Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Loop mediated isothermal amplification assay using hydroxy naphthol blue, conventional polymerase chain reaction and real-time PCR in the diagnosis of intraocular tuberculosis

This study is a comparative evaluation (Chi-square test) of a closed tube loop mediated isothermal amplification assay using hydroxy naphthol blue dye (HNB-LAMP), real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and conventional PCR in the diagnosis of intraocular tuberculosis. Considering clinical presentation as the gold standard in 33 patients, the sensitivity of HNB-LAMP assay (75.8%) was higher (not significant, P value 0.2) than conventional PCR (57.6%) and lower than real-time PCR (90.9%). Specificity was 100% by all three methods. No amplification was observed in negative controls (n = 20) by all three methods. The cost of the HNB-LAMP assay was Rs. 500.00 and it does not require thermocycler, therefore, it can be used as an alternative to conventional PCR in resource-poor settings.
Alliances for Knowledge: MOOCs to Create New Professional Skills in a New Model of University (Positive and Negative Aspects)

A generational clash of enormous scope is emerging within our institutions; the criticisms to the university advanced 15 years ago were "waiting ideas'': waiting for the new Web and for a new generation of students able to effectively put in question the old model of university. The university in the globalized and the interconnected knowledge society reached a turning point; we are at a crossroads between stagnation and renewal, between atrophy and renaissance. At present, however, there are very interesting facts going on worldwide; in some prestigious universities a new idea of global education is starting from the bottom; many universities are tearing down their ivory towers and are using the Internet, the most powerful platform in history to make their contents available in the Web. Lately, in the United States as well as in Europe, the “Knowledge Alliances” and the MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are emerging. Unfortunately, The MOOCs show several shortcomings that are linked to their pedagogical-didactic models, to the courses evaluation systems as well as to the organizational models of the virtual structures meant to carry on the educational activities by using the MOOCs. Today we have to make a critical appreciation of the MOOCs in order to put them into a proper historical and cultural setting. Sharing the contents of different universities of the world can certainly represent a significant step towards renewal, however, in the universities, a true change can take place through the establishment of consortia among the various universities of the world and the technological enterprises linked to innovation that cooperate in the joint production of contents in the learning environments of the Internet.
Some factors associated with increased risk of smoking by children.

Summary In 1974 and 1975 over 6000 secondary schoolchildren in an English county answered questionnaires on their smoking behaviour, social activities and attitudes towards various issues. An analysis of the 1974 replies of those children who were present in both years revealed certain factors which were associated with an increased risk of smoking in 1975. The most important factors were the extent of the children's involvement in social activities, the smoking behaviour of their parents, siblings and friends, and their own attitudes and beliefs about smoking. Analysis examining the relationships between these factors further helped to explain the development of smoking among schoolchildren.
Modelo de Proyección para la Oferta de Cupos en el Primer Año de las Carreras de Ingeniería de la Escuela Politécnica Nacional

La institucion encargada de abastecer de estudiantes a las universidades publicas de Ecuador, es la Secretaria Nacional de Educacion Superior, Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacion (SENESCYT), razon por la cual las Universidades deben proyectar la capacidad academica de la institucion para solicitar a la SENESCYT un numero adecuado de estudiantes, de tal manera que se satisfaga de la mejor manera, la relacion entre la oferta de cupos por cada carrera y su promocion desde el Curso de Nivelacion (CN). Actualmente la Escuela Politecnica Nacional no cuenta con una herramienta que permita determinar el numero de estudiantes que deben ingresar, por preferencia de carreras al CN, lo que afecta la planificacion academica de las carreras e impide que estas puedan optimizar su capacidad academica y estructural. En el presente proyecto se desarrollo un modelo que permite, mediante una relacion lineal, obtener la proyeccion del numero de estudiantes que ingresarian a primer semestre en cada carrera considerando indices de aprobacion y perdida de los estudiantes en primera y segunda matricula, oferta de cupos de las carreras de Ingenieria y las caracteristicas propias del CN. Ademas permite determinar el numero de estudiantes, por preferencia de carrera, que la Universidad debe solicitar a la SENESCYT para el CN. Para el caso concreto, correspondiente a la oferta de cupos para el semestre 2017-B, en el que se aplico el modelo, se logro determinar que al solicitar a la SENESCYT 1380 estudiantes para el CN en el semestre 2017-A, se cubrira el 83% de los cupos ofertados por las carreras. La informacion obtenida permite, a las diferentes carreras de Ingenieria, planificar de mejor manera y optimizar sus recursos tanto fisicos como humanos ya que el modelo fue desarrollado considerando la realidad de la Universidad.
The recovery of data flow based on weighted L1/2-regularization

With the popularization of computer and network in recent years, the information degree of daily life is increasing, the demand for information transmission and processing is increasing too. Data flow in the network transmission is very large, it is necessary to propose effective data stream processing method. Compressed sensing can reconstruct the entire signal with cost a small amount of observed data, this significant savings hardware resources and the cost of processing data. Compressed sensing ideas brought great improvements in data stream processing problems. In this paper, we use the latest ideas of compressed sensing to solve the optimization problem of the reconstruction of data streams, and provide adaptive weighted regularization method. The simulation examples show that the proposed method can reconstruct data stream well, and have some superiority on the reconstruction compare with other reconstruction algorithms.
A Coordination Method for Multiple Biomimetic Robotic Fish in Underwater Transport Task

This paper gives a coordination method for multiple biomimetic robotic fish in underwater transport task. Considering the inherent kinematic constraints of the robotic fish, and the unstructured and dynamic characteristics of the water environment, the limit cycle approach is utilized to control the posture of the fish, and realize collision avoidance. To control the transport orientation in the particular underwater environment, fuzzy logic method is adopted. Experimental results performed by three robotic fish validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Neural Correlates of the False Consensus Effect: Evidence for Motivated Projection and Regulatory Restraint

The false consensus effect (FCE), the tendency to project our attitudes and opinions on to others, is a pervasive bias in social reasoning with a range of ramifications for individuals and society. Research in social psychology has suggested that numerous factors (anchoring and adjustment, accessibility, motivated projection, etc.) may contribute to the FCE. In this study, we examine the neural correlates of the FCE and provide evidence that motivated projection plays a significant role. Activity in reward regions (ventromedial pFC and bilateral nucleus accumbens) during consensus estimation was positively associated with bias, whereas activity in right ventrolateral pFC (implicated in emotion regulation) was inversely associated with bias. Activity in reward and regulatory regions accounted for half of the total variation in consensus bias across participants (R2 = .503). This research complements models of the FCE in social psychology, providing a glimpse into the neural mechanisms underlying this important phenomenon.
Enzyme‐Entrapping behaviors in alginate fibers and their papers

Enzyme immobilization in the form of fiber and paper was easily achieved by wet spinning of aqueous admixture of sodium alginate and enzymes into divalent metallic ion solution as a coagulating bath, followed by paper making of resultant shortly cut fibers. Entrapment yields of enzymes used, e.g., glucoamylase, cyclodextrin glucanotransferase, endo‐polygalacturonase, and protease, were always higher in calcium alginate fibers and their papers than those in corresponding beads. It was found that the yields increased with an increase of the discharge rate through the spinning nozzle because the higher discharge rate could provide more highly oriented metal‐chelate linear polymer molecules along the fiber axis for preventing leakage of entrapped enzymes. Divalent metallic ions affected greatly the entrapment of glucoamylase in alginate fibers, the order of which followed roughly the ionotropic series of Thiele. Entrapment of glucoamylase in bicomponent systems comprising alginate and other water‐soluble polymers was also investigated.
Sensory Perceptions of Virgin Olive Oil: New Panel Evaluation Method and the Chemical Compounds Responsible

The stimulation of the human sensory receptors by compounds present in virgin olive oils (VOOs) gives rise to the sensory attributes that describe its particular aroma. The sensor panel evaluation and the molecules responsible for sensory perceptions of virgin olive oil quality are elucidated. The methodology for the evaluation of the sensory characteristics of VOOs is reported, and typical flavours and off-flavours are described. Relationships between chemical compounds and sensory characteristics are evaluated using the new sensory analyses method promoted by the International Olive Oil Council (IOOC) and included recently in EU regulation (Reg. 1348/2013 and following revisions). Oil quality may be defined in a number of ways, but the sensory perception of flavour is the ultimate determinant.
Functional Calcium-sensing Receptors in Rat Fibroblasts Are Required for Activation of SRC Kinase and Mitogen-activated Protein Kinase in Response to Extracellular Calcium*

Changes in the concentration of extracellular calcium can affect the balance between proliferation and differentiation in several cell types, including keratinocytes, breast epithelial cells, and fibroblasts. This report demonstrates that elevation of extracellular calcium stimulates proliferation-associated signaling pathways in rat fibroblasts and implicates calcium-sensing receptors (CaR) as mediators of this response. Rat-1 fibroblasts express CaR mRNA and protein and respond to known agonists of the CaR with increased IP3 production and release of intracellular calcium. Agonists of the CaR can stimulate increased c-SRC kinase activity and increased extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/mitogen-activated protein kinase activity. Both of the increases in SRC activity and mitogen-activated protein kinase activation are blocked in the presence of a nonfunctional mutant of the CaR, R796W. Proliferation of wild-type Rat-1 cells is sensitive to changes in extracellular calcium, but expression of the nonfunctional CaR mutant or inhibition of the calcium-dependent increase in SRC kinase activity block the proliferative response to calcium. These results provide evidence of a novel signal transduction pathway modulating the response of fibroblasts to extracellular calcium and imply that calcium-sensing receptors may play a role in regulating cell growth in response to extracellular calcium, in addition to their well known function in systemic calcium homeostasis.
South Asian Patients With Ischemic Stroke: Intracranial Large Arteries Are the Predominant Site of Disease

Background and Purpose— South Asians are the most prevalent ethnic group in the world. Intracranial disease is the most common vascular lesion worldwide. Methods— We prospectively studied 200 consecutive ethnic South Asian patients with acute ischemic stroke in Singapore. Results— Intracranial large-artery disease was prevalent among 54% of all stroke subtypes and was independently associated with hypertension and higher serum erythrocyte sedimentation rate. Conclusions— Among ethnic South Asian patients with ischemic stroke, intracranial large arteries are the predominant site of disease.
Scheme for (t, n) threshold id-based signature without a trusted dealer

The focus of this paper is to propose an efficient and secure solution dealing with the key escrow problem in ID-based signature schemes, i.e., the Key Generation Manager (KGM) knows the user's private key. In this paper, we describe a new identity-based threshold signature scheme. Partial signatures can be expediently generated by player under the discrete logarithm problem. Any public verifier can check the validity of partial signatures and the threshold signature by verification equations. Through the analysis of security and efficiency of the scheme, we show that our scheme is both unforgeable and (t, n)-robust, and it is more efficient compared with the previous schemes.
Efficient Scene Playback and Evacuation Decision in the Configurable 3D Virtual Emergency Scenes

Virtual simulation has been verified as an important approach to help people coping with emergency evacuation. This study presents the efficient scene playback and evacuation decision methods against emergency in the 3D virtual simulation applications. Firstly, the method of constructing customizable evacuation scene is proposed, which supports dynamic scene management and interactive editing. Then a playback method based on 3D scene is introduced. Thus the evacuation commanders can obtain sufficiently historical scene information of the emergency for scientific decision-making. Finally, one target decision algorithm with improved obstacle avoiding method is applied to realistically describe the virtual agents' behavior. Various simulation experiments verified the easily use of the scene configuration, the higher efficiency of scene playback and crowd evacuation. The influence of scene layout on the evacuation efficiency was also evaluated with some useful suggestions.
Condition‐Based Maintenance with Imperfect Preventive Repairs for a Deteriorating Production System

This paper presents a condition‐based maintenance policy considering aspects of maintenance cost and productivity for a single‐unit deteriorating production system whose condition is periodically monitored. Imperfect preventive maintenance actions, which restore the production system to better than old, are considered with both deterministic and random intervention gains. Moreover, the system is assumed to be repaired only a limited number of times. In order to assess the performance of the proposed maintenance policy, different types of imperfect preventive maintenance cost functions are investigated. A numerical example of a multi‐state production system is finally introduced to illustrate the use and the advantages of the proposed policy. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Comparison of Du Pont Isolator and Roche Septi-Chek for detection of fungemia

The rapid detection of fungemia in hospitalized patients is imperative, particularly for those who are immunocompromised. Our laboratory compared the Roche Septi-Chek with the Du Pont Isolator for the recovery of fungi from blood. Of 23,586 matched pairs of blood cultures, 199 were positive. The Isolator detected 178 (89.4%) and the Septi-Chek detected 119 (59.7%) of all positive isolates. The mean recovery time for the Isolator and Septi-Chek was 2.2 and 4.9 days, respectively. The Isolator detected fungemia earlier than the Septi-Chek did and was the only culture system positive in 83% of 53 patients, whereas the Septi-Chek system yielded the same results in only 13% of the patients. The Isolator provides a more rapid and sensitive method for the recovery of fungi from blood.
Evidence integration in model-based tree search

Significance Recent behavioral research has made rapid progress toward revealing the processes by which we make choices based on judgments of subjective value. A key insight has been that this process unfolds incrementally over time, as we gradually build up evidence in favor of a particular preference. Although the data for this ‟evidence-integration” model are compelling, they derive almost entirely from single-step choices: Would you like chocolate or vanilla ice cream? Decisions in everyday life are typically more complex. In particular, they generally involve choices between sequences of action, with accompanying series of outcomes. We present here results from two experiments, providing the first evidence to our knowledge that the standard integration model of choice can be directly extended to multistep decision making. Research on the dynamics of reward-based, goal-directed decision making has largely focused on simple choice, where participants decide among a set of unitary, mutually exclusive options. Recent work suggests that the deliberation process underlying simple choice can be understood in terms of evidence integration: Noisy evidence in favor of each option accrues over time, until the evidence in favor of one option is significantly greater than the rest. However, real-life decisions often involve not one, but several steps of action, requiring a consideration of cumulative rewards and a sensitivity to recursive decision structure. We present results from two experiments that leveraged techniques previously applied to simple choice to shed light on the deliberation process underlying multistep choice. We interpret the results from these experiments in terms of a new computational model, which extends the evidence accumulation perspective to multiple steps of action.
Modeling the Universal Set/Reset Characteristics of Bipolar RRAM by Field- and Temperature-Driven Filament Growth

Resistive switching memory (RRAM) devices generally rely on the formation/dissolution of conductive filaments through insulating materials, such as metal oxides and chalcogenide glasses. Understanding the mechanisms for filament formation and disruption in resistive switching materials is a critical step toward the development of reliable and controllable RRAM for future-generation storage. In particular, the capability to control the filament resistance and the reset current through the compliance current during filament formation may provide a key signature to clarify the switching mechanism. This paper provides a physically based explanation for the universal resistance switching in bipolar RRAM devices. A numerical model of filament growth based on thermally activated ion migration accounts for the resistance switching characteristics. The same physical picture is extended to numerically model the reset transition. The impact of migration parameters and experimental setup on the set/reset characteristics is discussed through numerical simulations.
Joining Veneers to Ceramic Cores and Dentition with Adhesive Interlayers

Adhesive joining of veneers to cores offers potential simplicity and economy in the fabrication of all-ceramic crowns. We tested the hypothesis that resin-based adhesives can be used for such fabrication without compromising mechanical integrity of the crown structure. A simple test procedure for quantifying this hypothesis was proposed. A model glass veneer layer 1 mm thick (representative of porcelain), adhesively bonded onto a glass-like core substrate (ceramic or dental enamel), was loaded at its top surface with a hard sphere (occlusal force) until a radial crack initiated at the veneer undersurface. The critical loads for fracture, visually observable in the transparent glass, afforded a measure of the predisposition for the adhesive to cause veneer failure in an occlusal overload. Two adhesives were tested, one a commercial epoxy resin and the other a relatively stiff in-house-developed composite. The results confirmed that stiffer adhesives provide higher resistance to failure.
Attitude estimation of an unmanned surface vehicle using MEMS-AHRS and GNSS

This paper presents an attitude estimation method used for navigation of an unmanned surface vehicle. The method utilizes measurements by global navigation satellite system (GNSS) as well as microelectromechanical systems-attitude heading reference system (MEMS-AHRS). Since magnetic field measurement by the MEMS-AHRS is vulnerable to internal and external disturbances, the magnetic field measurement is corrected using GNSS measurement. While some of the previous methods use single axis fiber optic gyro (FOG) for the improvement of the attitude estimation, the proposed method uses GNSS, which is less expensive than single axis FOG. Some of the MEMS-AHRS already includes GNSS, and in that case, use of GNSS is a practical approach. This paper focuses on use of GNSS for improvement of attitude estimation. The method uses Kalman filter approach to incorporate the GNSS data and MEMS-AHRS measurements. The results show improvements over Kalman filter or nonlinear explicit complementary filter (NECF) which uses only MEMS-AHRS.
Protective effects of the lazaroid U-74389G against hyperoxia in rat type II pneumocytes.

The aims of this study were to investigate the effect of hyperoxia on O2(-.), H2O2 and . NO generation and iNOS mRNA levels in rat type II pneumocytes in vitro and the possible protective effect of the lazaroid U-74389G. Rat type II pneumocytes were exposed, 36 h after isolation, to air, 60% or 85% O2 for 48 h. At the beginning of the experiment and 24 h later, the cells were exposed for 30 min to either 30 microM U-74389G or only the vehicle for the lazaroid (control). Exposure to 60% and 85% O2 decreased nitrite production 2.9-fold and 3.9-fold, and increased O2(-.) and H2O2 generation 4.6-fold and 6.7-fold, respectively. In the 85% O2-exposed cells, hyperoxia increased lipid peroxidation (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, TBARS production) 2-fold and iNOS mRNA production 5.4-fold. U-74389G prevented the decrease in nitrite and the rise in O2(-.) and H2O2 production, the increase in TBARS and the rise in iNOS mRNA after hyperoxia. We conclude that exposure of type II pneumocytes in vitro to subtoxic oxygen levels leads to a disturbance in the . NO-O2(-.) balance despite increased iNOS mRNA levels. The lazaroid U-74389G appears to be a useful compound in the protection of hyperoxic lung injury by restoration of this . NO-O2(-.) balance and prevention of TBARS formation.
The Culture of Cooperation : A Social Poverty Trap

This paper presents a model of social capital transmission that can exhibit multiple equilibria. Parents invest effort in building their children’s propensity to cooperate. In a setting in which cooperation yields a higher payoff than defection, cooperative individuals are able to accumulate more wealth. They are able to transmit more of their cooperative attitude to their children, and their dynasty will reach an equilibrium of high wealth. On the other hand, non-cooperative families are resource-constrained and cannot invest sufficiently in the transmission of cooperation. Their dynasties will end up in an equilibrium with low-wealth of equilibrium. In the long-run, the distribution of the population’s social capital converges to a discrete distribution with a high and a low level of cooperation. There is no inter-group mobility and dynasties long-run level of wealth is entirely determined by their initial level of social capital. The long-run distribution of wealth in society depends entirely on the initial distribution of social capital.