Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Production and characterization of multicomponent films based on polysaccharides , gelatin and lipids : Effect of surfactants addition

The objectives of this study were to produce and characterize multicomponent films based on polysaccharides, gelatin and/or lipids; and to evaluate the effects of the surfactants addition on the film properties. Films were produced by the casting method and characterized for their mechanical, water vapor permeability (WVP), morphological and optical properties. For this, emulsions were prepared from the lipids (carnauba wax, stearic and palmitic fatty acids) and stabilized by the addition of surfactants: stearoyl-2-lactilsodium lactate (SSL) and sucrose ester (SE). Then, the emulsions were added to solutions containing polysaccharides (methylcellulose, glucomannan and pectin) and gelatin. Also, films were produced without the addition of emulsions. The films based on polysaccharides and gelatin with or without addition of the emulsions showed the following characteristics: tensile strength between 20 – 70MPa, elongation to break point between 3 – 18%, Young‟s modulus between 11 – 21 MPa/%, water vapor permeability between 0.13 – 0.30 gmm/hm 2 kPa, and opacity between 12 – 19%. Addition of lipids to the films with polysaccharides/gelatin ratio of 90/10 and 10/90, respectively, resulted in lower values of WVP compared to films without lipids. The addition of lipids into the films had a negative impact on the mechanical properties. The morphological evaluation of the films containing lipids showed lipid particles dispersed on the surface of the films, and inserted inside them (transverse section) when SE was used in the emulsions. The film properties were dependent on type of surfactant used to stabilize emulsions and the proportion of gelatin/polysaccharides.
Nonlinear Analysis of Microwave Limiter Using Field-Circuit Coupling Algorithm Based on Time-Domain Volume-Surface Integral Method

This letter presents the nonlinear analysis of the physical characteristic of a microwave positive intrinsic-negative diode limiter using the field-circuit coupling algorithm based on a time-domain volume-surface integral equation method. In order to accelerate the Newton iteration solution of the nonlinear field-circuit coupling equations, an improved solution scheme of a matrix equation is used here. Moreover, the basic diode charge-control model employed contains both a forward and reverse process as well as emitter recombination. Experimental and numerical results are given to demonstrate the accuracy and the efficiency of the proposed method for the nonlinear analysis of commercial limiter.
New methodologies of NBTI characterization eliminating recovery effects

This work gives new insights of negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) characterization methodologies in advanced CMOS technology. NBTI is well-known to seriously limit the circuit performances in p-channel MOSFETs, in relation to both interface trap generation and hole trapping in the gate oxide. Hole detrapping from oxide traps during electrical parameter extractions, also called a recovery phenomenon, is unanimously acknowledged to be the most critical phenomenon avoiding a proper characterization of the effective damage. We point out here new NBTI evaluation techniques using pulsed voltages on the gate and on the drain to characterize NBT degradation and quantify recovery effects in the usual methodology.
Neurochemical characterization of neurons expressing melanin‐concentrating hormone receptor 1 in the mouse hypothalamus

Melanin‐concentrating hormone (MCH) is a hypothalamic neuropeptide that acts via MCH receptor 1 (MCHR1) in the mouse. It promotes positive energy balance; thus, mice lacking MCH or MCHR1 are lean, hyperactive, and resistant to diet‐induced obesity. Identifying the cellular targets of MCH is an important step to understanding the mechanisms underlying MCH actions. We generated the Mchr1‐cre mouse that expresses cre recombinase driven by the MCHR1 promoter and crossed it with a tdTomato reporter mouse. The resulting Mchr1‐cre/tdTomato progeny expressed easily detectable tdTomato fluorescence in MCHR1 neurons, which were found throughout the olfactory system, striatum, and hypothalamus. To chemically identify MCH‐targeted cell populations that play a role in energy balance, MCHR1 hypothalamic neurons were characterized by colabeling select hypothalamic neuropeptides with tdTomato fluorescence. TdTomato fluorescence colocalized with dynorphin, oxytocin, vasopressin, enkephalin, thyrothropin‐releasing hormone, and corticotropin‐releasing factor immunoreactive cells in the paraventricular nucleus. In the lateral hypothalamus, neurotensin, but neither orexin nor MCH neurons, expressed tdTomato. In the arcuate nucleus, both Neuropeptide Y and proopiomelanocortin cells expressed tdTomato. We further demonstrated that some of these arcuate neurons were also targets of leptin action. Interestingly, MCHR1 was expressed in the vast majority of leptin‐sensitive proopiomelanocortin neurons, highlighting their importance for the orexigenic actions of MCH. Taken together, this study supports the use of the Mchr1‐cre mouse for outlining the neuroanatomical distribution and neurochemical phenotype of MCHR1 neurons. J. Comp. Neurol. 521:2208–2234, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Ruthenium red and violet. I. Chemistry, purification, methods of use for electron microscopy and mechanism of action

The properties of the inorganic dye ruthenium red are presented with emphasis upon its use for electron microscopy of cells and tissues. Although commercial ruthenium red often can be used directly, it always contains various impurities and by‐products. One of these, termed ruthenium violet, can be isolated and is useful by itself. Absorption spectra of the ruthenium dyes and common impurities are given so that an assay is possible for any sample. Convenient fixative recipes containing ruthenium red or violet are provided together with constraints necessary for a reliable reaction to label extracellular acidic mucosubstances. Perfusion was not successful. The specificity of the ruthenium red reaction was evaluated by spot testing with 57 substances, and by titration with chemically defined pectins. The results indicate that ruthenium red, as a hexavalent cation, precipitates a large variety of polyanions by ionic interaction, and that its classical reaction with pectin is typical rather than specific. New data are presented regarding its reaction with phospholipids. For electron microscopy, a further reaction with OsO4 amplifies the feeble electron density, which is the counterpart of its intense optical labeling, to a practical level resulting in strong contrast. An hypothesis is presented for the mechanism underlying this intensification.
Direct identification of palmitic acid as the lipid attached to p21ras

p21v-H-ras, the transforming protein of Harvey murine sarcoma virus, contains a covalently attached lipid. Using thin-layer chromatography, we identified the acyl group as the 16-carbon saturated fatty acid palmitic acid. No myristic acid was detected in fatty acids released from in vivo-labeled p21v-H-ras. The p21v-K-ras protein encoded by Kirsten sarcoma virus was also palmitylated. The processing and acylation of p21v-K-ras however differed from that of p21v-H-ras. Three forms of [3H]palmitic acid-labeled p21ras proteins were detected in Kirsten sarcoma virus-transformed cells. This contrasted with Harvey sarcoma virus, in which two forms of p21v-H-ras contained palmitic acid. Analysis by partial proteolysis of p21v-H-ras labeled with [3H]palmitic acid suggested that all of the lipid found in intact p21v-H-ras was located in the C-terminal region. On sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels, p21v-H-ras labeled with [3H]palmitic acid migrated slightly ahead of the majority of p21v-H-ras. Of the mature forms of p21v-H-ras, apparently only a subpopulation contains palmitic acid.
Terrorism Risk and Democratic Preferences in Pakistan

Beyond direct damages, terrorism creates fear and insecurity, potentially reducing support for democratic institutions if these are deemed inadequate to tackle the threat, and increasing support for military governments. To investigate this possibility, we use data from Pakistan, a country that experienced an exponential rise in terrorism since 2001. Exploiting individual level data on democratic attitudes and district level information on terrorist attacks, we document that persistent exposure to terrorism (and more broadly to violence) is associated to a significantly lower support for democratic values. Results are robust to the inclusion of different sets of controls, to sample splits based on gender, urbanization and education, and to endogeneity considerations. Instrumenting terrorism and violence by the distance from the Pak-Afghan border and by religious fractionalization suggests that the documented correlation reflects a causal impact. Terrorism thus threatens not only individuals, but also democratic institutions.
Structural Studies of the Melibiose Permease of Escherichia coli by Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer

In the accompanying paper, we demonstrated the presence of a fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) between the tryptophans of the melibiose permease (MelB) of Escherichia coli and a fluorescent sugar, 2′-(N-5-dimethylaminonaphthalene-1-sulfonyl)aminoethyl-1-thio-β-d-galactopyranoside (Dns2-S-Gal) bound at the sugar-binding site (Maehrel, C., Cordat, E., Mus-Veteau, I., and Leblanc, G. (1998) J. Biol. Chem. 273, 33192–33197). To identify the tryptophans that transfer their energy to the fluorescent sugar, we analyzed the FRET properties of MelB mutants carrying the replacement of each of the eight MelB tryptophans by a phenylalanine. The data indicate that Trp64, localized in loop 2–3 from the N-terminal domain, and Trp299, localized in helix IX in the C-terminal domain, are responsible for up to 80% of the FRET signal. Moreover, by assuming that only Trp299 transfers energy to Dns2-S-Gal in mutant W64F, whereas only Trp64transfers energy to Dns2-S-Gal in mutant W299F, we calculated that Trp299 and Trp64 are about 14 and 20 Å away from the probe, respectively. In addition, we observed that mutating Trp342, localized in helix X of the C-terminal domain, produces a significant increase of the polarity of the fluorescent sugar environment, suggesting its proximity to the sugar-binding site. Taken together, these data provide additional support for the suggestion that (i) the sugar-binding site is localized in the C-terminal part of the transporter, probably close to membrane segments IX and X, and (ii) the N-terminal domain, and particularly cytoplasmic loop 2–3, is also close to the sugar-binding site.
Identification de Systèmes OFDM et Estimation de la QoS : Application à la Radio Opportuniste. (OFDM System identification and QoS Estimation : Application to Cognitive Opportunistic Radio)

Le schema de modulation OFDM est tres repandu de nos jours (WiFi, WiMAX, \dots) et preconise comme couche physique pour de nombreux reseaux futurs (3GPP/LTE, IEEE 802.22). Ainsi cette coexistence de reseaux OFDM fait que l'environnement radio est de nos jours heterogene. Afin de tirer partie de cette heterogeneite et de satisfaire le concept de ''\textit{Always Best connected}'', il a ete imagine des terminaux multistandards capables de basculer de maniere transparente d'un reseau a un autre a la recherche du reseau offrant la qualite de service la plus satisfaisante. Ce processus de basculement entre standards est appele ''\textit{vertical handover}''. Avant de declencher un \textit{vertical handover} le terminal se doit d'identifier les reseaux actifs qui l'entourent et estimer la qualite de service disponible sur chaque reseau. Ainsi, dans le cadre de cette these nous proposons dans un premier temps des algorithmes d'identification de systemes OFDM. Dans un second temps, nous nous interessons a la qualite de service disponible sur les reseaux detectes, nous avons ainsi propose des estimateurs de metriques de qualite de service dedies a des reseaux bases sur les schemas d'acces multiples OFDMA et CSMA/CA. Certaines de ces metriques ont ete validees experimentalement sur la plate-forme RAMMUS de TELECOM Bretagne. Toutes les techniques proposees dans le cadre de cette these, sont des approches passives a faible cout de calcul qui ne necessitent aucune connexion au point d'acces, permettant ainsi une economie en temps et en energie.
Do antipsychotics increase diabetes risk in children and adolescents?

Introduction: Glucose dysregulation and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are feared antipsychotic drug adverse effects. Despite increasing utilization, data about antipsychotic risk of T2DM in youth are scarce. Areas covered: We conducted a systematic PubMed/MEDLINE search until 15 May 2014 focusing on studies with ≥ 20 youths aged ≤ 24 years, reporting quantitative data on: i) change in fasting glucose, hemoglobin A1c, insulin or insulin resistance after antipsychotic initiation (studies = 19, n = 2123,age = 13.3 years, follow up = 28.8 weeks); or ii) prevalence (studies = 4) or incidence (studies = 8, follow up = 1.57 years) of T2DM in antipsychotic-exposed youth (studies = 10, n = 65,486, age = 14.2 years) versus healthy controls (studies = 4, n = 246,828), psychiatric controls (studies = 5, n = 61,784) or without control groups (studies = 2). Expert opinion: Antipsychotics are associated with early adverse changes in glucose metabolism that are greater with all analyzable antipsychotics compared to controls, being highest with olanzapine, followed by quetiapine, aripiprazole and risperidone; but data were scarce. Although T2DM is fortunately rare in antipsychotic-treated youth, its prevalence (odds ratio [OR] = 8.176, 95% CI = 7.139 – 9.362) and incidence (OR = 1.450, 95% CI = 1.101 – 1.911, p = 0.006) were higher than in healthy controls. Similarly, T2DM prevalence (OR = 3.475, 95% CI = 3.019 – 4.001, p < 0.0001) and incidence (OR = 5.376, 95% CI = 4.004 – 7.233, p < 0.0001, excluding one outlying study) were higher than in psychiatric controls. Antipsychotics should only be used after lower-risk interventions failed, and inappropriately low clinical metabolic monitoring must be remedied.
German Inflection: The Exception That Proves the Rule

Language is often explained as the product of generative rules and a memorized lexicon. For example, most English verbs take a regular past tense suffix (ask-asked), which is applied to new verbs (faxed, wugged), suggesting the mental rule "add -ed to a Verb. " Irregular verbs (break-broke, go-went) would be listed in memory. Alternatively, a pattern associator memory (such as a connectionist network) might record all past tense forms and generalize to new ones by similarity; irregular and regular patterns would differ only because of their different numbers of verbs. We present evidence that mental rules are indispensible. A rule concatenates a suffix to a symbol for verbs, so it does not require access to memorized verbs or their sound patterns, but applies as the "default," whenever memory access fails. We find 21 such circumstances for regular past tense formation, including novel, unusual-sounding, and rootless and headless derived words; in every case, people inflect them regularly (explaining quirks like flied out, sabre-tooths, walkmans). Contrary to the connectionist account, these effects are not due to regular words constituting a large majority of vocabulary. The German participle -t applies to a much smaller percentage of verbs than its English counterpart, and the German plural -s applies to a small minority of nouns. But the affixes behave in the language like their English counterparts, as defaults. We corroborate this effect in two experiments eliciting ratings of participle and plural forms of novel German words. Thus default suffixation is not due to numerous regular words reinforcing a pattern in associative memory. Because default cases do not occupy a cohesive similarity space, but do correspond to the range of a symbol, they are evidence for a memory-independent, symbol-concatenating mental operation.
Development of Diagnostic Criteria for Defining Sleep Disturbance in Alzheimer's Disease

This article proposes new standards for identifying, defining, and naming sleep/wake cycle disturbances associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) to aid in more effective research, including the development and testing of potential treatments. Many AD patients develop sleep/wake cycle disturbances associated with distress, depression, and sleep disturbances in the caregiver, as well as early nursing home placement for the patient. The Food and Drug Administration Psychopharmacological Drugs Advisory Committee has emphasized the need for a comprehensive diagnostic system. A key point made by the committee was that behavioral problems associated with dementia (including sleep and chronobiological disturbances) are scientifically and clinically valid targets of pharmacologic treatment. However, current diagnostic criteria preclude development of FDA-acceptable studies of pharmacological interventions because they do not include the required specific indications for treatment. This article attempts to develop better-defined provisional criteria with the goal of promoting epidemiological, physiological, and, especially, pharmacological research on sleep/wake disturbances. (J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol 2003; 16:131-139)
c-Fos Proto-Oncoprotein Is Degraded by the Proteasome Independently of Its Own Ubiquitinylation In Vivo

ABSTRACT Prior ubiquitinylation of the unstable c-Fos proto-oncoprotein is thought to be required for recognition and degradation by the proteasome. Contradicting this view, we report that, although c-Fos can form conjugates with ubiquitin in vivo, nonubiquitinylatable c-Fos mutants show regulated degradation identical to that of the wild-type protein in living cells under two classical conditions of study: transient c-fos gene expression during the G0/G1 phase transition upon stimulation by mitogens and constitutive expression during asynchronous growth. Moreover, c-Fos destruction during the G0/G1 phase transition is unusual because it depends on two distinct but cumulative mechanisms. We report here that one mechanism involves a C-terminal destabilizer which does not need an active ubiquitin cycle, whereas the other involves an N-terminal destabilizer dependent on ubiquitinylation of an upstream c-Fos breakdown effector. In addition to providing new insights into the mechanisms of c-Fos protein destruction, an important consequence of our work is that ubiquitinylation-dependent proteasomal degradation claimed for a number of proteins should be reassessed on a new experimental basis.
Hygroscopic properties of smoke-generated organic aerosol particles emitted in the marine atmosphere

During the Eastern Pacific Emitted Aerosol Cloud Experiment (E-PEACE), a plume of organic aerosol was produced by a smoke generator and emitted into the marine atmosphere from aboard the R/V Point Sur. In this study, the hygroscopic properties and the chemical composition of the plume were studied at plume ages between 0 and 4 h in different meteorological conditions. In sunny conditions, the plume particles had very low hygroscopic growth factors (GFs): between 1.05 and 1.09 for 30 nm and between 1.02 and 1.1 for 150 nm dry size at a relative humidity (RH) of 92%, contrasted by an average marine background GF of 1.6. New particles were produced in large quantities (several 10 000 cm^−3), which lead to substantially increased cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations at supersaturations between 0.07 and 0.88%. Ratios of oxygen to carbon (O : C) and water-soluble organic mass (WSOM) increased with plume age: from < 0.001 to 0.2, and from 2.42 to 4.96 μg m^−3, respectively, while organic mass fractions decreased slightly (~ 0.97 to ~ 0.94). High-resolution aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) spectra show that the organic fragment m/z 43 was dominated by C_(2)H_(3)O^+ in the small, new particle mode and by C_(3)H_(7)^+ in the large particle mode. In the marine background aerosol, GFs for 150 nm particles at 40% RH were found to be enhanced at higher organic mass fractions: an average GF of 1.06 was observed for aerosols with an organic mass fraction of 0.53, and a GF of 1.04 for an organic mass fraction of 0.35.
Numerical Simulation of Seismic Wave Propagation and Strong Motions in 3D Heterogeneous Structure

Large-scale parallel FDM simulations of seismic wave propagation have been conducted using the Earth Simulator in order to clarify the complex seismic wavefield resulting from heterogeneities in structures and the source rupture process during the Hyogo-ken Nanbu (Kobe) earthquake (Mj7.2) in 1995. High-resolution simulation using 240 nodes (1920 processing elements) of the Earth Simulator for seismic waves from the Kobe earthquake provided a very good reproduction of strong ground motions and a narrow zone of larger intensity (damage belt) appearing in the Awaji Island and Kobe-Hanshin region. Thus, the current simulation model is considered to be suitable for application in predicting strong ground motions for possible future earthquakes, such as the occurrence of a large earthquake in Tokyo. The Tokyo metropolitan area is located over a tectonically complicated region, in which M7 inland earthquakes and M8 plate earthquakes have frequently occurred. simulation results for a hypothetical earthquake in Tokyo indicate that most population centers would be affected by significant ground shaking of Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) intensity greater than 6 due to the strong amplification of ground motions in the thick sediments below Tokyo. Large earthquakes also produce strong shaking for relatively longer periods of approximately 6 to 8 s due to the resonance of seismic waves in the thick sedimentary basin. Such long-period ground motions would be most damaging to large-scale man -made structures, such as high-rise buildings, long bridges, and large oil reserve tanks, which were constructed in Tokyo after the 1923 Kanto earthquake.
A Fast Algorithm for Euler's Elastica Model Using Augmented Lagrangian Method

Minimization of functionals related to Euler's elastica energy has a wide range of applications in computer vision and image processing. A high order nonlinear partial differential equation (PDE) needs to be solved, and the gradient descent method usually takes high computational cost. In this paper, we propose a fast and efficient numerical algorithm to solve minimization problems related to Euler's elastica energy and show applications to variational image denoising, image inpainting, and image zooming. We reformulate the minimization problem as a constrained minimization problem, followed by an operator splitting method and relaxation. The proposed constrained minimization problem is solved by using an augmented Lagrangian approach. Numerical tests on real and synthetic cases are supplied to demonstrate the efficiency of our method.
Human parvovirus PARV4 in clotting factor VIII concentrates

Background and Objectives Parvoviruses are small non‐enveloped DNA viruses, relatively resistant to virus inactivation procedures. The recently identified human parvovirus PARV4, including a related genotype 2 virus (also termed PARV5), has been found to be a contaminant of pooled plasma used in the manufacture of plasma‐derived products. This report describes an investigation to determine whether PARV4 is present in clotting factor concentrates.
Critical node identification of smart power system using complex network framework based centrality approach

A method of critical node identification in a power system is presented in this paper. Maximum flow in a network is used to measure centrality of various nodes in the power system. The proposed approach is an improvement of previous methodology in the sense that it does not take into consideration shortest electrical distance as path to flow power. Instead of using normal steady-state condition maximum possible flow is considered. Simulation of various standard test systems are carried out to identify critical nodes.