Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The optical spectral slope variability of 17 blazars

Many quasi-simultaneous optical observations of 17 blazars are obtained from previous papers published over the last 19 years in order to investigate the spectral slope variability and understand the radiation mechanism of blazars. The long-period dereddened optical spectral slopes are calculated. We analyse the average spectral slope distribution, which suggests that the spectra of flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) and high energy peaked BL Lac objects (HBLs) are probably deformed by other emission components. The average spectral slopes of low energy peaked BL Lac objects(LBLs), which scatter around 1.5, show a good accordance with the synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) loss-dominated model. We present and discuss the variability between the spectral slope and optical luminosity. The spectra of all HBLs and LBLs get flatter when they turn brighter, while for FSRQs this trend does not exist or may even be reversed. This phenomenon may imply that there is a thermal contribution to the optical spectrum for FSRQs. For the FSRQ 1156+295, there is a hint that the slope gets flatter at both the brightest and faintest states. Our result shows that three subclasses locate in different regions in the pattern of slope variability indicator versus average spectral slope. The relativistic jet mechanism is supported by the significant correlation between the optical Doppler factor and the average spectral slope.
A systematic review of the effect of red blood cell transfusion on mortality: evidence from large-scale observational studies published between 2006 and 2010

Objective To carry out a systematic review of recently published large-scale observational studies assessing the effects of red blood cell transfusion (RBCT) on mortality, with particular emphasis on the statistical methods used to adjust for confounding. Given the limited number of randomised trials of the efficacy of RBCT, clinicians often use evidence from observational studies. However, confounding factors, for example, individuals receiving blood generally being sicker than those who do not, make their interpretation challenging. Design Systematic review. Information sources We searched MEDLINE and EMBASE for studies published from 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2010. Eligibility criteria for included studies We included prospective cohort, case–control studies or retrospective analyses of databases or disease registers where the effect of risk factors for mortality or survival was examined. Studies must have included more than 1000 participants receiving RBCT for any cause. We assessed the effects of RBCT versus no RBCT and different volumes and age of RBCT. Results –32 studies were included in the review; 23 assessed the effects of RBCT versus no RBCT; 5 assessed different volumes and 4 older versus newer RBCT. There was a considerable variability in the patient populations, study designs and level of statistical adjustment. Overall, most studies showed a higher rate of mortality when comparing patients who received RBCT with those who did not, even when these rates were adjusted for confounding; the majority of these increases were statistically significant. The same pattern was observed in studies where protection from bias was likely to be greater, such as prospective studies. Conclusions Recent observational studies do show a consistently adverse effect of RBCT on mortality. Whether this is a true effect remains uncertain as it is possible that even the best conducted adjustments cannot completely eliminate the impact of confounding.
Effect of Experiential Learning Toward Students’ Writing Skill at Grade X High School 1 Vii Koto Sungai Sariak, Padang Pariaman, West Sumatera

This research was based on the problems were faced by the students at grade X high school 1 VII Koto Sungai Sariak, they often face difficulties in writing recount texts. The aim of this research was to find out the effect of using experiential learning on students’ writing skill of recount text. The design of this research is experiment. The population and sample of this research were the students of grade Xsocial scienceof high school 1 VII Koto Sungai Sariak, Padang Pariaman Regency, West Sumatera, the academic year 2014/2015. The samples of the research were taken by using random sampling technique. The total of sample were 60 students, the sample were grade X.3 social science as experimental class that consisted of 30 students and grade X.4 social scienceas control class that consisted of 30 students. This research was conducted in five meetings by using Experiential Learning in experiment class and grammar translation method in control class. The research started by observation to sample class to see the ability of students, before doing treatment. At the end of this research, the researcher gave posttest to know the result after doing treatment. The technique to analyze the data was t-test formula. It was used to determine whether there is or there is not a significant difference between the average score of the experimental and the control class. The average of posttest on experimental class was 73.20 which were higher than the average of posttest on the control class 66.97. Based on the calculation result of t-test, it was obtained t calculated (1.75) was higher than the t table (1.67). Since the t calculated was higher than t table , the hypothesis is accepted. It can be concluded that applying experiential learning gave significant effect in writing skill at high school 1 VII Koto Sungai Sariak, Padang Pariaman Regency, West Sumatera.
Comparison of the Effects of Two Whitening Toothpastes on Microhardness of the Enamel and a Microhybride Composite Resin: An in Vitro Study

Introduction: Whitening toothpastes which have been accepted in populations may affect properties of enamel and restorative materials. The aim of this study was to compare the microhardness of human enamel and Z250 microhybrid composite resin after brushing with two whitening toothpastes. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study of enamel specimens, forty five freshly extracted human incisors were prepared and divided into three groups of control enamel (ClE), Crest enamel (CtE) and Aquafresh enamel (AfE). For composite resin specimens, forty five cylindrical-shaped specimens of light-cured Z250 composite were prepared and divided into three groups of control composite (ClC), Crest composite (CtC) and Aquafresh composite (AfC). The control groups were brushed without toothpaste. Crest and Aquafresh group specimens were brushed with Crest and Aquafresh whitening toothpastes, respectively. Vickers microhardness test was performed for all groups. Data were analyzed by One-way ANOVA and Tukey tests. Results: Microhardness values of ClE, CtE, AfE, ClC, CtC and AfC groups were 332.99 ± 26.59, 313.99 ± 20.56, 323.57 ± 27.96, 137.1 ± 3.16, 122.95 ± 3.27 and 130.36 ± 4.8, respectively. One-way ANOVA showed no significant differences among three enamel groups but there was significant difference among composite groups (p<0.01). Conclusion: Crest and Aquafresh whitening toothpastes did not affect enamel hardness but reduced the microhardness value of Z-250 composite resin. However, Crest whitening toothpaste decreased the microhardness more than Aquafresh.
Voice Activity Detection Algorithm Based on Mel-scale Frequency Log-Spectral Energy Difference In Noise Environment

Voice Activity Detection (VAD) is an important part of the speech signal processing, its accuracy directly influences the speed and result of the speech signal processing. Most means of VAD is done in laboratory-scale environment, it requires stationary noise and high Signal Noise Ratio (SNR). But in fact, these conditions above can’t be satisfied usually. A VAD algorithm is put forward based on “Mel-scale Frequency Log-Spectral Energy Difference”, which has easy distance-measuring degree and clear physical sense. Compared with the traditional method, this algorithm used the relative dimension to replace the absolute one, so, in the case of low SNR and in the environment of slowly varying and non-stationary noise, this algorithm can demarcate speech in noise accurately, and meanwhile, it has good robustness.
Resource Allocation for Mixed RF and Hybrid RF/FSO Relaying

In this paper, we consider a mixed RF and hybrid RF/FSO system where several mobile users transmit their data over an RF link to a relay node (e.g. a small cell base station) and the relay forwards the information to a destination (e.g. a macro cell base station) over a hybrid RF/FSO backhaul link. The relay and the destination employ multiple antennas for transmission and reception over the RF links while each mobile user has a single antenna. The RF links are full-duplex with respect to the FSO link and half-duplex with respect to each other, i.e., either the user-relay RF link or the relay-destination RF link is active. For this communication setup, we derive the optimal resource allocation policy for sharing the RF bandwidth resource between the RF links. Our numerical results show the effectiveness of the proposed communication architecture and resource allocation policy, and their superiority compared to existing schemes which employ only one type of backhaul link.
LORD OF THE RINGS: A KINEMATIC DISTANCE TO CIRCINUS X-1 FROM A GIANT X-RAY LIGHT ECHO

Circinus X-1 exhibited a bright X-ray flare in late 2013. Follow-up observations with Chandra and XMM-Newton from 40 to 80 days after the flare reveal a bright X-ray light echo in the form of four well-defined rings with radii from 5 to 13 arcmin, growing in radius with time. The large fluence of the flare and the large column density of interstellar dust toward Circinus X-1 make this the largest and brightest set of rings from an X-ray light echo observed to date. By deconvolving the radial intensity profile of the echo with the MAXI X-ray light curve of the flare we reconstruct the dust distribution toward Circinus X-1 into four distinct dust concentrations. By comparing the peak in scattering intensity with the peak intensity in CO maps of molecular clouds from the Mopra Southern Galactic Plane CO Survey we identify the two innermost rings with clouds at radial velocity ∼ − 74 ? > and ∼ − 81 km s − 1 ? > , respectively. We identify a prominent band of foreground photoelectric absorption with a lane of CO gas at ∼ − 32 km s − 1 ? > . From the association of the rings with individual CO clouds we determine the kinematic distance to Circinus X-1 to be D CirX ‐ 1 = 9.4 − 1.0 + 0.8 kpc ? > . This distance rules out earlier claims of a distance around 4 kpc ? > , implies that Circinus X-1 is a frequent super-Eddington source, and places a lower limit of Γ ≳ 22 ? > on the Lorentz factor and an upper limit of θ jet ≲ 3 ° ? > on the jet viewing angle.
Complement factor H and interleukin gene polymorphisms in patients with non-infectious intermediate and posterior uveitis

Objective To investigate the associations of complement factor H (CFH), KIAA1109, and interleukin-27 (IL-27) gene polymorphisms in patients with non-infectious intermediate and posterior uveitis. Methods The study cohort consisted of a total of 95 Chinese non-infectious uveitis patients, including 38 patients with intermediate uveitis (IU), 38 patients with Vogt–Koyanagi–Harada disease (VKH), and 19 patients with Behçet’s disease and 308 healthy controls. The genotypes of CFH-rs800292, KIAA1109-rs4505848, and IL27-rs4788084 were determined using TaqMan single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping assays. Results The frequency of carriers of G allele for CFH-rs800292 was significantly higher in patients with non-infectious intermediate and posterior uveitis than in controls (GG/AG versus AA; p=0.02). No significant association was found between uveitis and both KIAA1109-rs4505848 and IL27-rs4788084. In stratified analysis by gender, the frequency of carriers with G allele for KIAA1109-rs4505848 was significantly higher in male uveitis patients than in male controls (GG/AG versus AA; p=0.034). There was no significant difference in allelic and genotypic frequencies for CFH-rs800292 and IL27-rs4788084 in either male or female groups. In addition, higher frequency of KIAA1109-rs4505848 G allele was found in Behçet’s disease patients compared with controls and IU patients (p=0.01 and p=0.003, respectively). Conclusions Our results demonstrated that CFH-rs800292 and KIAA1109-rs4505848 are associated with non-infectious intermediate and posterior uveitis. Moreover, gender susceptibility for uveitis might be involved in the KIAA1109 gene and the KIAA1109-rs4505848 polymorphism might be associated with the development of Behçet’s disease.
A Predictive Control Approach for Fault Management of Computing Systems

In this paper, a model-based predictive control approach for fault management in computing systems is presented. The proposed approach can incorporate existing fault diagnosis methods and fault recovery actions to facilitate the recovery process. When a fault is identified, the proposed algorithm uses utility cost functions to compute the optimal recovery solution that minimizes fault impacts on the system's Quality of Service. The proposed approach has been demonstrated on a Web service testbed under various faults.
Defying Definition: Rethinking Education Aid Relationships in Solomon Islands

The discourse of aid — its language, structures and practice — powerfully ascribes roles and attributes to those involved in aid relationships such as developed/developing, partner, recipient/donor etcetera. This discourse is driven by a complex system of diverse and often competing ideas, values, actors and relationships, within which individuals must make sense of their role and agency at both professional and personal levels. While recent years has seen much focus on improving relationships by reordering some of these categories, little research has investigated how individuals themselves make sense of all this, and how it then influences their practice. The research presented in this article investigated the professional subjectivities of a small group of public servants working for the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development in Solomon Islands. The primary aim of the research was to explore the ways in which professional subjectivity is influenced by, and influences, aid relationships in Solomon Islands. The research findings demonstrate the complexity and multiplicity of professional subjectivities within the education sector in Solomon Islands and provide insight into how this impacts on aid relationships and aid effectiveness. The research findings highlight the need to move beyond reified binaries of ‘self’ and ‘other’ and resist the appeal of bounded categorisations of aid actors. Embracing the dissonance inherent in aid relationships and continually reflecting on the dynamic interaction between discourse, professional subjectivities and individual agency are offered as potential means for strengthening education aid relationships across Oceania and beyond.
Phonological development: toward a “radical” templatic phonology

Abstract “Radical” templatic phonology is a template-based approach to segmental phonological representation. The central hypothesis is that the segmental phonological structure of words is represented as language-specific phonotactic templates, in the sense used in the developmental literature. Template-based organization of the early lexicon has been identified in children acquiring several different languages. It is the result of a usage-based abstracting or “induction” process based on both babbling practice (phonetic production) and input experience with specific adult phonological patterns. The resulting templates thus constitute patterns that reconcile (or “adapt”) the model provided by target words with the child's own phonetic repertoire of syllables or word shapes — typically extending or building on the forms initially “selected” for first word production, in which adult and child forms show a close match. In adult phonology segment categories — natural classes, or features — are best defined in terms of their occurrence in positions in the templates in individual languages, not as independent universal categories. After reviewing the status of segment categories and their phonetic basis in contemporary phonological theory we present crosslinguistic evidence of pervasive variation in both phonetic realization and phonological distribution patterns, evidence that supports the template construct.
A Prototyping and Simulation Approach to Interactive Computer System Design

The design and development of user interfaces to interactive computer systems has suffered from the inability of designers to easily express their design concepts in concrete, comprehensive, and comprehensible working models. An effort is underway to improve the process of man-machine dialogue design and implementation by developing prototyping and simulation tools to be used as an integral part of the specification and design process. These include an interactive display building utility and a syntax-driven interactive dialogue controller.
Finite-time simultaneous parameter and state estimation using modulating functions

This paper discusses the use of techniques related to the modulating function method for performing joint parameter and state estimation. After a short review of other methods related to modulating functions, we look at observability issues and the so-called Least-Squares observers to extend currently existing results on joint parameter and state estimation using modulating functions. An example is given as illustration.
Detection of clonally related Escherichia coli isolates producing different CMY β-lactamases from a cystic fibrosis patient.

OBJECTIVES This study reports details on Escherichia coli isolates recovered from a cystic fibrosis (CF) patient in order to understand how this pathogen adapts to and resists broad-spectrum antipseudomonal therapy in this context. METHODS Five E. coli isolates were obtained from various clinical samples (airways, urine or dialysis catheter) over a 7 month period covering a double-lung transplantation. All isolates were analysed in terms of clonality [enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC)-PCR and multilocus sequence typing], virulence profiles (phylogroup and search for 15 virulence genes), growth patterns (morphotype, biofilm-forming ability and growth rate), hypermutability and antimicrobial susceptibility, with molecular characterization of β-lactamases and porins. RESULTS The five isolates shared similar ERIC-PCR profiles and sequence types (ST1193) and exhibited the same virulence profile. The respiratory isolates were strong mutators, exhibited mucoid or small-colony morphotypes, exhibited strong biofilm-forming ability and grew slowly compared with the others. All isolates were highly resistant to ceftazidime. The respiratory isolates showed reduced susceptibility to cefepime and high resistance to aztreonam. The patient had received a 31 day course of ceftazidime/aztreonam until transplantation. All isolates harboured the same wild-type chromosomal AmpC. A CMY-2 enzyme was detected in the non-respiratory isolates. The respiratory isolates harboured L293S and V211A/L293S new CMY-2 variants, which were designated CMY-94 and CMY-95, respectively. OmpF porin loss was observed in the non-respiratory isolates. CONCLUSIONS Our study shows that, similarly to Pseudomonas aeruginosa, E. coli can undergo phenotypic and genomic changes in the CF context. For the first time, we identified an in vivo expanded-spectrum evolution of the CMY-2 β-lactamase, during bacterial persistence in the CF lung.
Herbert Simon’s bounded rationality

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the historical advancements attained on the bounded rationality concept in management research, considering the key influencing discoveries in related fields. Understanding the cross-fertilization that has occurred is the first step to go beyond the current knowledge on bounded rationality and to face its challenges. Design/methodology/approach The adopted method is historical. This research approach helps to explain the evolution of a widespread concept in a scientific field and, particularly, to identify the parallel influencing advancements made in related domains. Findings Investigation of the irrational forces of human reasoning is at the centre of today’s research agenda on rationality in organizations, claiming to be an extension of the original bounded rationality concept. In this regard, scholars should commit themselves to build a more holistic approach to the investigation of human rationality, conjointly applying socio-biological and behavioural perspectives to explain the real behaviour of people in organizations and society. This reconnection will also help to overcome the inner limits of some “fashion of the month” streams that have yet to demonstrate their contribution. Originality/value This is the first study that offers an overall historical evolution of the bounded rationality concept which considers both management research and developments in related fields. The historically educed lessons learned are at the basis of the concluding recommendations for future research.
Windowed OFDM versus OFDM/OQAM: A transmission capacity comparison in the HomePlug AV context

With the HPAV specification, windowed OFDM is now the most commonly used modulation technique in PLC networks. However, another modulation, named OFDM/OQAM, could notably improve the capacity of these networks. Imposing an orthogonality condition only in the real field, this modulation offers a great flexibility in the design of the prototype filter that shapes its symbols. Nevertheless, to take advantage of this degree of freedom, a study needs to be conducted to decide which prototype filter is the most adapted for PLC networks. The prototype filter length, its time and frequency localization and its orthogonality or nearly-orthogonality properties, represent some parameters that will determine the performance of OFDM/OQAM in a particular context. So, this contribution shows the achieved throughputs by OFDM/OQAM in an in-home PLC context, using different prototype filters and following the HPAV specification mask. These throughputs are also compared to the ones provided by the windowed OFDM modulation.
Emergence of Serotype G12 Rotaviruses, Hungary

We describe the emergence of serotype G12 rotaviruses (67 [6.9%] of 971 specimens tested) among children hospitalized with rotavirus gastroenteritis in Hungary during 2005. These findings are consistent with recent reports of the possible global spread and increasing epidemiologic importance of these strains, which may have implications for current rotavirus vaccination strategies.
Testing the Advantages of Conscious vs. Unconscious Thought for Complex Decisions in a Distraction Free Paradigm

In this study we test predictions from Unconscious Thought Theory (UTT) that unconscious thought will lead to better decision making in complex decision tasks relative to conscious thought. Different from prior work testing this prediction, we use a method of manipulating conscious and unconscious thinking that is free from distraction. Specifically, we use a 3-week protocol to experimentally induce adverse sleep and circadian states, both of which should reduce deliberative, conscious thinking and therefore increase the relative importance of more automatic unconscious processes. Our findings fail to support UTT predictions and instead coalesce with other replication attempts that cast doubt on the superiority of unconscious processing in complex decision making.