Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
University of Birmingham A mycobacterial DivIVA domain-containing protein involved in cell length and septation

Mycobacterial cells elongate via polar deposition of cell wall material, similar to the filamentous Streptomyces species, which contain a tip- organizing centre. Coiled- coiled proteins such as DivIVA play an important role in this process. The genome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis , the causative agent of tuberculosis, encodes many coiled- coil proteins that are homologous to DivIVA with a potential role in mycobacterial cell elongation. Here we describe studies on Mycobacterium smegmatis MSMEG_2416 , a homologue of M. tuberculosis Rv2927c . Two previous independent studies showed that MSMEG_2416 was involved in septation (subsequently referred to as sepIVA ). Contrary to these previous reports, we found sepIVA to be dispensable for growth in laboratory media by generating a viable null mutant. The mutant strain did, however, show a number of differences, including a change in colony morphology and biofilm formation that could be reversed on complementation with sepIVA as well as Rv2927c , the sepIVA homologue from M. tuberculosis . However, analysis of cell wall lipids did not reveal any alterations in lipid profiles of the mutant strain. Microscopic examination of the mutant revealed longer cells with more septa, which occurred at irregular intervals, often generating mini- compartments, a profile similar to that observed in the previous studies following conditional depletion, highlighting a role for sepIVA in mycobacterial growth.
Social networks, attachment and integration: understanding the church attendance of Romanian migrants

ABSTRACT Why do some migrants attend church more than others? This article uses an original survey conducted on first-generation Romanian migrants to identify the determinants of such a behaviour. Our study tests the explanatory power of three categories of determinants: migrants’ social network, their ties with the home country and the integration in the host society. The analysis uses individual-level data from a survey conducted on 1.839 Romanian migrants. We find that the contact with many migrants and high attachment to the home country lead to more frequent church attendance. At the same time, the presence in an organisation and the integration difficulties encountered in the host society steer migrants away from church. These results contribute to a better understanding of the diaspora dynamic in terms of religious behaviour and provide an assessment of how specific cultural manifestations are shaped.
The GPS Radio Occultation Concept: Theoretical Performance and Initial Results

Implementation of the Global Positioning System (GPS) network of satellites and small, high performance instrumentation to receive GPS signals have created an opportunity for low cost, active remote sounding of Earth's atmosphere by radio occultation. The first goal of the present research is to estimate the spatial coverage, resolution and accuracy expected for atmospheric profiles derived from GPS occultations. Typically, vertical resolution ranges from 0.5 km in the lower troposphere to 1.4 km in the middle atmosphere. Useful profiles of refractivity should be derivable from ~60 km altitude to the surface with the exception of regions less than 250 m in vertical extent associated with high vertical humidity gradients. Above the 250 K altitude level in the troposphere, where the effects of water are negligible, sub-Kelvin temperature accuracy is predicted up to ~40 km depending on the phase of the solar cycle. Predicted accuracy of geopotential heights of constant pressure levels is ~10 m or better between 10 and 20 km altitudes. Deep in the warm troposphere the contribution of water to refractivity becomes sufficiently large for the accurate retrieval of water vapor given independent temperatures from weather analyses. We discuss several applications of the unique qualities of the technique including numerical weather prediction and long term monitoring of Earth's climate. The second goal is to demonstrate some features using data from the prototype GPS-MET occultation investigation. We demonstrate ~1 km vertical resolution and temperature consistency with global weather analyses generally at the 0.5 to 1 K level. We discuss some initial observations of equatorial waves in the lower stratosphere and possible implications for exchange between the troposphere and stratosphere. During the June-July 1995 period, occultations typically extend to within 1 to 3 km of the surface and are used to derive a brief climatology of water vapor in latitude versus height, the first truly global view of water vapor at ~1 km vertical resolution. A low latitude bias structure in the weather analyses is revealed centered near 2 km altitude where analysis humidities are larger than those derived from the occultations in the subtropics but smaller in the tropics apparently associated with a systematic error in the boundary layer height in the analyses.
Lower extremity function during gait in participants with first time acute lateral ankle sprain compared to controls

51 Background : Laboratory analyses of chronic ankle instability populations during gait have 52 elucidated a number of anomalous movement patterns. However, no current research exists 53 analysing these movement patterns in a group in the acute phase of lateral ankle sprain injury. 54 It is possible that participants in the acute phase of lateral ankle sprain injury may display 55 movement patterns continuous with their chronically impaired counterparts. 56 Methods : Sixty eight participants with acute first-time lateral ankle sprain injury and 57 nineteen non-injured participants completed gait trials at a self-selected walking velocity. 3D 58 lower extremity temporal kinematic (angular displacement) and kinetic (moment of force) 59 data were collected from 200ms pre-to 200ms post-heel strike (period 1) and from 200ms 60 pre-to 200ms post-toe off (period 2). 61 Findings : During period 1, the lateral ankle sprain group displayed increased knee flexion 62 with increased net extensor pattern at the knee joint, increased ankle inversion and reduced 63 ankle plantar flexion, with a greater inversion moment, compared to the non-injured control 64 group. 65 During period 2, the lateral ankle sprain group displayed decreased hip extension with a
University of Birmingham Linking crimes using behavioural clues: Current levels of linking accuracy and strategies for moving forward

The number of published studies examining crime linkage analysis has grown rapidly over the last decade, to the point where a special issue of this journal has recently been dedicated to the topic. Many of these studies have used a particular measure (the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, or the AUC) to quantify the degree to which it is possible to link crimes. This article reviews studies that have utilized the AUC and examines how good we are currently at linking crimes (within the context of these research studies) and what factors impact linking accuracy. The results of the review suggest that, in the majority of cases, moderate levels of linking accuracy are achieved. Of the various factors that have been examined that might impact linking accuracy the three factors that appear to have the most significant impact are crime type, behavioural domain, and jurisdiction. We discuss how generalizable these results are to naturalistic investigative settings. We also highlight some of the important limitations of the linking studies that we reviewed and offer up some strategies for moving this area of research forward.
Identification and overcommitment in the hospital context: a comparative study in a Spanish sample of health professionals

: The purpose of this study was to check whether the overcommitment, included in the Theoretical Model of Effort-Reward Imbalance (ERI), moderated the relationship between the ERI and the organizational identification in a sample of Spanish health professionals. Furthermore, we also wanted to check if this effect varied depending on the professional category (doctors vs. nurses) and age. A sample of 623 subjects participated in the study, 164 were doctors and 459 were nursing professionals. Both samples answered a set of questions related to the imbalance between effort and received rewards (ERI), the overcommitment (intrinsic component of the ERI model)
University of Birmingham Does Size Matter in Predicting Hedge Funds’ Liquidation?

In this study, we propose a set of covariates that exploit information content of hedge funds’ relative size, performance, growth, tail risk, and past liquidation rate, in predicting their liquidation. Empirical results show that our proposed covariates exhibit significant predictive power for up to two years even when we control for fund specific characteristics. Furthermore, we estimate separate liquidation prediction models for small, medium, and large funds. Our findings suggest that liquidation likelihood of hedge funds is inversely related to fund size, and statistical significance of factors affecting their liquidation vary across different size categories.
Estimation of Permeability from Borehole Array Induction Measurements: Application to the Petrophysical Appraisal of Tight Gas Sands

This paper describes the successful application of a new petrophysical inversion method to estimate permeability from borehole array induction measurements. We consider measurements acquired in a North Louisiana tight gas sand formation subject to water-base mud-filtrate invasion. The inversion methodology incorporates the physics of two-phase immiscible displacement and salt mixing between the invading water-base mud filtrate and connate water. Moreover, the invasion model honors the physics of mudcake growth as well as the petrophysical properties that govern the process of two-phase three-component flow. The outcome of the inversion is the absolute permeability for each flow subunit within a gas-bearing production zone. Rock formations under consideration consist of low-permeability amalgamated sands. Array induction measurements exhibit significant vertical fluctuations within an individual fluid production unit. In view of this, the estimation of permeability is designed to consider the effect of the number of layers and of their thickness when describing a fluid production unit. We show how the progressive addition of flow subunits improves the match of array induction measurements within the limits of vertical resolution. Accurate reconstructions of layer-by-layer permeability are primarily constrained by the availability of a-priori information about time of invasion, rate of mud-filtrate invasion, overbalance pressure, capillary pressure, and relative permeability. Sensitivity analyses show that the estimated values of permeability properly reproduce the measured array induction logs even in the presence of small changes of relative permeability, capillary pressure, porosity, and Archie's parameters. The estimated values of permeability agree well with those of core measurements acquired from other wells in the same gas-bearing formation.
Western Pacific Interannual Variability Associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation

Observations of sea surface temperature (SST), sea level pressure (SLP), surface wind, and outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) show that the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) displays western Pacific anomaly patterns in addition to eastern Pacific anomaly patterns. During the warm phase of ENSO, warm SST and low SLP anomalies in the equatorial eastern Pacific and low OLR anomalies in the equatorial central Pacific are accompanied by cold SST and high SLP anomalies in the off-equatorial western Pacific and high OLR anomalies in the off-equatorial far western Pacific. Also, while the zonal wind anomalies over the equatorial central Pacific are westerly, those over the equatorial far western Pacific are easterly. The nearly out-of-phase behavior between the eastern and western tropical Pacific is also observed during the cold phase of ENSO, but with anomalies of opposite sign. These western Pacific interannual anomaly patterns are robust features of ENSO, independent of data sets. It is argued that equatorial easterly (westerly) wind anomalies over the far western Pacific during the warm (cold) phase of ENSO are initiated by off-equatorial western Pacific cold (warm) SST anomalies, and that these winds are important for the evolution of ENSO. An atmosphere model is employed to demonstrate that small off-equatorial western Pacific cold (warm) SST anomalies (compared to those in the east) are sufficient to produce equatorial easterly (westerly) wind anomalies as observed over the far western Pacific. The coupled ocean-atmosphere model of Zebiak and Cane is then modified to investigate the evolution of the western Pacific interannual anomaly patterns in a coupled ocean-atmosphere system, by including a meridional structure to the subsurface temperature parameterization in the western Pacific. The modified model produces both western and eastern Pacific interannual anomaly patterns.
Évaluation de la microarchitecture trabéculaire et des propriétés mécaniques osseuses in vivo chez l’humain par scanner périphérique a haute résolution : application clinique à l’ostéoporose

La microarchitecture osseuse est un des determinants de la qualite osseuse qui peut maintenant etre evaluee in vivo au radius et au tibia distaux avec une resolution isotropique de 82μm par un nouveau scanner a haute resolution (XtremeCT, SCANCO Medical AG). Par ailleurs, l’utilisation d’analyse en elements finis sur les volumes 3D obtenus permet d’evaluer les proprietes biomecaniques de l’os comme la resistance osseuse. Nous avons montre qu’il s’agissait d’une technique prometteuse pour evaluer la densite, la microarchitecture et les proprietes biomecaniques osseuses au niveau des sites peripheriques, notamment parce que ces mesures etaient associees chez la femme avec des fractures osteoporotiques de toutes sortes. Nous avons egalement montre que les memes mesures etaient tout aussi pertinentes chez l’homme, alors qu’il est moins sujet a l’osteoporose. Les resultats etaient associes aux fractures osteoporotiques de toutes sortes, notamment les fractures vertebrales. L’analyse en elements finis permet donc la mesure in vivo de la resistance osseuse, ce qui pourrait fournir des informations sur la fragilite osseuse et le risque de fracture non accessible par les seules mesures de densite ou de microarchitecture osseuse.
Migration et hivernage de l'oie cendrée (Anser anser) en France. Rôle et importance du Centre-Ouest

Synthese des donnees recueillies de 1979 a 1989 sur le statut de l'oie cendree en France. Trois points sont abordes de maniere detaillee : modalites et phenologie de la migration; localisation, importance et evolution de l'hivernage au cours des 10 dernieres annees dans 3 departements de la facade Atlantique ; origine des oies cendrees migrant et hivernant en France
Volume: An Experimental Study in Canines C-Arm CT Measurement of Cerebral Blood

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Cerebral blood volume (CBV) is an important parameter in estimating the viability of brain tissue following an ischemic event. We tested the hypothesis that C-arm CT measurements of CBV would correlate well with those made with perfusion CT (PCT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: CBV was measured in 12 canines by using PCT and C-arm CT. Two measurements with each technique were made on each animal; a different injection protocol was used for each of these techniques. PCT was performed by using a 64-section V-scanner. C-arm CT was performed by using a biplane Artis dBA system. PCT images were transferred to a commercially available workstation for postprocessing and analysis; C-arm CT images were transferred to a commercially available workstation for postprocessing and analysis by using prototype software. From each animal, 2 sections from each technique were selected for analysis. RESULTS: There was good agreement of both the color maps and absolute numbers between the 2 techniques. The maximum and mean deviations of values between the 2 techniques for the first 5 animals were 30.20% and 7.82%; for the second 7 animals, these values were 26.79% and 7.40%. The maximum and mean deviations between the 2 C-arm CT studies performed on the first 5 animals were 33.15% and 12.24%; for the second 7 animals, these values were 41.15% and 10.89%. CONCLUSIONS: In these healthy animals, measurement of CBV with C-arm CT compared well with measurements made with PCT.
Street Entrepreneurs : People, Place, & Politics in Local and Global Perspective

1 Introduction: Locating Street Markets in the Modern/Postmodern World Part 1: Appropriating Space - Political and Social Regulation of Street Markets 2. Capitalism, Modernity and the 'Appropriate' Use of Space 3. Redefining Rules: A Market for Public Space in Caracas, Venezuela 4. Legal Responses to Sidewalk Vending: The Case of Los Angeles, California 5. Street Vendors at the Border: From Political Spectacle to Bureaucratic Iron Cage? 6. Street Vending in Urban India: The Struggle for Recognition 7. The Conflict between Street Vendors and Local Authorities: The Case of Market Traders in Ankara, Turkey 8. Pirates on the High Streets: The Street as a Site of Local Resistance to Globalization Part 2: Making the Sale: Strategies, Survival and Embeddedness 9. Trust in Markets: Economies of Regard and Spaces of Contestation in Alternative Food Networks 10. Institutional Perspectives on Understanding Street Vendor Behaviour and Networks: Cases from Ghana 11. Embeddedness and Business Strategies among Santiago Chile's Street and Flea Market Vendors 12. Spaces of Conflict and Camaraderie: The Contradictory Logics of a Postsocialist Flea Market 13. Adaptability and Survival: A Case Study of Street Vendor Responses to Famine Conditions in Ethiopia, 1999 14. The Dynamics of New Zealand's Largest Street Market: The Otara Flea Market 15. Conclusion: Law, Deviance and Defining Vendors and Vending
A novel cryoballoon ablation system for eradication of dysplastic Barrett's esophagus

Background Endoscopic cryoablation for Barrett ’ s esophagus (BE) might offer advantages over heat-based ablation. Focal cryoballoon ablation has been promising for short-segment BE, whereas the novel 90°-swipe cryoballoon ablation system (CbSAS 90 ) ablates larger areas in a single step (90° over 3cm). The system allows for dose adjustment. CbSAS 90 has been feasible and safe in animal and pre-eso-phagectomy studies. This is the first clinical study to assess feasibility, safety, and efficacy of CbSAS 90 for eradication of dysplastic BE. Methods In this prospective study in dysplastic BE patients, dose finding started with semi-circumferential treat-ment at 0.8mm/s (dose 1). The dose was escalated by reducing speed by 0.1mm/s in six patients until BE surface regression was ≥ 80% without complications ( “ effective dose ” ). The effective dose was subsequently confirmed with circumferential treatment in 12 new patients. Post-procedural pain (0 – 10) and dysphagia (0 – 4) were evaluated. Outcomes were feasibility, safety, and BE surface regression. Results 25 patients were included, with technically successful treatment in 92% (95%CI 73% – 99%). Median (95% CI) BE surface regression was 78% (50% – 85%) for dose 1 and 85% (55% –
Italian position paper (SIPMO-SICMF) on medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ).

OBJECTIVE This paper aims to describe the 2023 update position paper on MRONJ developed by the Italian Societies of Oral Pathology and Medicine (SIPMO) and of Maxillofacial Surgery (SICMF). METHODS This is the second update following the 2013 and 2020 Italian position papers by the Expert panel, which is a representation of the two scientific societies (SIPMO and SICMF). The paper is based on an extensive analysis of the available literature from January 2003 to February 2020, and the subsequent review of literature conducted between March 2020 and December 2022 to include all new relevant published papers to confirm or modify the previous set of recommendations. RESULTS This position paper highlights the main issues of MRONJ on risk estimates, disease definition, diagnostic pathway, individual risk assessment, and the fundamental role of imaging in the diagnosis, classification, and management of MRONJ. CONCLUSION The Expert Panel confirmed the MRONJ definition, the diagnostic work-up, the clinical-radiological staging system and the prophylactic drug holiday, as recognized by SIPMO-SICMF; while, it presented novel indications regarding the categories at risk of MRONJ, the prevention strategies, and the treatment strategies associated with the therapeutic drug holiday.
The Roles of Information Communication Technologies in Education

A BSTRACT This paper discusses the Roles of ICT in education. Information Communication Technologies (ICT) at present are influencing every aspect of human life. They are playing salient roles in work places, business, education, and entertainment. Moreover, many people recognize ICTs as catalysts for change; change in working conditions, handling and exchanging information, teaching methods, learning approaches, scientific research, and in accessing information. This paper focuses on the roles of ICTs, the promises, limitations and key challenges of integration to education systems. This paper attempts in answering the following questions: (1) What are the benefits of ICTs in education? (2) What are the existing promises of ICT use in education systems of some developing countries? (3) What are the limitations and key challenges of ICTs integration to education systems? The paper concludes that regardless of all the limitations characterizing it, ICT benefits education systems to provide quality education in alignment with constructivism, which is a contemporary paradigm of learning .