Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessed Levels of Second Language Speaking Proficiency: How Distinct?

The study reported in this paper is an investigation of the nature of speaking proficiency in English as a second language in the context of a larger project to develop a rating scale for a new international test of English for Academic Purposes, TOEFL iBT (Brown et al. 2005). We report on a large-scale study of the relationship between detailed features of the spoken language produced by test-takers and holistic scores awarded by raters to these performances. Spoken test performances representing five different tasks and five different proficiency levels (200 performances in all) were analyzed using a range of measures of grammatical accuracy and complexity, vocabulary, pronunciation, and fluency. The results showed that features from each category helped distinguish overall levels of performance, with particular features of vocabulary and fluency having the strongest impact. Overall, the study contributes important insights into the nature of spoken proficiency as it develops and can be measured in rating scales for speaking, and has implications for methodological issues of the appropriateness of the use in language testing research contexts of measures developed in research on second language acquisition.
Antitumor CTL are generated by immunization of H-2 b mice with Friend erythroleukemia virus complex (FV) ~ or with syngeneic FV-induced tumor cells

Antitumor CTL are generated by immunization of H-2 b mice with Friend erythroleukemia virus complex (FV) ~ or with syngeneic FV-induced tumor cells (1-3). These effector cells can recognize and lyse only those cells expressing cellsurface antigens of both FV and a class I MHC molecule of the H-2 b baplotype. Previous studies (2) indicated that only the H-2D b and not the H-2K b molecule can participate in the formation of the target structure(s) recognized by these CTL, but the viral molecule(s) remain to be identified. Viral proteins that appear on the surface of infected cells are encoded by the env and gag genes of each of the two component viruses of FV, helper Friend murine leukemia virus (FMuLV) and replication-defective spleen focus-forming virus (SFFV) (4, 5). These molecules are the FMuLV env-gene encoded glycoproteins gp70 and pl 5(E), and the glycosylated gag membrane proteins gP85 and its precursor gP95 (6); present in lesser amounts on the cell surface are the SFFV env product gp52 and gagencoded protein p45 (7). Several investigators have used a variety of indirect approaches to identify the MuLV-encoded molecule(s) recognized by CTL. Studies using purified gp70 e"v or anti-gp70 antibodies to block CTL recognition of virus-infected target cells have yielded contradictory results (8-10). Experiments with mutant cell lines lacking detectable expression of either gpT0 ~v or gP85g"gbave implicated these molecules as targets for CTL recognition (11, 12). A more direct approach using a recombinant DNA clone that expressed gp70 e"" and pl5(E) . of Moloney murine leukemia virus upon transfection into target cells demonstrated the existence of a population of virus-specific CTL able to recognize these molecules (13). We now present direct evidence for the participation of both env and gag geneencoded cell-surface proteins in target structure formation. To identify the viral and H-2 antigens recognized by anti-FV CTL, cell lines expressing putative target molecules, either singly or in combination, were constructed by DNAmediated gene transfer. Since FV is of murine origin, it was advantageous to use cells of a heterologous species (rat) as the parental line for the derivation of these "synthetic" target cells. This approach allowed an evaluation of the relative
Modelling Degradation of Physical Objects in Fault Maintenance Trees

In an ideal world, systems never fail. Since we do not live in an ideal world it is necessary to maintain systems to repair failures. A maintenance strategy is used to determine how often a system is inspected and when components need to be repaired or replaced. A Fault Maintenance Tree (FMT) is a model used to compare maintenance strategies. FMTs are used to find an optimal maintenance strategy. A maintenance strategy is meant to decrease the number of failures that cause downtime. Maintenance itself also incurs costs and planned downtime for repairs. An optimal maintenance strategy needs to find a balance between both costs. To be able to give reliable predictions for maintenance strategies, the model has to be as realistic as possible. If the model predicts a certain failure rate, this needs to match the failure rate seen in the actual system. This paper studies the way degradation of electrically insulated railway joints is modelled. This is done using the model developed in a previous study. This resulted in the discovery of several anomalies in the model, as well as the previously hidden effect of repairs on the system.
The Extent of Efficiency in Central European Equity Markets

This paper investigates the possibility that the newly emerging equity markets in Central Europe exhibit a degree of efficiency similar to that which prevails in more developed markets. The different privatization strategies adopted by the various countries in the region are shown to have created equity markets of vastly different sizes, with the largest market, that in the Czech Republic, being similar in coverage to many in Western Europe. Disclosure requirements appear to be sufficient for efficiency although there are differences across countries in whether these requirements are based in law or depend on voluntary action, as well as the extent to which they are enforced. Both distribution based and distribution-free tests do not reject the hypothesis that equity market returns are random walks in the four Visegrad countries. This finding is consistent with these markets being weak-form efficient. The paper concludes with a discussion of ways in which other forms of efficiency could be tested for these markets.
Branch Junction Characteristics Affect Hydraulic Segmentation in Red Maple

The effect of branch morphological characteristics on hydraulic segmentation in red maple branch junctions was determined using hydraulic conductivity measurements. Relative branch size impacted hydraulic conductivity at the branch junction. Conductivity ratios were directly proportional to the ratio of branch diameter to stem diameter. Junctions with perpendicular branches showed lower hydraulic conductivities than more upright branches. The presence of visible branch collars was a good indicator of low branch junction conductivity. Branches having pith that was continuous with trunk pith were associated with codominant stems that had high branch junction conductivity. Branch junction hydraulic conductivity was positively correlated with the amount of discolored wood development after branch removal. This finding may indicate that similar anatomical properties are responsible for both branch junction decay resistance and hydraulic segmentation.
Changes of Food Expenditure and Food Consumption of People Living in Ba Vi District, Hanoi, Vietnam from 1999 to 2013

Background: During the nutrition transition period which began in the early 1990s in Vietnam, dietary intake had been changed significantly because of changes in lifestyle and living standard. Objectives: This paper aims to describe the trend for food expenditure and the frequency of meat consumption in households in Ba Vi district, Hanoi, Vietnam from 1999 to 2013. Methods: This is a longitudinal study conducted in Ba Vi district, Hanoi. Semi-annual, face-to face interviews were conducted by well-trained interviewers with 11,922 households to collect data of the household’s income, spending for food and meat consumption. Chi-square test for trend was performed to evaluate the changes of food expenditure over the years. P-value under 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: There were ten times increase in household’s mean income and five times increase in mean food expenditure from 1999 to 2013. The percentage of household food expenditure per total family expenditure was really high (55% in 2013). The percentage of rice expenditure per total food expenditure decreased dramatically from 59.9% in 1999 to 33.1% in 2013 while spending for other animal-based, high-protein food was an upward trend, particularly meat (10.7% in 1999 to 24.2% in 2013). The percentage of rice expenditure in well-off households was lower than poor households (55% vs. 61.8% in 1999 and 31.4% vs. 36.5% in 2013). However, the percentage of spending for meat in well-off households were much higher than that of poor households (>10%). Conclusion: Our finding indicated that mean income and food expenditure, particularly meat intake, of households had increased dramatically from 1999 to 2013. The increase of meat intake requires reallocation and direction of Vietnam public health funding and strategy.
Comparative Phytochemical and Proximate Compositions of Cola acuminata (P. Beauv.) Schott and Cola nitida (Vent) Schott and Endl.

Seeds, leaves and stems of Cola acuminata (P. Beauv.) Schott and Cola nitida (Vent) Schott and Endl. Were oven-dried at 60oC for 24 hours and standard analytical laboratory methods were used for proximate and phytochemical tests. Sterols and triterpenes were absent in all the parts of the two species. Starch was absent in the leaves of Cola acuminata and C. nitida. Trace amount of hydrogen cyanide was only detected in the seed of C. acuminata. Alkaloid, flavonoid, saponin, tannin as well as high level of protein and minerals were found in all the parts of the two species in varying concentrations. Seed of C. acuminata has higher alkaloid content (0.26+0.11%) and as a result could have a higher stimulating property. These chemical characters could be considered as additional characters in delimitation of the two species as well as proper placement of the family, Sterculiaceae.
Antimicrobial activity of silver nanoparticles Biogenic silver nanoparticles by Solanum torvum and their promising antimicrobial activity

Nanotechnology is gaining tremendous impetus in the present century due to its capability of modulating metals into their nanosize. Research in nanotechnology highlights the possibility of green chemistry pathways to produce technologically important nanomaterials. This report focuses on the biological synthesis of silver nanoparticles using Solanum torvum and its antimicrobial activity. Characterization of newly synthesized silver nanoparticles was made using UV-vis spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope (HR-TEM) studies. Resistance to antimicrobial agents by pathogen has emerged in recent years and is a major health problem. Solanum torvum mediated silver nanoparticles showed high antimicrobial activity against bacterial and fungal pathogens. Our results suggest that S. torvun mediated silver nanoparticles could act as an effective antimicrobial agent and prove as an alternative for the development of new antimicrobial agents to combat resistance problem.
Amorphous, Polymorphous, and Microcrystalline Silicon Thin Films Deposited by Plasma at Low Temperatures

The present chapter is devoted to the study of amorphous (a-Si:H), polymorphous (pmSi:H), and microcrystalline (μc-Si:H) silicon, deposited by the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technique at low temperatures. We have studied the main deposition parameters that have strong influence on the optical, electrical, and structur‐ al properties of the polymorphous and microcrystalline materials. Our results reveal the key deposition conditions for obtained films with optical and electrical characteristics, which are suitable for applications on thin-film solar cells and semiconductor devices.
An Endmember Initialization Scheme for Nonnegative Matrix Factorization and Its Application in Hyperspectral Unmixing

Nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) is a blind source separation (BSS) method often used in hyperspectral unmixing. However, it tends to converge to a local optimum. To overcome this limitation, we present a simple, but effective endmember initialization scheme for NMF, which is realized by improving initial values through the application of the automatic target generation process (ATGP) algorithm. The initial spectra and abundances of target endmembers are first obtained using the ATGP algorithm and nonnegative least squares (NNLS) method, respectively. The preliminary results are then optimized through iterative application of NMF. To validate the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed method, we analyzed the improvement of NMF by the ATGP algorithm, using the synthetic hyperspectral data and real hyperspectral images. The results from the proposed method are compared with those of the vertex component analysis (VCA)-NMF algorithm, which uses the VCA algorithm to perform initialization for NMF, the minimum volume constrained NMF (MVC-NMF) algorithm, the traditional two-step VCA-fully-constrained least squares (FCLS) algorithm, which uses the VCA to extract the endmember matrix, and the FCLS algorithm to estimate the abundance matrix. The comparison results prove that proper endmember initialization can help the NMF algorithm yield better estimation results. Through the optimization of target endmembers’ initial values, the proposed ATGP-NMF algorithm can consistently produce good results at a lower computational cost, especially in the case of a real hyperspectral image for which pure pixels do not exist and there is little prior knowledge. With its high applicability and effectiveness, the ATGP-NMF algorithm has a great potential to solve hyperspectral unmixing problems.
Desferrioxamine for Stimulation of Fracture Healing and Revascularization in a Bone Defect Model

Abstract : Our study explored local delivery of deferroxamine with and without bone allograft as a means to accelerate fracture healing in a tibia defect model of the rat. Experimental groups in the first study included: control, CS: calcium sulfate annulus around spacer at defect, CS/DBA: CS implant and demineralized bone allograft (DBA); CS/DFO: DFO (300 g) loaded CS implant, CS/DFO/DBA: DFO loaded CS implant with DBA allograft. Experimental groups in the second study included: control, DBA, LDFO/ DBA: DBA soaked with DFO (10 g), H-DFO/DBA: DBA soaked with DFO (100ug). Fractures were evaluated at 6 weeks postinjury for radiographic cortical bridging, CT mineralized callus volume and torsional properties. The bulk CS annulus was found to impair healing compared to the control in the 1st study. In the 2nd study L-DFO/DBA was found to increase cortical bridging and torsional strength relative to the control. Bulk form CS is not an effective method of delivery of DFO to stimulate fracture healing. Low dosage DFO treatment directly to DBA was found to enhance the ability of DBM to stimulate fracture healing, while higher dosage DFO treatment of DBA was not effective.
Internal transcribed spacer sequence based molecular con fi rmation and drug ef fi cacy assessment against Toxascaris leonina ( Linstow , 1909 ) infection in Asiatic lions ( Panthera leo persica )

The eggs recovered during faecal screening of Asiatic lions (kept at MC Zoological Park, Punjab, India) were delineated as Toxascaris leonina eggs based on morphometric and molecular studies (polymerase chain reaction targeting internal transcribed spacer sequences). Therapeutic management with fenbendazole @10 mg/kg body weight, once daily orally for three consecutive days proved ineffective with maximum faecal egg count reduction (FECR) on day 3 post treatments (69.35 %). But, therapeutic intervention with extended period dose schedule (5 consecutive days) with fenbendazole (@10 mg/kg body weight) proved effective and showed a maximum FECR of 95.34 % at day 7 post treatments. But, when ivermectin (@100μg/kg body weight) was given orally on three alternate days, proved effective as FECR of 95.74 % was recorded at day 7 post treatments. Thus, present study highlights the molecular confi rmation of T. leonina and its management using fenbendazole and ivermectin in Asiatic lions.
Cellular effects after exposure to mixed beams of ionizing radiation

The purpose of this study was to analyse the cytogenetic effect of exposing human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) to a mixed beam of alpha particles and X-rays. Whole blood collected from one donor was exposed to different doses of alpha particles ((241)Am), X-rays and a combination of both. All exposures were carried out at 37 °C. Three independent experiments were performed. Micronuclei (MN) in binucleated PBL were scored as the endpoint. Moreover, the size of MN was measured. The results show that exposure of PBL to a mixed beam of high and low linear energy transfer radiation led to significantly higher than expected frequencies of MN. The measurement of MN size did not reveal any differences between the effect of alpha particles and mixed beam. In conclusion, a combined exposure of PBL to alpha particles and X-rays leads to a synergistic effect as measured by the frequency of MN. From the analysis of MN distributions, we conclude that the increase was due to an impaired repair of X-ray-induced DNA damage.
Synbiotic Yogurt Supplemented with Ocimum sanctum Essential Oil

Dairy foods have been consumed since ages as almost complete foods to meet body energy requirements. Dairy foods especially fermented products are highly consumed by people of all age groups and have been choice of innovation to fulfil fluctuating needs of consumers (Si et al., 2006; Ares et al., 2010). Now a day‟s food habit focuses on foods search with dual purposes, health benefits beyond traditional nutrition and a hygienically International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 7 Number 03 (2018) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas. com
Effects of Nitrogen Supply on the Root Morphology of Corn and Velvetleaf

ABSTRACT Root morphology will affect interplant competition for soil nutrients. Research was conducted to assess fine root fraction, mean root radius, specific root length, root length density, and nitrogen (N) uptake per unit fine root biomass of corn and velvetleaf over time and in response to nitrogen supply. Pots containing either corn or velvetleaf were embedded in the ground and received one of three N treatments. Plants were destructively sampled on 10 dates during each of two years and root subsamples analyzed using root scanning software. While corn root morphology was more responsive to N supply than velvetleaf, velvetleaf N uptake per unit fine root length was greater than that of corn at similar biomass. Results suggest that, in lieu of modifying root morphology to increase uptake efficiency when N is deficient, velvetleaf may invest more root biomass to produce a deeper tap root to reach nutrients deeper in the profile.
Title: Presurgical therapy with axitinib for advanced renal cell carcinoma: a case report

Background: Targeted therapy with tyrosine kinase inhibitors has been shown to reduce tumor volumes and prolong the survival of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors, particularly sunitinib, have recently been used in neoadjuvant and presurgical settings. Axitinib is a promising second-line therapy option for advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Herein, we report a patient with advanced renal cell carcinoma who received presurgical treatment with axitinib. Case presentation: A 73-year-old man was transported by ambulance to a community hospital with chief complaints of high fever and a gait disorder. Computed tomography screening revealed a hypervascular tumor (size, 9 × 8.5 cm) in the lower pole of the left kidney. Upon admission to our hospital, his general condition was poor and his performance status was judged as 3, based on the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status criteria. After biopsy for the renal tumor, he received 10 mg of axitinib twice daily for 3 months. No serious adverse events were reported during this treatment. The tumor diameter shrank by 56%. Left radical nephrectomy was performed, and there were no intraoperative or postoperative complications. Pathological examination indicated a pT3aN0M0, Furman grade 4, clear cell renal cell carcinoma with necrosis, hyaline degeneration, and hemosiderosis. The patient was asymptomatic and disease-free at 1 year post-diagnosis. Conclusion: This case study demonstrated that presurgical therapy with axitinib is feasible and might have several potential advantages for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma, especially those with poor performance statuses.
Does blood pressure affect macular thickness in healthy individuals? And is this altered by type two diabetes mellitus?

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is commonly associated with a raised blood pressure. The prevalence of hypertension is higher in the T2DM population than in the general population, with about 60% of people with T2DM having hypertension by the age of 75 year old (1). Blood pressure has previously been shown to be associated with the development of microvascular complications, in a study by UKPDS it was demonstrated that intensive blood pressure management slows the progression of microvascular complication by 37% compared to a less tightly controlled group(1). The retina is one of the microvascular beds that are susceptible to damage and is the site affected by diabetic retinopathy. Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is now one of the leading causes of blindness in working aged adults in westernised countries.
Equiconvergence of some simultaneous Hermite-Padé interpolants

Dans plusieurs articles un resultat de J. L. Walsh sur equiconvergence des polynomes d'interpolation sur les racines d'unite des fonctions analytiques est generalise par des methodes d'analyse complexe au cas d'interpolation rationnelle des fonctions meromorphe avec un nombre de poles donnes (E. B. Saff, A. Sharma et R. S. Varga; suivit par M. P. Stojanova, qui a introduit un parametre entier l ≥ 1 gouvernant le degre des racines d'unite dans la premiere etape de l'interpolation, pour l = ∞ la premiere et la seconde etape ont les memes racines d'unite). Le but de l'article est maintenant une extension des resultats indiques dans la direction d'interpolation rationnelle simultanee de vecteurs de d fonctions meromorphe, chaque regulier a z = 0, avec ensembles de poles differentes de cardinalite finie donne; le resultat le plus important est ici la situation appelee overconvergence: la difference entre l'interpolation rationnelle avec une valeur fixee pour l. 1 ≤ l < ∞ et avec l = ∞ converge vers zero (de vitesse geometrique) dans un disque plus grand - centree a zero - que le disque d'analyticite de la fonction interpolee. AMS subject classification: 41A05 (primaire), 41A28 (secondaire).
Highest weights for truncated shifted Yangians and product monomial crystals

Truncated shifted Yangians are a family of algebras which are natural quantizations of slices in the affine Grassmannian. We study the highest weight representations of these algebras. In particular, we conjecture that the possible highest weights for these algebras are described by product monomial crystals, certain natural subcrystals of Nakajima's monomials. We prove this conjecture in type A. We also place our results in the context of symplectic duality and prove a conjecture of Hikita in this situation.