Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Volume, conductivity, and scatter parameters as diagnostic aid to bacterial sepsis: A tertiary care experience.

UNLABELLED INTRODUCTION AND MATERIALS AND METHODS: Early diagnosis of sepsis is extremely important to reduce high mortality and morbidity. In this study, clinical usefulness of the volume, conductivity and scatter parameters (mean channels of cell volume, conductivity, and light scatter) in neutrophils was analyzed for predicting acute bacterial infection, which are obtained by the Coulter LH 750 Hematology Analyzer (Beckman Coulter, Fullerton, CA, USA) during automated differential counts. RESULTS Peripheral blood samples from 162 patients with positive blood cultures for bacteria and 40 healthy controls were studied. We observed a significant increase in the mean channel of neutrophil volume (MNV) from septic patients compared with control subjects (156 ± 13.5 vs. 143 ± 4.8; P < 001). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION An elevation of the MNV was associated with a higher white blood cell count and percentage of neutrophils and was present even in patients who did not have leukocytosis or neutrophilia. With a cut-off of 149 for the MNV, a specificity of 91.4% and sensitivity of 88.7% were achieved. As a quantitative, objective, and more sensitive parameter, we propose that the MNV has a potential to be an additional indicator for acute bacterial infection.
Alteration of telomeric sequences and senescence caused by mutations in RAD50 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Vegetatively dividing cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae carrying a mutation in RAD50 grow significantly more slowly in rich medium and are sensitive to DNA damage inflicted by X‐ray or chemical mutagens. RAD50 function is essential for the formation and repair of meiosis‐specific double‐strand breaks and chromosome stability.
CHEMICAL FEATURES OF CHIONOCHLOA SPECIES IN RELATION TO GRAZING BY RUMINANTS IN SOUTH ISLAND, NEW ZEALAND

Summary: Chionochloa species vary in the degree to which they are grazed by introduced ruminants. This is presumed to reflect the relative nutritive value and/or palatability of the forage provided by these indigenous grasses. Data are presented here on silicon content, in vitro organic matter digestibility (OMD), metabolisable energy (ME), crude protein and total nutrient mineral (TNM) contents of mature leaves of eleven Chionochloa species in southern New Zealand. Silification in all species is low, possibly as an evolutionary consequence of the absence of native mammalian herbivores in New Zealand. OMD determinations indicate a generally low nutritive value for these tussock grasses. Species characteristic of oligotrophic peats (c. acicularis and C. crassiuscula ssp. torta) produced very low values (20-25%) but others (C. pallens ssp. cadens, C. macra and C. ovata) approached OMD levels of medium quality pasture (50-60%). Crude protein values are also in the poor to moderate range (4.13% in C. acicularis to 8.34% in C. ovata). The values for total nutrient mineral content largely parallel those for protein. The results are discussed in relation to the apparent relative palatability of each species in the field, and the vulnerability to grazing of some species with restricted distributions.
Ieee Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence 1 Image Denoising Using the Higher Order Singular Value Decomposition

—In this paper, we propose a very simple and elegant, patch-based, machine learning technique for image denoising using the higher order singular value decomposition (HOSVD). The technique simply groups together similar patches from a noisy image (with similarity defined by a statistically motivated criterion) into a 3D stack, computes the HOSVD coefficients of this stack, manipulates these coefficients by hard thresholding, inverts the HOSVD transform and performs hypotheses averaging at each pixel to produce the final filtered image. Our technique chooses all required parameters in a principled way, relating them to the noise model. We also discuss our motivation for adopting the HOSVD as an appropriate transform for image denoising. We experimentally demonstrate the excellent performance of the technique on grayscale as well as color images with our method producing state of the art results on the latter, outperforming other color image denoising algorithms at moderately high noise levels. A criterion for optimal patch-size selection and noise variance estimation from the residual images (after denoising), is also presented.
Effect of Temperature, pH, and Initial Cell Number on luxCDABE and nah Gene Expression during Naphthalene and Salicylate Catabolism in the Bioreporter Organism Pseudomonas putida RB1353

ABSTRACT One limitation of employing lux bioreporters to monitor in situ microbial gene expression in dynamic, laboratory-scale systems is the confounding variability in the luminescent responses. For example, despite careful control of oxygen tension, growth stage, and cell number, luminescence from Pseudomonas putida RB1353, a naphthalene-degrading lux bioreporter, varied by more than sevenfold during saturated flow column experiments in our laboratory. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine what additional factors influence the luminescent response. Specifically, this study investigated the impact of temperature, pH, and initial cell number (variations within an order of magnitude) on the peak luminescence of P. putida RB1353 and the maximum degradation rate (Vmax) during salicylate and naphthalene catabolism. Statistical analyses based on general linear models indicated that under constant oxygen tension, temperature and pH accounted for 98.1% of the variability in luminescence during salicylate catabolism and 94.2 and 49.5% of the variability in Vmax during salicylate and naphthalene catabolism, respectively. Temperature, pH, and initial substrate concentration accounted for 99.9% of the variability in luminescence during naphthalene catabolism. Initial cell number, within an order of magnitude, did not have a significant influence on either peak luminescence or Vmax during salicylate and naphthalene catabolism. Over the ranges of temperature and pH evaluated, peak luminescence varied by more than 4 orders of magnitude. The minimum parameter deviation required to alter lux gene expression during salicylate and naphthalene catabolism was a change in temperature of 1°C, a change in pH of 0.2, or a change in initial cell number of 1 order of magnitude. Results from this study indicate that there is a need for careful characterization of the impact of environmental conditions on both the expression of the reporter and catabolic genes and the activities of the gene products. For example, even though lux gene expression was occurring at ∼35°C, the luciferase enzyme was inactive. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that with careful characterization and standardization of measurement conditions, the attainment of a reproducible luminescent response and an understanding of the response are feasible.
Juvenile diabetes mellitus Possibility of prevention

Knowledge of insulin-dependent juvenile-onset diabetes (JOD) has grown quickly during the last 5 years, particularly in three areas. (1) A small number of viruses may be associated with the development of JOD. (2) Certain genetic markers (HLA types) provide a means of identifying who is vulnerable. (3) Autoimmunity may cause more or less rapid pancreatic islet cell destruction and may be initiated in those who are vulnerable by specific virus action. The gene responsible for diabetic vulnerability may be identified in the next decade. It may then be possible to prevent JOD. Such research could be as profitable as the development of new treatment techniques.
Spatio-Temporal Distribution of Ceratothripoides claratris (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) on Tomatoes in Thailand

Abstract Ceratothripoides claratris Shumsher is one of the most important thrips pest of tomatoes in central Thailand. Hence we conducted studies to determine the intra- and inter-plant distribution of C. claratris on tomatoes in two types of greenhouses, i.e., open-plastic and closed net house. The experiments were conducted on the campus of the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok, Thailand. Both adults and larvae of C. claratris showed foliage-biased distribution. Sex ratios of adult C. claratris did not significantly differ on flowers and leaves, whereas on fruits males significantly outnumbered females. On flowers, no diurnal periodicity of occurrence of C. claratris was detected. Generally, thrips infestation commenced in the lower parts of the tomato plants and gradually spread to the higher strata of the plants. Depending on the greenhouse type and the stem system thrips infestation differed significantly over time in the lower but not in the uppermost strata of the plants. In the net house, infestations of C. claratris commenced one week after planting of the tomato seedlings. Soon after the peak in infestations, thrips numbers dramatically decreased. Estimates of Taylor’s power showed that C. claratris had an aggregated distribution pattern on the foliage of tomato plants. The importance of these findings for future monitoring programs of C. claratris infestations on tomatoes is discussed.
The Prominence of Tense, Aspect and Mood

The book puts forth an exciting hypothesis for the typologist. Its major claim is that languages can generally be regarded as belonging to a tense-prominent, aspect-prominent or mood-prominent language type. This grouping can be based upon the relative prominence that languages attach to one or the other of the three verbal categories, namely tense, aspect and mood, by grammaticalizing the chosen category to a greater degree than others, and by making it more obligatory, more systematic and more pervasive than others. The grouping, however, involves a gradation, as is indeed the case with other typological groupings, with some languages manifesting the relevant characteristic more strikingly than others. There are several characteristics that can be correlated with the relative prominence that languages attach to verbal categories. For example, tense-prominent languages tend to have mostly active but not stative verbs. They also tend to keep adjectives as a distinct category, or group them with nouns but not with verbs. Verbal forms used for foregrounding generally belong to the most prominent verbal category. These and other similar correlations make this typological classification worth pursuing. The book also contains a descriptive study of the three verbal categories.
Renal Effects of Adenosine A1-Receptor Blockade with 8-Cyclopentyl-1,3-Dipropylxanthine in Hypoxemic Newborn Rabbits

The key role of intrarenal adenosine in mediating the hypoxemic acute renal insufficiency in newborn rabbits has been well demonstrated using the nonspecific adenosine antagonist theophylline. The present study was designed to define the role of adenosine A1 receptors during systemic hypoxemia by using the specific A1-receptor antagonist 8-cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropylxanthine (DPCPX). Renal function parameters were assessed in 31 anesthetized and mechanically ventilated newborn rabbits. In normoxia, DPCPX infusion induced a significant increase in diuresis (+44%) and GFR (+19%), despite a significant decrease in renal blood flow (RBF) (−22%) and an increase in renal vascular resistance (RVR) (+37%). In hypoxemic conditions, diuresis (−19%), GFR (−26%), and RBF (−35%) were decreased, whereas RVR increased (+33%). DPCPX administration hindered the hypoxemia-induced decrease in GFR and diuresis. However, RBF was still significantly decreased (−27%), whereas RVR increased (+22%). In all groups, the filtration fraction increased significantly. The overall results support the hypothesis that, in physiologic conditions, intrarenal adenosine plays a key role in regulating glomerular filtration in the neonatal period through preferential A1-mediated afferent vasoconstriction. During a hypoxemic stress, the A1-specific antagonist DPCPX only partially prevented the hypoxemia-induced changes, as illustrated by the elevated RVR and drop in RBF. These findings imply that the contribution of intrarenal adenosine to the acute adverse effects of hypoxemia might not be solely mediated via the A1 receptor.
Democratic leadership theory in late modernity: an oxymoron or ironic possibility?

This article is intended to enrich and expand scholarly reflection on democratic leadership theory. Leithwood and Duke (1999), make the claim in their review of the literature on school leadership, that contemporary philosophy of educational administration has made no significant contribution to leadership theory. However, one can argue that contemporary philosophy has indeed implicated educational administration and the assumptions of enlightenment/modern philosophy that support its practice. The article begins with the question of the possibility of democratic leadership theory after the postmortem critique of democracy, epistemology and all meta-narratives (Maxcy 1991; Taylor 1992: Starratt 1996). The question is posed whether democratic leadership theory is thereby defeated, or significantly chastened. It goes on to ask whether democratic theory may overcome its own contradictions through a self-consciously ironic pragmatism. The next section of the article explores the limits and constraints on leadership theory after Postmodernism. Leadership theory and its proponents have to agree to a continuous evaluation by a hermeneutic of suspicion, a continuous deconstruction of its treatment of power and authority. It has to respond to the unavoidable issues of racism, sexism, classism, and other oppressing ideologies.
THE INFLUENCE OF CONTEXT POSITION AND SCORING METHOD ON ESSAY SCORING

In a study of the context problem in essay scoring, Hales and Tokar (1975) found that essays of average quality were rated significantly higher when preceded by a block of five poor quality essays then when preceded by a block of five good quality essays. This effect persisted over two consecutively placed average-quality essays though it was noted' that the magnitude of the context effect was less for the second criterion essay than for the first (with a corresponding lower significance value, p < .05 compared to p < .001). This observation gave rise to the main hypothesis guiding the present study. It was hypothesized that context effects would depend on the positioning of the context block within the series of essays to be scored. The context effect would be strong if the block of context essays was encountered at the very beginning of the essay series as in the Hales and Tokar study. If, however, the block of context essays came relatively late in the essay series, at a point where markers had already scored a number of essays of varied quality, then the context effect would be greatly reduced if not eliminated completely. In consequence, there should be an interaction between context position and context quality. The design of this study also made possible examination of the subsidiary hypothesis that holistic scoring procedures would be more vulnerable to context effects than analytic scoring procedures. In the analytic method, markers are provided with guidelines regarding weights to be awarded for particular essay features, for example, writing style, originality of ideas, grammar, mechanics of written expression, etc. They are required to make independent judgments of these aspects, and it might be expected that the concentrated effort needed to make these judgments on each essay would serve to attenuate effects from extraneous sources. The situation appears to be quite different in holistic scoring methods where a single global judgment is made. Here there may be less of the directed effort demanded by analytic procedures and this could allow the context essays read earlier to have more influence. In consequence, there should be an interaction between context quality and scoring method.
Attachment Styles, Gender and Parental Problem Drinking

Bartholomew's (1990) four-category typology of adult attachment styles was compared with Hazan & Shaver's (1987) three-category typology in terms of three substantive issues. First, the same two dimensions were found to underlie both typologies, and the Bartholomew and Hazan & Shaver measures corresponded as predicted. Second, there were no gender differences on Hazan & Shaver's measure, in line with previous studies, but there were gender differences on Bartholomew's measure, especially in her two avoidant categories. More males than females were dismissing avoidants; more females than males were fearful avoidants. Third, a hypothesis advanced by Latty-Mann & Davis (1988) was confirmed. Adult children of alcoholics scored high on both avoidant and anxious-ambivalent scales of Hazan & Shaver's measure, and fell predominantly into Bartholomew's fearful-avoidant category, suggesting that at least some fearful adults are grown-up versions of the `disorganized, disoriented' children identified by Crittenden (1988) and by Main & Solomon (1990). These children are more common in families troubled by parental alcoholism, depression or abuse.
Psychosocial risk factors for adolescent smoking: A school-based study

Smoking among adolescents is one of the main concerns for the public health systems in most developed countries. The knowledge of which individual and social risk factors are the most influential for the development of nicotine addiction would help to improve procedures aimed at reducing tobacco use and to develop not only efficacious but efficient prevention programs. The main purpose of this ex post facto study was to detect psychosocial variables related to adolescent smoking. Study participants were 2,840 adolescents aged 12 to 16. Age, gender, perceived availability, weekly income, perceived risk of harm, family- and peer-use, drive for thinness, and self-esteem were selected as predictive variables. The logistic model estimated revealed that smoking in the adolescent's social context (friends and/or partners who are smokers) was the most determinant variable for tobacco use. Future research directions and proposals are discussed in relation to the implications of these findings for adolescent smoking prevention programs.
A GRB Follow-up System at the Xinglong Observatory and Detection of the High-Redshift GRB 060927 ⋆

A gamma-ray burst (GRB) optical photometric follow-up system at the Xinglong Observatory of National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC) has been constructed. It uses the 0.8-m Tsinghua-NAOC Telescope (TNT) and the 1-m EST telescope, and can automatically respond to GRB Coordinates Network (GCN) alerts. Both telescopes slew relatively fast, being able to point to a new target field within ~1 min upon a request. Whenever available, the 2.16-m NAOC telescope is also used. In 2006 the system responded to 15 GRBs and detected seven early afterglows. In 2007 six GRBs have been detected among 18 follow-up observations. TNT observations of the second most distant GRB 060927 (z = 5.5) are shown, which started as early as 91 s after the GRB trigger. The afterglow was detected in the combined image of the first 19×20 s unfiltered exposures. This GRB follow-up system has joined the East-Asia GRB Follow-up Observation Network (EAFON).
Probabilistic threshold k nearest neighbor queries over moving objects in symbolic indoor space

The availability of indoor positioning renders it possible to deploy location-based services in indoor spaces. Many such services will benefit from the efficient support for k nearest neighbor (kNN) queries over large populations of indoor moving objects. However, existing kNN techniques fall short in indoor spaces because these differ from Euclidean and spatial network spaces and because of the limited capabilities of indoor positioning technologies. To contend with indoor settings, we propose the new concept of minimal indoor walking distance (MIWD) along with algorithms and data structures for distance computing and storage; and we differentiate the states of indoor moving objects based on a positioning device deployment graph, utilize these states in effective object indexing structures, and capture the uncertainty of object locations. On these foundations, we study the probabilistic threshold kNN (PTkNN) query. Given a query location q and a probability threshold T, this query returns all subsets of k objects that have probability larger than T of containing the kNN query result of q. We propose a combination of three techniques for processing this query. The first uses the MIWD metric to prune objects that are too far away. The second uses fast probability estimates to prune unqualified objects and candidate result subsets. The third uses efficient probability evaluation for computing the final result on the remaining candidate subsets. An empirical study using both synthetic and real data shows that the techniques are efficient.
Simulating galaxy clusters¿ III. Properties of the intracluster stars

Cosmological (� -cold dark matter) TREESPH simulations of the formation and evolution of galaxy groups and clusters have been performed. The simulations invoke star formation, chemical evolution with non-instantaneous recycling, metallicity-dependent radiative cooling, strong starburst, and (optionally) active galactic nuclei, driven galactic superwinds, effects of a metagalactic ultraviolet field and thermal conduction. Results for two clusters, one Virgo-like (T � 3k eV) and one (sub-) Coma-like (T � 6k eV), are presented. At z = 0 the stellar con- tents of both clusters consist of a central dominant (cD) galaxy surrounded by cluster galaxies and intracluster (IC) stars. The IC stars are found to contribute 20-40 per cent of the total cluster B-band luminosity at z = 0 and to form at a mean redshiftf ∼ 3, which is on average approximately 0.5 Gyr older than the stars in cluster galaxies. UBVRIJHK surface brightness profiles of the IC star populations are presented; the profile of the larger cluster matches the observed V-band profile of the cD in Abell 1413 (T � 8k eV) quite well. The typical colour of the IC stellar population is B − R = 1.4-1.5, comparable to the colour of sub-L ∗ E and S0 galaxies. The mean iron abundance of the IC stars is approximately solar in the central part of the cluster (r ∼ 100 kpc) decreasing to approximately half solar at the virial radius. The IC stars are α-element enhanced with a weak trend of (O/Fe) increasing with r and an overall (O/Fe) ∼ 0.4 dex, indicative of dominant enrichment from Type II supernovae. The IC stars are kinematically significantly colder than the cluster galaxies: the velocity dispersions of the IC stars are in the inner parts of the clusters (r ∼ 100-500 kpc) only approximately half of those of the cluster galaxies, increasing slightly outward to approximately 70 per cent at r = 1-2 Mpc. The typical projected velocity dispersion in the Virgo-like cluster at R 50 kpc is 300-600 km s −1 , depending on orientation and projected distance from the cluster centre. Rotation is found to be dynamically insignificant for the IC stars. The velocity distributions of IC stars and clusters galaxies are highly radially anisotropic in one cluster and in the other close to being isotropic. Ke yw ords: galaxies: clusters: general - galaxies: evolution - galaxies: formation - cosmology: theory.
Learning the Trade: A Culture of Safety in Practice

This paper presents an ethnographic study of how safety is mastered by novices on a building site, in order to highlight the social and cultural character of learning. Adopting a situational focus, the paper explores how knowledge is acquired and transmitted, and how a culture of practice sediments and is perpetuated in the process. The paper takes the community of practices as the privileged locus of learning and transmitting practical knowledge. This study is therefore an attempt to understand in what forms and by means of what mechanisms building-site novices are socialized in the community of practices and how, within this process, the competence relative to safety and danger is learned.