Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Blending between bassoon and horn players: an analysis of timbral adjustments during musical performance

Achieving a blended timbre between two instruments is a common aim of orchestration. It relates to the auditory fusion of simultaneous sounds and can be linked to several acoustic factors (e.g., temporal synchrony, harmonicity, spectral relationships). Previous research has left unanswered if and how musicians control these factors during performance to achieve blend. For instance, timbral adjustments could be oriented towards the leading performer. In order to study such adjustments, pairs of one bassoon and one horn player participated in a performance experiment, which involved several musical and acoustical factors. Performances were evaluated through acoustic measures and behavioral ratings, investigating differences across performer roles as leaders or followers, unison or non-unison intervals, and earlier or later segments of performances. In addition, the acoustical influence of performance room and communication impairment were also investigated. Role assignments affected spectral adjustments in that musicians acting as followers adjusted toward a “darker” timbre (i.e., realized by reducing the frequencies of the main formant or spectral centroid). Notably, these adjustments occurred together with slight reductions in sound level, although this was more apparent for horn than bassoon players. Furthermore, coordination seemed more critical in unison performances and also improved over the course of a performance. These findings compare to similar dependencies found concerning how performers coordinate their timing and suggest that performer roles also determine the nature of adjustments necessary to achieve the common aim of a blended timbre.
Exploring the relationship between toxin and spore production in the human enteric pathogen Clostridium difficile

Clostridium difficile is currently the major cause of antibiotic-associated gastrointestinal diseases in adults. This is a Gram-positive bacterium, endospore-forming and an obligate anaerobe that colonizes the gastrointestinal tract. Recent years have seen a rise in C. difficile associated disease (CDAD) cases, associated with more severe disease symptoms, higher rates of morbidity, mortality and recurrence, which were mostly caused due to the emergence of “hypervirulent” strains but also due to changing patterns of antibiotics use. C. difficile produces two potent toxins, TcdA and TcdB, which are the main virulence factors and the responsible for the disease symptoms. These are codified from a Pathogenicity Locus (PaLoc), composed also by the positive regulator, TcdR, the holin-like protein, TcdE, and a negative regulator, TcdC. Besides the toxins, the oxygen-resistant spores are also essential for transmission of the organism through diarrhea; moreover, spores can accumulate in the environment or in the host, which will cause disease recurrence. The expression of the PaLoc genes occurs in vegetative cells, at the end of the exponential growth phase, and in sporulating cells. In this work, we constructed two inframe deletion mutants of tcdR and tcdE. We showed that the positive auto regulation of tcdR is not significant. However, tcdR is always necessary for the expression of the PaLoc genes. A previous work showed that, except tcdC, all the PaLoc genes are expressed in the forespore. Here, we detected TcdA at the spore surface. Furthermore, we showed that the in-frame deletion of tcdE does not affect the accumulation of TcdA in the culture medium or in association with cells or spores. This data was important for us to conclude about the infeccious process: it suggests that the spore may be the vehicle for the delivery of TcdA in early stages of infection, that TcdA may be released during spores germination and that this spore may use the same receptor recognized by TcdA to bind to the colonic mucosa.
PEMANFAATAN DAUN BANDOTAN UNTUK PENINGKATAN PERFORMAN KARKASDAN PENURUNAN JUMLAH KOLONI MIKROBA USUS AYAM BROILER The Ability of Bandotan Leaf Toward Carcass Perfomance and Reduction on Microbial Coloni of Broiler Intestine

This study aimed to examine the effect of leaf extract bandotan to changes in carcass performance and decrease the number of colonies of microbes in the intestines of broilers. This experiment used 45 doc broiler, the treatment is given at the age of 25 days. Tests carried out on three groups, P0 : no bandotan leaf water extract (control); groups P1 and P2 are given water extract of leaves bandotan respectively at doses 1.5 ml and 3 ml for 6 days. The results show the average percentage of carcass 71.8%(P0), 72.3%(P1), 72.1%(P2). Analysis of variance showed that the percentage of carcasses was not significantly different (P>0.05) affected by leaf extract bandotan. While the average percentage of abdominal fat 1.6% (control), 1.5% (P1), 1.4% (P2) the results of the analysis also showed no significant difference due bandotan leaf extract with a P value> 0.05. The average number of Total Plate Count (TPC) of each treatment was 8,3 x 105 CFU / ml (K), 7,6 X 105 CFU / ml (P1), 6,4 x 105 CFU / ml (P2). Although the results of analysis of variance for the TPC showed no significant difference with a P value> 0.05. but from the average rate has a tendency to decrease. this indicates bandotan leaves have the potential to be one of the natural ingredients to replace a chemical raw material.
Enfermedad de Dupuytren

a enfermedad de Dupuytren (ED) es una enfermedad inflamatoria crónica del tejido conectivo, de etiología y patogenia no aclaradas, y de transmisión autosómica dominante. Se trata de una fibromatosis aponeurótica superficial, de tipo nodular, caracterizada por una proliferación incontrolada de fibro-miofibroblastos asociada a un aumento de la producción de factores de crecimiento, con abundante síntesis de matriz fibrilar extracelular. La causa que inicia y perpetúa la proliferación tisular es desconocida, pero diversos estudios han encontrado cambios clínicos, bioquímicos, epidemiológicos y morfológicos. Puede localizarse en diversas partes del organismo, pero la localización más frecuente es en la palma de la mano, en donde afecta a la dermis, a la aponeurosis palmar superficial y a la aponeurosis digital, pudiendo evolucionar hacia un acortamiento longitudinal de sus fibras, lo que ocasiona una flexión irreversible y una impotencia progresiva de los dedos afectos, alterando la función de la mano (Figura 1).
Measuring Word of Mouth's Impact on Theatrical Movie Admissions

Information transmission among consumers (i.e., word of mouth) has received little empirical examination. I offer a technique that can identify and measure the impact of word of mouth, and apply it to data from U.S. theatrical movie admissions. While variables and movie fixed effects comprise the bulk of observed variation, the variance attributable to word of mouth is statistically significant. Results indicate approximately 10% of the variation in consumer expectations of movies can be directly or indirectly attributed to information transmission. Information appears to affect consumer behavior quickly, with the length of a movie's run mattering more than the number of prior admissions.
Soil Chemical Characterization and Fertility Status in Selected Irrigation Schemes in Unguja and Pemba Isles, Zanzibar

A survey was undertaken to assess the soil chemical properties and fertility status in selected irrigation schemes in Unguja and Pemba Isles in October, 2017 during the short rainy seasons. These schemes include Dobi, Kwalempona, Machigini and Ole in Pemba and Bandamaji, Kibonde Mzungu, Koani, Mchangani and Mtwango in Unguja. Soil sampling was done after the soils were grouped into similar pedons following pedogeomorphic approach whereby fifteen and ten mapping units were delineated in Pemba and Unguja respectively. Using zigzag sampling techniques, nineteen composite samples were collected in quadruplicate at a depth of 0 – 30 cm from the delineated pedogeomorphic units at a radius of 20 m around the soil pits. Soil samples were bulked, thoroughly mixed, sub sampled to obtain a representative sample, packed and sent to NSS laboratory for analysis. The results showed significant difference in fertility status in the selected irrigation schemes. The pH was rated as neutral to strongly acid and or very strongly acid. Of the 25 surveyed mapping units (MUs), 47% were rated as medium acid, 26% as strongly acid, 11% as slightly acid and neutral and 5% as very strongly acid. Per cent OC was high in 21%, medium in 63% and low in 16%. In Machigini irrigation scheme, a third of the MUs was rated as having high % OC compared with the two thirds with medium values. Nitrogen was very low in 89% and low in 11% of the surveyed MUs. Whereas that all the surveyed MUs had N below the threshold value (< 2 g kg-1), 84% had low P and 16% has medium levels of available P. CEC values were rated as medium in 32%, high in 16% and very high in 53% of the MUs surveyed. The C:N ratio suggested that SOM was of poor quality in 89% and moderate in 11% of MUs and all the MUs had C/N ratio outside the suggested range. Nutrient balance shows that Ca/Mg ratio in 58% of the MUs was optimal for most crops and 42% was non-optimal. In conclusion, the soil fertility status and overall information from this study could be used in project irrigation design and fertilizer management studies to establish nutrient and drainage requirements for rice and other crops grown in these areas.
COMPARING THE LEGAL RULES (AHKAM-I SHARIAH) IN THE MALIKI AND SHAFII SCHOOLS WITH THE HANAFI SCHOOL OF THOUGHT

This paper is about the legal rules (ahkam-i shariah) in Maliki and Shafi schools, as compared with the Hanafi school of thought (or madhabs). This paper will define certain terms and briefly provide an overview of these schools of law (noting that there are four main Sunni schools of law). It should be noted that ahkam-i shar'iyaa falls within the generic rubric of fiqh. Fiqh deals with putting the Message of Islam into practice and involves both rulings about acts of worship which derive directly from Allah's revelation to His Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in the book or the Sunnah. When the various schools appeared, they did not compel anyone to follow them should an individual not agree with one of their judgments. This paper will also posit that the differences amongst the schools is but an inherent mercy from God.
The effect of charge at the surface of silver nanoparticles on antimicrobial activity against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria: a preliminary study

The bactericidal efficiency of various positively and negatively charged silver nanoparticles has been extensively evaluated in literature, but there is no report on efficacy of neutrally charged silver nanoparticles. The goal of this study is to evaluate the role of electrical charge at the surface of silver nanoparticles on antibacterial activity against a panel of microorganisms. Three different silver nanoparticles were synthesized by different methods, providing three different electrical surface charges (positive, neutral, and negative). The antibacterial activity of these nanoparticles was tested against gram-positive (i.e., Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus mutans, and Streptococcus pyogenes) and gram-negative (i.e., Escherichia coli and Proteus vulgaris) bacteria. Well diffusion and micro-dilution tests were used to evaluate the bactericidal activity of the nanoparticles. According to the obtained results, the positively-charged silver nanoparticles showed the highest bactericidal activity against all microorganisms tested. The negatively charged silver nanoparticles had the least and the neutral nanoparticles had intermediate antibacterial activity. The most resistant bacteria were Proteus vulgaris. We found that the surface charge of the silver nanoparticles was a significant factor affecting bactericidal activity on these surfaces. Although the positively charged nanoparticles showed the highest level of effectiveness against the organisms tested, the neutrally charged particles were also potent against most bacterial species.
Effects of Food Consistencies and Mastication on Bolus Transport and SwallowInitiation in Individuals with Hemispheric Stroke

Mastication and food consistency each affect the passage of food through the oral cavity and pharynx and its coordination with swallow initiation. Since hemispheric stroke may damage cortico-medullary neural pathways, we hypothesized that it could also alter the coordination of eating and swallowing. Using videofluorography, we studied 30 individuals with hemispheric stroke and 27 age-matched controls as they consumed liquid barium, corned beef hash, or a combination of liquid and solid (two-phase) food. We tracked the leading edge of the barium during feeding and at swallow onset in relation to occurrences of laryngeal penetration and aspiration. Compared with asymptomatic controls, the leading edge remained in the hypopharynx before swallowing longer in stroke subjects (P = 0.016) and was lower in the foodway at swallow onset with two-phase food (P = 0.03) and liquid (P = 0.06). Penetration-aspiration scores were significantly higher for liquid and two-phase ingesta when the leading edge was deeper in the pharynx at swallow onset (P = 0.03). These findings suggest that stroke alters the coordination of bolus transport and swallowing, particularly with foods containing a liquid phase. With such an impairment, a bolus may enter the hypopharynx prematurely, thus increasing the risk of aspiration.
Comparison of Feed Efficiency Rankings of Heifers Fed Low and High Energy Dense Diets

Concepts related to energy efficiency in cattle have been the basis for many research projects. Even though differences in individuals have long been recognized, little effort has been focused on the causes of the observed variations. The concept of residual feed intake was first introduced in 1963, and is calculated as the difference between actual feed intake by an animal and its expected feed intake based on body weight and growth rate. Residual feed intakes are phenotypically independent of the production traits used to calculate expected feed intake. Consequently, residual feed intake values can be useful in comparing individuals differing in level of production during a test period. These feed efficiency calculations have been shown to be a more accurate indicator of genetic variation in efficiency because they are independent of production traits. Thus, selection for improved residual feed intake makes it feasible to reduce feed intake without compromising growth performance. Hence, this trait could have great economic value to all segments of the beef industry. Energy density of cattle diets varies substantially and the selection for the ability to efficiently utilize high roughage diets does not guarantee efficient utilization of high grain diets. The objective of this study was to determine if energy density of the diet influences the ranking of cattle within a contemporary group and to determine if residual feed intake is influenced by changes in body composition and diet digestibility. Experimental Procedures
Training Needs for Faculty Members: Towards Achieving Quality of University Education in the Light of Technological Innovations.

The aim of this study was to identify training needs of university faculty members, in order to achieve the desired quality in the light of technological innovations. A list of training needs of faculty members was developed in terms of technological innovations in general, developing skills of faculty members in the use of technological innovations and promoting university faculty members in quality assurance skills. The study followed the descriptive-analytic design in presenting the literature. The data collection was based on a questionnaire developed to assess university faculty members’ needs in four areas, these are: teaching, scientific research, community service and promoting quality assurance procedures. The participants were 135 university faculty members chosen from different Saudi universities. Results were statistically analyzed using SPSS. The results revealed the need for university faculty to be trained in the light of technological innovations. The study recommends a program for training faculty members, to use technological innovations, meet their scientific research needs, university teaching, and community service and meet course requirements in terms of quality standards and performance indicators. Key words: Technological innovations, university education, university faculty members, training needs, quality management, community service, scientific research.
Integrated data-driven model-based approach to condition monitoring of the wind turbine gearbox

Condition monitoring (CM) is considered an effective method to improve the reliability of wind turbines (WTs) and implement cost-effective maintenance. This study presents a single hidden-layer feedforward neural network (SLFN), trained using an extreme learning machine (ELM) algorithm, for CM of WTs. Gradient-based algorithms are commonly used to train SLFNs; however, these algorithms are slow and may become trapped in local optima. The use of an ELM algorithm can dramatically reduce learning time and overcome issues associated with local optima. In this study, the ELM model is optimised using a genetic algorithm. The residual signal obtained by comparing the model and actual output is analysed using the Mahalanobis distance (MD) measure due to its ability to capture correlations among multiple variables. An accumulated MD value, obtained from a range of components, is used to evaluate the health of a gearbox, one of the critical subsystems of a WT. Models have been identified from supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) data obtained from a working wind farm. The results show that the proposed training method is considerably faster than traditional techniques, and the proposed method can efficiently identify faults and the health condition of the gearbox in WTs.
Ethylene-dependent effects on generative organ abscission of Lupinus luteus

The abscission of certain organs from the plant is part of the fulfilment of its developmental programs. The separation process occurs in a specialized abscission zone usually formed at the base of detached organ. The changing level of phytohormones, particularly ethylene, is the element responsible for coordinating anatomical and physiological transformation that accompanies organ abscission. The application of ethylene (ET) on Lupinus luteus stimulates flower abortion. However, the treatment with 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) – direct ET precursor – does not cause such a strong physiological response. In turn, when applied on the pedicels both ET biosynthesis (2-aminoethoxyvinylglycine; AVG) and action (norbornadiene; NBD) inhibitors reversed the stimulatory effect of ET on generative organ separation. In order to determine ET role in the flower abscission process in L. luteus , we identified the sequences coding for synthase ( LlACS ) and oxidase ( LlACO ) of ACC and measured their expression levels. Abscission zone activation is accompanied by a considerable increase both in LlACS and LlACO cDNAs and also ACC content, which is specifically localized in the dividing cells at the base of the flower being detached. Obtained results suggest that ET is a strong stimulator of flower abortion in L. luteus .
Supply Chain Management Integration in Maintenance and Repair Services Sector

The paucity of studies in the field of supply chain management (SCM) focusing on repairing and maintenance operations within the services sector is an undeniable reality. It is important to explore how operations of maintenance and repair services (MRS) are nowadays structured and positioned to understand their contributions to SCM effectiveness. This research explored the integration level between internal functional areas of services organisations and principal business processes of suppliers and customers. The research also identified key barriers faced by SCM practitioners when deploying SCM best practices and models across the repair services providers. The primary data was collected from 89 SCM leaders and managers from organizations working in a Middle-Eastern country through the use of an online survey. The results revealed that there is a good level of internal integration between main business functional areas within MRS operations, e.g. material planning, purchasing, logistics, contracts, finance, and sales, with exception of reverse logistics, an important business function to the effective management of product services supply chain (PSSC). The study also revealed a partial level of external supply chain integration among local PSSCs participants, wherein only three SCM business processes; i.e. suppliers’ relationship management, order fulfilment, and service delivery management, are significantly integrated at interorganizational levels. Other crucial processes of SCM for PSSCs; customer relationship, services demand, services capacity, resources management, product and information flow management, and service product development, were all identified with a medium level of integration among local operations, which prevent local MRS organisation from generating additional values in terms of services and products quality improvement, product lifecycle management, and development of innovative services solutions to the market. The study also revealed that organizational cultures, resources availability, lack of vision and comprehension from top management, and absence of trust and collaboration within SCM participants are the main obstacles associated with the deployment of models and SCM best practices within repairing services operations.
Structured Reverse Mode Automatic Differentiation in Nested Monte Carlo Simulations

In many practical large scale computational problems, the calculation of partial derivatives of the object function f with respect to input parameters are entailed and the dimension of inputs n is much larger the one of outputs m. The use of reverse mode automatic differentiation (AD) is mostly efficient as it computes the gradient in the same amount of runtime as f regardless of the input dimension n. However, it demands excessive memory. To enjoy the runtime efficiency of reverse mode without paying unaffordable memory, structured reverse mode has been proposed and succeeded in several applications. Due to the fundamental difficulty in automatic structure detection, structured reverse mode has not been fully automated. This thesis, instead of trying to solve to structure detection problem for a completely generic piece of code, is devoted to the analysis and implementation of deploying structured reverse mode to a generic class of problems with a known structure, nested Monte Carlo simulations. We reveal the general structure pattern of Monte Carlo simulations in financial applications. Space/time tradeoff on deploying structured reverse mode are discussed in details and numerical experiments using Variable Annuity program are conducted to corroborate the analysis. Significant memory and runtime reductions are observed. We argue such contribution is important as nested Monte Carlo simulations accommodates several large scale computations in financial services that are crucial in practice.