Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The coming anarchy : shattering the dreams of the post Cold War

Our pro forma geopolitical worldview that served for fifty years of the Cold War was thoroughly shattered with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990. While there is political and ideological discourse about its nature and purpose, it is arguable that the bipolar Cold War world has been replaced by a “new world order. ” This term is used here descriptively, not prescriptively as some foreign policy gurus might in advocating a particular configuration of power with the United States, or some other power, at its center. To describe is not to advocate, and my use of the “new world order,” as is Kaplan’s use of the term “coming anarchy,” is purely descriptive. Following my presentation on “the new world order” for faculty at an East African university in the mid-1990s, a faculty member from the university responded. He began by stating, “I will have to argue that the current world situation is neither ‘new’ nor ‘worldly’ nor ‘orderly. ’ Otherwise, I agree with you completely. ” He went on to suggest that from his East African perspective domination of the international political system by major powers persisted as it had throughout the previous world order, the post-World War II era. Change was not “worldly,” i.e. global, because his part of the world had not seen the profound changes that had transformed first world-second world relationships. Finally, with the current disorder in Africa, he concluded that the situation was hardly “orderly. ” Into this implicit discussion of the nature of the postCold War international system have come several bold descriptions of the nature of the evolving system. Three explicit examples were first put forward in journal or magazine articles followed by books that expanded upon the theme (and capitalized upon the substantial intellectual excitement generated by the original publication). First came Francis Fukuyama, formerly of the Reagan State Department and now at James Mason University, with his reassuring
Visual Measurement in Simulation Environment for Vision-Based UAV Autonomous Aerial Refueling

Autonomous aerial refueling (AAR) is an important capability of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for further applications in both military and civilian domains. This paper focuses on the description and comparison of visual measurement strategies in the simulation environment of AAR of UAVs. The visual measurement methods are employed for pose estimation between tanker and UAV receiver aircrafts. Within this effort, methods and techniques for marker detection, pose estimation, and visualization of aerial refueling in virtual reality have been designed and implemented. Series of comparative experiments indicate the preference of various visual measurement approaches in our work. Boom and stationkeeping controllers are designed to ensure system stability when wind turbulence is induced. Furthermore, the hardware-in-loop simulation platform is built to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed scenarios in actual conditions. The visual attention mechanism is adopted in the preprocessing for the images of virtual scene to remove potential noises. The achieved results make excellent performances of our proposed scheme during the docking maneuver in AAR.
Relating structure to function in the hepatitis delta virus antigen

Hepatitis delta virus expresses two forms of a single protein, the small (delta Ag-S) and large (delta Ag-L) antigens, which are identical except for an additional 19 residues present at the C terminus of delta Ag-L. While delta Ag-S is required to promote genome replication, delta Ag-L potently inhibits this process and also facilitates packaging of the viral genome by envelope proteins of the helper virus (hepatitis B virus). Regions within the antigens responsible for nuclear localization, RNA binding, and dimerization have been identified, yet it is not clear how these particular activities contribute to the ultimate replication and packaging phenotypes. Here we report the following findings. (i) Although the removal of the nuclear localization signal from either antigen resulted in significant cytoplasmic accumulation, both proteins still had access to the nucleus. As a consequence, no functional defect was observed with either mutant. (ii) The RNA-binding domain, although necessary for delta Ag-S function, could be deleted from delta Ag-L without compromising its ability to either inhibit replication or promote packaging. (iii) In contrast, the coiled-coil dimerization domain was required for both the activation of replication by delta Ag-S and the inhibition of replication by delta Ag-L. This region, with an additional 20 amino acids C-terminal to it, was necessary and sufficient to potently inhibit replication by interacting with the small antigen. (iv) The packaging property of delta Ag-L required a C-terminal Pro/Gly-rich region which is hypothesized to interact with the hepatitis B virus envelope proteins during the assembly process.
Reverse Logistics Provides Green Benefits

In the United States, there are hundreds of environmental laws and regulations within individual states, as well as the federal government, which include mandates for recycling operations and responsibility for packaging recovery. However, more research is needed, and a more clear-cut and comprehensive approach needs to be established. Environmentally-friendly manufacturing and distribution operations are growing in many parts of the world. There are three driving forces for this trend:1) environmental laws and regulations are increasingly widespread, 2) consumers are becoming receptive to products made from recycled as well as virgin materials, and 3) some companies are finding recycling, remanufacturing, and processing of used products, materials, and packaging to be good business that represents additional sources of revenue.
Initial EEG in status epilepticus is helpful in predicting seizure recurrence.

OBJECTIVES There is paucity of prospective studies evaluating the role of EEG in the prognosis of status epilepticus (SE). The present study aims at evaluating the role of clinical, EEG and radiological changes in predicting the outcome of SE. METHODS Consecutive patients with SE were prospectively evaluated. Status epilepticus was classified into convulsive and nonconvulsive. Consciousness at admission was assessed by Glasgow coma scale (GCS) and presence of focal neurological signs was noted. CT or MRI abnormalities were recorded. A 10 or 21 channel EEG record wcs obtained 1 hour after therapy. The patients were treated with IV sodium valproate or phenytoin according to a fixed protocol. The EEG changes were categorized into discrete, merging, continuous, periodic pattern, slowing and normal. Outcome was assessed by seizure control at 1 hour, sustained seizure control for 24 hours and death. RESULTS There were 70 patients with SE whose age ranged between 1 and 85 years, 26 were females and 11 below 15 years. The underlying etiology was CNS (Central nervous system) infection in 35, stroke in 11, metabolic encephalopathy in 17, drug default in 2 and no apparent cause was evident in 5 patients. Convulsive SE was present in 65 and nonconvulsive in 5. Cranial CT and MRI were abnormal in 36, and MRI revealed additional abnormality in 3 patients. The EEG at 1 hour was abnormal in 51 out of 53 patients and revealed discrete pattern in 4, merging in 5, continuous in 5, periodic in 6, multiple patterns in 2 and slowing in 29 patients. In 7patients with convulsive SE, clinical seizures were controlled but EEG showed ictal pattern. Clinical seizure recurred in 38 patients within 24 hours and 15 of them had ictal discharges at one hour EEG. Response to antiepileptic drugs correlated with underlying etiology, duration of SE and associated medical illness. 19 patients died but not due to SE per se. Death did not correlate with EEG abnormality, however, 1-hour EEG abnormality predicted seizure recurrence. CONCLUSION EEG is useful in monitoring SE and its abnormality at 1 hour predicts seizure recurrence within 24-hour.
Bioprocess‐centered molecular design (BMD) for the efficient production of an interfacially active peptide

The efficient expression and purification of an interfacially active peptide (mLac21) was achieved by using bioprocess‐centered molecular design (BMD), wherein key bioprocess considerations are addressed during the initial molecular biology work. The 21 amino acid mLac21 peptide sequence is derived from the lac repressor protein and is shown to have high affinity for the oil–water interface, causing a substantial reduction in interfacial tension following adsorption. The DNA coding for the peptide sequence was cloned into a modified pET‐31(b) vector to permit the expression of mLac21 as a fusion to ketosteroid isomerase (KSI). Rational iterative molecular design, taking into account the need for a scaleable bioprocess flowsheet, led to a simple and efficient bioprocess yielding mLac21 at 86% purity following ion exchange chromatography (and >98% following chromatographic polishing). This case study demonstrates that it is possible to produce acceptably pure peptide for potential commodity applications using common scaleable bioprocess unit operations. Moreover, it is shown that BMD is a powerful strategy that can be deployed to reduce bioseparation complexity. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Prevalence and risk factors of intra-dialytic hypotension: a 5 year retrospective report from a single Nigerian Centre

Introduction Intra-dialytic hypotension (IDH) is a common complication of haemodialysis that impacts negatively on the patient's quality of life and can induce serious cardiovascular events. Methods Records of all adults who had haemodialysis treatments from Jan 2012-Jan 2016 were reviewed. Socio-demographic data, health status of patient, aetiology of renal disease, clinical and biochemical parameters such as systolic and diastolic blood pressures (SBP and DBP), packed cell volume, were collated using Microsoft Excel. Results The overall prevalence of intra-dialytic hypotension was 8.6%. Of all haemodialysis patients, 45.7% experienced a drop in SBP > 20mmHg, 28.5% required nurses' intervention and 8.6% had symptoms. Diagnosis of obstructive nephropathy (OR: 3.1, CI:1.43-6.60, p = < 0.004) and sepsis (OR: 3.57, CI: 1.31- 9.75, P = 0.013) increased the odds of experiencing IDH. Only 5% of patients with predialysis SBP < 100mmHg developed IDH (OR: 0.12, CI: 0.02-0.93, P = 0.04). Conclusion IDH was common among the patients studied. It was more prevalent among patients with obstructive nephropathy and sepsis; however other traditional risk factors of IDH such as older age and anaemia, were not found to be significantly associated with IDH. Surprisingly, prevalence of IDH was significantly less among patients with pre-dialysis hypotension compared to those without.
Essays on economic valuation of cultural and natural resources in Vietnam.

There is an increasing body of contingent valuation (CV) studies applied to cultural heritage sites. These CV studies assess the benefits of cultural resources, but few provide advice on the policy use of the results and the ways these benefits could be captured and used to improve the condition of the sites. This study attempts to do exactly this by conducting a CV survey of a preservation program for a World Heritage site (WHS), and using the estimated benefits for visitors to assess optimal entrance fees that maximize revenues for the site. We also perform a cost-benefit analysis of the preservation project, and show how the outcome can be used to justify investments in cultural heritage preservation.
Early mental health morbidity and later smoking at age 17 years

Background We examined the relationship between the onset and pattern of childhood mental health disorders and subsequent current smoking status at age 17 years. Method Data were from a prospective cohort study of 2868 births of which 1064 supplied information about their current smoking at 17 years of age. The association between the onset and pattern of clinically significant mental health disorders in the child and subsequent smoking at age 17 years was estimated via multivariable logistic regression. Results Relative to 17 year olds who never had an externalizing disorder, 17-year-olds who had an externalizing disorder at age 5, 8 or 14 years were, respectively, 2.0 times [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.24–3.25], 1.9 (95% CI 1.00–3.65) or 3.9 times (95% CI 1.73–8.72) more likely to be a current smoker. Children with an ongoing pattern of externalizing disorder were 3.0 times (95% CI 1.89–4.84) more likely to be smokers at the age of 17 years and those whose mothers reported daily consumption of 6–10 cigarettes at 18 weeks' gestation were 2.5 times (OR 2.46, 95% CI 1.26–4.83) more likely to report smoking at 17 years of age. Associations with early anxiety and depression in the child were not found. Conclusions Current smoking in 17-year-olds may be underpinned by early emergent, and then, ongoing, externalizing disorder that commenced as young as age 5 years as well as exposure to early prenatal maternal smoking. The associations documented in adults and adolescents that link tobacco smoking and mental health are likely to be in play at these early points in development.
Modeling of cross-magnetization effect in interior permanent magnet machines

Electric parameters of interior permanent magnet (PM) synchronous machines have a non linear characteristic due to saturation effects. Thus, d-q axes inductances are not constant, but they vary depending on the load conditions and the current phase angle. Generally, this kind of machine is characterized by a cross-magnetization effect between axes so that an ideal uncoupled d-q model is not suitable to represent the performance of the motor. In this work a steady state coupled d-q model which takes into account these non linearities is presented. An interior PM synchronous machine is analyzed in finite elements (FE) and the flux linkages as function of current amplitude and load angle are obtained. Then, analyzing these results a non-linear d-q model is proposed.
Inhibition of AAK1 Kinase as a Novel Therapeutic Approach to Treat Neuropathic Pain

To identify novel targets for neuropathic pain, 3097 mouse knockout lines were tested in acute and persistent pain behavior assays. One of the lines from this screen, which contained a null allele of the adapter protein-2 associated kinase 1 (AAK1) gene, had a normal response in acute pain assays (hot plate, phase I formalin), but a markedly reduced response to persistent pain in phase II formalin. AAK1 knockout mice also failed to develop tactile allodynia following the Chung procedure of spinal nerve ligation (SNL). Based on these findings, potent, small-molecule inhibitors of AAK1 were identified. Studies in mice showed that one such inhibitor, LP-935509, caused a reduced pain response in phase II formalin and reversed fully established pain behavior following the SNL procedure. Further studies showed that the inhibitor also reduced evoked pain responses in the rat chronic constriction injury (CCI) model and the rat streptozotocin model of diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Using a nonbrain-penetrant AAK1 inhibitor and local administration of an AAK1 inhibitor, the relevant pool of AAK1 for antineuropathic action was found to be in the spinal cord. Consistent with these results, AAK1 inhibitors dose-dependently reduced the increased spontaneous neural activity in the spinal cord caused by CCI and blocked the development of windup induced by repeated electrical stimulation of the paw. The mechanism of AAK1 antinociception was further investigated with inhibitors of α2 adrenergic and opioid receptors. These studies showed that α2 adrenergic receptor inhibitors, but not opioid receptor inhibitors, not only prevented AAK1 inhibitor antineuropathic action in behavioral assays, but also blocked the AAK1 inhibitor–induced reduction in spinal neural activity in the rat CCI model. Hence, AAK1 inhibitors are a novel therapeutic approach to neuropathic pain with activity in animal models that is mechanistically linked (behaviorally and electrophysiologically) to α2 adrenergic signaling, a pathway known to be antinociceptive in humans.
Elementary Symmetric Polynomials for Optimal Experimental Design

We revisit the classical problem of optimal experimental design (OED) under a new mathematical model grounded in a geometric motivation. Specifically, we introduce models based on elementary symmetric polynomials; these polynomials capture "partial volumes" and offer a graded interpolation between the widely used A-optimal design and D-optimal design models, obtaining each of them as special cases. We analyze properties of our models, and derive both greedy and convex-relaxation algorithms for computing the associated designs. Our analysis establishes approximation guarantees on these algorithms, while our empirical results substantiate our claims and demonstrate a curious phenomenon concerning our greedy method. Finally, as a byproduct, we obtain new results on the theory of elementary symmetric polynomials that may be of independent interest.
Association Between SNPs (rs1533428, rs12994401, rs10202118) on chromosome 2p16.3 and primary open angle glaucoma

Abstract Aims: A meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the association of rs1533428, rs12994401, rs10202118 polymorphism on chromosome 2p16.3 with POAG susceptibility. Methods: Systematic searches were performed on the electronic databases, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed, ISI Web of Knowledge (Version 4.5), Chinese national knowledge infrastructure (CNKI), and Wanfang (Chinese) before March 2014. Overall and subgroup analyses were performed. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to evaluate the strength of associations. Heterogeneity and Sensitivity analysis was also performed. Results: Seven published articles with 25 datasets were included in the meta-analysis. The overall results showed no evidence for significant association of rs1533428, rs12994401, rs10202118 polymorphism with POAG risk in allelic model (rs1533428: OR = 1.23 [1.01, 1.49], p = 0.03; rs12994401: OR = 1.32 [0.96, 1.81], p = 0.08; rs10202118: OR = 0.95 [0.76, 1.20], p = 0.68), and similar results were obtained in the dominant, additive and the recessive models and subgroup analysis based on the ethnicity. Conclusions: Our study indicated that rs1533428, rs12994401, rs10202118 polymorphism on chromosome 2p16.3 might not be a risk factor for POAG. Further studies with well-designed among different ethnicity populations are required.
Seewis virus: phylogeography of a shrew-borne hantavirus in Siberia, Russia.

BACKGROUND Hantaviral antigens were originally reported more than 20 years ago in tissues of the Eurasian common shrew (Sorex araneus), captured in European and Siberian Russia. The recent discovery of Seewis virus (SWSV) in this soricid species in Switzerland provided an opportunity to investigate its genetic diversity and geographic distribution in Russia. METHODS Lung tissues from 45 Eurasian common shrews, 4 Laxmann's shrews (Sorex caecutiens), 3 Siberian large-toothed shrews (Sorex daphaenodon), 9 pygmy shrews (Sorex minutus), 28 tundra shrews (Sorex tundrensis), and 6 Siberian shrews (Crocidura sibirica), captured in 11 localities in Western and Eastern Siberia during June 2007 to September 2008, were analyzed for hantavirus RNA by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS Hantavirus L and S segment sequences, detected in 11 S. araneus, 2 S. tundrensis, and 2 S. daphaenodon, were closely related to SWSV, differing from the prototype mp70 strain by 16.3-20.2% at the nucleotide level and 1.4-1.7% at the amino acid level. Alignment and comparison of nucleotide and amino acid sequences showed an intrastrain difference of 0-11.0% and 0% for the L segment and 0.2-8.5% and 0% for the S segment, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis, using neighbor-joining, maximum-likelihood, and Bayesian methods, showed geographic-specific clustering of SWSV strains in Western and Eastern Siberia. CONCLUSIONS This is the first definitive report of shrew-borne hantaviruses in Siberia, and demonstrates the impressive distribution of SWSV among phylogenetically related Sorex species. Coevolution and local adaptation of SWSV genetic variants in specific chromosomal races of S. araneus may account for their geographic distribution.
Cell Surface Filaments of the Gliding Bacterium Flavobacterium johnsoniae Revealed by Cryo-Electron Tomography

ABSTRACT Flavobacterium johnsoniae cells glide rapidly over surfaces by an as-yet-unknown mechanism. Using cryo-electron tomography, we show that wild-type cells display tufts of ∼5-nm-wide cell surface filaments that appear to be anchored to the inner surface of the outer membrane. These filaments are absent in cells of a nonmotile gldF mutant but are restored upon expression of plasmid-encoded GldF, a component of a putative ATP-binding cassette transporter.
Preferences and Willingness to Pay for Green Hotel Attributes in Tourist Choice Behavior: The Case of Taiwan

ABSTRACT Although many companies in the hotel industry aim to pursue more sustainable and socially responsible practices, the present literature shows mixed results with regard to tourist reactions to such moves, especially for the service quality perception impacted by implemented green practices and the willingness to pay more for such actions. Unlike previous research examining tourists’ preferences for separate green hotel attributes, this study identifies the determinants of tourists’ choice of green hotel attributes. Additionally, the study measures the willingness to pay (WTP) for such services, in the context of the Taiwanese market, using the stated preference of combined green hotel attribute scenarios. A multinomial logit (MNL) model is employed to estimate the relative influence of behavioral and facility attributes on choice behavior. Furthermore, the study examines determinants influencing respondents’ choice of green hotel attributes. A latent variable class model (LVCM) approach is applied in the estimation of the unobserved heterogeneity, and a total of 390 valid respondents were used in the analysis. The empirical MNL results indicate that while tourists prefer luxury rooms and the provision of personal toiletries, they are also willing to accept reduced service quality. Additionally, sex, income, and age have significant influences on tourist choice behavior. The results of the LVCM model demonstrate that respondents with high levels of the green consumption trait are more likely to choose hotels that have a greater number of environmentally friendly attributes. The implicit amount that tourists are willing to pay for room quality is around US$13, for the provision of personal toiletries is about US$22, and for service quality is US$12, but they also require a discount of approximately US$11 in order to accept the common practices of green hotels. This study is useful in providing the hotel industry and government with quantitative information that can be used to develop and implement better green hotel policies.