Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vibrio vulnificus dynamics in a south Texas bay

Vibrio vulnificus Dynamics in a South Texas Bay. (August 2007) Shelli Lee Meyer, B.S., Graceland University Co-Chairs of Advisory Committee: Dr. Richard A. Long Dr. Daniel C.O. Thornton Vibrio vulnificus is a human pathogen commonly found in coastal and estuarine waters in temperate and subtropical regions across the world. The ecology of V. vulnificus has been studied in these regions primarily using cultured-based methods for enumeration of V. vulnificus from the environment. Optimal temperature and salinity ranges have been established, but relationships with other environmental parameters have not been studied as extensively. The primary objective of this study was to better understand the ecology of V. vulnificus and how environmental parameters found in south Texas bays and estuaries regulate its distribution. A recently developed molecular biological technique for the direct enumeration of V. vulnificus from estuarine water column samples was used to test three hypotheses: 1) V. vulnificus makes up a greater percentage of the total bacterial population in the water column under low oxygen conditions; 2) Powderhorn Lake serves as a pointsource for V. vulnificus in Matagorda Bay; 3) Higher V. vulnificus concentrations are found in the water column when oyster reefs are present. These hypotheses were formed to improve predictive models, identify potential hot-spots for V. vulnificus in the water column, and to better inform stakeholders as to when and where risk of infection might be greatest. Dissolved oxygen was rarely low enough in the environment to stress aerobic bacteria in the water column, so the first hypothesis could not be appropriately tested. Neither higher concentrations nor detection frequencies of V. vulnificus were found in Powderhorn Lake compared to the rest of the bay, so Powderhorn Lake was not identified as a point-source for V. vulnificus. Higher concentrations and detection frequencies of V. vulnificus were not found at sites with oyster beds, so oyster beds
Biomineralization, Bioremediation and Biorecovery of Toxic Metals and Radionuclides

ABSTRACT Metal and mineral transformations are a cornerstone of geomicrobiological processes. Of central importance are the mechanisms by which microorganisms alter the speciation and mobility of metals, including their properties of mineral dissolution or mineral formation. Such processes underpin natural biogeochemical cycles for metals, and related elements such as metalloids, and metal radionuclides, as well as those elements that may be commonly associated with metal compounds and minerals, e.g., P and S. They may also determine the fate of contaminant toxic metals and radionuclides when introduced or redistributed in the environment as a result of natural or anthropogenic activities. Such contamination is an increasing problem, and microbe-based systems are increasingly viewed as potentially useful approaches for bioremediation, as well as for element biorecovery. Biomineralization is a general term for the processes by which living organisms form minerals, and this can result in metal removal from solution providing a means of detoxification as well as biorecovery. Dead biota and derived products may also provide a template for mineral deposition, the reversibility, or otherwise, of the reaction depending on physico-chemical conditions. The most common biominerals precipitated by microbes include oxides, phosphates, sulfides and oxalates, and these can have special chemical properties such as high metal sorption capacities and redox catalysis. Furthermore, some biominerals may be deposited in nanoscale dimensions, providing further significant physical, chemical and biological properties of applied significance. The purpose of this Special Issue of the Geomicrobiology Journal on Biomineralization, Bioremediation and Biorecovery is to bring together and highlight some specific examples of metal and radionuclide biomineralization by microorganisms from the different major microbial groups such as cyanobacteria, bacteria, microalgae and fungi. A range of elements and organisms are covered together with a variety of environmental and industrial contexts where a biomineralization approach may assist bioremediation, metal biorecovery or substrate stability.
La validez del Inventario de Paternidad para Adultos y Adolescentes; los índices del abuso infantil

En el presente trabajo se estudio la validez de constructo y la confiabilidad interna del Inventario de Paternidad para Adultos y Adolescentes (IPAA). El IPAA es una medida disenada para la evaluacion de las actitudes de adolescentes (>= 12 anos) y adultos (>=20 anos), en relacion a la crianza de los ninos y para la evaluacion de conductas paternas de alto riesgo, como es el abuso infantil. El IPAA contiene 32 reactivos distribuidos en cuatro subescalas de acuerdo a cuatro constructos de paternidad: expectativas inapropiadas hacia el nino; carencia de empatia hacia los ninos; valor paterno al uso de castigo fisico y la inversion del rol padre-hijo. La calificacion se obtiene al sumar las respuestas adecuadas en cada subescala, a una de las 5 opciones tipo Likert, que van desde el total acuerdo hasta el desacuerdo absoluto. Las normas permiten transformar las puntuaciones brutas en calificaciones decatipo, que sirven de indices de riesgo al abuso. La muestra estuvo formada por 837 personas (537 adolescentes y 336 padres de familia) que por los niveles educativos y las ocupaciones de los padres, se considero que representaban los niveles socioculturales bajo, medio y alto. Los resultados de las correlaciones reactivo-constructo para adultos, indican que la mayor parte de los reactivos se correlacionaron con su constructo por arriba de 0.50, solo 6 reactivos fueron demasiado bajos (< 0.40); para adolescentes 9 reactivos no mostraron la correlacion esperada. Las dos terceras partes de las correlaciones entre reactivos de adultos, iban de 0.10 a 0.63. Los reactivos que consistentemente mostraron una "pobre" correlacion con los otros reactivos de sus constructos fueron el 16 y el 17 (del constructo de Expectativas), el 29 (de Castigo) y el 3 (de Inversion del Rol). Para los adolescentes las correlaciones entre reactivos fueron muy bajas y de hecho, la mitad fueron de cero. Los reactivos 3, 16, 17 y 29 mostraron las menores correlaciones entre reactivos y reactivo-constructo, en ambas muestras estudiadas. Los analisis factoriales confirmaron la presencia de las cuatro dimensiones originales, en las dos muestras. La cantidad de varianza "explicada" fue de 41%, los factores obtenidos y su porcentaje de varianza, para adultos, fueron: empatia (20.6%), expectativas (9.1%), inversion (6.2%) y castigo (5.3%). Para los adolescentes, la cantidad de varianza explicada resulto de 37%, los factores obtenidos y su varianza fueron: Ematia (12.5%), Castigo (9.4%), Inversion (8.2%) y Expectativas (6.8%). Los coeficientes de confiabilidad alfa para adultos iban de 0.61 a 0.88 y para los adolescentes de 0.33 a 0.69. Las puntuaciones obtenidas en cada dimension fueron convertidas a puntuaciones decapito para generar los indices de riesgo al abuso. Esta conversion indico que los mayores porcentajes se acumulaban en puntajes bajos y promedio, comparados con las normas norteamericanas. Los resultados son discutidos en terminos de la necesidad de estudios de validez discriminante y confiabilidad prueba-postprueba para adecuar los instrumentos a nuestro medio.
Manajemen Prestasi Kerja

Peranan seorang penyelia (supervisor) baru ternyata tidak sederhana. Perubahan posisi dari pegawai biasa menjadi anggota manajemen membawa tuntutan dan harapan-harapan baru yang tidak mudah dipenuhi. Banyak hal yang perlu dipahami karena jabatan ini berarti bahwa seseorang sekarang bertanggung jawab menyelesaikan pekerjaan dengan hasil yang efektif dan efisien melalui dan dengan orang-orang yang dikelolanya. Ia sekarang terlibat dalam pembuatan keputusan yang mempengaruhi produktivitas dan laba perusahaan; karir, pendapatan, sikap, dan kehidupan pegawai yang diselia. Tidak dapat disangkal lagi bahwa mereka yang menjabat atau baru menjabat posisi sebagai manajer supervisi (penyelia) memerlukan seperangkat pengetahuan tertentu guna menghindari terjadinya kesalahan-kesalahan tidak perlu pada langkah-langkah awal. Seorang penyelia harus menyadari peranan, wewenang, tanggung jawab, prestasi yang diharapkan, policy dan operasi perusahaan, dan sebagainya. Mereka juga harus mengenal teori kepemimpinan dan motivasi yang mutakhir. Di sampink itu, perlu dibekali dengan seperangkat keterampilan supervise kaitannya dengan tugas mengelola pekerjaan dan staf. Buku ini menyajikan seperangkat pengetahuan dan kete­rampilan dasar praktis yang perlu dimiliki seorang penyelia. Pengetahuan dan keterampilan dasar itu antara lain meliputi dasar-dasar perencanaan, penyusunan standar dan penilaian pega­wai, komunikasi tulisan, motivasi, umpan balik yang efektif, dan manajemen waktu.
The tardigrades of Oklahoma

No tardigrades were reported from Oklahoma prior to the study, and very little was known concerning the tardigrade fauna of the surrounding states. Of 16 species found, two (Pseudechiniscus cor- nutus lobatus and Macrobiotus hibiscus) had not been previously re- ported from North America.
CRITICAL SOIL ORGANIC CARBON RANGE FOR OPTIMAL CROP RESPONSE TO MINERAL FERTILISER NITROGEN ON A FERRALSOL

SUMMARY Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) is a major indicator of soil fertility in the tropics and underlies variability in crop response to mineral fertilizers. Critical SOC concentrations that interact positively with N fertilizer for optimal crop yield are less understood. A study was conducted on a Ferralsol in sub-humid Uganda to explore the critical range of SOC concentrations and associated fractions for optimal maize (Zea mays L.) yield response to applied mineral N fertiliser. Maize grain yield response to N rates applied at 0, 25, 50 and 100 kg N ha−1 in 30 fields of low fertility (SOC < 1.2%), medium fertility (SOC = 1.2–1.7%) and high fertility (SOC > 1.7%) was assessed. Soil was physically fractionated into sand-sized (63–2000 µm), silt-sized (2–63 µm) and clay-sized (<2 µm) particles and SOC content determined. Low fertility fields (<1.2% SOC) resulted in the lowest response to N application. Fields with >1.2% SOC registered the highest agronomic efficiency (AE) and grain yield. Non-linear regression models predicted critical SOC for optimal yields to be 2.204% at the 50 kg N ha−1 rate. Overall, models predicted 1.9–2.2% SOC as the critical concentration range for high yields. The critical range of SOC concentrations corresponded to 3.5–5.0 g kg−1 sand-sized C and 9–11 g kg−1 for clay-sized C.
Proteomic analysis of a dynamic Salmonella-host interactome

Salmonella is capable of evading the host immune response by secreting virulence factors (effectors) that enter the host and interfere with critical cell signaling networks. Although many of the individual effector proteins have been well characterized by traditional biochemical methods, a shift towards global strategies would offer a system’s view of the intricate network of interactions (interactome) between the host and pathogen. Protein profiling across size exclusion chromatography with stable isotope labeled amino acids in cell culture (PCP-SILAC) is a recent proteomic method developed to characterize the composition of protein complexes with the advantages of being quantitative, capable of monitoring dynamic changes, and being completely tag and chemical cross-link free. This method was applied to study the dynamic changes of host protein complexes as a result of Salmonella infection. Analysis of dynamic PCP-SILAC proteins led to the hypothesis that host translational machinery was being targeted by Salmonella during infection. To test this hypothesis, a fluorescent assay was used to measure protein synthesis of cells infected with WT Salmonella versus control (non-infected cells). Results from the protein synthesis analysis showed a decrease in host translation, supporting our hypothesis that Salmonella targets host translational machinery. I addition to this novel finding, this work provides a rich resource of candidate host proteins that may be involved with Salmonella’s pathogenesis.
The spatial variability of salt content based on river basin scale:a case study of the delta oasis in Weigan-Kuqa Watershed

Observation of soil salt content plays an important foundation role in enhancing the research of monitoring and prediction for soil salinity. In order to study the problem of soil salinity in the oases of arid regions,we use traditional statistics and geostatistics combined with the geographical information system(GIS) technology to investigate the spatial variability and spatial distribution of soil salt content in the delta of the Weigan and Kuqa rivers. The results show that the soil salt content in three successive layers in this oasis exhibit moderate spatial variation,and the degree of this variation decreases as soil depth increases. Both the structure and the stochastic factors are of important influence for the spatial variation,and have a strong spatial autocorrelation. The rational sampling quantity of three layers should be at 0.05 level with a 20% relative error. Gaussian models were fitted for semi-variance of 10-30cm and 30-50cm layers. Considering the compound scale effect of spatial variation,the nested spherical models were fitted for semi-variance of topsoil. The kriging model and the isogram maps accurately demonstrate the spatial distribution and the variation tendency. These research results have provided a reference for the survey and quality evaluation of soil salt content and can be used as a guide for meliorating and utilizing the soil salinity.
Multiple Roles for Affect in Persuasion

Introduction Diversity of initial findings on the effects of affect Conceptualization and assessment of affect The Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion Affective processes in the ELM Affect under conditions of high elaboration likelihood Affect under conditions of moderate elaboration likelihood Affect under conditions of low elaboration likelihood Summary Research on Multiple Roles for Affect in Persuasion Situational determinants of the use of affect Individual differences in the use of affect Future Research on the Role of Affect in Persuasion
Herman Snellen (1834-1908) and Muller's 'Reform-Auge' A short history of the artificial eye

The shell prothesis, originally meant to be placed over the atrophic eye, caused serious problems when used after enucleation, which became more common practice in the second half of the last century. In the nineties of the last century Snellen Sr. tried to solve these problems by designing a light prothesis that filled up the empty space. At the insistence of Snellen, the Miiller brothers in Wiesbaden succeeded in 1892 to blow a hollow artificial eye which proved to be a real success.
Design of Additively Manufactured Structures for Biomedical Applications: A Review of the Additive Manufacturing Processes Applied to the Biomedical Sector

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a disruptive technology as it pushes the frontier of manufacturing towards a new design perspective, such as the ability to shape geometries that cannot be formed with any other traditional technique. AM has today shown successful applications in several fields such as the biomedical sector in which it provides a relatively fast and effective way to solve even complex medical cases. From this point of view, the purpose of this paper is to illustrate AM technologies currently used in the medical field and their benefits along with contemporary. The review highlights differences in processes, materials, and design of additive manufacturing techniques used in biomedical applications. Successful case studies are presented to emphasise the potentiality of AM processes. The presented review supports improvements in materials and design for future researches in biomedical surgeries using instruments and implants made by AM.
Diagnostic criteria in psychiatry: a straitjacket or a prop?

Summary Clinical psychiatrists face the dilemma of ‘humanism’ versus ‘reductionism’ when confronting the problem of diagnosing and classifying patients. The introduction of ‘operational’ or ‘explicit’ diagnostic criteria (ODC) should provide a middle-ground enabling the clinician to combine person-oriented approach with a more rigorous application of knowledge-based decision rules. More than a decade of world-wide experience with ODC should enable at least a preliminary evaluation of their utility and cost not only from the point of view of the clinician and researcher but also from the position of mental health care consumers. In order to maximize usefulness, the developpers and users of ODC should avoid their ‘reification’ as the ultimate standard in psychiatric diagnosis and retain an attitude of epistemological openness.
A numerical scheme for tracking cyclone centres from digital data. Part I: development and operation of the scheme

An automated scheme for finding and tracking cyclones from numerical analyses is described and its performance is discussed. It embodies several computational features not previously applied in this context and circumvents much of the labour that has hindered this work in the past. The scheme has been developed and tested with both observed and model-generated data, and particularly with a view to its suitability for studying the behaviour of southern hemisphere extratropical cyclones.
Electrical muscle stimulation protocols : effects on force production and energy metabolism of the gastrocnemius muscle in humans

Electrical Muscle Stimulation (EMS) is commonly used in rehabilitation medicine to promote strength gains in skeletal muscle. However, despite its widespread use, the physiological effects of alterations in many EMS application variables has yet to be investigated. The stimulation duty cycle (work:rest ratio) is commonly manipulated by clinicians, without any physiological rationale for the use of a particular protocol. Understanding the mechanical and metabolic response of stimulated muscle to manipulation of this application variable is necessary in order optimize the efficacy of EMS as a training stimulus. To evaluate the metabolic and mechanical effects of two EMS protocols commonly utilized in rehabilitation, the gastrocnemius muscle of healthy male subjects (n=8) was stimulated via surface electrodes (Medtronic Respond II) using a 1:1 work/rest ratio (Protocol A-10 sec stim./lO sec off) or a 1:5 work/rest ratio (Protocol B-10 sec stim./50 sec off) for 12 repetitions. Each subject was placed supine on a specially fabricated foot pedal ergometer situated in the bore of a Phillips 1.5 tesla NMR unit. Muscular force production was measured during stimulation at 0.5 second intervals via a load cell connected to the foot pedal by a glass fibre rod, and interfaced with a microcomputer for continuous data acquisition. Relative changes in [PCr], [Pi], [ATP] and intracellular pH (pHi) were obtained during stimulation and recovery, by 31p NMR spectroscopy using a 1.5 cm RF surface
A diagnostic study of dementia in a London electoral ward

Estimates of the prevalence rate of dementia in those aged over 65 and living in the community vary widely, from 0.5% to 6.3% for mild dementia, and from 1% to 7.4% for moderate or severe dementia. These figures have usually been obtained by screening and refer to non-specific dementia syndromes. Few studies have gone further to provide a detailed diagnostic breakdown on this cross-sectional detail, or followed patients up to obtain longditudinal data. Those that have provided further information have not provided full diagnostic profiles of unselected samples, leading to the likelihood of bias in the results.
Māori agribusinesses: the whakapapa network for success

Reviews of Māori land generally focus on how the 80% identified as “under-performing” or “under-utilised” can be more productive. This article analyses the 20% of Māori Land Incorporations and Trusts classified as “high-performing” to identify what enabled their success, but to also determine any remaining constraints. It uses thematic analysis to both refine themes initially obtained during a literature review and examine the interviews. The five key themes explored are legal framework (whakaritenga), finance (huamoni), capability (matatau), relationships (whakawhānaungatanga), and paths to market (whakatairanga). While many of the findings corroborate industry best practice, it also found provisional evidence of the role of whakapapa networks—that is, formal or informal Māori collectives—in the success of Māori Land Incorporations and Trusts.
Measuring patient response biases by means of a new self-rated questionnaire evaluating severity of depression

Summary We present here a new instrument of measurement for systematic biases in patient response style when evaluating severity of depression, in the form of a self-rated questionnaire derived from the MMPI containing 37 items rating depressive severity (DSS), 15 items of the L scale, 27 items of the K scale, and 51 items of the F scale, making a total of 130 yes-no items. The scores of these 4 scales allow an estimation not only of depressive severity, but also of the attitude of the subject towards his own style of symptom reporting: “defense” and desire to appear “normal”, or on the contrary tendency towards exaggeration. In a population of 66 depressives, this instrument was correlated with the MADRS depression rating scale (P < 0.0001), which shows its sensitivity to depressive severity. The F scale and Gough’s index (F-K) were also shown to be correlated with MADRS scores. This self-rated questionnaire constitutes a clinical instrument that is simple and practical both to administer and to correct.
Analyzing and Leveraging Shared L1 Caches in GPUs

Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) concurrently execute thousands of threads, which makes them effective for achieving high throughput for a wide range of applications. However, the memory wall often limits peak throughput. GPUs use caches to address this limitation, and hence several prior works have focused on improving cache hit rates, which in turn can improve throughput for memory-intensive applications. However, almost all of the prior works assume a conventional cache hierarchy where each GPU core has a private local L1 cache and all cores share the L2 cache. Our analysis shows that this canonical organization does not allow optimal utilization of caches because the private nature of L1 caches allows multiple copies of the same cache line to get replicated across cores. We introduce a new shared L1 cache organization, where all cores collectively cache a single copy of the data at only one location (core), leading to zero data replication. We achieve this by allowing each core to cache only a non-overlapping slice of the entire address range. Such a design is useful for significantly improving the collective L1 hit rates but incurs latency overheads from additional communications when a core requests data not allowed to be present in its own cache. While many workloads can tolerate this additional latency, several workloads show performance sensitivities. Therefore, we develop lightweight communication optimization techniques and a run-time mechanism that considers the latency-tolerance characteristics of applications to decide which applications should execute in private versus shared L1 cache organization and reconfigures the caches accordingly. In effect, we achieve significant performance and energy efficiency improvements, at a modest hardware cost, for applications that prefer the shared organization, with little to no impact on other applications.