Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spatial and temporal dynamics of Meloidogyne minor on creeping bentgrass in golf greens

Meloidogyne minor , ﬁrst reported on potatoes in the Netherlands in 2004, is an emerging nematode pest in Europe. It damages turfgrass, particularly creeping bentgrass ( Agrostis stolonifera ) grown on sandy soils such as those of golf greens. However, little is known of the nematode’s life history and pathology. In this study, the spatial and temporal distribution of M. minor on a creeping bentgrass green in Ireland was determined over a 15 month period. Cores were taken on transects across yellowing patches of grass caused by nematode damage. Second-stage juveniles (J2) were absent from the soil from November to February, when soil temperatures were below 10 ° C. Both galls and egg masses were present throughout the year but were more abundant in late summer and early autumn. More J2, galls and egg masses were present in the top 10 cm of soil than at a depth of 11 – 20 cm. The nematode population tended to decrease as distance from the centre of the yellow patches increased. The diameter of visual symptoms (yellow patches) was also recorded over the 15 months. The mean diameter of ﬁve sampled patches increased from 23 (cid:1) 7 cm in June 2003 to 45 (cid:1) 2 cm in August 2004. There were 158 – 193 galls per 100 cm 3 soil at the margin of the visible infested area, indicating that this could be the threshold level for visible symptoms.
Throughput/Area-efficient ECC Processor Using Montgomery Point Multiplication on FPGA

High throughput while maintaining low resource is a key issue for elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) hardware implementations in many applications. In this brief, an ECC processor architecture over Galois fields is presented, which achieves the best reported throughput/area performance on field-programmable gate array (FPGA) to date. A novel segmented pipelining digit serial multiplier is developed to speed up ECC point multiplication. To achieve low latency, a new combined algorithm is developed for point addition and point doubling with careful scheduling. A compact and flexible distributed-RAM-based memory unit design is developed to increase speed while keeping area low. Further optimizations were made via timing constraints and logic level modifications at the implementation level. The proposed architecture is implemented on Virtex4 (V4), Virtex5 (V5), and Virtex7 (V7) FPGA technologies and, respectively, achieved throughout/slice figures of 19.65, 65.30, and 64.48 (106/(Seconds × Slices)).
Assessment of Utilization of Postnatal Care Services in Tertiary Care Center of Delhi Dr

Objective: To assess the utilization of postnatal care services in tertiary care center of Delhi. Design: Retrospective hospital data based study. Sitting: Postnatal clinic in department of obstetrics and gynecology at UCMS & GTB Hospital,Delhi. Sample: Total attendance of postnatal women in postnatal clinic were analysed in department of obstetrics and gynecology at UCMS &GTB Hospital, Delhi, from April 2011 to June 2012 in duration of 15 months. Total 1484 women were received postnatal care services after discharge from same institute in this duration of 15 months. Result: Only 9.3% of women received postnatal care after discharge from same institute. Amongst them majority were educated (82%) and primipara (57.7%). After utilization of postnatal care services majority (96.1%) were accepted the contraceptive methods and majority of women (89.4%) were continuing exclusive breast feeding to their babies. Conclusion: The study shows unacceptably low utilization of postnatal care services. It shows the coverage of postnatal care services are inadequate, especially in India. This is an important message to health service providers and policy makers to strengthening not only antenatal health services and institutional deliveries but also postnatal care services to reduce maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality.
Hierarchical structures induce long-range dynamical correlations in written texts.

Thoughts and ideas are multidimensional and often concurrent, yet they can be expressed surprisingly well sequentially by the translation into language. This reduction of dimensions occurs naturally but requires memory and necessitates the existence of correlations, e.g., in written text. However, correlations in word appearance decay quickly, while previous observations of long-range correlations using random walk approaches yield little insight on memory or on semantic context. Instead, we study combinations of words that a reader is exposed to within a "window of attention," spanning about 100 words. We define a vector space of such word combinations by looking at words that co-occur within the window of attention, and analyze its structure. Singular value decomposition of the co-occurrence matrix identifies a basis whose vectors correspond to specific topics, or "concepts" that are relevant to the text. As the reader follows a text, the "vector of attention" traces out a trajectory of directions in this "concept space. " We find that memory of the direction is retained over long times, forming power-law correlations. The appearance of power laws hints at the existence of an underlying hierarchical network. Indeed, imposing a hierarchy similar to that defined by volumes, chapters, paragraphs, etc. succeeds in creating correlations in a surrogate random text that are identical to those of the original text. We conclude that hierarchical structures in text serve to create long-range correlations, and use the reader's memory in reenacting some of the multidimensionality of the thoughts being expressed.
The veracious counting bloom filter

: Counting Bloom Filters (CBFs) are widely employed in many applications for fast membership queries. CBF works on dynamic sets rather than a static set via item insertions and deletions. CBF allows false positive, but not false negative. The B h -Counting Bloom Filter (B h -CBF) and Variable Increment Counting Bloom Filter (VI-CBF) are introduced to reduce the False Positive Probability (FPP), but they suffer from memory overhead and hardware complexity. In this paper, we proposed a multilevel optimization approach named as Veracious B h -Counting Bloom Filter (VB h -CBF) and Veracious Variable Increment Counting Bloom Filter (VVI-CBF) by partitioning the counter vector into multiple levels to reduce the FPP and to limit the memory requirement. The experiment result shows that the FPP and total memory size are reduced by 65.4%, 67.74% and 20.26% , 41.29% respectively compared to basic B h - CBF and VI-CBF .
Returns to Scale in the U. S. Life Insurance Industry

This study explores the average cost relationship between life insurers and each of ten insurer characteristics. The data used are drawn from 90 insurers with more than half the life insurance in force with U.S. insurers. Evidence shows that the following independent variables are significant in producing economies of scale, premium income, new business ratio, proportion of whole life business, and size of insurer (i.e., giant mutual insurers). This study seeks evidence of economies of scale for a sample of 90 U.S. insurers. Data are obtained from the 1977 Life Insurance Superintendent's Report for the New York State Insurance Department. The Statistical Tables give data for 1976. The plan of this paper is to present a brief survey of the existing research and literature on this subject, to discuss the implications of estimating cost curves from life insurance data, to examine the data and the results of the estimated cost curves, and to offer a brief conclusion. The New York tables contain data for 67 New York life insurers, 52 from other states, and 2 from Canada. The gross premium income of these insurers less reinsurance is $39.24 billion compared with total U.S. gross premium income less reinsurance in 1976 of $66.38 billion. Therefore, these data represent 59 percent of the total life premium income. However, some of these insurers must be excluded from the sample in order to obtain a clearer picture of the economies of scale in the life insurance industry. The result is that the remaining insurers in the sample have an income of $34.8 1 billion, or 52.5 percent of the total rather than 59 percent. Recent Literature and Research on Economics of Scale Among Life Insurers Geehan [4] estimates a long-run average cost curve for the Canadian life insurance industry using an efficiency measure based on a weighted sum of activities. He argues that previous studies of returns to scale have used biased proxies for measurement of expenses which have lead to exaggerated estiPeter Praetz, Ph.D., F.I. A. , is Professor of Finance and Econometrics, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, 3168, Australia. Dr. Praetz was on leave at the Graduate School of Management, University of Rochester, when this study was made. Particular thanks are due to S. Travis Pritchett, who offered many helpful comments on an earlier draft of this article.
Injection drug users in the United States, 1979-2002: an aging population.

BACKGROUND Injection drug use (IDU) is important in the epidemiology of blood-borne pathogens. Herein, trends in IDU from 1979 to 2002 are analyzed. METHODS The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse is an ongoing survey of drug use among the US population 12 years and older. Participants were chosen using a multistage sampling design and interviewed by written questionnaire (1979-1998) or audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (1999-2002). Herein, we examine the prevalence of a history of IDU at any time in the past (IDU-ever) or within the past year. RESULTS In the 2000-2002 surveys, 1.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.4%-1.6%) reported IDU-ever (weighted estimate, 3.4 million persons). Prevalence was highest in persons aged 35 to 49 years (3.1%; 95% CI, 2.8%-3.4%), was higher in men (2.0%; 95% CI, 1.8%-2.2%) than women (1.0%; 95% CI, 0.9%-1.1%), and was higher in whites (1.7%; 95% CI, 1.5%-1.8%) than blacks (0.8%; 95% CI, 0.7%-1.1%) or Hispanics (1.1%; 95% CI, 0.8%-1.4%). Prevalence decreased with increasing annual income and educational level. Of all participants, 0.19% (95% CI, 0.16%-0.23%) reported IDU within the past year (weighted estimate, 440 000 persons). Ten years earlier (1990-1992), 1.6% (95% CI, 1.5%-1.8%) reported IDU-ever; prevalence did not differ by race. From 1979 through 2002, the mean age of participants with IDU within the past year increased from 21 to 36 years; the age of participants with IDU-ever increased from 26 to 42 years. From 2000 to 2002, 59.4% of all persons with IDU-ever were aged 35 to 49 years. CONCLUSIONS The mean age of injection drug users has increased substantially. Persons born between the late 1940s and early 1960s have the highest prevalence of IDU-ever. Self-reported IDU rates are now lower among young blacks than young whites.
Understanding the Tax Gap1

The Tax Gap is defined as the difference between the amount of tax imposed by the Tax Code and the amount that is reported and paid with timely filed returns. For the federal government, the gross tax gap is estimated at $345 billion for Tax Year 2001 (after the collection of late and enforced payments, the net tax gap is estimated at $290 billion for Tax Year 2001). This paper explains the concept of the tax gap, discusses how it is estimated, and points out some limitations with the estimates.
Manufacturing Industry and Economic Growth in Kenya: A Kaldorian Approach

What are the prospects of Kenya's long-term economic growth and development? This paper provides an analytical description of the Kenyan economy by looking at Kenya Vision 2030 with a special focus on underlying structural dimensions. One of the important factors affecting Kenya's development process is the low level of industrial development. Despite opportunities brought about by globalization, industrialization is on the verge of by-passing the country altogether. On the advise of development partners, the country continue to emphasize agriculture development in the conviction that improved agricultural production will lead to growth and reduce poverty as it is the mainstay of the economy. As this paper points out, this is detrimental to the country's growth ambition of attaining industrialization and middle-income status by 2030 as enshrined in Vision. The study recommends emphasizing industrial development against agricultural development as the basis for growth. Policy makers in Kenya ought to promote industrial production at any cost as the only option of realizing sustainable growth contrary to any advice that agriculture is the engine of growth.The paper points out the magnitude of the changes required to catch up with newly industrializing countries that were at par with Kenya like Singapore four decades ago and partnering with industrialized countries should be the leading key factor.
Sequence analysis of the N-acetyltransferase 2 gene (NAT2) among Jordanian volunteers

ABSTRACT The present study aimed to identify the NAT2 haplotypes, linkage disequilibrium, and novel NAT2 genetic variants among Jordanian population. We isolated the genomic DNA from 68 healthy, Arab, unrelated Jordanian volunteers to amplify the protein-coding region of NAT2 gene by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Then, the amplified PCR products were sequenced using Applied Biosystems Model (ABI3730x1). It is found that the allele frequencies of known NAT2 genetic variants 191G>A, 282C>T, 341T>C, 481C>T, 590G>A, and 803A>G were 0.7, 26.5, 48.5, 35.3, 30.9, and 32.4%, respectively. The NAT2 allele frequencies were generally similar to those of white Europeans but different from those of Asian and African populations. The most common NAT2 haplotype was NAT2*5B with a frequency of 29.3%. According to the NAT2 haplotype frequencies, 72% (95% confidence interval 61.4–82.7%) of the volunteers were slow encoding NAT2 haplotype acetylators. The NAT2*5 represented variants 341T>C and 481C>T were in strong but not complete linkage disequilibrium (D′ = 0.8, r2 = 0.63). In addition, this study found a novel nonsynonymous NAT2 436G>A genetic variant with low frequency (0.7%). However, this novel variant was predicted to be tolerated and not harmful to the NAT2 protein, using in silico prediction tools. It is concluded that the frequency of slow encoding NAT2 haplotype was high among Jordanian volunteers, which may have effects on drug responses and susceptibility to some diseases, such as cancers.
Optimalisasi Kinerja Portofolio Investasi (Studi Kasus pada Dana Pensiun Pertamina)

Abstract: This study aims to analyze the performance of portfolio investment and to analyzethe composition of portfolio investment that could give optimum result. Based on the analysis,the average returns of portfolio always exceed the annual investment’s target. The calculationof portfolio optimization is using two assumptions, there are minimizing the portfoliorisk and maximizing portfolio average return. The prior average return before the portfoliooptimization is 11.85% with a risk 1.18%. The portfolio optimization result using the assumptionsof risk minimizing obtained average return reach 9.61% with a risk of 0.68% andaverage return reach 11.85% with a risk of 0.68%. Meanwhile, the result of portfolio optimizationusing the assumption of return maximizing obtained average return reach 13.00%with a risk of 1.47% and average return reach 12.59% with a risk of 1.18%. Keywords: retired fund, the performance of portfolio optimization, return, risk
Microarray Identifies Extensive Downregulation of Noncollagen Extracellular Matrix and Profibrotic Growth Factor Genes in Chronic Isolated Mitral Regurgitation in the Dog

Background— The volume overload of isolated mitral regurgitation (MR) in the dog results in left ventricular (LV) dilatation and interstitial collagen loss. To better understand the mechanism of collagen loss, we performed a gene array and overlaid regulated genes into ingenuity pathway analysis. Methods and Results— Gene arrays from LV tissue were compared in 4 dogs before and 4 months after MR. Cine-magnetic resonance–derived LV end-diastolic volume increased 2-fold (P=0.005), and LV ejection fraction increased from 41% to 53% (P<0.007). LV interstitial collagen decreased 40% (P<0.05) compared with controls, and replacement collagen was in short strands and in disarray. Ingenuity pathway analysis identified Marfan syndrome, aneurysm formation, LV dilatation, and myocardial infarction, all of which have extracellular matrix protein defects and/or degradation. Matrix metalloproteinase-1 and -9 mRNA increased 5- (P=0.01) and 10-fold (P=0.003), whereas collagen I did not change and collagen III mRNA increased 1.5-fold (P=0.02). However, noncollagen genes important in extracellular matrix structure were significantly downregulated, including decorin, fibulin 1, and fibrillin 1. In addition, connective tissue growth factor and plasminogen activator inhibitor were downregulated, along with multiple genes in the transforming growth factor-β signaling pathway, resulting in decreased LV transforming growth factor-β1 activity (P=0.03). Conclusions— LV collagen loss in isolated, compensated MR is chiefly due to posttranslational processing and degradation. The downregulation of multiple noncollagen genes important in global extracellular matrix structure, coupled with decreased expression of multiple profibrotic factors, explains the failure to replace interstitial collagen in the MR heart.
Uncertainty Estimation of Temperature Coefficient Measurements of PV Modules

Temperature coefficients (TCs) of photovoltaic (PV) modules play an important role in distinguishing between products in an increasingly competitive market. However, measurement setups vary greatly, and interlaboratory comparisons show deviations from the mean of around ±10-15%, or even larger, for temperature coefficients of maximum power. Measurement deviations often do not agree with the uncertainty estimates, indicating that uncertainty is significantly underestimated. On the other hand, some laboratories have adopted a very conservative approach and needlessly overestimate the uncertainty. A new and robust methodology for calculating the temperature coefficients is presented here. This includes estimating and propagating the uncertainty of different types of measurement systems and procedures, in accordance with international standards. The method is validated with a round-robin intercomparison. Two c-Si modules were measured with five different measurement setups with uncertainties estimated following the proposed approach. The advanced uncertainty estimation method resulted in a decrease of the estimated uncertainty of all systems by a minimum of 50%, compared with the previous conservative estimates, enabling us to identify a previously unknown systematic effect. The measurement results of one of the systems were inconsistent with the estimated uncertainty. Further investigation confirmed a systematic effect due to the poor spectrum of that system. Removing the outlier measurement, the measurement percentage deviation from the reference value for maximum power temperature coefficients was within ±3.2%. The deviation was consistent with the stated uncertainties. The approach can facilitate the reduction of temperature coefficient measurement uncertainty by highlighting areas of improvement for bespoke systems.
Ionizing radiation-induced instant pairing of heterochromatin of homologous chromosomes in human cells

Using fluorescence in situ hybridization with human band-specific DNA probes we examined the effect of ionizing radiation on the intra-nuclear localization of the heterochromatic region 9q12→q13 and the euchromatic region 8p11.2 of similar sized chromosomes 9 and 8 respectively in confluent (G1) primary human fibroblasts. Microscopic analysis of the interphase nuclei revealed colocalization of the homologous heterochromatic regions from chromosome 9 in a proportion of cells directly after exposure to 4 Gy X-rays. The percentage of cells with paired chromosomes 9 gradually decreased to control levels during a period of one hour. No significant changes in localization were observed for chromosome 8. Using 2-D image analysis, radial and inter-homologue distances were measured for both chromosome bands. In unexposed cells, a random distribution of the chromosomes over the interphase nucleus was found. Directly after irradiation, the average inter-homologue distance decreased for chromosome 9 without alterations in radial distribution. The percentage of cells with inter-homologue distance <3 µm increased from 11% in control cells to 25% in irradiated cells. In contrast, irradiation did not result in significant changes in the inter-homologue distance for chromosome 8. Colocalization of the heterochromatic regions of homologous chromosomes 9 was not observed in cells irradiated on ice. This observation, together with the time dependency of the colocalization, suggests an underlying active cellular process. The biological relevance of the observed homologous pairing remains unclear. It might be related to a homology dependent repair process of ionizing radiation induced DNA damage that is specific for heterochromatin. However, also other more general cellular responses to radiation-induced stress or change in chromatin organization might be responsible for the observed pairing of heterochromatic regions.
Micrometastasis of a Sentinel Lymph Node in Cutaneous Melanoma Is a Significant Prognostic Factor for Disease‐Free Survival, Distant‐Metastasis‐Free Survival, and Overall Survival

OBJECTIVE Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) has been proposed as a minimally invasive procedure for the histopathologic staging of the regional lymph node basin. The aim of this work was to investigate the prognostic value of detection of micrometastasis by SLNB. METHODS In the period from January 1996 to March 2000, a sentinel lymph node (SLN) was identified in 283 patients at the Department Dermatology, University of Tuebingen. In the case of 38 patients (13.4%) histopathologic examination led to the detection of micrometastasis in at least one SLN. The median follow-up period was 29 months. RESULTS Thirty-one of 245 patients (12.7%) suffered a tumor recurrence following a negative SLNB, and 19 of 38 patients (50%) following positive SLNB. In the case of disease-free survival the remaining significant independent prognostic factors of the multivariate analysis were tumor thickness (p=0.011), ulceration (p=0.026), and the detection of micrometastasis in SLNB (p=0.021). With respect to distant-metastasis-free survival the significant independent prognostic factors of the multivariate analysis were tumor thickness (p=0.0022) and the SLNB results (p=0.0068). For overall survival the tumor thickness (p=0.013) and the SLNB results (p=0.034) were significant independent prognostic parameters in the multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION The study examined patients with melanomas of all tumor thicknesses and SLNB for which the prognostic significance of SLNB was tested. Recurrences were more frequent in patients with a micrometastatic SLN. Patients with a negative SNLB are still at risk for tumor recurrence. The histopathologic result of SLNB is, after tumor thickness, the most significant prognostic factor for disease-free survival, distant-metastasis-free survival, and overall survival.