Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spore populations among bulk tank raw milk and dairy powders are significantly different.

To accommodate stringent spore limits mandated for the export of dairy powders, a more thorough understanding of the spore species present will be necessary to develop prospective strategies to identify and reduce sources (i.e., raw materials or in-plant) of contamination. We characterized 1,523 spore isolates obtained from bulk tank raw milk (n=33 farms) and samples collected from 4 different dairy powder-processing plants producing acid whey, nonfat dry milk, sweet whey, or whey protein concentrate 80. The spores isolated comprised 12 genera, at least 44 species, and 216 rpoB allelic types. Bacillus and Geobacillus represented the most commonly isolated spore genera (approximately 68.9 and 12.1%, respectively, of all spore isolates). Whereas Bacillus licheniformis was isolated from samples collected from all plants and farms, Geobacillus spp. were isolated from samples from 3 out of 4 plants and just 1 out of 33 farms. We found significant differences between the spore population isolated from bulk tank raw milk and those isolated from dairy powder plant samples, except samples from the plant producing acid whey. A comparison of spore species isolated from raw materials and finished powders showed that although certain species, such as B. licheniformis, were found in both raw and finished product samples, other species, such as Geobacillus spp. and Anoxybacillus spp. , were more frequently isolated from finished powders. Importantly, we found that 8 out of 12 genera were isolated from at least 2 different spore count methods, suggesting that some spore count methods may provide redundant information if used in parallel. Together, our results suggest that (1) Bacillus and Geobacillus are the predominant spore contaminants in a variety of dairy powders, implying that future research efforts targeted at elucidating approaches to reduce levels of spores in dairy powders should focus on controlling levels of spore isolates from these genera; and (2) the spore populations isolated from bulk tank raw milk and some dairy powder products are significantly different, suggesting that targeting in-plant sources of contamination may be important for achieving low spore counts in the finished product. These data provide important insight regarding the diversity of spore populations isolated from dairy powders and bulk tank raw milk, and demonstrate that several spore genera are detected by multiple spore count methods.
Study of recognizing multiple persons' complicated hand gestures from the video sequence acquired by a moving camera

Recognizing hand gestures from the video sequence acquired by a dynamic camera could be a useful interface between humans and mobile robots. We develop a state based approach to extract and recognize hand gestures from moving camera images. We improved Human-Following Local Coordinate (HFLC) System, a very simple and stable method for extracting hand motion trajectories, which is obtained from the located human face, body part and hand blob changing factor. Condensation algorithm and PCA-based algorithm was performed to recognize extracted hand trajectories. In last research, this Condensation Algorithm based method only applied for one person's hand gestures. In this paper, we propose a principal component analysis (PCA) based approach to improve the recognition accuracy. For further improvement, temporal changes in the observed hand area changing factor are utilized as new image features to be stored in the database after being analyzed by PCA. Every hand gesture trajectory in the database is classified into either one hand gesture categories, two hand gesture categories, or temporal changes in hand blob changes. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method by conducting experiments on 45 kinds of sign language based Japanese and American Sign Language gestures obtained from 5 people. Our experimental recognition results show better performance is obtained by PCA based approach than the Condensation algorithm based method.
Hydration status of Arabic adolescents and young men: measurement, evaluation, and a school-based initiative to improve drinking behavior.

BACKGROUND Despite the importance of hydration, limited research on the topic has been undertaken in Arabic populations. METHODS Study 1. Five sequential daily midmorning urine samples were provided by 88 adult military cadets and 32 school-based adolescents. Hydration thresholds were produced using percentiles of estimated urine osmolality (Uosm) and urine color (Ucol). Study 2. The authors assessed 1,077 midmorning urine samples from 120 military cadets and 52 adolescents for the Uosm:Ucol relationship using regression. Study 3. The authors conducted a 4-wk hydration campaign in which 21 adolescents participated, providing urine samples before (PreC), at the end of (EndC), and 2 wk after the campaign (PostC). RESULTS Study 1. Euhydration (41-60th percentile) was 881-970 mOsmol/kg in adults and 821-900 mOsmol/kg in adolescents. Study 2. In both cohorts, Uosm and Ucol were associated (p < .01): adults R² = . 33, adolescents R² = . 59. Study 3. Urine osmolality was significantly higher PreC than at EndC and PostC. CONCLUSIONS Urinary output of Arabic adolescents and military cadets was more concentrated than frequently recommended for euhydration. Further work in similar populations is required to determine if these values represent hypohydration or merely reflect dietary and cultural differences. In male Arabic adolescents and adults, Ucol was an adequate indicator of hydration status. Favorable hydration changes were made after a school-based health campaign.
Conditioned Flavor Preferences: Evaluating Postingestive Reinforcement by Nutrients

The acceptance of food and the expression of preferences for particular foods have both innate and learned components. To determine the mechanism(s) responsible for the acquisition of learned preferences and the enhancement of inborn taste preferences, it is important to separate the component stimuli: the oral flavor cues and the postingestive nutrient cues that are associated with the flavors. Unambiguous analysis of postingestive reinforcement of a nutrient requires post‐oral presentation of the nutrient during or after oral intake of the flavor stimulus. This protocol concentrates on controlling stimulus presentation in associative conditioning, pairing a flavor with positive postingestive effects.
Safeguarding the Safety of Stroke Patients: Credentialing of Neurointerventionists for Mechanical Thrombectomy

Emergent mechanical thrombectomy for acute ischemic stroke with large artery occlusion significantly improves clinical outcomes, as proven in the five recently published randomized controlled clinical trials, A Randomized Trial of Intraarterial Treatment for Acute Ischemic Stroke (MR CLEAN) (1), Randomized Assessment of Rapid Endovascular Treatment of Ischemic Stroke (ESCAPE) (2), Endovascular Therapy for Ischemic Stroke with Perfusion-Imaging Selection (EXTEND-IA) (3), StentRetriever Thrombectomy after Intravenous t-PA vs. t-PA Alone in Stroke (SWIFT-PRIME) (4), and Thrombectomy within 8 Hours after Symptom Onset in Ischemic Stroke (REVASCAT) (5). It is anticipated that referrals for mechanical thrombectomy will increase, obliging health systems to allocate resources to meet the rising demand. A potential decisive factor in the allocation of resources is the limited number of neurointerventionists. A kneejerk reflex for health system planners is to relax the training requirements of neurointerventionists in order to increase the available numbers. However, it must be recognized that intracranial endovascular therapy is a highly specialized field and mechanical thrombectomy is a procedure with infrequent, albeit potential, lethal harm to the patient. In MR CLEAN, proceduralrelated complications include 5·6% risk of distal arterial embolization leading to new ischemic infarcts (1). Furthermore, REVASCAT reported 4·9% risk of intracranial arterial perforation by endovascular devices (5), leading to fatality. It is the aim of this article to outline the specific hazardous scenarios during mechanical thrombectomy and the requisite training of a neurointerventionist as a safeguard for the stroke patient.
THE RÔLE OF OXYGEN IN THE METABOLISM AND MOTILITY OF HUMAN SPERMATOZOA

The experiments reported here are a continuation of the work on human spermatozoa which was begun with the object of studying the metabolic behavior of these cells. In previous papers (7, S), the metabolism was shown to be almost exclusively glycolytic, the oxygen consumption being of such small magnitude that it could not properly be interpreted as a true respiration. Furthermore, no spectroscopic evidence of cytochrome could be found and it was observed that, in certain cases, motility was profoundly depressed in the presence of pure oxygen. These observations have been confirmed in every essential respect by Ross et al. (12) except that their mean figures for glycolysis are higher than those given by this author (7). Since the latter results were published, higher and more consistent figures2 have been obtained from the combined spermatozoa of a small new group of donors. These figures are in closer agreement with those of Ross et al. and show, furthermore, that the level of aerobic glycolysis is virtually the same as that of the anaerobic. The present extension of these studies was undertaken to determine more precisely the behavior of the spermatozoa under aerobic conditions and particularly to examine the link between glycolysis and respiration in these cells. The experiments entailed 1, determination of the activity of certain dehydrogenase systems; 2, the measurement of oxygen consumption in the presence of different substrates, and 3, testing for the presence of the cytochrome complex by indirect methods. Lastly, the toxic effect of high oxygen tensions was investigated from the point of view of a possible formation of hydrogen peroxide by the spermatozoa. METHODS. The spermatozoa suspensions were prepared by methods described previously (7, 8). For the measurement of oxygen consumption, the cells were suspended in glucose-free Ringer-phosphate solution (pH 7.35) and shaken in Warburg manometers at 38OC. Various substrates were added directly to the cell suspensions in the Warburg vessels prior to temperature equilibration. The final concentration of each substrate was M/100. Cell motility was determined before and after every experiment by methods already
Design of High Performance Split Path Data Driven Dynamic Full

Addition is a fundamental arithmetic operation which is used in different applications such as digital signal processing (DSP) and microprocessors. Single bit adder is the main component of any arithmetic circuit. This paper presents the design of new split-path Data Driven Dynamic (sp-D3L) full adder circuit. Power consumption of proposed adder varies from 0.584 nW to 2.914 nW with variation in supply voltage from 1.8V to 3.3V. Maximum output delay shows variation from 57.18 ps to 423.15 ps with variation of supply voltage from 1.8V to 3.3V. Simulations have been performed using SPICE based on TSMC 0. 18μm CMOS technology. Power consumption and delay of proposed adder circuit have been compared with earlier reported circuits and proposed circuit shows significant improvement. Keywords— Arithmetic circuits, CMOS, full adder, PDP, splitpath D3L.
The extraction of customer's behavioral association rules under the variable granularity based on granular computing

This paper tries to explore the information needs at different management levels from the perspective of granular computing. Firstly, it introduces the concept of information granularity, granularity measurement, granularity structure, conversion method between different granularity levels, and the extraction of association rules under the variable granularity. And then it improves the existing single attribute granularity definition, and puts forward a new measurement method of information granularities with multiple attributes. Based on the conversion method between different granularity levels, this paper lists some proposals for the extraction of association rules on customer behavior under variable granularity. Finally, through empirical analysis, this paper has discussed how to simulate the conversion process between different granularity levels, and get the information granule as well as regular features.
Perspectives Anecdotal, Historical and Critical Commentaries on Genetics the Transformation of Genetics by Dna: an Anniversary Celebration of Avery, Macleod and Mccarty (1944)

T HE publication of AVERY, MACLEOD and Mc-CARTY (1944) just 50 years ago marked the opening of the contemporary era of genetics, its molecular phase. The reverberations continue, now dominating large sectors of biomedical science and biotechnology , and have established the centrality of genetics in biological thought (LEDERBERG 1959, 1993a). AVERY et al. (1 944) can be dissected into the following observations, claims and tacit extrapolations, which may be paraphrased as: a) Certain bacteria (pneumococci) have clonally inherited attributes, notably serospecific polysaccharide capsules. These are associated with virulence and can be selected accordingly, by inoculation into mice or by serological reagents. b) The genetic Anlage of these attributes can be transferred from clone to clone by cell-free extracts: the phenomenon of transformation. The transformed cells faithfully transmit their new phenotype to succeeding clonal generations, as had been established by GRIFFITH (1928) with crude, heat-killed cell suspen-sions. c) The chemical structure of that transforming principle is DNA, to the exclusion of protein or other macromolecules. Founded on these claims, the following radical ideas emerged: d) Bacteria have discrete, autonomous genes analogous to those of higher life forms (viz. Drosophila). e) The gene is DNA, and the transformation phenomenon affords the first bioassay for genes extract-able in vitro. f) Accordingly, bacteria might be favored subjects for genetic investigation and eventually for technological application of molecular genetic science. I recite these principles with some nostalgia: they are precisely how they came across to me as an undergraduate already working on Neurospora in FRANCIS RYAN'S laboratory at the Columbia University Zoology Department in Morningside Heights, New York's upper West Side. Elsewhere, I have noted how they vectored my own career aspirations into the pioneering of bacterial genetics (LEDERBERG 1987). Studying in the academic archipelago called New York, I was uniquely well situated to observe and sometimes participate in the debate. The Rockefeller Institute was across town, overlooking the East River near the 59th Street bridge. ALFRED MIRSKY, likewise a senior member there, was a frequent visitor to Columbia to collaborate with ARTHUR POLLISTER. From 1942 on I heard a good deal of the progress in AVERY'S laboratory. Reprints of the AVERY et al. (1944) article were circulated in the department. I borrowed one from HARRIETT TAYLOR (later EPHRUSSI), a graduate student working on yeast budding kinetics, who would shortly join AVERY'S laboratory for her postdoctoral research. My personal exclamatory notes were ". …
egulation of neuropathic pain behavior by amygdaloid TRPC 4 / C 5 hannels

Pain per se may increase anxiety and conversely, anxiety may increase pain. Therefore, a positive feedback loop between anxiety and pain possibly contributes to pain and suffering in some pathophysiological pain conditions, such as that induced by peripheral nerve injury. Recent results indicate that transient receptor channels 4 and 5 (TRPC4/C5) in the amygdala have anxiogenic effects in rodents, while their role in chronic pain conditions is not known. Here, we studied whether the amygdaloid TRPC4/C5 that are known to have anxiogenic properties contribute to the maintenance of sensory or affective aspects of pain in an experimental model of peripheral neuropathy. Rats with a spared nerve injury (SNI) model of neuropathy in the left hind limb had a chronic cannula for microinjections of drugs into the right amygdala or the internal capsule (a control site). Sensory pain was assessed by determining mechanical hypersensitivity with calibrated monofilaments and affective pain by determining aversive place-conditioning. Amygdaloid treatment with ML-204, a TRPC4/C5 antagonist, produced a dose-related (5–10 g) antihyransient receptor potential channels 4 and persensitivity effect, without obvious side-effects. Additionally, amygdaloid administration of ML-204 reduced affective-like pain behavior. In the internal capsule, ML-204 had no effect on hypersensitivity or affective-like pain in SNI animals. In healthy controls, amygdaloid administration of ML-204 failed to influence pain behavior induced by mechanical stimulation or noxious heat. The results indicate that the amygdaloid TRPC4/C5 contribute to maintenance of pain hypersensitivity and pain affect in neuropathy. © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Power-Law Distributions in Some Random Boolean Networks.

The Kauffman net is a dynamical system of logical variables receiving two random inputs and each randomly assigned a Boolean function. We show that the attractor and transient lengths exhibit scaleless behavior with power-law distributions over up to 10 orders of magnitude in probability. Our results provide evidence for the existence of the ``edge of chaos'' as a distinct regime between the ordered and chaotic phases analogous to a critical point in statistical mechanics. The power-law distributions are robust to the changes in the composition of the transition rules and network dynamics.
Livestock-Associated MRSA: The Impact on Humans

During the past 25 years an increase in the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (HA-MRSA) was recorded worldwide. Additionally, MRSA infections may occur outside and independent of hospitals, caused by community associated MRSA (CA-MRSA). In Germany, we found that at least 10% of these sporadic infections are due to livestock-associated MRSA (LA-MRSA), which is initially associated with livestock. The majority of these MRSA cases are attributed to clonal complex CC398. LA-MRSA CC398 colonizes the animals asymptomatically in about half of conventional pig farms. For about 77%–86% of humans with occupational exposure to pigs, nasal carriage has been reported; it can be lost when exposure is interrupted. Among family members living at the same farms, only 4%–5% are colonized. Spread beyond this group of people is less frequent. The prevalence of LA-MRSA in livestock seems to be influenced by farm size, farming systems, usage of disinfectants, and in-feed zinc. LA-MRSA CC398 is able to cause the same kind of infections in humans as S. aureus and MRSA in general. It can be introduced to hospitals and cause nosocomial infections such as postoperative surgical site infections, ventilator associated pneumonia, septicemia, and infections after joint replacement. For this reason, screening for MRSA colonization at hospital admittance is recommended for farmers and veterinarians with livestock contacts. Intrahospital dissemination, typical for HA-MRSA in the absence of sufficient hygiene, has only rarely been observed for LA-MRSA to date. The proportion of LA-MRSA among all MRSA from nosocomial infections is about 3% across Germany. In geographical areas with a comparatively high density of conventional farms, LA-MRSA accounts for up to 10% of MRSA from septicemia and 15% of MRSA from wound infections. As known from comparative genome analysis, LA-MRSA has evolved from human-adapted methicillin-susceptible S. aureus, and the jump to livestock was obviously associated with several genetic changes. Reversion of the genetic changes and readaptation to humans bears a potential health risk and requires tight surveillance. Although most LA-MRSA (>80%) is resistant to several antibiotics, there are still sufficient treatment options.
Recent advances in head and neck cancer.

There are more than half a million incident cases of squamous-cell carcinoma of the head and neck worldwide each year, primarily affecting the oropharynx, oral cavity, hypopharynx, and larynx. This review considers the biologic features of these tumors, including the role of human papillomavirus as a risk factor for cancer of the oropharynx. New therapies are considered, along with management approaches.
RN / 16 / 06 PREM : Prestige Network Enhanced Developer-Task Matching for Crowdsourced Software Development August 9 , 2016

Many software organizations are turning to employ crowdsourcing to augment their software production. For current practice of crowdsourcing, it is common to see a mass number of tasks posted on software crowdsourcing platforms, with little guidance for task selection. Considering that crowd developers may vary greatly in expertise, inappropriate developer-task matching will harm the quality of the deliverables. It is also not time-efficient for developers to discover their most appropriate tasks from vast open call requests. We propose an approach called PREM, aiming to appropriately match between developers and tasks. PREM automatically learns from the developers’ historical task data. In addition to task preference, PREM considers the competition nature of crowdsourcing by constructing developers’ prestige network. This differs our approach from previous developer recommendation methods that are based on task and/or individual features. Experiments are conducted on 3 TopCoder datasets with 9,191 tasks in total. Our experimental results show that reasonable accuracies are achievable (63%, 46%, 36% for the 3 datasets respectively, when matching 5 developers to each task) and the constructed prestige network can help improve the matching results.
Tracheobronchial aspiration of gastric contents in critically ill tube-fed patients: Frequency, outcomes, and risk factors

Objectives:To describe the frequency of pepsin-positive tracheal secretions (a proxy for the aspiration of gastric contents), outcomes associated with aspiration (including a positive Clinical Pulmonary Infection Score [a proxy for pneumonia] and use of hospital resources), and risk factors associated with aspiration and pneumonia in a population of critically ill tube-fed patients. Design:Prospective descriptive study conducted over a 2-yr period. Setting:Five intensive care units in a university-affiliated medical center with level I trauma status. Patients:Each of the 360 adult patients participated for 4 days. Among the inclusion criteria were mechanical ventilation and tube feedings. An exclusion criterion was physician-diagnosed pneumonia at the time of enrollment. Intervention:None. Measurements and Major Results:Almost 6,000 tracheal secretions collected during routine suctioning were assayed for pepsin; of these, 31.3% were positive. At least one aspiration event was identified in 88.9% (n = 320) of the participants. The incidence of pneumonia (as determined by the Clinical Pulmonary Infection Score) increased from 24% on day 1 to 48% on day 4. Patients with pneumonia on day 4 had a significantly higher percentage of pepsin-positive tracheal secretions than did those without pneumonia (42.2% vs. 21.1%, respectively; p < .001). Length of stay in the intensive care unit and need for ventilator support were significantly greater for patients with pneumonia (p < .01). A low backrest elevation was a risk factor for aspiration (p = .024) and pneumonia (p = .018). Other risk factors for aspiration included vomiting (p = .007), gastric feedings (p = .009), a Glasgow Coma Scale score <9 (p = .021), and gastroesophageal reflux disease (p = .033). The most significant independent risk factors for pneumonia were aspiration (p < .001), use of paralytic agents (p = .002), and a high sedation level (p = .039). Conclusions:Aspiration of gastric contents is common in critically ill tube-fed patients and is a major risk factor for pneumonia. Furthermore, it leads to greater use of hospital resources. Modifiable risk factors for aspiration need to be addressed.