Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Über Sinn und Unsinn betriebswirtschaftlicher Instrumente in der Sozialwirtschaft

Das Sozialleistungsniveau umfasst heute ca. 700 Mrd. €. Damit ist der Umsatz der Sozialwirtschaft höher als in der Automobilbranche. Fast jeder vierte Arbeitnehmer ist im Bereich der Sozialwirtschaft beschäftigt. Die sozialen Sicherungssysteme kosten scheinbar viel, haben aber auch große marktwirtschaftliche Bedeutung. Dies sind die Pole, zwischen denen sich die politischen Diskussionen bewegen. Auf der einen Seite wird der Moloch „Sozialwirtschaft“ beschrieben mit den Konnotationen hohe Lohnnebenkosten, Geldfresser, Wirtschaftszerstörer etc. (Wasel & Barth, 2004). Auf der anderen Seite ist es die Dienstleistungsbranche mit den höchsten Wachstumsraten, großen Beschäftigungsmöglichkeiten und den besten Zukunftsprognosen (Gahl, 2006). Die Bereiche Gesundheit und Soziales haben sich über die letzten Dekaden explosionsartig entwickelt. Betrachtet man sich die Entwicklung des Sozialbudgets über die letzten 40 Jahre, haben sich die Ausgaben nominal von ca. 30 Mrd. Euro auf ca. 700 Mrd. € gesteigert. Dies entspricht einer Steigerung um mehr als das 20-fache in 40 Jahren. Bei allen finanzpolitischen Diskursen wird daher die Einhaltung der Ausgaben im Bereich der sozialen Sicherungssysteme gefordert.
First‐ and second‐order stimulus length selectivity in New World monkey striate cortex

Motion is a powerful cue for figure‐ground segregation, allowing the recognition of shapes even if the luminance and texture characteristics of the stimulus and background are matched. In order to investigate the neural processes underlying early stages of the cue‐invariant processing of form, we compared the responses of neurons in the striate cortex (V1) of anaesthetized marmosets to two types of moving stimuli: bars defined by differences in luminance, and bars defined solely by the coherent motion of random patterns that matched the texture and temporal modulation of the background. A population of form‐cue‐invariant (FCI) neurons was identified, which demonstrated similar tuning to the length of contours defined by first‐ and second‐order cues. FCI neurons were relatively common in the supragranular layers (where they corresponded to 28% of the recorded units), but were absent from layer 4. Most had complex receptive fields, which were significantly larger than those of other V1 neurons. The majority of FCI neurons demonstrated end‐inhibition in response to long first‐ and second‐order bars, and were strongly direction selective. Thus, even at the level of V1 there are cells whose variations in response level appear to be determined by the shape and motion of the entire second‐order object, rather than by its parts (i.e. the individual textural components). These results are compatible with the existence of an output channel from V1 to the ventral stream of extrastriate areas, which already encodes the basic building blocks of the image in an invariant manner.
New locomotion gaits

This paper investigates new modes of robot land locomotion, in particular statically stable non-wheeled, non-tracked locomotion. These locomotion gaits are accomplished by a reconfigurable modular robot called Polypod using a control scheme combining a small number of primitive control modes for each module. The design of Polypod is first reviewed, then two and three-dimensional locomotion gaits are described along with two "exotic" gaits. These gaits have been implemented on Polypod or simulated on a graphic workstation. <<ETX>>
Wavelet based detection of moving tree branches and leaves in video

A method for detection of tree branches and leaves in video is proposed. It is observed that the motion vectors of tree branches and leaves exhibit random motion. On the other hand regular motion of green colored objects has well-defined directions. In this paper, the wavelet transform of motion vectors are computed and objects are classified according to the wavelet coefficients of motion vectors. Color information is also used to reduce the search space in a given image frame of the video. Motion trajectories of moving objects are modeled as Markovian processes and hidden Markov models (HMMs) are used to classify the green colored objects in the final step of the algorithm.
Resistência e Resiliência Ecológica: Uma Aproximação à Caracterização Fitoestrutural das Comunidades Arbustivas do Parque Natural do Alvão (Norte de Portugal)

Antonio L. Crespi*, Claudia P. Fernandes**, Adriano Castro**, Alda Pereira**, Jose Nascimento***, Vitorio Martins****, Sonia Bernardos***, Francisco Amich***** * Professor Auxiliar, ** Licenciados Colaboradores Departamento de Engenharia Biologica e Ambiental. Universidade de Tras-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Apartado 202, 50011-911 VILA REAL. *** Biologo, **** Engenheiro Agricola Parque Natural do Alvao, Praceta do Tronco, Lote 17, 5000-443 VILA REAL *** Biologo, ***** Professor Catedratico Departamento de Botânica. Universidade de Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, ESPANHA
Use of the Sport Orientation Questionnaire with Wheelchair Athletes: Examination of Evidence for Validity

The factor structure of the Sport Orientation Questionnaire with three factors of competitiveness, win orientation, and goal orientation was examined in a sample of 243 wheelchair athletes from the USA. Based on sample-specific validity evidence theory, it was hypothesized that the exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses would yield evidence on validity for wheelchair athletes who were different from able-bodied athletes. Exploratory factor analysis confirmed the hypothesis with a clear fourth and a questionable fifth factor. A confirmatory factor analysis did not adequately explain the new five-factor model. The new emerging fourth and fifth factors separated the competitiveness element of the questionnaire in ‘self-referenced’ and ‘other-referenced’ elements of competitiveness. Results are discussed in terms of demographic characteristics of the sample of wheelchair athletes.
Intrapartum-related birth asphyxia in South Africa--lessons from the first national perinatal care survey.

BACKGROUND The recent amalgamation of data by users of the Perinatal Problem Identification Programme (PPIP) throughout South Africa has culminated in the publication of the Saving Babies report. OBJECTIVES To determine the absolute rate of death from intrapartum-related birth asphyxia, and the contribution of intrapartum-related asphyxia to total perinatal mortality in South African hospitals, and to identify the primary obstetric causes and avoidable factors for these deaths. METHODS The amalgamated PPIP data for the year 2000 were obtained from 27 state hospitals (6 metropolitan, 12 town and 9 rural) in South Africa. In PPIP-based audit, all perinatal deaths are assigned primary obstetric causes and avoidable factors, and these elements were obtained for all deaths resulting from intrapartum-related birth asphyxia. RESULTS There were 123,508 births in the hospitals surveyed, with 4,142 perinatal deaths among infants > or = 1,000 g, giving a perinatal mortality rate of 33.5/1,000 births. The perinatal mortality rate from intrapartum-related birth asphyxia was 4.8/1,000 births. The most frequent avoidable factors were delay by mothers in seeking attention during labour (36.6%), signs of fetal distress interpreted incorrectly (24.9%), inadequate fetal monitoring (18.0%) and no response to poor progress in labour (7.0%). The perinatal mortality rates for metropolitan, town, and rural areas were 30.0, 39.4 and 30.9/1,000 births respectively. The contribution of intrapartum-related birth asphyxia to perinatal mortality in these areas was 10.8%, 16.7% and 26.4% respectively. CONCLUSION The high rates of perinatal death from intrapartum-related birth asphyxia in South Africa are typical of those in underdeveloped countries, with the most serious deficiencies in rural areas. Most of these deaths are avoidable and the reduction of these rates presents an important challenge to providers of perinatal care in this country. Areas worthy of research and action include provision of mothers' waiting facilities in rural regions, improvements in fetal monitoring, partogram-based labour management, and the establishment of midwifery staffing norms for South African labour units.
On Defining SPARQL with Boolean Tensor Algebra

The Resource Description Framework (rdf) represents information as subject–predicate–object triples. These triples are commonly interpreted as a directed labelled graph. We propose an alternative approach, interpreting the data as a 3-way Boolean tensor. We show how sparql queries – the standard queries for rdf – can be expressed as elementary operations in Boolean algebra, giving us a complete re-interpretation of rdf and sparql. We show how the Boolean tensor interpretation allows for new optimizations and analyses of the complexity of sparql queries. For example, estimating the size of the results for different join queries becomes much simpler.
Gut microbial composition can differentially regulate bile acid synthesis in humanized mice

We previously reported that alcohol drinkers with and without cirrhosis showed a significant increase in fecal bile acid secretion compared to nondrinkers. We hypothesized this may be due to activation by alcohol of hepatic cyclic adenosine monophosphate responsive element‐binding protein 3‐like protein 3 (CREBH), which induces cholesterol 7α‐hydroxylase (Cyp7a1). Alternatively, the gut microbiota composition in the absence of alcohol might increase bile acid synthesis by up‐regulating Cyp7a1. To test this hypothesis, we humanized germ‐free (GF) mice with stool from healthy human subjects (Ctrl‐Hum), human subjects with cirrhosis (Cirr‐Hum), and human subjects with cirrhosis and active alcoholism (Alc‐Hum). All animals were fed a normal chow diet, and none demonstrated cirrhosis. Both hepatic Cyp7a1 and sterol 12α‐hydroxylase (Cyp8b1) messenger RNA (mRNA) levels were significantly induced in the Alc‐Hum and Ctrl‐Hum mice but not in the Cirr‐Hum mice or GF mice. Liver bile acid concentration was correspondingly increased in the Alc‐Hum mice despite fibroblast growth factor 15, fibroblast growth receptor 4, and small heterodimer partner mRNA levels being significantly induced in the large bowel and liver of the Ctrl‐Hum mice and Alc‐Hum mice but not in the Cirr‐Hum mice or GF mice. This suggests that the normal pathways of Cyp7a1 repression were activated in the Alc‐Hum mice and Ctrl‐Hum mice. CREBH mRNA was significantly induced only in the Ctrl‐Hum mice and Alc‐Hum mice, possibly indicating that the gut microbiota up‐regulate CREBH and induce bile acid synthesis genes. Analysis of stool bile acids showed that the microbiota of the Cirr‐Hum and Alc‐Hum mice had a greater ability to deconjugate and 7α‐dehydroxylate primary bile acids compared to the microbiota of the Cirr‐Hum mice. 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing of the gut microbiota showed that the relative abundance of taxa that 7‐α dehydroxylate primary bile acids was higher in the Ctrl‐Hum and Alc‐Hum groups. Conclusion: The composition of gut microbiota influences the regulation of the rate‐limiting enzymes in bile acid synthesis in the liver. (Hepatology Communications 2017;1:61–70)
Resistance to fulminant hepatitis and carcinogenesis conferred by overexpression of retinoblastoma protein in mouse liver

Previously, retinoblastoma (Rb) transgenic mice were produced under the control of the Rb gene promoter and showed dwarf characteristics. Here, we created transgenic mice, in which the human Rb gene was controlled by the hepatocyte nuclear factor‐1 gene promoter/enhancer and was expressed primarily in the liver. The liver of these novel transgenic mice was normally developed. Intriguingly, these mice showed resistance to fulminant hepatitis induced by anti‐Fas antibody as well as resistance to chemical carcinogenesis in the liver. These results show that the Rb protein acts as an anti‐apoptotic and anti‐oncogenic agent in vivo. Our novel construct may be useful as a gene cassette in gene therapy for prevention of fulminant hepatitis and hepatoma.
A Comparison of Different Culture Methods for the Recovery of Campylobacter Species from Pets

Five culture methods for the recovery of Campylobacter species (spp.) were evaluated on 361 rectal swabs collected from cats and dogs in Ireland. Speciation using PCR methods was performed on all isolates to assess the sensitivity of each culture method for isolation of Campylobacter spp. , and to establish the prevalence of Campylobacter jejuni, C. coli, C. upsaliensis, C. lari and C. helveticus. Overall 163 of 361 (45.2%) samples were confirmed Campylobacter spp. positive. Direct plating onto modified charcoal cefoperazone deoxycholate agar (mCCDA) with cefoperazone, amphotericin and teicoplanin (CAT) selective supplement yielded a significantly higher prevalence of Campylobacter spp. (33.0%) than each of the other four methods (P ≤ 0.05). This method was also the most sensitive method for isolation of C. upsaliensis compared with any of the other four methods used in the current study (P ≤ 0.05). A direct plating method onto mCCDA agar with CCDA selective supplement and a filtration method onto blood agar after pre‐enrichment in CAT supplemented broth yielded lower Campylobacter spp. prevalences of 19.7% and 17.5% respectively. A filtration method onto CAT agar and pre‐enrichment in Preston broth before plating onto mCCDA agar were less sensitive for the isolation of Campylobacter spp. Speciation results of Campylobacter isolates revealed the majority of Campylobacter isolates were C. upsaliensis (50.0%) and C. jejuni (41.9%). A small number of isolates were C. coli (2.6%), C. lari (1.5%) and C. helveticus (1.1%). The overall detection of Campylobacter spp. in the 361 pets sampled was significantly increased by using a combination of isolation methods (P ≤ 0.05), producing a more accurate determination of the prevalence of Campylobacter spp. in pets in Ireland and of the actual Campylobacter species. As the majority of Campylobacter spp. were recovered by direct plating onto mCCDA agar with CAT supplement, this method is the method of choice if only a single method is selected for isolation of the most common Campylobacter spp. detected in pets and humans.
Intrinsic origin of visible light emission from silicon quantum wires: Electronic structure and geometrically restricted exciton.

We theoretically investigate excitonic effects on the optical properties of silicon quantum wires, based on ab initio electronic structure calculations. The Si wires have a direct, allowed band gap in the visible energy range and exhibit a strong optical anisotropy. Taking into account the electron-hole Coulomb interaction, the geometrical restriction of excitons dramatically enhances the oscillator strength of the optical transitions. Comparisons with recent experimental results are also made
Can We Control MRSA?

Mortality and length of hospital stay from MRSA infections seem to be double that of SA in many studies although the reasons for this are unclear.3 Certainly, the predictable delay in administration of appropriate therapy for serious infection may explain some, but probably not all, of this difference. New strains continue to develop, often more resistant and more virulent.4 Vancomycin resistance5 is still uncommon, but strains of reduced susceptibility to teicoplanin are widespread.6 New strains with their origin in the community are spreading into hospitals. These strains differ in having more adaptable genetic elements associated with integrases and pathogenicity islands, allowing accumulation of many virulence factors such as Panton-Valentine leucocidin, enterotoxins and scalded skin syndrome toxin.4,7
Accurate Real-Time Reconstruction of Distant Scenes Using Computer Vision: The Recursive Multi-Frame Planar Parallax Algorithm

In this dissertation, we detail the Recursive Multi-Frame Planar Parallax (RMFPP) algorithm, a recursive extension of Irani et al.’s Multi-Frame Planar Parallax (MFPP) batch algorithm that allows real-time reconstruction of distant static scenes using computer vision, with expected error that increases only linearly with depth. We present an overview and comprehensive derivation of the theoretical foundation on which the RMFPP algorithm is built, including the seminal planar-parallax work by Sawhney. We derive a recursive cost function that preserves more of the problem’s nonlinearity than does the cost function in the MFPP algorithm, which allows a more accurate recursive procedure. In order to obtain a recursive algorithm, we remove the geometry-refining optimization that is present in the MFPP algorithm; however, we empirically show that our algorithm degrades gracefully in the presence of geometric error. We present results using both synthetic and real imagery that show that the RMFPP algorithm is at least as accurate as the original MFPP batch algorithm in many circumstances, is preferred to both fixed- and dynamic-baseline two-frame methods, and is suitable for real-time use.
Evaluation of Histograms Local Features and Dimensionality Reduction for 3D Face Verification

The paper proposes a novel framework for 3D face verification using dimensionality reduction based on highly distinctive local features in the presence of illumination and expression variations. The histograms of efficient local descriptors are used to represent distinctively the facial images. For this purpose, different local descriptors are evaluated, Local Binary Patterns (LBP), Three-Patch Local Binary Patterns (TPLBP), Four-Patch Local Binary Patterns (FPLBP), Binarized Statistical Image Features (BSIF) and Local Phase Quantization (LPQ). Furthermore, experiments on the combinations of the four local descriptors at feature level using simply histograms concatenation are provided. The performance of the proposed approach is evaluated with different dimensionality reduction algorithms: Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Orthogonal Locality Preserving Projection (OLPP) and the combined PCA+EFM (Enhanced Fisher linear discriminate Model). Finally, multi-class Support Vector Machine (SVM) is used as a classifier to carry out the verification between imposters and customers. The proposed method has been tested on CASIA-3D face database and the experimental results show that our method achieves a high verification performance.
Deciding Admission Criteria For Master of Computer Applications Program in India using Chi-Square Test

Data Mining (DM) is a growing area of research in India. DM was applied in various sectors such as Industry, Education, Medical, Marketing etc. In India number of private university grown exponentially, so there is a strong need of outcome based education. In this paper author applied DM in Higher education Sector. Author selects a data sample of 126 out of 300 students who get admitted in Masters of Computer Applications (MCA) program of Gujarat Technological University, Ahmadabad. Author collect three factors from respondents- HSC, Graduate stream and MCA awarded. The objective of study is to find that is there is any relationship between independent (HSC, Graduate stream) factor and dependent (MCA awarded) using Chi-Square test of independence. The results of survey showed that there is no relationship between Graduation & HSC education with awarded MCA degree.
PAI‐1, progress in understanding the clinical problem and its aetiology

Plasminogen activator inhibitor‐1 (PAI‐1, also known as SERPINE1) is a member of the serine protease inhibitor (SERPIN) superfamily and is the primary physiological regulator of urokinase‐type plasminogen activator (uPA) and tissue‐type plasminogen activator (tPA) activity. Although the principal function of PAI‐1 is the inhibition of fibrinolysis, PAI‐1 possesses pleiotropic functions besides haemostasis. In the quarter century since its discovery, a number of studies have focused on improving our understanding of PAI‐1 functions in vivo and in vitro. The use of Serpine1‐deficient mice has particularly enhanced our understanding of the functions of PAI‐1 in various physiological and pathophysiological conditions. In this review, the results of recent studies on PAI‐1 and its role in clinical conditions are discussed.
False lateralization by subdural electrodes in two patients with temporal lobe epilepsy

The authors present two patients with medically refractory partial seizures who had invasive recordings with stereotactic depth EEG (SEEG) and subdural electrodes (SDE) as part of their presurgical workup. SDE recordings were falsely lateralizing in both of these patients with pathologically proven mesial temporal sclerosis. In temporal lobe epilepsy, SEEG electrodes should be considered when presurgical studies are discordant.
Integrated analysis of diffusion and relaxation of water in blood

Diffusion and T2 relaxation of water both inside and outside red blood cells (RBCs) in human blood were investigated using a hybrid NMR pulse sequence to obtain a more quantitative understanding of the diffusion and relaxation behavior of water in paramagnetic‐doped blood samples. The data were analyzed by both examining the relaxation properties of the system after each diffusion weighting and looking at the diffusion properties at each echo time. The results illustrate how diffusion‐sensitizing gradients affect the T2 spectra of blood and how relaxation weighting changes the curvature of the diffusion curves, thereby demonstrating the close coupling between diffusion and T2 relaxation. A three‐pool model, consisting of RBCs, plasma, and macromolecular protons, was used to model the data from the diffusion‐relaxation hybrid experiments. The model was found to describe all the characteristic features of the experimental data well and was used to evaluate the approximations involved in the conventional analysis methods and elucidate the nature of the relaxing and diffusing components. Compared with the separate diffusion and relaxation experiments, the diffusion‐relaxation hybrid experiments are less time‐consuming, result in better parameter determinations, and may be useful in analyzing diffusion‐T2 coupling in tissues with more complicated multi‐exponential T2 behavior.
Germinal cell loss during human spermatogenesis.

Summary. Testicular biopsy specimens from fifteen normal adult men were analysed histologically, using Clermont's classification for the germ cell types. After corrections were made for differences in nuclear size and life-span, spermatid/primary spermatocyte ratios ranging from 0\m=. \87 to 3\m=. \82 (average 2\m=.\58) were found. This represents a marked reduction from the theoretical ratio of 4\m=. \0which would be expected. The significance of this attrition rate, or the point at which loss occurs, is not known.
Characterization of the genetic profile of CYP2C19 in two South African populations.

AIMS This study was aimed at elucidating the common sequence variation present in the CYP2C19 gene within the South African Xhosa population and comparing it with the Cape Mixed Ancestry (CMA) population for possible future pharmacogenetic applications. MATERIALS & METHODS Common sequence variation was identified through the resequencing of 15 Xhosa individuals. The detected variants were prioritized for genotyping in an additional 85 Xhosa and 75 CMA individuals, while 5 -upstream variants were analyzed using dual luciferase reporter assays. RESULTS Resequencing of the Xhosa population revealed 30 variants, including the novel CYP2C19*27 and CYP2C19*28 alleles. CYP2C19*27, characterized by -1041G>A, caused a twofold decrease in luciferase activity, while CYP2C19*28 is characterized by the nonsynonymous V374I variant. In addition, the previously characterized variants, CYP2C19*2, CYP2C19*9 and CYP2C19*17, were present in both populations, while CYP2C19*3 was only observed in the CMA population. CONCLUSION Our data demonstrate that both the Xhosa and CMA populations exhibit unique genetic profiles that could influence the outcome of drug therapy in these populations.