Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection by stool antigen determination: a systematic review

Recently a new, noninvasive diagnostic test based on the detection of Helicobacter pylori stool antigen (SA) has been developed. The aim of this study was to systematically review the experience on H. pylori SA test for the diagnosis of H. pylori infection. Bibliographic searches were performed in the PubMed database and abstracts from several congresses. A total of 43 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria and evaluated H. pylori SA test accuracy for the diagnosis of H. pylori infection in nontreated patients. Overall, 4769 patients were included. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) (weighted mean) were, respectively: 92.4% (95% CI = 91–93%), 91.9% (91–92%), 92.1% (91–93%), and 90.5% (90–91%). Therefore the SA test can definitively be considered an accurate noninvasive method for the diagnosis of H. pylori infection in untreated patients. A total of 25 studies including 2078 patients evaluated H. pylori SA test for the confirmation of H. pylori eradication ≥4 wk after completion of therapy. Sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV (weighted mean) were: 88.3% (87–90%), 92% (91–93%), 75.1% (73–77%), and 94.8% (94–96%). Although most studies showed that SA test is an accurate method to confirm H. pylori eradication ≥4 wk after treatment, these favorable results were not confirmed in other studies. Further investigation is necessary to explain these discrepancies, as well as to clarify the precise time for confirmation of eradication after therapy, the appropriate cutoff point for the SA test, and which factors influence it. Proton pump inhibitors seem to affect the accuracy of SA test, but the negative effect disappears 1–2 wk after stopping treatment. The SA test is technically feasible in patients with upper GI bleeding, although the true diagnostic accuracy in this group of patients remains to be more fully assessed. Finally, the SA test seems to be a highly cost-effective method for the diagnosis of H. pylori infection.
Study of Motivators and Demotivators Affecting the Performance of Employees in the Construction Industry – An Exploratory Study

Abstract Employees are considered an important asset in construction firms. The main focus of this study is to determine the factors that motivate employees at construction sites, as well as de-motivators that hinder their better performance at work. The questionnaire was developed on the basis of literature review and the pilot study. Questionnaires were administered to select employees of 21 different construction firms situated in three districts of the Karnataka state, India. A convenience sampling method was used to collect the responses. Analysis of data revealed “the most important to least important variables of motivation and job satisfaction”. ‘Job training’, ‘Good salary’ and ‘recognition from peers’ are the important factors to be considered in motivating the employees. Among the de-motivators, variables such as ‘lack of recognition’, ‘poor salary’ and ‘poor working condition’ are at the top of the table. Variables in job satisfaction are grouped under three main factors, extrinsic, intrinsic and perceived organizational support. The findings show that employees at construction sites have expressed an urge for a work culture that can meet a mix of their intrinsic and extrinsic needs.
Multiple levels and multiple challenges for measurement, reporting and verification of REDD+

REDD+ is a multilevel endeavour. Global demands, national and subnational structures and local people’s needs and aspirations must all be linked in efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. We use Brockhaus and Angelsen’s (2012) framework of Institutions, Interests, Information and Ideas (4Is) to analyse the multilevel governance of REDD+ through one of its core elements: measurement, reporting and verification. We present the multilevel dimensions of REDD+ and the risks if they are disregarded. We analyse the flow and interplay of information, institutions and interests across levels in REDD+ measurement, reporting and verification and examine which multilevel governance mechanisms enable this flow. To support our analysis, we provide anecdotal evidence of challenges and opportunities from three countries: Brazil, Vietnam and Indonesia. Our analysis shows that it is essential to enhance and harmonize information flows between local and national levels for measurement, reporting and verification to be accountable. Furthermore, sound information flows between levels can increase the negotiation power of disadvantaged groups and ensure a more effective, efficient and equitable REDD+. To reduce the risk of conflict, REDD+ multilevel governance systems must match incentives and interests with transparent institutions. Effective multilevel governance mechanisms, such as novel cross-scale institutional arrangements, uniform regulations on the rights, responsibilities and procedures for monitoring information flows, and participation across levels, will provide tools for both information flow and greater matching of different interests across levels.
Data Procurement for Shortest Paths on Random Graphs

While Dijkstra’s algorithm finds the shortest path between two nodes on a graph with known edge weights, we approach the shortest paths problem for graphs with random edge weights described by known probability distributions. We introduce the idea of a budget of size k which allows us to replace k random edges with numbers drawn from the edges’ distributions. Our problem is to determine which edges to replace with random realizations to minimize the minimum expected path distance across all paths between two nodes, given the realized edge weights. We evaluate several greedy heuristics, with different lookaheads, for choosing edges. We also prove that any greedy heuristic with lookahead less than the budget has no finite approximation ratio to the optimal policy.
AT Times When Limbs May Fail: Social Security for Unorganised Workers in Karnataka

Policy makers, therefore, often encounter the following questions while formulating the social security schemes. What are the priority social security needs of unorganized workers? What existing mechanisms and strategies do they use to meet the social security needs? Do social security needs and risk management strategies vary across different categories and within a particular category of unorganized workers? Are workers willing to contribute to social security? If yes, how much? Is it sufficient to introduce financially viable and sustainable schemes for the workers? If not, what are the subsidy implications for the government? For which categories of unorganized workers are subsidies needed? And, so on. This paper is a modest attempt to address these questions with the objectives of analyzing the social security needs of the unorganized sector workers, examining the risk management mechanisms that are most frequently used by these workers and assessing their willingness to participate in contributory social security schemes. The study is based on data drawn from a large sample of agricultural,construction and domestic workers, accounting for a large proportion of unorganized workers in both urban and rural areas of four agro-climatically different districts in Karnataka.
Two-layer butterfly-shaped microstrip 4×4 Butler matrix for ultra-wideband beam-forming applications

This paper proposes a compact and inexpensive two-layer ultra-wideband (UWB) butterfly-shaped microstrip 4×4 Butler matrix beam-forming network. Measured and simulated results of the proposed matrix configuration confirm UWB performances for transmission magnitudes and phases with good return losses and isolation characteristics. To demonstrate the functionality of the designed Butler matrix, four identical tapered slot antenna (TSA) elements are connected to four output ports of the Butler matrix and the radiation pattern characteristics are simulated, presented and discussed.
E-Tourism: Mobile Dynamic Trip Planner

In this paper, we propose an algorithm called the Balanced Orienteering Problem, to design trips for tourists. This algorithm, combined with a recommender system for tourism suggestions, create the infrastructure for the mobile application of the tourism guide we developed. A comparison study between some of the current algorithms and our proposed one were performed and the initial results illustrate that our proposed algorithm yields comparable results to existing system, yet it outperforms them in the average execution time.
Miniaturization of Slot Antennas Using Slit and Strip Loading

The design of a miniaturized slot antenna with slit loading fed by the CPW line is proposed. It is seen that the loading slits can be located only on the feed side without degradation in cross-pol performance, unlike the microstrip-fed case. This releases the ground plane area above the slot for accommodating electronic circuitry and effectively reduces the antenna size. In addition, the resonant frequency in this case is reduced by a further 4.60%, compared to the slits on both sides. Another topology of the miniaturized antenna is investigated with the slits replaced by strips of metallization on the reverse side of the substrate, which leaves the ground plane area completely free. A high reduction in the slot resonant frequency is also observed in this case, with a reflector being used to increase the forward radiation.
The synergistic therapeutic effect of cisplatin with Human papillomavirus E6/E7 short interfering RNA on cervical cancer cell lines in vitro and in vivo

Human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18 are the major etiologic factors in the development of cervical epithelial neoplasia. Our study was designed to validate antiviral short interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting the E6 and E7 oncogenes as a potential chemosensitizer of cisplatin (cis‐diaminedichloroplatinum II; CDDP) in cervical carcinoma. Specifically, the therapeutic efficacy of combination of CDDP and E6/E7‐specific siRNA was assessed in an in vivo cervical cancer xenograft models. The combination of CDDP and E6/E7‐specific siRNA had greater efficacy than the combination of CDDP and E6‐specific siRNA especially in terms of inducing cellular senescence. Through in vitro and in vivo experiments, the mechanism of synergy between these two treatments was revealed, demonstrating that the combination of E6/E7‐specific siRNA and CDDP therapy was significantly superior to either modality alone. In vitro, long‐term exposure of HeLa cells to the combination of CDDP and E6/E7‐specific siRNA induced apoptosis and cellular senescence. In vivo, E6/E7‐specific siRNA potentiated the antitumor efficacy of CDDP via induction of apoptosis, senescence and antiangiogenesis. Our results suggest that E6/E7‐specific siRNA may be an effective sensitizer of CDDP chemotherapy in cervical cancer.
Image-Based Motion-Tolerant Remote Respiratory Rate Evaluation

Contact measurements of the respiratory rate using conventional electrocardiogram equipment requires patients to wear chest straps that can cause skin irritation and discomfort. Therefore, a real-time robust non-contact technique is developed for the measurement of respiratory rate variation. The changes of a simple harmonic motion between inhalation and exhalation from the human's upper body can be observed from visual appearance. Therefore, in this paper, to characterize the motion, a salient region is automatically selected in the energy map resulted from Haar-like features through consecutive frames. Furthermore, a median optical flow signal is used to acquire the primary respiratory rate signal. The effective respiratory frequencies resulted from vertical motion variation are decomposed by median motion signal and then characterized by zero-crossing method before the frequencies were rectified by an estimation using the noise elimination methods. In the experiment, the performance is evaluated using an extensive data set obtained under distinct four respiratory types, regular respiration, respiration with body motion, respiration with distinct poses, and respiration with distinct capturing distances. Our approach develops a convenient non-contact method to evaluate the respiratory rate with the achievement of measurement under farther distance and also outperforms the current state-of-the-art approach in terms of high correlation coefficient. Therefore, the experiment results show its efficacy for real-world environment.
An Examination of the Effect of Product Performance on Brand Reputation, Satisfaction and Loyalty

Presents a theoretical model which integrates quality, brand reputation, customer satisfaction and loyalty. The model is tested in four industries, covering both business‐to‐business markets and private customer markets. The findings suggest that companies should monitor and improve both customers satisfaction and brand reputation. In situations where the intrinsic cues of the product or service are ambiguous, brand reputation.
Advances in Brief XRCC 1 Polymorphisms : Effects on Aflatoxin B 1-DNA Adducts and Glycophorin A Variant Frequency

Hereditary genetic defects in DNA repair lead to increased risk of cancer. Polymorphisms in several DNA repair genes have been identified; however, the impact on repair phenotype has not been elucidated. We explored the relationship between polymorphisms in the DNA repair enzyme, XRCC1 (codons 194, 280, and 399), and genotoxic end points measured in two populations: (a) placental aflatoxin B1 DNA (AFB1-DNA) adducts in a group of Taiwanese maternity subjects (n5 120); and (b) somatic glycophorin A (GPA) variants in erythrocytes from a group of North Carolina smokers and nonsmokers (n5 59). AFB1-DNA adducts were measured by ELISA, and erythrocyte GPA variant frequency (NN and NØ) was assessed in MN heterozygotes with a flow cytometric assay. XRCC1 genotypes were identified by PCR-RFLPs. TheXRCC1 399Gln allele was significantly associated with higher levels of both AFB 1-DNA adducts and GPANN mutations. Individuals with the 399Gln allele were at risk for detectable adducts (odds ratio, 2.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.1–5.4;P 5 0.03). GPANN variant frequency was significantly higher in 399Gln homozygotes (19.63 10) than in Gln/Arg heterozygotes (11.4 3 10; P < 0.05) or Arg/Arg homozygotes (10.13 10; P 5 0.01). No significant effects were observed for otherXRCC1 polymorphisms. These results suggest that the Arg399Gln amino acid change may alter the phenotype of the XRCC1 protein, resulting in deficient DNA repair.
Speaker recognition by means of acoustic and phonetically informed GMMs

In this work we assess the recently proposed hybrid Deep Neural Network/Gaussian Mixture Model (DNN/GMM) approach for speaker recognition considering the effects of the granularity of the phonetic DNN model, and of the precision of the corresponding GMM models, which will be referred to as the phonetic GMMs. The aim of this work is to better understand the contributions of the phonetic information provided by the DNN model with respect to the accuracy of the acous tic GMMs in fitting the distribution of the features associated to a given context-dependent phone state. The testbed for this work was the text-independent speaker recognition task defined by NIST for the 2012 Speaker Recognition Evaluation. Our experiment confirms that the acoustic and the phonetic GMMs are complementary. Thus, their score combination yields very good results if the DNN is trained on data collected in an environment similar to the one that is used for testing. We show, however, that using a single Gaussian per DNN state is not the best choice: the best single system has been obtained balancing the phonetic and acoustic precision of a DNN/GMM system
Recombinant allergens promote expression of CD203c on basophils in sensitized individuals.

BACKGROUND Traditionally, the diagnosis of type I allergies is based on clinical data, skin test results, and laboratory test results with allergen extracts. During the past few years, several attempts have been made to refine diagnostic assays in clinical allergy by introducing recombinant allergens and novel markers of IgE-dependent cell activation. OBJECTIVES We have identified the ectoenzyme CD203c as a novel basophil antigen that is upregulated on IgE receptor cross-linkage. In this study we applied CD203c and a panel of recombinant allergens to establish a novel basophil test that allows for a reliable quantification of IgE-dependent responses at the effector cell level. METHODS Patients allergic to birch (Bet v 1, n = 15; Bet v 2, n = 8) and grass (Phl p 1, n = 15; Phl p 2, n = 10; Phl p 5, n = 14) pollen allergens, as well as 10 nonallergic donors, were examined. Basophils were exposed to various concentrations of recombinant allergens for 15 minutes and then examined for expression of CD203c by means of flow cytometry. CD203c upregulation was correlated with the increase in CD63. RESULTS Exposure to recombinant allergens resulted in a dose-dependent increase in expression of CD203c on peripheral blood basophils in sensitized individuals, whereas no increase was seen in healthy control subjects. The effects of the recombinant allergens on CD203c expression were also time dependent. There was a good correlation between allergen-induced upregulation of CD203c and upregulation of CD63 (R = 0.76). CONCLUSION Flow cytometric quantitation of CD203c on blood basophils exposed to recombinant allergens is a useful approach to determine the allergic state in sensitized individuals and represents a basis for a sensitive novel allergy test.
Update on health-related quality of life in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease

Gastroesophageal reflux disease is highly prevalent in westernized countries. It damages quality of life but its effect is frequently underestimated, often leading to inadequate management of the disease and its symptoms. Health-related quality of life questionnaires are now becoming more widely recognized as an effective means of demonstrating the true impact of gastroesophageal reflux disease, both on individuals and on society at large. Health-related quality of life questionnaires can also help to underscore the importance of effective acid suppression therapy, with proton pump inhibitors, such as omeprazole and esomeprazole, for this common and highly debilitating condition. This review summarizes recent information on the impact of gastroesophageal reflux disease on a range of aspects of health-related quality of life, including patient well-being.
Factors Affecting Purchasing Behavior in Real Estate in Saudi Arabia

Factors affecting the real estate market are of great importance world-wide. This study investigates the factors influencing Saudi Arabians (Saudis) to purchase real estate. The study examines the effect of attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavior control, and finance on the intention to purchase real estate. A total of 450 questionnaires were distributed to respondents in Jeddah. Based on 322 questionnaires collected, the results show that there is a positively significant relationship between Attitude, Subjective Norm and finance toward the intention to purchase real estate, while Perceived Behavior Control had no effect on the customers' intention to purchase real estate.
Impact Of Adopting IAS-IFRS On The Handling Of Accounting Data: The Case Of France

In this article we look at the possible relation between the IAS-IFRS, which promotes a present value, and earnings management enhanced by the application of these standards. The aim of this paper is to analyse the impact of the adoption of IAS-IFRS standards on the earnings manipulation used by managers to manipulate their earnings and other accounting information in order to keep the same image in front of investors and shareholders. We are expanding, to the French context, the problem of information content of the discretionary component of accounting income in connection with the application of IAS-IFRS since 2005. On the basis of a sample of 96 firms-year observations, selected from France, that adopted the IAS-IFRS since 2005, we studied the relationship of association between accounting variables the impact of the use of IAS-IFRS on discretionary accruals. In other words, we tried to analyse the advantages and disadvantages of the adoption of IAS-IFRS. The study results show that the manipulation of accounting information existed both before and after the adoption of IAS-IFRS. However, the application of IAS-IFRS accounting standards in France had less motivated managers to manipulate the accounting numbers to increase earnings. Infact, the degree of earnings management is higher before the adoption of IAS-IFRS (the manipulations were 22.06% of discretionary accruals after adoption of IAS-IFRS and 31.28% before).
Assessing facilities management service in postgraduate hostel using Servqual technique

There is growing concern over the quality of service facilities management firms provide and the perception of customers on service satisfaction for the achievement of overall organizational goal. The study aimed at assessing the facilities management service in Henry Carr postgraduate hall of University of Lagos. A sample of 100 postgraduate students were randomly selected and administered with a 20-item questionnaire design to capture the various service dimensions. The result was analyzed using a Likert-scale type scoring where weights were assigned on the different measurement scales. It was discovered that there is wide gap between student's service expectations and perceived facilities management service offered in the hall with highest expectations being on the assurance dimension. The existing gap need urgent remedy in the area of prompt quality service delivery in order to achieve the cooperate overall goal of the prestigious learning centre in the country and also to harness the objective of encompassing people, process and procedure in outsourcing for customer satisfaction.