Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
How are genes measured? Examples from studies on iron metabolism in pregnancy

As the 21st century moves forward, it is becoming more and more apparent that the genetic makeup of any individual strongly influences the way they metabolise nutrients. It is very important, therefore, to understand the techniques and technologies used to assess the contribution genes make to the physiology of an individual. Clearly, it is not possible to provide a comprehensive overview, but in the present review an attempt will be made to show, using examples from the authors' research, how these methods have contributed to this understanding. Studies are being undertaken into Fe transport across the placenta, from the mother to the fetus, and the consequences of maternal anaemia on pregnancy outcome. Levels of gene transcript and protein have been measured using Northern and Western blotting respectively. During the course of this work a new protein has been identified using the available human genome database. Following this ‘in silico’ or ‘cyber biology’, techniques such as real-time RT–PCR and RNA interference have been used to examine expression of this gene and its protein. The methods used, briefly how they work and some of their limitations will be explained. The objective of the present review is primarily to give a better perception of how molecular biology can be used in research and to help gain a clearer understanding of some of the techniques used.
Blended learning of programming in large classes : a reflection of students ' experience from an Ethiopian University

The challenge of teaching programming in higher education is complicated by problems associated with large class teaching, a prevalent situation in many developing countries. This paper presents students' reflection about the use of a blended learning approach to teaching and learning of programming in a class of more than 200 students. A course and learning environment were designed with pedagogical underpinning and integration of large class and programming teaching best practices. Students' reflection on the course design, implementation trajectory and their satisfaction was gathered through a focus group discussion. The result of the study shows that students can positively accept large class teaching of programming with a provision that the course and learning environment design facilitates their learning. Fulfilling such provisions requires substantial time and effort; this study can contribute to the discourse on how to manage that process effectively. The contribution of the paper is the presentation of students’ perspective reflection on course design and implementation for blended learning of programming in large class.
Are Graph Query Languages Applicable for Requirements Traceability Analysis?

[Context & motivation] Maintaining traceability in development projects is a costly and resource expensive task. Once established, it can be used to answer questions about the product and its development process. [Question/problem] Typically, generic query languages for relational databases are used to formulate these questions. Additionally, specific traceability query languages have been proposed, but they are not widely adopted and show other weaknesses. [Principal ideas/results] Relationships among development artifacts span a rich traceability graph. Directly operating on this data structure rather than on a relational representation by using a graph query language may overcome the limitations of the current workflow. [Contribution] In this paper, typical traceability questions from a user survey were extracted. Using these, the resulting query expression for four different languages are briefly compared.
What we spend and what we get: Public and private provision of crime prevention and criminal justice

In this paper, we consider a number of issues regarding crime prevention and criminal justice. We begin by considering how crime is measured and present both general and specific evidence on the level of crime in a variety of countries. Crime is pervasive and varies substantially across countries. We outline the arguments for some public role in crime prevention, enforcement, prosecution, defence, adjudication and punishment. We consider the relative roles of the public and private sectors in crime control and criminal justice. We discuss various measures for the effectiveness of the criminal justice system. We conclude by suggesting some potential areas for research.
Traumatic Brain Injury : Clinical Data

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a very usual event, associated with very high morbidity’s rate. Moreover, the mild TBI consume a lot of resources, both human and financial. The target of this study was to describe a large series of adult patients suffering mild TBI, treated at the University Hospital of Getafe, between 2010 and 2015 (n = 2480), studying the epidemiological profile and analyzing the diagnosis and treatment, to establish the main prognostic factors that influence the final result. A retrospective study has been performed, reviewing medical history. Mild TBI is more common in men, and the most common causative mechanism is the traffic accident, in our region. A model for classifying patients according to risk groups is proposed, which divided them into low, intermediate or high risk, which correlates well with the final result. The indication of skull radiography and computed tomography (CT) has been studied, as well as hospital admission for clinical observation. In this study, the presence of neurological focus on clinical examination, the existence of fracture on plain radiographs, the age and the coagulation disorders are associated with increased likelihood of developing intracranial, and worse prognosis in patients that suffer traumatic injuries. The Glasgow Coma Scale is deficient in determining the outcome of the patient suffering TBI, because do not consider factors such as amnesia or loss of consciousness, very common in patients suffering mild head trauma.
Practice of Epidemiology Determination of Blood Pressure Percentiles in Normal-Weight Children: Some Methodological Issues

Blood pressure in children has consistently been related to adult blood pressure, with implications for long-term prevention of cardiovascular disease. The epidemic of obesity in children has resulted in corresponding increases in childhoodbloodpressure. In this paper, theauthors develop norms for childhoodbloodpressure amongnormal-weight children (body mass index <85th percentile based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines) as a function of age, sex, and height, using data from 49,967 children included in the database of the National High Blood Pressure Education ProgramWorkingGroup onHighBloodPressure inChildren andAdolescents (thePediatric Task Force). The authors considered three types of models for pediatric blood pressure data, including polynomial regression, restricted cubic splines, and quantile regression, with the latter providing the best fit. The sex-specific norms presented here are a nonlinear function of both age and height and are generally slightly lower than previously developed norms based on Pediatric Task Force data including both normal-weight and overweight children.
Ergonomic Design and Evaluation of a FreeHand Pointing Technique for a Stereoscopic Desktop Virtual Environment

The use of virtual hand models as a pointing technique in a stereoscopic desktop environment enables users to have natural control over entities in a virtual environment with low risk of visual conflicts by letting the users control their hand in an offset setting. Besides direct control over the virtual hand the visualization of the model plays an important role as a too complex visualization can occlude virtual entities of interest in the virtual scene. A Fitts’ pointing task is used to investigate distantly controlled virtual hand models in a stereoscopic desktop environment. In a factorial design we compare the usage of different hand models and their reduction of visual information down to a point cloud model implemented through the Leap Motion Controller. Results show that used hand models may not be too low in their graphical representation and movement times on a hand model with interconnected lines works significantly better over a point cloud model.
Analysis of motor performance of professional soccer players in different environmental conditions

Introduction. Air temperature and humidity affect the motor activity of soccer players during matches. Analysis of soccer players’ motor activity in extreme environmental conditions enables optimal players’ preparation. Aim of Study. The study aims to assess changes in motor performance of soccer players in different environmental conditions. Material and Methods. The participants were soccer players taking part in the 2014 World Cup matches in Brazil. The authors used the Castrol Performance Index motion analysis system for data recording. Results. Higher air temperature reduces the performance of exercise with medium (p ≤ 0.05) and high intensity (p ≤ 0.01); while higher humidity has a significant positive impact on the distance covered by players with medium intensity (p ≤ 0.05). The total number of performed sprints becomes significantly lower in higher air temperature and humidity (p ≤ 0,05). Conclusions. Soccer training should emphasize highintensity exercise as well as short-lasting and explosive exercise since the environmental conditions have a greater impact on players’ speed skills than endurance skills.
The isolation of a new warfarin-sensitive protein from bovine plasma.

immobilized lipoamide dehydrogenase in 30 % (v/v) dioxan. The rate constants for inactivation in dioxan, like those for thermal inactivation at 90°C, increase with increasing distance from the matrix and eventually approach that for the inactivation of the native enzyme in 30% (v/v) dioxan, i.e. 0.01 min-'. These data can be rationalized by the fact that the hydrophilic Sepharose matrix probably holds the enzyme in a rigid conformation, and thus the nearer the enzyme is to the matrix backbone, the greater its stability. These observations contrast markedly with the destabilization of proteins bound to the hydrophobic matrix polystyrene reported by Manecke (1962).
Sustainable global sourcing : A systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis

Sustainable Global Sourcing (SGS) is a rapidly emerging field with a geometric growth that is evidenced by the number of articles published within this field. The aim of this paper is to develop a systematic study quantitatively depicting the knowledge structure of the SGS field. A bibliometric analysis in conjunction with citation analysis and co-citation analysis is adopted to evaluate a total of 287 journal articles identified from systematic selection of influential work. A further content analysis is performed to obtain the detailed insights on the results of bibliometric analysis. Findings show five research clusters that constitute the SGS field, i.e., (i) Global Sourcing (GS) practice and environmental performance; (ii) Social sustainability/ethical sourcing practice in GS; (iii) Environmental evaluation criteria and certification; (iv) Fuzzy modelling of environmental practice in GS; (v) Effects of environmental and social sustainability practice on economic performance. On this basis, eight research directions are outlined for future research. This study provides an innovative method for systematic literature review work and robust indications for future investigations in the SGS field.
Instruction level motion control of virtual human for maintenance process simulation

In recent years, virtual assembly has become an effective technique for large equipment's maintainability analysis and verification. As an indispensable part in maintenance process simulation, motion control for virtual human still remains on low level based on key-frame or inverse kinematics, which in turn leads to an over complicated modeling process. Therefore, we propose an instruction-level motion control method of virtual human in maintenance process simulation in this paper, which receives the maintenance instruction as input and converts it into natural looking animation sequence in order to simulate maintenance process rapidly. There are two layers in our method: primitive layer and script parsing layer. The primitive layer contains a series of parameterized models, which are called primitives. Each primitive generates a specific motion sequence given a set of intuitive parameters. The script parsing layer converts the instructions into several kinds of primitives by using modules. Each maintenance instruction can be converted into a set of modules and then into primitives. Our method provides a high-level motion control interface and generates natural looking motions interactively. Experiments have proven the effectiveness.
Proceedings for 2 Nd International Workshop on Tool Support and Requirements Management in Distributed Projects (remidi 2008) Title: Remidi 2008 Proceedingsinternational Workshop on Tool Support and Requirements Management in Distributed Projects as Part of Program Committee Proposal -second Interna

The Software Process Technology research area establishes methods and tools to support the good quality of software products. Process-centered Software Engineering Environments enable process modeling and enactment enforcement, and only a few of them supports decentralized coordination of process activities. Current projects in Global Software Development deal with many coordination and collaboration problems, such as share process context, information security and remote project monitoring. This paper describes a tool that provides a technological support to the cited problems on decentralized software process development. The objective of this tool is to provide a contract-based information filtering, and allows the security configuration when share process context among different organizations. We provide a description of the main expected results applying the proposed approach in different organizational contexts and a reference to future directions of this research.
Basolateral sorting of chloride channel 2 is mediated by interactions between a dileucine motif and the clathrin adaptor AP-1

ClC-2 is a ubiquitous chloride channel that regulates cell volume, ion transport, and acid-base balance. Mice knocked out for ClC-2 are blind and sterile. Basolateral localization of ClC-2 in epithelia is mediated by the interaction of a dileucine motif with a highly conserved pocket in the γ1-σ1A hemicomplex of AP-1.
Active carrier compensation for a multi-antenna RFID reader frontend

In this paper we present our multi-antenna radio frequency identification (RFID) research and development environment. We show measurement results for an ultra high frequency multi-antenna (one transmitter × two receivers) RFID reader setup using active carrier compensation at the receivers. Moreover, we evaluate the signal to self interference ratio (SSIR) and compare these results with a reference measurement performed without active carrier suppression. By adjusting the active carrier compensation circuits at one single transponder position an SSIR improvement of 73 dB at the tuning position is achieved. For other tag positions, without changing the adjustment, a minimum SSIR gain of 23 dB is observed.
Big Data Processing in Complex Hierarchical Network Systems I : Structures and Information Flows

his article covers the problem of processing of Big Data that describe process of complex networks and network systems operation. It also introduces the notion of hierarchical network systems combination into associations and conglomerates alongside with complex networks combination into multiplexes. The main types of information flows in complex hierarchical network systems being the basic components of associations and conglomerates are covered.
The Artist and the Brand

This paper argues that greater awareness of the connections between the traditions and conventions of visual art and the production and consumption of images leads to enhanced ability to understand branding as a strategic signifying practice. It forms part of a larger call for inclusion of art historical issues within the marketing research canon and joins in the contention that art history can provide a necessary contextualizing counterpoint to information processing views of branding's interaction with consumer behavior and visual perception. Artists offer exemplary instances of image creation in the service of building a recognizable look, name, and style - a brand, in other words. Successful artists can be thought of as brand managers, actively engaged in developing, nurturing, and promoting themselves as recognizable products in the competitive cultural sphere. Brands are inherently visual - brand logos, product design, packaging, brand identity, and brand marketing campaigns each draw upon visual materials to create distinctive brand images - yet marketing scholars have seemed reluctant to embrace art history and visual studies as critical fields with potential contributions to branding knowledge. In this paper, several prominent, successful artists serve as case studies to illuminate the potential for insights into the interconnections between art, branding, and consumption. This article places brands firmly within culture to look at the complex underpinnings of the branding, linking perceptual and cognitive processes to larger social and cultural issues that contribute to how brand images work.
Title Microstructural study in heteroepitaxial YBa / sub 2 / Cu / sub 3 / O / sub 7 / / Nd / sub 2 / CuO / sub 4 / multi-layers by using electron microscopy

Neodymium copper oxide Nd2CuO4 (NCO) has been applied as a buffer material to improve the epitaxy of YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) thin films on reactive substrates and as a potential barrier to construct multi-layer junctions. The microstructures and interfaces in heteroepitaxial Nd2CuO4/YBCO multi-layer have been characterized by using an electron microscopy. Cross-sectional images obtained on a transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed an atomically sharp boundary between layers, underlining the excellent compatibility of NCO with YBCO. No chemical reaction occurred between film and substrate. It was found that all layers grow highly epitaxially with their -axis perpendicular to the substrate surface. On the other hand, various defects such as misoriented grains and stacking faults were found near the interfaces.
The Role of Calcium/Calmodulin-Activated Calcineurin in Rapid and Slow Endocytosis at Central Synapses

Although the calcium/calmodulin-activated phosphatase calcineurin may dephosphorylate many endocytic proteins, it is not considered a key molecule in mediating the major forms of endocytosis at synapses—slow, clathrin-dependent and the rapid, clathrin-independent endocytosis. Here we studied the role of calcineurin in endocytosis by reducing calcium influx, inhibiting calmodulin with pharmacological blockers and knockdown of calmodulin, and by inhibiting calcineurin with pharmacological blockers and knock-out of calcineurin. These manipulations significantly inhibited both rapid and slow endocytosis at the large calyx-type synapse in 7- to 10-d-old rats and mice, and slow, clathrin-dependent endocytosis at the conventional cultured hippocampal synapse of rats and mice. These results suggest that calcium influx during nerve firing activates calcium/calmodulin-dependent calcineurin, which controls the speed of both rapid and slow endocytosis at synapses by dephosphorylating endocytic proteins. The calcium/calmodulin/calcineurin signaling pathway may underlie regulation of endocytosis by nerve activity and calcium as reported at many synapses over the last several decades.
Localizing vapor-emitting sources by moving sensors

In a previous paper, the authors have explored the use of novel concentration sensors for detecting and localizing vapor-emitting sources. As was shown there, an array of sensors (at least five) is needed for this purpose in general. In the present paper we propose to replace stationary sensors by moving sensors, thus gaining two important advantages. (1) A single moving sensor can accomplish the task of an array of stationary sensors, by exploiting spatial and temporal diversity. (2) The sensor motion can be planned in real time to optimize localization. Performance, based on past measurements and minimization of the expected localization error as a function of the future sensor's position. The paper describes the details of this approach and illustrates it by an example. <<ETX>>
Neuromorphic implementation of attractor dynamics in decision circuit with NMDARs

Emulation of decision making in neuromorphic system can be useful for developing remarkable bio-mimetic devices capable of implementing adaptive and interactive behaviors with the varying environment. Both experimental and theoretical studies reveal that the dynamics of NMDA receptors (NMDARs) plays a critical role in attractor dynamics of decision. However, the functionality of NMDARs has not been considered in current neuromorphic decision circuit. Here we present a novel method for the neuromorphic implementation of a two-variable decision circuit with NMDARs. Circuit simulations and theoretical analysis reveal that the decision circuit can present not only the winner-take-all mechanism but also the slow integration of sensory evidences, both of which are embedded in gradually ramp-up activities observed in our simulations and in the electrophysiological recording in monkey's experiments. We demonstrated that the decision circuit we built can generate reliable attractor dynamics capable of reproducing both neurophysiological and behavioral observations during decision tasks.
Group a streptococcal antigens cross-reactive with myocardium. Purification of heart-reactive antibody and isolation and characterization of the streptococcal antigen

Heart-reactive antibody (HRA) appears in the sera of experimental animals inoculated with group A streptococci as well as patients with acute rheumatic fever. Adsorption of either serum with group A streptococcal membranes will remove the HRA. Blocking experiments between these two types of HRAs have demonstrated that the antibodies are directed towards different antigenic determinants on either the same or different molecules. To isolate and purify the antigen from the group A streptococcus cross-reactive with sarcolemmal sheaths of cardiac myofibers, it became necessary to purify the HRA from rheumatic fever patients’ sera. Isolated gamma globulin containing all of the HRA was adsorbed onto human sarcolemmal sheaths. The specific HRA was released by using potassium iodide. Over 99 percent of the purified HRA was shown to bind the sarcolemmal sheath whereas less than 1 percent of the antibody would bind nonspecifically to other material. Preparations of group A streptococcal membrane will bind HRA purified from the sera of acute rheumatic patients at levels of 97 percent or greater. The cross-reactive antigen solubilized by nonionic detergent was purified 120-fold by column chromatography. On sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide electrophoresis, the antigen was demonstrated to be composed of four polypeptides with mol wt of 32,000, 28,000, 26,000, and 22,000 daltons, respectively. Only proteolytic enzymes could destroy the antigenic determinant whereas glycosidases and lipases had no effect. The purified antigen blocked the binding of purified HRA to normal human heart sections.