Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The emergence of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in Colombia: A time-series analysis, 2001-2007

Objective This study was aimed at analyzing the phenotypical behavior of Acinetobacter baumannii resistance to antibiotics currently available in Colombia for its treatment. Methods An ecological time-series study was conducted based on information regarding A. baumannii resistance to available antibiotics gathered through a Colombian surveillance system involving 33 reference hospitals. Descriptive analysis and modeling forecasting were also carried out. Results The sample included 5.415 A. baumannii isolates collected from 33 hospitals throughout Colombia. This microorganism was the eighth most frequently isolated pathogen in hospital settings, having 3.8 % isolation frequency in intensive care units (ICUs). The study recorded the presence of multidrug-resistant A. baumannii strains since 2001, as well as a dramatic increase in A. baumannii strains having decreased susceptibility to the antibiotics currently available on the market (30 % to 70 %). Conclusion A. baumannii has shown a clear transition to a multidrug resistance profile in Colombia during recent years which includes resistance to important second-line antibiotics, such as carbapenems.
Water quality assessment with biological indicators: Mond protected area, Iran

The purpose of this study is to determine the diversity and the accumulation of Macrobenthos of Mond River and assess the condition of water quality using Welch's index. Sampling was done in summer and winter seasons during 2011-2012 years. Sediment samplings were done three times for each station. Macrobenthos samples were collected using van Veen grab with 0.025 cross-section, (they were fixed using 5% buffered formalin) so were counted and identified in the laboratory. Further, physical-chemical parameters of water including temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), water salinity was measured at each station. The diversity index was examined using Shannon-Weiner formula. Dominant index was examined using Simpson formula and water quality was assessed using Welch index. The identified samples were composed of 13 genus, 11 families and 3 classes. The most identified species in stations belongs to Ceanidae, Limnaeidae and Chironomidae families. The results of the study indicated that according to the identified samples and Welch index, quality water in river Mond has poor to
Relations between emotional awareness and alexithymia measures: Behavioral and neurobiological evidence

The aim of this study was to evaluate psychometric properties and relations between two different methods of measuring alexithymia and one measure of emotional awareness in a German non-clinical sample. The 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), the Toronto Structured Interview for Alexithymia (TSIA), and the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS), which is a performance-based measure of emotional awareness, were administered to 84 university students. Both internal reliability and inter-rater reliability for the TSIA were acceptable. Results from exploratory factor analysis (EFA) based on all measures supported a three factorial solution previously obtained in an American sample using multiple methods of alexithymia and emotional ability measurement. In our three factor model direct self (TAS20), direct other (TSIA), and indirect self (LEAS) measures were differentiated. The convergent validity of the TSIA was supported by a significant correlation with the LEAS. Our findings suggest that future research on alexithymia and emotional awareness can benefit from the use of a multi-method approach and should include objective measures. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Multi-scale and multi-chemo-physics analysis applied to fatigue life assessment of strengthened bridge decks

Reinforced concrete decks submerged in water suffer from considerable deterioration owing to high cycle repetition of traffic loads with increasing rise of inter-crack water pressure, which leads to serious damages to the top surface of concrete decks due to dropping (disintegration) of cement binder. In this study, an attempt was made to incorporate the disintegration of concrete composites into a three-dimensional multi-scale finite element analysis, which is capable of tracing the path from the occurrence of cracking to the structural out-of-plane shear failure via crack propagation. Varying fatigue life is also discussed in accordance with different states of damage at the time when strengthening work is performed. Here, the deck strengthening methods of wide variety are compared with each other.
Response of Rainbow Trout, (Oncorhynchus mykiss, Walbaum 1792) to Short Term Starvation Periods and Re-Feeding

2 Abstract: In present study the effects of short-term starvation and refeeding on growth, feeding performances and body composition of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) with an average initial weight of 17.50±0.5 g were studied. After 2 weeks adaptation to experimental condition, 270 fish in four treatments were randomly distributed in twelve 100L cylindrical fiberglass tanks with a flow-through system. The fish were exposed to 4 different feeding regimes; control: fed two times daily to apparent satiation; T1: 1 day starvation and 2 days refeeding; T2: 1 day starvation and 4 days refeeding; T3: 3 days starvation and 12 days refeeding. Short terms starvation and refeeding was continued for 30days. At the end of the experiment, growth performance did not vary significantly (P<0.05) between the control and treatments. Although daily food consumption was significantly (P<0.05) higher in T1, but there weren't any significant differences in feeding performance including: FCR, FER and PER. Total body moisture, ash, protein and lipid contents did not fluctuate between the control and treatments. At the end of the experiment all experimental treatments showed complete compensation suggesting that this feeding schedules are useful for distancing inappropriate environmental conditions and economical exploitation in rainbow trout farms as a management instrument.
Somatosensory Cross-Modal Reorganization in Children With Cochlear Implants

Deprived of sensory input, as in deafness, the brain tends to reorganize. Cross-modal reorganization occurs when cortices associated with deficient sensory modalities are recruited by other, intact senses for processing of the latter’s sensory input. Studies have shown that this type of reorganization may affect outcomes when sensory stimulation is later introduced via intervention devices. One such device is the cochlear implant (CI). Hundreds of thousands of CIs have been fitted on people with hearing impairment worldwide, many of them children. Factors such as age of implantation have proven useful in predicting speech perception outcome with these devices in children. However, a portion of the variance in speech understanding ability remains unexplained. It is possible that the degree of cross-modal reorganization may explain additional variability in listening outcomes. Thus, the current study aimed to examine possible somatosensory cross-modal reorganization of the auditory cortices. To this end we used high density EEG to record cortical responses to vibrotactile stimuli in children with normal hearing (NH) and those with CIs. We first investigated cortical somatosensory evoked potentials (CSEP) in NH children, in order to establish normal patterns of CSEP waveform morphology and sources of cortical activity. We then compared CSEP waveforms and estimations of cortical sources between NH children and those with CIs to assess the degree of somatosensory cross-modal reorganization. Results showed that NH children showed expected patterns of CSEP and current density reconstructions, such that postcentral cortices were activated contralaterally to the side of stimulation. Participants with CIs also showed this pattern of activity. However, in addition, they showed activation of auditory cortical areas in response to somatosensory stimulation. Additionally, certain CSEP waveform components were significantly earlier in the CI group than the children with NH. These results are taken as evidence of cross-modal reorganization by the somatosensory modality in children with CIs. Speech perception in noise scores were negatively associated with CSEP waveform components latencies in the CI group, suggesting that the degree of cross-modal reorganization is related to speech perception outcomes. These findings may have implications for clinical rehabilitation in children with cochlear implants.
What Boys and Girls Learn through Song: A Content Analysis of Gender Traits and Sex Bias in Two Choral Classroom Textbooks.

Since the passage of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex against students and any employee of a school receiving federal financial assistance, school districts have become increasingly aware of the need for gender equity in K-12 classrooms. Though Title IX did not directly address instructional materials, some states, like Washington, have since adopted laws which require elimination of sex bias in classroom textbooks (WAC 392-190-055 of the Washington State Equal Education Opportunity Statues). A major problem is that school districts do not have the financial resources to order special texts from publishing corporations; they simply have to choose what appears to be the most gender equitable text in print. Sadly, what typically is purchased for instructional materials are filled with numerous examples of covert bias and symbolic, or stereotypical, representations of males and females. When children read and sing from these materials social values and attitudes are transmitted. Boys and girls can quickly learn to believe misrepresentations of what it means to be masculine and feminine in American society (Sadker and Sadker 1982, 1994).
Estimating sampling effort for early detection of non-indigenous benthic species in the Toledo Harbor Region of Lake Erie.

Toledo Harbor (Maumee River and Maumee Bay) is a “port of concern” for introduction of non-indigenous species into the Great Lakes due to the large amounts of ballast water from outside the Great Lakes discharged at the port, the amenable habitat for many potential invasives, and the large amount of ballast water transported from Toledo to other Great Lakes ports, making Toledo a potential source of invasives throughout the entire region. To estimate sampling intensity needed to detect rare or new non-indigenous species, 27 benthic grab samples from 13 locations near Toledo Harbor were collected during autumn, 2010. Benthic organisms were identified, and sampling intensity needed to detect rare or new non-indigenous species was evaluated via a Chao asymptotic richness estimator. Morphological taxonomic criteria and cytochrome oxidase I (COI) sequence barcodes identified 29 different taxa (20 to species level) in the samples, including six non-indigenous taxa (Branchiura sowerbyi, Bithynia tentaculata, Corbicula fluminea, Dreissena polymorpha, Dreissena bugensis, Lipiniella sp.). While all the non-indigenous species had previously been reported in Lake Erie or nearby Ohio waters, several North American species are not previously listed in Ohio. Richness estimates indicate that >75% of the benthic species in the area were encountered and that 90% of the species could be detected with less than a doubling of collecting effort. Since sampling for this study occurred only in the autumn and detectable life stages of benthic organisms may vary seasonally, additional species may be observed with more extensive sampling over a broader seasonal range.
Subjective Wellbeing Impacts of National and Subnational Fiscal Policies

We study the association between fiscal policy and subjective wellbeing using fiscal data on 34 countries across 129 country-years, combined with over 170,000 people’s subjective wellbeing scores. While past research has found that ‘distortionary taxes’ (e.g. income taxes) are associated with slow growth relative to ‘non-distortionary’ taxes (GST/VAT), we find that distortionary taxes are associated with higher levels of subjective wellbeing than non-distortionary taxes. This relationship holds when we control for macro-economic variables and country fixed effects. If this relationship is causal, it would offer an explanation as to why governments pursue these policies that harm economic growth. We find that richer people’s subjective wellbeing is less harmed by indirect taxes than people with lower incomes, while “unproductive expenditure” is associated with higher wellbeing for the middle class relative to others, possibly reflecting middle class capture. We see little evidence for differential effects of fiscal policy on people living in different sized settlements. Devolving a portion of expenditure to subnational government is associated with higher subjective wellbeing but devolving tax collection to subnational government is associated with monotonically lower subjective wellbeing.
Low Cost In Vitro Propagation of Tylophora indica (Burm f.) Merrill. using different Carbon Sources

Tylophora indica (Burm f.) Merrill. is an annual perennial medicinal plant in certain regions of India used as folk remedy for the treatment of bronchial asthma, bronchitis, allergies and dermatitis. An efficient protocol is described for the rapid in vitro multiplication of Tylophora indica using various carbon sources, viz. AR grade sucrose, white refined sugar (table sugar), unrefined brown sugar, jiggery and sugarcane juice was investigated. In this node, explants were initially cultured on Murashige and Skoog’s (MS) medium supplemented with AR grade sucrose in addition with BAP (6-Benzylamino purine) and NAA (-Naphthalene acetic acid), particularly BAP (1.5 mg/L) and (0.5 mg/L) NAA was very effective in inducing shoot development. Selected concentrations were used to supplement different carbon sources among the different sugars (2% and 3% w/v) as an alternative ingredient for the MS medium composition. The study revealed that the percentage of response was high in AR grade sucrose (95.2%) followed by white refined sugar (94.8%), sugarcane juice (76.8%), unrefined brown sugar (73.8%) and jaggery (67.6%) respectively. Instead of laboratory grade sucrose, the alternative carbon source may be used as a cheaper substitute for the MS media to propagate T. indica.
The Effect of Pre-swirl on the Discharge Coefficient of Rotating Axial Orifices

The characteristic of the flow through a set of rotating orifices for particular conditions is quantified in terms of a discharge coefficient which is the ratio of the actual flow divided by the flow for the ideal case. In the present study the pre-swirl was created by having Inlet Guide Vanes (IGVs) at the inlet of the rotating orifices. Pre-swirl changes the angle of attack to the orifice, and thus affects the incidence angle and the discharge coefficient. Pre-swirl improves the discharge coefficient in inclined orifices since it allows the incidence angle to reach zero at a much lower rotational speed than when there is no pre-swirl.
The hidden cost of airline unpunctuality

The 'soft' cost of delay — for example, loss of market share due to unpunctuality — is a dominant component in the economics of airline delay. Nevertheless, it remains poorly understood, with almost no quantitative costs published. Drawing on primary survey data and the literature, including Kano satisfaction factors, passenger airline-switching propensity is modelled. Using our peer-reviewed estimate of the average soft cost, we newly estimate its distribution as a function of delay duration. Policy implications emerging from the economics of punctuality target-setting and disruption management techniques are discussed. A shift in strategy from managing delay minutes to delay costs is proposed.
The mass ratio and initial mass functions in spectroscopic binaries

Context. Spectroscopic binaries are important in studies of binary star-formation, since original information linked to the forming stars, such as the mass ratio, can be kept in the system and observationally retrieved. Aims. We aim to derive the more probable mass ratio distributions, to test a possible Initial Mass Functions acting on the formation of spectroscopic binaries, and to derive the value of q0, the minimal mass ratio for which both binary components are simultaneously in the main sequence. Methods. The sample has 249 systems, selected from the Ninth Catalogue of Spectroscopic Binaries, with selection criteria that include only those systems with periods longer than four days and magnitudes brighter thanmV = 7.0, and main-sequence primaries, to avoid mass exchange. Monte Carlo simulations of observational parameters were performed. We performed simulations by comparing an observational quantity, Yobs, equal to f (m)/m1 ,w heref (m) is the mass function, to theoretical Yth, which is a function of the system inclination (assumed to be random), and of the mass ratio q = m2/m1. We considered a minimal mass ratio q0, which is the limiting condition, to ensure that both components are simultaneously on main sequence, avoiding evolutionary effects leading to mass exchange and loss of information on the original masses. Calculations were done using several q0 values. The form of the distribution of mass ratios was studied by simulations of Y, involving several functions, with slopes which are increasing, decreasing, constant, or bimodal. Other simulations were done by the generation of stars following several initial mass function laws. We combined pairs of stars generated from different IMFs, assuming that binaries arise from the pairing of stars simultaneously formed. In this case, several values of q0 were also used in the input equations. Results. Our results indicate that decreasing q distributions match better with observations and also that a unique IMF gives better fits to observations than a composite IMF, with a slope around 1.4, rather than the widely used 2.35 slope. Values of q0 tend to be lower than what is suggested by previous studies, which point to q0 around 0.2; all simulations suggest that q0 values as low as 0.08 produce the best fits to observations.
Risk aversion or risk management?: How measures of risk aversion affect firm entry and firm survival

The link between measured risk aversion and the decision to become an entrepreneur is well established, but the link between risk preferences and entrepreneurial success is not. Standard theoretical models of occupational choice under uncertainty imply a positive correlation between an individual's degree of risk aversion and the expected return from an entrepreneurial venture at the time of entry. Because the expected return is the risk neutral equivalent value, a higher expected return implies a higher survival probability, and so more risk averse entrepreneurs should survive more frequently than their less risk averse counterparts. We test that prediction using successive entry cohorts of young entrepreneurs in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79). The empirical results soundly reject the prediction: the most successful entrepreneurs are the least risk averse. This surprising finding calls into question the interpretation of common measures of risk aversion as measures of taste for risk. Instead, measured risk attitudes perform as if they are indicators of entrepreneurial abilityâ€“ the least risk averse are apparently those who can best assess and manage risks. Indeed, our interpretation is consistent with the work of recent experimental studies that find that the less risk averse have higher cognitive ability.
Scaling analyses of the spectral dimension in 3-dimensional causal dynamical triangulations

The spectral dimension measures the dimensionality of a space as witnessed by a diffusing random walker. Within the causal dynamical triangulations approach to the quantization of gravity (Ambjørn et al 2000 Phys. Rev. Lett. 85 347, 2001 Nucl. Phys. B 610 347, 1998 Nucl. Phys. B 536 407), the spectral dimension exhibits novel scale-dependent dynamics: reducing towards a value near 2 on sufficiently small scales, matching closely the topological dimension on intermediate scales, and decaying in the presence of positive curvature on sufficiently large scales (Ambjørn et al 2005 Phys. Rev. Lett. 95 171301, Ambjørn et al 2005 Phys. Rev. D 72 064014, Benedetti and Henson 2009 Phys. Rev. D 80 124036, Cooperman 2014 Phys. Rev. D 90 124053, Cooperman et al 2017 Class. Quantum Grav. 34 115008, Coumbe and Jurkiewicz 2015 J. High Energy Phys. JHEP03(2015)151, Kommu 2012 Class. Quantum Grav. 29 105003). I report the first comprehensive scaling analysis of the small-to-intermediate scale spectral dimension for the test case of the causal dynamical triangulations of 3-dimensional Einstein gravity. I find that the spectral dimension scales trivially with the diffusion constant. I find that the spectral dimension is completely finite in the infinite volume limit, and I argue that its maximal value is exactly consistent with the topological dimension of 3 in this limit. I find that the spectral dimension reduces further towards a value near 2 as this case’s bare coupling approaches its phase transition, and I present evidence against the conjecture that the bare coupling simply sets the overall scale of the quantum geometry (Ambjørn et al 2001 Phys. Rev. D 64 044011). On the basis of these findings, I advance a tentative physical explanation for the dynamical reduction of the spectral dimension observed within causal dynamical triangulations: branched polymeric quantum geometry on sufficiently small scales. My analyses should facilitate attempts to employ the spectral dimension as a physical observable with which to delineate renormalization group trajectories in the hope of taking a continuum limit of causal dynamical triangulations at a nontrivial ultraviolet fixed point (Ambjørn et al 2016 Phys. Rev. D 93 104032, 2014 Class. Quantum Grav. 31 165003, Cooperman 2016 Gen. Relativ. Gravit. 48 1, Cooperman 2016 arXiv:1604.01798, Coumbe and Jurkiewicz 2015 J. High Energy Phys. JHEP03(2015)151).
Focused deterrence, special investigations units, and violent offenders: What works

This study sought to address recidivism among repeat violent offenders through the identification of successful and unsuccessful focused deterrence program characteristics and determine ideal program participant attributes. By targeting repeat violent offenders who have been shown to commit crimes at higher rates than other offender groups, Special Investigations Units (SIUs) and focused deterrence models have only inconsistently been shown to be effective in reducing recidivism. An extensive review of secondary sources was conducted to identify patterns and attributes among individual programs and selected participants to uncover which program and participant characteristics yield the greatest reduction in recidivism. Programs routinely select repeat violent offenders, but focused deterrence models have only inconsistently been effective in having the target impact of increased community safety.