Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genotypic heterogeneity of emetic toxin producing Bacillus cereus isolates from China

&NA; Emetic toxin‐producing Bacillus cereus (emetic B. cereus) is the third member of B. cereus group whose toxins are encoded by megaplasmids, beside anthrax and insecticidal toxins of B. anthracis and B. thuringiensis, respectively. A total of 18 emetic isolates collected from food poisoning events, clinical and non‐random food samples in Zhejiang province of China, were analyzed by plasmid screening, pulse field gel electrophoresis, multilocus sequence typing, and toxic gene identification to investigate their genotypic diversity. In this study, 13 plasmid profile types, 14 pulse types and 6 different STs from emetic isolates were detected, in which ST 1035,1038,1053,1054 and 1065 were first assigned and reported. The toxic gene ces existed on its own, or coexisted with other toxic genes bceT, cytk, entFM and nhe, but never with hbl in emetic isolates. The results demonstrated that the emetic B. cereus strains from China were heterologous at genotypic level.
Commentary: Pedagogical Implications of Experimental SNS Research.

This special issue of the Heritage Language Journal, guest edited by Silvina Montrul, unites four papers on different aspects of heritage Spanish speakers’ linguistic abilities. In this commentary, we reexamine these important contributions with an eye toward implications for instruction and toward general trends for the field. In particular, we discuss the contributions of Montrul and Perpiñán and of Bowles as they relate to classroom instruction of heritage speakers, and those of Bolger and Zapata in terms of current and future trends in the field. 1 In the discussion that follows, we abbreviate heritage speaker as HS and second language learner as L2 learner.
Cloud Service Delivery across Multiple Cloud Platforms

The paper presents work-in-progress on the cloud service provisioning across multiple cloud providers. The work assumes the emergence of Cloud Brokers between customers and cloud providers. The brokers split user requests and ensure provisioning from multiple providers. An exact splitting algorithm is developed to efficiently split the cloud requests among the multiple cloud platforms with the aim of decreasing the cost for customers. This splitting is formulated as a Mixed Integer Program and this is combined with Open Flow and NOX technologies that achieve flow based inter-cloud networking. A new controller module is developed and integrated in NOX to configure the Open Flow switches for inter-cloud path establishments.
Whole-body cooperative balanced motion generation for reaching

This paper addresses a constructing method of a system that realizes whole body reaching motion of humanoids. Humanoids have many redundant DOFs for reaching, and even the base can be moved by making the robot step. Therefore there are infinite postures as solutions of final reaching posture, and there are also infinite solutions for reaching trajectory that realizes a final reaching posture. It is, however, difficult to find an appropriate solution because of the constraint of dynamical balance, relatively narrow movabIe range for each angle. We prepared basic postures heuristically, and a final reaching posture is generated by modifying one of them. This method enables to implement heuristics easily, such as, kneeling down is suitable for reaching near the ground. Methods that compose the reaching system, such as, basic posture selection, modification of posture for generating final reaching posture, balance compensation, footstep planning to realize desired feet position, and generation and execution of whole body motion to final reaching posture are described. Reaching to manually set position, and picking up a bat at various posture using visual information are shown as experiments to show the performance of the system.
Performance Metrics Used by Freight Transport Providers

1 Executive Summary 1 Industry Overview 3 Freight Transport Providers Trucking 3 Railroads 4 Maritime 4 Pipelines 5 Aviation 7 Other Modes 10 Summary 10 Freight Performance Measures: Literature Review 11 Industry Performance Measures and Concerns Commercial Trucking and Multimodal 15 Railroads 19 Ports and Ships 21 Pipelines 22 Aviation 24 Other Modes 26 Conclusion 26 References 27 Appendix (Tables A1 and A2) 31 W. Cottrell Cal Poly Pomona Performance Metrics Used by Freight Transport Providers Wayne D. Cottrell, Ph.D., P.E. , Civil Engineering Department California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
The yeast form of the fungus Candida albicans promotes persistence in the gut of gnotobiotic mice

Many microorganisms that cause systemic, life-threatening infections in humans reside as harmless commensals in our digestive tract. Yet little is known about the biology of these microbes in the gut. Here, we visualize the interface between the human commensal and pathogenic fungus Candida albicans and the intestine of mice, a surrogate host. Because the indigenous mouse microbiota restricts C. albicans settlement, we compared the patterns of colonization in the gut of germ free and antibiotic-treated conventionally raised mice. In contrast to the heterogeneous morphologies found in the latter, we establish that in germ free animals the fungus almost uniformly adopts the yeast cell form, a proxy of its commensal state. By screening a collection of C. albicans transcription regulator deletion mutants in gnotobiotic mice, we identify several genes previously unknown to contribute to in vivo fitness. We investigate three of these regulators—ZCF8, ZFU2 and TRY4—and show that indeed they favor the yeast form over other morphologies. Consistent with this finding, we demonstrate that genetically inducing non-yeast cell morphologies is detrimental to the fitness of C. albicans in the gut. Furthermore, the identified regulators promote adherence of the fungus to a surface covered with mucin and to mucus-producing intestinal epithelial cells. In agreement with this result, histology sections indicate that C. albicans dwells in the murine gut in close proximity to the mucus layer. Thus, our findings reveal a set of regulators that endows C. albicans with the ability to endure in the intestine through multiple mechanisms.
Measuring Financial Performance Based on CAMEL Rating Model on Islamic Banks in Jordan.

The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the performance and soundness of three selected Islamic Banks (Jordan Islamic Bank ،International Islamic Arab Bank, Jordan Dubai Islamic Bank) operating in Jordan during the period 2010- 2015. The study applied the CAMEL rating analysis and it is found that all Islamic banks in Jordan have adequate capital; their assets and earning ability are in the rise despite the slowdown of economy and the rising tide of regional instability. Such information is very important for all stakeholders who are concerned about the soundness of the banking sector, as any negative results of the banking sector may have far reaching effects on the economy of the country. Keywords : CAMEL Rating Model, Islamic Banks, Jordan
Keeping Priorities: The Role of Working Memory and Selective Attention in Cognitive Aging

The observation that cognitive functions as diverse as perception, attention, and memory show age-related impairments (see "All in Your Mind") has prompted the suggestion that the effects of cognitive aging can be explained by a general mechanism, such as a reduction in processing speed (1). Recently, however, the realization that few cognitive functions operate in isolation has led to the alternative suggestion that cognitive aging may affect certain cognitive abilities more than others and that age-related changes in a wide range of cognitive domains may be a result of a deterioration in key functions such as working memory and top-down control in selective attention (2-6), functions that recent evidence suggests might be interdependent (7-9). The notion that such deterioration is an important event in cognitive decline is supported by the fact that these functions are associated with similar areas of the frontal cortices of the brain (10), which are especially vulnerable to the effects of aging (4). Results recently published in Nature Neuroscience give new information about why working memory performance might decline during aging (11). Cont. (From introduction).
Quantitative Measurement of Protein Using Metal Mesh Device

Biosensing of protein adsorption with metal mesh device (MMD) was investigated by computational calculations and experiments. Electromagnetic field computation was carried out with a single unit cell of MMD. Equivalent circuit model of MMD on the single unit cell was assumed, and the biosensing with MMD was analyzed in detail by computational calculation and experimental measurements. The dip frequency of MMD was shifted by adsorption of protein on MMD. The shift of dip frequency of MMD was proportional to the amount of protein adsorption. The sensitivity of MMD biosensing was dependent on the microstructure of MMD, and proportional to the square of the dip frequency. The refinement of MMD structure can improve the sensitivity of protein detection.
RANSAC-Based Stereo Image Registration with Geometrically Constrained Hypothesis Generation

An approach for registration of sparse feature sets detected in two stereo image pairs taken from two different views is proposed. Analogously to many existing image registration approaches, our method consists of initial matching of features using local descriptors followed by a RANSAC-based procedure. The proposed approach is especially suitable for cases where there is a high percentage of false initial matches. The strategy proposed in this paper is to modify the hypothesis generation step of the basic RANSAC approach by performing a multiple-step procedure which uses geometric constraints in order to reduce the probability of false correspondences in generated hypotheses. The algorithm needs approximate information about the relative camera pose between the two views. However, the uncertainty of this information is allowed to be rather high. The presented technique is evaluated using both synthetic data and real data obtained by a stereo camera system.
Conventional (MG-BR46 Conquista) and Transgenic (BRS Valiosa RR) Soybeans Have No Mutagenic Effects and May Protect Against Induced-DNA Damage In Vivo

In the present study, we evaluated the pesticide and metal concentrations as well as the antimutagenic and mutagenic properties of commercial soybeans (Glycine max). Male Swiss mice were fed diets containing 1%, 10%, or 20% (w/w) transgenic soybeans (BRS Valiosa RR) or parental isogenic conventional soybeans (MG-BR46 Conquista). Cyclophosphamide (50 mg kg−1 b.w.) was added in a single dose 24 h before euthanasia as an induction agent. There was no difference in the composition (ash, total fat, protein, moisture, and carbohydrates) of the diets containing the same soybean concentration. The results show that the commercially available Brazilian soybeans tested are free of organochlorine, organophosphate, and carbamate pesticides and contain acceptable heavy metal concentrations. Both cyclophosphamide and soybean treatments were not sufficient to cause detectable oxidative damage on liver by the levels of malondialdehyde and protein carbonyl. The transgenic soybeans are also nonmutagenic and have protective effects against DNA damage similar to those of conventional soybeans but to a lesser percentage (64%–101% for conventional and 23%–33% for transgenic diets).
Electronic checklists - Evaluation of two levels of automation. [on flight crew performance

Two versions of an electronic checklist have been implemented in the Advanced Concepts Flight Simulator (ACFS) at NASA Research Center. The two designs differ in the degree of pilot involvement in conducting the checklists. One version (manual-sensed), requires the crew to manually acknowledge the completion of each checklist item. The other version (automatic-sensed), automatically indicates completed items without requiring pilot acknowledgement. These two designs and a paper checklist (as a control condition) were evaluated in line oriented simulation. Twelve aircrews from one major air-carrier flew a routine, four leg, short-haul trip. This paper presents and discusses the portion of the experiment that was concerned with measuring the effect of the degree of automation on the crews' performance. It discusses and presents evidence for a potential down-side of implementing an electronic checklist that is designed to provide fully redundant monitoring of human procedure execution and monitoring.
Loss of heterozygosity on the X chromosome is an independent prognostic factor in ovarian carcinoma

Ovarian carcinoma (OC) is the fifth most frequent female cancer type and the fourth most frequent cause of death from cancer among women in Denmark. At the time they are diagnosed with OC, approximately 70% of patients have advanced disease. It is believed that loss of tumor suppressor gene activity plays an important role in the origin and progression of OC and other malignancies. Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) may be detected in individuals heterozygous for an allele and is associated with loss of function of tumor suppressor genes.
The Salmonella Type III Secretion Effector, Salmonella Leucine-rich Repeat Protein (SlrP), Targets the Human Chaperone ERdj3*

Effectors of the type III secretion systems (T3SS) are key elements in the interaction between many Gram-negative pathogens and their hosts. SlrP is an effector that is translocated into the eukaryotic host cell through the two virulence-associated T3SS of Salmonella enterica. We found previously that this effector is an E3 ubiquitin ligase for mammalian thioredoxin. Here, we identified ERdj3, an endoplasmic reticulum lumenal chaperone of the Hsp40/DnaJ family, as a new target for SlrP. Experiments with truncated forms of ERdj3 showed that domain II was essential for the interaction with SlrP. Confocal microscopy and subcellular fractionation demonstrated that, in transfected HeLa cells, SlrP was partially located in the endoplasmic reticulum. The presence of SlrP interfered with the binding of ERdj3 to a denatured substrate. Taken together, these data suggest that the role of SlrP in the interaction between Salmonella and the host cell is exerted through the modulation of the function of two independent targets: thioredoxin in the cytosol, and ERdj3 in the endoplasmic reticulum.
Product Service System for Volvo Trucks: Finding new business value compliant with IFRS 16 leasing regulations.

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) in January 2016 published International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS 16), new guidelines on leasing standards with an effective date of January 1st, 2019. IFRS 16 sets out the principles for the recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of leases for both parties to a contract, i.e. the customer (‘lessee’) and the supplier (‘lessor’). Under IFRS 16 the lease classification test i.e. classifying a lease as being on balance sheet or off balance sheet is done away with. This is as a result of the guideline’s expectations that all leases are treated as on balance sheet entries. The objective of this thesis is to develop a model to support Volvo Truck’s goal of offering IFRS 16 compliant off balance sheet leasing solutions. Utilizing a 3 step framework, this study identifies the off balance sheet threshold set in IFRS16 and matches it to a Product Service System classification. A Business Model Canvas is utilized to develop a business model that supports this off balance sheet contract. The thesis finds that by exercising the substantive right to substitute the truck during a lease deployment and by offering capacity based contracts, Volvo Trucks can provide a Product Service System centered, off balance sheet solution, to its leasing clients in compliance with the IFRS 16 regulations. (Less)
An ASEP (advanced secure electronic payment) protocol design using 3BC and ECC(F/sub 2//sup m/) algorithm

Unlike SET (secure electronic transaction) protocol. We propose an ASEP (advanced secure electronic payment) protocol, which uses ECC (elliptic curve cryptosystem with F/sub 2/ not F/sub p/) [N. Koblitz, (1987), V. S Miler, (1986), G. Harper et al., (1993)], SHA (secure hash algorithm) and 3BC (block byte bit cipher) instead of RSA and DES. To improve the strength of encryption and the speed of processing, the public key and the private key of ECC are used in SBC [I. S. Cho (2002)] algorithm, which generates session keys for the data encryption. In particular, when ECC is combined with SBC, the strength of security is improved significantly. As the process of the digital envelope used in the existing SET protocol is removed by the SBC algorithm, the processing time is substantially reduced. In addition, the use of multiple signatures has some advantages of reducing the size of transmission data as an intermediate payment agent and avoiding the danger of eavesdropping of private keys.
The Importance of Being Green

Two studies investigated whether performing green behaviors may influence people’s political attitudes regarding climate change. A survey study revealed that self-reported green behaviors indirectly predicted American participants’ political attitudes regarding climate change, and that this relationship was mediated by their green self-perceptions. This relationship was relatively stronger for conservatives than for liberals. An experimental study included two conditions: one which led people to perceive that they often performed green behaviors and another that led them to perceive that they failed to perform green behaviors. Political-orientation was found to moderate the effect of green behavior perceptions on ratings of the importance of climate-related issues and on support for emissions-reducing policies. Liberals reported greater importance and greater policy support when perceiving that they failed to act green, while conservatives did not. Implications for green behavior campaigns and their political spillover effects are discussed.
ES-Rank: evolution strategy learning to rank approach

Learning to Rank (LTR) is one of the current problems in Information Retrieval (IR) that attracts the attention from researchers. The LTR problem is mainly about ranking the retrieved documents for users in search engines, question answering and product recommendation systems. There are a number of LTR approaches from the areas of machine learning and computational intelligence. Most approaches have the limitation of being too slow or not being very effective. This paper investigates the application of evolutionary computation, specifically a (1+1) Evolutionary Strategy called ES-Rank, to tackle the LTR problem. Experimental results from comparing the proposed method to fourteen other approaches from the literature, show that ES-Rank achieves the overall best performance. Three datasets (MQ2007, MQ2008 and MSLR-WEB10K) from the LETOR benchmark collection and two performance metrics, Mean Average Precision (MAP) and Normalized Discounted Cumulative Gain (NDCG) at top-10 query-document pairs retrieved, were used in the experiments. The contribution of this paper is an effective and efficient method for the LTR problem.
The Real Effects of Equity Issuance Frictions

We study the consequences of an exogenous deregulation allowing small firms to accelerate public equity issuance. Post-deregulation, treated firms double their reliance on public equity (both overall and compared to a control group), transition away from private investments in public equity, and increase their total annual equity issuance by 40%. This is accompanied by a 5.6 percentage point reduction in equity issuance costs, a 19% increase in investment, and a 12% decline in financial leverage. Our findings provide evidence that reducing issuance frictions benefits issuers even in highly developed markets.
Thermal Analysis of  ${\rm MgB}_{2}$ Formation

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to study the formation of MgB2 from amorphous boron powder and MgH2/Mg powder. The B and powder mixture demonstrated that forms near 600degC with an estimated activation energy of 239 kJ/mole. The B and Mg powder mixture has an additional low temperature reaction near 425degC that is initiated by Mg(OH)2 decomposition. Similar effects can be duplicated with the hydride powder via moisture contamination.
Effect of hypothermia on recovery from general anaesthesia in the dog.

OBJECTIVE To discern the effects of anaesthesia protocols and decreasing core body temperature on time to recovery from general anaesthesia. MATERIALS AND METHODS Healthy adult dogs undergoing desexing surgery were enrolled. More excitable dogs were premedicated with intramuscular acepromazine and morphine; calmer dogs were not premedicated. Anaesthesia was induced using halothane, isoflurane or sevoflurane delivered by mask, or by intravenous propofol, and maintained in standard fashion using one of the three inhalant agents. Thermostat controlled heat mats were used during surgical preparation and surgery. Oesophageal temperature was recorded throughout surgery. The time from cessation of anaesthetic administration until the dog successfully raised itself to sternal recumbency was considered the time of recovery. RESULTS Sixty-nine dogs completed the study, 42 males anaesthetised for 60.4 +/- 20.5 min, and 27 females anaesthetised for 85.4 +/- 33.2 min. Oesophageal temperature at the end of surgery was 36.8 +/- 0.80 degrees C. Oesophageal temperature had a significant effect on recovery time, with lower temperatures contributing to slower recoveries. Premedication significantly lengthened recovery times. The choice of induction or maintenance anaesthetic agent had no effect on recovery time. DISCUSSION Hypothermia is a common complication of general anaesthesia and surgery. Amongst other deleterious effects, it is associated with slower recovery from anaesthesia, likely due to a number of different mechanisms.
Confidence intervals for the mean of a normal distribution with restricted parameter space

For a normal distribution with known variance, the standard confidence interval of the location parameter is derived from the classical Neyman procedure. When the parameter space is known to be restricted, the standard confidence interval is arguably unsatisfactory. Recent articles have addressed this problem and proposed confidence intervals for the mean of a normal distribution where the parameter space is not less than zero. In this article, we propose a new confidence interval, rp interval, and derive the Bayesian credible interval and likelihood ratio interval for general restricted parameter space. We compare these intervals with the standard interval and the minimax interval. Simulation studies are undertaken to assess the performances of these confidence intervals.
A theoretical analysis of the spatial multi channel compressed sensing model

The Compressed Sensing (CS) framework is heavily utilized to reduce data rate in hardware restricted scenarios by exploiting the intrinsic sparsity of the transmitted data. Considering multiple sensors at the same time, one variation of the Multi Channel (MC) framework takes several measurements at one time instant and then uses CS in the spatial domain to compress the data. This paper provides a theoretical analysis of the proposed system by computing the coherence and the Restricted Isometry Constant (RIC) of the corresponding MC sensing matrix. Additionally, we provide simulation results to further show the applicability and advantages of this system.