Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Construction Conference 2017 , CCC 2017 , 19-22 June 2017 , Primosten , Croatia Review of Motivations , Success Factors , and Barriers to the Adoption of Offsite Manufacturing in Nigeria

Despite several mitigation attempts, Nigeria is still facing a deficit of 17 million houses. Seminal literature argues that this problem is predominantly due to a myriad of issues, including high construction costs, skills shortages, the slow pace of construction, lack of infrastructure and logistics, poor quality of available housing stock etc. Given these issues, offsite manufacturing has been proffered as an innovative method for addressing these challenges. This paper reports on the findings of a substantial literature review investigated the needs, promises and barriers of adopting offsite manufacturing in Nigeria. Seminal literature elaborating on offsite construction and Nigerian construction industry has been thoroughly reviewed and results were analysed using thematic analysis, and Nvivo software was used to code and analyse the research data. Findings highlighted that the housing deficit in Nigeria is on the increase and nothing significant was being done at the moment. The results also posited that although OSM could improve housing delivery efforts in Nigeria, the prevalence of this is still considerably low; and that this was influenced by many factors, such as negative local perception about OSM, client resistance, lack of infrastructure and skills shortage. This study concludes that for OSM to be adopted in Nigeria, there is a need for greater awareness, collaboration, training and encouragement from Government. This study presents additional understanding of OSM in Nigeria based on expert opinion, the results of which were used to develop a framework for the effective adoption of OSM in Nigeria. It is concluded that the adoption of OSM could help support housing delivery efforts in Nigeria, and leverage wider benefits to the industry and associated supply chain. © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Creative Construction Conference 2017.
Ground and satellite-based remote sensing of mineral dust using AERI spectra and MODIS thermal infrared window brightness temperatures

An integrated method for the simultaneous detection/separation of mineral dust and clouds for both daytime and nighttime conditions using MODIS thermal infrared window brightness temperature data has been developed. Based on the spectral variability of dust emissivity at 3.75, 8.6, 11 and 12 μm wavelengths, three heritage approaches are combined to identify dust and cirrus. MODIS data for three dust-laden scenes have been analyzed to demonstrate the effectiveness of this detection/separation method. The detected daytime dust and cloud coverage for the Persian Gulf case compares reasonably well to those from the “Deep Blue” algorithm developed at NASA-GSFC. Validation of the nighttime dust and cloud detection method has been carried out by using the cases surrounding Cape Verde and Niger, West Africa on the basis of the coincident and collocated ground-based micro-pulse lidar measurements. 7.
Short Note: Natural seasonal variability of aragonite saturation state within two Antarctic coastal ocean sites

The observed threefold changes in Ω ARAG shown here over a few months are of the same order of magnitude as those conditions used in artificial laboratory CO2 experiments. This makes the Antarctic coastal oceans a perfect natural mesocosm to investigate resilience of Southern Ocean marine ecosystems to ocean acidification.
Engaging Crisis: Immersive, Interdisciplinary Learning in Mathematics and Rhetoric

This paper describes an interdisciplinary activity that crosses over between Mathe-matics and Rhetoric. The professors who created this activity both sought active-learning opportunities for their students, a sense of realism—even urgency—in what can otherwise be perceived as abstract material, and a meaningful liberal arts experience. Evidence of the power of this experience is seen in the media coverage, both from our college and from the Portland Press Herald newspaper. Both courses described in this paper are at the elective level, taken by majors or minors in their respective disciplines. Students have moderate to extensive backgrounds in their subject areas. However, adapted versions of our activity could involve students at more introductory levels.
Displaying and Editing Source Code in Software Engineering Environments

Source code plays a major role in most software engineering environments. The interface of choice between source code and human users is a tool that displays source code textually and possibly permits its modification. Specializing this tool for the source code’s language promises enhanced services for programmers as well as better integration with other tools. However, these two goals, user services and tool integration, present conflicting design constraints that have previously prevented specialization. A new architecture, based on a lexical representation of source code, represents a compromise that satisfies constraints on both sides. A prototype implementation demonstrates that the technology can be implemented using current graphical toolkits, can be made highly configurable using current language analysis tools, and that it can be encapsulated in a manner consistent with reuse in many software engineering contexts.
Oral contraceptive use for the primary prevention of ovarian cancer.

OBJECTIVE To estimate the overall balance of harms and benefits from the potential use of oral contraceptives (OCs) for the primary prevention of ovarian cancer DATA SOURCES We searched PubMed®, Embase®, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and ClinicalTrials.gov for English-language studies published from January 1990 to June 2012 that evaluated the potential benefits (reduction in ovarian, colorectal, and endometrial cancers) and harms (increase in breast and cervical cancer, and vascular complications) of OC use. REVIEW METHODS Two investigators screened each abstract and full-text article for inclusion; the investigators abstracted data, and they performed quality ratings, applicability ratings, and evidence grading. Random-effects models were used to compute summary estimates of effects. A simulation model was used to estimate the effects of OC use on the overall balance of benefits and harms. RESULTS We reviewed 55 studies relevant to ovarian cancer outcomes, 66 relevant to other cancers, and 50 relevant to vascular events. Ovarian cancer incidence was significantly reduced in OC users (OR [odds ratio], 0.73; 95% CI [confidence interval], 0.66 to 0.81), with greater reductions seen with longer duration of use. Breast cancer incidence was slightly but significantly increased in OC users (OR, 1.08; 95% CI, 1.00 to 1.17), with a significant reduction in risk as time since last use increased. The risk of cervical cancer was significantly increased in women with persistent human papillomavirus infection who used OCs, but heterogeneity prevented a formal meta-analysis. Incidences of both colorectal cancer (OR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.79 to 0.95) and endometrial cancer (OR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.43 to 0.76) were significantly reduced by OC use. The risk of vascular events was increased in current OC users compared with nonusers, although the increase in myocardial infarction was not statistically significant. The overall strength of evidence for ovarian cancer prevention was moderate to low, primarily because of the lack of randomized trials and inconsistent reporting of important characteristics of use, such as duration. The simulation model predicted that the combined increase in risk of breast and cervical cancers and vascular events was likely to be equivalent to or greater than the decreased risk in ovarian cancer, although the harm/benefit ratio was much more favorable when protection against endometrial and colorectal cancers was added, resulting in net gains in life expectancy of approximately 1 month. CONCLUSIONS There is insufficient evidence to recommend for or against the use of OCs solely for the primary prevention of ovarian cancer. Although the net effects of the current patterns of OC use likely result in increased life expectancy when other noncontraceptive benefits are included, the harm/benefit ratio for ovarian cancer prevention alone is uncertain, particularly when the potential quality-of-life impact of breast cancer and vascular events are considered.
Estabilización dinámica interespinosa versus fijación transpedicular y artrodesis en el tratamiento del conducto lumbar estrecho en pacientes de 45 a 65 años de edad

Introduction: Ligamentoplasty is a posterior dynamic stabilization method. The purpose of this study is to compare the incidence of adjacent segment disease in patients undergo- ing decompression and ligamentoplasty versus patients with standard 360° arthrodesis. Mate- rial and methods: Two groups were studied, each with 15 patients. The fi rst group underwent reca- libration with fi xation (Group A) and the second group recalibration with ligamentoplasty (Group L). The occurrence of adjacent segment degen- eration was assessed, together with the presence of adjacent segment disease in both groups. The statistical analysis was performed with the SPSS 17.0 software. Results: Both techniques showed a statistically signifi cant clinical improvement at the six-month postoperative follow-up (p = 0.001). Ra- diographic fi ndings showed a higher translational instability index at the one-year follow-up in the arthrodesis group. No statistical difference was found in the clinical course or in the rest of the ra- diographic variables at the 3-year comparison be- tween both groups. The rate of adjacent segment degeneration in Group A was 33.3%, compared with 20% in Group L at the one-year follow-up.
Active tectonism in the central Alps: contrasting stress regimes north and south of the Rhone Valley

An integrated interpretation of seismicity, fault plane solutions and deep seismic reflection data suggests that the NE–SW to NW–SE trending Rhone–Simplon fault zone and the gently S‐dipping basal Penninic thrust separate fundamentally different stress regimes in the western Swiss Alps. North of the Rhone‐Simplon fault zone, strike‐slip earthquakes on steep‐dipping faults within the Helvetic nappes are a consequence of regional NW–SE compression and NE–SW extension. To the south, vertical maximum stress and N–S extension are responsible for normal mechanism earthquakes that occur entirely within the Penninic nappes above the basal Penninic thrust. Such normal faulting likely results from extension associated with southward movements (collapse) of the Penninic nappes and/or continued uplift and relative northward displacements of the underlying Alpine massifs. Geological mapping and fission‐track dating suggest that the two distinct stress regimes have controlled tectonism in the western Swiss Alps since at least the Neogene.
Risk-based Operation and Maintenance of Offshore Wind Turbines

For offshore wind turbines costs to operation and maintenance are substantial. This paper describes a risk-based lifecycle approach for optimal planning of operation and maintenance. The approach is based on pre-posterior Bayesian decision theory. Deterioration mechanisms such as fatigue, corrosion, wear and erosion are associated with significant uncertainty. Observations of the degree of damage can increase the reliability of predictions, especially in connection with condition-based maintenance. The approach can be used for gearboxes, generators, cracks, corrosion, etc. The paper also describes how probabilistic indicators can be used to quantify indirect information about the damage state for critical components, e.g. gear-boxes.
Welding and rheomorphism of phonolitic fallout deposits from the Las Cañadas caldera, Tenerife, Canary Islands

The Las Canadas caldera is a nested collapse caldera formed by the successive migration and collapse of shallow magmatic chambers. Among the pyroclastic products of this caldera are phonolitic fallout deposits that crop out in the caldera wall and on the extracaldera slopes. These deposits exhibit an uninterrupted facies gradation from nonwelded to lava-like and record continuous volcanic deposition. Densely welded and lava-like facies result from the extreme attenuation and complete homogenization of juvenile clasts that destroy original clast outlines and any evidence of fallout deposition. Agglutination contributes significantly to the final degree of flattening observed in the welded facies. After deposition, rheomorphic flowage occurs. Emplacement temperatures for one of the welding sequences are calculated from magmatic temperatures and a model of tephra cooling during fallout. Results are 486 °C for the nonwelded facies and 740 °C for the moderately welded facies. For the same welding sequence, a cooling time between 25 and 54 days is estimated from published experimental and computational data as the possible duration of welding and rheomorphism. Following deposition and agglutination, the lava-like pyroclastic facies had the rheological properties of viscous lavas and flowed down the outer slopes away from the caldera. Some lava-like masses detached from proximal areas to more distal regions. During deposition, the eruptive style evolved from Plinian fallout to fountain-fed spatter deposition. This evolution was accompanied by a decrease in explosive power and a lower height of the eruptive column, which produce higher emplacement temperatures and more effective heat retention of pyroclasts.
Near-field hydro-isostasy: the implementation of a revised sea-level equation

Summary We describe how the existing sea-level equation incorrectly predicts the change in sea level (and thus the ocean load) in ice-covered, subgeoidal geographic regions during periods of deglaciation. We go on to present a new sea-level equation that overcomes this problem and we describe how this equation can be solved in a gravitationally self-consistent manner by employing a well-known spectral technique. Application of the new theory to predict relative sea-level (rsl) histories and present-day, 3-D, solid surface deformation rates in northeastern Canada (based on a single earth model characterized by a lithospheric thickness of 100 km and upper and lower mantle viscosities of 5 × 1020 and 5 × 1021 Pa s, respectively) demonstrates that a significant error is introduced when the original theory is employed to predict the oceanic component of the surface load. Predictions of rsl curves show a discrepancy of ~ 40 per cent at sites where data have been obtained and employed to constrain models of earth viscosity structure and ice-sheet histories. This error will significantly bias estimates of mantle viscosity structure and ice thicknesses that are based on the original theory. In addition, predictions of 3-D deformation rates differ by up to 25 per cent in some regions and so future applications that employ these data to constrain models of the glacial isostatic adjustment process should adopt the improved sea-level theory. In contrast, estimates of inverse decay times from the predicted rsl curves are insensitive (to within the observational error) to the improvement in the surface load introduced by the new theory. Thus, viscosity structure inferences based on this parametrization and the original sea-level equation are unaffected by the error in the ocean load. Finally, the new theory predicts a eustatic (i.e. globally uniform) rise in sea level over the postglacial period that is ~ 11 m lower than that determined via the original theory. Therefore, estimates of the global ice budget at the last glacial maximum based on far-field rsl data and the original sea-level theory will be too small by ~ 10 per cent.
Model of Sarcomeric Ca 2 (cid:49) Movements, Including ATP Ca 2 (cid:49) Binding and Diffusion, during Activation of Frog Skeletal Muscle

Cannell and Allen (1984. Biophys. J . 45:913–925) introduced the use of a multi-compartment model to estimate the time course of spread of calcium ions (Ca 2 (cid:49) ) within a half sarcomere of a frog skeletal muscle fiber activated by an action potential. Under the assumption that the sites of sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca 2 (cid:49) release are located radially around each myofibril at the Z line, their model calculated the spread of released Ca 2 (cid:49) both along and into the half sarcomere. During diffusion, Ca 2 (cid:49) was assumed to react with metal-binding sites on parvalbumin (a diffusible Ca 2 (cid:49) - and Mg 2 (cid:49) -binding protein) as well as with fixed sites on troponin. We have developed a similar model, but with several modifications that reflect current knowledge of the myoplasmic environment and SR Ca 2 (cid:49) release. We use a myoplasmic diffusion constant for free Ca 2 (cid:49) that is twofold smaller and an SR Ca 2 (cid:49) release function in response to an action potential that is threefold briefer than used previously. Additionally, our model includes the effects of Ca 2 (cid:49) and Mg 2 (cid:49) binding by adenosine 5 (cid:57) -triphosphate (ATP) and the diffusion of Ca 2 (cid:49) -bound ATP (CaATP). Under the assumption that the total myoplasmic concentration of ATP is 8 mM and that the amplitude of SR Ca 2 (cid:49) release is sufficient to drive the peak change in free [Ca 2 (cid:49) ] ( (cid:68) [Ca 2 (cid:49) ]) to 18 (cid:109) M (the approximate spatially averaged value that is observed experimentally), our model calculates that ( a ) the spatially averaged peak increase in [CaATP] is 64 (cid:109) M; ( b ) the peak saturation of troponin with Ca 2 (cid:49) is high along the entire thin filament; and ( c ) the half-width of (cid:68) [Ca 2 (cid:49) ] is consistent with that observed experimentally. Without ATP, the calculated half-width of spatially averaged (cid:68) [Ca 2 (cid:49) ] is abnormally brief, and troponin saturation away from the release sites is markedly reduced. We conclude that Ca 2 (cid:49) binding by ATP and diffusion of CaATP make important contributions to the determination of the amplitude and the time course of (cid:68) [Ca 2 (cid:49) ].
R2PL 2005 - Proceedings of the First International Workshop on Reengineering towards Product Lines

Abstract : This report contains the proceedings from the First International Workshop on Reengineering Towards Product Lines (R2PL) 2005, which was held on November 10th, 2005 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA and colocated with the Working Conference on Reverse Engineering (WCRE) 2005 and WICSA 2005 the Working Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers/International Federation for Information Processing (IEEE/IFIP) Conference on Software Architecture. This report consists of an overview of an invited presentation, a set of position papers, and details of the workshop's outcomes.
Outsourcing in a Global Economy The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters

We study the determinants of the location of sub-contracted activity in a general equilibrium model of outsourcing and trade. We model outsourcing as an activity that requires search for a partner and relationship-speci(cid:12)c investments that are governed by incomplete contracts. The extent of international outsourcing depends inter alia on the thickness of the domestic and foreign market for input suppliers, the relative cost of searching in each market, the relative cost of customizing inputs, and the nature of the contracting environment in each country. of the two most-distantly-spaced adjacent producers of intermediates. This strategy gives rise to a symmetric equilibrium with equi-spaced input producers. and Helpman (2002b) we provide a stability analysis for the more general case in which search costs vary with the intensity of search. The ﬁ ndings are similar to those reported here.
Lack of serologic evidence for prevalent simian virus 40 infection in humans.

BACKGROUND Propagation of poliovirus in monkey kidney cells led to the inadvertent contamination of poliovirus vaccines with simian virus 40 (SV40) between 1955 and 1963. Recent studies using polymerase chain reaction-based strategies have detected SV40 DNA in a large number of tumor types. The finding of SV40 DNA in tumors from individuals who are too young to have been exposed to SV40-contaminated vaccines has led to the suggestion that SV40 has become a prevalent transmissible human pathogen. To test this hypothesis, we screened human sera for antibodies to SV40 using direct and competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). METHODS An ELISA was developed using recombinant SV40 virus-like particles (VLPs) and was validated using sera from naturally infected macaques. VLPs of SV40 and the related ubiquitous human polyomaviruses, JCV and BKV, were used to screen human sera to determine the prevalence of SV40, JCV, and BKV antibodies among a normal population of control subjects (n = 487) and among case patients with either osteosarcoma (n = 122) or prostate cancer (n = 90). A competitive ELISA in which sera were pre-adsorbed with each type of VLP was used to identify cross-reactive antibodies. Correlations of reactivity among the three polyomavirus types were calculated using the Spearman correlation coefficient. All statistical tests were two-sided. RESULTS BKV and JCV antibodies were prevalent in all case patients and control subjects examined. In contrast, only 6.6% (46/699) of serum samples were positive for SV40 antibodies by ELISA; however, none of these samples could be confirmed as having authentic SV40 antibodies following pre-adsorption with JCV or BKV VLPs. CONCLUSION These data indicate that some individuals have BKV and/or JCV antibodies that cross-react with SV40, but they do not provide support for SV40 being a prevalent human pathogen.
Mirror, mirror on the wall: the face of HIV + women in Europe today

Abstract Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and rights are important components of quality of life. This cross-sectional study describes HIV-positive women's SRH aspirations and needs and the predictive value of selected SRH factors on condom use with steady sexual partners. Data were collected in a European multi-centre study in 17 HIV centres in 14 European countries by a standardised anonymous self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and hierarchical regression analysis were carried out and qualitative data from related formative research illustrated the findings. Among 387 HIV-positive women, 57% had children and 35% had become pregnant since their HIV-diagnosis. Contraceptive needs were largely unmet: 14% had undergone a pregnancy termination. About 83% changed their sexual behaviour after HIV-diagnosis in some ways. Sixty-two percent had at least one sexual encounter with a steady partner during the past six months and 51% used condoms consistently. Significant correlations with condom use were identified for childbearing since HIV-diagnosis (r=−0.21, p<0.01), miscarriage since HIV-diagnosis (r=−0.24, p<0.01), the use of contraception (r=0.47, p<0.001) and changes in sexual behaviour after HIV-diagnosis (r=0.20, p<0.01). Hierarchical regression analysis controlled for education, migration background, age, undetectable viral load and partners' serostatus. The following significant predictors for condom use were established: the use of contraceptives (β=0.33, p<0.001); miscarriage since HIV-diagnosis (β=−0.16, p<0.01); childbearing since HIV-diagnosis (β=−0.12, p<0.05); and having an HIV-positive partner (β=−0.13, p<0.05). For study population, consistent condom use performed a challenge. Selected SRH-issues predicted condom use. Sexual risk reduction and positive prevention should be discussed in the context of family planning and integrate SRH perspectives in routine HIV care.