Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of SYBR Green I and SYBR Gold stains for enumerating bacteria and viruses by epifluorescence microscopy

SYBR Gold staining is used for enumerating bacteria and viruses in aquatic samples. However, its suitability for epifluorescence microscopy has not been sufficiently investigated. Thus we compared bacterial and viral counts using SYBR Gold and SYBR Green I stains. Variables for both bacterial and viral counts included season and ocean depths of sample collection and the period of sustained excitation under epifluorescence microscopy. We also examined the storage period and procedures for preservation of samples with formaldehyde for bacterial counts. Natural seawater samples were used for all experiments. Ratios of counts obtained with SYBR Gold to those with SYBR Green I staining were 0.99 ± 0.09 (mean ± SD, n = 58) for bacteria and 1.0 ± 0.1 (n = 38) for viruses, which indicated no significant differences between stains. In samples fixed with 0.74% formalde- hyde that were stored at 4°C, bacterial counts obtained with SYBR Gold staining decreased over time in parallel with those obtained with SYBR Green I staining. However, counts from fixed samples with both SYBR stains did not decrease significantly after 30 d when glass slides were prepared immedi- ately and stored at -20°C, or when samples were flash-frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at -80°C. Under sustained excitation, counts of bacteria and viruses stained with SYBR Gold decreased less than with SYBR Green I, suggesting greater persistence of the fluorescence signal with SYBR Gold. These results indicate the suitability of SYBR Gold staining for use in the determination of bacterial and viral abundance in natural seawater.
Use of a Chlamydia trachomatis DNA probe for detection of ocular chlamydiae

We examined the efficacy of a Chlamydia trachomatis DNA probe in detecting ocular chlamydiae by comparing it with tissue culture isolation, direct fluorescent-antibody cytology, and clinical eye exams. In a trachoma-endemic area of Nepal, 430 Nepalese villagers were examined according to the World Health Organization trachoma grading scale. Upper tarsal conjunctival specimens from each subject were obtained for DNA probing, tissue culture, and fluorescent-antibody screening. Moderate to severe intensity of inflammation was found in 85 (21%) of 430 people studied. An additional 25 (7.2%) of 345 people with low or no intensity of inflammation also had microbiologically proven infection, which may reflect asymptomatic carriage. Compared with culture, the DNA probe had a sensitivity of 86.9% and a specificity of 91%. For direct fluorescent antibody versus culture, the values were 47.8 and 96.9%, respectively. Results from this study indicate that the DNA probe for C. trachomatis might be considered a valuable epidemiologic tool in screening trachoma-endemic populations for ocular chlamydiae.
UREA FRACTIONATION OF USED PALM OIL METHYL ESTERS

Generally, palm oil contains several saturated fatty acids (lauric, 0.1%; myristic, 0.1%; palmitic, 44%; and stearic, 5%) and unsaturated fatty acids (oleic, 39%; linoleic, 10%; and linolenic, 0.3%). Owing to the very different chemical properties of the saturated and unsaturated fats in palm oil and its derived methyl esters (ME), it is important to separate them as useful raw materials for oleochemicals and other chemical processes. Recent investigations have shown that it is possible to separate the mixtures of fatty acids or fatty acids ME on the basis of their degree of unsaturation. As the stabilities of urea adduct decrease with the increasing unsaturation, the UREA FRACTIONATION OF USED PALM OIL METHYL ESTERS
Personalized Medicine : “ Prognostics ” Rather than “ Diagnostics ”

Introduction 79 Personalized Medicine: “Prognostics” Rather than “Diagnostics” 81 History of Eeg Research in ADHD and Depression 83 ADHD 83 Depression 89 Conclusion: Averaged Group Data vs. Individual Client Data 93 Influence of Vigilance/Arousal 94 EEG and qEEG: Models and Theory 94 EEG Vigilance Model 95 EEG-Vigilance Algorithm “VIGALL” 95 Validation of EEG Vigilance 97 EEG-Vigilance Regulation in Psychiatric Disorders 98 EEG Phenotype Model 105 Inter-rater Reliability 107 Prevalence of EEG Phenotypes in ADHD and Depression 109 EEG Phenotype vs. EEG Vigilance: Towards a Coherent Model? 112 Similarities Between EEG Phenotypes and EEG Vigilance 113 Unique Contributions of Both Methods 114 Acknowledgments 115 References 115
Origins of chemical diversity of back‐arc basin basalts: A segment‐scale study of the Eastern Lau Spreading Center

We report major, trace, and volatile element data on basaltic glasses from the northernmost segment of the Eastern Lau Spreading Center (ELSC1) in the Lau back-arc basin to further test and constrain models of back-arc volcanism. The zero-age samples come from 47 precisely collected stations from an 85 km length spreading center. The chemical data covary similarly to other back-arc systems but with tighter correlations and well-developed spatial systematics. We confirm a correlation between volatile content and apparent extent of melting of the mantle source but also show that the data cannot be reproduced by the model of isobaric addition of water that has been broadly applied to back-arc basins. The new data also confirm that there is no relationship between mantle temperature and the wet melting productivity. Two distinct magmatic provinces can be identified along the ELSC1 axis, a southern province influenced by a “wet component” with strong affinities to arc volcanism and a northern province influenced by a “damp component” intermediate between enriched mid-ocean ridge basalts (E-MORB) and arc basalts. High–field strength elements and rare earth elements are all mobilized to some extent by the wet component, and the detailed composition of this component is determined. It differs in significant ways from the Mariana component reported by E. Stolper and S. Newman (1994), particularly by having lower abundances of most elements relative to H_(2)O. The differences can be explained if the slab temperature is higher for the Mariana and the source from which the fluid is derived is more enriched. The ELSC1 damp component is best explained by mixing between the wet component and an E-MORB-like component. We propose that mixing between water-rich fluids and low-degree silicate melts occurs at depth in the subduction zone to generate the chemical diversity of the ELSC1 subduction components. These modified sources then rise independently to the surface and melt, and these melts mix with melts of the background mantle from the ridge melting regime to generate the linear data arrays characteristic of back-arc basalts. The major and trace element framework for ELSC1, combined with different slab temperatures and compositions for difference convergent margins, may be able to be applied to other back-arc basins around the globe.
Climate Change Impacts on Wetlands of the Yellow River Headwaters

The impacts of climate change and human activities have modified the structure and the distribution pattern of wetlands of the Yellow River headwaters. We studied ETM and TM satellite images data using GIS from 1990, 2000 and 2010 to analyse changes in the spatial distribution and patterns of the wetland area that supplies water to the Yellow River. We propose stable conditions for the different types of wetlands and mutual transition probabilities. Time series data on temperature, precipitation and evaporation at the Jimai and Maduo hydrological and meteorological stations were analysed. Characteristics and trends of meteorological factors were studied. The relational grades of different wetlands and meteorological factors were calculated using Grey System Theory. Major factors determining wetland evolution in the Yellow River headwaters were proposed and the impacts of climate change on wetland evolution were analysed. Wetland evolution in the Yellow River headwaters is closely related to climate change. Precipitation is the dominant meteorological determinant for the wetland pattern evolution and transformation of the other wetland types. Presence of wetland areas is positively correlated with precipitation and temperature and negatively correlated with evaporation. Wetlands are important for maintaining the “cold and wet” effect on regional climates; when precipitation increases, the “cold and wet” effect of the wetland increases. Nat. Env. & Poll. Tech. Website: www.neptjournal. com Received: 1-2-2015 Accepted: 2-4-2015
Scaling up Kernel Grower Clustering Method for Large Data Sets via Core-sets

Abstract Kernel grower is a novel kernel clustering method proposed recently by Camastra and Verri. It shows good performance for various data sets and compares favorably with respect to popular clustering algorithms. However, the main drawback of the method is the weak scaling ability in dealing with large data sets, which restricts its application greatly. In this paper, we propose a scaled-up kernel grower method using core-sets, which is significantly faster than the original method for large data clustering. Meanwhile, it can deal with very large data sets. Numerical experiments on benchmark data sets as well as synthetic data sets show the efficiency of the proposed method. The method is also applied to real image segmentation to illustrate its performance.
How did you go bankrupt ? ” “ Two ways . Gradually , then suddenly . ” –

We investigate credit spreads and capital structure dynamics in a model in which management has private information regarding firm value and is able to issue both equity and debt to service existing debt. Rather than choosing to default, managers of investmentgrade (IG) firms who receive bad private signals conceal this information by servicing existing debt via new debt issuance. As such, firms with IG-commensurate spreads have zero jump-to-default risk (and hence, command zero jump-to-default premium), at least until their debt capacity is fully utilized and spreads have increased to “fallen angel” status. These predictions match observation well. JEL Classification Codes : G12; G32; G33
REVERSAL IN STEREO DISCRIMINATION BY CONTRAST REVERSAL*

ABSTRACT When bars are flashed to appear nearer or farther than the plane of fixation, some observers are unable to localize the bar correctly in depth. For example, with light bars presented against a darker background, convergent disparities may be confused with similar stimuli presented monocularly to only one eye, whereas divergent disparities may be identified correctly. If now the contrast of the bars is reversed, so that they appear dark against a lighter background, then the stereo discrimination will reverse: convergent disparities will be identified correctly, whereas the divergent disparities previously discriminated now will be confused with the monocular stimuli. Such reversals in depth may be the result of interactions between center and surround components of disparity mechanisms.
Use of functionals in linearization and composite estimation with application to two-sample survey data

An important problem associated with two-sample surveys is the estimation of nonlinear functions of finite population totals such as ratios, correlation coefficients or measures of income inequality. Computation and estimation of the variance of such complex statistics are made more difficult by the existence of overlapping units. In one-sample surveys, the linearization method based on the influence function approach is a powerful tool for variance estimation. We introduce a two-sample linearization technique that can be viewed as a generalization of the one-sample influence function approach. Our technique is based on expressing the parameters of interest as multivariate functionals of finite and discrete measures and then using partial influence functions to compute the linearized variables. Under broad assumptions, the asymptotic variance of the substitution estimator, derived from Deville (1999), is shown to be the variance of a weighted sum of the linearized variables. The paper then focuses on a general class of composite substitution estimators, and from this class the optimal estimator for minimizing the asymptotic variance is obtained. The efficiency of the optimal composite estimator is demonstrated through an empirical study. Copyright 2009, Oxford University Press.
Dynamic Cerebral Autoregulation and Critical Closing Pressure in Experimental Human Endotoxemia and Sepsis Patients

Background: To investigate the influence of systemic inflammation on dynamic cerebral autoregulation and vascular tone during experimental human endotoxemia and sepsis. Methods: Healthy volunteers received 3 h continuous infusion of LPS (c-LPS, 4 ng/kg, n = 11, Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02922673) or a bolus of LPS (b-LPS, 2 ng/kg, n = 8, Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02675868) and 10 sepsis patients were studied. Mean arterial pressure (MAP) and cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) were monitored simultaneously. Cerebral autoregulation was analysed by transfer function analysis (TFA). Critical closing pressure (CrCP) was estimated as a measure of cerebral vascular tone. Results: c-LPS resulted in a more pronounced and prolonged plasma cytokine response compared with b-LPS. MAP decreased from 89 ± 3 to 75 ± 2 mmHg (p < 0.05) and from 91 ± 2 to 77 ± 3 mmHg (p < 0.001) in the c-LPS and b-LPS groups, respectively. MAP in sepsis patients was 65 ± 4 mmHg. TFA in both LPS groups showed no significant changes over time in coherence, gain and phase. Phase in sepsis patients was lower compared with both LPS groups (7 (2 to 33) [median (interquartile range)] in sepsis versus 57 (36 to 74) in the c-LPS (p = 0.02) and 53 (43 to 64) degrees in the b-LPS group (p = 0.01)). CrCP decreased from 49 ± 2 to 41 ± 2 mmHg (p = 0.16) in the c-LPS and from 50 ± 2 to 42 ± 2 mmHg in the b-LPS group (p < 0.01), and was 36 ± 2 mmHg in sepsis patients. Conclusions: Dynamic cerebral autoregulation is impaired in sepsis patients, but remains intact during experimental human endotoxemia. CrCP decreased during endotoxemia and was low in sepsis, reflecting decreased vascular tone. This indicates activation of a cerebrovascular adaptive process, also during experimental endotoxemia with intact cerebral autoregulation. Trial Registration: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02922673 and Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02675868
THE ACUTE EFFECT VIBRATING FOAM ROLLERS HAVE ON THE LOWER EXTREMITIES’ ABILITY TO PRODUCE POWER

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect that vibration through selfmyofascial release in combination with a dynamic stretch routine had on maximum power output. Twenty-one collegiate volleyball athletes agreed to participate in the study. The design was a randomized cross-over design in which all participants served as their own control by participating in all three interventions, which consisted of; a) dynamic stretch routine (DS), b) non-vibrating foam rolling combined with dynamic stretch routine (NVFR), and c) vibrating foam rolling combined with dynamic stretch routine (VFR). The foam rolling protocol consisted of rolling each limb bilaterally for 30 seconds; four and a half minutes in total, and was followed with the dynamic stretch routine. Subjects then participated in the vertical jump test, using a Just Jump Mat. Each participant was given one practice attempt, and three recorded attempts that were averaged, and used for statistical analysis. Testing days were separated by a minimum of 48 hours and were completed at the same time of day. A repeated measures ANOVA was calculated to compare the mean scores of the jump height and power for each warm-up condition. This study found there to be no significant difference between jump height due to the warm-up condition (F(2,40)=1.705, p=0.195, ηp =0.079). This study also found there to be no significant difference between jump power due to the warm-up condition (F(2,40)=1.754, p=0.186, ηp =0.081). However, this study did indicate a significant difference in the perceived effectiveness of the warm-up condition (F(2,40)=5.043, p=. 011, ηp =0.201, CI=[0.213,1.120]). In conclusion, the present study indicated that vibrating foam rolling combined with dynamic stretch did not have a significant effect on jump height in female collegiate athletes.
Deep Learning Models for Paraphrases Identification

Paraphrase identification is the task of identifying automatically whether a pair of sentences carries the same meaning. In this dissertation, we propose a deep learning system for paraphrase identification of tweets. The proposed system integrates the state-of-the-art features and Gated Recurrent Units to extract high level features of two tweets and identify whether they are identical. The effectiveness of the proposed system has been evaluated by using it in the supervised task of paraphrase in Twitter that presented in SemEval 2015, obtaining results which show its superiority over the state-of-the-art systems.
SPH Molecules-a model of granular materials

An SPH model of granular material is described. The model replaces standard SPH particles by small molecules each of which moves as a rigid body. We simulate dry granular materials forming piles and show that they have an angle of repose similar to that in nature. We simulate an avalanche by placing the molecules on a steep hillside and show that the avalanche runs onto a horizontal plane and eventually comes to rest. Finally, we simulate dambreaks using a mixture of granular and liquid SPH particles. The effective viscosity of the mixture increases as the concentration of the granular materials increases. The increase is small for a concentration less than 0.5 but increases very rapidly for concentrations above this. These results are similar to those for a Bingham rheology.
Formation number of confined vortex rings ( to appear in Physical Review Fluids , 2018 )

This paper investigates the formation number of vortex rings generated by a piston-cylinder mechanism in a confined tube. We use Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) of axisymmetric confined vortex rings to study the influence of different parameters on the separation (or pinch-off) of the vortex ring from the trailing jet. It is shown that the structure of the vortex ring at pinch-off depends on the type of injection program (pulse dominated either by positive or negative acceleration ramps) and the confinement ratio Dw/D, where Dw is the inner diameter of the tube and D the diameter of the cylinder). For low confinement ratios (Dw/D ≤ 2), a vortex of opposite sign generated at the lateral wall strongly interacts with the vortex ring and the pinch-off is not clearly observed. The pinch-off is observed and analysed for confinement ratios Dw/D ≥ 2.5. DNS data is used to estimate the value of the formation time, which is the time necessary for the vortex generator to inject the same amount of circulation as carried by the detached vortex ring. The confined vortex ring at pinch-off is described by the model suggested by Danaila, Kaplanski and Sazhin [A model for confined vortex rings with elliptical core vorticity distribution, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 811:67-94, 2017]. This model allows us to take into account the influence of the lateral wall and the elliptical shape of the vortex core. The value of the formation time is predicted using this model and the slug-flow model.
Comparison of Platelet Markers with C-Reactive Protein Levels and Disease Severity at Patients with Acute and Chronic Urticaria

Bu calismada; akut ve kronik urtikerli hastalarda, platelet belirteclerini ve C-reaktif protein duzeyleri olculmustur. Urtiker patogenezinde plateletlerin rolunu arastirmak amaclandi. Calismaya 18-76 yas arasinda 34 akut urtiker hastasi, 27 kronik urtiker hastasi ve 30 saglikli gonullu alinmistir. Gruplar arasinda demografik veriler acisindan anlamli fark saptanmamistir. Platelet belirteclerinden MPV ve PDW degerlerinde akut urtiker ve kronik urtiker grubu arasinda fark saptanmaz iken, kontrol grubunda bu degerler istatistiksel olarak anlamli yuksek bulundu (p<0,001). Kontrol grubunda CRP degeri istatistiksel olarak anlamli dusuk bulundu (p:0,008). Urtiker patogenezinde plateletlerin rolunun daha iyi anlasilmasi icin genis hasta serilerinde calismalara gereksinim vardir.
Solar Water Heating Systems: A Review

In the present review paper, the existing solar water heating systems are studied with their applications. Solar energy is free, environmentally clean, and therefore it is accepted as one of the most promising alternative energy sources. The effective use of solar energy is hindered by the intermittent nature of its availability, limiting its use and effectiveness in domestic and industrial applications especially in water heating. Now a day, plenty of hot water is used for domestic, commercial and industrial purposes. Various resources i.e. coal, diesel, gas etc, are used to heat water and sometimes for steam production. Solar energy is the main alternative to replace the conventional energy sources. The size of the systems depends on availability of solar radiation, temperature requirement of customer, geographical condition and arrangement of the solar system, etc. Therefore, it is necessary to design the solar water heating system as per above parameters. The available literature is reviewed to understand the construction, arrangement, applications and sizing of the solar thermal system.
Expected Stock Returns and the Correlation Risk Premium ∗

We show that the correlation risk premium can predict future market excess returns in-sample and out-of-sample for long horizons and contains information that is nonredundant relative to the variance risk premium. To exploit this predictability, we develop a novel estimation methodology that uses contemporaneous increments of option-implied variables, efficiently removing any lag in estimation of variance and correlation risk betas. The methodology leads to considerable out-of-sample predictability, with an R2 of 7.0% at an annual horizon, and substantial economic gains for investors. The results are supported by a multi-asset general-equilibrium model in which variance and correlation risk are endogenously priced.