Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Diversity and Structure of the Methanogenic Community in Anoxic Rice Paddy Soil Microcosms as Examined by Cultivation and Direct 16S rRNA Gene Sequence Retrieval

ABSTRACT A dual approach consisting of cultivation and molecular retrieval of partial archaeal 16S rRNA genes was carried out to characterize the diversity and structure of the methanogenic community inhabiting the anoxic bulk soil of flooded rice microcosms. The molecular approach identified four groups of known methanogens. Three environmental sequences clustered with Methanobacterium bryantii andMethanobacterium formicicum, six were closely related but not identical to those of strains of Methanosaeta concilii, two grouped with members of the genus Methanosarcina, and two were related to the methanogenic endosymbiont of Plagiopyla nasuta. The cultivation approach via most-probable-number counts with a subsample of the same soil as an inoculum yielded cell numbers of up to 107 per g of dry soil for the H2-CO2-utilizing methanogens and of up to 106 for the acetate-utilizing methanogens. Strain VeH52, isolated from the terminal positive dilution on H2-CO2, grouped within the phylogenetic radiation characterized by M. bryantii and M. formicicum and the environmental sequences of theMethanobacterium-like group. A consortium of two distinct methanogens grew in the terminal positive culture on acetate. These two organisms showed absolute 16S rRNA gene identities with environmental sequences of the novel Methanosaeta-like group and theMethanobacterium-like group. Methanosarcinaspp. were identified only in the less-dilute levels of the same dilution series on acetate. These data correlate well with acetate concentrations of about 11 μM in the pore water of this rice paddy soil. These concentrations are too low for the growth of knownMethanosarcina spp. but are at the acetate utilization threshold of Methanosaeta spp. Thus, our data indicatedMethanosaeta spp. and Methanobacterium spp. to be the dominant methanogenic groups in the anoxic rice soil, whereasMethanosarcina spp. appeared to be less abundant.
Sticky Expectations and the Profitability Anomaly

We propose a simple model in which investors price a stock using a persistent signal and sticky belief dynamics a la Coibion and Gorodnichenko (2012). In this model, returns can be forecasted using (1) past profits, (2) past change in profits, and (3) past returns. The model thus provides a joint theory of two of the most economically significant anomalies, i.e. quality and momentum. According to the model, these anomalies should be correlated, and be stronger when signal persistence is higher, or when earnings expectations are stickier. Using I/B/E/S data, we measure expectation stickiness at the analyst level. We find that analysts are on average sticky and, consistent with a limited attention hypothesis, more so when they cover more industries. We then find strong support for the model's prediction in the data: both the momentum and the quality anomaly are stronger for stocks with more persistent profits, and for stocks which are followed by stickier analysts. Consistently with the model, both strategies also comove significantly.
To Enroll or Not to Enroll?: A Researcher Struggles with the Decision to Involve Study Participants in a Clinical Trial That Could Save Their Lives

Hundreds of thousands of clinical trials are conducted annually around the world, working to further scientific knowledge and expand medical treatment. At the same time, clinical trials also present novel challenges to researchers who have access to large pools of research participants and are routinely approached by pharmaceutical companies seeking to recruit subjects for clinical trials. This case study discusses the ethical dilemmas faced by a community health investigator who received an invitation to enroll people who inject drugs (PWID) into a clinical trial of a drug that promised a new treatment option for Hepatitis C. The author elaborates on the ethical tensions that he confronted between “doing good” and “avoiding harm. The paper suggests that issues of distributive justice should also be considered, particularly when the drugs being tested might eventually command prices that place them out of reach of the population enrolled in the trial. This case does not attempt to provide an ethical road map to assist researchers in similar circumstances, but rather to illustrate some of the considerations involved in making a decision about whether or not to participate in clinical trials research.
Embed System for Robotic Arm with 3 Degree of Freedom Controller using Computational Vision on Real-Time

This Paper deals with robotic arm embed controller system, with distributed system based on protocol communication between one server supporting multiple points and mobile applications trough sockets . The proposed system utilizes hand with glove gesture in three-dimensional recognition using fuzzy implementation to set x,y,z coordinates. This approach present all implementation over: two raspberry PI arm based computer running client program, x64 PC running server program, and one robot arm controlled by ATmega328p based board.
An improved control system for modular multilevel converters featuring new modulation strategy and voltage balancing control

Modular multilevel converter becomes one of the most promising high power converters thanks to their modular structure design, distributed dc capacitors, improved power quality, and no separate dc voltage sources required. However, capacitor voltage balancing remains one major challenge. This paper proposes a new voltage balancing control associated with an improved pulsewidth modulation (PWM) method. Specifically, a new mathematical model and control structure with multi-loops including a new balancing control loop between the upper and lower arms are presented. The capacitor voltages can be well balanced without adding unnecessary switching to any SMs and voltage sorting algorithm. Moreover, the control and modulation are more accurate and the ac power quality can be improved. Simulations and experimental results have verified the effectiveness of proposed methods.
Learning Technologies for the Hearing Impaired

The current practice for stone deaf children is to teach them a sign language so that they can communicate with others with the fundamental limitation that they can only communicate with those who know the sign language. The respective parents starts with a rudimentary sign language at home from the age of nine months and then the child continues learning a sign language in a primary or kindergarten school. There are different sign languages used in different schools - there is a wide variety of sign languages across countries and cultures. Even after mastering a sign language (or a couple of sign languages) the deaf child can only communicate with those who know the sign language. By this time if he or she can read and write then he or she can also communicate with some one who does not know sign language. The sign language is taught to a child by the following three steps: 1. Associating a sign with the picture of an object or the object itself. 2. Associating a sign with a word or alphabetical character. 3. By this stage a deaf person can read or write a language and now is able to communicate with any one through reading and writing. In this research I intend to remove the first two steps - that essentially means removing the sign language - and jump to step 3 directly through the use of technology. It means that the parents will show their stone-deaf child an actual cat and a card or in an application with the word CAT". The Application is not just learning but also assertive too. "
Profile of infliximab in the treatment of pediatric Crohn’s disease

In recent years, a novel biologic therapy with monoclonal antibodies against tumor necrosis factor-alpha has revolutionized the treatment of Crohn’s disease. Infliximab, the first biologic agent, has been demonstrated to considerably improve both clinical and endoscopic outcomes. In view of the growing popularity of infliximab in the management of Crohn’s disease, we review the profile of the agent in the treatment of this disease in a pediatric setting.
Assessment of quality of life and participation within an outpatient rehabilitation setting

Purpose. To evaluate the use of quality of life and participation measures in routine rehabilitation practice, determine the relationship between two scales and investigate their ability to evaluate change in a general outpatient population over a time of rehabilitation. Methods. This cohort study consisted of 55 patients admitted consecutively to an outpatient rehabilitation centre. All participants completed the WHOQOL-BREF and the London Handicap Scale (LHS) at admission and discharge. Results. Non-parametric statistical analysis demonstrated a significant change in the total scores of both the WHOQOL-BREF and LHS over time (Z = −4.33, P < 0.001 and Z = −4.40, P < 0.001 respectively) with ‘better’ scores on completion of rehabilitation. A strong correlation existed between the total WHOQOL-BREF and LHS scores both cross-sectionally (admission and discharge ρ > 0.7), and longitudinally (ρ = 0.63). Conclusions. Our study demonstrated a strong relationship between quality of life and participation, with change shown using both scales over a period of outpatient rehabilitation. Given the findings, it seems appropriate to use only one of these measures. The WHOQOL-BREF has a wider scope, being useful both to evaluate service delivery in a diverse outpatient population or when measuring an individual over time.
Age and organizational identification: empirical findings from professional sports

ABSTRACT Although identification is critical to organizational survival, knowledge on how identification changes and evolves over time is still limited. Not only can tastes and choices vary across both social context and time, but individuals can change or choose their identity, as well as their ideals, group loyalty and/or social category. Hence, in this letter, we examine the relation between organizational identification and age using five large sports consumer surveys as a snapshot of the age distribution of team identification. Our results provide evidence of robust U-shaped age profiles, with a probable turning point in the 40s.
Privacy, Government Information, and Technology

All modern governments collect detailed personal information on citizens and residents, including information on financial activities, criminal charges, government subsidized loans, employment status and earnings, and, increasingly, medical treatments and costs. Such information is needed by governments to administer vast arrays of social welfare programs as well as more traditional activities of revenue collection and maintenance of law and order. Democratic governments balance their uses of personal information with requirements to be open to the people and accountable to legislatures and law, as well as with legal protections of individual privacy. In the United States, the computerization of government record systems, which began in the 1960s, drew new attention to tensions between individuals' interests in the privacy of personal information and the federal government's collection and use of such information. Policy debates within Congress, executive agencies, and other interested groups centered on questions about the meaning of privacy, the impact of computers, and the formalization of relations between individuals and agencies. In 1974, Congress passed the Privacy Act (88 Stat. 1896; 5 U.S.C. 552a) codifying principles of fair information use which agencies must meet in handling personal information, as well as rights for individuals who are the subjects of that information. To ensure agency compliance with these principles, the Act enables individuals to bring civil and criminal suits if information is willfully and intentionally handled in violation of the Act. Now, at least two generations of information technology have become available to federal agencies, offering new means for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of data collection and program management, but also undermining the goal of the Privacy Act to protect individuals by controlling information about them.
Dynamic TDD and fixed cellular networks

There are many benefits in using time division duplex (TDD) instead of frequency division duplex (FDD) schemes in fixed wireless cellular systems. To name a few; channel reciprocity for the single carrier frequency used on both up and downlinks will allow easy access to channel state information, reduced complexity of RF design, much higher flexibility in handling dynamic traffic, simpler frequency plan, etc. However, there exists a serious limiting factor in using dynamic-TDD (D-TDD) in cellular systems. This is due to a steady interference on uplinks in a cell, caused by downlink transmissions of other cells. Simulation results show in D-TDD cellular systems, performance is unacceptable, when omni-directional antennas are used at base stations. Simulation results have also demonstrated a great potential for smart antennas in fixed D-TDD bandwidth-on-demand wireless systems.
Comparison of Adaboost.M2 and perspective based model ensemble in multispectral image classification

AdaBoost is a popular ensemble method utilized in pattern recognition problems that are considered tough. Besides being a robust technique it does suffer from few limitations viz. size of training data and presence of noise in training data. In this context, we proposed a novel technique called Perspective Based Model (PBM) for ensemble creation in case of multispectral data analysis. In the present paper, we evaluate its performance in terms of classification accuracy against AdaBoost.M2. Preliminary results show higher accuracy through PBM compared to a single classifier but also a lower classification performance for PBM compared to AdaBoost.M2. An improved performance is also observed for PBM on adding new data features.
High‐Performance Work Systems in Professional Service Firms: Examining the Practices‐Resources‐Uses‐Performance Linkage

Professional service firms (PSFs) play an important role in the knowledge-based economy. Their success is highly dependent on their people, the knowledge resources they possess, and how they use these resources. However, how to systematically manage human resources to attain high performance is not fully understood. This study addresses this issue by investigating the linkage mechanisms through which high-performance work systems (HPWS) influence the performance of PSFs. We integrate resource-based and dynamic capability theories in order to identify and investigate two intervening mechanisms that link HR practices to firm performance. The first mechanism is the intellectual capital resources comprising the human, social, and organizational capital that HPWS create. The second mechanism is the uses to which both HPWS and resources can be applied, operationalized as organizational ambidexterity, the simultaneous exploitation of existing knowledge and exploration of new knowledge. These mechanisms are hypothesized to link HPWS to firm performance in the form of a practices-resources-uses-performance linkage model. Results from a longitudinal study of 93 accounting firms support this linkage model. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Development of embryos from in vitro ovulated and fertilized oocytes of the quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica).

The development of quail embryos obtained after in vitro fertilization of oocytes ovulated in vitro was investigated. About 40% of the specimens, after 18-20 hr of incubation, had undergone cleavage to reach stages IV-VI when viewed under a stereo microscope. However, only 36% of these embryos contained normal, DAPI-stained nuclei when observed under a fluorescent microscope; the other 64% showing a morphologically normal cleavage pattern did not contain nuclei. Control unfertilized oocytes, ovulated in vitro and cultured for the same time, also sometimes attained the morphologically correct stages IV-VI but their "blastomeres" were always devoid of nuclei. Therefore, it is advisable to monitor early avian embryos for the presence of nuclei when assessing development in culture. The results demonstrate, for the first time, that cytoplasmic segmentation can occur in the absence of nuclear divisions in the germinal disc of the quail and show the existence and significance of ooplasmic maternal information in birds. This phenomenon is also known for sea urchin and frogs. It is indicative of the role of maternal information in early development. The in vitro method presented here links the steps of ovulation and fertilization with the early cleavage stages under in vitro conditions and may be useful in studying mechanisms of fertilization and differentiation in birds as well as in obtaining transgenic birds by DNA injection or application of foreign, DNA-carrying sperm.
Does an End of Period's Accounting Variable Assessed have Relevance for the Particular Period?

Ohlson (1995) indicates how a firm’s current earnings can be a proxy for its future earnings potential in the equity valuation model. It is notable that equity price – earnings relationship in value relevance studies explores the relevance of earnings to indicate a firm’s future earnings, not the relevance for a particular period’s earnings. This explanation provides three scenarios how empirical explanations are related to consider current earnings as a proxy for future earnings, not as a periodic measure as a whole, in empirical models. This proxy role of current earnings possibly implies that a particular period’s earnings, on a stand-alone-basis, explain not only the end of period’s price but also subsequent periods’ equity prices. Further, assessing relevance of a periodic accounting variable in the same (periodic) context is important in modelling, if the accounting practice for the accounting variable needs empirical clarification or justification in relation to equity price.
What Can Scholars of Entrepreneurship Learn from Sound Family Businesses?

Scholars of entrepreneurship have focused mostly on founder entrepreneurs, new ventures, venture capital, and entrepreneurial initiatives in larger firms. However, family firms, which account for a majority of new ventures, have received far less prominent attention from the field. Although family businesses, often rightly, have been portrayed as being conservative and even stodgy, many of them are successful and enduring, and enjoy advantages in the business founding, growth, and maturity phases of the life cycle. We discuss the resources that may be responsible for these advantages in successful family firms, and the lessons that may be drawn from such firms for quintessential topics in entrepreneurship such as effectuation, new ventures, venture capital, opportunity platforms, and entrepreneurial orientation.
Gestion du résultat et seuils comptables

Only few studies focus on earnings management to meet thresholds in France. This lack of interest has two causes. First, a common belief assumes that thresholds would be only incidental to the motivation of earnings management practices. Second, statistical methodologies used for this subject are not conventional. This article shows that thresholds are likely a key driver for earnings management practices. It also highlights a need for further methodologies to address the subject. Finally, the article proposes some developments to improve the understanding of the ultimate performance indicator, namely the net income.
Are gold standard depression measures appropriate for use in geriatric cancer patients? A systematic evaluation of self-report depression instruments used with geriatric, cancer, and geriatric cancer samples.

PURPOSE Geriatric issues in cancer are becoming prominent. Depression is a significant concern for both the elderly and patients with cancer, yet identifying depression in these patients is difficult and often leads to under-recognition. We conducted a systematic review to determine which depression instruments are appropriate for use in geriatric patients with cancer. METHODS We identified the most commonly used self-report depression instruments. We then used the criteria established in the US Food and Drug Administration Draft Guidance on Patient-Reported Outcome Measures to determine the extent of validation evidence of these measures in geriatric cancer populations. Finally, we determined which instruments captured depressive symptoms that are common among elderly patients with cancer. RESULTS Eight measures were selected as the most commonly used instruments. These were the Beck Depression Inventory-II, Brief Symptom Inventory-18, Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale, Geriatric Depression Scale-15, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Profile of Mood States-Short Form, and Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale. Many have been validated for use with geriatric adults and patients with cancer; however, data addressing content validity and responder definition were lacking. To date, there is no validation information for geriatric patients with cancer. Furthermore, symptom profile analysis revealed that these measures do not identify many symptoms signaling depression in geriatric patients with cancer. CONCLUSION The validation evidence for use of common depression instruments in geriatric patients with cancer is lacking. This, and the possibility that these measures may not assess common depressive symptoms in geriatric patients with cancer, questions the adequacy of these scales in this population.
Predicting the effects of tool geometries on friction stirred aluminium welds using artificial neural networks and fuzzy logic techniques

Effect of friction stir welding (FSW) tool geometries on aluminium welds were investigated using different tool shoulder and pin probe geometry profiles. A combination of 27 tool shoulder and pin profile geometries were used for the experimental purpose using a design matrix. The effect of these tool geometries on the friction stir welds like the weld strength, weld cross-section area and grain sizes were investigated. The effects of the tool geometries were predicted using artificial intelligence techniques such as artificial neural networks (ANN) and fuzzy logic modelling. It was observed that, for a combination of FSW tool geometries, the ANN model was not so effective in predicting the FSW weldment characteristics, while the fuzzy logic model was able to predict the same with much lower percentage of error for the test cases.
Smooth Muscle Myosin Phosphorylated at Single Head Shows Sustained Mechanical Activity*

Smooth muscle contraction is regulated by the phosphorylation of myosin. It is well known that tonic smooth muscles can maintain force with low energy consumption (latch state); however, the molecular mechanism underlying this phenomenon is unresolved. Here we show that single-head phosphorylated smooth myosin (SHPMII) exhibits fast (∼24 s–1) and slow prolonged (∼1 s–1) actin interactions, whereas double-head phosphorylated myosin (DHPMII) predominantly exhibits the fast (∼29 s–1) interaction, suggesting that the phosphorylated head of SHPMII is mechanically as active as that of DHPMII. Both the fast and the slow actin interactions of SHPMII support the positive net mechanical displacement of actin. The actin translocating velocity of SHPMII was much slower than that of DHPMII, which is consistent with the slow actin interaction of SHPMII. We propose that the “latch state” can be explained by the motor characteristics of SHPMII that is present during the sustained phase of contraction.