Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exclusive Staphylococcus aureus throat carriage: at-risk populations.

BACKGROUND Approximately 25% of Staphylococcus aureus carriers have exclusive throat carriage. We aimed to identify the populations at risk for exclusive throat carriage to improve sensitivity to detect carriers. METHODS Four groups underwent nasal and throat screening for S. aureus. Three groups of individuals in the community (n = 2632) with different estimated levels of exposure to the health care system (HCS) were screened, including 1500 healthy blood donors, 498 patients from a school of dental medicine, and 634 health care workers (HCWs) at a trade fair. The fourth group comprised in-hospital patients and HCWs (n = 832) and was considered the group with the highest estimated exposure to the HCS. As a primary outcome, we analyzed risk factors for exclusive throat carriage in exclusive throat carriers vs all nasal carriers. RESULTS Of 3464 individuals screened, 428 (12.4%) had exclusive throat carriage, and 1260 (36.4%) had carriage in the nares only or in the nares and the throat. The most important independent risk factor for exclusive throat carriage was age 30 years or younger (odds ratio, 1.66; P < .001). Exposure to the HCS was a significant protective factor for exclusive throat carriage (odds ratio, 0.67; P = .001). Healthy blood donors were almost twice as likely to have exclusive throat carriage than in-hospital patients and HCWs (30.2% vs 18.4% of all carriers, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS Absence of exposure to the HCS and younger age predicted exclusive throat carriers, a population at high risk for community-onset methicillin-resistant S. aureus. Screening for S. aureus should include swabs from the anterior nares and from the throat to improve the likelihood of detecting carriers.
An introduction to wavelet analysis with applications to vegetation time series

Wavelets are relatively new mathematical tools that have proven to be quite useful for analyzing time series and spatial data. We provide a basic introduction to wavelet analysis which concentrates on their interpretation in the context of analyzing time series. We illustrate the use of wavelet analysis on time series related to vegetation coverage in the Arctic region.
Dust biasing of damped Lyman alpha systems: a Bayesian analysis

If damped Lyman alpha systems (DLAs) contain even modest amounts of dust, the ultraviolet luminosity of the background quasar can be severely diminished. When the spectrum is redshifted, this leads to a bias in optical surveys for DLAs. Previous estimates of the magnitude of this effect are in some tension; in particular, the distribution of DLAs in the (NH i, Z) (i.e. column density–metallicity) plane has led to claims that we may be missing a considerable fraction of metal-rich, high column density DLAs, whereas radio surveys do not unveil a substantial population of otherwise hidden systems. Motivated by this tension, we perform a Bayesian parameter estimation analysis of a simple dust obscuration model. We include radio and optical observations of DLAs in our overall likelihood analysis and show that these do not, in fact, constitute conflicting constraints. Our model gives statistical limits on the biasing effects of dust, predicting that only 7 per cent of DLAs are missing from optical samples due to dust obscuration; at 2σ confidence, this figure takes a maximum value of 17 per cent. This contrasts with recent claims that DLA incidence rates are underestimated by 30–50 per cent. Optical measures of the mean metallicities of DLAs are found to underestimate the true value by just 0.1 dex (or at most 0.4 dex, 2σ confidence limit), in agreement with the radio survey results of Akerman et al. As an independent test, we use our model to make a rough prediction for dust reddening of the background quasar. We find a mean reddening in the DLA rest frame of log10〈E(B−V)〉≃−2.4 ± 0.6, consistent with direct analysis of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) quasar population by Vladilo et al., log10〈E(B−V)〉=−2.2 ± 0.1. The quantity most affected by dust biasing is the total cosmic density of metals in DLAs, ΩZ,DLA, which is underestimated in optical surveys by a factor of approximately 2.
Bias Plus Variance Decomposition for Zero-One Loss Functions

We present a bias variance decomposition of expected misclassi cation rate the most commonly used loss function in supervised classi cation learning The bias variance decomposition for quadratic loss functions is well known and serves as an important tool for analyzing learning algorithms yet no decomposition was o ered for the more commonly used zero one misclassi cation loss functions until the recent work of Kong Dietterich and Breiman Their decomposition su ers from some ma jor shortcomings though e g potentially negative variance which our decomposition avoids We show that in practice the naive frequency based estimation of the decompo sition terms is by itself biased and show how to correct for this bias We illustrate the decomposition on various algorithms and datasets from the UCI repository
Gas flow models in the Milky Way embedded bars

Context. The gas distribution and dynamics in the inner Galaxy present many unknowns, such as the origin of the asymmetry of the lu-diagram of the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ). On the other hand, there is recent evidence in the stellar component of the presence of a nuclear bar that may be slightly lopsided. Aims. Our goal is to characterize the nuclear bar observed in 2MASS maps and to study the gas dynamics in the inner Milky Way taking into account this secondary bar. Methods. We have derived a realistic mass distribution by fitting the 2MASS star count map with a model including three components (disk, bulge and nuclear bar) and we have simulated the gas dynamics in the deduced gravitational potential using a sticky-particles code. Results. Our simulations of the gas dynamics successfully reproduce the main characteristics of the Milky Way for a bulge orientation of 20°-35° with respect to the Sun-Galactic Center (GC) line and a pattern speed of 30-40 km s -1 kpc -1 . In our models the Galactic Molecular Ring (GMR) is not an actual ring but the inner parts of the spiral arms, while the 3-kpc arm and its far side counterpart are lateral arms that extend around the bar. Our simulations reproduce, for the first time, the parallelogram shape of the lu-diagram of the CMZ as the gas response to the nuclear bar. This bar should be oriented by an angle of ∼60°-75° with respect to the Sun-GC line and its mass amounts to (2-5.5) 10 9 M ⊙ . We show that the observed asymmetry of the CMZ cannot be due to lopsidedness of the nuclear bar as suggested by the 2MASS maps. Conclusions. We do not find clear evidence of lopsidedness in the stellar potential. We propose that the observed asymmetry of the central gas layer can be due to the infalling of gas into the CMZ in the I = 1.3°-complex.
Improving speaker recognition performance in the domain adaptation challenge using deep neural networks

Traditional i-vector speaker recognition systems use a Gaussian mixture model (GMM) to collect sufficient statistics (SS). Recently, replacing this GMM with a deep neural network (DNN) has shown promising results. In this paper, we explore the use of DNNs to collect SS for the unsupervised domain adaptation task of the Domain Adaptation Challenge (DAC). We show that collecting SS with a DNN trained on out-of-domain data boosts the speaker recognition performance of an out-of-domain system by more than 25%. Moreover, we integrate the DNN in an unsupervised adaptation framework, that uses agglomerative hierarchical clustering with a stopping criterion based on unsupervised calibration, and show that the initial gains of the out-of-domain system carry over to the final adapted system. Despite the fact that the DNN is trained on the out-of-domain data, the final adapted system produces a relative improvement of more than 30% with respect to the best published results on this task.
Natural and urban soundscapes : The need for a multi-disciplinary approach

Characterizing soundscapes requires a broad variety of approaches (ecological, sociological, phenomenological) in a soundscape continuum from completely natural to highly urban environments. There is an urgent need for the use of innovative designs which integrate the different levels of current analyses (qualitative and quantitative; individual and aggregate levels). The criteria (beyond sound level) of a "good" soundscape addresses the questions: What is a "sensitive" soundscape? What are soundscape requirements for a "resort area? " or "natural quiet? " that should be protected. Answers to these questions are central to the origin of the soundscape idea. Presented here is a simple soundscape model of the interactions between natural and man-made elements of soundscapes. Soundscape elements are characterized. Lists are presented of the disciplines involved in understand soundscapes and the main'quantitative metrics that can be measured.
Statistical mechanics of gravitating systems: An Overview

I review several issues related to statistical description of gravitating systems in both static and expanding backgrounds. After briefly reviewing the results for the static background, I concentrate on gravitational clustering of collisionless particles in an expanding universe. In particular, I describe (a) how the non linear mode-mode coupling transfers power from one scale to another in the Fourier space if the initial power spectrum is sharply peaked at a given scale and (b) the asymptotic characteristics of gravitational clustering which are independent of the initial conditions. Numerical simulations as well as analytic work shows that power transfer leads to a universal power spectrum at late times, somewhat reminiscent of the existence of Kolmogorov spectrum in fluid turbulence.
Seroprevalence of Helicobacter pylori Infection in Korean Health Personnel

Background/Aims The aims of this study were to evaluate whether doctors and nurses in a single hospital were at an increased risk of acquiring Helicobacter pylori infection in 2011 and to identify risk factors for H. pylori seroprevalence. Methods Nurses (n=362), doctors (n=110), health personnel without patient contact (medical control, n=179), and nonhospital controls (n=359) responded to a questionnaire during a health check-up, which included questions on socioeconomic status, education level, working years, and occupation in 2011. The prevalence of H. pylori was measured by serology. Results The seroprevalence rate was 29.8% (nurses), 34.5% (doctors), 30.7% (medical control), and 52.9% (nonhospital control). Among younger subjects (<40 years of age), the nonhospital control had a higher seropositivity rate (48.1%) than nurses (29.2%), doctors (29.8%), and the medical control (24.8%), which was not observable in subjects ≥40 years of age. The risk factors for H. pylori seroprevalence were not different for health and nonhealth personnel. A multivariate analysis indicated that seropositivity significantly increased with age, the province of residence, and a gastroscopic finding of a peptic ulcer. Conclusions The medical occupation was not associated with H. pylori infection. The seroprevalence of H. pylori in one hospital in 2011 was found to be 38.7%, most likely due to the improvement in socioeconomic status and hospital hygiene policy in Korea.
Isolation and Identification of Quercetin Degrading Bacteria from Human Fecal Microbes

Quercetin has a wide range of biological properties. The gut microflora can often modulate its biological activity and their potential health effects. There still is a lack of information about gut bacteria involving in this process. The strains of gut microbes from human feces that can transform quercetin were isolated and identified by in vitro fermentation. The results showed that Escherichia coli, Stretococcus lutetiensis, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Weissella confusa, Enterococcus gilvus, Clostridium perfringens and Bacteroides fragilis have the various ability of degrading quercetin. Among them, C. perfringens and B. fragilis were discovered to have the strongest ability of degrading quercetin. Additionally, quercetin can't inhibit the growth of C. perfringens. In conclusion, many species of gut microbiota can degrade quercetin, but their ability are different.
Cytogenetic determinants of male fertility

BACKGROUND Cytogenetic abnormalities have been known to be important causes of male infertility for decades. METHODS Research publications from 1978 to 2008, from PubMed, have been reviewed. RESULTS These studies have greatly improved our information on somatic chromosomal abnormalities such as translocations, inversions and sex chromosomal anomalies, and their consequences to the cytogenetic make-up of human sperm. Also, we have learned that infertile men with a normal somatic karyotype have an increased risk of chromosomally abnormal sperm and children. New techniques such as single sperm typing and synaptonemal complex analysis have provided valuable insight into the association between meiotic recombination and the production of aneuploid sperm. These meiotic studies have also unveiled errors of chromosome pairing and synapsis, which are more common in infertile men. CONCLUSIONS These studies allow us to provide more precise information to infertile patients, and further our basic knowledge in the causes of male infertility.
Histamine‐Induced Rhythmic Contraction of Hog Carotid Artery Smooth Muscle

Smooth muscle strips isolated from the hog common carotid artery can contract rhythmically, exhibiting low frequency, large amplitude oscillations in tension when stimulated with 10 μM histamine. Strips required at least 1.45 ITIM calcium and 2.5 mM potassium to exhibit this rhythmic activity. Rhythmic contractions could be converted to tonic contractions by removal of potassium or ouabain treatment. Relaxation by 2 mM lanthanum, 1 mM manganese, or 1 μIM verapamil implies that the external medium is the source of calcium mediating the contractions. The involvement of adrenergic nerve terminals in this response was ruled out, since propranolol, phentolamine, tetrodotoxin, bretylium, or 6-hydroxydopamine treatment did not alter the oscillations. Blockade of H! receptors with 0.1 μM diphenhydramine relaxed the muscle strips. The H2 receptor antagonist cimetidine (5 μM) had no effects. Attempts to obtain rhythmic contractions by stimulating with other vasoactive agents (norepinephrine, acetylcholine, 5-hydroxytryptamine, angiotensin II, and elevated potassium concentrations) were unsuccessful, suggesting that this is a specific histamine response mediated solely by Hi receptors. These results show that this large artery, commonly considered a multi-unit smooth muscle, can sometimes exhibit single-unit behavior.
Demographic Change and Economic Growth in Asia

The objectives of the Consulting Assistance on Economic Reform (CAER II) project are to contribute to broad-based and sustainable economic growth and to improve the policy reform content of USAID assistance activities that aim to strengthen markets in recipient countries. Services are provided by the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) and its subcontractors. It is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, Bureau for Global Programs, Field Support and Research, Center for Economic Growth and Agricultural Development, Office of Emerging Markets through Contracts PCE-C-00-95-00015-00 and PCE-Q-00-95-00016-00. This paper is funded by Contract PCE-Q-00-95-00016-00, Delivery Order 15. Copyright 1999 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College.
Flowcharts versus program design languages: an experimental comparison

An experiment was performed to assess the relative merits of program design languages (PDLs) and flowcharts as techniques for the development and documentation of detailed designs for computer programs. The use of a PDL by a software designer, for the development and description of a detailed program design, produced better results than did the use of flowcharts. Specifically, the designs appeared to be of significantly better quality, involving more algorithmic or procedural detail, than those produced using flowcharts. In addition, flowchart designs exhibited considerably more abbreviation and other space-saving practices than did PDL designs, with a possible adverse effect on their readability. When equivalent, highly readable designs were presented to subjects in both PDL and flowchart form, no pattern of short-term or long-term differences in comprehension of the design was observed. No significant differences were detected in the quality or other properties of programs written as implementations of the designs. Subjective ratings indicated a mild preference for PDLs. Overall, the results suggest that software design performance and designer-programmer communication might be significantly improved by the adoption of informal PDLs rather than flowcharts as a standard documentation method for detailed computer program designs.
Comparison of Niblack inspired binarization methods for ancient documents

In this paper, we present a new sliding window based local thresholding technique 'NICK' and give a detailed comparison of some existing sliding-window based thresholding algorithms with our method. The proposed method aims at achieving better binarization results, specifically, for ancient document images. NICK has been inspired from the Niblack's binarization method and exhibits its robustness and effectiveness when evaluated on low quality ancient document images.
A new single stage power factor corrected three level resonant AC/DC converter with and without active current control

A new single-stage power factor correction converter based on a three-level LCC resonant topology that is suitable for high power applications and universal input voltage (90-265 Vrms) is proposed. It integrates the pulse width modulated (PWM) boost pre-regulators and variable frequency resonant circuits giving a variable frequency asymmetrical PWM (VFAPWM) resonant circuit operation. This regulates the output voltage, obtains a sinusoidal input current at near unity power factor and regulates the DC bus voltage to a controlled level leading to reduced switch ratings, therefore, improving the efficiency. Zero-voltage-switching is achieved for wide ranges of input voltage and loading. The circuit is studied in both continuous and discontinuous conduction modes. Simulation results for a 48 V, 2.3 kW, three-level half -bridge resonant converter operating at an input voltage of 90-265 Vrms and overall resonant frequency of 770 kHz, verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Using iPS Cells toward the Understanding of Parkinson’s Disease

Cellular reprogramming of somatic cells to human pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) represents an efficient tool for in vitro modeling of human brain diseases and provides an innovative opportunity in the identification of new therapeutic drugs. Patient-specific iPSC can be differentiated into disease-relevant cell types, including neurons, carrying the genetic background of the donor and enabling de novo generation of human models of genetically complex disorders. Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common age-related progressive neurodegenerative disease, which is mainly characterized by nigrostriatal dopaminergic (DA) neuron degeneration and synaptic dysfunction. Recently, the generation of disease-specific iPSC from patients suffering from PD has unveiled a recapitulation of disease-related cell phenotypes, such as abnormal α-synuclein accumulation and alterations in autophagy machinery. The use of patient-specific iPSC has a remarkable potential to uncover novel insights of the disease pathogenesis, which in turn will open new avenues for clinical intervention. This review explores the current Parkinson’s disease iPSC-based models highlighting their role in the discovery of new drugs, as well as discussing the most challenging limitations iPSC-models face today.
Perceived naturalness of Synthetic Speech : The influenece of Speech Rate , Global Word Frequency and Phonological Reduction

A rule system for phonological reduction Jande (2003b) is under development at the Center for Speech Technology (CTT) at KTH. The project started in 2002. The rule system is meant to make synthetic speech sound more natural. A step toward natural sounding synthetic speech is to add different conditions for reductions to the rule system. In order to evaluate the approach a perceptual experiment was conducted. Results from (Jande, 2003a,b) indicated that word predictability is an important variable in establishing the realization of a word in context. In the perceptual test speech rate and the interaction between different variables were evaluated. Reduced and canonical variants of target words with varying global frequencies were synthesized at three different speech rates. The data collected from the perceptual experiment was analyzed by testing two different aspects: • The reduced forms that was judged as more natural than the canonical forms, were tested against the canonical forms that was judged as more natural than the reduced forms. This was done for each frequency group/speech rate separately. • The reduced forms that was judged as more natural than the canonical forms, were tested against the other reduced forms between the frequency groups/speech rates. The results show that there are generally no large differences between the different forms. The subjects can be divided into two groups and there are clear differences between these groups. The experiment was constructed in three different versions to avoid influence by specific target words. The results differ between the three versions. This master thesis also includes a large scale evaluation of the existing rules in the rule system for phonological reduction (Jande, 2003b).
Manganese superoxide dismutase as a diagnostic marker for malignant pleural mesothelioma

Although several immunohistochemical markers are available, differential diagnosis between mesothelioma and metastatic adenocarcinoma of the pleura is difficult. We have found that the immunoreactivity of manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), an important antioxidant enzyme, is high in mesothelioma compared to healthy pleural mesothelium. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether MnSOD can be used in the differential diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma and metastatic adenocarcinoma of the pleura. MnSOD expression was assessed by using immunohistochemistry in biopsies of malignant mesothelioma (n = 35) and metastatic adenocarcinoma of the pleura (n = 21). MnSOD immunoreactivity was assessed semiquantitatively with and without microwave pretreatment. Fifteen of the 35 malignant mesotheliomas showed moderate or strong MnSOD expression without and 23 with microwave pretreatment, the corresponding figures for metastatic adenocarcinoma of the pleura being 1 and 2 out of 21 (P = 0.002 and P< 0.001, respectively by Fisher’s exact test). Only mesothelioma biopsies showed strong MnSOD reactivity, and it was never negative in mesothelioma, whereas one-third of the adenocarcinomas showed no MnSOD reactivity. In conclusion, MnSOD immunoreactivity can, combined with other markers, aid the differential diagnosis between malignant mesothelioma and metastatic adenocarcinoma of the pleura. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaign
Business Strategies for Transitions Towards Sustainable Systems

This paper develops a strategic perspective for business to address persistent sustainability issues by contributing to the innovation of societal systems. Sustainability issues at the level of societal sectors or domains cannot be addressed by single organizations but require co-evolutionary changes in technology, economy, culture and organizational forms. We present the case of transition management in the Netherlands – an approach combining systems analysis with new modes of governance to influence the direction and speed of structural changes towards sustainability – and the activities of two firms working in this new context. From the two specific cases we conceptualize business strategies at different levels to advance sustainable development.