Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Theoretical aspects of antibiotic diffusion into microbial biofilms

Antibiotic penetration into microbial biofilm was investigated theoretically by the solution of mathematical equations describing various combinations of the processes of diffusion, sorption, and reaction. Unsteady material balances on the antibiotic and on a reactive or sorptive biomass constituent, along with associated boundary and initial conditions, constitute the mathematical formulations. Five cases were examined: diffusion of a noninteracting solute; diffusion of a reversibly sorbing, nonreacting solute; diffusion of an irreversibly sorbing, nonreacting solute; diffusion of a stoichiometrically reacting solute; and diffusion of a catalytically reacting solute. A noninteracting solute was predicted to penetrate biofilms of up to 1 mm in thickness relatively quickly, within a matter of seconds or minutes. In the case of a solute that does not sorb or react in the biofilm, therefore, the diffusion barrier is not nearly large enough to account for the reduced susceptibility of biofilms to antibiotics. Reversible and irreversible sorption retards antibiotic penetration. On the basis of data available in the literature at this point, the extent of retardation of antibiotic diffusion due to sorption does not appear to be sufficient to account for reduced biofilm susceptibility. A catalytic (e.g., enzymatic) reaction, provided it is sufficiently rapid, can lead to severe antibiotic penetration failure. For example, calculation of beta-lactam penetration indicated that the reaction-diffusion mechanism may be a viable explanation for failure of certain of these agents to control biofilm infections. The theory presented in this study provides a framework for the design and analysis of experiments to test these mechanisms of reduced biofilm susceptibility to antibiotics.
Crude Oil Price Movement and Volatility Forecasting based on Online News

Due to the complex supply-demand structure and influences from many unpredictable events, crude oil market is very difficult to predict. Instead of relying only on historical market data, this paper proposes a novel approach to predict daily crude oil price and volatility using topics and sentiment features from related ﬁnancial news-headlines. Specifically, this paper is an early attempt to extract comprehensive text features from online news, and utilize them in the forecasting of crude oil price and volatility. Ten different topics were identified from news sample using LDA model, and two sentimental indicators (polarity score and subjectivity score) were constructed from news-headlines. Both the topic features and the sentiment features were incorporated in price movements and volatility forecasting. Empirical results of five different time windows revealed that the text-based forecasting models obtain prior performance compared with benchmark models. empirical results
An Exploratory Investigation into the Budget Allocation of Mexican Male Sojourners in the U.S.

Mexican male sojourners make up a large, distinct consumer segment that has been present in the United States for decades, but have not been extensively studied from a business perspective with respect to their budget allocation decisions. The result is that this consumer segment may have been underserved due to a lack of understanding and research. This paper examines the budget allocation process of these sojourners, exploring their patterns of sending remittances and the extent of their expenditures, providing grounds for future studies focusing on how to better serve this segment.
Katz Distributions and Minefield Clearance

Abstract : The principal uncertainties in clearing a minefield are about the number and type of mines that have not yet been removed. In this paper, we take the point of view that the number of mines should be thought of as a random variable M, and our main object is to show the advantages of a particular "Katz" class of probability distributions for M. We assume throughout that the result of clearance effort is to remove every mine with a known "clearance level" p, independently of all other mines. If p=1, we have the case of exhaustive clearance. A theory is hardly required when clearance is exhaustive, and the methods outlined below will be of no use, so we assume p<1.
Impact of preterm birth on parental separation: a French population-based longitudinal study

Objective The objective of this study was to investigate both the effects of low gestational age and infant’s neurodevelopmental outcome at 2 years of age on the risk of parental separation within 7 years of giving birth. Design Prospective. Setting 24 maternity clinics in the Pays-de-la-Loire region. Participants This study included 5732 infants delivered at <35 weeks of gestation born between 2005 and 2013 who were enrolled in the population-based Loire Infant Follow-up Team cohort and who had a neurodevelopmental evaluation at 2 years. This neurodevelopmental evaluation was based on a physical examination, a psychomotor evaluation and a parent-completed questionnaire. Outcome measure Risk of parental separation (parents living together or parents living separately). Results Ten percent (572/5732) of the parents reported having undergone separation during the follow-up period. A mediation analysis showed that low gestational age had no direct effect on the risk of parental separation. Moreover, a non-optimal neurodevelopment at 2 years was associated with an increased risk of parental separation corresponding to a HR=1.49(1.23 to 1.80). Finally, the increased risk of parental separation was aggravated by low socioeconomic conditions. Conclusions The effect of low gestational age on the risk of parental separation was mediated by the infant’s neurodevelopment.
Low-voltage read/write circuit design for transistorless ReRAM crossbar arrays in 180nm CMOS technology

This paper presents a read-write design solution for passive ReRAM crossbar memory arrays to overcome the sneak current paths problem. The proposed circuitry includes an auto-calibration feature to overcome the sneak current effects during the READ operation, and a WRITE protocol to minimize the current at each row and column lines. The presented circuit has been designed in 180nm standard CMOS technology based on the electrical characteristics of fabricated ReRAM devices.
Social Media Impact on Marketing and Operations of Small and Medium Companies: A Delphi study

This research project investigates the impact of social media, in particular the uses of the social media in Spain, the impact of the engagement concept for the companies, the influence of the word of mouth for the businesses and the effectiveness of social media marketing in Spanish companies. Qualitative data has been gathered from five Spanish companies that use social media providing rich and detailed information. The most common use of social media in Spain is branding and promotions but Spanish companies have issues in the implementation of the online and offline strategies.
Microbubbles as a scattering contrast agent for grating-based x-ray dark-field imaging

In clinically established—absorption-based—biomedical x-ray imaging, contrast agents with high atomic numbers (e.g. iodine) are commonly used for contrast enhancement. The development of novel x-ray contrast modalities such as phase contrast and dark-field contrast opens up the possible use of alternative contrast media in x-ray imaging. We investigate using ultrasound contrast agents, which unlike iodine-based contrast agents can also be administered to patients with renal impairment and thyroid dysfunction, for application with a recently developed novel x-ray dark-field imaging modality. To produce contrast from these microbubble-based contrast agents, our method exploits ultra-small-angle coherent x-ray scattering. Such scattering dark-field x-ray images can be obtained with a grating-based x-ray imaging setup, together with refraction-based differential phase-contrast and the conventional attenuation contrast images. In this work we specifically show that ultrasound contrast agents based on microbubbles can be used to produce strongly enhanced dark-field contrast, with superior contrast-to-noise ratio compared to the attenuation signal. We also demonstrate that this method works well with an x-ray tube-based setup and that the relative contrast gain even increases when the pixel size is increased from tenths of microns to clinically compatible detector resolutions about up to a millimetre.
Towards Real Time Parallelism Reduction for Digital UWB Receiver

The mostly digital ultra wideband (UWB) receiver, designed for worst case channel conditions, uses significant parallelism in the digital backend which increases power consumption. However, the wireless channel may vary due to factors such as time delay and channel impulse response. This paper investigates and analyses effects of these factors on receiver parallelism for determining sufficient hardware required for different channel conditions. This analysis is performed for exploring real time parallelism reduction to save power in the digital backend of the UWB receiver. The paper also discusses the functional blocks and design constraints of one of the parallelism reduction algorithm.
Construction and expression of a heterologous protein in Lactococcus lactis by using the nisin-controlled gene expression system : the case of the PRRSV ORF 6 gene

The porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) continues to be a threat, exerting significant economic effects on the swine industry worldwide. However, none of the current commercially available vaccines can completely prevent respiratory infection, trans-placental transmission, pig-to-pig transmission of the virus, or maintain immune protection in sows. This study provides information on PRRSV and a review of available options for PRRS control strategies based on its pathogenic characteristics, immune properties, and biological characteristics. In this study, the nisincontrolled expression system of Lactococcus lactis was selected as a vector to express the ORF6 gene of PRRSV. Food-grade recombinant, L. lactis PNZ8149/NZ3900-M/PRRS, which contained the lactose
Characterization of Unexplored Deadwood Mycobiome in Highly Diverse Subtropical Forests Using Culture-independent Molecular Technique

The deadwood mycobiome, also known as wood-inhabiting fungi (WIF), are among the key players in wood decomposition, having a large impact on nutrient cycling in forest soils. However, our knowledge of WIF richness and distribution patterns in different forest biomes is limited. Here, we used pyrotag sequencing of the fungal internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) region to characterize the deadwood mycobiome of two tree species with greatly different wood characteristics (Schima superba and Pinus massoniana) in a Chinese subtropical forest ecosystem. Specifically, we tested (i) the effects of tree species and wood quality properties on WIF OTU richness and community composition; (ii) the role of biotic and abiotic factors in shaping the WIF communities; and (iii) the relationship between WIF OTU richness, community composition and decomposition rates. Due to different wood chemical properties, we hypothesized that the WIF communities derived from the two tree species would be correlated differently with biotic and abiotic factors. Our results show that deadwood in subtropical forests harbors diverse fungal communities comprising six ecological functional groups. We found interesting colonization patterns for this subtropical biome, where Resinicium spp. were highly detected in both broadleaved and coniferous deadwood. In addition, the members of Xylariales were frequently found in Schima. The two deadwood species differed significantly in WIF OTU richness (Pinus > Schima) and community composition (P < 0.001). Variations in WIF community composition of both tree species were significantly explained by wood pH and ecological factors (biotic: deadwood species, basal area and abiotic: soil pH), but the WIF communities derived from each tree species correlated differently with abiotic factors. Interestingly, we found that deadwood decomposition rate significantly correlated with WIF communities and negatively correlated with WIF OTU richness. We conclude that the pattern of WIF OTU richness and community composition are controlled by multiple interacting biotic and abiotic factors. Overall, our study provides an in-depth picture of the deadwood mycobiome in this subtropical forest. Furthermore, by comparing our results to results from temperate and boreal forests we contribute to a better understanding of patterns of WIF communities across different biomes and geographic locations.
Firm Heterogeneity and Competitive Dynamics in Alliance Formation

We present a theoretical model that attempts to generalize the conditions for alliance formation. This model is based on internal and external conditions of alliance formation: resource heterogeneity and competitive dynamics. We also introduce a game-theoretic model of alliance formation according to the net gains from an alliance and the prevention of losses that could occur from competitors' alliance activities. The model provides a theoretical insight on a paradoxical setting that some firms join an alliance despite little gains while others avoid or delay it despite potentially strong gains from the alliance.
Virtual acceleration with galvanic vestibular stimulation in a virtual reality environment

This study describes the relation between the vection produced by optical flow and that created by galvanic vestibular stimulation. Vection is the illusion of self motion and is most often experienced when an observer views a large screen display containing a translating pattern. This illusion has only limited fidelity and duration unless it is reinforced by confirming vestibular information. Galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) can directly produce the sensation of vection.
Conformation and motion of monolayer lubricant molecule on magnetic disks

High-density hard disk drives (HDDs) require a very low flying height, less than 10 nm. In this paper, based on the investigation of the molecular conformation and spreading characteristics, we clarify the diffusive motion of mobile molecules in order to build a tribological model for a monolayer lubricant.
Energy Conservation in Urban Transport

The intensity of travel being more in urban areas, it is better that the energy-saving measures are focused on urban transportation. The energy requirement of motorized private transport modes is much more compared to the energy requirement by public transport modes. Urban land-use pattern is also a factor influencing the intensity of travel in a city. Hence, orientation of the urban transportation planning process to facilitate use of public transport modes and non-motorized modes of transport with simultaneous restructuring of the urban land-use pattern will help energy saving.
ON CURRENT METHODS AND RESEARCH POTENTIAL

Meniscus regeneration is an unsolved clinical challenge. Despite the wide acceptance of the degenerative consequences of meniscectomy, no surgical procedure has succeeded to date in regenerating a functional and long-lasting meniscal fibrocartilage. Research proposed a number of experimental approaches encompassing all the typical strategies of regenerative medicine: cellfree scaffolds, gene therapy, intra-articular delivery of progenitor cells, biological glues for enhanced bonding of reparable tears, partial and total tissue engineered meniscus replacement. None of these approaches has been completely successful and can be considered suitable for all patients, as meniscal tears require specific and patientrelated treatments depending on the size and type of lesion. Recent advances in cell biology, biomaterial science and bioengineering (e.g., bioreactors) have now the potential to drive meniscus regeneration into a series of clinically relevant strategies. In this tutorial paper, the clinical need for meniscus regeneration strategies will be explained, and past and current experimental studies on meniscus regeneration will be reported.
A genome‐wide linkage search for bipolar disorder susceptibility loci in a large and complex pedigree from the eastern part of Cuba

We present results from a genome‐wide scan of a six generation pedigree with 28 affected members with apparently dominant bipolar I disorder from eastern Cuba. Genotypes were obtained using the early access version of the Genechip Mapping 10K Xba array from AFFYMETRIX. Parametric and non‐parametric linkage analyses under dominant and recessive models were performed using GENEHUNTER v2.1r5. Two phenotypic models were included in the analyses: bipolar I disorder and recurrent depressive disorder, or bipolar I disorder only. LOD scores were calculated for the entire family combined, and for four subdivisions of the family. For the entire family a suggestive parametric LOD score was obtained under the dominant model and the broader phenotype at 14q11.2‐12 (LOD = 2.05). In the same region, a non‐parametric LOD score close to genome‐wide significance was also obtained, based on the entire family (NPL = 7.31, P‐value = 0.07). For two individual branches of the pedigree, genome‐wide significance (P < 0.005) was obtained with NPL scores of 8.71 and 12.99, respectively, also in the same region on chromosome 14. Chromosome 5q21.3‐22.3 also showed close to genome‐wide significant linkage for the complete pedigree (NPL = 7.26, P = 0.07), also supported by significant linkage in one individual branch (NPL = 9.86, P < 0.005). In addition, genome‐wide significant nonparametric results (P‐values <0.005) were obtained for individual branches at 5p13.1‐q12.3, 6p22.3, 8q13.3‐21.13, and 10q22.3‐23.32. Finally, 2p25.1‐25.3, 2p13.3‐14, 3p14.2, 6p22.3‐24.1, 7p14.1‐14.2, 8q12.2‐12.3, 10q21.1‐21.2, 14q13.1‐21.1, 15q15.1‐21.2, and 22q12.3‐13.32 showed suggestive linkage in the complete family. Most of these potential susceptibility loci overlap with, or are close, to previous linkage findings. The locus on 5q may, however, represent a novel susceptibility locus. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Large universe decentralized key-policy attribute-based encryption

In multi-authority attribute-based encryption ABE systems, each authority manages a different attribute universe and issues the private keys to users. However, the previous multi-authority ABE schemes are subject to such restrictions during initializing the systems: either the attribute universe is polynomially sized and the attributes have to be enumerated or the attribute universe can be exponentially large, but the size of the set of attributes, which will be used in encryption, is not more than a predefined fixed value. These restrictions prevent multi-authority ABE schemes from being deployed in dynamic practice applications. In this paper, we present a large universe decentralized key-policy ABE scheme without such additional limitation. In our scheme, there is no requirement of any central authority. Each attribute authority executes independently from the others and can join or depart the system allodiality. Our system supports any monotone access policy. The proposed scheme is constructed on prime order groups and proved selectively secure in the standard model. To the best of our knowledge, our scheme is the first large universe decentralized key-policy ABE system in the standard model. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Astaxanthin reduces ischemic brain injury in adult rats

Astaxanthin (ATX) is a dietary carotenoid of crustaceans and fish that contributes to their coloration. Dietary ATX is important for development and survival of salmonids and crustaceans and has been shown to reduce cardiac ischemic injury in rodents. The purpose of this study was to examine whether ATX can protect against ischemic injury in the mammalian brain. Adult rats were injected intracerebroventricularly with ATX or vehicle prior to a 60‐min middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo). ATX was present in the infarction area at 70‐75 min after onset of MCAo. Treatment with ATX, compared to vehicle, increased locomotor activity in stroke rats and reduced cerebral infarction at 2 d after MCAo. To evaluate the protective mechanisms of ATX against stroke, brain tissues were assayed for free radical damage, apoptosis, and excitoxicity. ATX antagonized ischemia‐mediated loss of aconitase activity and reduced glutamate release, lipid peroxidation, translocation of cytochrome c, and TUNEL labeling in the ischemic cortex. ATX did not alter physiological parameters, such as body temperature, brain temperature, cerebral blood flow, blood gases, blood pressure, and pH. Collectively, our data suggest that ATX can reduce ischemia‐related injury in brain tissue through the inhibition of oxidative stress, reduction of glutamate release, and antiapoptosis. ATX may be clinically useful for patients vulnerable or prone to ischemic events. —Shen, H. , Kuo, C. ‐C. , Chou, J., Delvolve, A. , Jackson, S.N. , Post, J., Woods, A.S. , Hoffer, B.J., Wang, Y. , Harvey, B.K. Astaxanthin reduces ischemic brain injury in adult rats. FASEB J. 23, 1958–1968 (2009)
Nonuniformly Folded Waveguide Resonators and Their Filter Applications

Nonuniformly folded substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) resonator is proposed to design compact cavity filters with narrow to wide bandwidths. By taking advantages of the generated stepped impedance resonator (SIR), the harmonic resonance frequencies of the proposed resonator may be controlled by properly adjusting the length and impedance ratio of the resonator. With the first harmonic moved away from the fundamental, a compact filter of 5% bandwidth may be realized with better stopband performance than the conventionally unfolded one. Alternatively, by moving the first harmonic toward the fundamental, one may utilize the first two resonances of two cavities to realize a four-pole filter with a wide bandwidth of 38.5%.
Regional Integration in East Asia: Challenges and Opportunities - Part Ii: Trade, Finance, and Integration

The authors analyze the patterns of East Asia's trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) from a global and intraregional perspective, taking into account the importance of trade and FDI interlinkages. They propose two regionally-focused approaches to promoting trade and FDI in East Asia-regional agreements and regional production networks. The East Asia crisis strengthened appeals for regional cooperation in the financial area. As a result, a number of financial arrangements and initiatives have emerged since the crisis, the most prominent of these, the Chiang Mai Initiative. (The Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus China, the Republic of Korea, and Japan decided at their meeting in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in May 2000, to establish a regional network of swap arrangements.) While opening of the capital account is considered desirable in the long run, it is associated with considerable risk, particularly if macroeconomic policies are not sound and financial supervision and regulation is weak. Because of the potential volatility associated with floating regimes and the desire to avoid another crisis in the region, the authors discuss a number of options.