Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Application of Portfolio Theory to Healthcare Capacity Management

Healthcare systems worldwide are faced with continuously increasing demand for care, while simultaneously experiencing insufficient capacity and unacceptably long patient waiting times. To improve healthcare access and availability, it is thus necessary to improve capacity utilization and increase the efficiency of existing resource usage. For this, variations in healthcare systems must be managed judiciously, and one solution is to apply a capacity pooling approach. A capacity pool is a general, collaborative capacity that can be allocated to parts of the system where the existing workload and demand for capacity are unusually high. In this study, we investigate how basic mean-variance methodology from portfolio theory can be applied as a capacity pooling approach to healthcare systems. A numerical example based on fictitious data is used to illustrate the theoretical value of using a portfolio approach in a capacity pooling context. The example shows that there are opportunities to use capacity more efficiently and increase service levels, given the same capacity, and that a mean-variance analysis could be performed to theoretically dimension the most efficient pooling organization. The study concludes with a discussion regarding the practical usefulness of this methodology in the healthcare context.
Monkey EEG links neuronal color and motion information across species and scales

It remains challenging to relate EEG and MEG to underlying circuit processes and comparable experiments on both spatial scales are rare. To close this gap between invasive and non-invasive electrophysiology we developed and recorded human-comparable EEG in macaque monkeys during visual stimulation with colored dynamic random dot patterns. Furthermore, we performed simultaneous microelectrode recordings from 6 areas of macaque cortex and human MEG. Motion direction and color information were accessible in all signal types. Tuning of the non-invasive signals was similar to V4 and IT, but not to dorsal and frontal areas. Thus, MEG and EEG were dominated by early visual and ventral stream sources. Source level analysis revealed corresponding information and latency gradients across the cortex. We show how information-based methods and monkey EEG can identify analogous properties of visual processing in signals spanning spatial scales from single units to MEG – a valuable framework for relating human and animal studies.
Hyperspectral Imaging of Wounds Reveals Augmented Tissue Oxygenation Following Cold Physical Plasma Treatment in Vivo

Efficient vascularization of skin tissue supports wound healing in response to injury. This includes elevated blood circulation, tissue oxygenation, and perfusion. Cold physical plasma promotes wound healing in animal models and humans. Physical plasmas are multicomponent systems that generate several physicochemical effectors, such as ions, electrons, reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, and UV radiation. However, the consequences of plasma treatment on wound oxygenation and perfusion, vital processes to promote tissue regeneration, are largely unexplored. We used a novel hyperspectral imaging (HSI) system and a murine dermal full-thickness wound model in combination with kINPen argon plasma jet treatment to address this question. Plasma treatment promoted tissue oxygenation in superficial as well as deep (6 mm) layers of wound tissue. In addition to perfusion changes, we found a wound healing stage-dependent shift of tissue hemoglobin and tissue water index during reactive species-driven wound healing. Contactless, fast monitoring of medical parameters in real-time using HSI revealed a plasma-supporting effect in wound healing together with precise information about biological surface-specific features.
High Fundamental Frequency (HFF) Monolithic Resonator Arrays for Biosensing Applications: Design, Simulations, and Experimental Characterization

Miniaturized, high-throughput, cost-effective sensing devices are needed to advance lab-on-a-chip technologies for healthcare, security, environmental monitoring, food safety, and research applications. Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCMD) is a promising technology for the design of such sensing devices, but its applications have been limited, until now, by low throughput and significant costs. In this work, we present the design and characterization of 24-element monolithic QCMD arrays for high-throughput and low-volume sensing applications in liquid. Physical properties such as geometry and roughness, and electrical properties such as resonance frequency, quality factor, spurious mode suppression, and interactions between array elements (crosstalk), are investigated in detail. In particular, we show that the scattering parameter, S21, commonly measured experimentally to investigate crosstalk, contains contributions from the parasitic grounding effects associated with the acquisition circuitry. Finite element method simulations do not take grounding effects into account explicitly. However, these effects can be effectively modelled with appropriate equivalent circuit models, providing clear physical interpretation of the different contributions. We show that our array design avoids unwanted interactions between elements and discuss in detail aspects of measuring these interactions that are often-overlooked.
Migratory birds as vehicles for parasite dispersal? Infection by avian haemosporidians over the year and throughout the range of a long‐distance migrant

The role of migratory birds in the spread of parasites is poorly known, in part because migratory strategies and behaviours potentially affecting transmission are not easy to study. We investigated the dynamics of infection by blood parasites through the annual cycle of a long‐distance Nearctic–Neotropical migratory songbird to examine the role of this species in dispersing parasites between continents.
Visualising blood flagellates infections in transparent zebrafish

Trypanosomes of the Trypanosoma genus are blood flagellates, and important causative agents of diseases of humans, livestock and cold-blooded species. Numerous in vitro studies and infection studies in mice contributed enormously to the insights into the biology of trypanosomes, their interaction with and evasion of the host immune system, as well as into various aspects related to vaccine failure and (uncontrolled) inflammation. A tight regulation of the early innate immune response to trypanosome infections was shown to be critical to obtain a balance between parasite control and inflammation-associated pathology. Trypanosome morphology was observed to be essential for their motility, the adaptation to their host’s environment and pathogenesis. One of the best-studied non-mammalian trypanosomes is Trypanosoma carassii, which presents many morphological similarities to mammalian trypanosomes. T. carassii is regularly observed co-infecting fish with Trypanoplasma spp such as T. borreli. Currently, few or no in vitro studies have been performed to unravel the swimming behaviour and host-pathogen interaction of Trypanoplasma species. For both trypanosomes and trypanoplasma, in vivo studies to visualise the parasite motility and host immune response have not been reported so far. In this thesis we describe for the first time blood flagellate infections in vivo in the natural environment of a vertebrate host (zebrafish). We did this by studying the parasite motility in vitro and in vivo and the kinetics of innate immune responses in vivo. The T. carassii and T. borreli zebrafish infection models are promising complementary models to existing (mammalian) animal models, and can contribute to fundamental mechanistic insights into host-parasite interactions.
Croissance, structure et magnétisme dans les systèmes à décalage d'échange FM/AFM : approche fondamentale par la physique des surfaces

Nous nous proposons d'etudier l'interaction au niveau de l'interface entre un materiau antiferromagnetique et un ferromagnetique par un ensemble de techniques experimentales qui utilisent le rayonnement synchrotron. Nous sommes particulierement interesses par l'effet de couplage d'echange dans les couches minces magnetiques avec anisotropie hors du plan. Les systemes que nous avons etudies sont les couches ordonnees chimiquement, FePt et MnPt sur Pt(001), et Fe/Ag(001), eventuellement couplee a CoO. Notre approche consiste a trouver de surfaces adaptees et d'etudier, pour chaque bicouche, la croissance individuelle de chaque element, alliage ou oxyde. A travers le controle d'un certain nombre des parametres, comme la structure de la surface, la proprete, le taux et la temperature de deposition, nous avons obtenus une bonne connaissance du processus de croissance. Les systemes obtenus ont ete etudies in situ par la diffraction de surfaces et ex situ par l'effet Kerr magneto-optique, le dichroisme circulaire magnetique de rayons X et la spectroscopie d'absorption de rayons X. La relation entre le couplage d'echange, qui se manifeste par l'augmentation de la coercivite et par un champ de decalage, et la structure des couches est discutee pour les interfaces MnPt/FePt and CoO/Fe.
DIFFUSIVE DRYING KINETICS IN WHEAT, PART 2: APPLYING THE SIMPLIFIED ANALYTICAL SOLUTION TO EXPERIMENTAL DATA

Abstract Reanalysis of the drying background in wheat showed that analytical solutions may be employed in this grain to estimate diffusion coefficients by using the simplified equation for short times instead of the time-consuming series. Sixteen thin-layer drying curves of hard wheat were measured (airflow ≈ 0·3 kg m −2 s −1 ) covering four air temperatures (35–70°C) at each of four initial moisture content levels (0·189–0·269 decimal, d.b.). Experimental curves of the moisture ratio versus time grouped by initial moisture content showed the expected strong accelerating effect of temperature on drying rate. Besides, when the same curves were grouped by temperature, the moisture ratios corresponding to higher initial moisture contents fell, after some time, consistently faster, showing that the diffusion coefficient should increase somehow with water concentration. The short time simplified diffusive equation fitted each curve very well, with values of the coefficient of determination above 0·99. Values of the diffusion coefficient for the whole kernel ranged from 1·4×10 −11 to 7·1×10 −11 m −2 s −1 , presenting the classical Arrhenius temperature dependency (activation energy ≈ 27·0 kJ mol −1 ), but with a pre-exponential factor that depends linearly on initial moisture content. This diffusive kinetics is expected to be useful for fast and accurate dryer simulation.
The effect of brand image and country of origin on consumer buying interest: case study on Yamaha NMAX motorcycle in Denpasar city

Submitted: 18 March 2020 Revised: 27 April 2020 Accepted: 09 May 2020 Positive perceptions and consumer trust in a brand will create a good brand image. Therefore the company must be able to create an attractive brand and describe the benefits of the product under the wishes of consumers so that consumers have a positive perception of the brand. Besides, what consumers often use to consider choosing a product is the country of origin of the product. The country of origin is generally considered to be a characteristic of a product. So the purpose of this study was to determine the effect of brand image and country of origin on the purchase intention of Yamaha NMAX motorcycles in Denpasar City. The results showed that: Brand Image and country of origin have a positive and significant influence on the purchase intention of Yamaha NMAX motorcycles in Denpasar City.
Socially-based essay planning in a postsecondary first year writing seminar

CHAPTER 1. NATURE OF THE PROBLEM. Background. Significance of this Problem. Purpose of this Study. Significance of the Study. Research Questions. Definition of Terms. CHAPTER 2. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE. Strategy-based Writing Instruction. Conceptual Framework. Review of Strategy-Based Writing Studies Involving Environmental Structuring and Pre-Write Planning. Impact on Study Design. CHAPTER 3. METHODS. Purpose of this Study. Research Questions. Design and Study Context. Setting and Participants. Data Sources. Procedures. Data Analysis. CHAPTER 4. RESULTS. Qualitative Data Results. Quantitative Results. Qualitative and Quantitative Results Compared. CHAPTER 5. DISCUSSION. Theoretical Implications. Implications for Practice. Limitations. iv v vii viii 1 1 3 8 9 10 11 14 15 20 34 54 56 56 57 57 63 64 75 79 84 85 124 138
Effects of the maternal factor Zelda on zygotic enhancer activity in the Drosophila embryo

The maternal factor Zelda is broadly bound to zygotic enhancers during early fly embryogenesis, and has been shown to be important for the expression of a large number of genes. However, its function remains poorly understood. Here, we carried out detailed analysis of the functional role of Zelda on the activities of a group of enhancers that drive patterned gene expression along the anterior -posterior axis. We found that among these enhancers, only one lost its activity entirely when all its Zelda bind sites were mutated. For all others, mutations of all of their Zelda binding sites only had limited effect, which varied temporally and spatially. These results suggest that Zld may exert a quantitative effect on a broad range of enhancers, which presumably is critical to generate highly diverse spatial and temporal expression patterns for different genes in the developmental gene network in fly embryo. Lastly, we found that the observed effect of Zelda site mutations was much stronger when a mutant enhancer was tested using a BAC based reporter construct than a simple reporter construct, suggesting that the effect of Zld is dependent on chromatin environment.
Essential oils of Myrcia lundiana Kiaersk and their major compounds show differentiated activities against three phytopathogenic fungi

The present study evaluated the antifungal activity of the essential oils of chemotypes of Myrcia lundiana and their major compounds on the fungi Fusarium pallidoroseum, Fusarium solani, and Colletotrichum musae. The essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GCMS/FID. For the evaluation of the antifungal activity, the essential oils and the major compounds were tested at the concentration of 0.1 mL/L until the fungicidal effect was detected. The major compounds detected in the essential oil were 1,8-cineole, isopulegol, and citral. The chemotypes (MLU-005 and MLU-019) provided 100% mycelial growth inhibition for the fungus F. pallidoroseum from the concentration of 1.1 mL/L (minimum inhibition concentration MIC). For chemotype (MLU-022), the minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) was 0.3 mL/L. For F. solani, the essential oils of the chemotypes (MLU-005 and MLU019) presented MIC at concentrations of 7.0 and 5.0 mL/L, respectively. The essential oil of the chemotype (MLU-022) presented MFC of 0.6 mL/L. Different MIC was observed for the three studied chemotypes for the fungus C. musae, ranging between 0.4 mL/L, for the chemotype (MLU-005); 0.5 mL/L, for the chemotype (MLU-022); and 0.7 mL/L, for the chemotype (MLU-019). The best MFC was observed for the chemotype (MLU-005) (0.5 mL/L). The major compounds tested separately presented better MIC values when compared with their chemotypes, except for the compound 1,8-cineole, which presented lower mycelial growth inhibition for the three fungi tested, suggesting that the chemical profile or the presence of some other compound of the essential oil may inhibit the growth of the three fungi studied. The compound isopulegol provided lower MFC for the fungus C. musae (0.4517 mL/L) when compared with the fungi F. pallidoroseum and F. solani, (MFC of 0.4927 mL/L). The compound citral provided a lower MFC on the fungus C. musae (0.1668 mL/L) in relation to the other fungi tested. The essential oils of the chemotypes of M. lundiana and their major compounds showed potential to control the studied phytopathogens and can be an alternative for agriculture for presenting an inhibitory and fungicidal effect against these organisms at lower concentrations.
NAD+ consumption by PARP1 in response to DNA damage triggers metabolic shift critical for damaged cell survival

DNA damage signaling is critical for the maintenance of genome integrity and cell fate decision. Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) is a DNA damage sensor rapidly activated in a damage dose- and complexity-dependent manner playing a critical role in the initial chromatin organization and DNA repair pathway choice at damage sites. However, our understanding of a cell-wide consequence of its activation in damaged cells is still limited. Using the phasor approach to fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy and fluorescence-based biosensors in combination with laser microirradiation, we found a rapid cell-wide increase of the bound NADH fraction in response to nuclear DNA damage, which is triggered by PARP-dependent NAD+ depletion. This change is linked to the metabolic balance shift to oxidative phosphorylation (oxphos) over glycolysis. Inhibition of oxphos, but not glycolysis, resulted in parthanatos due to rapid PARP-dependent ATP deprivation, indicating that oxphos becomes critical for damaged cell survival. The results reveal the novel prosurvival response to PARP activation through a change in cellular metabolism and demonstrate how unique applications of advanced fluorescence imaging and laser microirradiation-induced DNA damage can be a powerful tool to interrogate damage-induced metabolic changes at high spatiotemporal resolution in a live cell.
Regulation of cyclic electron flow by chloroplast NADPH‐dependent thioredoxin system

Linear electron transport in the thylakoid membrane drives both photosynthetic NADPH and ATP production, while cyclic electron flow (CEF) around photosystem I only promotes the translocation of protons from stroma to thylakoid lumen. The chloroplast NADH-dehydrogenase-like complex (NDH) participates in one CEF route transferring electrons from ferredoxin back to the plastoquinone pool with concomitant proton pumping to the lumen. CEF has been proposed to balance the ratio of ATP/NADPH production and to control the redox poise particularly in fluctuating light conditions, but the mechanisms regulating the NDH complex remain unknown. We have investigated potential regulation of the CEF pathways by the chloroplast NADPH-thioredoxin reductase (NTRC) in vivo by using an Arabidopsis knockout line of NTRC as well as lines overexpressing NTRC. Here we present biochemical and biophysical evidence showing that NTRC activates the NDH-dependent CEF and regulates the generation of proton motive force, thylakoid conductivity to protons and redox balance between the thylakoid electron transfer chain and the stroma during changes in light conditions. Further, protein–protein interaction assays suggest a putative thioredoxin-target site in close proximity to the ferredoxin binding domain of NDH, thus providing a plausible mechanism for regulation of the NDH ferredoxin:plastoquinone oxidoreductase activity by NTRC. One sentence summary Chloroplast thioredoxins regulate photosynthetic cyclic electron flow that balances the activities of light and carbon fixation reactions and improves plant fitness under fluctuating light conditions.
Predictive power of indicators to the perception of food and nutritional insecurity in the Bolsa Família Program

Abstract: The objective was to analyze the predictive power of indicators of the perception of food and nutritional insecurity comparing beneficiary and non - beneficiary families of the Bolsa Família Program, through a cross - sectional study with 150 families. Demographic, socioeconomic, food insecurity (Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale), nutritional status (Body Mass Index) and household consumption patterns were collected. The correlation between the demographic, socioeconomic, nutritional status and level of food insecurity were tested using the Pearson correlation coefficient; the association with Chi-square and ANOVA tests; and the prevalence ratio and 95% confidence intervals with Poisson Regression model. The predictive power of indicators of food insecurity was evaluated with the ROC curve. Patterns of food consumption, demographic and health characteristics were not significantly correlated with food insecurity. In the analyzes with the ROC curve, among the beneficiary families, the income derived only from the Bolsa Família and the Renda Cidadã Program with the Bolsa Família presented a better predictive power of food insecurity, covering the curve by 70%, followed by the difference between the income from wages and rent and gas (70%). The proportions of the total income of families spent on rent and gas had low predictive power (67%). Income components, mainly rent and gas spending, showed a better performance in the prediction of food insecurity among beneficiaries of Bolsa Família, and could be a complementary quantitative indicator to the Brazilian Scale of Food Insecurity.
On the Illogic of Coalescence Simulations for Distinguishing the Causes of Conflict among Gene Trees

Mark S. Springer1*and John Gatesy2* 1Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, USA 2Division of Vertebrate Zoology and Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA *Corresponding authors: Mark S. Springer, Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, USA, Tel: 951-827-6458; E-mail: springer@ucr.edu; John Gatesy, John Gatesy, Division of Vertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA, Tel: 212-313-7529; E-mail: jgatesy@amnh.org
Aerodynamic control of a diffusion flame to optimize materials' transition in a rotary cement kiln

The aim of this work is to deepen the understanding of the aerodynamics of a diffusion flame in a rotary cement kiln. The kiln is a rotary with a cylindrical shaped, long and equipped with a burner, and it is the seat of a diffusion flame with an axisymmetric turbulent jet. The kiln has a capacity of 8,000 Nm3 to 13,000 Nm3 of natural gas and primary air at T = 25 °C which interacts with a secondary hot air volume at T = 800 °C. The aerodynamic modelling of the furnace is achieved using the turbulence model RNG k–ε, which is able to handle the turbulence and capture the vortex shedding process. The Ansys/Fluent code, based on the finite volume approach to solve the Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS), was used in this study. The interactions between turbulence and diffusion flame were handled by the PDF (Probability Density Function) approach. The numerical simulations have been validated by experiments from the kiln considered. Based on the findings obtained, it is concluded that the recirculation zone seems of paramount importance when combustion is taken into account because the reverse flow improves the flame stability and affects the combustion efficiency. In addition, limiting the secondary air flow through the furnace is major to improve combustion and avoid disturbing the advancement of the material along the kiln.