Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Metabolic Syndrome and HIV Infection

In the present day world, morbidity and mortality from infectious diseases has taken a backseat which can be attributed to the better understanding of the disease process and the resultant more effective treatment. Instead, non-communicable diseases like Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) has become a public health concern round the globe. It has posed a great challenge to global health planners due to its implications in multiple lifestyle disease. And in a world of affluence with sedentary lifestyle, increasing obesity and a taste for not so healthy food items the challenge posed by MeTS is only going to be greater. Metabolic syndrome is a complex of interrelated risk factors for Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) and diabetes. These factors include dysglycemia, raised blood pressure, elevated triglyceride levels, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, and obesity (particularly central adiposity).
Clinicopathological changes induced by heat stress, their resolution by minerals and vitamin C supplementation in quails

The effects of water supplements i.e. sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3), potassium chloride (KCl) and ascorbic acid were evaluated on feed intake, weight gain, Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR), serum potassium, serum bicarbonate level and on blood parameters in broiler Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) exposed to high ambient temperature (34 0 C, 8hr/d, 0900-1700hr). The quail chicks (n=300; 14 days old) kept at 34 0 C (heat-stressed) were divided into five groups (B, C, D, E, F) of 60 chicks each. Group B with no water supplementations, group C supplemented with (250 mg of L-ascorbic acid/liter of water), group D (125mg of potassium chloride/liter of water), group E (75mg sodium bicarbonate/liter of water), group F (250 mg of L- ascorbic acid +75mg/liter sodium bicarbonate/liter of water, whereas group A chicks (n=60) kept at 22 0 C were fed the basal diet (TN group). Heat-stressed quails of group B, lead to significant decrease (P <0.05) in weight gain, serum potassium and serum bicarbonate level, erythrocytes, monocytes, lymphocyte proportions with increase in H/L ratio from 0.55 to 0.62 whereas the proportions of eosinophil and hematocrit values were not as much significantly affected. Groups (C, D, E and F) supplemented with Vit C, KCl and NaHCO3 respectively at the level of 250 mg/L, 125gm/L and 75mg per liter of drinking water alone and in combination had significantly increased (P<0.05) serum potassium and serum bicarbonate level, erythrocytes, with improved weight gain and FCR. The results of the present study showed that supplementing a combination of vit. C and sodium bicarbonate in drinking water offered a good management practice to reduce heat stress-related decreases in broiler Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica).
How do Restructuring Processes Influence Low- and Unskilled Immigrant and Nonimmigrant Workers and their Managers in a Norwegian Hospital?

It is a well-known fact that workplace restructuring has undesirable effects on the psychosocial work environment, health, and sick leave, but no attention has been given to the health effects of work environments characterized by restructuring, a multicultural staff, and a strong socioeconomic occupational hierarchy. In this casestudy, we examine a large Norwegian hospital in which all of these features are present. Through in-depth interviews with employees and their managers we investigate the healthiness of the restructuring process, and the consequences of the restructuring process on the work environment, subjective health, and sick leave. Results show that immigrant workers received less information, had higher level of frustration and less control over work, and experienced a decrease in well-being, autonomy, and social support. Immigrant worker vulnerability, that is, the handicap of poor understanding of the Norwegian language and a lack of understanding of general and local organizational norms and practices in the Norwegian workplace, is an important explanation. Immigrant workers with a poor Norwegian language understanding are even worse off. We conclude that a strong occupational hierarchy within the hospital exerts an overall influence on the position of low/unskilled employees in the restructuring process as well as their perception of and involvement in it.
Performance analysis of blind signal estimation using fourth order cumulants

Investigates the performance of blind signal "COPY" algorithms which use fourth order cumulants to estimate the steering vectors. The steering vectors are then used to form a linear combiner, to produce estimates of the signals. The authors derive an asymptotic expression for the upper bound on the quality of the estimated signal in terms of the output signal-to-interference ratio. Some insight into the achievable performance of such algorithms is obtained by numerical evaluation of the bound for two test cases of interest. <<ETX>>
Sputtered Aluminum and the Water Vapor Problem

The percent reflectance of highly reflective and opaque aluminum metal films has been known for well over half a century to depend on low vacuum pressures and high deposition rates. It has been relatively clear that this is because water vapor reacts with the energized aluminum to form what is likely to be a hydrated aluminum oxide or alumina. This, in turn, "dilutes" the aluminum metal and reduces the reflectance of the film. Some of that history is reviewed here. The procedures are described whereby such a process was adjusted to obtain highly reflecting sputtered aluminum on randomly sized and shaped plastic parts in reasonably short production times from atmospheric pressure back to atmospheric pressure.
To What Extent Do Regional Effects Influence Firms’ Capital Structure? The Case of Southern Italian SMEs’

There is tremendous interest, in the economic literature, for the determinants of firms’ capital structure decisions. A rich body of empirical works now exists that purports to identify firm- and country-level factors affecting firms’ financing patterns. In addition, more recently, a new stream of studies has emerged that investigates cross-regional variation in small firms’ capital structure. While small firms’ leverage does seem to vary across regions, at least in countries where significant regional differences in economic and financial development and in the quality of institutions exist, not much yet is known about variation in debt maturity, in debt in relation to equity, and between different types of small firms. The present paper aims to fill this gap through an empirical analysis of cross-regional variation in the capital structure of a sample of about 30,000 Italian small firms over a 13-year period, including the aftermath of the credit crunch that followed the 2007–2008 global financial crisis. The findings confirm the view that small firms in underdeveloped regions are more financially constrained, but also amend some of the results shown in the literature, in particular by showing how small firms in Italy’s Southern regions have higher levels of equity and fixed assets than small firms in other regions.
This Mine is Mine! How Minerals Fuel Conflicts in Africa

This paper studies empirically the impact of mining on conflicts in Africa. Using novel data, we combine geo-referenced information over the 1997-2010 period on the location and characteristics of violent events and mining extraction of 27 minerals. Working with a grid covering all African countries at a spatial resolution of 0.5 0.5 degree, we find a sizeable impact of mining activity on the probability/intensity of conflict at the local level. This is both true for low-level violence (riots, protests), as well as for organized violence (battles). Our main identication strategy exploits exogenous variations in the minerals' world prices; however the results are robust to various alternative strategies, both in the cross-section and panel dimensions. Our estimates suggest that the historical rise in mineral prices observed over the period has contributed to up to 21 percent of the average country-level violence in Africa. The second part of the paper investigates whether minerals, by increasing the financial capacities of fighting groups, contribute to diffuse violence over time and space, therefore affecting the intensity and duration of wars. We find direct evidence that the appropriation of a mining area by a group increases the probability that this group perpetrates future violence elsewhere. This is consistent with feasibility theories of conflict. We also find that secessionist insurgencies are more likely in mining areas, which is in line with recent theories of secessionist conflict.
A new source of Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a leavening agent in bread making.

Megabiodiversity of Malaysian’s flora and fauna which include microorganism could be conserved and served as alternative source indigenous yeast, the leavening agent of commercial bread making. This study was conducted in attempt to exploit the potential of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains isolated from 30 different local fruits and plant parts as a leavening agent in bread making. The enrichment was carried out by fermenting the plant samples in medium containing Grape Must at 25°C for 10 days following by isolation of tentative yeasts at 30°C for 3 to 5 days. 20 out of 30 samples tested showed the presence of yeasts was then selected for identification of S. cerevisiae strains through biochemical and physiological tests. Of the 20 yeast strains examined, 13 strains were identified as S. cerevisiae and potentially used as leavening agent in bread making where 5 strains namely SN3, SMK9, SDB10, SRB11 and SS12 showed better fermentative performance compared to commercial strains. Thus, indicated that the local fruits and plant parts could be the potential source of indigenous S. cerevisiae strains for leavening agent in bread making.
Role of Sentinel Lymph Node in Early Stage of Uterine Cervical Cancer

Cervical cancer is currently the second most common form of neoplasia worldwide and third in the female population. Dissemination can occur directly (isthmus, parametrium, vagina, urinary bladder and/or rectum), through the lymphatic system (parametrium, internal iliac, external iliac, common iliac, obturator lymph nodes and rarely in the inferior gluteus, superior gluteus, superior rectum, sacrum, aortic lymph nodes) and through the circulatory system (lung, mediastinum, bones, liver). The risk of pelvic lymph nodes invasion in stage IB (FIGO) is 9-17%. The standard surgical treatment, for stages IA2-IIA, is radical hysterectomy with pelvic lymphadenectomy. The risk of intraoperative (vessel or nerve damage) or postoperative complications (lymphedema) is not negligible. The sentinel node concept refers to the first lymph node in which the cancerous lymphatic drainage takes place. This idea has radically changed the therapeutic approach in the treatment of breast cancer and melanoma. In cervical cancers, this technique is 92% accurate with only an 8% false negative rate. Currently, the sentinel node protocol is not included in the standard treatment for cervical cancer because certain issues need to be addressed (the sensitivity of the frozen section examination, the pathologist’s subjectivity, the uniformity of the protocol, the surgical experience, the size of the tumor).
Spectral Efficiency Analysis of Filter Bank Multi‐Carrier (FBMC)‐ Based 5G Networks with Estimated Channel State Information (CSI)

Filter bank multi‐carrier (FBMC) modulation, as a potential candidate for physical data communication in the fifth generation (5G) wireless networks, has been widely investigated. This chapter focuses on the spectral efficiency analysis of FBMC‐based cognitive radio (CR) systems, and spectral efficiency comparison is conducted with another three types of multi‐carrier modulations: orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), generalized frequency division multiplexing (GFDM), and universal‐filtered multi‐carrier (UFMC). In order to well evaluate and compare the spectral efficiency, we propose two resource allocation (RA) algorithms for single‐cell and two‐cell CR systems, respectively. In the single‐cell system, the RA algorithm is divided into two sequential steps, which incorporate subcarrier assignment and power allocation. In the two‐cell system, a noncooperative game is formulated and the multiple access channel (MAC) technique assists to solve the RA problem. The channel state information (CSI) between CR users and licensed users cannot be precisely known in practice, and thus, an estimated CSI is considered by defining a prescribed outage probability of licensed systems. Numerical results show that FBMC can achieve the highest channel capacity compared with another three waveforms.
Integrodifference Equations in Ecology : 30 years and counting

Many ecosystems experience drastic changes: species go extinct, non-native species invade, climatic conditions change, human activities disrupt habitat and dispersal pathways. Some ecosystems are closely managed for the benefit of humans: forestry provides essential material, and fisheries are indispensable for food security. Ecologists focus on understanding causes and mechanisms for current change to understand future impact of development and climate change. Ecosystem managers need solid scientific bases to reach decisions about land use and conservation. The spatial and temporal scales involved in these processes are typically too large to conduct detailed empirical work. Mathematical modeling of individual and population processes is essential to understand ecosystem function and predict ecosystem response to change. Ecosystem complexity, in turn, poses considerable challenges to mathematical theory and analysis of the resulting models. Novel quantitative tools are needed to meet these challenges. Integrodifference equations (IDEs) are a class of spatially explicit, dynamical systems models that closely reflect the strongly seasonally synchronized life stages of many ecological species. In the simplest case, a generation consists of a growth phase and a temporally distinct dispersal phase. Particular examples include some invasive insects causing great damage in North America and elsewhere (e.g., Emerald Ash borer), and native species on the verge of extinction worldwide (e.g., Fender’s blue butterfly). IDEs project the density of a population forward from one generation to the next by considering the stationary growth phase and the dispersal phase in sequence. In the simplest case, denoting Nt(x) as the density of a population in (discrete) generation t at (continuous) spatial location x, we write the IDE to obtain Nt+1 as
Length-weight relationships for 25 kelp forest-associated fishes of northern and central Chile

The present study reports length-weight relationships for 25 species of reef fishes associated with large brown macroalgae (i.e., Lessonia trabeculata and Macrocystis pyrifera) from the northern and central rocky coast of Chile (Southeast Pacific Coast; 18°-33°S). Weight scaled to length with an average power of 2.85, close to the expected value of 3, meaning that the relationship between length and weight is close to an isometric growth. No latitudinal (i.e., spatial) and temporal variations were observed on the growth coefficient of the fish species studied.
Application of a Differential Fuel-Cell Analyzer for Measuring Atmospheric Oxygen Variations

Abstract A commercially available differential fuel-cell analyzer has been adapted to make field-based ppm-level measurements of atmospheric O2 variations. With the implementation of rapid calibrations and active pressure and flow control, the analysis system described here has a 1σ precision of ±2.5 per meg (≈0.5 ppm) for a 2-min measurement. Allowing for system stabilization after switching inlet lines, a 6-min measurement with a precision of ±1.4 per meg (≈0.3 ppm) every 20 min is obtained. The elimination of biases in any atmospheric O2 measurement depends critically on careful gas-handling procedures, and after screening for known sources of bias a comparability of ±10 per meg (≈2 ppm) with the present setup is estimated. In comparison to existing techniques, the relatively small size, low cost, fast response, motion insensitivity, and ease of implementation of the fuel-cell analyzer make it particularly useful for a wide range of unattended field applications. This system has been used to measure at.
Interpersonal Responding to Discrete Emotions: A Functionalist Approach to the Development of Affect Specificity

To date, emotion research has primarily focused on the experience and display of the emoter. However, of equal, if not more, importance is how such displays impact and guide the behavior of an observer. We incorporate a functionalist framework of emotion to examine the development of differential responding to discrete emotion, theorize on what may facilitate its development, and hypothesize the functions that may underlie such behavioral responses. Although our review is focused primarily on development, the theoretical and methodological ideas laid out are relevant for researchers of emotion at all ages.
Communication apprehension and self‐perceived communication competence of at‐risk students

One in five eighth‐graders is at serious risk of failing in school or dropping out before graduating from high school. While other characteristics have been identified, few descriptions of the attitudes of academically at‐risk students toward communication have been provided. This study examined the attitudes toward communication of 2,793 academically at‐risk students at fourteen urban, large, predominantly minority middle or junior high schools from throughout the U.S. Primary attention was devoted to students' fear of communication and self‐perception as competent communicators. Compared to national norms, academically at‐risk students were found to be more apprehensive of communication and lower in self‐perceived communication competence. Several pedagogical strategies for responding to academically at‐risk students in the classroom are suggested.
A comparative study of thermodynamic electrolyte models applied to the Solvay soda system

Fast development of computation techniques for electrolyte activities contributed recently to introduction of a few substantial programmes for thermodynamic computing of multiphase systems. The presented study comprises useful information for practical computing using selected thermodynamic models of aqueous electrolyte solutions. Those models enable quantitative description of both phase and ionic equilibria and provide values of activity coefficients. The carried out analysis of individual models involved a comparison of their practical effectiveness features along with problems encountered in evaluation of the coefficients. The authors conclude that for the Solvay soda system the exUNIQUAC model for an in-house code or the MSE model for a commercial one can be used.
Inflation Targeting, Exchange Rate Volatility and International Policy Coordination

In a linear rational expectations two-country model, using an aggregate demand, aggregate supply framework, we analyse the effects of the adoption of an inflation-targeting regime on exchange rate volatility and the possible scope for policy coordination. This analysis is conducted using optimized interest rate policy rules within a calibrated model. Rules for interest rates that respond either to exchange rates or to portfolio shocks give improved performance and permit gains from international coordination. Optimized Taylor rules perform relatively well. Copyright 2002 by Blackwell Publishers Ltd and The Victoria University of Manchester
Dynamics of Rickettsia parkeri infection in domestic chickens

The aim of the present study was to investigate experimental infections by Rickettsia parkeri in domestic chickens ( Gallus gallus domesticus ) and to determine the dynamics of antibody production during acute and chronic infection. The animals (n = 64) were allocated into eight groups as follows: G1, inoculated intramuscularly (IM) with 2.5 × 105 Vero cells (1 mL) infected with R. parkeri ; G2, inoculated IM with 5.0 × 105 Vero cells (2 mL) infected with R. parkeri ; G3, received 1 mL of the inoculum subcutaneously (SC); G4, received 2 mL of inoculum SC; G5, received 1 mL of the inoculum intraperitoneally (IP); G6, injected with 2 mL of the inoculum IP; G7 and G8, received 1 mL and 2 mL of culture medium IM, respectively (negative control groups). All R. parkeri inocula were viable prior to inoculation in the birds. In order to assess the dynamics of antibody production in acute and chronic infection, sera of chickens were collected 3, 7, 14, and 21 d post infection (PI) and assessed using an immunofluorescence antibody test (IFAT). In addition, PCR ( gltA gene) was performed using fragments of spleen and lung from euthanized chickens to detect the replication of R. parkeri in tissues during the experimental period. Animals from the G4 and G3 groups exhibited the highest mean antibody titers, with maximum levels observed at 7 and 14 d PI, respectively. Conversely, G2, G4 and G6 exhibited higher mean antibody titers than G1, G3 and G5, respectively. Antibody titers were dose-dependent. Rickettsial DNA was not detected in either spleen or lung tissue. The present study demonstrated that birds seroconvert after being challenged by R. parkeri . However, there was no replication of the agent in the tissues analyzed and rickettsemia was not observed.
Gender Differences in Perceived Illness, Stress, and Coping in Undergraduates

The study was designed to explore gender differences in perceived illness, stress level, and coping style. Participants were 236 male and female undergraduates who completed surveys assessing their experienced stressors, coping style, and number of illnesses experienced in the past 12 months. Negative coping, stress, and gender were significant predictors of differences between participants with high and low levels of self-reported physical symptoms. In addition, discriminant function analyses indicated that negative coping was associated with high or low level of illness for both genders, but stress was also a significant predictor for females. Limitations and implications of the findings are discussed.
High-temperature pyroxenes from an ironstone at Scourie, Sutherland

Summary The coexistence of clinopyroxene (Wo18 En32 Fs44 Rh06) and pigeonite (W08 En35 Fs50 Rh07) in a meta-ironstone from Scourie is described. By comparison with experimental data, the temperature at which they were in equilibrium is estimated as at least 1000°C. The exsolution history of the two pyroxenes is documented. As the rock is an unambiguous metasediment, its presence among granulite facies rocks containing evidence of metamorphism at pressures greater than 10 kbar constrains at least part of the Scourie complex to a supracrustal origin and indicates that tectonic processes of burial were operative in the late Archaean.