Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Technical Efficiency Estimates For The Kwazulu-Natal Midlands Dairy Industry

Abstract Since none of the production frontier models used in empirical analyses of production efficiency is without its limitations, it is very important to make a careful choice of model. The different types of production frontier models all have their strengths and weaknesses. Findings of previous studies on sensitivity of technical efficiency estimates by different methods are mixed thus more research comparing technical efficiency measurements from alternative models is needed in order to determine the robustness of estimates from a particular model. The present study analysed the extent to which DEA, econometric stochastic production frontier and the statistical deterministic frontier differ from one another in measuring technical efficiency using the KwaZulu-Natal midlands dairy industry. The general findings from this study indicate that estimates of technical efficiencies of individual dairy farms, and therefore the mean technical efficiency of the KZN dairy industry, are sensitive to the choice of production frontier estimation method.
An Investigation of Transport-Related Social Exclusion of the At-Risk Community (Homeless People) in Toronto, Canada

The intersections between transportation and social exclusion demonstrate the significance of public transit as a course of mobility. Low income and homeless individuals (identified as the at-risk community in this paper) are at the most extreme end of social exclusion, and in most cases, public transit is their only possible motorized mode of transport. However, this community is rarely considered in any transport policy development and implementation. This paper focuses on transport-related exclusion of the at-risk community in Toronto with emphasis on the issues related to public transport service accessibility in the city. The research relies on a sample survey among a group of low income and homeless individuals in Toronto in which the frequency of public transit services is identified as the key factor defining transport-related social exclusion experienced by the at-risk community. The paper also investigates the existence of providers of voluntary and community transport services and current urban transportation policies for a most effective examination of this issue. The results of the investigation suggest the need for policy changes for improved at-risk community inclusion in transportation planning processes, increased transit accessibility for low income neighbourhoods, discounted transit fares for particular groups in the community and increased policy integration between the different levels of government.
Phenotype, cancer risk, and surveillance in Beckwith–Wiedemann syndrome depending on molecular genetic subgroups

Patients with Beckwith–Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) have an increased risk to develop cancer in childhood, especially Wilms tumor and hepatoblastoma. The risk varies depending on the cause of BWS. We obtained clinical and molecular data in our cohort of children with BWS, including tumor occurrences, and correlated phenotype and genotype. We obtained similar data from larger cohorts reported in the literature. Phenotype, genotype and tumor occurrence were available in 229 of our own patients. Minor differences in phenotype existed depending on genotype/epigenotype, similar to earlier studies. By adding patients from the literature, we obtained data on genotype and tumor occurrence of in total 1,971 BWS patients. Tumor risks were highest in the IC1 (H19/IGF2:IG‐DMR) hypermethylation subgroup (28%) and pUPD subgroup (16%) and were lower in the KCNQ1OT1:TSS‐DMR (IC2) subgroup (2.6%), CDKN1C (6.9%) subgroup, and the group in whom no molecular defect was detectable (6.7%). Wilms tumors (median age 24 months) were frequent in the IC1 (24%) and pUPD (7.9%) subgroups. Hepatoblastoma occurred mostly in the pUPD (3.5%) and IC2 (0.7%) subgroups, never in the IC1 and CDKN1C subgroups, and always before 30 months of age. In the CDKN1C subgroup 2.8% of patients developed neuroblastoma. We conclude tumor risks in BWS differ markedly depending on molecular background. We propose a differentiated surveillance protocol, based on tumor risks in the various molecular subgroups causing BWS. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Seeking a seafloor magnetic signal from the Antarctic circumpolar current

SUMMARY Motional electromagnetic induction by ocean currents is a basic phenomenon of geophysics, with application to the monitoring of ocean transport. One of Earth’s strongest ocean currents is the Antarctic circumpolar current (ACC). This paper explores the magnetic signals that should be generated by the ACC, and reports an experiment in which a magnetometer recorded natural variations of Earth’s magnetic field on the floor of the Southern ocean for some five months in 1996. Magnetometer records from Kingston, Tasmania, and from Macquarie Island give reference information concerning magnetic storms and substorms. The instrument was sited in the region of the major oceanographic subantarctic flux and dynamics experiment (SAFDE), where the ACC passes south of Tasmania, between the major topographic features of the South Tasman rise and the Australia‐Antarctica spreading ridge. The SAFDE records give comprehensive control on the actual ocean current flow at the time of the magnetic recording, and allow a magnetic signal to be predicted, in terms of the seafloor conductance. The seafloor conductance for the area is however low, and the amplitude of the predicted signal is low. The seafloor observations confirm that the signal is weak against the effects of ionospheric signals. In future experiments, the choice of sites with thicker seafloor sedimentation would increase the ACC magnetic signal to be observed. The magnetometer measurements have a result relevant for the SAFDE, in confirming that the correction of electric data for seafloor conductance is small. There is also the result for seafloor magnetic observatories for which motional induction effects are unwanted, that such an observatory can operate even under the ACC, and be substantially protected from motional induction effects by low seafloor conductance.
Identification of Critical Residues within the Conserved and Specificity Patches of Nerve Growth Factor Leading to Survival or Differentiation*

Afflicted neurons in Alzheimer disease have been shown to display an imbalance in the expression of TrkA and p75NTR at the cell surface, and administration of nerve growth factor (NGF) has been considered and attempted for treatment. However, wild-type NGF causes extensive elaboration of neurites while providing survival support. This study was aimed at developing recombinant NGF muteins that did not support neuritogenesis while maintaining the survival response. Critical residues were identified at the ligand-receptor interface by point mutagenesis that played a greater importance in neuritogenesis versus survival. By combining point mutations, two survival-selective recombinant NGF muteins, i.e./7-84-103 and KKE/7-84-103, were generated. Both muteins reduced neuritogenesis in PC12 (TrkA+/p75NTR+) cells by >90%, while concurrently retaining near wild-type survival activity in MG139 (TrkA+ only) and PCNA fibroblast (p75NTR+-only) cells. Additionally, survival in both naive and terminally differentiated PC12 cells was shown to be intermediate between NGF and negative controls. Dose-response curves with 7-84-103 showed that the differentiation curve was shifted by about 100-fold, whereas the EC50 for survival was only increased by 3.3-fold. Surface plasmon resonance analysis revealed a 200-fold decrease in binding of 7-84-103 to TrkA. The retention of cell survival was attributed to maintenance of signaling through the Akt survival pathway with reduced MAPK signaling for differentiation. The effect of key mutations along the NGF receptor interface are transmitted inside the cell to enable the generation of survival-selective recombinant NGF muteins that may represent novel pharmacologic lead agents for the amelioration of Alzheimer disease.
Getting the jump on skeletal muscle disuse atrophy: preservation of contractile performance in aestivating Cyclorana alboguttata (Günther 1867)

SUMMARY Prolonged immobilisation or unloading of skeletal muscle causes muscle disuse atrophy, which is characterised by a reduction in muscle cross-sectional area and compromised locomotory function. Animals that enter seasonal dormancy, such as hibernators and aestivators, provide an interesting model for investigating atrophy associated with disuse. Previous research on the amphibian aestivator Cyclorana alboguttata (Günther 1867) demonstrated an absence of muscle disuse atrophy after 3 months of aestivation, as measured by gastrocnemius muscle contractile properties and locomotor performance. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of aestivation on iliofibularis and sartorius muscle morphology and contractile function of C. alboguttata over a longer, more ecologically relevant time-frame of 9 months. We found that whole muscle mass, muscle cross-sectional area, fibre number and proportions of fibre types remained unchanged after prolonged disuse. There was a significant reduction in iliofibularis fibre cross-sectional area (declined by 36% for oxidative fibre area and 39% for glycolytic fibre area) and sartorius fibre density (declined by 44%). Prolonged aestivation had little effect on the isometric properties of the skeletal muscle of C. alboguttata. There was a significant reduction in the isometric contraction times of the relatively slow-twitch iliofibularis muscle, suggesting that the muscle was becoming slower after 9 months of aestivation (time to peak twitch increased by 25%, time from peak twitch to half relaxation increased by 34% and time from last stimulus to half tetanus relation increased by 20%). However, the results of the work-loop analysis clearly demonstrate that, despite changes to muscle morphology and isometric kinetics, the overall contractile performance and power output levels of muscles from 9-month aestivating C. alboguttata are maintained at control levels.
Making Sense of Persistence in Scientific Purgatory: A Multi-Institutional Analysis of Instructors in Introductory Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Courses

ABSTRACT Prior research points to a variety of factors that influence student persistence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degree programs. Little attention, however, has been given to how STEM faculty understand these processes and subsequently frame their role in supporting students. To address this gap, this article reports on an analysis of the interpretive frames through which instructors of introductory STEM courses make sense of the factors that influence student persistence and success in STEM degree programs. Interview data were collected from 73 instructors of introductory STEM courses at six predominantly white institutions of higher education across the United States. The coding of interviews included concept and theoretical coding using cluster analysis, multidimensional scaling, and correspondence analysis. The coding process identified six unique interpretive frames through which instructors made sense of student persistence. These frames varied greatly in the ways that students were perceived to have agency in shaping their persistence and success in STEM, as well as the steps that can be taken to ameliorate social inequalities in these outcomes. The findings thus have important implications for how researchers and program designers frame strategies that can support student persistence outcomes in STEM degree programs.
Antibiotic Synthesis and Morphological Differentiation of Cephalosporium acremonium

In submerged cultures, Cephalosporium acremonium exists in four morphological forms: hyphae, arthrospores, conidia, and germlings. The phase of hyphal differentiation into arthrospores coincides with the maximum rate of β-lactam antibiotic synthesis. Furthermore, arthrospores, separated by density-gradient centrifugation, possess 40% greater antibiotic-producing activity than any other morphological cell type. In a series of mutants, each with an increased potential to produce β-lactam antibiotics, differentiation into arthrospores was proportional to the increased titer of these antibiotics. Thus, arthrospores exhibit enhanced synthesis of β-lactam antibiotics and appear to be a determining factor in high-yielding mutants. Since a non-antibiotic-producing mutant readily differentiated into arthrospores, antibiotic synthesis and cellular differentiation are not obligately related.
Cataract surgery in the first year of life: aphakic glaucoma and visual outcomes.

OBJECTIVE To report the incidence of aphakic glaucoma following lensectomy in infants in their first year of life and examine the impact of this diagnosis on visual outcome. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. PARTICIPANTS All patients who had lensectomy for congenital cataract during the first year of life at British Columbia Children's Hospital between 1995 and 2006. METHODS Retrospective review of medical records. RESULTS Seventy-five eyes of 46 patients (29 bilateral, 17 unilateral) were included. The mean age at lensectomy was 93 days (range, 2-364 days) with a mean follow-up of 77.5 months (range, 36-166 months). Patients with bilateral cataracts had a better visual outcome than those with unilateral cataracts (p < 0.032). Of the patients with measurable visual acuity (VA), 34 of 45 eyes (75.6%) with bilateral cataracts and only 3 of 16 eyes (18.8%) with unilateral cataract achieved a VA of 20/40 or better. Eighteen of 75 eyes (24%) developed aphakic glaucoma at a mean of 30 months following lensectomy. Nine patients (50%) achieved final vision of 20/40 or better. The development of aphakic glaucoma was not associated with worse visual outcomes (p < 0.315). The mean intraocular pressure (IOP) at diagnosis was 28.6±5.9 mm Hg and mean final IOP was 14.1 ± 3.0 mm Hg, a significant reduction (p < 0.0001). Fifteen of 18 eyes with aphakic glaucoma (83.3%) required surgical intervention to achieve IOP control. CONCLUSIONS Children with aphakic glaucoma may have good visual outcomes if it is recognized early and managed appropriately. A significant proportion of patients required surgical intervention to control IOP.
Effect of different doses of carotenoids in isoniazid-rifampicin induced hepatotoxicity in rats.

AIM Isoniazid (INH) and Rifampicin (RIF) are hepatotoxic drugs. Oxidative stress has been reported as one of the mechanisms of INH+RIF induced hepatotoxicity. METHODS Intragastric administration of INH and RIF (50 mg/kg body weight/day each) for 28 days in Wistar rats is hepatotoxic, indicated by raised transaminases and histology. Carotenoids have antioxidant properties. Therefore, different doses of carotenoids (2.5, 5, 10 and 20 mg/kg body weight/day) were administered to study the hepatoprotective effect against INH+RIF. RESULTS The higher doses of carotenoids i.e.10 and 20 mg/kg body weight/day showed partial hepatoprotection indicated by return to normal of liver transaminase level and of liver histology in 33.3% of rats. There was no further protective effect seen by increasing the dose of carotenoids from 10 to 20 mg/kg body weight/day. Lower doses of carotenoids, i.e., 2.5 and 5 mg/kg body weight/day were not effective. CONCLUSION Thus, a minimum dose with maximum hepatoprotection (10 mg/kg b.wt/ day) was selected as the optimum dose in the present study. The hepatoprotective nature of carotenoids in INH+RIF treated rats may be attributed to their antioxidative property.
Applications of multi-way analysis for characterizing paediatric electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings

This doctoral thesis outlines advances in multi-way analysis for characterizing electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings from a paediatric population, with the aim to describe new links between EEG data and changes in the brain. This entails establishing the validity of multi-way analysis as a framework for identifying developmental information at the individual and collective level. Multi-way analysis broadens matrix analysis to a multi-linear algebraic architecture to identify latent structural relationships in naturally occurring higher order (n-way) data, like EEG. We use the canonical polyadic decomposition (CPD) as a multi-way model to efficiently express the complex structures present in paediatric EEG recordings as unique combinations of low-rank matrices, offering new insights into child development. This multi-way CPD framework is explored for both typically developing (TD) children and children with potential developmental delays (DD), e.g. children who suffer from epilepsy or paediatric stroke. Resting-state EEG (rEEG) data serves as an intuitive starting point in analyzing paediatric EEG via multi-way analysis. Here, the CPD model probes the underlying relationships between the spatial, spectral and subject modes of several rEEG datasets. We demonstrate the CPD can reveal distinct population-level features in rEEG that reflect unique developmental traits in varying child populations. These development-affiliated profiles are evaluated with respect to capturing structures well-established in childhood EEG. The identified features are also interrogated for their predictive abilities in anticipating new subjects’ ages. Assessing simulations and real rEEG datasets of TD and DD children establishes the multi-way analysis framework as well suited for identifying developmental profiles from paediatric rEEG. We extend the multi-way analysis scheme to more complex EEG scenarios common in EEG rehabilitation technology, like brain-computer interfaces. We explore the feasibility of multi-way modelling for interventions where developmental changes often pose as barriers. The multi-way CPD model is expanded to include four modestask, spatial, spectral and subject data, with non-negativity and orthogonality constraints imposed. We analyze a visual
Indenture as a Self-Enforced Contract Device: An Experimental Test

We experimentally test the efficacy of indenture as a self-enforced contract device. In an indenture game, the principal signals the intention of payment-on-delivery, by tearing a banknote and giving the agent half of it as "prepayment"; the agent receives the completing half after delivering the service. By forward induction, cooperation is incentive-compatibly self-enforcing. The indenture performs very well, inducing a significantly higher level of cooperation than that in a three-stage centipede game, which we use to benchmark the natural rate of cooperation. The difference between cooperation rates in both games increases over time.
Two-phase cryogenic flow measurement

The measurement of mass flow rate of the two-phase cryogenic flow is attracting a lot of interest lately due to the possible special applications for the fluids it measures. The combination solid/liquid hydrogen or slush hydrogen, solid/liquid nitrogen or slush nitrogen are only few of the two phase cryogenic flow that can be of interest for various applications because of the greater cooling performance, greater compactness and lighter weight. The applications of such fluids include but are not limited to cooling of superconducting cable, fuel for space shuttles, large cryogenic installations and superconducting accelerators. In this paper we report on the two-phase cryogenic flow measurement based on the density capacitive.
Perinuclear antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies in dogs infected with various vector-borne pathogens and in dogs with immune-mediated hemolytic anemia.

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence of perinuclear antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies (pANCA) in dogs with confirmed or suspected immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (IMHA) or dogs infected with various vector-borne pathogens, including Rickettsia rickettsii, Bartonella henselae, Bartonella vinsonii subsp berkhoffii, Ehrlichia canis, Borrelia burgdorferi, and Leishmania infantum. ANIMALS 55 dogs with confirmed or suspected IMHA, 140 dogs seroreactive for vector-borne pathogens, and 62 healthy dogs and dogs seronegative for vector-borne pathogens. PROCEDURES Samples were allocated to subgroups on the basis of the health status of the dogs and the degree of seroreactivity against various vector-borne pathogens. Serum samples were tested retrospectively via indirect immunofluorescence assay to determine pANCA status. RESULTS 26 of 55 (47%) dogs with confirmed or suspected IMHA and 67 of 140 (48%) dogs seroreactive for vector-borne pathogens had positive results when tested for pANCA. Serum samples with the highest antibody concentrations against L infantum antigen had the highest proportion (28/43 [65%]) that were positive for pANCA. One of 20 (5%) dogs seronegative for tick-borne pathogens and 8 of 22 (36%) dogs seronegative for L infantum had positive results for pANCA. One of 20 (5%) healthy dogs had serum antibodies against pANCA. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE pANCA were detected in a high percentage of dogs with IMHA and vector-borne infectious diseases. Therefore, pANCA may be a relatively nonspecific marker for dogs with inflammatory bowel disease, although they could represent a biomarker for immune-mediated diseases and infections.
‘Recycling oil money': procurement politics and (un)productive entrepreneurship in South Sudan

Since its inception as a semi-autonomous state in 2005, the South Sudanese government procurement sector has been a booming business. Funded by oil income, the government procurement regimes have become instrumental institutional mechanisms for the allocation of rents within the political marketplace. This type of ‘rentier' politics is often considered to be anti-developmental in mainstream thinking about statebuilding in fragile states, while others argue that rentierism is not growth-retarding per se, but that its impact on development depends on how rents are utilized and reinvested. Taking the latter less-normative approach to rentierism as a starting point, this article begins by identifying patterns of rent allocation that characterized the government procurement sector during the 2005–2011 interim period. Following the political decision to shut down oil production in early 2012, the rent process that had sustained these clientelistic arrangements became suddenly unsustainable. In this context, another cadre of entrepreneurs comprised largely of diaspora returnees with higher technological capabilities and transnational linkages started to gain ground within the government procurement sector, signifying the emergence of a potentially ‘developmental' feature in the rent process. Notwithstanding, while the 2012–2013 austerity period arguably precipitated certain developmental features, it also uprooted the political settlement, which culminated in the December 2013 crisis, pushing the young country back to civil war.
Fibroadenoma and Phyllodes Tumors of Anogenital Mammary-like Glands: A Series of 13 Neoplasms in 12 Cases, Including Mammary-type Juvenile Fibroadenoma, Fibroadenoma With Lactation Changes, and Neurofibromatosis-associated Pseudoangiomatous Stromal Hyperplasia With Multinucleated Giant Cells

The authors present a series of 13 fibroepithelial neoplasms involving anogenital mammary-like glands, all occurring in 12 female patients, whose age at diagnosis ranged from 30 to 51 years (mean, 38 y; median, 42 y). All women presented with a solitary asymptomatic nodule in the vulva (n=8), perineum (n=2), or near the anus (n=2) ranging in size from 1.5 to 4.5 cm. Microscopically, 8 lesions were classified as fibroadenoma, and 5, including 1 recurrent tumor, as phyllodes tumor, of which 1 was benign and 4 low-grade malignant. In addition to conventional findings, we describe several hitherto unreported features including juvenile fibroadenoma-like proliferation, fibroadenoma with lactation change, and pseudoangiomatous stromal hyperplasia with multinucleated stromal giant cells in a patient with neurofibromatosis, type 1 all constituting potential diagnostic pitfalls, which are best averted by using the same approach to diagnosis as for their analogous mammary counterparts.