Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Acute epididymorchitis: a study of the predisposing factors and immediate management outcome in adult men in Irrua, Nigeria

Aim: To assess the immediate (14 days) outcome of management and to determine the predisposing factors (PF) to acute epididymorchitis in this rural community. Materials and methods: This is a retrospective study. All men who were diagnosed as having acute epididymorchitis within the study period of 5 years were included. Those with epididymorchitis secondary to testicular tumors were excluded. Information related to age, HIV infection and other PF, organisms isolated, duration of hospital stay, antibiotic treatment, adjunct treatment, and duration of symptoms before presentation were documented. Immediate outcome was graded as good if symptoms and signs resolved within 2 weeks of treatment or poor if this took more than 2 weeks. Findings were analyzed using simple statistical methods and statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS-17). Results: A total of 58 men met the selection criteria and were included in the study. The risk factors included two (3.4%) prostatitis, 36 (62.1%) bladder outlet obstruction, three (5.2%) trauma/instrumentation, and ten (17.2%) multiple sexual partners. No risk factor was documented in seven (12.1%). One (1.7%) of the men, who also had bladder outlet obstruction, was HIV positive. When age was cross tabulated with risk factors, there was a significant correlation ( P = 0.000) but it had no significant effect on immediate management outcome ( P = 0.442). Immediate outcome was considered good in 40 (69%) and poor in 18 (31%). Independent factors that affected outcome included the duration of symptoms before presentation ( P = 0.000), presenting symptoms ( P = 0.000), and the need for adjunct treatment ( P = 0.018). Ciprofloxacin was the antibiotic used in 57 (98.28%), while cefuroxime was used in one (1.7%). These drugs had no statistically significant correlation with outcome. Conclusion: Many patients with epididymorchitis have PF that need to be treated to avoid its recurrence and complications. It would then mean that the diagnosis “acute epididymorchitis” is incomplete without including the PF. In this study, ciprofloxacin was not uniformly effective (69%) using the aforementioned criteria, indicating the need for prospective studies to identify cost-effective antibiotics.
Using Twitter for tasking remote-sensing data collection and damage assessment: 2013 Boulder flood case study

ABSTRACT A new methodology is introduced that leverages data harvested from social media for tasking the collection of remote-sensing imagery during disasters or emergencies. The images are then fused with multiple sources of contributed data for the damage assessment of transportation infrastructure. The capability is valuable in situations where environmental hazards such as hurricanes or severe weather affect very large areas. During these types of disasters it is paramount to ‘cue’ the collection of remote-sensing images to assess the impact of fast-moving and potentially life-threatening events. The methodology consists of two steps. First, real-time data from Twitter are monitored to prioritize the collection of remote-sensing images for evolving disasters. Commercial satellites are then tasked to collect high-resolution images of these areas. Second, a damage assessment of transportation infrastructure is carried out by fusing the tasked images with contributed data harvested from social media such as Flickr and Twitter, and any additional available data. To demonstrate its feasibility, the proposed methodology is applied and tested on the 2013 Colorado floods with a special emphasis in Boulder County and the cities of Boulder and Longmont.
592: Learning from practice: a model for integrating sustainable design in architectural education

This paper proposes a model for integrating sustainability concerns in architectural education that derives from the analysis of sustainable design in practice. The methodology was based on five case studies of contemporary architectural practices in Europe that are considered to be leaders in the field of sustainable design. A specific non-domestic sustainable building designed by each practice was chosen as an embedded unit of analysis with the intention of mapping its design process from early stages until completion. The data collection strategies included interviews with architects, engineers and clients; as well as compilation of graphic information including drawings and reports; and observations. The findings of this work resulted in a theoretical model of the design process that suggests that the integration of sustainability crosses over intuitive, analytical and social dimensions of the process. The model for integrating sustainable design in architectural education organises attitudes, explicit knowledge, tacit knowledge and skills around these three dimensions, bringing to light the idea that the base stone of the process is commitment to sustainability that is essential to the development of necessary knowledge and skills.
Expectations Formation and the 1990s ERM Crisis

La crisis del Sistema Monetario Europeo aparentemente fue debida a una serie de "shocks" de oferta negativos seguidos de devaluaciones. Este hecho estilizado no parece congruente con los modelos de crisis de "segunda generacion" basados en la hipotesis de expectativas racionales (Racional Expectations Hypothesis, REH). En este articulo, mostramos que adoptando un modelo de aprendizaje racional limitado, se obtiene un compromiso entre el tamano y la persistencia de los "shocks" que conducen a la devaluacion, un resultado que hace que el modelo sea mas claramente aplicable a esos episodios de crisis.
Apoptosis in spermatozoa : a new approach in sperm viability evaluation

Animal reproduction biotechnics are developing day after day. However, almost every applied and studied technology are basicly cellular stressful procedures. Cryopreservation is the most used technic for gamette conservation, although in some species this methodology is not efficiently applied. Apoptosis has been recognized as the one of the major causes of poor post-thaw sperm viability. This review presents new concepts about spermatogenesis and research findings on sperm apoptosis.
Further Progress in Development of a Performance-Based Test of Gaze Control Capability.

Abstract : A performance-based test of gaze capability has been developed using low-cost light-emitting-diode (LED) displays operated under the semi-automated control of a desk top micro-computer. The test is based on the ability of an individual to rapidly shift his gaze over a relatively large angle and precisely identify digits presented in a numeric array for brief, time-varied exposure times. The new test, involving four widely-spaced displays, allows the derivation of performance scores for gaze shifts involving head movements made in the left, right, up, and down directions. The results of three experiments involving Navy and Marine Corps flight candidates as subjects, support the original report findings relative to the heavy influence of exposure time on performance, and most importantly, the wide range of performance capabilities reflected within the study population. This latter point has the potential for operational significance in that the test should distinguish pilots with exceptional gaze capabilities from those with relatively poor gaze performance. Keywords: Vestibular apparatus, Head/eye coordination, Biomedical tests. (aw)
Developing an instrument for self-evaluation of teaching and learning competencies: A review of faculty professional development and the changing higher education landscape in Singapore

This paper forms part of a doctoral study focused on the development and validation of an instrument for the self-evaluation of teaching and learning competencies for the purpose of faculty professional development. The rapid expansion of the higher education sector in Singapore has called for new approaches to university teaching that are adjusted to modern, more student centered, and technologically enabled learning contexts. The changing visions on student learning and the evolution of the teaching role require university teachers to develop themselves professionally on a continuous basis. It is therefore timely to have a taxonomy of teaching and learning competencies that can be used within a professional development model for academics to perform a self-assessment of their current pedagogical knowledge and skill levels as well as to set their learning and development goals. This paper is a systematic literature review of the concepts, theories and contexts involved in competency studies as well as the dynamic changes in the Singapore higher education landscape.
Self-reported sleep latency: pattern, association and predictors among medical residents in India

Background: Sleep latency is one of the key parameters in sleep medicine due to its utility in screening, diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders. The normative values of sleep latency are not well established. The measurement is made objectively using tests such as multiple sleep latency test (MSLT), but even the self-reported sleep latency values are a part of many established measurement scales such as Pittsburg sleep quality index (PSQI). Aim was to assess whether self-reported sleep latencies have any association with excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and whether socio-demographic and sleep variable predictors could be identified for sleep latency. Methods: A cross sectional study was done at a tertiary care teaching hospital with 430 enrolled medical resident doctors as subjects. Pre-validated sleep questionnaire, Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) and sleep hygiene index (SHI) were provided to eligible resident doctors to collect data on socio-demographics, sleep latency and other sleep variables. Results: A total of 350 resident doctors responded (82%). EDS was found in 47.6% of resident doctors. Self-reported sleep latency mean was 13.35 minutes (95% CI 13.88-16.95); 58.5% had sleep latencies of 10 or less minutes and 21.8% had more than 20 minutes. Stepwise linear logistic regression identified seven significant predictors of sleep latency. Conclusions: ESS scores were found to be negatively correlated with sleep latency values. Sleep hygiene, sleep quality and exercise were positive predictors and weekly work hours, ESS scores, liquor consumption and liquor intake within 4 hours of bedtime were negative predictors of sleep latency.
Basic questions in biogeography and the (lack of) simplicity of species distributions: Putting species distribution models in the right place

Biogeographers have tried to explain the geographic patterns of biodiversity for more than two centuries. As early as the 18th Century differences in climate were the first cause invoked to explain why the composition of species and their forms vary in space. The large amount of evidence in favor of a covariation between climatic and biodiversity gradients supports the use of contemporary factors as the main predictor of species distribution ranges. However, although it is clear that current environmental conditions affect species distributions, this ahistorical view may neglect the role played by other processes. Species distributions are also the result of many other factors related with the evolutionary history of the species, their dispersal ability and/or the history of land and climate. The different aspects of this historical view have been also largely studied and acknowledged. Here we discuss how these historical factors can produce spatial patterns of diversity that correlate with contemporary climatic gradients. We review recent advances that synthesize a more complex conceptualization of the factors affecting species distributions, highlighting the differences between potential and realized distributions. We discuss how can non-contemporary factors be partly taken into account in Species Distribution Modelling (SDM) through (i) an informed choice of the extent of the analysis – that restricts it to the areas where no historical processes have limited the range of the species; and (ii) a good choice of the evaluation dataset – that allows to determine the success of the model in describing the particular aspect of the distribution of the species that is being studied. We recommend a thoughtful approach to SDMs, based on a careful design of the analyses that ensures that they are the most adequate to help answering the particular questions of each study.
Power system optimization for industrial facilities using power studies

Industrial facilities can experience continuous load modifications over time. If parameters and settings of system equipment are not adjusted accordingly, operational issues may result throughout the facility. In this paper, it is proposed that power system optimization for industrial facilities can be accomplished by conducting a combination of several power studies. This approach is verified to be effective in reality. A large 50-year old oil field facility is used as a case study to demonstrate this approach.
EFFECTS OF ZEOLITE AND BLOOD FLOUR RATE AS THE SOURCE OF PROTEIN ON RANSOM ON PIG CARCASS QUALITY

The objectives of this research is to know the effects of zeolite and blood flour rate effects as the source of protein on ransom on pig carcass quality. Pig carcass quality is influenced by several factors before and after slaughtering. One of the factors that influences pig carcass before slaughtering is feeding. The right feeding can fulfill the pig needs and increases the pig carcass quality. The average weight of 27 pigs used on this research is 25,59 ± 2,67 kg and the research design is 3´3 complete randomize design which the first factor is zeolite rate (0, 3, and 6%) and second rate is blood flour rate (0, 5, and 10%), so we have nine treatments ransom (R1 to R9) with three repetition on each treatment. The result showed that zeolite rate on ransom did not affect any parameter (P>0,05) and neither the blood flour, except for the loin eye area larger than 10% and without blood flour on ransom with the scores 31,16 ± 4,25; 27,74 ± 3,32, and 29,18 ± 4,85 cm2. The effect of interaction between zeolite rate and blood flour on ransom is very real (P 0,05) on carcass percentage and the thickness of pig carcass back fat. The highest and the lowest slaughter weight and carcass weight is the pig whose have R5 and R4. The highest average of back fat thickness and loin eye area is the pig whose have R8 and R4 is the lowest. The pig whose have R7 and R4 each have the longest and shortest carcass while the highest carcass percentage is the pig whose have R4 and the lowest is R6.
AN OH(1720 MHZ) MASER AND A NONTHERMAL RADIO SOURCE INSGR B2(M): AN SNR–MOLECULAR CLOUD INTERACTION SITE?

Sgr B2 is a well-known star-forming molecular cloud complex in the Galactic center region showing evidence of high energy activity as traced by the Kα neutral Fe i line at 6.4 keV, as well as GeV and TeV γ-ray emission. Here, we present Very Large Array and GMRT observations with respective resolutions of ≈ 3 &farcs; 5 × 1 &farcs; 2 ? > and 25 ″ × 25 ″ ? > and report the detection of an OH(1720 MHz) maser, with no accompanying OH 1665, 1667, and 1612 MHz maser emission. The maser coincides with a 150 MHz nonthermal radio source in Sgr B2(M). This rare class of OH(1720 MHz) masers or the so-called supernova remnant (SNR) masers, with no main line transitions, trace shocked gas and signal the interaction of an expanding SNR with a molecular cloud. We interpret the 150 MHz radio source as either the site of a SNR–molecular gas interaction or a wind–wind collision in a massive binary system. The interaction of the molecular cloud and the nonthermal source enhances the cosmic-ray ionization rate, allows the diffusion of cosmic rays into the cloud, and produces the variable 6.4 keV line, GeV, and TeV γ-ray emission from Sgr B2(M). The cosmic-ray electron interaction with the gas in the Galactic center can not only explain the measured high values of cosmic-ray ionization and heating rates but also contribute to nonthermal bremsstrahlung continuum emission, all of which are consistent with observations.
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) Three Logics for Branching Bisimulation

Three temporal logics are introduced that reduce on labeled transition systems the same identifications as branching blsimulation, a behavioral equivalence that aims at ignoring invisible transitions whale preserving the branching structure of systems. The first logic is an extension of Hennessy–Milner Logic with an “until” operator, The second one E another extension of Hennessy–Milner Logic, which exploits the power of backward modalities. The third loglc is CTL* without the next-time operator. A relevant side-effect of the last characterization is that it sets a bridge between the stateand action-based approaches to the semantics of concurrent systems.
A Review on Role of Active Contour Model in Image Segmentation Applications

: In recent years, Active contours have been widely studied and applied in image analysis. Active contours combine underlying information with high-level prior knowledge to achieve automatic segmentation for complex objects. Their applications include edge detection, segmentation of objects, shape modelling and object boundary tracking. This paper presents the development process of active contour models and describes the classical parametric active contour models, geometric active contour models, and new hybrid active contour models based on curve evolution and energy minimization techniques. It also discusses challenges and applications of active contour models in image segmentation
New evidence of an organic layer on marine aerosols

[1] An extraordinary episode of fine particles (diameter mainly <2.5 μm) occurred in Helsinki, southern Finland, at the end of February 1998. The air masses came from the North Atlantic Ocean and passed over France, Germany, and southern Scandinavia. Particles were collected during the episode as well as before and after it. Uncoated particle samples were adhered to an indium substrate and were studied by a scanning electron microscope (SEM) coupled with an energy dispersive X-ray microanalyzer (EDX). A great proportion of the particles behaved differently than aerosols previously studied by microscopic techniques. The particles (size mainly 0.5–1 μm) did not exhibit solid shape. They were “bubbling” or “pulsating” continually, enlarging in one part and shrinking in another. Some particles were broken down, especially when the beam of the electron microscope was focused on them. EDX analyses showed that the particles contained much carbon together with oxygen, sulfur, and sodium. Ion analyses by ion chromatography revealed high concentrations of sodium, sulfate, nitrate, and ammonium. The particles were identified as marine sea-salt aerosols, which had accumulated anthropogenic emissions and lost chloride during their flow through continental polluted air. The shape fluctuations and the high carbon content observed by SEM/EDX led to the conclusion that the aerosols were enclosed by an organic membrane. Direct insertion probe/mass spectrometry investigations showed remarkable amounts of fragmented aliphatic hydrocarbons, which were considered as an evidence of a lipid membrane on the surface of the particles. The impact of the posited organic film on the properties of sea-salt particles, as well as on Earth's climate, is discussed.
Oracle model selection for nonlinear models based on weighted composite quantile regression accelerated failure time model

In this paper we propose a weighted composite quantile regression (WCQR) estimation approach and study model selection for nonlinear models with a diverging number of parameters. The WCQR is augmented using a data-driven weighting scheme. With the error distribution unspecified, the proposed estimators share robustness from quantile regression and achieve nearly the same efficiency as the oracle maximum likelihood estimator for a variety of error distributions including the normal, mixed-normal, Student's t, Cauchy distributions, etc. Based on the proposed WCQR, we use the adaptive-LASSO and SCAD regularization to simultaneously estimate parameters and select models. Under regularity conditions, we establish asymptotic equivalency of the two model selection methods and show that they perform as well as if the correct submodels are known in advance. We also suggest an algorithm for fast implementation of the proposed methodology. Simulations are conducted to compare different estimators, and an example is used to illustrate their performance.
Portuguese juvenile delinquents: an exploratory study from a sample of institutionalized young offenders

Severe antisocial behaviour in adolescence is a matter of concern in every society, especially when it translates in juvenile delinquency that persists through adulthood. In this study, we asked a sample of 121 institutionalized male juvenile offenders (between 14 and 20 years old) to fill several self-report measures to understand young delinquents and their social and academic conditions, behaviour, and individual dispositions. Results reveal peculiarities on academic achievement, socioeconomic status and family size. Analysis confirmed the role of personality, self-concept, self-control and family environment on antisocial scores, especially psychoticism, neuroticism, social conformity, and family environment. Different behavioural subtypes reflect differences in psychoticism, antisocial behaviour and family environment. However, there were no correlations between antisocial tendency and age, school year or family size. Our paper contributes to existing knowledge that supports intervention approaches, stressing that, unlike age, school year or family size, different types of behaviour may require differentiated interventions.
Real-time Visualization of Abstract Relationships Between Devices by Arjun Ramegowda Narayanswamy

In the near future, the living space of the user will be populated by many intercommunicating devices. We are motivated by the high-level vision of exposing these relationships to the user so that they may be inspected and modified in real-time. We have identified three sub-problems of this vision that we tackle in this thesis. These are (1) the design of a directional device identification system, (2) the design and implementations of a rest-detection system and an (3) evaluation of the tilt-meters of the Mercury backpack. We have established five criteria for evaluating directional identification systems. We propose a new tag system based on the principles of directional query, broadcast response and photo-triggered power tags that meets these criteria. We have also designed and implemented a more robust rest-detection system by augmenting traditional tilt-meter readings with video data. The system is implemented as a library and an API in Linux to facilitates easy integration into applications. A sample application of rest-detection to Cricket beacon estimates is presented. And finally, we have concluded our empirical analysis of the Mercury backpack tilt-meters with the discovery of a set of anomalies that can direct further development and debugging of these devices. Thesis Supervisor: Lawrence Rudolph Title: Principal Scientist
TECHNOLOGY VALUATION DISTRIBUTIONS WITH HETEROGENEOUS ADOPTERS

This paper examines technology benefit allocation between an innovating firm and heterogeneous technology adopters. Using a triangular distribution of adopter innovation value, we find that as the upper bound increases, optimal innovation price increases, but at a slower rate. Similarly, as the lower bound decreases, price decreases and producer benefits increase. Finally, greater producer heterogeneity leads to greater producer benefits from innovation in non-competitive markets. An empirical application of the model is considered, bovine somatotropin adoption on dairy farms. The model generates an intuitive explanation of the common finding that average adopters are making zero or negative profits.