Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Environmental impact of bioplastic blends

Since the enormous and growing demand of plastics is a reality, the importance of the sustainability of these products is essential to the environmental conservation, from its very origin to its degradation, going through its manufacturing process. As common plastics (petro-based polymers) are made from fuel fossils, their production actively contributes to the carbon dioxide emissions, aggravating climate change. In this scenario, biobased polymers (bioplastics) seem to be eco-friendlier alternatives that will be consolidating its place in the market. In the recent years, many research and development resources have been invested in this field. But a biobased polymer is instantly better for the environment than its petroleum based alternative? How do we compare the impact of these two? The present project centers on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the production of REX-PLA (polylactide acid modified by reactive extrusion) done in a pilot plant. Furthermore, it assesses the impact and sustainability of industrial interest blends of REX-PLA with other polymers – in particular with acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and two biobased polyamides (bio-PAs): PA 610 and PA 1010. Once described the theoretical foundations to understand the project, the methodology involves selecting and computing different sustainability and environmental impact indicators to assess the environmental effect for the transformation processes done to the different blends. Afterwards, adding up the eco-profiles (cradle-to-gate LCA) of the materials to these results, it is possible to compare the total environmental impact of the different industrial interest blends with its origin polymer (ABS, PA 610 or PA 1010) to determine if, from an environmental point of view, it is worth the production of these blends in larger scales. In the case of REX-PLA/ABS blend, transformation processes done in the pilot plant, turn into a greater impact for the environment than ABS alone, which proves that it is essential to integrate LCA practice throughout the development of environmentally friendlier products. On the contrary, both biobased polyamides blends with REX-PLA are found to be significantly ecologically-friendlier than the respective polyamides alone. In particular, a kilogram (kg) of REX-PLA/PA 610 blend requires 32.7 % less water and 24.5 % less energy to be produced than a kg of PA 610; and a kg of REX-PLA/PA 1010 blend requires 26.9 % less water and 41.4 % less energy to be produced than a kg of PA 1010.
Changing measurements or changing movements? Sampling scale and movement model identifiability across generations of biologging technology

Abstract Animal movement patterns contribute to our understanding of variation in breeding success and survival of individuals, and the implications for population dynamics. Over time, sensor technology for measuring movement patterns has improved. Although older technologies may be rendered obsolete, the existing data are still valuable, especially if new and old data can be compared to test whether a behavior has changed over time. We used simulated data to assess the ability to quantify and correctly identify patterns of seabird flight lengths under observational regimes used in successive generations of wet/dry logging technology. Care must be taken when comparing data collected at differing timescales, even when using inference procedures that incorporate the observational process, as model selection and parameter estimation may be biased. In practice, comparisons may only be valid when degrading all data to match the lowest resolution in a set. Changes in tracking technology, such as the wet/dry loggers explored here, that lead to aggregation of measurements at different temporal scales make comparisons challenging. We therefore urge ecologists to use synthetic data to assess whether accurate parameter estimation is possible for models comparing disparate data sets before planning experiments and conducting analyses such as responses to environmental changes or the assessment of management actions.
A Unified Sparse Matrix Data Format for Efficient General Sparse Matrix-Vector Multiplication on Modern Processors with Wide SIMD Units

Sparse matrix-vector multiplication (spMVM) is the most time-consuming kernel in many numerical algorithms and has been studied extensively on all modern processor and accelerator architectures. However, the optimal sparse matrix data storage format is highly hardware-specific, which could become an obstacle when using heterogeneous systems. Also, it is as yet unclear how the wide single instruction multiple data (SIMD) units in current multi- and many-core processors should be used most efficiently if there is no structure in the sparsity pattern of the matrix. We suggest SELL-$C$-$\sigma$, a variant of Sliced ELLPACK, as a SIMD-friendly data format which combines long-standing ideas from general-purpose graphics processing units and vector computer programming. We discuss the advantages of SELL-$C$-$\sigma$ compared to established formats like Compressed Row Storage and ELLPACK and show its suitability on a variety of hardware platforms (Intel Sandy Bridge, Intel Xeon Phi, and Nvidia Tesla K20) for a wi.
Notch1 confers a resistance to glucocorticoid-induced apoptosis on developing thymocytes by down-regulating SRG3 expression

We previously have reported that SRG3 is required for glucocorticoid (GC)-induced apoptosis in the S49.1 thymoma cell line. Activation of Notch1 was shown to induce GC resistance in thymocytes. However, the specific downstream target of Notch1 that confers GC resistance on thymocytes is currently unknown. We found that the expression level of SRG3 was critical in determining GC sensitivity in developing thymocytes. The expression of SRG3 also was down-regulated by the activated form of Notch1 (NotchIC). The promoter activity of the SRG3 gene also was down-regulated by NotchIC. Expression of transgenic SRG3 resulted in the restoration of GC sensitivity in thymocytes expressing transgenic Notch1. These results suggest that SRG3 is the downstream target of Notch1 in regulating GC sensitivity of thymocytes.
Evolution of 17 b-HSD type 4 , a multifunctional protein of b-oxidation

17b-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 4 (17b-HSD4) is the most unusual among human 17b-HSDs. It is characterized by a multidomain structure, in which the dehydrogenase domain is fused to a hydratase and a lipid transfer domain. 17b-HSD4 not only inactivates estradiol by conversion to estrone but its three protein domains also participate in successive steps of peroxisomal b-oxidation of longand branched-chain fatty acids. We have compared the genomic structure of human 17b-HSD4 and several homologous genes from lower animals and fungi. Our data suggest an evolutionary scenario for the three protein domains and indicate a highly dynamic history of the enzyme but also a very high conservation of multifunctionality. This suggests that the main function of human 17b-HSD4 is still its involvement in fatty-acid metabolism, while steroid conversion is only a secondary and possibly minor activity in vivo. © 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
R&D and Technology Spillovers Via FDI: Innovation and Absorptive Capacity

Two faces of R&D (innovation and learning) and technology spillovers from FDI (foreign direct investment) on a firm's productivity growth are examined in this paper. Using firm-level panel data on Czech manufacturing firms between 1995 and 1998, I find that: (i) the learning effect of R&D is far more important than the innovative effect in explaining the productivity growth of a firm, (ii) there is no evidence of technology spillovers to local firms from having a foreign joint venture partner, (iii) positive spillovers from FDI are found in electrical machinery and radio & TV sectors, which are also active investors in innovative R&D.
The somatic generation of immune recognition

Antibody specificity is determined by structural v‐genes that code for the amino acid sequences of the variable regions of antibody polypeptide chains. The present hypothesis proposes that the germ‐cells of an animal carry a set of v‐genes determining the combining sites of antibodies directed against a complete set of certain class of histocompatibility antigens of the species to which this animal belongs. The evolutionary development of this set of v‐genes in phylogeny is traced back to the requirements for cell to cell recognition in all metazoa. The hypothesis leads to a distinction between two populations of antigen‐sensitive cells. One population consists of cells forming antibodies against foreign antigens; these lymphocytes have arisen as mutants in clones descending from lymphocytic stem cells which expressed v‐genes belonging to the subset (subset S) coding for antibody against histocompatibility antigens that the individual happens to possess. The other population consists of allograft rejecting lymphocytes that express v‐genes of the remaining subset (subset A) coding for antibody against histocompatibility antigens of the species that the individual does not possess. The primary lymphoid organs are viewed as mutant‐breeding organs. In these organs (e.g. in the thymus), the proliferation of lymphocytes expressing the v‐genes of subset S and the subsequent suppression of the cells of these "forbidden" clones, leads to the selection of mutants cells expressing v‐genes that have been modified by spontaneous random somatic mutation. This process generates self‐tolerance as well as a diverse population of antigen‐sensitive cells that reflects antibody diversity. The proliferation in the primary lymphoid organs of lymphocytes expressing v‐genes of subset A generates the antigen‐sensitive cell population that is responsible for allo‐aggression.
Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia at 5 US academic medical centers, 2008-2011: significant geographic variation in community-onset infections.

BACKGROUND The incidence of community-onset (CO) methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteremia rose from the late 1990s through the 2000s. However, hospital-onset (HO) MRSA rates have recently declined in the United States and Europe. METHODS Data were abstracted from infection prevention databases between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2011 at 5 US academic medical centers to determine the number of single-patient blood cultures positive for MRSA and methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) per calendar year, stratified into CO and HO infections. RESULTS Across the 5 centers, 4171 episodes of bacteremia were identified. Center A (Los Angeles, California) experienced a significant decline in CO-MRSA bacteremia rates (from a peak in 2009 of 0.42 to 0.18 per 1000 patient-days in 2011 [P = .005]), whereas CO-MSSA rates remained stable. Centers B (San Francisco, California), D (Chicago, Illinois), and E (Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina) experienced a stable incidence of CO-MRSA and CO-MSSA bacteremia. In contrast, at center C (New York, New York), the incidence of CO-MRSA increased >3-fold (from 0.11 to 0.34 cases per 1000 patient-days [P < .001]). At most of the sites, HO-MRSA decreased and HO-MSSA rates were stable. USA300 accounted for 52% (104/202) of genotyped MRSA isolates overall, but this varied by center, ranging from 35% to 80%. CONCLUSIONS CO-MRSA rates and the contribution of USA300 MRSA varied dramatically across diverse geographical areas in the United States. Enhanced infection control efforts are unlikely to account for such variation in CO infection rates. Bioecological and clinical explanations for geographical differences in CO-MRSA bacteremia rates merit further study.
Active Coping, Personal Satisfaction, and Attachment to Land in Older African-American Farmers

Elevated suicide mortality rates have been reported for farmers and for the elderly. Very little literature exists that looks at the health of older minority farmers. This mixed-method study describes older African-American farmers (N = 156) in the contexts of active coping, personal satisfaction from farm work, and attachment to their farmland to provide insight into the psychosocial dimensions of their mental health. Findings show that the farmers have positive perspectives on work and farm future, and strong attachment to the land. Differences were noted by gender. Nurses can use these findings to frame culturally appropriate strategies for aging farmers to maximize positive outcomes.
Design and fabrication of a sandwich framed focal plane array for uncooled infrared imaging

This paper reports a novel infrared (IR) focal plane array (FPA) by using SiN<sub>x</sub>/SiO<sub>2</sub>/SiN<sub>x</sub> sandwich structure as the frames of bimaterial cantilever pixels, and which have sufficient supporting intensity to avoid the fracture and bending of the focal plane. The device was fabricated with a bulk silicon process, where a trench backfill technique was employed to form the SiN<sub>x</sub>/SiO<sub>2</sub>/SiN<sub>x</sub> sandwiched frames. By replacing the silicon frame with SiN<sub>x</sub>/SiO<sub>2</sub>/SiN<sub>x</sub> frame, the fill factor of the FPA is increased to 42%. Meanwhile, the reliability and uniformity of the FPA were improved with a design of staggered arrangement of cantilever pixels. Thermal images of human bodies were captured successfully with the FPA at room temperature.
Childhood Bullying Victimization and Overweight in Young Adulthood: A Cohort Study

Objective To test whether bullied children have an elevated risk of being overweight in young adulthood and whether this association is: (1) consistent with a dose-response relationship, namely, its strength increases with the chronicity of victimization; (2) consistent across different measures of overweight; (3) specific to bullying and not explained by co-occurring maltreatment; (4) independent of key potential confounders; and (5) consistent with the temporal sequence of bullying preceding overweight. Method A representative birth cohort of 2,232 children was followed to age 18 years as part of the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study. Childhood bullying victimization was reported by mothers and children during primary school and early secondary school. At the age-18 follow-up, we assessed a categorical measure of overweight, body mass index, and waist-hip ratio. Indicators of overweight were also collected at ages 10 and 12. Co-twin body mass and birth weight were used to index genetic and fetal liability to overweight, respectively. Results Bullied children were more likely to be overweight than non-bullied children at age 18, and this association was (1) strongest in chronically bullied children (odds ratio = 1.69; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.21–2.35); (2) consistent across measures of overweight (body mass index: b = 1.12; 95% CI = 0.37–1.87; waist-hip ratio: b = 1.76; 95% CI = 0.84–2.69); (3) specific to bullying and not explained by co-occurring maltreatment; (4) independent of child socioeconomic status, food insecurity, mental health, and cognition, and pubertal development; and (5) not present at the time of bullying victimization, and independent of childhood weight and genetic and fetal liability. Conclusion Childhood bullying victimization predicts overweight in young adulthood.
Contributions of ACE and mast cell chymase to endogenous angiotensin II generation and leucocyte recruitment in vivo.

AIMS In vitro studies suggest that mast cell chymase (MCP) is more important than angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) for generating angiotensin II (Ang II) within the cardiovascular system. We investigated in vivo the relative contributions of ACE and MCP to leucocyte recruitment induced by endogenously generated Ang II. METHODS AND RESULTS Exposure of the murine cremasteric microcirculation of C57BL/6 mice to Ang I (100 nM for 4 h) induced leucocyte-endothelium interactions. Either losartan (an Ang II receptor-1 antagonist, AT(1)) or enalapril (an ACE inhibitor), but not chymostatin (a chymase inhibitor), inhibited Ang I-induced responses. Mast cell degranulation with compound 48/80 (CMP48/80, 1 μg/mL) also induced leucocyte adhesion but this was only weakly affected by the inhibitors. When Ang I and CMP48/80 were co-administered, AT(1B) receptor expression was increased, MCP-4 was found surrounding the vessel wall, and ACE was detected in the endothelium. Ang I + CMP48/80 induced enhanced leucocyte adhesion that was attenuated by losartan, enalapril, enalapril + chymostatin, and cromolyn (a mast cell stabilizer). The use of male mast cell-deficient WBB6F1/J-Kit(w)/Kit(w-v) mice (C57BL/6 background) confirmed these findings. CONCLUSION In vivo, Ang II is primarily generated by ACE under basal conditions, but in inflammatory conditions, the release of MCP amplifies local Ang II concentrations and the associated inflammatory process. Thus, AT(1) receptor antagonists may be more effective than ACE inhibitors for treating ongoing Ang II-mediated vascular inflammation.
Phytoplankton size structure and water column metabolic balance in a coastal upwelling system: the Ría de Vigo, NW Iberia

The metabolic balance between gross primary production (GPP) and community respi- ration and its relationship with the plankton community structure was investigated in the Ria de Vigo, in the coastal upwelling system of the NW Iberian Peninsula. Measurements of in situ GPP, dark com- munity respiration (DCR), size-fractionated biomass, size-fractionated primary production ( 14 C PP) and GPP from photosynthetic-irradiance incubations ( 14 C PPP-I) were carried out in the Ria de Vigo between April 2004 and January 2005. Seasonal patterns of phytoplankton biomass and primary pro- duction were in phase with one another. The highest 14 C PP and biomass values, accounting mainly for the large-size phytoplankton (>20 µm), were observed under upwelling-favourable conditions (spring and summer). Minimum values of 14 C PP and phytoplankton biomass were registered in win- ter with a shift to small phytoplankton dominance (>80%). Integrated water column DCR varied between a summer maximum of 132 mmol O2 m -2 d -1 and a winter minimum of 31 mmol O2 m -2 d -1 . Community respiration was significantly related to primary production for the 2 upwelling cruises, pointing to a close coupling between these processes. However, no direct relationship was found for the other periods. Our results suggest that the water column metabolic balance inside the Ria de Vigo is dependent on phytoplankton size structure. The autotrophy degree of the system is high when the contribution of large-size phytoplankton is dominant, whereas it is almost in balance when the small phytoplankton fraction prevails.
Duration of Immunity against Mycobacterium bovis following Neonatal Vaccination with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin Danish: Significant Protection against Infection at 12, but Not 24, Months

ABSTRACT Vaccination of neonatal calves with Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) induces a significant degree of protection against bovine tuberculosis, caused by infection with virulent M. bovis. In two independent experiments, we assessed the duration of the protective immunity induced in calves by neonatal vaccination with BCG Danish. Protection from disease was assessed at 12 and 24 months postvaccination in cattle challenged via the endotracheal route with M. bovis. We also assessed antigen-specific immune responses to assess their utility as correlates of protection. At 12 months postvaccination, significant reductions in lung and lymph node pathologies were observed compared to nonvaccinated M. bovis-challenged control cattle. At 24 months post-BCG vaccination, there was a reduction in lung and lymph node pathology scores and in bacterial burden. However, when comparing vaccinated and control groups, this did not reach statistical significance. Vaccination induced long-lived antigen (purified protein derivative [PPD])-specific gamma interferon (IFN-γ) release in whole-blood cultures, which remained above baseline levels for more than 20 months (approximately 90 weeks). The number of antigen-specific IFN-γ-secreting central memory T cells present at the time of M. bovis challenge was significantly higher in vaccinated than in control animals at 12 months postvaccination, but not at 24 months. Vaccination of neonatal calves with BCG Danish induced protective immune responses against bovine TB which were maintained for at least 12 months postvaccination. These studies provide data on the immunity induced by BCG vaccination in calves; the results could inform vaccination strategies for the control of bovine TB in United Kingdom cattle herds.
SemQL: a semantic query language for multidatabase systems

An essential prerequisite to achieving interoperability in multidatabase systems is to be able to identify semantically equivalent or related data items in component databases. Another problem in multidatabase systems is allowing users to handle information from different databases that refer to the same realworld entity. In this paper, we provide semantic networks so that multidatabase systems can detect and resolve semantic heterogeneities among component databases. And we provide a semantic query language, SemQL, to capture the concepts about what users want. It enables users to issue queries to a large number of autonomous databases without prior knowledge of their schemas.
Measuring temporal variation in presence during game playing

A human-factors experiment has examined the effects of different sorts of technical anomalies, or breaks in presence(BIP), on user experience. Four different types of anomaly were investigated in an order-balanced experiment over two game types (violent versus non-violent game). A population of 36 volunteer participants was divided into two groups according to which game type they played first. After each game, participants were asked to rate the impact of the anomalies on their feelings of presence in the game experience and also of their effect on the recovery time by a video-cued slider rating method. There is evidence that participants feel different levels of impact and recovery from different sorts of technical anomalies. Most of all, the impact of BIP significantly depends on game mode; however there was no significant difference of recovery between the two groups. The additional results also indicate that BIP events occurred during the VR experience apart from those induced as part of the experimental design.
Minimum entropy pursuit: Noise analysis

Universal compressed sensing algorithms recover a “structured” signal from its under-sampled linear measurements, without knowing its distribution. The recently developed minimum entropy pursuit (MEP) optimization suggests a framework for developing universal compressed sensing algorithms. In the noiseless setting, among all signals that satisfy the measurement constraints, MEP seeks the “simplest”. In this work, the effect of noise on the performance of the relaxed version of MEP optimization, namely Lagrangian-MEP, is studied. It is proved that the performance the Lagrangian-MEP algorithm is robust to small additive noise.
A fast new algorithm for weak graph regularity

Abstract We provide a deterministic algorithm that finds, in ɛ-O(1) n 2 time, an ɛ-regular Frieze–Kannan partition of a graph on n vertices. The algorithm outputs an approximation of a given graph as a weighted sum of ɛ-O(1) many complete bipartite graphs. As a corollary, we give a deterministic algorithm for estimating the number of copies of H in an n-vertex graph G up to an additive error of at most ɛn v(H) , in time ɛ-O H(1) n 2.
Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood

Alternating hemiplegia of childhood is a neurological condition characterized by recurrent episodes of temporary paralysis, often affecting one side of the body (hemiplegia). During some episodes, the paralysis alternates from one side of the body to the other or affects both sides at the same time. These episodes begin in infancy or early childhood, usually before 18 months of age, and the paralysis lasts from minutes to days.