Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Frequency of Beijing family of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Mashhad, Northeast of Iran

Background: Beijing family of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) is widespread in Asia and has been involved in outbreaks of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in various parts of the world. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the frequency of Beijing family of M. tuberculosis in patients with tuberculosis in Mashhad, Iran. Materials and Methods: Totally, 72 specimens of M. tuberculosis were collected from pulmonary samples of patients at Ghaem hospital in Mashhad (Iran) between April 2011 and May 2012. The authors used IS6110-based polymerase chain reaction (IS6110-based PCR) method to identify Beijing family of M. tuberculosis. Based on PCR results, strains belonging to Beijing and non-Beijing families were detected. Also, among members of Beijing family, ancient and modern subfamilies were distinguished. Results: Beijing genotype was observed in five (6.9%) of 72 culture positive samples. In the present study, no cases of modern subfamilies were detected. M. tuberculosis had a higher frequency in men (61.1%) compared to that of women (38.9%). Our data demonstrated that IS6110-based PCR can be used to distinguish Beijing family from non-Beijing family, with high specificity and sensitivity. Conclusion: The improvement of convenient and quick methods to detect and control Beijing family of M. tuberculosis in clinical samples is an interesting subject in areas where M. tuberculosis is prevalent. This method has the advantages of being quick, cost-effective, and requires comparatively less clinical laboratory equipment. K e y w o r ds: Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Beijing lineage; Polymerase chain reaction
Americas Conference on Information Systems ( AMCIS ) December 2002 THE IMPACT OF E-GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES : LOUISIANAS iOEXPRESS LANElR LICENSE AND VEHICLE REGISTRATION SYSTEM

The utilization of technology by government to deliver information and servicesE-Governmentoffers the ability to provide significant improvements in customer service, while reducing staffing costs and related expenses. But are E-Government projects producing their purported benefits? This paper examines the impact of e-government initiatives by studying the implementation of online and interactive voice response (IVR) systems at the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles (OMV). Previous studies relating to the effects of information technology projects are reviewed and a framework for evaluating the impact of information technology initiatives in public sector agencies is proposed. The study then examines the results of the OMVs Express Lane project for providing drivers license and vehicle registration renewals online or through its IVR system.
Liquidity at the Oslo Stock Exchange

We analyze the relationship between the long term development in liquidity at the Oslo Stock Exchange and the Norwegian economy for the period 1980 to 2007. We calculate different liquidity measures that captures various dimensions of liquidity over time and across industry groups. Overall, we find that the liquidity at the OSE has improved over the sample period. However, the improvement is most pronounced for the largest firms on the exchange. Interestingly, some measures indicate that the implicit cost of trading has been lower in earlier periods than it is today. Another important finding is that there is a strong counter cyclical relationship between proportional transaction costs measured by the relative spread and the business cycle measured by the output gap. The average relative spread also responds very quickly to the turning points of the business cycle. This result suggest that liquidity measures provide important real time information about the current state of the economy as well as market participants expectations about future economic growth.
THE CORPUS CALLOSUM IN THE LATERALISED REACHING TASK AN INVESTIGATION OF THE ROLE OF THE CORPUS CALLOSUM IN THE LATERALISED SKILLED REACHING TASK By

Long-term potentiation (LTP), a long-lasting enhancement of synaptic efficacy, is believed to be the mechanism by which memory storage occurs in the brain. Several studies have shown that LTP can be induced in various neural sites, not only by electrical stimulation, but also as a result of behavioural modifications. It has previously been shown that L TP in the primary motor cortex accompanies motor skill learning. One study showed that potentiation occurred following training on a lateralised skilled reaching task. In this task, animals are trained to use only one paw to grasp a small food pellet. An interesting finding that has been uncovered from these studies is that, although only one hemisphere actively participates in the task (the trained hemisphere), the other hemisphere (untrained hemisphere) also shows potentiation. This has led to the hypothesis that the corpus callosum is involved in the transfer of information from one hemisphere to another during training on the reaching task. The nature of this communication, however, is unknown. Two possibilities were considered. The first was that the callosum transfers information that allows the animal to maintain its balance while the reaching paw is elevated. Careful observation of videorecording made while animals performed the task however, failed to reveal any deficits in balance in animals that had undergone a callosal transection. A second possibility is that the corpus callosum transfers information about the
Biological reduction of hexavalent chromium and mechanism analysis of detoxification by enterobacter sp. HT1 isolated from tannery effluents, Mongolia

Enterobacter sp. HT1, Cr (VI) resistant bacterial strain was isolated from the wastewater sample of the tannery in Mongolia. Batch experiments on hexavalent chromium removal was carried out at 10, 20, and 30 mg/L of Cr (VI) added as potassium dichromate (K 2 Cr 2 O 7 ), at pH 7 and temperature of 30 °C using pure culture of Enterobacter sp. HT1 as inoculum. The isolated HT1 is capable of reduction nearly 100% of Cr (VI) resulting in the decrease of Cr (VI) from 10 to 0.2 mg/L within 20 hours. When the concentration of Cr (VI) increased to 20 and 30mg/L, almost complete reduction of Cr (VI) could achieve after 72 and 96 hours, respectively. DOI: http://doi.dx. org/10.5564/mjc.v15i0. 322 Mongolian Journal of Chemistry 15 (41), 2014, p47-52
A Novel Technique for Copyright Protection of Images Using Hybrid Encryption Model

In this paper, we present a robust and novel strategic invisible watermarking scheme which can be used in the field of copyright protection. The novelty of our algorithm lies in the creation of a compound watermark image using the target image and the key image, where both of them are self encrypted. The self encryption concept adds an extra level of data security along with the security supported by the watermarking technique. Again, our method results a single invisible watermarked image which will be sent to the recipient and from that image, both the key and the target image can be extracted with no distortion using only the proposed extraction algorithm. Results of exhaustive experimentation using standard input color images demonstrate the robustness and efficiency of our approach. Index Terms—Authentication, content protection, cryptography, ownership identification. watermarking
Cenozoic Seismic Sequence Stratigraphic Analysis of the Suriname Margin, South America

Latest understanding has shown that application of conventional seismic sequence stratigraphic methods on shelf-to-slope transition environments is difficult. The Suriname margin of the equatorial Atlantic is the youngest post-rift margin of the Atlantic and should; therefore, be the least complex (Fig. 1). It is the objective of this study to apply latest sequence stratigraphic principals to data from this margin in an attempt to understand the relative roles of external forcing functions such as sea level, sediment input and tectonics to development of the margin
Distributed detection with multiple sensors I. Fundamentals

In this paper basic results on distributed detection are reviewed. In particular we consider the parallel and the serial architectures in some detail and discuss the decision rules obtained from their optimization based an the Neyman-Pearson (NP) criterion and the Bayes formulation. For conditionally independent sensor observations, the optimality of the likelihood ratio test (LRT) at the sensors is established. General comments on several important issues are made including the computational complexity of obtaining the optimal solutions the design of detection networks with more general topologies, and applications to different areas.
Linking variation in personality and behavioural syndromes to social foraging and producer-scrounger effects in house sparrows (Passer domesticus)

ii Sammendrag . iii Table of Content . v Introduction . 1 Method . 4 Study Area . 4 Study Species . 4 Behavioural Assays . 4 Video Analyses . 6 Statistical Analyses . 7 Results . 12 Body mass and mass change . 12 Number of visits and visit duration . 13 First visit times . 14 Change in visit duration . 15 Number of wells visited per second at the feeder . 17 Number of birds at the feeder . 18 Scrounging . 18 Aggression . 18 Repeatability . 19 Structural Equation Models . 20 Discussion . 26 Conclusion . 31 References . 33 Appendix A . I Appendix B . V
Logistic Regression Based Reliability Analysis for Mobile Ad Hoc Network with Fixed Maximum Speed and Varying Pause Times

Mobile Ad-hoc Network (MANET) has become the most important and useful means of communication today. Some research on reliability analysis of MANET is reported in the literature. Logistic regression based reliability analysis of MANET is presented in the paper considering fixed maximum speed and varying pause times of mobile nodes. The reliability of MANETs running DSDV, DSR and AODV routing protocols are computed and analyzed using ns-2.35 simulation software. The simulation result shows that the reliability of MANET using DSR protocol is higher than MANETs using AODV and DSDV routing protocols in all scenarios. However, the reliability of MANETs using AODV protocol is higher than that of MANETs using DSR and DSDV routing protocol as the number of nodes deployed in the MANET increases beyond 140.
Coupling and convergence for Hamiltonian Monte Carlo

Based on a new coupling approach, we prove that the transition step of the Hamiltonian Monte Carlo algorithm is contractive w.r. t. a carefully designed Kantorovich (L1 Wasserstein) distance. The lower bound for the contraction rate is explicit. Global convexity of the potential is not required, and thus multimodal target distributions are included. Explicit quantitative bounds for the number of steps required to approximate the stationary distribution up to a given error are a direct consequence of contractivity. These bounds show that HMC can overcome diffusive behaviour if the duration of the Hamiltonian dynamics is adjusted appropriately.
Actions of Antimicrobial Peptides and Bacterial Components in Inflammation Sigurdardottir, Thorgerdur

ABBREVIATIONS. LIST OF PAPERS. BACKGROUND. Definition of sepsis and epidemiology. Innate and adaptive immunity. Antimicrobial peptides. M1 protein from Streptococcus pyogenes. The role of nitric oxide in sepsis. AIMS OF THE STUDIES. MATERIALS AND METHODS. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. Paper I. Paper II. Paper III. Paper IV. CONCLUSIONS. SUMMARY IN SWEDISH. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. REFERENCES. APPENDIX: Papers I-IV 6 8 9 11 11 12 13 15 16 18 19 25 25 30 34 40 44 45 47 51
Nerves of steel? Stress, work performance and elite athletes

There is a notable shortage of empirical research directed at measuring the magnitude and direction of stress effects on performance in a controlled environment. One reason for this is the inherent difficulties in identifying and isolating direct performance measures for individuals. Additionally, most traditional work environments contain a multitude of exogenous factors impacting individual performance, but controlling for all such factors is generally unfeasible (omitted variable bias). Moreover, instead of asking individuals about their self-reported stress levels, we observe workers’ behaviour in situations that can be classified as stressful. For this reason, we have stepped outside the traditional workplace in an attempt to gain greater controllability of these factors using the sports environment as our experimental space. We empirically investigate the relationship between stress and performance, in an extreme pressure situation (football penalty kicks) in a winner take all sporting environment (FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Cup competitions). Specifically, we examine all the penalty shootouts between 1976 and 2008 covering in total 16 events. The results indicate that extreme stressors can have a positive or negative impact on individuals’ performance. On the other hand, more commonly experienced stressors do not affect professionals’ performances.
P o S ( N L S 1 ) 0 6 2 Implications from the optical to UV flux ratio of Fe II emission in SDSS DR 7 quasars

We have investigated Fe II emission by analysing SDSS DR7 quasars. We have chosen those quasars which have both optical and UV Fe II emission simultaneously covered by the SDSS, resulting in 1,400 sources whose redshifts range from 0.73 to 0.80 and absolute i magnitudes from -24 to -26. We found that narrow-line objects, such as Narrow Line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s), have large optical-to-UV Fe II flux ratios, indicating that they have large column-density Broad Line Region (BLR) clouds [4]. Combining this result with high Eddington ratios found in NLS1s, it can be naturally interpreted that the radiation pressure of photons emitted from the central source controls the state of BLR clouds. We also find that Fe II emission must emerge from the outermost region of BLR clouds in such a way that they are not radiatively blown away. Finally, we introduce our project to measure the iron abundance in BLR clouds by combining X-ray with optical observations.
Epigallocatechin 3-gallate applications on HT-29 and MCF-7 cell lines andevaluation of tumor suppressor gene methylation

Abstract: Epigallocatechin 3-gallate (EGCG) is an antitumor molecule and shows this activity by binding to the active center of a methyltransferase enzyme (DNMT1). The methylation of DNA sequences of tumor suppressor and DNA repair genes is observed in different stages of carcinogenesis. In this study, we analyzed the effect of EGCG on the methylation status of 25 tumor suppressor genes in cancer cell lines HT-29 and MCF-7. HT-29 and MCF-7 cells were incubated with 10 mM, 20 mM, and 50 mM and 1 mM, 5 mM, and 10 mM EGCG for 48 h, respectively. We found promoter hypermethylation of (1) CDH13, GATA5, and RARb genes in MCF-7 cell line and (2) RARb, ESR1, PAX6, WT1, CADM1, CHFR, CDH13, and GATA5 genes in HT-29 cell line. However, (3) after EGCG application, no changes in methylation status were detected in our samples. Our results suggest that methylation status of tumor suppressor genes did not change with different EGCG doses.
How did listed Islamic and Traditional Banks Performed: pre and post the 2008 financial crisis?

This study tests the efficiency and profitability of banks that belongs to two different sectors: a) Islamic Banks (IBs) and b) Traditional Banks (TBs). The study concentrates on the pre and post 2008 financial crisis with an aim to test if there are any significant differences in performance between the two sectors. The study applies the MANOVA techniques to analyze the financial secondary data for only publicly traded banks in the same region. The findings of the study show that there is a significant difference between the two sectors in 2007 and 2009 and there are no significant differences in 2008, which indicates the effect of the crisis on both sectors. IBs outperform TBs in 2007 and TBs outperform IBs in 2009. This result indicates the spread of the crisis to the real economy where IBs usually operate.
Modeling of Sediment Yield and Bicarbonate Concentration in Kordan Watershed

In the present study, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT 2000) model was tested on both a monthly and yearly basis and applied to the Kordan Watershed, located in Iran. The main objective of the research was to assess the accuracy of the model in sediment-yield and surface water bicarbonate concentration estimation. The attributes of sub-watersheds, tributary channels and the main channel in each sub-watershed were generated using the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and Geographical Information System (GIS) Arc View SWAT 2000 interface. The model was calibrated and validated for the period from 1990 until 2004. Calibration results revealed that the model predicted monthly and yearly sediment-yield, but not such good results were obtained for the bicarbonate concentration. Therefore, some efforts were made in order to find a solution for SWAT bicarbonate temporal modeling. Around 70 samples of the Kordan River water quality data were used and, upon doing statistical calculations, the best correlation between the average pH–EC of water and the bicarbonate concentration was obtained. The formula shall be tested at several watersheds, and it can also be defined to SWAT in order that the model is able to calculate bicarbonate concentration according to pH and EC of the river water, which are introduced to SWAT by the user as a stream water quality file (SWQ) .
A Game Theoretic Analysis of Turkish Accession to a European Customs Union

The entrance of additional countries into a European customs union, in this case Turkey, and its impact on agriculture are examined. Results from a trade simulation model are used as components of a Political Preference Function and utilized within a game theoretic framework to identify the optimal strategies for Turkey, the EU, and the U.S. Turkey's best interest, from an agricultural perspective, involves adoption of agreements made in the Uruguay round of GATT as a developing country rather than applying EU protection. Although free trade is not the optimal solution, simulations indicate that the solution does involve the reduction of agricultural protection levels.
EMOTION ATTUNING SYSTEMS：ITS MICRO-ANALYSIS IN INFANCY AND EARLY CHILDHOOD

53 In the Japanese tea-ceremony, in the Eucharist of the Catholicism, or in the contemplation of Zen practice, we can see sequential acts. These activities are composed of postural, imaginative, or breathing forms. Within these self-quieting activities, there are secret skills to introduce the emotion into quiet and consoled state. It is recently that developmental psychologists are beginning to show a great interest in emotion attunement or emotion regulation (Campos & Barrett, 1984: Campos, Campos & Barrett, 1989). However there are a variety of ways to grasp this phenomena. Today systems view proposes a basic framework for explaining this phenomena: the child is assumed as a behaving system which flexibly seeks to attune emotional state. Here" system" involves the bio-informational-behavioral interplay, which is composed of three components: the organized overt acts (i. e. emotion expression), physiological emotional state, and subjective feeling which is expressed in the language report (Lang, 1984: Lewis & Michalson, 1983). Suppose that a child is placed in the stress-arousing context. He/she is assumed to attune his/her emotional state by resorting to a number of behavior elements: coping with an interference or self-quieting over-activated state, etc (Suda, 1991). These behaviors are observed even in the very young infant (Suda, in preparation), and they develop with age when the child acquires new behaviors. Therefore, I will define emotion attunement as micro-process to self-generate a quieter state where a new cluster of behaviors emerges. This micro-process, which means real-time change, is named" self-organization" implying autonomic process of generating a state or a pattern of behaviors without prescription or a set of commands in the child's structure. This phenomena involves a wide range of activities. It includes at least four characteristics. (1) A shift of emotional state is not seen as a point along continuum of behavioral activation, but rather seen in emergence of discrete state where a new and motivationally different series of behaviors are seen. (2) There are two sides in an attuning process; modulating an unpleasant state and activating a quiet state. The child is to resort to what he/she can operate and try to find an appropriate state of Request for reprint should be addressed to Dr. Osamu Suda at Department of Psychology, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Minami-osawa, Hachi-oji, Tokyo 192-03, Japan.
Design, Manufacture and Characterization of an Acoustic Barrier Made of Multi-Phenomena Cylindrical Scatterers Arranged in a Fractal-Based Geometry

In this work we present the design and the manufacturing processes, as well as the acoustics standard- ization tests, of an acoustic barrier formed by a set of multi-phenomena cylindrical scatterers. Periodic arrangements of acoustic scatterers embedded in a fluid medium with different physical properties are usually called Sonic Crystals. The multiple scattering of waves inside these structures leads to attenuation bands related to the periodicity of the structure by means of Bragg scattering. In order to design the acoustic barrier, two strategies have been used: First, the arrangement of scatterers is based on fractal geometries to maximize the Bragg scattering; second, multi-phenomena scatterers with several noise con- trol mechanisms, as resonances or absorption, are designed and used to construct the periodic array. The acoustic barrier reported in this work provides a high technological solution in the field of noise control.
Reversibility of the island shape, volume and density in Stranski-Krastanow growth

We report on reversible and irreversible phenomena in size-limited InAs island growth (SLIG) on GaAs(001) surface. We found that, with increasing the substrate temperature, the island density of the SLIG islands decreases, the lateral size of the islands increases and the islands strongly flatten. The average volume is either decreased or weakly affected. The total amount of InAs accumulated in quantum dots (QDs) strongly decreases in favour of the gas of In adatoms on the surface. Both unidirectional and reversible tuning of the substrate temperature after formation of the islands causes reversible changes in the island shape and density. We show the possibility of dramatically increasing the volume and the density of QDs approaching the strategically important 1.3 µm wavelength range via adatom condensation with cooling of the substrate after the formation of QDs. We also demonstrate that the substrate temperature cycling procedure may remarkably reduce the defect density in QD structures.
Colorectal cancer: psychosocial interventions and attitudes towards seeking psychological help

4 Introduction 5 Method 8 Results 11 Discussion 26 References 32 Chapter 2: Empirical Paper 39 69 Abstract 40 Background 41 Method 45 Results 50 Discussion 59 References 64 List of Tables Chapter 1 Table 1.1. Summary of Study Characteristics 14 Chapter 2 Table 2.1. Demographic Information of the Sample 50 Table 2.2. Key Clinical Characteristics of the Sample 51 Table 2.3. Mean scores, standard deviations, and ranges 53