Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Biotyping of Multidrug Resistant Campylobacter jejuni from Poultry and Humans in Northern Region of Ghana

BackgroundThermophilic Campylobacters are zoonotic bacteria which are universally famous for causing enteritis in humans. They are normally found as commensals in the digestive tract of food animals with poultry being a major reservoir of the pathogenic species. This study evaluated the presence of Campylobacter in poultry (commercial and domestic) and humans (patients and asymptomatic individuals) and characterized strains by biotyping and susceptibility test in the Northern region of Ghana. ResultsOf the 346 poultry and 741 human samples analyzed, 43.1% and 12.9% Campylobacter species were recovered. Isolation frequency from commercial birds was significantly more (50.5%) than domestic birds (33.8%), as incidence in patients and asymptomatic individuals was 15.4% and 9% with a p=0.001. Campylobacter jejuni were recovered from more than eighty percent (84%) of commercial birds and 64% of domestic birds and in humans significantly less strains were observed in patients than asymptomatic individuals (p <0.05). Distribution of biotypes in domestic birds, patients and asymptomatic individuals were comparable with C. jejuni biotype I prevalence and Bioytype II largely in commercial poultry. All strains were resistant to tetracycline; and against erythromycin, 69.3% of jejuni strains were resistant but no resistance was recorded among the non-jejuni strains. Most resistance was noted among patient strains. Imipenem and the aminoglycosides were relatively effective as resistance of 10% and below 20% were obtained. Multidrug resistance was between 94-100% with 60% of strains being resistant to 4 or 5 classes of antibiotics. ConclusionThis study found phenotypic correlation between poultry and human strains coupled with copious isolation of C. jejuni biotypes I and II from commercial and domestic poultry which may well be possible source of threat to public health. None of the endorsed treatment drugs (erythromycin, ciprofloxacin, and tetracycline) can be admitted in this region due to common resistance found among strains against these agents but imipenem and aminoglycosides proved to be reliable as strains showed ample susceptibility. The multiple drug resistance (94-100%) observed in our study and other related investigations in the country call for rapid implementation of the policy on antimicrobial use and resistance which has been launched in Ghana.
Mixing and Transformation in a Deep Western Boundary Current: A Case Study

Water-mass transformation by turbulent mixing is a key part of the deep-ocean overturning, as it drives the upwelling of dense waters formed at high latitudes. Here, we quantify this transformation and its underpinning processes in a small Southern Ocean basin: the Orkney Deep. Observations reveal a focusing of the transport in density space as a deep western boundary current (DWBC) flows through the region, associated with lightening and densification of the current’s denser and lighter layers, respectively. These transformations are driven by vigorous turbulent mixing. Comparing this transformation with measurements of the rate of turbulent kinetic energy dissipation indicates that, within the DWBC, turbulence operates with a high mixing efficiency, characterized by a dissipation ratio of 0.6 to 1 that exceeds the common value of 0.2. This result is corroborated by estimates of the dissipation ratio from microstructure observations. The causes of the transformation are unraveled through a decomposition into contributions dependent on the gradients in density space of the: dianeutral mixing rate, isoneutral area, and stratification. The transformation is found to be primarily driven by strong turbulence acting on an abrupt transition from the weakly stratified bottom boundary layer to well-stratified off-boundary waters. The reduced boundary layer stratification is generated by a downslope Ekman flow associated with the DWBC’s flow along sloping topography, and is further regulated by submesoscale instabilities acting to restratify near-boundary waters. Our results provide observational evidence endorsing the importance of near-boundary mixing processes to deep-ocean overturning, and highlight the role of DWBCs as hot spots of dianeutral upwelling.
Financial benefits of using soil test kit of PUTS for determining dosage of lowland rice fertilizer

Determination of a balanced fertilizer dosage on lowland rice can be done as quickly as possible using a paddy soil test kit (PUTS) which has been developed by Indonesian Soil Research Institute (ISRI), Agency for Agricultural Research and Development. This study aims to convince farmers on the financial benefits of using PUTS in determining balanced fertilizer dosage for lowland rice. The study was conducted in dry season 2018 in technical irrigation paddy fields in collaboration with farmers’ group members of Cibentar and Mulya Sanepa, Buahdua Sub-district, Sumedang Regency, West Java. The results showed that fertilizer dosage applied by farmers was higher than PUTS dosage, especially for NPK Phonska 15:15:15 fertilizer. On the other hand, the productivity of Inpari 33 rice with PUTS fertilizer dosage was higher than the farmers’dosage. Additional net benefits of using PUTS to determine fertilizer dosage of lowland rice was IDR 4,028,888 ha−1 in Mulya Sanepa and IDR 2,160,506 ha−1 in Cibentar farmers’ group, respectively. Similar study still needs to be conducted on various paddy field ecosystems to further convince farmers. However, it is recommended that the use of PUTS needs to be more promoted nationally to increase fertilizer use efficiency, rice productivity and farmer’s income.
Efficacy of newly discovered DNA aptamers targeting AXL in a lung cancer cell with acquired resistance to Erlotinib

Background Accumulating evidences indicate that AXL overexpression or activation is associated with cancer progression and acquired resistance to targeted anti-cancer drugs such as epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs). Despite recent development of several drugs that target multiple receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), drugs that selectively target AXL signaling are extremely rare. Short nucleic acid aptamers are non-immunogenic molecules with high binding affinity and specificity to their target molecules that could potentially be used as a novel cancer treatment. Methods Modified-DNA aptamers were selected on the basis of its ability to bind recombinant human AXL. AXL aptamers were selected for their inhibition of AXL and then selected aptamers were tested for their use to overcome acquired resistant to EGFR-TKI on a lung cancer cell with acquired resistance to erlotinib. Results These new AXL aptamers inhibited cell viability to an extent of 30–40% in HCC827/ER cells with acquired resistance to erlotinib. The possible mechanism of overcoming the acquired resistance may be by inhibiting the activation of Akt and Erk. Although, aptamers effectively decreased cell viability of erlotinib‐resistant cell line, the combination of aptamers and erlotinib did not synergistically decrease the survival of the resistant cell line. Conclusions We developed newly modified DNA aptamers that selectively bind to AXL receptors, and assessed their efficacy in a human lung cancer cell with acquired resistance to EGFR-TKI.
An analysis of the extent and use of fair value by JSE Top 40 companies

Fair value’s advantages, disadvantages and ideology have been debated thoroughly by academics and practitioners for decades. The few implementation papers which do exist are primarily concerned with developed economies. This gap is despite the prior literature acknowledging the likely difficulties of fair value use by less developed markets and economies. This paper contributes to addressing this gap by providing an analysis of the extent and use of fair value by Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) Top 40 companies for the period 2013–2017. This paper finds limited use of fair value by JSE Top 40 companies. On average, only 184 assets and liabilities make use of fair value each year and this has not changed significantly over time. Most fair value use is by the financial services industry (41%) and for financial instruments (80%). Critically, only 28% of all financial elements made use of Level 1 inputs, and only 15% were classified overall as Level 1 inputs. The findings suggest Level 1 inputs are not widely available for financial elements and are rarely available for non-financial assets. When fair values are used for non-financial assets, this is mainly for investment property, commodity-inventories and impairment tests. Because of the reliance on Level 2 and 3 inputs, the results suggest fair value is a costly measurement basis to implement in South Africa and frequently requires management judgement. The consequence is that many fair values are susceptible to bias and manipulation.
Mandatory IFRS Adoption and Real/Accruals Bases Earnings Management in the UK

Here, the link between the mandatory adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and Real Earnings Management (REM), as well as Accrual Earnings Management (AEM), will be examined for non-financial listed firms in the London Stock Exchange. Robust regression analysis of the mandatory IFRS adoption will be conducted on the panel data, as well as earnings management using three AEM models and three REM models. Mixed results with respect to the qualities of AEM and REM were notably garnered, with mandatory IFRS adoption positively relating to the Roychowdhury of abnormal cash flow and the Roychowdhury of abnormal production. Meanwhile, the Roychowdhury of abnormal discretionary expenses, standard Jones, and Kothari negatively related to mandatory IFRS adoption, whilst modified Jones showed an insignificant relation to mandatory IFRS adoption. Changes in IFRS adoption and guidelines for UK firms may have an impact on AEM and REM, and, as predicted, mandatory IFRS adoption mostly affects the Kothari model followed by the standard Jones model as proxies for accounting earnings quality.
Participation of Civil Society in EU Trade Policy Making: How Inclusive is Inclusion?

ABSTRACT In response to growing contestation and politicisation of trade policy, policy makers have aimed to enhance the ‘inclusiveness’ of trade policy through the institutionalisation of deliberative forums in which civil society organisations participate. However, it is not clear whether these processes actually enhance inclusiveness. This article adds to our understanding of this question by, first, developing an analytical framework (the ‘inclusiveness ladder’) and, second, applying it to the civil society mechanisms (CSMs) of European Union (EU) free trade agreements. The unique feature of CSMs is their focus on ensuring that the actual implementation of trade agreement does not run counter to sustainable development principles. Specifically, our empirical research involves a mixed methods analysis of primary and secondary sources and a survey of civil society participants. We find that CS is largely included at the level of logistics and partly at the level of information sharing, whereas monitoring capacities remain limited and impact on policy-making is quasi-absent. Moreover, results suggest differences between business participants, who seem largely satisfied with the lower steps on the ‘ladder’, and non-governmental actors who insist on policy impact. Finally, we outline avenues for further research and reflect on policy implications.
Traffic dynamics of uni- and bidirectional pedestrian flows including dyad social groups in a ring-shaped corridor

In this paper, we introduce dyad social groups into the experiment to mimic uni- and bidirectional pedestrian flows that are closer to real life. According to the experimental videos, different strategies of collision avoidance for dyads are observed and classified. Moreover, we observe an interesting lane-merging phenomenon in bidirectional scenarios. Fundamental diagrams are calculated based on two measurement methods, and further compared with previous individual experiments (without dyads), confirming the negative impact of social groups due to their inherent cohesion during the movement process. Then, group characteristics such as group distance and spatial alignment are analyzed under the influence of different global densities. It is interesting to note that the effect of density on spatial alignment distribution is opposite in uni- and bidirectional scenarios, i.e. the increasing density will make the distribution less scattered in the unidirectional flow, which is contrary to the phenomenon in the bidirectional flow. Finally, based on the time evolution of congestion level and crowd danger, they can be good indicators of transitions from disorder to order, especially in bidirectional scenarios. Furthermore, the differences between uni- and bidirectional flows can be well distinguished through the relations between density and congestion level, as well as crowd danger.
True Motives: Prosocial and Instrumental Justifications for Behavioral Change in Organizations

When organizations want their employees to adopt behaviors that advance prosocial and instrumental aims, which motive should they express? A groundswell of recent work suggests that highlighting prosocial actions inspires and motivates employees. Building on this work, we embed a field experiment in the context of an organizational change initiative (Study 1). A large university sought to change the behavior of administrative employees who purchase office supplies, encouraging them to place orders of at least $50, referred to as “bundling. ” We exploit the fact that the organization could justify the same behavior in contrasting ways. We randomly assign employees to view either a prosocial (“limiting pollution”), instrumental (“limiting costs”), or mixed motive (“limiting pollution and limiting costs”) for caring about bundling each time they access the organization’s procurement system. We then evaluate changes in employees’ behavior by comparing a six-month baseline to a six-month experimental period, covering 10,169 purchases in 556 offices. Contrary to expectations from related research, the instrumental motive was most effective for changing behavior, leading to significantly more bundling than the prosocial motive. Two follow-up vignette experiments probe theoretical mechanisms. They indicate that an instrumental motive seems more genuine (i.e., reflecting the organization’s true motive) than a prosocial motive (Study 2) and that seeming genuine increases individuals’ intention to bundle (Study 3). This research reveals that prosocial justifications can be less effective than instrumental ones and suggests that perceptions of genuineness may shape the effectiveness of behavioral change efforts in organizations. This paper was accepted by Yuval Rottenstreich, decision analysis.
Composition‐dependent underwater adhesion of catechol‐bearing hydrogels

Interfacial adhesion-mediated transfer printing processes can integrate functional electronic microstructures with polymeric substrates that are bendable and stretchable. Transfer printing has also been extended to catechol-bearing adhesive hydrogels. This study presents indentation adhesion tests between catechol-bearing hydrogel substrates with catechol concentrations varying from 0 to 10% (mol/mol) and thin-film materials commonly used in microelectronic fabrication including polymers, noble metals and oxides. The results indicate that the interfacial adhesion of catechol-bearing hydrogels is positively correlated with the concentration of catechol-bearing monomers as well as the retraction velocity during transfer printing. This study can inform transfer printing processes for microfabricated structures to compliant hydrated substrates such as hygroscopic monomers, mesoporous polymer networks and hydrogels. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry
A survey of recommendation systems based on deep learning

Faced with massive amounts of data, people may not be able to choose the items they like. The recommendation system came into being, and it has achieved a breakthrough for a long time. Using deep learning can mine the hidden attributes of users' items and integrate them well, bringing new changes to the recommendation system. This article describes the deep learning-based recommendation system and the traditional recommendation system, and analyzes their advantages and disadvantages.
Mathematical reasoning structure of junior high school students in solving problems based on their working memory capacity

Mathematical reasoning has a clear structure. In mathematical reasoning structure, working memory capacity is considered as something important. This study aimed at knowing the mathematical reasoning structure of junior high school students in solving problems reviewed based on working memory capacity. This research was a qualitative research. This study was carried out in state Junior High School in Makale. The selection of research subjects was done by providing tests to measure students’ working memory capacity. The test used was O-SPAN Test and the researcher chose 1 student with high category working memory capacity and 1 student with low category working memory capacity. Then the researcher gave a test to investigate the reasoning structure. Mathematical reasoning structure of research participant with low working memory capacity showed the stage of problematic situation, strategy choice, conclusion could be done. However, for the stage of strategy is implemented, subject implemented the strategy in one way and could not find a maximum result. Subject with low working memory capacity could provide conclusions but could not give verification arguments showing the strategy used was correct or reasonable and could solve the problem. Mathematical reasoning structure of research subject with high working memory capacity fulfilled the four mathematical reasoning structures namely problematic situation, strategy choice, implemented strategy, and conclusion.
Local wisdom in Lombok island with the potential of ethnoscience for the development of learning models in junior high school

This study aims to describe local wisdom on the island of Lombok that has the potential for ethnoscience to develop a learning model at Junior High School. This research uses a qualitative approach. The data collection method is done by using observation, interview, documentation, and literature study. The results showed that local wisdom on the island of Lombok that has the potential for ethnoscience is Sasak Sade Village, Bau Nyale Tradition, Sesek Weaving, Gendang Beleq, and Poteng Reket. Sasak Sade Village has a traditional house using certain sizes, namely length (Sedepa), width (Sesata), and height (Sprunjung). The Bau Nyale tradition is the hunting tradition of Nyale (sea worms). Sesek Weaving has various motifs and philosophies, various preparation processes, weaving and finishing processes to traditional waste utilization. Gendang Beleq is a traditional musical instrument made of animal skin and the two sides are closed, when it is hit the sound will bounce off the other side and go through a damping process so the resulting sound will sound smoother. Poteng Reket is a conventional biotechnology product. This local wisdom that has the potential for ethnoscience can be utilized in the development of learning models, especially in science subjects at Junior High School.
TISSUE EXPRESSION OF INTERLEUKIN-17 SIGNIFICANTLY AND INDEPENDENTLY AFFECTS PRURITUS IN PSORIATIC PATIENTS: A CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL CORRELATION

Objective: This study aimed at the evaluation of pruritus and its intensity and aggravating factors in psoriatic patients with the assessment of its relation to interleukin-17 (IL-17) expression in psoriatic lesions. Methods: The study included 50 patients with psoriasis vulgaris. A questionnaire was used for the evaluation of pruritus and its effect on the quality of life. Severity of pruritus was assessed by the visual analog scale (VAS) while clinical severity of psoriasis was assessed using psoriasis area severity index (PASI) score. Tissue immunohistochemical expression of IL-17 was assessed in psoriatic lesions and in 20 normal skin biopsies included as control. Results: Pruritus was encountered in 92% of psoriatic patients studied, 45.5% of them considered emotional stress as the main pruritus aggravating factor. Pruritus had influenced the daily activity and sleep in 91.3% of the studied patients. Mean VAS in studied cases was 5.70 ± 2.76. VAS grades were significantly associated with PASI scores and IL-17 tissue expression on univariate analysis. On multilogistic regression analysis, both IL-17 and PASI scores emerged as independent influencers of pruritus. Conclusion: Pruritus is a common symptom that affects the quality of life in psoriatic patients. IL-17 is an independent aggravating factor of pruritus in those patients. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study evaluating the tissue expression of IL-17 in relation to pruritus. Pruritus treatment should be one of our goals while managing the psoriatic patients and anti-IL-17 may play a pivotal role in this field.
Estimating Per Capita Land Use/Land Cover Change (LULCC) in Makurdi, Northcentral Nigeria

The study estimated annual and temporal variation in per capita L and U se/ L and C over C hange (LULCC) in Makurdi, Northcentral Nigeria. A total of four Landsat TM/ETM+ images were acquired in April of 1991, 1996, 2001 and 2006 for the study. A total of five LULC types namely water, forest, undergrowth/wetland, cultivated land and built-up land were derived from the Landsat images using supervised classification method. The per capita LULCC was derived by dividing the areas of LULC types by the actual population data. The result showed that built-up land recorded the highest long-term gain in area by 179km 2 (130%), with an increment of 8.7% per anum, and undergrowth/wetland lost 119km 2 (32%) in area with a decrease of 2.1% per annum from 1991 to 2006. The per capita LULCC of built-up land has increased from 575m 2 /person (1991) to 1059m 2 /person (2006), representing an increment of 481m 2 /person (83%). The undergrowth/wetland recorded the highest decrease in per capita LULCC from 1542m 2 /person (1991) to 836m 2 /person (2006), representing a decline by 706m 2 /person (46%). The study concludes that undergrowth/wetland is the most vulnerable LULC type due to urbanisation, and sustainable urban planning should be practised to conserve the natural cover materials in the study area.
Aplication of in Vivo Confocal Microscopy in Ophtalmology—Overview

Confocal microscopy is a method which has been increasingly used over the last decade in the study of the anterior ocular surface. The method allows testing and in vivo high resolution imaging of the structures of the anterior eye segment, at a cellular level, which is close to the histological examination of tissues. The data provided by this method allow for a better understanding of both the functional and pathological processes occurring in the anterior ocular surface not only for scientific purposes but also in clinical practice. The aim of the present work is to summarize the current knowledge and applications of confocal microscopy of the anterior ocular surface.