Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Validation of the cone penetrometer suitability for determining the state of soil

Abstract The subject matter of this paper is assessment of the suitability of a dynamic cone penetrometer for determination of the state of soil. The principle of operation of the dynamic cone penetrometer, similar to commonly used DPL penetrometers, is described in the paper. Next the results of investigation conducted in Poland using a new dynamic cone penetrometer are presented. A series of measurements were performed in real field conditions. An attempt was made to correlate the results obtained with the dynamic and static cone penetrometers (CPT) respectively. These correlations were then subjected to validation to obtain a preliminary evaluation of the suitability of the dynamic cone penetrometer for determining the state of soil.
Teachers’ collective professional development in school: A review study

Abstract The aim of the study has been to describe, analyse and discuss the latest research findings on the professional development that is accomplished through collective and cooperative processes among teachers. The research question addressed in this article is: “In which ways do professional development and learning occur in schools, and which improvements may be identified in the practices of teachers related to professional development and learning? ”. The theoretical framework for the research is cultural historical activity theory (CHAT). In the CHAT perspective, knowledge is perceived as constructions of meaning and understanding within social interaction. The social interactions and surroundings are seen as decisive for teachers’ (in this case) learning and development. The main argument is that teachers’ professional development can lead to improvements in teachers’ teaching and development of teachers’ pedagogical thinking about students learning and development. To answer the research question, a search was carried out in the field of pedagogy in ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) (performed on 4 January 2018). The search strings “teacher professional development”, “teacher learning” and “professional development” were used and restricted to the time period from 2015 to 2017. This study finds that many factors impact and influence the professional development of teachers. Collective processes in professional learning communities (PLCs) in an environment dominated by trust between the participants are important. Findings moreover show the importance of teachers having influence on planning and initiation of teachers’ professional development. The study also shows that external support has an impact on teachers’ professional development.
Econometric Analysis of Gender and Labour Market Outcomes in Urban Cameroon

In every country, gender disparities are observed in various aspects of daily life, the most visible ones being those related to labour market outcomes. This paper highlights the importance of the labour market related gender disparities in Cameroon with special focus on the relative contribution of identified determinants on unemployment duration, employment status and remuneration. Based on the 2010 Employment and the Informal Sector Survey by the National Institute of Statistics, both parametric and non-parametric analyses of unemployment durations have been used. They include probit model estimates for the choice of non-wage earner status, estimates of Mincer-type equations and various extensions of the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition. The results obtained can be summarized in three main points as follows. Firstly, women have longer periods of unemployment and are less likely to leave unemployment for a job than men. Results indicate that these gender disparities in exit probabilities from unemployment are due to differences in human capital endowments and to socioeconomic factors, which have a tendency of increasing women’s reservation wage. Also, unobserved heterogeneity with greater positive duration dependence for women is confirmed. Secondly, there are gender differences in probability transitions to either wage or non-wage employment with women being more likely to be self-employed. Of these gender differences, human capital endowment and job search methods account for 20.64% and 38.20%, respectively. The remaining part is due to unobserved factors. Thirdly, gender differences in labour market earnings are around 6% and 17% among wage and non-wage earners, respectively. Observable factors in wage equations account for only for 6% and 30% in the respective groups. These results suggest the formulation of several policies to reduce the observed differences. Some of these policies relate to the conception and implementation of vocational training targeting women and, to some extent, the setting up of programmes for relocating unemployed individuals to where employment opportunities are greater. Others relate to reducing the use of informal job search channels by increasing the effectiveness of formal employment agencies.
Dielectric properties of natural ester, synthetic ester Midel 7131 and mineral oil Diala D

Insulating liquids are widely used in high voltage industry applications which include the power stations, high voltage transformers and impulse power generators. Typical insulating liquids used in industry are mineral oils. In recent years, a large number of research papers have been published which focus on search for suitable liquid dielectrics to replace mineral oils and to achieve better dielectric performance. The dielectric performance of insulating liquids is a key factor which has to be considered in industrial design. Dielectric properties including ac breakdown voltage and mobility of charges are important parameters which characterize dielectric properties of liquid insulators. In this paper dielectric properties of synthetic ester, Midel 7131; mineral oil, Shell Diala D and basic vegetable (rapeseed) oil have been investigated. The ac breakdown voltages and the dc pre-breakdown currents have been obtained and an apparent mobility of charge carriers in these liquids has been calculated.
High sensitivity evanescent field fiber Bragg grating sensor

The paper summarizes on the development of a fiber Bragg grating sensor for the detection of small changes of index of refraction of the medium surrounding the fiber. The etched fiber Bragg grating sensor can detect changes of the index of refraction of a liquid as small as a few parts in 10/sup -5/.
A Flexible Approach for Context‐Dependent Assessment of Quantitative Systems Pharmacology Models

Systems pharmacology models are having an increasing impact on pharmaceutical research and development, from preclinical through post-approval phases, including use in regulatory interactions. Given the wide diversity among the models and the contexts of use, a common but flexible strategy for model assessment is needed to enable the appropriate interpretation of model-based results. We present an approach to evaluate these models and discuss how it can be customized to available data and intended application. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Distinct serum and cerebrospinal fluid cytokine and chemokine profiles in autoantibody-associated demyelinating diseases

Background Demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system associated with autoantibodies against aquaporin-4 and myelin-oligodendrocyte-glycoprotein are mediated by different immunopathological mechanisms compared to multiple sclerosis. Objective The purpose of this study was to evaluate serum and cerebrospinal fluid cytokine/chemokine profiles in patients with autoantibodies against aquaporin-4 or autoantibodies against myelin-oligodendrocyte-glycoprotein-associated demyelination compared to multiple sclerosis and autoimmune encephalitis. Methods Serum and cerebrospinal fluid cytokine/chemokine levels were analysed using Procartaplex Multiplex Immunoassays. First, we analysed a panel of 32 cytokines/chemokines in a discovery group (nine aquaporin-4-antibody seropositive, nine myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein-antibody seropositive, eight encephalitis, 10 multiple sclerosis). Significantly dysregulated cytokines/chemokines were validated in a second cohort (11 aquaporin-4-antibody seropositive, 18 myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein-antibody seropositive, 18 encephalitis, 33 multiple sclerosis). Results We found 11 significantly altered cytokines/chemokines in cerebrospinal fluid and serum samples in the discovery group (a proliferation-inducing ligand, fractalkine=CX3CL1, growth-regulated oncogene-α, interleukin-1 receptor antagonist, interleukin-6, interleukin-8=CXCL8, interleukin-10, interleukin-21, interferon-ɣ-induced protein-10=CXCL10, monokine induced by interferon-ɣ=CXCL9, macrophage inflammatory protein-1ß=CCL4). Most of these cytokines/chemokines were up-regulated in autoantibodies against aquaporin-4 or autoantibodies against myelin-oligodendrocyte-glycoprotein positive patients compared to multiple sclerosis. We confirmed these results for cerebrospinal fluid interleukin-6 and serum interleukin-8, growth-regulated oncogene-α, a proliferation-inducing ligand and macrophage inflammatory protein-1β in the validation set. Receiver-operating characteristic analysis revealed increased levels of cerebrospinal fluid interleukin-6, serum interleukin-8 and growth-regulated oncogene-α in most patients with autoantibody-associated neurological diseases. Conclusion This study suggests that distinctive cerebrospinal fluid and serum cytokine/chemokine profiles are associated with autoantibody-mediated demyelination, but not with multiple sclerosis.
Study of viscoelastic effect on the frequency shift of microcantilever chemical sensors

Microcantilevers coated with a chemically sensitive layer are increasingly being used in chemical detection systems. The sensitive coating, often a polymer, absorbs specific molecules, which can be detected by monitoring the shift in the mechanical resonant frequency. Usually, the frequency shift resulting from molecular absorption is interpreted as a mass loading effect. However, mass loading is not the only effect that has an impact on the frequency shift; the viscoelastic properties of the sensitive coating are also affected by the sorption process. Sorption-induced modulus changes are typically difficult to characterize. However, it is known that the sorption of analyte molecules in a polymer coating results in the plasticization of the coating. In most cases, the polymer becomes more rubbery with increasing concentration of analyte molecules, i.e., the coating becomes softer with increasing loss modulus while the storage modulus decreases. Using a new analytical model developed for the resonant frequency expression of a hybrid microcantilever (elastic base and viscoelastic layer), the effects of the modification of the storage and loss moduli of the sensitive layer on the resonant frequency are examined. The main conclusion of this analytical study is that, even if the sensitive coating moduli are small compared to the base cantilever's Young's modulus, the effect of the change in the viscoelastic coating properties could contribute significantly to the overall frequency shift (8-23% in the simulations depending on the coating thickness, with even higher contributions for other sets of problem parameters).
Habitat selection and spatiotemporal interactions of a reintroduced mesocarnivore

Habitat quality and quantity are key factors in evaluating the potential for success of a wildlife translocation. However, because of the difficulty or cost of evaluating these factors, habitat assessments may not include valuable information on important habitat attributes including the abundance and distribution of prey, predators, and competitors. Fishers (Pekania pennanti) are one of the most commonly reintroduced carnivores in North America, and they are a species of conservation concern in their western range. We examined the relative importance of landscape features and species interactions in determining habitat use of a reintroduced population of fishers in the southern Cascade Mountains, Washington, USA. We used detections of prey and predators at 134 remote camera stations, remotely sensed forest structure data, and telemetry locations of fishers in a resource selection function to assess the relative importance of prey, predators, and forest structure in fisher habitat selection. Fishers selected habitats based on forest conditions and activity levels of snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus), whereas bobcat (Lynx rufus) and coyote (Canis latrans) activity levels did not directly affect habitat selection. The probability of fisher use increased in older stands, close to recently disturbed stands, and in areas with intermediate levels of hare activity. Bobcat and hare activity levels were positively correlated, and fishers avoided areas with the greatest hare activity, suggesting that fishers may experience a food‐safety tradeoff in the study area. Temporal activity patterns in photo detections indicate that fishers may mediate this danger by avoiding bobcats temporally. Our findings suggest that fishers in Washington prefer habitat mosaics of old and recently disturbed stands where they have greater access to resting structures and hares. Management that maintains mosaics of young and old forest across large landscapes is likely to support fisher recovery. Future reintroduction efforts would benefit from an assessment of prey and predator abundance in proposed reintroduction areas before project initiation. © 2019 The Wildlife Society.
Policy Gradient in Continuous Time

Policy search is a method for approximately solving an optimal control problem by performing a parametric optimization search in a given class of parameterized policies. In order to process a local optimization technique, such as a gradient method, we wish to evaluate the sensitivity of the performance measure with respect to the policy parameters, the so-called policy gradient. This paper is concerned with the estimation of the policy gradient for continuous-time, deterministic state dynamics, in a reinforcement learning framework, that is, when the decision maker does not have a model of the state dynamics. We show that usual likelihood ratio methods used in discrete-time, fail to proceed the gradient because they are subject to variance explosion when the discretization time-step decreases to 0. We describe an alternative approach based on the approximation of the pathwise derivative, which leads to a policy gradient estimate that converges almost surely to the true gradient when the time-step tends to 0. The underlying idea starts with the derivation of an explicit representation of the policy gradient using pathwise derivation. This derivation makes use of the knowledge of the state dynamics. Then, in order to estimate the gradient from the observable data only, we use a stochastic policy to discretize the continuous deterministic system into a stochastic discrete process, which enables to replace the unknown coefficients by quantities that solely depend on known data. We prove the almost sure convergence of this estimate to the true policy gradient when the discretization time-step goes to zero. The method is illustrated on two target problems, in discrete and continuous control spaces.
Impact of Nurses’ Work Patterns on Nurses and Patients in Critical Care and Toxicology Care Units of Alexandria University Hospitals

Background: Nowadays, there are difficulties in recruiting and retaining nursing staff with increasing pressures and demands on nurses working in critical care areas. The role of nursing care in patients' safety and healthcare outcomes has led to increased interest in measuring and reporting nurses’ work patterns and their consequences on nurses and patients. Objectives : Describe nurses’ work patterns and their impacts on nurses and patient outcomes. Methods : Self-report forms were used to collect data regarding nurses’ time spent on direct and indirect nursing activities, non- nursing care and personal activities as well as care left undone. Questionnaires were used to measure stress, tension, conflict, nurses’ intent to leave, nurses' satisfaction and patient satisfaction Results : nurses spent their working time on direct nursing care (36.64 %); indirect nursing care (28.18 %), non-nursing care (30.64 %) and personal activities ( 4.7%). Profile of direct and indirect patient care and personal activities increased in night shifts, while the profile of non-nursing tasks increased in morning shifts. There was a positive correlation between care left undone and three non-nursing tasks. Besides, there was a positive correlation between left care undone, non-nursing duties and four nursing job outcomes. There also was a negative correlation between care left undone, non-nursing tasks and nurses' and patients' satisfaction. Conclusion : the study focused on the importance of direct patient care on improving quality of care and patient safety. Reducing the performance of non-nursing duties by nurses and decreasing care left undone will most likely result in greater nurses’ and patients’ satisfaction, reduced stress, tension, and conflict and decreased numbers of nurses’ leaving their jobs. Keywords: work, patterns, nurses, patients, outcomes
Position and Importance of Strategic Human Resources Management in Internal Environment of Companies in the Czech Republic

The contribution defines the category of Strategic Human Resources Management in the context of corporate internal environment. The importance of strategic human resources management in comparison with other internal resources in terms of the company profitability was tested on a sample containing 456 companies from the Czech Republic, representing two basic sectors, production and industry, and services. The impact of human resources factor on the company ́s profitability has been demonstrated for both sectors; however, its position does not appear to be the dominant one compared to importance of financial resources, technical equipment, and also corporate strategy in the case of the production and industry sectors. The research was carried out in the period of economic growth, with relatively sufficient human resources; nevertheless, the current labour market situation is fundamentally different, and a labour shortage is becoming a constraint of development and stability for a continuously increasing number of companies in the CR. Keywords—strategic human resource management, internal environment, profitability
Pistacia lentiscus L. edible oil: green extraction with bio-based solvents, metabolite profiling and in vitro anti-inflammatory activity

This study assesses, qualitatively and quantitatively, the performance of ten bio-based solvents to replace hexane for the extraction of oil from Pistacia lentiscus edible fruits. Solvent screening was achieved through theoretical approach using the COnductor-like Screening MOdel for Realistic Solvation (COSMO-RS) predictions and an experimental protocol based on GC-FID and HPTLC analysis. Unsupervised multivariate analyses were performed on GC-FID and HPTLC data. Experiments corroborated theoretical predictions indicating that MeTHF was the best alternative solvent to replace hexane. Moreover, the obtained extract exhibited a good anti-inflammatory activity, inhibiting by 91.9% NO release in RAW 264.7 macrophages. These findings highlighted the potential of green solvents especially MeTHF in lipid extraction and exhibited that P. lentiscus oil presents a potential anti-inflammatory property and great nutritional value, notably high amount of oleic and linoleic acid, thus encouraging its valorization in food, cosmetic or pharmaceutical industry.
An Active Current Reconstruction and Balancing Strategy With DC-Link Current Sensing for a Multi-phase Coupled-Inductor Converter

This paper proposes an active technique to reconstruct and balance the phase currents in multiphase dc-dc converters implementing both of voltage- and current-mode controls. Only one current sensor at the dc link is required to measure and reconstruct the phase currents. Multiple current samples in the pulsewidth modulation switching period are synchronized with the carrier waveforms to actively reconstruct the phase currents using a simple active balancing algorithm that is implemented in a digital controller. The proposed technique improves system performance, stability, and efficiency, and prevents inductor saturation. A 5-kW four-phase dc-dc converter prototype for battery charging application is built to experimentally verify the proposed algorithm.
Microbiological Pattern of Surgical Site Infection Following Caesarean Section at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital

BACKGROUND: Surgical site infection (SSI) is among the most common problems of patients who undergo a caesarean section, despite improved infection control practices. It contributes to increased morbidity and negative impact on the mental, social and economic aspect of patients’ life. AIM: To determine the incidence, risk factors and the bacteriological aetiology for SSI following caesarean section and their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns at UCTH. METHODS: This was a prospective study of 600 patients who had a caesarean section over 6 months. Wound swab was collected from the patients who developed clinical evidence of SSI during this study period were recorded. Microbiology culture and antibiotic sensitivity were conducted for both aerobic and anaerobic organisms. The data obtained were analysed using the SPSS version 22 statistical program. RESULTS: Out of the 600 participants who had a caesarean section, 51 patients had SSI, giving an incidence of 8.5%. The common isolates were S. aureus (37.3%), Klebsiella pneumonia (27.1%) and E. coli (22.0%). Independent risk factors significantly associated with post caesarean section wound infection in the logistic regression model were emergency caesarean section, prolonged rupture of membrane rupture greater than 24 hours, prolonged labour, intra-operative blood loss greater than one litre, duration of surgery greater than one hour and post-operative PCV less than 30%. Most isolates were highly resistant to cephalosporins, gentamycin and amoxicillin; moderately resistant to fluoroquinolones and highly sensitive to amikacin and imipenem. CONCLUSION: The post-caesarean wound infection rate in our centre of 8.5% was high. Imipenem and amikacin antibiotics were very sensitive for SSIs and can be used as evidenced-based sensitive antibiotics to be commenced initially when wound infection is identified in our wards while awaiting the result of wound swab microscopy, culture and sensitivity to reduce the complications of post-caesarean wound infection in our centre.
Serological study of toxocariasis in patients with hypereosinophilia

Background: Toxocariasis is an infection of human due to larvae of Â Â Toxocara canis, orÂ Toxocara cati . Materials and Methods: This is a prospective study which undertaken between February 2013 to January 2014 at parasitology and immunology laboratories ofÂ Imam reza hospital of Mashhad. A total of 40 patients withÂ Â hypereosinophilia without allergic symptoms Â selected as case group and 40 patients without hypereosinophilia as control group. Blood sera samples of both groups were examined for IgG antibodies against toxocara Â Â Â by Â ELISA method. Results: The seroprevalences of Toxocara antibodies in the case group and control group were 9 (22.5) andÂ 1 Â (2.5) respectively. Mean age of case group was 41. 8Â±12.7 and control group 47.3 Â±13.9,Â Â 47.5 of case group were females and 52.5 were males. Conclusion: Seroepidemiological studies of toxocariasis carried out in Iran revealed seroprevalence rates of 2 to 25.6 among the normal human population. Since human toxocariasis is the infection by larval stage of the worms and onlyÂ diagnosed by serological methods, therefore the individuals with unknownÂ hyper eosinophilia have indication for detection of Anti toxocara in their serum samples. This study revealed that the infection could be found in Mashhad.