Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Biocidal Silver and Silver/Titania Composite Films Grown by Chemical Vapour Deposition

This paper describes the growth and testing of highly active biocidal films based on photocatalytically active films of , grown by thermal CVD, functionally and structurally modified by deposition of nanostructured silver via a novel flame assisted combination CVD process. The resulting composite films are shown to be highly durable, highly photocatalytically active and are also shown to possess strong antibacterial behaviour. The deposition control, arising from the described approach, offers the potential to control the film nanostructure, which is proposed to be crucial in determining the photo and bioactivity of the combined film structure, and the transparency of the composite films. Furthermore, we show that the resultant films are active to a range of organisms, including Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, and viruses. The very high-biocidal activity is above that expected from the concentrations of silver present, and this is discussed in terms of nanostructure of the titania/silver surface. These properties are especially significant when combined with the well-known durability of CVD deposited thin films, offering new opportunities for enhanced application in areas where biocidal surface functionality is sought.
Adding monounsaturated fatty acids to a dietary portfolio of cholesterol-lowering foods in hypercholesterolemia

Background Higher intake of monounsaturated fat may raise high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol without raising low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. We tested whether increasing the monounsaturated fat content of a diet proven effective for lowering LDL cholesterol (dietary portfolio) also modified other risk factors for cardiovascular disease, specifically by increasing HDL cholesterol, lowering serum triglyceride and further reducing the ratio of total to HDL cholesterol. Methods Twenty-four patients with hyperlipidemia consumed a therapeutic diet very low in saturated fat for one month and were then randomly assigned to a dietary portfolio low or high in monounsaturated fatty acid for another month. We supplied participants’ food for the two-month period. Calorie intake was based on Harris–Benedict estimates for energy requirements. Results For patients who consumed the dietary portfolio high in monounsaturated fat, HDL cholesterol rose, whereas for those consuming the dietary portfolio low in monounsaturated fat, HDL cholesterol did not change. The 12.5% treatment difference was significant (0.12 mmol/L, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.05 to 0.21, p = 0.003). The ratio of total to HDL cholesterol was reduced by 6.5% with the diet high in monounsaturated fat relative to the diet low in monounsaturated fat (−0.28, 95% CI −0.59 to −0.04, p = 0.025). Patients consuming the diet high in monounsaturated fat also had significantly higher concentrations of apolipoprotein AI, and their C-reactive protein was significantly lower. No treatment differences were seen for triglycerides, other lipids or body weight, and mean weight loss was similar for the diets high in monounsaturated fat (−0.8 kg) and low in monounsaturated fat (−1.2 kg). Interpretation Monounsaturated fat increased the effectiveness of a cholesterol-lowering dietary portfolio, despite statin-like reductions in LDL cholesterol. The potential benefits for cardiovascular risk were achieved through increases in HDL cholesterol, further reductions in the ratio of total to HDL cholesterol and reductions in C-reactive protein. (ClinicalTrials.gov trial register no. NCT00430430.)
Use of a Molecular Diagnostic Test in AFB Smear Positive Tuberculosis Suspects Greatly Reduces Time to Detection of Multidrug Resistant Tuberculosis

Background The WHO has recommended the implementation of rapid diagnostic tests to detect and help combat M/XDR tuberculosis (TB). There are limited data on the performance and impact of these tests in field settings. Methods The performance of the commercially available Genotype MTBDRplus molecular assay was compared to conventional methods including AFB smear, culture and drug susceptibility testing (DST) using both an absolute concentration method on Löwenstein-Jensen media and broth-based method using the MGIT 960 system. Sputum specimens were obtained from TB suspects in the country of Georgia who received care through the National TB Program. Results Among 500 AFB smear-positive sputum specimens, 458 (91.6%) had both a positive sputum culture for Mycobacterium tuberculosis and a valid MTBDRplus assay result. The MTBDRplus assay detected isoniazid (INH) resistance directly from the sputum specimen in 159 (89.8%) of 177 specimens and MDR-TB in 109 (95.6%) of 114 specimens compared to conventional methods. There was high agreement between the MTBDRplus assay and conventional DST results in detecting MDR-TB (kappa = 0.95, p<0.01). The most prevalent INH resistance mutation was S315T (78%) in the katG codon and the most common rifampicin resistance mutation was S531L (68%) in the rpoB codon. Among 13 specimens from TB suspects with negative sputum cultures, 7 had a positive MTBDRplus assay (3 with MDR-TB). The time to detection of MDR-TB was significantly less using the MTBDRplus assay (4.2 days) compared to the use of standard phenotypic tests (67.3 days with solid media and 21.6 days with broth-based media). Conclusions Compared to conventional methods, the MTBDRplus assay had high accuracy and significantly reduced time to detection of MDR-TB in an area with high MDR-TB prevalence. The use of rapid molecular diagnostic tests for TB and drug resistance should increase the proportion of patients promptly placed on appropriate therapy.
Identification and Characterization of Sa/Scc3p Subunits in the Xenopus and Human Cohesin Complexes

A multisubunit protein complex, termed cohesin, plays an essential role in sister chromatid cohesion in yeast and in Xenopus laevis cell-free extracts. We report here that two distinct cohesin complexes exist in Xenopus egg extracts. A 14S complex (x-cohesinSA1) contains XSMC1, XSMC3, XRAD21, and a newly identified subunit, XSA1. In a second 12.5S complex (x-cohesinSA2), XSMC1, XSMC3, and XRAD21 associate with a different subunit, XSA2. Both XSA1 and XSA2 belong to the SA family of mammalian proteins and exhibit similarity to Scc3p, a recently identified component of yeast cohesin. In Xenopus egg extracts, x-cohesinSA1 is predominant, whereas x-cohesinSA2 constitutes only a very minor population. Human cells have a similar pair of cohesin complexes, but the SA2-type is the dominant form in somatic tissue culture cells. Immunolocalization experiments suggest that chromatin association of cohesinSA1 and cohesinSA2 may be differentially regulated. Dissociation of x-cohesinSA1 from chromatin correlates with phosphorylation of XSA1 in the cell-free extracts. Purified cdc2-cyclin B can phosphorylate XSA1 in vitro and reduce the ability of x-cohesinSA1 to bind to DNA or chromatin. These results shed light on the mechanism by which sister chromatid cohesion is partially dissolved in early mitosis, far before the onset of anaphase, in vertebrate cells.
A Noncontributory Pension Program for Older Persons in Yucatan, Mexico

This report describes Yucatan's efforts to design, implement, and evaluate a state government program to provide cash benefits to the elderly to improve their well-being. The report provides context and background for the program and describes its design and implementation. It also describes the design of the first evaluation of the program impact in Valladolid; the evaluation's findings will be presented in future publications.
STIS Coronagraphic Imaging of the Herbig Ae Star: HD 163296

Coronagraphic imaging with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on board the Hubble Space Telescope reveals a ~450 AU radius circumstellar disk around the Herbig Ae star HD 163296. A broadband (0.2-1.0 μm) reflected light image shows the disk oriented at a position angle of 140° ± 5° and inclined to our line of sight by ~60° ± 5°. The disk includes an annulus of reduced scattering at 325 AU and exhibits a flat trend of surface brightness in to 180-122 AU (1.″5-1''), consistent with a cleared central zone. For r ≥ 370 AU the disk surface brightness drops as r to the approximately -3.5 power. The disk cannot be traced beyond 450 AU in our data. The disk is accompanied by a chain of nebulosities at P.A. =42. °5±3. °5, compatible with detection of a Herbig-Haro flow. The HD 163296 disk most closely resembles the disk of HD 141569. As in the HD 141569 system, the dynamical effects of a planet may be necessary to explain the structure in the outer disk.
Biocontrol of Aspergillus Species on Peanut Kernels by Antifungal Diketopiperazine Producing Bacillus cereus Associated with Entomopathogenic Nematode

The rhabditid entomopathogenic nematode associated Bacillus cereus and the antifungal compounds produced by this bacterium were evaluated for their activity in reducing postharvest decay of peanut kernels caused by Aspergillus species in in vitro and in vivo tests. The results showed that B. cereus had a significant effect on biocontrol effectiveness in in vitro and in vivo conditions. The antifungal compounds produced by the B. cereus were purified using silica gel column chromatography and their structure was elucidated using extensive spectral analyses. The compounds were identified as diketopiperazines (DKPs) [cyclo-(L-Pro-Gly), cyclo(L-Tyr-L-Tyr), cyclo-(L-Phe-Gly) and cyclo(4-hydroxy-L-Pro-L-Trp)]. The antifungal activities of diketopiperazines were studied against five Aspergillus species and best MIC of 2 µg/ml was recorded against A. flavus by cyclo(4-hydroxy-L-Pro-L-Trp). To investigate the potential application of cyclo(4-hydroxy-L-Pro-L-Trp) to eliminate fungal spoilage in food and feed, peanut kernels was used as a food model system. White mycelia and dark/pale green spores of Aspergillus species were observed in the control peanut kernels after 2 days incubation. However the fungal growth was not observed in peanut kernels treated with cyclo(4-hydroxy-L-Pro-L-Trp). The cyclo(4-hydroxy-L-Pro-L-Trp) was nontoxic to two normal cell lines [fore skin (FS) normal fibroblast and African green monkey kidney (VERO)] up to 200 µg/ml in MTT assay. Thus the cyclo(4-hydroxy-L-Pro-L-Trp) identified in this study may be a promising alternative to chemical preservatives as a potential biopreservative agent which prevent fungal growth in food and feed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating that the entomopathogenic nematode associated B. cereus and cyclo(4-hydroxy-L-Pro-L-Trp) could be used as a biocontrol agents against postharvest fungal disease caused by Aspergillus species.
Evolving Risk Perceptions About Near-Miss Terrorist Events

After disasters such as the attacks of September 11, 2001, the public experiences a heightened response that naturally returns to some lower level of concern. We demonstrate that this pattern of heightened response followed by a decline as time passes also occurs for terrorist events that are near misses. Data from a field study and two experimental lab studies show that people's perceptions of the risk of similar category events and their perception that the near-miss attempt was close to being a successful terrorist attack decline over time. Moreover, the decline in the perception of how close the near miss was to being a successful terrorist attack partially explains the decline in the perception of the risk of future similar category events. We also show that the perceived risk for terrorism in general decays more slowly than for a specific category event, and is reactivated by additional terrorist attempts. Finally, we show that people rely on reference points to provide the context for near-miss terrorism events, and without reference points assessing perceptions of risk and perceptions of how close an event was to having a truly bad outcome are difficult. The reliance on reference points for context can result in different people evaluating the same event differently depending on that person's information about prior terrorist attempts. Our contributions provide guidance to organizations such as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for encouraging stakeholders to make rational decisions on the basis of the nature, scale, and scope of the attack that balance recovery with continued vigilance. We also provide information to other intelligence agencies who need to consider their own individuals' personal biases that may arise when repeatedly examining terrorist near misses.
COMPETITION IN EUROPEAN AVIATION: PRICING POLICY AND MARKET STRUCTURE. IN: AIR TRANSPORT

This study analyzes the impact of liberal bilateral agreements on some European air routes in terms of price competition and market structure. A model is proposed that explains firms' behavior and shows that, after liberalization, firms exploit their cost advantages and differentiate their products more, but market structure still depends on access to airport facilities and other ancillary services controlled by the flag carriers. These results suggest that even if liberal bilaterals have increased competition in the short run, they do not ensure a fully competitive framework in the European aviation industry.
Examining Factors Affecting College Students' Intention to Use Web-Based Instruction Systems: Towards an Integrated Model

With accelerated progress of information and communication technologies (ICT), web-based instruction (WBI) is becoming a popular method for education resources distributing and delivering. This study was conducted to explore what factors influence college students’ behavioral intentions to utilize WBI systems. To achieve this aim, a WBI system was developed and employed in a vocational college in Taiwan to support undergraduate courses learning. Drawing on the concepts from Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), and Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), this study proposes a nomological framework and develops an instrument for measuring college students’ intention to use the WBI platform. The empirical results indicate that students show great readiness and positive intentions towards the system for their web-based learning activities and expose a possible benefit from its use in the long term. The research findings can provide instrumental suggestions for web-based instruction practices and may serve as instrumental guidelines for WBI systems to be effectively designed to advance college students’ interests and activations in the virtual learning environment.
The Effect of Financial Rewards on Students' Achievement: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment

In a randomized field experiment where first year university students could earn financial rewards for passing all first year requirements within one year we find small and non-significant average effects of financial incentives on the pass rate and the numbers of collected credit points. There is however evidence that high ability students collect significantly more credit points when assigned to (larger) reward groups. Low ability students collect less credit points when assigned to larger reward groups. After three years these effects have increased, suggesting dynamic spillovers. The small average effect in the population is therefore the sum of a positive effect for high ability students and a (partly) off-setting negative effect for low ability students. A negative effect of financial incentives for less able individuals is in line with research from psychology and recent economic laboratory experiments which shows that external rewards may be detrimental for intrinsic motivation.
Celecoxib or naproxen treatment does not benefit depressive symptoms in persons age 70 and older: findings from a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND Several lines of evidence suggest that inflammatory mechanisms may be involved in the severity and progression of depression. One pathway implicated is the production of prostaglandins via the enzyme cyclooxygenase (COX). Although late-life depression in particular has been associated with inflammation, we know of no published studies using COX inhibitors, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), in the treatment of depressive syndromes in this population. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of the NSAIDs celecoxib and naproxen on depressive symptoms in older adults. METHODS The Alzheimer's Disease Anti-inflammatory Prevention Trial was a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-masked clinical trial conducted at six U.S. memory clinics. Cognitively normal volunteers age 70 and older with a family history of Alzheimer-like dementia were randomly assigned to receive celecoxib 200 mg twice daily, naproxen sodium 220 mg twice daily, or placebo. The 30-item version of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) was administered to all participants at enrollment and at yearly follow-up visits. Participants with a GDS score greater than 5 at baseline were classified as depressed. RESULTS Of 2,528 participants enrolled, 2,312 returned for at least one follow-up visit. Approximately one-fifth had significant depressive symptoms at baseline. Mean GDS score, and the percentage with significant depressive symptoms, remained similar over time across all three treatment groups. Furthermore, there was no treatment effect on GDS scores over time in the subgroup of participants with significant depressive symptoms at baseline. In longitudinal analysis using generalized estimating equations (GEE) regression, higher baseline GDS scores, a prior psychiatric history, older age, time in the study, and lower cognition interacting with time, but not treatment assignment, were associated with significantly higher GDS scores over time. CONCLUSION Treatment with celecoxib or naproxen did not improve depressive symptoms over time compared with placebo. While inflammation has been implicated in late-life depression, these results do not support the hypothesis that inhibition of the COX pathway with these NSAIDs at these doses alleviates depressive symptoms in older adults.
A variant of compressed sensing

This paper is motivated by some recent advances on what is now called “compressed sensing”. Let us begin with a theorem by Terence Tao. Let p be a prime number and Fp be the finite field with p elements. We denote by #E the cardinality of E ⊂ Fp. The Fourier transform of a complex valued function f defined on Fp is denoted by f . Let Mq be the collection of all f : Fp 7→ C such that the cardinality of the support of f does not exceed q. Then Terence Tao proved that for q < p/2 and for any set Ω of frequencies such that #Ω ≥ 2q, the mapping Φ : Mq 7→ l(Ω) defined by f 7→ 1Ωf is injective. Here and in what follows, 1E will denote the indicator function of the set E. This theorem is wrong if Fp is replaced by Z/NZ and if N is not a prime.
Efficient multiplierless designs for 1-D DWT using 9/7 filters based on distributed arithmetic

In this paper, we present a distributed arithmetic (DA) formulation of the computation of discrete wavelet transform (DWT) using 9/7 filters, and mapped that into bit-parallel and bit-serial architectures for high-throughput and low-hardware implementations, respectively. The bit-serial structure processes the bit-slices of input vector in serial manner for low-hardware solution, while the bit-parallel structure processes all the bit-slices in parallel for high-throughput computation. The bit-parallel structure has 100% hardware utilization efficiency. Compared with the existing multiplierless structures, the proposed structures offer significantly higher throughput rate and involve less area-delay product.
UQLIPS: A Real-time Near-duplicate Video Clip Detection System

Near-duplicate video clip (NDVC) detection is an important problem with a wide range of applications such as TV broadcast monitoring, video copyright enforcement, content-based video clustering and annotation, etc. For a large database with tens of thousands of video clips, each with thousands of frames, can NDVC search be performed in real-time? In addition to considering inter-frame similarity (i.e., spatial information), what is the impact of frame sequence similarity (i.e., temporal information) on search speed and accuracy? UQLIPS is a prototype system for online NDVC detection. The core of UQLIPS comprises two novel complementary schemes for detecting NDVCs. Bounded Coordinate System (BCS), a compact representation model ignoring temporal information, globally summarizes each video to a single vector which captures the dominating content and content changing trends of each clip. The other proposal, named FRAme Symbolization (FRAS), maps each clip to a sequence of symbols, and takes temporal order and sequence context information into consideration. Using a large collection of TV commercials, UQLIPS clearly demonstrates that it is feasible to perform real-time NDVC detection with high accuracy.
Reputation and Allocation of Ownership

The allocation of ownership matters even in long--term relationships. Ownership structure is chosen to encourage co--operation. The optimal ownership structure of the static game restricts the gain from deviation to be the lowest but also the punishment will be minimal. The worst ownership structure of the one--shot game is good in the repeated setting because it provides the highest punishment but bad because the gain from deviation is also the highest. When investment is inelastic, joint ownership is optimal. Allowing for renegotiation of ownership structure softens the punishment under joint ownership but it is still optimal for a wide parameter range. Copyright 2002 Royal Economic Society
Breaking the walls: scene partitioning and portal creation

In this paper, we revisit the cells-and-portals visibility methods, originally developed for the special case of architectural interiors. We define an effectiveness measure for a cells-and-portals partitioning, and introduce a two-pass algorithm that computes a cells-and-portals partition. The algorithm uses a simple heuristic that creates short portals as a mean for generating an effective partition. The input to the algorithm is a set of half edges in 2D that can be extracted from a complex polygonal model. The first pass of the algorithm creates an initial partition, which is then refined by the second pass. We show that our method creates a partition that is more effective than the common BSP partition, even when the latter is further refined with the application of our second pass. Our cells-and-portals algorithm is designed to deal with arbitrarily oriented walls. The algorithm also supports outdoor scenes, where the vertical walls of the buildings served as occluders and portals are extended above the buildings. We show that the extended portals allow an output-sensitive rendering of large urban scenes. Finally, since our two-pass method is fully automatic and local, it supports incremental changes of the model by locally recomputing and updating the partition. We call our method "Breaking the Walls" (BW) since it breaks out of indoor scenes to outdoor scenes, and allows walls to be broken interactively, with an instant updating of the partition.
Hitting Back-Spin Balls by Robotic Table Tennis System Based on Physical Models of Ball Motion

Abstract In this paper, we develop a robotic table tennis system in the case of the back spin with the same measurement method and the ball models of the aerodynamics and the rebounds as in the study of Nakashima et al. (2011). First, the aerodynamics model is improved for precise prediction of the ball trajectory with data of the flying back-spin ball. Second, a method to determine the racket motion is shown where approximated inverse problems of the models are solved with optimizations. Third, a motion planning of the robot to achieve the racket motion is proposed with the velocity limitation of the robot joints. Experimental results are shown to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.