Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Financial Constraints and Small and Medium Enterprises: A Review

We review the literature on financial constraints and the performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). We consider the important role that SMEs play in the economies of Australia and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. We examine the role of financial constraints in SME growth, with emphasis on business cycles and credit access. We discuss issues that SMEs face in accessing financial resources for expansion. We look at the literature that evaluates the impact of financial constraints on key outcomes: employment, productivity and wages. We review key policy debates and consider where government involvement might be appropriate.
Economic Growth, Co2 Emission and the Environmental Kuznets Hypothesis in Kenya; an Ardl Bounds Test Approach to Cointergration

This study investigated the relationship between CO2 emission, energy consumption, population growth, urban population growth, trade openness, gross domestic product and industrial activities in Kenya over the period 1970-2017. Autoregressive distributor lag approach to cointegration was used. The objective of the study was to investigate the relationship between Economic growth, CO2 emission and whether the Environmental Kuznets Hypothesis holds in Kenya. The study was based on secondary time series data which was obtained from the World Development Index (WDI) World Bank database. The study used descriptive and inferential statistics in the data analysis. The results proved that the Environmental Kuznets Hypothesis does not hold in Kenya, and therefore policy makers have to look for cleaner ways to develop the country rather than following the environmentally degrading patterns in which the developed countries followed in the process of developing.
I. Project Title: The Role of Type V Secretion Autotransporters in the Virulence of Xylella fastidiosa II. Principal Investigator:

Overview: An important feature of the Xf infectious cycle is the ability of this pathogen to colonize and interact with the xylem tissue of susceptible plants and with the foregut of insect vectors (Chatterjee et al., 2008). Successful establishment of the infection is dependent on the ability of Xf to acquire essential nutrients, to adhere to the host cell surfaces, and to escape any host defense mechanisms. Comparison of the Xf-PD genome to other bacterial pathogens has resulted in the identification and characterization of a number of genes that are potential virulence factors. Many of these virulence determinants are proteins that are either secreted to the bacterial cell surface or released into the external environment (Dautin and Bernstein, 2007; Henderson et al., 2004). Our work has focused on one category of virulence determinants, AT-1 autotransporters. AT-1 systems are dedicated to the secretion of a single specific polypeptide, the passenger domain, across the outer membrane. Based on genomic analysis, there are six members of the AT-1 autotransporter family in Xf-PD.
Neutrophil responses in infants with acute bronchiolitis

DOI: 10.4328/ACAM.20059 Received: 2019-10-16 Accepted: 2019-11-08 Published Online: 2019-11-25 Printed: 2020-06-01 Ann Clin Anal Med 2020;11(4):277-282 Corresponding Author: Elif Çelik, Adnan Menderes University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, General Pediatrics Unit, Aydın,Turkey. E-mail: gencelif80@yahoo.com GSM: +90 5054785518 Corresponding Author ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/ 0000-0002-0298-4088 Abstract Aim: The role of neutrophils in acute bronchiolitis (AB) remains unclear. The present study aims to evaluate neutrophil counts and to explore its clinical significance in infants with AB. Materials and Methods: The present study included 94 infants with AB and 52 healthy infants. The patient group was divided into two subgroups including Respiratory Syncytial virus (RSV) and Rhinovirus and divided into three bronchiolitis attack subgroups. The complete blood count indexes and correlations between patients and healthy controls were compared and clinical characteristics were analyzed. A p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Neutrophil count and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) were higher (p=0.009 vs. p=0.003) in contrast to lower lymphocyte levels (p=0.028) in infants with AB versus healthy group. The age of hospitalization in Rhinovirus-infected infants was significantly higher than RSV infected infants (p=0.049). NLR level of 1.04 was determined as the predictive cut-off value of longer hospitalization duration in patients with AB. Discussion: Neutrophil count and NLR level were significantly higher and NLR could predict the hospitalization duration in infants with AB.
Comparative Study on Composition and Allelopathic Effect of Volatile Oils Extracted from Two Thymus Species in Egypt

The present investigation aimed to study the state of the art of the chemical composition of the essential oil extracted from wild (Thymus capitatus; TC) and garden thyme (Thymus vulgaris; TV) beside three relevant commercial oils (Yamamah oil = YCO, Captin oil = CCO and Harraz oil = HCO) and to evaluate the possibility of interrelationship between oil characteristics and allelopathic potentiality using growth bioassays of some test species (Citrullus colocynthis L., Lepidium sativum L. and Trigonella foenum-graecum L. The essential oils of TC and TV were obtained in yield of about 2.1 and 1.4% (v/w), on dry weight basis, respectively. The compounds were represented by percentages of about 93.84 and 82.75% respectively. Generally, the oil was grouped into four major classes: hydrocarbon monoterpenes (HM); oxygenated monoterpenes (OM); monoterpene esters (ME) and monoterpene alcohols (MA). On the other hand, the three commercial oils were very poor in almost all of the compounds found in the two thyme species and exhibited extreme minimum values for the counterpart compounds. The allelopathic effects of thyme essential oil were tested in vitro on germination percentage (GP), phytotoxicity (PT) and hypocotyl (HL) and radicle (RL) length of three different recipient (test) species in oil concentrations from 1 to 20 mg/l in a dose-dependent manner. All germination parameters (GP, PT, HL and RL) of the three bioassay species were markedly decreased in progressing from the control to the maximum oil concentration at 20 mg/l and the reduction percentage was prominent for TC and TV, compared with the three commercial oils. The results was summarized in the following order TC >TV >YCO >CCO >HCO.
Determinants of organic manure use to combat soil fertility declining in the semi- arid area of Kibwezi in Kenya

Soil fertility is declining in many areas of sub-Saharan Africa due to various factors of which climate change and the human action. Organic manure is one of the inputs that can be used to address poor soil fertility. This article analyzes the socio-economic factors which influence the use of the organic manure in the semi-arid area of Kibwezi in Kenya. A Logit model is used to isolate the variables affecting the use of the strategy. The results show a correlation between certain socio-economic variables and the use of the organic manure. Socio-economic variables such as matrimonial statute, local technical training, access to the resources, social relations in the village on one hand, and level of education of the heads of households on the other hand, have a significant influence on the probability of organic manure use to the thresholds of 5% and of 10% respectively. The other factors a priori relevant, present in the model, do not have any significant effect on the choice of the strategy. Lastly, to more increase the rate of adoption of this strategy, some strong actions must be implemented by development actors.
Lectin spatial immunolocalization during in vitro capacitation in Tursiops truncatus spermatozoa

Abstract Spermatozoa interactions with the female reproductive tract and oocyte are regulated by surface molecules such as glycocalyx. The capacitation process comprises molecular and structural modifications which increase zona pellucida binding affinity. Lectins allowed us to describe glycocalyx changes during maturation, capacitation and acrosome reaction. This study had as its aim to identify lectin binding patterns using four lectins with different carbohydrate affinity in bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) spermatozoa both before and after in vitro capacitation. Two semen samples from the same dolphin obtained on consecutive days were used, with four different lectin binding patterns becoming visible in both samples before and after capacitation. A highly stained equatorial segment with prolongations at the edges appeared as the most frequent pattern with Wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) in uncapacitated spermatozoa. However, it was homogeneously distributed over the acrosomal region after capacitation. Instead, the use of Peanut agglutinin (PNA) resulted in most spermatozoa showing high labelling in the acrosomal periphery region before capacitation and a homogeneous staining in the acrosomal region within the population of capacitated spermatozoa. Nevertheless, the most representative patterns with Concavalin A (ConA) and Aleuria aurantia agglutinin (AAA) lectins did not change before and after capacitation, labelling the acrosomal region periphery. These findings could contribute to the understanding of the reproductive biology of cetaceans and the improvement of sperm selection techniques.
The ‘resistible’ rise of decentralised bargaining: a cross-country and inter-sectoral comparison

The common thesis that emerges from the national studies in the present volume is that collective bargaining systems and industrial relations have been ‘under stress’ and in transition over the course of the past decade. Although all the studies testify that there has been a – more or less pronounced – move away from traditional structures revolving around national sectoral agreements, along with a redesign of bargaining structures, this has not led to anything clear and de nitive.
Evaluation of Material Data to the Numerical Strain-Life Analysis of the Compressor Blade Subjected to Resonance Vibrations

This paper presents the impact of selecting the fatigue material model on the numerically determined fatigue life of a compressor blade. In the work, the first stage compressor blade of the PZL‐10W turbine engine was used. The research object contained a geometric notch with a known location and shape. In numerical studies, 8 fatigue estimation methods were used in the ε ‐N analysis (based on the Manson‐Coffin‐Basquin model). At the same time, three methods for estimating material constants associated with the cyclic hardening were employed. On the basis of the selected models, 24 sets of fatigue parameters were obtained, which were used in numerical studies. The numerical tests were carried out under resonant conditions with amplitudes of 1.5 and 1.8 mm. The numerical tests were confirmed by the experimental fatigue tests. As a result of the above‐mentioned tests, the impact of selecting the material fatigue model and hardening model on the obtained results was determined and they were referred to the initiation of the crack with the length a = 0.2 mm (achieved during experimental studies). The obtained results will constitute the basis for further fatigue tests.
A Novel Method to Improve Measurement Results of Flame Photometry Using Image Change Detection

The estimation of alkali metals in clinical chemistry has many parameters which can influence the result. A novel method to improve the measurement parameters of the Flame Photometer is presented. The improvement of accuracy and reliability is achieved through image processing Change Detection technique using Wiener Filter. The proposed method can be used in low cost Medical Equipment with improved measurement parameters performance.
Point Placement Algorithms: An Experimental Study

The point location problem is to determine the position of n distinct points on a line, up to translation and reflection by the fewest possible pairwise (adversarial) distance queries. In this paper we report on an experimental study of a number of deterministic point placement algorithms and an incremental randomized algorithm, with the goal of obtaining a greater insight into the practical utility of these algorithms, particularly of the randomized one.
Policy Evaluation and Incomplete Information: Empirical Evidence from Unemployed Job Seekers

Standard empirical policy evaluations usually assum e that the affected individuals are perfectly informed about policy rules (like eligibility condi tions, benefit levels, tax rules etc.) and their implementation. In practice, however, uncertainties about the specifics may be common – due to missing effort by policy makers or individuals to s pread or to collect the relevant information. This study provides quasi-experimental large-scale evide nce on the role of information in shaping the treatment effects of social policy rules. To assess the e impacts we exploit a recent reform in Switzerland on unemployment insurance benefit rules which generated treatment groups who were exposed to different situations of incomplete infor mation. As a reference case -in which individuals are fully informed about the specific rules – we evalua te the effect of a cut of potential benefit duratio n (PBD) from 400 days to 200 days for job seekers bel ow age 25. We compare these reference results with two cases in which job seekers were confronted with exactly the same size of treatment but initia lly were not fully informed about the change. In one ca se they face an update of the expected PBD from 200 to 400, in the other case the opposite. Perfect anticipation would imply that treatment effects in these two cases do not differ from the ones recover ed from the reference case. Preliminary results suggest that they do. The differences are consisten t with patterns of loss aversion or of consumption commitment behavior. JEL codes: J64, J68, H41, D03, D83, D84
Identifying Scientific Breakthroughs by Combining Co-citation Analysis and Citation Context

This study combines two relatively independent approaches to identifying scientific breakthroughs from an analysis of the scientific literature. The first approach focuses on citation network data that is gleaned from the bibliography of scientific documents. The second approach focuses on the text in these documents (especially the text surrounding a reference, the so-called citation context). We have linked these two approaches in order to identify potential scientific breakthroughs within three research communities. The analysis is facilitated by creating a large scale categorization of words and phrases called modalities that scientists use to enhance or diminish the credibility of scientific statements. The rates of occurrence of the modality categories for research communities, papers and sub-regions of those communities are examined to provide indicators for changes in research direction.
Microsurgical treatment of deep arteriovenous malformations--basal ganglia and thalamus.

BACKGROUND Surgery for deep nuclei arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) is controversial after the introduction of stereotactic irradiation and embolization. However, rupture of an AVM in this location can lead to catastrophic parenchymal or intraventricular hemorrhage. Thus, microsurgery still has its place in treatment of such lesions to prevent the untreated AVM bleeding or rebleeding. We present a series of 16 AVMs located in the deep nuclei treated by direct microsurgery before radiosurgery was available in 1993. METHODS We reviewed the clinical and angiographic characteristic of 16 patients with deep-seated AVMs (three in caudate nucleus, three in lentiform nucleus and ten in thalamus). The surgical approach was described separately depending upon the location of the AVMs. The surgical outcomes were classified as excellent (symptoms improved), good (no additional neurological deficit), fair (minor neurological deficit), bad (major neurological deficit) and dead. RESULTS Complete AVM elimination was achieved in 16 patients (100%) in one-stage operation. Eleven patients had excellent or good outcomes, three had fair outcomes and two had bad outcomes. There were no deaths in this series. Two patients had permanent hemiparesis to make a late morbidity rate of 12.5%. CONCLUSIONS With improving microsurgical techniques, neuroimaging and neuroanesthesia, difficult and deeply hidden AVMs can be successfully resected under microsurgery with an acceptably low morbidity and mortality rate.
Smart SMA-based system for fatigue strengthening of cracked metallic bridge connections

In this study, a new retrofit system is proposed to enhance the load-carrying capacity of double-angle connections in aged railway steel bridges. The double-angle connections between the stringers and the cross beams are normally prone to fatigue cracking owing to semirigid (not simple) behavior of the connection. The retrofit system includes activated Fe-SMA strips that pass over the top of the connection. Two Fe-SMA strips of 50 × 1.5 mm (width × thickness) are sandwiched inside the end anchorage systems that are mounted on the top flange of the beams in each side of the connection. The strips are then activated (pre-stressed) to maximum temperature of 260 °C. A new stringer-to-floor beam double-angle connection test setup was specially designed to examine the performance of the proposed system. Initially, a static test was performed on the connection without strengthening system. Therefore, the local and global response of the connection were studied. In the next step, two high cycle fatigue (HCF) tests were performed on the non-strengthened and strengthened connection in a stringer-to floor beam framing in the test setup. It was observed that the fatigue life was enhanced substantially using the activated (i.e. pre-stressed) Fe-SMA strips. The activated Fe-SMA strips reduce tensile stresses (due to the reduction of moment on the connection) in the critical cracked detail in the steel connection, which is beneficial for fatigue life.
Adversarial Attacks and Defenses in Malware Classification: A Survey

As malware continues to grow more sophisticated and more plentiful – traditional signature and heuristics-based defenses no longer cut it. Instead, the industry has recently turned to using machine learning for malicious file detection. The challenge with this approach is that machine learning itself comes with vulnerabilities – and if left unattended presents a new attack surface for attackers to exploit. In this paper we present a survey of research in the area of machine learning-based malware classifiers, the attacks they encounter, and the defensive measures available. We start by reviewing recent advances in malware classification, including the most important works using deep learning. We then discuss in detail the field of adversarial machine learning and conduct an exhaustive review of adversarial attacks and defenses in the field of malware classification.
Stress strength reliability under right truncated exponential and power function strength with normal stress

The problem of estimating strength reliability R = P(Y>X) of a component plays an important role in reliability analysis, where stress X is imposed on a component having strength Y. Stress-strength reliability has been discussed in Birnbaum (1956), Lloyed and Lipow (1962) to the recent work of Rehman, Ullah and Singh (2000) and Srivastava (2005) etc. Usually the studies have been carried out about the evaluation of R. In this article the problem of strength reliability is considered in a different perspective. Instead of finding R for a given set of distributions of stress and strength, we have found the required parametric values of the assumed distributions so that a desired level of strength reliability may be achieved. We assume normal stress with two different strength distributions of a component namely: right truncated exponential distribution and power function distribution. Numerical results under both the cases are derived. We find that for some values of the parameter of the power function strength distribution, normal stress produces higher reliability of a component then the exponential stress considered by Alam and Roohi (2003).
Control of Noise and Background in Scientific CMOS Technology

Scientific CMOS (Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor) camera technology has enabled advancement in many areas of microscopy imaging. However, this technology also poses problems that camera manufacturers need to solve to produce a device capable of accurate quantitative imaging. To achieve this, several features of CMOS sensors have to be understood and then corrected for. In this technical note, we’ll briefly discuss the most important points to consider when producing a scientific CMOS camera.
Smart Devices in Airbnbs: Considering Privacy and Security for both Guests and Hosts

Abstract Consumer smart home devices are becoming increasingly pervasive. As Airbnb hosts deploy smart devices in spaces shared with guests, we seek to understand the security and privacy implications of these devices for both hosts and guests. We conducted a large-scale survey of 82 hosts and 554 guests to explore their current technology practices, their preferences for smart devices and data collection/sharing, and their privacy and security concerns in the context of Airbnbs. We found that guests preferred smart devices, even viewed them as a luxury, but some guests were concerned that smart devices enable excessive monitoring and control, which could lead to repercussions from hosts (e.g., locked thermostat). On average, the views of guests and hosts on data collection in Airbnb were aligned, but for the data types where differences occur, serious privacy violations might happen. For example, 90% of our guest participants did not want to share their Internet history with hosts, but one in five hosts wanted access to that information. Overall, our findings surface tensions between hosts and guests around the use of smart devices and in-home data collection. We synthesize recommendations to address the surfaced tensions and identify broader research challenges.
Recent Advances in Brain Act ivit y Based Biom

Biometric technologies enable mobile devices with secure authentication, which in turn increases public? s exposure to and acceptance of biometric technologies. While users of mobile devices like the convenience of using biometrics for authentication, there is also concern about the potential loss of privacy and the security of stored biometric templates. Below we list the current and future outlooks about the use of biometrics on mobile devices, from two prominent mobile companies, as well as one of the largest credit card companies.
Scalable Large-Scale Classification with Latent Variable Augmentation

One way to parameterize categorical distributions is through the concept of utility. In particular, for each possible value of the outcome k ∈ {1, . ,K}, we define a utility ψk. In a classification scenario, the utility for class k is typically a function of observed features; in discrete choice models, the utility is the baseline preference for choice k. Under this construction, the observed outcome y depends on all the utilities ψk, corrupted by random noise εk, such that