Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparing Engineering Practice In South Asia With Australia

This paper presents empirical evidence confirming that engineering practice is significantly different between South Asia and Australia. These differences seem to explain large productivity differences. Low productivity in South Asia results in very high end user costs for essential services such as electricity supplies and drinking water. Engineering education, however, is remarkably similar in content with minor differences in course delivery, and graduates emerge with little understanding of engineering practice. While industry employers in industrialized countries complain that engineering graduates lack practical skills, this gap between education and practice is even more extreme in South Asia. Interviews and field studies in manufacturing plants have identified several dimensions of difference in practice. These studies and other evidence reveal an alarming picture in which engineering graduates emerge with inappropriate skills and knowledge and are therefore ill-equipped to provide real value for their employers. India and the rest of the developing world need huge improvements in energy efficiency and conservation to provide improved living standards at the same time as achieving large reductions in harmful atmospheric emissions. This paper argues that fundamental changes in engineering education will be needed to achieve these goals.
One year of cloud lidar data from Dumont d'Urville (Antarctica): 1. General overview of geometrical and optical properties

Tropospheric clouds play a major role in climate regulation but, so far, only a few long-term ground-based observations, devoted to the study of the cloud optical and radiative properties, have been carried out. In this work the statistics of 1 year of coastal Antarctic cloud lidar measurements (532 nm) are shown. Cloud macrophysical and optical parameters have been retrieved from lidar returns; radiosonde data allowed us to build statistics of such quantities in terms of cloud temperature. Information about the physical phase of water and ice crystal habit has been obtained from the depolarization and extinction backscattering ratio; a change in crystal habit (and/or size) around −30°C is evidenced by the depolarization versus temperature behavior. The extinction/backscattering ratio shows a negative trend with temperature, reflecting microphysical changes. Visible extinction shows wide data dispersion, but with a marked negative trend with temperature. The relative derivatives of extinction and optical depth with temperature have been computed, such quantities result quite constant with temperature.
Prospective study of sleep-disordered breathing and hypertension: the Sleep Heart Health Study.

RATIONALE Cross-sectional epidemiologic studies show an association between sleep-disordered breathing and hypertension, but only one cohort study has examined sleep-disordered breathing as a risk factor for incident hypertension. OBJECTIVES To examine whether sleep-disordered breathing increases the risk of incident hypertension among persons 40 years of age and older. METHODS In a prospective cohort study, we analyzed data from 2,470 participants who at baseline did not have hypertension, defined as blood pressure of at least 140/90 mm Hg or taking antihypertensive medication. The apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), the number of apneas plus hypopneas per hour of sleep, was measured by overnight in-home polysomnography. We estimated odds ratios for developing hypertension during 5 years of follow-up according to baseline AHI. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS The odds ratios for incident hypertension increased with increasing baseline AHI; however, this relationship was attenuated and not statistically significant after adjustment for baseline body-mass index. Although not statistically significant, the observed association between a baseline AHI greater than 30 and future hypertension (odds ratio, 1.51; 95% confidence interval, 0.93-2.47) does not exclude the possibility of a modest association. CONCLUSIONS Among middle-aged and older persons without hypertension, much of the relationship between AHI and risk of incident hypertension was accounted for by obesity. After adjustment for body mass index, the AHI was not a significant predictor of future hypertension, although a modest influence of an AHI greater than 30 on hypertension could not be excluded.
Observed Atmospheric Coupling between Barents Sea Ice and the Warm-Arctic Cold-Siberian Anomaly Pattern

AbstractThe decline in Barents Sea ice has been implicated in forcing the “warm-Arctic cold-Siberian” (WACS) anomaly pattern via enhanced turbulent heat flux (THF). This study investigates interannual variability in winter [December–February (DJF)] Barents Sea THF and its relationship to Barents Sea ice and the large-scale atmospheric flow. ERA-Interim and observational data from 1979/80 to 2011/12 are used. The leading pattern (EOF1: 33%) of winter Barents Sea THF variability is relatively weakly correlated (r = 0.30) with Barents Sea ice and appears to be driven primarily by atmospheric variability. The sea ice–related THF variability manifests itself as EOF2 (20%, r = 0.60). THF EOF2 is robust over the entire winter season, but its link to the WACS pattern is not. However, the WACS pattern emerges consistently as the second EOF (20%) of Eurasian surface air temperature (SAT) variability in all winter months. When Eurasia is cold, there are indeed weak reductions in Barents Sea ice, but the associated T.
Cycles and trends in the Czech temperature series using wavelet transforms

Temperature variability in the Czech Republic is analysed by means of wavelet transforms. This advanced time–frequency analysis provides information about the nature and time–frequency localization of present oscillations. The data set comprises four mean monthly temperature series from Prague‐Klementinum, Brno, Mt Milešovka and the gridded temperature series for the Czech Republic. The results of their wavelet transforms are presented as (a) trend analysis (computed by the inverse wavelet transform) and (b) periodicities and oscillations (distinguishable from the series wavelet power spectra and global wavelet spectra). The results show considerable similarity among individual series. Examples are the parts of the wavelet power spectra in the time period between 1930 and 2001 expressed in all series studied, the pronounced oscillations of about 8 and 12–14 years in all series, and the noticeable increase of temperatures in all cases. As a supplement to this study, wavelet transforms were performed on the variance‐adjusted version of combined land and marine temperature anomalies for the Northern Hemisphere from the Hadley Centre. Only some results of this analysis are mentioned and discussed. Copyright © 2004 Royal Meteorological Society
Characterization of a New Metallo- (cid:1) -Lactamase Gene, bla NDM-1 , and a Novel Erythromycin Esterase Gene Carried on a Unique Genetic Structure in Klebsiella pneumoniae Sequence Type 14 from India (cid:1)

A Swedish patient of Indian origin traveled to New Delhi, India, and acquired a urinary tract infection caused by a carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae strain that typed to the sequence type 14 complex. The isolate, Klebsiella pneumoniae 05-506, was shown to possess a metallo- (cid:1) -lactamase (MBL) but was negative for previously known MBL genes. Gene libraries and ampliﬁcation of class 1 integrons revealed three resistance- conferring regions; the ﬁrst contained bla CMY-4 ﬂanked by IS EcP1 and blc . The second region of 4.8 kb contained a complex class 1 integron with the gene cassettes arr - 2 , a new erythromycin esterase gene; ereC ; aadA1 ; and cmlA7 . An out performed endonucleases used cut both plasmid and K. 05-506 chromosomal DNA. Transformation was carried out by using electroporation and E. coli TOP10 cells King- Transformants were selected on LB agar plates containing 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl- (cid:1) - D -galactopyranoside (30 (cid:2) g/ml), ceftazidime (cid:2) g/ml), and kanamycin (cid:2) g/ml). Recombinant plasmids were recovered with a QIAprep spin Restriction endonu- analysis of the was carried out with a variety of restriction enzymes to determine the size of the ligated nucleotide segment. The PCR-ampliﬁed open reading frame of NDM-1 was digested with the appropriate enzymes and was subsequently ligated into the pVFT3S (six-His— trx fusion bacterial expression vector. The into E. BL21 groEL groES pH 7.5). The assays were performed in a UV-1601PC spectro- photometer (Shimadzu Corp., Tokyo, Japan) by observing the changes in ab-sorption resulting from the opening of the ß-lactam ring at the speciﬁc wave- lengths for each of the each antimicrobial agents evaluated, as described previously (18). Nucleotide sequence accession number. The nucleotide sequence data reported in the present study have been assigned EMBL/GenBank nucleotide accession number FN396876.
Approximate Robust Policy Iteration Using Multilayer Perceptron Neural Networks for Discounted Infinite-Horizon Markov Decision Processes With Uncertain Correlated

We study finite-state, finite-action, discounted infinite-horizon Markov decision processes with uncertain corre- lated transition matrices in deterministic policy spaces. Existing robust dynamic programming methods cannot be extended to solving this class of general problems. In this paper, based on a ro- bust optimality criterion, an approximate robust policy iteration using a multilayer perceptron neural network is proposed. It is proven that the proposed algorithm converges in finite iterations, and it converges to a stationary optimal or near-optimal policy in a probability sense. In addition, we point out that sometimes even a direct enumeration may not be applicable to addressing this class of problems. However, a direct enumeration based on our proposed maximum value approximation over the parameter space is a feasible approach. We provide further analysis to show that our proposed algorithm is more efficient than such an enumeration method for various scenarios. Index Terms—Approximate dynamic programming, Markov decision processes (MDP), multilayer perceptrons, uncertain transition matrix.
Long-Run Performance Following Cross-Listing: A Re-Examination

We analyze the long-run performance of the population of Canadian firms that cross-list in the US between 1990 and 2005, paying particular attention to cross-delisting companies. We ask why, since numerous firms cross-list to get the advantages associated with cross-listing, these firms' long-run performance is purportedly abnormally poor. Using robust empirical methods, we find no evidence of a significant underperformance by Canadian firms after cross-listing. Rather, we find that the previously documented underperformance following cross-listing can be traced to a combination of the choice of method, sample selection, and survival biases. This is an up-date version of the working paper published on November 2007 under the same reference. Selon les etudes anterieures, le rendement a long terme des titres qui s'inscrivent aux Etats-Unis (qui s'interlistent) est anormalement faible. Nous reexaminons ces resultats, qu'il est difficile de concilier avec les avantages procures par cette operation et qui ne permettent pas d'expliquer le grand nombre d'interlistages observes recemment. Nous etudions la population des societes ouvertes canadiennes qui se sont inscrites aux Etats-Unis entre 1990 et 2005, en utilisant differentes methodologies et indices. Une attention particuliere est egalement portee aux desincriptions. En utilisant des methodologies robustes, nous n'observons aucune performance anormale suite a l'interlistage des societes canadiennes. Nos resultats indiquent que les resultats anterieurs de sous performance a long terme pourraient provenir d'une combinaison de choix methodologique et de biais de selection et de survie. Ce document est une mise a jour de celui-ci publie en novembre 2007 sous le meme numero.
A methodology to evaluate the aerosol effective radius based on MODIS aerosol products applicable to other satellite platforms

A strategy to evaluate the effective radius (r eff) as a function of aerosol retrievals is provided in this work. This methodology is based on the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aerosol products, using the 0.66 and 0.87 µm bands. These data have been studied from February 2000 to December 2005 in a grid situated at Subtropical North‐east Atlantic region. To reduce the number of MODIS useful variables a Factorial Analysis by Principal Components has been applied, decreasing the aerosol parameters from 18 to five. With these parameters, backscattering ratios and asymmetry factors at 0.66 and 0.87 µm besides the Ångström parameter, a lineal multivariate analysis technique has been applied to find the combination of variables that better evaluate the r eff. The standard error for the predicted value of r eff is ±0.09 µm. The expression obtained here has the advantage that it can be applied to other remote sensors like AVHRR/NOAA, HRV/SPOT, TM/LANDSAT, and so on, with long time series.
Off-label utilization of antidepressants.

UNLABELLED While antidepressant prescription rules are established for approved indications by large-scale studies, off-label utilization naturally often lacks the validation by large scientific databases, and is at its best based on expert consensus. The aim of the present survey was to study the prescription habits of hospital psychiatrists with regard to antidepressants, comparing patients treated for depressions and anxiety disorder with patients receiving off-label antidepressant treatment. METHODS Data on drug use for this study were based on 6 reference days from April 1999 to November 2001 in the 98-bed psychiatric hospital of the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. The drug prescriptions of 174 patients were assessed. RESULTS Whereas the diagnosis did not influence the choice between newer or older antidepressants, patients presenting an anxiety disorder were 4.5 times more likely (p<0.05) and patients with other diagnoses 8 times more likely (p<0.001) to receive an antipsychotic comedication compared to patients whose primary diagnosis was a depressive disorder. Also, patients receiving concomitantly a nonbenzodiazepine hypnotic were less likely to be prescribed an older antidepressant (p<0.05). While patients with anxiety disorder and those with major depression received their antidepressants at comparable doses, patients with an off-label indication were treated preferentially with lower doses. CONCLUSIONS The results of this survey suggest, that the prescribing hospital psychiatrists developed preferences with regard to the choice of the antidepressant class, which they then used for both registered and off-label indications. They then seemed to adapt the dose and the comedication according to the diagnosis, confirming the initial study hypothesis.
The C-terminal acid phosphatase module of the RNase HI enzyme RnhC controls rifampicin sensitivity and light-dependent colony pigmentation of Mycobacterium smegmatis

RNase H enzymes participate in various processes that require processing of RNA:DNA hybrids, including DNA replication, transcription, and ribonucleotide excision from DNA. Mycobacteria encode multiple RNase H enzymes and prior data indicates that RNase HI activity is essential for mycobacterial viability. However, the additional roles of mycobacterial RNase Hs are unknown, including whether RNase HII (RnhB and RnhD) excises chromosomal ribonucleotides misincorporated during DNA replication and whether individual RNase HI enzymes (RnhA and RnhC) mediate additional phenotypes. We find that loss of RNase HII activity in M. smegmatis (through combined deletion of rnhB/rnhD) or individual RNase HI enzymes, does not affect growth, hydroxyurea sensitivity, or mutagenesis, whereas overexpression of either RNase HII severely compromises bacterial viability. We also show that deletion of rnhC, which encodes a protein with an N terminal RNase HI domain and a C terminal acid phosphatase domain, confers sensitivity to rifampicin and oxidative stress as well as loss of light induced carotenoid pigmentation. These phenotypes are due to loss of the activity of the C terminal acid phosphatase domain rather than the RNase HI activity, suggesting that the acid phosphatase activity may confer rifampicin resistance through the antioxidant properties of carotenoid pigment production.
Structural control on late Miocene to Quaternary volcanism in the NE Honshu arc, Japan

Volcanological and structural field data are used to define the tectonic control on the N–S volcanic arc of NE Honshu (Japan) since late Miocene. During late Miocene‐Pliocene, bimodal products were mainly erupted from along‐arc and NE–SW‐aligned and elongated calderas. The deformation pattern mostly consisted of N–S dextral faults and subordinate NE–SW extensional structures produced by NE–SW compression. This pattern, because of the indentation of the Kuril sliver, is similar to that of oblique convergence settings. Magma rose and extruded along NE–SW areas of localized extension created by the dextral faults. These extensional areas were uncoupled with regard to those, ∼E–W trending, inferred to have focused the rise of melts from the subducting slab in the mantle. During Quaternary, a larger amount of andesite was mainly erupted from along‐arc and ∼E–W‐aligned and elongated stratovolcanoes. The deformation pattern mostly consisted of N–S thrust faults and subordinate ∼E–W extensional structures, produced by ∼E–W compression, resulting from orthogonal convergence due to the variation in the absolute motion of the Pacific Plate. The ∼E–W extensional structures are the shallowest expression of ∼E–W‐trending hot mantle fingers, suggesting mantle‐crust coupling for the rise of magma. Such a coupling ensures (1) higher extrusion and (2) mixing between a deeper mafic and a shallower felsic magma, generating the andesites. The significantly larger volumes (Ma−1 200 km−1 of length of the arc) of magma erupted during Quaternary show that pure convergence conditions do not necessarily hinder the rise and extrusion of magma.
Natural history of liver fibrosis progression in patients with chronic hepatitis C. The OBSVIRC, METAVIR, CLINIVIR, and DOSVIRC groups.

BACKGROUND Our aim was to assess the natural history of liver fibrosis progression in hepatitis C and the factors associated with this progression. METHODS We recruited 2235 patients from the Observatoire de l'Hépatite C (OBSVIRC) population, the Cohorte Hépatite C Pitié-Salpétrière (DOSVIRC) population, and the original METAVIR population. All the patients had a biopsy sample compatible with chronic hepatitis C as assessed by the METAVIR scoring system (grades the stage of fibrosis on a five-point scale, F0 = no fibrosis, F4 = cirrhosis, and histological activity on a four-point scale, A0 = no activity, A3 = severe activity). No patient had received interferon treatment before the liver biopsy sample was obtained. We assessed the effect of nine factors on fibrosis progression: age at biopsy; estimated duration of infection; sex; age at infection; alcohol consumption; hepatitis C virus C (HCV) genotype; HCV viraemia; cause of infection; and histological activity grade. We defined fibrosis progression per year as the ratio between fibrosis stage in METAVIR units and the duration of infection (1 unit = one stage, 4 units = cirrhosis). FINDINGS The median rate of fibrosis progression per year was 0.133 fibrosis unit (95% CI 0.125-0.143), which was similar to the estimates from previous studies (0.146 to 0.154). Three independent factors were associated with an increased rate of fibrosis progression: age at infection older than 40 years, daily alcohol consumption of 50 g or more, and male sex. There was no association between fibrosis progression and HCV genotype. The median estimated duration of infection for progression to cirrhosis was 30 years (28-32), ranging from 13 years in men infected after the age of 40 to 42 years in women who did not drink alcohol and were infected before the age of 40. Without treatment, 377 (33%) patients had an expected median time to cirrhosis of less than 20 years, and 356 (31%) will never progress to cirrhosis or will not progress for at least 50 years. INTERPRETATION The host factors of ageing, alcohol consumption, and male sex have a stronger association with fibrosis progression than virological factors in HCV infection.
Dissolved and particulate Fe in the western and central North Pacific: Results from the 2002 IOC cruise

The goals of the 2002 Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) cruise were to examine the variability in dissolved and particulate Fe over the cruise track, relate this variability to atmospheric aerosol Fe input, and examine the relationships between Fe, nitrate, and dust deposition with regards to Fe limitation particularly in the subarctic North Pacific. Dissolved Fe in the surface waters was quite variable, ranging from 0.10 nM to 0.30 nM. Dissolved Fe in the vertical profiles showed significant variability, the most prominent feature being an Fe maximum (∼1.5 nM Fe) associated with a broad nitrate maximum at 400–1000 m in the western subarctic gyre. Deep water Fe values in the subarctic region ranged from 0.8 nM to 1.1 nM. Subtropical gyre surface water dissolved Fe values were also quite variable, ranging from ∼0.15 nM to 0.4 nM. Intermediate and deep water Fe values were on the order of 0.6–0.9 nM. Significant differences were observed between total dissolvable Fe and dissolved Fe (TDFe‐DFe) in surface waters over the course of the cruise track, and these differences are discussed in terms of particulate Fe and possible sources of Fe to surface waters. Finally, nitrate:Fe ratios in the western subarctic gyre, atmospheric dust flux estimates based on surface water aluminum concentrations, and aerosol Fe fluxes from ship‐based aerosol collections are used to evaluate the relative importance of atmospheric and/or continental Fe input versus upwelling fluxes of Fe to the surface waters of the subarctic gyre.
Human Genome Sequencing Using Unchained Base Reads on Self-Assembling DNA Nanoarrays

Toward $1000 Genomes The ability to generate human genome sequence data that is complete, accurate, and inexpensive is a necessary prerequisite to perform genome-wide disease association studies. Drmanac et al. (p. 78, published online 5 November) present a technique advancing toward this goal. The method uses Type IIS endonucleases to incorporate short oligonucleotides within a set of randomly sheared circularized DNA. DNA polymerase then generates concatenated copies of the circular oligonucleotides leading to formation of compact but very long oligonucleotides which are then sequenced by ligation. The relatively low cost of this technology, which shows a low error rate, advances sequencing closer to the goal of the $1000 genome. A low-cost sequencing technique advances us closer to the goal of the $1000 human genome. Genome sequencing of large numbers of individuals promises to advance the understanding, treatment, and prevention of human diseases, among other applications. We describe a genome sequencing platform that achieves efficient imaging and low reagent consumption with combinatorial probe anchor ligation chemistry to independently assay each base from patterned nanoarrays of self-assembling DNA nanoballs. We sequenced three human genomes with this platform, generating an average of 45- to 87-fold coverage per genome and identifying 3.2 to 4.5 million sequence variants per genome. Validation of one genome data set demonstrates a sequence accuracy of about 1 false variant per 100 kilobases. The high accuracy, affordable cost of $4400 for sequencing consumables, and scalability of this platform enable complete human genome sequencing for the detection of rare variants in large-scale genetic studies.