Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of Non- O157 Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli and Enterotoxigenic Staphylococci in Ready-to-eat Meat Products, Handlers and Consumers in Cairo, Egypt

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli and enterotoxin producing Staphylococci are potential food borne pathogens and their presence in ready to eat meat products and their handlers indicates that it is necessary to improve hygienic measures during manipulation of meat products. A total of 140 samples including 120 RTE meat products (beef luncheon, chicken luncheon and beef frankfurter, 40 samples, each) and 20 hand swabs of their handlers were collected from randomly selected supermarkets at Al-Salam city, Cairo, Egypt. These samples were examined for the presence of Shiga toxins producing E. coli (Stx1 and Stx2) and enterotoxigenic Staphylococcus aureus. In addition, nasal swabs of RTE meat handlers were examined for enterotoxigenic S. aureus. Moreover, Stool of 50 diarrheic persons having the habit of eating RTE meat of the same categories examined were collected from private laboratories then examined for STEC. E. coli was detected in beef luncheon (20%), chicken luncheon (10%), stool samples (20%) and hand swabs (15%). Serological identification of E. coli isolates revealed the presence of E. coli O55:K59, O26:K60, O111:K58, O124:K72 and O128:K67 in beef luncheon, O55:K59 and O111:K58 in chicken luncheon, O55:K59, O124:K72 and O128:K67 in stool samples and O111:K58 and O124:K72 in hand swab. Stx1 was detected in O26:K60 isolate, Stx2 was detected in E. coli O128:K67 isolates, while Stx1 and Stx2 were detected in O111:K58 isolates. Moreover, S. aureus was detected in beef and chicken luncheon (10%, each), hand swabs (20%) and nasal swabs (30%). Further analysis of S. aureus isolates for toxigenic capabilities using ELISA technique revealed that the number of the enterotoxigenic strains were 3 (SEA, SED, SEA+SEC) in beef luncheon, 2 (SEA and SEC) in chicken luncheon, 3 (SEA, SEC and SED) in hand swabs and 3 (SEA, SEC and SEA+SED) in nasal swabs.
An Analytical Review of Credit Risk Transfer Instruments

Over the second half of the 1990s, the surfacing of credit derivatives and collateralised debt obligations enlarged the range of instruments for transferring credit risk. Although the characteristics and purposes of the former are very similar to those of the latter, the tradability of the new instruments has resulted in the creation of true markets for credit risk transfer (CRT), which are very rapidly developing. CRT markets are of great interest as regards financial stability: while offering extended risk management opportunities for market participants, they also alter “traditional” relationships (between lenders and borrowers) as well as creating new types of relationships (lenders and credit protection sellers). The present review relies on existing theoretical and empirical work as well as on contacts with market practitioners to explore, from an analytical standpoint, the financial stability implications of all types of CRT instruments. In particular, it analyses the characteristics of differing CRT instruments in light of risk management and asymmetric information problems arising in financial markets. It also proposes possible avenues for further work. Four questions are successively raised: For what purposes are these products designed; why use one instrument rather than another? Who assesses credit risk: lenders, protection sellers or both? How are CRT instruments priced in practice: does pricing primarily reflect credit risk or does it also incorporate additional elements, such as counterparty, documentation or market risks? What are the potential macro-financial implications of CRT markets?
Subjective poverty equivalence scales for Euro Zone countries

We estimate subjective equivalence scales for the whole Euro Zone as well as its individual constituent countries using the European Income and Living Conditions (SILC) data. Importantly, by using minimum needs income question our approach does not require the specification of a complete social welfare function. Our subjective scales increase consistently with household size and countries with well-developed welfare states (Netherlands, Germany, France, and Belgium) show greater economies of scale than less developed welfare states (Spain, Portugal, and Greece). Our approach also allows us to estimate the marginal cost of a child; we find that for the Eurozone adding the first child is more costly than adding a third adult and that the marginal cost of children declines. Comparing modified OECD and our subjective poverty rates we find that the subjective scales ‘redistribute poverty’ away from larger to smaller households.
Will “austerity” be a critical juncture in European public sector financial reporting?

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to analyse how austerity has impacted to date upon European Union (EU) financial reporting developments and how this might influence future reforms. It considers how a critical juncture in EU financial reporting might be recognized and factors which might prevent or delay such a juncture being realized. Design/methodology/approach - – The paper uses the theoretical conceptualization of the territorializing, mediating, adjudicating and subjectivizing roles of accounting (Miller and Power, 2013), linked to document analysis and interviews with members of the relevant policy communities. In technical terms, austerity makes accounting subject to greater demands for consistency and uniformity. In political terms, accounting is implicated in increasing external fiscal surveillance of sovereign states. Findings - – The authors have shown how the Miller-Power framework illuminates these developments. The territorializing role of accounting in sovereign states creates an environment which facilitates the mediating, adjudicating and subjectivizing roles. Austerity promotes re-territorializing, yet also creates incentives for governments to hide risks and guarantees: the comparability of financial reports and national accounts may be achieved only at a rhetorical level. Evidence for a critical juncture would be termination of national traditions of financial reporting, greater harmonization of accounting across tiers of government, weakening of the linkages to private sector accounting, and stronger alignment of government financial reporting with statistical accounting. Originality/value - – The paper provides a theoretically based analysis of how austerity influences government financial reporting and statistical accounting and brings them into closer contact. This analysis is located within broader tensions between technocracy and democracy that are institutionalized in EU fiscal surveillance.
Analysis of Speech Act Patterns in Two Egyptian Inaugural Speeches

The theory of speech acts, which clarifies what people do when they speak, is not about individual words or sentences that form the basic elements of human communication, but rather about particular speech acts that are performed when uttering words. A speech act is the attempt at doing something purely by speaking. Many things can be done by speaking. Speech acts are studied under what is called speech act theory, and belong to the domain of pragmatics. In this paper, two Egyptian inaugural speeches from El-Sadat and El-Sisi, belonging to different periods were analyzed to find out whether there were differences within this genre in the same culture or not. The study showed that there was a very small difference between these two speeches which were analyzed according to Searle’s theory of speech acts. In El Sadat’s speech, commissives came to occupy the first place. Meanwhile, in El–Sisi’s speech, assertives occupied the first place. Within the speeches of one culture, we can find that the differences depended on the circumstances that surrounded the elections of the Presidents at the time. Speech acts were tools they used to convey what they wanted and to obtain support from their audiences.
Presence of benthic dinoflagellates around coastal waters of Jeju Island including newly recorded species

A study on the presence of benthic dinoflagellates in the intertidal zone along the coasts of Jeju Island, Korea was conducted during 2011 and 2012. Identification and taxonomic observations were made of the benthic dinoflagellate samples using light and epifluorescence microscopy. Thirty-seven dinoflagellate taxa belong to five orders, nine families, 18 genera and 30 species, which are new records for Korean waters, were detected in this study. The detailed nomenclature, references, distribution, and illustrations are presented here. The commonly occurring genera were Amphidinium, Coolia, Ostreopsis, Prorocentrum, and Thecadinium. Among the recorded species, 26 were found only in sand sediment, seven in macroalgal samples, and four were found in both sand and macroalgal samples. Of the 37 species, nine were potentially toxic. These results suggest that diversified benthic dinoflagellates including several potentially toxic species occur in sand sediment and macroalgae in the intertidal zone along the coasts of Jeju Island. The morphological features of the identified species were more or less similar to observations made by previous studies in Korea and elsewhere. The presence of known toxic species may indicate a potential risk of toxicity in the marine ecosystem of Jeju Island. The present study can be helpful for further detailed taxonomic, toxicological, molecular phylogenetic studies and may help in the management and conservation of Jeju Island’s marine ecosystem.
Impact of Extremely Hot Days on Emergency Department Visits for Cardiovascular Disease among Older Adults in New York State

Prior studies have reported the impact of ambient heat exposure on heat-related illnesses and mortality in summer, but few have assessed its effect on cardiovascular diseases (CVD) morbidity, and the association difference by demographics and season. This study examined how extremely hot days affected CVD-related emergency department (ED) visits among older adults from 2005–2013 in New York State. A time-stratified case-crossover design was used to assess the heat–CVD association in summer and transitional months (April–May and September–October). Daily mean temperature >95th percentile of regional monthly mean temperature was defined as an extremely hot day. Extremely hot days were found to be significantly associated with increased risk of CVD-related ED visits at lag day 5 (OR: 1.02, 95% CI: 1.01–1.04) and lag day 6 (OR: 1.01, 95% CI: 1.00–1.03) among older adults in summer after controlling for PM2.5 concentration, relative humidity, and barometric pressure. Specifically, there was a 7% increased risk of ischemic heart disease on the day of extreme heat, and increased risks of hypertension (4%) and cardiac dysrhythmias (6%) occurred on lag days 5 and 6, respectively. We also observed large geographic variations in the heat–CVD associations.
Changes in intensity of high temporal resolution precipitation extremes in Romania: implications for Clausius-Clapeyron scaling

We propose a new index for quantifying the maximum rain intensity (IMAX) within a rainfall event. The goal of this paper is 2-fold: first, to analyse the characteristics of variability (trends, change points) for maximum values of this index calculated for spring (April−May), summer (June−August) and autumn (September−October) in comparison with other 2 precipitation indices (daily maximum and total amount). Secondly, to investigate the scaling of the IMAX high percentiles with temperature and compare the results to hourly precipitation extremes. The analysis was carried out at 6 Romanian stations over the period 1966−2007, extended over 1902−2007 for one station. Our results revealed a statistically significant increase of IMAX over the 20th century (intensified over the second half), in contrast with no significant trends in the other 2 precipitation indices. On the other hand, an opposite phase between IMAX variability and its corresponding duration (e.g. shorter durations correspond to higher intensities) was noted. Regarding the scaling behaviour of the IMAX percentiles, there was a difference between summer and spring/autumn. In summer, the 90th and 99th percentiles showed a Clausius-Clapeyron (CC) scaling for temperatures between 14 and 26°C and then a decrease, while the 99.9th percentile showed a super-CC scaling for temperatures lower than 18°C and then a decrease. The spring and autumn 90th and 99th percentiles showed an approximate 2CC scaling for temperatures ranging from 8−20°C. The 99.9th percentile exhibited a scaling close to the 2CC relationship for a temperatures range of 12−18°C (spring) and then a decrease, while the autumn 99.9th percentile exhibited a dependence close to 2CC scaling for temperatures <18°C and then a scaling close to CC. Comparing these results with those referring to hourly and daily precipitation extremes, we conclude that the magnitude of the CC scaling in Romania is mainly dependent on the temporal scale of the extreme precipitation event, storm intensity and season. The proposed index (IMAX) is more sensitive to temperature increases than the hourly and daily extremes, and therefore it is more appropriate to quantifying the climate signal related to intense precipitation events in a warmer climate.
Banking Competition and Financial Fragility: Evidence from Panel-Data

We study how competition may affect the stability of banking systems. We modify the failure-determinant methodology to include panel-data techniques. We use indicators for 47 countries between 1990 and 1997. The main findings show that banking concentration and foreign ownership are associated to bank-based financial systems and financial underdevelopment. They also show that banking credit and bank-based financial systems enhance banking fragility. Banking concentration is not a significant determinant. Furthermore our findings suggest that financial structure and, maybe, the property regime matter to assess such fragility.
Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) Varieties Evaluated with Respect to Growth Parameters at Jimma in Southwestern Ethiopia

A B S T R A C T Field experiment was conducted to identify the most promising and adaptable sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) variety. Five Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato (OFSP) varieties: variety Beletech (192026 II), Birtukanie (Saluboro), Kulfo (Lo-323), Tulla (CIP 420027) and one local variety were used as experimental treatments and arranged in randomized block design with three replications. Data collected on growth parameters were analyzed using the GLM procedure of SAS Version 9.2. Variety had highly significantly affected the growth parameters; number of branches per plant, number of leaves per plant and vine length and also significantly affected fresh weight and dry matter content of sweet potato roots. For the majority of growth parameters variety, Tulla was preferably the best variety compared to the other three improved OFSP varieties as, well as the local variety and significantly the highest number of branches per plant (41.41), vine length (99 cm), fresh weight (1.56 kg) and dry matter content (54.40%) were recorded from variety Tulla. The result of the correlation analysis also indicated that fresh weight and dry matter content of sweet potato roots were negatively and significantly correlated with number of branches per plant. This indicated that sweet potato producers targeting above ground biomass production should use number of branches and leaves per plant as selection criteria, where as those targeting sweet potato root tubers production, should use the fresh weight and dry matter content of sweep potato roots as selection criteria. Likewise, these growth parameters are important factors for selection of sweet potato and can serve as indicators of adaptability of the crop to the growing conditions of the study area. Therefore, OFSP variety Tulla (CIP 420027) can be used as the most promising and adaptable variety for optimum growth and productivity at the study area, Jimma in the Southwestern part of Ethiopia and combat VAD at community level.
Effects of drain depth of vertisols, nitrogen source and time of application on nutrient uptake by maize (Zea mays L.) in Western Ethiopia

Nitrogen is the most limiting plant nutrient in Vertisols in western Ethiopia. Vertisols properties and management factors as well as fertilizer source and time of application could influence nutrient uptake by crops. With this view, a field study was conducted at Ambo Agriculture Research Centre experimental site during the main cropping season of 2013- 2014, with the aim to determine interactive effects of drain depth of Vertisols, N source and time of N application on nutrient uptake by maize. Treatments comprised five drain depths (0, 15, 30, 45 and 60 cm), two N sources (urea and ammonium sulfate) and two timings of N applications (twice and thrice). The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Result showed that there was significant interactions effect of drain depths, N source and time of application on the concentration of nutrients in the grain and stover. The NH4-N uptake by maize was found to be significantly better than NO3-N utilization by maize. Grain and stover uptake of N, P and K by maize increased with drain depth and thrice split application of ammonium sulfate. It is concluded that draining off excess soil water from the rhizosphere is the key factor in improving nutrient uptake by maize in Vertisols in Ambo area. Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 7 (1): 1-7, June, 2017
Deep drainage estimates using multiple linear regression with percent clay content and rainfall

Deep drainage estimates are required for effective management of water resources. However, field measurements are time consuming and costly so simple empirical relationships are often used. Relationships developed between clay content of the surface soil and deep drainage have been used extensively in Australia to provide regional estimates of deep drainage but these relationships have been poorly justified and did not include rainfall in the relationships. Here we present a rigorous appraisal of clay content of soils and rainfall as predictors of deep drainage using an extensive database of field observations from across Australia. This study found that annual average rainfall and the average clay content of the top 2 m of the soil are statistically significant predictors of point scale deep drainage. Relationships have been defined for annual, perennial and tree type vegetation as a line of best fit along with 95% confidence intervals. This allows the uncertainty in these deep drainage estimates to be assessed for the first time.
Rotationally-supported disks around Class I sources in Taurus: disk formation constraints

(Abridged) Disks are observed around pre-main sequence stars, but how and when they form is still heavily debated. While disks around young stellar objects have been identified through thermal dust emission, spatially and spectrally resolved molecular line observations are needed to determine their nature. We present subarcsecond observations of dust and gas toward four Class I low-mass young stellar objects in Taurus. The 13CO and C18O J=2-1 transitions at 220 GHz were observed with the Plateau de Bure Interferometer at a spatial resolution of ~0.8'' and analyzed using uv-space position velocity diagrams to determine the nature of their observed velocity radient. Rotationally supported disks (RSDs) are detected around 3 of the 4 Class I sources studied. The derived masses identify them as Stage I objects; i.e., their stellar mass is higher than their envelope and disk masses. The outer radii of the Keplerian disks toward our sample of Class I sources are 100 AU around these sources are dominated by infalling motion (v propto r^-1). A large-scale envelope model is required to estimate the basic parameters of the flattened structure from spatially resolved continuum data. Similarities and differences between the gas and dust disk are discussed. Combined with literature data, the sizes of the RSDs around Class I objects are best described with evolutionary models with an initial rotation of 10^-14 Hz and slow sound speeds. Based on the comparison of gas and dust disk masses, little CO is frozen out within 100 AU in these disks. RSDs with radii up to 100 AU are present around Class I embedded objects. Larger surveys of both Class 0 and I objects are needed to determine whether most disks form late or early in the embedded phase.
Association between the recurrence period of acute kidney injury and mortality: a single-centre retrospective observational study in Japan

Objectives Recurrent acute kidney injury (AKI) is a recognised risk factor for mortality. However, it is unclear whether the period until AKI recurrence may have a major factor on patient outcome or not. To explore this issue, we (1) framed the hypothesis that early recurrence increases the risk of mortality and (2) evaluated the prognosis of recurrent AKI cases by setting 21 days as the cut-off period. Methods All studied cases were admitted and followed up at the Kanazawa University Hospital (Kanazawa, Japan) between 1 November 2006 and 31 October 2007. In total, 21 939 patients were retrospectively evaluated in their recurrences of AKI for 2 years and followed up until 31 October 2016. Risks for death were evaluated by the recurrences of AKI (Analysis 1). Patients who developed AKI recurrence before 21 days were defined as the early-recurrence group and the remaining cases as the late-recurrence group. Risks for death were evaluated by the two groups (Analysis 2). Results 510 patients (2.3%) developed the first AKI. Of these, 151 developed recurrent AKI within 2 years. The number of early-recurrence cases was 44 and that of non-recurrence or late-recurrence was 357. A total of 196 cases (38.4%) died, and higher risk for death was observed in the recurrent AKI group (Analysis 1; p=0.015, log-rank test). We found that the rate of all-cause mortality was higher in the early-recurrence group involving 33.8 deaths per 100 person-years, whereas the non-recurrence or late-recurrence group included only 6.2 deaths per 100 person-years (Analysis 2; p<0.001, log-rank test). Conclusions Patients experiencing recurrent AKI before 21 days from the first AKI clearly showed a relatively poor prognosis. Evidently, careful follow-up for at least 21 days after AKI would be highly useful to detect a recurrence event, possibly leading to a better prognosis after AKI.
Review of a dust explosion modeling

A single particle model developed for dust explosion is here reviewed. The model describes the behaviour of a reacting particle which undergoes different steps during reaction: heating, devolatilization and homogeneous combustion. The model predicts the maximum values of the deflagration index, also including the role of turbulence. Four explosion regimes have been introduced to take into account the effect on the KSt value of the dust diameter and of the dust shape (different from sphere). These regimes are defined as function of dimensionless numbers (Bi, Da, Th) which contain the chemico-physical properties of the dust-air mixtures. The effect of fuel gas addition to dust was also included in the model by calculating an equivalent gas mixture composition given by the flammable gas present in the hybrid mixture and the pyrolysis products generated from the dust pyrolysis. Finally, a guideline for the dust explosion simulations is proposed and modeling perspective discussed.