Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Perceptual Evaluation of Physical Predictors of the Mixing Time in Binaural Room Impulse Responses

Virtual acoustic environments (VAEs) can be realized by means of dynamic binaural synthesis. Therefore, anechoic audio is convolved with interactively interchangeable binaural room impulse responses (BRIRs) measured for a discrete number of head orientations. In a room impulse response, early reflections gradually pass into a stochastic reverberation tail. The transition point between both domains is called the physical mixing time (tm). After mixing, the sound field is equivalent to a diffuse field, which is characterized by equidistributed a) energy density and b) directional energy flux within the whole room. Due to increasing diffuseness in the decay process, individual reflections become less perceptively distinguishable. The lesser early reflections have to be rendered in a VAE, the more computational demands will be reduced. An obvious method to achieve this reduction would be to replace the individual reverberation tail of the BRIRs – after an instant when perceptual discrimination is no longer possible – with an arbitrary and constant reverberation tail. For a singular small room this instant, i.e. the ‘perceptual mixing time’ (tmp), was examined in [1]. Several combinations of early reflections and tails from different receiver and source combinations were tested using static auralization, finally leading to the conclusion that – for this room – tmp was about 40 ms and independent of positional changes within the room. As for larger rooms, higher mixing times can be expected, in [2] tmp was assessed for an auditorium, again using static auralization. Tmp was indeed higher (140 ms), moreover, and presumably due to modal behavior at low frequencies a positional dependency of tmp was observed. Additionally, listeners were most sensitive to a drum set sample. The aim of our study was to find the perceptual mixing time for several rooms, systematically varied in volume and average absorption, utilizing dynamic auralization. Afterwards, by means of regression analysis, the ability of several model based predictors of tm (mean free path length ~V/S [3], reflection density ~√V [4], and reverberation time [5]) to indicate the perceptual mixing time tmp was examined.
Stage 13 : Formation of the Aortic Sac and Third , Fourth and Sixth Pharyngeal Arch Arteries

Variations and mutations in the human genome, such as 22q11.2 microdeletion, can increase the risk for congenital defects, including aortic arch malformations. Animal models are increasingly expanding our molecular and genetic insights into aortic arch development. However, in order to justify animal-tohuman extrapolations, a human morphological, and molecular reference model would be of great value, but is currently lacking. Here, we present interactive three-dimensional reconstructions of the developing human aortic arch system, supplemented with the protein distribution of developmental markers for patterning and growth, including T-box transcription factor TBX1, a major candidate for the phenotypes found in patients with the 22q11.2 microdeletion. These reconstructions and expression data facilitate unbiased interpretations, and reveal previously unappreciated aspects of human aortic arch development. Based on our reconstructions and on reported congenital anomalies of the pulmonary trunk and tributaries, we postulate that the pulmonary arteries originate from the aortic sac, rather than from the sixth pharyngeal arch arteries. Similar to mouse, TBX1 is expressed in pharyngeal mesenchyme and epithelia. The endothelium of the pharyngeal arch arteries is largely negative for TBX1 and family member TBX2 but expresses neural crest marker AP2a, which gradually decreases with ongoing development of vascular smooth muscle. At early stages, the pharyngeal arch arteries, aortic sac, and the dorsal aortae in particular were largely negative for proliferation marker Ki67, potentially an important parameter during aortic arch system remodeling. Together, our data support current animal-to-human extrapolations and future genetic and molecular analyses using animal models of congenital heart disease. 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Predictors of digoxin use and risk of mortality in ED patients with atrial fi brillation : Results from the Chinese AF registry

Article history: Received 3 April 2017 Received in revised form 26 April 2017 Accepted 26 April 2017 Available online xxxx Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate factors of digoxin use and its relation to mortality in ED patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods: The Chinese AF registry enrolled 2016 AF patients from 20 representative EDs, and the period of study was one year. Predictors of digoxin use and its relation to mortality were assessed by logistic and Cox regression analyses. Results: Digoxin was assigned in 609 patients (30.6%), and younger age, lower bodymass index values, and existence of permanent AF, heart failure (HF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and valvular heart disease were identified to be factors associatedwith digoxin use. During the follow-up, compared to patients without digoxin therapy, digoxin-treated patients had significantly higher risk of all-cause death (17.2% vs. 13.0%, P = 0.012) and cardiovascular death (15.1% vs. 6.7%, P b 0.001), but similar risk of sudden cardiac death (1.1% vs. 0.7%, P=0.341). However, after adjustment for related covariates, digoxin use was no longer notably associated with increased all-cause mortality (hazards ratio [HR] 0.973, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.718–1.318) and cardiovascular death (HR 1.313, 95% CI 0.905–1.906). Besides, neutral associations of digoxin treatment tomortality were obtained in relevant subgroups, with no interactions observed between digoxin and gender, HF, valvular heart disease, or concomitant warfarin treatment in mortality risk. Conclusions: In ED patients with AF, digoxin was more frequently assigned to vulnerable patients with concomitant HF or valvular heart disease, and digoxin use was not related to a significantly increased risk of mortality. © 2017 Published by Elsevier Inc.
The Impact of Terrorism-induced Fear on Job Attitudes and Absenteeism Following a National Traumatic Event: Evidence from Pakistan

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of terrorism-induced fear on employee job attitudes and absenteeism in the weeks following the Army Public School attack in Peshawar, Pakistan. The paper is based on questionnaire data collected from 204 faculty members of public sector universities in Peshawar using snowball sampling technique. We applied partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyze the entire impact path and found substantial support for our hypotheses. The results suggest that fear of terrorism affects absenteeism directly, as well as indirectly via job attitudes. Further, perceived organizational support is found to attenuate the negative relationship between fear of terrorism and job attitudes. Very few studies have examined the impact of societal variables such as national traumatic events on jobrelated outcomes.
Csk-binding Protein / Phosphoprotein C-terminal Src Kinase ( Csk ) and between the Src Homology 2 Domain of Identification of a New Interaction Mode Protein Structure and Folding :

Atsushi Nakagawa, Masato Okada and Yokogawa, Marc-Werner Dobenecker, Takashi Kanou, Young-Ho Lee, Daisuke Oneyama, Masakazu Tanaka, Yuichi Sasaki, Hiroaki Tanaka, Ken-ichi Akagi, Chitose Microdomains Associated with Glycosphingolipid Csk-binding Protein/Phosphoprotein C-terminal Src Kinase (Csk) and between the Src Homology 2 Domain of Identification of a New Interaction Mode Protein Structure and Folding:
Antibiotic resistance and ndvB gene expression among biofilm producing Pseudomonas aeruoginosa isolates

A novel antibiotic resistant mechanism among biofilms is glucan-mediated sequestration in which ndvB gene encodes a glucosyltransferase involved in the formation of this glucans. We studied the biofilm formation and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of P. aeruginosa isolated from clinical samples, and measured the expression of ndvB gene among biofilm forming isolates and their planktonic counterparts. The study was conducted on 92 P. aeruginosa isolates. Biofilm was measured using tissue culture plate method. Antibiotic susceptibility of biofilm positive isolates and planktonic counterparts for ciprofloxacin, tobramycin and gentamycin was tested using tube microdilution method. Expression of ndvB gene was measured using Syper green real time PCR. We found that 44 isolates (47.8%) of P. aeruginosa were biofilm positive. The biofilm formation was high among urine, endotracheal tube aspirate and burn isolates compared to isolates of wound specimens, with statistically nonsignificant differences. None of biofilm forming isolates was susceptible to the 3 antibiotics compared to the presence of susceptible isolates among the planktonic counterpart (18/40.9% for ciprofloxacin, 12/27.3% for tobramycin and 13/29.5% for gentamycin). Expression of ndvB gene was significantly high in biofilm isolates than their corresponding counterpart, with significant correlations with minimal biofilm inhibitory concentration (MBIC) values of cibrofloxacin (r=+ 0.65, p < 0.05 ), tobramycin (r= + 0.54 p < 0.05 ) and gentamycin (r=+ 0.77, p < 0.001 ). From this study we concluded that biofilm formation is an important character of P. aeruginosa that is a main cause of antibiotic resistance especially in isolates from catheterized urine , wound and endotracheal tube aspirate. NdvB gene expression is a mechanism of resistance to antibiotics in P. aeruginosa biofilms. Keywords: P. aeruginosa , biofilm, antibiotic resistance and ndvB gene
Ethical Perceptions of Managers: A Preliminary Study of Small and Medium Enterprises in Botswana

Ethical views of managers have continued to be of interest to business practitioners and researchers. However, given that historical context of many of these ethical transgressions have been reported amongst large local and international corporations, researchers have focussed their studies on larger organizations. The importance of smaller organizations, more specifically Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), the economic and social development of businesses in emerging and growing economies is greater. Researchers in developing countries have been challenged to undertake study of the ethical sensitivity of small business managers. The extant literature suggests that managers in small businesses are able to influence the ethical climate in the organization to a greater extent than those in larger organizations. The current study investigates the ethical views of small business managers in Botswana and compares these to the views held by a comparison group of key personnel in their organizations. Given that the prior research found that managers in small businesses have a high degree of ethical sensitivity when compared to managers in larger corporations and the public, the study hypothesized that managers of SMEs will be more ethically sensitive key personnel in their organizations. A questionnaire was administered on both groups, and the results were statically tested for differences. The study determined that there were no significant differences between the two groups for most of the questions that queried respondents using a set of ethical value statement. The study also determined that respondents felt that there were increased incidences of unethical practices in the country, especially those that involved bribery. The paper concludes by making recommendations for national, industry-focussed studies within SMEs.
Risk factors of non-communicable diseases among female university students of the Health Colleges of Taif University

Two-thirds of 2010 deaths worldwide were caused by non-communicable diseases (NCDs), with cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and diabetes mellitus coming top as the causes of mortality. In 2008, 26.6 per 1000 female population deaths, and 46 per 1000 male population deaths in Saudi Arabia were attributed to non-communicable diseases. Data about the magnitude of NCDs among young population in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) are scarce. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of risk factors of non-conmmunicable diseases among female university students. Total coverage was carried out and a cross sectional study was done using the Arabic version of the The WHO STEPwise approach to surveillance (WHO STEPs) approach. The study showed that 3.1% of the students were current smokers, 61.7% were physically inactive; most of the students were not consuming adequate amounts of fruits and vegetables. The prevalence of overweight, mild obesity and sever obesity among the students was (28.6, 15 and 3.1%, respectively). 2.5% of the students had unacceptable fasting blood glucose level, 31.1% had unacceptable fasting blood cholesterol level and 33.6% had unacceptable fasting blood triglycerides. A significant negative correlation was found between the body mass index (BMI) and the actual metabolic equivalents of task (MET) minutes of physical exercises. And a significant positive correlation was found between the BMI and blood cholesterol and triglycerides levels, waist circumference and the waist hip ratio. The study emphasises on the importance of implementing awareness programmes on non-communicable diseases among young Saudi population to adopt healthy life styles. Key words: Risk factors, non-communicable diseases, female university students, health colleges, Taif.
Factors influencing adoption of stress-tolerant maize hybrid (WH 502) in western Kenya

Non-adoption of suitable maize varieties was identified as the second most important constraint responsible for low maize yields in western Kenya. In order to increase adoption of suitable varieties it is important to know the factors that influence the choice of variety and adoption. This study aimed at identifying varietal, socio-economic and institutional factors that influence adoption of the maize hybrid, WH 502. Data were collected from a random sample of 504 households and 68 stockists from three districts of western Kenya. Results showed that the main attributes of WH 502 that influenced its adoption were high yield, early maturity and non-lodging, whereas the important socio-economic factors were farm size, cattle ownership, education level of the farmer and locality specific characteristics. The attributes of WH 502 that farmers disliked were poor storability and poor husk cover. Neighbors were found to play a more important role than the public extension service in making WH 502 variety known to farmers. Breeders need to improve on storability and husk cover attributes of WH 502 so as to sustain or improve adoption. Policy makers should support informal ways of extending new technologies to farmers and also support farmers through provision of adult education.
Concentration Distribution of Solid Particles Transported by a Pseudoplastic Fluid

Concentration distributions of solid particles transported by pseudoplastic fluids in laminar regime were determined experimentally. Practically all the distributions show minimum concentration of solids near the centre of the pipe and higher toward the walls and even, for some conditions, the highest values near the top of the pipe. This behaviour of the concentration distribution was explained when diffusive fluxes of the solid particles due to concentration gradient and viscosity gradient are considered. An existing diffusive model was modified in order to take into account negatively buoyant particles and a pseudoplastic fluid as a carrier. It was found that the head loss plays an important role in the fluxes of solid particles due to gradients of concentration and viscosity, increasing them enough to overcome the effect of gravity.
General infection prevention Policies for urinary catheter placement and maintenance Appropriate indications Surveillance for catheter use and CAUTI Catheter necessity Annual competencies Evaluation of CAUTI events Policies for catheter placement and maintenance Surveillance for catheter use and CLA

* Address correspondence to Mohamad G. Fakih, Infection Prevention and Control, St. John Hospital and Avenue, Suite 190, Grosse Pointe Woods, MI 48236. E-mail address: Mohamad.Fakih@stjohn.org (M.G. This study was presented at the APIC 2013 an number 9-388). Support for the survey, which was undertaken provided in part by the Centers for Medicare and M Partnership for Patients initiative. The analyses upo based were performed under Contract Number HHSM “Hospital Engagement Contractor for Partnership for Conflicts of interest: None to report.
The effect of occupation-specific brain drain on human capital

This paper tests the hypothesis of a beneficial brain drain using occupation-specific data on migration from developing countries to OECD countries around 2000. Distinguishing between several types of human capital allows to assess whether the impact of high-skilled south-north migration on human capital in the sending economies differed across occupational groups requiring tertiary education. We find a robust negative effect of the incidence of high-skilled emigration on the level of human capital in the sending countries, thereby rejecting the hypothesis of a beneficial brain drain. The negative effect was significantly stronger for professionals - the occupational category with the largest incidence of south-north migration and the highest educational requirements - than for technicians and associate professionals.
uffalo meat composition as affected by different ooking methods

Buffalo meat is considered in Italy as an alternative product for its good nutritional characteristics. The influence of three cooking methods (boiling, grilling and frying) on the chemical and lipid composition of buffalo meat was evaluated. All the treatments reduced the moisture and increased protein, ash and fat content. The increase in fat content was higher after frying due to the incorporation of fat from olive oil. Fried meat had lower saturated fatty acid content due to the incorporation of mono-unsaturated (C18:1) fatty acids from oil. The incorporation of oil fatty acids caused a decrease in conjugated linoleic acid relative content. Moreover, fried meat showed the highest levels D P of the unhealthy trans fatty acids. Therefore, frying was shown as the worst cooking methods regarding human health. Boiling and grilling increased thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, while frying had no effect on them. © 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of The Institution of Chemical Engineers.
Does intellectual capital add value to Malaysian companies

In knowledge-based economy, intellectual capital (IC) plays an important role compared to the physical assets in achieving a company value and success. The ignorance of IC would result in management putting less attention on IC, and hence IC value added capabilities would not be fully exploited. The study aims to examine the relationship between IC performance (VAIC) and company characteristics with IC disclosure in the annual reports of 68 biggest Malaysian companies listed in Bursa Malaysia based on market capitalization in year 2006. The study follows the classification of IC disclosure (ICD) by Huang et al. (2007), with three broad IC categories in forty-five items. Content analysis was used to collect the IC related information. Other data are gathered from annual reports and datastream. Results show that VAIC is negatively related to IC disclosure. Further classification of VAIC shows that Intellectual Capital Efficiency (ICE) and Human Capital Efficiency (HSE) are negatively related to IC disclosure whilst Structural Capital Efficiency (SCE) is not related to IC disclosure. Negative association suggests that companies reduce intellectual capital disclosure for competitive advantage reason which supports the proprietary cost theory. Company size and leverage are found to be positively related to IC disclosure.
Acoustic microscopy in the food industry

Acoustic microscopy has been used for many years to image and measure the elastic properties of materials across a wide range of scientific disciplines. However the application of this technique in the food industry is scarce. In this paper we outline the operation of a reflection-mode acoustic microscope and discuss some of the issues relevant to its operation in the food sector. We then present two relevant case studies in which we employ acoustic microscopy to analyse potato cells and the fat structure in Iberian ham and chorizo.
Regression Analysis of Microwave Spectra for Temperature-Compensated and Density-Independent Determination of Wheat Moisture Content

Partial least-squares regression (PLSR) was used to generate wheat moisture content predictive models from eight-frequency microwave attenuation (A) and phase (P) spectra in the 10.36 to 18.0 GHz range, as obtained by a free-space technique with a 10.4 cm thick sample. Spectra (n = 379) were measured for a set of grain samples that had been treated to span the agriculturally practical ranges of moisture content (M) (10.6 to 19.2% g/gwet), temperature (K) (–1 to 42°C), and bulk density (D) (0.72 to 0.88 g/mL). The sample– property space formed by M, K, and D was used to prune redundant samples and select representative subsets for calibration (n = 279), cross-validation (n = 40 segments), and testing (n = 31). Twelve model types are reported and vary from attenuation or phase alone to the combination of attenuation, phase, temperature, and density (i.e., APKD). For optimization of each PLSR model, the raw spectral, temperature, and density data were preprocessed with variable ratios, mathematical transformations, and/or variable scaling. The lowest moisture prediction errors were for temperature-and density-corrected models with variables AKD or APKD; these produced root-mean-square cross-validation and prediction errors (RMSECV and RMSEP) of 0.19 to 0.20% in moisture content units. The more practical unifrequency models, APK at 15.2 GHz, and AK at 18.0 GHz, yielded RMSECV values of 0.21% and 0.35%, respectively. Addition of temperature to dielectric data always substantially reduced the model error. However, the multiplicative effect of density is well corrected by using the ratio A/P, or partly corrected by using the features in the attenuation spectra. Data trends suggest that dual-frequency PK models might benefit from a wider frequency range, and unifrequency AK models might be better at frequencies higher than 18.0 GHz. The results presented make it possible to evaluate a wide variety of instrumental configurations that might be proposed to suit particular engineering criteria such as measurement accuracy, range of operating conditions, and hardware complexity.