Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Short communication Genetic and biologic characterization of Toxoplasma gondii isolates of cats from China

Cats are important in the epidemiology of Toxoplasma gondii infection because they are the only hosts that can excrete the environmentally resistant oocysts. In the present study, prevalence ofT.gondii was determined in serum, feces, and tissues of 34 cats from People’s Republic of China. Antibodies to T. gondii were assayed by the modified agglutination test and found in 27 of 34 (79.4%) cats with titers of 1:40 in one, 1:80 in one, 1:160 in three, 1:320 in three, 1:640 in eight, and 1:1280 or higher in 11 cats. T. gondii oocysts were not found in feces of any cat as ascertained by bioassay in mice. Tissues (brain, heart, and tongue) of 27 seropositive cats were pooled and bioassayed in mice (8 cats) or cats (19 cats). T. gondii was isolated from tissues of 17 of 27 seropositive cats. Genotyping of these 17 T. gondii isolates using polymorphisms at 10 nuclear markers including SAG1, SAG2, SAG3, BTUB, GRA6, c22-8, c29-2, L358, PK1 and a new SAG2, and an apicoplast marker Apico revealed two genotypes. This is the first report of genetic typing of T. gondii isolates from cats from China. # 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
STAKEHOLDER POWER-INTEREST MATRIX ANDSTAKEHOLDER-RESPONSIBILITY MATRIX IN CORPORATE SOCIALRESPONSIBILITY

Globalization brings to the business environment and competition lots of new changes and challenges. One of these factors is also corporate social responsibility that represents an inescapable fact in the business environment. The role of any business in society and relationships between organization and society can be examined by the corporate social responsibility and stakeholder approach. Successful corporate social responsibility programs reflect stakeholder preferences and expectations regarding the corporate behavior. This article focuses on the connection between stakeholders and corporate social responsibility. Based on the author research the key stakeholder groups for corporate social responsibility for selected organizations and the most frequent dimensions of corporate social responsibility for these groups were identified. The author research conducted on 100 business entities was based on the stakeholder power-interest matrix used for mapping and identification of key stakeholders in corporate social responsibility and stakeholder-responsibility matrix used for identification of dimensions of corporate social responsibility for selected stakeholders groups. Based on the author research six key stakeholder groups for corporate social responsibility of organizations participating in author’s research and three most frequent dimension of corporate social responsibility were specified
Do Labor Market Rigidities have Microeconomic Effects? Evidence from Within the Firm

We investigate the microeconomic efiects of labor regulations that protect employment and are expected to increase rigidity in labor markets. We exploit a unique outlet-level dataset obtained from a multinational food chain operating 2,525 similar retail outlets in 43 countries outside the United States. The dataset contains information on output, input costs and labor costs at a weekly frequency over several years, allowing us to examine the consequences of increased rigidity at a much more detailed level than has been possible with commonly available annual frequency or aggregate data. We flnd that higher levels of the index of labor market rigidity are associated with signiflcantly lower output elasticity of labor demand, as well as signiflcantly higher levels of hysteresis (measured as the elasticity of current labor costs with respect to the previous week’s). Speciflcally, an increase of one standard deviation in the labor regulation rigidity index (1) reduces the response of labor cost to a one standard deviation increase in output (revenue) by about 4.5 percentage points (from 26.8 percent to 22.3 percent); and (2) increases the response of labor cost to a one standard deviation increase in lagged labor cost by about 9.6 percentage points (from 17.0 percent to 26.6 percent). Our estimates imply that the dampening factor (the ratio of actual to optimal labor adjustment) goes down by about 25 percent (from 0.68 to 0.50) for an increase in the index of labor regulation from its 25th to 75th percentile. Finally, we flnd evidence that the Company delayed entry and operates fewer outlets in countries with more rigid labor laws. Overall, the data imply a signiflcant impact of labor laws on labor adjustment and related decisions at the micro level.
High definition color interpolation scheme for progressive scan CCD image sensor

A color interpolation scheme for a progressive scan CCD image sensor with a RGB color filter array is required to overcome the physical limitation of the CCD image sensor and to increase the resolution of color signals. Most conventional approaches result in blurred edges and false color artifacts. In this paper, we propose an improved edge-adaptive color interpolation scheme for a progressive scan CCD image sensor. The proposed edge indicator function uses not only the within-channel correlation but also the cross-channel correlation, and reflects the edge characteristics in an image adaptively. The color components unavailable at each channel are interpolated along the edge direction, not across the edges, so that aliasing artifacts are suppressed. Furthermore, we eliminated false color artifacts resulting from the color image formation model in the edge-adaptive color interpolation scheme by adopting the switching algorithm that is based on the color edge detection. Simulation results of the proposed algorithm indicate that the improved edge-adaptive color interpolation scheme produces better quantitative and visually pleasing results than other conventional approaches.
Methodology for Accurate Speedup Prediction

An abstract of the thesis of Arona Chittor for the Master of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering presented December 9, 1994. Title : Methodology For Accurate Speedup Prediction The effective use of computational resources requires a good understanding of parallel architectures and algorithms. The effect of the parallel architecture and also the parallel application on the performance of the parallel systems becomes more complex with increasing numbers of processors. We will address this issue in this thesis, and develop a methodology to predict the overall execution time of a parallel application as a function of the system and problem size by combining simple analysis with a few experimental results. We show that runtimes and speedup can be predicted more accurately by analyzing the functional forms of the sequential and parallel times of critical code segments of a parallel application that affect the speedup of a parallel program. We then combine the functional forms to model the runtime of a parallel application. A small set of experiments are sufficient to get a good estimate of the coefficients for the runtime models obtained. Speedup can then be derived for any case from the runtime model. We also analyze the effect of the 1/0 on runtimes in memory bounded parallel systems, and how speedup is affected by communication and 1/0. Throughout the thesis we use the bitonic merge sort as a typical realistic parallel application to illustrate our methodology. Several variations of the sorting algorithm (such as problem size greater than or equal to the system size, unlimited or limited buffer size) suitable for a wide range of problem sizes are implemented in two parallel environments and the speedups for them are measured and compared with different speedup predictions. We have conducted numerous experiments using Multi and PVM to empirically study speedup for the different realistic implementations of the bitonic merge sort. The results show how well the various models predicted speedup, and that our methodology can predict speedup accurately for a given parallel application. One interesting value from a speedup curve is the roll-off point the system size beyond which speedup actually decreases when the number of processors is increased. Results show that simple theoretic models predicted roll-off point to be higher than the actual values, where as our methodology predicted it to be less than and closer to the actual values. The predictions by our methodology also compare well with the speedup estimates provided by the Multi tool. 2
That entrepreneurs create firms is a simple fact

That entrepreneurs create firms is a simple fact. But that entrepreneurs often create firms in the absence of markets is an idea that is recently gaining ground with researchers (Shane & Venkataraman, 1999). The phenomenon is further complicated by the fact that much of the information required to bring new markets into existence itself does not come into existence until those markets are created (Arrow, 1974). In an attempt to tackle the issues raised by this central research question in entrepreneurship, Sarasvathy (2001) has proposed effectuation as the dominant decision model for entrepreneurial decision making, particularly in the absence of preexistent markets. Through a verbal protocol study of 27 expert entrepreneurs, this paper establishes the existence of effectual reasoning in their cognitive processes and delineates the bounds between their use of causation and effectuation. In quantitative terms, over 63% of the subjects used effectuation more than 75% of the time.
Immunity in Experimental Syphilis IV. Serological Reactivity of Antigens Extracted from γ-Irradiated Treponema pallidum and Treponema reiteri

Miller, James N. (University of California School of Medicine, Los Angeles), J. H. De Bruijn, and J. H. Bekker. Immunity in experimental syphilis. IV. Serological reactivity of antigens extracted from γ-irradiated Treponema pallidum and Treponema reiteri. J. Bacteriol. 91:583–587. 1966. —Ultrasonic lysate preparations extracted from virulent Treponema pallidum, Nichols strain, suspensions exposed to 652,800 R of γ-irradiation exhibited a loss in the serological reactivity of their heat-labile antigens; the heat-stable components of both the lysate and residue antigens were unaffected. The activity of heat-stable, cardiolipin T. pallidum complement-fixing antigen obtained from similarly irradiated organisms was also unaltered. γ-Irradiation of the cultivable Treponema reiteri with dosages as high as 6,500,000 R failed to alter serologically either the heat-labile or heat-stable component of its lipopolysaccharide-protein (Reiter protein) antigen. The reactivity of the lipopolysaccharide portion of the Reiter protein complex with an antiserum to T. pallidum Nichols indicates previously unsuspected antigenic differences between the rabbit-adapted Nichols strain of the organism and so-called “wild” human strains of T. pallidum in which this antigen is generally absent.
นิพนธ์ต้นฉบับ A simple and efficient DNA extraction from respiratory samples for PCR detection of Pneumocystis jirovecii

Background Pneumonia caused by Pneumocystis jirovecii (PCP) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised individuals. Although microscopic detection of stained clinical samples and immunofluorescence assay (IFA) have been widely used for diagnosis of P. jirovecii infections, polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based detection of P. jirovecii provides a higher diagnostic performance. DNA preparation by simple boiling method could be useful for PCR detection albeit the sensitivity remained remarkably low. Objective To refine P. jirovecii DNA preparation by boiling method in order to improve the diagnostic yield of subsequent PCR detection. Methods Two induced sputum and 4 bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples from PCP patients were recruited for initial assessment of DNA extraction by boiling for 10, 20, 30, 60 and 90 minutes. Performance of each DNA preparation was determined by dilution of samples and tested by P. jiroveciispecific nested PCR. Evaluation of the best boiling time for DNA extraction was done with 51 paired sputum and BAL samples from PCP patients using data from a commercial kit as references. นิพนธ์ต้นฉบับ
Path Planning and scheduling for a fleet of autonomous vehicles

SUMMARY This paper presents a new solution approach for managing the motion of a fleet of autonomous vehicles (AVs) in indoor factory environments. AVs are requested to serve a number of workstations (WS) (following a specified desired production plan for materials requirements) while taking into account the safe movement (collisions avoidance) in the shop floor as well as time duration and energy resources. The proposed approach is based on the Bump-Surface concept to represent the 2D environment through a single mathematical entity. The solution of the combined problem of path planning and task scheduling is searched on a higher-dimension B-surface (in our case 3D) in such a way that its inverse image into the robot environment satisfies the given objectives and constraints. Then, a modified Genetic Algorithm (GA) is used to search for a near-optimum solution. The objective of the fleet coordination consists of determining the best feasible paths for the AVs so that all the WS are served at the lowest possible cost. The efficiency of the developed method is investigated and discussed through characteristic simulated experiments concerning a variety of operating environments.
Verfploeter : Broad and Load-Aware Anycast Mapping ISI-TR-719 24 May 2017

IP anycast provides DNS operators and CDNs with automatic fail-over and reduced latency by breaking the Internet into catchments, each served by a different anycast site. Unfortunately, understanding and predicting changes to catchments as sites are added or removed has been challenging. Current tools such as RIPE Atlas or commercial equivalents map from thousands of vantage points (VPs), but their coverage can be inconsistent around the globe. This paper proposes Verfploeter, a new method that maps anycast catchments using active probing. Verfploeter provides around 3.8M virtual VPs, 430× the 9k physical VPs in RIPE Atlas, providing coverage of the vast majority of networks around the globe. We then add load information from prior service logs to provide calibrated predictions of anycast changes. Verfploeter has been used to evaluate the new anycast for B-Root, and we also report its use of a nine-site anycast testbed. We show that the greater coverage made possible by Verfploeter’s active probing is necessary to see routing differences in regions that have sparse coverage from RIPE Atlas, like South America and China.
COMPARISON OF VIABILITY RATES, HATCHLING SURVIVORSHIP, AND SEX RATIOS OF LABORATORY- AND FIELD- INCUBATED NESTS OF THE ESTUARINE, EMYDID TURTLE MALACLEMYS TERRAPIN THESIS

3 Introduction.4 Materials and Methods.14 Description of study area.14 Locating nesting females.14 Protected nests.15 Excavating nests.16 Laboratory incubation and rearing.17 Maternal Affects Statistics.18 Determining sex ratios.18 Morphological sex determination.18 Results.20 Field data.20 Laboratory data.21 Hatchling sex ratio.22 Temperature logger analysis.23 Morphological sex determination.24 Hatchlings with PL<30 mm.24 Hatchlings with PL>35 mm.25 Discussion.26 Field data.26 Laboratory data.29 Sex ratios.32 Temperature logger analysis.33 Morphological sex determination.35 Acknowledgments.38 Literature Cited.40 Tables.48 Figures.57
Interactive 3D Force‐Directed Edge Bundling

Interactive analysis of 3D relational data is challenging. A common way of representing such data are node‐link diagrams as they support analysts in achieving a mental model of the data. However, naïve 3D depictions of complex graphs tend to be visually cluttered, even more than in a 2D layout. This makes graph exploration and data analysis less efficient. This problem can be addressed by edge bundling. We introduce a 3D cluster‐based edge bundling algorithm that is inspired by the force‐directed edge bundling (FDEB) algorithm [ HvW09b ] and fulfills the requirements to be embedded in an interactive framework for spatial data analysis. It is parallelized and scales with the size of the graph regarding the runtime. Furthermore, it maintains the edge's model and thus supports rendering the graph in different structural styles. We demonstrate this with a graph originating from a simulation of the function of a macaque brain.
Analyzing and Categorization of the Business Model of Virtual Operators

Outsourcing strategies of Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) have lead to the emergence of innovative business models, such as virtual operators. In this paper, we use literature review and multi case study analysis in order to analyze different elements of virtual operators and to identify standard types. The outcome is a categorization of virtual operators, which allows the standardization and structured comparison of any Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) business model. Based on this, we describe six virtual operators, which become accepted in the market: Branded Reseller, Service Provider, Enhanced Service Provider, full Mobile Virtual Network Operator, White Label Service Provider and Mobile Virtual Network Enabler. In addition, the categorization may also support virtual operators in defining and evaluating business models.
P o S ( E N A S 6 ) 0 1 9 Core-collapse

W. Raphael Hix∗ab, Eric J. Lentzb, Mark Bairdc Austin Chertkowb, Ching-Tsai Leeb, John Blondinc, Stephen Bruennd , O.E. Bronson Messereb, Anthony Mezzacappaab † aPhysics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge TN 37831-6354 bDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee Knoxville, TN 37996-1200 c Reactor & Nuclear Systems Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge TN 37831-6003 dDepartment of Physics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-8202 USA eDepartment of Physics, Florida Atlantic University, 777 W Glades Road, Boca Raton, FL 33431-0991 USA f Center for Computational Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge TN 37831-6008
Associations of objectively measured physical activity and abdominal fat distribution.

INTRODUCTION/PURPOSE Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and physical activity are both independent predictors of Type 2 diabetes. Physical activity and overall obesity are inversely associated with each other. Yet the nature of the association between objectively measured dimensions of physical activity and abdominal fat distribution has not been well characterized. We aimed to do so in a middle-age to elderly population at high risk of diabetes. METHODS A cross-sectional analysis of 1134 participants of the ADDITION-PRO study. VAT and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) were assessed one-dimensionally by ultrasonography and physical activity with combined accelerometry and HR monitoring. Linear regression of physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE) and time spent in different physical activity intensity levels on VAT and SAT was performed. RESULTS Median body mass index (BMI) was 26.6 kg·m and PAEE was 28.1 kJ·kg·d, with 18.9 h·d spent sedentary, 4.5 h·d in light-intensity physical activity, and 0.4 h·d in moderate-intensity physical activity. PAEE was significantly negatively associated with VAT, and in women, PAEE was also significantly negatively associated with SAT. The difference in VAT was -1.1 mm (95% confidence interval [CI] = -1.8 to -0.3) per 10-kJ·kg·d increment, and the corresponding difference in SAT for women was -0.6 mm (95% CI = -1.2 to -0.04) in models adjusted for age, sex, and waist circumference. Exchanging 1 h of light physical activity with moderate physical activity was significantly associated with VAT (-4.5 mm, 95% CI = -7.6 to -1.5). Exchanging one sedentary hour with light physical activity was significantly associated with both VAT (-0.9 mm, 95% CI = -0.1 to -1.8) and SAT (-0.4 mm, 95% CI = -0.0 to -0.7). CONCLUSIONS In this population with low physical activity levels, cross-sectional findings indicate that increasing overall physical activity and decreasing time spent sedentary is important to avoid the accumulation of metabolically deleterious VAT.
Multi-Output Sepic Converter with DC-DC Converter Channabasappa

With the help of renewable energy source generation of power increased day to day. Renewable energy sources are more available in nature and these sources are free from the pollution to the environment, In solar system sun is the most important source of renewable energy and produce energy in the form of heat and light by using this energy power can be generated with the help of PV panels the output of the PV panel are fed into the converters and rectifiers, simultaneously by using inverter get the AC power In this project represents the topic on getting multioutput by using single input.to get the dual output voltage level from the conventional converters by using the more number of switches and elements because of that power loss will be more and system becomes complex. Hence, SEPIC based dual outputs converter is used which is suitable for solar applications. By using the modified SEPIC converter we get the dual output, the output are used to charge the two batteries then output of the battery will be provided to the cascaded multi-level inverter finally get the AC output. Compare to the other multilevel inverter proposed system is simple and an operation was easy to understand.
Comparison of the Effects of Alkaloids Present in Traditional Native American Medicinal Plants on Melanoma and Breast Cancer Cell Lines

Several studies on dietary and medicinal herbs have suggested that they might be useful tools in the chemotherapeutic treatment of cancer. While past research has focused on herbs found in traditional Chinese or Ayurvedic medicine, little if any research has been done on preparations used in traditional Native American medicine. Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis L.) and bloodroot (Sanguinarine canadensis L.) are two herbs that have been used by Native Americans as a treatment against inflammation, microbes, ulcers and cancer. Chemical studies conducted on these herbs have shown that the major alkaloid phytochemicals found in these plants are berberine and sanguinarine, respectively. Berberine and sanguinarine have been previously reported to inhibit cell proliferation of different types of myelogenous and squamous cell cancers. Some mechanisms by which berberine and sanguinarine may inhibit cell proliferation include acting as a topoisomerase poison and inhibiting NFκB. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of berberine and sanguinarine on cell proliferation of two less invasive (M10 and MCF7) and two highly invasive (M2 and 231) melanoma and breast cancer cell lines, respectively, and to describe their effects on DNA synthesis and localization of cyclin D1. Experiments were conducted using the cell proliferation assay sulforhodamine B (SRB) on cells treated with phytochemical to quantify inhibition in growth. Immunolabeling experiments with treated cells labeled with bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) and antibodies to proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) visualized effects on DNA synthesis; labeling with cyclin D1 revealed changes in the distribution of this cell cycle regulatory protein within the cells. Results demonstrate that 231 breast cancer cells were more sensitive to berberine than the other cell lines. Also, sanguinarine was more toxic to cells than berberine with slightly more sensitivity towards M2 melanoma and approximately equal efficacy among the other cell lines. Immunolabeling experiments show that DNA synthesis and cyclin D1 were not inhibited by berberine in M10 or MCF-7 cells. Sanguinarine, however, inhibited DNA