Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Plasmid DNA studies in Lactobacillus plantarum strains isolated from olive fermentations: production of and immunity to plantaricin OL15 is associated to a 9.6 Kb plasmid (pOL15)

Previously 12 Lactobacillus plantarum strains were isolated from fermented olives. Among these, only L. plantarum OL15 produced bacteriocin (plantaricin OL15). In this study, the 12 strains were examined for plasmid DNA content. Of these, 9 strains have shown one to three plasmid bands ranging in size from 5.4 to 12.2 kb. L. plantarum OL15 exhibited one plasmid (9.6 kb) which was named pOL15. After curing with novobiocin and ethidium bromide, the plasmid profile analysis of non producing derivatives, showed that the 9.6 kb plasmid pOL15 harbored by the parental strain had been lost in all cases and none of them regained the ability to produce plantaricin OL15 suggesting that the production of plantaricin OL15 is plasmid linked. Plantaricin OL15 was not inactived by amylase and lipase suggesting that plantaricin OL15 activity was not dependent on the presence of either a carbohydrate or lipid moiety. Plantaricin OL15 showed activity against lactic acid bacteria of different species and also against olive spoilage and phytopathogenic bacteria, including Pseudomonas and Erwinia .
Some endemic medicinal plants of Andamans with antimicrobial potential

The present study was aimed to determine the antimicrobial activity of some endemic plant species used in folkloric medicine by the inhabitants of Andaman Islands, India. The ethanol extracts prepared from the leaves of four plants viz; Alstonia kurzii, Tabernaemontana crispa , Mangifera andamanica and Vitex diversifolia were assessed for antibacterial activity against clinically isolated human pathogenic bacteria and antifungal activity against some phytopathogenic fungi. The ethanol extracts showed more inhibition towards Gram positive than Gram negative bacteria and the bacterial strains showed more susceptibility than the fungal strains tested. Among the plants, Vitex diversifolia exhibited the highest antibacterial activity and Mangifera andamanica showed the highest antifungal activity.
In Silico Identification of Dual Ability of N. gonorrhoeae ddl for Developing Drug and Vaccine Against Pathogenic Neisseria and Other Human Pathogens

The transmission and prevention of gonococcal infection is a global health problem and an effective drug or vaccine against the pathogen is yet to be developed. In our previous studies by analyzing metabolic pathways and membrane proteome of N. gonorrhoeae we found that four membrane associated targets could be better option in developing anti- gonorrhoeae drugs and vaccine. Here we showed that among these putative targets, D-alanine—D-alanine ligase (ddl) is the best candidate for development of both drug and vac- cine against N. gonorrhoeae and various other human bac- terial pathogens. Using in silico approaches, we developed the 3-D model of the enzyme and potential epitopes are also identified that may be helpful in peptide vaccine develop- ment against multiple pathogens including pathogenic Neis- seria . Epitopes require experimental validation for their ef- fectiveness as peptide vaccines against these pathogens.
GPS time series at Campi Flegrei caldera (2000-2013)

The Campi Flegrei caldera is an active volcanic system associated to a high volcanic risk, and represents a well known and peculiar example of ground deformations (bradyseism), characterized by intense uplift periods, followed by subsidence phases with some episodic superimposed mini-uplifts. Ground deformation is an important volcanic precursor, and, its continuous monitoring, is one of the main tool for short time forecast of eruptive activity. This paper provides an overview of the continuous GPS monitoring of the Campi Flegrei caldera from January 2000 to July 2013, including network operations, data recording and processing, and data products. In this period the GPS time series allowed continuous and accurate tracking of ground deformation of the area. Seven main uplift episodes were detected, and during each uplift period, the recurrent horizontal displacement pattern, radial from the “caldera center”, suggests no significant change in deformation source geometry and location occurs. The complete archive of GPS time series at Campi Flegrei area is reported in the Supplementary materials. These data can be usefull for the scientific community in improving the research on Campi Flegrei caldera dynamic and hazard assessment.
POGO PIN PARASITIC IMPEDANCE CHARACTERISATION AND INFLUENCE ON PMIC SEMICONDUCTOR EVALUATION PROCES

During the semiconductor evaluation of modern Power Management Integrated Circuit (PMIC) devices, high quality Zero-Insertion-Force (ZIF) sockets must be used in order to measure many semiconductor parts with a single dedicated hardware. The most critical part of socket is contact between the device terminal and PCB. There are couples of technology processes that can provide solid contact between the device and the rest of the circuit, but the most common technology uses so called Pogo-pin, also called spring pin. Pogo pin must have as small as possible parasitic impedance, since the signal frequency and the signal power transfer between the PMIC terminal and the rest of the circuit must be without distortions, in order to obtain correct measurement results of tested devices. In some cases, influence of Pogo-pin parasitic impedance can lead to the partial damage of the device internal structure. This article should point to the potential problems using simulation results and should describe the simple procedure of Pogo-pin impedance characterization using network analyzer with appropriate aperture. Couples of measurements results from different Pogo-pin suppliers are also shown in this example with some practical results.
Instant tsunami early warning based on real-time GPS – Tohoku 2011 case study

Abstract. Taking the 2011 Tohoku earthquake as an example, we demonstrate the ability of real-time GPS to provide qualified tsunami early warning within minutes. While in earlier studies we demonstrated the power of the so-called GPS shield concept based on synthetic data, we here present a complete processing chain starting from actual GPS raw data and fully simulate the situation as it would be in a warning center. The procedure includes processing of GPS observations with predicted high precision orbits, inversion for slip and computation of the tsunami propagation and coastal warning levels. We show that in case of the Tohoku earthquake, it would be feasible to provide accurate tsunami warning as soon as 3 min after the beginning of the earthquake.
3-D visualisation of palaeoseismic trench stratigraphy and trench logging using terrestrial remote sensing and GPR – a multiparametric interpretation

Abstract. Two normal faults on the island of Crete and mainland Greece were studied to test an innovative workflow with the goal of obtaining a more objective palaeoseismic trench log, and a 3-D view of the sedimentary architecture within the trench walls. Sedimentary feature geometries in palaeoseismic trenches are related to palaeoearthquake magnitudes which are used in seismic hazard assessments. If the geometry of these sedimentary features can be more representatively measured, seismic hazard assessments can be improved. In this study more representative measurements of sedimentary features are achieved by combining classical palaeoseismic trenching techniques with multispectral approaches. A conventional trench log was firstly compared to results of ISO (iterative self-organising) cluster analysis of a true colour photomosaic representing the spectrum of visible light. Photomosaic acquisition disadvantages (e.g. illumination) were addressed by complementing the data set with active near-infrared backscatter signal image from t-LiDAR measurements. The multispectral analysis shows that distinct layers can be identified and it compares well with the conventional trench log. According to this, a distinction of adjacent stratigraphic units was enabled by their particular multispectral composition signature. Based on the trench log, a 3-D interpretation of attached 2-D ground-penetrating radar (GPR) profiles collected on the vertical trench wall was then possible. This is highly beneficial for measuring representative layer thicknesses, displacements, and geometries at depth within the trench wall. Thus, misinterpretation due to cutting effects is minimised. This manuscript combines multiparametric approaches and shows (i) how a 3-D visualisation of palaeoseismic trench stratigraphy and logging can be accomplished by combining t-LiDAR and GPR techniques, and (ii) how a multispectral digital analysis can offer additional advantages to interpret palaeoseismic and stratigraphic data. The multispectral data sets are stored allowing unbiased input for future (re)investigations.
The neural basis of object recognition for between- and within-category levels -an fMRI study

The present experiments were designed to examine hemispheric differences for between- basic category and within-category levels ofobject recognition. In experiment 1, participants indicated whether sequentially presented objects were from the same category orfrom the different categories (between-category task) or whether objects were identical or not (within-category task). Stimuli werebriefly presented either in the right or left visual field. The results indicated a non-significant right visual field (left hemisphere)advantage for the between-category task and a significant left visual field (right hemisphere) advantage for the within-category task. Inexperiment 2, fMRI was used to investigate cortical activation during between- and within-category object recognition. During thebetween-category task, left inferior parietal lobule was more activated than the right. For the within-category task, left FFA (fusiformface area) and bilateral inferior parietal lobule were activated. Furthermore, the right superior occipital gyrus (SOG) and precuneuswas more activated than the left during the between-category task whereas this asymmetry was reversed during the within-categorytask. The present results suggest that a hemispheric asymmetry that is parallel to spatial relation processing exists for recognition ofobjects.Keywords : object recognition, hemispheric asymmetry, fMRI,
Significant Enhancements in Machine Translation by Various Deep LearningApproaches

A new and transforming technology for natural language processing and speech processing is deep learning. Deep learning extends various operative ways to train computer systems for learning and it gives significant advances for that. If the right system or architecture is developed with deep learning methods then the systems can automatically learn from data itself without the requirement of designing it overtly. This technique of machine learning changes the perspective of addressing natural language and speech technologies considerably. Deep learning was first acquainting with Machine Translation in the standard statistical systems. This paper addresses the progress of introduction of deep learning in machine translation. It describes and includes all the topics like integrating deep learning in statistical machine translation, developing end-to-end neural machine translation systems, introducing deep learning in machine translation evaluation. Several research directions are drawn in terms of how deep learning can influence machine translation.
Investigation of Some Kinetic Properties of Commercial Invertase from Yeast

The effect of substrate concentration, pH, temperature and inhibitor (silver nitrate) on the activity of the enzyme invertase was studied using sucrose as the substrate. The invertase acted on the sucrose and converted it to product, glucose and fructose. From Lineweaver-Burk Plot, Vmax was found to be 1 mM/min and the Km approximately 24 mM. At temperature range of 25EC to 650EC, the optimum activity was at 450EC. For a pH range of 3.5-6.0, the pH optimum activity was at 5.5. Inhibition studies showed that silver nitrate inhibited invertase competitively with apparent Km of 150 mM and Ki value of 160 mM.
A hybrid approach for the regularized long wave-Burgers equation

In this paper, a new hybrid approach based on sixth-order finite difference and seventh-order weighted essentially non-oscillatory finite difference scheme is proposed to capture numerical simulation of the regularized long wave-Burgers equation which represents a balance relation among dissipation, dispersion and nonlinearity. The corresponding approach is implemented to the spatial derivatives and then MacCormack method is used for the resulting system. Some test problems discussed by different researchers are considered to apply the suggested method. The produced results are compared with some earlier studies, and to validate the accuracy and efficiency of the method, some error norms are computed. The obtained solutions are in good agreement with the literature. Furthermore, the accuracy of the method is higher than some previous works when some error norms are taken into consideration.
ScienceDirect International Conference on Accounting Studies 2014 , ICAS 2014 , 18-19 August 2014 , Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia Corruption – Why do they do it ?

The Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for Malaysia shows undesirable results, indicating the issue of corruption should be taken seriously. To address the corruption issue social constructionist perspective is employed, specifically qualitative methodology is used to gain an insight of the phenomenon. This qualitative study investigates the factors contributing to the occurrence of corruption in the Malaysian context. A total of twelve interviews were conducted. The respondents in the study were practitioners, representatives from government agencies and senior public sector officials. Several themes emerged as to why people are corrupt, including: power, opportunity and moral impurity. This study suggests determinants of individual acts of corruption in the Malaysian context. The findings will be useful for practitioners and regulators as the findings can provide insightful information to support the proactive measure to fight corruption. © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Peer-review under responsibility of the School of Accountancy, College of Business, Universiti Utara Malaysia.
Assessment of Oriçanga and Itupeva rivers water quality at the Pardo-Mogi watershed (São Paulo State, Brazil)

OBJETIVO: Este estudo teve como objetivo avaliar os impactos de atividades antropicas em quatro pontos de coleta de dois rios da bacia do rio Mogi-Guacu no Estado de Sao Paulo, Brasil; METODOS: Os locais foram classificados de acordo seu nivel de integridade ambiental, baseado no indice desenvolvido por Callisto et al. (2002). Bimensalmente, foram medidos parâmetros fisico-quimicos e biologicos. A Analise de Componentes Principais (ACP) avaliou a relacao entre locais e amostras. Medidas de perda de solo avaliaram os impactos do uso da terra na bacia estudada; RESULTADOS: Foram identificadas cinquenta e duas familias de macroinvertebrados em ambos os rios Oricanga e Itupeva. A familia Calamoceratidae (Trichoptera), composta por fragmentadores, teve maior porcentagem no local mais preservado da mata riparia. Contrariando o esperado, o ponto de coleta ORIC 1, considerado pouco perturbado de acordo com o Protocolo de Avaliacao Rapida, apresentou baixos valores para riqueza de familias e indice de diversidade de Shannon-Weaver, o que pode ser atribuido a retirada da mata riparia, resultando em uma menor biodiversidade aquatica. A Analise de Componentes Principais (ACP) mostrou diferencas entre parâmetros fisico-quimicos e familias de macroinvertebrados, mas estas diferencas nao foram tao evidentes a ponto de diferenciar os locais de coleta de acordo com o seu nivel de integridade ambiental; CONCLUSOES: A qualidade da agua pareceu estar relacionada com o uso da terra, pois a perda de solo prevaleceu em areas de pastagem e cultura de cana-de-acucar, onde os parâmetros bioticos e fisico-quimicos de qualidade de agua estavam em pior condicao. E ainda, os usos da terra devem considerar a inclinacao de areas proximas aos ecossistemas aquaticos, devido ao potencial de impacto ambiental, especialmente de erosao e entrada de efluentes poluentes.
Hypermedia E-book as a Pedagogical Tool in a Graduation Course

The e-book (www.design-educacaotecnologia.com) is a support for teaching Hypermedia Design, which constitutes a didactic material to support teaching and research activities for the Design area. The book will gather issues about Design, Education and Hypermedia aimed at offering resources to enhance the use of multiple languages that converge in hypermedia environments, their applicability, techniques and methods in light of Design in Situations of Teaching-Learning. This paper is divided into five parts: the first part introduce the paper subject, the second part shows the ebook Design, Education and Technology, the third part presents the use of this hypermedia e-book as a pedagogical tool in a graduation course in Design, some of the results developed by the students, the fourth part presents the main questions observed about this digital environment and the last part is the conclusion.
HIGH LEVEL EXPRESSION OF HUMAN IFN-alpha 2 b IN Pichia Pastoris

Bioline International HOME JOURNALS REPORTS NEWSLETTERS BOOKS SAMPLE PAPERS RESOURCES HELP Biotecnologia Aplicada, ISSN: 0684-4551 Elfos Scientiae Biotecnologia Aplicada 12(3): 152-155 (1995) ARTICULO ORIGINAL CORTO / SHORT ORIGINAL PAPER HIGH LEVEL EXPRESSION OF HUMAN IFN-alpha2b IN Pichia Pastoris Julia N. Garcia, Jorge A. Aguiar, Miriela Gill, Armando Alvarez, Juan Morales, Joel Ferrero, Beatriz Gonzalez, Gabriel Padron and Alfredo Menendez. Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, P.O. Box 6162, La Habana 6, Cuba Recibido en octubre de 1994. Aprobado en julio de 1995
THREE-DIMENSIONAL SIMULATION OF A ROTATING CORE-COLLAPSE SUPERNOVA

Multi-dimensionality in the inner working of core-collapse supernovae has long been considered one of the most important ingredients to understand the explosion mechanism. We perform a series of numerical experiments to explore how rotation impacts the 3-dimensional hydrodynamics of core-collapse supernova. We employ a light-bulb scheme to trigger explosions and a three-species neutrino leakage scheme to treat deleptonization eects and neutrino losses from the neutron star interior. We nd that the rotation can help the onset of neutrino-driven explosions for models in which the initial angular momentum is matched to that obtained from recent stellar evolutionary calculations ( 0:3 - 3 rad s 1 at the center). For models with larger initial angular momenta, a shock surface deforms to be oblate due to larger centrifugal force. This makes a gain region, in which matter gains energy from neutrinos, more concentrated around the equatorial plane. As a result, the preferred direction of the explosion in 3-dimensional rotating models is perpendicular to the spin axis, which is in sharp contrast to the polar explosions around the axis that are often obtained from 2-dimensional simulations.
SYNDICATE STRUCTURE AS A RESPONSE TO POLITICAL RISK IN THE PROJECT FINANCE LOAN MARKET

This paper examines how political risk affects the structure of project finance (PF) loan syndicates. Using a sample of 495 loan tranches worth $151 billion, we document high levels of debt ownership concentration: the largest single bank holds 20.3% while the top five banks collectively hold 61.2% of a typical PF loan tranche. We show that both syndicate size and concentration are functions of political risk. As country risk increases, debt concentration initially declines, but later increases in high-risk countries, creating what we call a syndicate “smile. ” In contrast to LaPorta et al (1998), who find that equity ownership and shareholder rights are substitutes, we show that debt ownership and creditor rights are complements. Finally, we show that loan pricing is a positive function of syndicate size and concentration. Viewed collectively, these results are consistent with bank syndicates providing, and charging for, valuable monitoring, deterrence, and recontracting services. On a more theoretical level, the results illustrate the continuous nature of debt ownership and refute the overly simplistic distinction between single bank creditors and atomistic bondholders commonly described in the literature.
Habitats of ten demersal species in the Gulf of Lions and potential implications for spatial management

An improved knowledge of habitat utilization by demersal species is a pre-requisite for their spatial management. Based on scientific survey data collected over the period 1994-2010, the present study investigates relationships between 4 environmental factors and 10 demersal species in the Gulf of Lions (northwestern Mediterranean Sea). Generalized linear models provided statistically satisfying results in terms of both model explanatory and predictive powers. The 'biological zone' factors, based on the percentage of light penetration to the sea bottom and bottom temperature, were the most important factors, while sediments and benthic macrofauna were only significant for a few species. The type of associations varied among species, resulting in different spatial predictions among species. The spatial structures of species distributions appeared to be due more to habitat preferences that are spatially auto-correlated than to intra-specific population dynamics. The use of a spatial optimization procedure on the predicted species distributions allowed the detection of a set of 7 zones covering 17% of the studied region, that included at least 20% of each species' abundance and that reflected the diversity of the species' habitats. This preliminary result illustrates the potential of further analyses on Marine Protected Areas as a tool for the conservation of the demersal community in this region.
Imapct of Household Tobacco Smoke Expsoure on Childhood Wheezing.

Objectives: Childhood wheezing is a multifactorial chronic airway disorder. It is more prevalent amongst those exposed to tobacco smoke at home. Does this passive tobacco smoke exposure prepond or increase severity of wheezing in children? Study design: Prospective, descriptive study Methods: In order to determine this, we carried out an analysis of wheezing children attending our clinic. The mean age of presentation and severity of wheeze in passive smokers was compared with those in non-passive smokers. Impact of type of tobacco unit smoked and its amount on age of first wheeze and wheeze severity were determined. Influence of tobacco smoke exposure on the above two parameters after controlling for family history of atopy was evaluated. Results: 263 (43.8%) patients had confirmed history of exposure to household tobacco smoke. Age of presentation and severity of wheeze in passive smokers did not differ significantly from that in non-passive smokers. However, passive smokers from atopic families were not only significantly younger but also had more cases of moderate to severe wheeze compared to the wheezing non-exposed children from non-atopic families (1.5±0.22 vs 2.28±0.18, p<0.05, 80.28% vs. 68.07%, p<0.05 respectively). Also, the former were significantly younger compared to passive smokers from non-atopic families (1.5 ± 0.22 vs. 2.25 ± 0.30 years respectively, p<0.05); though their asthma severity was similar. Conclusions: Genetically predisposed children had early onset and severe wheeze with household tobacco smoke exposure. Proper environmental control for such pollutants in early life would aid in curtailing the likelihood of development of wheeze in them.