Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Management of Subdivided Populations in Conservation Programs: Development of a Novel Dynamic System

Within the context of a conservation program the management of subdivided populations implies a compromise between the control of the global genetic diversity, the avoidance of high inbreeding levels, and, sometimes, the maintenance of a certain degree of differentiation between subpopulations. We present a dynamic and flexible methodology, based on genealogical information, for the maximization of the genetic diversity (measured through the global population coancestry) in captive subdivided populations while controlling/restricting the levels of inbreeding. The method is able to implement specific restrictions on the desired relative levels of coancestry between and within subpopulations. By accounting for the particular genetic population structure, the method determines the optimal contributions (i.e., number of offspring) of each individual, the number of migrants, and the particular subpopulations involved in the exchange of individuals. Computer simulations are used to illustrate the procedure and its performance in a range of reasonable scenarios. The method performs well in most situations and is shown to be more efficient than the commonly accepted one-migrant-per-generation strategy.
Global empires and revolution, 1890-1945

1. Introduction 2. Globalization imperially fractured: the British Empire 3. America and its empire in the Progressive Era, 1890-1930 4. Asian empires: fallen dragon, rising sun, 1890-1930 5. Half-global crisis: World War I 6. Explaining revolutions: phase I, proletarian revolutions, 1917-23 7. Half-global crisis: the Great Depression 8. The New Deal: America shifts left 9. Varieties of social citizenship in capitalist democracies 10. The fascist alternative, 1918-45 11. The Soviet alternative, 1918-45 12. Japanese imperialism, 1931-45 13. Explaining the Chinese revolution 14. The last inter-imperial war and the fall of the fascist alternative, 1939-45 15. Conclusion.
Simiduia areninigrae sp. nov., an agarolytic bacterium isolated from sea sand.

During a study intended to screen for agar-degrading bacteria, strain M2-5T was isolated from black sand off the shore of Jeju Island, Republic of Korea. Strain M2-5T exhibited agarase activity; the β-agarase gene of the isolate had 62 % amino acid sequence identity to the β-agarase gene of Microbulbifer thermotolerans JAMB A94T. The isolate was closely related to members of the genus Simiduia but was clearly discernible from reported Simiduia species, based on a polyphasic analysis. Cells of strain M2-5T were Gram-negative, catalase- and oxidase-positive, motile rods. The DNA G+C content was 53.3 mol%. The predominant isoprenoid quinone was Q-8. The major cellular fatty acids were C17:1ω8c (25.9 %), summed feature 3 (iso-C(15 : 0) 2-OH and/or C16:1ω7c; 17.2 %) and C17:0 (15.0 %). Phylogenetic analysis using 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain M2-5T had 96.6 % gene sequence similarity to Simiduia agarivorans SA1T, the most closely related type strain of the genus Simiduia. These results suggest that strain M2-5T represents a novel species in the genus Simiduia, for which the name Simiduia areninigrae sp. nov. is proposed; the type strain is M2-5T (=KCTC 23293T=NCAIM B 02424T).
Repeated prevalence studies of nosocomial infections in one university hospital in Serbia.

BACKGROUND/AIM Nosocomial infections occur worldwide and affect both developed and resource-poor countries. The aim of this paper was to determine the prevalence and risk factors for nosocomial infections in one Serbian hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS Three-point prevalence surveys were conducted in the Clinical Center of Kragujevac (1240 beds). The standard definitions for nosocomial infections of the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention were used. The authors conducted surveys according to the same protocol. RESULTS The prevalence of infected patients and the overall prevalence of nosocomial infections was 6.2% and 7.1% in 2003, 4.6% and 4.6% in 2005, and 7.6% and 8.7% in 2009, respectively. In all three studies, the risk factors for nosocomial infections were older age, intravascular catheters, urinary catheters, longer hospital stays, hospitalization in an intensive care unit, and surgeries. According to the multivariate regression analysis, a prolonged hospitalization and use of a urinary catheter were independent risk factors for nosocomial infections in the first and second study. CONCLUSION The overall healthcare-associated infection prevalence in our hospital increased from 2003 to 2009, and this was an incentive for a better definition of infection control priorities in high-risk departments.
On the mechanism of loading the PCNA sliding clamp by RFC

Sliding clamps play central roles in a broad range of DNA replication and repair processes. The clamps form circular molecules that must be opened and resealed around DNA by the clamp loader complex to fulfil their function. While most eukaryotes and many archea possess a homo‐trimeric PCNA, the PCNA of Sulfolobus solfataricus is a heterotrimer. Here, we exploit the asymmetry of S. solfataricus PCNA to create a series of circularly permuted PCNA subunit fusions, thereby covalently closing defined interfaces within the heterotrimer. Using these concatamers, we investigate the requirements for loading the clamp onto DNA and reveal that a single defined interface within the heterotrimer is opened during the loading process. Subunit–specific interactions between S. solfataricus RFC clamp loader and PCNA permit us to superimpose our data upon the structure of yeast RFC–PCNA complex, thereby presenting a general model for PCNA loading by RFC in archaea and eukaryotes.
Ameliorating cellular traffic peaks through preloading and P2P communications

An increasingly common problem facing cellular data networks is the overloading issue during peak times. We propose two methods to reduce the maximum load of a cellular network caused by interest diffusion over a social network. The first is via preloading, in which social networks can be used to predict user demand and serve users early. The second method is offloading, which uses peer-to-peer communications to migrate content delivery from the cellular network to other networks. We assume that peer-to-peer communications are opportunistic and random as they hinge on users' mobility. Despite the uncontrollable nature of these inter-meetings between users, offloading can greatly reduce the peak of the cellular traffic. These two methods work especially well in tandem, as preloading creates a base of users that can serve later users via offloading. We focus on the impact of uncertainty by examining various assumptions in detail. We begin by demonstrating that modeling the inter-meeting process as random, as opposed to deterministic, only slightly increases the cellular load peak. On the contrary, replacing the known interest diffusion process with a random process would greatly increase the cellular load peak. This peak is further increased when the commonly used assumption of knowing all users' identities is relaxed by random identities. We close by highlighting the new challenges when preloading multiple pieces of content and propose a heuristic preloading algorithm.
Reduction in Baroreflex Cardiovascular Responses Due to Venous Infusion in the Rabbit

We studied reflex bradycardia and depression of mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) during left aortic nerve (LAN) stimulation before and after volume infusion in the anesthetized rabbit. Step increases in mean right atrial pressure (MRAP) to 10 mm Hg did not result in a significant change in heart rate or MAP. After volume loading, responses to LAN stimulation were not as great and the degree of attenuation was proportional to the level of increased MRAP. A change in responsiveness was observed after elevation of MRAP by only 1 nun Hg, corresponding to less than a 10% increase in average calculated blood volume. After an increase in MRAP of 10 mm Hg, peak responses were attenuated by 44% (heart rate) and 52% (MAP), and the initial slopes (rate of change) were reduced by 46% (heart rate) and 66% (MAP). Comparison of the responses after infusion with blood and dextran solutions indicated that hemodilotion was an unlikely explanation for the attenuation of the reflex responses. Total arterial baroreceptor denervation (ABD) abolished the volume-related attenuation of the cardiovascular responses, whereas attenuation was still present following bilateral aortic nerve section or vagotomy. It thus appears that the carotid sinus responds to changes in blood volume and influences the reflex cardiovascular responses to afferent stimulation of the LAN. On the other hand, cardiopuhnonary receptors subserved by vagal afferents do not appear to be involved.
The far-infrared behaviour of Herbig Ae/Be discs: Herschel PACS photometry

Herbig Ae/Be objects are pre-main sequence stars surrounded by gas- and dust-rich circumstellar discs. These objects are in the throes of star and planet formation, and their characterisation informs us of the processes and outcomes of planet formation processes around intermediate mass stars. Here we analyse the spectral energy distributions of disc host stars observed by the Herschel Open Time Key Programme `Gas in Protoplanetary Systems'. We present Herschel/PACS far-infrared imaging observations of 22 Herbig Ae/Bes and 5 debris discs, combined with ancillary photometry spanning ultraviolet to sub-millimetre wavelengths. From these measurements we determine the diagnostics of disc evolution, along with the total excess, in three regimes spanning near-, mid-, and far-infrared wavelengths. Using appropriate statistical tests, these diagnostics are examined for correlations. We find that the far-infrared flux, where the disc becomes optically thin, is correlated with the millimetre flux, which provides a measure of the total dust mass. The ratio of far-infrared to sub-millimetre flux is found to be greater for targets with discs that are brighter at millimetre wavelengths and that have steeper sub-millimetre slopes. Furthermore, discs with flared geometry have, on average, larger excesses than flat geometry discs. Finally, we estimate the extents of these discs (or provide upper limits) from the observations.
Jointly Attentive Spatial-Temporal Pooling Networks for Video-Based Person Re-identification

Person Re-Identification (person re-id) is a crucial task as its applications in visual surveillance and human-computer interaction. In this work, we present a novel joint Spatial and Temporal Attention Pooling Network (ASTPN) for video-based person re-identification, which enables the feature extractor to be aware of the current input video sequences, in a way that interdependency from the matching items can directly influence the computation of each other's representation. Specifically, the spatial pooling layer is able to select regions from each frame, while the attention temporal pooling performed can select informative frames over the sequence, both pooling guided by the information from distance matching. Experiments are conduced on the iLIDS-VID, PRID-2011 and MARS datasets and the results demonstrate that this approach outperforms existing state-of-art methods. We also analyze how the joint pooling in both dimensions can boost the person re-id performance more effectively than using either of them separately 1.
Observability and observers for non-linear systems

In this article we propose an observer for minimal bilinear systems. We are examining the cases where we can use this observer for non-linear systems in a more general situation. For this purpose we are proposing the procedure of canonical immersion of a non-linear system in a bilinear one and we solve this problem for the simplest case (dimension for observation space being 2).
Segmentation of virus-infected areas in retinal angiograms using a learning-by-sample approach

A operational system devoted to the segmentation of virus-infected areas in the retina is described. It uses a 3-stage approach which involves image sampling, unsupervised coding and supervised classification. Unsupervised coding is provided by principal component analysis whereas supervised classification is performed by a multilayer perceptron. Segmentation as realized by ophthalmologists is considered to be the gold standard. It is shown that, despite the high variability of images, automatic segmentation is accurate and can help to spot problematic areas.
Evidence for the hypothesis of strain formation in Pomphorhynchus laevis (Acanthocephala): an investigation using mitochondrial DNA sequences

A hypothesis has been erected stating that in the British Isles the acanthocephalan, Pomphorhynchus laevis can be separated into 3 strains, an English, Irish and marine strain. Ecological and morphological evidence exists in support of this hypothesis. An investigation at the molecular level was conducted in order to test the validity of the existing evidence. A mitochondrial gene, subunit I of cytochrome c oxidase was partially sequenced from 3 Irish populations of P. laevis, 1 Scottish population and 3 English populations. P. laevis sequences from brown trout from Ireland, England and Scotland were very similar, showing a mean sequence divergence of 0·7%. Sequences from two populations of P. laevis from English chub and bullhead were also similar to each other (0·35% divergence). These two groups of sequences, the brown trout group and the chub/bullhead group were 2·2% different. These data confirm the existence of at least 2 strains in Ireland and Britain, although there is evidence to suggest that these strains are defined by their host species rather than by their geographical distributions.
Hysteresis models and gravity fingering in porous media

We study flow problems in unsaturated porous media. Our main interest is the gravity driven penetration of a dry material, a situation in which fingering effects can be observed experimentally and numerically. The flow is described by either a Richards or a two‐phase model. The important modelling aspect regards the capillary pressure relation which can include static hysteresis and dynamic corrections. We report on analytical existence and instability results for the corresponding models and present numerical calculations. We show that fingering effects can be observed in various models and discuss the importance of the static hysteresis term.
A Novel Variant Marking HLA-DP Expression Levels Predicts Recovery from Hepatitis B Virus Infection

ABSTRACT Variants near the HLA-DP gene show the strongest genome-wide association with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and HBV recovery/persistence in Asians. To test the effect of the HLA-DP region on outcomes to HBV infection, we sequenced the polymorphic HLA-DPB1 and DPA1 coding exons and the corresponding 3′ untranslated regions (3′UTRs) in 662 individuals of European-American and African-American ancestry. The genome-wide association study (GWAS) variant (rs9277535; 550A/G) in the 3′UTR of the HLA-DPB1 gene that associated most significantly with chronic hepatitis B and outcomes to HBV infection in Asians had a marginal effect on HBV recovery in our European- and African-American samples (odds ratio [OR] = 0.39, P = 0.01, combined ethnic groups). However, we identified a novel variant in the HLA-DPB1 3′UTR region, 496A/G (rs9277534), which associated very significantly with HBV recovery in both European and African-American populations (OR = 0.37, P = 0.0001, combined ethnic groups). The 496A/G variant distinguishes the most protective HLA-DPB1 allele (DPB1*04:01) from the most susceptible (DPB1*01:01), whereas 550A/G does not. 496A/G has a stronger effect than any individual HLA-DPB1 or DPA1 allele and any other HLA alleles that showed an association with HBV recovery in our European-American cohort. The 496GG genotype, which confers recessive susceptibility to HBV persistence, also associates in a recessive manner with significantly higher levels of HLA-DP surface protein and transcript level expression in healthy donors, suggesting that differences in expression of HLA-DP may increase the risk of persistent HBV infection.
A model of critical success factors for software projects

Purpose – Existing models of critical success factors of software projects have less concentration on communication, team, project management and product related factors. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual model of critical success factors (CSFs) for software development projects, categorize the success factors, finding the factors in each category and highlighting the product, team, project management and communication factors as important categories of success factors for software projects.Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual model and seven categories of success factors comprising a total of 80 success factors for software development projects were identified based on the thorough literature review. These 80 factors are collected based on their importance to software projects and their repeated occurrence in the literature related to CSFs. Based on the occurrence of the success factor in the literature, each category comprising top five success factors are identified as c.
Hybrid resonant structures for wireless sensor applications

In this work, we report on an original approach for increasing the coupling factor of Harmonic Bulk Acoustic Resonators (HBARs). It consists in adding a layer onto the top electrode to optimize the operation of the device. We avoid using metal layers and used an extra Aluminum Nitride (AlN) film to optimize the excitation energy localization in the stack and try and preserve the Q factor of the structure. We present simulation results demonstrating the efficiency of the optimization approach. Based on these simulations, test devices have been manufactured and tested, demonstrating the possibility to gain more than a factor of 2 on the coupling along the proposed approach. Finally, the possibility to wirelessly interrogate these resonators is demonstrated.
Research methods in geography : a critical introduction

List of Figures. List of Tables. List of Boxes. List of Exercises. Notes on Contributors. Acknowledgments. 1 Introduction (John Paul Jones III and Basil Gomez). Part I Theory and Methodology. 2 Theorizing Our World (Ian Graham Ronald Shaw, Deborah P. Dixon, and John Paul Jones III). 3 Observing Our World (Bruce L. Rhoads and David Wilson). 4 Measurement and Interpretation (Sent Visser and John Paul Jones III). 5 Operational Decisions (Andrew Herod and Kathleen C. Parker). 6 Sampling Our World (Ryan R. Jensen and J. Matthew Shumway). Part II Collecting Data. 7 Physical Landscapes (Michael J. Crozier, Ulrike Hardenbicker, and Basil Gomez). 8 Climates (Julie A. Winkler). 9 Vegetation (Thomas W. Gillespie and Glen M. MacDonald). 10 Remote Sensing (Douglas A. Stow). 11 Secondary Data (Kevin St Martin and Marianna Pavlovskaya). 12 Social Surveys, Interviews, and Focus Groups (Anna J. Secor). 13 Ethnography and Participant Observation (Debbie Allsop, Hannah Allen, Helen Clare, Ian Cook, Hayley Raxter, Christina Upton, and Alice Williams). 14 Cultural Landscapes (Richard H. Schein). 15 Human-Environment Field Study (Paul F. Robbins). Part III Representing and Analyzing. 16 Maps and Diagrams (Stephen P. Hanna). 17 Descriptive Statistics (Sent Visser and John Paul Jones III). 18 Explanatory Statistics (Sent Visser and John Paul Jones III). 19 Mathematical Analysis (Sandra Lach Arlinghaus). 20 Regional Analysis (Gordon F. Mulligan). 21 Modeling (Yvonne Martin and Stefania Bertazzon). 22 Geographic Information Systems (Michael F. Goodchild). 23 Analyzing Meaning (Deborah P. Dixon). Part IV Obligations. 24 The Politics and Ethics of Research (David M. Smith). 25 Writing It Up (Dydia DeLyser). Glossary. Index.
Adaptive servoventilation versus oxygen therapy for sleep disordered breathing in patients with heart failure: a randomised trial

Background Both adaptive servoventilation (ASV) and nocturnal oxygen therapy improve sleep disordered breathing (SDB), but their effects on cardiac parameters have not been compared systematically. Methods and results 43 patients with chronic heart failure (CHF; left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤50%) with SDB were randomly assigned to undergo ASV (n=19, apnoea hypopnoea index (AHI)=34.2±12.1/h) or oxygen therapy (n=24, 36.9±9.9/h) for 3 months. More than 70% of SDB events in both groups were central apnoeas or hypopnoeas. Although nightly adherence was less for the ASV group than for the oxygen group (4.4±2.0 vs 6.2±1.8 h/day, p<0.01), the improvement in AHI was larger in the ASV group than in the oxygen group (−27.0±11.5 vs −16.5±10.2/h, p<0.01). The N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) level in the ASV group improved significantly after titration (1535±2224 to 1251±2003 pg/mL, p=0.01), but increased slightly at follow-up and this improvement was not sustained (1311±1592 pg/mL, p=0.08). Meanwhile, the level of plasma NT-proBNP in the oxygen group did not show a significant change throughout the study (baseline 1071±1887, titration 980±1913, follow-up 1101±1888 pg/mL, p=0.19). The significant difference in the changes in the NT-proBNP level throughout the study between the 2 groups was not found (p=0.30). Neither group showed significant changes in echocardiographic parameters. Conclusions Although ASV produced better resolution of SDB in patients with CHF as compared with oxygen therapy, neither treatment produced a significant improvement in cardiac function in the short term. Although we could not draw a definite conclusion because of the small number of participants, our data do not seem to support the routine use of ASV or oxygen therapy to improve cardiac function in patients with CHF with SDB. Trial registration number NCT01187823 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov).
A self-aware approach to context management in pervasive platforms

Pervasive computing envisions environments where computers are blended into everyday objects in order to provide added-value services to people. Already today, there is a growing number of advanced embedded systems around us, extended with computing and communication capabilities. However, pervasive applications raise major challenges in term of software engineering and remain hard to develop, deploy, execute, and maintain. In particular, smart home platforms must be autonomic because their management cannot be done by end users who do not possess the necessary skills. In this paper, we propose to handle context management in a service-oriented pervasive platform by defining a self-aware solution and associated mechanisms. Our approach is illustrated with a smart home example implemented in our pervasive platform iCasa.
cMUT technology applied to galvanic isolation: Theory and experiments

This study relies on double-sided chips where capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers (cMUT) are manufactured on both sides of a silicon substrate in order to perform galvanic isolation between two electrical circuits. The operating principle is based on the propagation of acoustic waves from one transducer to the other, providing a high level of electrical isolation. The work presented here focuses mainly on the assessment of the power efficiency, from an experimental and from a theoretical point of view. Encouraging power efficiency values were reached, showing a significant efficiency gain when taking advantage of the coupling with the substrate.