Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prevalence and Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from Outpatients with Chronic Rhinosinusitis in Al-Kut/Wasit Province/Iraq

Staphylococcus aureus is a significant factor in the development of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). Prevalence of sinonasal methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) appears to be increasing among CRS patients. For that this study was designed to detect the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of MRSA isolates from Iraqi patients with CRS living in Al-Kut city/Wasit Province. Out of 264 patients with CRS, S. aureus was isolated from 71 (one isolate per patient) (26.8%). Of these patients, 37 (52.1%) were females (age range 2 months to 61 year) and 34 (47.8%) were males (age range 3 to 70 year). Fifty two (73.2%) of S. aureus isolates were MRSA, of which 71.1% were mecApositive. Distribution of MRSA was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) associated with patient's age, whereas it was insignificantly associated with patient's gender. The highest resistance rates of MRSA were against β-lactams except carbapenems, whereas the highest susceptibility was for vancomycin, followed by imipenem, genatmycin, meropenem and ciprofloxacin. Twenty two (30.9%) isolates were multidrug resistant (MDR), of which 20 (28.1%) were MRSA and 2 (2.8%) were methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA). No isolate showed resistance or sensitivity to all antimicrobials included in this study. Highest rate of multidrug resistance was to 13 antimicrobials (1 isolate which was MRSA), whereas the lowest rate was to 6 antimicrobials (3 isolates which were MRSA). Conclusions: These results indicate the high prevalence of MRSA among Iraqi patients with CRS and reveal its predominance in our community. Furthermore, high percentage of these isolates were MDR, which urge us to reevaluate the empiric treatment of these cases.
It is Much Bigger than What We Thought: New Estimate of Trade Diversion

Conventional estimate of the trade diversion (TD) effect of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) tends to be much smaller than that of the trade creation (TC) effect. This paper ex- amines two sources of estimation bias of the TD effect. The first bias of TD arises from the difficulty in controlling for multilateral resistance and other unobserved time-varying country heterogeneity when estimating both TC and TD effects simultaneously due to perfect mul- ticollinearity. The second one is the underestimation of TD and arises from the failure to recognize that the concept of TD is inapplicable for a substantial proportion of PTAs and, thus, that the conventional method wrongly counts cases where trade cannot be diverted as cases where trade is not diverted. This paper corrects these two biases by using fixed effects and introducing a new measure of TD which provides a better mapping between the theoretical concept and data characteristics. Removing the two sources of bias leads to a twelve-fold in- crease in the estimate of the TD effect. It is found that the total TD effect is comparable to the TC effect in dollar terms.
The low-metallicity QSO HE 2158 − 0107: a massive galaxy growing by accretion of nearly pristine gas from its environment?

The metallicities of active galactic nuclei (AGN) are usually well above solar in their narrow-line regions, often reaching up to several times solar in their broad-line regions independent of redshift. Low-metallicity AGN are rare objects that have so far always been associated with low-mass galaxies hosting low-mass black holes (MBH 10 6 M� ). We present integral field spectroscopy data of the low-redshift (z = 0.212) quasi-stellar object (QSO) HE 2158−0107 for which we find strong evidence of sub-solar NLR metallicities associated with a massive black hole (MBH ∼ 3 × 10 8 M� ). The QSO is surrounded by a large extended emission-line region reaching out to 30 kpc from the QSO in a tail-like geometry. We present optical and near-infrared images and investigate the properties of the host galaxy. The host of HE 2158−0107 is most likely a very compact bulge-dominated galaxy with a size of re ∼ 1.4 kpc. The multi-colour spectral energy distribution (SED) of the host is quite blue, indicative of a significant young age stellar population formed within the last 1 Gyr. A 3σ upper limit of Lbulge,H < 4.5 × 10 10 L� ,H for the H-band luminosity and a corresponding stellar mass upper
Conditional Asset Allocation Under Non-Normality: How Costly is the Mean-Variance Criterion?

We evaluate how departure from normality may affect the conditional allocation of wealth. The expected utility function is approximated by a fourth-order Taylor expansion that allows for non-normal returns. Market returns are characterized by a joint model that captures the time dependency and the shape of the distribution. We show that under large departure from normality, the mean-variance criterion can lead to portfolio weights that differ significantly from those obtained using the optimal strategy accounting for non-normality. In addition, the opportunity cost for a risk-adverse investor to use the sub-optimal mean-variance criterion can be very large.
Vestiges of an orb-weaving ancestor? The “biogenetic law” and ontogenetic changes in the webs and building behavior of the black widow spider Latrodectus geometricus (Araneae Theridiidae)

Young juveniles of L. geometricus fit the strong trend for “ontogeny to repeat phylogeny” previously documented in other web-building spiders; younger spiders were less likely to build the derived silk retreats that occur at the edges of webs of adults. Younger individuals also consistently built more highly organized webs, with radial lines that converge on a central, horizontal disc and that support regularly spaced, sticky “gumfoot“ lines. Some details of how radial and gumfoot lines were built suggest that the radial and gumfoot lines and the behavior involved in their construction may be homologous with traits associated with radii and sticky spirals in aranoid orb webs. The numerous convergences between the webs and building behavior of young L. geometricus and the highly modified webs and building behavior of genera of the orb weaving families Theridiosomatidae (Wendilgarda) and Anapidae (Comaroma), which have independently replaced orbs with webs designed to capture prey on surfaces near the web, suggest a new hypothesis for how gumfoot theridiid webs may have evolved from orbs.
Projective Summands in Tensor Products of Simple Modules of Finite Dimensional Hopf Algebras

Abstract Let H be a finite dimensional Hopf algebra over a field k. We show that H contains a unique maximal Hopf ideal J w (H) contained in J(H), the Jacobson radical of H. We give various characterizations of J w (H), for example J w (H) = Ann H ((H/J(H))⊗n ) for all large enough n. The smallest positive integer n with this property is denoted by l w (H). We prove that l w (H) equals the smallest number n such that (H/J(H))⊗n contains every projective indecomposable H/J w (H)-module as a direct summand. This also equals the minimal n such that the tensor product of n suitable simple H-modules contains the projective cover of the trivial H/J w (H)-module as a direct summand. We define projective homomorphisms between H-modules, which are used to obtain various reciprocity laws for tensor products of simple H-modules and their projective indecomposable direct summands. We also discuss some consequences of our general results in case H = kG is a group algebra of a finite group G and k is a field of characteristic p.
Inertialess swimming and propulsion of slender bodies

In this thesis, two problems relevant to the biological locomotion in inertialess environments are studied, one is the characteristics of undulatory locomotion in granular media, the other is the optimal flexibility of a driven microfilament in a viscous fluid. Undulatory locomotion is ubiquitous in nature and observed in different media, from the swimming of flagellated microorganisms in biological fluids, to the slithering of snakes on land, or the locomotion of sandfish lizards in sand. Despite the similarity in the undulating pattern, the swimming characteristics depend on the rheological properties of different media. Analysis of locomotion in granular materials is relatively less developed compared with fluids partially due to a lack of validated force models but recently a resistive force theory in granular media has been proposed and shown useful in studying the locomotion of a sand-swimming lizard. In this work, we employ the proposed model to investigate the swimming characteristics of a slender filament, of both finite and infinite length, undulating in a granular medium and compare the results with swimming in viscous fluids. In particular, we characterize the effects of drifting and pitching in terms of propulsion speed and efficiency for a finite sinusoidal swimmer. We also find that, similar to Lighthill’s results using resistive force theory in viscous fluids, the sawtooth swimmer is the optimal waveform for propulsion speed at a given power consumption in granular media. Though it is understood that flexibility can improve the propulsive performance of a filament in a viscous fluid, the flexibility distribution that generates optimal propulsion remains largely unexplored. In this work, we employ the resistive force theory combined with the Euler-Bernoulli beam model to examine the optimal flexibility of a boundary driven filament in the small oscillation amplitude limit. We show that the optimality qualitatively depends on the boundary actuation. For large amplitude actuation, our numerics show that complex asymmetry in the waveforms emerge. The results complement our understanding of inertialess locomotion and provide insights into the effective design of locomotive systems in various environments.
Decentralized Model Predictive Control for Cooperative Multiple Vehicles Subject to Communication Loss

The decentralized model predictive control (DMPC) of multiple cooperative vehicles with the possibility of communication loss/delay is investigated. The neighboring vehicles exchange their predicted trajectories at every sample time to maintain the cooperation objectives. In the event of a communication loss (packet dropout), the most recent available information, which is potentially delayed, is used. Then the communication loss problem changes to a cooperative problem when random large communication delays are present. Such large communication delays can lead to poor cooperation performance and unsafe behaviors such as collisions. A new DMPC approach is developed to improve the cooperation performance and achieve safety in the presence of the large communication delays. The proposed DMPC architecture estimates the tail of neighbor's trajectory which is not available due to the large communication delays for improving the performance. The concept of the tube MPC is also employed to provide the safety of the fleet against collisions, in the presence of large intervehicle communication delays. In this approach, a tube shaped trajectory set is assumed around the trajectory of the neighboring vehicles whose trajectory is delayed/lost. The radius of tube is a function of the communication delay and vehicle's maneuverability (in the absence of model uncertainty). The simulation of formation problem of multiple vehicles is employed to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Factors affecting ANC women's satisfaction with communication skills of health care providers

Inadequate communications skills are the most common factors affecting communication which reduces the accuracy of diagnosis thus compromising adherence. Many researches done on antenatal care have focused upon improving the woman’s access to care and her knowledge of the importance of antenatal care; it has not generally incorporated factors that affect the quality of communication and subsequent satisfaction of antenatal women. The goal of this study was to identify the factors that influence women’s satisfaction with the communication skills of health care providers. It was a descriptive cross-sectional where 384 subjects were interviewed by use of Interviewer administered questionnaires. Non participatory observation checklist was also used. SPSS and Excel were used to generate Frequencies, Percentages, averages, Pearson’s Chi-squares and Odds Ratios. The research revealed factors that affected women’s satisfaction at the clinic. Greeting and introducing oneself to the ANC women by name were statistically significant with satisfaction for all cadres of healthcare workers with p value of 0.000. (χ2 = 175, 242.3, 267.1, 149.1 for doctors, nurses, record clerks and the lab technicians respectively.). Giving ANC women enough time to express themselves, Educating and empathising with them were also statistically significant (P≤0.05, OR 5.44, C.I 95%). The women socio-demographic factors were however not significant. This study is useful to health services managers targeting to mitigate communication barriers to improve health outcomes, diagnostic accuracy and other social outcomes in pregnancy.
The Search for the Giant Squid

The most mysterious and elusive of all sea creatures, the giant squid--at least sixty feet long and weighing nearly a ton--is also one of the largest. Yet for all its magnificent size and threatening undersea presence, Architeuthis has remained a mystery. Until now. In this marvelous and beautifully illustrated book, marine biologist, explorer, and artist Richard Ellis presents all that is known about the giant squid. Delving into myth, literature, popular culture, and science, he brings readers face to face with this remarkable creature. He also provides a thorough, compelling study of what is known and what is still to be discovered about this exotic animal that has never been studied alive. Interweaving his engrossing narrative with a wealth of fascinating illustrations and photographs, Ellis gives us the first comprehensive history of the only living creature that can truly be called a "sea monster. "
The Effect of Politician Career Concerns on Media Slant and Market Return: Evidence from China

We document that Chinese city officials are more likely to be promoted if firms under their jurisdictions receive less negative media coverage towards their term-ends. Consequently, local officials suppress negative news of local companies at their term-ends. Such distortion worsens the information environment. We show that a trading strategy exploiting this informational inefficiency can generate a 12% per annum abnormal return. We also find that officials with stronger career concerns are more likely to suppress negative news. Taken together, politician career concern appears to be an important determinant of capital market information efficiency in China.
Castor based intercropping systems - a review.

Castor is a valuable non-edible oilseed crop palying an important role in agricultural economy. It is ideally suited for intercropping system, as currently a number of short duration, wilt tolerant/varieties/hybrids are available. Castor was evaluated as a component crop in various legume and non-leguminous crops in 6: 1 and 10: 1 row proportions under rainfed conditions. Intercropping of blackgram with castor in 6: 1 row porportions resulted in the highest LER value of 1.85 coupled with highest yield of castor. Studies also elucidated that there was reductions in the incidence of semilooper and wilt on castor in castor and pigeonpea intercropping system, while castor+sesame aggrevated the situation of semilooper and wilt in comparison with sole castor crop.
Chapter 2 Financial Innovation , Organizations , and Small Business Lending

Technological innovation and changes in bank organizational structure have each had a significant effect on small business lending. Both of these phenomena have a spatial dimension. Technological innovation may allow banks to lend at a longer distance if it significantly diminishes the importance of direct customer contact. If consolidation produces fewer banking offices, then the average distance between borrowers and lenders will necessarily increase. The impact of these effects on small business lending, however, greatly depends on the extent to which hard information about borrower quality is a good substitute for soft information. This chapter assesses the theoretical and empirical evidence on the extent to which these changes will likely effect small business lending.
Continuous and Accurate PCRAM Current-voltage Model

In this paper, we propose a new Verilog-A current-voltage model for multi-level-cell PCRAMs. This model can describe the PCRAM operation not only in full SET and RESET states but also in the partial resistance states. And, 3 PCRAM operating regions of SET-RESET, Negative Differential Resistance, and strong-ON are unified into one equation in this model thereby any discontinuity that may introduce a convergence problem cannot be found in the new PCRAM model. The percentage error between the measured data and this model is as small as 7.4% on average compared to 60.1% of the previous piecewise model. The parameter extraction which is embedded in the Verilog-A code can be done automatically.
An Efficient Framework For Fast Computer Aided Design of Microwave Circuits Based on the Higher-Order 3D Finite-Element Method

In this paper, an efficient computational framework for the full-wave design by optimization of complex microwave passive devices, such as antennas, filters, and multiplexers, is described. The framework consists of a computational engine, a 3D object modeler, and a graphical user interface. The computational engine, which is based on a finite element method with curvilinear higher-order tetrahedral elements, is coupled with built-in or external gradient-based optimization procedures. For speed, a model order reduction technique is used and the gradient computation is achieved by perturbation with geometry deformation, processed on the level of the individual mesh nodes. To maximize performance, the framework is targeted to multicore CPU architectures and its extended version can also use multiple GPUs. To illustrate the accuracy and high efficiency of the framework, we provide examples of simulations of a dielectric resonator antenna and full-wave design by optimization of two diplexers involving tens of unknowns, and show that the design can be completed within the duration of a few simulations using industry-standard FEM solvers. The accuracy of the design is confirmed by measurements.
Shareholder Dividend Options

1. THE USE OF DIVIDEND POLICY To REDUCE AGENCY COSTS 885 A. The Dividend Puzzle . 885 B. Agency-Cost Theory and Stable Dividends . 887 C. Alternatives to Stable Dividends for Reducing Agency Costs 893 1. The Takeover Mechanism . 893 2. Debt Financing . 896 3. Shareholder Dividend Voting . 899 4. Shareholder Dividend Options . 903
Enhancement of Science Students' Process Skills Through Implementation of Green Learning Method (GeLem) with Conservation-Based Inquiry Approach

The inquiry of science teaching aims to encourage the ability to think, work and be scientific and communicate as an important aspect of life skills. Inquiry learning with Green Learning Method (GeLeM) focuses on the ability to think, work and be scientific. The data collection was conducted in the Department of Integrated Science, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA), Universitas Negeri Semarang on the course of General Biology, even semester of the academic year 2016/2017. The results show that application of method “GeLeM” can increase the average of cognitive value, learning response and the ability of students' Science Process Skill (SPS) in science learning especially biology in the material of the diversity of living creatures. Common biology lectures that use the method of Green Learning Method (GeLeM) can be collaborated with instilling conservation horizon on the students. The conclusion of this study is that Green Learning Method (GeLeM) can improve student cognitive result and science process skill in science learning. In addition, students are also able to find the concept that comes from the environment (nature), students can also love and care for the environment as a vehicle for learning.
NABI: Low power, high speed FPGA based Novel Approach for Bilateral filter

Bilateral filters use a wide range of medical and industrial applications. The limitations of conventional bilateral filter architecture are having a minimum kernel size and constant delay. This constant delay depends on two modules available in architecture such as the width of the image and sum of processing elements. Due to the inputs variation the kernel size can extent which may affect overall performance in terms of all the image quality assessment and performance in FPGA level (scalability, latency, power consumption). To evade this problem Low power, high speed FPGA based Novel Approach for Bilateral filter (NABI) are introduced. This NABI consists of Structure Shared Architecture (SSA), Master Control Unit (combination of intensity calculator and graph theory based traffic estimator), kernel based clock unit and Reconfigurable server. These components are described on the register transfer level implemented in VHDL. Depends upon the size of the kernel the reconfiguration is taking place via reconfigurable server. The intensity calculator is used to estimate the intensity of image and that intensity value is placed in normalization block to achieve better PSNR and MSE. This proposed NABI is implemented in a Virtex-5VLX50-1 device. The performance results in terms of FPGA level 31.69% slice reduction, 49.51% frame rate improvement, 28.96% power reduction and 50% latency reduction are achieved. The image quality assessment is also observed and compared with conventional algorithms. Thus, NABI work achieves better outcome than conventional work.
ON THE MATCHING ACCURACY OF RASTERISED SCANNING LASER ALTIMETER DATA

For certain applications irregularly distributed scanning laser altimeter data need to be rasterised - such as for use in GIS systems and for creating DEMs. Also, least squares matching on a raster grid can enable the measurement of planimetric and height shifts between overlapping strips of laser data. The shifts are a manifestation of errors in the laser altimeter, most of which are caused by the positioning elements of the system (GPS and/or INS). These translations form the input into a block adjustment to correct for relative and absolute errors. Here a discussion of the issues related to deriving a regular grid of 2.5D points from the original data is presented, with particular reference to the interpolation method, grid size, and quantisation level. An interpolation method based on a TIN of the original points with a grid size that relates as closely as possible to the point density at acquisition is found to give the best results. 8-bit quantisation is found to be sufficient for height differences of up to 100m.
Comparative study of Wood Physical and Mechanical properties of Melia dubia with Tectona grandis at different Age Gradation

Study was carried out at Forest College and Research Institute, Mettupalayam, Tamil Nadu, India using different age gradation viz., three, four and five year of Melia dubia wood samples collected from the plantations raised at Kollegal, Samraj Nagar District, Karnataka to evaluate the Physical and mechanical properties. Five year-old M. dubia wood recorded maximum density (500.20 kg m -3 ) and specific gravity (0.60). Among the age gradations five year old M. dubia registered maximum value for the parameters like static bending strength, modulus of rupture, modulus of elasticity, compression strength parallel to grain, Compression Strength perpendicular to grain, hardness, shearing stress parallel to grain, tensile stress parallel and perpendicular to grain, Nail-holding power, screw-holding power, brittleness, and cleavage strength parallel to grain. The current study confirmed the suitability of five year old wood as raw material for plywood, pencil, packing cases, and light furniture industry.