Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antifungal properties of haem peroxidase from Acorus calamus.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Plants have evolved a number of inducible defence mechanisms against pathogen attack, including synthesis of pathogenesis-related proteins. The aim of the study was to purify and characterize antifungal protein from leaves of Acorus calamus. METHODS Leaf proteins from A. calamus were fractionated by cation exchange chromatography and gel filtration and the fraction inhibiting the hyphal extension of phytopathogens was characterized. The temperature stability and pH optima of the protein were determined and its presence was localized in the leaf tissues. KEY RESULTS The purified protein was identified as a class III haem peroxidase with a molecular weight of approx. 32 kDa and pI of 7.93. The temperature stability of the enzyme was observed from 5 degrees C to 60 degrees C with a temperature optimum of 36 degrees C. Maximum enzyme activity was registered at pH 5.5. The pH and temperature optima were corroborated with the antifungal activity of the enzyme. The enzyme was localized in the leaf epidermal cells and lumen tissues of xylem, characteristic of class III peroxidases. The toxic nature of the enzyme which inhibited hyphal growth was demonstrated against phytopathogens such as Macrophomina phaseolina, Fusarium moniliforme and Trichosporium vesiculosum. Microscopic observations revealed distortion in the hyphal structure with stunted growth, increased volume and extensive hyphal branching. CONCLUSIONS This study indicates that peroxidases may have a role to play in host defence by inhibiting the hyphal extension of invading pathogens.
Responding to intimate partner violence victimisation: Effective options for help-seeking

Approximately one in four women in most Western nations are at risk of becoming a victim of intimate partner violence (IPV). Interventions for IPV victims have shown to be significant in preventing negative outcomes. Using data from the International Violence Against Women Survey, this paper examines predictors of help-seeking by IPV victims and considers whether such responses are influenced by the severity of abuse experienced. Many IPV victims seek assistance informally from family and friends in the first instance and that experience may affect subsequent attempts to seek help from more formal sources. This study found that victims of IPV are more likely to explore formal avenues of support when married to the abusive partner, have children who have witnessed incidents of abuse, have used drugs or alcohol to cope with abuse and where the abusive partner has previously received counselling for his behaviour. It was found that in cases where the victim had experienced more severe types of abuse, and/or if they felt their life had been threatened during the most recent incident, there was a significantly increased likelihood of formal help-seeking. Collectively, these findings can inform the enhancement of current responses made by formal sources of support to better accommodate the needs of IPV victims and their children.
The Right to Participation of Minorities and Irish Travellers

The idea of participation is becoming increasingly important in international human rights law and recent political and constitutional theory. There is an emerging international law right of minorities to participate in public life. There are many problems though with putting this right into practice. It is not enough to offer formal opportunities for representation or even to facilitate more participatory processes. This article explores how participation is more easily proclaimed than practised by examining the position of one ethnic minority, Travellers, in a liberal democracy, Ireland. While there are many formal opportunities for participation, these do not necessarily result in effective participation on a basis of equality, and may still result in decisions which fail to consider the Traveller culture and identity. Travellers still suffer from an imbalance of power in these arrangements. There are hopeful avenues to pursue in improving participation, the role of civil society and the use of a dialogue between non-governmental organisations and international organisations to put pressure on a national government, including special representation to offset the disadvantages of traditional representative democracy and emphasising the role of special parliamentary bodies; and the need to address the politics of recognition so as to strengthen the hand of disadvantaged groups such as Travellers.
Effective global management: Established constructs and novel contexts

While there is a growing literature on global managers, most studies in this area have not built upon the wealth of existing knowledge in the field of management development. This study examines if established theoretical constructs will account for managerial performance in complex global jobs and investigates the utility of each of these approaches. Boss performance ratings were correlated with manager's self-ratings on measures of personality, role skill, learning capability, business knowledge, and international experiences for 194 managers-half with global responsibilities and half with domestic responsibilities. Skill in the roles of leader and decision maker were significantly related to performance ratings for managers in high and low global complexity jobs. Learning skills, additional role skills, and international business knowledge were uniquely, albeit modestly, related to performance ratings for managers in globally complex jobs. A development framework is proposed that integrates the various theoretical constructs. Specifically, personality and international experience are considered as antecedent to skill rather than as predictors of global performance. Financial resources are not the problem. We have the money, products, and position to be a dominant global player. What we lack are the human resources. We just don't have enough people with the needed global leadership capabilities. Jack Reichart (cited in Gregerson, Morrison, & Black, 1998, p. 27)
Specific Patterns of Weak (1 microTesla) Transcerebral Complex Magnetic Fields Differentially Affect Depression, Fatigue, and Confusion in Normal Volunteers

Normal young adults were exposed for 20min once per week for a total of 3 sessions to 1 of 7 configurations of weak (1 microTesla) magnetic fields or to a sham field. The fields were spatially rotated and applied through the brain at the level of the temporoparietal lobes. The Profile of Mood States was taken before and after each session. Before, during, and after the treatments, heart rate, plethysmographic activity, and skin conductance were measured by computer. The results indicated that the burst-firing pattern previously demonstrated to be effective for clinical depression, improved mood and vigour compared to the sham-field or other treatments. Subjects who were exposed to a burst-firing pattern, a complex-sequenced pattern, and a pattern whose electrical equivalents stimulate long-term potential in hippocampus slices also exhibited less psychometric fatigue after the sessions compared to subjects who received the sham field or random-sequenced fields. These results replicate previous studies and indicate that rationally designed complex patterns of magnetic fields may simulate pharmacological treatments.
An integrated adaptive approach for video streaming over wireless channels

In this paper, we propose a multi-level adaptive video streaming approach to mitigate the challenges of video streaming over wireless channels. Scalable video coding, adaptive modulation and channel coding are integrated to maintain continuous playback and acceptable video quality. A probabilistic approach is used to adequately scale video frames to ensure successful delivery within a buffer-state-dependent budget time. Adaptive modulation and channel coding reduce the likelihood of buffer starvation. Moreover, they help reduce the amount of required video scaling, hence, improving the temporal and spatial quality of the received video.
Soil carbon sequestration and land use change associated with biofuel production: empirical evidence

Soil organic carbon (SOC) change can be a major impact of land use change (LUC) associated with biofuel feedstock production. By collecting and analyzing data from worldwide field observations of major LUCs from cropland, grassland, and forest to lands producing biofuel crops (i.e. corn, switchgrass, Miscanthus, poplar, and willow), we were able to estimate SOC response ratios and sequestration rates and evaluate the effects of soil depth and time scale on SOC change. Both the amount and rate of SOC change were highly dependent on the specific land transition. Irrespective of soil depth or time horizon, cropland conversions resulted in an overall SOC gain of 6–14% relative to initial SOC level, while conversion from grassland or forest to corn (without residue removal) or poplar caused significant carbon loss (9–35%). No significant SOC changes were observed in land converted from grasslands or forests to switchgrass, Miscanthus, or willow. The SOC response ratios were similar in both 0–30 and 0–100 cm soil depths in most cases, suggesting SOC changes in deep soil and that use of top soil only for SOC accounting in biofuel life cycle analysis (LCA) might underestimate total SOC changes. Soil carbon sequestration rates varied greatly among studies and land transition types. Generally, the rates of SOC change tended to be the greatest during the 10 years following land conversion and had declined to approach 0 within about 20 years for most LUCs. Observed trends in SOC change were generally consistent with previous reports. Soil depth and duration of study significantly influence SOC change rates and so should be considered in carbon emission accounting in biofuel LCA. High uncertainty remains for many perennial systems and forest transitions, additional field trials, and modeling efforts are needed to draw conclusions about the site‐ and system‐specific rates and direction of change.
Levels of Description in Nonclassical Cognitive Science

David Marr (1982) provided an influential account of levels of description in classical cognitive science. In this paper we contrast Marr'ent with some alternatives that are suggested by the recent emergence of connectionism. Marr's account is interesting and important both because of the levels of description it distinguishes, and because of the way his presentation reflects some of the most basic, foundational, assumptions of classical AI-style cognitive science (classicism, as we will call it henceforth). Thus, by focusing on levels of description, one can sharpen foundational differences between classicism and potential non-classical conceptions of mentality that might emerge under the rubric of connectionism.
Motion deblurring from a single image using gradient enhancement

Motion deblurring is one of the recovery problems in image restoration, which remains several challenges in kernel estimation and blind deconvolution. This paper proposes a new optimization method for estimating the blurring kernel by gradient enhancement, which can iteratively solve a uniform deblur model. In this model, the point-spread-function(PSF) can be accurately estimated and refined by gradually enhancing the image gradients. Our approach includes following steps: edge-preserving gradient enhancement, edge selection, kernel estimation and refinement, fast non-blind deconvolution. The edge-preserving gradient enhancement can restore sharp edges while have no effect in flat regions. Combined with the edge selection, it greatly helps to estimate the kernel. To improve its speed performance, the estimation and deconvolution steps are executed in frequency domain. Experimental results demonstrate that our method can efficiently produce an accurate blur kernel and a restored image with fine image details.
Analysis of planar microwave structures using transmission line-periodic lumped circuit by an iterative method WCIP

The theory of a novel approach of the WCIP method to analyze periodic lumped circuits has been presented. Transmission lines in their planar form (microstrip technology) can be modelled by an equivalent periodic lumped circuit that permits a fast analysis instead of the use of many electromagnetic full wave simulators which require a great running time and great memory size. The validation of the proposed approach was made by comparing the results of simulation with ADS simulator of a bandpass filter designed in its planar form and equivalent periodic lumped circuit.
Computer-vision-based human-computer interaction with a back projection wall using arm gestures

A computer-vision-based interaction system for back projection walls is presented. The user controls the projected graphical user interface of an application by pointing with the arm. The mouse cursor follows the motion of the arm. Further instructions corresponding e.g. to a mouse button click can be given by voice commands. The combination of the interaction system with an application program does not require any modifications of the application software, so that the system can be used to control any software running on the back-projection wall. On the image processing and recognition level, a special emphasis has been laid on coping with images disturbed by noise and varying illumination of the environment.
QoS-Controlled Dynamic Replication in Peer-to-Peer Systems

ABSTRACT This paper presents a study of dynamic replication for peer-topeer networks. We take an availability-centric view on quality of service (QoS) and focus on the issues of satisfying availability requirements for distributed multimedia services running on large Peer-to-Peer (P2P) systems. We especially tackle the replica placement problem where our focus is on choosing dynamically the number and location of replicas while (1) satisfying the availability QoS requirement for all individual peers and (2) taking the intermittent connectivity of peers explicitly into account. For this purpose, we model P2P systems as a dynamic stochastic graph in which the nodes go up and down depending on their assigned up probability and issue content access events with a certain level of availability requirement. Through an event-driven simulation study we compare and evaluate replication schemes which are fully distributed and adaptive and which satisfy the availability QoS requirements. Simulation results show that (1) satisfying availability QoS requires more replicas than for only increasing the hit rate, (2) the location of replicas is a more relevant factor than their number for satisfying availability QoS, and (3) even simple heuristics can achieve reasonably high availability QoS. Our proposed replication model can be used for further study on the dual availability and performance QoS for dynamically changing, large-scale P2P systems.
Wild-Derived XY Sex-Reversal Mutants in the Medaka, Oryzias latipes

The medaka, Oryzias latipes, has an XX/XY sex-determination mechanism. A Y-linked DM domain gene, DMY, has been isolated by positional cloning as a sex-determining gene in this species. Previously, we found 23 XY sex-reversed females from 11 localities by examining the genotypic sex of wild-caught medaka. Genetic analyses revealed that all these females had Y-linked gene mutations. Here, we aimed to clarify the cause of this sex reversal. To achieve this, we screened for mutations in the amino acid coding sequence of DMY and examined DMY expression at 0 days after hatching (dah) using densitometric semiquantitative RT–PCR. We found that the mutants could be classified into two groups. One contained mutations in the amino acid coding sequence of DMY, while the other had reduced DMY expression at 0 dah although the DMY coding sequence was normal. For the latter, histological analyses indicated that YwOurYwOur (YwOur, Y chromosome derived from an Oura XY female) individuals with the lowest DMY expression among the tested mutants were expected to develop into females at 0 dah. These results suggest that early testis development requires DMY expression above a threshold level. Mutants with reduced DMY expression may prove valuable for identifying DMY regulatory elements.
An Energy Efficient Cluster Formation and Maintenance Scheme for Wireless Sensor Networks

Nowadays, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) comprise a tremendously growing infrastructure for monitoring the physical or environmental conditions of objects. WSNs pose challenges to mitigating energy dissipation by constructing a reliable and energy saving network. In this paper, we propose a novel network construction and routing method by defining three different duties for sensor nodes, that is, node gateways, cluster heads, and cluster members, and then by applying a hierarchical structure from the sink to the normal sensing nodes. This method provides an efficient rationale to support the maximum coverage, to recover missing data with node mobility, and to reduce overall energy dissipation. All this should lengthen the lifetime of the network significantly.
Making 3D content accessible for teachers

One of the primary goals of teaching is to prepare learners' for life in the real world. Given that we live in a three dimensional world educators must teach 3D concepts. As 3D content becomes increasingly available through the Internet, large display touch and tangible manipulation needs to make 3D manipulation simple and uncluttered to enable adoption in classrooms. We describe an iterative process with actual customers to create a commercial product for education. In the process we discover customer needs such as occlusion minimizing 3D rotation, scale, simpler mixed reality cube selection, hide and reveal features, and labelling. This application paper summarizes 36 weeks of hardware and software development. It illustrates the use of a lean start-up methodology to achieve a minimum viable product. We discuss some of the lessons learned from Genchi Genbutsu (i.e. Toyota method meaning go see for yourself) observations at several school visits as part of a technical trial deployment.
"You Know Where I Stand": Moral Framing of the War on Terrorism and the Iraq War in the 2004 Presidential Campaign

Many pundits assumed that an allegiance to "moral values" associated with social issues such as same-sex marriage enabled George W. Bush to narrowly defeat John F. Kerry in the 2004 presidential election campaign. In this essay, I argue that both candidates produced surprisingly little explicit discourse on the moral issues in and of themselves, but rather, in distinct ways, relied upon the moral framing of the "war on terrorism" and the situation in Iraq as a battle between "good and evil" in their day-to-day political discourse. I argue that Bush employed this rhetorical frame to politically and morally cloak the war in Iraq under a larger war on terror and, in this way, produced a hegemonic expression, test, and affirmation of conservative morality. Although John Kerry successfully questioned the validity of Bush's policy framing of the Iraq war as part of the war on terror, he continued to reason within the orthodox moral frame created by Bush in the wake of September 11, 2001. Consequently, Kerry did not critique the conservative moral foundations upon which Bush's policy frame rested nor did he affix an alternative liberal moral worldview to his own discourse on Iraq.
Children's Self-Efficacy Scale: Initial Psychometric Studies

This article describes the development of a self-efficacy measure for elementary school children. A sample of 514 children, ages 8 to 11, enrolled in Grades 2 to 4 of public schools in Brazil was investigated. The scale included 78 descriptive items about academic situations, in which the child was required to respond on a 5-point scale, the frequency they felt capable of carrying out the proposed actions. An illustrative scale of fully shaded circles that gradually reduced to complete emptiness has also been used to visually display the categories of responses. The factorial analysis by principal axis and oblimin rotation suggested a two-factor structure explaining a variance of 40.54%. These factors were self-efficacy for studying and self-efficacy for academic performance. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranged from . 80 to . 83. The Rasch analysis indicates that only one item in the final scale did not fit the model.
Political Rhetoric and Political Persuasion: The Changing Structure of Citizens' Preferences on Health Insurance during Policy Debate

This research examines whether the structure of citizens' preferences on government-supplied health insurance changed during the course of the health care debate of the early 1990s. Specifically, it seeks to determine if the considerations that structure citizens' preferences on health insurance changed in a manner consistent with elite attempts to shape public opinion to their advantage. Additionally, it investigates whether change in the structure of citizens' preferences on health insurance policy were moderated by political awareness. Findings indicate that public opinion on government-supplied health insurance changed dramatically over a relatively short period of time; that the structure of preferences changed in accordance with the prominence of arguments advanced by political elites; and that change in preferences and the structure of preferences occurred most dramatically among the low and, especially, medium politically aware
Cocaine Use and Delinquent Behavior Among High-Risk Youths: A Growth Model of Parallel Processes

We report the results of a parallel-process, latent growth model analysis examining the relationships between cocaine use and delinquent behavior among youths. The study examined a sample of 278 justice-involved juveniles completing at least one of three follow-up interviews as part of a National Institute on Drug Abuse–funded study. The results of our analysis of the cocaine use and delinquency parallel-process model highlighted that these phenomena are mutually related experiences over time. Particularly noteworthy is the significant, positive relationship between cocaine trend and delinquency trend: as the rate of change in cocaine use increases, a corresponding change occurs in engaging in delinquent behavior. Implications for policy and intervention service needs are discussed.
Neural Random Utility and Measured Value

We present a method for relating a neural measurement of value to choice behaviour. In a previous study, precisely targeted measurements of brain activity were made in the medial prefrontal cortex of subjects while they considered individual consumer goods. We present here two advances. First, we develop an empirical framework for relating this class of measured value data to choice prediction. Second, we apply a benchmarking tool to compare the predictive power of a measured value dataset with established techniques. We find that our measured neural activity cardinally encodes valuations and predicts choice behaviour, though a significant degree of measurement error affects prediction rates. Accounting for measurement error and combining neural data with standard observables improves predictive performance. We also note some potential normative implications of our measured value approach.
Pedophilia, Height, and the Magnitude of the Association: A Research Note

Physical height is a manifestation of in utero and childhood conditions, and pedophilic individuals have generally been reported to be of lesser height. Jung, Klaver, and Pham (2014), however, report findings that fail to support an association between pedophilia and height. In the present note, we examine the methodology and findings of Jung et al. To estimate the magnitude of the pedophilia–height association, we conducted a meta-analysis of the published literature and found a significant effect size. Our findings suggest pedophiles may experience conditions during in utero and childhood development that are capable of influencing their physical development.