Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On the herpetofauna of the East Anatolian Province of Bitlis (Turkey) (Amphibia; Reptilia)

Based on their field studies and data from the literature, the authors identified 36 amphibian and reptile species occurring in the East Anatolian Province of Bitlis (Turkey). The record localities and habitat types are specified and the authors’ observations regarding the major factors threatening the species are addressed. in total, the presence of four anuran, two urodelan, two chelonian, 15 lizard and 13 snake species was verified. Hyla savignyi Audouin, 1827, Heremites vittatus (oliviEr, 1804), Timon kurdistanicus (SuChoW, 1936) and Eirenis thospitis SChMidTlEr & lAnzA, 1990, represent first records for the Bitlis Province.
The impact of a vocational counseling based substance abuse intensive outpatient program upon work and well-being: A pilot study

Even though recovery from Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) involves changes among a number of life domains services have traditionally focused on abstinence from substances. Cursory attention is placed on holistic treatment approaches for persons with SUDs such as vocational counseling services to address employment related concerns. In response to this need the purpose of this study was to explore the influence of an innovative treatment approach for individuals with SUDs. Specifically an exploration of the impact of an innovative intervention that prepares consumers in SUD treatment for gainful employment for the purpose of improving work and well-being outcomes was conducted. Participants were consumers who received services from a Substance Abuse Intensive Outpatient Program at East Carolina University and consented to participate (N = 69). Based on Life-Course theory and previous literature on the interplay of employment and the treatment of SUDs the following research questions and hypotheses were generated. Research question 1 explored the impact of consumer demographic factors on SAIOP participation. Research question 2 explored the impact of SAIOP participation on work and well-being outcomes and was tested through the following five hypotheses: (1) The longer the SAIOP participation the more likely the participants were to be employed full- or part-time; (2 - 5) As participants' SAIOP participation increased the severity of their employment issue alcohol use drug use and psychiatric issue problem severity would decrease. For research question 1 results revealed one significant association where consumers with no high school education had more participation hours in job readiness training than those with a high school degree or GED. For research question 2 the results revealed support for hypothesis 1 that longer hours of participation was associated with an increased likelihood of employment and hypothesis 4 that longer hours of participation was associated with a decrease in drug use problem severity. The results did not show support for hypotheses 2 3 or 5. The results demonstrate the interplay between work and treatment for SUDs. Further this study shows support re-conceptualizing SUDs treatment delivery to include a more life-course holistic approach. Thus this study has implications for rehabilitation counselors and administrators.
Determination of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in patients with colorectal cancer (Institutional series)

Summary EGFR is involved in the epidermal growth factors pathway that regulates cellular processes and is associated with the development of many types of cancer including colorectal cancer. EGFR-targeted could be an alternative option to improve clinical outcome in tumors with EGFR expression. This study aimed to examine the expression of EGFR and its prognostic value of EGFR in colorectal cancer. We investigated surgically resected tissue specimens of 99 colorectal cancer tissues for expression of EGFR by immunohistochemistry staining (IHC). Medical records were reviewed to set clinical information. Results: EGFR expression were detected in 34 (34.3%) patients of 99 patients with colorectal cancer. Neither age nor sex was correlated with the presence of EGFR. There was a statistically significant difference in the prevalence of EGFR expression between the early disease group (stage I-II) (25%) and the advanced disease group (stage III-IV) (75%) (p<0.01). A statistically significant relationship was also noted between the presence of EGFR and lymph node status (p=0.03). The presence of EGFR expression was related with higher grade of differentiation (p=0.05). Overexpression of EGFR was associated with high initial serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) concentration (p=0.01), but no correlation between carbohydrate antigen (CA199) and EGFR expression was observed (p=0.25). In addition, patients with EGFR expression had a higher risk for disease recurrence compared with those EGFR negative (p=0.04). However, there was no relationship between EGFR expression and overall survival (p=0.40). Our findings indicate that EGFR expression correlate with histoclinical factors and may assist in predicting disease recurrence in colorectal cancer.
Delivery methods for cardiac rehabilitation : an integrative review

Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of death in the United States. It is estimated that over 800,000 deaths were caused by cardiovascular disease in 2006. Mortality rates have decreased since 2000, but hospital discharges associated with a cardiovascular diagnosis remained relatively constant over that same time frame. Upon discharge cardiac rehabilitation is available for individuals with cardiovascular disease. Cardiac rehabilitation is a medically prescribed program designed to aid in recovery, improve a cardiac patients’ function both physically and psychologically, and prevent further cardiac complication and progression of atherosclerotic processes. However, geographic distribution of cardiac rehabilitation programs can be a barrier for program attendance. In rural areas like Montana, there could be many miles between a patient’s home and a cardiac rehabilitation program. The mean geographic density for cardiac rehabilitation programs in the United States is 1 program per 1282 square miles of land area. These statistics indicate the serious potential of poor access for patients recovering from cardiac interventions in various parts of the United States. Alternative delivery methods for cardiac rehabilitation may be a solution for overcoming the geographic distribution barrier. The purpose of this integrative review was to evaluate the effectiveness of various delivery methods for cardiac rehabilitation programs on thirteen specific variables of interest related to patient outcomes. Databases were searched for empirical literature from January 2000 to August 2011, and all study design types were included in the search for literature. One reviewer selected the 49 studies used in the review, and extracted data using a standardized form. Exercise capacity and quality of life were two variables of interest found to be improved by every delivery method. A variety of delivery methods for cardiac rehabilitation were found to be as effective as centerbased cardiac rehabilitation, and in most studies were significantly more effective than usual care or a control group.
ESTUDO DA DISTRIBUIÇÃO DO TEMPO DE RESIDÊNCIA NO ESCOAMENTO ENTRE COMPARTIMENTOS DE UNIDADE DE FLOTAÇÃO

RESUMO – No presente trabalho, foram determinadas as Distribuições de Tempo de Residência nos segmentos que abarcam o processo de flotação por ar dissolvido: mistura rápida, zona de contato e zona de separação. Foi utilizada a técnica de perturbação-resposta com traçador colorimétrico. O comportamento do escoamento de fluido entre os compartimentos do flotador apresentou-se conforme modelos discutidos em literatura, demonstrando aplicabilidade na específica unidade de processo.
Resposta cronotrópica ao exercício em pacientes com insuficiência renal crônica em programa de hemodiálise

Background. Decreased heart rate variability (HRV) at rest and decreased chronotropic response at exercise are independent predictor of death in various populations, including end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. Exercise training increases HRV in healthy persons and in cardiac patients. There is a paucity of information about its effect in-patients on haemodialysis (HD). Methods. We prospectively studied 24 patients (aged 46,2±15,2y) whom underwent symptom-limited metabolic treadmill stress test. Chronotropic response was recorded and Chronotropic Index (CI) was calculated. Ambulatory electrocardiogram was recorded for 24 hours to evaluate heart rate variability and cardiac autonomic modulation. Patients were again evaluated after an exercise training program during 10 months. Results. Exercise training was associated with a significant improvement in fitness level, as assessed by maximal oxygen consumption (by19 %; p < 0.001) (20.3 to 24.3 ml kg min). CI also increased significantly (by 13%; p<0.05). Heart rate (HR) peak increased by 5% after training, but HR recovery that was significantly lesser than healthy controls did not change after training. We find a significant correlation (r=0.51, p < 0.05) between CI and VO2 and CI and low frequency band (LF) (r=0.61, p < 0.01) at baseline evaluation without changing after training. We find no changing on HRV measures after exercise training. Conclusions. Exercise training is associated with improvement in fitness level, improvement on chronotropic response at exercise without any significantly changing on HRV measures.
Performance Evaluation of MIMO in Urban Microcell for Dhaka City at 28 GHz Frequency

5th generation cellular network is the upcoming revolution in the cellular communication world. It tends to operate in millimeter wave frequency to provide the throughput requirements of the next generation. The 28 GHz frequency band is a significant candidate for mm Wave communication with more than 3 GHz of potential bandwidth. Direct communication between wireless transmitter and receiver is established by line of sight (LOS) communication, and several types of wireless and radio transmissions depend on it. But in the random transmission of wireless signals, interruptions are made by different types of obstacles which are responsible for creating non-line of sight scenarios. A proper selection of a number of antenna elements in 28 GHz frequency in NLOS and LOS environment and their performance by analysing different channel parameters in urban microcell scenario for Dhaka city is presented in this work. The analysed parameters for this research work include an angle of arrival (AoA) and angle of departure (AoD) for azimuth and elevation angle, time delay profile, RMS delay spread, path loss exponent for both LOS and NLOS environment.
Creating Effective Paraprofessional Support in the Inclusive Art Classroom

^ ^ ^ araprofessionals are among the 650,000 J (U.S. Department of Education, 2007) people supervised by certified professionals who support students with disabilities as determined by a student's Individual Education Plan (iEP). Other terms to describe this position may include "aide," "assistant," or "associate," among others (Ashbaker & Morgan, 2001 ;Pickett, 1989). The number of paraprofessionals present in classrooms has increased over the past 10 years (French, 2003; Giangreco & Broer, 2005). While there is a growing body of literature that examines the role of paraprofessionals in the general classroom (Broer, Doyle, & Giangreco, 2005), there is little information about the role of the paraprofessional in the art classroom and the types of support offered. Fortunately, inclusive education is becoming more prominent in schools. With this increase in inclusion, new challenges are being posed to the art teacher. Currently, there are over 5.5 million students with identified disabilities in schools (U.S. Deptartment of Education, 2008) many of whom are attending art classes (Guay, 1994; Reynolds, 1990). A related challenge in the field of art education is that along with these students, often come paraprofessionals (Broer, Doyle, & Giangreco, 2005; Pickett & Gerlach, 1997) who are designated to act as supports for students with a variety of cognitive and physical disabilities. What are art educators to do with these potential supporters of art education? How can art educators best utilize paraprofessionals in the art room? We use observational case study (Bogden & Biklen, 1992) data from five middle and five high school art classrooms and interview data from ten art teachers and five paraprofessionals to describe the types of paraprofessional supports provided in these classes. (To protect the anonymity of these professionals, pseudonyms are used throughout this work.) This information, along with relevant literature, is used to examine the ways that art educators can best utilize paraprofessionals to most effectively support the participation of students with disabilities. We found several key components to the most effective support in the art classroom. These included: (1) respect and value for paraprofessionals and students; (2) providing access to materials, instruction, and peers; (3) improving communication; and (4) fading paraprofessional support. This article is organized around each of these themes.
Scalable Spectral Clustering for Overlapping Community Detection in Large-Scale Networks

While the majority of methods for community detection produce disjoint communities of nodes, most real-world networks naturally involve overlapping communities. In this paper, a scalable method for the detection of overlapping communities in large networks is proposed. The method is based on an extension of the notion of normalized cut to cope with overlapping communities. A spectral clustering algorithm is formulated to solve the related cut minimization problem. When available, the algorithm may take into account prior information about the likelihood for each node to belong to several communities. This information can either be extracted from the available metadata or from node centrality measures. We also introduce a hierarchical version of the algorithm to automatically detect the number of communities. In addition, a new benchmark model extending the stochastic blockmodel for graphs with overlapping communities is formulated. Our experiments show that the proposed spectral method outperforms the state-of-the-art algorithms in terms of computational complexity and accuracy on our benchmark graph model and on five real-world networks, including a lexical network and large-scale social networks. The scalability of the proposed algorithm is also demonstrated on large synthetic graphs with millions of nodes and edges.
The Finite Element Analysis and Optimization of a Circumcision Device for HIV Prevention in Sub-Saharan Africa

Millions of people around the world are affected by HIV. Studies have demonstrated that the circumcision of heterosexual males leads to an approximate 60% reduction in the potential for the contraction of the virus from a female partner. Current surgical circumcision techniques are not feasible on the required scale in remote settings. An innovative solution is needed. The goal of this project is to develop a safe and effective device for large-scale circumcision efforts in remote regions of sub-Saharan Africa. This thesis will focus specifically on the analysis and optimization of the device. A full scale finite element analysis of the design has been conducted, and all performance requirements were satisfied. The optimization ensures that the design minimizes material use while maintaining performance. The device has the potential to be a useful, necessary tool for HIV prevention in sub-Saharan Africa.
Aprendizado de Máquina nos Jogos para Medicina: Uma Revisão Sistemática

Este trabalho apresenta a condução de uma Revisão Sistemática da Literatura sobre o Aprendizado de Máquina em Jogos para medicina realizada em 4 fontes de pesquisa internacionais nos últimos 10 anos, cujo objetivo é identificar o estado da arte do aprendizado de máquina nos jogos para medi- cina. Como resultado da Revisão Sistemática apresentada neste trabalho, fo- ram analisados 1040 trabalhos, e desse total, 40 foram pré-selecionados e 12 foram selecionados para extração de dados. Entre os trabalhos selecionados, foi possı́vel elencar várias técnicas de aprendizado de máquina, tipos de apren- dizado, áreas da saúde e jogos utilizados na atualidade.
Combining Pose-Invariant Kinematic Features and Object Context Features for RGB-D Action Recognition

Action recognition using RGB-D cameras is a popular research topic. Recognising actions in a pose-invariant manner is very challenging due to view changes, posture changes and huge intra-class variations. This study aims to propose a novel pose-invariant action recognition framework based on kinematic features and object context features. Using RGB, depth and skeletal joints, the proposed framework extracts a novel set of pose-invariant motion kinematic features based on 3D scene flow and captures the motion of body parts with respect to the body. The obtained features are converted to a human body centric space that allows partial viewinvariant recognition of actions. The proposed pose-invariant kinematic features are extracted for both foreground (RGB and depth) and skeleton joints and separate classifiers are trained. Bordacount based classifier decision fusion is employed to obtain an action recognition result. For capturing object context features, a convolutional neural network (CNN) classifier is proposed to identify the involved objects. The proposed context features also include temporal information on object interaction and help in obtaining a final action recognition. The proposed framework works even with non-upright human postures and allows simultaneous action recognition for multiple people, which are topics that remain comparatively unresearched. The performance and robustness of the proposed pose-invariant action recognition framework are tested on several benchmark datasets. We also show that the proposed method works in real-time.
Emergence and dissemination of the methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus USA300 clone in Denmark (2000-2005).

The problem of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is increasing worldwide, and the spread of MRSA in the community challenges infection control since it is no longer restricted to hospital settings but involves private homes, places of work and kindergartens [1]. Furthermore, community acquired (CA)-MRSA may circumvent existing hospital infection control, since patients are rarely screened at admission. In the United States, the predominant CA-MRSA is defined by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) as the USA300 (ST8) clone. USA300 primarily causes skin and soft tissue infections (SSTI) in the community [2], but healthcare acquired infections with USA300 are rapidly emerging in the United States [3,4]. Comparison of the Danish collection of MRSA from 1997-2005 with the USA300 reference strain showed that USA300 has been introduced into Denmark on several occasions. Between 2000 and 2005, we identified 44 isolates which in addition to identical pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) pattern shared other molecular characteristics with USA300: spa type t008 or closely related variants, Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) positive and Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome mec (SCCmec) type IVa. The isolates primarily caused SSTI, but cases of invasive infections were also encountered. The number of USA300 has increased several-folds in Denmark from 2003 to 2005 (2, 11 and 28 new cases, respectively) and with the experience from the US in mind, this is of great concern, especially as it is observed in a country with a long reputation for controlling MRSA.
Exploring High Performance Work Practices as Necessary Condition of HR Outcomes

The fundamental concept of High Performance Work Practices (HPWPs) constitutes a notion that there exists a work system of HR practices in an organization that may lead to better organizational performance. HPWPs have a positive impact on both individual level performance and organizational level performance. In this light, this paper tends to explore necessity of HPWPs for organizational level outcomes. Outcome variables are job commitment, job satisfaction and work-life balance. Data are analyzed with the help of Necessary Condition Analysis.
Solution Path Clustering for Fixed-Effects Models in a Latent Variable Context

The main drawback of estimating latent variable models with fixed effects is the direct dependence between the number of free parameters and the number of observations. We propose to apply a well suited penalization technique in order to regularize the parameter estimates. In particular, we promote sparsity based on the pairwise differences of subject-specific parameters, inducing the latter to shrink on each other. This method allows to group statistical units into clusters that are homogeneous with respect to a latent attribute, without the need to specify any distributional assumption, and without adopting random effects. In practice, applying the proposed penalization, the number of free parameters is reduced and the adopted model becomes more parsimonious. The estimation of the fixed effects is based on an algorithm that builds a solution path, in the form of a hierarchical aggregation tree, whose outcome depends on a single tuning parameter. The method is intended to be general, and in principle it can be applied on the likelihood of any latent variable model with fixed effects. We describe in detail its application to the Rasch model, for which we provide a real data example and a simulation study. We then extend the method to the case of a latent variable model for continuous data, where the number of fixed effects to be estimated is higher.
Fine Tuning of Agent-Based Evolutionary Computing

Abstract Evolutionary Multi-agent System introduced by late Krzysztof Cetnarowicz and developed further at the AGH University of Science and Technology became a reliable optimization system, both proven experimentally and theoretically. This paper follows a work of Byrski further testing and analyzing the efficacy of this metaheuristic based on popular, high-dimensional benchmark functions. The contents of this paper will be useful for anybody willing to apply this computing algorithm to continuous and not only optimization.