Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparative Analysis of Nitrifying Bacteria in Full–Scale Oxidation Ditch and Aerated Nitrification Biofilter by Using Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization (FISH) and Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE)

In this study, nitrification performances and composition of nitrifying populations in a full–scale oxidation ditch and a high–rate submerged media nitrification biofilter were comparatively analyzed. In addition to different reactor configurations, effects of differing operational conditions on the nitrification efficiency and bacterial diversity were also explored and evaluated thoroughly. In microbial analysis of sludge samples fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) techniques were used complementary to each other. The extended aeration oxidation ditch subjected to the study is operated as a nitrogen and phosphorus removal system consisting of anaerobic, anoxic, and aerobic zones. The high–rate submerged media aerated filter is operated as nitrification step following the conventional activated sludge unit and the nitrified wastewater is discharged to the sea without complete nitrogen removal. In situ hybridization results have indicated that Nitrosomonas–like ammonia oxidizing and Nitrospira–related nitrite oxidizing bacteria were intensively present in vigorous flocs in nitrification biofilter while carbonaceous bacteria belong to beta subclass of Proteobacteria were considerably dominant in oxidation ditch. Low quantities of nitrifiers in oxidation ditch were also confirmed by the dissimilarity in intensive bands between two systems obtained with DGGE analysis.
Structural analysis of cartilage proteoglycans and glycoproteins using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

Cartilage extracellular matrix molecules synthesized and maintained by chondrocytes form a strong, elastic tissue functioning to cushion and protect the subchondral bone. Osteoarthritis is characterized by degradation of cartilage extracellular matrix molecules resulting in fibrillation, irreversible erosion, and eventual failure of the tissue. With recent interest in the degradation of cartilage extracellular matrix molecules, a need for more detailed structural information exists. Posttranslational modifications are believed to play a role in determining the susceptibility of these molecules to proteolytic degradation during the development of osteoarthritis. The purpose of this paper is to show how the application of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry to extracellular matrix protein and proteoglycan structure will help elucidate problems in extracellular matrix biochemistry. Methodological issues relating to the high molecular weight, polydispersity, and high degree of posttranslational modification of these molecules are discussed. MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry provides an improved level of detail for extracellular matrix protein and proteoglycan structure and is useful in addressing issues surrounding the causes of degradation during osteoarthritis.
The use of quality management tools and techniques in ISO 9001:2000 certified companies: the Greek case

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the level of use of quality management tools and techniques as well as employees' training in ISO 9001:2000 certified companies.Design/methodology/approach – A research project was carried out in 370 Greek companies, using the questionnaire method. The selected companies have been implementing a quality management system in accordance with the ISO 9001:2000 standard. Independent Samples t‐tests and One‐Way ANOVA tests were used to identify significant differences between selected companies.Findings – The level of quality tools and techniques used in the ISO 9001:2000 certified companies can be characterised as low. The majority of companies use the easiest to understand and implement quality tools. However, the more complex quality tools and techniques are barely used. As far as employees' training is concerned, it mostly addressed specialized issues, while training on quality tools and techniques was not highly performed.Research limitations/implications .
Strategic Planning for Municipal Information Systems

In 1995, the City of St. Louis undertook a major strategic planning effort for its municipal information systems. The project was initiated in the midst of acrimonious debate regarding mainframe bottlenecks, the proliferation of independent computing systems, organizational problems in the delivery of management information systems (MIS) services, and rapidly changing technology. A strategic planning process tailored to this complex environment was developed and executed, engaging individuals at all levels to articulate needs for information, identify problems with existing systems, suggest organizational changes, and define potential MIS projects. As in most governments, organizational issues and managerial processes proved more daunting than technical issues. The implementation of technical recommendations proved much easier than changing the organizational culture to take full advantage of new technologies. To realize fully the benefits of new information technology, more effective ways must be found to facilitate the spanning of formal organizational boundaries.
Gasoline Fuel Blends for Otto Engines and Gasoline Fuel Additives

Abstract Gasoline is a volatile mixture of flammable liquid hydrocarbons derived chiefly from crude petroleum, which is used principally as a fuel for internal-combustion engines. Gasoline is a blend of hydrocarbons with some contaminants, including sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen, and certain metals. Methanol and ethanol as alcohol fuels are technically and economically suitable for internal combustion engines. The octane number of gasoline increases continuously and linearly with methanol and ethanol percentages in gasoline. Hence, methanol is an effective compound for increasing the value of the octane number of gasoline. The engine performance improves as the percentages of methanol and ethanol increase in the blend. Fuel additives are used to improve gasoline performance in vehicles and to reduce specific emissions. They include octane enhancers, antiknock compounds, and oxygenates, as well as corrosion inhibitors, detergents, and dyes.
ParaPlan: A Tool for Parallel Reachability Analysis of Planar Polygonal Differential Inclusion Systems

Andrei Sandler, and Olga Tveretina, ‘ParaPlan: A Tool for Parallel Reachability Analysis of Planar Polygonal Differential Inclusion Systems’, in Patricia Bouyer, Andrea Orlandini and Pierluigi San Pietro, eds. Proceedings Eight International Symposium on Games, Automata, Logics and Formal Verification (GandALF 2017), Rome, Italy, 20-22 September 2017, Electronic Proceedings in Theoretical Computer Science, Vol. 256: 283-296, September 2017. © 2017 The Author(s). This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Can quantity of amniotic fluid reliably predict postnatal renal function in boys with posterior urethral valves: a decision curve analysis

Prenatal management of male fetuses with suspected posterior urethral valves depends on reliable markers for postnatal long‐term renal function. Whether ultrasound parameters, including the presence or absence of oligohydramnios, are reliable remains the subject of debate. We decided to evaluate the reliability of quantity of amniotic fluid to predict postnatal renal function using decision curve analysis (DCA), a method for evaluating the clinical utility of a diagnostic test.
The Impact of Foreign Aid Linked to Infrastructure and Pollution Abatement

This paper studies the macroeconomic effects of foreign aid taking into account environmental quality. We develop a dynamic equilibrium model in which public investments in both infrastructure and pollution abatement can be co-financed using domestic resources and international aid. We consider untied aid, aid fully tied to either infrastructure or abatement and aid equally tied to both expenditures. We find that when the extent to which agents are affected by environmental problems is taken into account, then, regardless of the chances of substitution between factors, transfers linked to both infrastructure and pollution abatement may be the best welfare-enhancing alternative.
Union Attitudes to Labor-Saving Innovation: When are Unions Luddites

The response of union utility to labor-saving innovation is analyzed within a framework of oligopolistic competition in the product market, taking account of wage bargaining under several alternative structures of industrial relations. Conditions are established under which wages and employment will rise or fall in response to innovation. Union opposition tends to occur when union preferences are weighted in favor of jobs and labor demand is perceived to be inelastic. Thus opposition is more likely with industry- or craft-based union organization in noncompetitive industries and is less likely with enterprise unionism in competitive industries.
New pathological findings in emphysema of childhood: 1. Polyalveolar lobe with emphysema

A new pathological entity is here described—a polyalveolar lobe with or without emphysema—giving rise to the clinical features of childhood lobar emphysema. A detailed and quantitative study of the airways, alveoli and arteries was carried out on the left upper lobe removed because of shortness of breath, thought to be due to `childhood lobar emphysema'. The child was 17 days old and the radiograph showed hypertransradiancy of the left lung. The alveolar number was increased five-fold. Alveolar size was normal, so it was found that emphysema, accepted today as a structural diagnosis, was not present. The increase in alveolar number seemed confined to the apical, posterior, and anterior segments, the lingula being unaffected. By contrast, the airways and arteries were normal for age in number, size and structure, suggesting that the condition was a `giantism' of the alveolar region. The blood flow was probably too low for the lobar volume; certainly the excessive alveolar number could not be due to increase in blood flow. In two further specimens, previously dissected, a similar polyalveolar condition was found, associated with emphysema. The patients were older at the time of surgical resection and the emphysema may have developed post-natally. In all three cases the radiographic features had suggested emphysema. It is suggested that the condition be called `polyalveolar lobe', `with emphysema' or `without emphysema' being added as a separate item to the description.
Speaker verification in noisy environments with combined spectral subtraction and missing feature theory

In the framework of Gaussian mixture models (GMMs), we present a new approach towards robust automatic speaker verification (SV) in adverse conditions. This new and simple approach is based on the combination of speech enhancement using traditional spectral subtraction, and missing feature compensation to dynamically modify the probability computations performed in GMM recognizers. The identity of the spectral features missing due to noise masking is provided by the spectral subtraction algorithm. Previous works have demonstrated that the missing feature modeling method succeeds in speech recognition with some artificially generated interruptions, filtering and noise. We show that this method also improves noise compensation techniques used for speaker verification in more realistic conditions.
A Current-Driving Synchronous Rectifier for an LLC Resonant Converter With Voltage-Doubler Rectifier Structure

This paper proposes a current-driving scheme for a synchronous rectifier (SR) in an LLC resonant converter with a voltage-doubler rectifier. In the proposed scheme, only one current transformer (CT) with one secondary winding is used to drive two SRs in the voltage-doubler rectifier. Also, the sensed current from the CT can be fed to the output with an energy-recovery circuit. Compared to the conventional center-tapped rectifier, the CT count for the SR drive circuit is reduced, which saves both cost and space. Although the current rating of the SR in the voltage-doubler rectifier is doubled, the voltage rating is well reduced and a lower voltage rating device with lower ON-state resistance can be used to compensate the increased current rating. Furthermore, the SR voltage stress is well clamped to the output voltage under any condition which improves the reliability of the circuit. A prototype with 16 V/5.6 A output was built to verify the theoretical analysis.
Economic Growth and Inflation in Europe: A Tale of Two Thresholds

This article reassesses the impact of inflation on long-term growth for a panel of 14 European Union countries in the years prior to monetary unification. While previous research mostly focuses on a linear nexus or allows for a piecewise linear relationship with a single threshold, this study takes account of a more complex relationship. The empirical estimates for the full EU sample confirm the hypothesis that the relationship between inflation and growth is positive for very low inflation rates (that is, below an estimate of 1.6 per cent), insignificant thereafter and negative for high, two-digit inflation levels. The estimate of the inflation level that divides the insignificant from the negative effect is found to be higher in the group of traditional cohesion countries than for the rest of the sample.
Employee involvement, organizational change and trust in management

Trust is an important concept in social science research as a key factor in organizational success and human resource practice. Few models of organizational change encompass the role of trust in the process of change. Further, little empirical research has focused on the potential effects of change strategies on employee trust in management. To address this gap, this paper explores the effect that different types of change strategies may have on employee trust in management. More specifically, it examines the effect of several types of major organizational change – technological, structural and work role – and types of employee involvement. Using data from the most recent Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey, covering over 2,000 workplaces and over 19,000 employees, statistical analysis reveals significant negative effects of change on trust. However, the effects vary by type of change and employee involvement. Structural reorganization is particularly corrosive of trust in management. However, given the imperative of change for organizational success, the key question for management is: how can change be managed to minimize its corrosive effects? The analysis also indicates a central role for senior management in the process of change in Australian workplaces. In particular, the results for human resource management suggest an important role for direct consultation between employees and higher management (i.e. above the workplace level) in major change processes.
One Measure of Segregation

This article considers the problem of deriving a numerical measure of segregation, i.e., a measure of inequality in the distribution of people across groups. It proposes a list of eight desirable properties for a good numerical measure of segregation. These properties yield a class of segregation indexes that are related to generalized entropy indexes of income inequality. Moreover, one and only one index-termed the square root index-satisfies seven of the properties. Copyright 2004 by the Economics Department Of The University Of Pennsylvania And Osaka University Institute Of Social And Economic Research Association.
Further characterization of human fetal osteoblastic hFOB 1.19 and hFOB/ERα cells: Bone formation in vivo and karyotype analysis using multicolor fluorescent in situ hybridization

We have previously generated an immortalized human fetal osteoblastic cell line (hFOB) using stably transfected temperature sensitive SV40 T‐antigen (Harris et al. [ 1995a ] J. Bone. Miner. Res. 10:178–1860). To characterize these cells for phenotypic/genotypic attributes desired for a good cell model system, we performed karyotype analysis by multicolor fluorescent in situ hybridization (M‐FISH), their ability to form bone in vivo without developing cell transformation, and finally their ability to form extracellular matrix formation in vitro. The karyotype analysis of hFOB cells revealed structural or numeric anomalies involving 1–2 chromosomes. In contrast, the human osteosarcoma MG63 cells displayed multiple, and often complex, numeric, and structural abnormalities. Subcutaneous injection of hFOB cells in the presence of Matrigel into nude mice resulted in bone formation after 2–3 weeks. Electron microscopic analysis of the extracellular matrix deposited by hFOB cells in culture revealed a parallel array of lightly banded fibrils typical of the fibrillar collagens such as type I and III. These results demonstrate that the hFOB cell line has minimal chromosome abnormalities, exhibit the matrix synthetic properties of differentiated osteoblasts, and are immortalized but non‐transformed cell line. These hFOB cells thus appear to be an excellent model system for the study of osteoblast biology in vitro. J. Cell. Biochem. 87: 9–15, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Harmony, Statistical Inference with the Herfindahl H Index and C Index

The Herfindahl H index and C index provide measures of harmony of accounting measurement practices by summarizing the extent to which companies use the same accounting practice. While the values of these indices are compared to obtain some idea concerning the relative harmony of accounting practice, standard errors for these estimates are not generally provided. That is, an index is calculated from a sample but no guidance is provided concerning likely values of the index in the population from which the sample was drawn. The present article fills this gap in the literature by providing formulae to estimate the standard error of the H and C indices calculated from a sample. The formulae are illustrated with several examples from the literature to show how conclusions are either enhanced or modified by the addition of these standard errors. It is shown that while both indices are biased, this bias is generally negligible. It is hoped that in future authors will quote not only the value of the index itself but also the standard error so differences between index values (both within and between studies) can be judged as being either significantly different or explainable by sampling variation alone.
Direct calorimetric verification of thermodynamic instability of lead halide hybrid perovskites

Significance Organic metal halide perovskites are a promising class of materials for next-generation solar cells. However, they are chemically labile, raising questions of thermodynamic stability and posing a significant challenge for their use. This paper provides direct calorimetric measurements of their heats of formation from binary halide constituents. The positive formation enthalpy of methylammonium lead iodide from MAI and PbI2 (MA = methylammonium) confirms thermodynamic instability, thus limiting long-term persistence even in the absence of air, moisture, heat, or light. The enthalpy of formation of the iodide, bromide, and chloride perovskite becomes less positive with increasing Goldschmidt tolerance factor, suggesting a criterion in the search for more stable hybrid perovskites. Hybrid perovskites, especially methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3), exhibit excellent solar power conversion efficiencies. However, their application is plagued by poor chemical and structural stability. Using direct calorimetric measurement of heats of formation, MAPbI3 is shown to be thermodynamically unstable with respect to decomposition to lead iodide and methylammonium iodide, even in the absence of ambient air or light or heat-induced defects, thus limiting its long-term use in devices. The formation enthalpy from binary halide components becomes less favorable in the order MAPbCl3, MAPbBr3, MAPbI3, with only the chloride having a negative heat of formation. Optimizing the geometric match of constituents as measured by the Goldschmidt tolerance factor provides a potentially quantifiable thermodynamic guide for seeking chemical substitutions to enhance stability.
Measurement of GDP per capita and regional disparities in China, 1979-2009

This paper analyzes provincial GDP per capita disparities in China from 1979 to 2009. Provincial GDP per capita of official statistical materials has several problems such as problems of data correctness and reliability, because the data cover the huji population and the changzhu population. This study compares results using modified changzhu population GDP per capita data with results using official statistical materials. The empirical results are as follows: (1) Studies since the 1990s have overestimated interprovince disparities; (2) inter-province disparities have decreased since 2005; and (3) The western region has experienced an increase in intra-regional disparities since 2002. These results suggest that provincial GDP per capita statistics should be used more carefully.
Postoperative on‐line monitoring with intraperitoneal microdialysis is a sensitive clinical method for measuring increased anaerobic metabolism that correlates to the cytokine response

Background: Visceral ischaemia and cytokine release are early stages in the development of shock and multiorgan failure. Because of lack of methods to measure anaerobic metabolism or visceral hypoxia in the early phase, diagnosis is not usually established until shock and organ failure are evident. Methods: Nineteen patients were studied postoperatively after major abdominal gastrointestinal surgery. A microdialysis catheter was placed intraperitoneally before closure of the abdomen. Analysis of glucose, pyruvate and lactate was performed every second hour and the ratio between lactate and pyruvate was calculated. Peritoneal fluid was collected from a peritoneal drainage for analysis of tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF‐α) and interleukin 10 (IL‐10). Results: Sixteen of the patients had a normal postoperative course; the lactate/pyruvate ratio started at the level of 20 immediately postoperatively and decreased significantly during the first 45 postoperative hours (P = 0.007). A similar pattern was recorded for peritoneal TNF‐α, which decreased correspondingly (P = 0.003). A correlation coefficient of 0.303 (P < 0.001) between lactate/pyruvate ratio and TNF‐α was found. After an initial short increase, IL‐10 decreased over time (P < 0.001). Three of the patients had abnormalities in the microdialysis results, cytokines and clinical outcome. These patients are presented separately. Conclusions: A normal postoperative course results in a decrease in the intraperitoneal lactate/pyruvate ratio, TNF‐α and IL‐10. A correlation between the intraperitoneal lactate/pyruvate ratio and TNF‐α was found which suggests that intraperitoneal microdialysis is a sensitive, indirect method in analysing the postoperative intraperitoneal inflammatory response. A complicated postoperative course was preceded by increase of the peritoneal lactate/pyruvate ratio interpreted as splanchnic hypoxia and also an increased TNF‐α level.