Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reliability assessment of micro-grid based on Markov model

Micro-grid can absorb the distributed power effectively, reduce loss, and improve power supply reliability. In order to assess micro-grid reliability quantitatively, the random natures of distributed power output are analyzed firstly in this paper. Wind power and photovoltaic Markov model are set up. And the power smoothing of energy storage is considered. Then the corresponding reliability evaluation process was given. And lastly, this paper realizes the micro-grid running states analysis and reliability assessment based on the analytic method. In addition, the new reliability indexes for micro-grid are proposed in the paper. Finally, example proves the efficiency of the above model and method. The results show that distributed power Markov model has a timing sequence and makes the assessment can better reflect the practical operation of micro-grid. It's significant for improving the reliability and economy of micro-grid operation.
Robust and efficient cluster analysis using a shared near neighbours approach

A nonparametric method for clustering multidimensional data in O(nlogn) time is described. It is based on the shared near neighbours algorithm. It uses adaptive k-d trees combined with various other sophisticated data structures to significantly decrease the computational complexity of the original algorithm which was O(n/sup 2/). The algorithm is suitable for a wide range of data and capable of delineating clusters of varying shape, density, and homogeneity. A comprehensive set of results is presented.
Postoperative pulmonary complications and morbidity after abdominal aneurysmectomy: a comparison of postoperative epidural versus parenteral opioid analgesia.

Patients undergoing aortic aneurysm repair have a high prevalence of coexisting cardiac and pulmonary disease, and the postoperative recovery is especially delayed by pulmonary complications. A review of all elective abdominal aneurysm repairs over a 29-month period was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of postoperative epidural analgesia in decreasing morbidity and mortality, and specifically pulmonary complications. Patients were placed into two groups; Group 1 (34 patients) used an epidural catheter for postoperative pain control, and Group II (31 patients) used standard parenteral opioid analgesia. The two groups were similar in preoperative combined factors including known risk factors for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, preexisting cardiac or pulmonary disease, and preexisting renal insufficiency. A statistically significant decrease (P = < 0.05) was found in both cardiac (P = 0.0002) and pulmonary (P = 0.019) complications in comparison, favoring Group I patients. A significant decrease was also seen in the time to liquid intake (P = 0.044), time out of bed to a chair (P = 0.002), length of stay in the Intensive Care Unit (P = 0.024), and overall hospital charges (P = 0.046) in favor of Group I patients. Although no significant difference (P = > 0.05) was seen in decreasing time to ambulation (P = 0.054), average time required on the ventilator (P = 0.053), or hospital days (P = 0.181), all of these did show a trend in favor of epidural catheter utilization. There were no complications or infections related to the use of the epidural catheter during this study period. In conclusion, the use of an epidural catheter for postoperative pain control has been shown to decrease time of intubation, time in the ICU, number of cardiac and pulmonary complications, which should lead to an overall decrease in hospital charges after elective repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms.
Relationship between Impulsiveness and Deviant Behavior among Adolescents in the Classroom: Age and Sex Differences

To assess the relationship between impulsiveness and deviant behavior among 103 adolescents, taking into account their sociodemographic characteristics, the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale and a self-assessment measure with regard to disruptive and deviant behaviors which had occurred in the last 90 days were used. The results show that impulsiveness and disruptive behavior in the classroom were related to deviant behavior outside of the classroom. Therefore, age and sex explained the relationship between impulsiveness and behavior. The older adolescents and the girls showed less disruptive behaviors than the younger participants and the boys; both variables showed an interactive effect on disruptive behavior. The age at which sexual activity commenced and the number of sexual partners were also significantly related to impulsiveness and disruptive and deviant behavior. Similarly, impulsiveness was shown to have a significant relationship with disruptive and deviant behavior, and disruptive behavior was shown to have a significant relationship with deviant behavior.
Natural killer cytotoxicity in the diagnosis of immune dysfunction: Criteria for a reproducible assay

Current evidence indicates that natural killer (NK) cells, which are large granular lymphocytes that mediate non‐major histocompatibility complex (MHC)‐restricted cytotoxicity and antibody‐dependent cytotoxicity and that are involved in multiple regulatory, developmental, and immunologic processes, are important in health. Immunodeficiency states presenting with low NK activity are often associated with malignancies, chronic viral infections, or autoimmune diseases. Monitoring of NK function appears to be indicated as an aid to diagnosis, prognosis, and follow‐up after therapy. Reliable performance of NK assays in a clinical laboratory requires that uniform criteria be established and followed for the acceptability of results. Statistical analysis of daily variability can be of great assistance in identifying and tracking sources of error, but routine statistical adjustments are not generally advisable. The quality control program described here provides a degree of assurance that this cytotoxicity assay can be dependable whether performed at one time point or serially. The successful implementation of this program requires laboratory resouces, biostatistical support, and interpretative skills, all of which are available in a modern clinical laboratory.
Helpful Aspects of Bereavement Support for Adults Following an Expected Death: Volunteers’ and Bereaved People's Perspectives

Helpful and unhelpful aspects of bereavement support were investigated from the perspectives of 24 bereaved adults and their volunteer bereavement support workers. Most commonly reported themes were the provision of hope and reassurance, and the opportunity for continued sharing and support. Significantly more clients than volunteers reported provision of information, and talking to someone outside their social network as helpful, and both groups scored higher on helpfulness ratings than comparative groups of psychotherapists and clients. Clients’ grieving styles and the quality of the helping relationship were also related to what was seen as helpful.
The Effect of Narrative Information in a Publicly Available Patient Decision Aid for Early-Stage Breast Cancer

This study was designed to (1) evaluate the effect of narratives used in a popular, publicly available patient decision aid for early-stage breast cancer on hypothetical treatment decisions and attitudes toward the decision aid and (2) explore the moderating effects of participant numeracy, electronic health literacy and decision-making style. Two hundred women were asked to imagine that they had been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer and viewed one of two versions of a video decision aid for early-stage breast cancer. The narrative version of the aid included stories from breast cancer survivors; the control version had no patient stories. After viewing the video decision aid, participants made a hypothetical treatment choice between lumpectomy with radiation and mastectomy, answered several questions about their decision, and evaluated the quality of the decision aid. Participants received $100 for completing the study. The two conditions differed in their motivations for the treatment decision and perceptions of the aid's trustworthiness and emotionality but showed no differences in preferences for surgical treatments or evaluations of the decision aid's quality. However, the impact of patient narratives was moderated by numeracy and electronic health literacy. Higher levels of numeracy were associated with decreased decisional confidence and lower ratings of trustworthiness for the decision aid in the narrative video condition but not in the control video condition. In contrast, higher levels of electronic health literacy were associated with increased decisional confidence and greater perceptions of trustworthiness and credibility of the decision aid in the narrative video condition but not the control video condition.
Life events as correlates of burden in spouse caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease.

The first goal of this study was to examine the occurrence and appraised distress of 20 stressful life events in 175 spouse caregivers (mean age = 68.6) of persons with Alzheimer's disease and 92 age- and gender-matched controls (mean age = 68.5). The second goal was to determine whether, in the caregivers, life stressors were related to burden after controlling for caregiver age, gender, satisfaction with social supports, and care-recipient cognitive and activities of daily living functioning. Caregivers and controls had similar occurrences and appraisals for all but 3 events, which occurred more frequently in caregivers (i.e., "changes in your spouse's health," "changes in your relationship with your spouse," and "changes in the way you friends and family treat you (social relations)"). Only "changes in finances" was appraised as more distressing by caregivers. Six events explained burden in the regressions: "victim of crime," "age discrimination," "serious family arguments (not including spouse)," "change in caregiver's health," "trouble with Medicaid/Medicare or Social Security," and "move to retirement home (associated with less burden). " Age discrimination was related to burden only for the caregivers of the most impaired care recipients. Also, caregivers who experienced health problems and who had been victims of crimes were the most burdened. Caregivers are not immune to problems experienced by older adults, and these problems may exacerbate caregiver burden. Clinicians should consider the overall context of a caregiver's life when evaluating burden.
Loss of MSH3 Protein Expression Is Frequent in MLH1-Deficient Colorectal Cancer and Is Associated with Disease Progression 1

Mononucleotide repeat sequences are particularly prone to frameshift mutations in tumors with biallelic inactivation of the mismatch repair (MMR) genes MLH1 or MSH2. In these tumors, several genes harboring mononucleotide repeats in their coding region have been proposed as targets involved in tumor progression, among which are also the MMR genes MSH3 and MSH6. We have analyzed the expression of the MSH3 and MSH6 proteins by immunohistochemistry in 31 colorectal carcinomas in which MLH1 was inactivated. Loss of MSH3 expression was identified in 15 tumors (48.5%), whereas all tumors expressed MSH6. Frameshift mutations at coding microsatellites were more frequent in MSH3 (16 of 31) than in MSH6 (3 of 31; Fisher’s exact test, P < 0.001). Frameshift mutations and allelic losses of MSH3 were more frequent in MSH3-negative tumors compared with those with normal expression (22 mutations in 30 alleles versus 8 mutations in 28 alleles; χ2, P = 0.001). Biallelic inactivation was evident or inferred for 60% of MSH3-negative tumors but none of the tumors with normal MSH3 expression. In contrast, we did not identify frameshift mutations in the (A)8 tract of MSH3 in a control group of 18 colorectal carcinomas in which the MMR deficiency was based on the inactivation of MSH2. As it has been suggested that mutations of MSH3 might play a role in tumor progression, we studied the association between MSH3 expression and disease stage assessed by lymph node and distant metastases status. Dukes stages C and D were more frequent in primary tumors with loss of MSH3 expression (9 of 13), compared with tumors with retained expression (1 of 14; Fisher’s exact test, P = 0.001), suggesting that MSH3 abrogation may be a predictor of metastatic disease or even favor tumor cell spread in MLH1-deficient colorectal cancers.
The Role of the Transcriptional Antiterminator RfaH in Lipopolysaccharide Synthesis, Resistance to Antimicrobial Peptides, and Virulence of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and Yersinia pestis

The Role of the Transcriptional Antiterminator RfaH in Lipopolysaccharide Synthesis, Antimicrobial Peptide Resistance, and Virulence of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and Yersinia pestis Jared Michael Hoffman Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, BYU Master of Science RfaH is a unique bacterial protein that enhances transcription of a select group of long operons in many Gram-negative bacteria. Operons regulated by RfaH possess an upstream operon polarity suppressor sequence, which recruits the RfaH protein to the RNA polymerase during transcription of genes, most of which are involved in the synthesis of cell-surface features. These include synthesis of the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) core and O-antigen in Salmonella and Escherichia coli, as well as F-plasmid conjugation pilus and capsule in E. coli. LPS is an important virulence factor in many Gram-negative bacteria, and protects Y. pseudotuberculosis against host antimicrobial chemokines. Recently published high-throughput transposon mutant screens have also suggested a role for RfaH in the ability of Y. pseudotuberculosis to colonize mice. However, the role of RfaH in Y. pseudotuberculosis and its descendent Yersinia pestis has not been carefully examined. In these studies we investigated the effect RfaH has on the structure of the LPS in both species at different temperatures. We also identified LPS-synthesis related genes that are regulated by RfaH. We determined the effect of RfaH on bacterial resistance to host defense peptides, and the ability of Y. pseudotuberculosis to colonize mice. We found that the loss of the rfaH gene had different effects in Y. pseudotuberculosis and Y. pestis. Loss of rfaH caused a truncation in the core region in Y. pseudotuberculosis strain IP32953 at both 21°C and 37°C, but only at 37°C in Y. pestis strain KIM6+. Similarly, we found that transcription of individual genes that are predicted to function in core or O-antigen synthesis were downregulated in the rfaH mutant strains in both species, but the impact of rfaH deletion was greater in Y. pseudotuberculosis. When tested for their ability to survive in the presence of antimicrobial peptides, the Y. pseudotuberculosis rfaH deficient bacteria were much more susceptible than wild-type to killing by polymyxin and by the antimicrobial chemokine CCL28. However, the Y. pestis rfaH mutant strain was equally susceptible to CCL28 as the wild-type strain. Infection of mice with Y. pseudotuberculosis show that rfaH deficient bacteria were able to survive as effectively as the wild-type following oral or intravenous inoculation, with or without the pYV virulence plasmid. Overall, our results show that while RfaH controls LPS gene expression in both Y. pseudotuberculosis and Y. pestis, its impact is much greater in Y. pseudotuberculosis. Furthermore, although loss of rfaH greatly reduces the ability of Y. pseudotuberculosis to resist antimicrobial peptides, it is not required for virulence in this species.
Short-term neonatal outcome in singleton, late preterm deliveries: a three-year experience at a single Lebanese center.

BACKGROUND There has been a decrease in the mean gestational age at delivery worldwide mostly due to an increase in deliveries occurring at late preterm period (LPP) with a concomitant rise in the rate of morbidities among newborns delivered at this period. OBJECTIVES To report the frequency of common short-term neonatal morbidities in infants born at LPP (between 34(0/7) and 36(6/7) weeks' gestation) and to compare these frequencies with those of full-term infants born at our institution. MATERIALS & METHODS A descriptive cohort study (2008-2010) at Makassed General Hospital. All deliveries occurring at LPP constituted the study group (n = 361), while births at or beyond 37 weeks' gestation were considered as controls (n = 2814). RESULTS The average rate of deliveries in LPP was 11.4% for the entire study period. The rate of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit admissions, respiratory morbidities, sepsis, jaundice, hypothermia, hypoglycemia and overall neonatal morbidity were all significantly higher in LPP infants when compared to those at term (p-value < 0.013). CONCLUSION In our cohort of Lebanese newborns delivered at LPP, significantly higher morbidities were encountered when compared to full-term newborns. Every possible effort should be exerted to avoid elective deliveries during LPP in order to curb the incidence of neonatal morbidities.
Effect of probenecid on riboflavin absorption and excretion in man.

An oral dose of probenecid given 1 hr. prior to oral administration of riboflavin or riboflavin-5′-phosphate (FMN) to normal humans produced a marked decrease in the excretion rate of the vitamin during the early excretion phase but had no significant effect during the later (post-absorptive) phase. Oral administration of probenecid prior to intramuscular injection of FMN increased the apparent “half-life” of the initial rapid phase of riboflavin excretion. The urinary recovery of riboflavin following oral or intramuscular administration of the vitamin was usually somewhat decreased by probenecid. These results are consistent with our earlier suggestion that riboflavin is excreted in part by renal tubular secretion. It appears that probenecid also inhibits the specialized transport process responsible for the intestinal absorption of riboflavin in man. The complex kinetics of riboflavin distribution and elimination in man are discussed and additional evidence is presented in support of enterohepatic cycling of the vitamin.
Excitons at the B K edge of boron nitride nanotubes probed by x-ray absorption spectroscopy

We have performed a near-edge x-ray absorption fine-structure (NEXAFS) investigation of multi-walled boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs). We show that the one-dimensionality of BNNTs is clearly evident in the B K edge spectrum, while the N K edge spectrum is similar to that of layered hexagonal BN (h-BN). We observe a sharp feature at the σ* onset of the B K edge, which we ascribe to a core exciton state. We also report a comparison with spectra taken after an ammonia plasma treatment, showing that the B K edge becomes indistinguishable from that of h-BN, due to the breaking of the tubular order and the formation of small h-BN clusters.
Social Support, Threat, and Coping Responses and Effectiveness In the Functionally Disabled

A causal model based on Lazarus' (1966) cognitively oriented theory of psychological stress and coping was tested in a functionally disabled population to determine the effects of social support variables, threat appraisal, and coping responses on coping effectiveness. Social support variables (perceived availability of social support, perceived effectiveness of social support, and personal constraints to the use of social support) were hypothesized to effect coping responses both directly and through the variable of threat appraisal. Coping responses (use of social support, cognitive reappraisal, emotion-focused coping, and problem-focused coping) were hypothesized to directly effect coping effectiveness and to mediate the effect of all other variables. Data from 50 functionally disabled, wheelchair-bound individuals discharged within 3 years from two rehabilitation facilities were analyzed using path analysis. The model fit the data and accounted for 61% of the variance in coping effectiveness. Findings indicated that perceived availability of social support, but not the use of social support, was significantly and positively related to coping effectiveness through the mediating variables of problem- and emotion-focused coping. In contrast to the relationship of marital status to coping effectiveness usually found in the literature, non-married subjects coped more effectively and perceived less threat.
Decomposing growth in revenues and costs into price , quantity and total factor productivity contributions

This article employs the superlative Fisher and Törnqvist indexes for exact decomposition of growth in nominal revenues and costs. The findings confirm the well-known result that these indexes very closely approximate each other, implying that the mathematically simpler and computationally easier Törnqvist is the more practicable index. Moreover, this article’s nominal growth decomposition yields all the results from the more common real growth decomposition and is also more informative for policy purposes. Application to the US agricultural sector during 1948–2001 shows that of the 3.31% average annual growth in revenues, TFP growth contributed 1.90 percentage points (pct. pts.); growth in output prices added 1.43 pct. pts. ; while growth in input quantities contributed – 0.02 pct. pts. (i.e. fewer inputs). Therefore, real output growth (or revenue growth less output price growth) was 1.88 pct. pts. , revealing that TFP’s 1.90 pct. pts. growth contribution was fully responsible for real output growth with fewer inputs. Since revenues measure incomes, these results suggest that policy should focus more on measures to foster TFP growth than on specific price or quantity instruments to enhance income growth.
Keratins and disease at a glance

Keratins are cytoskeletal filament-forming proteins found in skin and other epithelial (sheet) tissues ([Table 1][1]). Keratins (type I and II), and other highly related (types III–VI) intermediate filament or nanofilament proteins, used to be thought of as very inert because they form filament
Temporal and spatial scaling of planktonic responses to nutrient inputs into a subtropical embayment

We carried out a study of the spatial and temporal effects of land-derived material on water column nutrients and plankton dynamics in a subtropical estuary. The study had 2 parts: (1) a 3 yr synoptic monitoring program, and (2) a shorter 1.5 yr study during the second half of the program, which focused on individual pulses driven by discrete rainfall events. Although we found spatial differences in some water column parameters within Kane'ohe Bay and an adjacent oceanic site, inorganic nutrient levels were generally comparable in the Bay and offshore. One difference was that Prochlorococcus spp. numerically dominated the plankton at the oceanic site whereas Syne- chococcus spp. dominated at all Bay sites. The switch in dominance appears to be due to light characteristics and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON), but not dissolved inorganic nutrient availabil- ity. There were no annual cycles in water column parameters within the Bay; however, a comparison of dry and wet seasons did show some differences. Planktonic cell abundance was in general lower during the wet season, with the exception of opportunistic diatoms that were more abundant during the wet season. A drought during the study period may have influenced our results. Pulses were characterized by an elevation in inorganic nutrient concentrations in the Bay close to the stream mouth. The general response was an increase in abundance of microphytoplankton and chl a after a 3 to 6 d lag following the nutrient increase. Picophytoplankton showed an increase in fluorescence per cell after a 12 to 24 h lag, probably related to a decrease in irradiance associated with turbidity in runoff. The Bay can act as source of dissolved inorganic nutrients and plankton for oceanic waters; however, planktonic populations in the Bay are primarily autochthonous and do not represent an oceanic source of nutrients for plankton consumers within Kane'ohe Bay.