Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
1 QUALITY GRADING IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN : THE CASE OF VEGETABLES IN SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES 1

This paper examines the role of quality grades or standards in the supply chain. A model is employed which shows that quality grading provides information that lower search cost of buyers. Thus, when such standards are inadequate, information is distorted which results to asymmetric price transmission. The model is applied in the vegetable industry in Southern Philippines using primary and secondary data. A price asymmetry marketing margin model is estimated using secondary data for cabbage and onion. Results show that price transmission is symmetric for cabbage and asymmetric for onion. Asymmetry in price transmission implies that marketing information are not effectively transmitted in the food chain and that establishing quality grades or standards is necessary to improve efficiency in the supply chain.
Operational performance of grid-connected PV systems

The main objective of this paper is to analyse the operational performance of grid connected residential PV systems mainly in the Netherlands, but also in other European countries, by comparing the Performance Ratio and Annual System Yield indicators from small and medium size installations. So-called web scraping techniques were applied in order to meet the challenge of limited publically available high-resolution data. As a result data were collected of a total of 2914 systems from the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France and Italy were collected and analyzed. The installations were examined according to geographical and seasonal criteria and a further performance analysis was conducted in comparison with the type of the module technology and the inverter that was employed.
Assessment of diversity of apicomplexan parasites in selected snake species

Parasites are a highly diverse group of organisms with essential roles in the ecosystems they inhabit. Cataloguing their biodiversity has not been an easy task, mostly due to the difficulties in simply detecting and identifying many of these organisms. The impairment is even greater for intracellular parasites, such as the members of the phylum Apicomplexa. These include some of the most notorious parasites of anthropogenic interest. Regardless, they remain one of the most poorly studied groups of organisms. Clearly, more sampling is needed, especially in wild hosts. Through molecular screening by PCR, parasites can be quickly and efficiently detected in host samples, and sequencing provides abundant characters for phylogenetic analysis. However, the limited taxa and character sampling represent a major setback to further advances in this field. In this thesis, tissue samples from several wild snakes were analysed using hemogregarine-specific primers for the 18S rRNA gene. In snakes, the most common hemoparasites are species of Hepatozoon, but they also harbour a wide variety of other apicomplexans. For the first study of this thesis, tissue samples from four snake genera of the Mediterranean area with different dietary regimens were analysed. The saurophagous snakes were the ones who presented infections, and the retrieved Hepatozoon sequences were closely related to those previously found in lizards of the same region. This suggests that these parasites might exploit trophic associations for their transmission. In the second study, samples of snakes of the genus Psammophis, also saurophagous, were analysed. As these occupy a more desertic habitat, the inherent hypothesis was to test if ecological differences reflect in differences in infecting Hepatozoon lineages. However, these were similar to lineages previously found in Mediterranean species. Other apicomplexan parasites were also found in these studies. A Caryospora infection was for the first time detected through molecular analysis of tissue samples. Also, Sarcocystis infections were identified and their phylogeny did not reflect host taxonomy, in contrast to what had been previously suggested in other studies. Nevertheless, more sampling is needed and primers for new molecular markers have to be developed. Moreover, all the hosts that these parasites use need to be identified for an accurate assessment of host specificity and for parasite description. Only then will we be able to obtain sufficient information to better understand the diversity and evolution of parasites. This knowledge would certainly help bring clarity into parasite taxonomy.
Probing photo-ionization: experiments on positive streamers in pure gases and mixtures

Positive streamers are thought to propagate by photo-ionization; the parameters of photo-ionization depend on the nitrogen : oxygen ratio. Therefore we study streamers in nitrogen with 20%, 0.2% and 0.01% oxygen and in pure nitrogen as well as in pure oxygen and argon. Our new experimental set-up guarantees contamination of the pure gases to be well below 1 ppm. Streamers in oxygen are difficult to measure as they emit considerably less light in the sensitivity range of our fast ICCD camera than the other gases. Streamers in pure nitrogen and in all nitrogen–oxygen mixtures look generally similar, but become somewhat thinner and branch more with decreasing oxygen content. In pure nitrogen the streamers can branch so much that they resemble feathers. This feature is even more pronounced in pure argon, with approximately 102 hair tips cm−3 in the feathers at 200 mbar; this density can be interpreted as the free electron density creating avalanches towards the streamer stem. It is remarkable that the streamer velocity is essentially the same for similar voltage and pressure in all nitrogen–oxygen mixtures as well as in pure nitrogen, while the oxygen concentration and therefore the photo-ionization lengths vary by more than five orders of magnitude. Streamers in argon have essentially the same velocity as well. The physical similarity of streamers at different pressures is confirmed in all gases; the minimal diameters are smaller than in earlier measurements.
Measuring the perceive service Quality in the Islamic Banking System in Malaysia

The purpose of this study is measuring customers’ perceived service quality by using of difference between customers’ expectation and perception in the context of Islamic banking system in Malaysia. The work of Islamic bank drives from Islamic principal and Sharia that is differentiate with conventional bank. Therefore, it is important for Islamic banks to determine what customers expect and then develop service products that meet or exceed their perception. In Islamic countries such as Malaysia, Religion is an important factor that can influence on customers’ attitude about services. Nowadays, Islamic bank has strong competition with conventional bank because they are faced with different customer expectation to receive high quality services that they serve. Therefore, Islamic bank must think about how they can improve their service to increase customers’ perceive quality in compared with conventional bank. In this study we are using CARTER instrument and disconfirmation model for measuring perceive service quality. In addition, this study indicates the gap between customer expectation and perception concerning service quality dimension base on CARTER instrument. By measuring this gap we can find the level of customers’ perceive service quality. Furthermore, implications and limitations of this study, as well as directions for future research are discussed.
Detecting changes in sequences of attributed graphs

In several application domains, one deals with data described by elements and their pair-wise relations. Accordingly, graph theory offers a sound framework to cast modeling and analysis tasks. However, due to a multitude of reasons, real-world systems change operating conditions over time, hence calling for time-dependent, graph-based representations of systems' state. Here, we deal with this problem by considering a methodology for detecting changes in sequences of graphs. The adopted methodology allows to process attributed graphs with variable order and topology, and for which a one-to-one vertex correspondence at different time steps is not given. In practice, changes are recognized by embedding each graph into a vector space, where conventional change detection procedures exist and can be easily applied. Theoretical results are presented in a companion paper. In this paper, we introduce the methodology and focus on expanding experimental evaluations on controlled yet relevant examples involving geometric graphs and Markov chains.
Mobile Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Teams: The North American Versus the European Experience.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate differences in the inclusion of anesthesiologists in mobile extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) teams between North American and European centers. DESIGN A retrospective review of North American versus European mobile ECMO teams. The search terms used to identify relevant articles were the following: "extracorporeal membrane transport," "mobile ECMO," and "interhospital transport. " SETTING MEDLINE review of articles. PARTICIPANTS None. INTERVENTIONS None. RESULTS Between 1986 and 2015, 25 articles were published that reported the personnel makeup of mobile ECMO teams in North America and Europe: 6 from North American centers and 19 from European centers. The included articles reported a total of 1,329 cases: 389 (29%) adult-only cohorts and 940 (71%) mixed-age cohorts. Among North American studies, 0 of 6 (0%) reported the presence of an anesthesiologist on the mobile ECMO team in contrast to European studies, in which 10 of 19 (53%) reported the inclusion of an anesthesiologist (Fisher exact p for difference = 0.05). In terms of number of cases, this discrepancy translated to 543 total cases in North America (all without an anesthesiologist) and 499 cases in Europe (37%) including an anesthesiologist on the team (Fisher exact p for difference<0.001). CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrated significant geographic discrepancies in the inclusion of anesthesiologists on mobile ECMO teams, with European centers more likely to incorporate an anesthesiologist into the mobile ECMO process compared with North American centers.
Effects of Living Mulches on Predator Abundance and Sentinel Prey in a Corn–Soybean–Forage Rotation

Abstract Living mulches are cover crops grown concurrently within main crops for their benefits to weed control and soil quality. Because living mulches increase the diversity of vegetation in agricultural systems, they may impact the abundance or effectiveness of natural enemies. To examine the effects of living mulches on epigeal predators, arthropod abundance and feeding were examined in a rotation of corn (Zea mays L.), soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.), and forage crops in 2004 and 2005. Compared with a no-mulch control, the presence of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and kura clover (Trifolium ambiguum M. Bieb.) mulches in corn and soybean increased predator abundance and consumption of European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis Hübner; Lepidoptera: Crambidae) pupae used as sentinel prey. A complementary effect of increased predation caused by corn and soybean was found when both annual crops with living mulches were compared with mulches grown alone. Positive correlations between the percentage of O. nubilalis pupae preyed on and ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) abundance suggest carabids contributed to the differences in predation. In 2005, fewer beetles correlated with consumption of O. nubilalis pupae [Poecilus chalcites (Say) and Scarites quadriceps Chaudior] were collected, and living mulch impacts on predation were less frequent. Both changes could be related to delayed herbicidal suppression of the living mulches in 2005, which seemed to homogenize predator community composition among the corn, soybean, and forage plots. Although living mulches alone may not provide sufficient pest suppression, their potential to enhance biological control should be considered along with their other agronomic benefits.
Antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of -conglycinin and glycinin from soy protein isolate

Soybeans (Glycine max) are an abundant source of proteins that have been recognized for their high nutritional value and bioactive properties. Soybeans are legumes, and possess high protein content (approximately 40%) as compared to most other legumes (Aguirre et al., 2008; Yimit et al., 2012). The health benefits of soybeans are attributed to the presence of bioactive compounds, and in particular proteins. Glycinin and -conglycinin are globulins that are the major components of soy protein isolates (SPIs), accounting for approximately 85% of soybean protein content (Scilingo and Anon, 2004; Vernaza et al., 2012). Glycinin is a polypeptide that is composed of 2 acidic and basic subunits that are connected with disulfide bonds. ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 3 Number 8 (2014) pp. 144-157 http://www.ijcmas. com
Engineering Education and the Development of Expertise

Michael Alley, The Pennsylvania State University; Cindy Atman, University of Washington; David DiBiasio, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Cindy Finelli, University of Michigan; Heidi Diefes‐Dux, Purdue University; Anette Kolmos, Aalborg University; Donna Riley, Smith College; Sheri Sheppard, Stanford University; Maryellen Weimer, The Pennsylvania State University; Ken Yasuhara, University of Washington
Targeted letters: Effects on sample composition and item non-response

General population surveys as well as business surveys are affected by low response rates. There is a need to investigate possible ways to increase participation in surveys and to motivate interviewee in answering questionnaires. Even in official statistics the problem is relevant since lack of motivation undermines not only participation to the survey, but it is related to the timeliness in participation, the quality of the answers and hence the quality of the measurements of socio-economic phenomena. A possible approach to cope with this problem, which has received attention in recent years, is targeted design. In targeted designs, several survey features may be the object of interventions (timing of contact, number of contact attempts, mode of contact, interviewers' assignment, communication features, etc.). In our paper, we consider the invitation letter, which is one possible targeted feature. This is related to motivation to respond to surveys and to respond accurately, completely, and timely. We analyze a case study in the UK Household Longitudinal Study Innovation Panel. At wave 6 of the panel, a randomized experiment was carried out to study the effects of targeted initial letters [1]. We investigate effects of targeted initial letters on sample composition, representativity, and item non-response.
PREVALENCE AND ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE OF E. COLI ISOLATED FROM CHICKEN LIVER SOLD IN RETAIL MARKETS

The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence and the antimicrobial resistance of E. coli that contaminates raw chicken liver as one of the most popular poultry sub-product sold in retail markets. Two hundred and forty samples of fresh raw chicken liver were obtained from national poultry producers in different retail marketing sites and tested for the presence of E. coli. One hundred E. coli strains (41.7%) were isolated and tested for antimicrobial susceptibility. The MICs of 14 antimicrobial agents were determined for each of the isolates using the broth microdilution method with custom-made microtitre plates. EUCAST cut-off values were used for the interpretation of susceptibility of isolated bacteria to antimicrobial agents. The most frequent resistances were demonstrated to streptomycin (100 %), ampicillin (60%), nalidixic acid (50%), ciprofloxacin (47%) and tetracycline (45%). No resistant strains were found to amikacin. Law percentage of resistant strains was recorded to cefoxitin (2%), ceftiofur (7%), chloramphenicol (10%) and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (15%). MIC’s values above dilution ranges were found to all antimicrobials except amikacin. The highest numbers of resistant strains that demonstrated resistance to the highest concentrations of antimicrobial agents were found to ampicillin, nalidixic acid, sulphonamides and tetracycline. The data demonstrate potential risk during food preparation for consumers in the context of resistant E. coli as abovementioned antimicrobial agents are used in veterinary and human medicine as well.
A Matched Subspace Approach to Depth Discrimination in a Shallow Water Waveguide

An application of the Scharf-Friedlander matched subspace detector [1] to the problem of trapped mode subspace discrimination in shallow water acoustics is investigated. The "trapping" of low order modes below the thermocline in a downward refracting shallow channel has been shown to be useful to a class of physics-based sonar discrimination algorithms [2]. It will be shown that by applying a subspace orthogonalization step to a suitably rank-reduced normal mode subspace model, an optimum "trapped" subspace discrimination algorithm is possible even when the trapped and non-trapped subspaces exhibit significant overlap. Data results illustrating performance improvement over a previous sub-optimum LRT implementation that ignored subspace overlap for a shallow water, thinned-VLA case will be shown.
0.18 um dual Vt MOSFET process and energy-delay measurement

A 0.18 um dual Vt MOSFET process has been developed. The low Vt devices are used for logic and the high Vt device for power control. The low Vt NMOS and PMOS have threshold voltages of 80 mV and 100 mV at nominal channel length, and Ion/Ioff of 340/0.05 uA/um and 123/0.03 uA/um respectively under 1V Vdd. The NMOS current drive at 0.6V Vdd has a 40% improvement over the best reported to date. Energy-delay (ED) extracted from measured device data was investigated over Vdd and Vt parameter space for the first time. The results show that: (1) Optimum Vt/Vdd corresponding to minimum energy-delay product for a typical application is around 120/300 mV and leads to modest performance. (2) The optimum Vt is a logarithmic function of the typical activity factor of the application. (3) The dual Vt process is important for applications with high idling factor and brings about a 2.5X improvement in energy-delay product or 50% improvement in speed with the same energy over a single standard Vt process for an application with a 98% idling factor.
Pediatric intensive care unit mortality among Latino children before and after a multilevel health care delivery intervention.

IMPORTANCE Research on health equity has focused on documenting health care disparities or understanding factors leading to disparities, but limited efforts have focused on reducing health care disparities in children. Latino children have increased prevalence of acute and chronic conditions; they have limited access and other barriers to high-quality health care, including intensive care. OBJECTIVE To determine whether pediatric intensive care unit mortality can be reduced by a multilevel health care delivery intervention. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Observational study of factors associated with pediatric intensive care unit mortality at a tertiary care metropolitan children's hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Participants were children younger than 18 years discharged from the pediatric intensive care unit during the 3-year preintervention period of 2007 to 2009 (n = 3891) and 3-year postintervention period of 2010 to 2012 (n = 4179). INTERVENTIONS Multilevel health care intervention to address the increased odds of mortality among Latino children. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The odds of mortality were analyzed over the 3-year preintervention period (2007-2009) using multivariable logistic regressions to control for age, sex, race/ethnicity, severity of illness, major diagnostic categories, diagnosed infections, and insurance status. Data from the postintervention period (2010-2012) were analyzed similarly to measure the effect of changes in health care delivery. RESULTS Unadjusted mortality rates for white, African American, and Latino children in 2007 to 2009 were 3.3%, 3.3%, and 8.6%, respectively. After controlling for covariates, no differences in the odds of mortality were observed between white children and African American children (odds ratio [OR], 1.0; 95% CI, 0.6-1.7; P = .97), but Latino children had 3.7-fold (95% CI, 1.8-7.5; P < .001) higher odds of mortality. A multilevel and multidisciplinary intervention was launched to address these differences. In the postintervention period, unadjusted mortality rates for white, African American, and Latino children were 3.6%, 3.2%, and 4.0%, respectively, with no differences observed after adjustment for covariates (OR, 0.7; 95% CI, 0.2-2.1; P = .49). The odds of mortality decreased between the preintervention period and postintervention period for Latino children (OR, 0.24; 95% CI, 0.06-0.88; P = .03) but remained unchanged for white and African American children (OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.73-1.43; P = .90). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Latino children had higher odds of mortality, even after controlling for age, sex, severity of illness, insurance status, and other covariates. These differences disappeared after culturally and linguistically sensitive interventions at multiple levels. Local multilevel interventions can reduce the effect of health care inequities on clinical outcomes, without requiring major changes in health care policy.
Wave Propagation Analysis in Composite Laminates Containing a Delamination Using a Three-Dimensional Spectral Element Method

A three-dimensional spectral element method (SEM) was developed for analysis of Lamb wave propagation in composite laminates containing a delamination. SEM is more efficient in simulating wave propagation in structures than conventional finite element method (FEM) because of its unique diagonal form of the mass matrix. Three types of composite laminates, namely, unidirectional-ply laminates, cross-ply laminates, and angle-ply laminates are modeled using three-dimensional spectral finite elements. Wave propagation characteristics in intact composite laminates are investigated, and the effectiveness of the method is validated by comparison of the simulation results with analytical solutions based on transfer matrix method. Different Lamb wave mode interactions with delamination are evaluated, and it is demonstrated that symmetric Lamb wave mode may be insensitive to delamination at certain interfaces of laminates while the antisymmetric mode is more suited for identification of delamination in composite structures.
Calcium Transport across Plasma Membrane in Early Stages of Chronic Kidney Disease - Impact of Vitamin D3 Supplementation

Mini review summarizes the results of studies focused on elucidating pathophysiological mechanisms of altered intracellular calcium homeostasis in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with early stages of chronic kidney disease. The basic mechanisms of calcium entry as well as those of its removal are impaired by the disease. These disturbances cause an increase concentration of free cytosolic calcium which can result in a change of broad range of cellular processes and expression patterns of various signaling molecules. Vitamin D3 supplementation is the standard treatment of frequent vitamin D3 insufficiency or deficiency in these patients. It can be assumed that vitamin D3 through the pleiotropic effects may participate in modulation of intracellular calcium homeostasis. Vitamin D3 supplementation resulted in a reduction of cytosolic free calcium affecting some of the transport systems involved in cell calcium entry as well as calcium exit. Normalization of the cytosolic free calcium concentration can have a beneficial effect on intracellular signaling. The mechanisms for regulating and controlling intracellular calcium homeostasis in chronic kidney disease patients are currently still under investigation.