Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Learning to immaterial labour 2.0: MySpace and social networks

Why did News Corporation spend $580 million on MySpace, one of the fastest growing websites on the internet? Our contention is that it contains a dynamic new source of creative power: what we call ‘immaterial labour 2.0’. MySpace is where (mostly) youth ‘learn’ to expand their cultural and communicative capacities by constructing online subjectivities in an open-ended process of becoming. The labour performed therein is one of modulation and variation in the networked formations that result in an exponential expansion of discrete nodes of both affect and affinity and of potential surplus value. We present immaterial labour 2.0 as an ambivalent modality of both biopower and biopolitical production, and as an exemplar of the paradigm shift underway in our interface with popular culture,media, and information and communication technology. By recalling Dallas Smythe’s ‘audience commodity’ we contrast the ‘producibility’ of subjects in relation to broadcast media with the ‘productivity’ of immaterial labour 2.0 in social networks like MySpace.
Clinicohistopathological And Immunological Alterations in Egyptian Donkeys Infested by Rhinoestrus Spp. During the Winter Season

Little information is available about the homeostasis and alterations appeared against infestation by nasal myiasis caused by Rhinoestrus spp. larvae in Egyptian donkeys. Therefore, the present work aimed to investigate the hematological and biochemical profiles associated with histopathological features and immunological response developed against Rhinoestrus spp. larvae infestation in donkeys in the winter season. The results revealed that 40 out of 80 examined donkeys were infested by nasal myiasis. IgG values were higher (P< 0.01) in infested donkeys (IND) than non-infested ones all over the winter months while the highest mean larval burden was observed in December (11.6 larvae/animal). Neutrophils% in (IND) increased (P<0.01) during December and February. However, an elevation in lymphocytes% (P<0.05) was observed in (IND) during December and January while eosinophils% increased (P<0.01) in all winter months. These results paralleled to the nasal fluid cytological profile in which lymphocytes%, neutrophils% and eosinophils% in (IND) increased (P< 0.05) in December, January and February. Glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and catalase activities in (IND) were declined (P<0.01) in all winter months. Interleukin-2 (IL-2) and tumor necrosis factor- α (TNF-α) elevated (P<0.05) in December and January. The histopathological picture of turbinate bones, olfactory bulb and meninges reflected the blood and nasal fluid cytological picture as there was lymphocytes infiltration, meningitis and satellitosis. The results indicated that Rhinoestrus spp. infestation in donkeys might affect the vital and immunological processes. In addition, Rhinoestrus spp. infestation in donkeys could linked to oxidative stress and shifting the immune response polarization towards Th2 cytokines.
The effect of within-group inequality in a conflict against a unitary threat

Abstract A group of agents must defend their individual income from an external threat by pooling their efforts against it. The winner of this confrontation is determined by a contest success function where members’ efforts display a varying degree of complementarity. Individual effort is costly and its cost follows a convex isoelastic function. We investigate how the success of the group in the conflict and its members’ utilities vary with the degree of within-group inequality. We show that there is a natural relationship between the group’s probability of victory and the Atkinson index of inequality. If members’ efforts are complementary or the cost function convex enough, more egalitarianism within the group increases the likelihood of victory against the external threat. The opposite holds when members’ efforts are substitutes and the cost linear enough.
Fuzzy Version Of The Jalan-Ravallion Approach: Evidence From Tunisia

Based on the recent literature, the present paper offers a new methodology to analyze poverty dynamics components. Building on the fuzzy subset theory, the aim of this study is to make available a new replay to the traditional Jalan-Ravallion approach by proposing new measures for chronic, transient and persistent poverty and provide new measure of observed poverty for each attribute. This paper proposes a new method using a membership function and fuzzy rules to identify to what extent individuals can be considered as poor/non-poor. According to the proposed membership function, a relative fuzzy index are adopted to compute an aggregation method of fuzzy individual poverty. The empirical assessment has been conducted using data of the Tunisian household survey from 2005 to 2010 and has been given arise to some potential policy recommendations through the fuzzy estimation results.
ON APPLICATION OF GAUSSIAN KERNEL TO RETINAL BLOOD TRACING

Fast disease screening system is becoming very important nowadays as it is useful in minimizing the pain suffered by the patient. Eye is one of the important organs used to screen various diseases such as diabetes, pterygium, glaucoma, stroke and etc. Two popular modalities to capture the visualization information of the eyes are photographed and fundus images. Photographed image captures the exterior appearance of the eyes, while fundus image captures the interior surface of the eye. This study focuses on the fundus image, in which the objective is to extract the retinal blood vessels. Condition of the vessels is a good cue for identifying microaneurysm where a sudden jump in vessels trajectory indicate a blockage in the blood flow. Hence, an edge operator is used to extract the possible lines. Two removal steps, which are outer ring and optic disc removal are performed, so that only the vessels are detected. A filling operation is performed by using gaussian kernel such that areas surrounding existing edges are analyzed to label it as blood vessel or not. The proposed technique is then tested on two databases; DRIVE and STARE. Four performance metrics are calculated based on accuracy, sensitivity, error and specificity where the best results are 0.880, 0.546, 0.120 and 0.912 respectively, obtained based on DRIVE database. The proposed system also works well in STARE database with accuracy of 0.860 and error of 0.140. The system can be further improved by using better detection scheme because the number of false negative is relatively high.
Dental Caries Experience and Salivary Elements Among A Group of Young Adults In Relation to Age and Gender

Background: Dental caries is a most common social and intractable infectious disease in human. Saliva is critical for preserving and maintaining oral health and salivary elements had many effects on caries experience. Aim of study: This study was conducted to assess dental caries severity by age and gender and their relation to salivary zinc and copper among a group of adults aged (19-22) years. Materials and methods: After examination eighty persons aged 19-22 years of both gender. Caries severity was documented according to DMFS index. Stimulated salivary samples were collected and chemically analyzed under standardized condition to detect salivary elements zinc and copper. Concentrations of Zinc and copper were measured by using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Results: The finding revealed that the total males had higher mean value of DMFS and DS fraction than that of the total females with statistically non-significant differences at p> 0.05 regarding of DMFS, while significant difference was found regarding DS fraction. Frist age group (19-20) had a lower mean value of DMFS than that of the second age group (21-22), while it had a higher mean value of DS fraction with statistically non-significant differences. There were statistically non-significant differences at p> 0.05 between males and females regarding salivary zinc and copper concentrations.Non-significant positive weak correlation between DMFS index and salivary zinc and copper. Conclusion: Saliva is the one of important factors in prevention of dental caries. Therefore, chemical changes in salivary composition play an important role in development and progression of caries.
Clinicopathologic Study of Endometrial and Hormonal Changes after Metformin Therapy in Patients with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Background: polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common disorder of women in reproductive age. PCOS, a complex genetic condition, is a heterogeneous syndrome of clinical and/or biochemical androgen excess, ovulatory dysfunction and polycystic ovaries. Metformin has been shown to improve fertility in the ovulatory patients with PCOS, inducing not only a high ovulation and pregnancy rate, but also reducing the incidence of miscarriages. Aim of the Work: this study aimed to evaluate the effects of metformin on hormonal profile and endometrial tissue, including pattern of immunohistochemical expression of androgen receptors (AR), in patients with PCOS. Patients and Methods: 50 women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) were enrolled in this study. Each patient was submitted to detailed history taking, clinical examination including hair all over the body, body weight, body height and body mass index (BMI), transvaginal sonography, laboratory investigations ( LH, FSH, fasting insulin, free testosterone). Endometrial samples were taken for histopathological evaluation and assessment of androgen receptors. These investigations were done before and after three months of metformin treatment. Results: there was a significant decrease of BMI of the studied cases after metformin administration (P value <0.001). Also, there was a significant decrease of LH level after metformin administration from 8.07 ± 2.48 mIU/ml to 6.85 ± 3.5 mIU/ml and a significant decrease of fasting insulin level from 13.5 ± 5.3 before metformin administration to 10.2 ± 6.9 after administration. As regard to pathological results before metformin treatment, histopathological examination of the endometrial specimens revealed features of early proliferative endometrium in 32 cases, late proliferative in 10 cases, while the remaining 8 cases showed features of simple endometrial hyperplasia. Among the 32 cases with early proliferative endometrium, 30 cases progressed to late proliferative endometrium after treatment with metformin, while the remaining 2 cases showed no morphologic changes. Among the 10 cases with late proliferative endometrium, 3 cases progressed to early secretory phase, 3 cases to mid-secretory and 4 cases progressed to late secretory endometrium indicative of ovulation. Regression of hyperplasia was noted in 3 out of the 8 cases diagnosed as simple endometrial hyperplasia. As regard to immunohistochemistry (IHC), we found that women with PCOS exhibited marked increase in endometrial androgen receptors (AR) expression compared to the normal fertile controls (p<0.001). Significant decrease in AR expression in endometrial tissue after metformin therapy was observed (p<0.003). Conclusion: metformin therapy in patients with PCOS restores menstrual cyclicity, induces ovulation and showing decrease in LH level, fasting insulin, and AR expression in endometrial tissue.
A Framework For The Economic Evaluation Of Environmental Science

Economists, especially agricultural economists, have undertaken extensive analysis of the gains of technological-based scientific research. This is in stark contrast to the efforts undertaken to understand the economic effects of environmental scientific research. Economic evaluation of environmental science is important because knowledge-based government agencies are regularly required to justify their research expenditure and set clear priorities for their research programmes. This paper addresses the gap in the literature by offering a general framework for evaluating environmental scientific research. The paper is structured around two themes central to appraisals of environmental research: (a) the non-market nature of environmental outcomes; and (b) the pathways to achieve these outcomes. Some of the more important and unique issues addressed include the links between the natural systems being researched, the benefits in terms of resulting goods and services, and their subsequent values, as well as the factors influencing the overall contribution research makes to environmental decision-making.
Silver Nanoparticle Adsorption to Soil and Water Treatment Residuals and Impact on Zebrafish in a Lab-scale Constructed Wetland

Nanoparticles (< 100 nm) are becoming more prevalent in residential and industrial uses and may enter the environment through wastewater. Although lab studies have shown that nanoparticles can be toxic to various organisms, limited research has been done on the effects of nanoparticles in the environment. Environmental conditions such as pH and ionic strength are known to alter the biotoxicity of nanoparticles, but these effects are not well understood. The objectives of this research were to determine the impacts of silver nanoparticles (AgNP) on zebrafish in the pseudo-natural environment of a lab-scale constructed wetland, and to investigate wastewater remediation through soil and water treatment residual (WTR) adsorption of AgNPs. Concurrently, the effect of particle size on AgNP sorption was examined. Researchers exposed adult zebrafish in a lab-scale constructed wetland to concentrations of AgNP ranging from 0 - 50 mg AgNP/L and compared them to negative controls with no silver exposure and to positive controls with exposure to silver nitrate. The results suggest that aggregated AgNP do not impact zebrafish. Separately, sorption experiments were carried out examining three media - a wetland soil, a silt loam soil, and a WTR - in their capacity to remove AgNPs from water. The silt loam retained less AgNPs from solution than did the wetland soil or the WTR. In the WTR AgNPs were associated with sand size particles (2 mm - 0.05 mm), but in the wetland soil and silt loam, approximately half of the AgNPs were associated with the sand-sized particles, while the rest were associated with silt sized (~0.05 mm) or smaller particles. The larger sorption capacity of the wetland soil and WTR was attributed to their higher carbon content. The sorption data indicate that AgNPs adsorbed to soil and WTRs and support the idea that natural and constructed wetlands can remove AgNPs from wastewater.
Collapsed Vertebrae: New Diagnostic Modality for Better Management

Background: Collapsed vertebrae occur when the normal vertebral body of the spine is compressed to a smaller height. This mostly occurs due to trauma or underlying vertebral bone disease. Management of collapsed vertebrae is very difficult and challenging and depends mainly on the cause, but sometimes we couldn't differentiate between benign osteoporotic and malignant vertebral compression fractures. Diffusion weighted magnetic resonance image (DWI) is one of the most successful applications of the bone marrow for accurate diagnosis of vertebral compression fractures. Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of diffusion weighed magnetic resonance imaging in predicting the nature of vertebral collapse. Patients and Methods: Twenty patients presented with vertebral compression fractures were included in this study. There were nine males (45%) and eleven females (55%) and the age ranged from 5-82 years with a mean age of 56.05 years. Results: A total of twenty eight vertebral body collapses were found in twenty patients: fourteen patients with single level collapse and six patients with multiple levels of collapse. These vertebral lesions were malignant in five vertebral collapses (in four patients) and twenty three nonmalignant vertebral collapses (in sixteen patients). The DWI signal intensity of malignant vertebral compression fractures were hyperintense in all cases (100%) and in nonmalignant cases the DWI was hyperintense in (8.7%) and iso- or hypointense in (91.3%). The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value of the malignant vertebral lesions were statistically significant higher than those of the normal vertebral bodies and lower than those of benign vertebral lesions, p < 0.001 indicated by chi square test. Conclusion: Diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging is a promising non-invasive diagnostic imaging to differentiate between benign and malignant vertebral compression fracture.
The Petri Net Model of the Requirements and Service Composition

In the service-oriented environment, the composition of multiple web services is always used to satisfy the given request. To meet the request, the compositions of the services are various. Aim at such difficulty, described with the environment ontology, the relative theory of Petri net is proposed to build up the service composition requirement model. After simplify the model, an algorithm of building a reachability tree is proposed. Then all the possible service compositions are got through an algorithm similar as depth-first search. At last, we use the classic example of travel arrangement to verify the theory above all.
Iterative cluster-NMA ( icNMA ) : A tool for generating conformational transitions in proteins

Computational models provide insight into the structure-function relationship in proteins. These approaches, especially those based on normal mode analysis, can identify the accessible motion space around a given equilibrium structure. The large magnitude, collective motions identified by these methods are often well aligned with the general direction of the expected conformational transitions. However, these motions cannot realistically be extrapolated beyond the local neighborhood of the starting conformation. In this paper, the icNMA method is presented for traversing the energy landscape from a starting conformation to a desired goal conformation. This is accomplished by allowing the evolving geometry of the intermediate structures to define the local accessible motion space, and thus produce an appropriate displacement. Following the derivation of the icNMA method, a set of sample simulations are performed to probe the robustness of the model. A detailed analysis of β1,4-galactosyltransferase-T1 is also given, to highlight many of the capabilities of icNMA. Remarkably, during the transition, a helix is seen to be extended by an additional turn, emphasizing a new unknown role for secondary structures to absorb slack during transitions. The transition pathway for adenylate kinase, which has been frequently studied in the literature, is also discussed.
The relationship between the Sahelian and previous 2nd Guinean rainy seasons: a monsoon regulation by soil wetness?

Abstract. The correlation of 0.61 found between observed July–September Sahelian rainfall in year 0 and September–November Guinean rainfall in year - 1, led us to explore the statistical relationships between precipitation, soil moisture and near surface Moist Static Energy (MSE) gradients in West Africa. These analyses were performed over successive 30-year periods and specifically, the most recent period between 1968–1998. It is shown from observations, National Centers for Environmental Predictions and National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalyses and from the Global Soil Wetness Project (GSWP) database, that wet Sahelian rainy seasons are preceded by abnormally wet soils over the Sudan-Guinean belt during northern winter. Such moisture anomalies tend to hold during the dry season, then generate increasing MSE gradients just above the continent by March–April. These gradients have been shown to be of prime importance for monsoon dynamics and associated rainfall. Key words. Hydrology (soil moisture) – Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (climatology)
Evaluation of Teaching Environments Created by Pre-Service Science Teachers.

The aim of this study is to examine teaching environments that prepared and performed by pre-service science teachers in order to determine characteristics of these environments and conformity of these environments with referred to argument driven inquiry. In this context, micro teaching practices performed by the participants were observed and recorded for 10 weeks. Data obtained from 31 followed groups were examined with content analysis. According to results of the analysis, it can be said that all of the groups defined the concepts and partially made statements to reveal relationships between the concepts, while evaluation between concepts could rarely be made by means of activities that allow reaching a common judgment. Considering the teaching environments referred to argument driven inquiry, it can be suggested that revealing the relationships between concepts and performing the evaluation process is more appropriate than making definitions of the concepts. Also it was found that throughout univocal-descriptive dialogues often took place in practices. In addition, it was found that triadic dialogues which based on initiate-respond-evaluate/feedback [IRE/IRF] often were used during practice, pre-service teachers finished the chain at that point not asking follow-up questions for eliciting in-depth knowledge.
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) Colloquium : Search for a drifting proton-electron mass ratio from H 2

Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva. nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible.
A Note on Block-Sparse Signal Recovery with Coherent Tight Frames

This note discusses the recovery of signals from undersampled data in the situation that such signals are nearly block sparse in terms of an overcomplete and coherent tight frame . By introducing the notion of block -restricted isometry property (-RIP), we establish several sufficient conditions for the proposed mixed -analysis method to guarantee stable recovery of nearly block-sparse signals in terms of . One of the main results of this note shows that if the measurement matrix satisfies the block -RIP with constants , then the signals which are nearly block -sparse in terms of can be stably recovered via mixed -analysis in the presence of noise.
Electrospinning of Pr 2 CuO 4 Fiber and its Cathode Application in Solid Oxide Fuel Cell

In this study, Pr2CuO4 was fabricated as a cathode material for intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cells (IT-SOFCs) application. The Pr2CuO4 cathode was prepared using a solid-state reaction and an electrospinning technique. The prepared cathode material was characterized by the suitable characterization technique. The Pr2CuO4 was coated on a Sm0.2Ce0. 8O1.9 (SDC20) pellet with a doctor blades to form a half-cell (Ag/Pr2CuO4/SDC20/Ag). The Pr2CuO4 cathode prepared using electrospinning method demonstrated an excellent cathode performance in electrochemical measurements. The fiber morphologies of the cathode induced large amounts of triple phase boundaries, which promoted oxygen diffusion on the surface. The lowest area-specific resistance obtained with the Pr2CuO4 fiber was determined to be 0.35 Ω cm2 at 800°C in air. The electrospinning prepared Pr2CuO4 fiber is a potential cathode material for IT-SOFCs.