Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in HIV-infected patients admitted to a university hospital

P, Yılmaz F, Aydın Ö. Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in HIV-infected patients admitted a university hospital. J Health Sci Med 2020; 3(4): 372-376. ABSTRACT Objective: Toxoplasma gondii may lead to opportunistic infections that threaten life in patients infected with HIV as opposed to the case of healthy individuals. It was aimed to investigate the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in HIV-infected patients admitted to our clinic. Material and Method: The files of HIV-infected patients who were admitted to our polyclinic in the period of January 1995-December 2019 were examined. From the files, information was recorded on demographic characteristics, first diagnosis date, CD4+ T lymphocyte counts at first admission, HIV RNA, T. gondii IgG/M values and whether or not they received antibiotic prophylaxis. Findings: Although the files of 804 HIV-infected patients were examined, data on T. gondii antibodies could be accessed only in the files of 685 patients. The median values of the ages and disease durations of the patients were respectively 33 (range: 17-83) and 4 (range 0-27) years. Among the patients, 88.5% (n: 606) were male. While no patients showed T. gondii IgM antibody positivity, 41.6% (n:285) had T. gondii IgG positivity. The CD4+ T lymphocyte count was under 100 in 10.0% (n: 68/678) of the patients, and among 36.8% (n: 25/68) of these patients, T. gondii IgG was positive. While T. gondii IgG positivity was significant in the patients over the age of 40 and those who were diagnosed before 2010, no significant relationship was found between sex, being men who have sex with men or not, CD4+ T lymphocyte counts and HIV-RNA values. Conclusion: In patients with T. gondii IgG positivity, the risk of toxoplasmosis reactivation increases especially when the CD4+ T lymphocyte counts fall below 200. For this reason, investigating the seroprevalence of T. gondii in patients of all ages is important to be able to assess the risks that may develop, and it should be kept in mind that seropositivity may increase by advanced age. 5mm Kurum-Cite
Nanocomposites based on vermiculite clay and ternary blend of poly(L‐lactic acid), poly(methyl methacrylate), and poly(ethylene oxide)

Vermiculite (VMT) as clay was introduced into a ternary polymer blend composed of poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), whose ternary miscibility was proven within low certain contents of PMMA and PEO in PLLA. VMT was incorporated to the ternary polymer blend as matrix after proper organic modification on the clay. The organically modified vermiculite (OVMT) shows good interaction and acceptable dispersion in the ternary polymer matrix without altering the crystal structures of PLLA/PEO constituents. The effect of OVMT addition was then analyzed in isothermal crystallization by using the Avrami kinetic analysis, and the addition of OVMT is evident in altering nucleation process of the polymer blend as well as the crystal perfection. The activation energy is much lowered by the addition of OVMT, as evident from the analysis; the overall crystallization kinetic rates are increased with the incorporation of OVMT. POLYM. COMPOS. , 32:1916–1926, 2011. a 2011 Society of Plastics Engineers
Accounting systems in Croatia, Poland, and Slovakia – a comparative study

Purpose: This paper provides a comparative analysis of accounting systems in three Central and Eastern European countries − Croatia, Poland, and Slovakia. The main goal of the paper is to contribute to the understanding of the main differences and their main economic, historical, and cultural reasons. Methodology/approach: The research based on a comparative analysis of Croatian, Polish, and Slovak accounting regulations allows for the identification of important differences in accounting standards, despite the geopolitical proximity of the analysed countries and their Slavic roots. Findings: The paper demonstrates that the economic differences between the countries may influence the development of their accounting systems. Our empirical research also reveals that accession to the European Union had a significant impact on the development of accounting in these countries. Moreover, our research verified whether cultural differences influence accounting systems and financial reporting in the analyzed countries. Originality/value: The similarities and differences in accounting systems indicated in this paper may help regulators assess real opportunities to harmonize accounting regulations in the member states of the European Union in the face of economic and cultural factors.
Microwave Synthesis and High‐Mobility Charge Transport of Carbon‐Nanotube‐in‐Perovskite Single Crystals

Organolead trihalide perovskites have emerged as a new class of competitive solution‐processed semiconductors due to their unique optoelectronic properties. However, poor ambient stability and charge transport are the Achilles’ heel of hybrid perovskites, thus limiting their applications. In this work, microwave‐assisted synthesis is applied for the first time to rapidly grow perovskite single crystals embedded with single‐wall carbon nanotubes. These nanotube‐in‐perovskite single crystals are endowed with a carrier mobility one order of magnitude higher than the pure counterpart and the related photodetectors show an ultrafast photo‐response speed (5 and 80 ns for rise and decay time, respectively). The fast and uniform heating of microwave irradiation facilitates the synthesis of ambient‐stable crystals with nanoscale additives, paving the way to creating a wide range of mixed‐dimensional perovskite‐based nanocomposites with optimal properties and device performance.
Estimating the Price and Income Elasticities of Crude Oil Import Demand for Turkey

In this study, the price and income elasticities of Turkey's imported crude oil demand are analysed. In this context, annual time series data covering the period 1970-2018 are preferred for imported crude oil, real price for crude oil and real GDP. As known, Turkey is an energy dependent country especially in fossil fuels. Therefore, estimating Turkey's crude oil demand equations is very significant to analyse the consumption trend and the future expectations in terms of this energy resource. This study employs Harvey's Structural Time Series Modelling Method (STSM) with the underlying energy demand trend (UEDT) concept for determining the relations among income, price and crude oil import demand. The empirical results show that the income and price elasticities of crude oil demand in Turkey are 0.66 and -0.11, respectively. The estimated elasticities suggest that income and price elasticities for the imported crude oil demand are inelastic.
Copyright, compensation, and commons in the music AI industry

Abstract Since 2015 a number of startups has emerged seeking to commercialise music AI. Two types of firm stand out. One markets services directly to consumers, in the form of adaptive music that responds to contextual and/or activity-related cues; another group markets AI-generated music to cultural producers, in the form of algorithmically-generated, royalty-free production music. Initiatives like these have generated debate among legal scholars about notions of copyright and authorship. But until recently discussion has focused on who (or what) should be awarded rights over the products of so-called ‘expressive AI’: Its programmers? Its users? Or the AI itself? Largely overlooked in such debates is the status of another repertoire: not the music put out by an AI, but that which is put into it, the music that constitutes the training set necessary for machine learners to learn. Given the massive datasets mobilised to train machine learners, existing copyright regimes prove inadequate in the face of the questions of distributive justice that such commercial systems raise. Specifically, commercial practices premised on the extraction of value from a special kind of common-pool resource – the shared knowledge of a given music community – demand remedies grounded not in the methodological individualism of copyright law, but commons-based responses instead. As such, the article sketches a couple of alternative models (levy-based trust funds, ownership funds) that could provide a more equitable institutional and economic framework for sustaining the musical commons.
Selection on individuals of introduced species starts before the actual introduction

Biological invasion is a global problem with large negative impacts on ecosystems and human societies. When a species is introduced, individuals will first have to pass through the invasion stages of uptake and transport, before actual introduction in a non‐native range. Selection is predicted to act during these earliest stages of biological invasion, potentially influencing the invasiveness and/or impact of introduced populations. Despite this potential impact of pre‐introduction selection, empirical tests are virtually lacking. To test the hypothesis of pre‐introduction selection, we followed the fate of individuals during capture, initial acclimation, and captivity in two bird species with several invasive populations originating from the international trade in wild‐caught pets (the weavers Ploceus melanocephalus and Euplectes afer). We confirm that pre‐introduction selection acts on a wide range of physiological, morphological, behavioral, and demographic traits (incl. sex, age, size of body/brain/bill, bill shape, body mass, corticosterone levels, and escape behavior); these are all traits which likely affect invasion success. Our study thus comprehensively demonstrates the existence of hitherto ignored selection acting before the actual introduction into non‐native ranges. This could ultimately change the composition and functioning of introduced populations, and therefore warrants greater attention. More knowledge on pre‐introduction selection also might provide novel targets for the management of invasive species, if pre‐introduction filters can be adjusted to change the quality and/or quantity of individuals passing through such that invasion probability and/or impacts are reduced.
Scaling Dynamics of Human Diseases and Urbanization in Colombia

Colombia has one of the largest numbers of internally displaced populations in the world and recently entered a period of post-conflict. These socio-political processes and trends have increased the migration of people towards cities and accordingly are affecting the distribution and occurrence of tropical diseases in its urban and peri-urban areas. Studies have suggested that many human phenomena such as urbanization scale according to the size of human populations regardless of cultural context. But other studies show that health epidemics such as malarial and human immunodeficiency virus infections, follow a scale-free distribution in terms of population size and density. We explore these relationships and dynamics in a tropical context using statistical analyses and available geospatial data to identify the scale dynamics between urbanization processes and disease transmission in Colombia. We found that rural populations and certain disease dynamics were described by power-laws that are frequently mentioned in urbanization studies. However, we found that malaria presented higher intensity of infection in human settlements of less than 50,000 individuals, particularly for ethnic indigenous populations. Results indicate that epidemics and urbanization dynamics do indeed follow scales in Colombia; findings that differ from previous epidemiological studies such as those for malarial infection. Additionally, we identified trends showing that malarial infections become endemic in peri-urban areas. Targeting such peri-urban locations and certain demographic groups are key for managing public health issues in the urbanizing tropics.
Design and Development of a Web Based Dynamic Assessment System to Increase Students' Learning Effectiveness

As Bloom (1984) stated that the way to increase students' achievements with one-to-one tutorial support can be the subject of instructional technologies today. In this context, the aim of the study was to design, develop and improve a web-based dynamic assessment system aimed at contributing to mathematics learning of secondary school students. For this purpose, a teaching environment has been designed in which 5th grade students can test themselves independently of time and place through internet technologies to learn mathematics lesson topics. A web-based environment combining the principles of dynamic assessment and gamification has been developed with the dynamic assessment algorithm developed within the scope of the research. The research is structured in accordance with the “Type 1” study features, one of the developmental research types. During the development of the prototype, pilot implementation was carried out with 47 5th grade students. In addition, focus group discussions were held with 12 students using the system. According to the findings obtained, it was concluded that the secondary school students' success scores constantly increase in each achievement, the instructional guidance they receive in each test decreases continuously and they can perform the next assessment tasks without help. The students stated that they were directed to the correct solution by the system while solving the questions they did not know, the instructional guidances for the solution were very helpful, the visual elements (monkey, robot and banana) were interesting, fun and beautiful and they wanted to use this system in other lessons.
Crystal Engineering in Organic Photovoltaic Acceptors: A 3D Network Approach

The power conversion efficiency of organic solar cell (OSC) devices has surpassed 18% rapidly. In order to further promote OSC development, it is necessary to understand the packing information at the atomic level to help develop acceptor systems with superior performance. The packing arrangements and intermolecular interactions of these acceptors in the solid state, observed by single crystal X‐ray crystallography, are often used to design materials with expected physicochemical properties. In this review, the chemical structures of acceptors revealed by single crystal X‐ray crystallography are summarized, and the relationship between structural design, packing arrangement, and device properties is discussed. In addition, the concept of “3D network packing” in acceptor systems is proposed, which offers better charge transfer properties in reported chlorinated, fluorinated, brominated, and trifluoromethylated systems, an understanding of 3D network transport also provides guidance in high‐performance materials design. Finally, some current issues related to single crystal studies in OSCs are discussed, with an emphasis on the significance of developing acceptors by understanding and adjusting the aggregation states and intermolecular interactions of materials by single crystal analysis.
Optimization of A 2-Micron Laser Frequency Stabilization System for a Double-Pulse CO2 Differential Absorption Lidar

A carbon dioxide (CO2) Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) for accurate CO2 concentration measurement requires a frequency locking system to achieve high frequency locking precision and stability. We describe the frequency locking system utilizing Frequency Modulation (FM), Phase Sensitive Detection (PSD), and Proportional Integration Derivative (PID) feedback servo loop, and report the optimization of the sensitivity of the system for the feed back loop based on the characteristics of a variable path-length CO2 gas cell. The CO2 gas cell is characterized with HITRAN database (2004). The method can be applied for any other frequency locking systems referring to gas absorption line.
Revisiting the Role of Hyperparasitism in the Evolution of Virulence

Hyperparasitism denotes the natural phenomenon where a parasite infecting a host is in turn infected by its own parasite. Hyperparasites can shape the dynamics of host-parasite interactions and often have a deleterious impact on pathogens, an important class of parasites, causing a reduction in their virulence and transmission rate. Hyperparasitism thus could be an important tool of biological control. However, host-parasite-hyperparasite systems have so far been outside the mainstream of modeling studies, especially those dealing with eco-evolutionary aspects of species interactions. Here, we theoretically explore the evolution of life-history traits in a generic host-parasite-hyperparasite system, focusing on parasite virulence and the positive impact that hyperparasitism has on the host population. We also explore the coevolution of life-history traits of the parasite and hyperparasite, using adaptive dynamics and quantitative genetics frameworks to identify evolutionarily singular strategies. We find that in the presence of hyperparasites, the evolutionarily optimal pathogen virulence generally shifts toward more virulent strains. However, even in this case the use of hyperparasites in biocontrol could be justified, since overall host mortality decreases. An intriguing possible outcome of the evolution of the hyperparasite can be its evolutionary suicide.
Natural Language Analysis and the Psychology of Verbal Behavior: The Past, Present, and Future States of the Field

Throughout history, scholars and laypeople alike have believed that our words contain subtle clues about what we are like as people, psychologically speaking. However, the ways in which language has been used to infer psychological processes has seen dramatic shifts over time and, with modern computational technologies and digital data sources, we are on the verge of a massive revolution in language analysis research. In this article, we discuss the past and current states of research at the intersection of language analysis and psychology, summarizing the central successes and shortcomings of psychological text analysis to date. We additionally outline and discuss a critical need for language analysis practitioners in the social sciences to expand their view of verbal behavior. Lastly, we discuss the trajectory of interdisciplinary research on language and the challenges of integrating analysis methods across paradigms, recommending promising future directions for the field along the way.
Effect of trans-resveratrol or ubiquinol supplementation on the sperm morphology of CD-1 mice subjected to forced swimming

This study was undertaken to assess the effect of a three-minute forced swimming protocol for 50 days, with and without antioxidant administration on sperm morphology in CD-1 mice. Seventy-five mice were randomly allocated to one of the following five groups: no exercise (control group; CG), swimming without antioxidant administration (EX), swimming with trans-resveratrol administration (EX-Resv), swimming with ubiquinol and excipient administration (Kaneka´s ubiquinol) (EX-Ubiq), and swimming with just only the excipient for Kaneka´s ubiquinol administration (EX-Excp). The EX group showed that 53.03±4.83% of sperm had abnormal morphology, with significant differences with regards to CG (46.47±10.57%) (p<0.05). The number of sperm with abnormal morphology decreased in all groups treated with either antioxidants or with excipient; this was most noticeable in EX-Ubiq (p<0.05). The percentage of midpiece and tail, as well as multiple anomalies were greater in EX than in CG (p<0.05). While both antioxidants, as well as the excipient, decreased midpiece and head anomalies, only trans-resveratrol and ubiquinol had an effect on multiple anomalies. Furthermore, only trans-resveratrol had an effect upon tail anomalies. The imposed exercise caused alterations in CD-1 mice sperm morphology, and antioxidant treatment seems suitable to decrease morphological anomalies. Both trans- resveratrol and ubiquinol were effective in decreasing simple as well as multiple sperm anomalies.
Nanoporous polypyrrole: preparation and hydrogen storage properties

A new nanoporous polypyrrole material with permanent mesopores on the surface, internal pores, and pockets with sponge‐like structures has been developed. The nanoporous polypyrrole was prepared as a material for hydrogen storage using a simple, environmentally friendly, and newly developed ‘solid‐state vapor‐phase polymerization’ method. The direct use of the solid powder of oxidant in the new preparation method is responsible for the pore formation mechanism, and preparation method also controls the pore diameter of the prepared nanoporous conducting polymer. The effect of reaction time on the pore volume and hydrogen storage capacity was investigated, and it was found that the hydrogen storage capacity and the mesopore volume decreased based on an increase in reaction time. The prepared nanoporous polypyrrole materials have been observed to reach a maximum reversible hydrogen adsorption capacity of 2.2 wt. % at 77 K. The average isosteric heat of adsorption of the obtained polypyrrole was 7.51 kJ/mol, which is larger than that reported for most metal‐organic frameworks, porous carbon, and hypercross‐linked polystyrenes. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
On a model for the temporal oscillations in the Belousov‐Zhabotinsky reaction

The detailed chemical mechanism for the temporal oscillations in the Belousov‐Zhabotinsky reaction, which was suggested by Field, Koros, and Noyes [J. Am. Chem. Soc. 94, 8649 (1972)], has been reconsidered by Field and Noyes [J. Chem. Phys. 60, 1877(1974)], who suggest a simplified five step scheme to explain the chemical behavior that is observed. Their reaction equations are discussed here, and a method for finding bounds for closed stable trajectories in the phase space of the dimensionless concentrations of the HBrO2, Br−, and Ce(IV) is given. Simple bounds are obtained and compared with the numerical solution found by Field and Noyes. The existence of such bounds proves that the equations suggested by Field and Noyes are globally stable for large enough disturbances from the steady state and provide necessary conditions for the existence of bounded temporal oscillations.
Dense Decentralized Multi-robot SLAM based on locally consistent TSDF submaps

This article introduces a decentralized multi-robot algorithm for Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM) inspired from previous work on collaborative mapping [1]. This method makes robots jointly build and exchange i) a collection of 3D dense locally consistent submaps, based on a Truncated Signed Distance Field (TSDF) representation of the environment, and ii) a pose-graph representation which encodes the relative pose constraints between the TSDF submaps and the trajectory keyframes, derived from the odometry, inter-robot observations and loop closures. Such loop closures are spotted by aligning and fusing the TSDF submaps. The performances of this method have been evaluated on multi-robot scenarios built from the EuRoC dataset [2].
Effect of bicarbonate concentration on corrosion of high strength steel

This research evaluates the passivation process, in relation to the anodic and cathodic reactions, in deoxygenated solutions of different bicarbonate concentrations. Two types of API-X100 steel microstructures were examined. They are similar to near fusion heat affected zones (HAZs) which were produced by special thermal cycles. By monitoring the open circuit potentials, the passivation process exhibited electrochemical signs that it forms faster with higher bicarbonate concentration. During cyclic voltammetry, bicarbonate in concentrations less than 0·1M impedes the passivation, by catalysing the anodic dissolution. In higher concentrations, bicarbonate seemed more protective in facilitating the development of thicker passive films, from an electrochemical perspective that encourages corresponding physicochemical investigations in the future. The transpassivation seemed to depend more on the chemistry of the passive film than on the formation of FeCO3. Cooling down the HAZs at high rates could make them more corrosion resistant, but probably of less protective corrosion products.