Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
First Evidence of West Nile Virus in Hodeidah, Yemen: Clinical and Epidemiological Characteristics

Introduction: West Nile Virus (WNV) infection is an important arthropod-borne zoonosis viral disease. This virus is neglected in Yemen especially in Hodeidah. Aim of the Study: The purpose of this study was to detect WNV infection, determine the epidemiological and clinical characteristics within febrile patients in Hodeidah city and to determine some risk factors associated with WNV infection. Materials and Methods: 136 febrile patients in a hospital base study were diagnosed in Center of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases (CTMID), Authority of General Al-Thawara Hospital, Hodeidah, Yemen from January of 2017 to December of 2017. WNV infection was detected by enzyme linkage immune sorbent assay (ELISA) on serum samples. Results and Discussion: The results showed that 5 cases (3.67%) were WNV – positive namely IgM that was detected in winter and spring seasons, the most prevalent antibodies of WNV were IgG namely 75 cases (55.14%). Most common symptoms were fever, headache, fatigue, weakness, arthralgia, myalgia and photophobia. The treatment based on the intravenous therapy (IV) with anti-pyritic, plasma in some cases and all cases were recovered while mortality rate was 00%. Conclusion: WNV was detected in Hodeidah which placed in Tehama "western Yemen", as first time by our preliminary study that confirmed the evidence of WNV IgM and IG antibodies presence on 2017, in order to increase safety of diagnosis of febrile diseases, it is essential to continue surveillance of this emerging infection, suggesting that this emergence has been transported by migratory birds from wintering areas to Tehama region.
MORPHOAGRONOMIC CHARACTERIZATION OF TOMATO LINES ( Solanum lycopersicum L . ) RESISTANT TO BEGOMOVIRUS

RESUMEN. El presente trabajo se realizó con el objetivo de caracterizar morfoagronómicamente la variabilidad fenotípica existente en 16 cultivares de tomate, de ellos 15 son cultivares con resistencia a begomovirus procedentes de Taiwán y el análisis del comportamiento de estos cultivares ante el aislado viral circulante en Cuba. Para ello se evaluaron 20 caracteres morfoagronómicos relacionados con la planta, el fruto y las fases fenológicas del cultivo. Se estudió asimismo, la resistencia a begomovirus, mediante la evaluación de la severidad de la enfermedad provocada por la infección de TYLCV-IL en condiciones no controladas. Se pudo detectar la existencia de variabilidad genética dentro de la colección en cuanto a características morfoagronómicas, lo que permitió agrupar a los cultivares en cuatro grupos fundamentales. A excepción del control susceptible, los cultivares evaluados fueron asintomáticos ante el virus, lo que confirma las perspectivas de su utilización en los programas de mejoramiento del cultivo para la obtención de híbridos y nuevos cultivares resistentes a begomovirus. ABSTRACT. The present work was developed to evaluate the in order to characterize morphoagronomically the phenotypic variability in 16 tomato cultivars, including 15 cultivars are resistant to begomovirus from Taiwan and the analysis of these cultivars to the circulating virus isolated in Cuba. For this, 20 morphoagronomic characters related to the plant were evaluated, the fruit and the phonological stages. In addition, begomovirus resistance was evaluated by the severity of the disease caused by infection of TYLCV-IL under uncontrolled conditions. For the morphoagronomic viewpoint, a phenotypical variability regarding morphoagronomic characteristic was detected, grouping the cultivars into four main groups. Except for the susceptible control, all the evaluated cultivars were asymptomatic to the virus, confirming the prospects for their use in plant breeding programs for obtaining new hybrids and cultivars resistant to begomovirus.
Gender Dynamics in Academic Networks - a Narrative Review

Progress towards gender balance among senior faculty in Danish academia remains slow. Although networks are widely recognized as key to career success, studies on the influence of gender on network dynamics and career advancement in academia are scarce. Until now, scholarship has engaged with the topic of gender and networks in organizations through two co-existing, while unrelated, streams of research, namely the social networks literature and the gendering networks literature. In this narrative review, we ask the following question: What characterizes the social networks literature and the gendering networks literature, and how can they inform each other and advance our understanding of gender dynamics in academic networks? We outline the main findings from the two literatures and discuss the potentials of combining different theoretical perspectives for understanding gender and networks in Danish academia. More specifically, we argue that the social networks literature maps the network structures of men and women, while the gendering networks literature takes us on a journey through these structures. This paper constitutes the first step of a research project entitled Gender and Networks in EarlyCareer Academic Advancement.
The effects of age and sex on mechanical ventilatory constraint and dyspnea during 1 exercise in healthy humans 2 3

The effects of age and sex on mechanical ventilatory constraint and dyspnea during 1 exercise in healthy humans 2 3 Yannick Molgat-Seon, Paolo B Dominelli, Andrew H Ramsook, Michele R Schaeffer, 4 Stéfan Molgat Sereacki, Glen E Foster, Lee M Romer, Jeremy D Road, Jordan A Guenette, 5 and A William Sheel 6 7 School of Kinesiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. 8 Centre for Heart and Lung Innovation, St. Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver, Canada. 9 Division of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, 10 Canada. 11 Centre for Heart, Lung, and Vascular Health, School of Health and Exercise Science, University 12 of British Columbia, Kelowna, Canada. 13 Centre for Human Performance, Exercise and Rehabilitation, College of Health and Life 14 Sciences, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, UK. 15 Division of Respiratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, 16 Vancouver, Canada. 17 18 Running Head: Age and sex differences in respiratory mechanics and dyspnea 19 20 21 Corresponding Author: Yannick Molgat-Seon 22 6108 Thunderbird Blvd 23 Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6T 1Z3 24 E-mail: yannick.molgat-seon@hli.ubc. ca 25 Phone: (604) 822-4384 26 Fax: (604) 822-9451 27
Influence of soil water availability on competition among leafy spurge ( Euphorbia esula ) and grasses

Some perturbations differentially influence invasive plant and grass production. For example, growth regulator herbicides and biological control agents can dramatically reduce leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula) production while having little or no influence on grass production, and overgrazing can reduce grass production while not substantially influencing leafy spurge production because cattle typically ingest little or no leafy spurge. To predict how grass production will respond to a perturbation that influences only leafy spurge and to predict how leafy spurge production will respond to a perturbation that affects only grasses, competitive relationships must be understood. Sowing mixtures of leafy spurge and 2 grasses (Poa pratensis and Agropyron smithii [Elymus smithii]) were planted in experiments and grown for 127 days to determine whether different water application regimes influenced competition among these 3 species. Competition became less intense as the number of water applications increased. If this finding holds true under field conditions, then it indicates that competition is less intense in years and locations with numerous precipitation events. Competitive interactions (i.e., competition coefficients) were less variable when water was applied more frequently, but the ability of models to account for variation in plant weight (i.e., r2) was not influenced by the frequency of water application. This suggests that models will predict invasive plant and grass biomass with equal accuracy in years with few or many precipitation events. Competitive effects were similar regardless of grass species, which suggests that grasses might be considered collectively in predicting response to perturbations in the field.
Prescriptive Approaches in Performance-Based Design? A Case-Study on Base Isolation

The collapse performance of code-designed base-isolated structures has recently received considerable criticism, having been found to be deficient vis-à-vis conventional buildings in several situations. As a remedy, prescriptive minima with a tenuous probabilistic justification have been recommended in the literature for the bearing deformation capacity. These are independent of structure or site characteristics, yet they are already finding use in design. We put this concept to the test by means of a case study of a seismically isolated steel structure that rests on the roof of two adjacent high-rise reinforced concrete towers. To seismically isolate the steel structure, Friction Pendulum Bearings (FPBs) are used, and their displacement capacity is determined to comply with a performance objective of 1% probability of collapse in 50 years. The case study possesses two salient features that distinguish it from pertinent past investigations. The first is that the isolated steel structure rests on top of two others and consequently it is subjected to narrow-band roof acceleration time histories, shaped by the filtering of the ground motion excitation through the supporting buildings. The second is that the two supporting towers have different modal characteristics, thus displacement demands imposed to the FPBs are mainly affected by their in-phase or out-of-phase movement. Overall, a case-specific true performance-based design is shown to achieve the desired safety while requiring 1.5 times lower displacement capacities for the bearings, when compared to prescriptive “performance-based” approaches.
Rotavirus infection in under-five children in Jimma Hospital, Southwest Ethiopia

Abstract Background: Rotavirus is the leading etiological agent among the causes of acute diarrhea in infants and young children. However, there is no attempt to indicate its significance in other regions of Ethiopia, out of the capital, Addis Ababa. Objective: This study is aimed at revealing the prevalence of rotavirus infection among infants and young children in Jimma Hospital. Method: A cross-sectional study was designed and a total of 154 children less than 5 years of age, who had acute diarrhea were studied from January 14 to February 19, 2002 at Jimma Hospital, pediatrics out patient department. Result: Rotavirus was detected in 26.6 % (41/154) of fecal specimens collected from children of < 5 years of age with acute diarrhea, tested by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay. Of all cases of rotavirus, 90.2% (37/41) occurred in children < 2 years of age. The highest rate of Rotavirus Antigen detection was observed among the 7 to 12 months of age group (34%). Children infected with rotavirus were more likely to have watery stool (90.2% Vs 43.4%), vomiting (31.7% Vs 15.9%) and some (moderate) dehydration (31.7% Vs 12.4%) with P<0.05 than without rotavirus infection. No sociodemographic factors were found to be significantly associated with rotavirus infection among the studied subjects. Conclusion: Rotavirus has been observed as the cause of acute diarrhea among children of < 5 years of age. To our knowledge, this is the first report on prevalence of rotavirus infection among children of Jimma, Southwest, Ethiopia. Therefore, based on this preliminary data further work is needed for a better understanding of rotavirus diarrhea and its impact among children of the region. [Ethiop.J.Health Dev. 2004;18(1):19-24]
Supplementary material to "Three-Dimensional Reconstruction of Ocean Circulation from
Coastal Marine Observations: Challenges and Methods"

Monitoring and investigating the dynamics of coastal currents is crucial for the development of environmentally sustainable coastal activities, in order to preserve marine ecosystems as well as to support marine and navigation safety. This 15 need is driving the set-up of a growing number of multiplatform operational observing systems, aiming to the continuous monitoring of the coastal ocean. A significant percent of the existing observatories is today equipped with land-based High Frequency Radars (HFR), which provide real-time currents with unprecedent coverage and resolution, limited however, to the surface layer. The combination of data from HFR with complementary data from in-situ platforms providing information of the currents at subsurface layers (ADCP moorings) is investigated here to reconstruct the 3D current velocity field from in20 situ observations. For this purpose, two methods based on different approaches are used. On the one hand, the Reduced Order Optimal Interpolation which is fed, in this case, with a spatial covariance matrix extracted from a realistic numerical oceanic simulation; and on the other hand, the Discrete Cosine Transform Penalized Least Square, which is a data gap-filling method based on penalized least squares regression that balances fidelity to the data and smoothness of the solution. As a proof of concept, we test the methods’ skills by using emulated observations of currents, extracted from a numerical 25 simulation (3D reference field). The test set-up emulates the real observatory scenario in the study area (south-eastern Bay of Biscay), which includes a long-range HFR and two ADCP moorings inside the HFR footprint area. Then, the reconstructed fields (outputs of the methods) are compared with the 3D reference fields. In general, the results show satisfactory 3D reconstructions with mean spatial (for each depth level) errors between 0.55–10.94 cm s for the first 150 m depth. The methods perform better in well sampled areas, and although different performances between the methods are observed, both 30 show promising skills for the computation of new operational products integrating complementary observations, broadening the applications of in-situ observational data. https://doi.org/10.5194/os-2019-105 Preprint. Discussion started: 1 October 2019 c © Author(s) 2019. CC BY 4.0 License.
DIVIDEND DECISIONS OF UK FIRMS: WHAT DO WE REALLY KNOW? by Ciaran Driver Department of Financial and Management Studies, SOAS, University of London

The literature on dividend pay-out is both crowded and relatively homogenous, generally aimed at bridging the gap between an abstract world of dividend irrelevance and the observed practice of firms that pay stable dividends. Research on dividends needs to be empirically focused because the opportunity cost of paying dividends is hard to define, let alone measure. Our methodological approach in this paper is to employ appropriate estimation techniques for dividend equations, something that is often neglected. We pay attention to issues such as choice of estimator, the inclusion of a lagged dependent variable, the stability of the coefficients over time, the robustness to different datasets, and the issue of sample selection. We identify from the literature five theoretical perspectives, namely substitution between sources and uses of funds, signaling and dividend smoothing, agency, catering to investors, and idiosyncrasies. We argue that the theoretical literature is not sufficiently discriminating to support tightly defined hypotheses but is nevertheless a useful starting point for empirical work, a view that is consistent with the ambiguous findings in previous empirical studies. Our results are consistent with the Lintner model and they support the role of investment opportunity as captured by the market to book ratio. The importance to dividends of asset growth and leverage depends on which of two datasets we use, on estimation method, and on the time period; the paper uses these contrasts to suggest interpretations and future avenues for research.
Computer Simulation of Armed Mobile Platform Group Swarming *

* This work has been done within the project ‘Cost Effective Selection of New Technologies and Concepts of Defense Through Social Reforms and Strategic Orientations of Serbia in 21st Century’, supported in part by the Ministry of Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia under Project No. III-47029. AbstractThe research of swarming – the tactics which has more and more been taken into account in modern combat activities conceptualizing – is underway. Adaptation of armoured and mechanized units for swarming could be the best investment in technically inferior armies’ modernization. Brief survey of the so far research and the results of experiments simulating swarming of the group of armed mobile platforms, defending territory from numerically and technically superior adversary unit, have been considered in the paper.
Evaluation of Foliar Fungicides for Management of Powdery Mildew Disease of Sesamum

Powdery mildew is a devastating disease of sesamum caused by many species of fungi, which occurs in epidemic scale in areas of high rainfall and humidity coupled with low night temperature. Sesamum powdery mildew causes yield losses up to 25-50% due to defoliation. Hence, study was undertaken to test the efficacy of foliar fungicides to manage the powdery mildew disease of sesamum. Seven fungicides viz., sulphur 80WP, difenoconazole 25EC, hexaconazole 5EC, tebuconazole 250EC, myclobutanil 10WP, dinocap 48EC and potassium bicarbonate were evaluated for efficacy on powdery mildew of sesamum. Spraying was undertaken on appearance of powdery mildew disease symptoms on sesamum plants. All the fungicides resulted in significant decrease in powdery mildew disease intensity. Fungicide difenoconazole was found superior over other fungicides in reducing the per cent disease intensity followed by the treatment of hexaconazole, tebuconazole and myclobutanil. Maximum per cent disease control was recorded in the plots protected with difenoconazole (73.7%) which was at par with hexaconazole (67.3%) followed by tebuconazole (58.0%) and myclobutanil (50.4%). The fungicidal treatments also resulted in the increase in sesamum yield. Treatment with difenconazole resulted in maximum yield (605.8 kg ha) which was at par with the treatments of hexaconazole (551.1 kg ha) and tebuconazole (507.1 kg ha). The sterol biosynthesis inhibiting (triazole group) fungicides were found more effective over others in management of powdery mildew disease of sesamum.
Growth differentiation factor 15 and arterial remodeling in adult patients after succesful repair of aortic coarctation (RCD code: IV-5.A.1)

Background: Coarctation of aorta (CoAo) is a congenital heart anomaly associated with high cardiovascular morbidity and mortality attributable to vascular remodeling in adult survivors following surgical management of aortic stenosis. This study sought to adjudicate the significance of novel stress-responsive biomarker, growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15), as an indicator of vascular remodeling and its correlation with numerous laboratory and vascular parameters in patients after successful CoAo repair. Methods and results: This research is a case-control study comprising 33 consecutive patients (19 men, 57.58%; mean age 33.9 ±9.3 years; mean age at surgery: 9.1 ±7 years; mean follow-up duration 24.8 ±6.8 years) admitted to outpatient clinic for routine follow-up after repair of CoAo (mainly Dacron patch technique) and matched with 20 healthy controls (10 men, 50%; mean age 34.8 ±9.9 years). Laboratory (GDF-15, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein) and vascular parameters (intima-media thickness, flow- and nitrate-mediated dilation, pulse-wave velocity, central arterial pressure) were assessed. Significant aortic residual gradient was present in 24 (72.7%). The circulating GDF-15 level was lower in CoAo survivors than in control group (539.56 vs. 744.98 pg/ml respectively; p < 0.001). GDF-15 concentration <550 pg/ml successfully differentiated patients after CoA repair (odds ratio [OR] = 9.2; 95%CI: 2.45–34.56, p = 0.0005). There was no difference in GDF-15 level depending on the presence of significant residual gradient (p = 0.19). No significant correlation between GDF-15 and other variables was observed. Conclusions: Low concentration of GDF-15 is characteristic of asymptomatic patients following CoAo repair, however, its clinical significance and relationship with vascular remodeling substantiates further investigation. JRCD 2013 ; 1 (2): 5–12 Key words: coarctation of aorta, GDF-15, growth differentiation factor 15, vascular remodeling
Improving Portfolio Selection Using Option-Implied Moments

This paper proposes a forward-looking approach to estimate individual stock moments from option prices, including option-implied mean, volatility, beta, and covariance, and uses these inputs to determine optimal portfolios. We find that using forward-looking information to form optimal portfolios leads to a significant improvement in out-of-sample performance. In particular, its superiority is largely due to the use of forward-looking mean. We also show that options can improve asset allocation performance when they serve as a class of investment asset. * Department of Finance, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 106, Taiwan. Tel: 886-2-3366-1100. Email: d99723002@ntu.edu.tw.  Department of Finance, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 106, Taiwan. Tel: 886-2-3366-1084. Email: chungs@management.ntu.edu.tw.  Department of Finance, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 106, Taiwan. Tel: 886-2-3366-1092. Email: wangyh@ntu.edu.tw. We thank the Ministry of Technology of Taiwan for financial support.
Effects of Pyrene on Human Liver HepG2 Cells: Cytotoxicity, Oxidative Stress, and Transcriptomic Changes in Xenobiotic Metabolizing Enzymes and Inflammatory Markers with Protection Trial Using Lycopene

Pyrene is one of the major polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons formed during heat treatment of meat and in car exhausts; however, few studies have investigated pyrene-induced adverse effects on human cell lines. This study aimed at the investigation of pyrene-induced cytotoxicity and oxidative damage in human liver HepG2 cells at environmentally relevant concentrations. Pyrene-induced changes in mRNA expression of xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes (XMEs), xenobiotic transporters, antioxidant enzymes, and inflammatory markers were investigated using real-time PCR. As a protection trial, the ameliorative effects of lycopene, a carotenoid abundantly found in tomato, were investigated. The possible mechanisms behind such effects were examined via studying the co exposure effects of pyrene and lycopene on regulatory elements including the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (Air) and elytroid 2-related factor 2 (RF). The achieved results indicated that pyrene caused significant cytotoxicity at 50 n, with a clear production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in a dose-dependent manner. Pyrene upregulated mRNA expression of phase I enzymes including CYP1A1, 1A2, and CYP1B1 and inflammatory markers including TNFα and Cox2. However, pyrene significantly downregulated phase II enzymes, xenobiotic transporters, and antioxidant enzymes. Interestingly, lycopene significantly reduced pyrene-induced cytotoxicity and ROS production. Moreover, lycopene upregulated detoxification and antioxidant enzymes, probably via its regulatory effects on Air- and RF-dependent pathways.