Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Liverpool Respiratory Birth Cohort Study: questionnaire development, recruitment and preliminary results

Background:The Liverpool Respiratory Birth Cohort study (LRBCS) is a prospective, longitudinal population based birth cohort study of respiratory symptoms in preschool children domiciled within Liverpool postcodes L1-L38 at the time of birth. Researchers personally recruit new mothers to the study during their stay at Liverpool Women’s Hospital. The study uses either an online or paper version of the parent-completed Liverpool Respiratory Symptom Questionnaire (LRSQ) to investigate the prevalence of respiratory symptoms, such as coughs, colds and wheezing alongside an exposures and demographics questionnaire. Aims and Objectives: To further develop the concept of the LRBCS; to finalise the content and design of questionnaires and research materials for the study, as well as test the feasibility of conducting the study online. A further aim was to identify the most effective recruitment strategy for the study and then to proceed recruiting mothers to the LRBCS. The final objective was to conduct preliminary analyses of results from the initial questionnaire. Methods: Research students performed two feasibility studies and developed the appearance and content of questionnaires with input from mothers. Expression of interest were obtained from eligible mothers staying onon the postnatal wards at Liverpool Women’s Hospital. Mothers provided full consent and fully enrolled their child when he or she was aged four months. Questionnaires were distributed by automated emails or by post. Returned questionnaires were analysed by descriptive statistical methods. The in internal validity of the LRSQ was assessed by calculating Cronbach’s alpha coefficients to assess internal validity. Results: 1685 expressions of interest were received from eligible mothers between January and June 2014. 177 questionnaires were returned to the research team. There was a 25% participation rate (33% online and 7% postal). Preliminary analysis demonstrated some differences between participants and the general Liverpool population; mothers who respond were older, more educated, more likely to breastfeed and less likely to smoke cigarettes. Children exposed to household cigarette smoke had significantly higher LRSQ scores than those who were not exposed, which indicated that these children have a higher prevalence of respiratory symptoms. Seven out of the eight domains of the LRSQ had acceptable-excellent internal validity.
MNC Strategies and Linkage Effects in Developing Countries

The study addresses the implications MNC strategies have for linkage effects in developing countries. Two contrasting MNC strategies, which reflect an integration-responsiveness dichotomy, are scrutinized in terms of their effects on jobs among local linkage partners in developing countries. It is hypothesized that the investments of MNCs pursuing local responsiveness create more jobs among local linkage partners, but imply less job upgrading, when compared to investments undertaken by MNCs following strategies of global integration. The hypotheses are tested on a sample of Danish MNCs with extensive investments in developing countries.
Soil Quality and Soil Erosion

Preface Foreword List of Contributors Basic Concepts Soil Quality and Food Security: The Global Perspective, R. Lal Determinants of Soil Quality and Health, J.W. Doran, A.J. Jones, M.A. Arshad, and J.E. Gilley Types of Soil Quality Erosion and Soil Chemical Properties, D. Norton, I. Shainberg, L. Cihacek, and J.H. Edwards Impact of Soil Organisms and Organic Matter on Soil Erodibility, D.E. Stott, A.C. Kennedy, and C.A. Cambardella Erosion Impact on Soil Quality and Properties and Model Estimates of Leaching Potential, B. Lowery, G.L. Hart, J.M. Bradford, K-J.S. Kung, and C. Huang Soil Quality Management Effects of Long-Term Cropping on Organic Matter Content of Soils-Implications for Soil Quality, T.E. Fenton, J.R. Brown, and M.J. Mausbach Use of Winter Cover Crops to Conserve Soil and Water Quality in the San Luis Valley of South Central Colorado, J.A. Delago, R.T. Sparks, R.F. Follett, J.L. Sharkoff, and R.R. Riggenbach Soil Quality: Post CRP Changes with Tillage and Cropping, M.J. Lindstrom, T.E. Schumacher, D.C. Reicosky, and D.L. Beck Soil Quality and Environmental Impact of Dryland Residue Management Systems, O.R. Jones, L.M. Southwick, S.J. Smith, and V.L. Hauser Rx for Soil Quality = Long-Term No-Till, B.G. Brook Whole-Soil Knowledge and Management: A Foundation for Soil Quality, R. McCallister and P. Nowak The Effect of Forest Management on Erosion and Soil Productivity, W.J. Elliott, D. Page-Dumroese, and P.R. Robichaud Rangeland Soil Erosion and Soil Quality: Role of Soil Resistance, Resilience, and Disturbance Regime, J.E. Herrick, M.A. Weltz, J.D. Reeder, G.E. Schuman, and J.R. Simanton Soil Erosion and Productivity Relation between Soil Quality and Erosion, R. Lal, D. Mokma, and B. Lowery Erosion Impact on Crop Yield for Selected Soils of Northcentral USA, K.R. Olson, D.L. Mokma, R. Lal, T.E. Schumacher, and M.J. Lindstrom Erosion Impact on Soil Quality in the Tropics, R. Lal Conclusions Applying Soil Quality Concepts for Combating Soil Erosion, R. Lal
Influence de l'initiation de la traduction sur le changement programmé du cadre de lecture en -1 responsable de la synthèse des enzymes du virus de l’immunodéficience humaine de type 1

The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is responsible for the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). HIV-1 develops a resistance towards the inhibitors used to treat infected patients. It is thus important to identify new targets for the development of novel antiretroviral agents. The aim of our work was to better characterize the programmed -1 ribosomal frameshift which generates the precursor of HIV-1 enzymes. The frameshift occurs at a specific sequence of HIV-1 full-length messenger RNA (mRNA), the slippery sequence, and is performed by a minority of the ribosomes translating this mRNA. The frameshift efficiency is controlled by the frameshift stimulatory signal (FSS), an irregular stem-loop located downstream of the slippery sequence. FSS structure is unfolded by every ribosome translating this region and can refold afterwards. We showed that HIV-1 frameshift efficiency is affected by changes in the rate of translation initiation. We transfected Jurkat-T and HEK 293T cells with a bicistronic reporter that contains the frameshift region of HIV-1 between the Renilla luciferase (Rluc) and the firefly luciferase (Fluc) genes. Rluc is produced by all ribosomes translating this reporter whereas only ribosomes that make a –1 frameshift produce Fluc. The translation of the reporter is initiated via a cap-dependant mode, like the majority of cellular mRNAs. We first determined the effect of three inhibitors of translation initiation. We showed that their presence increases the frameshift efficiency. We next determined the impact of the TAR stem-loop, which is located at the 5’end of every HIV-1 mRNA. TAR is known to impair the binding of the small subunit of the ribosome (40S) to the mRNA. TAR also modulates the activity of the double-stranded RNA-dependent protein kinase (PKR). When PKR is activated, it phosphorylates the eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF2), inhibiting translation initiation. The inhibition of PKR has the opposite effect. We studied the effect of TAR on PKR by positioning TAR at a distance of the 5’ end where it cannot interfere with the binding of the 40S. Our results showed that a small amount of TAR, which activates PKR, increases the frameshift efficiency whereas a large amount of TAR, which inhibits PKR, decreases it. A model is presented where the variations of translation initiation modulate
Classificação das amostras do ensaio de Baumann através do processamento digital de imagens.

The method Baumann, or sulphur print as it is also known, is one of the tools used to evaluate the operating conditions of continuous casting machine and quality control of material produced. The internal defects analyzed in sulphur print are traditionally classified manually by comparing sample results with predefined patterns. This paper presents an alternative to the traditional classification of internal defects, making use of digital images of samples generated during Baumann method.
ESPAD report 2003: alcohol and other drug use among students in 35 European countries.

A main purpose of the ESPAD project is to collect comparable data on alcohol, tobacco and drug use among 15–16 year old students in European countries. The studies are conducted as school surveys by researchers in each participating country, during the same period of time and with a common methodology. By adopting this ESPAD format, comprehensive and comparable data on alcohol, tobacco and drug use among European students are produced.
Environmental, Occupational, and Personal Lifestyle Risk Factors for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Case-Control Study

ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease is the most common motor neuron disease (MND) in adults. Male sex and age are the only known risk factors for ALS; however, an environmental etiology for ALS has been supported by epidemiologic studies and is suggested by the gender discrepancy. The objectives of this dissertation are to: 1) explore the relationship between pesticide exposure and risk of ALS through meta-analysis; 2) validate an ALS questionnaire to measure important risk factors in an ALS specific population; 3) examine the association of sociodemographic characteristics, personal risk factors, and occupational and environmental exposures and ALS; and to 4) evaluate the association of hazardous air toxics and risk of ALS by linkage to an existing database. Through this dissertation, a case-control study was conducted of 66 ALS cases and 66 matched controls from 2008-2011 to investigate risk factors for ALS. Existing data from the Environmental Protection Agency National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment was also analyzed in relation to residence of cases and controls. The results showed exposure to pesticides, solvents, and metals may increase the risk of ALS. In conclusion, several environmental and occupational exposures are suggested to play a role in the risk of ALS as well as other neurological diseases. This dissertation is of public health significance as it fills an important gap in ALS research and proposes a new direction of investigation for ALS, that of hazardous air pollutants.
Experimental study on thermophysical properties of HMA during compaction

ABSTRACT The thermal parameters are key parameters for evaluating the temperature field and temperature stress of asphalt pavement. However, due to the restriction of tradition test method, the thermal parameters of asphalt and asphalt mixtures measured by various researchers are quite different. Therefore, it is particularly important to introduce a simple and standard test method for thermal parameters of asphalt mixtures. This research proposed a novel test method to precisely determine the thermal parameters of asphalt mixture during compaction temperature, the effects of different air voids on the thermal diffusivity and parameters were evaluated. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to measure the heat flow curves of asphalt and asphalt mixture, and the calculated and measured specific heat values of the mixture were obtained. Then the corresponding thermal conductivity was calculated from the conversion relationship between thermal parameters. The results indicated that the thermal conductivity converted from the calculated value of specific heat is close to previous studies, but the thermal parameters of the temperature field during the compaction process can be obtained accurately and conveniently. This research provides a new method for the thermal properties evaluation of asphalt and asphalt mixture .
In-situ Online Measurement of Rhombic Distortion in Billets

DD (diagonal-difference) is considered as measure of rhombic distortion, aka Rhomboidity, which is a shape related defect in square cross-section billets. Rhomboidity in billets starts with non-uniform shell solidification in the mold primarily due to inconsistent cooling causing irregular heat transfer. The higher diagonal difference greatly impacts the quality of billets to be rolled at various mills. Rhomboidity at or over 4% leads to billet twisting in the roughing stands of the rolling mill. Currently, billet rhomboidity is measured manually at end of casting operation. The presented work describes an optical, online & real-time image processing based method to determine the rhomboidity induced in each strand and alerts the operator to take corrective actions. The online Rhomboidity Measurement System employs sophisticated image acquisition & processing techniques to determine face contours of the billet with sub-pixel accuracy. The key features of RMS are the construction of a gaussian penalty function for selection of suitable 4-lines combination that precisely fits the billet face and use of a highly efficient and accurate statistical indicator, based on KL-Divergence measure, to estimate the rhomboidity even in presence of partial occlusion of billet face by scales. The expected savings are to the tune of 0.27 Million USD.
Continuous learning for health care workers in Tanzania : Design recommendations for an e-learning system within a health portal

Continuous learning for health care workers in Tanzania - Design recommendations for an e-learning system within a health portal This report describes a Master thesis conducted at the Human-Computer Interaction Department at KTH The Royal Institute of Technology. The project is based on a nine weeks field study in Tanzania during the spring and summer 2013. The field study was conducted as a Minor Field Study (MFS) financed through Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, SIDA and AF. The aim has been to investigate the users interest, needs and expectations on an e-learning system. Specifically designed for the health care workers in Tanzania, to improve and developed their knowledge within their specific work area. The investigation of these questions resulted in design recommendations that can be used as a basis for future development.The users and their expectations and needs of the e-learning system were mapped down through observations, interviews and questionnaires. The user group was positive to an e-learning system and is interested in ICT, Information and communication technology. The most important result from the research is that to get a successful project, the involvement of the users is critical. Otherwise there is a risk that the user will not use the product. Another important result is that the user does not have his or hers own computer or Internet connection, they are dependent on the hospitals devices and connection. At the same time their schedule at the hospital is very tight and it will be a challenge to find time and a place were the health care workers can use the system.This project is a part of a project called the National Health Portal in Tanzania. It is a co-operation between Sweden and Tanzania about information and communication technologies (ICT) in the health care in Tanzania, in order to facilitate the work.Keywords: ICT, user centered design, e-learning, health care, Minor Field Study, Tanzania
Empfehlungen zum Einsatz des klassisch-homöopathischen Behandlungsverfahrens bei der Therapie der akuten katarrhalischen Mastitis des Rindes

The EU-Regulation (No. 2092/91) postulates that homeopathic and phytotherapeutic remedies shall be used in preference to allopathic products chemically synthesised, provided that their therapeutic effect is proven. However, in the literature only few scientific data are available. The objective of a clinical control trial was to examine the effectiveness of the classical homeopathic treatment in the case of bovine clinical mastitis in comparison to the chemotherapeutic treatment and to a control group given a placebo. In the trial only cases of mild or moderate acute clinical mastitis caused by environmental associated pathogens and cases with negative bacteriological result in the milk sample were enclosed. A number of 147 quarters affected with acute clinical mastitis were treated. 56 days after beginning of the treatment, 30.8% of the cows with positive bacteriological status at day 0 given homeopathic treatment were cured in contrast to 4.3% in the placebo-group. The chemotherapeutic treatment resulted in 24.1% cured cases. The differences in healing between the homeopathic and the placebo group were significant (p<0.05), while the difference between the homeopathic and chemotherapeutic therapy regime was not. The results indicate that there is a therapeutic effect of homeopathic treatment in case of mild or moderate clinical mastitis, but the proof of effectiveness is closely related to the inclusion criteria and to the comprehensive procedure of diagnosis.
Resistencias bacterianas y un nuevo antibiótico: la tigeciclina

medades infecciosas y la dificultad, cada vez mas frecuente, de su tratamiento. Esta dificultad se encuentra, sobre todo, en las infecciones causadas por bacterias que han adquirido resistencia a los antibioticos, cuyo numero va en aumento. Para combatir algunas de estas enfermedades nos damos cuenta de que el armamentarium terapeutico es muy reducido. Desde hace anos estamos inmersos en el problema de la resistencia de las bacterias. Esta comenzo pronto, pues a poco de introducirse la penicilina ya se detectaron cepas de Staphylococcus aureus resistentes al nuevo antimicrobiano. La resistencia puede ser natural o adquirida; la adquirida se produce por evolucion vertical (mutaciones espontaneas en el cromosoma que se transmiten a la descendencia) u horizontal (transmision de genes de resistencia por conjugacion, transduccion y transformacion). La rapidez de desarrollo de las bacterias, su concentracion alta en muchos ambientes y los procesos geneticos determinan la posibilidad de adicion de resistencias con facilidad. En la actualidad hay mas de veinte especies bacterianas habituales entre nosotros cuya resistencia tiene un efecto negativo en la salud humana, en terminos de morbilidad, mortalidad y repercusion economica (1-4). Son de especial preocupacion S. aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Enterococcus faecalis y Enterococcus faecium, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa y Acinetobacter baumanii. A poco de disponer de la penicilina ya se detectaron cepas resistentes a esta (5, 6), y ahora lo son mas del 90%. Para combatir esta resistencia se introdujo en 1956 la meticilina (7), pero tambien al poco tiempo de su lanzamiento se detectaron cepas resistentes, que se extendieron de forma rapida por Europa y Estados Unidos (6, 8). En Espana, en el ano 1987 la resistencia era menor del 2% (9), en 1996 llegaba ya al 18% (10) y posteriormente a mas del 25% (11, 12). Para el tratamiento de estas cepas quedo el recurso de los glucopeptidos, pero en 1996 comenzaron a aparecer cepas con sensibilidad intermedia a la vancomicina (VISA o GISA) (13, 14) y a partir de 2002 con resistencia total (VRSA) (15). Algunas de estas cepas ya no son patrimonio exclusivo de las infecciones hospitalarias; tambien lo son de la comunidad (16-20) y se asocian a mayor mortalidad (1). Las primeras resistencias a la penicilina de S. pneumoniae empezaron a detectarse en Sudafrica en el ano 1967 (21-24), pasando a ser desde entonces un problema mundial (25), ya que los genes que la codifican son facilmente difundibles de manera horizontal de unos paises a otros y entre continentes (26). En Espana, las primeras cepas con disRev Esp Quimioterap, Septiembre 2006; Vol. 19 (No 3): 209-219 © 2006 Prous Science, S.A. Sociedad Espanola de Quimioterapia
The selection of optimum water-cement ratio for production of low thermal conductivity cement sand brick with Oil Palm Mesocarp Fibre as admixture

The development of housing construction project in Malaysia has rapidly increasing. However, the development of the projects only focusing on the exterior look without giving consideration on the thermal properties of materials used for building envelopes which may influence to external gain and thermal comfort for the occupants inside. As way to encounter the problem, one of the methods is by passive design which through utilized a low thermal conductivity of brick wall in creating good thermal insulation of the building envelops. This study investigated the characteristics of the cement sand brick (CSB) with incorporated of Oil Palm Mesocarp Fibre (OPMF) as admixture by using different water-cement ratio ranging from 0.45 to 0.65. All bricks were tested for compressive strength, water absorption and thermal conductivity. The result reveals that the higher water-cement ratio increased the compressive strength and water absorption, while decreased in thermal conductivity of bricks. It was found that, by incorporating of 0.65 water-cement ratio enhances the production of low thermal conductivity brick with value of 0.891 W/mºC, compressive strength of 12.4 MPa and water absorption of 1.99% that meets the standard requirement. Foremost, the incorporation of OPMF with water-cement ratio of 0.65 provides alternative solution for energy efficiency and improve the comfort in buildings by improving CSB insulation properties.
Analytical Quantum Model for Germanium Channel Gate-All-Around (GAA) MOSFET

The paper proposes analytical model for Gate-All-Around Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (GAA-MOSFET) for germanium channel including quantum mechanical effects. It is achieved by solving coupled Schrodinger-Poisson’s equation using variational approach. The proposed model takes quantum confinement effects to obtain charge centroid and inversion charge model. By using these models the quantum version of inversion layer capacitance, inversion charge distribution function and Drain current expressions are modelled and the performance evaluation of the developed model is compared with Silicon channel GAA-MOSFET. Analytically modelled expressions are verified by comparing the model with simulation results.
Deliberation and ecological democracy: from citizen to global system

ABSTRACT Ecological democracy confronts a challenge of not only reconciling democracy and ecology, but doing so where human activities and their environmental consequences are increasingly global. Deliberative scholars dealing with these issues emphasise reflexive governance, involving the contestation of discourses, as part of the solution, mostly aimed at high-level institutions and intergovernmental cooperation. However, even at this level democracy demands responsiveness to the citizen. To this end, the paper explores citizen-level deliberation to inform possibilities for ecological democracy writ large, via a growing literature on deliberative governance and polycentrism. Different system levels are connected via ecologically reflexive capacity and the discursive conditions under which it is enhanced, including in small-scale minipublics. This understanding informs mechanisms for ‘scaling up’ deliberative quality to the wider public sphere via regulating the manipulation of public discourse. Minipublic deliberation, properly harnessed, can serve to decontaminate public debate of anti-reflexive strategic arguments and reshape public discourse. Such anti-reflexive strategies seek to shape the public will, specifically by de-emphasising ecology via intuitive arguments that short-cut public reasoning. Acting as discursive regulatory trustees, minipublics can improve reflexivity in the wider system via a nested polycentric approach that discursively connects citizens’ deliberation to the global system both horizontally and vertically.