Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysing microbiome intervention studies: Does choice of a statistical method affect biological interpretation?

Background The diet plays a major role in shaping gut microbiome composition and function in both humans and animals, and dietary intervention trials are often used to investigate and understand these effects. A plethora of statistical methods for analysing differential abundance of microbial taxa exists, and new methods are constantly being developed, but there is a lack of benchmarking studies and clear consensus on the best multivariate statistical practices. This makes it hard for a biologist to decide which method to use. Results We compared the outcomes of a wide range of ANOVA-like statistical methods to explore to what extent the choice of method affects the biological inferences made. The comparison is based on five published dietary intervention studies representing different subjects and study designs. We found that the methods producing outputs at the community level were in agreement regarding both effect size and statistical significance. However, the methods that provided ranking of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) gave incongruent results, implying that the choice of method is likely to influence the biological interpretations. Conclusions We concluded that inferences at the OTU level should be made with caution, and that a combination of several statistical methods allows to interpret the outcomes with higher confidence and simultaneously account for the limitations of each method.
Early [143_TD$DIFF]detection of sudden cardiac death using nonlinear analysis of heart rate variability

Background and objective: Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is one of the most widespread reasons for death around the world. A precise and early prediction of SCD can improve the chance of survival by administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Hence, there is a vital need for an SCD prediction system. Methods: In this work, a novel and efficient algorithm for automated detection of SCD six minutes before its onset is proposed. This algorithm uses features based on the nonlinear modeling of heart rate variability (HRV). In fact, after the extraction of the HRV signals, increment entropy and recurrence quantification analysis-based features are extracted. The one-way ANOVA is applied for the dimension reduction of feature space—this results in lower computational cost. Finally, the distinguishing features are fed to classifiers such as the decision tree, K-nearest neighbor, naive Bayes, and the support vector machine. Results: By using the decision tree classifier we have achieved SCD detection six minutes before its onset with an accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity of 95%. These results demonstrate the superiority of the presented algorithm compared to the existing ones in perfor-
84-88 Mohd Desa MN.pmd

This study was carried out to investigate the Coagulase Negative Staphylococci (CoNS) nasal carriage and the presence of methicillin resistant Coagulase Negative Staphylococci (MR-CoNS) among health sciences students at Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia. A total of 120 isolates of CoNS (62.5%) was isolated from 192 student volunteers. The mecA gene was detected in 15 isolates of CoNS (12.5%). Eight out of the 15 isolates of mecA positive CoNS were resistant to cefoxitin in disc diffusion test whereas the remaining seven isolates of mecA positive CoNS were susceptible to cefoxitin. Analysis of questionnaires showed no significant association between CoNS nasal carriage and the socio-demographic and risk factors except for the genders and history of cold (P < 0.050). Generally, this finding showed a relatively low level of methicillin resistance among CoNS nasal carriage from student volunteers.
The Prevalence of Diabetes in Autistic Persons: A Systematic Review

Background: It has been proposed that autistic individuals are at an increased risk of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Improved understanding of diabetes prevalence in autistic persons will help inform resource allocation for diabetes-related public health measures for this patient group. Objective: To conduct a systematic review of published literature pertaining to type 1 and type 2 diabetes prevalence in autistic individuals, including comparison with their non-autistic peers. Methods: Eligibility criteria included studies investigating the prevalence of diabetes in autistic individuals, as well as having been published in the English language. A systematic search of online databases (MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, EMBASE and PubMed) was conducted on 4th April 2020. Additional approaches included the ancestry method, grey literature searches and expert consultation. Studies were qualitatively analysed with reporting quality appraised. Results: 19 eligible studies were identified, 7 of which provided type-specific diabetes prevalence data. Of 15 studies that included a non-autistic control group, 9 reported a higher diabetes prevalence among autistic persons, with a statistically significant difference in 4 studies. Studies demonstrating a higher diabetes prevalence in autistic groups had higher average study population sizes and reporting quality ratings. Conclusion: It is uncertain whether diabetes is significantly more prevalent in autistic persons relative to their non-autistic peers, though larger studies suggest a trend in this direction. Nevertheless, diabetes is a significant public health issue for the autistic community, which may require a tailored approach for identification and management. Prospero database registration number: CRD42019122176.
Effect of phytase supplementation on fertility, hatchability and egg quality traits in swarnadhara breeders fed diet with different levels of non-phytate phosphorus

A biological trial was conducted to study the effect of phytase supplementation on fertility, hatchability and egg quality traits in Swarnadhara breeders reared from 29 to 48 weeks at the Department of Poultry Science, Veterinary College, Hebbal, Bengaluru. The trial had total 450 birds with 5 treatments and three replicates per treatment, each having 30 birds (90 birds per treatment). Control diet (T1) was formulated according to ICAR (2013) nutrient requirements and the groups T2 to T5 were formulated with changed non-phytate phosphorus levels so as to contain 0.12% in T2, 0.18% in T3, 0.12% NPP with 500 IU/kg phytase in T4 and 0.18% NPP with 500 IU/kg phytase in T5. Fertility, hatchability, albumen index, haugh unit score and yolk index are not significantly (P>0.05) affected by phytase supplementation. The addition of phytase to the diets having 0.12 % NPP significantly (P<0.05) increased the egg weight to the level on par with the control group in phase I, III and IV. NPP level of 0.12% with phytase is optimum for Swarnadhara breeders to maintain egg quality traits. There was no additional advantage, however, of increasing the NPP concentration above 0.12% or adding phytase above this level in Swarnadhara breeders.
89-97 Mohd Zain SN.pmd

Leptospirosis is endemic in Malaysia with Leptospira species extensively isolated from domestic and wild animals. Rats were found to be the principal maintenance hosts followed by cattle, pigs, and dogs. The objectives of this study were to isolate and identify Leptospira serovars circulating among swine from three different farms and also from stray dogs and cats from Klang valley, Selangor, Malaysia. Urine and kidney samples collected from 150 stray dogs, 50 cats and 81 swine were inoculated into semi-solid Ellinghausen McCullough Johnson and Harris (EMJH) media supplemented with additional 5-Fluorouracil. Dark field microscopy revealed only one positive culture of Leptospira from dog and swine samples, but all cat samples were negative. The PCR technique using published primers detected 11 positives in urine samples of dogs and 5 positives from swine. The microscopic agglutination test (MAT) confirmed the presence of two serovars in both dog and swine populations namely, L. interrogans serovar Canicola and L. interrogans serovar Pomona (MAT > 100), with Not I-PFGE analyses separating these two serovars into distinct profiles. Despite the low prevalence in stray dogs, the latter may play an important role in the contamination of the environment. Swine can also pose a potential risk of infection to humans and other domestic animals, especially those living close to swine farms. Thus improving hygiene and eradication of rodents in swine farms are likely to reduce the risk of infection.
Differentiation of eight tea (Camellia sinensis) cultivars in China by elemental fingerprint of their leaves.

BACKGROUND: Tea is an infusion made from dried leaves of tea (Camellia sinensis) and can be a good dietary source of essential trace metals for humans. Therefore, it is necessary to consider variations in element content of tea leaves among tea cultivars. Thus, elemental fingerprint techniques, based on elemental contents (Al, B, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P, Pb, and Zn) determined by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and multivariate statistical analysis, have been used to differentiate eight tea cultivars. RESULTS: The ranges of element concentrations in leaves of the eight cultivars were in good agreement with those obtained in previous studies and the level of most elements in tea leaves was significantly different among cultivars. The classifications of eight tea cultivars were 100% accurate in total by principal component analysis (PCA), hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), linear discriminant analysis (LDA), and back-propagation neural network (BPNN) analysis. CONCLUSION: Each cultivar presented a distinctive element fingerprint and the elements in tea leaves can be significant predictors in differentiating tea cultivars. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry
Partial least-squares methods for spectral analyses. 2. Application to simulated and glass spectral data

Partial least-squares (PLS) methods for quantitative spectral analyses are compared with classical least-squares (CLS) and principal component regression (PCR) methods by using simulated data and infrared spectra from bulk seven-component, silicate-based glasses. Analyses of the simulated data sets show the effect of data pretreatment, base-line variations, calibration design, and constrained mixtures on PLS and PCR prediction errors and model complexity. Analyses of the simulated data sets also illustrate some qualitative differences between PSL and PCR. PLS and PCR predicted concentration errors from the simulated data sets and a set of the Fourier transform infrared spectra of silicate-based glasses (S-glass) show that prediction errors are not statistically different between these two methods for these individual data sets with limited numbers of samples. However, PLS and PCR are both superior to CLS methods in the case of the analysis of S-glass where only one analyte is known in the calibration samples and the components of unknown concentration overlap all the spectral features of the analyte components. CLS analysis precision significantly improves when the three known analyte concentrations (B/sub 2/O/sub 3/, P/sub 2/O/sub 5/, and OH) are used in the calibration. In this latter case, PLS and PCR concentration predictions are unchanged, andmore » although they each still yield a lower standard error of prediction than the CLS method, there is no longer strong statistical evidence that these differences between PLS or PCR and CLS are outside experimental error for the B/sub 2/O/sub 3/ component. The ability of CLS and PLS methods to provide chemically useful estimates of the pure-component spectra is also demonstrated. « less
209-225 Anise.pmd

White blood cell apoptosis has been demonstrated and is suspected to contribute to the decrease in peripheral leukocyte count and the severity of the disease during acute T. brucei infection in rats. Thus, an investigation of blood and tissue leukocyte apoptosis during T. brucei infections in two natural hosts (Red Sokoto (RS) and West African dwarf (WAD) goats (12 per group)), with differing levels of trypanosusceptibility was conducted. Nine out of 12 animals in each breed group were infected intraperitoneally with 104 parasites/mL and euthanized over time points. Blood and tissues were collected for detection and quantitation of apoptosis by three methods (DNA gel electrophoresis, light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy). T. brucei infected RS animals (trypanosusceptible) showed a significant increase in apoptosis of white blood cells (p=0.0092) and splenocytes (p=0.0239). The infected WAD animals (trypanotolerant) also showed a relatively lower but yet still significant (p=0.0022) increase in white blood cell apoptosis. Apart from the liver, significant increase (P<0.05) in tissue cell apoptosis was recorded in infected RS compared to non-infected controls. The mean white blood cell and splenocyte apoptosis was significantly higher (p=0.0072) in RS compared to WAD. In addition, the peak blood cell apoptosis tallied with peak parasitemia and anemia as well as with the lowest leukocyte count in RS animals. Our data support a relationship between peripheral and tissue white blood cell apoptosis and susceptibility to T. brucei infections. The molecular mechanisms mediating apoptosis of host cells during trypanosoma infections may reveal novel therapeutic or vaccine targets.
Investigating the Impact of Competition and Incentive Design on Performance of Crowdfunding Projects: A Case of Independent Movies

Recently, crowdfunding has become a popular e-commerce model based on web 2.0 platforms for fundraisers to collect funding from a large group of supporters using the Internet. However, many projects failed to reach their funding targets. Despite the growing interest of academic researchers and e-commerce professionals in identifying drivers of crowdfunding success, important factors like competition and incentive design have not received much attention in prior research. In this study we aim to fill this gap by investigating the impact of competition and incentive design on the performance of crowdfunding projects. Drawing upon literature of entrepreneurship, we develop a research model involving key factors such as competition intensity and the number of reward levels. Using real data of 209 independent movie projects of an online crowdfunding platform, we test the proposed hypotheses of the impact of competition and incentive design on crowdfunding success. Our results show that competition plays a significant role in crowdfunding performance. The higher competition pressure is, the lower performance of crowdfunding projects will be. We also find that factors such as the number of reward levels and the plan of attending movie festivals are essential to the success of crowdfunding projects, but the funding level of getting the top reward does not exert a significant impact. Our study contributes to the e-commerce literature by further exploring the mechanism of crowdfunding success with theoretical explanation and empirical evidence. Researchers and professionals can apply our theoretical findings regarding competition and incentive design in other e-commerce platforms. Furthermore, our results provide useful managerial insights and operational policies for project founders and managers of crowdfunding platforms.
Tailoring the characteristics of graphite oxides by different oxidation times

Graphite oxide was synthesized using various oxidation times and characterized by its physical and chemical properties. The degree of oxidation of the graphite oxide was systematically controlled via oxidation time up to 24 h. Three phases of interlayer distances were identified by x-ray diffraction: pristine graphite (3.4 Å), intermediate (4 Å) and fully expanded graphite oxide (6 Å) phases. These phases were distinguished by an atomic ratio of O/C, which occurred from the different compositions of epoxide, carboxyl and hydroxyl groups. The band gap of the graphite oxides was also tuned via the oxidation time, resulting in direct band gap engineering from 1.7 to 2.4 eV and strong correlation with the atomic ratio of O/C.
“Guest Teacher” As a Class Inspirational Program in Pandemic Covid-19

This study aims to (1) describe the “Guest Teacher” program in TK Laboratorium UM Malang, (2) analyze the efforts of the “Guest Teacher” program in PAUD learning, (3) and identify the factors inhibiting the activities of the Guest Teacher program. Respondents in this study were teachers and parents who participated in the Guest Teacher program. Data collection techniques in this study used interviews, observation, and documentation. This research employs the descriptive qualitative approach. The research was conducted based on initial observations of teachers and parents in TK Laboratorium UM Malang. The results showed that the efforts that have been made with the Guest Teacher program for parents show that most parents have an awareness of the importance of their participation in children. With the implementation of the Guest Teacher program, it can foster parental participation in education and childcare. Parents raise awareness of their roles as supporters, teachers, students, advisors, protectors, and as inspirations for students. Keywords: guest teacher program, inspiration class, kindergarten
DIVESTMENTS BY MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISES

International divestment by multinational enterprises (MNEs) is an important global phenomenon. It can affect the performance of both parent and affiliate firms as well as the economies in which they are located. Divestments, however, remain understudied and poorly understood. This document describes the main findings from a new OECD study that sheds more light on the frequency and consequences of divestments with a view to helping governments design better FDI retention policies that maximise the value for firms and local communities.
OP-ROFF180010 1631..1666

We model sequential bidding in a private value English auction when it is costly to submit or revise a bid. We show that, even when bid costs approach zero, bidding occurs in repeated jumps, consistent with certain types of natural auctions such as takeover contests. In contrast with most past models of bids as valuation signals, every bidder has the opportunity to signal and increase the bid by a jump. Jumps communicate bidders’ information rapidly, leading to contests that are completed in a few bids. The model additionally predicts; informative delays in the start of bidding; that the probability of a second bid decreases in, and the jump increases in, the first bid; that objects are sold to the highest valuation bidder; and that revenue and efficiency relationships between different auctions hold asymptotically. JEL classification: D44, G34
The Impact of the GDPR on Content Providers

We study the impact of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on the advertising-supported online ecosystem. We focus on online content providers (such as news websites) and their users. We investigate whether restrictions on online tracking enforced by the regulation ultimately affect downstream variables such as the quantity of content that websites offer to their visitors and users’ engagement with such content. The results suggest that the GDPR reduced the number of third-party cookies and tracking responses in both US and EU websites. Furthermore, the enactment of the GDPR may have to some extent negatively affected traffic to EU websites, relative to US websites. However, the enactment does not seem to have negatively affected the amount of content that EU websites were able to publish (relative to US websites), or the degree of average social media engagement and interaction with such content. Our analysis is ongoing, as data collection is continuing. ∗Institut Mines Telecom, Business School. Email: vincent.lefrere@imt-bs.eu †Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University. Email: warberg@cmu.edu ‡Department of Information Science, Cornell University. Email: ccheyre@infosci.cornell. edu §University of Minnesota Twin Cities Carlson School of Management. Email:vmarotta@umn.edu ¶Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University. Email:acquisti@cmu.edu.
New formalism for self-consistent parameters optimization of highly efficient solar cells

We analyzed self-consistently photoconversion efficiency of direct-gap AB semiconductors based solar cells and optimized their main physical characteristics. Using gallium arsenide (GaAs) as an example and new efficient optimization formalism, we demonstrated that commonly accepted light re-emission and reabsorption in solar cells in technologically produced GaAs (in particular, with solidor liquid-phase epitaxy) are not the main factors responsible for high photoconversion efficiency. As we proved instead, the doping level of the base material and its doping type as well as Shockley-Read-Hall and surface recombination velocities are much more important factors responsible for this photoconversion. We found that the maximum photoconversion efficiency (about 27% for AM1.5 conditions) in GaAs with typical parameters of recombination centers can be reached for p-type base doped at 2⋅10 cm. The open-circuit voltage VOC formation features are analyzed. The optimization provides a significant increase in VOC and the limiting photoconversion efficiency close to 30%. The approach of this research allows to predict the expected solar cell (for both directand indirect-gap semiconductor) characteristics, if material parameters are known. The applied formalism allows to analyze and to optimize mass production of both tandem solar cell and one-junction SC parameters.
On the Insecurity of SMS One-Time Password Messages against Local Attackers in Modern Mobile Devices

code to this number. Finally, either the user is asked to insert the received authentication code, or the app automatically reads it from the incoming SMS, at which point the app can send the code back to the app’s backend. This procedure proves ownership of a specific phone number (and of the corresponding SIM card). We note how this protocol effectively uses the SMS channel as the only “factor” to authenticate to a user’s account.
Updated DeLone and McLean IS Success Model and Commercial Open Source Software (COSS) Company Success

Commercial Open Source Software (COSS) is a promising business model as it represents the middle ground between expensive proprietary software and free software. The unique nature of COSS companies has captured researchers’ attention; hence several studies have been conducted to assess the success of a few prominent COSS companies. However, comprehensive empirical study consisting of various COSS companies of different size, type, and prominence is lacking. Hence, the aim of this study is to evaluate the success of diverse COSS companies by adapting the DeLone and McLean Updated Information Systems (IS) Success Model. The result indicates that COSS companies’ success is significantly influenced by user satisfaction while the impact of software use on COSS company success is insignificant. Moreover, both software quality and product property positively impact user satisfaction as well as software use.