Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of Biofilm Formation Capacity of Acinetobacter baumannii Isolated from Clinical Samples in Baghdad Hospitals using Phenotypic Methods

During the period from November/2016 to March/2017, a total of 475 specimens from various clinical sources (wounds, burns, urine, sputum, blood and throat) were collected from patients suffering different infections from a number of hospitals in Baghadad city (Karkh and Resafa), as follows: (Al-Yarmuk, Al-Karama, Al-Karkh, AlKadmia, Martyr Gazi Al-Hariry, the Medical city, AlKindi Teaching, Al-Imam Ali, Ibn-Al Balady and Baghdad Teaching Hospitals). Acinetobacter baumannii isolates in selective (CHROMagar) and specific differential medium, microscopic features, biochemical tests and API20 NE and VITEK-2 system at probability 98%. Furthermore the identification of isolates depending of molecular method by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique which is used to amplify specific gene by using special primers, to genus level was confirmed finally by detection of 16SrRNA gene while identification of A.baumannii isolates to species level was done by blaOXA-51like gene, gaving ratio 100%. The results showed that the 83 A.baumannii isolates were obtained from clinical specimens (17.47%), distiributed according to the sources from highest to lowest percentage as follow in 31(25.20%) wound, 21(19.81%) burn, while 10(12.82%) urin, 8(11.94%) sputum, 7(12.72%) blood and low percentage 6(13.04%) from throat. This study focused on the phenotypic to determine methods the ability of biofilm production using three methods includes: Congo red agar (CRA), Tube method (TM) and microtiter plates (MTP). The results showed a significant differences between all 83 A.baumannii isolates. A seventy four isolates (89.15%) have the ability to adherence and produce slim layer with significant differences in thickness degrees (strong, moderate and weak). While 9 isolates which represented (10.84%) from isolates have no ability to adherence and produce slim layer. When comparing between these methods to detect strong biofilm production isolates, the results showed that MTP assay was excelled on CRA and TM at 58(69.87%), 48(57.83%) and 45(54.21%), respectively measured by optical densities values at 630 nm. Conclusion: The study concludes that there a positive correlation between biofilm formation and multi drug resistance A. baumannii. Each of the three phenotypic methods used for detection of biofilm formation has its advantages and disadvantages. But MTP method is most widely used and was considered as standard test for detection of biofilm formation.
NOTCH3 and CADASIL syndrome: a genetic and structural overview

CADASIL syndrome is a rare disease that belongs to a group of disorders called leukodystrophies. It is well established that NOTCH3 gene on chromosome 19 is primarily responsible for the development of the CADASIL syndrome. Herein, an attempt is made to shed light on the actual molecular mechanism underlying CADASIL syndrome, through insights extracted from comprehensive evolutionary studies and in silico modelling on Notch 3 protein. In particular, we suggest the use of optical coherence tomography angiography for the detection of early signs of small vessel diseases, which are the major precursors to a repertoire of neurodegenerative conditions, including CADASIL.
Topographie der Leiharbeit : Flexibilität und Prekarität einer atypischen Beschäftigungsform

Leiharbeit ist ein arbeitspolitisches Problem erster Gute. Zwar ist die Zahl der Leiharbeiter nicht uberwaltigend gros, doch ist es dieser Beschaftigungsform gelungen, die einfache Arbeit in den industriellen Kernsektoren weitgehend zu ubernehmen. Dabei mussen Leiharbeit nehmer gegenuber der Stammbelegschaft deutliche Nachteile in Kauf nehmen, denen nur wenige Vorteile gegenuberstehen - etwa eine leicht erhohte Chance, einen Dauerarbeitsplatz zu finden. Promberger durchleuchtet in diesem Buch nicht nur die Leiharbeits-branche mit ihren sozialhistorischen Entstehungszusammenhangen und relevanten Akteuren, sondern auch die Betriebe, die Leiharbeiter einsetzen. Dabei zeigen sich hochst unterschiedliche Einsatzformen der Leiharbeit: von unproblematischen kurzfristigen Vertretungen bis zur dauerhaften Veranderung der Belegschaftsstruktur durch den Einsatz flexibel-prekarer Beschaftigung, die letztlich die soziale Einbettung von Arbeit, wie sie sich im 20. Jahrhundert entwickelt hat, gesellschaftlich in Frage stellen und soziale Spaltungsprozesse auslosen oder vertiefen konnte. Diesem Trend entgegenzuwirken ist eine genuin politische, auch gewerkschaftspolitische Aufgabe.
Difficult encounters around “monkey cheeks”: Farmers' interests and the design of flood retention areas in Thailand

Flood retention areas are being increasingly promoted for flood risk management. People living in these areas will accept them if their interests are taken into account. The present study analyses the extent to which farmers' interests were taken into account in two flood retention projects in Thailand. A feasibility study was conducted in preparation for the first project which included public participation. The second project was a pilot project implemented in the same zone at a small scale. Participants in the public participation process and farmers living in proposed flood retention areas were interviewed for the purpose of the present study. Agreement could have been reached between the farmers and the public agencies concerning the flood retention areas. However, the participation process did not enable frank discussion about the conditions under which farmers would accept the project. The second project was designed without public participation and offered very little compensation to farmers. In countries marked by power imbalances in water resources management, public agencies may impose flood retention areas, but the absence of agreements with farmers can reduce the effectiveness of the measure. Reaching such agreements requires challenging the imbalanced power relationships between farmers and public agencies.
Search for Best Practices in Inclusive Recreation: Preliminary Findings

In its adoption of a Position Statement Inclusion, the National Recreation and Park Association made a clear statement on the value of inclusive service delivery to participants with and without disabilities and the broader community. Numerous professional practices designed to facilitate inclusive community recreation have been developed, field tested, and disseminated. Despite major federal disability rights legislation and broad dissemination of these inclusive practices, they are not commonly practiced in most community recreation agencies. This article presents results of one key component of a comprehensive, qualitative research project designed to study best practices that result in inclusive and sustainable community recreation at administrative, programmatic, and consumer levels. The focus of this article is on administrative-level approaches used within agencies. Through interviews with field leaders and reviews of published reports and relevant literature, a list of agencies perceived to be providing exemplary inclusive service delivery was generated. Criteria based on promising practices were established, and the sample agency group was fine-tuned to 15 agencies that represented a wide range of geographic regions and community sizes. Audio-recorded interviews were conducted with an administrator and/or inclusion facilitator at each agency using a semi-structured interview guide of concepts informed by a review of literature. Constant comparison methodology was used for data analysis. The primary theme emerging from the data was that a cookie-cutter approach to inclusive service delivery did not exist. While promising practices were used in these agencies, the implementation and interpretation of these approaches varied widely. Practical implications of the findings include the need for: (a) administrative support demonstrated by connecting inclusion to the central mission of the agency and establishing and communicating inclusive service delivery as an agency priority, (b) hiring practices that include the designation of a CTRS as an inclusion facilitator with strong skills in bridge-building and communication, and hiring and training general recreation staff who endorse the inclusive culture of the agency, and (c) a budget that reflects inclusion by providing necessary supports and accommodations for participants with disabilities and capital improvement for increased physical access.
Refining chronology for surface collections: A new adaptation of morphological dichotomous keys for the Plains Typology and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

This paper uses new lithic research with well-dated stratified collections from the foothills of the Absaroka Mountains and adjacent Bighorn Basin to build a dichotomous key for chronologically classifying points in the northern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) as Late Prehistoric (200–1,500 cal BP), Late Archaic (1,500–3,200 cal BP), Middle Archaic (3,200–5,700 cal BP), Early Archaic (5,700–8,500 cal BP) or Paleoindian (8,500–12,000 cal BP). The Plains Typology, which is currently used throughout the GYE, has never been formally based on points with affiliated absolute dates. Further, it has always been unclear how well this typology functions in the mountains of the GYE. Based on detailed attributes from over 600 points, including Mummy Cave (48PA201), a foundational chronology for the region, we build a key intended for use with fragmentary surface collections. We then use this key to consider variation in high elevation projectile points from the Beartooth and Absaroka Mountains.
Biological control of invasive fish and aquatic invertebrates: a brief review with case studies

We review various applications of biocontrol for invasive fish and aquatic invertebrates. We adopt a broader definition of biocontrol that includes traditional methods like predation and physical removal (biocontrol by humans), and modern approaches like genetic engineering and use of microbes (including pathogens). While physical removal and predation (by native predators) are used relatively commonly, use of genetic technologies and microbes is in developmental stages. The two latter strategies are most advanced in case of the common carp (Cyprinus carpio), one of the world’s most invasive fish; virus release to control carp might soon occur in Australia. Drawing from empirical examples in North America, we emphasize that biocontrol strategies are most likely to be successful if they include multiple approaches that target specific behaviors or weaknesses in pests’ life histories. This is illustrated by reviewing case studies on the common carp and rusty crayfish (Orconectes rusticus) in Midwestern North America. In case of the common carp, basic research on movement patterns and recruitment bottlenecks identified a strategy where winter aggregations of adults were targeted for removal with nets, while native predators of carp eggs and larvae were instrumental in controlling carp’s reproductive success. In the case of the rusty crayfish, basic research on interactions between crayfish, habitat, and native predators identified a successful strategy of stocking selected native predators to control juvenile crayfish in conjunction with physical removal of adult crayfish using traps. We are also reviewing the case of the round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) in the Great Lakes. In this example, multiple pieces of evidence (diet, bioenergetics) illustrate how initially abundant pest was brought under control (in some areas) by several species of native predators in a large, natural ecosystem. Overall, examples of successful biocontrol of aquatic pests have been rare and have relied on physical removal and predation. We expect that new technologies (e.g. genetic technologies) will occur in the next decade but will have to clear regulatory and ethical concerns before they are applied. While developing more sophisticated control techniques, we advocate for more basic research on the life history of the pests to identify behavioral or developmental weaknesses that could be targeted with specific tools to increase chances of success while minimizing impacts on native ecosystems.
Methods to Obtain Representative Car-Following Model Parameters from Trajectory-Level Data for Use in Microsimulation

Microsimulation models help agencies obtain robust estimates of project benefits and spend their resources effectively. The realism of these models depends on the quality of input data and the realism of the sub-models controlling driver behavior. The availability of trajectory-level driving data provides new opportunities to improve car-following models and their application in practice. Procedures for calibrating car-following models using a single driving trajectory are well documented in the literature. However, methods for identifying a representative parameter set to describe a collection of observed driving behavior must be developed and tested before trajectory-level data can be applied in practice. This paper describes eight methods for obtaining representative sets of calibration parameters to describe a group of drivers or a specific driving condition. The methods are tested using a 100-trip sample from the SHRP2 Naturalistic Driving Study and validated with a 10-fold cross-validation procedure. The method capturing the average behavior while preserving underlying correlations between the calibrated model parameters performed the best across all four models. Methods that adequately captured the average behavior while relaxing the assumption of underlying parameter correlations performed better than all other tested methods. Therefore, simply taking the mean or median of the distribution of observed parameter values offers a practical approach for generating a representative parameter set, significantly outperforming default parameter values.
Teaching HCI Skills in Higher Education through Game Design: A Study of Students' Perceptions

Human-computer interaction (HCI) is an area with a wide range of concepts and knowledge. Therefore, a need to innovate in the teaching-learning processes to achieve an effective education arises. This article describes a proposal for teaching HCI through the development of projects that allow students to acquire higher education competencies through the design and evaluation of computer games. Finally, an empirical validation (questionnaires and case study) with 40 undergraduate students (studying their fifth semester of software engineering) was applied at the end of the semester. The results indicated that this teaching method provides the students with the HCI skills (psychology of everyday things, involving users, task-centered system design, models of human behavior, creativity and metaphors, and graphical screen design) and, more importantly, they have a positive perception on the efficacy of the use of videogame design in a higher education course.
Sex-Based Differences in Transcranial Doppler Ultrasound and Self-Reported Symptoms After Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

The possibility of sex-related differences in mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) severity and recovery remains a controversial subject. With some studies showing that female subjects suffer a longer period of symptom recovery, while others have failed to demonstrate differences. In this study, we explored the sex-related effects of mTBI on self-reported symptoms and transcranial Doppler ultrasound (TCD) measured features in an adolescent population. Fifty-eight subjects were assessed—at different points post-injury—after suffering an mTBI. Subjects answered a series of symptom questions before the velocity from the middle cerebral artery was measured. Subjects participated in breath-holding challenges to evaluate cerebrovascular reactivity. The Pulsatility Index (PI), the ratio of the first peaks (P2R), and the Breath-Hold Index (BHI), were computed. Linear mixed effects models were developed to explore the interactions between measured features, sex, and time since injury while accounting for within subject variation. Over the first 10 days post-injury, the female group had significant interactions between sex and time since injury that was not present in the TCD features. This is the first study to compare sex-related differences in self-reported symptoms and TCD measurements in adolescents suffering an mTBI. It illustrates the pitfalls clinicians face when relying on subjective measures alone during diagnosis and tracking of mTBI patients. In addition, it highlights the need for more focused research on sex-related differences in concussion pathophysiology.
Beskrywing, modellering en dok-studies van Plasmodium falciparum kinase PfCDPK4

Met die toenemende voorkoms van weerstandige Plasmodium stamme het die beheer van malaria-voorkoms en -mortaliteit weer op die voorgrond getree. Nuwe teikens en antimalariamiddels wat effektief is teen weerstandige malaria-parasiete word dus dringend benodig. Kalsium-afhanklike proteïenkinases (calcium dependent protein kinases – CDPKs) is betrokke by die beheer van ’n aantal biologiese prosesse in die malaria-parasiet, Plasmodium falciparum, met CDPK4 die belangrikste ensiem in hierdie klas. In hierdie studie is die struktuur van PfCDPK4 gebruik as templaat vir die soeke na nuwe malariamiddels. Die PfCDPK4 modelstruktuur is deur middel van homologiemodellering gegenereer en die stereochemiese kwaliteit gevalideer. Die molekulêre modelleringbenadering deur middel van in silico sifting teen die teiken-molekuul PfCDPK4 het ’n beskeie biblioteek van 20 000 chemiese verbindings ingesluit, asook ’n aantal aktiewe natuurprodukte en kliniesgoedgekeurde kinase-inhibeerders. In silico sifting van die Biofocus biblioteek teen PfCDPK4 het 26 verbindings opgelewer; in vitro sifting het bevestig dat drie van hierdie verbindings matig aktief is teen Plasmodium falciparum NF54, met persentasie inhibisie tussen 42% en 47%.
Supplementary material to "China's Clean Air Action has suppressed unfavorable influences of climate on wintertime PM2.5 concentrations in Beijing since 2002"

Abstract. Severe wintertime PM2.5 pollution in Beijing has been receiving increasing worldwide attention, yet the decadal variations remain relatively unexplored. Combining field measurements and model simulations, we quantified the relative influences of anthropogenic emissions and meteorological conditions on PM2.5 concentrations in Beijing over winters of 2002–2016. Between the winters of 2011 and 2016, stringent emission control measures resulted in a 21 % decrease in mean mass concentrations of PM2.5 in Beijing, with 7 fewer haze days per winter on average. With fixed emissions, meteorological conditions over the study period would have led to an increase of haze in Beijing, but the strict emission control measures have suppressed the unfavorable influences of recent climate. The unfavorable meteorological conditions are attributed to the weakening of the East Asia Winter Monsoon associated particularly with an increase in pressure associated with the Aleutian low.
High-Frequency Spectrum Analysis of VFTO Generated inside Gas Insulated Substations

Worldwide many electrical equipment insulation failures have been reported caused by switching operations, while those equipments had previously passed all the standard tests and complied with all quality requirements. The problem is mostly associated with high-frequency overvoltages generated during opening or closing of a switching device. The transients generated during switching operations in a Gas Insulated Substation (GIS) are associated with high frequency components in the order of few tens of MHz. The frequency spectrum of the VFTO generated in the 220/66 kV Wadi-Hoff GIS is analyzed using Fast Fourier Transform technique. The main frequency with high voltage amplitude due to the operation of disconnector (DS5) is 5 to 10 MHz, with the highest amplitude at 9 MHz. The main frequency with high voltage amplitude due to the operation of circuit breaker (CB5) is 1 to 25 MHz, with the highest amplitude at 2 MHz. Mitigating techniques damped the oscillating frequencies effectively. The using of cable terminal reduced the frequency oscillation effectively than that of OHTL terminal. The using of a shunt capacitance results in vanishing the high frequency components. Ferrite rings reduces the high frequency components effectively especially in the range 2 to 7 MHz. The using of RC and RL filters results in vanishing the high frequency components. Keywords—GIS, VFTO, Mitigation Techniques, Frequency spectrum, FFT, EMTP/ATP.
Risks, impacts and management of invasive plant species in Vietnam

Given the increasing risk posed by invasive species (IS), which can affect any region, invasion studies have received increased scientific attention and the science has significantly progressed in the past decades. However, there is strong geographical bias in invasion studies, especially in tropical regions. For example, while SE Asia is highly vulnerable to IS, invasion studies are under-represented in the region. This chapter provides an overview of invasion ecology and management, and examines trends in invasion studies in SE Asia to identify opportunities for further research in this field. A systematic review quantified the numbers of IS studies by years and species groups, research foci, types of studies and geographical focus. Categories were developed based on reviewing the literature of global invasion science. The review showed that there is a high skew of invasion studies toward animals in SE Asia. Studies mainly recorded the presence of and described the general traits of IS. Few studies explored invasibility, impacts or practices for effective management. Particularly, studies on policy and regulations on IS management are absence. A strong bias for field observation reflects that the invasion discipline in the SE Asia is still in the phase of exploratory research rather than providing a scientific basis for understanding invasion mechanisms and management. Within the region, the number of studies in a country was correlated to education and research capacity (number of higher education providers), but there was no correlation between the number of studies and economic development or with population. Geographic biases in the region are likely to increase the challenges for understudied countries in understanding the IS problems and providing effective management to address them. Recommendations for future studies to reduce bias and improve invasion science in the region are discussed.
Investment in Informal Outreach Programs: A Systematized Literature Review of Informal Pre-College STEM Programs in African-American Communities

This paper is a systematized literature review examining pre-college informal STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education in African American communities and evaluates which outreach method might be best for corporations. To this end, the study focuses on responding to two research questions: 1) Which informal STEM education programs are used in African American communities? 2) Out of these outreach programs, which might be beneficial for corporations to focus on to fully maximize time, money, and other resources? This study’s search results are directed by education, economic, humanities, and social science databases and restricted to peer-reviewed articles. This systematized review is based on 23 peer-reviewed articles published between 1986 and 2015. From the 23 peer-reviewed articles, two topical categories emerged: pre-college minority STEM outreach efforts and pre-college and industry partnerships. These categories capture universal themes of the articles including purpose, result, approach, and nature of work in which various subjects and concepts materialized. By exploring these themes, identification of pre-college informal STEM outreach programs and common outreach methods exercised by industry were identified, and their value to the student and industry stakeholders are examined.