Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Boosting toxic protein expression: transient in vivo inactivation of engineered bacterial alkaline phosphatase

Background:The biotechnology production of enzymes is often troubled by the toxicity of the recombinant products of cloned and expressed genes, which interferes with the recombinant hosts’ metabolism. Various approaches have been taken to overcome these limitations, exemplified by tight control of recombinant genes or secretion of recombinant proteins. An industrial approach to protein production demands maximum possible yields of biosynthesized proteins, balanced with the recombinant host’s viability. Bacterial alkaline phosphatase (BAP) from Escherichia coli ( E. coli ) is a key enzyme used in protein/antibody detection and molecular cloning. As it removes terminal phosphate from DNA, RNA and deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates, it is used to lower self-ligated vectors’ background. The precursor enzyme contains a signal peptide at the N-terminus and is secreted to the E. coli periplasm. Then, the leader is clipped off and dimers are formed upon oxidation.Results: We present a novel approach to phoA gene cloning, engineering, expression, purification and reactivation of the transiently inactivated enzyme. The recombinant bap gene was modified by replacing a secretion leader coding section with a N-terminal his6-tag, cloned and expressed in E. coli in a P BAD promoter expression vector. The expression was robust, resulting in accumulation of His6-BAP in the cytoplasm, exceeding 50% of total cellular proteins. The His6-BAP protein was harmless to the cells, as its natural toxicity was inhibited by the reducing environment within the E. coli cytoplasm, preventing formation of the active enzyme. A simple protocol based on precipitation and immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) purification yielded homogeneous protein, which was reactivated by dialysis into a redox buffer containing reduced and oxidized sulfhydryl group compounds, as well as the protein structure stabilizing cofactors Zn 2+ , Mg 2+ and phosphate. The reconstituted His6-BAP exhibited high activity and was used to develop an efficient protocol for all types of DNA termini, including problematic ones (blunt, 3’-protruding). Conclusions: The developed method appears well suited for the industrial production of ultrapure BAP. Further, the method of transient inactivation of secreted toxic enzymes by conducting their biosynthesis in an inactive state in the cytoplasm, followed by in vitro reactivation, can be generally applied to other problematic proteins.
Study on application of information and communication technology in special education

We conducted a survey methodology to study current state of Information & Communication Technology (ICT) application for teachers in special education. The analysis of 103 sample data shows the media type and usage frequency, the reason of ICT application, the awareness of ICT training program necessity and the detail training program. We divided two groups by work experience in education based on time when ICT curriculum adapted in special education department. The several differences of ICT usage and skill levels in managing ICT of two groups are statistically significant.
Safety Effectiveness of Advance Street Name Signs

Low-cost safety strategies that states may implement as part of their Strategic Highway Safety Plans need to be evaluated. FHWA organized a Pooled Fund Study of 26 states to evaluate several low-cost safety strategies, including the installation of advance street name signs at signalized intersections. This study investigates whether advance street name signs reduce crashes related to way-finding (i.e., rear-end and sideswipe crashes) at signalized intersections. Geometric, traffic, and crash data were obtained for signalized intersections at 82 sites in Arizona, 65 sites in Massachusetts, and 46 sites in Wisconsin. To account for potential selection bias and regression to the mean, an empirical Bayes before–after analysis was used. The analysis found no significant effect of advance street name signs on total crashes. However, the analysis indicated a significant reduction in sideswipe crashes, including a 27% reduction in Massachusetts and a 10% reduction for the three states combined. A disaggregate analysis was also conducted to identify differential effects. On the basis of conservative cost estimates, a reduction of just 0.01 crash per intersection year would achieve a 2:1 benefit–cost ratio. Given the low cost of this strategy and the potential to enhance way-finding, the use of advance street name signs is justified, particularly at three-legged intersections and locations with relatively large average annual daily traffic or a large expected number of crashes.
Classification of voice aging using ANN and glottal signal parameters

Classification of voice aging has many applications in health care and geriatrics. This work focuses on finding the most relevant parameters to classify voice aging. The most significant parameters extracted from the glottal signal are chosen to identify the voice aging process of men and women. After analyzing their statistics, the chosen parameters are used as entries to a neural network to classify male and female Brazilian speakers in three different age groups: young (from 15 to 30 years old), adult (from 31 to 60 years old), and senior (from 61 to 90 years old). The corpus used for this work was composed by one hundred and twenty Brazilian speakers (both males and females) of different ages. As compared to similar works, we employ a larger corpus and obtain a superior classification rate.
Tree-based backward pilot generation for sparse channel estimation

A scheme of tree-based backward pilot generation for sparse channel estimation in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems is proposed. Instead of straightforward searching for the best from all possible pilot subsets, the scheme iteratively removes a subcarrier from all OFDM subcarriers in a backward manner. At each time, every subcarrier is tested by deleting it and calculating the coherence of the resulting matrix, where the subcarrier with the smallest coherence is picked up. Finally the subcarriers left make up the optimal pilot subset. Considering the greedy essence of the scheme, a tree structure is also incorporated to avoid the locally-optimal but globally-incorrect selections. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed scheme can obtain substantial improvement for sparse channel estimation.
CHARACTERISTICS OF AKWARA AS A REINFORCING FIBRE

Synopsis Some relevant physical characteristics of akwara and akwara-reinforced concrete (akwaracrete) are discussed. Akwara is a natural vegetable stem fibre, dark brown in colour when mature, and has a hard smooth sheath enclosing a cellular core. Akwara is brittle and lighter than water. It is dimensionally stable in water, durable in a cement matrix environment, and has a low modulus of elasticity. Mixes containing akwara have lower mobility and compactibility than their plain counterpart. The fibre improves the impact resistance of concrete, but appears to have no effect upon uniaxial compressive strength or modulus of rupture.
Serum biomarkers discovery of steroid-induced femoral head osteonecrosis in Chinese female by comparative proteome

Background Steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head (SONFH) is a disabling, aseptic and ischemic disease due to excessive glucocorticoids (GCs) usage. Patients with SONFH are commonly asymptomatic, which makes its early diagnosis is challenge, the pathological mechanisms of SONFH are not well-known, the purpose of the present study was to screen diagnostic biomarkers for SONFH. Methods The differential expression of serum proteins from SONFH, traumatic osteonecrosis of the femoral head (TONFH) patients and healthy volunteers (CK) in Chinese females was compared using iTRAQ, and potential diagnostic biomarkers were verified by western blotting. Results Gene Ontology, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), Domain and Clusters of Orthologous Groups (COG) analyses revealed key groups of proteins, pathways and domains differentially regulated among SONFH, TONFH and healthy volunteers in Chinese female, the results showed that peptidase S1, fibrinogen, transferrin, lipid transport domains and hematopoietic cell lineage, fat digestion, absorption, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) pathways were associated with the development of SONFH. Finally, C-reactive protein (CRP), serum amyloid A protein (SAA1), alpha-1-acid glycoprotein 1 (ORM1) and dopamine beta-hydroxylase were selected for verification of differential expression using western blotting. Conclusions Our data suggest that dysfunction of hematopoietic cell lineage, adhesion, fat digestion and absorption, PPAR pathways may be involved in the pathogenesis of SONFH, serum proteins SAA1, ORM1 could be used as new potential diagnostic biomarkers for SONFH.
Determination of Imazethapyr Residues in Soil by SPE-HPLC

A new method for determining residues of the herbicide imazethapyr in soil was developed by means of reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). The samples in soil were extracted with 0.1 mol/L NH4Ac/NH3·H2O(pH=10) water solution by ultrasonic wave, then acided by 1 mol/L hydrochloric acid solution and cleaned up by 200 mg/3mL C18 SPE cartridge. The quantification of the herbicide residue was established by RP-HPLC. The results showed that the average recoveries for fortified soil samples (0.01-1 mg/kg) were 77.2 to 94.9%. The minimum detectable concentration of imazethapyr was 0.2 μg/kg in soil. The method reduces the application of organic solvent obviously and is simple, fast, and inexpensive with accurate and reliable for the determination of imazethapyr in soil for general laboratory.
Implementation of digital human modeling and skin deformation based on flexible model and multi-joints-binding method

Digital human modeling and skin deformation is the most challenging and widely used computer animation technology. In all existing methods the skinning algorithm has many advantages such as fast implement speed and simple operating process, but it also has the flaws such as local 'collapse' and 'drape' phenomena. An improved skinning method is presented that can effectively reduce traditional flaws of this method. After the key terminologies are introduced the improvement for skinning deformation is illustrated in detail. The main measures include that (1) adding extra joints on JSL to minimize the distance between adjacent joints and thus joint's importance attribute is introduced, (2) using joint cluster to replace single joint, and (3) creating the corresponding relationship between skin and JSLs based on flexible model and multi-joints-binding method (MJBM), that is to say binding one skin vertex to several joints using distance criterion and weight coefficient is the function of distances between the skin vertex to its related joints. All these improvements can make the skin deformation more smoothing. In order to verify the validity of the method we implement the algorithm above proposed using Visual C++ 6.0 and OpenGL language, and the digital hand finger bending and leg kicking deformation are achieved. The experimental results show that the skin deformation is very natural and meets the habit of human self.
Prebiotic Chemistry in the Wild: How Geology Interferes with the Origins of Life

A plausible explanation for the origin of life must satisfy constraints imposed by both organic chemistry and early Earth geochemistry. However, the full scope of geochemical parameter space is rarely considered by either theoretical or experimental models of abiogenesis. Here we propose a novel approach, which can make maximum use of available data. We posit that constructive and destructive geochemical interferences with proposed prebiotic reaction schemes can be used to restrict plausible environmental parameter space for the origin of life. Our approach is demonstrated by exploring parameter space for dehydration reactions. Such reactions are universally important in extant biochemistry and all proposed prebiotic reaction schemes, yet challenging to perform under plausible conditions. We specifically explore a minimal pathway for RNA synthesis (formaldehyde; ribose; ribose phosphate; adenosine monophosphate; RNA). Based on assembled thermodynamic and geochemical constraints, we identify that low water activity is a key constructive interference in prebiotic chemistry. Critically, the manner in which low water activity is achieved can strongly discriminate between different environmental scenarios. Exploring interference chemistry is hence an effective means of discriminating between competing origin of life scenarios.
Dynamic following of off-centered hard disk tracks in spin-stand imaging

A dynamic track-following technique has been developed that enables real-time reading of on-track data from off-centered hard disks on a spin stand. The technique makes use of piezoelectric transducers (PZT’s) to dynamically control the radial displacement of the read head to follow off-centered tracks. Controlling algorithms based on the Preisach model of hysteresis have been devised to compensate for the hysteretic effects of the PZT. Techniques for extracting the trajectories of off-centered hard disk tracks and special methods of selecting the initial phase of these tracks and locking the phase thereafter have also been developed. The track-following technique has been demonstrated to dynamically follow off-centered commercial hard disks with a track density of 90kilotrackperinch mounted on a spin stand.
Protection of Cultural Heritage's Focus on 3D Technologies: A Survey

In this paper, we survey several 3D techniques including 3D reconstruction in which quick stereo-photogrammetric system and laser scanner involved, image-based rendering and shape modeling for protection of cultural heritage. The applications are classified into two categories: reconstruction of large-scale heritage sites; reconstruction of culture relics and exhibition. Dozens of successful cases prove the effectiveness of the technologies, and the challenges remain in several fields: the automation of extracting texture from high-resolution photo and mapping it to the 3D model needs to be improved; accelerating the rendering performance; effective integration of virtual reality technology.
P‐14: Polarity‐Balanced Driving to Reduce VTH Shift in a‐Si for Active‐Matrix OLEDs

A new driving scheme, which consists of dual scan line and 2 driving TFTs, employing a‐Si TFT rather than the low temperature poly‐Si for AMOLED is proposed. The proposed scheme was verified by circuit simulation with parameters extracted from experimental results. The recovery of threshold voltage by successive positive and negative bias may contribute the reliability of OLED display.
Evaluation of Exposure Information

Abstract Steps toward the development of a generally applicable and deterministic model for retrospective exposure assessments are suggested. The first step is the introduction of a set of n universally applicable and mutually independent exposure modifiers, chosen according to first principles. The second step is the provision of a list of these exposure modifiers to be used in a multiplicative model. The historic concentrations can then be obtained from present measured concentrations by calculating backwards step by step. If some historic exposure data are available, they can be used as gauging points and the model parameters can be renormalized accordingly. The ranges of the magnitude of the various modifiers differ by several orders of magnitude. This should be considered when deciding which historic information should be traced. Information sources should be searched systematically for exposure-related data. The term industrial archeology is phrased, and this activity is illustrated with a dendrochr.
Reasoning and planning in dynamic domains: An experiment with a mobile robot

Abstract : In this paper, the reasoning and planning capabilities of an autonomous mobile robot are described. The reasoning system that controls the robot is designed to exhibit the kind of behavior expected of a rational agent, and is endowed with the psychological attitudes of belief, desire, and intention. Because these attitudes are explicitly represented, they can be manipulated and reasoned about, resulting in complex goal-directed and reflective behaviors. Unlike most planning systems, the plans or intentions formed by the robot need only be partly elaborated before it decides to act. This allows the robot to avoid overly strong expectations about the environment, overly constrained plans of action, and other forms of overcommitment common to previous planners. In addition, the robot is continuously reactive and has the ability to change its goals and intentions as situations warrant. Thus, while the system architecture allows for reasoning about the means and ends in much the same way as traditional planners, it also possesses the reactivity required for survival in highly dynamic and uncertain worlds. The system has been tested with SRI's autonomous robot (Flakey) in a space station scenario involving navigation and the performance of emergency tasks.
Multifunctional interferometric platform for on-chip testing of the micromechanical properties of MEMS/MOEMS

We have developed a multifunctional interferometric platform for testing MEMS/MOEMS, measuring the 3-D out-of-plane deflections and providing both material properties and motion behaviour of microdevices. Specific metrology procedures have been demonstrated to determine respectively and residual stress of silicon membranes compressively prestressed by SiOxNy PECVD deposition study of vibration modes of PZT microactuators as well as the expertise of Scratch Drive Actuators.
Soil Macropore Structures and their Effect on Preferential Flow

Recent researches on soil macropore and preferential flow were reviewed in this paper. Definition of macropore, causes of preferential flow, observation technologies, and preferential simulated models were introduced. Soil macropore investigated methods include dye tracing, sectioning, CT scan, tension infiltration curve, and markers tracing. Preferential flow models include two domain model and multiple domain model, two phase model and hybrid model, etc.
Robust Wind Turbine System Against Voltage Sag with Induction Generators Interfaced to the Grid by Power Electronic Converters

An electrical system for wind turbines using cage induction generator with back to back converters for connection to the network is experimentally tested under short circuit conditions in a 55kW generator set-up. 50% voltage sag is realized in the laboratory set-up to investigate the performance of the power electronic converters control under the newly introduced grid codes. Standard vector control techniques are implemented with the aim to maintain balance between generated power and power supplied to the grid. The robustness of the power electronics converter is experimentally analyzed under the short circuit for different settings of the converter nominal current and the converters are found to be robust against voltage sags.
Instrument self-noise and sensor misalignment

Abstract. In this study we investigate self-noise of RefTekTM 151-60A "Observer" broadband seismometers (flat to velocity between 50 Hz down to T0=60 s, f0≈17 mHz) using the coherency analysis method introduced by Sleeman et al. (2006). We present a self-noise model for this type of sensor and compare it to the self-noise models of the standard observatory sensor STS-2 (Streckeisen) and RefTek's 151-120 broadband seismometer, which both have natural periods T0 of 120 s. We further report on the sensitivity of this technique to sensor misalignment and our success of eliminating leakage of the omnipresent microseism noise into self-noise estimates by numerically rotating seismic traces in order to find real self-noise.
Patient-specific models of wall stress in abdominal aortic aneurysm: a comparison between MR and CT

Finite element method based patient-specific wall stress in abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) may provide a more accurate rupture risk predictor than the currently used maximum transverse diameter. In this study, we have investigated the sensitivity of the wall stress in AAA with respect to geometrical variations. We have acquired MR and CT images for four patients with AAA. Three individual users have delineated the AAA vessel wall contours on the image slices. These contours were used to generate synthetic feature images for a deformable model based segmentation method. We investigated the reproducibility and the influence of the user variability on the wall stress. For sufficiently smooth models of the AAA wall, the peak wall stress is reproducible for three out of the four AAA geometries. The 0.99 percentiles of the wall stress show excellent reproducibility for all four AAAs. The variations induced by user variability are larger than the errors caused by the segmentation variability. The influence of the user variability appears to be similar for MR and CT. We conclude that the peak wall stress in AAA is sensitive to small geometrical variations. To increase reproducibility it appears to be best not to allow too much geometrical detail in the simulations. This could be achieved either by using a sufficiently smooth geometry representation or by using a more robust statistical parameter derived from the wall stress distribution.
Digital Pattern Product Development: A Pattern-driven Approach for Improving the Bidding Process in Rail Transport Systems

The planning and construction of a rail transportation system requires the implementation of several tasks where a major role is assumed by enterprises which have to pre-design, design and produce/build in detail any element of a rail system (i.e. infrastructure, signalling system and rolling stock). Currently, different divisions of a company perform different tasks or sub-tasks without adopting any (or sometimes only a partial) integrated approach in the various phases of product development. The authors proposal, based on the case study of the multinational enterprise Ansaldo STS, is to develop a digital pattern approach for product development which consists of adopting an integrated approach in all phases of the industrial process in order to avoid redundancy and duplication in working phases, and lost times in redesign and in information retrieval. The proposed approach is based on a web platform which allows information sharing among the different phases of project implementation and data (know-how) concerning past projects. Finally, the approach is applied to design the signalling system for a conventional metro system.
The use of fully anechoic rooms for full compliance EMC testing

This paper gives the background to work is in support of a proposed CENELEC Basic Standard to enable the use of fully anechoic rooms (FARs) for full compliance emission testing without reference to the existing 10 m OATS limits. The standard site for full compliance radiated emission testing in the frequency range 30 MHz to 1 GHz is the 10 m open area test site (OATS). With congestion of the airwaves, testing in the presence of ambient RF interference is increasingly time consuming. This has led to the use of 10 m semi-anechoic rooms (SAR). For operation at frequencies as low as 30 MHz these facilities are expensive. The challenge was to develop limits for a less costly 3 m FAR so that a product has the same probability of complying with the limit as it does for the current limits on a 10 m OATS. New limits need to be set for a FAR because of the absence of a ground plane. A two year study initiated by the EC SMT programme was carried out by 8 partners in 6 European countries in order to establish the appropriate limit for FARs. The conclusion of this study is that the existing 10 m OATS limits, when raised by 5 dB for use in a 3 m FAR, gives good agreement on the two sites. The study showed that the different treatment of cables had a major impact on the comparison and highlighted the need for a review of cable treatment on OATS as well as in FARs.