Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Generalization of Richardson-Gaudin models to rank-2 algebras

A generalization of Richardson-Gaudin models to the rank-2 SO(5) and SO(3,2) algebras is used to describe systems of two kinds of fermions or bosons interacting through a pairing force. They are applied to the proton-neutron neutron isovector pairing model and to the Interacting Boson Model 2, in the transition from vibration to gamma-soft nuclei, respectively. In both cases, the integrals of motion and their eigenvalues are obtained.
Efficacy of purified antimicrobial peptides from lactic acid bacteria against bovine mastitis pathogens

A study was carried out to assess the efficacy of purified antimicrobial peptides of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), isolated from partially decayed samples of food items, against selected clinical isolates of mastitis bacterial pathogens, viz., Escherichia coli (E.coli), Staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus) and Streptococcus agalactiae (S.agalactiae). The crude culture extracts (CCE) from LAB isolates were concentrated and purified by salting out method followed by dialysis. Partially purified peptides (Tp-5 CRp-2 CRp-3) from three LAB isolated from tomato and carrot showed a significantly higher inhibitory spectrum, with zone of inhibition ranging from 11.66±0.33 to 12.66±0.33 mm diameter against different test pathogens. The inhibitory efficiency of all the three peptides was found to be significantly superior to the peptides from reference strain Lactococcus lactis NCIM-2114. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the purified peptide samples ranged between 0.79±0.09 to 1.11±0.09 µg/ml against different test pathogens. The activity of peptides was completely lost after treatment with protease, thereby confining their protein character.
Evidence of old soil carbon in grass biosilica particles

Plant biosilica particles (phytoliths) contain small amounts of carbon called phytC. Based on the assumptions that phytC is of photosynthetic origin and a closed system , claims were recently made that phytoliths from grasslands play a significant role in atmospheric CO 2 sequestration. However, anomalous phytC radiocarbon (14 C) 5 dates suggested contributions from a non-photosynthetic source to phytC. Here we address this non-photosynthetic source hypothesis using comparative isotopic measurements (14 C and δ 13 C) of phytC, plant tissues, atmospheric CO 2 , and soil organic matter. State-of-the-art methods assured phytolith purity, while sequential stepwise-combustion revealed complex chemical–thermal decomposability properties of phytC. 10
Numerical Simulation Analysis of the Influence of Underground Pipeline by Shield Construction

This test using MIDAS/GTS simulated the effect of shield tunnel excavation on the surrounding pipeline. Numerical analysis of the soil is using Mohr Coulomb model and the pipe and lining Linear elastic model. In the process of simulation, the tunnel stress gradually release are considered and the linings are added gradually at the same time. Fully considering the shield advance displacement of the pipeline to a different location and give full consideration to the shield construction influence on displacement of different buried depth of underground pipeline. The results show that the settlement of pipeline meet certain changes while tunnel excavation to different distances. When the line is not at the same time with the relative position of the tunnel, the settlement of pipeline have relatively obvious changes.
Multi-source SO 2 emission retrievals and consistency of satellite and surface measurements with reported emissions

Abstract. Reported sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions from US and Canadian sources have declined dramatically since the 1990s as a result of emission control measures. Observations from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA's Aura satellite and ground-based in situ measurements are examined to verify whether the observed changes from SO2 abundance measurements are quantitatively consistent with the reported changes in emissions. To make this connection, a new method to link SO2 emissions and satellite SO2 measurements was developed. The method is based on fitting satellite SO2 vertical column densities (VCDs) to a set of functions of OMI pixel coordinates and wind speeds, where each function represents a statistical model of a plume from a single point source. The concept is first demonstrated using sources in North America and then applied to Europe. The correlation coefficient between OMI-measured VCDs (with a local bias removed) and SO2 VCDs derived here using reported emissions for 1° by 1° gridded data is 0.91 and the best-fit line has a slope near unity, confirming a very good agreement between observed SO2 VCDs and reported emissions. Having demonstrated their consistency, seasonal and annual mean SO2 VCD distributions are calculated, based on reported point-source emissions for the period 1980–2015, as would have been seen by OMI. This consistency is further substantiated as the emission-derived VCDs also show a high correlation with annual mean SO2 surface concentrations at 50 regional monitoring stations.
A New Two-dimensional Stiffness Model of Hemispherical Soft Fingertip

Soft fingertip has been considered as a key factor in the study of dexterous robot hand because it largely expands the operational capacity and makes the grasping stably. Nevertheless basic stiffness model that can achieve precision description and fast calculation under conditions of nonlinearity property of hemispherical soft fingertip is still needed. In this paper, a new model based on material mechanics is presented, and vertical and horizontal stiffness are derived to construct two-dimensional stiffness in any direction. Logarithmic strain is used to describe Young’s modulus when condition of small strain no longer exists. Finally a high stiffness force-displacement platform is used to experimentally verify the vertical stiffness. And it proves that the modelling method can be effectively applied to soft contact mechanics.
Studi Kasus : Australia )

Nowadays, Breaks for Additive Seasonal and Trend (BFAST) method based on time series of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite data is increasingly used to monitor the temporal dynamics of vegetation changes. Nevertheless, sensitivity of the BFAST method for detecting the vegetation cover changes based on the choice of vegetation indices and land cover types has not been widely investigated. Breaks for Additive Seasonal and Trend (BFAST) method has applied to MODIS 16-day Enhance Vegetation Index (EVI) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) composites images (2000-2014) of three land cover types (Urban and Built-Up, Evergreen Broadleaf Forest and Savannah) within Australia. Overall, the number and time of changes detected in the three land cover types differed with both time series data because of the data quality due to the cloud cover. As conclusion, the EVI is more sensitive than NDVI for detecting the seasonal and abrupt changes for the land cover which has the dense vegetation and large canopy background such as evergreen broadleaf forest. Furthermore, NDVI is more reliable to detect the seasonal and abrupt changes that occurred in land cover types which have sparse vegetation such as urban, built-up area
Characterization of rice polyphenol oxidase promoter in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana

Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) enzymes are ubiquitous in plant kingdom and catalyze the oxidation of phenols to highly reactive quinones. The PPO gene plays an important role in plant defense mechanisms against biotic and abiotic stresses but the regulation of PPO promoter in stresses remains unclear. Here Oryza sativa (OsPPO) promoter was fused to firefly Luciferase (LUC) and β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter genes separately to test the effects of wounding, abscisic acid (ABA), and methyl jasmonate (MeJ) applications on PPO promoter induction. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report about rice PPO promoter induction in response to wounding and ABA characterized by RT-PCR. Transcriptional profiling of reporter genes by real-time (RT) PCR in transgenic Arabidopsis revealed ~2.5-fold induction under PPO promoter directed activity in response to ABA treatment. Moreover, a strong induction of 11-fold was observed in response to wounding in reporter gene transcripts under control of OsPPO promoter. Plant cis-acting regulatory DNA elements signal scanning of OsPPO promoter also showed homologies to ABA cis-regulatory element signaling complexes and wound responsive elements (W-boxes) residing within the 1020 bp promoter region. Wound and ABA inducibility of OsPPO promoter is a strong indicator of its role in the plant defense mechanism against abiotic and biotic stresses.
Evaluation of drek, Melia azadirach for the management of fruitflies, Bactrocera tau in tomato

Fruitfly, Bactrocera tau Walker, a devastating pest of tomato. lays eggs inside the fruits rendering them inaccessible to be targeted by insecticides. A study on effectiveness of drek seed kernels extract (DSKE) baits viz; bait I (0.25%DSKE +diet), bait II (0.50%DSKE +diet), bait III (1.0%DSKE +diet) was undertaken under laboratory conditions and compared with conventional poison baits viz; bait IV (0.05%malathion +diet) and bait V (0.1%malathion +diet) being practiced to manage this pest on tomato. The diet constituted of protinex:jaggury (1:1), yeast (5%) and ammonium acetate (0.1%). The bait III was most effective in reducing the egg laying (62.3eggs/10females) followed by bait II and bait I being, 74.1 and 90.3eggs/10females, respectively, as against 165eggs/10females in the control. However, in poison baits V (0.1%malathion +diet) and IV (0.05%malathion +diet), the egg laying recorded was 72.7 and 84.7eggs/10females, respectively. In another set of experiment, the ovipositional deterrency was observed to decrease with the decrease in concentrations of DSKE (aqueous). As drek seed kernels extract reduced the fecundity and deterred oviposion, it can be utilized as one of the biorational components for the management of fruit fly on tomato under field conditions.
Mutant huntingtin induced transfected PC12 cell death by overload of cholesterol.

The present study was to explore whether overload o f cholesterol elicited by Mutant huntingtin (mhtt) may directly induce transfected PC12 cell death. PC12 cells were transfected with huntingtin flanked with normal range of poly-Q (26Q) or mhtt ( 82Q). Expression of mhtt was turned on by addition of doxycycline (Dox). PC12 + Dox, Q26 + Do x and Q82 + Dox were continuously cultured for 60 days to monitor cell survival rate. The amount o f cholesterol induced by mhtt was quantitatively analyzed by fluorescent intensities from filipin sta ining under confocal microscopy. Several key protein levels of huntingtin, caveolin1, and sterol regulatory element-binding proteins (SREBP-2) were determined by western blotting. Our results in dicated that PC12 cells with Q82 were induced death around 25 days. Total numbers of survival cel ls were decreased to 40-50% by the end of 60 days in comparison with PC12 parental cells and Q26 cells. Cholesterol within Q82 cells started to accumulate from Day 18, with cholesterol overloaded around plasma membrane on Day 39, and eventually plasma membrane was collapsed and induce d Q82 cells death on Day 60. Huntingtin and caveolin1 proteins in Q82 cells were greatly increa sed on 60 days; SREBP2 in Q82 cells was significantly cleaved and activated. Our results su ggest that mhtt leads to cholesterol accumulation by over activated SREBP2, which stimulates choleste rol synthesis. The overload of cholesterol causes plasma membrane fragility and eventually ind uces transfected PC12 cell death.
THE ACCEPTANCE AND USE OF LIFE CYCLE COSTING (LCC) AS DECISION SUPPORT TOOL FOR RENOVATION INVESTMENTS

This paper seek to explain why LCC is used or not for renovation projects. The study is based on a theoretical explanation model called the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The model assumes that a number of factors determine whether and when individuals will use a particular technology. Two main components of the model are (1) Perceived usefulness, and (2) Perceived ease of use. The response rate was 32,3%. The results show that the climate in terms of the extent to which LCC is advocated and used by colleagues affects how the individual experience both usefulness and ease of use. Our study also demonstrates that the perceived usefulness, i.e. how well you feel that LCC can be used in your daily work, lays the foundation for if it is perceived as positive to use, and thus also a prerequisite for creating an intention to use and subsequently applying LCC in actual renovation projects. The study shows that the ease of use does not have the same effect.
Active partial eigenvalue assignment for friction-induced vibration using receptance method

Generally, a mechanical system always has symmetric system matrices. Nevertheless, when some non-conservative forces are included, such as friction and aerodynamic force, the symmetry of the stiffness matrix or damping matrix or both violated. Moreover, such an asymmetric system is prone to dynamic instability. Distinct from the eigenvalue assignment for symmetric systems to reassign their natural frequencies, the main purpose of eigenvalue assignment for asymmetric systems is to shift the unstable eigenvalues to the stable region. In this research, only the unstable eigenvalues and eigenvalues which are close to the imaginary axis of the complex eigenvalue plane are assigned due to their predominant influence on the response of the system. The remaining eigenvalues remain unchanged. The state-feedback control gains are obtained by solving the constrained linear least-squares problems in which the linear system matrices are deduced based on the receptance method and the constraint is derived from the unobservability condition. The numerical simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method is capable of partially assigning those targeted eigenvalues of the system for stabilisation.
Phytochemical screening and thin layer chromatography of two medicinal plants: Adansonia digitata (Bombacaceae) and Acacia raddiana (Fabaceae)

Adansonia digitata and Acacia raddiana are two herbs used extensively in Saharan pharmacopoeia. To characterize these two plants in terms of secondary metabolites, qualitative reactions of staining/ precipitation were performed for the different edible organs. The results obtained showed the presence of several types of phenolic compounds; namely tannins, flavonoids, anthocyans, coumarins, and other secondary metabolites such as alkaloids, sterols and terpenes, essential oils, saponins and quinones. The thin layer chromatography (TLC) was performed first to confirm the qualitative characterization of phytochemical screening, second to separate different molecules of each secondary metabolite and show the diversity in metabolite extracts. The TLC results are presented in the form of spots and frontal reports Rfs reflecting the plurality of component molecules in both of studied plants. This diversity of secondary metabolites can be at the origin of the widespread medicinal properties and therapeutic uses of the tested plants.
Evaluation of physiological and biochemical responses of rice (Oryza sativa L.) varieties to salt stress

A hydroponics study for salt tolerance was conducted in ten rice varieties, differing in salt tolerance viz., TRY 1, TRY(R)2, TRY 3 (TNAU, Coimbatore), CSR 13, CSR 27, CSR 30, CSR 36 (CSSRI, Karnal), Ezhome-1 and Ezhome-2 (KAU, Trissur) and IR 29 at seedling stage. The influence of NaCl at 0, 60 and 120 mM concentrations on seedling dry weight, shoot length, photosynthetic rate, superoxide dismutase activity, ascorbate peroxidase activity, malondialdehyde concentration and Na+/K+ ratio was investigated. Increasing salt levels reduced the photosynthetic rate, dry weight and shoot length substantially in rice varieties with greater reduction in the sensitive variety IR 29. The activities of SOD and APX were enhanced in tolerant varieties which contributed to lower lipid peroxidation. The results indicate that a low Na+/K+ ratio along with increased activity of antioxidant enzymes and lower lipid peroxidation may contribute to the NaCl tolerance mechanism in rice varieties.
POLARIZATION SWINGS REVEAL MAGNETIC ENERGY DISSIPATION IN BLAZARS

The polarization signatures of blazar emissions are known to be highly variable. In addition to small fluctuations of the polarization angle around a mean value, large (≳180°) polarization angle swings are sometimes observed. We suggest that such phenomena can be interpreted as arising from light travel time effects within an underlying axisymmetric emission region. We present the first simultaneous fitting of the multi-wavelength spectrum, variability, and time-dependent polarization features of a correlated optical and gamma-ray flaring event of the prominent blazar 3C279, which was accompanied by a drastic change in its polarization signatures. This unprecedented combination of spectral, variability, and polarization information in a coherent physical model allows us to place stringent constraints on the particle acceleration and magnetic field topology in the relativistic jet of a blazar, strongly favoring a scenario in which magnetic energy dissipation is the primary driver of the flare event.
Online Health-information Seeking Behavior among Pregnant Women in Prenatal Clinics at King Saud Medical City, Riyadh

The Internet is becoming indispensable in daily life for many people, and it has changed the way people search for informational, entertainment and communication needs. The use of the Internet to acquire health information is increasingly common. A modified questionnaire drawn from a previous study was used as this study’s instrument. The study was a descriptive cross-sectional study, and the survey was completed by pregnant women in the waiting area of the Prenatal Clinics at King Saud Medical City of 210 questionnaires distributed, 190 were returned and 150 were valid, giving a response rate of 71.4%. The study found that more than half of the respondents were using Google and other research tools to find pregnancy-related health information. They visited women’s forums to obtain information about pregnancy, commercial pages for maternity and childhood health information, and sometimes used YouTube, Face book, and Twitter to find educational health content. The most researched topics on the Internet are fetal development, stages of pregnancy and changes during pregnancy.
Maturation of the Thalidomystery

Despite years of investigations, the mechanism of action of thalidomide and its derivatives is still unsolved. Recently we elaborated on the basis of the current literature data, including x-ray images of thalidomide victims, a hypothesis that premature differentiation of developing limb elements underlies the teratogenic effects of thalidomide and may also account for the antitumoral activity of the IMiDs. To examine the feasibility of this theory, we searched within gene expression profile datasets, which analyzed the changes induced by the IMiDs in myeloma cells, for supportive evidence. As expected, our analysis revealed a reproducible upregulation of a cluster of differentiating genes induced after either in-vivo or in-vitro treatment of the tumor-cells with thalidomide/ lenalidomide. This finding debates the long standing dogma that ascribed the teratogenic effect of thalidomide to apoptosis or toxic injury to limb bud mesenchyme/blood-vessels and places the IMiDs in line with differentiating teratogens like retinoids and related compounds.
Kush Exploration on production of rhamnolipid biosurfactants using native Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains

Article info: Received: 16 October 2014 Accepted: 29 January 2015 ABSTRACT Biosurfactants are structurally diverse surface-active molecules, produced on living surfaces, mostly microbial cell surfaces or excreted extracellularly. Rhamnolipid biosurfactants have wide spectrum use and are predominantly produced by the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In this study, 75 Pseudomonas strains isolated from distinct native habitats were screened following oil spreading technique, methylene blue agar method, hemolytic blood agar method and surface tension measurement of the cell free culture. Ten selected isolates were tested for their ability to produce rhamnolipid biosurfactants in glycerol mediated broth. The best among them, Pa24, was confirmed as Pseudomonas aeruginosa through 16S rRNA sequence analysis. Experiments carried out on the ability of P. aeruginosa strain Pa24 revealed its potential to utilize range of vegetable oils such as coconut oil, palm oil, jatropha oil, neem oil and mineral glycerol as sole source of carbon and produce rhamnolipid biosurfactant. The extracted biosurfactant was characterized by thin layer chromatography and high performance thin layer chromatography as mixture of di-rhamnolipid and mono-rhamnolipid biosurfactants. The crude extract of rhamnolipid was tested in-vitro for antifungal activity against Phytophthora capsici and Phytophthora infestans and the MIC50 were found to be 815.8 ppm and 373.9 ppm, respectively. Further exploration on different renewable carbon sources including agriculture industrial wastes to produce rhamnolipid biosurfactants can improve the efficiency and reduce the environmental pollution through waste discharge from these industries.
Investigating effects of oil price changes on the US, the UK and Japan

Based on the structural VAR model of the global crude oil market proposed by Kilian(2009), this article investigates the causes for wild fluctuations in oil prices since the mid-2000s. A main contribution of the study is to compare the effects of changes in oil price on three major economies, the US, the UK, and Japan. I find oil-specific demand shocks as well as aggregate demand shocks played an important role in the rise in the real price of oil since early 2002 and the subsequent sharp drops after the failure of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Moreover I have found that oil-specific demand shocks increase real GDP in Japan, which is very different from the US and the UK where oil-specific demand shocks lead to reduction in real GDP. This difference possibly comes from the oil efficiency of Japanese products.
Managing innovation of care services: An exploration of Norwegian municipalities

Abstract The social impact of care services provided by the public sector is significant. Nevertheless, these services have received relatively little attention from prior innovation management practices research. This paper addresses this gap by raising the question: What characterises management-driven innovation processes in public organisations providing care services? The qualitative exploration of this question is based on in-depth interviews with key managers in three Norwegian municipalities, and in-depth observation of one ongoing innovation initiative in one municipality. Our findings supplement the findings of prior research by showing that different actors are involved in different stages of management-driven innovation processes in care services and by showing that employee-based “bricolage” may be an integrated part of management-driven innovation processes in this sector. The findings provide both managerial implications and implications for further research.