Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Protective efficacy of commercial live vaccines against very virulent infectious Bursal disease virus (vvIBDV) in Ghana

In spite of the intensive and varied vaccination procedures to control Infectious Bursa Disease (IBD), the emergence of a very virulent (vv) IBD pathotype in Ghana has led to high economic losses in the poultry industry. The potencies of two live intermediate IBD vaccine strains (TAD and Nobilis D78) and an intermediate-plus (hot) vaccine strain (228E) used in Ghana were evaluated by challenging Specific Antibody Negative (SAN) chicks with a vvIBD virus (LV/G19) which was recently isolated in Ghana. Serum samples were obtained from all chicks before vaccination and virus challenge. Antibody titres were measured by Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Body weight, bursal weight and bursa to body weight measurements were also taken. All vaccinated chicks were fully protected from the vvIBD virus, as neither morbidity nor mortality was observed in the vaccinated chicks after challenge. The intermediate–plus (hot) IBD vaccine elicited the highest antibody titers but caused reduction in the size of the bursa of Fabricius. Taken together, the results of this study showed that vaccines currently in use in Ghana can protect chicken against the locally-isolated vvIBD virus. Key words: Infectious bursal disease, vaccine efficacy, intermediate, intermediate-plus (hot).
High level of AKT activity is associated with resistance to MEK inhibitor AZD6244 (ARRY-142886)

MEK/ERK activities are increased in many primary lung cancers, and MEK inhibitors have been tested clinically for treatment of non-small cell lung cancers. The molecular mechanisms of resistance to MEK inhibitors have not been clearly demonstrated, however, and no molecular biomarker that can predict lung cancer response to MEK inhibitors is available. By determining the dose-responses of 35 human lung cancer cell lines to MEK-specific inhibitor AZD6244, we identified subsets of lung cancer cell lines that are either sensitive or resistant to this agent. Subsequent molecular characterization showed that treatment with AZD6244 suppressed ERK phosphorylation in both sensitive and resistant cells, suggesting that resistance is not mediated by the activities of MEK/ERK themselves. Interestingly, we found that levels of phosphorylated AKT were dramatically higher in the resistant cancer cells than in the sensitive cells. Stable transfection of dominant-negative AKT into resistant cells by retroviral infection restored their susceptibility to AZD6244. These results indicate that phosphorylated AKT may be a biomarker of response to AZD6244 and that modulation of AKT activity may be a useful approach to overcome resistance to MEK inhibitors.
Non‐linear behaviour of respiratory movement in obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome

In this study we investigated the non‐linear properties of respiratory movement in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) during sleep without and with nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP). To calculate the correlation dimension (D2) in respiratory movement we applied an algorithm proposed by Grassberger and Procaccia. Non‐linearity in respiratory movement was tested by comparing D2 for the original data with that for surrogate data. Respiratory movement was recorded from 10 patients with OSAS. D2 during both wakefulness with eyes closed and during sleep with nCPAP at 8 cm H2O could be computed in all subjects (2·50 ± 0·69 and 1·68 ± 0·17, respectively). On the other hand, D2 during sleep with apnoea could not be computed in patients with severe OSAS. These results indicate the abnormal properties of respiratory movement during apnoeic sleep in severe OSAS. Moreover, respiratory movement with nCPAP was shown to be non‐linear deterministic behaviour in respiratory movement during sleep. Analysis of D2 for respiratory movement may be useful in adjusting (titrating) nCPAP and classifying severity in OSAS.
Measurement methods of complex permittivity and permeability of sheet samples in free space in microwave range

A set of measurement methods of complex permittivity and permeability of sheet samples in free space in microwave range is elaborated. The measurements are realized in wide frequency band for comparatively small samples (compared to several wavelengths) with high accuracy due to using of Time Domain and compensation procedure on diaphragmatic horn antennas.
Potato Dextrose Agar Antifungal Susceptibility Testing for Yeasts and Molds: Evaluation of Phosphate Effect on Antifungal Activity of CMT-3

ABSTRACT The broth macrodilution method (BMM) for antifungal susceptibility testing, approved by the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS), was found to have deficiencies in testing of the antifungal activity of a new type of antifungal agent, a nonantibacterial chemically modified tetracycline (CMT-3). The high content of phosphate in the medium was found to greatly increase the MICs of CMT-3. To avoid the interference of phosphate in the test, a new method using potato dextrose agar (PDA) as a culture medium was developed. Eight strains of fungi, including five American Type Culture Collection strains and three clinical isolates, were used to determine the MICs of amphotericin B and itraconazole with both the BMM and the PDA methods. The MICs of the two antifungal agents determined with the PDA method showed 99% agreement with those determined with the BMM method within 1 log2 dilution. Similarly, the overall reproducibility of the MICs with the PDA method was above 97%. Three other antifungal agents, fluconazole, ketoconazole, and CMT-3, were also tested in parallel against yeasts and molds with both the BMM and the PDA methods. The MICs of fluconazole and ketoconazole determined with the PDA method showed 100% agreement within 1 log2 dilution of those obtained with the BMM method. However, the MICs of CMT-3 determined with the BMM method were as high as 128 times those determined with the PDA method. The effect of phosphate on the antifungal activity of CMT-3 was evaluated by adding Na2HPO4 to PDA in the new method. It was found that the MIC of CMT-3 against a Penicillium sp. increased from 0.5 μg/ml (control) to 2.0 μg/ml when the added phosphate was used at a concentration of 0.8 mg/ml, indicating a strong interference of Na2HPO4 with the antifungal activity of CMT-3. Except for fluconazole, all the other antifungal agents demonstrated clear end points among the yeasts and molds tested. Nevertheless, with its high reproducibility, good agreement with NCCLS proposed MIC ranges, and lack of interference of phosphate, the PDA method shows promise as a useful assay for antifungal susceptibility testing and screening for new antifungal agents, especially for drugs that may be affected by high (supraphysiologic) phosphate concentrations.
Social and ecological resilience: are they related?

This article defines social resilience as the ability of groups or communities to cope with external stresses and disturbances as a result of social, political and environmental change. This definition highlights social resilience in relation to the concept of ecological resilience which is a characteristic of ecosystems to maintain themselves in the face of disturbance. There is a clear link between social and ecological resilience, particularly for social groups or communities that are dependent on ecological and environmental resources for their livelihoods. But it is not clear whether resilient ecosystems enable resilient communities in such situations. This article examines whether resilience is a useful characteristic for describing the social and economic situation of social groups and explores potential links between social resilience and ecological resilience. The origins of this interdisciplinary study in human ecology, ecological economics and rural sociology are reviewed, and a study of the impacts of ecological change on a resource-dependent community in contemporary coastal Vietnam in terms of the resilience of its institutions is outlined.
Counterparty Risk in Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs): Theory and Evidence

In this paper we address the issue of counterparty credit risk in Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs). An ETN is a tracking product which is designed as an unsecured debt security. As such, it is subject to the issuers default risk. We describe a standard reduced-form pricing framework to gauge the theoretical effect credit risk should have on ETNs. We then derive firm specific real market credit risk measures using CDS data to construct model implied risk-adjusted ETN prices. Our results indicate that a substantial credit risk discount ought to be priced into ETNs. In sharp contrast, however, we find no evidence for credit risk pricing by market players based on real market ETN quotes. We allude to several behavioral biases that are consistent with our results.
Methods of detecting of unknown signals in cognitive radio networks

This work considers methods to detect unknown signals in cognitive radio networks. These methods can be applied when taking decision about presence of a signal in the frequency channel when monitoring radio spectrum. The problem of uncertainty can appear when monitoring spectrum. A way of overcoming a priori uncertainty that arises when monitoring the radio spectrum is proposed.
A syntactically informed reordering model for statistical machine translation

Word reordering is one of the challengeable problems of machine translation. It is an important factor of quality and efficiency of machine translation systems. In this paper, we introduce a novel reordering model based on an innovative structure, named, phrasal dependency tree. The phrasal dependency tree is a modern syntactic structure which is based on dependency relationships between contiguous non-syntactic phrases. The proposed model integrates syntactical and statistical information in the context of log-linear model aimed at dealing with the reordering problems. It benefits from phrase dependencies, translation directions (orientations) and translation discontinuity between translated phrases. In comparison with well-known and popular reordering models such as distortion, lexicalised and hierarchical models, the experimental study demonstrates the superiority of our model in terms of translation quality. Performance is evaluated for Persian → English and English → German translation tasks using Tehran parallel corpus and WMT07 benchmarks, respectively. The results report 1.54/1.7 and 1.98/3.01 point improvements over the baseline in terms of BLEU/TER metrics on Persian → English and German → English translation tasks, respectively. On average our model retrieved a significant impact on precision with comparable recall value with respect to the lexicalised and distortion models.
Liver guide for monitoring of chronic hepatitis C

The severity of chronic hepatitis C infection in the individual patient is monitored using blood laboratory findings and liver biopsy. If blood test results could be shown to provide sufficient information concerning the disease, the invasive procedure of liver biopsy could perhaps be avoided in some instances. This study assessed the clinical relevance of blood laboratory tests for detecting disease-related changes in the liver. Histopathological classification was used to assign class membership of the patients and data mining operations were performed in an elaborate way on 19 different data sets. Disease activity could be detected by a small set of blood tests. Extended sets could identify more severe changes, but failed to distinguish them. The extracted rules are implemented as a part of the knowledge base of a corresponding decision support system aimed at specialists and general practitioners.
Evaluación neurológica en recién nacidos con asfixia al nacer

Introduccion: el dano asfictico del cerebro del feto y neonato resultan de fenomenos hipoxicos e isquemicos que afectan en forma selectiva areas vulnerables del encefalo segun el grado de madurez del cerebro en el momento de producirse la noxa. Objetivo: determinar la evaluacion neurologica de pacientes con antecedentes de asfixia al nacer. Metodo: se realizo un estudio longitudinal en 25 neonatos con antecedentes de asfixia al nacer nacidos entre enero 2011-diciembre 2012 y valorados al ano de edad. Resultados: las alteraciones neurologicas predominaron en los pacientes producto de parto por cesarea con el 44,5 %. El 62,5 % de los pacientes con cifras de pH menor de siete en la primera hora de vida fueron los que mas presentaron alteraciones en su desarrollo psicomotor. El 90 % de los pacientes con ventilacion prolongada fueron los mas afectados, asi como, la aparicion de las convulsiones en las primeras 12 h de vida. Conclusiones: a mayor tiempo de ventilacion y aparicion temprana de las convulsiones peor pronostico neurologico. Palabras clave: desarrollo psicomotor, asfixia al nacer, hipoxia.
Amerindian Amazons: women, exchange, and the origins of society

The Amerindian myths of Amazon-like women, widespread in lowland South America, refer to the primordial exchange of particular ritual objects between men and women: ciba, greenstones, flutes, axes. This primordial exchange represents the socially creative moment that led to the establishment of society and provides a general model for social relationships. The ritual exchange or circulation of these objects in other spheres involving male-male relationships turns ordinary exchanges into socially creative exchanges by ritually re-creating the exchange described in the myths. The myths shift the focus from male-male relationships to female-male relationships as the basis of society and provide a commentary on the significance of exchange and social relationships in lowland South America. Resume Largement repandus dans les plaines d'Amerique du Sud, les mythes amerindiens evoquant des femmes comparables aux Amazones font reference a l'echange primordial d'objets rituels particuliers entre hommes et femmes : ciba, pierres vertes, flutes, haches . Ces echanges primordiaux representent le moment socialement creatif qui a debouche sur l'etablissement de la societe, et donnent un modele general des relations sociales. L'echange ou la circulation rituels de ces objets dans d'autres spheres impliquant une relation d'homme a homme transforme ces transactions ordinaires en processus socialement creatifs en recreant rituellement l'echange decrit par les mythes. Il deplace l'accent des relations femmes-hommes aux relations hommes-hommes comme base de la societe, et apporte un eclairage sur la signification des echanges et des relations sociales dans les plaines d'Amerique du Sud.
PEMBELAJARAN BUFFER MENGGUNAKAN METODE INKUIRI TERBIMBING UNTUK MENINGKATKAN HASIL BELAJAR DAN KEAKTIFAN

Keaktifan siswa, baik keaktifan dalam mengikuti pelajaran maupun keaktifan berfikir sangat mempengaruhi pemahaman siswa terhadap pokok materi. Kenyataan di SMA N 3 Rembang, keaktifan siswa masih rendah. Hal ini mengakibatkan rendahnya hasil belajar siswa. Untuk menghindari hal tersebut diperlukan metode pembelajaran yang bervariasi, salah satunya Metode Pembelajaran Inkuiri Terbimbing. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui peningkatan hasil belajar dan keaktifan siswa kelas XI melalui penerapan metode pembelajaran inkuiri terbimbing pada materi pokok Larutan Penyangga. Populasi dalam penelitian eksperimen ini adalah siswa kelas XI SMA Negeri 3 Rembang. Penentuan sampel dengan sistem Cluster random sampling, dan diperoleh kelas XI IPA 3 sebagai kelas eksperimen yang mendapat perlakuan menggunakan metode inkuiri terbimbing dan XI IPA 1 sebagai kelas kontrol yang mendapatkan perlakuan menggunakan metode konvensional. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa hasil ketuntasan belajar klasikal kelompok eksperimen sebesar 88% dan kelompok kontrol sebesar 17%. Rata-rata nilai post-test kelas eksperimen sebesar 75,42 dan kelas kontrol sebesar 54,58. Hasil pengamatan pada aspek keaktifan siswa kelas eksperimen sebesar 85,88% dan pada kelas kontrol sebesar 78,70%. Berdasarkan data yang diperoleh dari penelitian, dapat disimpulkan bahwa siswa yang diajar menggunakan metode inkuiri terbimbing mempunyai hasil belajar dan keaktifan yang lebih tinggi dari pada siswa yang diajar dengan menggunakan metode konvensional.
Stimulation of alloreactive cytotoxic T cells by paternal major histocompatibility antigens during murine pregnancy.

In an effort to elucidate T cell reactivity toward paternal major histocompatibility (MHC) antigens during pregnancy, the ability of pregnant mice to develop alloreactive cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) was studied in individual multiparous females mated with MHC congeneic strains of B10 background. Spleen cells obtained from B10.BR females mated to allogeneic males manifested strikingly higher CTL than those from animals mated to syngeneic males or from virgins; syngeneically mated animals were equivalent to virgin controls in CTL responses. The augmented CTL response in allogeneic pregnancy was detected not only by stimulation with the paternal MHC antigens but also by an unrelated MHC haplotype. However, this augmentation was found only during pregnancy in that 2-5 days after the delivery the CTL activity in allopregnant animals returned to a level comparable to that of virgin controls. No suppressor cells were detected at this stage. These observations suggest that maternal T cells recognize MHC disparity with the fetus in some way during pregnancy. Anti-MHC antibodies, immunoglobulin (Ig) M, and IgGs of all subclasses were not detected in these animals throughout multiple pregnancies.
Polarization behavior of birefringent multitransverse mode vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

An analysis has been undertaken of the effect of birefringence on the selection of polarization states of a weakly index guided vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) supporting both a fundamental and a first-order transverse mode. It is shown that for small index steps polarization switching due to spatial-hole burning effects can occur. For larger index steps it is found that higher order modes can emerge which are orthogonally polarized to the dominant polarization of the fundamental mode.
Performance of knowledge management practices: a causal analysis

– The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of knowledge management (KM) infrastructure and KM processes on the performance of KM practices. , – The paper is based on personal interviews, data were collected from 83 managers from a single case study of a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) operator in Turkey. , – The paper finds that hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. Test of hypotheses revealed that both KM processes and KM infrastructure positively and significantly influenced the performance of KM practices. These findings tend to corroborate our conceptual model and are also in line with the existing literature. KM infrastructure was found to be more significantly affecting KM performance than KM processes, indicating that the context and background of KM is more important than the application aspects of KM. , – The findings in this paper cannot be generalized due to the case study approach. It may not be claimed that both KM processes and KM infrastructure solely determine the performance of KM practices. Instead, there are many other factors that may influence KM performance, which are somewhat beyond the scope of this research. , – The paper shows that the evaluation of KM performance is expected to increase the effectiveness, efficiency and adaptability of KM efforts so as to add more value to the overall performance of the organization. , – In this paper there is little or no empirical evidence investigating the influence of KM infrastructure and KM processes on KM performance. This paper rectifies this imbalance by clarifying the link between KM infrastructure, processes and performance.
THE ACCESSORY OPTIC SYSTEM *

Classically, three pairs of retinal projections to the brain are described : to the lateral geniculate body, to the superior colliculus, and to the pretectal nucleus. In our laboratory we have been studying the less-known accessory optic system which projects from the retina to the midbrain. Three pairs of such tracts have been described: the anterior accessory optic tracts (Bochenek) , the posterior accessory optic tracts (tractus peduncularis transversus of Marburg), and the transpeduncular tracts (tractus peduncularis of Gudden) . In present day nonmammalian vertebrates these paths are represented by only one discreet pair of tracts, the basal optic roots. Thus the accessory optic system is known in all classes of vertebrates.l It might be asked, is the accessory optic system a possible (or probable) photo-neural input for the triggering of circadian or other rhythms? In attempting to answer this question we shall draw largely on research done in our laboratory by Roland A. Giolli, Duco I. Hamasaki, Richard M. Hill, Roc E. Walley, and myself.
Small signal model of memcapacitor-inductor oscillation circuit

To extend the concept of the memristive systems to capacitive systems, memcapacitive systems have been described in 2009. Memcapacitors which are a subset of memcapacitive systems are flux-dependent nonlinear circuit elements with memory. Materials with memcapacitive properties has already been reported in literature. The elusive memcapacitor show promise for new type of applications because of their unusual characteristics which cannot be mimicked with linear circuit elements. Since these elements are not commercially available yet, their analytical solutions and simulation studies are very important. Then these solutions may provide valuable insight for their usage, behavior and predicting of their new application areas. In this study, a memcapacitor-inductor oscillation circuit is examined using simulations and also its small signal equivalent circuit is obtained using perturbation theory since such a circuit does not have an exact solution.
Developmental changes in the expression of neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses-linked proteins.

Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses (NCL) form a distinct group of storage diseases where the normal development of the central nervous system is interrupted and neurons of the neocortex begin to degenerate. Mutations in genes encoding three lysosomal enzymes are the causes for three early-onset forms of NCLs: palmitoyl-protein thioesterase 1 (PPT1) is deficient in human infantile NCL, tripeptidyl peptidase 1 (TTP1) in late-infantile NCL, and cathepsin D in congenital ovine NCL. We wanted to compare the developmental expression profiles of these enzymes in rat brain. In conclusion, the PPT1 expression pattern differed from the two other lysosomal enzymes implicated in NCL diseases, thus suggesting a distinctive role for PPT1 in brain development.