Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis food poisoning following consumption of chicken shawarma: A brief epidemiological investigation

Background: Shawarma, a popular meat-based fast food could be a source of foodborne outbreak due to non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS). A clustering of acute gastrointestinal (GI) illness following intake of chicken shawarma occurred primarily among the staff and students of a tertiary care hospital in southern India. Methods: A case-control study was conducted among 348 undergraduate medical students (33 cases, 315 controls). Data was collected using direct interviews and a simple online questionnaire. Epidemiological associations of GI illness were evaluated at three levels of exposure namely-eating food from any restaurant, eating food from the implicated food outlet, eating chicken shawarma from the implicated outlet. Results: Of 33 cases, 26 had consumed food from a particular food outlet, 4 from other outlets, and 3 did not report eating out. Consumption of food from the suspected food outlet was significantly associated with GI illness (odds ratio 121.8 [95% CI 28.41 to 522.66]; P<0.001); all the 26 cases who had eaten from the particular outlet had eaten chicken shawarma. By comparison, only one of the 315 controls had eaten this dish. Of the 27 persons (cases as well as controls) who had consumed chicken shawarma from the outlet, 26 were ill. Culture of stool samples from 10 affected individuals and implicated food item yielded Salmonella Enteritidis. Conclusions: Meat-based shawarma is a potential source of NTS infection. Food safety authorities should enforce guidelines for safe preparation and sale of shawarmas and similar products.
Using genetic programming for symbolic regression to detect climate change signatures

Most often, climate change signals are slow moving (in human terms), low amplitude changes embedded in high amplitude, noisy data. There are many techniques for extracting such signals. This paper introduces a technique which in contrast with empirical methods produces a decomposition of a time series into a set of equations plus a "residual". This is referred to as stepwise symbolic secomposition (SSD). The extraction of symbolic equations in lieu of empirical functions assists with characterization of time series. This paper takes two examples of climate data, and applies two different techniques for characterising the low amplitude, slow change embedded therein. The record of CO2 levels at Mauna-Loa since March 1958, is used to demonstrate and contrast empirical mode decomposition (EMD), and SSD. The mean monthly tidal gauge records from the small number of gauges which have more than 120 years of data are analysed in more detail by SSD, then three techniques are used to characterize the residual. The techniques are (a) LOESS smoothing, (b) EMD, and (c) high order polynomial regression. SSD uses a genetic programming system called Eureqa from Cornell Creative Machines Lab guided by an information metric, to extract the most compact informative function it can at each step; the process is repeated on the residuals until no sufficiently informative function is found. EMD and SSD are in stark contrast in the order in which signals are decomposed. EMD extracts high frequency components first. SSD extracts components based on a mixture of parsimonious representation and variance explained. EMD leaves a low frequency filtrate of the signal in its residue, SSD tends to operate as a broad band filter, leaving high frequency noise plus a possible low frequency signal. EMD, LOESS and polynomial fitting all serve to extract low frequency components of the signal from this SSD residual. For the set of tidal gauge data, in the absence of a change in global sea level rise, the SSD procedure should randomize all segments of residual signals equally - the residual should be whitened with respect to the initial signal. It is shown however that late 20th century portions of the residuals show behaviour that is consistent with accelerating sea level rise in keeping with the bulk of the literature.
Supermarket relative humidity & display-case performance : Identifying the new balance point with HVAC systems

Transferring moisture load from refrigerated fixtures to an air-conditioning system can save energy, reduce defrost cycles, lower anticondensate energy and demand, and improve the temperature stability and quality of products. This article discusses research on the impact of reductions in RH on cooling load, refrigeration energy usage, and the impact of reduced refresh rates on case-door fogging.
3D Methodology for Evaluating Rail Crossing Roughness

Quality of surface is an important aspect affecting both the safety and the performance of at-grade rail-highway crossings. Roughness may increase the risk of crashes for both trains and automobiles. The goal of this research is to test and develop low-cost sensors and methods for measuring rail crossing surfaces and a method for evaluating the crossings to support both safety and maintenance programs. This report covers work done to develop and test a 3D methodology to assess the ride-ability of rail highway grade crossings. It is comprised of introductory and background material that motivates the need for such a methodology and previous work related to the same. Two conference papers are attached as appendices. These papers cover the development of a low-cost 3D sensor and the potential use of accelerometers to evaluate crossing roughness.
Intelligent Algorithm-Based Gastrointestinal X-Ray Examination in Evaluating the Therapeutic Effect of Probiotics Combined with Triple Therapy on Children with Helicobacter Infection

In this study, gastrointestinal X-ray imaging was processed based on the Ncut algorithm, the gastric signs of the children after probiotics combined with triple therapy were examined, the therapeutic effect of probiotics combined with triple therapy was evaluated, and the correlation between Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection and gastric disease was analyzed. The included children were randomly divided into group A (treated with standard triple therapy) and group B (pretreated with probiotics on the basis of the treatment method of group A) with 48 cases in each group. The gastrointestinal angiography results of children were observed. The accuracy of the gastrointestinal angiography based on intelligent algorithms was evaluated by taking the results of the urea breath test (UBT) as the gold standard. The results were as follows: first, gastrointestinal X-ray imaging before and after treatment showed that the recovery of the gastric body and gastric antral mucosa for children in group B was better than that of group A (P < 0.05); second, the incidence of gastrointestinal diseases in HP-positive patients was 78% and the incidence of HP-negative patients was 32%; third, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of gastrointestinal X-ray imaging based on intelligent algorithm were 76.47%, 93.67%, and 90.63%, respectively. After treatment, tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) in group B were much lower than those in group A (P < 0.05), and the incidence of adverse reactions in group B was lower than that in group A (P < 0.05). In summary, gastrointestinal X-ray imaging based on intelligent algorithm had a reliable reference value for the judgment of gastrointestinal HP infection and probiotics combined with triple therapy was more effective for HP infection, which was worthy of clinical application.
FIELD EVALUATION OF EMERGENCE TRAP DESIGN FOR MONITORING MANSONIA PRODUCTION FROM WATER LETTUCE (PISTIA STRATIOTES)

Larvae of the mosquito species Mansonia titillans and Mansonia dyari attach to the roots of floating aquatic plants, primarily water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) and water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), to obtain oxygen and avoid predators. Surveillance for these species involves a robust monitoring program that identifies Mansonia habitat and production sites. This report evaluates floating emergence trap efficiency for Mansonia surveillance and identification of production sites. Three trap designs were utilized in the evaluation trials, including standard passive emergence traps, modified (active) emergence traps containing a CDC-light trap with and without standard incandescent bulbs. Overall, the active emergence trap with light resulted in the collection of a significantly higher number of emerging mosquitoes.
Effect of High Pressure on the Properties of Chocolate Fillings during Long-Term Storage

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of high-pressure processing (HPP) on the long-term storage of chocolate fillings at room temperature, compared with conventional storage at lower temperatures. Dark chocolate fillings were treated at different pressure levels, holding times and stored at 20 °C for 12 months. Unprocessed batches were stored at 4 °C and at −12 °C. Moisture, water activity (aw), pH, colour, G′1Hz and indigenous microflora were measured at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 months of storage. Results showed that 600 MPa/20 min processing was the most effective controlling mesophilic group, presenting 3.8 log cfu/g after 12 months of storage, and inactivating moulds and yeasts after HPP treatment. Colour was affected by storage, including a reduction in the L* parameter in all conditions to final values between 37.8 and 39.3, while the a* parameter increased during storage time at −12 °C and 4 °C to final values of around 12, and parameter b* decreased at storage temperature 20 °C to 5.3. Storage time affected the rheological behaviour of HPP-treated samples, increasing G′1Hz from the 2nd to 12th month of storage time to the final values between 1603 kPa and 2139 kPa. Moisture, aw and pH were not affected by HPP treatment nor storage time.
Revisiting the Effect of Pyrolysis Temperature and Type of Activation on the Performance of Carbon Electrodes in an Electrochemical Capacitor

Hierarchical porous carbons are known to enhance the electrochemical features of electrodes in electrochemical capacitors. However, the contribution of surface oxygen and the resulting functionalities and wettability, along with the role of electrical conductivity and degree of amorphous or crystalline nature in the micro-mesoporous carbons, are not yet clear. This article considers the effect of carbonisation temperature (500–900 °C) and the type of activation (CO2, KOH) on the properties mentioned above in case of carbon xerogels (CXs) to understand the resulting electrochemical performances. Depending on the carbonisation temperature, CX materials differ in micropore surface area (722–1078 m2 g−1) while retaining a mesopore surface area ~300 m2 g−1, oxygen content (3–15%, surface oxygen 0–7%), surface functionalities, electrical conductivity (7 × 10−6–8 S m−1), and degree of amorphous or crystalline nature. Based on the results, electrochemical performances depend primarily on electrical conductivity, followed by surface oxygen content and meso-micropore connectivity. The way of activation using a varied extent of CO2 exposure and KOH concentrations played differently in CX in terms of pore connectivity from meso- to micropores and their contributions and degree of oxidation, and resulted in different electrochemical behaviours. Such performances of activated CXs depend solely on micro-mesopore features.
Pool boiling heat transfer enhancement of R134a, R32, and R600a using reentrant cavity surfaces

ABSTRACT The nucleated pool boiling heat transfer experiments for plain and five different reentrant cavity copper tube surfaces in saturated R134a, R32, and R600a have been carried out. The experiments are carried for heat fluxes ranging from 6.92 to 51.71 kW/m2 at saturation temperatures of 7°C and 10°C. A significant increase in the boiling heat transfer coefficient has been observed for all tube surfaces with the reentrant cavity. The nucleate boiling heat transfer coefficient for R134a, R32, and R600a is 1.2–2.8 times more than that for plain tube surfaces. A correlation for reentrant cavity surfaces has also been developed.
DOES BANK EFFICIENCY ENHANCE BANK PERFORMANCE? EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM INDIAN BANKING

This paper examines the effects of cost, revenue, profit efficiency, and stability inefficiency on bank profitability in India over the period 1997 to 2017. Additionally, this study examines the effect of efficiency on profitability for banks according to their ownership and for periods with (and without) the global financial crisis. The cost, revenue, and profit efficiency scores for 70 banks in India are estimated using stochastic frontier analysis. Our key findings are as follows. First, we find that cost, revenue and profit efficiencies positively influence the profitability conditions of Indian banks. Second, banks that are inefficient adversely influence bank performance, although the global financial crisis did not seem to impact the efficiency-profitability relationship. Finally, we find that bank ownership matters for the association between its efficiency and performance.
Converting Afrikaans to Dutch for technology recycling

HLT resource development for a resource scarce language (L2) can be expedited by recycling existing technologies for a closely related language (L1). To improve the success of L1 technologies on L2 data, one can convert L2 data to make it appear more L1-like. We explore this possibility by developing an Afrikaans-to-Dutch lexical conversion module and using it as pre-processing step before applying a Dutch part of speech tagger to Afrikaans data. The accuracy of the Dutch tagger increased from 62.6%, when tagging raw Afrikaans data, to 80.6% when tagging converted Afrikaans data. We therefore conclude that, at least in the case of Dutch and Afrikaans, the use of lexical conversion as a pre-processing step for technology recycling merits further investigation. Keywords-technology recycling; lexical conversion; Part of speech tagging; Afrikaans; Dutch
Statistical analysis and autoregressive modeling of the indoor radio propagation channel

The results from a statistical analysis of indoor radio propagation data that were collected from two modern office buildings are presented. The data base for this analysis consists of 12000 measurements (6000 in each building) taken at specific locations throughout the buildings. The data consists of the measured complex transfer function of the indoor channel. The complex impulse response is obtained from an inverse Fourier transform. Values for the root mean square delay spread ( tau /sub rms/), coherence bandwidth (B/sub C/), and path loss are given. The results indicate that tau /sub rms/ is typically between 18 and 35 nanoseconds, that B/sub C/ is typically between 4 and 11 MHz, and that B/sub C/ and tau /sub rms/ are linearly related. Also, the results indicate that B/sub C/ (and hence, tau /sub rms/) is a strong function of path loss. The authors also present results from autoregressive modeling and show how they correspond to traditional channel characterization techniques like tau /sub rms/. <<ETX>>
The Impact of Interactive Mobile Applications on Guests’ Intention to Use in Hotel: The Moderating Role of Self-Construal

ABSTRACT This paper examined the impact of interactive mobile applications regarding usefulness, ease to use, and enjoyment on consumers’ intentions used in hotels. The study also included the moderating role of self-construal. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were applied to test the proposed research model using a sample of 201 valid questionnaires. The results indicated significant positive relationships among hotel guests’ perceptions, attitudes, and behavioral intentions. Moreover, the moderating role test verified that self-construal has significant moderating interaction for two relationships: perceived usefulness and attitude, along with perceived ease of use and attitude. The findings enable practical usage of hotel mobile applications in the lodging industry, where hotel operators could offer advanced quality service to their consumers. This study contributes to the lodging industry by proposing how interactive mobile technology can be adapted to enhance consumers’ experiences and suggest benefits for their businesses.
SDBMND: Secure Density-Based Unsupervised Learning Method with Malicious Node Detection to Improve the Network Lifespan in Densely Deployed WSN

Random deployment, the absence of central authority, and the autonomous nature of the network make wireless sensor networks (WSNs) prone to security threats. Security, bandwidth, poor connectivity, intrusion, energy constraints, and other challenges are critical and could affect the performance of the WSN while considering the energy-efficient and secure routing protocols in WSNs. Security threats to WSNs are gradually being expanded. Thus, to improve the network’s performance, detection of anomalies (malicious and suspicious nodes, redundant data, bad connections, etc.) is important. This paper is aimed at introducing the malicious node detection algorithm based on the DBSCAN algorithm, which is a density-based unsupervised learning method for enabling wireless sensor networks to be much more secure and reliable. The prime objective of this algorithm is to develop a routing algorithm capable of detecting malicious nodes and having a prolonged network lifespan and higher stability period. Clustering and classification are two well-known methods in the field of machine learning that can be successfully used in various domains. Density-based clustering is a popular and extensively used approach in various domains. The DBSCAN is the utmost popular and best-known density-based clustering algorithm and is capable of determining arbitrary-shaped clusters. This paper addresses the two anomalies in the WSN, namely, spatial redundancy and malicious node identification. In this article, an algorithm has been suggested to reduce redundant data transmission along with the identification of suspicious nodes to conserve energy and to avoid falsification of data through malicious nodes. The analysis of simulation results and comparison of other algorithms that are in the same class shows that the SDBMND performs significantly better than EAMMH, TEEN, IC-ACO, and LEACH in dense networks.
Rational design of imine‐linked three‐dimensional mesoporous covalent organic frameworks with bor topology

Three‐dimensional (3D) covalent organic frameworks (COFs) possess great potential applications in various fields. Constructing 3D COFs with large pore sizes is extremely challenging due to the interpenetration and collapse. Herein, we report a series of crystalline imine‐linked 3D COFs (3D‐bor‐COF‐1, 3D‐bor‐COF‐2, 3D‐bor‐COF‐3) with mesoporous channels through rationally designing the topology configuration. These 3D‐bor‐COFs display permanent porosity and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surfaces of 3205.5, 1752.7, and 2077.3 m2 g−1 (SLangmuir = 4277.7, 2480.3, and 2698.0 m2 g−1), respectively. The pore sizes of 3D‐bor‐COFs were confirmed by the lattice fringes from high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy, as well as structural simulation and nitrogen adsorption isotherm analysis. 3D‐bor‐COFs display large pore sizes (3.8 nm for 3D‐bor‐COF‐3), which is among the highest record of 3D COFs. Owing to the unstacked‐aromatic pore environment and high specific surface area, 3D‐bor‐COFs display excellent adsorption capacity for benzene vapor (1203.9 mg g−1 for 3D‐bor‐COF‐3) under 298 K, which is three times higher than that of the best‐reported 2D COF. This work not only provides inspiration for designing 3D mesoporous imine‐COFs, but also demonstrates a strategy for constructing aromatics adsorption materials.
Investigation of the Surface Topography of Titanium Alloys Applied to Friction Components

The subject of this study and analysis was titanium alloy, applied among others to the friction components of orthopaedic (artifi cial hip joint) implants. This material was subjected to abrasive fi nishing using a synthetic diamond as a tool. The properties of the studied titanium alloy were characterised. The processing technology and the research methods are discussed. The surfaces, after being subjected to abrasive machining, were studied using three research instruments – an interference microscope, a scanning electron microscope, and an atomic force microscope. Advanced metrology software was used to analyse the measurement data. The aim of the research was to present the changes taking place in the forming of the surface of the studied titanium alloy, in particular those occurring in the fi nal sequential processing. A characterisation of the machined surfaces was prepared based on parametric (surface topography – parameters and functions) and non-parametric (surface morphology – images) analysis. The signifi cant infl uence of the sequence and the tool (diamond grain and micro-grain) on the surface topography shaped during the technological process is presented. Improvement in the surface quality and features was ob-served. Parametric analysis showed no signifi cant diff erences between TA-III and TA-IV surfaces (Titanium alloy Ti-6.5Al-1.3Si-2Zr), while these diff erences were visualised by non-parametric analysis. Moreover, the hereditary features of the surface topography (isotropy and pits/valleys) and their infl uence on the potential functional properties (place/area for accumulation/retaining of the lubricant in the friction zone) of the titanium alloy were analysed.
Asymmetric Electrokinetic Energy Conversion in Slip Conical Nanopores

Ion current rectification (ICR) phenomena in asymmetric nanofluidic structures, such as conical-shaped nanopores and funnel-shaped nanochannels, have been widely investigated in recent decades. To date, the effect of asymmetric nanofluidic structures on electrokinetic power generation driven by the streaming current/potential has not been explored. Accordingly, this study employed a numerical model based on the Poisson equation, Nernst–Planck equation, and Navier–Stokes equation to investigate the electrokinetic energy conversion (EKEC) in a conical nanopore while considering hydrodynamic slippage. The results indicated that the asymmetric characteristics of streaming current (short-circuit current), streaming potential (open-circuit voltage), maximum power generation, maximum conversion efficiency, and flow rate were observed in conical nanopores under the forward pressure bias (tip-to-base direction) and reverse pressure bias (base-to-tip direction) once the nonequilibrium ion concentration polarization (ICP) became considerable. The rectification behaviors in the streaming current, maximum power, and maximum conversion efficiency were all shown to be opposite to those of the well-known ICR in conical nanopores. In other words, the reverse pressure bias revealed a higher EKEC performance than the forward pressure bias. It was concluded that the asymmetric behavior in EKEC is attributed to the asymmetric electrical resistance resulting from asymmetric ion depletion and ion enrichment. Particularly, it was found that the decrease in electrical resistance (i.e., the change in electrical resistance dominated by the ion enrichment) observed in the reverse pressure bias enhanced the maximum power and maximum conversion efficiency. The asymmetric EKEC characteristics became more significant with increasing slip length, surface charge density, cone angle, and pressure bias, especially at lower salt concentrations. The present findings provide useful information for the future development of EKEC in engineered membranes with asymmetric nanopores.