Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Induction and repair of DNA double-strand breaks in human cells exposed to different radiation qualities

Radiation therapy is used in attempting to kill tumor cells by inducing DNA doublestrand breaks (DSB), the most critical DNA lesions. Recent and planned radiation therapy strategies use high-linear energy transfer (LET) radiation to effectively treat malignant tumors. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the mechanisms of DNA DSB induction and repair after exposure to ionizing radiation of different ionization densities, with focus on the role of DNA damage clustering and chromatin structure, as well as the activation of repair-related proteins at clustered damage sites in human cells. DSB induction was assessed after exposure to accelerated ions of different ionization densities with LET ranging from 40 eV/nm to 300 eV/nm. Exposure of human cells to high-LET radiation resulted in clustering of DSB, leading to an excess of small DNA fragments (< 1 Mbp), as measured by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Importantly, it was found that DNA organization into chromatin fibers and higher-order structures is responsible for most of DSB clustering induced by high-LET radiation. A newly developed cold lysis protocol for preparation of genomic DNA, which avoids release of heat-labile sites (HLS) into DSB at elevated temperatures, was used to accurately measure the DSB number. DSB yields and relative biological effectiveness (RBE) values were strongly influenced by chromatin compactness. Furthermore, the presence of HLS had a substantial impact on DSB induction yields and DSB rejoining rates measured by PFGE. The lesions involved in the release of HLS into DSB were repaired independent of DNA-PKcs, XRCC1 or PARP-1. Moreover, cells with defect or inhibited function of DNA-PKcs did not show any fast rejoining of DSB when HLS were eliminated. The substructure and spatial dynamics of DNA damage and repair along highLET particle tracks was monitored by immunofluorescence. Interestingly, high-LET ion track irradiation revealed one of the earliest responses to ionizing radiation, ATM phosphorylation at Ser1981, as pATM foci that clearly correlated with γ-H2AX foci within particle tracks, as well as punctuated/diffuse staining dispersed throughout the whole nucleoplasm, far away from DSB. In addition, the number of γ-H2AX foci detected at early time-points was independent of the number of DSB, indicating that a single γ-H2AX focus contains clusters of several DSB within 1-2 Mbp of chromatin. In summary, the presented data show that DSB yields and distributions are greatly influenced by ionization density and chromatin compactness. Clustering of DSB and other DNA lesions may affect the reparability. Furthermore, detection of protein activation in single cells after ion track irradiation suggested that chromatin changes or other signalling processes might take place at distance from DSB. This thesis provides new insights on the importance of the chromatin organization and the repair of clustered DNA damage sites, as well as the role of repair-associated proteins in DNA damage recognition after high-LET radiation.
Functional organization of the macroglomerular complex related to behaviourally expressed olfactory redundancy in male cabbage looper moths

Abstract. The neurophysiological bases for behaviourally expressed olfactory redundancy in the sex pheromone communication system of the cabbage looper moth, Trichoplusia ni (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), were examined by coupling the cut‐sensillum extracellular recording technique with a highly specific neuronal marking method for moth peripheral receptors. In seventy‐two antennal sensilla, axonal pathways of cobalt‐stained neurones could be traced into the male‐specific macroglomerular complex in the antennal lobe. In T. ni males this comprises five glomeruli, two of which are subdivided into morphologically, and in some instances functionally identifiable, regions. Axonal arborizations of forty‐eight neurones (single stainings) showed high fidelity (98%) for containment within a specific glomerulus or glomerular subdivision, and the neuropil targeted seemed to be related to the specificity of a neurone to a particular female‐emitted sex pheromone component (27‐12:Ac, Z7‐14:Ac, Z9‐14:Ac, 12:Ac, 11–12:Ac, Z5‐12:Ac), or to a behavioural antagonist (Z7‐12:OH). Double (twenty‐one) and multiple stainings (three) showed axons projecting into two or more glomeruli, respectively, with 100% fidelity for the component‐specific glomerulus or glomerular subdivision to be targeted. We suggest that the potential for a single minor component to cross‐stimulate two or more neurones within a sensillum may enable partial blends to continue to provide sensory input into all of the pheromone‐processing glomeruli of the complex. Our interpretation is that redundancy occurs at the receptor level on neighbouring dendrites, and thus allows various four‐component partial blends to evoke full pheromone‐mediated behaviour.
A Media Architecture Approach to Designing Shared Displays for Residential Internet-of-Things Devices

Research on media architecture to date has predominately focused on the integration of digital technologies, such as low-resolution media façades, into urban environments within a public context. In this paper, we present an analysis of two case studies, which investigated the use of low-resolution display technologies within a residential context for visualizing data streams generated by Internet-of-Things devices. Each study involved the deployment of a display prototype and both studies focused on visualizing electricity data. The first study used the front yard as a deployment location to encourage friendly neighborhood competition on electricity consumption and the second study focused on visualizing the performance of residential solar panels in the home. The paper discusses how we used media architecture principles as a framework to inform the design of both prototypes. Based on an analysis of the two cases, we present seven design insights for residential low-res displays as well as a series of design recommendations for residential media architecture.
Effect of Trichoderma Fortified Compost on Disease Suppression, Growth and Yield of Chickpea

Trichoderma species are commonly used as effective biological control agents against phytopathogens especially the soil-borne fungi while some isolates are able to ameliorate plant growth. In the present study, Trichoderma fortified compost with different substrates were evaluated to reduce the pre-emergence and post-emergence seedling mortality, diseases of stem and root of chickpea caused by several soil-borne fungal pathogens, including Fusarium oxysporum, Rhizoctonia solani and Sclerotium rolfsii at different growth stages in the field under natural epiphytotic conditions. Among the twenty isolates of T. harzianum, Co-7 showed the most effective antagonist against the test pathogens in dual culture method. In field experiment, subsequently it was used for inoculum preparation with colonized wheat grain and mixed with well-matured decomposed composting materials like, saw dust, cow dung, tea waste, water hyacinth and poultry manure. Trichoderma fortified compost with poultry manure was found significantly effective in reducing pre-emergence and post emergence seedling mortality, disease incidence and disease severity of chickpea in the field. Interestingly, all the treatments significantly increased but Trichoderma fortified compost with poultry manure was the best to boost seed yield and quality.
Effects of Growth Manipulation on IGF-I and IGF-II Expression

The insulin-like growth factors are a family of peptides which are fundamentally involved in growth regulation of mammalian and avian species. Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) was first recognized by Salmon and Daughaday in 1957 and was originally termed “sulfation factor” (Salmon and Daughaday, 1957). IGF-I mediates many of the growthpromoting effects of growth hormone (GH), (Daughaday et al., 1972; Schoenle et al., 1985). Insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) appears to be a fetal counterpart to IGF-I (Moses et al., 1980; Daughaday et al., 1986; Adams et al., 1983). On the other hand, it is now apparent that certain adult tissues synthesize IGF-I1 (Lund et al., 1986; Rotwein et al., 1988; Turner et al., 1988), suggesting a possible role for IGF-II in post-natal growth and development. It was originally believed that the liver was the only source of IGF-I, and that liver-derived serum IGF-I (acting via the classic endocrine mechanism) was responsible for all of the biological actions of the IGFs during post-natal growth. In recent years, it has become apparent that many non-liver tissues also synthesize IGF-I and/or IGF-II (D’Ercole et al., 1984; Adams et at., 1984; Lund et al., 1986; Murphy et al., 1987a and 1987b; Shimatsu and Rotwein, 1987). Of interest to animal scientists are the findings that skeletal muscle cells (Hill et at., 1985a and 1985b; Jennische and Hansson, 1987) and muscle tissue (Turner et al., 1988) have been shown to produce IGF-I and IGF-11, and the synthesis of IGF-I and IGFI1 mRNA in skeletal muscle is under the control of GH (Murphy et al., 1987a; Turner et al., 1988; lsgaard et al., 1 989). The production of IGFs by skeletal muscle raises the interesting possibility that these growth factors may regulate muscle growth in a localized, tissue-specific manner. This type of growth regulation could be either a result of an autocrine mechanism, whereby a specific cell type produces a growth factor which then stimulates growth of the same cell type, or a paracrine mechanism, where a cell type produces a growth factor which then stimulates growth of a different cell type(s) which is located nearby. These two types of regulatory mechanisms contrast with the classical endocrine mechanism, in which a regulatory molecule (either a protein or other type of hormone) is produced in one tissue or organ
Willingness-to-Pay for Potable Water in the Accra-Tema Metropolitan Area of Ghana

A major problem confronting the Accra-Tema Metropolitan area of Ghana is the provision of potable water supply. One reason for this occurrence is the inability of Ghana Water Company Limited to meet the growing demand. This can partly be attributable to the ineffective pricing by the PURC which is below cost recovery levels. In this study we investigate household’s willingness-to-pay (WTP) for potable water supply together with the factors that determine WTP by using the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM). The results indicate that households in the Accra-Tema metropolis are willing to pay on the average GH￠0.10 for a bucket (17.5 litres) of water which is about 7 times more than what they are paying currently. Analysis of the factors that influence households WTP indicates that income, time spent to fetch water from existing sources, level of education, sanitation facility, perceived quality of current water supply, sex of the respondent and marital status are the main factors influencing households WTP for potable water supply services in the metropolis. We recommend that government improve water supply and increase tariffs since people are prepared to pay more for potable water supply as well as reduce inefficiencies that exist in the sector.
Toolbox for acoustic scene creation and rendering (TASCAR): Render methods and research applications

TASCAR is a toolbox for creation and rendering of dynamic acoustic scenes that allows direct user interaction and was developed for application in hearing aid research. This paper describes the simulation methods and shows two research applications in combination with motion tracking as an example. The first study investigated to what extent individual head movement strategies can be found in different listening tasks. The second study investigated the effect of presentation of dynamic acoustic cues on the postural stability of the listeners.
t-Reductions and t-integral closure of ideals

Let R be an integral domain and I a nonzero ideal of R. A sub-ideal J of I is a t-reduction of I if (JI^{n})_{t}=(I^{n+1})_{t} for some positive integer n. An element x in R is t-integral over I if there is an equation x^{n} + a_{1}x^{n-1} +. + a_{n-1}x + a_{n} = 0 with a_{i} in (I^{i})_{t} for I = 1,. ,n. The set of all elements that are t-integral over I is called the t-integral closure of I. This paper investigates the t-reductions and t-integral closure of ideals. Our objective is to establish satisfactory t-analogues of well-known results, in the literature, on the integral closure of ideals and its correlation with reductions. Namely, Section 2 identifies basic properties of t-reductions of ideals and features explicit examples discriminating between the notions of reduction and t-reduction. Section 3 investigates the concept of t-integral closure of ideals, including its correlation with t-reductions. Section 4 studies the persistence and contraction of t-integral closure of ideals under ring homomorphisms. All along the paper, the main results are illustrated with original examples.
Reduction of maximum tsunami run-up due to the interaction with beachfront development – application of single sinusoidal waves

Abstract. Experiments are presented that focus on the interaction of single sinusoidal long waves with beachfront development on the shore. A pump-driven methodology is applied to generate the tested waves in the wave flume. The approaching waves firstly propagate over a horizontal bottom, then climbing up a 1 in 40 beach slope. The experiments reported here are confined to the surf similarity parameter of the waves ranging from ξ =7.69–10.49. The maximum run-up of the tested waves under undisturbed conditions agrees well with analytical results of of Madsen and Schaffer (2010). Beachfront development is modelled with cubic concrete blocks (macro-roughness (MR) elements). The obstruction ratio, the number of element rows parallel to the shoreline as well as the way of arranging the MR elements influences the overall reduction of maximum run-up compared to the undisturbed run-up conditions. Staggered and aligned as well as rotated and non-rotated arrangements are tested. As a result, nomograms are finally compiled to depict the maximum run-up reduction over the surf similarity parameter. In addition, some guidance on practical application of the results to an example location is given.
Calculation of the X-Ray Spectrum of a Mammography System with Various Voltages and Different Anode-Filter Combinations Using MCNP Code

Introduction One of the best methods in the diagnosis and control of breast cancer is mammography. The importance of mammography is directly related to its value in the detection of breast cancer in the early stages, which leads to a more effective treatment. The purpose of this article was to calculate the X-ray spectrum in a mammography system with Monte Carlo codes, including MCNPX and MCNP5. Materials and Methods The device, simulated using the MCNP code, was Planmed Nuance digital mammography device (Planmed Oy, Finland), equipped with an amorphous selenium detector. Different anode/filter materials, such as molybdenum-rhodium (Mo-Rh), molybdenum-molybdenum (Mo-Mo), tungsten-tin (W-Sn), tungsten-silver (W-Ag), tungsten-palladium (W-Pd), tungsten-aluminum (W-Al), tungsten-molybdenum (W-Mo), molybdenum-aluminum (Mo-Al), tungsten-rhodium (W-Rh), rhodium-aluminum (Rh-Al), and rhodium-rhodium (Rh-Rh), were simulated in this study. The voltage range of the X-ray tube was between 24 and 34 kV with a 2 kV interval. Results The charts of changing photon flux versus energy were plotted for different types of anode-filter combinations. The comparison with the findings reported by others indicated acceptable consistency. Also, the X-ray spectra, obtained from MCNP5 and MCNPX codes for W-Ag and W-Rh combinations, were compared. We compared the present results with the reported data of MCNP4C and IPEM report No. 78 for Mo-Mo, Mo-Rh, and W-Al combinations. Conclusion The MCNPX calculation outcomes showed acceptable results in a low-energy X-ray beam range (10-35 keV). The obtained simulated spectra for different anode/filter combinations were in good conformity with the finding of previous research.
Elements of Diversity in Invitational Practice and Research

Invitational theory uses many elementsto define, describe, and delineateits beliefs and practices. For example,the Five Ps of people, places, policies,programs, and processes are consistentlycited in the literature and research as theframework for assessing inviting practices(Purkey & Novak, 1996; Purkey &Schmidt, 1996; Purkey & Siegel, 2003;Smith, 2005). Another example is thepresentation of four areas of inviting:Inviting Oneself Personally, InvitingOneself Professionally, Inviting OthersPersonally, and Inviting Others Professionally(Purkey & Novak, 1996; Purkey& Schmidt, 1996; Purkey & Siegel,2003). Such elements and componentshelp to explain invitational theory andpractices in an understandable languagewith useable concepts. All these conceptscoexist in the approach known asInvitational Education.
XANES calibrations for the oxidation state of iron in a silicate glass

Abstract Fe K-edge X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectra were recorded for a series of anorthite-diopside eutectic glasses containing 1 wt% 57Fe2O3 quenched from melts equilibrated over a range of oxygen fugacities at 1409 °C. The Fe3+/ΣFe ratios were determined previously by 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy and vary between 0 (fully reduced) and 1 (fully oxidized). Using the Mössbauer results as a reference, various methods for extracting Fe3+/ΣFe ratios from XANES spectra were investigated. The energy of the 1s → 3d pre-edge transition centroid was found to correlate linearly with the oxidation state. Correlations also exist with the energy of the K absorption edge and the area of peaks in the derivative spectrum associated with the 1s → 4s and crest (1s → 4p) transitions. The Fe3+/ΣFe ratios determined from linear combinations of end-member spectra (Fe3+/ΣFe ~0 and ~1) were found to deviate significantly from the Mössbauer values. This may indicate the susceptibility of this method either to errors arising from the treatment of the background or to changes in Fe2+ or Fe3+ coordination with the Fe3+/ΣFe ratio. The general applicability of any XANES calibration for determining oxidation states is limited by variations in the Fe coordination environment, which affects both the intensity and energy of spectral features. Thus previous calibrations based on mineral spectra are not applicable to silicate glasses. Nevertheless, systematic trends in spectral features suggest that Fe3+/ΣFe values may be obtained from XANES spectra, with an accuracy comparable to Mössbauer spectroscopy, by reference to empirical calibration curves derived from compositionally similar standards.
Integrated STEM Education: A Systematic Review of Instructional Practices in Secondary Education

The shortage of graduates in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), has led to numerous attempts to increase students’ interest in STEM. One emerging approach that has the potential to improve students’ motivation for STEM is integrated STEM education. Nonetheless, the implementation of this new instructional strategy is not straightforward due to the lack of consensus about instructional practices in integrated STEM. This paper contributes to this challenge by providing a well-defined framework for instructional practices in integrated STEM in secondary education, based on the results of a systematic review of existing literature. The framework contains five key principles: integration of STEM content, problem-centered learning, inquiry-based learning, design-based learning and cooperative learning. The proposed framework has several benefits, including its applicability in the classroom and the possibility to describe integrated STEM on multiple dimensions. Nonetheless, further research is necessary to investigate the effects of integrated STEM on students’ cognitive and affective learning outcomes.
Immigration and the Survival of the Welfare State

This paper analyzes the political sustainability of the welfare state in a model where immigration policy is also endogenous. In the model, the skills of the native population are affected by immigration and skill accumulation. Moreover, immigrants affect future policies, once they gain the right to vote. The main finding is that the long-run survival of redistributive policies is linked to an immigration policy specifying both skill and quantity restrictions. In particular, in steady state the unskilled majority admits a limited inflow of unskilled immigrants in order to offset growth in the fraction of skilled voters and maintain a high degree of income redistribution. Interestingly, equilibrium immigration policy shifts from unrestricted skilled immigration, when the country is skill-scarce, to restricted unskilled immigration, as the fraction of native skilled workers increases. The analysis also suggests a new set of variables that may help explain international differences in immigration restrictions.
Inhibitory effects of an extract of fruits of Physalis peruviana on some intestinal carbohydrases

Physalis peruviana is an Andean specie whose fruits are eaten as food and also has been reported in Colombian folk medicine for diabetes mellitus treatment. In addition, previous pharmacological studies on diabetic Wistar rats, an extract of P. peruviana fruits has been showed antidiabetic activity. In order to deepen in P. peruviana action mode as antidiabetic, in this investigation were determinate the Inhibitory Concentrations 50 (IC50) of P. peruviana fruits crude extract on alpha glucosidase from S. cerevisiae and from intestinal rat powder, on maltase and alpha amylase enzymes. The kinetic behavior of the extract on each enzyme was also investigated, and the enzyme constant (Km) and maximum rate (Vmax) were determined. Extract of fruits of P. peruviana showed different IC50 for alpha glucosidase from S. cerevisiae and intestinal rat powder, suggesting greater affinity for the enzyme of mammalian source (4114.7 and 3552.7 µg/mL, respectively). For maltase, the IC50 was close to that obtained for alpha glucosidase (4191.0 µg/mL) while for alpha amylase, the extract exhibited the highest inhibition (IC50: 619.9 g/mL). Regarding kinetic behavior, the extract showed competitive inhibition on alpha-glucosidase and maltase, and on the non-competitive type of alpha amylase. These suggest that inhibition of intestinal carbohydrases is one of the modes of action for the antidiabetic activity of fruits of P. peruviana.