Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dietary phytoestrogens and esophageal cancer

Esophageal cancer is the eighth most common invasive cancer in the world, a cancer with an increasing incidence and male predominance, and there is a great need for potential dietary prevention. The overall aim of this thesis was to evaluate whether the dietary phytoestrogens lignans might play a protective role in the etiology of esophageal cancer, including gastroesophageal junctional adenocarcinoma. In Paper I, we examined the association between intake of dietary lignans based on a 63-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and risk of esophageal cancer in a Swedish nationwide population-based case-control study conducted in 1995-1997. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Participants in the highest quartile of lignan intake compared with the lowest quartile showed a decreased risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma (OR=0.65; 95% CI: 0.38-1.12) and gastroesophageal junctional adenocarcinoma (OR=0.37; 95% CI: 0.23-0.58), while no clear associations were found for esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma. In Paper II, we validated the use of two FFQs (the 67-item FFQ-87 and the 93-item FFQ-97) for the assessment of dietary lignans compared to the serum biomarker enterolactone, the main metabolite of dietary lignans in the human body. Based on the FFQ-97, the correlation between lignan intake and serum enterolactone was significant, but the value of the correlation coefficient was small (r=0.22, p=0.01). No significant correlation was observed for the FFQ-87. In Paper III, we further evaluated the possible association between lignan intake based on the FFQ-97 and risk of esophageal and gastric adenocarcinoma using a prospective study design. Among 81,670 participants who were followed up during 1998-2009, hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs were calculated. No statistically significantly decreased risk was found. Compared with the lowest quartile of lignan intake, the adjusted HRs of the highest quartile were 0.96 (95% CI: 0.46-2.00) for esophageal and gastroesophageal junctional adenocarcinoma, and 0.89 (95% CI: 0.52-1.55) for gastric adenocarcinoma. In Paper IV, we defined a dietary pattern characterized by dietary intake of lignans, quercetin and resveratrol, the three common phytochemicals with estrogenic properties, in a Swedish population-based case-control study. A decreased risk of esophageal cancer was found among individuals with a high dietary intake of these three phytochemicals. Comparing the highest quintile of food pattern score with the lowest quintile, the adjusted ORs were 0.24 (95% CI: 0.12-0.49) for esophageal adenocarcinoma, 0.31 (95% CI: 0.15-0.65) for esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma, and 0.49 (95% CI: 0.28-0.84) for gastroesophageal junctional adenocarcinoma. In conclusion, a high dietary intake of phytoestrogens, typically lignans, might decrease the risk of adenocarcinoma of esophagus and gastroesophageal junction. The FFQ-97 can be used to assess lignan exposure, and a dietary pattern characterized by a…
The Use of Quartz as an Internal Pressure Standard in High-Pressure Crystallography

The unit-cell parameters of quartz, SiO2, have been determined by single-crystal diffraction at 22 pressures to a maximum pressure of 8.9 GPa (at room temperature) with an average precision of 1 part in 9000. Pressure was determined by the measurement of the unit-cell volume of CaF2 fluorite included in the diamond-anvil pressure cell. The variation of quartz unit-cell parameters with pressure is described by: a −4.91300 (11) = −0.0468 (2) P + 0.00256 (7) P2 − 0.000094 (6) P3, c − 5.40482 (17) = − 0.03851 (2) P + 0.00305 (7) P2 − 0.000121 (6) P3, where P is in GPa and the cell parameters are in angstroms. The volume–pressure data of quartz are described by a Birch–Murnaghan third-order equation of state with parameters V0 = 112.981 (2) a3, KT0 = 37.12 (9) GPa and K′ = 5.99 (4). Refinement of K′′ in a fourth-order equation of state yielded a value not significantly different from the value implied by the third-order equation. The use of oriented quartz single crystals is proposed as an improved internal pressure standard for high-pressure single-crystal diffraction experiments in diamond-anvil cells. A measurement precision of 1 part in 10 000 in the volume of quartz leads to a precision in pressure measurement of 0.009 GPa at 9 GPa.
Research on Classification of Fiber Intrusion Signal Based on Supported Vector Machines

The widely use of optical fiber gives rise to the need of its protection and intrusion detection. An optical fiber system in which the optical path satisfies the structure of sagnac loop can easily form a distributed fiber senor. With the photo-elastic effect, when intrusion happens, there will be optical signals created in the fiber, and with optical and electrical methods, one can get the intrusion related signals for analysis. After obtaining the signals, we use differential phrase demodulation method to demodulate the signals. With the demodulated signals, the feature vector of the signals can be extracted through time-frequency analysis. Then, supported vector machine (SVM) is used to classify 3 different types of intrusion. For better accuracy of classification, we use wavelet de-noising to do the noise elimination. Field experiments showed that the system is reliable and of good accuracy. Keywords-fiber sensor; differential phrase demodulation; supported vector machine; Time-Frequency analysis; wavelet de-noising.
DETERMINANTS OF DIVIDEND POLICY IN KENYA WASIKE

Successful companies earn income. This income can be invested in operating assets, used to acquire securities, used to retire debt, or distributed to shareholders. The income distributed to shareholders is the dividend. Issues that arise if a company decides to distribute its income to shareholders include the proportion to which such income would be distributed to shareholders; whether the distribution should be as cash dividends, or the cash be passed on to shareholders by buying back some shares; and how stable the distribution should be. Much controversy surrounds dividends policy as there seems understand it. Since then, the amount of theoretical and empirical research on dividend policy has increased dramatically. This paper sought to address this problem by investigating the determinants of dividend policy in Kenya. It‟s used panel regressions techniques to analyse the data of all listed 60 (sixty) companies at Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) for the period 2004-2014. The results show positive relationships between dividend policy and profitability, cash flow, and tax. The results also show negative associations between dividend policy and risk, institutional holding, growth and market-to-book value. However, the significant variables in the results are profitability, cash flow, sale growth and market-to-book value.
SplineNet: B-spline neural network for efficient classification of 3D data

Advancement in the field of 3D capture, owing to use of consumer depth sensors, has reinvigorated the research interest for scalable shape classification and recognition algorithms. Majority of recent deep learning pipelines for 3D shapes uses volumetric representation, extending the concept of 2D convolution to 3D domain. Nevertheless, the volumetric representation poses a serious computational disadvantage as most of the voxel grids are empty and results in redundant computation. Moreover, a 3D shape is determined by its surface and hence performing convolutions on the voxels inside the shape is sheer wastage of computation. In this paper, we focus on constructing a novel, fast and robust characterization of 3D shapes that accounts for local geometric variations as well as global structure. We built up on the learning scheme of [17] by introducing sets of B-spline surfaces instead of point filters, in order to sense complex geometrical structures (large curvature variations). The locations of these surfaces are initialized over the voxel space and are learned during training phase. We propose SplineNet, a deep network consisting of B-spline surfaces for classification of input 3D data represented in volumetric grid. We derive analytical solutions for updates of B-spline surfaces during back propagation. We show results on publicly available dataset and achieve superior performance as compared to state-of-the-art method.
FINDING THE PASSION TO PERSEVERE: AN EXPLORATION OF THE MECHANISMS BY WHICH PASSION FUELS ENTREPRENEURIAL GRIT

The ability to persevere, to push through setbacks and adversity on the long road to success is often viewed as a hallmark of entrepreneurial success. Perseverance, or grit, is an important component of an overarching complex system of self-governing behaviors commonly referred to as self-regulation. Self-regulation is widely viewed as a crucial factor in the success of the individual in a wide variety of contexts, but at present we know relatively little about how the various component behaviors interact with and reinforce one another. Additionally, research probing how individuals develop self-regulatory behaviors – like grit – is in its infancy. This research seeks to address this gap by investigating the antecedents of grit and finds that passion acts as an indirect antecedent of grit, with its effects mediated by two self-regulatory mechanisms: locomotion and learning goal orientation. Our results also indicate that assessment has a negative relationship with grit. Implications of these findings are then discussed.
Application of a mixed finite element to the analysis of laminated composite

In this paper, a special finite element based on Reissner’s mixed variational principle has been presented to analyze laminated composite. The present element ensures the continuity of stress and displacement vectors at the interface between two materials. The accuracy of the element has been evaluated by comparing the numerical solution with an available analytical solution or numerical ones obtained from others finite elements.
A Dense Companion to the Short-period Millisecond Pulsar Binary PSR J0636+5128

PSR J0636+5128 is a millisecond pulsar in one of the most compact pulsar binaries known, with a 96 minute orbital period. The pulsar mass function suggests a very low mass companion, similar to that seen in so-called “black widow” binaries. Unlike in most of those, however, no radio eclipses by material driven off from the companion were seen leading to the possibility that the companion was a degenerate remnant of a carbon–oxygen white dwarf. We report the discovery of the optical counterpart of its companion in images taken with the Gemini North and Keck I telescopes. The companion varies between r′ = 25 and r′ = 23 on the 96 minute orbital period of the binary, caused by irradiation from the pulsar’s energetic wind. We modeled the multicolor light curve using parallax constraints from pulsar timing and determine a companion mass of (1.71 ± 0.23) × 10−2 M⊙, a radius of (7.6 ± 1.4) × 10−2 R⊙, and a mean density of , all for an assumed neutron star mass of 1.4 M⊙. This makes the companion to PSR J0636+5128 one of the densest of the “black widow” systems. Modeling suggests that the composition is not predominantly hydrogen, perhaps due to an origin in an ultracompact X-ray binary.
Organizational Commitment of Public Accounting Firm, Implementation of an Independent Audit of the Financial Statements and Audit Quality

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate empirically through testing that there are significant organizational commitment of public accounting firm and implementation of an independent audit of financial statements impact on the audit quality. This research is motivated by a phenomenon found yet fully qualified audit, as well as organizational commitment of public accounting firm and Implementation of an Independent Audit of the financial statements are still not fully implemented optimally. The method used in this research is explanatory research. Research analysis unit is Public Accounting Firm (KAP). This study uses Multiple Regression Analysis. The results showed that: (1) organizational commitment of public accounting firm and significant positive effect in the implementation of an independent audit of the financial statements, (2) organizational commitment of public accounting firm and significant positive effect on audit quality, (3) implementation of an independent audit of the financial statements and significant positive effect on audit quality, (4) organizational commitment of public accounting firm and the implementation of an independent audit of the financial statements and significant positive effect on audit quality. Keywords: Organizational Commitment of Public Accounting Firm, Implementation of an Independent Audit of the Financial Statements and Audit Quality.
Seasonal dynamics of aggregates and their typical biocoenosis in the Elbe Estuary

In 1995, an extensive investigation was carried out in the Elbe Estuary in Germany. Special attention was paid to organisms, including bacteria, amoebae, ciliates, flagellates, rotifers, larvae ofDreissena polymorpha, and nematodes, dispersed in the water column and associated firmly or loosely with different types of aggregates. The abundance, size, and colonization by microorganisms of the aggregates varied during the seasons. The largest aggregates were found during spring and summer, when diatoms, rotifers, and crustaceans were present. The most aggregates were encountered in spring and from summer to autumn. Most of the species observed during the study were more common in pelagic habitats than in benthic ones. However, the presence of ciliates in the groups Hypotrichida and Sessilida as well as as flagellates in the groups Biosoecida, Cercomonadida, Choanoflagellida, Chrysomonadida, Kinetoplastida, and amoebae and some nematodes in the open water depends, upon the availability of surfaces, because they are sessile or poor swimnters, and some flagellates and amoebae need to attach themselves to an object to feed. Most organisms were much more abundant in or on aggregates than in the surrounding water during spring and summer, which indicates that aggregates enhance the habitat and promote the development of the organisms. From spring through autumn, the structure of the community associated with the aggregates is influenced by the pelagic environment. The presence of the species in the benthic community was detected only during summer.
Catching a Cold: A Look at the Expected Contagion Effect of Neighboring Income Inequality

Previous literature relative to income inequality has made available a number of demographic, economic, and policy determinants. This paper, using growth transmission literature as a basis for analysis, develops an argument showing that these results are biased and unreliable due to an omitted variable bias and a model misspecification. The model developed in this paper corrects for the bias by including a missing spatial factor that accounts for a contagion effect experienced by neighboring states. Income inequality is shown to be transmissible through multiple channels and may therefore be combatted only through a concerted group effort, rather than through individual state policy efforts.
Adverse events induced by anti-infectives in hospitalized patients

Introduction. Th e objective of this study was to obtain accurate data about adverse events (AEs) related to antimicrobial therapy, including rate, causality, outcome and circumstances in which they occurred. Methods. Hospitalizised patients undergoing treatment with one or more anti-infective drugs were eligible for the study. Th e main outcome measures were any adverse clinical signs, symptoms or laboratory test abnormalities that had likely been induced by an anti-infective agent. Th e seriousness and causality of the AEs were classifi ed on the basis of WHO recommendations and compared with results from the Naranjo Probability Scale, European Causality Categories (ABO system) and French Imputation System assessments. Results. During the 6-month study period, 421 patients (72.84%) received at least one anti-infective drug. Th irtyone patients (7.36%) were found to have anti-infectiveinduced AEs. Anti-tuberculosis agents caused the highest percentage of AEs (38.7%) during the period of observation. Th e majority of AEs presented as disorders of the gastrointestinal tract (41.9%). Conclusion. AEs in females tend to last longer than in males. Males have a greater risk of experiencing AEs caused by fluoroquinolones (e.g., ciprofloxacin), while female patients have a greater risk of experiencing AEs caused by anti-tuberculosis agents. The incidence of AEs in inpatients receiving anti-infectives in our study (7.36%) is within the range reported from other studies. There is a great need for the development of new causality assessment scales that have better sensitivity and specificity.
AGRICULTURAL VIABILITY AT THE URBAN FRINGE

Enhancing the viability of agriculture is a critical agricultural policy objective at the urban fringe. Using New Jersey as a case study, this paper investigates the factors that contribute to the viability of urban fringe farms via a cash flow model. Results indicate that viability is directly related to gross sales and the extent to which a farmer grows higher valued crops, but is inversely related to indebtedness and farm asset value. Contrary to popular beliefs, off-farm income and revenues from land sale do not affect viability. Vegetable farms are less viable, ceteris paribus. Findings suggest positive returns to formal education and an inverse relationship between operator age and farm viability. Farmers utilizing cooperative extension and related services and those adopting innovative marketing approaches exhibit significantly greater viability. Surprisingly, those that have adopted various innovative production practices appear less viable in the short-run. Local right to farm ordinances aimed at protecting farmers are largely ineffective, while right to farm conflicts significantly reduce the viability of farms. Given the trends in farming at the urban fringe, the results suggest the importance of farmland preservation and the encouragement of intensive high-value agriculture.
Detection of Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes Infected with Dengue Virus as a Complementary Method for Increasing the Sensitivity of Surveillance: Identification of Serotypes 1, 2, and 4 by RT-PCR in Quintana Roo, Mexico

Abstract. Sensitivity of monitoring Aedes aegypti (L.) populations was determined to identify the distribution of dengue virus (DENV) during epidemics in Quintana Roo. From September to November 2012, we used a motorized aspirator to collect 2,144 female Ae. aegypti from 569 homes. These were grouped into 220 to use semi-nested RT-PCR for DENV, and positive groups were analyzed individually. Five groups (2.27%) were positive for DENV. Individual analysis yielded eight groups that tested positive, six with DENV-2, one DENV-1, and one DENV-4. The latter was not reported by the surveillance system that year. The mean number of female mosquitoes per household was 3.77 ± 5.71, and the rate of viral infection of Ae. aegypti was 0.4%. Most infected mosquitoes (49%) were concentrated in 10% of the houses. Monitoring Ae. aegypti infected with DENV has the potential to complement the current system of clinical and entomological surveillance.
Fabrication and characterization of freestanding GaAs/AlGaAs core-shell nanowires and AlGaAs nanotubes by using selective-area metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy

We fabricated GaAs∕AlGaAs core-shell nanowires by using selective-area metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. First, GaAs nanowires were selectively grown on partially masked GaAs (111)B substrates; then AlGaAs was grown to form freestanding heterostructured nanowires. Investigation of nanowire diameter as a function of AlGaAs growth time suggested that the AlGaAs was grown on the sidewalls of the GaAs nanowires, forming GaAs∕AlGaAs core-shell structures. Microphotoluminescence measurements of GaAs and GaAs∕AlGaAs core-shell nanowires reveal an enhancement of photoluminescence intensity in GaAs∕AlGaAs core-shell structures. Based on these core-shell nanowires, AlGaAs nanotubes were formed by using anisotropic dry etching and wet chemical preferential etching to confirm the formation of a core-shell structure and to explore a new class of materials.
A probabilistic formulation of bed load transport to include spatial variability of flow and surface grain size distributions

Bed load fluxes are typically calculated as a function of the reach averaged boundary shear stress and a representative bed grain size distribution. In steep, rough channels, heterogeneous bed surface texture and macro‐roughness elements cause significant local deviations from the mean shear stress but this variability is often omitted in bed load calculations. Here we present a probabilistic bed load transport formulation that explicitly includes local variations in the flow field and grain size distribution. The model is then tested in a 10% gradient stream, to evaluate its predictive capability and to explore relations between surface grain size sorting and boundary shear stress. The boundary shear stress field, calculated using a quasi‐3D hydraulic model, displayed substantial variability between patch classes, but the patch mean dimensionless shear stress varied inversely with patch median grain size. We developed an empirical relation between the applied shear stress on each patch class and the reach averaged shear stress and median grain size. Predicted sediment volumes using this relation in our bed load equation were as accurate as those using complete shear stress distributions and more accurate than current bed load transport equations. Our results suggest that when spatially variable grain size distributions (e.g., patches of sediment) are present they must be explicitly included in bed load transport calculations. Spatial variability in shear stress was relatively more important than grain size variations for sediment transport predictions.
Advantages of an LQR Controller for Stick-Slip and Bit-Bounce Mitigation in an Oilwell Drillstring

Failure of oilwell drillstrings is very costly in terms of money and time. There are many reasons for drillstring failure, such as vibration, fatigue, and buckling. Stick-slip vibration has received considerable attention in recent years with increasing use of polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bits in harder formations, and has motivated extensive research on this type of drillstring vibration. This paper addresses the advantages of a linear quadratic regulator (LQR) controller, compared to a spring-damper isolator, for stick-slip and bit-bounce mitigation in an oilwell drillstring. A bond graph model of a drillstring has been used for simulation that predicts axial vibration, torsional vibration, and coupling between axial and torsional vibration due to bit-rock interaction.Copyright © 2012 by ASME