Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Regeneration of diesel particulate filter using nonthermal plasma without catalyst

The regulation for the automotive diesel engine emission becomes severe every year, and it is difficult to meet the requirement only by the combustion improvement techniques in the near future. More effective post-processing technology is desired, especially on particulate matter (PM), such as carbon soots. Although the use of ceramic diesel particulate filter (DPF) is now a leading technology for PM removal, the problem exists on the soot removal or regeneration at low temperature, especially at the cold start. In the study, a regeneration of DPF with collected PM was investigated using the low temperature atmospheric pressure nonthermal plasma. The method is to use the NO/sub 2/ and radicals induced by the plasma reactor to burn carbon soots deposited on DPF. First, three types of DPF plasma reactors were made and the performances on the conversion of NO to NO/sub 2/ were evaluated on various conditions. Next, a regeneration experiment was carried out using a barrier type pulse corona plasma reactor. As a result, it was confirmed that the pressure difference decreased only when the plasma was turned on and the regeneration of DPF was realized at less than 250/spl deg/C.
The Physical Basis of Atmospheric Depolarization in Slant Paths in the V Band: Theory, Italsat Experiment and Models

After a review of the physical/mathematical definitions of anisotropy and canting angle, parameters currently used for describing the depolarization of electromagnetic waves due to hydrometeors, we present some specific algorithms to retrieve these parameters from measurements of the atmospheric polarization transfer matrix, based on data collected during the Italsat propagation experiment at 50 GHz in a slant path with elevation angle 37.7 °. The data analysis, conducted after applying particular “ad hoc” procedures and severe editing, allowed to separate in many cases the ice- from the rain-effects, both in single events and statistically. We also present mathematical models derived from the observed behavior of the descriptive parameters, hopefully applicable also in different conditions.
The B Subunit of Shiga Toxin Fused to a Tumor Antigen Elicits CTL and Targets Dendritic Cells to Allow MHC Class I-Restricted Presentation of Peptides Derived from Exogenous Antigens1

Immunization with peptide or recombinant proteins generally fails to elicit CTL, which are thought to play a key role in the control of virus-infected cells and tumor growth. In this study we show that the nontoxic B subunit of Shiga toxin fused to a tumor peptide derived from the mouse mastocytoma P815 can induce specific CTL in mice without the use of adjuvant. The Shiga B subunit acts as a vector rather than as an adjuvant, because coinjection of the tumor peptide and the B subunit as separate entities does not lead to CTL induction. We also demonstrated that in vitro the B subunit mediates the delivery of various exogenous CD8 T cell epitopes into the conventional MHC class I-restricted pathway, as this process is inhibited by brefeldin A and lactacystin and requires a functional TAP system. In contrast to other nonviral methods for transport of exogenous Ags into the endogenous MHC class I pathway that involve macropinocytosis or phagocytosis, the Shiga B subunit targets this pathway in a receptor-dependent manner, namely via binding to the glycolipid Gb3. Because this receptor is highly expressed on various dendritic cells, it should allow preferential targeting of the Shiga B subunit to these professional APCs. Therefore, the Shiga B subunit appears to represent an attractive vector for vaccine development due to its ability to target dendritic cells and to induce specific CTL without the need for adjuvant.
Immunosuppression and infectious complications in patients with stage IV indolent lymphoma treated with a fludarabine, mitoxantrone, and dexamethasone regimen

Myelosuppression and immunosuppression occur with purine analogs. The objective of the current study was to investigate the effects of combined fludarabine, mitoxantrone, and dexamethasone (FND) followed by interferon/dexamethasone on myelosuppression (absolute neutrophil counts), immunosuppression (CD4 and CD8 counts), and infectious complications in patients with previously untreated, Stage IV indolent lymphoma.
Work in progress — Improving problem-solving skills via dynamically worked-out problems

This paper describes our continued work in creating a set of narrated dynamically worked-out problems for the Electric Circuits students using a Tablet PC. The examples are intended to improve problem-solving skills by enhancing understanding of the key concepts and the way that they should be utilized in solving circuits' problems. A detailed explanation of how these worked out problems are put together is provided. The preliminary evaluations of the proposed approach by a group of students and faculty have been very encouraging.
c-Jun N-Terminal Kinase Negatively Regulates Lipopolysaccharide-Induced IL-12 Production in Human Macrophages: Role of Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase in Glutathione Redox Regulation of IL-12 Production1

Although c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) plays an important role in cytokine expression, its function in IL-12 production is obscure. The present study uses human macrophages to examine whether the JNK pathway is required for LPS-induced IL-12 production and defines how JNK is involved in the regulation of IL-12 production by glutathione redox, which is the balance between intracellular reduced (GSH) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG). We found that LPS induced IL-12 p40 protein and mRNA in a time- and concentration-dependent manner in PMA-treated THP-1 macrophages, and that LPS activated JNK and p38 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase, but not extracellular signal-regulated kinase, in PMA-treated THP-1 cells. Inhibition of p38 MAP kinase activation using SB203580 dose dependently repressed LPS-induced IL-12 p40 production, as described. Conversely, inhibition of JNK activation using SP600125 dose dependently enhanced both LPS-induced IL-12 p40 production from THP-1 cells and p70 production from human monocytes. Furthermore, JNK antisense oligonucleotides attenuated cellular levels of JNK protein and LPS-induced JNK activation, but augmented IL-12 p40 protein production and mRNA expression. Finally, the increase in the ratio of GSH/GSSG induced by glutathione reduced form ethyl ester (GSH-OEt) dose dependently enhanced LPS-induced IL-12 p40 production in PMA-treated THP-1 cells. GSH-OEt augmented p38 MAP kinase activation, but suppressed the JNK activation induced by LPS. Our findings indicate that JNK negatively affects LPS-induced IL-12 production from human macrophages, and that glutathione redox regulates LPS-induced IL-12 production through the opposite control of JNK and p38 MAP kinase activation.
Solving the more difficult aspects of electric motor thermal analysis in small and medium size industrial induction motors

With the ever-increasing pressure on electric motor manufacturers to develop smaller and more efficient electric motors, there is a need for more thermal analysis in parallel with the traditional electromagnetic design. Attention to the thermal design can be rewarded by major improvements in the overall performance. Technical papers published to date highlight a number of thermal design issues that are difficult to analyze. This paper reviews some of these issues and gives advice on how to deal with them when developing algorithms for inclusion in design software.
Delay jitter bounds and packet scale rate guarantee for expedited forwarding

We consider the definition of the expedited forwarding per-hop behaviour (EF PHB) as given in RFC 2598 (Jacobsen et al. 1999), and its impact on worst case end-to-end delay jitter. On one hand, the definition in RFC 2598 can be used to predict extremely low end-to-end delay jitter, independent of the network scale. On the other hand, we find that the worst case delay jitter can be made arbitrarily large, while each flow traverses at most a specified number of hops, if we allow networks to become arbitrarily large; this is in contradiction with the previous statement. We analyze where the contradiction originates, and find the explanation. It resides in the fact that the definition in RFC 2598 is not easily implementable in schedulers we know of, mainly because it is not formal enough, and also because it does not contain an error term. We propose a new definition for the EF PHB, called "packet scale rate guarantee", which preserves the spirit of RFC 2598, while allowing a number of reasonable implementations, and has very useful properties for per-node and end-to-end network engineering. We show that this definition implies the rate-latency service curve guarantee. Then we propose some proven bounds on delay jitter for networks implementing this new definition, both in cases without loss and with loss.
Mismatch responses to sound duration changes in the rat auditory cortex and hippocampus

Detection of changes in the auditory environment is important for survival. The mismatch negativity (MMN) of the event-related potentials (ERPs) reflects automatic change detection that occurs independently from attention. In experimental conditions, MMN can be elicited by rare ‟deviant sounds‟, differing discernibly from the frequently occurring ‟standard sounds‟ in respect of any stimulus feature (so-called oddball condition). The generation of MMN has generally been viewed as a cortical process. The hippocampus, then again, has been thought to contribute to the detection of more salient changes, to the switching of attention to these changes and to the generation of P3a of ERPs related to the attention shift. We measured auditory cortical and hippocampal local field potentials (LFPs) to sound duration changes in urethane-anesthetized rats in an oddball condition to study whether also the hippocampus plays a role in automatic change detection and generation of MMN. As the direction of the duration deviance has been suggested to have bearing on mismatch response, we applied two conditions with duration increments as deviant sounds in one condition and duration decrements as deviant sounds in the other condition. Moreover, two conditions with different inter-stimulus intervals (ISIs of 200 and 500 ms) were applied to study how the length of the intervals between the stimuli affects mismatch response. Mismatch responses were observed both in the auditory cortex and hippocampus at 25-149.5 ms after change onset. Duration increments elicited strong mismatch responses, but mismatch responses to duration decrements were almost completely absent. Stronger mismatch responses were also elicited when ISI was 500 ms than when it was 200 ms. These results indicate that hippocampus might play a role in automatic auditory change detection and in the generation of MMN. Moreover, the findings of the effect of duration deviation direction and ISI on mismatch response are consistent with the findings of human MMN. This lends further support for the use of rats when modeling central auditory processes related to both healthy and disrupted brain functions.
Association between Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D Levels and Type 2 Diabetes in Korean Adults

Previous studies have suggested that a vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of type 2 diabetes. This study evaluated the association between serum vitamin D levels and type 2 diabetes in Korean adults. This study included 9,014 subjects (3,600 males and 5,414 females) aged ≥50 years who participated in the Dong-gu Study. The subjects were divided into groups in whom the serum vitamin D level was severely deficient (<10 ng/mL), deficient (10 to <20 ng/mL), insufficient (20 to <30 ng/mL) and sufficient (≥30 ng/mL). Type 2 diabetes was defined by a fasting blood glucose level of ≥126 mg/dL and/or an HbA1c proportion of ≥6.5% and/or self-reported current use of diabetes medication. Multiple logistic regression was performed to evaluate the association between vitamin D status and type 2 diabetes. The age- and sex-adjusted prevalence of type 2 diabetes was 22.6%, 22.5% and 18.4% and 12.7% for severely deficient, deficient, insufficient, and sufficient, respectively. Multivariate modeling revealed that subjects with insufficient or sufficient vitamin D levels were at a lower risk of type 2 diabetes than were subjects with deficient vitamin D levels [odds ratio (OR), 0.82; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.71–0.94 and OR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.35–0.74, respectively]. Higher serum vitamin D levels were associated with a reduced risk of diabetes in Korean adults, suggesting that vitamin D may play a role in the pathogenesis of diabetes.
Biases in Project Estimation: Experimental Evidence

A project is characterized by its uniqueness and complexity. Project management methodology has evolved and received much recognition beyond its traditional domain of construction management to cover areas such as product development, information technology, and research and development. Due to the uniqueness, very limited historical data is available for quantitative analysis. Hence project practitioners prefer using their intuition and subjective judgment for analysis, which -according to studies in cognitive psychology- prone to systematic errors (biases). A series of empirical studies (i.e. experiment) were carried out to identify the possible existence of judgmental biases when project practitioners estimated durations of project activities. Results partially confirm past studies that a range of judgmental errors is observable within various contexts for both individual novice and expert respondents. The biases include: accuracy bias and anchoring effect bias. The finding lays groundwork for follow-up studies in biases identification and biases remedy within project contexts.
Biomarkers and genetics of brain injury risk in diabetic ketoacidosis: A pilot study

Abstract Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is the primary cause of death for children with diabetes, especially when complicated by cerebral edema. Central nervous system (CNS) involvement is common, however the mechanism of, and predictors of CNS dysfunction/injury are largely unknown. In this observational pilot study, blood was collected from pediatric DKA patients at three time points (consent, 12 hr and 24 hr after beginning treatment), to test genetic markers, ribonucleic acid expression and plasma biomarkers reflecting inflammation (tumor necrosis factor-alpha [TNF-α], interleukin-6 [IL-6]) and cerebral dysfunction and/or possible injury (S100β, glial fibrillary acidic protein [GFAP]). Thirty patients were enrolled in the study. The average age was 11.3 yr, 73% were new onset diabetes and 53% were female. Forty percent exhibited abnormal mentation (Glasgow Coma Scale <15), consistent with CNS dysfunction. IL-6 and TNF-α were elevated in plasma, suggesting systemic inflammation. GFAP was measurable in 45% of patients and correlated positively with GCS. Only two patients had detectable levels of S100β. In conclusion, children with DKA often present with evidence of acute neurologic dysfunction or injury. We have demonstrated the feasibility of exploring genetic and biochemical markers of potential importance in the pathophysiology of CNS dysfunction and/or possible injury in DKA. We have identified IL-6, TNF-α and GFAP as potentially important markers for further exploration. A larger, follow-up study will help to better understand the extent and type of CNS injury in DKA as well as the mechanism underlying this dysfunction/injury.
On the Importance of Marginality: One More Step into the Two-Step Flow of Communication

the meetings of the Society for the Study of Social Problems, Toronto. Veroff, Joseph, Richard Kulka and Elizabeth Douvan 1981 The Inner American: Life, Work, and Mental Health from 1957 to 1976. New York: Basic Books. Weissman, Myrna M. and Jerome K. Myers 1978 "Rates and risks of depressive symptoms in a United States urban community. " Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavia 57:219-31. Wheaton, Blair 1978 "The sociogenesis of psychological disorder: reexamining the causal issues with longitudinal data. " American Sociological Review 43:383-403. 1980 "The sociogenesis of psychological disorder: an attributional theory. " Journal of Health and Social Behavior 21:100-23. 1982 "Uses and abuses of the Langner index: a reexamination of findings on psychological and psychophysiological distress. " Pp. 25-54 in David Mechanic (ed.), Symptoms, Illness Behavior, and Help-Seeking. New York: Prodist. Zung, W. 1965 "A self-rating depression scale. " Archives of General Psychiatry 12:63-70.
Gender Role Orientation Moderates Effects of Stereotype Activation on Test Performances

Abstract. We investigated the moderation of effects of activated gender stereotypes on the performance of women in tests of different ability domains. The Bem Sex Role Inventory assessed masculinity and femininity. The difference of the masculinity and femininity scores served as a continuous independent variable of gender role orientation. Only participants with feminine gender role orientation suffered from stereotype activation with regard to mental rotation and math performance. In contrast, participants with feminine gender role orientation profited from stereotype activation with regard to emotional sensitivity performance. These results demonstrate a generally higher susceptibility to gender stereotypes of women with feminine gender role orientation. Higher self-relevance of stereotypes was associated with stronger stereotype threat, but also stronger stereotype lift or boost.
Association between single-nucleotide polymorphisms in pre-miRNAs and the risk of asthma in a Chinese population.

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in pre-miRNAs may alter microRNA (miRNA) expression levels or processing and contribute to susceptibility to a wide range of diseases. We investigated the correlation between four SNPs (rs11614913, rs3746444, rs2910164, and rs229283) in pre-miRNAs and the risk of asthma in 220 asthma patients and 540 controls using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism methodology and DNA-sequencing. There were significant differences in the genotype and allelic distribution of rs2910164G/C and rs2292832C/T polymorphisms among cases and controls. The CC genotype and C allele of rs2910164G/C were significantly associated with a decreased risk of asthma (CC vs. GG, odds ratio [OR] = 0.51, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.31-0.82; C vs. G, OR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.59-0.93). Similarly, the TT genotype and T allele of rs2292832C/T were significantly associated with a decreased risk of asthma (TT vs. CC, OR = 0.56, 95% CI: 0.33-0.95; T vs. C, OR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.53-0.95). However, no significant association between the other two polymorphisms (i.e., rs11614913C/T and rs3746444C/T) and the risk of asthma was observed. Our data indicate that rs2910164G/C and rs2292832C/T may play a role in the development of asthma.
Food allergy and social anxiety in a community sample of adolescents

ABSTRACT This investigation explored the relationship between food allergies and social anxiety in a school-based sample of adolescents. A total of 849 participants, including 87 endorsing food allergies, completed standardized questionnaires assessing social anxiety symptoms. Food allergic participants answered questions assessing allergy characteristics, worry and avoidance related to allergen exposure and allergy disclosure, and parental worry and control. Boys with food allergies reported higher social anxiety than boys without food allergies, though no differences were found in girls. Social anxiety was correlated with parental worry and control. Findings may inform anxiety prevention programs for youth with food allergies.
Whither the Resource Curse?

What is it about oil? Whereas one might think that countries that produce the world's energy have it good, much scholarship has come to the conclusion that countries that produce oil have it bad: they are worse off economically and politically than they would otherwise be. This counter-intuitive idea has become so widespread that the “resource curse” is often discussed in popular outlets, from Thomas Friedman to Stephen Colbert. And yet scholarship is increasingly questioning whether this curse actually exists. After several decades of research on the topic, we still do not have a clear idea what it is about oil—if anything—that causes problems.
Valorization of soursop flowers (Annona muricata L.) as potent source of natural antioxidants for stabilization of palm olein during accelerated storage

Abstract This study investigates the effect of soursop flowers methanolic extract on the physicochemical characteristics of palm olein during accelerated storage. After analysis of the extract by determining its total phenolic content by colorimetry and identification of some of its phenolic antioxidants by HPLC‐DAD(Diode Array Detector), preliminary antioxidants tests have been done. After that, the extract was added in palm olein at concentrations 200–1800 ppm. BHT, at 200 ppm served as standard besides the Control. Induction time, peroxide, p‐anisidine, Total oxidation (TOTOX), thiobarbituric acid and iodine values, as well as changes in linoleic acid profile Gas Chromatography/Flamme Ionization Detector (GC/FID) of oil during the storage were evaluated. Results showed soursop flower extract to be rich in phenolic antioxidants and to be efficient, at all concentrations, in delaying palm olein oxidation on Rancimat and accelerated Schaal oven test of 30 days at 70°C. Soursop flowers might be used as potent source of antioxidants for the stabilization of palm olein.
An Examination of the Temporal Intricacies of Job Engagement

In this article, we theoretically develop and test the temporal intricacies of job engagement. Drawing on the attention view of social cognition, we examine the interplay of employees’ temporally relevant perspectives of fit (i.e., retrospected, current, and anticipated) within their ongoing membership to the organization. Utilizing field data gathered from a large multinational company over multiple time periods, we found support for a conditional indirect effect model. Specifically, our findings showed that current needs-supply (NS) fit accounted for two of the previously investigated antecedents of job engagement (i.e., psychological meaningfulness and safety), especially when organizational identification was low. Moreover, anticipated perceptions of NS fit fully mediated the influences of psychological meaningfulness and availability on job engagement. The mediating effect relating to psychological availability was also especially pronounced when organizational identification was low. By shedding light on employees’ temporally constructed psychological experiences, our research suggests that job engagement is not only affected by employees’ contemporaneous understandings of their jobs but also influenced by their perceptions of anticipated opportunities.