Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nutritional Status of Diarrhoeic Patients under Five Years Attending Selected Hospitals in Kaduna State, Nigeria

Poor nutritional status show physical, mental and health wise consequences such as diarrhoea, stunting, wasting and underweight and often times lead to death, depending on their severity. This study evaluated the nutritional status of diarrhoeic children under five years in Kaduna State, Nigeria, using standard isolation methods, VTEC-ELISA tests, latex agglutination tests, Chi-square (SPSS Version 19) and World Health Organisation Antro (Version 3.2.2). Random sampling was used to select 350 children presenting with diarrhoea in six government hospitals within the three senatorial zones of Kaduna State. The nutritional status assessment showed 34.3, 24.3 and 13.1% of the children were stunted, wasted and underweight, respectively and Kaduna South senatorial zone also recorded the highest prevalence of undernutrition, indicating poor nutrition and poor health accumulated overtime. The study therefore recommends the implementation of programmes geared towards good hygiene, good nutrition and good health.
EFFECT OF HEPATITIS AND IMMUNOSTIMULANT ON SERUM TESTOSTERONE LEVEL IN EXPERIMENTAL MICE

The present study aimed to illustrate the effect of the immunostimulant, immunex DS and IDS + hepatitis B infection on serum testosterone level in male swiss albino mice. Testosterone level was increased significantly in IDS treated mice and IDS + vaccine treated mice from day 1 to 5 of infection when compared with controls. Viral toxicity led to the abnormal increase and release of testosterone in the blood of all the experimental groups of mice due to improper spermatogenesis.
Mechanism Enhancing the Emission Power of Gas-Discharge Lamps Based on Mixtures of Neon, Nitrogen, and Mercury Dichloride Vapor in the Blue-Green Spectral Interval

A mechanism enhancing the radiation power of a gas-discharge lamp based on a mixture of neon, nitrogen, and a mercury dichloride vapor in the blue-green spectral interval as compared with that for a lamp based on a mixture of only neon and a mercury dichloride vapor has been determined. The optical characteristics and the plasma parameters, as well as the value of the reduced electric field, at which the specific discharge power introduced into the excitation of exciplex molecules of mercury monochloride is maximum, are found. The research results can be used to create a more efficient exciplex lamp that emits radiation bands in the blue-green spectral interval.
Interactive comment on “Tropospheric HONO Distribution and Chemistry in the Southeast U.S.” by Chunxiang Ye et al

simply because HONO photo-lifetime is 8 minutes. We would first like to point out that there has not been any report in literature for 10 ppbv daytime HONO on the ground level, as the referee assumed. The daytime HONO/NOx ratio is in the range of 0.05-0.1 in the low-NOx rural atmosphere (Zhou et al., 2002) and ∼ 0.02 in high-NOx urban environment (Villena et al., 2011). The direct emission HONO/NOx ratios are even lower, ≤0.01 in automobile exhausts (Kirchstetter et al., 1996; Li et al., 2008) and ∼0.002 in power plant plumes (Neuman et al., 2016). The NOx levels that we observed in the Southeast U.S. was mostly under 0.5 ppbv in the background area and even in the urban plumes; the initial HONO concentration associated with the observed levels of NOx would be ≤ 50 pptv even if an upper limit HONO/NOx ratio of 0.1 is assumed. With a transport time of ∼1 h from the source, i.e., ∼ 5 times of the HONO photolysis lifetime, the contribution from the source would be well below the detection limit of 1 pptv of our HONO instrument. Therefore, we argued that the measured HONO was mostly produced in situ from precursors such as NOx and pNO3 within the air masses during the transport, not from the ground HONO sources.
First Evaluation of Topography on GNSS-R: An Empirical Study Based on a Digital Elevation Model

Understanding the effects of Earth’s surface topography on Global Navigation Satellite Systems Reflectometry (GNSS-R) space-borne data is important to calibrate experimental measurements, so as to provide accurate soil moisture content (SMC) retrievals. In this study, several scientific observables obtained from delay-Doppler maps (DDMs) ⟨ | Y r , t o p o ( τ , f ) | 2 ⟩ generated on board the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CyGNSS) mission were evaluated as a function of several topographic parameters derived from a digital elevation model (DEM). This assessment was performed as a function of Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP)-derived SMC at grazing angles θ e ~ [20,30] ° and in a nadir-looking configuration θ e ~ [80,90] °. Global scale results showed that the width of the trailing edge (TE) was small T E ~ [100, 250] m and the reflectivity was high Γ ~ [–10, –3] dB over flat areas with low topographic heterogeneity, because of an increasing coherence of Earth-reflected Global Positioning System (GPS) signals. However, the strong impact of several topographic features over areas with rough topography provided motivation to perform a parametric analysis. A specific target area with little vegetation, low small-scale surface roughness, and a wide variety of terrains in South Asia was selected. A significant influence of several topographic parameters i.e., surface slopes and curvatures was observed. This triggered our study of the sensitivity of T E and Γ to SMC and topographic wetness index ( T W I ). Regional scale results showed that T E and Γ are strongly correlated with the T W I , while the sensitivity to SMC was almost negligible. The Pearson correlation coefficients of T E and Γ with T W I are r Γ ~ 0.59 and r T E ~−0.63 at θ e ~ [20, 30] ° and r Γ ~ 0.48 and r T E ~ −0.50 at θ e ~ [80, 90] °, respectively.
Terrestrial Gamma Radiation in Phuket Island, Thailand

The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of terrestrial radioactivity on Phuket Island, which used to be the richest tin province in Thailand. We measured 124 survey points of terrestrial gamma dose rate at one meter above the surface of local soil along roads in the environs of Phuket Island. Another 31 survey points were examined inside an old ore-dressing plant. The terrestrial gamma dose rate of the Island (excluding the abandoned area of the old dressing plant) ranges from 20 to 900 nGy h -1 , while the geometric mean Island value was 190 nGy h -1 . Soil samples were also collected from selected areas having high gamma dose rates to analyze for activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K. Based on these soil activities, the calculated terrestrial gamma dose rate found to range between 25 and 520 nGy h -1 . The corresponding annual effective doses varied between 0.03 and 0.6 mSv y -1 . The results of the terrestrial gamma dose rate obtained from direct measurement in the old tin dressing plant ranged from 110-17,170 nGy h -1 with a mean value of 1410 nGy h -1 . The terrestrial gamma dose rate calculated from soil samples in the dressing plant ranged from 590 to 206,080 nGy h -1 which corresponding to annual effective dose of 0.7-250 mSv y -1 . Thus, the dose rates on much of Phuket Island are within typical background values while the dose rates within the old tin dressing plant are elevated by as much as 16 times background.
A New Boost Converter Based Soft Switched Active Snubber Cell for Power Factor Correction

This paper introduces a new boost converter based soft switched active snubber cell for power factor correction. In this particular converter, the main switch is turned on by means of zero voltage transition (ZVT) and is turned off with the aid of zero voltage switching (ZVS). The main diode is turned on using ZVS and is turned off using zero current switching (ZCS). In the active snubber cell, the auxiliary switch is turned on by means of ZCS and is turned off using zero current transition (ZCT). No semiconductor device is exposed to the additional voltage stress. In this paper, theoretical analysis of the proposed converter is exhibited and this theoretical analysis is validated both with simulation and experimental study , while operating at 100 kHz switching frequency and 600 W output power. It is demonstrated that the proposed converter has 95.7% efficiency and 0.99 unit power factor at soft switching operation.
AN EMPIRICAL EVALUATION OF THE SUBTLETY OF THE DATA-FLOW BASED HIGHER-ORDER MUTANTS

Mutants are erroneous forms of the source code generated by deliberately inserting one fault (first-order mutant) or more (higher-order mutant) into the source code. Smart mutants that require numerous numbers of test cases to be killed are called Subtle Mutants (SMs). These mutants are required in order to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of test cases. Creation of these mutants is an expensive step especially in higher-order mutation testing. Data-flow analysis has been effectively applied to create higher-order mutants and overcome the explosion problem. To the best of our knowledge, subtle mutant generation with the aid of data-flow concepts and identifying them among all mutants have not been studied adequately. In this paper, an empirical study to evaluate the impact of data-flow analysis on the subtlety of higher-order mutants is introduced. Therefore, this study discusses two research questions: which mutants are more subtle data-flow based second order mutants (DFSOMs) or their constitute FOMs mutants? And which mutants are harder to be killed or covered DFSOMs or all du-pairs criterion? The results of the conducted experiments showed that the subtlety of data-flow based second order mutants (DFSOM) is higher than their constitute first-order mutants by 6% in average. In addition, DFSOM criterion dominates all du-pairs criterion and covering (killing) DFSOM criterion is harder than covering all du-pairs criterion by 14.6% in average.
Condition Dependent and Infection Dependent Mate Preferences in Women: Preferences for Healthy Appearing Men are Associated with General Condition and Measures of Infection

Condition dependent mate choice in females, whereby condition or attractiveness influences preferences for markers of male quality, is seen both in non-humans and humans. There are several possible explanations for such effects. For example, in previous studies of fish it has been postulated that females in poor condition have energetic constraints limiting their choosiness. In this article, preferences for healthy facial appearance were measured in women and related to measures of condition. Questions were associated with two factors: a factor reflecting general health and condition (related to self-ratings of attractiveness, health, and physical fitness) and a factor reflecting experience of and current state of infection (colds per year and current cold). General health and condition were positively related to preferences for healthy appearance in male faces, in line with previously seen condition dependent preferences. However, the measure of current and previous infection was also positively related to preferences for healthy appearance in male faces. While these two findings appear to conflict, in fact, they may reflect different mechanisms at work. Previous explanations, such as competitiveness for mates and/or energetic constraints may explain general condition dependent preferences. In terms of avoiding contagion, however, those most at risk may benefit most from increased attraction to healthy partners: “infection dependent” mate preferences. In this way, general condition may be positively related to preferences for male quality but infection or experience of infection, while associated with a lowering of condition, may also be positively associated with preferences for male quality.
Title Sensory cortical interactions in aging , mild cognitive impairment , and Alzheimer ' s disease

Progressive declines in memory function accompany normal aging, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Neuropathological studies suggest that damage to neurons providing connections between cortical areas may contribute to memory impairments in AD. Because AD develops slowly, similar neuropathological changes, to a lesser degree, may be present in MCI and some asymptomatic elderly subjects. In this study we tested the hypothesis that corticocortical interactions between sensory regions are impaired in aging, MCI, and AD, as compared with young subjects. When sensory cortical evoked potentials are elicited by pairs of stimuli the amplitudes of potentials to the second stimulus are attenuated. Corticocortical interactions were assessed by presenting stimulus pairs in different modalities (auditory/visual). There were significant group differences in the degree that a visual stimulus attenuated subsequent auditory potentials (young healthy elderly MCI AD). Control experiments indicated equivalent amplitude reductions for all groups to the second stimulus for stimulus pairs having the same modality. These findings are compatible with progressive declines in corticocortical processing in aging, MCI, and AD. © 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.
Global Financial Crisis of 2008, Asymmetric Effects of Exchange Rate Changes, and Stability of the Demand for Money in Japan

We wonder if Global Financial Crisis of 2008 affected stability of the demand for money in Japan. In testing this hypothesis we deviate from previous studies which either excluded the exchange rate from money demand function in Japan or have not been able to find any significant relation between the exchange rate and the demand for money. While we address stability of the demand for money, we show that failure to find a cointegrating relation or significant effects could be due to assuming a linear model in which exchange rate changes have symmetric effects. Once we consider a nonlinear ARDL approach of Shin et al.’s (2014), we show that not only variables in the money demand are cointegrated but exchange rate changes have asymmetric effects. In the long run, while appreciation of yen has significantly positive effect on the demand for money in Japan, depreciation does not. We also find a stable money demand which was not affected by 2008 financial crisis.
Factors of Quality Management Affecting the Implementation of QM in Supply Chain Using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) Approach

Quality management (QM) is generally observed as a philosophy that goals to achieve customer satisfaction through continuous improvement and team work. The conversion towards QM is coupled with its spread, from the manufacturing to the service sector and onto public services ( Dale, 1999) Implementation of QM becomes a top management plan in many organizations in the pursuit of positive business benefits, such better product quality, higher customer satisfaction and minimum quality cost and enhance supply chain. Some recent studies uphold that many organizations launched QM programs have increase positive results. There have been several approaches and model suggested for the QM introduction and implementation. This paper presents main finding of a recent study that investigated the critical factors of quality management affecting the implementation of QM in supply chain. This study seek to identify the critical factors and sub factors to implement quality management in supply chain using analytical hierarchy process (AHP) approach. A general hierarchy model was expanded to help prioritization these factors and formulate approach for quality management implementation in supply chain.
A global analysis searching for neutrinos associated with black hole merger gravitational wave events

Several neutrino observatories have searched for coincident neutrino signals associated with gravitational waves induced by the merging of two black holes. No statistically significant neutrino signal in excess of the background level was observed. These experiments use different neutrino detection technologies and are sensitive to various neutrino types. A combined analysis was performed on the KamLAND, Super-Kamiokande and Borexino experimental data with a frequentist statistical approach to achieve a global picture of the associated neutrino fluence. Both monochromatic and Fermi-Dirac neutrino spectra were assumed in the calculation. The final results are consistent with null neutrino signals associated with the process of a binary black hole merger. The derived 90% confidence level upper limits on the fluence and luminosity of various neutrino types are presented for neutrino energy less than 110MeV.
How do doctors in the Netherlands perceive the impact of disciplinary procedures and disclosure of disciplinary measures on their professional practice, health and career opportunities? Laarmanen,

Background: Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Stepped care for CFS, consisting of a minimal intervention followed by face-to-face CBT, was found efficacious when tested in a CFS specialist centre. Stepped care implemented in a community-based mental health centre (MHC) has not yet been evaluated. Aims: (1) To test the effectiveness of stepped care for CFS implemented in a MHC at post-treatment and at long-term follow-up; and (2) compare post-treatment outcomes of implemented stepped care with treatment outcomes of a CFS specialist centre. Method: An uncontrolled study was used to test effectiveness of stepped care implemented in a MHC (n= 123). The outcomes of implemented care were compared with the outcomes of specialist care reported in previous studies (n= 583). Data on outcomes from implemented stepped care were gathered at posttreatment and at long-term follow-up. Mixed models were used as method of analysis. Results: Fatigue decreased and physical functioning increased significantly following implemented stepped care (both p < .001). The follow-up was completed by 94 patients (78%) within 1–6 years after treatment. Treatment effects were sustained to follow-up. Patients in the MHC showed less improvement directly following stepped care compared with patients in a CFS specialist centre (p < .01). Conclusion: Implemented stepped care for CFS is effective with sustained treatment gains at long-term follow-up. There is room for improvement when compared with outcomes of a CFS specialist centre. Some suggestions are made on how to improve stepped care.
6.DETECTION OF ExoT GENE IN LOCAL ISOLATES OF PSEUDOMONAS AUROGINOSA IN A SAMPLE OF BURN INFECTION

Background Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) is an opportunistic microorganism that requires damaged mucus membranes and epithelial tissues to cause acute infections. It had been stated that P. aeruginosa alters mammalian cytokinesis in a type III secretion system and exotoxin T (ExoT)related way. Objective To identify exoT gene local isolates of P. aeruginosa isolated from burn infections. Methods Forty bacterial isolates of P. aeruginosa (isolated from burn infection) were identified by standard laboratory methods and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique was applied for the detection of the gene encoding for ExoT. Results The results showed that PCR amplification of exo T gene occurred in 24 (60 %) isolates out of the enrolled 40 isolates of P. aeruginosa while 16 (40 %) of the isolates showed negative amplification reactions. Conclusion It appeared that exoT can be a significant virulence factor expressed by 60 % of P. aeruginosa isolates as indicated by positive PCR-amplification results.
In-flight calibration of the Hitomi Soft X-ray Spectrometer. (2) Point spread function

We present results of inflight calibration of the point spread function (PSF) of the Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT-S) that focuses X-ray onto the pixel array of the Soft X-ray Spectrometer system (SXS). We make a full array image of a point-like source by extracting a pulsed component of the Crab nebula emission. Within the limited statistics afforded by an exposure time of only 6.9~ksec and the limited knowledge of the systematic uncetainties, we find that the raytracing model of 1'. 2 half-power-diameter (HPD) is consistent with an image of the observed event distributions across pixels. The ratio between the Crab pulsar image and the raytracing shows scatter from pixel to pixel that is 40% or less in all except one pixel. The pixel-to-pixel ratio has a spread of 20%, on average, for the 15 edge pixels, with an averaged statistical error of 17% (1 sigma). In the central 16 pixels, the corresponding ratio is 15% with an error of 6%.
Title Feedforward Categorization on AER Motion Events UsingCortex-Like Features in a Spiking Neural Network

This paper introduces an event-driven feedforward categorization system, which takes data from a temporal contrast address event representation (AER) sensor. The proposed system extracts bio-inspired cortex-like features and discriminates different patterns using an AER based tempotron classifier (a network of Leaky Integrate-and-Fire spiking neurons). One of the system’s most appealing characteristics is its event-driven processing, with both input and features taking the form of address events (spikes). The system was evaluated on an AER posture dataset and compared to two recently developed bio-inspired models. Experimental results have shown that it consumes much less simulation time while still maintaining comparable performance. In addition, experiments on the Mixed National Institute of Standards and Technology (MNIST) image dataset have demonstrated that the proposed system can work not only on raw AER data but also on images (with a preprocessing step to convert images into AER events) and that it can maintain competitive accuracy even when noise is added. The system was further evaluated on the MNIST-DVS dataset (in which data is recorded using an AER dynamic vision sensor), with testing accuracy of 88.14%.
SIMULTANEOUS LOCALIZATION AND MAPPING FOR SEMI-SPARSE POINT CLOUDS

Abstract. 3D representation of the environment is a piece of vital information for most of the engineering sciences. However, providing such information in classical surveying approaches demands a considerable amount of time for localizing the sensor in a desired coordinate frame to map the environment. Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM) algorithm is capable of localizing the sensor and do the mapping while the sensor is moving through the environment. In this paper, SLAM will be applied on the data of a lightweight 3D laser scanner in which we call semi-sparse point cloud, because of the unique specifications of the point cloud which comes from various resolutions in vertical and horizontal directions. In contrast to most of the SLAM algorithms, there is no aiding sensor to provide prior information of motion. The output of the algorithm would be a high-density full geometry detailed map in a short time. The accuracy of the algorithm has been estimated in a medium scale simulated outdoor environments in Gazebo and Robot Operating System (ROS). Considering Velodyne Puck accuracy which is 3 cm, the map was generated with approximately 6 cm accuracy.
Optimal LQ-Type Switched Control Design for a Class of Linear Systems with Piecewise Constant Inputs

Abstract This paper is devoted to a specific LQ-type optimal control problem (OCP) in the presence of additional control constraints. We consider control processes governed by linear differential equations with a priori known control switchings. The piecewise constant structure of the admissible controls under consideration is motivated by variety of concrete engineering applications and moreover, can be interpreted as a result of a quantization procedure applied to the original dynamics. We propose an new implementable numeric algorithm that makes it possible to calculate a consistent approximating solution to the initial constrained LQ-type OCPs. The contribution discusses some theoretic aspects of the obtained computational scheme and also contains a numerical example.