Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Plasma Methods for the Generation of Chemically Reactive Surfaces for Biomolecule Immobilization and Cell Colonization ‐ A Review

This review surveys methods for the fabrication, by plasma surface treatments or plasma polymerization, of polymeric surfaces and thin plasma polymer coatings that contain reactive chemical groups useful for the subsequent covalent immobilization, by solution chemical reactions or vapor phase grafting, of molecules or polymers that can exert bio-specific interfacial responses. Surfaces containing amine, carboxy, hydroxy, and aldehyde groups are the subject of this review. Aminated surfaces have been fabricated using various plasma vapors or mixtures and have found wide use for bio-interface applications. However, in many cases the amine surfaces have a rather limited shelf life, with post-plasma oxidation reactions and surface adaptation leading to the disappearance of amine groups from the surface. Aging is a widespread phenomenon that often has not been recognized, particularly in some of the earlier studies on the use of plasma-fabricated surfaces for bio-interfacial applications, and can markedly alter the surface chemistry. Plasma-fabricated surfaces that contain carboxy groups have also been well documented. Fewer reports exist on hydroxy and aldehyde surfaces prepared by plasma methods. Hydroxy surfaces can be prepared by water plasma treatment or the plasma polymerization of alkyl alcohol vapors. Water plasma treatment on many polymer substrates suffers from aging, with surface adaptation leading to the movement of surface modification effects into the polymer. Both hydroxy and aldehyde surfaces have been used for the covalent immobilization of biologically active molecules. Aging effects are less well documented than for amine surfaces. This review also surveys studies using such surfaces for cell colonization assays. Generally, these surface chemistries show good ability to support cell colonization, though the effectiveness seems to depend on the process vapor and the plasma conditions. Carboxylate co-polymer surfaces have shown excellent ability to support the colonization of some human cell lines of clinical interest. Immobilization of proteins onto plasma-carboxylated surfaces is also well established.
Working Paper Series No 2015-02 Title : Behavioural Insights into Housing Relocation Decisions : The Effects of Beijing Olympics

This article examines the impact of mega events on Beijing housing market from a behavioural perspective. By exploring the situation surrounding the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, we analyze the relationship between mega-event regeneration and expected residential relocation outcomes. Our findings suggest that Beijing Olympic regeneration caused disadvantaged groups to anticipate relocation to undesirable areas, as a result of improved infrustucture, public security, and urban environment. Behavioural sciences research indicates that expectation influences decision-making by serving as a salient reference point. Agents who perceived themselves as in a disadvantaged position or holding a gloomy prospect of their future are more likely to end up in such a situation. This paper offers insights into an effect of mega event regeneration projects that has been largely overlooked in the literature, i.e., the expected housing relocation outcomes. The research calls for government intervention and public attention to this important behavioural aspect of mega-event effects.
EVALUATION OF NITROGEN REMOVAL IN ADVANCED ONSITE WASTEWATER TREATMENT SYSTEMS WITHIN THE GREATER NARRAGANSETT BAY WATERSHED

Advanced nitrogen removal OWTS are installed in coastal areas to reduce excess nitrogen loading to coastal waters. Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay has experienced the negative effects of nitrogen overloading, which has resulted in a loss of ecosystem services. To address this, advanced nitrogen removal OWTS have been installed within the Greater Narragansett Bay watershed for the past 30 years. However, final effluent nitrogen concentrations are not monitored after the system installation. To evaluate the nitrogen removal efficiency of these systems, we measured total nitrogen in final effluent, and measured a number of wastewater properties in the laboratory and the field. We monitored the performance of 42 advanced nitrogen removal OWTS within the greater Narragansett Bay watershed, collecting data monthly. Performance data for the systems was compared to results of a similar study in Massachusetts, which revealed that the Narragansett Bay systems were less effective. Statistical analysis was used to identify the wastewater properties that best predict nitrogen levels, and NH4 , NO3 , and alkalinity were found to be significant predictors. Additionally, the accuracy of a variety of field tests was assessed against standard laboratory methods, revealing that most of the ones tested do not represent wastewater constituent concentrations accurately.
Notice of RetractionAntidiabetic Activities of Dry Matters of Culture Broth of Cordyceps militaris in Submerged Culture

The aim of the study was to investigate the antihyperglycemic effects of the dry matter of culture broth of Cordyceps militaris (MCCM) in streptozotocin-induced diabetes mice. Animals were treated with different doses (250 and 500 mg/kg body weight) of MCCM orally for 35 days. Streptozotocin treatment (150 mg/kg body weight) induced the decrease of body weight, reduced glutathione level, hepatic glycogen content in liver, insulin level in serum, accompanied the elevation of serum blood glucose level. Treatment with MCCM restored the changes in the above parameters up to the basal level. The protective effects were further supported by attenuation of the degree of pancreas damage in MCCM treated mice. It could be concluded that MCCM possesses significant antihyperglycemic in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice.
Low Prevalence of blaOXA-143 in Private Hospitals in Brazil

We read with great interest C. S. Antonio et al.'s letter describing the high prevalence of Acinetobacter baumannii carrying bla OXA-143 in Brazilian hospitals ([1][1]). Recently, we carried out a similar study, and although the bla OXA-143 gene was identified, its frequency was lower than that
Special Section on Robust Speech Processing in Realistic Environments Local Peak Enhancement for In-Car Speech Recognition in Noisy Environment

The accuracy of automatic speech recognition in a car is significantly degraded in a very low SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio) situation such as •gFan high•h or •gWindow open•h. In such cases, speech signals are often buried in broadband noise. Although several existing noise reduction algorithms are known to improve the accuracy, other approaches that can work with them are still required for further improvement. One of the candidates is enhancement of the harmonic structures in human voices. However, most conventional approaches are based on comb filtering, and it is difficult to use them in practical situations, because their assumptions for F0 detection and for voiced/unvoiced detection are not accurate enough in realistic noisy environments. In this paper, we propose a new approach that does not rely on such detection. An observed power spectrum is directly converted into a filter for speech enhancement, by retaining only the local
Grid connected single phase rooftop PV system with limited reactive power supply

Photovoltaic (PV) systems proposes attractive alternative source of generation because these can be placed near to the load centers when compared with other renewable source of generation. It is therefore rooftop PV is the centre of attraction for majority PV systems. The rooftop PV system in general is grid connected and supports the off grid load with battery backup. The designed system must ensure total evacuation of generated power and with high efficiency of conversion, and utilizes the resource adequately to maximize the utilization of energy. This paper proposes single phase synchronous reference frame (SRF) theory based current controlled PWM controller for the voltage source converter (VSC) to realize maximum generated power evacuation by maintaining the DC link voltage constant without battery support, low THD sinusoidal line synchronized current output, and limited reactive power compensation based on the unutilized capacity of the inverter. PV power is being tracked always at MPP through incremental conductance (IC) method. MATLAB based simulation results shows the efficient working of rooftop PV with proposed control algorithms in grid connected mode with limited reactive power conditioning.
Protein tyrosine kinases as new potential targets against human schistosomiasis

In spite of the numerous efforts made to control their transmission, parasite schistosomes still represent a serious public health concern and a major economic problem in many developing countries. Praziquantel (PZQ) is the drug of choice for the treatment of schistosomiasis and the only one that is available for mass chemotherapy. However, its widespread use and its inefficacy on juvenile parasites raise fears that schistosomes will develop drug resistance, and make the development of alternative drugs highly desirable. Protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) are key molecules that control cell differentiation and proliferation and they already represent important targets for molecular cancer therapy. The recent characterization in Schistosoma mansoni of several cytosolic and receptor PTKs, with properties similar but also divergent from their vertebrate counterparts, opens new perspectives for the development of novel strategies in chemotherapy of schistosomiasis, which could be based on the use of parasite‐specific tyrosine phosphorylation inhibitors. BioEssays 29:1281–1288, 2007. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Stratospheric loss and atmospheric lifetimes of CFC-11 and CFC-12 derived from satellite observations

Abstract. The lifetimes of CFC-11 and CFC-12 have been evaluated using global observations of their stratospheric distributions from satellite-based instruments over the time period from 1992 to 2010. The chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) datasets are from the Cryogen Limb Array Etalon Spectrometer (CLAES), the Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere (CRISTA-1 and CRISTA-2), the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS), and the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE). Stratospheric loss rates were calculated using an ultraviolet radiative transfer code with updated cross section and solar irradiance data. Mean steady-state lifetimes based on these observations are 44.7 (36–58) yr for CFC-11 and 106.6 (90–130) yr for CFC-12, which are in good agreement with the most recent WMO ozone assessment. There are two major sources of error in calculating lifetimes using this method. The first important error arises from uncertainties in tropical stratospheric observations, particularly for CFC-11. Another large contribution to the error is due to uncertainties in the penetration of solar ultraviolet radiation at wavelengths between 185 and 220 nm, primarily in the tropical stratosphere between 20 and 35 km altitude.
DEeP random walks

In this paper, we proposed distance enforced penalized (DEeP) random walks segmentation framework to delineate coupled boundaries by modifying classical random walks formulations. We take into account curves inter-dependencies and incorporate associated distances into weight function of conventional random walker. This effectively leverages segmentation of weaker boundaries guided by stronger counterparts, which is the main advantage over classical random walks techniques where the weight function is only dependent on intensity differences between connected pixels, resulting in unfavorable outcomes in the context of poor contrasted images. First, we applied our developed algorithm on synthetic data and then on cardiac magnetic resonance (MR) images for detection of myocardium borders. We obtained encouraging results and observed that proposed algorithm prevents epicardial border to leak into right ventricle or cross back into endocardial border that often observe when conventional random walker is used. We applied our method on forty cardiac MR images and quantified the results with corresponding manual traced borders as ground truths. We found the Dice coefficients 70%± 14% and 43% ±14% respectively for DEeP random walks and conventional one.
Application of Vortex Induced Vibration Energy Generation Technologies to the Offshore Oil and Gas Platform: The Preliminary Study

 Abstract — The global demand for continuous and eco-friendly renewable energy as alternative to fossils fuels is large and ever growing in nowadays. This paper will focus on capability of Vortex Induced Vibration (VIV) phenomenon in generating alternative energy for offshore platform application. In order to maximize the potential of energy generation, the effects of lock in phenomenon and different geometries of cylinder were studied in this project. VIV is the motion induced on bluff body which creates alternating lift forces perpendicular to fluid flow. Normally, VIV is unwanted in order to prevent mechanical failure of the vibrating structures. But in this project, instead of eliminating these vibrations, VIV will be exploited to transform these vibrations into a valuable resource of energy.
Compositional and morphological changes of chemical modified oil palm mesocarp fiber by alkaline bleaching and silane coupling agents

In this study, the effects of chemical modifications of oil palm mesocarp fiber (OPMF) via bleaching, silane coupling agents, and combinations of the two on the composition and morphology of OPMF were investigated. The chemically modified OPMF was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The FTIR spectra showed that bleached OPMF became more hydrophilic, while silanized unbleached and silanized bleached OPMF became less hydrophilic. The TGA thermograms indicated that bleaching successfully removed hemicellulose from the OPMF, while TGA analysis showed that silanized unbleached and silanized bleached OPMF had higher thermal stabilities than unbleached or bleached OPMF. The SEM micrographs revealed that the modified OPMF surface was rougher and more porous than that of the unbleached OPMF, further indicating that OPMF was successfully modified.
Why should I pay for e-books?: An empirical study to investigate Chinese readers' purchase behavioural intention in the mobile era

Purpose Because mobile phones offer a new, affordable and easy-to-use portal to reading material, mobile reading is emerging as the most ultra-modern reading approach. From the perspective of mobile reading service providers, knowledge of customer purchase, and consumption behaviour is critical for their survival and success. This paper aims to provide insights into the factors that influence the purchase e-books. Design/methodology/approach Following means-end chain theory, the prospect theory and elaboration likelihood model, a structural equation model is proposed to investigate and identify key factors that drive the purchase intention of experienced mobile readers. In the theoretical model, utilitarian value (UV) and hedonic value (HV) are supposed as formative second-order constructs formed by related payoff. Findings Both UV and HV are positively associated with readers’ purchase intention. However, there are no big differences between these two path coefficients. People seem to perceive relatively low payment risk although perceived risk could still negatively affect purchase intention. As a predictor of purchase intention, UV is less important when risk perception increases or when involvement (IV) decreases. Furthermore, this study illustrates that uniqueness and convenience (CV) are significant components of UV, whereas curiosity and flow are components of HV. Practical implications Mobile reading providers should highlight the professional and specificity of app such as beautiful cover, page setup that similar to real books and so on. Readers should be allowed to post real-time reviews and communicate with others to improve their sense of satisfaction, participation and belonging. The payment process should be concise and simple through which readers can save their purchase time and effort. Mobile reading service providers should provide trustworthy payment approaches, especially third-party platform and guarantee the CV and safety of payment activity. Originality value By focusing on the impacts of relationships among UV, HV, perceived risk and IV to purchase intention, this paper not only provides a theoretical understanding of mobile reading purchase behaviour but also offers practical insights to reading material manufactures and app developers for promoting such a process.
The binding database: overview and user's guide.

The large and growing body of experimental data on molecular binding is of enormous value in biology, pharmacology, and chemistry. Applications include the assignment of function to biomolecules, drug discovery, molecular modeling, and nanotechnology. However, binding data are difficult to find and access because they are available almost exclusively through scientific journals. BindingDB, a public, web-accessible database of measured binding affinities, is designed to address this problem. BindingDB collects data for natural and modified biomolecules and for synthetic compounds, and provides detailed experimental information. Currently, measurements by isothermal titration calorimetry are fully supported; measurements by enzyme inhibition will soon be included as well. The web site allows data to be searched by a range of criteria, including binding thermodynamics, sequence homology, and chemical structure, substructure, and similarity. Experimentalists are encouraged to publicize their data by entering it into BindingDB via the online forms. Such data can be updated or revised by the depositor, if necessary, and will remain publicly accessible. User involvement and feedback are welcomed.
New thin film varactor for frequency tunable slot antenna

A new type of varactor, using newly developed dielectric LaTiOxNy thin films, for miniaturization and tunablity of antenna is introduced. Its behavior in large frequency band is studied. When integrated in a notch antenna design, the varactor significantly decreases the resonant frequency of the structure by 54% in respect to an antenna without varactor, and a tunablity of 8% is achieved.
Computations of AC Loss in the ITER Magnets During Fast Field Transients

The calculation of AC loss due to the control currents in ITER is a cumbersome task. The reason is that control transients require small field changes (0.1 T or less) at moderate frequency (up to 10 Hz), where effects of partial penetration of the filaments and shielding are important and need to be taken into account to produce sound AC loss estimates. In this paper we describe models developed for AC loss calculation, in particular hysteresis and coupling current loss, that are suitable for the above regime. Both hysteresis and coupling loss models are adapted to the conductor analysed through few parameters (the effective filament diameter and time constants) that can be derived from measurement of loss on short samples. We report an example of calculations of AC loss in the ITER TF and PF coils for two vertical control scenarios (VS1 and VS2) during high beta operation at flattop.
A review of traditional and swarm search based feature selection algorithms for handling data stream classification

With the increase in recent development in hardware and software technologies, streaming data is used everywhere in today's environment and it is a very difficult task to store, process, investigate and visualize huge volumes of data. One of the most important and challenging issue in the data stream domain is the classification of the big datasets. However the conventional classification methods developed to run in a streaming environment with high use of memory constraints and longer execution running time. Another three major important issues in the data stream classification methods are huge length, conception drift and Feature Selection (FS). In this review paper, we consider the difficult problem of FS algorithms for streaming data, in which the size of streaming data for the feature set is unknown, primary to an inflexible demand in computation constraints, and not every feature is available from classifier model. In order to solve this difficulty, Swarm Intelligence (SI) algorithms are performed on the high dimensionality and streaming big dataset samples which result in increase classification accuracy, less memory consumption and lesser running time when compared to the existing streaming FS algorithms on various datasets. The proposed SI based FS algorithms overcomes the difficulty of the traditional FS algorithms.
Risk factors for drug-resistant tuberculosis patients in Lithuania, 2002–2008

To the Editors: Lithuania, a high-priority country for tuberculosis (TB) control in the World Health Organization European Region, has one of the world’s highest rates of multidrug-resistant (MDR)-TB. It has recently seen an increase in the rates of both primary and acquired MDR-TB (9% of new and 50% of re-treatment cases were MDR in 2010), and the appearance of extensively drug-resistant (XDR)-TB cases constituting 4.3% of all MDR-TB cases [1, 2]. Drug resistance is accompanied by low treatment success rates (40% in newly diagnosed and 19% in re-treatment cases in 2009) among MDR-TB patients despite a well-established TB control programme with relatively good indicators of treatment success and low default rates (7%) among patients with sensitive TB [2]. Although there are data describing the molecular epidemiology of drug resistance in Lithuania [3], relatively little is known about risk factors for drug resistance. We analysed 7 yrs of Lithuanian national surveillance data: all treated culture-confirmed TB cases, including new and re-treatment cases, registered from 2002 to 2008 in the national TB register (established in 2002). Our aim was to describe the epidemiological, clinical and socioeconomic features of MDR-/XDR-TB cases, and to establish risk factors for drug resistance acquisition and development during re-treatment. Standard case reporting included demographic and clinical information with initial and follow-up drug susceptibility testing (DST) results. Individual patients suspected of having a high risk of HIV/AIDS were offered testing for HIV according to the national policy. A randomly selected proportion of strains (∼18%) was genotyped (by IS6110 restriction fragment length polymorphism typing and spoligotyping) within the routine service …
Protection and energy management of zero net electric energy clusters of buildings

This paper proposes the protection and energy management schemes for a smart dc micro-grid capable of 100% autonomous zero net energy in the cluster of buildings to facilitate a low-carbon sustainable electricity supply system. The proposed model comprises of house clusters with an autonomous communication developed for the residential area. Voltage droops and slope compensation peak current mode control techniques are employed for the bidirectional synchronous boost converter stages for energy storage systems (ESSs). The zone relaying device pertaining to dc protection is incorporated under set of rules related to current differential and overt current relaying schemes. The bidirectional converter stage for house clusters plays a pivotal role in stand-alone operation. In case a battery pack is laid off from any house cluster, the dc bus voltage still be stabilized due to the proximity bidirectional converter stages of other house clusters or community battery bank. The houses in the cluster comprise of permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG), solar photovoltaic (PV), battery bank and variable load. The proposed model is simulated on MATLAB/ Simulink environment and suffices the real time stochastic nature of wind, solar and load.