Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Outbreak Evaluation of the increase in invasive device associated infections in cardiovascular surgical intensive care unit

Introduction: Infections related to the use of invasive instruments leads to the risk of treatment difficulties, prolonged hospitalization, increased health care costs, and increased mortality and morbidity rates. The present study examines the results of an infection surveillance study that showed an increased incidence of infections related to the use of invasive instruments in the cardiovascular surgery intensive care unit of the Ankara Training and Research Hospital and mitigating measures were taken following the surveillance program. Methodology: Compared with previous surveillance data, an increase was observed in the incidence of infections related to the use of invasive instruments in cardiovascular surgery intensive care unit (CVS-ICU) during the first six months of 2014. A research team was formed comprising one infectious diseases and microbiology specialist, one cardiovascular surgeon, and two infection-control nurses. Patient data was collected. The compliance of the surgeons, nurses, and other health care professionals to the infection control measures was evaluated. Results: The rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia was 8.20% and the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infection was 4.47% in the CVS-ICU. There were missing or inadvertent practices regarding antibiotic prophylaxis, asepsis and antisepsis and isolation measures in patient preparation and patient care before and after the operations. The rate of inappropriate antibiotic as prolonged use was 72%. Conclusions: It is one of the basic tasks to take appropriate measures to prevent outbreaks of hospital infections. It is possible to prevent an outbreak of hospital infections only by the accurate analysis of data and establishing strict infection control procedures.
Motor safety of a man during a fall

The purpose of the present work is to review the key research methods as well as the existing knowledge of biomechanics on human motor safety when during a fall. The second goal of the paper is a biomechanical analysis of falls performed in a rotational motion on the ground, by reference of the movement of a man to a car wheel rolling. The analysis leads to the conclusion that during such a fall the energy of the body defor mation per volume unit of the body parts touching the ground can be reduced by minimizing the time of the body contact with the surface and by increasing the area of body parts in contact with the surface. Decreasing the time of the body contact with the surface can be achieved by increasing, to some extent, the velocity of the body rolling. A factor increasing the contact surfaces can be extending a radius of the circle on which the fall continues. This can also decrease the rolling resistance strength, which is responsible for non-elastic body de formation. The knowledge of biomechanics contained in this paper proves the correctness of the statement, that “suffering an injury” does not necessarily mean to be an unavoidable consequence of a fall. Body inju ries can be weakened through a proper technique of falling, applied in particular physical conditions generating a fall. In the majority of cases the contemporary educational systems do not see properly the necessity of teaching safe falls. Taking adequate preference actions in this area would reduce significantly fatal accidents and serious injuries to a body caused by falls, especially of elderly people and professionals who are frequently exposed to falls.
From K-anonymity to Differential Privacy back to K -anonymity!

The research community has left no stone unturned in devising strategies for both syntactic and semantic privacy definitions. The literature on privacy protection reveals that no privacy model is capable of incorporating growing demands of data publication (e.g., the adversarial background, needs of data publisher, constraints on underlying dataset etc.). Thus, despite the countless efforts, privacy protection remains an open issue.
2014-1 Default and Repayment among Baccalaureate Degree Earners

More than low default rates, lenders are interested in the expected return on their loans. In this paper, we consider a number of other measures of repayment and nonpayment that are likely to be of direct interest to lenders. Using data from the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study, we document repayment and nonpayment outcomes 10 years after graduation for American students receiving BA/BS degrees in 1993. We estimate differences in these outcomes across individual/family background characteristics, college major, type of institution, the amount borrowed, and post-graduation income. A key contribution is our analysis of the following outcomes in addition to student loan default rates: the fraction of the original undergraduate loan amount repaid as of 2003, nonpayment rates (including deferment and forbearance as well as default), and the fraction of original undergraduate loan amounts on which borrowers defaulted or are currently not repaying.
Direct Influence of Human Resource Management Practices on Financial Performance in Malaysian R&D Companies

Since 1996, the R&D sector in Malaysia has received greater attention than before. Despite fiscal and non-fiscal incentives provided to support the growth of this sector, the level of R&D measured in terms of R&D outputs (i.e. number of patent) is still dismal which is mirrored in the overall performance of local R&D companies. Many studies have investigated factors which influence the performance of organizations. The present study attempts to examine the influence of HRM practices on financial performance of R&D firms. The data for the study were obtained from survey responses from 64 R&D companies. Results of EFA and CFA confirmed the 4 dimensions of HRM practices: participation, reward, training and development, and teamwork practices. Regression results showed participation and reward practices have positive and significant influence on financial performance while training and development practice has negative influence on financial performance. There is no significant relationship between teamwork practice and financial performance. Overall, the findings of the present study provide partial support of universalistic perspective.
Effect of lactic acid bacteria on the textural properties of an edible film based on whey, inulin and gelatin

This study was aimed to evaluate the effects of different components and the addition of probiotic bacteria of lactic acid bacteria (LAB, Lactobacillus casei) on the physicochemical and textural characteristics of edible films using a response surface Box-Behnken design. The edible films were made of the following components: Whey (8%), glycerol (6%), inulin (0 to 4%), gelatin (2 to 5%) and probiotics (0 to 2%). The addition of LAB significantly affected the pH, viscosity, luminosity, hardness and Young's modulus of the films. However, all formulations presented physicochemical and textural characteristics suitable for the survival of lactic acid bacteria during storage. Formulas 10 and 3 with a composition of 2% inulin, 3.5% gelatin and 1% probiotic, demonstrated higher responses to pH, viscosity, luminosity, hardness and Young's modulus, whereas formulas 14 and 12 exhibited lower responses to the above-mentioned features but proved the most resilient. Therefore, edible films with added probiotic bacteria could be applied to a variety of foods and to increase consumer choice.
Nitrogen Emissions and Mitigation Strategies in Chicken Production

Air emissions from feeding operations and manure management in chicken production are among the major sources of environmental concerns globally. Nitrogen emissions in chicken production occur in several forms but mainly ammonia can contribute directly or indirectly to several environmental and public health hazards. Chicken production also contributes to some extent to climate change through the emissions of nitrous oxide, fine particulate matters, and methane. Emissions and nutrient losses take place in different systems and at every stage of chicken production operations. To effectively reduce the environmental impact of chicken production, appropriate measures should be taken across the chicken supply and manure management chain. Nutritional and manure management strategies for mitigating nitrogen emissions in chicken production are discussed. Challenges associated with the adoption of some of the mitigation strategies are identified and measures to address them are suggested. Co-benefits of mitigating nitrogen emissions in chicken production to the planet, the people and the producers are numerous.
Molecular gas in NUclei of GAlaxies (NUGA) - VII. NGC 4569, a large scale bar funnelling gas into the nuclear region

This work is part of the NUGA survey of CO emission in nearby active galaxies. We present observations of NGC 4569, a member of the Virgo Cluster. We analyse the molecular gas distribution and kinematics in the central region and we investigate a possible link to the strong starburst present at the nucleus. 70% of the (1.1 ± 0.2) × 10 9 Mof molecular gas detected in the inner 20 �� is found to be concentrated within the inner 800 pc and is distributed along the large scale stellar bar seen in near-infrared observations. A hole in the CO distribution coincides with the nucleus where most of the Hα emission and blue light are emitted. The kinematics are modelled in three different ways, ranging from the purely geometrical to the most physical. This approach allows us to constrain progressively the physical properties of the galaxy and eventually to emerge with a reasonable fit to an analytical model of orbits in a barred potential. Fitting an axisymmetric model shows that the non-circular motions must be comparable in amplitude to the circular motions (120 km s −1 ). Fitting a model based on elliptical orbits allows us to identify with confidence the single inner Lindblad resonance (ILR) of the large scale bar. Finally, a model based on analytical solutions for the gas particle orbits in a weakly barred potential constrained by the ILR radius reproduces the observations well. The mass inflow rate is then estimated and discussed based on the best fit model solution. The gravitational torques implied by this model are able to efficiently funnel the gas inside the ILR down to 300 pc, although another mechanism must take over to fuel the nuclear starburst inside 100 pc.
The Fast Ray Tracing in Calculating the Geometrical Optics Reflected Field

We consider the problem of the computer-aided construction of geometrical optics electromagnetic wave propagation paths (ray tracing). We indicate the disadvantages of widely applied Shooting and Bouncing Rays method. We also provide the examples of its software implementation. As opposed to the employed approaches, the method and the algorithm synthesized on its basis are introduced for the reflected ray tracing where the search process is implemented faster and there are no disadvantages inherent in their common counterparts.
Population size and habitat relationships of Black-bellied Sandgrouse Pterocles orientalis in the Canary Islands, Spain

Summary We estimated the breeding population size and assess the habitat relationships of Black-bellied Sandgrouse in the Eastern Canary Islands (Fuerteventura, Lanzarote and La Graciosa, Spain) by means of a survey based on 1,787 0.5-km line transects and distance sampling done in 2005 and 2006. The population comprised 2,906 individuals (90% CI: 2,363–3,562), which is much higher than the numbers estimated in previous reports based on partial surveys, and constitutes 20 %o f the total Spanish population. Sandgrouse in the Canaries are currently restricted to Fuerteventura, where 70% of the population gathers in four areas that encompass just 16.7 % of the island and are largely within Special Protection Areas classified under the EU Birds Directive (except the area of Tefia-Ampuyenta, first in absolute number of individuals). The environmental characteristics that maximize the probability of occurrence of the sandgrouse in Fuerteventura (probability 5 0.196) are: treeless non-cultivated areas of sandy soils without bare bedrock, with a rock cover less than 44%, located in non-coastal areas with an average terrain slope less than 27.5%, at more than 400 m from the nearest urban area, with less than 795 m of dirt roads per 20 ha, with at least 0.9% of shrub cover and a NDVI index higher than 53. Sandgrouse were closer to human settlements in midsummer than in March, perhaps being attracted to artificial pools surrounding villages. Similar habitat characteristics exist in nearby Lanzarote, where the species could hypothetically reach densities as high as 4–5 birds km 2 . Possible reasons for the absence of sandgrouse in this island are discussed.
Vocal and Facial Attractiveness Judgments of Children, Adolescents and Adults: the Ontogeny of Mate Choice

Physical traits are thought to be used as indicators of mate quality, allowing individuals to select mates most likely to help them bear the fittest offspring. As the capacity for human sexual behaviour emerges at puberty, we investigated whether adult-like judgments of the relative attractiveness of opposite-sex individuals also arise at puberty. Following previous research, we focussed on facial and vocal attractiveness, which are known to be used in human mate choice and to carry concordant information regarding mate quality. Here we show that males with more attractive faces have more attractive voices as judged by female adults and adolescents, but not by female children. This suggests that cues of facial and vocal attractiveness provide similar information, but that awareness of these cues does not develop fully until reproductive capability, when mate choice judgments become relevant. Adolescents’ judgments also mirrored those of adults in that, like adults, they preferred lower-pitched male voices, and as a group made concordant judgments about facial attractiveness. However, they did not make similarly concordant judgments about vocal attractiveness, suggesting that a further period of maturation and learning is required to fully develop optimal judgments for mate choice.
Extending FUM-LD Framework by Including an Academic Data Model

Linked Data techniques have become interesting to organizations, especially for those which have some open data to publish, such as universities. In this paper an extended framework is presented for publishing a subset of data of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad as linked data. Since, academic data of various universities are modeled differently, a common data model for academic institutes is proposed, too.
Do Co-Residence and Intentions Make a Difference? Relationship Satisfaction in Married, Cohabiting, and Living Apart Together Couples in Four Countries

Background: A large body of research has compared relationship satisfaction and quality in cohabiting versus married relationships. Despite increased recognition of couples in living apart together (LAT) relationships, very little research has examined the experiences of couples in LAT relationships compared to co-residential unions. Objective: Our aim is to develop knowledge about the experiences of different union types by investigating relationship satisfaction of people in LAT, cohabiting, and marital relationships. We differentiate those with intentions to marry for cohabiters, and those with intentions to marry or live together in LAT relationships. We also examine differences by gender and country. Methods: Using data from Wave 1 of the Generations and Gender Survey in France, Germany, Australia, and Russia (n = 9,604), OLS regressions are estimated to investigate a) differences in relationship satisfaction across relationship types, and b) across countries. Results: Married people have the highest levels of relationship satisfaction. People in non-marital unions with intentions to marry or live together are significantly more satisfied than those without marriage or cohabitation intentions. Those in LAT relationships with no intentions to live together have the lowest levels of relationship satisfaction. There is evidence of cross-national variation with differences in relationship satisfaction by union type most pronounced in Australia and Russia. Gender differences are found with women reporting lower levels of relationship satisfaction than men. Conclusions: LAT relationships are qualitatively different to co-residential unions. It is important to further develop our understanding of the experiences of couples in these relationships.
Analysis and Design of Thermally Actuated Micro-Cantilevers for High Frequency Vibrations Using Finite Element Method

Vibrational behavior of thermally actuated cantilever micro-beams and their mechanical response at moderately high frequency under a non-harmonic periodic loading is studied in this paper. Two different configurations are considered: 1) a straight beam with two actuation layers on top and bottom which utilizes the bimorph effect to induce bending; 2) a uniform beam with base excitation, where the beam is mounted on an actuator which moves it periodically at its base perpendicular to its axis. Generally, vibrating micro-cantilevers are required to oscillate at a specified frequency. In order to increase the efficiency of the system, and achieve deflections with low power consumption, geometrical features of the beams can be quantified so that the required vibrating frequency matches the natural frequencies of the beam. A parametric modal analysis is conducted on two configurations of micro-cantilever and the first natural frequency of the cantilevers as a function of geometrical parameters is extracted. To evaluate vibrational behavior and thermo-mechanical efficiency of micro-cantilevers as a function of their geometrical parameters and input power, a case study with a specified vibrating frequency is considered. Due to significant complexities in the loading conditions and thermo-mechanical behavior, this task can only be tackled via numerical methods. Selecting the geometrical parameters in order to induce resonance at the nominal frequency, non-linear time-history (transient) thermo-mechanical finite element analysis (using ANSYS) is run on each configuration to study its response to the periodic heating input. Approaches to improve the effectiveness of actuators in each configuration based on their implementation are investigated.
Highly Elevated Level of Serum CA125 Produced by a Large Uterine Leiomyoma in a 20-Year-Old Woman

A 20-year-old woman presented with a pelvic tumor that caused abdominal protuberance. Transvaginal ultrasonography revealed a 15 cm mass developed from her uterus. Her cancer antigen 125 (CA125) serum level at presentation was 1,570.9 U/mL and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) level was 377 U/L. The suspicion was of a malignant neoplasm, so we undertook a myomectomy. The pathologic diagnosis was a leiomyoma of the uterus. Both the CA125 and LDH serum levels dropped unusually rapidly to normal after the operation. Immunohistochemical staining for CA125 indicated that the leiomyoma was the source of the high level of serum CA125. J Clin Gynecol Obstet. 2015;4(3):275-278 doi: http://dx.doi. org/10.14740/jcgo344w
MIC Acceleration of Saliency Detection Algorithm

Changfei Zhou, Kai Lu, Wanqing Chi, Xiaoping Wang, Zhenhai Xiong National University of Defense Technology Changsha, China zcf337889342@163.com Abstract—Image processing has important influence during the development of visualization. With the scale and the complexity of image data expanding, it is becoming more and more difficult for image processing and target analysis. Saliency area detection of image processing, especially, visual attention is playing an important role the decreasing of computing burden and the improvement of the accuracy. Among this kind of algorithms, saliency detection based of structural similarity theory has more excellent performance than others through a new center-surround operator. In this paper, we realize the parallelization on data level and thread level of this algorithm on the MIC platform. The experiment results show that we could obtain a speed-up ratio of 5.6 in average with the help of the SIMD. We could also get a top performance speed-up ratio of 2.42 in average on an MIC coprocessor against a prevalent CPU.
Sustainable Entrepreneurship (SE): A Revised Model Based on Triple Bottom Line (TBL)

Throughout the years, researchers have suggested several fields of entrepreneurship studies, such as regular entrepreneurship, green entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship and sustainable entrepreneurship. This literature review focused on sustainable entrepreneurship, in which a definition was proposed. Then, based upon the concept of triple bottom line, a revised model of sustainable entrepreneurship was suggested at the end of paper. The model consisted of four domains, namely economical, social, ecological and cultural. Thus, in order to be acknowledged as true sustainable entrepreneurs, they are required to give equal priority to all of the four domains suggested in the model.
Service quality in banking: developing and testing measurement instrument with Latvian sample data

The paper highlights the importance of managing service quality in banking that can positively affect customer satisfaction. The goal of the given study is to develop an instrument for measuring service quality perceived by Latvian banks’ retail customers and to determine the most important contributors to customer satisfaction. To achieve this purpose, randomly selected customers of Latvian banks were surveyed, using the authors’ developed questionnaire. The proposed instrument was tested for reliability and validity, using techniques of confirmatory factor analysis. Exploratory factor analysis yielded five service quality dimensions (factors) that allowed constructing customer satisfaction factor model EPICA: E – expenses, P – product, I – image, C – competence and emotional intellect, A – access. The subsequent correlation analysis revealed that the strongest relationship is between customer satisfaction and C factor. The results of the current research are crucially important for Latvian banks’ executives because the majority of previous studies in the related field offered measurement scales adequate for measuring service quality in other industries. Besides, the proposed questionnaire is exclusively developed for Latvia and considers Latvian banking sector specifics.
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF AN ALTERNATIVE CONTROLLER FOR BLUETOOTH SERVICE DISCOVERY

Bluetooth is a short range radio technology to form a small wireless system. It is used in low –cost, low power ad-hoc networks and it suffers from long service discovery delay and high power consumption. Bluetooth employs the 2.4 GHz ISM band, sharing the same bandwidth with the wireless LAN implementing the IEEE 802.11 standards. Thus it causes significantly lower interference. For improving the efficiency of SDP, we present an implementation of Bluetooth 2.1 in the NS-2 simulator, discuss the IEEE 802.11b as a Bluetooth controller and propose a new alternative Bluetooth Controller based on Adaptive Frequency Hopping techniques using Amplifier Power. The resulting approach significantly reduces the service discovery time, thereby lowering power consumption and increasing the throughput. We present the benefits of our new approach and compare it with existing approach using NS-2 Simulations and we have presented the comparison graphs in support of our approach.