Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of polymerase chain reaction amplification of Mycobacterium leprae-specific repetitive sequence in biopsy specimens from leprosy patients

Biopsy specimens were obtained from 102 leprosy patients before chemotherapy and examined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using the primers amplifying the 372-bp DNA of a repetitive sequence of Mycobacterium leprae. The PCR results were then compared with bacterial indices (BI) of slit-skin smears and biopsy specimens. The intensities of DNA bands were in general correlated with the numbers of acid-fast bacilli, and even a sample with only one organism gave a PCR positive result. Ten 5-micron sections from each frozen tissue sample were pooled and processed for DNA preparation. PCR was positive for 11 (73.3%) of 15 biopsy specimens with BI of 0 determined for the paraffin sections from the same biopsy samples. PCR also gave positive results for 84 (96.6%) of 87 BI positive biopsy samples. Although the difference in overall results between the two methods was not statistically significant, PCR seemed to have an advantage over microscopic examination in detecting M. leprae in biopsy specimens negative for acid-fast bacilli. Further evaluation of PCR using more specimens from leprosy patients who are bacteriologically negative is warranted to ensure PCR's advantage over the conventional microscopic examination for the diagnosis of leprosy.
Postmaterialism in Unresponsive Political Systems: The Canadian Case*

Nous examinons la these de Ronald Inglehart selon laquelle le postmaterialisme est un phenomene politique universel qui concerne toute societe industrialisee avancee. Apres avoir introduit une distinction entre systemes politiques reactifs et non reactifs, nous proposons que, dans les systemes reactifs, le clivage materialiste s'est enracinea un tel point qu'il triomphait encore du postmaterialisme. Par contre, le postmaterialisme a reussi a se demarquer dans les systemes non reactifs, ceux ou le clivage materialiste avait toujours ete plus faible. Nous soutenons que les donnees tirees des sondages nationaux tenus lors des elections canadiennes de 1984 et 1997 confirment notre hypothese sur les effets des systemes non reactifs. Bien que le Canada soit l'objet principal de notre analyse, dans la conclusion nous nous penchons sur des facteurs qui pourraient expliquer les differences dans le postmaterialisme aux niveaux provincial et international. This article disputes Inglehart's claim that postmaterialism is a uniform political phenomenon that transcends differences between advanced industrial societies. We distinguish responsive from unresponsive political systems and argue that, in responsive systems, the materialist cleavage became so deeply entrenched that postmaterialism could not vie for dominance. In contrast, postmaterialism has become more salient than materialism in unresponsive systems, where the materialist cleavage was weaker to begin with. We argue that data from the Canadian National Election Surveys of 1984 and 1997 are consistent with our prediction about the effect of unresponsiveness. Differences within the Canadian electorate became weaker for materialist issues but more pronounced for postmate-rialist issues between 1984 and 1997. Although our empirical analysis focusses on Canada, we conclude by speculating about the causes of cross-provincial and cross-national variations in postmaterialism.
THE CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF ALLOSPECIFIC ANTIBODIES AGAINST ENDOTHELIAL CELLS DETECTED WITH AN ANTIBODY‐DEPENDENT CELLULAR CYTOTOXICITY ASSAY FOR VASCULAR REJECTION AND GRAFT LOSS AFTER RENAL TRANSPLANTATION

Serum samples of 64 consecutive patients who underwent renal transplantation in our institution were examined for the presence of antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) activity against endothelial cells (EC). From each patient serum samples were obtained immediately before transplantation and 1 week, 1 month and 1 year thereafter. The results were evaluated in the context of tests to measure donor-specific humoral immunity against lymphocytes and monocytes, and related to parameters of presensitization, graft survival, and histology. Sera from 10 patients were positive for ADCC on a panel of HLA-typed endothelial cells. In 8 patients sera were already positive before transplantation and remained positive thereafter. In 4 patients a positive crossmatch with donor T and B cells and monocytes could be observed after transplantation. In only one patient were these crossmatches positive before transplantation. A significant correlation was found between ADCC positivity and vascular rejection (P=0.015); in addition graft survival was significantly better in the ADCC negative group vs. the positive group (P=0.0004). These data demonstrate the significance of allospecific anti EC antibodies for the occurrence of vascular rejection and graft loss after renal transplantation.
Multithreading AdaBoost framework for object recognition

Our research focuses on the study of effective feature description and robust classifier technique, proposing a novel learning framework, which is capable of processing multiclass objects recognition simultaneously and accurately. The framework adopts rotation-invariant histograms of oriented gradients (Ri-HOG) as feature descriptors. Most of the existing HOG techniques are computed on a dense grid of uniformly-spaced cells and use overlapping local contrast of rectangular blocks for normalization. However, we adopt annular spatial bins type cells and apply the radial gradient to attain gradient binning invariance for feature extraction. In this way, it significantly enhances HOG in regard to rotation-invariant ability and feature description accuracy; The classifier is derived from AdaBoost algorithm, but it is ameliorated and implemented through non-interfering boosting channels, which are respectively built to train weak classifiers for each object category. In this way, the boosting cascade can allow the weak classifier to be trained to fit complex distributions. The proposed method is valid on PASCAL VOC 2007 database and it achieves the state-of-the-arts performance.
Experimental multiple-path routing algorithm

This document introduces wiretap algorithms, which are a class of routing algorithms that compute quasi-optimum routes for stations sharing a broadcast channel, but with some stations hidden from others. The wiretapper observes the paths (source routes) used by other stations sending traffic on the channel and, using a heuristic set of factors and weights, constructs speculative paths for its own traffic. A prototype algorithm, called here the Wiretap Algorithm, has been designed for the AX.25 packet-radio channel. Its design is similar in many respects to the shortest-path-first (spf) algorithm used in the ARPANET and elsewhere, and is in fact a variation in the class of algorithms, including the Viterbi Algorithm, that construct optimum paths on a graph according to a distance computed as a weighted sum of factors assigned to the nodes and edges.
reconsidered What is journalism? : Professional identity and ideology of journalists

The history of journalism in elective democracies around the world has been described as the emergence of a professional identity of journalists with claims to an exclusive role and status in society, based on and at times fiercely defended by their occupational ideology. Although the conceptualization of journalism as a professional ideology can be traced throughout the literature on journalism studies, scholars tend to take the building blocks of such an ideology more or less for granted. In this article the ideal-typical values of journalism’s ideology are operationalized and investigated in terms of how these values are challenged or changed in the context of current cultural and technological developments. It is argued that multiculturalism and multimedia are similar and poignant examples of such developments. If the professional identity of journalists can be seen as kept together by the social cement of an occupational ideology of journalism, the analysis in this article shows how journalism in the selfperceptions of journalists has come to mean much more than its modernist bias of telling people what they need to know. K E Y W O R D S j journalism education j journalism studies j journalism theory j multiculturalism j multimedia Journalism is and has been theorized, researched, studied and criticized worldwide by people coming from a wide variety of disciplines. Indeed, research about journalism and among journalists has been established as a widely acknowledged field, particularly in the second half of the 20th century. Worldwide one can find universities, schools and colleges with dedicated departments, research and teaching programs in journalism. The field even has its own international and national journals.1 This suggests journalism as a discipline and an object of study is based on a consensual body of knowledge, a widely shared understanding of key theories and methods, and an international practice of teaching, learning and researching journalism. Alas, this is Journalism Copyright © 2005 SAGE Publications (London, Thousand Oaks, CA and New Delhi) Vol. 6(4): 442–464 DOI: 10.1177/1464884905056815
Deposition of Carbon Thin Film by Means of a Low-Frequency Plasma Sputtering Using Battery Carbon Rods as a Target

Carbon rods of battery were utilized as a target in a plasma sputtering deposition of a carbon thin film. The rods were taken from unused battery waste containing some impurities. This study was intended to investigate the effect of the impurities on the resulted thin film. Furthermore, this work aimed to study the utilization of an unconventional sputtering technique to deposit the carbon film on glass substrates. A low-frequency plasma generator of 40 kHz was used to power the sputtering reactor. The plasma was generated from an Argon gas in a medium vacuum pressure. Two deposition parameters studied in this work were plasma power varied from 220 watts to 360 watts and substrate temperature varied from 25 °C to 202 °C. The carbon target in this research was also functioned as an electrode in the sputtering system. The deposition process was carried out for 1 hour to produce a reasonably thick carbon thin film. The resulted films were characterized using a Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The FTIR spectra showed a distinct peak around 1200 cm-1 and 1600-1700cm-1 related to the C-C and C = C vibration respectively. The relatively broad peak consisted of a doublet indicating a complex structure of the carbon film, presumably an amorphous carbon film. It was proven that impure carbon could be used as the target and successfully deposited on the glass substrate.
Comparison between Na-Ion and Li-Ion Cells: Understanding the Critical Role of the Cathodes Stability and the Anodes Pretreatment on the Cells Behavior.

The electrochemical behavior of Na-ion and Li-ion full cells was investigated, using hard carbon as the anode material, and NaNi0.5Mn0. 5O2 and LiNi0.5Mn0. 5O2 as the cathodes. A detailed description of the structure, phase transition, electrochemical behavior and kinetics of the NaNi0.5Mn0. 5O2 cathodes is presented, including interesting comparison with their lithium analogue. The critical effect of the hard carbon anodes pretreatment in the total capacity and stability of full cells is clearly demonstrated. Using impedance spectroscopy in three electrodes cells, we show that the full cell impedance is dominated by the contribution of the cathode side. We discuss possible reasons for capacity fading of these systems, its connection to the cathode structure and relevant surface phenomena.
Publish or perish: a systematic review of interventions to increase academic publication rates

Academics are expected to publish. In Australia universities receive extra funding based on their academic publication rates and academic promotion is difficult without a good publication record. However, the reality is that only a small percentage of academics are actively publishing. To fix this problem, a number of international universities and other higher education institutions have implemented interventions with the main aim being to increase the number of publications. A comprehensive literature search identified 17 studies published between 1984 and 2004, which examined the effects of these interventions. Three key types of interventions were identified: writing courses, writing support groups and writing coaches. The resulting publication output varied, but all interventions led to an increase in average publication rates for the participants.
Perioperative Management for Chronic Schizophrenic Patients

Schizophrenic patients are at increased risk for perioperative complications, as their biological response to stress is impaired. The increased complications are associated with physical disorders, antipsychotic or hazardous health behaviors, and interactions between antipsychotics and anesthetic drugs. Thus, anesthesiologists must not only be aware of the perioperative problems of these patients but must also learn how to manage their perioperative course.
Nuclear magnetic resonance of laser-polarized noble gases in molecules, materials, and organisms.

The sensitivity of conventional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques is fundamentally limited by the ordinarily low spin polarization achievable in even the strongest NMR magnets. However, by transferring angular momentum from laser light to electronic and nuclear spins, optical pumping methods can increase the nuclear spin polarization of noble gases by several orders of magnitude, thereby greatly enhancing their NMR sensitivity. This review describes the principles and magnetic resonance applications of laser-polarized noble gases. The enormous sensitivity enhancement afforded by optical pumping can be exploited to permit a variety of novel NMR experiments across numerous disciplines. Many such experiments are reviewed, including the void-space imaging of organisms and materials, NMR and MRI of living tissues, probing structure and dynamics of molecules in solution and on surfaces, NMR sensitivity enhancement via polarization transfer, and low-field NMR and MRI.
Real-Time Object Detection and Tracking for Industrial Applications

Real-time tracking of complex 3D objects has been shown to be a challenging task for industrial applications where robustness, accuracy and run-time performance are of critical importance. This paper presents a fully automated object tracking system which is capable of overcoming some of the problems faced in industrial environments. This is achieved by combining a real-time tracking system with a fast object detection system for automatic initialization and re-initialization at run-time. This ensures robustness of object detection, and at the same time accuracy and speed of recursive tracking. For the initialization we build a compact representation of the object of interest using statistical learning techniques during an off-line learning phase, in order to achieve speed and reliability at run-time by imposing geometric and photometric consistency constraints. The proposed tracking system is based on a novel template management algorithm which is incorporated into the ESM algorithm. Experimental results demonstrate the robustness and high precision of tracking of complex industrial machines with poor textures under severe illumination conditions.
Room-temperature laser emission of GaInNAs-GaAs quantum wells grown on GaAs (111)B

In this work, we present room-temperature laser emission at 1.206 /spl mu/m from GaInNAs-GaAs quantum-well (QW) laser diodes (LDs) grown on misoriented GaAs (111)B substrates for the first time. Details of the structure and the molecular beam epitaxial growth of the lasers are discussed. We found that the postgrowth rapid thermal annealing increased the optimum emission, while the in situ self annealing effect in these QWs is almost negligible. The optimum annealing cycle (30 s at 850/spl deg/C) is comparable to that found for the cladding-free GaInNAs single QW samples grown on GaAs (111)B. Finally, the optical and electrical characterization of these LD devices is presented. The LDs show a room-temperature threshold current density of 2.15 kA/cm/sup 2/, with a differential quantum efficiency of 37%, under pulsed conditions.
Influence of gender, parental health, and perceived expertise of assistance upon stress, anxiety, and depression among parents of children with autism

A survey of 219 parents of children with autism was administered on a confidential and anonymous basis. As well as tapping information about the nature of the child's disorder, parental well-being (anxiety, depression), parents' daily level of stress arising from parenting, their confidence in handling their child's major difficulty, and the frequency of being stretched beyond their limits were included as dependent variables. Independent variables were: gender of parents, age of child and age of onset, parental health, access to other family members, and level of understanding of those family members of the child's problems. Data indicated that, although social support has previously been posited as an alleviating factor for parental stress, this may be a result of the perceived expertise of the family member who provides respite care for the parents. Issues of self-efficacy, training in behaviour management, and provision of home-based care for parents are discussed.
Predictors of Dating Violence Among High School Students

This study examined dating violence in a racially/ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of high school students to determine what factors or group of factors best predicted inflicting dating violence using a social-learning-theory-based model. Numerous variables belonging to one of three domains were entered into hierarchical multiple regression analyses. Findings revealed that males were more likely to inflict violence against a dating partner when they had witnessed more interparental violence; believed that male-female dating violence was justifiable; used alcohol/drugs; were the recipients of dating violence; and experienced more conflict in their dating relationships. Females were more likely to be violent toward a dating partner when they believed that female-to-male dating violence was justifiable and that male-to-female violence was not justifiable; experienced more conflict in the dating relationship; were the recipients of dating violence; used alcohol or drugs; and felt the relationship was more serious. The context of the violence was also examined and the implications of the study were addressed.
Time spent in outdoor activities in relation to myopia prevention and control: a meta‐analysis and systematic review

Outdoor time is considered to reduce the risk of developing myopia. The purpose is to evaluate the evidence for association between time outdoors and (1) risk of onset of myopia (incident/prevalent myopia); (2) risk of a myopic shift in refractive error and c) risk of progression in myopes only. A systematic review followed by a meta‐analysis and a dose–response analysis of relevant evidence from literature was conducted. PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library were searched for relevant papers. Of the 51 articles with relevant data, 25 were included in the meta‐analysis and dose–response analysis. Twenty‐three of the 25 articles involved children. Risk ratio (RR) for binary variables and weighted mean difference (WMD) for continuous variables were conducted. Mantel–Haenszel random‐effects model was used to pool the data for meta‐analysis. Statistical heterogeneity was assessed using the I2 test with I2 ≥ 50% considered to indicate high heterogeneity. Additionally, subgroup analyses (based on participant's age, prevalence of myopia and study type) and sensitivity analyses were conducted. A significant protective effect of outdoor time was found for incident myopia (clinical trials: risk ratio (RR) = 0.536, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.338 to 0.850; longitudinal cohort studies: RR = 0.574, 95% CI = 0.395 to 0.834) and prevalent myopia (cross‐sectional studies: OR = 0.964, 95% CI = 0.945 to 0.982). With dose–response analysis, an inverse nonlinear relationship was found with increased time outdoors reducing the risk of incident myopia. Also, pooled results from clinical trials indicated that when outdoor time was used as an intervention, there was a reduced myopic shift of −0.30 D (in both myopes and nonmyopes) compared with the control group (WMD = −0.30, 95% CI = −0.18 to −0.41) after 3 years of follow‐up. However, when only myopes were considered, dose–response analysis did not find a relationship between time outdoors and myopic progression (R2 = 0.00064). Increased time outdoors is effective in preventing the onset of myopia as well as in slowing the myopic shift in refractive error. But paradoxically, outdoor time was not effective in slowing progression in eyes that were already myopic. Further studies evaluating effect of outdoor in various doses and objective measurements of time outdoors may help improve our understanding of the role played by outdoors in onset and management of myopia.
Room-temperature operation of an exclusive-OR circuit using a highly doped Si single-electron transistor

We fabricated highly doped Si single-electron transistors (SETs) with a series of geometrically defined multiple islands. Highly doped SETs have the advantage of being easy to fabricate. Moreover, SETs with multiple islands provide a larger peak-to-valley current ratio (PVCR) than SETs with a single island. A PVCR for the Coulomb oscillation of up to 77 was observed at room temperature. This large PVCR is advantageous for circuit operations. We applied the Coulomb oscillation and multiple-gate input characteristics of only one SET to obtain an exclusive-OR operation at room temperature.
Parameterisation of Speech Lip Movements

In this paper we describe a parameterisation of lip movements which maintains the dynamic structure inherent in the task of producing speech sounds. A stereo capture system is used to reconstruct 3D models of a speaker producing sentences from the TIMIT corpus. This data is mapped into a space which maintains the relationships between samples and their temporal derivatives. By incorporating dynamic information within the parameterisation of lip movements we can model the cyclical structure, as well as the causal nature of speech movements as described by an underlying visual speech manifold. It is believed that such a structure will be appropriate to various areas of speech modeling, in particular the synthesis of speech lip movements.
Effect of File Mobility Pattern on AODV, DSDV and ZRP Routing Protocols in MANET

Ad-Hoc network is an infrastructure – less network which is created by deploying the mobile nodes carrying wireless devices, capable of transferring data between each other and network topology is dynamic and random in such a type of networks. As we know that routing protocols basically defines the set of rules to be adopted in finding the path between the nodes in the network to communicate with each other. This paper focuses on three routing protocols – AODV, ZRP, and DSDV of ad-hoc network. The main aim is to find the routing protocol giving best result at different source nodes having the file mobility pattern. The routing protocols under realistic mobility model provide higher Throughput, Packet Delivery Ratio and lower Normalized Routing Overhead & Average Delay. The simulation platform used for evaluating the proposed approach is GloMoSim /Qual Net.