Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tuberculosis Outcomes in Papua, Indonesia: The Relationship with Different Body Mass Index Characteristics between Papuan and Non-Papuan Ethnic Groups

Weight gain achieved during pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) treatment is associated with the likelihood of bacteriological treatment success. It is recognised that weight and body mass index (BMI) characteristics differ between ethnic groups in health and illness states. However there has been no prior investigation of how ethnic differences in BMI might influence tuberculosis treatment outcome. Our aim was to investigate predictors of microbiological response to PTB treatment at the Tuberculosis Clinic in Timika, Papua Province, Indonesia and specifically, to determine the contribution of ethnicity. The population comprises two distinct ethnic groups - Asian (Non-Papuan) and Melanesian (Papuan). We conducted a prospective study of adults with smear-positive PTB. Treatment outcomes were 1- and 2-month sputum culture and time to microscopy conversion. Clinical measures included weight, BMI, chest radiograph, pulmonary function including forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) and haemoglobin. One hundred eighty six participants (83 Papuan, 103 non-Papuan Indonesians) were enrolled. At baseline, Papuans had higher mean weight and BMI than non-Papuans (50.0 kg versus 46.9 kg, p = 0.006 and 20.0 kg/m2 versus 18.7 kg/m2, p = 0.001 respectively). This was despite having lower mean haemoglobin (11.3 vs 13.1 g/dL, p<0.0001), higher smoking and HIV rates (37% vs 21%, p = 0.02 and 20% vs 5%, p = 0.01 respectively) and longer median illness duration (3 vs 2 months, p = 0.04), but similar radiological severity (proportion with cavities 55% vs 57%, p = 0.7), sputum smear grade (p = 0.3) and mean % predicted FEV1 (63% vs 64%, p = 0.7). By 2 months, Papuans had gained still more weight (mean 5.9 vs 4.2 kg, p = 0.02), and were more likely to have negative sputum culture (49/56 vs 45/67, p = 0.02), in univariable and multivariable analyses controlling for other likely determinants of culture conversion. In conclusion, Papuans had better early microbiological outcome from PTB treatment, which may relate to better preservation of weight and greater early weight gain.
Equilibria with Social Security

We model pay-as-you-go (PAYG) social sucurity systems as the outcome of majority voting within a standard OLG model with production and an exogenous population growth rateo At each point in time individuals work, save, consume and invest by taking the social security policy as given. The latter consists of a tax on current wages transferred to elderly people. When they vote, individuals have to make two choices: If they want to keep the committment made by the previous generation by paying the elderly the promised amount of benefits, and which amount they want paid to themselves next periodo We show that when the growth rate of population is high enough compared to the productivity of capital there exists an equilibrium where PAYG pensions are voted into existence and maintained. PAYG systems are kept even when everybody knows that they will surely be abondoned, and that some generation will pay and not be paid back. We characterize the steady state and dynamic properties of these equilibria and study their welfare properties. Equilibria achieved by voting are typically inefficient; however, they may be so due to overaccumulation, as well as, in other cases, due to under accumulation. On the other hand, the efficient steady states turn out to be dynamically unstable: so we are presenting an unpleasant alternative for policy making.
Adaptive control for bilateral teleoperators under time-varying communication delays

In this paper, the problem of controlling bilateral teleoperation systems in the presence of time-varying communication delays and dynamic uncertainties is studied. By exchanging only position signals between the master and slave robots, an adaptive controller is proposed to ensure stability if the control gains are contingent to the communication delays. Without exact knowledge of the time-varying delays, the developed control algorithm is able to ensure tracking errors between the master and slave robots to the origin in free motion. Moreover, the closed-loop control system with passive external forces from the human operator and remote environment is also studied. The proposed teleoperation system and control algorithm are validated using numerical simulations on 2-DOF robotic manipulators for both the master and slave robots.
The Impact of Career and Technical Education on Post-school Employment Outcomes among Youth with Disabilities

Title of Document: THE IMPACT OF CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION ON POSTSCHOOL EMPLOYMENT OUTCOMES AMONG YOUTH WITH DISABILITIES Cherise J. Hunter Doctor of Philosophy, 2011 Directed By: Professor Margaret J. McLaughlin, Department of Special Education Given the collegeand career-readiness national education agenda and the demands of the 21 st century labor market, the purpose of this study was to describe and compare the relationship between post-school employment outcomes and the completion of a secondary education career and technical education concentration among youth with disabilities. Specifically, this study examined the labor force participation, employment, wages, and receipt of fringe benefits up to 11 years after exiting high school among youth with disabilities who completed a CTE concentration as part of their overall high school course of study. Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 which includes a nationally representative sample of youth who attended high school in the late 1990’s and beginning of the 21 st century was used. A subsample of this data containing youth with disabilities was utilized and their 2006 post-school outcomes were analyzed using logistic regression and ordinary least squares regression analyses. The results suggest that youth with disabilities who complete a CTE concentration in high school have a higher likelihood of participating in the labor force, being employed, and earning higher wages up to 11 years beyond exiting high school controlling for household income, race, ethnicity, gender, location, and marital status. However, the likelihood that youth would have a job that provided fringe benefits was reduced for youth who concentrated in secondary CTE. Academic achievement, academic coursetaking, and postsecondary degree attainment mitigated the effects of CTE on post-school employment outcomes. These findings emphasize the importance of CTE being utilized as a course of study option for youth with disabilities, especially for youth with disabilities who choose not to obtain a postsecondary degree. The findings also support the need for secondary CTE programs to integrate standards-based academic curricula and increase the facilitation of youth with disabilities into postsecondary education. THE IMPACT OF CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION ON POSTSCHOOL EMPLOYMENT OUTCOMES AMONG YOUTH WITH DISABILITIES
Local Regeneration of Dentin-Pulp Complex Using Controlled Release of FGF-2 and Naturally Derived Sponge-Like Scaffolds

Restorative and endodontic procedures have been recently developed in an attempt to preserve the vitality of dental pulp after exposure to external stimuli, such as caries infection or traumatic injury. When damage to dental pulp is reversible, pulp wound healing can proceed, whereas irreversible damage induces pathological changes in dental pulp, eventually requiring its removal. Nonvital teeth lose their defensive abilities and become severely damaged, resulting in extraction. Development of regeneration therapy for the dentin-pulp complex is important to overcome limitations with presently available therapies. Three strategies to regenerate the dentin-pulp complex have been proposed; regeneration of the entire tooth, local regeneration of the dentin-pulp complex from amputated dental pulp, and regeneration of dental pulp from apical dental pulp or periapical tissues. In this paper, we focus on the local regeneration of the dentin-pulp complex by application of exogenous growth factors and scaffolds to amputated dental pulp.
The Effect of Welfare Reform on the Incomes and Earnings of Low-Income Families: Evidence from the Current Population Survey

An important question surrounding welfare reform is "What has happened to the earnings and incomes of families who were receiving public assistance when the new policies took effect? " I address this question by examining the impacts of early state-level welfare waivers on the earnings and income growth of welfare recipients. Using a detailed nationally representative data set (the Current Population Survey), I find that 1) early work related welfare reforms generally did not increase the earnings of welfare recipients (with minor exceptions), and 2) waivers often had a negative (but small) effect on the incomes of welfare recipients. In addition, waivers appear to have had a less detrimental effect on rural than on urban recipients. This is an interesting finding in light of research that shows that rural employment and earnings generally lag behind those in urban areas. It suggests that even though rural residents face greater barriers to employment, welfare reform has a smaller marginal effect on rural recipients.
Millipede (Diplopoda) communities in an arboretum: Influence of tree species and soil properties

The paper deals with the influence of tree species on millipede communities (Diplopoda). The research was carried out in nine sites in the Borová hora arboretum (Zvolen town, Central Slovakia). Each studied site represents a monoculture of one of nine tree species: Betula pubescens Ehrh. , Pinus sylvestris L. , Larix decidua Mill. , Carpinus betulus L. , Abies alba Mill. , Picea abies (L.) Karst. , Alnus incana (L.) Moench, Populus nigra L. , Ulmus laevis Pall. Millipedes were collected by pitfall trapping during vegetation periods in 2008-2011. In total, 1064 individuals of 17 species and 7 families were obtained. The results of research confirmed (i) an influence of tree species on the composition of millipede communities, (ii) a significant influence of soil nitrogen on the species richness and biodiversity, and (iii) an impact of soil pH on the species composition of these terrestrial invertebrate communities. In terms of total dynamic activity and species richness of millipedes, the most favourable conditions were revealed in the forest stands of Alnus incana, Populus nigra, Ulmus laevis and Carpinus betulus. On the contrary, the least favourable biotopes were (from both points of view) the forest stands of Betula pubescens and Larix decidua.
DYNAMIC TEXTURE ANALYSIS IN VIDEO WITH APPLICATION TO FLAME, SMOKE AND VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUND VAPOR DETECTION

DYNAMIC TEXTURE ANALYSIS IN VIDEO WITH APPLICATION TO FLAME, SMOKE AND VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUND VAPOR DETECTION Osman Gunay M.S. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering Supervisor: Prof. Dr. A. Enis Cetin July 2009 Dynamic textures are moving image sequences that exhibit stationary characteristics in time such as fire, smoke, volatile organic compound (VOC) plumes, waves, etc. Most surveillance applications already have motion detection and recognition capability, but dynamic texture detection algorithms are not integral part of these applications. In this thesis, image processing based algorithms for detection of specific dynamic textures are developed. Our methods can be developed in practical surveillance applications to detect VOC leaks, fire and smoke. The method developed for VOC emission detection in infrared videos uses a change detection algorithm to find the rising VOC plume. The rising characteristic of the plume is detected using a hidden Markov model (HMM). The dark regions that are formed on the leaking equipment are found using a background subtraction algorithm. Another method is developed based on an active learning algorithm that is used to detect wild fires at night and close range flames. The active learning algorithm is based on the Least-Mean-Square (LMS) method. Decisions from the sub-algorithms, each of which characterize a certain property of the texture to be detected, are combined using the LMS algorithm
U TILIZATION-BASED C ONGESTION C ONTROL

Traditional connection oriented protocols like TCP NewReno perform poorly over wireless links. The problem lies in their design assumptions based on loss based congestion control. Various modifications to loss based congestion control schemes have so far been proposed to overcome the issue. In addition, the comparatively newer family of delay based congestion control mechanisms like Caia-Hamilton Delay (CHD), offer effective solutions for wireless link loss. All these approaches aim at improving the performance of the target connection without considering the overall network condition. Therefore, when co-existing with the conventional loss-based congestion control, the performances suffer severely. Furthermore, for delay based schemes, it is not possible to determine the optimum value of the queuing threshold intuitively. In this paper, we propose a new end-to-end congestion control mechanism that we name as Utilization-based Congestion Control (UCC) in order to overcome the above problems. UCC provides a solution based on the utilization at the bottleneck link. It is free from critical parameters like queuing threshold and is friendly to other flows over wireless links when deployed together. Simulation results show that over wireless links, (i) UCC can yield a performance improvement of 150% or more compared to conventional loss-based schemes and (ii) it is friendly to conventional loss-based congestion controls.
Computation of magnetic circular dichroism by sum‐over‐states summations

Magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectroscopy has been established as a convenient method to study electronic structure, in particular for small symmetric organic molecules. Newer applications on more complex systems are additionally stimulated by the latest availability of precise quantum‐chemical techniques for the spectral simulations. In this work, a sum over states (SOS) summation is reexamined as an alternative to the derivative techniques for the MCD modeling. Unlike in previous works, the excited electronic states are calculated by the time‐dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). A gradient formulation of the MCD intensities is also proposed, less dependent on the origin choice than the standard expressions. The dependencies of the results on the basis set, number of electronic states, and coordinate origin are tested on model examples, including large symmetric molecules with degenerate electronic states. The results suggest that the SOS/TDDFT approach is a viable and accurate technique for spectral simulation. It may even considerably reduce the computational time, if compared with the traditional MCD computational procedures based on the response theory. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Nonlinearities in Sovereign Risk Pricing: The Role of CDS Index Contracts

Is the pricing of sovereign risk linear during bearish episodes? Or can initial shocks on economic fundamentals be exacerbated by endogenous factors that create nonlinearities? We test for nonlinearities in the sovereign bond market of European peripheral countries during the debt crisis and explain them. Our estimates based on a panel smooth threshold regression model during January 2006 to September 2012 show four main findings: 1) Peripheral sovereign spreads are subject to significant nonlinear dynamics. 2) The deterioration of market conditions for financial names changes the way investors price risk of the sovereigns. 3) The spreads of European peripheral countries have been priced above their historical values, given fundamentals, because of amplification effects. 4) Two CDS indices on financial names unambiguously stand out as leading drivers of these amplification effects.
An EM Clustering Algorithm which Produces a Dual Representation

Clustering text documents is an important step in mining useful information on the Web or other text-based resources. The common task in text clustering is to handle text in a multi-dimensional space, and to partition documents into groups, where each group contains documents that are similar to each other. However, this strategy lacks a comprehensive view for humans since it cannot explain the subject of each cluster. Utilizing semantic information such as an ontology can solve this problem, but it needs a well-defined database or pre-labeled gold standard set. In this paper, we present a theme-based clustering algorithm for text documents. Given text, subject terms are extracted and used for clustering documents in a probabilistic framework. An EM approach is used to ensure documents are assigned to correct themes, hence it converges to an optimal solution. The proposed method is distinctive because its results are sufficiently explanatory for human understanding as well as efficient for usual clustering performance. The experimental results show that the proposed method provides competitive performance compared to other state-of-the-art approaches. In addition, the extracted themes represent well the topics of clusters on the MEDLINE dataset.
Influence of Newtonian Heating on Three Dimensional MHD Flow of Couple Stress Nanofluid with Viscous Dissipation and Joule Heating

The present exploration discusses the influence of Newtonian heating on the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) three dimensional couple stress nanofluid past a stretching surface. Viscous dissipation and Joule heating effects are also considered. Moreover, the nanofluid model includes the combined effects of thermophoresis and Brownian motion. Using an appropriate transformation, the governing non linear partial differential equations are converted into nonlinear ordinary differential equations. Series solutions using Homotopy Analysis method (HAM) are computed. Plots are presented to portrait the arising parameters in the problem. It is seen that an increase in conjugate heating parameter results in considerable increase in the temperature profile of the stretching wall. Skin friction coefficient, local Nusselt and local Sherwood numbers tabulated and analyzed. Higher values of conjugate parameter, Thermophoresis parameter and Brownian motion parameter result in enhancement of temperature distribution.
A phenotype interpretation of isomorphism and diversity: corporate structures and strategies in the international dataprocessing industry

This paper provides an empirical interpretation of organizational isomorphism and diversity in global industries. We will consider how the ongoing internationalisation process has affected leading multinational enterprises from various home-countries. Our main aim is to investigate whether leading multinational enterprises have gradually lost their national characteristics and have become similar in terms of their strategies and structures. Empirical research is directed towards a number of leading enterprises in the international dataprocessing industry.
Correlation of Parameters used to Estimate Monomer Conversion in a Light-cured Composite

The sensitivities of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Knoop hardness, water sorption, and resin leaching were compared for their ability to distinguish differences between composite samples cured through different thicknesses of overlying resin. The method developed allowed samples of light-cured composite to be made with controlled conversion for parameter testing, and eliminated effects of resin lost to slurry during polishing or an increase in conversion as a result of heat generated during grinding. Sensitivity to differences was greatest and equal for FTIR spectroscopy and Knoop hardness, while resin leaching proved to have moderate sensitivity, and water sorption none. The ability of these parameters to predict monomer conversion as measured by FTIR spectroscopy was also determined. Knoop hardness proved the best conversion predictor, resin leaching the next best, and water sorption the worst. Water sorption values did not vary with changes in specimen conversion.
Realizing the quantum baker’s map on a NMR quantum computer

By numerically simulating an implementation of the quantum baker's map on a 3-qubit NMR quantum computer based on the molecule trichloroethylene, we demonstrate the feasibility of quantum chaos experiments on present-day quantum computers. We give detailed descriptions of proposed experiments that investigate (a) the rate of entropy increase due to decoherence and (b) the phenomenon of hypersensitivity to perturbation.
Sonar image segmentation based on statistical modeling of wavelet subbands

This paper deals with the classification and segmentation of seafloor images recorded by sidescan sonar. To address this problem, related to texture analysis, a supervised approach is considered. The features of the textured images are extract by characterizing the wavelet coefficients through parametric probabilistic models. In this contribution, the generalized Gaussian distribution and the α-stable distribution are used. For the classification step, two classifiers are considered: the k-nearest neighbor algorithm, that exploit the Kullback-Leibler divergence as similarity measurement, and the support vector machines. Experimental results on sonar images demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach for sonar image classification and segmentation.
Trapped modes around freely floating bodies in a two-layer fluid channel

Unlike the trapping of time-harmonic water waves by fixed obstacles, the oscillation of freely floating structures gives rise to a complex nonlinear spectral problem. Still, through a convenient elimination scheme the system simplifies to a linear spectral problem for a self-adjoint operator in a Hilbert space. Under symmetry assumptions on the geometry of the fluid domain, we present conditions guaranteeing the existence of trapped modes in a two-layer fluid channel. Numerous examples of floating bodies supporting trapped modes are given.
A FBG Intensity Modulation System Combined with an Optical Whispering Gallery Mode Edge Filter

In this study, we demonstrated an edge filter–based fiber Bragg grating (FBG) intensity modulation system to realize strain measurement. In order to establish a precise and highly sensitive intensity modulation system, we utilized a bent single-mode fiber to induce whispering gallery mode (WGM) interference as an edge filter and combined that with a FBG sensor. The interference spectra of the attenuation band for the WGM edge filter were tuned by adjusting the bending radii. In addition, we compared and analyzed the signals from the proposed vibration interrogating system and a strain gauge. The measured voltage signals from the proposed interrogation system were in close agreement with measured strains of the strain gauge. The experimental results showed that when the resonant wavelength of the WGM edge filter was 1535.10 nm, the filtration was better and the noise was lower within 100 Hz. Moreover, as the frequency of piezoelectric transducer (PZT) was at 400 and 1000 Hz, the better signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) of 28.54 and 25.97 were measured at wavelength 1542.05 nm of the edge filter.