Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Are Frontier Efficiency Methods Adequate to Compare the Efficiency of Water Utilities for Regulatory Purposes?

Frontier efficiency methods have been recurrently used in the water sector to assess the performance of water utilities. These methods are also used for yardstick regulation, with greater efficiency being sought by creating competition between the utilities, which can have an impact on decision-making processes, such as tariff setting. This study analyzes the adequacy and limitations of these methods for regulatory purposes, particularly how they deal with data uncertainty and their capacity to manage large number of variables. In order to achieve this, two representative methods—a nonparametric technique (data envelopment analysis) and an econometric one (stochastic frontier analysis)—are applied to an audited sample of 194 water utilities. Results will show that the results from the methods may not be considered conclusive in the water sector and their application should be carried out with considerable reservations.
Expanding perspectives of soil nitrification to include ammonia‐oxidizing archaea and comammox bacteria

Catalyzed by multiple groups of phylogenetically distinct microorganisms, soil nitrification impacts ground water quality, greenhouse gas emissions, and agricultural practices. This review explores known microbial players involved in nitrification, encompassing aspects of biogeography, phylogenetic diversity, physiology, and activity. We discuss distributions and activities of ammonia-oxidizing archaea and bacteria as they relate to environmental and edaphic factors and highlight a newly discovered role for terrestrial comammox bacteria. Ecological interactions of ammonia oxidizers and nitrite oxidizers are discussed, as are their respective contributions to N 2 O emissions. Given these expanding perspectives of soil nitrification, we underline the importance of combining culture-based methods with metagenomic approaches to help address remaining knowledge gaps.
Social Policy within the Framework of Public Self-Governance - Selected Topics

The article herein discusses selected issues of the effectiveness of public governance model at the Province level of self-governance in regard to providing support services to persons with disabilities. Described herein are tasks for carrying out the policy of social inclusion of persons with disabilities that are the responsibility of the Province self-governance. Also described is the method for carrying out the said tasks and the most frequently used model of public governance. Discussed also are the critical challenges and flaws of the said model of public governance. Presented also are some suggestions for changes in regard to the discussed areas. The aim of the article is to analyze province social policy toward people with disabilities. The article also attempts to evaluate the methods used to implement it. The article is based on the analysis of legal acts regarding the social inclusion policy of persons with disabilities at the level of the province, with particular emphasis on the content of province programs on equal opportunities for people with disabilities and counteracting social exclusion and assistance in the implementation of tasks for the employment of disabled people. When writing an article, the dogmatic method was used in the analytical approach. The article proposes a thesis that the collaborative governance model used to implement the social inclusion policy of disabled people at the province level does not ensure sufficient control over the efficiency of using public funds, and thus does not guarantee the effective implementation of public tasks by non-public entities.
On the Transition Between the Inner and Outer Plasma Sheet in the Earth's Magnetotail

We have statistically studied the average structure and properties of the plasma sheet in the Earth's magnetotail at radial distances between R∼8 and 32 RE on the basis of ion, electron, and magnetic field data from the Geotail spacecraft. Here we discuss the transition between the inner plasma sheet and the outer plasma sheet near the equatorial plane. The ion and electron number densities, pressures, and energy fluxes at high energies, as well as the magnetic field, generally decrease with increasing radial distance from the Earth. The characteristics of the flux changes are reflected in the radial pressure gradients. If the transition between the inner and outer plasma sheet is determined by the radial pressure gradient change, the ion and electron transitions are located, on average, at R∼11 to 13 RE and R∼11 to 17 RE, respectively, at the midnight meridian. It is possible that the ion transition is located earthward of the electron transition. Furthermore, we have estimated the electric field, the electric and diamagnetic drift velocities, and the κ parameter (the square root of the ratio of the minimum curvature radius of the magnetic field line to the maximum gyroradius), which differ between the ion inner and outer plasma sheet.
Prostaglandin Metabolism during Cell Aggregation in the Regenerating Vertebrate Appendage

Prostaglandin metabolism during cell aggregation period was studied in the regenerating tail of the house lizard. On the basis of scanning electron microscopy it was observed that similar kinds of cells in the blastema aggregate to form promuscie aggregate and procartilage aggregate on the 13th day of tail regeneration. In order to understand the prostaglandin metabolism the following parameters were analysed. Fatty acid composition of phospholipids and free fatty acids analysed by gas chromatography. The activity of two rate limiting enzymes‐phosholipase A and C, and the activity of the enzymes which are responsible for the oxygenation of polyunsaturated fatty acids‐lipoxygenase and cycloxygenase were also estimated. The characterization of the endogenous prostaglandins were carried out by high performance liquid chromatography. On the basis of the above investigations, we observed an increase in phospholipase C activity and resultant increase in free arachidonic acid level. High activity of cycloxygenase and presence of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) were also observed PGE2 was reported to stimulate cAMP production and resultant cell differentiation. These observations suggest the involvement of prostaglandin metabolism during cell aggregation period in the regenerating blastema and resultant cytodifferentiation of blastemal cells.
Determination of Pro-BNP and Troponin I Levels for Short-Term Mortality Prediction in Ischemic Stroke Patients Who Did Not Undergo Revascularization

Introduction: Emergency departments (EDs) are the first place to start treatment for most stroke patients. Prognozing patients for planning and proper management of the therapies have an important place in approaching stroke patients. Many studies have been carried out with serum biomarkers especially in terms of prognosis stroke. Our objective, in this study, is to research short-term (14th day) mortality prediction of serum Troponin I (TnI) and pro-brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels. Methods: This was a prospective and observational prognostic test study. All consecutive patients admitted to the ED with the onset of symptoms in the past 24 h and diagnosed with the first episode of acute ischemic stroke were included in the study. A total of 121 subjects were included in the study. On admission, pro-BNP and TnI were collected from all subjects. On the 14th day of admission, patients were checked for mortality. Results: Of 121 patients, 14 (11.5%) had a mortal outcome at the end of the 14th day. The overall median pro-BNP level of all patients was 799.00 pg/ml (IQR: 220.00–2818.25). The median pro-BNP level of the non-survivor group was significantly higher than that of the survivor group (p:0.030). However, there was no significant difference between the TnI levels of the mortality groups. The optimal cutoff value of serum pro-BNP levels as an indicator of mortality on the 14th day was estimated to be 509 pg/ml (sensitivity: 85.7%, specificity: 49.5%, and AUC: 0.68 [95% CI, 0.59–0.769]). Discussion and Conclusion: Various biomarkers are investigated for prediction of mortality in ischemic stroke patient. According to our study, elevated pro-BNP values are associated with mortality. Further study with larger patient cohorts can be studied regarding the relationship between these threshold, in terms of predicting the mortality, in a more comprehensive study, as well as using subgroup and underlying conditions.
Battery Internal Fault Monitoring Based on Anomaly Detection Algorithm

Battery internal faults are one of the major factors causing safety concern, performance degradation, and cost increases. To extend the lifetime of the battery and bring more security in the system, internal fault detection of solar battery is proposed in this paper using an unsupervised machine learning algorithm based on anomaly detection method. The advantages of adopting such a method consist of using unlabeled data that meet the battery case in the difficulty of obtaining the fault data. In contrast, healthy data can easily be obtained from the battery and therefore allows building the anomaly detection algorithm. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated using a simulation platform of a stand-alone photovoltaic system developed in Matlab/Simulink that takes as system input a real profile of irradiance and temperature captured from the Centre de Development des Energies renewable (CDER), Algeria. The test results in real-time data show the ability of the proposed approach to detect the fault occurrence in the battery.
SECL-UMons Database for Sound Event Classification and Localization

We introduce the SECL-UMons dataset for sound event classification and localization in the context of office environments. The multichannel dataset is composed of 11 event classes recorded at several realistic positions in two different rooms. The dataset comprises two types of sequences according to the number of events in the sequence. 2662 unilabel sequences and 2724 multilabel sequences are recorded corresponding to a total of 5.24 hours. The database is publicly available to provide support for algorithm development and common ground for comparison of different techniques. The DCASE 2019 challenge baseline (SELDnet) employing a convolutional recurrent neural network is used to generate benchmark scores for the new dataset. We also slightly modify the model to introduce a benchmark score for real-time classification and localization for the new dataset.
Stable Isotope Ecology

Stable isotope geochemistry has proved to be an extremely useful tool in elucidating many ecological problems, with stable isotope ecology comprising the theme of a series of international conferences (http://www.isoecol.org). Stable isotopes can be used as biological tracers in the following ways: (i) to identify sources, for instance in determining the identity of basal carbon in a food web; (ii) to distinguish sources, for example to determine whether a breeding animal is using local resources or its own reserves; (iii) to quantify relative inputs in a system, for example determining the proportions of different prey items to a consumer's diet. When utilized carefully, stable isotope geochemistry provides some advantages over conventional methods, and provides an additional device for the ecologist. The following article provides a short reference for ecologists considering the inclusion of stable isotope analysis as part of their methodology. Key concepts: Stable isotopes are useful tracers of ecological processes. Carbon stable isotopes are useful for tracing carbon sources and plant physiology. Nitrogen stable isotope ratios in animal tissues are useful indicators of trophic level. Combined carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in animal tissues elucidate food webs and trophic niche. Hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios in animals reflect those of local precipitation. Keywords: stable isotopes; ecology; food webs; diet; migration
Mapping and understanding the diversity of insects in the tropics: past achievements and future directions

We still do not know how many insect species there are in tropical forests. The rate of species description peaked a century ago. Unfortunately, taxonomy ceased to be fashionable before it had completed cataloguing insect diversity. Molecular information combined with web‐based data dissemination promises to shorten the 20 years it takes on average for insect specimens to be described as new species. Our inability to enumerate tropical species has made estimates of their diversity popular. Plant‐based estimates, multiplying the number of plant species by the number of insect species effectively specialized to them, have been used for the past 150 years for global insect diversity estimates and recently also for the first local rainforest diversity estimate of arthropods, at 25 000 species. Why are there so many insect species in tropical forests? Insect diversity may be driven by latitudinal trends in vegetation. The near impossibility of conducting a complete census of complex plant–insect food webs in tropical forests should focus our attention upon the most common species and interactions. Recent studies of trees in Amazonia and herbivores in New Guinea suggest that such reduced food webs may be surprisingly simple and, thus, amenable to study, while still including more than 50% of all plant and insect individuals and their interactions. A pan‐tropical network of plots, modelled on the existing network of forest dynamics plots, and potentially utilizing the existing, but rather poorly used, network of canopy cranes, could provide spatially resolved data on plant–insect food webs. The study of food web dynamics requires experimental manipulation, which can range from exclusion or addition of single species to ecosystem‐wide manipulation of species composition and habitat fragmentation. Recent progress in molecular taxonomy, proliferation of community phylogenies, improved food web census techniques and an increasing focus on experiments promise an exciting time for tropical entomology.
Leakage rate analysis with imperfect channel state information for cooperative nonorthogonal multiple access networks

This paper investigates the imperfect channel state information that is caused by the channel estimation error and feedback delay effects on the leakage rate analysis for the cooperative nonorthogonal multiple access networks. The investigation considers a dual hop one‐/two‐way nonorthogonal multiple access‐based information exchange process with the aid of half‐/full‐duplex untrustworthy wireless relaying network for the leakage rate analysis. The channel estimation error causes system coding gain losses while the feedback delay does not have any effect on the users' outage performance at untrustworthy relay terminal in low signal‐to‐noise ratio regimes. Conversely, the channel estimation error effects become negligible while the feedback delay causes system coding gain losses on the users' outage performance at untrustworthy relay terminal in high signal‐to‐noise ratio. Results also reveal that the untrustworthy relay terminal, which is under the effect of the channel estimation error and feedback delay, is being active between −10 and 25 ‐ 30 dB. Beyond 25 ‐ 30 dB, the untrustworthy relay terminal becomes out of order and saturates. The Monte Carlo–based simulation results are in agreement with the analytical and asymptotic derivations.
Melanoma Cell Factory for Glycolipid Production

Glycolipids are ubiquitous in membranes of biological systems and play crucial roles in cell surface events including cell proliferation, differentiation, transmembrane signaling, cell-cell interactions, cell recognition, motility and cell substrate interactions such as embryogenesis, inflammation and carcinogenesis (Hakomori, 1981; Kolter, 2002; Varki, 1999). Glycolipids, particularly gangliosides, mediate cell adhesion and modulate signal transduction. Gangliosides, cell surface glycolipids with at least one sialic acid residue, are located at the outer cell-surface of plasma membranes (Gervay et al., 1993). They are found predominantly in the nervous system where they constitute about 10% of all phospholipids. Gangliosides have also been detected in the liver of several species of shark, rat kidney, cerebelum of chicken, mouse erythrocytes, human brain and in human melanoma tumors (Li, 2002; Ozawa, 1993; Saito, 1982). Gangliosides are involved in several diseases such as Tay-Sachs disease and Guillan-Barre syndrome. Impaired ganglioside metabolism is also relevant to Alzheimer’s disease. Gangliosides bind specifically to virus such as influenza virus and various toxins such as tetanus, cholera and botulinum (Prichet & Paulson, 1989; Sun, 2000; Suzuki, 1990). Gangliosides are also implicated in skin cancer. Human melanoma cells overexpress ganglioside (Freeze et al., 1993). Normal melanocytes predominantly express GM3 (greater than 90%) and GD3 (less than 5%) (Hoon 1988, 1992). However, malignant melanoma expresses other types of gangliosides including GM2 and GD2. Human melanoma cells express the four major gangliosides (GM3, GD3, GM2 and GD2). Considering the essential roles played by glycolipids in biochemical and cellular processes, development of methods for their rapid and efficient synthesis is necessary. Isolation from natural sources affords glycolipids but with very limited amounts. The conventional chemical synthetic approach gives glycolipids with high purity in good yield. However, the poor stereoselectivity and the multi-step operation involving tedious protection and deprotection schemes are among the many shortcomings. Enzyme synthesis promises high levels of regioselectivity and stereoselectivity but the availability and high cost have to be reckoned with. As part of our continued interest in the synthesis of glycolipids, the saccharide primer strategy was employed as a viable alternative to existing methods (Kasuya, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010a, 2010b, 2010c, 2010d; Sato, 2007). The saccharide primer method using animal cells and amphiphilic glycoside primers such dodecyl αand β-lactoside, 12and 2-azidododecyl
The Italian Validation of the Level of Exposure-Dental Experiences Questionnaire

The aim of this monocentric cross-sectional study was to evaluate the psychometric characteristics of the Italian version of the Level of Exposure-Dental Experiences Questionnaire (LOE-DEQ) in an Italian sample of 253 dental patients ranging from 18–80 years of age. The LOE-DEQ assesses 16 potential dental distressing experiences and 7 general traumatic life events through 4 subscales: (1) dentists’ behaviour and patients’ emotions (DBPE); (2) distressing dental procedures (DDP); (3) other distressing dental events (ODDE); and (4) general traumatic events (GTE). Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the original 4-factor model had adequate fit to the data obtained from the Italian sample. Criterion validity was partially confirmed as only DBPE and DDP positively correlated with dental anxiety. Similarly, convergent validity was also partially confirmed as DBPE, DDP, and ODDE correlated with negative beliefs towards the dentist and the dental treatment. Discriminant validity was fully confirmed, as all correlations were below 0.60. Finally, DDP was the factor most associated with high dental anxiety. This study offers evidence of the reliability and validity of the LOE-DEQ in the Italian context, providing Italian researchers and dentists with a tool to assess dental and general distressing experiences in dental patients.
DELİRYUMUN DEĞERLENDİRİLMESİNDE SIK KULLANILAN ÖLÇÜM ARAÇLARININ İNCELENMESİ

Deliryum; akut baslangicli, mental durumda dalgalanmalar gosteren ve geri donusu olan bir sendromdur. Hastaneye basvuran hastalarin %10-30'unda deliryum gelistigi tahmin edilmektedir. Deliryum; yasli, operasyon sonrasi ve yogun bakim hasta populasyonlarin da siklikla gorulmektedir. Deliryum sonucunda gelisen, uzamis hastane yatis suresi, artmis morbidite, hastane maliyeti ve mortalitenin onune gecilmesi icin ve deliryum semptomlarinin erken donem kontrol altina alinabilmesi icin deliryumun erken tanisi onem kazanmaktadir. Bu durum deliryuma ozel tasarlanmis veya tanilanmasina yardimci araclardan yararlanmak, bu araclarin amac ve islevini bilmek konusunu gundeme getirmektedir. Deliryumu onlemek, tespit etmek, etkili stratejiler belirlemek ve uygulamak adina ilk adim, uygun degerlendirme araci ile hastalari izlemektir. Saglik profesyonellerinin cogu deliryumu goz ardi edebilmekte veya yonetmede zorlanabilmektedir. Bu derleme makalesinde deliryum degerlendirilmesinde sik kullanilan olcme araclarinin amac, islevi ve uygunlugu ozetlenerek saglik profesyonellerine yol gostermesi ve literaturde konu ile ilgili eksikligin giderilerek farkindalik olusturmasi amaclanmaktadir.
Applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning in orthodontics

Over the past two decades, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have undergone considerable development. There have been various applications in medicine and dentistry. Their application in orthodontics has progressed slowly, despite promising results. The available literature pertaining to the orthodontic applications of AI and ML has not been adequately synthesized and reviewed. This review article provides orthodontists with an overview of AI and ML, along with their applications. It describes state-of-the-art applications in the areas of orthodontic diagnosis, treatment planning, growth evaluations, and in the prediction of treatment outcomes. AI and ML are powerful tools that can be utilized to overcome some of the clinical problems that orthodontists face daily. With the availability of more data, better AI and ML systems should be expected to be developed that will help orthodontists practice more efficiently and improve the quality of care.
The influence of nutrient enrichment upon mangrove seedling establishment and growth in the Hawkesbury River Estuary, New South Wales, Australia

The hypothesis that mangrove exclusion from saltmarsh is attributable to nutrient deficiency is experimentally tested on the Hawkesbury River estuary. Survivorship and growth of seedlings of the grey mangrove Avicennia marina were followed for a sixteen month period, in an experiment in which half of all seedlings were treated with a slow-releasing source of phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium. While fertilisation substantially increased growth rate, this occurred in the second summer of growth and fertilisation did not improve the low survivorship of A. Marina at the mangrove-saltmarsh boundary. Fertilisation has no influence on the root/shoot ratio where measured. It is postulated that factors other than nutrient deficiency are primarily responsible for determining the upslope distribution of mangroves in temperate Australian estuaries.