Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Baltic TRANSCOAST approach – investigating shallow coasts as terrestrial-marine interface of water and matter fluxes

In Baltic TRANSCOAST we study the physical, biogeochemical, and biological processes at the land-ocean interface. The coastal zone is heavily impacted by various human activities as well as by geomorphological and climatic processes – on both the land and the sea side. Land-sea interactions at low lying coastal areas that are often dominated by peatlands, and are a common feature along the Baltic Sea coast, are not well understood. The core hypothesis of Baltic TRANSCOAST is that the shallow sea and the terrestrial peatland have a mutual impact on each other with far-reaching consequences for water and energy fluxes, matter cycling and the biota. The interdisciplinary research focuses on the significance of flooding frequency and duration on biogeochemical processes by concentrating the investigations on three comparison sites. We are assessing how changing boundary conditions (such as climate and land use) affect the hydrology, biota and biogeochemical processes in coastal wetlands and the adjacent marine ecosystem.
Profile Characteristics of the Registered Farmers of Interactive Information and Dissemination System in Telangana

The increasing penetration of ICT’S in agriculture scenario makes an opportunity to disseminate the useful information more widely among the farming community. These ICT’s are helping to meet the information needs of farmer. The present study was conducted with 120 farmers who got registered under Interactive Information and Dissemination System (IIDS) in two districts i.e. Nalgonda and Khammam Districts of Telangana
“I felt like a TRIO champion”: end-user perspectives on their role as co-designers of multi-purpose technologies

Background: The likelihood that research will be relevant to and accepted by end-users and their communities is enhanced when the perspectives of both the “researchers” and the “researched” are considered. The Tablets, Ring, Injections as Options (TRIO) Study, conducted with young women in Kenya and South Africa, assessed the acceptability and preferences of three placebo-only multi-purpose technology (MPT) forms for prevention of HIV and unintended pregnancy. The objective of this analysis was to assess whether, and if so how, the women participating in the TRIO Study perceived themselves as co-designers of the three MPT products. Methods: We conducted 55 in-depth interviews, 6 focus group discussions, and 5 dissemination workshops with TRIO Study participants. Woven throughout these activities were questions and opportunities for participants to reflect on their role in the study, and to what extent they identified with their role as a co-designer. Qualitative data from these activities were analyzed thematically. Results: The analysis revealed four key themes about what resulted in the women’s views as co-designers: altruism, respectful treatment, agency, and reciprocity. The women were aware of their role in determining what end-users would and would not prefer and were motivated by a desire to help themselves and others. They recognized their role as co-designers and cited being treated well by study staff, being given a chance to make choices during the study period, and being recognized as equal partners of the researchers as the main reasons. Conclusions: If prevention products are going to be successfully developed, end-users and researchers must work hand in hand. Engaging participants meaningfully as co-designers in product development research can be a powerful tool in the effort to ensure new prevention products brought to market are acceptable to the population of interest.
THE INFLUENCE OF MEMBRANE CHOLESTEROL-RELATED SHEAR STRESS MECHANOSENSITIVITY ON NEUTROPHIL FLOW BEHAVIOR

OF DISSERTATION THE INFLUENCE OF MEMBRANE CHOLESTEROL-RELATED SHEAR STRESS MECHANOSENSITIVITY ON NEUTROPHIL FLOW BEHAVIOR Hypercholesterolemia is a dominant risk factor for a variety of cardiovascular diseases and involves a chronic inflammatory component in which neutrophil activity plays a critical role. Recently, fluid shear stress mechanotransduction has been established as a control mechanism that regulates the activity of neutrophils by reducing the formation of pseudopods and the surface expression of CD18 integrins, thereby rendering these cells rounded, deformable, and non-adhesive. This is critical for maintaining a healthy circulation, because chronically activated neutrophils not only release excess cytotoxic and degradative agents but also exhibit a reduced efficiency to pass through the small vessels of the microcirculation leading to increased microvascular resistance. We hypothesized that aberrant neutrophil mechanosensitivity to fluid shear stress due to the altered blood environment (i.e., excess plasma cholesterol) is a contributing factor for elevated hemodynamic resistance in the microcirculation associated with hypercholesterolemia. For this purpose, the present work firstly showed that the sensitivity of neutrophils to fluid shear stress depends on the cholesterol-dependent fluidity of the cell membrane, and that, in the face of hypercholesterolemia, the neutrophil mechanosensitivity highly correlated with the plasma levels of free cholesterol. The second part of this project demonstrated that, when subjected to shear stress fields, leukocyte suspensions exhibited transient (within 10 min of flow onset) time-dependent reductions in their apparent viscosity. Moreover, shear-induced changes in viscosity of cell suspensions were influenced by disturbances of membrane cholesterol and fluidity in a fashion similar to that for shear-induced pseudopod retraction. Finally, the third part of this work provided evidence that neutrophils played a role in hypercholesterolemia-related impairment of flow recovery response to transient ischemia. In conclusion, results of the current work provided the first evidence that cholesterol is an important component of the neutrophil mechanotransducing capacity and impaired neutrophil shear mechanotransduction may disturb the blood flow rheology, leading to elevations in the apparent viscosity as well as in the resistance. This cholesterol-linked perturbation may be a contributing factor for the pathologic microcirculation associated with hypercholesterolemia.
Affirmative Action as a Cost Cutting Tool in Procurement Markets

We study the effect of an affirmative action program that grants buyers the ability to purchase from vendors in a preferred group even if they are not the cheapest option. These programs are typically framed as an exercise in social responsibility, since buyers will pay slightly more in order to support traditionally disadvantaged businesses. Using data from business-to-government procurement auctions in Virginia, we find that buyers tend to be unwilling to accept this additional financial burden; instead, they typically only exercise their option to award the contract to the non-cheapest bidder if there is a small gap in bid values. We estimate a structural model of vendors’ bidding behavior and demonstrate that there is a significant level of asymmetry between the preferred vendors’ costs and the non-preferred vendors’ costs. As a consequence, buyers would reduce their procurement expenditures if they used a stronger affirmative action policy, as this would intensify competition and force non-preferred vendors to significantly reduce their prices. Therefore, our findings demonstrate that these programs need not be a financial burden for buyers; in fact, a well-designed affirmative action program can lower procurement spending while also allocating more money towards preferred vendors.
Immunochemistry of solid-phase immunoassay

General Principles: Perspectives, Configurations, and Principles (J.E. Butler). The Chemical Properties of Solid-Phases and Their Interaction With Proteins (P.J. Tarcha). Immunochemical Considerations in the Analysis of Data from Non-Competitive Solid-Phase Immunoassays (J.H. Peterman). Photophysics of Heterogeneous Immunoassays (O.S. Khahil). Enzyme Systems and Enzyme Conjugates for Solid-Phase ELISA (T.T. Ngo). Practical Applications: Competitive, Noncompetitive and Multianalyte Immunoassays (R.P. Ekins). Antigen Quantification: Measurement of Multivalent Antigens by Solid-Phase Immunoassay (R.G. Hamilton). Immunoblotting: Membrane Filters as the Solid Phase for Immunoassays (W.R. Brown, S.E> Dierks, J.E. Butler, and J.M. Gershoni). Quantitation of Specific Antibodies: methods of Expression, Standards, Solid-Phase Considerations, and Specific Applications (J.E> Butler and R.G. Hamilton). Critical Issues and Special Topics: The Specificity of Monoclonal Antibodies for Enzymes in Solution vs. Immobilized on Solid-Phases (L. Djavadi-Ohaniance and b. Friguet). Studies on the Covalent Attachment Antibodies to COntrolled Surfaces (P.D. Mize, A. Naqui, C.M. O'Connell, J.N. Waller, M. Fesler, R.G. Myatich, and W.E. Keating). The Application of Traditional Immunochemical Methods to Evaluate the Performance of Capture Antibodies Immobilized on Microtiter Wells (J.E. Butler, K.S. Joshi, and W.R. Brown). Considerations of the Interpretation of the Specificity of Monoclonal Antibodies Determined in Solid-Phase Immunoassays (F.J. Stevens). Monosized Particles as Solid-Phase for Immunoassays: Applications and Immunochemistry (K. Nustad, E. Paus, and O. Bormer). Enzyme Immunofiltration Assay for Human Creatine Kinase Isoenzyme MB (F. Poulsen and O.J. Bjerrum). The Use of Peptides as Solid-Phase Antigens (M. Lacroix, G. Dionne, M. Zrein, R.J. Dwyer, and R.J. Chalifour). Streptavidin: Purification, Utility, and Use in Antibody Immobilization (M. Suter). The Kinetics of Solid-Phase Microtiter Immunoassays (B. Franz and M. Stegemann). Rate Limitation of Antigen-Antibody Reactions: Theoretical and Practical Aspects (H. Nygren and M. Stenberg). A Summary of the Pricipal Immunoassay Data Analysis Package (J.H. Peterman). Glossary. Index. Catalog no. 5394 1991, c. 352 pp., ISBN: 0-8493-5394-7 U.S. $169.95/Outside U.S. $199.00
Thermal neutron scattering data for the moderator materials H 2 O, D 2 O and ZrH x in ENDF-6 format and as ACE library for MCNP(X) codes

At thermal neutron energies, the binding of the scattering nucleus in a solid, liquid, or gas affects the cross section and the angular and energy distributions of the scattered neutrons. These effects are described in the thermal sub-library of evaluated files in File 7 of the ENDF6 format. New and re-evaluations are described for the three thermal moderator materials: hydrogen bound in light water (H2O), deuterium bound in heavy water (D2O) and hydrogen in ZrH (zirconium hydride). The calculations for a variety of temperatures were made with the LEAPR module of NJOY to obtain new evaluated thermal neutron scattering files that are accurate over a wider range of energy and momentum transfer than existing files. The IKE physics models are described in detail, and the inputs to LEAPR are given. Detailed comparisons with a significant number of measurements of differential and integral neutron cross sections and other relevant data are reported (for the validation of the generated Scattering Law data files S(α,β,T)). Experimental data are reproduced reasonably well. In addition, thermal MCNP data sets for use in the continuous Monte Carlo codes MCNP and MCNPX were generated from these evaluations. Calculated neutron spectra agree rather well with measurements. Details are also given of the updates to the NJOY modules LEAPR, THERMR, and ACER necessary in generating and processing the thermal neutron scattering data.
Identification of Pharmacological and Molecular Mechanisms involved in Nicotine Withdrawal

xvi Chapter 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION . 1 A.Tobacco and Nicotine Dependence . 1 B. Molecular and Pharmacological Mechanisms of Nicotine Withdrawal . 3 C. Calcium Dependent Mechanisms of Nicotine Dependence and Withdrawal . 10 D. Behavioral Models of Nicotine Withdrawal . 15 E. Transgenic Animals: A Complementary Approach to Pharmacological Methods . 18 F. Dissertation Objectives. 21 2 CHARACTERIZATION OF A NICOTINE CONDITIONED PLACE AVERSION MOUSE MODEL . 25 A. Introduction. 25 B. Methods. 27 C. Results . 31 D. Discussion . 40 3 THE ROLE OF α4α6β2* NICOTINIC RECEPTORS IN NICOTINE WITHDRAWAL . 45 A. Introduction. 45 B. Methods. 47 C. Results . 52 D. Discussion . 68 4 IDENTIFICATION OF ADDITIONAL NICOTINIC RECEPTOR SUBUNITS INVOLVED IN NICOTINE WITHDRAWAL . 74 A. Introduction. 74 B. Methods. 76 C. Results . 79 D. Discussion . 91 5 THE ROLE OF CALCIUM-DEPENDENT MECHANISMS IN NICOTINE WITHDRAWAL . 96 A. Introduction. 96 B. Methods. 98 C. Results . 103 D. Discussion . 123 6 IN VITRO CHARATERIZATION OF MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF NICOTINE WITHDRAWAL: A ROLE FOR CAMKII AND SYNAPSIN I . 129 A. Introduction. 129 B. Methods. 133 C. Results . 137 D. Discussion . 160 7 GENERAL DISCUSSION A. Rationale and Summary of Overall Hypothesis . 165 B. Nicotinic Receptor Subtypes have Differential Roles in Nicotine Withdrawal . 167 C. L-type VGCCs and CaMKII Differentially Regulate Nicotine Withdrawal . 175 D. Nicotine Withdrawal-Induced Decreases in CaMKII and Synapsin I Function are Mediated through β2-containing Nicotinic Receptors . 179 F. Conclusions and Implications . 182 G. Future Studies . 183 References . 187
Effect of nitrogen doses on growth and yield of marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) in subtropical climate of Nepal

Marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) is a potential commercial flower with an increasing demand in Nepal every year. A field experiment was carried out to study the effect of different doses of nitrogen on growth and flower yield of marigold under container gardening at Bharatpur-11, Bhojad, Chitwan, Nepal during autumn 2018. Five treatments including different doses of nitrogen, i.e. (T1-Control (0:90:75) kg NPK ha−1; T2-(45:90:75) kg NPK ha−1; T3-(90:90:75) kg NPK ha−1; T4-(135:90:75) kg NPK ha−1; and T5-(180:90:75) kg NPK ha−1) were evaluated in Randomized Block Design with four replications. Results showed that plant height, plant spread, and number of branches were statistically significant. Marigold plant applied with 180 kg ha−1 nitrogen gave the maximum height (49.47 cm), spread (36.40 cm), and number of branches (24.75 plant−1) in 45 DAT (days after transplanting) while the control plot showed the least. Similarly, nitrogen @ 180 kg ha−1 was found to be effective for early flowering initiation (32.50 DAT) and days (41.25 DAT) compared to control (39 and 48.75 DAT, respectively) and also resulted in maximum number of flower (34.73 plant−1), flower diameter (7.03 cm) and yield (22.29 t ha−1) compared to other treatments. Thus, the overall results suggest that the application of 180 kg N ha−1 in marigold produced the highest flower production.
Hysteresis Effects and Macroeconomics Gains from Unconventional Monetary Policies Stabilization

Based on the Great Recession, this paper investigates the slow recovery-following recessions and the ability of unconventional monetary policies to dampen the adverse effects of shocks. The purpose is to elucidate one of the paradoxes of the business cycle—the slow pace of recovery of macroeconomic indicators and to evaluate the gains from monetary policies initiated by central banks following the financial crisis of 2008. Therefore, the article develops a model by integrating hysteresis mechanisms, modelled by the segmentation of the labour market between insiders and outsiders in the structure of a model with financial frictions to explain the paradox related to production and employment. Financial frictions are incorporated into the model by using a moral hazard problem between financial institutions and households. Calibrated on the U.S. economy, the simulations of the model show that the pace of recovery of output and employment takes more than 6 years to get back to the trend after the shocks. The cost in terms of the welfare of this slow recovery ranges between 0.30% to 5.82% according to the importance of the insiders-outsiders phenomenon. According to the baseline calibration of the model, the simulations also show that credit easing helps to strongly limit the effects and the costs in terms of welfare induced by these hysteresis mechanisms. Output and unemployment begin to converge towards their pre-shock simulations respectively 2.5 years, and 3 years when the central bank intervenes with credit easing. Welfare gains vary from 3.55% to 4.30%. JEL classification: E23, E24, E32, E58, G01.
What's in a Name? Does Racial or Gender Discrimination in Marking Exist?

We study whether racial or gender discrimination in marking exists at universities by conducting an experiment at a major Australian university where we randomly assigned names indicative of White, Chinese or Adopter identities (comprised of a White first name and Chinese surname) and male or female gender to real exam coversheets and recruited university graders to mark these exams. We find that the most economically-significant evidence of discrimination is found at grade thresholds. Exam scripts with Chinese and Adopter names are less likely than White names to receive a mark just above a grade threshold. Conversely, scripts with Chinese names receive a small marking bonus on average compared to the same script with a White name. Discrimination at grade thresholds is found to be more consistent with taste-based discrimination, whereas discrimination at the average is more consistent with statistical discrimination.
Antioxidant Effect of Natural Honeys Affected by Their Source and Origin

Abstract In purpose to examine the antioxidant activity of 15 natural honeys of different origin ABTS method was used, total phenol content and dry matter content of honey samples were determined. Honeys were collected from different locations of Slovakia, Poland and Serbia and were represented as monofloral and multifloral samples (10) which originated from Poland and Slovakia, forest samples (4) originated from Serbia and honeydew honey. Average values of antioxidant activity observed in samples of honeys ranged from 0.62 to 4.63 mmol/kg. The highest antioxidant activity was detected in buckwheat honey and the lowest was shown in acacia honey. By observing the impact of individual honey samples on antioxidant activity it was found that the sample had a highly statistically significant effect. 10 homogeneous groups which varied in the antioxidant activity among each other were established by all 15 samples. Antioxidant activity of honeys could be a positive influence factor in terms of honey differentiation, especially in the case of the forest honeys collected from different places. Monofloral and multifloral honeys (10) established 5 homogenous groups, but in the case of several multifloral honeys which originated from different places of Poland and Slovakia no statistically significant differences were found.
Uncertainty quantification for Bayesian CART

This work affords new insights into Bayesian CART in the context of structured wavelet shrinkage. The main thrust is to develop a formal inferential framework for Bayesian tree-based regression. We reframe Bayesian CART as a g-type prior which departs from the typical wavelet product priors by harnessing correlation induced by the tree topology. The practically used Bayesian CART priors are shown to attain adaptive near rate-minimax posterior concentration in the supremum norm in regression models. For the fundamental goal of uncertainty quantification, we construct adaptive confidence bands for the regression function with uniform coverage under self-similarity. In addition, we show that tree-posteriors enable optimal inference in the form of efficient confidence sets for smooth functionals of the regression function.
Applying eHealth for Pandemic Management in Saudi Arabia in the Context of COVID-19: Survey Study and Framework Proposal

Background The increased frequency of epidemics such as Middle East respiratory syndrome, severe acute respiratory syndrome, Ebola virus, and Zika virus has created stress on health care management and operations as well as on relevant stakeholders. In addition, the recent COVID-19 outbreak has been creating challenges for various countries and their respective health care organizations in managing and controlling the pandemic. One of the most important observations during the recent outbreak is the lack of effective eHealth frameworks for managing and controlling pandemics. Objective The aims of this study are to review the current National eHealth Strategy of Saudi Arabia and to propose an integrated eHealth framework that can be effective for managing health care operations and services during pandemics. Methods A questionnaire-based survey was administered to 316 health care professionals to review the current national eHealth framework of Saudi Arabia and identify the objectives, factors, and components that are key for managing and controlling pandemics. Purposive sampling was used to collect responses from diverse experts, including physicians, technical experts, nurses, administrative experts, and pharmacists. The survey was administered at five hospitals in Saudi Arabia by forwarding the survey link using a web-based portal. A sample population of 350 was achieved, which was filtered to exclude incomplete and ineligible samples, giving a sample of 316 participants. Results Of the 316 participants, 187 (59.2%) found the current eHealth framework to be ineffective, and more than 50% of the total participants stated that the framework lacked some essential components and objectives. Additional components and objectives focusing on using eHealth for managing information, creating awareness, increasing accessibility and reachability, promoting self-management and self-collaboration, promoting electronic services, and extensive stakeholder engagement were considered to be the most important factors by more than 80% of the total participants. Conclusions Managing pandemics requires an effective and efficient eHealth framework that can be used to manage various health care services by integrating different eHealth components and collaborating with all stakeholders.
The Current Landscape of Antibody-based Therapies in Solid Malignancies

Over the past three decades, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have revolutionized the landscape of cancer therapy. Still, this benefit remains restricted to a small proportion of patients due to moderate response rates and resistance emergence. The field has started to embrace better mAb-based formats with advancements in molecular and protein engineering technologies. The development of a therapeutic mAb with long-lasting clinical impact demands a prodigious understanding of target antigen, effective mechanism of action, gene engineering technologies, complex interplay between tumor and host immune system, and biomarkers for prediction of clinical response. This review discusses the various approaches used by mAbs for tumor targeting and mechanisms of therapeutic resistance that is not only caused by the heterogeneity of tumor antigen, but also the resistance imposed by tumor microenvironment (TME), including inefficient delivery to the tumor, alteration of effector functions in the TME, and Fc-gamma receptor expression diversity and polymorphism. Further, this article provides a perspective on potential strategies to overcome these barriers and how diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers are being used in predicting response to mAb-based therapies. Overall, understanding these interdependent parameters can improve the current mAb-based formulations and develop novel mAb-based therapeutics for achieving durable clinical outcomes in a large subset of patients.