Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
THE MYSTERY OF THE COSMIC DIFFUSE ULTRAVIOLET BACKGROUND RADIATION

The diffuse cosmic background radiation in the Galaxy Evolution Explorer far-ultraviolet (FUV, 1300–1700 Å) is deduced to originate only partially in the dust-scattered radiation of FUV-emitting stars: the source of a substantial fraction of the FUV background radiation remains a mystery. The radiation is remarkably uniform at both far northern and far southern Galactic latitudes and increases toward lower Galactic latitudes at all Galactic longitudes. We examine speculation that this might be due to interaction of the dark matter with the nuclei of the interstellar medium, but we are unable to point to a plausible mechanism for an effective interaction. We also explore the possibility that we are seeing radiation from bright FUV-emitting stars scattering from a “second population” of interstellar grains—grains that are small compared with FUV wavelengths. Such grains are known to exist, and they scatter with very high albedo, with an isotropic scattering pattern. However, comparison with the observed distribution (deduced from their 100 μm emission) of grains at high Galactic latitudes shows no correlation between the grains' location and the observed FUV emission. Our modeling of the FUV scattering by small grains also shows that there must be remarkably few such “smaller” grains at high Galactic latitudes, both north and south; this likely means simply that there is very little interstellar dust of any kind at the Galactic poles, in agreement with Perry and Johnston. We also review our limited knowledge of the cosmic diffuse background at ultraviolet wavelengths shortward of Lyα—it could be that our “second component” of the diffuse FUV background persists shortward of the Lyman limit and is the cause of the reionization of the universe.
Stable and unstable intervals as a basic segmentation procedure of the speech signal

The concept of acoustically stable and unstable intervals to structure continuous speech is introduced. We present a method to compute stable intervals efficiently and reliably as a bottom-up approach at an early processing stage. We argue that such intervals stand in close relation to the rhythm of speech as they contribute to the overall temporal organization of the speech production process and the acoustic signal (stable intervals = intervals of reduced movement of certain articulators; unstable intervals = intervals of enhanced movement of certain articulators). To test the relationship of stability intervals with speech rhythm we investigated the between-speaker variability of stable and unstable intervals in the TEVOID corpus. Results revealed that significant between-speaker variability exists. We hypothesize from our findings that the basic segmentation of speech into stable and unstable intervals is a process that might play a role in human perception and processing of speech.
Genetic Risk Factors of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in the Malaysian Population : AMinireview

SLE is an autoimmune disease that is not uncommon in Malaysia. In contrast to Malays and Indians, the Chinese seem to be most affected. SLE is characterized by deficiency of body’s immune response that leads to production of autoantibodies and failure of immune complex clearance. This minireview attempts to summarize the association of several candidate genes with risk for SLE in the Malaysian population and discuss the genetic heterogeneity that exists locally in Asians and in comparison with SLE in Caucasians. Several groups of researchers have been actively investigating genes that are associated with SLE susceptibility in the Malaysian population by screening possible reported candidate genes across the SLE patients and healthy controls. These candidate genes include MHC genes and genes encoding complement components, TNF, FcγR, T-cell receptors, and interleukins. However, most of the polymorphisms investigated in these genes did not show significant associations with susceptibility to SLE in the Malaysian scenario, except for those occurring in MHC genes and genes coding for TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-1RN, and IL-6.
CER-ETH – Center of Economic Research at ETH Zurich Use Rights for Common Pool Resources and Economic Development

This paper explores the long–run development of an economy with a traditional sector based on common–pool resource-use, a modern, resource–independent sector with fixed entry costs, and an imperfect capital market. We show theoretically that introducing resource-use regulations increases incomes in the traditional sector and that this can trigger a development process with labor reallocation to the modern sector. Allowing trade of resource-use rights, or distributing resource-use rights unequally, broadens the scope for development.
User-enjoyable learning environment based on Gamification elements

The present conditions of human life are more comfortable than that in the past. A huge number of modern technologies are available today because of the rapid development of information technology, which contributes to the flourishing of human life. Such modern technologies have led to the creation of Gamification, which is a new approach in information technology. In this paper we review the literature on Gamification from different perspectives and then explore the key elements of Gamification that positively affect learning when applied to any application. In addition, we discuss how the effectiveness is influenced when the implementation of Gamification in enterprises is stopped. Finally, we present an overall figure to illustrate all of the elements of Gamification according to previous research and consequently make the learning more effective as well as build an enjoyable learning environment for students.
Perceived Sources of Stress and Coping Strategies in Dental Students and Interns

Abstract Dental students are exposed to different stress factors in different stages of dental education which, apart from affecting their physical and mental health also has an impact on academic performance. The present research attempts to identify the perceived sources of stress and coping strategies amongst dental students and interns. Questionnaire consisting demographic data, Modified Dental Environmental Stress Questionnaire and Tactics for Coping with Stress Inventory were administered to undergraduate dental students and interns (N= 320). Stress showed an upward trend from first to final year. Stress due to emotional factors was significantly higher than academic, social and physical factors. Females were more stressful than males. Students staying at home were more stressful than those staying in hostel. There is a need for intervention programs at the level of students, parents, teachers and administration to develop an overall positive institutional atmosphere for dental education and student welfare.
Trends in venture capital finance in developing countries

This discussion paper focuses on venture capital finance in developing countries, the structuring of these funds, and how they are managed to maximize investment value. The paper documents what is happening in equity markets in developing countries-a relatively new sector in most emerging capital markets and one that is attracting increasing international investor interest. Presented is an analysis of new data on venture capital in developing countries gathered from two main sources: regional venture capital associations in Asia and Europe, and a survey administered by IFC on the portfolio structure of some 410 investments made by 53 venture capital funds in 19 developing countries. The data from the regional venture capital associations details sources and uses of venture financing flows by region, country, industry, type of investing institution, and stage of venture investment. The survey data details fund organization, deal screening, capital structure, agency cost characteristics of asset structure, measures of entrepreneur human capital, and investment monitoring and control. The report identifies several factors critical to venture fund investment performance and the organizational structures with which they are associated.
Hvilke krav skal en e-ordbog opfylde for at kunne anvendes som brugbart værktøj?

Henning Bergenholtz Professor Handelshøjskolen, Aarhus Universitet hb@asb.dk Udtrykket e-ordbog bruges i det følgende som fællesbetegnelse for elektroniske ordbøger, leksika og encyklopædier. Det er ikke bare en praktisk terminologisk afgørelse. Denne sprogbrug har også den fordel, at den teoretisk uholdbare adskillelse mellem de traditionelle betegnelser for forskellige typer af opslagsværker bliver skubbet i baggrunden.
A Chronic Post-Surgical Infectious Lumbar Fistula Providing Protection against Imminent Morbidity: A Case Report and Literature Review

Vertebral osteomyelitis (VOM) and spinal epidural abscesses (SEA) are rare infections on the spinal column, more prominently seen in intravenous drug users, diabetics and the immunosuppressed. We report an extremely rare case of a patient with a chronic history of lumbar post-surgical cutaneo-spinal fistulous infection that was unresponsive to conventional antibiotic therapy and ultimately required surgical debridement and spinal re-instrumentation. The novelty of this case was the chronic nature of the patient’s condition that was made possible only by a fortunate post-surgical cutaneo-spinal fistula that withdrew infected particles away from the neurological structures and thus prevented imminent compressive and neurological deficits, and possible eventual death. This rare case highlights the need for prompt surgical evaluation and intervention in patients with progressive VOM or SEA with associated cutaneo-spinal fistulas, especially in cases where conventional antibiotic treatments have failed. We highly recommend a low threshold for surgical debridement and hardware removal with re-instrumentation as appropriate before a spinal compressive emergency arises and/or sepsis develops.
Cancer Genes and Genomics Forced Dimerization Increases the Activity of D EGFR / EGFRvIII and Enhances Its Oncogenicity

Delta epidermal growth factor receptor (DEGFR), an in-frame deletion mutant of the extracellular ligandbinding domain, which occurs in about 30% of glioblastoma, is a potent oncogene that promotes tumor growth and progression. The signaling of DEGFR is ligand-independent and low intensity, allowing it to evade the normal mechanisms of internalization and degradation by the endocytic machinery and hence is persistent. The basis of the oncogenic potential of DEGFR remains incompletely understood, including whether dimerization plays an important role in its signal and whether its oncogenic potential is dependent on its relatively low intensity, when compared with the acutely activated wild-type receptor. To examine these two important questions, we have generated a chimeric DEGFR that allows forced dimerization via domains derived from variants of the FKBP12 protein that are brought together by FK506 derivatives. Forced dimerization of chimeric DEGFR significantly increased the intensity of its signal, as measured by receptor phosphorylation levels, suggesting that the naturally occurring DEGFR does not form strong or stable dimers as part of its low level signal. Interestingly, the increased activity of dimerized, chimeric DEGFR did not promote receptor internalization, implying that reduced rate of endocytic downregulation of DEGFR is an inherent characteristic. Significantly, forced dimerization enhanced the oncogenic signal of the receptor, implying that the DEGFR is a potent oncogene despite, not because of its low intensity. Mol Cancer Res; 9(9); 1199–208. 2011 AACR.
Effects of predation risk and plant resistance on Manduca sexta caterpillar feeding behaviour and physiology

Because predation risk typically alters how prey forage for food, interactions between predation risk and food availability are commonly found. Less is known about how host plant quality and predation risk interact to affect prey behaviour and physiology. Using the caterpillar, Manduca sexta, and its predator, Podisus maculiventris, the effects of predation risk and host plant quality on caterpillar feeding, growth, assimilation efficiency, and resting metabolic rate were tested. Overall, caterpillars on low‐resistance tomato plants (jasmonate‐insensitive) gained 14% more mass than caterpillars on high‐resistance plants (wild‐type tomato). On low‐resistance plants, the presence of predators caused caterpillars to eat 32% less, but they gained the same mass as unthreatened caterpillars (i.e. a 19% increase in assimilation efficiency). In addition, caterpillars showed a 17% increase in resting metabolic rate in the presence of predators. On high‐resistance plants, predation risk caused a decrease in feeding, but did not alter assimilation efficiency or resting metabolic rate. The reduction in physiological responses to predation risk on high‐ versus low‐resistance plants demonstrates a tradeoff between the ability to respond to predation risk and the ability to grow, especially on well‐defended plants.
Secure and Failure Factors of e-Government Projects Implementation in Developing Country: A Study on the Implementation of Kingdom of Bahrain

The concept of e-government has begun to spread among countries. It is based on the use of information communication technology (ICT) to fully utilize government resources, as well as to provide government services to citizens, investors and foreigners. Critical factors are the factors that are determined by the senior management of each organization; the success or failure of the organization depends on the effective implementation of critical factors. These factors vary from one organization to another according to their activity, size and functions. It is very important that organizations identify them in order to avoid the risk of implementing initiatives that may fail to work, while simultaneously exploiting opportunities that may succeed in working. The main focus of this paper is to investigate the majority of critical success factors (CSFs) associated with the implementation of e-government projects. This study concentrates on both technical and nontechnical factors. This paper concludes by listing the majority of CSFs relating to successful e-government implementation in Bahrain. Keywords—Critical success factors, E-government, ICT, Implementation, Kingdom of Bahrain.
Epidemiological investigation of Paramphistomiasis in cattle at selected areas of Sirajgonj district of Bangladesh

To investigate the Epidemiology of Paramphistomum infection in cattle, faecal samples from 360 cattle were collected from individual areas of the Sirajgonj district from March 2009 to April 2010. One hundred and ninety one animals (53.1%) were infected with single or multiple species of Paramphistomum. Age of animals significantly (P<0.05) influenced the prevalence of Paramphistomiasis. Older animals suffered (60.3%) more than growing (44.4%) and young (54.0%) ones. Older animals were 1.94 times more susceptible than growing animals. Furthermore, females were more (59.5%; 1.79 times) susceptible to Paramphistamum spp. than males (45%). Breed has also significant (p<0.05) effect. The prevalence of Paramphistomiasis was higher (p<0.05) in crossbred (61.8%) animals than that of local (49.2%) cattle. The crossbreed cattle were 1.7 times more susceptible than indigenous cattle. The prevalence of Paramphistomiasis in cattle varied (p<0.05) depending on the season of the year; being highest in the rainy season (60.8%) followed by the summer (50%) and lowest during the winter (48.3%). A high percentage of paramphistomiasis was recorded in the cattle studied during the winter irrespective of age and genetics of animals and seasons of the year.
A conserved role for Notch in priming the cellular response to Shh through ciliary localisation of the key Shh transducer , Smoothened

Notochord-derived Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) is essential for dorso-ventral patterning of the overlying neural tube. Increasing concentration and duration of Shh signal induces progenitors to acquire progressively more ventral fates. We show Notch signalling augments the response of neuroepithelial cells to Shh, leading to the induction of higher expression levels of the Shh target gene Ptc1 and subsequently induction of more ventral cell fates. Furthermore, we demonstrate activated Notch1 leads to pronounced accumulation of Smo within primary cilia and elevated levels of full-length Gli3. Finally, we show Notch activity promotes longer primary cilia both in vitro and in vivo. Strikingly, these Notch-regulated effects are Shhindependent. These data identify Notch signalling as a novel modulator of Shh signalling which acts mechanistically via regulation of ciliary localisation of key components of its transduction machinery.
themes Lessons From Genetically Engineered Animal Models XII. IL-10-deﬁcient (IL-10 2 / 2 ) mice and intestinal inﬂammation *

Lessons From Genetically Engineered Animal Models. XII. IL-10-deﬁcient (IL-10 2 / 2 ) mice and intestinal inﬂammation. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 278: G829–G833, 2000. — Interleukin (IL)-10 2 / 2 mice spontaneously develop intestinal inﬂammation characterized by discontinuous transmural lesions affecting the small and large intestine and by dysregulated production of proinﬂammatory cytokines. The uncon-trolled generation of IFN- g -producing CD4 1 T cells (Th1 type) has been shown to play a causal role in the development of enterocolitis affecting these mutants. This article discusses studies of IL-10 2 / 2 mice that have investigated the role of enteric organisms in triggering intestinal disease, the mediators responsible for initiating and maintaining intestinal disease, the role IL-10 plays in the generation and/or function of regulatory cells, and the results of IL-10 therapy in experimental animal models of inﬂammatory bowel disease (IBD) and human patients with IBD.
Safe surgery: validation of pre and postoperative checklists

ABSTRACT Objective: to develop, evaluate and validate a surgical safety checklist for patients in the pre and postoperative periods in surgical hospitalization units. Method: methodological research carried out in a large public teaching hospital in the South of Brazil, with application of the principles of the Safe Surgery Saves Lives Programme of the World Health Organization. The checklist was applied to 16 nurses of 8 surgical units and submitted for validation by a group of eight experts using the Delphi method online. Results: the instrument was validated and it was achieved a mean score ≥1, level of agreement ≥75% and Cronbach’s alpha >0.90. The final version included 97 safety indicators organized into six categories: identification, preoperative, immediate postoperative, immediate postoperative, other surgical complications, and hospital discharge. Conclusion: the Surgical Safety Checklist in the Pre and Postoperative periods is another strategy to promote patient safety, as it allows the monitoring of predictive signs and symptoms of surgical complications and the early detection of adverse events.
Word-initial glottalization and voice quality strengthening

Despite abundant research on the distribution of word-initial glottal stops, it is still unclear which factors matter most in predicting where glottal stops occur and why. In this study, lo- gistic mixed-eects regression modeling is used to predict the occurrence of word-initial full glottal stops ((P)) in an English corpus. The results indicate that prominence and phrasing are overwhelmingly the most important factors in predicting full glottal stop occurrence. Moreover, prominent word-initial vowels that are not preceded by (P) show acoustic correlates of glottal constriction, whereas non-prominent phrase-initial vowels do not. Rather, phrase-initial voicing (even for sonorants) is less regular, but in a manner inconsistent with glottal constriction. These ndings are subsequently conrmed using articulatory measures from electroglottography, and extended to Spanish. Based on the results, a prominence-driven theory of word-initial glottal- ization is proposed and motivated, with higher phrasal domains responsible for the strength of the glottal stop gesture.
Phenomena of Microdischarges in Microplasma

Microscope photos of the microdischarges in dielectric barrier discharge microplasma were taken for the discharge gaps ranging from 30 to 100 μm. The microdischarge formation phenomena in all the stages were observed for microplasma generated in N2/Ar mixture by a pulse power supply. A diffused glowlike microplasma was observed with the increase in Ar concentration in N2/Ar mixture.
Physiological parameters of the isolated perfused mouse lung and their dependency on age

BACKGROUND: The “Isolated lung perfusion system” has been established to study lung physiological parameters of mice or other small animals, but little is known about the influence of age on the lung function in mice. METHODS:We used a buffer-perfused lung system with negative-pressure ventilation to study the effect of age on physiological parameters in the isolated mouse lung. Our study included C57BL/6N mice when they were young (3 to 4 months), adult (5 to 9 months) or old (24 months). RESULTS: The ex vivo data indicated that maximal function of the lung is achieved in the early adulthood (5 to 6 months of age). In this period, lung developed highest maximal expiratory flow rate which declined steadily with increasing age. After this age (>7 months) the dynamic lung compliance increased with significant changes in the 24-month-old mice. However, mouse age had no effect on airway resistance and pulmonary artery pressure. Moreover, we did not find an influence of age on the integrity of the endothelial-epithelial barrier. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate the importance of age, in particular on the respiratory mechanics in isolated mouse lungs, which should be considered in the pulmonary research using the “Isolated lung perfusion system”.
Collusion and Predation in Auction Markets

The most important issues in auction design are the traditional concerns of competition policy - preventing collusive, predatory, and entry-deterring behaviour. Ascending and uniform-price auctions are particularly vulnerable to these problems, and the Anglo-Dutch auction - a hybrid of the sealed-bid and ascending auctions - may often perform better. Effective anti-trust policy is also critical. However, everything depends on the details of the context; the circumstances of the recent U.K. mobile-phone license made an ascending format ideal, but this author (and others) correctly predicted the same format would fail in the Netherlands and elsewhere. Auction design is not "one size fits all". We also discuss the 3G spectrum auctions in Germany, Italy, Austria and Switzerland, and football TV-rights, TV franchise and other radiospectrum auctions, electricity markets, and takeover battles. [This is a revised and extended version of the paper previously circulated under the title "What Really Matters in Auction Design". ]
Co-extraction of high-quality RNA and DNA from rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis)

High-quality nucleic acids are the basic requirement for performing genomic research. A reliable and efficient method was developed for co-extracting high-quality DNA and RNA from rubber tree ( Hevea brasiliensis ) in this study. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) extraction buffer with high concentrations of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and β-mercaptoethanol was used in this study. The results show that 3.2% polyethylene glycol 8000 is the optimal concentration for successful separation of DNA and RNA. Spectrophotometric determination (A 260 /A 280 and A 260 /A 230 ratios), agarose electrophoresis analysis and reverse transcription (RT-PCR) of isolated nucleic acids indicate that high-quality DNA and RNA were extracted by this method. The general applicability of this method was also evaluated, and the results show that it was suitable for a variety of plants. Key words : Hevea brasiliensis , polyethylene glycol (PEG), nucleic acid, co-extraction, higher plants.