Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Conformal UWB impulse antenna for pipe telemetry

The fidelity factor of a directional UWB antenna has been investigated for communicating telemetry data from a pipe that can contain liquids. The impedance match and the radiation patterns the antipodal Vivaldi design have been optimized for a 3.1–10.6 GHz bandwidth. The mechanical properties of the substrate material permit limited flexing and in this case, it is curved around the transverse axis of a 56 mm diameter pipe. An initial frequency domain analysis is extended with the study of a 7.5 GHz bandwidth pulse centred at 6.85 GHz. The fidelity factor of the antenna in a free-space environment was measured for comparison with the pipe-mounted setup. The proximity of the antenna and pipe is studied for signal degradation, as is the performance for empty and water-filled conditions.
The protective effect of farm animal exposure on childhood allergy is modified by NPSR1 polymorphisms

Background: Little is known about the asthma candidate gene neuropeptide S receptor 1 (NPSR1) in relation to environmental exposures, but recent evidences suggest its role as an effect modifier. Objectives: To explore the interaction between NPSR1 polymorphisms and environmental exposures related to farming lifestyle and to study the in vitro effects of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation on NPSR1 expression levels. Methods: We studied 3113 children from PARSIFAL, a European cross-sectional study on environmental/lifestyle factors and childhood allergy, partly focused on children brought up on a farm. Information on exposures and outcomes was primarily obtained from parental questionnaires. Seven tagging polymorphisms were analysed in a conserved haplotype block of NPSR1. Multivariate logistic regression was used to evaluate a multiplicative model of interaction. NPSR1 protein and messenger RNA (mRNA) levels in monocytes were measured after LPS stimulation by fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results: A strong interaction was seen between current regular contact to farm animals and several NPSR1 polymorphisms, particularly rs323922 and rs324377 (p<0.005), with respect to allergic symptoms. Considering the timing of initiation of such current regular farm animal contact, significant interactions with these and two additional polymorphisms (SNP546333, rs740347) were revealed. In response to LPS, NPSR1-A protein levels in monocytes were upregulated (p = 0.002), as were NPSR1-A mRNA levels (p = 0.02). Conclusions: The effect of farm animal contact on the development of allergic symptoms in children is modified by NPSR1 genetic background.
Site-specific O-Glycosylation on the MUC2 Mucin Protein Inhibits Cleavage by the Porphyromonas gingivalis Secreted Cysteine Protease (RgpB)

Background: MUC2 polymers form the mucus layer of colon that separates luminal bacteria from the epithelium. Results: P. gingivalis secrets a protease that cleaves the MUC2 mucin, a cleavage modulated by O-glycosylation. Conclusion: Bacteria can disrupt the MUC2 polymer via proteolytic cleavage. However, O-glycosylation can inhibit this process. Significance: Bacteria can dissolve the protective inner mucus layer, potentially triggering colitis. The colonic epithelial surface is protected by an inner mucus layer that the commensal microflora cannot penetrate. We previously demonstrated that Entamoeba histolytica secretes a protease capable of dissolving this layer that is required for parasite penetration. Here, we asked whether there are bacteria that can secrete similar proteases. We screened bacterial culture supernatants for such activity using recombinant fragments of the MUC2 mucin, the major structural component, and the only gel-forming mucin in the colonic mucus. MUC2 has two central heavily O-glycosylated mucin domains that are protease-resistant and has cysteine-rich N and C termini responsible for polymerization. Culture supernatants of Porphyromonas gingivalis, a bacterium that secretes proteases responsible for periodontitis, cleaved the MUC2 C-terminal region, whereas the N-terminal region was unaffected. The active enzyme was isolated and identified as Arg-gingipain B (RgpB). Two cleavage sites were localized to IR↓TT and NR↓QA. IR↓TT cleavage will disrupt the MUC2 polymers. Because this site has two potential O-glycosylation sites, we tested whether recombinant GalNAc-transferases (GalNAc-Ts) could glycosylate a synthetic peptide covering the IRTT sequence. Only GalNAc-T3 was able to glycosylate the second Thr in IRTT, rendering the sequence resistant to cleavage by RgpB. Furthermore, when GalNAc-T3 was expressed in CHO cells expressing the MUC2 C terminus, the second threonine was glycosylated, and the protein became resistant to RgpB cleavage. These findings suggest that bacteria can produce proteases capable of dissolving the inner protective mucus layer by specific cleavages in the MUC2 mucin and that this cleavage can be modulated by site-specific O-glycosylation.
Finding Core Topics: Topic Extraction with Clustering on Tweet

Twitter is one of the most popular microblogging services that lets users post short text called Tweet. Tweet is distinguished from conventional text data in that it is typically composed of short and informal message, and it makes typical text analysis methods do not work well. Accordingly, extracting meaningful topics from tweets brings up new challenges. In this work, we propose a simple and novel method called Core-Topic-based Clustering (CTC), which extracts topics and cluster tweets simultaneously based on the clustering principles: minimizing the inter-cluster similarity and maximizing the intra-cluster similarity. Experimental results show that our method efficiently extracts meaningful topics, and the clustering performance is better than K-means algorithm.
Behind the high-tech fetish: Children, work and media use across classes in India

A dearth of media might seem idyllic to urban parents tired of being pestered for an iPad or the latest game. But given the increasing focus amongst Western scholars and educators on theorising digital media as a conduit to conviviality, creativity and civic participation, insights can be gained from the lives and narratives of media-rich and media-deprived children in areas of the global south. Using original observations and in-depth qualitative interviews with rural and urban Indian children aged 9–17, this article discusses the media, work, learning and anxieties they face in everyday life. These data are analysed drawing on frameworks developed to understand child work and children’s agency in the fields of critical sociology and social anthropology. Findings suggest the need for a revised analysis of media use and cultural meaning in middle and low income contexts as strongly inflected by children’s social class, their responsibilities, labour, contextual knowledge and embeddedness in diverse non-mediated communities.
A Comparison of Hand-Assisted and Pure Laparoscopic Techniques in Live Donor Nephrectomy

PURPOSE To compare hand-assisted laparoscopic donor nephrectomy and pure laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy techniques in live donor nephrectomy. METHODS In this retrospective study, we included all patients submitted to hand-assisted laparoscopic donor nephrectomy and pure laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy between May 2002 and December 2007. The operative data and post-operative courses were reviewed. Information was collected on the operative time, warm ischemia time, estimated blood loss, intra-operative complications, time to first oral intake, length of hospital stay, and post-operative complications. The data were analyzed using Student’s t –tests and Fisher exact tests as appropriate, with statistical significance defined as p < 0.05. RESULTS The means of the operative duration, warm ischemia time and intra-operative bleeding were 83 min, 3.6 min and 130.9 cc, respectively, for hand-assisted laparoscopic donor nephrectomy, and 78.4 min, 2.5 min and 98.9 cc, respectively, for pure laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy (p=0.29, p<0.0001 and p=0.08, respectively). Intra-operative complications occurred in 6% of patients submitted to hand-assisted laparoscopic donor nephrectomy and in 4.5% of those submitted to pure laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy (p=0.68). Only one patient from each group required conversion to open surgery; one person receiving hand-assisted laparoscopic donor nephrectomy had bleeding and one person receiving pure laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy had low carbon dioxide levels during the warm ischemia period. Compared with patients receiving hand-assisted laparoscopic donor nephrectomy, patients submitted to pure laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy were able to take their first meal earlier (12.5 vs. 9.2 hours, p=0.046), were discharged home sooner (2.8 vs. 1.4 days, p<0.0001) and had fewer post-operative complications (7.5% vs. 0.6%, p=0.04). CONCLUSIONS Pure laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy had some advantages over hand-assisted laparoscopic donor nephrectomy in terms of the warm ischemia time, time to first oral intake, length of hospital stay, and post-operative donor complications.
Companion modelling approach: the AtollGame experience in Tarawa atoll (RePublic of Kiribati)

Low coral islands are heavily dependent on groundwater for freshwater supplies. The availability, quality, and management of groundwater are central to sustainable development and poverty alleviation in many developing small island nations. The declaration by the Government of Kiribati of water reserves on the atoll of Tarawa, over privately owned land, has lead to conflicts, illegal settlements and vandalism of public assets. Beside, the water consumption per capita tends to increase towards western-like standards, threatening the sustainability of the actual exploitation system. Finally, pollution generated by the 45 000 habitants of South Tarawa has already contaminated all the freshwater lenses, with the exception of the existing reserves so far. Our project, called AtollGame, aims at providing the relevant information to the local actors, including institutional and local community representatives in order to facilitate the dialogue and devise together sustainable and equitable water management practices. Multi-Agent Based Simulations (MABS) coupled with a Role-Playing Game have been implemented to fulfil this aim. They have the potential to greatly reduce conflict over natural resource management and resource allocation. In order to collect, understand and merge viewpoints coming from different stakeholders, the following 3-stage methodology is applied: collecting local and expert knowledge, blending the different viewpoints into a gamebased model, playing the game with the different stakeholders in order to explore different scenarii and their simulated outcomes. Although game sessions delivered successful outcomes, the final stage of the project is characterised by the upheaval of contradictory Government stands that undermine the whole process. It is argued that heterogeneous viewpoints may be handled in a satisfactory manner during the gaming sessions, but that longterm hidden agendas may override the outcomes. Beyond the inherent question of legitimacy attached to such approaches, it is clear, from our experience, that some players - especially those representing Government or supra-national institutions - have to deal with constraints that often genuinely first considered as external to the on-going negotiation process. (Resume d'auteur)
Learning in preschool: Teachers’ talk about their work with documentation in Swedish preschools

This article investigates preschool teachers’ professionalism and professional strategies in relation to narratives about learning in preschool. These are expressed through the teachers’ talk about documentation. A policy on increased systematic documentation in preschools has been introduced in Sweden. Preschool teachers were interviewed about their work with documentation in different preschool settings. The analysis departs from theories considering education policy as interpreted and enacted in local contexts and from theories that stress the actor’s perspective on preschool teaching professionalism. Furthermore, the teachers’ references to an institutional narrative about learning are the focus. Institutional narratives that construct breaks and continuities within the institution’s past are referred to in texts and talk within institutions. They are used as a means to govern the institution and by the teachers to position themselves. Results show that the teachers frequently refer to a ‘preschool-kind of learning’ that departs from the children’s interests in their talk about documentation. This, I argue, stands out as a professional strategy that allows teachers to deal with contradictory policies about what should be documented. In their talk about how to conduct documentation, the teachers position themselves as learners. This is a way of ‘doing professionalism’ that allows teachers to deal with demands for accountability in a way that also allows for professional agency.
Quantitative analysis of herpes simplex virus in cranial nerve ganglia

A susceptible individual exposed to herpes simplex virus (HSV) will develop latent infection in multiple cranial nerve ganglia. There are a few quantitative studies of the viral load within the trigeminal ganglion, but none that investigate other cranial nerve ganglia. In this study, human trigeminal, geniculate, vestibular (Scarpa’s) and cochlear (spiral) ganglia were obtained from willed body donors. Real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis of the HSV DNA polymerase gene was performed on ipsilateral ganglion sets from the same individual. Viral load, expressed as HSV genomes per 105 cells, was significantly greater in the vestibular ganglion (mean ± SD, 176705 ± 255916) than in the geniculate (9948 ± 22066), cochlear (3527 ± 9360), or trigeminal (2017 ± 5578) ganglia. There was not a significant correlation among ganglia from the same individual. The results support the hypothesis that neuronal subpopulations have variable susceptibility to HSV infection.
Performance Analysis of Optical Packet Switches equipped with Multicast Wavelength Converters

This paper analyses the performance of an Optical Packet Switch equipped with multicast wavelength converters shared among the arriving packets. The architecture performance is evaluated by means of an analytical model and it is compared to the one of an Optical Packet Switch equipped with unicast wavelength converters. The obtained results show that in a multicast traffic scenario the proposed architecture allows the Wavelength Converters to be saved. In some cases the gain can be in the order of 95%.
Das mentale Lexikon und Vokabellernen in der Grundschule

Das mentale Lexikon wird oft als Reservoir bezeichnet, in dem das Wissen uber alle dem Individuum bekannten Worte der Muttersprache (L1) gespeichert ist. Es gibt verschiedene Modelle des mentalen Lexikons, die versuchen, dieses Wissen in unterschiedlicher Weise abzubilden. Die Modelle variieren insbesondere in Hinblick auf die Art des gespeicherten Wissens und die Verknupfung der kognitiven Informationen untereinander. Daruber hinaus wird diskutiert, ob das mentale Lexikon fur eine Fremdsprache (L2) ein eigenstandiges System ist oder ob es ganz oder teilweise in das Lexikon der L1 integriert ist. In diesem Artikel werden Unterschiede und Gemeinsamkeiten ausgesuchter Modelle sowie deren Implikationen speziell fur den Fruhen Fremdsprachenunterricht aufgezeigt, auf dessen Grundlage eine Interventionsstudie an Grundschulen (in Klasse 3 und 4) durchgefuhrt wurde. In dieser Studie wurden die Versuchsgruppen in einer Weise unterrichtet, die auf Erkenntnissen der kognitiven Linguistik basiert und das Wissen uber das mentale Lexikon im Anfangsunterricht nutzbar machen will.
How controlled release technology can aid gene delivery

Introduction: Many types of gene delivery systems have been developed to enhance the level of gene expression. Controlled release technology is a feasible gene delivery system which enables genes to extend the expression duration by maintaining and releasing them at the injection site in a controlled manner. This technology can reduce the adverse effects by the bolus dose administration and avoid the repeated administration. Biodegradable biomaterials are useful as materials for the controlled release-based gene delivery technology and various biodegradable biomaterials have been developed. Areas covered: Controlled release-based gene delivery plays a critical role in a conventional gene therapy and genetic engineering. In the gene therapy, the therapeutic gene is released from biodegradable biomaterial matrices around the tissue to be treated. On the other hand, the intracellular controlled release of gene from the sub-micro-sized matrices is required for genetic engineering. Genetic engineering is feasible for cell transplantation as well as research of stem cells biology and medicine. Expert opinion: DNA hydrogel containing a sequence of therapeutic gene and the exosome including the individual specific nucleic acids may become candidates for controlled release carriers. Technologies to deliver genes to cell aggregates will play an important role in the promotion of regenerative research and therapy.
Radioimmunoassay for rhesus monkey luteinizing hormone(LH) with anti-ovine LH serum and ovine LH-131-I.

A sensitive and specific radioimmunoassay has been developed for luteinizing hormone (LH) in serum from rhesus monkeys using a unique anti-ovine LH serum (GDN-15) and ovine LH for radioiodination. It did not appear that high levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) or thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) influenced the measurement of LH in this assay. The good agreement between the estimates of LH by radioimmunoassay and by bioassay for a crude pituitary extract suggested that other pituitary factors did not influence the measurement of LH. Exogenous LH could be completely and quantitatively recovered when added to serum. Levels of LH increased in serum following castration of 2 females and decreased to nondetectable levels following 10 days of estrogen treatment of these same animals. There was no detectable activity in serum from some hypophysectomized females, while others had varying amounts of inhibiting material which behaved similarly to highly purified rhesus LH as judged by immunologic, electrop.
THE VALIDITY OF CLINICAL DIFFERENTIATION BETWEEN ANXIETY AND DEPRESSIVE NEUROSES BY FACTOR ANALYSIS

SUMMARY Ninety subjects consisting of 30 patients of generalized anxiety disorder, 30 of dysthymic disorder (depressive neurosis) according to D. S. M. III criteria and 30 patients of mixed anxiety-depressive disorder were given a detailed psychiatric examination, in addition, they were administered the Humilton rating scales for anxiety and depression, and also the Taylor manifest anxiety scale and Amritsar depressive inventory. All the symptoms elicited were then subjected to factor analysis, five factors were isolated-two of them co-relating with the depressive rating scales and three with the anxiety rating scales. However there was considerable overlap with anxious mood having highest loading on the depressive factor. Thus anxiety and depression could not be isolated as distinct entities factorially.
Cuestionario de Burnout para amas de casa (CUBAC): evaluación de sus propiedades psicométricas y del Modelo Secuencial de Burnout

The researches about burnout have been extended to different populations; nevertheless, we did not find an instrument to measure burnout in housewives. Thus, the aim of this paper was to evaluate psychometric properties of Burnout questionnaire to housewives (CUBAC), designed by authors taking in consideration the Short questionnaire of burnout and also to evaluate goodness of fit of theoretical model behind questionnaires. Results about 200 housewives showed an adequate reliability, evidence of validity comparing with stress perceived scale and acceptable goodness of fit in the structural model analyzed
The effects of deception on pacing strategy, perceptional responses and performance during cycling time trials

The regulation of work-rate during self-paced exercise has become a favoured topic in exercise sciences in the mechanistic investigation of fatigue. Deception has emerged as a common, practical strategy which involves the manipulation of key variables during exercise. The intentions of deception studies have typically been to explore the mechanisms of pacing behaviour and to investigate the practical implications for athletic performance. A lack of experimental consideration, however, has pertained to the importance of perceptual experiences within exercise regulation and deception research. The purpose of this research was to examine the interaction of perceptual and performance responses in self-paced cycling time trials (TT), and the effects of deception on these responses. Study 1 examined pacing strategy and the associated changes in perceptual and physiological responses during both 16.1 and 40 km cycling TTs. The work demonstrated that affect was strongly negatively associated with power output, more significantly so in a 16.1 than a 40 km TT. Studies 2 and 3 adopted deceptive strategies, using cyclists’ knowledge of their own previous performance, to explore the importance of these beliefs on pacing behaviour and perceptual experiences during 16.1 km TTs. This was achieved by manipulating the visual feedback of an avatar which depicted the cyclists’ previous TT performance. Prior research has most commonly explored the acute effects of deceptive exposures, therefore these studies were designed to examine both acute and residual effects. The findings support the acute facilitative effects of visual feedback on performance outcomes, but did not demonstrate an influence of deception. Furthermore, no residual performance effects were evidenced, as the improvements in performance were not sustained in a subsequent TT. These studies provide a novel insight into the effects of this feedback provision on perceptual experiences during self-paced endurance exercise. They demonstrate that affect, perceived exertion and self-efficacy are differentially influenced by the nature of the feedback provided and are therefore important constructs to consider in future research in this area.
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— Trademarks are signs of high reputational value. Thus, they require protection. This paper studies conceptual similarities between trademarks, which occurs when two or more trademarks evoke identical or analogous semantic content. The paper advances the state-of-the-art by proposing a computational approach based on semantics that can be used to compare trademarks for conceptual similarity. A trademark retrieval algorithm is developed that employs natural language processing techniques and an external knowledge source in the form of a lexical ontology. The search and indexing technique developed uses similarity distance, which is derived using Tversky's theory of similarity. The proposed retrieval algorithm is validated using two resources: a trademark database of 1,400 disputed cases and a database of 378,943 company names. The accuracy of the algorithm is estimated using measures from two different domains: the R-precision score, which is commonly used in information retrieval, and human judgment/collective human opinion, which is used in human-machine systems.