Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mitigating trade barriers by standardized determination of lignin molar mass

RISE Bioeconomy, FPInnovations and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd are working on a draft for an official ISO method for the determination of lignin molar mass. The draft will include two methods that can be used by different laboratories as reference methods, which are based on organic and aqueous size exclusion chromatography (SEC). Four samples of kraft lignin of different origin were analysed by three laboratories using the current in-house methods as well as a harmonised analytical setup. It was clear that the results differed largely between the different methods, for example, the weight average molar mass (Mw) for the LignoForce softwood lignin (LF-SW) ranged from 3,300 t0 11,100g/mol using the different methods. Harmonisation of aqueous SEC was successful. The method comprises SEC using 0l.1M sodium hydroxide as the mobile phase, a mobile phase flow rate of 0.5mL/min, Waters columns MCX 1,000A and 100,000A in series and calibration/calculation using polystyrene sulphonate standards using a linear fit. However, organic SEC was more complex and would require further investigations. Although the aqueous SEC analysis was repeatable, it was concluded that a strategy for data evaluation should be developed in order to achieve a method applicable for quality assessments.
Effects of high-intensity intermittent priming on physiology and cycling performance

Abstract The pre-event warm-up or “priming” routine for optimising cycling performance is not well-defined or uniform to a specific event. We aimed to determine the effects of varying the intensity of priming on 3 km cycling performance. Ten endurance-trained male cyclists completed four 3 km time-trials (TT) on four separate occasions, each preceded by a different priming strategy including “self-selected” priming and three intermittent priming strategies incorporating 10 min of constant-load cycling followed by 5 × 10 s bouts of varying relative intensity (100% and 150% of peak aerobic power, Wpeak, and all-out priming). The self-selected priming trial (379 ± 44 W) resulted in similar mean power during the 3 km TT to intermittent priming at 100% (376 ± 45 W; −0.7%; unclear) and 150% (374 ± 48 W; −1.5%, unclear) of Wpeak, but significantly greater than all-out priming (357 ± 45 W; −5.8%, almost certainly harmful). Differences between intermittent and self-selected priming existed with regards to heart rate (6.2% to 11.5%), blood lactate (−22.9% to 125%) and VO2 kinetics (−22.9% to 8.2%), but these were not related to performance outcomes. In conclusion, prescribed intermittent priming strategies varying in intensity did not substantially improve 3 km TT performance compared to self-selected priming.
β-1,3-Glucanase of Sea Urchin Eggs: Release from Particles at Fertilization

β-1,3-Glucanase is a latent enzyme found in large and small particles in unfertilized eggs. At fertilization, the enzyme in the large particles is released into the surrounding perivitelline space. The enzyme may be involved in transformations of extracellular glycoproteins.
Antecedents and Consequences of Exploration and Exploitation Decisions : Evidence from Corporate Venture Capital Investing

This dissertation addresses unexplored issues on the antecedents, management, and outcomes of corporate venture capital (CVC). More specifically, I examine how negative performance feedback and corporate governance influence the direction of organizational change ˗ in terms of exploration and exploitation ˗ and how balancing such change over time influences firm performance in the CVC context. I first review the extant literature on CVC and lay out the unique contributions of my research. Then, in the first essay, I theorize on how poor firm performance influences the resource allocation decisions on exploration and exploitation and how such decisions are affected by the concentration of dedicated and transient shareholders and by the board of directors' monitoring and advising intensities. In the second essay, I empirically examine how the resource allocation decisions on exploration and exploitation are influenced by dedicated and transient shareholders in the context of CVC investing. In the third essay, I examine how balancing exploration and exploitation over time and the characteristics of oscillation impact firm performance. The empirical analysis in the latter two essays is based on CVC investments made by 286 U.S. companies during 1993-2013. This dissertation contributes to the Behavioral Theory of the Firm and Corporate Governance research by introducing how shareholders and boards influence managerial decision-making in search and change, Ambidexterity research by studying how continuous change and organizational inertia impact temporal spillover between exploration and exploitation, and CVC research by examining the antecedents and consequences of explorative and exploitative initiatives in CVC investing.
Sulfur‐Impregnated Activated Carbon Fiber Cloth as a Binder‐Free Cathode for Rechargeable Li‐S Batteries

A route for the preparation of binder-free sulfur-carbon cathodes is developed for lithium sulfur batteries. The method is based on the impregnation of elemental sulfur into the micropores of activated carbon fibers. These electrodes demonstrate good electrochemical performance at high current density attributed to the uniform dispersion of sulfur inside the carbon fiber.
Engineered antibody domains with significantly increased transcytosis and half-life in macaques mediated by FcRn

Engineered antibody domains (eAds) are promising candidate therapeutics but their half-life is relatively short partly due to weak or absent binding to the neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn). We developed a novel approach to increase the eAd binding to FcRn based on a combination of structure-based design, computational modeling and phage display methodologies. By using this approach, we identified 2 IgG1 CH2-derived eAds fused to a short FcRn-binding motif derived from IgG1 CH3 that exhibited greatly enhanced FcRn binding with strict pH dependency. Importantly, the increased affinity resulted in significantly enhanced FcRn-mediated epithelial transcytosis and prolonged elimination half-life (mean 44.1 hours) in cynomolgus macaques. These results demonstrate for the first time that the half-life of isolated eAds can be prolonged (optimized) by increasing their binding to FcRn while maintaining their small size, which has important implications for development of therapeutics, including eAd-drug conjugates with enhanced penetration in solid tissues.
Topical community detection from mining user tagging behavior and interest

With the development of Web2.0, social tagging systems in which users can freely choose tags to annotate resources according to their interests have attracted much attention. In particular, literature on the emergence of collective intelligence in social tagging systems has increased. In this article, we propose a probabilistic generative model to detect latent topical communities among users. Social tags and resource contents are leveraged to model user interest in two similar and correlated ways. Our primary goal is to capture user tagging behavior and interest and discover the emergent topical community structure. The communities should be groups of users with frequent social interactions as well as similar topical interests, which would have important research implications for personalized information services. Experimental results on two real social tagging data sets with different genres have shown that the proposed generative model more accurately models user interest and detects high-quality and meaningful topical communities.
Positional anchoring of smectic liquid crystals.

Positional anchoring of the smectic-A (Sn) liquid crystal 4O.8 at a glass plate interface is measured with a micromechanical technique: stress oscillations at layer thickness scale are observed under shear normal to the layers. Similar oscillations are observed on its smectic-B phase, and previously in plastic crystals. These oscillations are explained by shear-induced surface melting and recrystallization. The corresponding S A positional anchoring energy is ∼10 -8 -10 -9 J/m 2 . This unidimensional periodic melting is a model for solid friction in soft matter
Investigating impacts of distributed generation on distribution networks reliability: A mathematical model

In this paper, an analytical approach is proposed for investigating impacts of distributed generation (DG) on distribution network reliability. In our approach, we have proposed a mathematical model applying frequency and duration technique, for evaluating the reliability indices. We have also used islanding probability concept to investigate the frequency and the average of states' durations. In this respect, the probability of islanding in a distribution feeder comprising of two DGs units is considered. Case studies show that the proposed approach can be an appropriate tool for studying the impacts of location of DGs on distribution networks reliability. Therefore, it will help the distribution network planners in the DG resources placement.
Sensory attributes and consumption of melon-soybean soup blends with Indian spinach vegetables in Ilorin, Kwara State Nigeria

The study investigated the sensory attributes of melon-soybean soup with Indian spinach vegetables which was observed to be poorly accepted in consumption. Descriptive research design and sensory evaluation was used. The study population comprised three hundred and fifty students from 100-500 level with a sample size of 40 respondents that were randomly selected from each level. Ratios of melon and soya beans 20:80, 40: 60, 60: 40, 100:0 50:50, and 80:20 was used for the sensory evaluation . The samples were given to the panelist and the results were analyzed using 9-point hedonic scale. A well-structured questionnaire was also used to assess the level of acceptability and consumption of the soups; the data were statistically analyzed using Analysis of variance (ANOVA) at ( p <0.05) level. The findings revealed that the control, melon 100% soup had the highest acceptability in terms of colour, aroma, texture and general acceptability. The use of melon and soya bean soup blend is acceptable up to 60% inclusion level. The result obtained shows that there are no setbacks in the acceptability and consumption of melon-soybean soup with Indian spinach vegetables in Nigeria. It is recommended that Soya beans products should be included in the melon and soya beans soup blend to improve acceptability and consumption in Nigeria. Keyword: Assessment, Soybeans, Sensory Qualities, Vegetable, Nutrition, Acceptability
Probing Mechanisms of Photoreceptor Degeneration in a New Mouse Model of the Common Form of Autosomal Dominant Retinitis Pigmentosa due to P23H Opsin Mutations*♦

Rhodopsin, the visual pigment mediating vision under dim light, is composed of the apoprotein opsin and the chromophore ligand 11-cis-retinal. A P23H mutation in the opsin gene is one of the most prevalent causes of the human blinding disease, autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa. Although P23H cultured cell and transgenic animal models have been developed, there remains controversy over whether they fully mimic the human phenotype; and the exact mechanism by which this mutation leads to photoreceptor cell degeneration remains unknown. By generating P23H opsin knock-in mice, we found that the P23H protein was inadequately glycosylated with levels 1–10% that of wild type opsin. Moreover, the P23H protein failed to accumulate in rod photoreceptor cell endoplasmic reticulum but instead disrupted rod photoreceptor disks. Genetically engineered P23H mice lacking the chromophore showed accelerated photoreceptor cell degeneration. These results indicate that most synthesized P23H protein is degraded, and its retinal cytotoxicity is enhanced by lack of the 11-cis-retinal chromophore during rod outer segment development.
Rapidly Growing Nontuberculous Mycobacteria Cultured from Home Tap and Shower Water

ABSTRACT Tap and shower water at two locations in the Netherlands was examined for the presence of rapidly growing nontuberculous mycobacteria. Cultures yielded Mycobacterium peregrinum, M. salmoniphilum, M. llatzerense, M. septicum, and three potentially novel species, a distribution different from that in clinical samples.
Dispersion Analysis of Periodic Structures by Solving Corresponding Excitation Problems

Abstract Eigenproblems of periodic structures with complicated material distribution are solved efficiently by solving corresponding excitation problems. A unit cell with periodic boundary conditions is discretised and handled by a doubly periodic hybrid finite element boundary integral technique, which even considers complex propagation constants. Instead of solving algebraic eigenproblems, the analogy to resonance problems is exploited which gives improved physical insight into the problem. Moreover, open problem types can be handled. Numerical results for composite right/left-handed waveguides in one and three dimensions confirm the presented approach.
Advances in Science Visualization: Social Networks, Semantic Maps, and Discursive Knowledge

Positional and relational perspectives on network data have led to two different research traditions in textual analysis and social network analysis, respectively. Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) focuses on the latent dimensions in textual data; social network analysis (SNA) on the observable networks. The two coupled topographies of information-processing in the network space and meaning-processing in the vector space operate with different (nonlinear) dynamics. The historical dynamics of information processing in observable networks organizes the system into instantiations; the systems dynamics, however, can be considered as self-organizing in terms of fluxes of communication along the various dimensions that operate with different codes. The development over time adds evolutionary differentiation to the historical integration; a richer structure can process more complexity.
Amylase secretion by isolated pancreatic acini after acute cholecystokinin treatment in vivo.

A single dose of synthetic cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK8, 5 micrograms/kg) in a depot carrier was injected subcutaneously into rats 2 and 14 h before the removal of the pancreas and the preparation of isolated pancreatic acini. CCK8 treatment induced no significant change in body weight or total amount of pancreatic DNA, but pancreatic weight, total pancreatic protein and amylase, and the concentration of amylase and total protein relative to DNA were significantly decreased. In acini prepared from CCK8-pretreated rats, responsiveness to maximal and supramaximal concentrations of CCK8 was significantly increased, irrespective of whether the amount of amylase released was expressed relative to DNA or calculated as a percentage of the acinar content. The dose-response curves for CCK8 were similarly shaped in both CCK8-pretreated and control rats but shifted threefold toward higher concentrations of CCK8 2 or 14 h after CCK8 treatment. Specific 125I-CCK binding was significantly increased only for high-affinity binding sites. Although these observations suggest that alterations in pancreatic amylase release could be due to changes at the cholecystokinin receptor, the secretory responsiveness to maximal and supramaximal concentrations of carbachol was also increased without any change in the sensitivity. Moreover, in contrast to the cholecystokinin receptor, there was no change in the number of muscarinic receptors or in their affinity for either agonists or antagonists measured with [3H]quinuclidinyl benzilate. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Effect of eco-design practices on the performance of manufacturing firms in Mombasa County, Kenya

Eco-design is a new approach to products design; it has emerged as a key approach for manufacturing firms seeking to become environmentally sustainable and globally competitive. The purpose of this study was to establish the effect of adoption of Eco-design practices on organizational performance of manufacturing firms in Mombasa County, Kenya. A cross sectional survey research design was adopted for this study. It targeted a population a population of manufacturing firms in Mombasa County listed by Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM, 2014). A sample of 65 firms was taken and data was collected using questionnaires. The results obtained indicated that Eco-design practices adoption was at the planning/ implementation stage as most of the manufacturing firms had considered adoption. The study also established that the major challenges of adopting Eco-design practices are Unsuccessful integration of Eco-design, Lack of knowhow in managing changes in design procedures, and Lack of technical knowledge about Eco-design. Lastly the findings show that Eco-design practices have positive influence on organization performance with greatest impact being on environmental impact reduction and financial performance. The study recommends that manufacturing firms should get enough training and empowerment on how to implement Eco-design practices so as to ensure success, reduce fear of failure and encourage environmental sustainability. They should also act fast and implement Ecodesign practices since there are potential benefits after implementation such as improvement in environmental impact reduction and financial performance. Lastly the researcher recommends that since government rules and legislations and organization capabilities are the major drivers of adoption of Eco-design practices they should review their policies and allocate more resources to ensure effective adoption and implementation of Eco-design practices. This is because the bedrock of economic and social development in Kenya is the environment; hence environment sustainability should be given first priority.
Job Mapping and Scheduling on Free-Space Optical Networks

SUMMARY A number of parallel applications run on a high-performance computing (HPC) system simultaneously. Job mapping and scheduling become crucial to improve system utilization, because fragmentation prevents an incoming job from being assigned even if there are enough compute nodes unused. Wireless supercomputers and datacenters with free-space optical (FSO) terminals have been proposed to replace the conventional wired interconnection so that a diverse application workload can be better supported by changing their network topologies. In this study we ﬁrstly present an e ﬃ cient job mapping by swapping the endpoints of FSO links in a wireless HPC system. Our evaluation shows that an FSO-equipped wireless HPC system can achieve shorter average queuing length and queuing time for all the dispatched user jobs. Secondly, we consider the use of a more complicated and enhanced scheduling algorithm, which can further improve the system utilization over di ﬀ erent host networks, as well as the average response time for all the dispatched user jobs. Finally, we present the performance advantages of the proposed wireless HPC sys-tem under more practical assumptions such as di ﬀ erent cabinet capacities and diverse subtopology packings.
Investigation of criteria used for assurance practices of sustainability reporting in Australian listed companies

However, the rise in integrated reporting and sustainability reporting is not equally accompanied by external assurance of the credibility of information in the reports. The majority of those companies that provided assurance employed assurance providers from the accounting profession. Materiality was the most used criteria in this study. The materiality principle relates to determining if an issue is relevant and significant to the organization and its stakeholders. Findings also showed that the level of assurance provided was limited in the majority of assurance reports. The results of the study suggest that accountants have a major role in future assurance of sustainability reports. At present the non-accounting assurers provide more comments on organisation processes, etc, Judging by the level of assurance currently undertaken, there is a gap in the skills of accountants in this area and in the appropriate criteria or standards that should be applied. This project makes a contribution towards filling this gap.
Site-directed mutagenesis of alpha 2A-adrenergic receptors: identification of amino acids involved in ligand binding and receptor activation by agonists.

Molecular cloning of the alpha 2A-adrenergic receptor has shown that this receptor is a member of the gene superfamily of guanine nucleotide-binding protein (G protein)-coupled receptors. The alpha 2A-adrenergic receptor expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells attenuates and potentiates forskolin-stimulated cAMP production through independent signaling pathways. To examine the role of three conserved aspartic acid and two conserved serine residues in alpha 2A-adrenergic receptor function, we substituted asparagine for aspartic acid or alanine for serine and characterized the mutant receptors in stably transfected CHO cells. Asn113 mutant alpha 2-adrenergic receptors display no [3H] yohimbine specific binding, at concentrations up to 1000 nM. In transfected cells expressing the Asn113 mutant receptor, agonists, at concentrations up to 0.1 mM, produce small decreases (approximately 10% of wild-type values) in forskolin-stimulated cAMP and potentiate forskolin-stimulated cAMP concentrations in a dose-dependent manner, with EC50 values approximately 500-fold higher than those for the wild-type receptor. These findings suggest that Asp113 may be involved in high affinity binding of agonists and antagonists, as has been previously reported for beta 2-adrenergic and m1 muscarinic acetylcholine receptors. Asn79 mutant alpha 2-adrenergic receptors display high affinity agonist binding that is insensitive to guanine nucleotides, suggesting an altered receptor-G protein coupling. Furthermore, agonist binding to Asn79 mutant receptors elicits no change in forskolin-stimulated cAMP concentrations, similar to earlier findings that the corresponding residue in beta 2-adrenergic and muscarinic receptors is required for effector stimulation. Asp130 appears to influence receptor-G protein coupling. Mutation of this residue eliminates high affinity, guanine nucleotide-sensitive, agonist binding and produces a rightward shift in the dose-response curves for agonist-mediated inhibition of forskolin-stimulated cAMP production, compared with the wild-type receptor. Moreover, agonist potentiation of forskolin-stimulated cAMP levels is abolished if Asp130 is replaced by Asn, supporting the hypothesis that inhibition and potentiation of forskolin-stimulated cAMP production in CHO cells proceed through distinct signaling pathways. Characterization of Ala204 mutant alpha 2A-adrenergic receptors suggests a possible role for Ser204 in hydrogen bond interactions with the para-hydroxyl group of the phenyl ring of the catecholamines, as has been previously described for the corresponding serine in beta 2-adrenergic receptors. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Considerations for Identity Management in Public Safety Networks

31 This document analyzes approaches to identity management for public safety networks in an effort to 32 assist individuals developing technical and policy requirements for public safety use. These 33 considerations are scoped into the context of their applicability to public safety communications networks 34 with a particular focus on the nationwide public safety broadband network (NPSBN) based on the Long 35 Term Evolution (LTE) family of standards. A short background on identity management is provided 36 alongside a review of applicable federal and industry guidance. Considerations are provided for identity 37 proofing, selecting tokens, and the authentication process. While specific identity management 38 technologies are analyzed, the document does not preclude other identity management technologies from 39 being used in public safety communications networks. 40