Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of the i-STAT portable point-of-care analyzer for determination of blood gases and acid-base status in newborn calves.

OBJECTIVE To validate the i-STAT, a portable hand-held analyzer that allows point-of-care measurement of blood gases, acid-base, lactate, and other blood variables in food animal practice for analysis of blood samples of newborn calves. DESIGN Prospective observational study. SETTING University teaching hospital. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS A total of 271 venous blood samples were analyzed for PvO2 , PvCO2 , pH, base excess (BE), HCO3 , venous saturation of oxygen (SvO2 ), and total carbon dioxide (TCO2 ) using an i-STAT and a Rapidlab 248 bench top analyzer that served as the reference method. l-lactate was measured using the i-STAT as well as photometrically. Results from the i-STAT and the reference methods were compared. The analytes BE, HCO3 , and TCO2 showed a constant systematic error across the entire range with 2.3, 1.9, and 2.0 mmol/L lower values, respectively, than the values measured by the reference method. Based on the combined inherent imprecision of the 2 analyzers and after correcting the influences of systematic errors, the PvO2 , HCO3 , and SvO2 were within the acceptable limits in 76% to 91% of the cases. Ninety-five percent of the measurements of PvCO2 and BE were within acceptable limits. CONCLUSIONS The overall performance of the i-STAT was good except for BE, HCO3 , and TCO2 , thus limiting its usefulness in clinical studies. However this hand-held device allows rapid, reliable, and accurate point-of-care blood analyses and thus can be useful in bovine practice.
The Discipline of Preprocessor-Based Annotations - Does #ifdef TAG n't #endif Matter

The C preprocessor is a simple, effective, and language-independent tool. Developers use the preprocessor in practice to deal with portability and variability issues. Despite the widespread usage, the C preprocessor suffers from severe criticism, such as negative effects on code understandability and maintainability. In particular, these problems may get worse when using undisciplined annotations, i.e., when a preprocessor directive encompasses only parts of C syntactical units. Nevertheless, despite the criticism and guidelines found in systems like Linux to avoid undisciplined annotations, the results of a previous controlled experiment indicated that the discipline of annotations has no influence on program comprehension and maintenance. To better understand whether developers care about the discipline of preprocessor-based annotations and whether they can really influence on maintenance tasks, in this paper we conduct a mixed-method research involving two studies. In the first one, we identify undisciplined annotations in 110 open-source C/C++ systems of different domains, sizes, and popularity GitHub metrics. We then refactor the identified undisciplined annotations to make them disciplined. Right away, we submit pull requests with our code changes. Our results show that almost two thirds of our pull requests have been accepted and are now merged. In the second study, we conduct a controlled experiment. We have several differences with respect to the aforementioned one, such as blocking of cofounding effects and more replicas. We have evidences that maintaining undisciplined annotations is more time consuming and error prone, representing a different result when compared to the previous experiment. Overall, we conclude that undisciplined annotations should not be neglected.
Measuring the Effectiveness of Experiential Date Nights: A Qualitative Study

ABSTRACT This qualitative study examines the experience of 13 couples who attended a relationship education date night in two metropolitan areas in a western state. The intent of these date nights was to reach audiences that may not attend traditional classroom relationship education. Reasons for, benefits of attending, and impacts were explored with participants. Findings indicate that most participants had fun and enjoyed spending time together, learned qualities and skills of healthy relationships, and had positive learning experiences with other couples. Additionally, although most individuals’ reason for attending was to have fun, most experienced a positive impact on their relationships after the event, such as improved communication, increase in affection and gratitude, or spending more time together. This finding may indicate that regardless of the reasons for attending, it is possible to create an environment for learning relationship skills that can, and most likely will, extend beyond the night of the event and could potentially lead to long-term positive impacts in relationships. Based on findings and existing research, activity-based relationship education, such as date nights, needs to be taken seriously as a model for couple education and considered as part of a well-rounded approach to relationship education.
The Spanish version of the GELOPH : Properties of a questionnaire for the assessment of the fear of being laughed at 1

Gelotophobia is defined as the fear of being laughed at. First empirical studies revealed that it is a valid and useful new concept. It should be best conceptualized as a one-dimensional individual differences phenomenon within the range of normality. The present instrumental study presents first empirical data on the Spanish version of a subjective measure for the fear of being laughed. The scale was tested in a construction sample from Spain (n = 601) and in a replication sample from Colombia (n = 211). The article describes the adaptation of the GELOPH to Spanish. The translation yielded good psyhometric properties in terms of a high reliability (α = .85, α = .81). As in the original form, a one-dimensional factor solution fit the data best in both samples. The item endorsements to single items varied considerable in both samples. The fear of being laughed at exited independently from demographic variable. The only exception was higher scores for younger participants in Colombia. 11.61% and 8.53% exceeded a cut-off score indicating at least a slight expression of gelotophobic symptoms in Spain and Colombia, respectively. The Spanish form proved to be a useful and reliable instrument for the subjective assessment of gelotophobia.
Has Cable Ended the Golden Age of Presidential Television?

For the past 30 years, presidents have enlisted prime-time television to promote their policies to the American people. For most of this era, they have been able to commandeer the national airwaves and speak to “captive” viewers. Recently, however, presidents appear to be losing their audiences. Two leading explanations are the rise of political disaffection and the growth of cable. We investigate both by developing and testing a model of the individual's viewing decision using both cross-sectional (1996 NES survey) and time-series (128 Nielsen audience ratings for presidential appearances between 1969 and 1998) data. We find that cable television but not political disaffection has ended the golden era of presidential television. Moreover, we uncover evidence that both presidents and the broadcast networks have begun adapting strategically to this new reality in scheduling presidential appearances.
Bistable curved-beam actuated by optically controlled Shape Memory Alloy

In this work, a bistable curved-beam is actuated between its two stable states using the force generated by optically controlled SMA elements. Two Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) elements are used for this purpose forming an antagonistic pair. Two laser sources (wavelength equals to 785 nm and 658 nm) are used to heat the SMA active elements in order to induce the martensite to austenite phase transformation in the SMA. The force generated by the SMA sample (3 mm × 1 mm × 100 μm) is measured experimentally using a miniature force sensor which comes out to be 706 mN for 100 mW laser power value. The bistable curved-beam is designed according to these force measurements. At the end, experimental demonstration of the proposed actuation technique is presented.
Offshore Aquaculture: I Know It When I See It

Offshore aquaculture is increasingly viewed as a mechanism to meet growing protein demand for seafood, while minimizing adverse consequences on the environment and other uses in the oceans. However, despite growing interest in offshore aquaculture, there appears to be no consensus as to what measures commonly define an offshore site or how effects of offshore aquaculture – relative to more nearshore practices – are assessed. This lack of agreement on what constitutes offshore aquaculture has the potential to convolute communication, create uncertainty in regulatory processes, and impede understanding of the ecological implications of offshore farming. To begin addressing these issues, we reviewed and analyzed biologically-focused primary and gray literature (Ntotal = 70) that categorize and quantify characteristics of offshore aquaculture from around the world. We found that many ‘offshore’ descriptions are relatively close to shore (< 3 nm) and significantly shallower (minimum depth ≤ 30 m) than may be assumed. We also uncovered an overall lack of consistent reporting of even the most common location-focused metrics (distance from shore, depth, current), a dearth of impact related studies (n = 17), and narrow scope of the studies themselves (i.e., 82% nutrient pollution). Of the finite subset of articles that investigated negative ecological impacts of offshore aquaculture, we found the probability of any measurable impact from an offshore farm appears to significantly decrease with distance from the farm (probability of measurable response at 90 m ± SE = 0.01 ± 0.03). Such general, but informative points of reference could be more robustly quantified with better systematic and standardized reporting of physical farm characteristics and a broader scope of ecological investigation into the effects of marine aquaculture. With offshore aquaculture still in its infancy, consistent metrics are needed for a comparable framework to guide sustainable offshore aquaculture research and development globally.
Land, Power and Poverty: Agrarian Transformation and Political Conflict in Central America

* Introduction: Agrarian Transformation and Political Conflict Agrarian Transformation * Agrarian Transformation Before 1950 * The Postwar Transformation of Central American Agriculture * Agrarian Transformation and Rural Economic Security Political Conflict * Guatemala: Between Reform and Terror * El Salvador: From Obstruction to Civil War and Toward Reconciliation * Nicaragua: From Obstruction to Revolution and Back Again * Honduras: The Limitations of Reform * Costa Rica: Toward Sustainable Development * Conclusion: Land, Power, and Poverty
Prediction of the Hepatic and Renal Clearance of Transporter Substrates in Rats Using in Vitro Uptake Experiments

The clearance route and the absolute values for hepatic and renal clearance of drugs are important criteria for the selection of drug candidates. Based on pharmacokinetic theory, by assuming that uptake is the rate-determining process for the biliary excretion of drugs, organ intrinsic clearance should be simply estimated by the intrinsic uptake. In this study, to investigate whether organ clearance can be predicted from the in vitro uptake activity, we performed uptake experiments using isolated hepatocytes and kidney slices, integration plot analyses, and in vivo pharmacokinetic studies using 12 barely metabolized drugs in rats. The in vivo hepatic and renal clearance could be approximated by uptake clearance estimated from integration plot analyses, except for the renal clearance of some drugs that was relatively small. The comparison of intrinsic uptake clearance from in vitro experiments and integration plot studies revealed that in vivo hepatic uptake was well explained by uptake into isolated hepatocytes, whereas in kidney, in vivo uptake clearance was 10 to 100 times that in kidney slices and a scaling factor is required for its prediction from in vitro experiments. The organ clearance and the fraction excreted into urine could be predicted from in vitro studies except for drugs whose renal clearance was relatively small. This study suggests that the uptake process is the determining factor for organ clearance of minimally metabolized drugs, and uptake assays using isolated hepatocytes and kidney slices are useful for evaluating the uptake clearance.
A Methodology for Making a Three-Coil Wireless Power Transfer System More Energy Efficient Than a Two-Coil Counterpart for Extended Transfer Distance

A new methodology for ensuring that a three-coil wireless power transfer system is more energy efficient than a two-coil counterpart is presented in this paper. The theoretical proof and the conditions for meeting the objective are derived and practically verified in a practical prototype. The key features of the magnetic design are to: 1) shift the current stress from the primary driving circuit to the relay resonator; and 2) generate a large relay current for maximizing magnetic coupling with the receiver coil for efficient power transfer. Consequently, the current rating and cost of the driving circuit can be reduced and the overall quality factor and system energy efficiency are improved. This approach utilizes the combined advantages of the maximum efficiency principle and the use of relay resonator to overcome the energy efficiency problem for applications with extended energy transfer distances.
Readers Theatre: Its effectiveness in improving reading fluency, student motivation, and attitudes toward reading among second-grade students

This study examined Readers Theatre as an instructional and motivational tool in comparison to repeated reading. Using a quasi-experimental design, second-grade students (N = 85) in four classrooms from a small suburban school district in Pennsylvania participated in the study. Statistically significant improvement in oral reading fluency was observed for both the treatment and alternative treatment groups after 10 weeks. In addition, neither the treatment nor alternative treatment group demonstrated improvement in reading motivation or reading attitude. These results suggest that Readers Theatre may be an effective supplemental instructional tool in the classroom to improve oral reading
Expression of lymphotoxin-αβ on antigen-specific T cells is required for DC function

During an immune response, activated antigen (Ag)-specific T cells condition dendritic cells (DCs) to enhance DC function and survival within the inflamed draining lymph node (LN). It has been difficult to ascertain the role of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily member lymphotoxin-αβ (LTαβ) in this process because signaling through the LTβ-receptor (LTβR) controls multiple aspects of lymphoid tissue organization. To resolve this, we have used an in vivo system where the expression of TNF family ligands is manipulated only on the Ag-specific T cells that interact with and condition Ag-bearing DCs. We report that LTαβ is a critical participant required for optimal DC function, independent of its described role in maintaining lymphoid tissue organization. In the absence of LTαβ or CD40L on Ag-specific T cells, DC dysfunction could be rescued in vivo via CD40 or LTβR stimulation, respectively, suggesting that these two pathways cooperate for optimal DC conditioning.
Investigating specificity of experimentally induced prior expectations in motion perception

The brain uses sensory information that is often uncertain in order to efficiently generate perceptual representations of the world. This observation has led to the Bayesian brain hypothesis, in which the brain combines internal expectations of the world with unreliable external sensory information in a nearly optimal probabilistic manner. Recent studies have suggested that to be true in statistical learning, a process by which people learn arbitrary associations between stimuli based on the statistics of interstimulus contingencies. Here, I employ a psychophysical experimental procedure to investigate the specificity of induced biases through fast statistical learning using moving stimuli with distinctly distributed motion directions, differentiated by color. I found that subjects exhibit sub-optimal behavior when estimating the direction of the stimuli by ignoring color information, and learning a single bimodal prior for both distributions of the stimuli. These results suggest that there was extensive transfer between the statistical properties of one distribution to the other. The biases in motion direction estimation were well explained by a computational model that assumed subjects used a Bayesian strategy, and extended variations of this model verified the formation of a single prior. Finally, I discuss the implications of these results, and propose interesting directions for future research.
Diagnostic Methods for Shiga Toxin Producing E . Coli *

Shiga toxin producing E. coli (STEC), a newly emerged pathogen that has been the focus of immense international research, is often associated with large epidemic outbreaks as well as the Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS), the leading cause of acute renal failure in children. STEC is a global problem, and more than 60 serotypes have been associated with human disease. A variety of foods have been identified as vehicles of STEC associated illness. The pathogenesis of STEC is multifactorial and involves several levels of interaction between the bacterium and the host. After ingestion, STEC colonize enterocytes of the large bowel with a characteristic attaching and effacing pathology, which is mediated by components of a type III secretion apparatus encoded by the LEE pathogenecity island. Two different types of shiga toxins produced by this organism enters the renal glomeruli and other organs through blood causing the pathophysiological changes that result in HUS. Many laboratories do not take steps to identify this organism as it is a laborious process and it is not cost effective. Specific therapeutic strategies are presently not available. The recent sequencing of the genome of epidemic strain of E. coli (O157 strain) offers a unique resource that will help to identify additional virulence genes. These research efforts in turn, should lead to development of new potent and cost effective therapies or vaccines. This brief review of the literature discusses the Diagnostic Methods for shiga toxin producing E. coli, published in the past few years.
Semantic Relatedness Applied to All Words Sense Disambiguation Contents 1 Introduction 2 2 Measuring Semantic Relatedness 5 List of Figures List of Tables List of Algorithms

Measures of semantic relatedness have many practical applications including word sense disambiguation. This thesis presents an algorithm for all words sense disambiguation that incorporates measures of semantic relatedness. A variety of measures of semantic relatedness have been proposed. These are founded on a number of different principles. There are measures that rely on path length in a taxonomy, information content, finding lexical chains, and comparing the similarity of dictionary glosses. The strengths and weaknesses of the measures are discussed in detail. A method of handling multiple inheritance in a taxonomy is developed. A method of word sense disambiguation that employs measures of semantic relatedness for an all words task is formulated. This system will assign a sense to every content word in a text that is found in our dictionary (WordNet). The algorithm is unique because it does not require training and is capable of disambiguating arbitrary text. The algorithm has been evaluated using an assortment of sense-tagged corpora, including SemCor and the test data for SENSEVAL-2 and SENSEVAL-3. The experimental results are compared to the performance of other existing all words sense disambiguation systems. The results are very promising, and the system presented in this thesis is highly competitive with other systems.
Collisions of charged black holes

We perform fully nonlinear numerical simulations of charged-black-hole collisions, described by the Einstein-Maxwell equations, and contrast the results against analytic expectations. We focus on head-on collisions of nonspinning black holes, starting from rest and with the same charge-to-mass ratio, Q/M. The addition of charge to black holes introduces a new interesting channel of radiation and dynamics, most of which seem to be captured by Newtonian dynamics and flat-space intuition. The waveforms can be qualitatively described in terms of three stages: (i) an infall phase prior to the formation of a common apparent horizon; (ii) a nonlinear merger phase that corresponds to a peak in gravitational and electromagnetic energy; (iii) the ringdown marked by an oscillatory pattern with exponentially decaying amplitude and characteristic frequencies that are in good agreement with perturbative predictions. We observe that the amount of gravitational-wave energy generated throughout the collision decreases by about 3 orders of magnitude as the charge-to-mass ratio Q/M is increased from 0 to 0.98. We interpret this decrease as a consequence of the smaller accelerations present for larger values of the charge. In contrast, the ratio of energy carried by electromagnetic to gravitational radiation increases, reaching about 22% for the maximum Q/M ratio explored, which is in good agreement with analytic predictions.
Interactive multi-scale oil paint filtering on mobile devices

This work presents an interactive mobile implementation of a filter that transforms images into an oil paint look. At this, a multi-scale approach that processes image pyramids is introduced that uses flow-based joint bilateral upsampling to achieve deliberate levels of abstraction at multiple scales and interactive frame rates. The approach facilitates the implementation of interactive tools that adjust the appearance of filtering effects at run-time, which is demonstrated by an on-screen painting interface for per-pixel parameterization that fosters the casual creativity of non-artists.
API Blender: A Uniform Interface to Social Platform APIs

With the growing success of the social Web, most Web developers have to interact with at least one social Web platform, which implies studying the related API specications. These are often only informally described, may contain errors, lack harmonization, and generally speaking make the developer’s work dicult. Most attempts to solve this problem, proposing formal description languages for Web service APIs, have had limited success outside of B2B applications; we believe it is due to their top-down nature. In addition, a programmer dealing with one or several of these APIs has to deal with a number of related tasks such as data integration, requests chaining, or policy management, that are cumbersome to implement. Inspired by the SPORE project, we present API Blender, an open-source solution to describe, interact with, and integrate the most common social Web APIs. In this perspective, we rst introduce two new lightweight description formats for requests and services and demonstrate their relevance with respect to current platform APIs. We present our Python implementation of API Blender and its features regarding authentication, policy management and multi-platform data integration.