounding variables. Methodology/Principal Findings A population-based cohort of 12,608 men and women (aged 61.4±9.0), free from stroke, myocardial infarction and cancer at baseline in 1998–2000 were followed up until 2007 (6.9±1.9 years). Participants self-reported education, smoking, alcohol use, antihypertensive, lipid lowering and antidepressant medication, disease history, total energy intake, sleep duration, physical activity and television viewing. BMI, waist circumference, blood pressure, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol and glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) were measured by standardized procedures; a clustered metabolic risk score was constructed. Every one hour/day increase in television viewing was associated with an increased hazard for total (HR = 1.06, 95%CI = 1.03–1.08; 2,620 cases), non-fatal CVD (HR = 1.06, 95%CI = 1.03–1.09; 2,134 cases), and coronary heart disease (HR = 1.08, 95%CI = 1.03–1.13; 940 cases), independent of gender, age, education, smoking, alcohol, medication, diabetes status, CVD family history, sleep duration and physical activity energy expenditure. Energy intake, BMI, waist circumference, blood pressure, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, HbA1c and the clustered metabolic risk score only partially mediated these associations. Conclusions These results indicate that the most prevalent leisure time (sedentary) behaviour, television viewing, independently contributes to increased CVD risk. Recommendations on reducing television viewing time should be considered.
The anguibactin biosynthesis and transport genes are encoded in the chromosome of Vibrio harveyi: a possible evolutionary origin for the pJM1 plasmid–encoded system of Vibrio anguillarum?

Many Vibrio anguillarum serotype O1 strains carry 65‐kb pJM1‐type plasmids harboring genes involved in siderophore anguibactin biosynthesis and transport. The anguibactin system is an essential factor for V. anguillarum to survive under iron‐limiting conditions, and as a consequence, it is a very important virulence factor of this bacterium. Our comparative analysis of genomic data identified a cluster harboring homologs of anguibactin biosynthesis and transport genes in the chromosome of Vibrio harveyi. We have purified the putative anguibactin siderophore and demonstrated that it is indeed anguibactin by mass spectrometry and specific bioassays. Furthermore, we characterized two genes, angR and fatA, in this chromosome cluster that, respectively, participate in anguibactin biosynthesis and transport as determined by mutagenesis analysis. Furthermore, we found that the V. harveyi FatA protein is located in the outer membrane fractions as previously demonstrated in V. anguillarum. Based on our data, we propose that the anguibactin biosynthesis and transport cluster in the V. anguillarum pJM1 plasmid have likely evolved from the chromosome cluster of V. harveyi or vice versa.
Determinants And Impacts Of Human Mobility Dynamics In The Western Highlands Of Cameroon

This study analyses human mobility among inhabitants of Cameroon‘s most populous region, the Western Highlands of Cameroon. In other to capture the impact of various determinants on human mobility, a comparative study was conducted through household and field surveys in three villages in the region and conceptualized based on the systems approach. The drop in coffee prices coupled with demographic pressure was a major determinant of mobility and land-use changes in the area. Rural-to-urban migration was significantly controlled by a combination of socio-economic determinants while commuting to other rural areas for farming was triggered by the quest for microclimates adapted for the production of vegetable cash crops. Intensive land-use and high dependence on off-farm chemical inputs was found to have replaced the traditional long fallow system. This represented a threat to the sustainability of the farming system due to vulnerability to pests and erosion. On the other hand, occupational diversification triggered by urban-to-rural migration had far reaching effects on the improvement of rural livelihood.