Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Purification and characterization of a thermostable xylanase from Bacillus stearothermophilus T-6

Bacillus stearothermophilus T-6 produces an extracellular xylanase that was shown to optimally bleach pulp at pH 9 and 65 degrees C. The enzyme was purified and concentrated in a single adsorption step onto a cation exchanger and is made of a single polypeptide with an apparent M(r) of 43,000 (determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis). Xylanase T-6 is an endoxylanase that completely degrades xylan to xylose and xylobiose. The pIs of the purified protein were 9 and 7 under native and denaturing conditions, respectively. The optimum activity was at pH 6.5; however, 60% of the activity was still retained at pH 10. At 65 degrees C and pH 7, the enzyme was stable for more than 10 h; at 65 degrees C and pH 9, the half-life of the enzyme was approximately 6 h. Kinetic experiments at 55 degrees C gave Vmax and Km values of 288 U/mg and 1.63 mg/ml, respectively. The enzyme had no apparent requirement for cofactors, and its activity was strongly inhibited by Zn2+, Cd2+, and Hg2+. Xylan completely protected the protein from inactivation by N-bromosuccinimide. The N-terminal sequence of the first 45 amino acids of the enzyme showed high homology with the N-terminal region of xylanase A from the alkalophilic Bacillus sp. strain C-125.
Enhanced AES using MAC address for cloud services

Security is one of the important aspects that we need to consider related to data communication. Security is primarily for sensitive data such as government or military data. Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is one of the cryptographic methods that currently considered safe and strong enough. Although there is currently no attack capable of breaking AES, it is only a matter of time because of the rapid development of computing speed. Brute force attacks could also break AES quickly if the key is weak. This research proposes a modified AES that alters the original structures by using MAC Address. The use of MAC Address could increase the randomness of the AES processes in each computer.
Global climate change and challenges for international river agreements

Shared rivers are not only expected to cause conflict, but they can also contribute to build engagement and cooperation among the riparian states. Particularly in the last two decades, several competing riparian countries have formally agreed to share and, in some cases develop their common water resources. Many agreements have been drawn up in the South to share the international river basins. Noteworthy ones are: Zambezi, Mekong, Jordan, Ganges and Nile Rivers. However, these agreements are presently going through severe stress due to increasing demand and decreasing supply of water resources. Moreover, global climate change raises certain possibility of long-term changes to the volume and pattern of run-off in these shared river systems. This paper critically examines the suitability of existing agreements on major international river systems in the South to address the challenges posed by the global climate change.
Developing the meat grab

‘Meat grabbing’ describes actually existing land deals undertaken for industrial meat production, either directly in the form of animal housing and stocking (confined animal feeding operations, or CAFOs), or indirectly in the form of monocrop grain and oilseed production for livestock feed. Meat grabbing is also a concept for analyzing the relationships between industrial meat regimes, food security politics and the global land rush, relationships which have not yet been sufficiently considered in research or in policy. Using China's reform-era meat revolution as an analytical case, this paper proposes meat grabbing as a concept with three broad goals: (1) to show how industrial meat complicates notions of food security and of food security land grabs, (2) to incorporate social inequalities and environmental injustices into the conceptualization and measurement of land deals and (3) to expand dispossession's domain to include relationships between people and agroecosystems. This is an initial exploration of the content and framing of meat grabs, intended to synthesize its core features and raise questions for further study.
ACCREDITATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES AND IMPROVEMENTS IN TURKISH HIGHER EDUCATION

Bu calismada cesitli ulkelerdeki yuksekogretimde akreditasyon uygulamalari ve Turk yuksekogretimindeki gelismeler ele alinmistir. Ingiltere, Amerika Birlesik Devletleri ve Japonya‟da yuksekogretimde akreditasyonun nasil oldugu, akreditasyon surecleri incelenmistir. Sonucta akreditasyonun yuksekogretimde kalitenin saglanmasi, ogrenci fonlarindan yararlanabilme, akademik arenada sayginlik kazanma gibi cesitli amaclarla yapildigi gorulmustur.
Language independent optical character recognition for hand written text

This paper describes a novel technique for optical character recognition of handwritten text using the basic geometrical strokes contained in the alphabets of a language. It is observed that all the characters of a language can be represented as a set of connected basic geometrical strokes; thus if we break a ligature, even if the ligature contains more than one character, as in the case of cursive languages, the technique can determine/recognize the characters contained in the ligature. The recognition of characters is font independent: however it is also possible to recognize the typed characters of the standard fonts by employing this technique. Hence font based character recognition is a special case of the proposed technique. The technique was implemented by developing a C#. NET application called LIOCR (language independent optical character reader). The results obtained after applying LIOCR to 25 samples of handwritten text have also been reported.
Finding the top influential bloggers based on productivity and popularity features

ABSTRACT A blog acts as a platform of virtual communication to share comments or views about products, events and social issues. Like other social web activities, blogging actions spread to a large number of people. Users influence others in many ways, such as buying a product, having a particular political or social opinion or initiating new activity. Finding the top influential bloggers is an active research domain as it helps us in various fields, such as online marketing, e-commerce, product search and e-advertisements. There exist various models to find the influential bloggers, but they consider limited features using non-modular approach. This paper proposes a new model, Popularity and Productivity Model (PPM), based on a modular approach to find the top influential bloggers. It consists of popularity and productivity modules which exploit various features. We discuss the role of each proposed and existing features and evaluate the proposed model against the standard baseline models using datasets from the real-world blogs. The analysis using standard performance evaluation measures verifies that both productivity and popularity modules play a vital role to find influential bloggers in blogging community in an effective manner.
A mm-wave analog adaptive array with genetic algorithm for interference mitigation

In the future dense 60 GHz wireless environments, co-channel interference (CCI) is a potential problem that degrades the link quality. In this paper, a genetic algorithm (GA) assisted analog adaptive array is proposed for 60 GHz indoor applications to mitigate the CCI. The GA optimizes the weights on each receiver path to attenuate CCI from different directions and improve signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) with robustness. We make two further improvements for better spatial re-use. First, we take into account the trade-off between array gain at the desired direction and interference suppression by proposing adaptivity on the weights control in GA. By adaptively increasing phase perturbation, near-optimum SINR can be achieved for different interference situations. Secondly, in some cases, the link requires less receiver paths than available, e.g. for line-of-sight links. So instead of using fixed antennas, we further propose antenna selection in the GA. A further improvement on spatial re-use can be achieved compared to arrays with fixed uniform spacing.
Comparison of the treatment of hydrocolloid and saline gauze for pressure ulcer: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

PURPOSE To determine the hydrocolloid dressing versus saline gauze for the treatment of pressure ulcer. METHODS Pubmed and Web of Knowledge were searched for randomized controlled trials for the treatment of hydrocolloid and saline gauze for pressure ulcer. The random effect model was used. Sensitivity analysis and publication bias were conducted. RESULTS Seven randomized controlled trials involving a total of 329 participants were included in this meta-analysis. The combined results suggested that significant association in complete healing were detected among hydrocolloid dressings and saline gauze [Summary RR=2.20, 95% CI=1.21-4.02, I(2)=48.5%]. The associations were also significant when we only combine the results for ulcers healed and the treatment duration of 8-12 weeks. No publication bias was found. CONCLUSIONS Our meta-analysis suggested that the use of hydrocolloid dressing increased the likelihood of complete healing by more than two-fold compared with saline gauze dressing.
Performance Management: Perceiving Goals as Invariable and Implications for Perceived Job Autonomy and Work Performance

In this study, we investigated whether perceiving goals as invariable is negatively related to work performance and whether this relationship is mediated by perceived job autonomy. Perceiving goals as invariable refers to the extent to which employees believe that the goals in a performance management system represent absolute standards that they must meet without exception, even if they think other factors are more important (e.g., situational factors or factors that are not associated with goals). In support of our hypotheses, we found a negative relationship between perceiving goals as invariable and work performance and that perceived job autonomy mediated this relationship. Theoretical and practical implications and directions for future research are discussed.
Testing Mechanisms of Bergmann’s Rule: Phenotypic Decline but No Genetic Change in Body Size in Three Passerine Bird Populations

Bergmann’s rule predicts a decrease in body size with increasing temperature and has much empirical support. Surprisingly, we know very little about whether “Bergmann size clines” are due to a genetic response or are a consequence of phenotypic plasticity. Here, we use data on body size (mass and tarsus length) from three long-term (1979–2008) study populations of great tits (Parus major) that experienced a temperature increase to examine mechanisms behind Bergmann’s rule. We show that adult body mass decreased over the study period in all populations and that tarsus length increased in one population. Both body mass and tarsus length were heritable and under weak positive directional selection, predicting an increase, rather than a decrease, in body mass. There was no support for microevolutionary change, and thus the observed declines in body mass were likely a result of phenotypic plasticity. Interestingly, this plasticity was not in direct response to temperature changes but seemed to be due to changes in prey dynamics. Our results caution against interpreting recent phenotypic body size declines as adaptive evolutionary responses to temperature changes and highlight the importance of considering alternative environmental factors when testing size clines.
Spatial frequency content of the Cardiff and related acuity tests

In the Cardiff acuity test, simple pictures on an otherwise neutral grey card are defined by borders consisting of a relatively broad white band flanked by black bands each half the width of the white band. Higher levels of acuity correspond to the ability to detect figures defined by narrower borders, the figure size remaining constant. It is sometimes implied that the acuity limit corresponding to each card can be equated with different levels of grating resolution, the total width of the border corresponding to the overall grating period. It is shown that although the spatial frequency spectra of the Cardiff figures, like those of other vanishing optotypes, lack very low‐frequency components, they have a complex two‐dimensional form. The figures have wide spatial bandwidth and no well‐defined discrete frequency components. As a result, the relationship between measured Cardiff and grating acuity will vary somewhat, depending upon the particular optical, neural or other deficits of the individual being tested.
Real estate development as real options

One of the recent advances in property valuation is to view a property or the right to develop it as a call option. Shilling et al. (1985) were among the first to apply option pricing theory in this way. For real estate development, although not explicitly said so in his paper, Titman (1985) was the first to treat vacant lots of land as options to wait to develop. A frequently cited paper by Quigg (1993) presents the first empirical effort to support the real option pricing point of view. The valuation framework of Quigg (1993) is in one sense a specialization and in another sense a generalization of the framework of Williams (1991). Unfortunately, the works of both Williams and Quigg are technically flawed, but surprisingly their errors have gone unnoticed for over 15 years and are still propagating in the literature (e.g. in Yamaguchi et al., 2000 and Patel and Paxson, 2001). In the following, we will first address the flaws of Quigg (1993). Then we will examine the problems in Williams' (1991) work. Finally, we will discuss some implications of the Williams–Quigg valuation framework.
Nutrient variations in boreal and subarctic Swedish rivers: Landscape control of land‐ sea fluxes

We examined the hypothesis that the extent of vegetation cover governs the fluxes of nutrients from boreal and subarctic river catchments to the sea. Fluxes of total organic carbon (TOC) and dissolved inorganic nitrogen, phosphorus, and dissolved silicate (DIN, DIP, and DSi, respectively) are described from 19 river catchments and subcatchments (ranging in size from 34 to 40,000 km2) in northern Sweden with a detailed analysis of the rivers Luleälven and Kalix%lven. Fluxes of TOC, DIP, and DSi increase by an order of magnitude with increasing proportion of forest and wetland area, whereas DIN did not follow this pattern but remained constantly low. Principal component analysis on landscape variables showed the importance of almost all land cover and soil type variables associated with vegetation, periglacial environment, soil and bedrock with slow weathering rates, boundary of upper tree line, and percentage of lake area. A cluster analysis of the principal components showed that the river systems could be separated into mountainous headwaters and forest and wetland catchments. This clustering was also valid in relation to river chemistry (TOC, DIP, and DSi) and was confirmed with a redundancy analysis, including river chemistry and principal components as environmental variables. The first axis explains 89% of the variance in river chemistry and almost 100% of the variance in the relation between river chemistry and landscape variables. These results suggest that vegetation change during interglacial periods is likely to have had a major effect on inputs of TOC, DIP, and DSi into the past ocean.
Development of a Generic PCR Detection of 3-Acetyldeoxy-nivalenol-, 15-Acetyldeoxynivalenol- and Nivalenol-Chemotypes of Fusarium graminearum Clade

Fusarium graminearum clade pathogens cause Fusarium head blight (FHB) or scab of wheat and other small cereal grains, producing different kinds of trichothecene mycotoxins that are detrimental to human and domestic animals. Type B trichothecene mycotoxins such as deoxynivalenol, 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol (3-AcDON), 15-acetyldeoxynivalenol (15-AcDON) and nivalenol (NIV) are the principal Fusarium mycotoxins reported in China, as well as in other countries. A genomic polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to predict chemotypes was developed based on the structural gene sequences of Tri13 genes involved in trichothecene mycotoxin biosynthesis pathways. A single pair of primers derived from the Tri13 genes detected a 583 bp fragment from 15-AcDON-chemotypes, a 644 bp fragment from 3-AcDON-chemotypes and an 859 bp fragment from NIV-producing strains. Fusarium strains from China, Nepal, USA and Europe were identified by this method, revealing their mycotoxin chemotypes identical to that obtained by chemical analyses of HPLC or GC/MS and other PCR assays. The mycotoxin chemotype-specific fragments were amplified from a highly variable region located in Tri13 genes with three deletions for 15-AcDON-chemotypes, two deletions for 3-AcDON-chemotypes and no deletion for NIV-producers. This PCR assay generated a single amplicon and thus should be more reliable than other PCR-based assays that showed the absence or presence of a PCR fragment since these assays may generate false-negative results. The results with strains from several different countries as well as from different hosts further indicated that this method should be globally applicable. This is a rapid, reliable and cost-effective method for the identification of type B trichothecene mycotoxin chemotypes in Fusarium species and food safety controls.
2,6-Diaminopyridinium dihydrogen phosphate

In the crystal structure of the title compound, C5H8N3 +·H2PO4 −, N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, involving the unprotonated amino-group and the NH+ group in the pyridinium ring and dihydrogenphosphate O atoms, link the cations and anions. A long chain-like stacking of dihydrogenphosphate anions along the c-axis direction is constructed by O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. Also along the c-axis direction, π–π stacking between inversion-related pyridinium rings [centroid–centroid distance = 3.8051 (10) Å] forms columnar stacks of cations.
Low complexity RF beam search algorithms for millimeter-wave systems

We consider a millimeter wave communication system with multiple RF beam-forming chains each capable of forming beams in different spatial directions. The optimal codebook-based RF beam search algorithm has an exponential complexity in both the number of RF chains at the transmitter and at the receiver, which is infeasible in practice. To enable implementations that scale with increasing number of RF chains, we propose a class of RF beam search algorithms with varying complexities that iteratively search for the capacity maximizing RF beams over subsets of RF chains. The performances of the two linear variations of the proposed algorithm, jointly linear and separately linear, are evaluated in a millimeter wave cellular setting that involves reference symbol transmission from the mobile station to the base station. We show that, for a 2 × 2 system, using the proposed algorithms achieves a computation savings of about 86% with minimal performance loss.
Targeted therapy for gastric cancer—current status

In patients with metastatic gastric cancer, median overall survival remains under 1 year and standard chemotherapy regimens are not able to substantially improve the prognosis of the patients. Amplification and over-expression of HER2 is reported in approximately 20% of gastric tumours, challenging the use of targeted therapies. There are several targeted therapies in different stages of clinical development with trastuzumab being the first overcoming the regulatory hurdle and getting European Medicines Agency approval. In patients with advanced gastric or gastro-oesophageal junction cancer, addition of trastuzumab to chemotherapy significantly improved overall survival compared with chemotherapy alone. Addition of trastuzumab to chemotherapy did not increase the incidence of adverse events. Other agents targeting the HER2 pathway (lapatinib) or other domains of epidermal growth factor receptor family (cetuximab) are currently being investigated for the treatment of an advanced gastric cancer.
Fair Value or Cost Model? Drivers of Choice for IAS 40 in the Real Estate Industry

The IFRS mandatory adoption in European countries is an excellent context from which to assess the validity of accounting choice theory, which postulates that information asymmetry, contractual efficiency (agency costs) and managerial opportunism reasons could drive the choice. With this aim, we test the impact of these factors to explain the adoption of fair value for investment properties (IAS 40) in the real estate industry, taking into account the ‘revaluation’ option offered by IFRS1 and using historical cost without revaluations as a baseline category for comparison purposes. We select a sample of European real estate companies from Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain and Sweden, all first-time adopters of the IFRS. Using a multinomial logistic model, we show that information asymmetry, contractual efficiency and managerial opportunism could account for the fair value choice. Particularly, the most significant findings are that size as a proxy of political costs reduces the likelihood of using fair value while market-to-book ratio is negatively associated with the fair value choice. On the other hand, leverage, another typical proxy of contracting costs, seems not to influence the choice. This evidence confirms the current validity of traditional accounting choice theory even if it reveals, in such a context, the irrelevance of the usual relations between accounting choice and leverage.
High Q-factor plasmonic filters in nanoscale metal-insulator-metal waveguides

Summary form only given. In photonic waveguides, it has previously been shown that filters with very high Q-factors can be obtained by using a 1-D photonic crystal. Also in plasmonics, similar resonators have been proposed by integrating a 1-D plasmonic crystal inside a metal-insulator-metal waveguide, yielding a quality-factor of over 100. While in previous publications the proposed resonator is realized by integrating dielectrics with different indices or altering the thickness of the insulator, we demonstrate by finite-difference time domain simulations that 1-D plasmonic crystals can be made with a top-down approach starting from a planar layer stack, greatly improving the ease of fabrication and still obtaining Q-factors over 100.
Control and Performance Evaluation of a Flywheel Energy-Storage System Associated to a Variable-Speed Wind Generator

The flywheel energy-storage systems (FESSs) are suitable for improving the quality of the electric power delivered by the wind generators and for helping these generators to contribute to the ancillary services. Supervisors must be used for controlling the power flow from a variable-speed wind generator (VSWG) to the power grid or to an isolated load. This paper investigates the control method and the energetic performances of a low-speed FESS with a classical squirrel-cage induction machine in the view of its association to a VSWG. A test bench is developed, and experimental results are presented and discussed