Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efficient xanthan gum production from phosphoric acid–pretreated cedar wood and elm wood

Cedar and elm woods were investigated for the microbial production of xanthan gum using a commercial strain of Xanthomonas campestris. However, the yields of xanthan gum from untreated woods were inefficient. Thus, dilute phosphoric acid (1-2% w/v) pretreatment at elevated temperatures (140-180 °C) for 10-20 min and concentrated phosphoric acid (85% w/v) pretreatment at 60 °C for 1-3 h were applied to increase production yields. Concentrated acid pretreatment resulted in the highest yields of 9.9 and 10.4 g xanthan gum per 100 g of raw cedar and elm wood, respectively, whereas the untreated woods yielded 2.0 and 2.4 g xanthan gum per 100 g of raw woods. Dilute acid pretreatment was not as efficient as concentrated acid pretreatment, resulting in 4.2 and 5.2 g xanthan gum per 100 g of cedar and elm, respectively. Consequently, the woods are suitable substrates for xanthan gum production after pretreatment with concentrated phosphoric acid at 160 °C for 1 h. The quality of produced xanthan gum was also compared with a commercial xanthan gum using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and the results indicated that the produced xanthan gum was similar to the commercial product. Although the pretreatments presented in this study increased the xanthan gum yield up to fourfold, it was at the expense of increasing pretreatment costs. This research provides the basis for the economic analysis required for the commercial implementation of these pretreatments.
Linearization of Class B Amplifier and Application to Outphasing Systems

This paper proposes the study of the impact of the linearization of class B amplifier used in outphasing systems. We show that a predistorted amplifier can provide considerable performance gain in linearity with good efficiency when compared to classical MILC architecture and to a standard class B amplifier. The results are validated for 16QAM signal using a RRCF with a roll-off factor of 0.2. Different backoff levels are considered and evaluated in terms of efficiency and linearity using EVM (Error Vector Magnitude) factor and adjacent channel interference ACI. The amplifiers used are based on realistic class B devices available in CAD simulators. The cosimulation is done using ADS software, with analog and digital parts, and MATLAB software. The MATLAB software allows us to determine the predistortion function and is introduced in ADS model.
Accès au financement et dynamique des exportations des pays MENA méditerranéens

RÉSUMÉ Nous proposons une étude empirique du lien entre dynamiques du développement financier et des exportations dans sept pays de la région du Moyen-Orient et de l'Afrique du Nord, basée sur la matrice Global Financial Development Database. Dans cette matrice les institutions financières et les marchés (deux colonnes) sont évalués en termes de profondeur financière, accessibilité, efficience et stabilité (quatre lignes). Les tests économétriques soulignent l'intérêt de cette approche. D'une part, les effets différenciés sur les exportations du niveau de développement des systèmes bancaires (relation négative) et des marchés financiers (relation positive) valident l'approche « en colonnes ». Concernant l'approche « en lignes », les effets différenciés sur les exportations de la profondeur/efficience/accessibilité dans le cas des banques suggèrent que des niveaux apparemment favorables des indicateurs d'efficience et de stabilité pourraient en réalité constituer le symptôme d'une distribution du crédit particulièrement sélective, et donc une cause d'une dynamique ralentie des exportations.
TUBERCULOSIS BURDEN IN LEBANON: EVOLUTION AND CURRENT STATUS.

BACKGROUND In the absence of surveillance data and consolidated information about tuberculosis (TB) and its drug resistance burden in Lebanon, this retrospective study was conducted to shed light on TB and its other relevant aspects over the last 15 years in this country. METHODS To generate the TB data for this retrospective study, two main sources were used: 1) the records of patients in the National Tuberculosis Program (NTP); 2) the results of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory (CML) at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC). The TB data review pertained to its epidemiological aspect, implementation of the directly observed therapy strategy (DOTS) all over, the gender distribution, the impact of high risk groups (non-national population, Syrian refugees, patients with multi-drug resistance-TB [MDR-TB] and the inmate population) on the trend of TB in Lebanon between 1999 and 2013. Reviewed also are TB in children, extrapulmonary tuberculosis and the mycobacterium other than tuberculosis (MOTT). RESULTS During the last 15 years, 7548 TB cases were diagnosed and evaluated at the NTP. After the decreasing of TB incidence from 13/100 000 population in 2001 to 9/100 000 in 2006, the incidence started to increase in 2007, reaching 20/100 000 in 2013, mostly due to increased cases among non-national population. Fluctuations in TB rates over the years were seen among children, inmates, MDR-TB, and HIV patients. MOTT isolates recovery rates also fluctuated during the study period, M. simiae being the most common. CONCLUSION After the decreasing trends of TB incidence between 1999 and 2006, Lebanon has been experiencing an increasing incidence in tuberculosis population since 2007. This is mainly attributed to the dramatic increase of TB patients among non-nationals and the influx of Syrian refugees. The ongoing collaboration between the public and private sectors, improvements of the surveillance system and TB control are important factors for successful elimination of TB in this country.
Adopting a Farming Systems Research Approach to carry out an economic and environmental analysis of food supply chains

Agricultural systems are complex, because managers need to cope with interlinked and dynamic ecological, social, political and economic aspects. Understanding and analysing such systems requires researchers to adopt a holistic approach to grasp the links between those aspects. Holistic approaches within agricultural research – known as Farming Systems Research (FSR) support researchers in sharing knowledge and different perspectives concerning the research process and problems. Sharing knowledge and perspectives enables to holistically understand and conceptualise complex systems, as well as to structure and manage research projects. The aim of this paper is to suggest and present a guideline for agricultural researchers to carry out an economic and environmental analysis of food supply chains with a FSR approach. We describe how participants of the EU-project SOLIBAM (Strategies for Organic and Low-input Integrated Breeding and Management) used the guideline to structure, manage and carry out an economic and environmental analysis of the food supply chains of concern. The FSR approach enabled the participants to jointly define and model the structure of the supply chains, identify the requirements for data collection and collect data.
The Union Effect on the Earnings Distribution in Higher Education in Ohio

Using data on individual faculty from seven Ohio public universities, this study analyzes how collective bargaining affects the faculty earnings distribution. An empirical analysis of the variance of log earnings and earnings regressions by union status reveal that collective bargaining in postsecondary schools slightly increases the dispersion of earnings in this sample. This result is mainly due to an increased dispersion of female faculty salaries in unionized schools, which appears to be caused by unionized females in higher ranks receiving greater returns to rank than their nonunionized counterparts.
Learning with small disjuncts

Systems that learn from examples often create a disjunctive concept deﬁnition. The disjuncts in the concept deﬁnition which cover only a few training examples are referred to as small disjuncts. The problem with small disjuncts is that they are more error prone than large disjuncts, but may be necessary to achieve a high level of predictive accuracy [Holte, Acker, and Porter, 1989]. This paper extends previous work done on the problem of small disjuncts by investigating the reasons why small disjuncts are more error prone than large disjuncts, and evaluating the impact small disjuncts have on inductive learning. This paper shows that attribute noise, missing attributes, class noise, and training set size can each cause small disjuncts to be more error prone than large disjuncts. This paper also evaluates the impact that these factors have on learning with small disjuncts (i.e., on the error rate). It shows, for two artiﬁcial domains, that when low levels of attribute noise are applied only to the training set (the ability to learn the correct noise-free concept is being evaluated), small disjuncts are primarily responsible for making learning difﬁcult.
Effects of Chicken Anemia Virus and Infectious Bursal Disease Virus in Commercial Chickens

Abstract The effects of chicken anemia virus (CAV) and infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) coinfection in commercial layer-type and meat-type (broiler) chickens with specific maternal immunity were evaluated. In addition, the broiler progeny used had been vaccinated in ovo against IBDV. Layer chickens were inoculated intramuscularly on day 3 of age with CAV and orally on day 7 of age with an IBDV standard strain (APHIS). Broiler chickens were exposed to CAV and/or an IBDV variant strain (AL2) via the drinking water on days 3 and 14 of age. Following CAV and IBDV inoculation neither mortality nor overt clinical disease was observed in any layer or broiler group. In spite of maternal immunity against both IBDV and CAV, mean hematocrits of all layer groups inoculated with CAV (CAV, CAV + APHIS) were lower than uninfected chickens. IBDV APHIS alone or in combination with CAV did not affect the layer weight gain. However, on day 30 of age and concomitantly with maternal antibody decay, bursa lymphocyte depletion became evident in CAV + APHIS-infected layer chickens. These birds (CAV + APHIS) also seroconverted to IBDV on day 35 of age. CAV persisted at low levels in the layer chickens throughout the experimental period in CAV- and CAV + APHIS-infected chickens. Similarly, infected broiler chickens did not show changes in weight gain. Compared to CAV-infected or uninfected controls, CAV + AL2- and AL2-infected broiler chickens showed significant lymphocyte depletion in the bursa as assessed both by bursal indices and histomorphometry. Broilers also seroconverted to IBDV after day 30 of age confirming that bursal lymphocyte depletion was due to IBDV resuming replication. Thymus histomorphometry revealed significant lymphocyte depletion in all infected broiler groups at 30 days of age, but only in CAV + AL2-infected broiler chickens at 41 days of age, suggesting that IBDV infection delayed repopulation of the thymus.
A simple procedure for routine RNA extraction and miRNA array analyses from a single thyroid in vivo fine needle aspirate

Abstract Context. microRNA (miRNA) expression profiling and classification of tissue obtained from fine-needle aspirates (FNA) could be a major improvement of the preoperative diagnosis of thyroid nodules. Objective. Before this can be clinically implemented, a robust and non-toxic method for obtaining sufficient quantity and quality of RNA from single in vivo FNA has to be established. RNAlater is a non-toxic RNA-stabilizing agent. However, due to the high density of RNAlater, pelleting of the tissue samples is difficult, and results in low recovery of RNA that is insufficient for subsequent miRNA array expression analysis. We therefore developed a simple centrifugation method for capturing tissue stored in RNAlater on a 0.45-μm filter. Design. FNA from 24 patients with a solitary cold thyroid nodule was stored in Trizol, liquid nitrogen, or RNAlater. The tissue stored in RNAlater was either pelleted by centrifugation or captured on the 0.45-μm filters. RNA was extracted using the Trizol method. To validate results, FNA from additional 30 patients were analyzed based on the modified RNAlater protocol. Main outcome. Capturing FNA tissue samples on the filters increased the RNA yield 10 fold and maintained RNA purity, permitting miRNA array expression profiling and allowing comparable levels of known miRNA-clusters regardless of preservation technique. Results were confirmed in an additional 30 patients. Conclusion. The modified RNAlater protocol is well suited for isolating RNA from single thyroid in vivo FNA in a clinical setting. Furthermore this permits shipping of FNA samples at room temperature from peripheral centers to a centralized array core facility.
The combining kernel PCA with PSO-SVM for chaotic time series prediction model

Chaotic time series analysis or forecasting is an important and complex problem in machine learning. As an effective tool, support vector machine (SVM) has been broadly adopted in pattern recognition and machine learning fields. In developing a successful SVM classifier, eliminating noise and extracting feature are very important. This paper proposes the application of kernel PCA to LS-SVM for feature extraction. Then PSO algorithm is employed to optimization of these parameters in LS-SVM. The novel chaotic time series analysis model integrates the advantages of wavelet transform, KPCA, PSO and LS-SVM. Compared with other predictors, this model has greater generality ability and higher accuracy.
Detection and recognition of hand gesture for wearable applications in IoMTW

To support an efficient media consumption in a wearable device and IoT (Internet of Things) environment, the standardization of IoMTW (Internet of Media-Things and Wearables) is in the progress in MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group). In this paper, we present a hand gesture detection and recognition algorithm to generate hand gesture-based commands for controlling the media consumption in smart glasses. In the proposed method, we use depth map and color image together to extract more accurate hand contour. We are going to present representation of the detected hand contour based on Bezier curve as metadata to provide an interoperable interface between a detection module and a recognition module. In a recognition module, the detected hand contour is reconstructed by parsing the delivered metadata. In the proposed recognition method, a set of hand gestures featured with diverse combination of open fingers and rotational angles can be recognized with quite stable performance in the proposed method. Finally, the recognized hand gesture is mapped into one of the pre-defined gesture commands.
Effect of different cycling-off criteria and positive end-expiratory pressure during pressure support ventilation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease*

Objective:During pressure support ventilation, ventilator inspiration ends when inspiratory flow drops to a given percentage of the peak inspiratory flow cycling-off criteria. This study evaluated the effect of two different cycling-off criteria on breathing pattern, respiratory effort, and gas exchange in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Design:Clinical study. Patients:Thirteen mechanically ventilated patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease primarily due to pneumonia (Pao2/Fio2 291 ± 114 mm Hg, Paco2 53 ± 19 mm Hg). Interventions:Two cycling-off criteria (5% and 40% of the peak inspiratory flow) at two levels of pressure support (5 and 15 cm H2O) with and without the application of an external positive end-expiratory pressure (6 and 0 cm H2O) were applied. Measurement:Patient–ventilator time delay of cycling-off was computed as the difference between the end of inspiratory flow and the lowest value of inspiratory esophageal pressure. Inspiratory effort was estimated by computing the work of breathing, the pressure time product partitioned into the total pressure time product, and the pressure time product due to the dynamic intrinsic positive end-expiratory pressure. Results:At 5 and 15 cm H2O of pressure support ventilation, the cycling-off criteria 40% significantly reduced the patient–ventilator time delay of cycling-off from 0.40 ± 0.20 secs to 0.29 ± 0.16 secs and from 0.93 ± 0.50 secs to 0.52 ± 0.25 secs, respectively; the dynamic intrinsic positive end-expiratory pressure from 3.9 ± 1.8 cm H2O to 3.1 ± 2.1 cm H2O and from 2.4 ± 2.0 cm H2O to 1.7 ± 1.4 cm H2O, respectively; and the pressure time product due to the dynamic intrinsic positive end-expiratory pressure. At 5 cm H2O of pressure support, the cycling-off criteria 40% significantly reduced the tidal volume and the inspiratory effort. The modification of cycling-off criteria did not affect the gas exchange. Conclusion:The modification of cycling-off criteria may have a beneficial effect on reducing the dynamic hyperinflation and inspiratory effort in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients, especially at low levels of pressure support.
Monetary Control under Lagged Reserve Accounting

The measured growth rate of the money stock periodically diverges from the target set for it by the Federal Reserve, frequently for extended periods of time. Critics of the Federal Reserve, presuming that accurate control of the money stock is possible, conclude that although the Federal Reserve may profess adherence to a goal of stabilizing the monetary growth rate, in practice it has other goals which sometimes take precedence, such as preventing fluctuations in interest rates. It is certainly true that the Federal Reserve has in the past accommodated shifts in the demand for money rather than permit "disorderly conditions" in bond markets. But if the Federal Reserve is to be held accountable for all variations in monetary growth rates, it is necessary to demonstrate the validity of the underlying assumption that it is in fact capable of precise control of the money stock. In this paper we show that accurate money stock control is possible only under assumptions about the form of the money demand function which are probably not satisfied empirically. It follows that, while somewhat more accurate monetary control would be possible if the Federal Reserve were willing to countenance greater variation in interest rates, substantially constant rates of monetary expansion cannot be achieved. The problem of money stock control has, of course, already been much analyzed, and the approach we will use is sufficiently familiar that it will not be necessary to dwell on technical detail. ' However, there has been little formal analysis of the implications of lagged reserve accounting for monetary control, except in internal reports at the Federal Reserve Board. Consequently, few monetary economists appreciate the extent to which, and the reason why, the existence of lagged reserve accounting simplifies the derivation of optimal rules for controlling the money stock. It should be noted that no attempt is made here to review the underlying question of whether it is desirable to control the money stock, our attention being restricted to an evaluation of the extent to which this is possible.
Energy-balanced dynamic source routing protocol for wireless sensor network

With the increasing deployment of unmanned and energy-constrained sensor devices in large-scale wireless sensor networks, energy efficiency and network lifetime have become key considerations in designing ad hoc routing protocols. In this work, we propose a fully distributed, multi-path load-balancing routing protocol based on Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) to improve network lifetime performance. The new protocol is simulated in ns-2 and compared with the commonly used Destination-Sequenced Distance Vector (DSDV), Ad hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV) and DSR protocols. Our simulation results show that the new routing protocol has improved network lifetime significantly without sacrificing packet delivery performance.
5' termini of Pichinde arenavirus S RNAs and mRNAs contain nontemplated nucleotides

Primer extension of Pichinde arenavirus purified virion RNA suggests that genomes have at least a single nontemplated base at the 5' end which is a G in all cDNA clones having one such single base. On the other hand, the predominant products of primer extension on total virus-infected-cell RNA are at positions -1 and -2. The primer extension product at position -2 is not represented in virion RNA, and neither of these products is proportionally represented in mRNA. mRNA is predominantly 3 or 4 bases longer than genomes and antigenomes, but primer extension products as long as 7 bases were observed. The sequence of nontemplated bases reported here is unambiguous with respect to the 5'-terminal base and supports the view that there is a sequence preference for a G at the 5' termini of mRNAs. Assessment of our sequence data in the context of the sequences of Tacaribe and lymphocytic choriomeningitis viruses suggests that the mechanism of initiation of arenavirus transcription is fundamentally different from that of members of the families Orthomyxoviridae and Bunyaviridae.
Underwater acoustic sensor network localization using four directional beams

In this paper, an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) based localization algorithm is proposed that uses four directional acoustic beams with fixed angles on AUV to broadcast messages periodically. These messages contain current position of AUV and ID of the transmitter beam. The passive sensors receive these messages and find two of them issued by different successive beams in one side of AUV path that they place on the center lines (greatest power section) of these two different transmitter beams. These two messages are used to estimate the sensors position. Major advantage of this method is being silent that leads to energy efficiency and no need time synchronization among sensor nodes. Performance of the proposed localization method is evaluated by simulations, using MATLAB. Simulation results show that localization accuracy and successfully of the proposed method by choosing optimum value of parameters such as transmission interval, beam width and satisfying coverage condition of all deployed sensor nodes is high.
Productivity Shocks, Discount Rate and Incentives

In this paper we analyze a repeated Principal Agent model, formulated as a Multi-Objective Optimization problem. We approximate its Pareto Frontier by using a recently proposed Multi-Objective Optimization Evolutionary Algorithm named RankMOEA. We focus on the effects of changes of productivity shocks and discount rates on the aforementioned Pareto Frontier. Our numerical results indicate that as the discount rate increases, the Principal Agent relationship generates higher values; the spread in the Agent´s future (current) compensation between the low and high productivity shocks increases (decreases); and the Agent chooses, in general, higher effort levels. On the other hand, when the structure of productivity shocks is such that the Agent´s effort yields higher (lower) production levels, the Principal (Agent) tends to benefit because in those cases the Agent (Principal) assumes more risk.