Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
[Rabies virus in naturally infected bats in the State of São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil].

OBJECTIVE To identify the species of bats involved in maintaining the rabies cycle; to investigate the distribution of the rabies virus in the tissues and organs of bats and the time taken for mortality among inoculated mice. METHODS From April 2002 to November 2003, bats from municipalities in the State of São Paulo were screened for the presence of the rabies virus, by means of direct immunofluorescence. The virus distribution in the bats was evaluated by inoculating mice and N2A cells with 20% suspensions prepared from fragments of different organs and tissues, plus the brain and salivary glands. The time taken for mortality among the mice was monitored daily, following intracerebral inoculation. RESULTS Out of the 4,395 bats received, 1.9% were found positive for the rabies virus. They belonged to ten genera, with predominance of insectivores. The maximum mean times taken for mortality among the mice following inoculation with brain and salivary gland material were 15.33+/-2.08 days and 11.33+/-2.30 days for vampire bats, 16.45+/-4.48 days and 18.91+/-6.12 days for insectivorous bats, and 12.60+/-2.13 days and 15.67+/-4.82 days for frugivorous bats, respectively. CONCLUSIONS The species infected with the rabies virus were: Artibeus lituratus, Artibeus sp. , Myotis nigricans, Myotis sp. , Eptesicus sp. , Lasiurus ega, Lasiurus cinereus, Nyctinomops laticaudatus, Tadarida brasiliensis, Histiotus velatus, Molossus rufus, Eumops sp. and Desmodus rotundus. Virus investigation in the different tissues and organs showed that the brain and salivary glands were the most suitable sites for virus isolation.
Effects of team-based quality improvement learning on two teams providing dementia care

Objective To determine the effects of a structured team-based learning approach to quality improvement (QI) on the performance 12 months later of two teams caring for patients with dementia. Design Before and after prospective study. Setting Staff working in two inpatient services in National Health Service Trusts in England, one providing orthopaedic surgery (Team A) and one caring for elderly people with mental health conditions, including dementia (Team B). Team A consisted of nurses; Team B included doctors, nurses, therapists, mental health support workers and administrators. Methods QI training and support, assessment of the performance of teams and team coaching were provided to the two teams. QI training integrated tools for teamworking and a structured approach to QI. Team members completed the Aston Team Performance Inventory, a validated tool for assessing team performance, at the start of the QI work (time 1) and 1 year later (time 2). Results A year after the QI training and team QI project, Team A members perceived themselves as a high-performing team, reflected in improvement in 24 of 52 components measured in the Inventory; Team B was initially a poorly performing team and had improvements in 42 of 52 components a year later. Conclusion This study demonstrates that a structured team-based learning approach to QI has effects a year later on the performance of teams in clinical settings, as measured by a validated team performance tool.
Active-Labelling by Adaptive Huber Loss Regression

This paper addresses the scalar regression problem presenting a solution for optimizing the Huber loss in a general semi-supervised setting, which combines multi-view learning and manifold regularization. To this aim, we propose a principled algorithm to 1) avoid computationally expensive iterative solutions while 2) adapting the Huber loss threshold in a data-driven fashion and 3) actively balancing the use of labelled data to remove noisy or inconsistent annotations from the training stage. In a wide experimental evaluation, dealing with diverse applications, we assess the superiority of our paradigm which is able to combine strong performance and robustness to noise at a low computational cost.
Risk and vulnerability considerations in poverty analysis: recent advances and future directions

The purpose of this paper is to take stock of all these efforts and to reconsider the relationship between poverty and exposure to risk. The authors present a short review of current practices of vulnerability measurement to discuss how none of them is truly consistent with an ex-ante view of assessing the true consequences of risk exposure. The authors argue that one way of addressing this inconsistency is by adding an estimate of the insurance cost needed to guarantee a socially accepted minimum level of welfare to the level of consumption expenditure taken as a benchmark to identify the poor. In other words, we define an augmented poverty line where the traditional absolute poverty benchmark level is marked up by the estimated cost of insuring against what are considered socially unacceptable risks. The authors then discuss the practical implications for implementing such a measure and future research directions.
Estimating Mangrove Biophysical Variables Using WorldView-2 Satellite Data: Rapid Creek, Northern Territory, Australia

Mangroves are one of the most productive coastal communities in the world. Although we acknowledge the significance of ecosystems, mangroves are under natural and anthropogenic pressures at various scales. Therefore, understanding biophysical variations of mangrove forests is important. An extensive field survey is impossible within mangroves. WorldView-2 multi-spectral images having a 2-m spatial resolution were used to quantify above ground biomass (AGB) and leaf area index (LAI) in the Rapid Creek mangroves, Darwin, Australia. Field measurements, vegetation indices derived from WorldView-2 images and a partial least squares regression algorithm were incorporated to produce LAI and AGB maps. LAI maps with 2-m and 5-m spatial resolutions showed root mean square errors (RMSEs) of 0.75 and 0.78, respectively, compared to validation samples. Correlation coefficients between field samples and predicted maps were 0.7 and 0.8, respectively. RMSEs obtained for AGB maps were 2.2 kg/m2 and 2.0 kg/m2 for a 2-m and a 5-m spatial resolution, and the correlation coefficients were 0.4 and 0.8, respectively. We would suggest implementing the transects method for field sampling and establishing end points of these transects with a highly accurate positioning system. The study demonstrated the possibility of assessing biophysical variations of mangroves using remotely-sensed data.
A novel multifunctional underwater microrobot

Biomimetic microrobots with multi DOF have powerful applications in the field of underwater monitoring for applications such as pollution detection and video mapping. Most robots focus on complex structure of multi-joint legs to attain the multifunction and flexibility, while others have poor flexibility for miniaturization. To attain a microrobot with compact structure, multifunction, and flexible locomotion, we designed a novel type of biomimetic locomotion employing ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC) actuators as one-DOF legs or fingers. Then we proposed a new type of underwater microrobot using ten ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC) actuators as legs or fingers, which could realize walking, rotating, floating, and grasping motions. Also, we developed a prototype of this type of underwater microrobot and conducted experiments to evaluate its walking and floating speeds. In addition, we used six IPMC actuators as fingers to grasp some small objects and carry them to float up.
Hybrid GRE-High frequency method for analysis of scattering and radiation problems incorporating large and complex structures

This paper presents a hybrid combination of the generalized ray expansion (GRE) method and high-frequency methods for analyzing the scattering and radiation problems incorporating electrically large and complex structures. A dense grid of ray tubes are launched from the phase centers of the subapertures making up the equivalent surface which encloses the target in the scattering problem, or the antenna in the radiation problem. Those rays represent the equivalent incident field on the target in the former case, and the field radiated by the antenna in the latter case. The rays are then traced through interactions with the target or the nearby structure based on high-frequency methods. The main advantage of the GRE method is that only one set of rays needs to be traced and it is independent of the excitation.
A normalized adaptation scheme for the convex combination of two adaptive filters

Adaptive filtering schemes are subject to different tradeoffs regarding their steady-state misadjustment, speed of convergence, and tracking performance. To alleviate these compromises, a new approach has recently been proposed, in which two filters with complementary capabilities adaptively mix their outputs to get an overall filter of improved performance. Following this approach, we propose a new normalized rule for adapting the mixing parameter that controls the combination. The new update rule preserves the good features of the existing scheme and is more robust to changes in the filtering scenario, for instance when the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is time varying. The benefits of the normalized scheme are illustrated analytically and with a number of experiments in both stationary and tracking situations.
Aloha Based Resource Allocation Scheme to Efficient Call Holding Times in Public Safety Network

The allocation of limited resources such as links, servers, and agents to support as many as emergency call responses as possible while maintaining reasonable quality of service is a principal requirement in public safety networks. It is difficult to handle the highest priority emergency call responses for a congested period with a limited number of dedicated incoming links from commercial networks. Therefore, in this paper, we present the adaptive scheme based on a different call conversation time for an achieving efficient resource scheduling during a congested period without investing extra resources. The proposed adaptive scheduling approach improves accuracy of the network performance with the dynamic call holding time approach.
FACTORS AFFECTING WORKPLACE INJURIES AT 73 WORKSHOP DIVISION MALAYSIAN ARMY

The purpose of this study was aimed to determine the factors that affect workplace injuries among 73 Workshop Division Malaysian Army. Beside that the purpose of this study is to identify the level of workplace injuries at 73 workshop Division Malaysian Army. This study was carried out on the mechanics at 73 Workshop, Kem Terendak about of 240 person. The independent variables in this study consists of three variables, namely Psychological Distress, Family-work conflict and Work Motivation. The dependent variable is injuries in the workplace. Research design in this study used method survey by distributing a questionnaire consists of 4 sections. The questionnaire used is the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) which contains 6 items to measure Psychological Distress. Family-work conflict measure by using Family-Work Conflict Scale consist 4 item. While the measure of work motivation, Work Motivation Survey instrument that consists of 5 items have been used. To measure injuries in the workplace, workplace injuries scale consist three items were used. Multiple regression analysis was performed by using SPSS software. The findings revealed that all the independent variables are correlated positively and significantly, but only one independent variable affecting workplace injury that is Psychological Distress [F (3,236) = 57.84, p<0.001, accounted for 41.4% of variance (R 2 .414), (? =.588, p<.001). As a conclusion, management of the unit need to ensure that the programme or seminar of to reduce stress is continuously running. So that, psychological condition among workshopmen always in highly well-being.
Performance evaluation of attribute-based tree organization

A modified version of the multiple attribute tree (MAT) database organization, which uses a compact directory, is discussed. An efficient algorithm to process the directory for carrying out the node searches is presented. Statistical procedures are developed to estimate the number of nodes searched and the number of data blocks retrieved for most general and complex queries. The performance of inverted file and modified MAT organizations are compared using six real-life databases and four types of query complexities. Careful tradeoffs are established in terms of storage and access times for directory and data, query complexities, and database characteristics.
An equivariant Brauer semigroup and the symmetric imprimitivity theorem

Suppose that (X,G) is a second countable locally compact transformation group. We let SG(X) denote the set of Morita equivalence classes of separable dynamical systems (A,G,α) where A is a C0(X)-algebra and α is compatible with the given G-action on X. We prove that SG(X) is a commutative semigroup with identity with respect to the binary operation [A,G, α][B,G, β] = [A⊗X B,G,α⊗X β] for an appropriately defined balanced tensor product on C0(X)-algebras. If G and H act freely and properly on the left and right of a space X, then we prove that SG(X/H) and SH(G\X) are isomorphic as semigroups. If the isomorphism maps the class of (A,G,α) to the class of (B,H, β), then A oα G is Morita equivalent to B oβ H.
Rôle des croyances a priori et de la contiguïté temporelle dans une tâche de raisonnement causal

V REMERCIEMENTS . VII TABLE DES MATIÈRES . XI LISTE DES TABLEAUX ET FIGURES DANS LE TEXTE . XIII CHAPITRE 1 . 1 LES PRINCIPALES PROPOSITIONS THÉORIQUES . 3 LES MODÈLES CONTEMPORAINS DU RAISONNEMENT CAUSAL . 6 UNE INTERACTION PEU ÉTUDIÉE : LES CONNAISSANCES A PRIORI ET LA CONTIGUÏTÉ TEMPORELLE . 15 ORIGINALITÉS ET OBJECTIFS DE LA THÈSE. 24 CHAPITRE 2 . 35 HYPOTHÈSES . 36 MÉTHODE . 38 ANALYSES ET RÉSULTATS DE L’EXPÉRIENCE 1 . 42 DISCUSSION DES RÉSULTATS DE L’EXPÉRIENCE 1 . 45 CHAPITRE 3 . 51 HYPOTHÈSES . 55 MÉTHODE . 57 ANALYSES ET RÉSULTATS DE L’EXPÉRIENCE 2 . 58 DISCUSSION DES RÉSULTATS DE L’EXPÉRIENCE 2 . 65 CHAPITRE 4 . 71 DISCUSSION GÉNÉRALE . 71 UN PREMIER EFFET : L'EFFET DIRECT DE LA CONTIGUÏTÉ TEMPORELLE . 74 UN DEUXIÈME EFFET : INTERACTION DE LA CONTIGUÏTÉ TEMPORELLE ET DES CROYANCES A PRIORI . 79 UN TROISIÈME EFFET : EFFET DES CROYANCES A PRIORI SUR LA SÉLECTION ET LA REPRÉSENTATION DE L'INFORMATION ÉVALUÉE . 84 AU-DELÀ DE L'EFFET DE LA CONTIGUÏTÉ TEMPORELLE : LE RÔLE DU TYPE D'INFORMATION ET LA MANIPULATION DES CROYANCES A PRIORI . 86 LE RÔLE DU DEGRÉ D'ASSOCIATION . 93 CONTRIBUTIONS THÉORIQUES . 93 CONTRIBUTIONS PRATIQUES . 106 LIMITES ET ÉTUDES FUTURES . 114 CONCLUSION . 124 RÉFÉRENCES . 127
A multilevel gamut extension method for Wide Gamut Displays

For ideal color reproduction on Wide Gamut Displays, a multi-level gamut extension method is introduced. The proposed method includes varying nonlinear extension based on hue and image-dependent chrominance smoothing. The first step is global gamut mapping and solves heavily painted problem with hue-varying extension function. The second step is local gamut mapping and avoids over-contrast problem by retaining local contrast information. The proposed gamut extension algorithm can be applied in any device-independent color space, such as CIE-Lab, CIE-LUV space.
Noisemes: Manual Annotation of Environmental Noise in Audio Streams

Audio information retrieval is a difficult problem due to the highly unstructured nature of the data. A general labeling system for identifying audio patterns could unite research efforts in the field. This paper introduces 42 distinct labels, the “noisemes”, developed for the manual annotation of noise segments as they occur in audio streams of consumer captured and semiprofessionally produced videos. The labels describe distinct noise units based on audio concepts, independent of visual concepts as much as possible. We trained a recognition system using 5.6 hours of manually labeled data, and present recognition results.
Balance Between Investment Protection and Sustainable Development in BITs: The Example of Switzerland

The objective of this article is to examine how substantive and procedural rights granted to foreign investors by Swiss bits are gradually being balanced with social and environmental provisions. Switzerland has enjoyed a long bit practice, as it signed its first treaty with Tunisia fifty years ago. Swiss bits rely on the post-establishment model and include usual standards of treatment. From 1981, they also systematically provide for a dispute settlement mechanism for disputes arising between an investor and a host State. Since the Switzerland – El Salvador bit in 1994, sustainable development concerns have been expressly inserted in some Swiss bits, as well as in several recent free trade agreements. Provisions on this theme are however far from being systematic in Switzerland’s bit practice and essentially remain declaratory in nature. The trend towards wider inclusion of sustainable development provisions in bits still faces several practical and political challenges.
An intelligent algorithm for automatic document summarization

Automatic document summarization is a highly interdisciplinary research area related with computer science as well as cognitive psychology. Here, we introduce an intelligent algorithm, the event indexing and summarization (EIS) algorithm, for automatic document summarization, which is based on taking into account a cognitive psychological model, the event-indexing model, and the roles and importance of sentences and their syntax in document understanding. The EIS algorithm involves syntactic analysis of sentences, clustering and indexing sentences with the five indices from the event-indexing model, and extracting the most prominent content by lexical analysis at phrase and clause levels. After thorough implementation and objective evaluations, the algorithm has now shown good performance in multidocument summarization.
Characterization of triple pass Erbium-doped Fiber Amplifiers

The main purpose of designing multi stage EDFAs is to achieve higher gain and lower Noise Figure. This paper represents all possible triple pass EDFA configurations. Performance of all the configurations has been analyzed with the pump power ratio, signal power. Optimum length and Optimum pump power ratio has also been determined for each and every configurations. From the performance analysis best triple pass EDFA has been recommended for practical design.
E-learning and SMEs: do demand and supply speak the same language?

This paper reports on research-in-progress designed to understand adoption and diffusion of e-learning (EL) among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in northern Italy. The research takes as its organizing framework the concept that diffusion of an innovation to a group of organizations reflects a match between demand and supply, and augments that framework by reference to Rogers’ (1995) model of the processes of adoption and diffusion of innovation in organizations and the IS literature on adoption by individuals. The first two, exploratory stages of the research are completed. They identified that EL is not widely diffused among the firms of interest. In part, this reflects relatively low participation in all forms of training, but it also reflects low awareness of EL, difficulty in identifying and evaluating products and services on the market, and a perception among non-adopters that EL is costly and they do not have adequate ICT infrastructure for it. In the final stage of the research, focus groups were conducted with both SMEs and EL suppliers to identify the extent to which these groups (demand and supply) have a shared understanding of the nature of EL and its potential.
Adjusting language barriers in secondary classrooms through professional collaboration based on student consultation

This thesis explores how reasonable adjustments, informed by student insights, can be developed through professional collaboration between teachers and speech pathologists. By addressing a gap in the literature, this study offers guidance for teachers about how to adjust pedagogical practices for students with language difficulties to address language-based barriers in inclusive secondary classrooms. A sequential-phase mixed-method design was used and repeat data collection with teachers (a comparison group and an intervention group) investigated the impact of a collaborative planning process. This research indicates that adjustments based on student insights have a positive impact on student learning and teacher practices.
Analysis of output capacitor voltage ripple of the three-phase transformer-linked boost converter

The techniques of interleaving phases and magnetic coupling in power converters are effective downsizing the capacitive components as well as the inductive components in certain configurations. These techniques help tackle the problem of large mass and volume in autonomous electric vehicles as the use of the transformer-linked method in interleaved converters facilitates the miniaturization of the inductor, the output capacitor and the cooling system. Consequently, the analysis of all the characteristics of each component in the converter should be taken into account. This study presents the analysis of the output capacitor voltage ripple in the three-phase interleaved boost converter with coupled inductor (Transformer-linked). In this paper, the operating principle of the three-phase interleaved boost converter with coupled inductor is presented, then the output voltage ripple analysis is conducted for each mode of the operating principle, and finally the voltage ripple analysis is validated by experimental tests of a 1kW prototype.
Title: Innexins Ogre and Inx2 Are Required in Glial Cells for Normal Postembryonic Development of the Drosophila Central Nervous System

1 2 Innexins are one of two gene families that have evolved to permit neighbouring cells in 3 multicellular systems to communicate directly. Innexins are found in prechordates and persist 4 in small numbers in chordates as divergent sequences termed pannexins. Connexins are 5 functionally analogous proteins exclusive to chordates. Members of these two families of 6 proteins may form intercellular channels, assemblies of which constitute gap junctions. Each 7 intercellular channel is a composite of two hemichannels, one from each of two apposed 8 cells. Hemichannels dock in the extracellular space to form a complete channel with a central 9 aqueous pore that regulates the cell-cell exchange of ions and small signalling molecules. 10 Hemichannels may also act independently by releasing paracrine signalling molecules. optic 11 ganglion reduced (ogre) is a member of the Drosophila innexin family, originally identified 12 as a gene essential for postembryonic neurogenesis. Here we demonstrate, by heterologous 13 expression in paired Xenopus oocytes, that Ogre alone does not form homotypic gap-junction 14 channels, however, co-expression of Ogre with Innexin2 (Inx2) induces formation of 15 functional channels, with properties distinct from Inx2 homotypic channels. In the 16 Drosophila larval CNS, we find that Inx2 partially co-localises with Ogre in proliferative 17 neuroepithelia and in glial cells. Downregulation of either ogre or inx2 selectively in glia, by 18 targeted expression of RNA interference transgenes, leads to a significant reduction in the 19 size of the larval CNS and behavioural defects in surviving adults. We conclude that these 20 innexins are critically required in glial cells for normal postembryonic development of the 21 CNS.