Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fluorescent “in situ” hybridization of hepatitis C virus RNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with chronic hepatitis C

Although the liver is the main target for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, HCV RNA of positive and negative polarity has also been detected in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) by polymerase chain reaction. However, no data have been published on the relationship between the number of HCV‐infected PBMCs and serum viremia levels. To address this issue, PBMC samples from 20 patients with chronic hepatitis C were examined by fluorescent “in situ” hybridization. Serum viremia levels and viral load in infected PBMC were measured using the Amplicor Monitor test. HCV was detected in all PBMC samples corresponding to the HCV‐positive patients. Fluorescent signals were found mainly in the cytoplasm of the cell. The percentage of positive cells ranged from 0.08% to 4%, with a statistical correlation with the viral load in PBMC (r = 0.69; p = .001) but not with the serum viremia levels (r = 0.23). It was demonstrated that HCV infection of PBMCs is a common feature of HCV chronic carriers. The results suggest that HCV infection of PBMCs does not contribute significantly to HCV viremia. J. Med. Virol. 60:269–274, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Gram-Scale Synthesis of Catalytic Co 9 S 8 Nanocrystal Ink as a Cathode Material for Spray-Deposited , Large-Area Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

L igand-stabilized colloidal nanocrystals exhibit stabile dispersibility in solvents while strong solvation of the ligand's tails generates a sufficient repulsive force against interparticle attraction that prevents sedimentation. The morphology of nanocrystals can be also controlled in the colloid synthetic chemistry. 3 Functional large-area device layers can be deposited from nanocrystal solutions, the so-called nanocrystal inks, using solution-based printing techniques, including spray deposition, blade coating, spin coating and drop casting. Device layers can be made via roll-toroll, high-throughput (>20 m/min), and large-area (>150 m/h) solution-processed strategies using an established production line operated with a given set of parameters that is not achievable using vacuum-based deposition techniques. Complex devices made by assembly of nanostructure on various substrates can be also constructed. 6 Platinum (Pt) is the most commonly used cathode material for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) because of its high conductivity, stability and catalytic activity with respect to iodine/triiodide (I /I3 ) reduction. However, the use of Pt is limitedly by its high cost. Thermal decomposition, sputtering, and electrochemical deposition are widely used for fabricating Pt counter electrodes. 10 However, the high-energy-consuming procedure works against the advantage of cost effectiveness. Inorganic nanomaterials outperform bulk micrometer-sized powders with respect to many catalytic reactions because of their significantly large exposure areas and can potentially serve as Pt-alternatives for a * Address correspondence to hytuan@che.nthu. edu.tw.
Identification of Novel Inhibitors of Daboia russelli Phospholipase A2 Using the Combined Pharmacophore Modeling Approach

Crystal structures available for Daboia russelli venom PLA2 confirm that it undergoes dimerization with asymmetry and hence difference in the conformation of active site of the two subunits. The active site of subunit A is open and that of subunit B is closed. Pharmacophore models were generated based on the interaction of different types of inhibitors with their preferred subsites in the active site of subunit A. Particularly, the features responsible for recognizing subsites 1–3 and those of subsites 4–6 were combined as these two are involving in inflammation and anticoagulation processes, respectively. Pharmacophore model was edited to make the geometry suitable for the active site of both the subunits A and B. Final model is validated and subjected for screening a library of druglike compounds. Eight compounds were shortlisted and subjected for molecular docking and dynamics simulation to assess their binding mode with both the subunits. Based on the hydrophobic interactions and binding free energy, four compounds were selected for further biochemical assay. The overall results suggest that two compounds can bind both the subunits of PLA2 of Daboia russelli venom in spite of its aggregated form and other two inhibit structurally very similar Naja naja PLA2.
The effect of molten sodium titanate and carbonate salt mixture on the alkali roasting of ilmenite and rutile minerals

Anatase, ilmenite, and rutile are three important Timinerals. These Ti minerals accumulate in secondary placer deposits along with zircon, monazite, leucoxene, and magnetite minerals1. These sand deposits are mined and upgraded by gravimetric, electrostatic or magnetic separation processes. However, need for higher grades of Ti minerals for the production of TiO2 requires further upgrading to form synthetic rutile (TiO2 > 90%). Various techniques are used commercially for the production of synthetic rutile. The slagging, which involves smelting of ilmenite to produce a high-titania slag and iron byroduct, is the main process for beneficiation of ilmenite ores. The roasting of ilmenite via Becher process or roasting and acid leaching of ilmenite by Benelite process are also used for the production of synthetic rutile2. Approximately 94% of Ti minerals mined are used for the production of pigment grade TiO2, which is used in paints and coatings (60%), plastic (20%), and paper (12%) industries1,3. The annual production of finished pigment grade TiO2 is over 4.54 million tons, which is equivalent to US$6 billion annual sales. Natural rutile, ilmenite concentrates, anatase, leucoxene, synthetic rutile and titania-slag are the major feedstock for the production of TiO2. The pigment grade TiO2 is produced via two different processes: chlorination and sulphatation, both of which require different feedstocks. The steady growth of pigment industries has encouraged the development of new minsand (heavy mineral sands) projects in Australia, South Africa, and India2. However, the present beneficiation techniques require high quality ilmenite ores and are not suitable for upgrading lower grade Ti ores 4. Also the synthetic rutile or TiO2 slag produced by the present beneficiation techniques, contain a significant amount of radioactive elements and other minor impurities. Minor and trace element oxides in the feedstock adversely affect the properties of finished products and create operational problems, e.g. sticky beds and hazardous wastes. The impurity oxides in the process wastes must be neutralized before being disposed of safely at landfill or at used mines, where they remain a potential source for environment pollution and groundwater contamination. Neither CaO nor minor and trace elements can be removed via acid leaching and electric-arc smelting. In view of the above problems associated with the mineral phase concentration of Ti-based ores and production of pigment grade titanium dioxide, an alternative route, which is both flexible and more TATHAVADKAR, V. and JHA, A. The effect of molten sodium titanate and carbonate salt mixture on the alkali roasting of ilmenite and rutile minerals. VII International Conference on Molten Slags Fluxes and Salts, The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, 2004.
Capitalizing on the One Percent: Income Inequality and Private Educational Finances

In response to increasing income inequality, many private educational institutions have adapted new approaches to financial aid, tuition, and campus investment. Implications of this changing strategy include the rise of an ‘educational arms race’—in which institutions compete to enroll the best (and, at times, wealthiest) students by funding non-academic services (e.g. luxury dorms)—and the risk of relying on such policies to establish socioeconomic diversity. My analysis examines the consequences and implications of rising income inequality on higher education finances and supply-side decisions. In particular, I assess the changes instituted by private, non-parochial high schools, which have policies that closely resemble those of their post-secondary counterparts, when faced with varying levels of local inequality. Using data from the National Association of Independent Schools, and standard methods for addressing pooled, cross-sectional, time series data, I find that income inequality does not have significant effects on financial aid policies or tuition. However, rising inequality does appear to significantly increase the value of endowments (and assumed endowment spending) in these schools. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS For the past four years, I’ve been lucky enough to study at Wellesley, where professors like Ama Baafra Abeberese, Dan Fetter, Pinar Keskin, Karen Lange, Seth Neumuller, Casey Rothschild, Kartini Shastry, Dan Sichel, Akila Weerapana, and Wini Wood encouraged and challenged me. I also must thank Sheila Datz and Pat Sjostedt for providing their support and an unparalleled study space that felt more like home than any library carrel ever could. I am also indebted to Professor Phil Levine, who not only guided this project, but also spent countless hours advising me on life beyond Wellesley. In addition, I am grateful to Professor Kristin Butcher and Professor Robin McKnight for their valuable insights and constructive questions. I must also thank Lavanya Ganesh, Tejaswini Reddy, Isabella Dougherty, Vincent Le Put, and all those in ERS who consistently pushed me to continue writing and editing. And, of course, none of this would have been possible without the unconditional support and love of my parents, Jeanne Trupiano and Mark Di Lucido.
Planar indentation of jute / hemp fibre hybrid laminates monitored by acoustic emission

Indentation loading monitored by acoustic emission can be considered a viable possibility for simulating falling w eight impact testing, especially in cases where the acousti c emission technique can be applied for monitoring damage progression in real-time during load application. In this w ork, jute/hemp (50 wt. % total fibre content) hybrid la minates have been indented either to 50% of their ultimate load or to their failure. The variability of their properties w as quite considerable, as measured both from the indentation loa d and the AE cumulative counts vs. displacement curves. The study of 3-D AE planar localisation plots vs. amplit ude and time history vs. duration and counts was able to off er some indications on damage characterisation in the lam inates.
On quasi pseudo-GP-injective rings and modules

In 2010, Sanh et al. introduced a class of pseudo-M -gp-injective modules, following this, a right R-module N is called pseudo-M -gp-injective if for any homomorphism 0 6= α ∈ End(M), there exists n ∈ N such that α 6= 0 and every monomorphism from α(M) to N can be extended to a homomorphism from M to N. In this paper, we give more properties of pseudo-gp-injective modules. Mathematics Subject Classification (2010): 16D40, 16D50, 16L60.
A Lithium-Ion Battery Balancing Circuit Based on Synchronous Rectification

In this paper, a battery balancing circuit is proposed for the series-connected lithium-ion battery cells based on the principle of synchronous rectification. The proposed balancing circuit, also referred to as an equalizer, mainly includes a buck–boost converter (BBC), a multiport half-bridge converter (MHBC), and a driving circuit. The MHBC is coupled with a multiwinding transformer. Compared with the conventional congeneric methods, the number of transformer windings is almost reduced by half, leading to a more compact size and lower cost. Moreover, the secondary mosfets of the MHBC are synchronously driven by the primary half-bridge converter (HBC) without the need of additional isolated mosfet gate drivers and power supplies, dramatically reducing the circuit cost and complexity. In addition, the proposed equalizer can realize the module-to-multi-cell (M2MC) equalization under severe imbalance conditions to improve the balancing speed, and work at the any-cell-to-any-cell (AC2AC) self-balancing mode under slight imbalance conditions to improve the balancing efficiency and effectiveness, which achieves a good trade-off between balancing speed and effectiveness. The expressions of the equalization current and efficiency are derived and verified by experimental results. The proposed equalizer is experimentally evaluated for a string with 12 series-connected lithium-ion cells.
NON-ITERATIVE EQUIVALENT LINEAR METHOD FOR DISPLACEMENT-BASED DESIGN

A method to estimate the maximum inelastic displacement demands on structures subjected to earthquake ground motions is presented. The method is based on equivalent linearization in which inelastic displacement demands are estimated by analyzing an equivalent linear elastic system with period and damping ratio larger than those of the inelastic system. The proposed method includes two new features not included in previous equivalent linear methods. The first one is that the properties of the equivalent system are obtained without knowledge of the ductility demand in the system and therefore iteration is avoided. The second is that period-dependent period shifts and equivalent damping ratio are used and therefore more accurate estimations of inelastic displacements demands are achieved.
EFFECT OF PRE-STORAGE TREATMENTS , PACKAGING FILMS AND COLD STORAGE ON FLOWER QUALITY AND CHILLING INJURY IN TUBEROSE ( POLIANTHES TUBEROSA L . ) CUT SPIKES CV . PRAJWAL

Tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa L.) cut spikes are highly popular during festivals or occasions like New Year day as well as inaugural or wedding ceremonies. India has an age old tradition of growing flowers for various aspects. Huge capital investment has been made by the growers for the production of cut flowers meant to be 100 per cent export oriented (Kumar et al., 2012). Among various cut flowers, tuberose has been cultivated throughout the country. Adoption of proper post harvest treatments in cut flower is important to achieve good exportable quality. Thus, standardization and evaluation of proper technique of packaging and storage of tuberose is vital for development of market strategy and accessibility at international market for enhancing export potential. Storage of flowers at optimum stage and quality is important for high market value. Flower quality tends to decrease after dry storage of cut flowers (Van Doorn, 1999, Waithaka et al., 2001). Wet storage ensures flower quality but only when stored for short duration as long duration storage results into increase in the stage of floret opening which again declines its market value. A modified atmosphere offers a viable option for long term storage of flowers. Different films like Polypropylene (PP), High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE), etc. possess differential air permeability property and thus differentially influence the storage quality of flowers. The key to successful modified storage of fresh flowers is to use packaging films of suitable permeability so as to ensure and establish the optimal Equilibrium Modified Atmosphere (EMA) at low temperature (Day, 2001). Thus, there is need to develop proper technology for storage of tuberose cut spikes when there is market glut causing market fluctuations. Further, Waithaka et al., 2001 had indicated deterioration in flower quality and floret opening of cut tuberose spikes owing to cold storage. Although, research on post harvest aspects is being conducted, systematic research on storage of cut tuberose spikes is meager. Hence, the experiment was planned to standardize storage technology using pulsing and packaging films for prolonging storage of tuberose cut spikes.
The Growth and Human Capital Structure of New Firms Over the Business Cycle

"Recent research suggests that employment in young firms is more negatively impacted during economic downturns than employment in incumbent firms. This questions the effectiveness of policies that promote entrepreneurship to fight crises. We complement prior research that is mostly based on aggregate data by analyzing cyclical effects at the firm level. Using new linked employer-employee data on German start-ups we show that under constant human capital of the firms' founders, employment growth in less than 11/2-yearold start-ups reacts countercyclically and employment growth in older start-ups reacts procyclically. The young start-ups realize their countercyclical growth by hiring qualified labor market entrants who might be unable to find employment in incumbent firms during crises. This mechanism is highly important in economic and management terms and has not been revealed by prior research. " (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
WORKING PAPER 182

I provide a framework for understanding debt deleveraging in a group of financially integrated countries. During an episode of international deleveraging world consumption demand is depressed and the world interest rate is low, reflecting a high propensity to save. If exchange rates are allowed to float, deleveraging countries can depreciate their nominal exchange rate to increase production and mitigate the fall in consumption associated with debt reduction. The key insight of the paper is that in a monetary union this channel of adjustment is shut off, and therefore the falls in consumption demand and in the world interest rate are amplified. Hence, monetary unions are especially prone to hit the zero lower bound on the nominal interest rate and enter a liquidity trap during deleveraging. In a liquidity trap deleveraging gives rise to a union-wide recession, which is particularly severe in high-debt countries. The model suggests several policy interventions that mitigate the negative impact of deleveraging on output in monetary unions. JEL Classification Numbers: E31, E44, E52, F32, F34, F41, G01, G15.
Breast implants and breast cancer--reanalysis of a linkage study.

BACKGROUND In 1992, Berkel and colleagues reported in the Journal the results of their study of the potential association of breast augmentation and breast cancer. The study reported that women who had breast augmentation had a significantly lower subsequent risk of breast cancer (P < 0.01) than the general population, with a standardized incidence ratio of 0.48 overall. Assuming a 10-year induction period (that is, assuming that cancers found within 10 years of the augmentation might have been the result of a process begun before surgery and therefore should not be considered), the reported standardized incidence ratio was 0.16. Problems were later identified involving some of the study methods. This paper reports a second analysis of these data. METHODS We used a data set from Alberta Health Care to identify eligible women with bilateral breast augmentation. Using a combination of deterministic and probabilistic methods, we linked this data set to the Alberta Cancer Registry to identify subsequent breast cancers that developed during the study period. Multiple estimates of standardized incidence ratios were calculated on the basis of differing study-eligibility dates, induction periods, and types of breast-cancer (invasive only or invasive plus in situ). RESULTS The reanalysis found substantial differences in the numbers of person-years at risk, resulting in higher standardized incidence ratios than in the original analysis. The final ratios for all breast cancers, with October 1, 1973, used as the starting date of the study, were 0.76 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.55 to 1.02), 0.85 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.58 to 1.19), and 0.68 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.32 to 1.25) for induction periods of 0, 5, and 10 years, respectively. None of these standardized incidence ratios were significantly different from 1. CONCLUSIONS On the basis of this reanalysis, the incidence of breast cancer among the women who had breast augmentation could not be said to be either significantly higher or lower than that among the general population over the period during which this cohort was followed.
A fiber-optically coupled positron-sensitive surgical probe.

UNLABELLED Positron-emitting radiopharmaceuticals such as 18F-labeled 2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) have considerable utility in the noninvasive imaging of cancers due to their rapid and excellent tumor-localizing properties. In addition, the relatively short range of positions in tissue facilitates the precise delineation of FDG-avid tumors. Therefore, FDG used in conjunction with a positron-sensitive probe may be capable of guiding surgical procedures. Many of the current probe systems, however, are sensitive to the intense flux of background photons produced by positron annihilation. We describe the design, manufacture and initial in vitro and in vivo testing of a probe well-suited to the detection of positron-emitting isotopes in a high-photon background. METHODS The device consists of a small piece of plastic scintillator coupled by fiber-optic cable to a photomultiplier tube. Measurements of resolution and detector sensitivity were obtained. In addition, the reduction in resolution caused by the effects of various levels of background photon flux was determined. RESULTS These measurements indicate that resolution is degraded minimally (approximately 5% with a background-to-source ratio of 2:1) due to annihilation photon background. Sensitivity for positrons is good, detecting amounts of radioactivity as low as 10.2 nCi of FDG in vitro. In rats given FDG subcutaneously, lymph nodes containing as little as 11 nCi of FDG could be detected above the background activity levels present in normal surrounding tissues. CONCLUSION A plastic scintillator probe system has been devised which may be highly suitable for intraoperative FDG-guided (or other positron or beta emitting-tracer) surgery.