Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Maintenance Energy Demand and Starvation Recovery Dynamics of Nitrosomonas europaea and Nitrobacter winogradskyi Cultivated in a Retentostat with Complete Biomass Retention

ABSTRACT Nitrosomonas europaea and Nitrobacter winogradskyi (strain “Engel”) were grown in ammonia-limited and nitrite-limited conditions, respectively, in a retentostat with complete biomass retention at 25°C and pH 8. Fitting the retentostat biomass and oxygen consumption data of N. europaea andN. winogradskyi to the linear equation for substrate utilization resulted in up to eight-times-lower maintenance requirements compared to the maintenance energy demand (m) calculated from chemostat experiments. Independent of the growth rate at different stages of such a retention culture, the maximum specific oxygen consumption rate measured by mass spectrometric analysis of inlet and outlet gas oxygen content always amounted to approximately 45 μmol of O2 mg−1 of biomass-C · h−1 for both N. europaea and N. winogradskyi. When bacteria were starved for different time periods (up to 3 months), the spontaneous respiratory activity after an ammonia or nitrite pulse decreased with increasing duration of the previous starvation time period, but the observed decrease was many times faster for N. winogradskyi than for N. europaea. Likewise, the velocity of resuscitation decreased with extended time periods of starvation. The increase in oxygen consumption rates during resuscitation referred to the reviving population only, since in parallel no significant increase in the cell concentrations was detectable. N. europaea more readily recovers from starvation than N. winogradskyi, explaining the occasionally observed nitrite accumulation in the environment after ammonia becomes available. From chloramphenicol (100 μg · ml−1) inhibition experiments with N. winogradskyi, it has been concluded that energy-starved cells must have a lower protein turnover rate than nonstarved cells. As pointed out by Stein and Arp (L. Y. Stein and D. J. Arp, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 64:1514–1521, 1998), nitrifying bacteria in soil have to cope with extremely low nutrient concentrations. Therefore, a chemostat is probably not a suitable tool for studying their physiological properties during a long-lasting nutrient shortage. In comparison with chemostats, retentostats offer a more realistic approach with respect to substrate provision and availability.
Exploratory Factor Analysis of Service Quality Dimensions for Higher Educational Institutes: A Students Perspective

Purpose: The paper, which is a part of the study to monitor the service quality in the education sector, sought to empirically validate the service quality dimensions that are relevant to the higher education institutes across India. Design and Methodology: Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was carried out to identify the underlying latent variables that significantly determine the service quality in higher education institutes (HEI’s) in India. 600 Post-Graduate (PG) students were sampled from three universities located in Punjab in a cross-sectional survey wherein a self-administered structured questionnaire was used for getting the relevant information. Findings: On analysis four factors emerged highlighting the importance of faculty & staff behaviour, tangibles, delivery and attitude, as the ones which significantly affect the quality of service being offered by the HEI’s. The initial reliability testing for the dimensions yielded a Cronbach alpha ranging from 0.906 to 0.943 indicating that the modified instrument I- SERVQUAL can be conveniently used by HEI’s for measuring service quality. Practical Implications: The focus on higher education in the last two decades or so has led to the establishment of many public and private higher education institutes (HEI’s) and universities in the country. The students, now-a-days, before joining any institute tend to look at, not only the type, but also quality of the services being offered by the institutes. This paper does provide an extensive block of thirty one items; split into four dimensions, for assessing the service quality of HEI’s.
Angiopoietin 2 Induces Pericyte Apoptosis via α3β1 Integrin Signaling in Diabetic Retinopathy

Pericyte loss is an early characteristic change in diabetic retinopathy (DR). Despite accumulating evidence that hyperglycemia-induced angiopoietin 2 (Ang2) has a central role in pericyte loss, the precise molecular mechanism has not been elucidated. This study investigated the role of Ang2 in pericyte loss in DR. We demonstrated that pericyte loss occurred with Ang2 increase in the diabetic mouse retina and that the source of Ang2 could be the endothelial cell. Ang2 induced pericyte apoptosis via the p53 pathway under high glucose, whereas Ang2 alone did not induce apoptosis. Integrin, not Tie-2 receptor, was involved for Ang2-induced pericyte apoptosis under high glucose as an Ang2 receptor. High glucose changed the integrin expression pattern, which increased integrin α3 and β1 in the pericyte. Furthermore, Ang2-induced pericyte apoptosis in vitro was effectively attenuated via p53 suppression by blocking integrin α3 and β1. Although intravitreal injection of Ang2 induced pericyte loss in C57BL/6J mice retina in vivo, intravitreal injection of anti-integrin α3 and β1 antibodies attenuated Ang2-induced pericyte loss. Taken together, Ang2 induced pericyte apoptosis under high glucose via α3β1 integrin. Glycemic control or blocking Ang2/integrin signaling could be a potential therapeutic target to prevent pericyte loss in early DR.
Atomic force microscopy for cellular level manipulation: imaging intracellular structures and DNA delivery through a membrane hole

The atomic force microscope (AFM) is a versatile tool for imaging, force measurement and manipulation of proteins, DNA, and living cells basically at the single molecular level. In the cellular level manipulation, extraction, and identification of mRNA's from defined loci of a cell, insertion of plasmid DNA and pulling of membrane proteins, for example, have been reported. In this study, AFM was used to create holes at defined loci on the cell membrane for the investigation of viability of the cells after hole creation, visualization of intracellular structure through the hole and for targeted gene delivery into living cells. To create large holes with an approximate diameter of 5–10 µm, a phospholipase A2 coated bead was added to the AFM cantilever and the bead was allowed to touch the cell surface for approximately 5–10 min. The evidence of hole creation was obtained mainly from fluorescent image of Vybrant DiO labeled cell before and after the contact with the bead and the AFM imaging of the contact area. In parallel, cells with a hole were imaged by AFM to reveal intracellular structures such as filamentous structures presumably actin fibers and mitochondria which were identified with fluorescent labeling with rhodamine 123. Targeted gene delivery was also attempted by inserting an AFM probe that was coated with the Monster Green Fluorescent Protein phMGFP Vector for transfection of the cell. Following targeted transfection, the gene expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP) was observed and confirmed by the fluorescence microscope. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Genomic diversity of human papillomavirus (HPV) Genotype 38

Human papillomavirus (HPV) genotype HPV 38 is a HPV genotype associated with skin cancer and is classified taxonomically in the beta‐PV genus–species 2. At least six genomic variants of HPV 38, including prototype isolate and its subtype FA125, have been characterized so far. In order to investigate further the genomic diversity of HPV 38, a total of 39 HPV 38 positive samples obtained from hairs plucked from pubic, scrotal, perianal or eyebrow regions from 31 immunocompetent healthy male individuals were analyzed. The characterization of genomic variants was based on analysis of L1, E6, and E7 genomic regions. Sequence analysis revealed the presence of a single genomic variant in 35 samples and the presence of at least two different HPV 38 genomic sequences in four samples. A total of nine, nine, and five L1, E6, and E7 genomic variants were identified among 35 isolates, respectively. After combining nucleotide variations in all three genomic regions for a particular isolate, 13 different variants were identified, of which 6 and 7 corresponded to HPV 38 and FA125, respectively. In addition to 5 genomic variants identified previously (prototype isolate, subtype FA125, putative subtype AF091444, isolates U21875 and AF091443), 12 novel genomic variants were characterized. A sixth genomic variant described previously (L38917) was found to be identical with prototype HPV 38 isolate. Taking into account the results of this and previous studies, at least seventeen HPV 38 genomic variants exist today, 12 of which are described for the first time in this study. J. Med. Virol. 81:288–295, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Language learning on-the-go: opportune moments and design of mobile microlearning sessions

Learning a foreign language is a daunting and time-consuming task. People often lack the time or motivation to sit down and engage with learning content on a regular basis. We present an investigation of microlearning sessions on mobile phones, in which we focus on session triggers, presentation methods, and user context. Therefore, we built an Android app that prompts users to review foreign language vocabulary directly through notifications or through app usage across the day. We present results from a controlled and an in-the-wild study, in which we explore engagement and user context. In-app sessions lasted longer, but notifications added a significant number of "quick" learning sessions. 37.6% of sessions were completed in transit, hence learning-on-the-go was well received. Neither the use of boredom as trigger nor the presentation (flashcard and multiple-choice) had a significant effect. We conclude with implications for the design of mobile microlearning applications with context-awareness.
Australian and International Journal of Rural Education Chinese Pre-service Teachers ’ Perceptions of Teaching Practicum under Contrasting Contexts : Implications for Rural Teacher Preparation

Globally, university-based teacher education preparation programs have received much criticism in preparing teachers for impoverished schools. Drawing on data from an incentive program to improve teacher education in China, the authors comparatively investigated the field experiences of pre-service teachers from contrasting settings (urban and rural schools). Under the perspective of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, the study focused on the pre-service teachers’ perceptions of the teaching practicum and how well the program had prepared them for rural schools. The authors also focused on unsuccessful aspects of the teaching practicum, such as pre-service teachers' lack of knowledge and skills with regard to instructing diverse students and pre-service teachers’ commitment to teach in rural schools. We found pre-service teachers who taught in urban schools reported more positive field experiences and a higher teaching commitment than those who taught in rural schools. The rural pre-service teachers reported more difficulties in linking their college courses with actual practice and settings. The policy implications for rural teacher preparation were discussed.
MatchMaker: An Inter-operator Network Sharing Framework in Unlicensed Bands

In this paper, we consider the scenario in which mobile network operators (MNOs) share network infrastructure for operating 5G new radio (NR) services in unlicensed bands, whereby they reduce their deployment cost and extend their service coverage. Conserving privacy of MNOs’ users, maintaining fairness with coexisting technologies such as Wi-Fi, and reducing communication overhead between MNOs are among top challenges limiting the feasibility and success of this sharing paradigm. To resolve above issues, we present MatchMaker, a novel framework for joint network infrastructure and unlicensed spectrum sharing among MNOs. MatchMaker extends the 3GPP’s infrastructure sharing architecture, originally introduced for licensed bands, to have privacy-conserving protocols for managing the shared infrastructure. We also propose a novel privacy-conserving algorithm for channel assignment among MNOs. Although achieving an optimal channel assignment for MNOs over unlicensed bands dictates having global knowledge about MNOs’ network conditions and their interference zones, our channel assignment algorithm does not require such global knowledge and maximizes the cross-technology fairness for the coexisting systems. We let the manager, controlling the shared infrastructure, estimate potential interference among MNOs and Wi-Fi systems by asking MNOs to propose their preferred channel assignment and monitoring their average contention delay overtime. The manager only accepts/rejects MNOs’ proposals and builds contention graph between all colocated devices. Our results show that MatchMaker achieves fairness up to 90% of the optimal alpha-fairness-based channel assignment while still preserving MNOs’ privacy.
A Novel Design of a Cable-driven Active Leg Exoskeleton ( C-ALEX ) and Gait Training with Human Subjects

A Novel Design of a Cable-driven Active Leg Exoskeleton (C-ALEX) and Gait Training with Human Subjects Xin Jin Exoskeletons for gait training commonly use a rigid-linked “skeleton” which makes them heavy and bulky. Cable-driven exoskeletons eliminate the rigid-linked skeleton structure, therefore creating a lighter and more transparent design. Current cable-driven leg exoskeletons are limited to gait assistance use. This thesis presented the Cable-driven Active Leg Exoskeleton (C-ALEX) designed for gait retraining and rehabilitation. Benefited from the cable-driven design, C-ALEX has minimal weight and inertia (4.7 kg) and allows all the degrees-of-freedom (DoF) of the leg of the user. C-ALEX uses an assist-asneeded (AAN) controller to train the user to walk in a new gait pattern. A preliminary design of C-ALEX was first presented, and an experiment was done with this preliminary design to study the effectiveness of the AAN controller. The result on six healthy subjects showed that the subjects were able to follow a new gait pattern significantly more accurately with the help of the AAN controller. After this experiment, C-ALEX was redesigned to improve its functionality. The improved design of C-ALEX is lighter, has more DoFs and larger range-of-motion. The controller of the improved design improved the continuity of the generated cable tensions and added the function to estimate the phase of the gait of the user in real-time. With the improved design of C-ALEX, an experiment was performed to study the effect of the weight and inertia of an exoskeleton on the gait of the user. C-ALEXwas used to simulate exoskeletons with different levels of weight and inertia by adding extra mass and change the weight compensation level. The result on ten subjects showed that adding extra mass increased step length and reduced knee flexion. Compensating the weight of the mass partially restored the knee flexion but not the step length, implying that the inertia of the mass is responsible for the change. This study showed the distinctive effect of weight and inertia on gait and demonstrated the benefit of a lightweight exoskeleton. C-ALEX was designed for gait training and rehabilitation, and its training effectiveness was studied in nine healthy subjects and a stroke patient. The healthy subjects trained with C-ALEX to walk in a new gait pattern with 30% increase in step height for 40 min. After the training, the subjects were able to closely repeat the trained gait pattern without C-ALEX, and the step height of the subjects increased significantly. A stroke patient also tested C-ALEX for 40 minutes and showed short-term improvements in step length, step height, and knee flexion after training. The result showed the effectiveness of C-ALEX in gait training and its potential to be used in stroke rehabilitation.
Endocrine responses of ovariectomized ewes to i.c.v. infusion of urocortin.

Urocortin is a novel corticotropin-releasing factor-like peptide, first isolated from the rat midbrain, which has anorexigenic properties, possibly associated with its involvement in the stress axis. Urocortin has been implicated in blood pressure regulation, ACTH release and feed intake, but its role as an integral component of the reproduction-nutrition axis has not been examined. The present experiment was designed to determine the effects of i.c. v. infusion of urocortin on feed intake and endocrine profiles of LH, GH, IGF-I, cortisol and leptin in ovariectomized ewes. Ewes were fitted with two laterocerebroventricular cannulae and urocortin was continuously infused in a linearly increasing manner from 0.001 microg/h on day 0, to a maximum of 31.6 microg/h on day 5. Blood samples were collected via jugular catheters at 10 min intervals for 4 h on day 1, 3 and 5, and assayed by RIA for LH, GH, IGF-I, cortisol and leptin. All ewes were allowed free access to feed and water, and feed intake was recorded daily. Urocortin-infused ewes responded with a significant decrease in feed intake beginning on day 1 (P<0.02) and were aphagic for the remainder of the experiment. Serum concentrations of LH were elevated in individual samples from urocortin-treated compared with saline-treated ewes on day 3 (treatment x day x sample, P=0.05), but were not different on day 1 or 5. Mean serum concentrations of GH increased (P<0.04) over days with urocortin treatment, although concentrations of IGF-I were not influenced by treatment (P>0.5). Serum concentrations of cortisol were markedly increased by urocortin treatment (P<0.001). Leptin tended to be influenced by treatment and day (P=0.08), with leptin levels tending to be elevated in urocortin-treated vs saline-treated ewes on day 5 (P=0.08). The ability of urocortin to decrease feed intake while increasing LH, GH, cortisol and leptin provides evidence that urocortin is not only an integral component of the stress axis, but possibly of the nutrition-reproduction axis in sheep.
Corporate Culture and Mergers and Acquisitions : Evidence from Machine Learning *

This version: April, 2018 Abstract: This paper presents new large sample evidence on the role of corporate culture in mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and how corporate culture evolves over time. Our starting point is the most often-mentioned values by the S&P 500 firms on their corporate Web sites (Guiso, Sapienza, and Zingales 2015): innovation, integrity, quality, respect, and teamwork. Using the latest machine learning technique and earnings conference call transcripts, we obtain corporate cultural values for a large sample of firms over the period 2003–2017. We find that firms score high on the cultural value of innovation are more likely to be acquirers, whereas firms score high on the cultural values of quality and respect are less likely to be acquirers. In terms of merger pairing, we find that firms closer in cultural values, particularly, of innovation, quality, or teamwork, are more likely, whereas firms further apart in cultural values are less likely, to do a deal together. Moreover, we show that firm-pairs sharing the dominant culture of teamwork take a shorter time to complete an announced deal and are associated with fewer post-merger integration challenges, whereas firm-pairs dominant in different cultural values of quality versus teamwork are associated with poor stock market performance and more post-merger integration challenges and retention issues. Finally, we show that post-merger, acquirer cultural values are positively associated with pre-merger target firms’ cultural values, suggesting acculturation. We conclude that corporate culture plays an important role in M&As and corporate culture itself is also shaped by M&As.
PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND ANALYSIS OF ACTIVE SECONDARY METABOLITES PRESENT IN THE ETHANOLIC EXTRACT OF CALOTROPIS GIGANTEA LEAVES USING GC-MS TECHNIQUE

Natural products have been a major source of drugs for centuries. In the last few decades there has been an exponential growth in the field of herbal medicines. Medicinal plants and herbs contain substances known to modern and ancient civilizations for their healing properties. Plants produce chemical compounds as part of their normal metabolic activities. These metabolites are the source of active principles capable of curing health ailments. There is an increasing interest in the bioactive potential of compounds derived from plants, which could be relevant in relation to their role in health and disease. The aim of the present study is to analyze the active constituents present in the ethanol extract of Calotropis gigantea leaf by phytochemical analysis and GCMS technique. GC-MS analysis of C. gigantea leaf ethanol extract showed a high complexity profile, containing many bioactive components. As these compounds may have multiple pharmacological activities the results confirms that the ethanolic extract of C. gigantea may have efficient therapeutic potency. However, isolation of individual phytochemical constituents may proceed to find a novel drug.
CHANGES IN GENDER IDEOLOGY IN DOMESTIC CHORES AMONG PROFESSIONAL MALAY MUSLIM MEN IN DUAL-CAREER FAMILIES : A STUDY IN KUALA LUMPUR AND SELANGOR

This study focuses on professional Malay Muslim men in dual-career families in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. I conducted semi-structured, in-depth interview with 10 Malay Muslim men in dual-career families to gather the data. Drawing upon interviews with the respondents, this study is able to highlight their understanding of the division of labour at home and how this impact upon and influences their views about the roles and responsibilities of men and women in relation to the division of labour at home and the division of categories of housework by gender. All of the respondents agreed that household tasks should be carried out together with their wives, but they had different views about the division of household chores in regard to what men and women should do. This study also found that the respondents did not face condemnation and derision from their extended family members or friends when they help their wives with the household tasks. It is generally accepted that this study shows that the gender ideology has slightly changed and negotiate. In practice, however, they stated that the household chores still are seen as under women’s responsibility. Although this study reveals the acceptance of changes to the traditional gender role ideology, the traditional perspective and understanding in terms of the domestic chores continue to exist and are well sustained. While Malaysia’s drive for modernization has improved Malay society, it has not radically transformed the patriarchal order as the traditional patriarchal system that prescribes specific gendered expectations for both women and men in private spheres still ingrained in their culture.