Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modulation of Biofilm of Strains Isolated from Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease by Levofloxacin, Moxifloxacin, Ciprofloxacin, Amoxicillin/Clavulanic Acid and Ceftriaxone

The ability of levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, ciprofloxacin, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid and ceftriaxone to interfere on biofilm produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae isolated from patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was evaluated. The effects of antibiotics were evaluated on formation of biofilm (at 1/2, 1/4 and 1/8 X MIC) and on preformed biofilm (at epithelial lining fluid peak concentrations) by means of a spectrophotometric method. Levofloxacin was the most active compound followed by ciprofloxacin, moxifloxacin and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid and ceftriaxone. Levofloxacin may contribute to clear the reservoir of pathogens involved in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, thus leading to decreased occurrence of acute exacerbations.
Applying Deming to Service

Assesses the current status and future prospects of quality and productivity improvement efforts in business, especially in America. Presents a picture of the state of the art of quality as a way of life in the service sector. Lots of service operations lag behind manufacturers in making quality improvement a part of the corporate culture, not just an add‐on programme.
Piezoelectric performance of aligned PVDF nanofibers fabricated by electrospinning and mechanical spinning

Considerable attention has been paid to aligned polymer nanofibers because of their appealing mechanical and piezoelectric properties. With modified electrospinning, the aligned poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) nanofibers can be produced. However, the roles of mechanical stretching and electrical poling during this process require further investigation. Here, we utilize a rotary drum to collect the fibers by both electrospinning and mechanical drawing approaches. The fiber mats were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and were directly made into sensing films without post electric poling treatment. Their piezoelectricity was measured in our home-made dynamic air pressure sensor. Results show that the β-phase predominates in both electrospun and mechanically-spun nanofibers. However, sensor based on electrospun β-PVDF fiber mat presented a sensitivity of 178 mV/kPa, while only a very weak output signal was observed in the mechanically spun β-PVDF fiber mat. Therefore, mechanical stretching and electrical poling may play key roles in inducing the β-phase and orienting the dipoles in a preferential direction during electrospinning process, respectively.
The Role of Imports in Expanding the Demand Gap Between Skilled and Unskilled Labour in the US

A unit cost function is employed, in the context of the production theory approach, to estimate the Allen - Uzawa effect of aggregate imports on skilled and unskilled labour in the US. The model corrects for two ubiquitous shortcomings of similar studies: (i) their disregard for the role of nonmanufactured imports, including imports of services, in domestic production, and (ii) their inability to capture, in addition to the conventional domestic-output-substitution effects of the Stolper-Samuelson variety, the impact of imports on the demand for primary factors that is generated via domestic factor-using downstream processes. To circumvent curvature related problems, often associated with similar studies that do not invoke separability, we combine the global imposition of concavity with a symmetric normalized quadratic representation of the unit cost function (that remains flexible after curvature enforcing reparametrizations). The results confirm the notion that imports hurt unskilled labour. However, th.
Fine‐scale genetic structure and gene dispersal inferences in 10 Neotropical tree species

The extent of gene dispersal is a fundamental factor of the population and evolutionary dynamics of tropical tree species, but directly monitoring seed and pollen movement is a difficult task. However, indirect estimates of historical gene dispersal can be obtained from the fine‐scale spatial genetic structure of populations at drift–dispersal equilibrium. Using an approach that is based on the slope of the regression of pairwise kinship coefficients on spatial distance and estimates of the effective population density, we compare indirect gene dispersal estimates of sympatric populations of 10 tropical tree species. We re‐analysed 26 data sets consisting of mapped allozyme, SSR (simple sequence repeat), RAPD (random amplified polymorphic DNA) or AFLP (amplified fragment length polymorphism) genotypes from two rainforest sites in French Guiana. Gene dispersal estimates were obtained for at least one marker in each species, although the estimation procedure failed under insufficient marker polymorphism, limited sample size, or inappropriate sampling area. Estimates generally suffered low precision and were affected by assumptions regarding the effective population density. Averaging estimates over data sets, the extent of gene dispersal ranged from 150 m to 1200 m according to species. Smaller gene dispersal estimates were obtained in species with heavy diaspores, which are presumably not well dispersed, and in populations with high local adult density. We suggest that limited seed dispersal could indirectly limit effective pollen dispersal by creating higher local tree densities, thereby increasing the positive correlation between pollen and seed dispersal distances. We discuss the potential and limitations of our indirect estimation procedure and suggest guidelines for future studies.
Fecal MicroRNAs as Novel Biomarkers for Colon Cancer Screening

Introduction: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths, but currently available noninvasive screening programs have achieved only a modest decrease in mortality. MicroRNAs (miRNA) play an important role in a wide array of biological processes and are commonly dysregulated in neoplasia. We aimed to evaluate the feasibility of fecal miRNAs as biomarkers for colorectal neoplasia screening. Materials and Methods: Total RNA was extracted from freshly collected stool samples from 8 healthy volunteers and 29 samples collected via fecal occult blood testing from subjects with normal colonoscopies, colon adenomas, and CRCs. miRNA expression analyses were done with TaqMan quantitative reverse transcription-PCR for a subset of miRNAs. Illumina miRNA microarray profiling was done to evaluate the differences in expression patterns between normal colonic mucosa tissues and stool samples from healthy subjects. Results: We efficiently extracted miRNAs from stool specimens using our developed protocol. Data from independent experiments showed high reproducibility for miRNA extraction and expression. miRNA expression patterns were similar in stool specimens among healthy volunteers, and reproducible in stool samples that were collected serially in time from the same individuals. miRNA expression profiles from 29 patients showed higher expression of miR-21 and miR-106a in patients with adenomas and CRCs compared with individuals free of colorectal neoplasia. Conclusion: Our data indicate that miRNAs could be extracted from stool easily and reproducibly. The stools of patients with colorectal neoplasms have unique and identifiable patterns of miRNA expression. Impact: Fecal miRNAs may be an excellent candidate for the development of a noninvasive screening test for colorectal neoplasms. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 19(7); 1766–74. ©2010 AACR.
Virtual Locomotion: Walking in Place through Virtual Environments

This paper presents both an analysis of requirements for user control over simulated locomotion and a new control technique designed to meet these requirements. The goal is to allow the user to move through virtual environments in as similar a manner as possible to walking through the real world. We approach this problem by examining the interrelationships between motion control and the other actions people use to act, sense, and react to their environment. If the interactions between control actions and sensory feedback can be made comparable to those of actions in the real world, then there is hope for constructing an effective new technique. Candidate solutions are reviewed once the analysis is developed. This analysis leads to a promising new design for a sensor-based virtual locomotion called Gaiter. The new control allows users to direct their movement through virtual environments by stepping in place. The movement of a person's legs is sensed, and in-place walking is treated as a gesture indicating the user intends to take a virtual step. More specifically, the movement of the user's legs determines the direction, extent, and timing of their movement through virtual environments. Tying virtual locomotion to leg motion allows a person to step in any direction and control the stride length and cadence of his virtual steps. The user can walk straight, turn in place, and turn while advancing. Motion is expressed in a body-centric coordinate system similar to that of actual stepping. The system can discriminate between gestural and actual steps, so both types of steps can be intermixed.
NEURAL NETWORKS AND BUSINESS FORECASTING: AN APPLICATION TO CROSS‐SECTIONAL AUDIT FEE DATA

Neural Network (NN) simulation models are being increasingly utilised in the business and management fields as forecasting, pattern recognition and classification tools. Their growing popularity appears to emanate from the ability of NNs to approximate complex non‐linear relationships, via their capacity to represent latent combinations of unobservable variables in hidden layers. Although there is a growing business literature on the ability of NNs to predict various corporate outcomes (e.g., corporate failure), and to forecast time series data (e.g., share prices), they have yet to be fully evaluated by business academics on cross‐sectional data. This paper provides an overview of the NN modelling approach and compares the performance of NNs, relative to conventional OLS regression analysis, in predicting the cross‐sectional variation in corporate audit fees. The empirical results suggest that the NN models exhibit superior forecasting accuracy to their OLS counterparts, but that this differential reduces when the models are tested out‐of‐sample.
Control of Junction Temperature and Its Rate of Change at Thermal Boundaries via Precise Loss Manipulation

To optimize the lifetime of switching power semiconductors, this paper presents a methodology to control power device junction temperature <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${T_j}$</tex-math></inline-formula> and its change during power cycles <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Delta {T_j}$</tex-math></inline-formula> at thermal boundaries. This paper proposes a supervisory state machine to interrupt nominal system-level control only when temperature bounds are exceeded, and coordinates smooth transitions as <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX"> ${T_j}(k)$</tex-math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Delta {T_j}(k)$</tex-math> </inline-formula> approach their respective boundaries. To ensure that thermal states are regulated via precise and independent modulation of conduction and switching loss elements, decoupling methods are proposed. Also proposed is a <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\Delta {T_j}$</tex-math></inline-formula> control law that closes a control loop on the rate of change state <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\bar{\dot{T}}_j}$</tex-math> </inline-formula>, and introduces active thermal capacitance and conductance into the closed-loop thermal system dynamics. Experimental evaluation of the proposed system illustrates well damped <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${T_j}(k)$</tex-math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX"> $\Delta {T_j}(k)$</tex-math></inline-formula> responses, and gradual adjustment of the manipulated inputs switching frequency and duty ratio. Finally, comparison with a current limit-based <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX"> ${T_j}$</tex-math></inline-formula> regulation method illustrates how the proposed system allows power converters to push harder against their thermal limits.
Network Connectivity Optimization for Device-to-Device Wireless System With Femtocells

The demand for high-data-rate transmission has triggered the design and development of advanced cellular networks, such as fourth-generation (4G) Long-Term Evolution (LTE) networks. However, their poor coverage and relatively high interference can significantly impair data transmission. Femtocells and device-to-device (D2D) communication are promising solutions that have recently gathered interest. Operating in the licensed spectrum, femtocells provide users with higher capacity and coverage than their earlier designs, and they will be offered by cellular operators to enable high-data-rate local services in future LTE-Advanced networks. As an underlay to the cellular networks, D2D communication enables nearby devices to communicate directly with each other by reusing cellular resources, which reduces interference in the cellular network compared with communication through base stations (BSs). However, the tight integration of femtocells and D2D communication creates a challenge for existing network design and has been studied less in the literature. In this paper, we propose an open-access algorithm for femtocell BSs (FBSs) in D2D LTE-Advanced networks, to optimize network connectivity. Additionally, a greedy algorithm is proposed to balance macrocell BSs and FBSs to maximize network connectivity. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms.
Measuring the success of Finnish family farms

Abstract The purpose of this article is to discuss the indicators used to evaluate success and to describe the success of Finnish family farms by using subjective and objective measurements of success. We used bookkeeping information and survey data from 296 Finnish farms. We found that the perceived success of farmers has five dimensions: Quality awareness; Family farm lifestyle; Managing farm investments; Operational success; and Economic result. The correlations between subjective success factor scores and variables describing size and financial outcome of the farms were generally low. Our results support the need to use both objective and subjective success indicators to understand the success of family farms. The acceptable level of perceived success on several dimensions may partly explain the reasons for continuing agricultural production despite its objectively measured quite low profitability. The results indicate that farmers' subjective interpretation of the opportunities provided by the environment as well as their individual motivation-related factors largely determine how they expect to perform in farming.
Industrial relatedness, structural factors and bidder returns

The relationship between industry structure and performance has maintained a central role in UK, US and EC competition legislation. The potential for improved efficiency and the perceived threat to consumer interests are not necessarily irreconcilable. The structure—conduct—performance (SCP) paradigm predicts that the structure of the market in which a firm operates will determine its performance. One of the central propositions of this structuralist hypothesis is that findings of a positive relationship between seller concentration and average industry profitability is evidence of the exercise of market power. Competition policies based on this hypothesis are designed to prevent substantial increments to that power via horizontal mergers. The SCP paradigm is not, however, without its critics. An alternative view proposed by Demsetz results in a diametrically opposite recommendation for merger policy. Demsetz suggests that the concentration-profitability relationship, rather than highlighting the existenc.
Hybrid silicon honeycomb/organic solar cells with enhanced efficiency using surface etching

Silicon (Si) nanostructure-based photovoltaic devices are attractive for their excellent optical and electrical performance, but show lower efficiency than their planar counterparts due to the increased surface recombination associated with the high surface area and roughness. Here, we demonstrate an efficiency enhancement for hybrid nanostructured Si/polymer solar cells based on a novel Si honeycomb (SiHC) structure using a simple etching method. SiHC structures are fabricated using a combination of nanosphere lithography and plasma treatment followed by a wet chemical post-etching. SiHC has shown superior light-trapping ability in comparison with the other Si nanostructures, along with a robust structure. Anisotropic tetramethylammonium hydroxide etching not only tunes the final surface morphologies of the nanostructures, but also reduces the surface roughness leading to a lower recombination rate in the hybrid solar cells. The suppressed recombination loss, benefiting from the reduced surface-to-volume ratio and roughness, has resulted in a high open-circuit voltage of 600 mV, a short-circuit current of 31.46 mA cm−2 due to the light-trapping ability of the SiHCs, and yields a power conversion efficiency of 12.79% without any other device structure optimization.
Conceptualising corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate social investment (CSI): the South African context

Purpose – With globalisation pressures and increasing burdens on governments to provide comprehensive social services, there is now a need to better understand how firms play their part in sharing these burdens. Views vary from those who believe that CSR and CSI are distractions from profit maximisation to those who argue that participation in such activities contributes to positive social transformation and also benefits participating firms themselves. This paper seeks to conceptualise these debates.Design/methodology/approach – The paper largely utilises a literature review to derive the research conclusions. Specifically, it examines how CSR, CSI and the socially responsible investment (SRI) index has been used to evaluate corporate behaviour in South Africa, as a novel way of addressing pressing development problems.Findings – CSI has emerged from the specificities of South African historical development, and it has arguably been driven primarily by legislation and industry charters. It is in this con.
[Comparison of collagen fiber staining between Van-Gieson staining and Masson trichrome staining of hepatic specimens in mice with Schistosoma japonicum infection].

OBJECTIVE To compare the effects of collagen fiber staining between Van-Gieson staining and Masson trichrome staining of hepatic specimens in mice with Schistosoma japonicum infection. METHODS A model of hepatic granuloma and fibrosis was established by infecting mice with S. japonicum cercariae, then the hepatic specimens were taken and Van-Gieson staining and Masson trichrome staining were performed. Eventually, the area of granuloma and fibrosis were measured by imaging analysis software. RESULTS When the time of staining was 3-7 min, there was no significant difference of the fibrosis areas between the two methods (P > 0.05); when the time of staining was more than 10 min, the staining area showed by Masson's staining was significantly larger than that showed by Van-Gieson staining, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION The operation procedures of Van-Gieson staining are simpler and easier to master than those of Masson trichrome staining, therefore Van-Gieson staining is a better method to display collagen.
Usability testing of an agent-based modelling tool for comprehensive situation mapping

A prototype system for strategic decision support has been developed using an Agent-Based Modelling (ABM) and simulation approach. Based on the systems approach, the proposed prototype is intended for use by managers in strategic thinking and problem formulation. Key to the future success of the tool is a user-friendly design. Usability testing is central to a software design approach that incorporates continuous testing and refinement by users as integral to the design process. The test results revealed several shortcomings of the prototype's operation, documentation and interface. This paper briefly discusses the prototype, and then details the test plan, testing results and recommendations. Since these represent opportunities for further development of the system prior to use in field research, the paper's results offer a dimension of generalisability.
Racial discrimination, racial/ethnic segregation, and health behaviors in the CARDIA study

Objective Racial discrimination has been associated with unhealthy behaviors, but the mechanisms responsible for these associations are not understood and may be related to residential racial segregation. We investigated associations between self-reported racial discrimination and health behaviors before and after controlling for individual- and neighborhood-level characteristics; and potential effect modification of these associations by segregation. Design We used data from the longitudinal Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study for 1169 African-Americans and 1322 whites. To assess racial discrimination, we used a four category variable to capture the extent and persistence of self-reported discrimination between examination at years 7 (1992–1993) and 15 (2000–2001). We assessed smoking status, alcohol consumption, and physical activity at year 20 (2005–2006). Segregation was examined as the racial/ethnic composition at the Census tract level. Results Discrimination was more common in African-Americans (89.1%) than in whites (40.0%). Living in areas with high percentage of blacks was associated with less reports of discrimination in African-Americans but more reports in whites. After adjustment for selected characteristics including individual- and neighborhood-level socioeconomic conditions and segregation, we found significant positive associations of discrimination with smoking and alcohol consumption in African-Americans and with smoking in whites. African-Americans experiencing moderate or high discrimination were more physically active than those reporting no discrimination. Whites reporting some discrimination were also more physically active than those reporting no discrimination. We observed no interactions between discrimination and segregation measures in African-Americans or whites for any of the three health behaviors. Conclusions Racial discrimination may impact individuals' adoption of healthy and unhealthy behaviors independent of racial/ethnic segregation. These behaviors may help individuals buffer or reduce the stress of discrimination.