Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Colorimetric Sensor Array Allows Fast Detection and Simultaneous Identification of Sepsis-Causing Bacteria in Spiked Blood Culture

ABSTRACT Sepsis is a medical emergency demanding early diagnosis and tailored antimicrobial therapy. Every hour of delay in initiating effective therapy measurably increases patient mortality. Blood culture is currently the reference standard for detecting bloodstream infection, a multistep process which may take one to several days. Here, we report a novel paradigm for earlier detection and the simultaneous identification of pathogens in spiked blood cultures by means of a metabolomic “fingerprint” of the volatile mixture outgassed by the organisms. The colorimetric sensor array provided significantly faster detection of positive blood cultures than a conventional blood culture system (12.1 h versus 14.9 h, P < 0.001) while allowing for the identification of 18 bacterial species with 91.9% overall accuracy within 2 h of growth detection. The colorimetric sensor array also allowed for discrimination between unrelated strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, indicating that the metabolomic fingerprint has the potential to track nosocomial transmissions. Altogether, the colorimetric sensor array is a promising tool that offers a new paradigm for diagnosing bloodstream infections.
Randomized trial comparing cisplatin with radioactive phosphorus or whole‐abdomen irradiation as adjuvant treatment of Ovarian cancer

In this study, 347 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer without residual tumor after primary laparotomy, were assigned randomly to receive either intraperitoneal instillation of radioactive phosphorus (32P) or six courses of cisplatin (50 mg/m2. Patients randomized to receive 32P with extensive intraperitoneal adhesions were treated with whole‐abdomen irradiation instead of 32P (n = 28). The median follow‐up was 62 months. Crude and disease‐free survival were similar in all groups. Late bowel complications occurred more often in patients treated with 32P compared with the cisplatin group. The estimated 5‐year crude survival rate was as high as 95% in patients with borderline or well‐differentiated tumors in Stage I. It is suggested that these patients can be treated adequately by operation alone. Patients with moderately or poorly differentiated cancers in Stage I disease had a 5‐year crude survival rate of 75%. In these patients, the relapse risk was high enough to warrant postoperative treatment. The efficacy of adjuvant treatment in this subgroup of patients can only be established in a prospective randomized study comparing postoperative adjuvant treatment with a no‐treatment arm. Because of the high number of late bowel complications after 32P treatment, it was recommended that cisplatin be used as standard adjuvant treatment for subsequent controlled studies.
Development of Locomotor Behavior in the Spinal Kitten

This study was undertaken to determine the locomotor capability of kittens whose spinal cords were transected at birth. The postnatal development of reflex and goal-directed locomotion was examined during the first 5 postnatal months in kittens that received low thoracic spinal cord transections as newborns. Some spinal kittens developed aberrant quadrupedal forms of locomotion. The onset of quadrupedal locomotion, however, was delayed by 2-3 months compared to the normal kitten (42) and deteriorated by 5 months of age. Qualitative and quantitative analyses demonstrated that the quadrupedal locomotion was abnormal. Although some step cycles were characterized by full weight support, the typical hindlimb step cycle of the best performing cat showed inadequate weight support and balance. No spinal cat was able to coordinate the hindlimbs with the forelimbs during overground locomotion on a runaway or during quadrupedal locomotion on a treadmill. Neuroanatomical tracing with WGA-HRP and immunocytochemical techniques showed no axonal regeneration or growth into or across the lesion sites. The aberrant form of quadrupedal locomotion developed without descending input to the caudal spinal cord. The variability in performance among animals suggested that compensatory strategies were important factors in the spinal kitten's achievement of quadrupedal locomotion. Hindlimb weight-supported stepping during quadrupedal locomotion in some animals underscored the capacity of the isolated caudal spinal cord to generate both rhythmical stepping movements and weight support. The maintenance of developmentally immature, but functional, hindlimb postures suggested that the development of the isolated caudal spinal cord was arrested in the absence of descending input.
Teacher Self-Directed Learning for Sexual Health Education

2 Chapter 1: Introduction 7 1.0 Research Context 7 1.1 Research Problem 11 1.2 Research Purpose 13 1.3 Main Research Question 14 1.3. 1 Subsidiary questions 14 1.4 Reflexive Positioning Statement 14 1.5 Preview Of The Whole 17 Chapter 2: Literature Review 19 2.
Account ownership and use of financial services among individuals: Evidence from selected Sub-Saharan African economies

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to understand the effect of individual characteristics (such as sex, age, education and income) on the likelihood of account ownership and use in selected Sub-Saharan African (SSA) economies. Account use is operationalized into two constructs namely the use of account to save and the frequency of account use. Design/methodology/approach - Data from 18,000 individuals from 18 SSA economies are used for the analysis. These data are sourced from the World Bank’s Global Findex database. Simple probit and selection models are employed as econometric tools. Findings - Account ownership and use is found to be higher among males, middle aged, high income and educated individuals. The marginal effect of income and education is most pronounced suggesting more policy attention is required in respect of the two factors. Practical implications - Due to causality issues between financial inclusion and income, addressing the plight of the poor in financial inclusion projects will be a continuing challenge for policy makers. Originality/value - It supplements the dearth of econometric studies conducted on the topic. Furthermore, regional specific factors affect the generality of results which calls for such type of studies.
Adaptive Patch Alignment Based Local Binary Patterns for face recognition

This paper introduces a novel face recognition method based on Adaptive Patch Alignment Based Local Binary Patterns (APALBP). LBP is one of the most effective features to face recognition. However, the effectiveness of this feature greatly relies on face alignment, i.e., since LBP is in fact an image feature rather than face feature, pose difference will directly influence the recognition performance. APALBP is much more robust than original LBP. The novelty of this paper comes from 1) enrolling an adaptive patch alignment method, so that LBP feature can be directly applied on unaligned images; 2) putting forward a new solution to small sample problems in face recognition; 3) introducing a novel feature extraction which could be extended to general recognition problems. We present improved recognition results to demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.
Deterministic learning of a class of nonlinear systems with relaxed conditions

A deterministic learning theory was recently presented which states that all appropriately designed adaptive neural controller can learn the system internal dynamics while attempting to control a class of simple nonlinear systems in Brunovsky form. In this paper, we investigate deterministic learning from adaptive neural control of a class of nonlinear systems with mild assumptions on the lower and upper bounds of affine term g(x). To overcome the difficulties brought by the affine terms for learning, firstly, the tracking control and the stability of the closed-loop system are guaranteed by the use of ISS (Input-to-State Stability) analysis and SG (Small Gain) theorem. Secondly, without bound of the derivative of affine term, deterministic learning of the unknown system dynamics can be implemented when the exponential stability of a class of LTV systems is achieved. In addition, the utilization of knowledge learned is also investigated, i.e., a non-high gains controller is constructed to improve the control performance and reduce the control cost.
Content management policies in peer-to-peer file sharing networks

Peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing applications consist of nodes that share part of their local memory. A node can download a file (also called content) from another node participating to the P2P community, and must allow others to download files stored in its own shared local memory. Since nodes join and leave the P2P community at their will in an uncoordinated way, copies of the same file must be stored in many nodes. By means of this redundancy, the probability that a given content cannot be retrieved because all nodes storing it are temporary inactive can be kept small. Content management policies are the distributed strategies implemented at the nodes to decide the set of files to be stored in the local memory. In this paper, we propose, analyze and compare different content management policies. The considered performance indices include the probability that content cannot be retrieved due to lack of available copies of the content, and the amount of traffic generated in the network.
Influence of nonspecific brain and plasma binding on CNS exposure: implications for rational drug discovery

Relative plasma, brain and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) exposures and unbound fractions in plasma and brain were examined for 18 proprietary compounds in rats. The relationship between in vivo brain‐to‐plasma ratio and in vitro plasma‐to‐brain unbound fraction (fu) was examined. In addition, plasma fu and brain fu were examined for their relationship to in vivo CSF‐to‐plasma and CSF‐to‐brain ratios, respectively. Findings were delineated based on the presence or absence of active efflux. Finally, the same comparisons were examined in FVB vs. MDR 1a/1b knockout mice for a selected P‐glycoprotein (Pgp) substrate. For the nine compounds without indications of active efflux, predictive correlations were observed between ratios of brain‐to‐plasma exposure and plasma‐to‐brain fu (r2 = 0.98), CSF‐to‐brain exposure vs. brain fu (r2 = 0.72), and CSF‐to‐plasma exposure vs. plasma fu (r2 = 0.82). For the nine compounds with indications of active efflux, nonspecific binding data tended to over predict the brain‐to‐plasma and CSF‐to‐plasma exposure ratios. Interestingly, CSF‐to‐brain exposure ratio was consistently under predicted by brain fu for this set. Using a select Pgp substrate, it was demonstrated that the brain‐to‐plasma exposure ratio was identical to that predicted by plasma‐to‐brain fu ratio in MDR 1a/1b knockout mice. In FVB mice, plasma‐to‐brain fu over predicted brain‐to‐plasma exposure ratio to the same degree as the difference in brain‐to‐plasma exposure ratio between MDR 1a/1b and FVB mice. Consistent results were obtained in rats, suggesting a similar kinetic behavior between species. These data illustrate how an understanding of relative tissue binding (plasma, brain) can allow for a quantitative examination of active processes that determine CNS exposure. The general applicability of this approach offers advantages over species‐ and mechanism‐specific approaches. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Prevalence of physical and sexual abuse before and during pregnancy among Swedish couples

BACKGROUND To estimate the prevalence of threats and actual acts of physical and sexual abuse during pregnancy. METHODS Two hundred and seven pregnant Swedish women married to or cohabiting with Swedish men were randomly selected from three antenatal clinics in the city of Göteborg, Sweden. A standardized questionnaire was used for personal interviews about the women's experience of physical and sexual abuse by a husband or a boyfriend at some point in the past, during the last year and during current pregnancy. RESULTS Twenty-seven point five percent of the women reported that they had been exposed to physical violence at some point in the past by their husband/boyfriend. Twenty-four and a half percent of the women had experienced some form of threat, physical or sexual violence during the last year. At some time (once or more) during their current pregnancy, the proportions of women who had been exposed to the following categories of violence, were as follows: 14.5%-symbolic violence, 14.5%-threats of mild violence, 2.9%-threats of moderate violence, 2.9%-threats of serious violence, 11%-mild violence, 4.3%-minor violence, 2.4%-moderate violence, 4.3%-serious violence and 3.3%-sexual violence. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates that a considerable number of women had experienced threats, physical and sexual abuse during pregnancy. There is an obvious need for screening of experience of domestic violence among pregnant women to enhance the safety of women and their unborn babies.
Cytokinesis-Defective Mutants of Arabidopsis1

We have identified mutations in six previously uncharacterized genes of Arabidopsis, named club,bublina, massue, rod,bloated, and bims, that are required for cytokinesis. The mutants are seedling lethal, have morphological abnormalities, and are characterized by cell wall stubs, gapped walls, and multinucleate cells. In these and other respects, the new mutants are phenotypically similar to knolle,keule, hinkel, and pleiademutants. The mutants display a gradient of stomatal phenotypes, correlating roughly with the severity of their cytokinesis defect. Similarly, the extent to which the different mutant lines were capable of growing in tissue culture correlated well with the severity of the cytokinesis defect. Phenotypic analysis of the novel and previously characterized loci indicated that the secondary consequences of a primary defect in cytokinesis include anomalies in body organization, organ number, and cellular differentiation, as well as organ fusions and perturbations of the nuclear cycle. Two of the 10 loci are required for both cytokinesis and root hair morphogenesis. The results have implications for the identification of novel cytokinesis genes and highlight the mechanistic similarity between cytokinesis and root hair morphogenesis, two processes that result in a rapid deposition of new cell walls via polarized secretion.
Exploring human rights conceptualisations in the United States : a study into knowledge and attitudes of participants connected to a social justice NGO

Natt, Sharon. 2016. Exploring Human Rights Conceptualisations in the United States: A study into knowledge and attitudes of participants connected to a social justice NGO. University of Jyväskylä. Department of Education. Concepts of human rights are present within our social, global and geo-political frameworks, yet their understandings are subject to infinite influences and interpretations. This localised and exploratory study importantly addresses a gap in previous research by investigating such conceptualisations against the backdrop of the United States. Centring on knowledge and attitudes, it focuses specifically on US participants with a connection to a social justice NGO. Representations of negative and positive rights are compared against demographics and awareness of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) to draw deeper conclusions within the wider context. Furthermore, attitudes towards human rights education are explored. The 151-sized sample was derived from NGO The Advocates for Human Rights’ mailing list and Minneapolis State Fair between August-September 2015. The mixed-methods survey results were then analysed using data-driven quantitative and qualitative content methods. The results found that human rights were often articulated through naturalistic and ethical language, and most participants deemed the concepts relevant to their lives. The majority also believed that human rights education should be taught in schools. Negative rights were referred to more than positive rights, and just over half reported an awareness of the UDHR. Consequently, this awareness was shown to significantly impact how certain issues were viewed. The research produced significant findings and thus gives recommendations for further research in this area.
Implementation method in blind deconvolution based tumor segmentation using simulated PET images

PET imaging is increasingly used in determining functional tumor volumes for therapy response assessment and treatment planning. Accurate measurement of metabolically active tumors may improve optimal delivery of radiation treatment. However, volume measurement of small tumors (<2 cm) has been a much investigated subject due to Partial Volume Effect and limited resolution of the system. This research combined two methods in improving accuracy of small tumor volume estimation: the tumor targeted blind deconvolution and the resampling method, and assessed it using the thresholding method on simulated PET images of tumors sized 10.5 mm and 14 mm at Tumor to Background Ratios (TBRs) of 4:1 and 10:1 reconstructed with (AW)-OSEM algorithm. Results showed that the local blind deconvolution method significantly decreased volume error rate of small tumors (<2 cm) compared with the original non-deconvolved images. The segmented mean volumes and SDs were 7.13 cc ± 2.64 cc and 1.54 cc ± 0.51 cc for the tumors in original images and locally deconvolved images respectively. The best segmented volume was measured in locally deconvolved and resampled image for the tumor size of 14 mm at TBR of 10. The estimated volume error rate was found as 0.74% for this tumor. In addition, the computation time is significantly reduced ∼ 13-fold using the local extraction method with resampling. Unlike previous studies, we combined two methods and optimized iterations of deconvolution to enhance resolution of small tumor images. Our results may facilitate improvements in detection of small tumors with different shapes and heterogenous activity distributions.
Further insights on Málaga distribution for atmospheric optical communications

Recently, a new and generalized statistical model, called M or Málaga distribution, has been proposed to model the irradiance fluctuations of an unbounded optical wavefront (plane and spherical waves) propagating through a turbulent medium under all irradiance fluctuation conditions in homogeneous, isotropic turbulence. The major advantage of the model is that leads to closed-form and mathematically-tractable expressions for the fundamental channel statistics of an unbounded optical wavefront under all turbulent regimes. Furthermore, it unifies most of the proposed statistical models for the irradiance fluctuations derived in the bibliography providing, in addition, an excellent agreement with published plane wave and spherical wave simulation data over a wide range of turbulence conditions (weak to strong).
A field analysis of a 14-19 educational partnership

Over the 2002 to 2010 period of New Labour administration, a key strand of educational policy was the notion of 14-19 education. A key component of which was a belief that for this to be delivered most effectively, organisations needed to work in partnership. This research aimed to understand and explain the operation of a 14-19 partnership, of which I was a member, and to suggest possible ways in which its operation could be improved. It was carried out as the Conservative Liberal Democrat Coalition was introducing significantly different accountability measures for the 14-16 age group. A critical realist methodology was used as the ontological and epistemological basis (Bhaskar 1998; Bhaskar 2008). Since such a methodology does not have a preferred underpinning theoretical framework, results were predominantly analysed through the lens of Bourdieu’s triad of sociological principles of habitus, field, and capital (Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992). Where appropriate, results were also framed by performativity (Lyotard 1984) and partnership perspectives from education (Hodgson and Spours 2006) and organisational studies (Contractor and Lorange 2004). Two key data collection methods, both from the perspective of an insider researcher, were used. Participant observation was used to obtain in situ evidence of partnership operation. In addition, eleven senior managers from partnership organisations were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. An analysis of field positions and a reflexive self-analysis were also carried out. This study identified that, for this partnership, the introduction of ‘Progress Eight’ led to the partnership’s demise. Using empirical evidence, the study provides theorised explanations of factors that affected partner engagement within this particular ‘weakly-collaborative’ 14-19 partnership, thus providing a number of original contributions to knowledge. It extended conceptions of educational partnership based upon theories of social capital by linking partnership engagement to capital exchange, capital cost-benefit analysis and the influence of government statist capital. The study also provided an early indication of the likely influence of ‘Progress Eight’ on partnership behaviour and, more generally, on the 14-16 curriculum within schools. Finally, the research methodology is an operationalised example of how a Bourdieun theoretical framework could be combined with a critical realist ontology to research the educational organisation context.
Mitigation methods of sawtooth modulations effect on FMCW radar INDERA MX-4

LFM sawtooth modulation technique on FMCW radar is used in a relatively large radar range and with a negligible influence of Doppler frequency. Despite its advantages, inaccurate timing of transmitted signals and beat signal acquisition process on FMCW radar by using sawtooth modulations give effect on reducing SNR and capability of target detection. In this study, we developed methods to synchronize beat signal using overshoot detection and data shifting to reduce the effect of inaccurate hardware timing in the LFM sawtooth. The overshoot is mainly caused by abrupt changes at the end of the sawtooth, commonly called No-Dwell. This developed method has been tested on INDERA MX-4 coastal radar. The method demonstrated improved radar dynamic range of 20 dB and a reduced noise floor from −18 dBm to −45 dBm.
Spatial Eects of Foreign Direct Investment in U.S. States

This paper estimates the aggregate productivity eects of Marshallian externalities gener- ated by foreign direct investments (FDI) in the U.S. In contrast to earlier papers, this paper puts special emphasis on controlling for Marshallian externalities generated by domestic …rms and other interregional spillovers. The productivity eects of these externalities may, if not accounted for appropriately, be falsely attributed to FDI. This paper also puts special emphasis on endogeneity arising from FDI being attracted to locations where domestic …rms generate externalities to a large extent. It uses a regional production function framework that models Marshallian externalities and other intra- and interregional spillovers explicitly as determinants of total factor productivity, and tests several empirical speci…cations of this model, using data for U.S. states from 1977-2003. Preliminary results indicate that FDI do, in fact, generate Mar- shallian externalities whose aggregate productivity eects exceed those generated by domestic …rms, and that these externalities decay fairly rapidly with increasing distance.
Chemical , Physical , and Baking Properties of Apple Fiber Compared with Wheat and Oat Bran '

Cereal Chem. 65(3):244-247 Apple fiber was characterized by chemical and physical methods and volume by 14%. Apple fiber was added to cookie and muffin at a found to be a good dietary fiber source and superior water binder to wheat replacement level of at least 4% without a large adverse effect on cookie and and oat brans. Addition of 4% hydrated apple fiber to bread reduced loaf muffin quality.