LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Rozwój tektoniczny starszego paleozoiku w syneklizie perybałtyckiej

TECTONIC EVOLUTION OF THE OLDER PALEOZOIC OF THE PERIBALTIC SYNECLIZE 
 
Summary 
At attempt at reconstructing the stages of tectonic evolution of the older Paleozoic in the Polish part of the Peribaltic Syneclize is presented. The reconstruction is primarily based on . an analysis of changes in thickness of sedimentary series of particular older Paleozoic structural stages. On sketches of thickness distributions, drawn for the Lower Cambrian, Middle Cambrian, Ordovician and Silurian, respectively, the deepest part of the sedimentary basin under discussion, as well as zones of increased or reduced thickness, corresponding to lowered or uplifted parts of the basin, were marked. The origin of these zones should be related to vertical movements of crystalline Precambrian substratum blocks, which are typical of the old platforms. Correspondances between directions and courses of particular dislocation lines and uplifted zones seismically recorded for the Ordovician and the zones of extremal thickness are distinguished. A genetic relationship between dislocations and uplifted Ordovician zones (within which some local structures are distinguished) and corresponding structural stages of the older Paleozoic is inferred. Two principal generations of dislocations, older (Baikalian) and younger (Caledonian), are distinguished.
Exploring the Role of Knowledge Management for Enhancing Firm&#146;s Innovation and Performance

Contemporary organizations require a strong knowledge management (KM) to gain competitive advantage. Based on a review of the literature, the present investigation delineates three components of KM: technical KM resource, social KM resource, and KM process capability (KMPC). This research empirically examines the relationship among KMPC, innovation dimensions, and firm performance. Moreover, the proposed model also investigates two variables as antecedent to KMPC: technical KM resource and social KM resource. A framework is tested using data from 2004 Common Wealth 1000 largest firms in Taiwan. The analytical results confirmed the impact of technical and social KM resources on KMPC. KMPC was found to be essential for improving innovation speed and innovation magnitude. Advanced innovation positively influenced firm performance.
Si and SixGe ^ xNWs studied by Raman spectroscopy

Group IV nanostructures have attracted a great deal of attention because of their potential applications in optoelectronics and nanodevices. Raman spectroscopy has been extensively used to characterize nanostructures since it provides non destructive information about their size, by the adequate modeling of the phonon confinement effect. The Raman spectrum is also sensitive to other factors, as stress and temperature, which can mix with the size effects borrowing the interpretation of the Raman spectrum. We present herein an analysis of the Raman spectra obtained for Si and SiGe nanowires; the influence of the excitation conditions and the heat dissipation media are discussed in order to optimize the experimental conditions for reliable spectra acquisition and interpretation.
Independent Control for Present Time-Scales: GEOLOGICAL NOTES

The Paleozoic and Mesozoic rocks in the northcast pari of the basin are thrust from north to south onto the Tertiary rocks. The Eocene vol­ canic rocks in the south of the basin are thrustfaulted from south to north over the Upper Red formation. The basin is filled with Tertiary rocks, mostly Upper Red formation, and covered by Quaternary deposits over large areas. The recently developed faulting which was first observed after the earthquake shocks trends X. 80° W. and the maximum observed vertical displacement is about .50 centimeters. This recent fault has been traced for a distance of about 90 kilometers. The senior writer observed this fault in two localities south of Amirabad Xow (35°44'N. and 49°59'E.) and south of Yazan (35°44'N. and 49°43'E.). It passes south of Eypak (35°37'X. and 58°18'E.) and continues its course 3 kilo­ meters north of Rudak (35°41'X. and 49°53'E.) where it turns south and passes along an old fault —through Kuh-i-Sardab north of Rostamabad (35°40'X. and 49°S1.5'E.) and on into the Abassabad valley, finally dying out north of Ab-iGarm (35°45'N. and 49°17'E.). This recent fault is parallel with the general direction of the older faults (Fig. 2). In the mountainous area south of the Qazvin Basin there are sets of parallel faults with X. 80° W. orientation. The intermountain "basins" are limited by these faults. The main tectonic movement of the area began during Eocene and has continued to late Pliocene time and with minor tectonic activity to Recent. Also Recent earthquakes with concomitant fault­ ing attest the tectonic processes which have formed these younger mountains. In the Ab-i-Garm area and between the Kharaghan syncline and Mazlaghan Chai, Mesozoic rocks and partly fossiliferous Cretaceous rocks are exposed, for the most part in fault contact with Tertiary rocks. Xorth of Krafs (35°21'N.
Low validity of the Sensewear Pro3 activity monitor compared to indirect calorimetry during simulated free living in patients with osteoarthritis of the hip

BACKGROUND
To validate physical activity estimates by the Sensewear Pro3 activity monitor compared with indirect calorimetry during simulated free living in patients diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the hip pre or post total hip arthroplasty.


METHODS
Twenty patients diagnosed with hip osteoarthritis (10 pre- and 10 post total hip arthroplasty; 40% female; age: 63.3 ± 9.0; BMI: 23.7 ± 3.7). All patients completed a 2 hour protocol of simulated free living with 8 different typical physical activity types. Energy consumption (kcal/min) was estimated by the Sense Wear pro3 Armband activity monitor and validated against indirect calorimetry (criterion method) by means of a portable unit (Cosmed K4b2). Bias and variance was analyzed using functional ANOVA.


RESULTS
Mean bias during all activities was 1.5 Kcal/min 95%CI [1.3; 1.8] corresponding to 72% (overestimation). Normal gait speed showed an overestimation of 2.8 Kcal/min, 95%CI [2.3; 3.3] (93%) while an underestimation of -1.1 Kcal/min, 95%CI [-1.8; -0.3] (-25%) was recorded during stair climb. Activities dominated by upper body movements showed large overestimation with 4.37 Kcal/min, 95%CI [3.8; 5.1] (170%) being recorded during gardening. Both bias and variance appeared to be dependent on activity type.


CONCLUSION
The activity monitor generally overestimated the energy consumption during common activities of low to medium intensity in the patient group. The size and direction of the bias was highly dependent on the activity type which indicates the activity monitor is of limited value in patients with hip osteoarthritis and that the results do not express the real energy expenditure.
The Central Theme of Parkinson’s Disease: α-Synuclein

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, defined by the presence of resting tremor, muscular rigidity, bradykinesia, and postural instability. PD is characterized by the progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons within the substantia nigra pars compacta of the midbrain. The neuropathological hallmark of the disease is the presence of intracytoplasmic inclusions, called Lewy bodies (LBs) and Lewy neurites (LNs), containing α-synuclein, a small protein which is widely expressed in the brain. The α-synuclein gene, SNCA, is located on chromosome 4q22.1; SNCA-linked PD shows an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern with a relatively early onset age, and it usually progresses rapidly. Three missense mutations, A53T, A30P, and E46K, in addition to gene multiplications of the SNCA have been described so far. Although it is clear that LBs and LNs contain mainly the α-synuclein protein, the mechanism(s) which leads α-synuclein to accumulate needs to be elucidated. The primary question in the molecular pathology of PD is how wild-type α-synuclein aggregates in PD, and which interacting partner(s) plays role(s) in the aggregation process. It is known that dopamine synthesis is a stressfull event, and α-synuclein expression somehow affects the dopamine synthesis. The aberrant interactions of α-synuclein with the proteins in the dopamine synthesis pathway may cause disturbances in cellular mechanisms. The normal physiological folding state of α-synuclein is also important for the understanding of pathological aggregates. Recent studies on the α-synuclein protein and genome-wide association studies of the α-synuclein gene show that PD has a strong genetic component, and both familial and idiopathic PD have a common denominator, α-synuclein, at the molecular level. It is clear that the disease process in Parkinson’s disease, as in other neurodegenerative disorders, is very complicated; there can be several different molecular pathways which are responsible for diverse and possibly also unrelated functions inside the neuron, playing roles in PD pathogenesis.
Women on display: The effect of portraying the self online on women's self-objectification

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PRISM: Probabilistic Symbolic Model Checker

In this paper we describe PRISM, a tool being developed at the University of Birmingham for the analysis of probabilistic systems. PRISM supports three probabilistic models: discrete-time Markov chains, continuous-time Markov chains and Markov decision processes. Analysis is performed through model checking such systems against specifications written in the probabilistic temporal logics PCTL and CSL. The tool features three model checking engines: one symbolic, using BDDs (binary decision diagrams) and MTBDDs (multi-terminal BDDs); one based on sparse matrices; and one which combines both symbolic and sparse matrix methods. PRISM has been successfully used to analyse probabilistic termination, performance, dependability and quality of service properties for a range of systems, including randomized distributed algorithms [2], polling systems [22], workstation clusters [18] and wireless cell communication [17].
Addressing perception uncertainty induced failure modes in robotic bin-picking

We present a comprehensive approach to handle perception uncertainty to reduce failure rates in robotic bin-picking. Our focus is on mixed-bins. We identify the main failure modes at various stages of the binpicking task and present methods to recover from them. If uncertainty in part detection leads to perception failure, then human intervention is invoked. Our approach estimates the confidence in the part match provided by an automated perception system, which is used to detect perception failures. Human intervention is also invoked if uncertainty in estimated part location and orientation leads to a singulation planning failure. We have developed a user interface that enables remote human interventions when necessary. Finally, if uncertainty in part posture in the gripper leads to failure in placing the part with the desired accuracy, sensor-less fine-positioning moves are used to correct the final placement errors. We have developed a fine-positioning planner with a suite of fine-motion strategies that offer different tradeoffs between completion time and postural accuracy at the destination. We report our observations from system characterization experiments with a dual-armed Baxter robot, equipped with a Ensenso three-dimensional camera, to perform bin-picking on mixed-bins. & 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
An Investigation into the Changes in Perceptions of and Attitudes Towards Learning English in a Malaysian College.

This paper reports on an investigation into the changes in students’ attitudes towards learning English in a Malaysian college. The main focus of the study is to investigate the changes in attitudes towards learning English during the critical transition period from secondary school, where the medium of instruction is Malay, to college, where the medium of instruction is in English. Other factors like classroom and school environment, teaching methodologies, and the influence of home background were also considered. A sample of 100 students enrolled in a first level English course during their first semester in a Malaysian college was used for the study. Data were collected using students’ weekly journals and interviews of students. Analysis of the data was done qualitatively using an interpretive approach. The findings revealed that there were differences in students’ perceptions of and attitudes towards learning English in secondary school and college. Students’ attitudes seemed more positive in college and they perceived the college social and classroom environment to be more conducive for learning English. The implications from the study suggest that the school social environment and the family background influence students’ attitudes towards learning English.
Virtual Auxiliary Termination for Multiport Scattering Matrix Measurement Using Two-Port Network Analyzer

Almost all methods for measuring the scattering matrix of an n-port device with the use of a two-port vector network analyzer (VNA) require one to terminate the other n - 2 ports in the fully characterized auxiliary terminations and prefer auxiliary terminations with small or moderate reflection coefficients. In this paper, a technique is presented to measure the auxiliary terminations indirectly. It not only eases the measurement of auxiliary terminations, but also makes the concept of virtual auxiliary termination realizable. In practice, examples of virtual auxiliary terminations can be the inherent connectors or bonding pads of the test device. Also studied is the remedy for the numerical pitfall possibly coexisting with the use of strongly reflecting auxiliary terminations such as virtual auxiliary terminations. The scattering matrix of a four-port circulator is then acquired accordingly from measurements using a two-port VNA and virtual auxiliary terminations.
New onsets of substance use disorders in borderline personality disorder over 7 years of follow-ups: findings from the Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorders Study.

AIMS
The purpose of this study was to examine whether patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) have a higher rate of new onsets of substance use disorders (SUD) than do patients with other personality disorders (OPD).


DESIGN
This study uses data from the Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorder Study (CLPS), a prospective naturalistic study with reliable repeated measures over 7 years of follow-up.


SETTING
Multiple clinical sites in four northeastern US cities.


PARTICIPANTS
A total of 175 patients with BPD and 396 patients with OPD (mean age 32.5 years) were assessed at baseline and at 6, 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72 and 84 months.


MEASUREMENTS
The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders and the Diagnostic Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders were used at baseline, the Follow-Along version of the DIPD-IV and the Longitudinal Interval Follow-up Evaluation at the follow-up evaluations. Kaplan-Meier analyses were calculated to generate the time to new onsets.


FINDINGS
BPD patients showed a shorter time to new onsets of SUD. Thirteen per cent of BPD patients developed a new alcohol use disorder and 11% developed a new drug use disorder, compared to rates of 6% and 4%, respectively, for OPD. Non-remitted BPD and remitted BPD patients did not differ significantly in rates of new onsets of SUD.


CONCLUSIONS
BPD patients have a high vulnerability for new onsets of SUDs even when their psychopathology improves. These findings indicate some shared etiological factors between BPD and SUD and underscore the clinical significance of treating SUD when it co-occurs in BPD patients.
The Stages Of Event Extraction

Event detection and recognition is a complex task consisting of multiple sub-tasks of varying difficulty. In this paper, we present a simple, modular approach to event extraction that allows us to experiment with a variety of machine learning methods for these sub-tasks, as well as to evaluate the impact on performance these sub-tasks have on the overall task.
Inverted Residuals and Linear Bottlenecks: Mobile Networks for Classification, Detection and Segmentation

In this paper we describe a new mobile architecture, MobileNetV2, that improves the state of the art performance of mobile models on multiple tasks and benchmarks as well as across a spectrum of different model sizes. We also describe efficient ways of applying these mobile models to object detection in a novel framework we call SSDLite. Additionally, we demonstrate how to build mobile semantic segmentation models through a reduced form of DeepLabv3 which we call Mobile DeepLabv3. The MobileNetV2 architecture is based on an inverted residual structure where the input and output of the residual block are thin bottleneck layers opposite to traditional residual models which use expanded representations in the input and output [1]. MobileNetV2 uses lightweight depthwise convolutions to filter features in the intermediate expansion layer. Additionally, we find that it is important to remove non-linearities in the narrow layers in order to maintain representational power. We demonstrate that this improves performance and provide an intuition that led to this design. Finally, our approach allows decoupling of the input/output domains from the expressiveness of the transformation, which provides a convenient framework for further analysis. We measure our performance on ImageNet [2] classification, COCO object detection [3], VOC image segmentation [4]. We evaluate the trade-offs between accuracy, and number of operations measured by multiply-adds (MAdd), as well as the number of parameters.
Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Questionnaire (CECA.Q)

Background: Interview measures for investigating adverse childhood experiences, such as the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse (CECA) instrument, are comprehensive and can be lengthy and time-consuming. A questionnaire version of the CECA (CECA.Q) has been developed which could allow for screening of individuals in research settings. This would enable researchers to identify individuals with adverse early experiences who might benefit from an in-depth interview. This paper aims to validate the CECA.Q against the CECA interview in a clinical population. Methods: One hundred and eight patients attending an affective disorders service were assessed using both the CECA interview and questionnaire measures. A follow-up sample was recruited 3 years later and sent the questionnaire. The questionnaire was also compared with the established Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI). Results: Agreement between ratings on the interview and questionnaire were high. Scales measuring antipathy and neglect also correlated highly with the PBI. The follow-up sample revealed the questionnaire to have a high degree of reliability over a long period of time. Conclusions: The CECA.Q appears to be a reliable and valid measure which can be used in research on clinical populations to screen for individuals who have experienced severe adversity in childhood.
Solar Ultraviolet Irradiation Induces Decorin Degradation in Human Skin Likely via Neutrophil Elastase

Exposure of human skin to solar ultraviolet (UV) irradiation induces matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) activity, which degrades type I collagen fibrils. Type I collagen is the most abundant protein in skin and constitutes the majority of skin connective tissue (dermis). Degradation of collagen fibrils impairs the structure and function of skin that characterize skin aging. Decorin is the predominant proteoglycan in human dermis. In model systems, decorin binds to and protects type I collagen fibrils from proteolytic degradation by enzymes such as MMP-1. Little is known regarding alterations of decorin in response to UV irradiation. We found that solar-simulated UV irradiation of human skin in vivo stimulated substantial decorin degradation, with kinetics similar to infiltration of polymorphonuclear (PMN) cells. Proteases that were released from isolated PMN cells degraded decorin in vitro. A highly selective inhibitor of neutrophil elastase blocked decorin breakdown by proteases released from PMN cells. Furthermore, purified neutrophil elastase cleaved decorin in vitro and generated fragments with similar molecular weights as those resulting from protease activity released from PMN cells, and as observed in UV-irradiated human skin. Cleavage of decorin by neutrophil elastase significantly augmented fragmentation of type I collagen fibrils by MMP-1. Taken together, these data indicate that PMN cell proteases, especially neutrophil elastase, degrade decorin, and this degradation renders collagen fibrils more susceptible to MMP-1 cleavage. These data identify decorin degradation and neutrophil elastase as potential therapeutic targets for mitigating sun exposure-induced collagen fibril degradation in human skin.
Evaluation of pharmacological activities, cytotoxicity and phenolic composition of four Maytenus species used in southern African traditional medicine to treat intestinal infections and diarrhoeal diseases

BACKGROUND
Microbial infections and resulting inflammation and oxidative stress are common pathogenesis of gastrointestinal tract (GIT) disorders. In South Africa, several species of the genus Maytenus are used in traditional medicine to treat various infectious diseases. Most of the previous work on this genus was focused on nonpolar extracts from the root and bark. In this study, leaf extracts of polar extracts of Maytenus peduncularis, Maytenus procumbens, Maytenus senegalensis and Maytenus undata were evaluated for antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities to determine their efficacy as therapeutic agents in GIT disorders.


METHODS
Phenolic-enriched leaf extracts and fractions were prepared by extracting with acidified 70% methanol and solvent-solvent fractionation. The activities of the fractions against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis as well as clinical isolates of Aspergillus fumigatus, Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans were determined using a serial microplate dilution method. Antioxidant activities were determined using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2'-azinobis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS), hydroxyl (OH) radical scavenging and linoleic acid peroxidation inhibitory assays. The phenolic composition as well as the cytotoxicity against Vero cell lines of the crude extracts was evaluated using various standard protocols.


RESULTS
The antimicrobial activities were concentrated in the non-polar fractions of hexane, dichloromethane and ethyl acetate (MICs 19-312 μg/ml). The crude extracts and polar fractions (butanol and water) had moderate to poor antimicrobial activity (MICs 312 to above 2500 μg/ml). The crude extracts and polar fractions had good antioxidant activity (EC50 values varied from 1.22 to 607 μg/ml, 1.71 to 312 μg/ml and 23 to 284 μg/ml for DPPH, ABTS and OH respectively. Linoleic acid peroxidation inhibition EC50 values of the crude extracts ranged between 27 and 39 μg/ml with relatively low toxicity against Vero cell lines (IC50 values 87 to 187 μg/ml). Fractionation of a crude extract with low activity could lead to fractions with more potent activity.


CONCLUSION
This study justifies the traditional use of leaf crude extracts and fractions from these four plants to remedy gastrointestinal disorders resulting from infection, inflammation and oxidative stress complications. The study also provides rationale for the use of leaf extracts with same beneficial effects in place of unsustainable root and bark harvest.