Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genotypic Characterization of Nalidixic Acid Resistant Salmonella enteritidis Isolated from Human and Nonhuman Origin in Morocco

Objectives: Salmonella serotype Enteritidis remains the major causative agent of foodborne diseases and human infections worldwide. The purpose of this study was to investigate the molecular characteristics of nalidixic acid resistant Salmonella enteritidis in Morocco. Methods: A total of 862 human and nonhuman Salmonella strains were collected and isolated from 2002 to 2018 in different cities in Morocco. Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined using the disc diffusion assay and sequencing the PCR amplified gyrA and parC genes. Results: The overall percentage of Salmonella enteritidis was 12% (100/862). Drug susceptibility assay revealed that 80% of Salmonella enteritidis isolates were resistant to nalidixic acid. Our data further show that this resistance was due to mutations in gyrA (Aspartate (D) 87 Asparagine (N)) and in parC (Threonine (T) 57 Serine (S)) genes. PCR amplification and plasmid profiling analysis revealed that 80% of strains harbored the spvC virulence gene (669 bp) and a 54 kb plasmid. Conclusion: Our study showed a high rate of nalidixic acid resistant Salmonella enteritidis in human and nonhuman isolates in Morocco. Taking this into account is essential in order to take rapid measures in livestock to ensure control of this emergence of multi-resistant bacteria.
Does Gender Equality Matter for Regional Growth and Income Inequality? An Empirical Analysis for the Indian States

This study aims to address two key research issues: (i) whether gender equality promotes economic growth across Indian states and (ii) whether interstate differences in gender equality can explain per capita income disparities among the Indian states. Controlling for the relevant key factors such as components of government developmental expenditures, private investment, human capital formation and institutional quality in a regional growth model, our empirical findings confirm that gender equality leads to economic growth and that interstate differences in gender equality lead to disparities in per capita income among the Indian states. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Micro-Nano Fabrication of Self-Aligned Silicon Electron Field Emitter Arrays Using Pulsed KrF Laser Irradiation

Abstract Self-aligned silicon micro-nano structured electron field emitter arrays were fabricated using pulsed krypton fluoride (KrF) excimer laser crystallization (ELC) of hydrogenated amorphous thin silicon films (a-Si:H) on metal coated backplane samples. We investigate the effect of laser processing parameters on the growth of micro-nano conical structures on the surface of the thin silicon films. Randomly oriented conical structures as high as 1 µm were fabricated using laser pulse frequency of 100 Hz and sample stage scanning speed of 0.25 mm/sec. Best field emission (FE) results were measured from samples with the highest surface features with FE currents in the order of 10−6 A and low turn-on emission threshold of ∼14 V/µm. Light emission from the prototype demonstrators was tested using bespoke driver electronics and planar anodes coated with indium tin-oxide (ITO) and medium voltage FE phosphors, to exemplify their usage for future flat panel display technologies.
Recent findings from the Upper Limb Consortium Study: new approaches to risk assessment and additional health outcomes

Historically, work-related upper-extremity musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) have comprised a significant portion of the number and cost of injuries in the workplace. The problem of work-related upper-extremity MSD has been, and continues to be, widespread and costly. This panel will present recent research from the Upper Extremity Musculoskeletal Consortium studies. Presentations will be made on new health outcomes such as wrist tendinosis, epicondylitis and rotator cuff syndrome, as well as provide updates on applying new risk assessment methods to prior analyses. The application of the Revised Strain Index will be presented as will a comparison of results from the 2001 ACGIH TLV for Hand Activity to the 2018 ACGIH TLV for Hand Activity. Additionally, the impact of healthy worker survivor effect on the pooled analyses of incident CTS and CTS related disability will be discussed.
Unmet health service needs of newly diagnosed HIV-positive men who have sex with men in China: results from an ethnography

We examined health services needs from the perspective of Newly diagnosed HIV-positive MSM (NHIVMSM) in Southern China. Forty one NHIVMSM took part in in-depth interviews. In addition, 20 health care providers and 16 volunteers were also interviewed in focus groups or individual face-to-face interviews. Participant observations in local healthcare settings, MSM venues and NGO offices were also conducted. Six thematic groupings of unmet health and social service needs were identified, such as information and guidance, improvement in quality of services, quality of and access to medication, enhancement of social support, social welfare and psychological and mental health. Implications for professional training in counseling, flexible free ART distribution, closer cooperation between formal and informal health care services, and establishment of community-based AIDS service organizations are discussed.
Characterization of the complete chloroplast genome of sugar maple (Acer saccharum)

Abstract Acer saccharum is one ecologically and economically important tree species cultivated widely across the world. In this study we generated the complete chloroplast (cp) genome of A. saccharum via genome-skimming method. The assembled genome is 155,684 base-pairs (bp) in size, with one large single copy region of 85,393 bp and one small single copy region of 18,033 bp separated by two inverted repeats of 26,129 bp. The genome contains a total of 133 genes, including 85 protein-coding genes, 8 rRNAs and 40 tRNAs. Furthermore, phylogenomic estimation strongly supported A. saccharum as a distinct lineage within the monophyletic Acer.
Optimal Nonparametric Prediction Intervals of Electricity Load

A novel machine learning based mixed integer programming model is developed for the optimal nonparametric prediction intervals (PIs) of electricity load, which minimizes interval width subject to target hit probability constraint. Binary variables are employed to analytically formulate PI coverage states and further impose calibration constraint. Considering the quantile interpretation on lower and upper bounds of PIs, an innovative binary variable reduction strategy is proposed to significantly accelerate model training process. Compared with traditional central PIs, the resultant optimal nonparametric PIs are featured with adaptive symmetric and asymmetric quantile proportion pairs for interval shortening. Numerical experiments based on actual substation data validate the remarkable superiority of the presented method with respect to both PI quality and computational efficiency.
A real-time event-driven database productivity and maintenance planning tool for continuous surface mining operations

This paper presents a data management application driven by real-time events, which has been developed as a productivity and maintenance planning software application to be used in the surface lignite mines in Northern Greece. The mines operate using a continuous mining system comprised of multiple bucket wheel excavators, belt conveyors, spreaders and stackers. There is a control centre for each mine, comprising of aspect servers, OPC servers and a SCADA system which interfaces with PLCs at each equipment unit in the field. The overall data management infrastructure is installed on the main network system and draws data from the OPC servers at each mine. In order to collect the data, the application is developed using event driven functionality as well as data polls. Data can then be modified by the control tower personnel. The application generates reports on a daily basis for production monitoring, productivity, equipment performance and utilisation as well as various maintenance tasks. The system has been in operation at the surface lignite mines in northern Greece since 2011 and has been embraced by mine personnel for decision making and planning.
Levels and Trends of Under-Five Mortality in South Africa from 1998 to 2012

 Abstract — Childhood mortality is a key sign of the coverage of child survival interventions, social and economic progressions. Although the level of under-five mortality has been declining, it is still unacceptably high. The primary aim of this paper is to establish and analyse the levels and trends of under-five mortality for the periods 1998, 2003 and 2012 in South Africa. Methods: The data used for analysis came from the 1998 SADHS, the 2003 SADHS and the 2012 SABSSM which collected information on the survival status of children. The Kaplan-Meier estimate of the survival function method was used to determine the probabilities of failure (death) from birth up to 59 months. Results and Conclusion: The overall U5MR declined by 28.2% from 53.1 in 1998 to 38.1 in 2012. The U5MR of male children declined from 59.2 in 1998 to 46.2 in 2003 and dropped further to 41.4 in 2012. The U5MR of children of mothers aged 40 years and older increased from 64.0 in 1998 to 89.0 in 2003 and rose further to 129.9 in 2012. The U5MR of children of mothers with education level of 12 years or more increased from 32.2 in 1998 to 35.2 in 2003 and declined substantially to 17.5 in 2012.
Remote monitoring of patients with CIEDs following the updated recommendations—Easing or adding to postimplant responsibilities?

Follow‐up of patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices is challenging due to both their increasing volume and technical complexity coupled to increasing clinical complexity of recipient patients. Remote monitoring (RM) offers an opportunity to resolve some of these difficulties by improving clinic efficiencies and providing a mechanism for device monitoring and patient management. Recent recommendations advocate for RM to be standard of care for this purpose. Several randomized clinical trials and registries have demonstrated that RM may reduce in‐hospital visit numbers, time required for patient follow‐up, physician and nurse time, and hospital and social costs. Furthermore, patient retention and adherence to follow‐up schedule are significantly improved by RM. Continuous wireless monitoring of data stored in the device memory with automatic alerts allows early detection of device malfunctions and of events, such as atrial fibrillation, ventricular arrhythmias, and heart failure suitable for clinical intervention. Early reaction may improve patient outcome. RM is easy to use and patients showed a high level of acceptance and satisfaction. Implementing RM in daily practice may require changes in clinic workflow. New organizational models promote significant efficiencies regarding physician and nursing time. Data management techniques are under development. Despite these demonstrable advantages of RM, adoption still remains modest, even in health care systems incentivized to use this follow‐up method.
“Just Became a Love Slave”: Shedding Light on Relationship Violence Against Males

“Violence”, in general, is a word associated with conduct more often perpetrated by males, whether against females or other males. Indeed, even in the field of ‘dating’, discussions on violence often deal specifically with it being against women, so that the term, “violence against women” has arisen. However, certain data indicates that this discussion should also involve violence against men. This discourse had apparently not yet surfaced, so the authors were interested in examining and seeking out what were male concepts, regarding any violence they may have experienced whilst in relationships. The results emerging indicated the existence of a number of concepts on particular facets of masculinity, those being of masculinity of either a romantic or a hegemonic nature. Overall, the situation puts males in the position of being the subject of high expectations of power, making the behavior of their partners to be considered as being non-violence. The overall organization of the discourse emerged in various forms, however these were of the same type as the discussion which has emerged concerning violence against women, so that it may be concluded that both of these topics are of similar importance, when it comes to their discussion.
Economiccomplexity: Computational Methods for Economic Complexity

Economic complexity introduces network theory concepts to different social science considerations related to international trade and income inequality. With the bulk of literature established in the last decade, the field of economic complexity is relatively new. Its approach starts from representing international trade data as a bipartite network that connects countries to the products that they export.
Deformation characteristics of the 2016 Mw5.9 Menyuan (China) earthquake by modelling Sentinel-1A and auxiliary data

ABSTRACT The 2016 Mw5.9 Menyuan earthquake occurred on the Qilian-Haiyuan fault system on the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Since the seismogenic source is a blind fault, it is difficult to obtain reliable geometric parameters of the source only from the satellite data. In this paper, we used two aftershock relocation data sets to constrain the seismogenic fault, and obtained two southwest-dipping listric fault models with a strike of about 126° and different dip angles. According to the geological structures, we assumed that the dip is uniformly reduced along the width direction, and modelled the Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) data of the Menyuan event using a simulated annealing algorithm to search for the optimal fault dips. The optimal top and bottom dips are about 59° and 1°, respectively. Using the optimal fault model, we obtained the slip distribution and three-dimensional displacement fields for the 2016 Mw5.9 Menyuan earthquake. Sliding occurs mainly on the four sub-faults in the middle of the model, indicating that the rupture zone is relatively small. The displacement fields indicate that the seismogenic source is a thrust fault, and the epicentre experienced a strong northeastward compression deformation.
A competing risks regression model based on the exponential Gompertz-like subdistribution

In some situations, research activities are conducted to measure the length of time until the event occurred. If it is possible to have not only the event of interest but also the competing events, then it is a kind of competing risks data. The main parameter of interest is the subdistribution function that shows the percentage of failing individuals due to a cause of interest. If the subdistribution needs to be predicted by predictor variables, then the regression model for competing risks data should be developed. In this paper, the regression model for the exponential Gompertz-like subdistribution is proposed. We use maximum likelihood estimation method to estimate the model parameters. Specifically, the subdistribution of the main event and all the rest competing events are estimated simultaneously. The proposed model was applied to the data of contraceptive discontinuation and gave a good result. Goodness-of-fit of the estimated regression model measured by the likelihood and Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) also gave the acceptable values.
An instrumental variable approach to unveiling the determinants of flatted factory rent in Hong Kong

Abstract The early period of industrialisation in the Hong Kong SAR occurred during the 1950s–1970s. Manufacturers were engaged in labour-intensive manufacturing processes with the assistance of machines in factory buildings. Since the 1980s, manufacturers in Hong Kong have faced keen competition from neighbouring economies, amidst the rising costs of land and labour. Moreover, since the adoption of an opening-up policy by the Chinese mainland since 1978, more and more local manufacturers in Hong Kong have relocated their production processes to the mainland so as to take advantage of the lower factor costs. As a result, the contribution of the manufacturing sector to GDP declined from around 20% in 1986 to 2.7% in 2006 and further decreased to merely 1.1% in 2016. Interestingly, there has been a general upward trend of real flatted factory1 rent in Hong Kong in the past decade. This study, via a threshold regression, demonstrates that not only demand from the retail property rental market has been a factor in the increase of factory rent, but demands from the office rental market and local households have also contributed to the recent rise in real factory rent since 2006 Q1.
Molecular Remission after Combined Immunochemotherapy Is of Prognostic Relevance in Patients with MCL: Results of the Randomized Intergroup Trials of the European MCL Network

Two randomized intergroup trials of the European MCL Network investigating the impact of different combined immunochemotherapy protocols for patients with stage II-IV mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) followed by autologous stem cell transplantation for patients 65 yrs are currently performed. Patients and methods: 182 German patients with evidence for peripheral blood (PB) involvement as demonstrated by consensus IGH-PCR at diagnosis were analyzed for quantitative PB involvement and molecular response (MR) by Real Time Quantitative (RQ) IGH-PCR. The results were evaluated according to ESG criteria ( van der Velden, Leukemia 2007 ) and were compared to clinical parameters at diagnosis and outcome. Results: Patients had a median age of 61 years, an elevated LDH in 37%, B-symptoms in 42% and extranodal involvement in 36%. According to the MIPI prognostic index 20% had an adverse, 37% an intermediate and 43% a good prognosis. Median level of circulating MCL cells in PB at initial diagnosis were 6×10−2 (range 2×10-4 to 8×10-1) and correlated significantly with clinical parameters as advanced stage (p=0.0016), elevated LDH (p= 0.0026), bone marrow infiltration (p= 0.0001) and MIPI prognostic index (p Conclusion: Quantitative detection of circulating MCL cells improves clinical risk assessment and staging accuracy. Furthermore RQ-PCR allows to evaluate the impact of different treatment modalities on tumor clearance in PB and BM. This is the first randomized trial demonstrating that achievement of MR by combined immunochemotherapy might be an early indicator for treatment outcome in MCL.
The Glass Ceiling and Women Career Advancement: A Study Based on Ready – Made Garment Industry in Sri Lanka

There is a growing number of women who enter the workforce, and an increasing number of top leadership positions remain limited. This questionable situation has been identified by scholars as “glass ceiling” and researchers revealed that there are invisible barriers which women are facing when they are trying to climb up the leadership ladder. The main purpose of this study is to explore the glass ceiling concept and female career advancement in the ready-made garment industry in Sri Lanka. This study used in-depth narrative interviews and observation for data collection and eleven female employees were purposively approached and interviewed. Narratives were used to collect and analyze the qualitative data. Findings revealed that there were three main influences, namely individual barriers, organizational barriers and social barriers for women to get into the top leadership positions. The study gives some recommendations on how organizations, individuals and society can simplify the development of female advancement into the top leadership positions.
Dietary exposure assessment to Alternaria toxins in the European population

Alternaria toxins are secondary metabolites produced by fungi that can contaminate cereals, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables. The chronic dietary exposure to four individual Alternaria toxins was estimated using 15,563 analytical results/4,249 samples (3,648 on alternariol (AOH), 3,654 on alternariol monomethyl ether (AME), 4,168 on tenuazonic acid (TeA) and 4,093 on tentoxin (TEN)). Most of the analytical results were left-censored data (92%), with only 1,290 quantified results (mainly on ‘Oilseeds’ and ‘Grain milling products’). The highest exposure to AOH was estimated in ‘Toddlers’, with the mean exposure between 3.8 and 71.6 ng/kg body weight (bw) per day (minimum lower bound–maximum upper bound, (LB–UB)) and the 95th percentile exposure between 11.4 and 270.5 ng/kg bw per day (LB–UB). Overall, ‘Fruit and fruit products’ were the most important contributors to the dietary exposure to AOH. The highest exposure to AME was estimated in ‘Toddlers’, with mean exposure between 3.4 and 38.8 ng/kg bw per day (LB–UB) and 95th percentile exposure between 10.3 and 97.3 ng/kg bw per day (LB–UB). Overall, the main contributors to the dietary exposure to AME were ‘Vegetable oil’ and ‘Pome fruits’ (pears). The highest exposure to TeA was estimated in ‘Toddlers’ with mean exposure between 100 and 1,614 ng/kg bw per day (LB–UB), and in ‘Infants’ for the 95th percentile exposure estimations (98–3,603 ng/kg bw per day, LB–UB). ‘Cereal-based food for infants and young children’ was the main contributor in ‘Infants’ and ‘Toddlers’, and tomatoes and tomato-based products in other age classes. The highest exposure to TEN was estimated in ‘Toddlers’, with the mean exposure between 1.6 and 33.4 ng/kg bw per day (LB–UB), and the 95th percentile exposure around 55 ng/kg bw per day (UB) in different age classes. ‘Fruiting vegetables’ (tomatoes) were the major contributor to the dietary exposure to TEN. Although based on limited data, vegetarians seem to have higher dietary exposure to Alternaria toxins than the general population.
Helium metastable species generation in atmospheric pressure RF plasma jets driven by tailored voltage waveforms in mixtures of He and N2

Spatially resolved tunable diode-laser absorption measurements of the absolute densities of He-I (23S1) metastables in a micro atmospheric pressure plasma jet operated in He/N2 and driven by ‘peaks’- and ‘valleys’-type tailored voltage waveforms are presented. The measurements are performed at different nitrogen admixture concentrations and peak-to-peak voltages with waveforms that consist of up to four consecutive harmonics of the fundamental frequency of 13.56 MHz. Comparisons of the measured metastable densities with those obtained from particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collision simulations show a good quantitative agreement. The density of helium metastables is found to be significantly enhanced by increasing the number of consecutive driving harmonics. Their generation can be further optimized by tuning the peak-to-peak voltage amplitude and the concentration of the reactive gas admixture. These findings are understood based on detailed fundamental insights into the spatio-temporal electron dynamics gained from the simulations, which show that voltage waveform tailoring allows to control the electron energy distribution function to optimize the metastable generation. A high degree of correlation between the metastable creation rate and the electron impact excitation rate from the helium ground state into the He-I ((3s)3S1) level is observed for some conditions which may facilitate an estimation of the metastable densities based on phase resolved optical emission spectroscopy measurements of the 706.5 nm He-I line originating from the above level and metastable density values at proper reference conditions.