Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A plasticity constitutive model for unsaturated, anisotropic, nonexpansive soils

The paper describes and evaluates an incremental plasticity constitutive model for unsaturated, anisotropic, nonexpansive soils (CMUA). It is based on the modified Cam‐Clay (MCC) model for saturated soils and enhances it by introducing anisotropy (via rotation of the MCC yield surface) and an unsaturated compressibility framework describing a double dependence of compressibility on suction and on the degree of saturation of macroporosity. As the anisotropic and unsaturated features can be activated independently, the model is downwards compatible with the MCC model. The CMUA model can simulate effectively: the dependence of compressibility on the level of developed anisotropy, uniqueness of critical state independent of the initial anisotropy, an evolving compressibility during constant suction compression, and a maximum of collapse. The model uses Bishop's average skeleton stress as its first constitutive variable, favouring its numerical implementation in commercial numerical analysis codes (eg, finite element codes) and a unified treatment of saturated and unsaturated material states.
Can Stock Investor Sentiment Be Contagious in China?

This paper explores the impact of investor sentiment on financial markets in China by taking the quantile causality test. We find that government bond markets, gold markets, and foreign exchange markets are affected by stock investor sentiment, except for in the corporate bond market. In extreme situations, such as excessively optimistic or pessimistic sentiment, these markets will become more vulnerable to suffering from drastic fluctuations. On the contrary, the market return in government bonds, corporate bonds, and foreign exchange also has an influence on stock investor sentiment. Moreover, these links show various asymmetry due to the heterogeneity of different financial markets. Our results are consistent with the noise trader model, which shows the impact of investor sentiment on market returns. Hence, the authorities can sustain the stabilization of financial markets by reducing information asymmetry, guiding the rational sentiment of investors, and increasing effective regulations.
Effects physical activity on creatinine, and metabolic syndrome in females with transplanted kidney

Introduction: Chronic kidney disease is a significant general disease, which affects a large number of people around the world. Chronic kidney disease is identified by blood test for 44 E. Rahimi, et all. creatinine, the blood levels of creatinine rises. The one main causes of chronic kidney disease is diabetes. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of physical activity on creatinine and metabolic syndrome (Mets) in females with transplanted kidney. Material & Methods: 20 females with transplanted kidney 24.3 ± 2.5 years participated. Subjects were divided into two equal groups. Prior and after study both groups underwent a blood test to check creatinine, Insulin Resistance and metabolic syndrome. The experimental group conducted 8 weeks of submaximal activities and 3 sessions each week. To analyze the data independent and dependent t-test were used. To validate if the data distribution is normal, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was utilized. Results: The results show experimental group had decreased their total cholesterol (TC) (0.026), triglyceride (TG) (0.002), fasting blood Sugar (FBS) (0.026), creatinine (C) (0.043), glomerular filtration rate (GFR) (0.02), insulin resistance (IR) (0.044) and increase of high density lipoprotein (HDL) (0.003), Also there were no changes of waist circumference (WC) (0.896) SBP (0.602) and DBP (0.0781) in both groups. Conclusions: According to the results we can express eight weeks of Physical activity has a Decreasing significant effect on C and Mets. So it can be concluded that physical activity is useful for female with KT.
Understanding Ambivalence as an emotional response to organisational change under New Public Management: A study of English housing associations

This thesis uses the concept of ‘emotional ambivalence’, understood as a dynamic emotional response to change that unfolds over time, to explore the complex emotions experienced by employees and managers under New Public Management (NPM). The qualitative empirical study is based on two in-depth case studies of English housing associations. Thirty-five semi-structured interviews were conducted across hierarchical levels and organisational documents and research fieldnotes were analysed using thematic and narrative methods. The analysis demonstrates that NPM involves a cultural change from a traditional public sector to a more ‘business-like’ organisational culture. This thesis critiques dualistic representations of emotion, as either positive or negative, and the use of ‘mixed emotion’ to explore the complex emotions experienced by organisational members during change. It argues that the emotions experienced by organisational members during NPM-related change are inherently ambivalent. Emotional ambivalence arises from multiple sources and has contradictory emotional elements. A key conclusion of this study is that engaging with organisational members who experience ambivalent emotions in response to change offers an important resource which can be utilised by change managers.
Predictive Value of Clinical and Laboratory Parameters for Overt Bone Marrow Metastasis in Patients with Solid Malignancy

Bone marrow (BM) metastases are known to worsen the outcome in patients with malignancies and alter the choice of the treatment regimen. In an attempt to identify routine parameters for the prediction of BM metastasis we evaluated the clinical and laboratory data of 103 patients with metastatic solid tumors. We also assessed which of these factors appeared to influence survival. Three laboratory abnormalities were found to be predictive of metastasis on BM biopsy: thrombocytopenia < 50 × 109/L OR 14.4; p = 0.02; hypocellular or dry tap aspirate OR 7.0; p = 0.02 and high serum alkaline phosphatase OR 6.5; p = 0.03. Three additional factors were found to be associated with deceased survival. Thrombocytopenia was associated with decreased survival from a median of 0.8 months to 4.1 months, p < 0.0001. Serum LDH levels more than twice the upper limit of normal were also reduced survival from 1.8 months versus 4.7 months, p = 0.03. Finally, the initial diagnosis of malignancy by bone marrow examination was associated with reduced survival from 1.8 months vs. 4.0 months, p = 0.03 in individuals where BM metastases were not the presenting feature of malignancies. Use of these simple clinical parameters may help in the early diagnosis of bone marrow metastases and improve clinical approach.
Retrospective Analysis of Preterm Neonates with Congenital Heart Defects Delivered by Cesarean Section: Unfavourable Outcomes a Necessity for Fetal Cardiology Education During Obstetrical Training?

Abstract Introduction: Congenital heart defects are the most frequent reason for deaths during the neonatal and early infancy periods. The aim of this study was to retrospectively analyze singleton pregnancy outcomes of premature neonates with congenital cardiac defects delivered by Cesarean section. Materials and methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on 10,800 fetuses evaluated in our referral fetal cardiac center between 2010 and 2016. A group of 58 singleton pregnancies was selected with the following criteria: fetal heart defect, Cesarean section (C-section), and gestation of 37 weeks or less. Exclusion criteria included labor outside of our hospital and multiple pregnancy. Results: Isolated heart defects constituted 74,1% (43 cases) of the analysed data set. The majority of newborns were delivered at 36 weeks of gestation (43,1%), with an average of 33,6 weeks. In one case (1,7%), C-section took place at 22nd week. Birth weight of newborns < 2500g constituted 51,7% (30 cases). Neonatal deaths occurred in 60,3% (35 cases). Conclusions: Preterm neonates with congenital heart defect, delivered by C-section in our reference centre, during 2010 to 2016, had generally poor outcomes and high mortality rate. The average hospital stay of surviving neonates was approximately two months. An improvement of knowledge about prenatal cardiology is necessary in obstetrician management with fetuses with congenital heart diseases.
Artisanal Pico cheese as reservoir of Enterococcus species possessing virulence and antibiotic resistance properties: implications for food safety

ABSTRACT Enterococci are part of the dominant microbiota of artisanal Pico cheese and could be used as adjunct cultures for improving this traditional dairy product. However, the genus lacks Qualified Presumption of Safety (QPS) status. The aim of this study was to assess virulence factors, antibiotic resistance and biogenic amine production in 28 autochthonous Enterococcus from Pico cheese. Isolates were identified by sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and physiological characteristics (hemolysis, DNase, gelatinase, biogenic amine production, and antibiotic resistance), prior to phenotypic and genotypic (asa1, gelE, cylA, esp, efaA, ace, tdc, odc, hdc1, and hdc2) testing for virulence properties. All enterococci displayed antibiotic resistance, mainly to high doses of aminoglycosides (kanamycin and netilmicin). Furthermore, two of the studied isolates displayed vancomycin resistance, not attributable to vanA and vanB. No isolate produced DNase and only one was β-hemolytic, but gelatinase production was observed in 54% of the isolates. The most frequently present virulence genes were efaA (100%), gelE and tdc (86%) and ace (71%). The less represented genes were esp (46%), asa1 (43%), cylA (21%) and hdc2 (4%). No isolate was devoid of virulence factors, making them unsuitable for use as Pico cheese adjunct cultures. Our results stress the importance of assessing the safety of each E. faecalis isolate from artisanal cheeses intended for use in food fermentations.
Search-based Test Generation for Automated Driving Systems: From Perception to Control Logic

Automated driving systems are in an intensive research and development stage, and the companies developing these systems are targeting to deploy them on public roads in a very near future. Guaranteeing safe operation of these systems is crucial as they are planned to carry passengers and share the road with other vehicles and pedestrians. Yet, there is no agreed-upon approach on how and in what detail those systems should be tested. Different organizations have different testing approaches, and one common approach is to combine simulation-based testing with real-world driving. One of the expectations from fully-automated vehicles is never to cause an accident. However, an automated vehicle may not be able to avoid all collisions, e.g., the collisions caused by other road occupants. Hence, it is important for the system designers to understand the boundary case scenarios where an autonomous vehicle can no longer avoid a collision. Besides safety, there are other expectations from automated vehicles such as comfortable driving and minimal fuel consumption. All safety and functional expectations from an automated driving system should be captured with a set of system requirements. It is challenging to create requirements that are unambiguous and usable for the design, testing, and evaluation of automated driving systems. Another challenge is to define useful metrics for assessing the testing quality because in general, it is impossible to test every possible scenario. The goal of this dissertation is to formalize the theory for testing automated vehicles. Various methods for automatic test generation for automated-driving systems in simulation environments are presented and compared. The contributions presented in this dissertation include (i) new metrics that can be used to discover the boundary cases between safe and unsafe driving conditions, (ii) a new approach
VARIETY, COMPETITION, AND POPULATION IN ECONOMIC GROWTH: THEORY AND EMPIRICS

We provide aggregate macroeconomic evidence on how, in the long run, a diverse degree of complexity in production may affect not only the rate of economic growth, but also the correlation between the latter, population growth and the monopolistic (intermediate) markups. For a sample of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, we find that the impact of population change on economic growth is slightly positive. According to our theoretical model, this implies that the losses due to more complexity in production are lower than the corresponding specialization gains. Using a finite mixture model, we also classify the countries in the sample and verify for each cluster the impact that the population growth rate and the intermediate sector’s markups exert on the 5-year average real gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate.
The prevalence of asymptomatic group B streptococcal infection and antimicrobial sensitivity pattern among parturients at Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Nigeria

Background: Early-onset Group B Streptococcal (GBS) infection is an important cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality. Policy of active prevention by antepartum screening and treatment is not a popular practice in resource-constrained settings. Objectives: This study determined the prevalence of asymptomatic GBS infection and antimicrobial sensitivity pattern. It also determined the outcome of Intrapartum antimicrobial prophylaxis (IAP). Methodology: It was a prospective and longitudinal study done in Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, between June 2014 and April 2015. Two hundred and twenty consenting pregnant women with gestational ages between 35 and 37 completed weeks were participated in the study. Vagina and rectum were swabbed using different rayon swab sticks. Swabs were placed in Amies, nonnutritive transport medium. Bacteriological procedures to culture GBS and confirmation with biochemical tests and serological test were done. Antibiotic sensitivity pattern was determined. Participants who had GBS rectovaginal colonization had intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis with penicillin G. All participants were followed up till to a week after birth. Results: Out of the 220 pregnant participants, 19 (8.6%) had GBS rectovaginal colonization. Antibiotic sensitivity pattern revealed that GBS isolates were all sensitive to penicillin, ampicillin, and cefazolin while 4 (21.1%) were resistant to ceftriaxone and 6 (31.6%) were resistant to both erythromycin and clindamycin. None of the isolates were resistant to erythromycin and sensitive to clindamycin or vice versa. Of the 19 participants with GBS rectovaginal colonization, 2 (10.5%) delivered low birth weight baby, but there was no incidence of early-onset GBS disease. Conclusion: The prevalence of GBS rectovaginal colonization in this study is similar to figures from other parts of the country. The GBS sensitivity pattern to penicillin was similar to those reported elsewhere. Fetal outcome following intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis was good.
Training Load Management and Injury Prevention in Collegiate Men's Soccer

Soccer is a popular sport within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) evidenced by 23,602 athletes participating in Men’s soccer as of 2014. The sports complexity, coupled with the structure of a collegiate season, demands athletes train to improve performance and prevent injuries. Coaches are able to monitor training through the use of global positioning system (GPS) technology to properly prescribe training loads to meet the individual demands for an athlete. By utilizing an acute to chronic ratio derived from GPS data, coaches are able to determine whether an athlete is prepared for the workloads they are going to be exposed to during a given week. However, this data has yet to be adequately explored within a collegiate setting. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to utilize GPS technology, coupled with a coach’s interpretation and thought process, to determine an appropriate acute to chronic workload ratio among NCAA Division-I men’s soccer players within the fall 2016, 2017, and 2018 seasons. GPS data from 46 athletes was retroactively analyzed using a paired samples t-test to investigate differences between acute pre-season and in-season with two separate 3x3 [Workload (acute, chronic, acutechronic ratio) x Season (2016, 2017, 2018)] repeated measures ANOVA used to determine the differences for total distance and distance at high-intensity. No significant differences (p>0.05) were seen for acute total distance, chronic total distance, acute-to-chronic total distance workload ratio, acute-to-chronic high intensity workload ratio, and distance at high intensity between preseason and in-season. Total distance between pre-season and in-season (p=0.03), acute high intensity distance (p<0.001) and chronic high-intensity distance (p<0.001) yielded significant differences. It can be concluded that workloads are greater during the pre-season than in-season and a coach’s determination of high-intensity speed may affect workload throughout the duration of a season because of the inverse relationship between intensity and total distance.
Coaches’ and players’ perceptions of health promotion activities in sport clubs

Objectives: To better understand the role sports club coaches can play in health promotion (HP), as well as factors supporting this task, this study compared coaches’ and players’ perception of coaches’ HP activities and tested whether coaches’ basic need satisfaction predicted coaches’ HP activities mediated by self-determined motivation to coach. Design: A cross-sectional design was employed. Multivariate analyses were used to compare coaches’ and players perceptions of HP, while structural equation modelling was used to test the model. Setting: Community football clubs in the south east of France. Method: A sample of 101 coaches and 404 players from 18 soccer clubs completed a questionnaire assessing HP activities’ perceptions. Coaches also completed scales on basic need satisfaction and self-determined motivation. Results: Similar patterns were found for coaches and players’ answers, with only a few differences, especially in the Respect for Oneself and Others dimension. Moreover, basic need satisfaction predicted Respect for Oneself and Others through self-determined motivation, while self-determined motivation was related to a Healthy Lifestyle, but basic need satisfaction and self-determined motivation were not linked to Substance Use. Conclusion: Results highlight few differences between coaches’ and players’ perceptions of coaches’ HP activities. Coaches’ HP activities are sparse, but seem to be perceived by their players. Self-determined coaches were more likely to promote a Healthy Lifestyle and Respect for Oneself and Others. The lack of relationship between motivational variables and Substance Use could potentially reflect the complexity of drug and alcohol prevention in sports clubs.
A clinico-epidemiological study on cutaneous leishmaniasis in Erbil, Iraq (2015-2017)

Background: The objective of the study was to determine the incidence of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in Makhmur District (Erbil Province). Methods: A cross-sectional, observational, descriptive study was performed in the outpatient clinic of Makhmur General Health Center. All the patients who presented at the dermatology clinic during the period from January 2015 to January 2017 were included in the study. The provisional diagnosis was dependent mainly on clinical examination in addition to Giemsa stain. Results: A total of 1264 cutaneous leishmaniasis cases were diagnosed during the study period with males representing 54.6% of the cases. The study participants ranged from 10 months to 61 years. Age group <15 years were 53.5%. Clinically, 49.3% of patients had one lesion, 51.5% of patients had wet type. Most lesions were found on both limbs (48.8%). The highest number of cases was recorded during February (29.1%) and November (21.8%), while the lowest rate of cases was recorded in July (0.2%). According to stain results, 70.6% of the cases were positive to giemsa stain. Conclusions: CL is endemic in Makhmur district. Males were infected in higher percent than females and this may be due to cultural, occupational and social factors.
Peroxidase activity and initial growth of ‘Barbosa’ peach on clonal rootstocks

Abstract In the peach nursery trees production, the use of rootstocks with unknown genetic identity obtained from peach seeds in the canning industry is frequent. The hypothesis tested was that there are rootstocks that express greater graft compatibility, enabling greater survival and growth, and that peroxidase activity can be used as indication of graft incompatibility. The aim of this study was to evaluate the survival and the peroxidase activity efficiency in identifying graft incompatibility and the trunk diameter growth of ‘Barbosa’ peach grafted onto 18 Prunus clonal rootstocks, propagated by herbaceous cuttings, compared to own-rooted scion trees. The experimental design was three randomized blocks, with one tree per plot. The first three vegetative cycles of trees conducted in double Y (5.0m x 2.0m) without irrigation were evaluated. The highest trunk diameter growth was provided by ‘Okinawa’, ‘Tsukuba-1’, ‘Tsukuba-2’, Mexico F1 and ‘Flordaguard’ rootstocks, without differing from own-rooted ‘Barbosa’ peach. Peroxidase activity differs by rootstock effect at the beginning of the dormancy period, and is higher than in vegetative growth, especially in interspecific graft combinations. Peroxidase activity is a biochemical indicator of stress, but should not be used alone and generalized to characterize graft incompatibility.