Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Expression And Characterization Of Mycobacterium Paratuberculosis 19kda With Posttranslational Modification

Despite the fact that E. coli supports limited posttranslational modification, this bacterium has been universally used as the expression system of choice. Expression of modified proteins in E. coli may lead to expression of recombinant proteins that lack essential immunomodulatory or catalytic components essentials for infectious processes. Previously in our laboratory, pMptb#28 plasmid containing a 4.8 kb insert from M. paratuberculosis has been identified which expressed 16 kDa recombinant protein in E. coli and 19 kDa recombinant protein in Mycobacterium smegmatis. The objective of this study is to identify the ORF sequence, investigate possible posttranslational modification and characterize the protein forms in the two hosts. Earlier in the study, the genome sequence for M. paratuberculosis was not available and therefore sequencing both the 5’ and 3’ ends of the 4.8 kb insert did not help in the identification of the ORF. However, unidirectional Exonuclease deletion resulted in identification of subclones containing possible ORF sequence. Later on, the publication of the M. paratuberculosis genome sequence along with BLAST analysis of sequences from the subclones resulted in the identification of 486 bp ORF with significant identity to that from M. tuberculosis and M. leprae. Cloning of the 486 ORF coding sequence in E. coli resulted in the expression of 16 kDa protein similar to the calculated predicted size of translated peptide. Cloning of the 486 bp ORF coding sequence in M. smegmatis resulted in the expression of 19 kDa protein similar to that from M. paratuberculosis. The 16/19 kDa forms of the same protein were verified using rabbit anti-M. paratuberculosis antibodies adsorbed in E. coli and M. smegmatis lysates. The size of the 19 kDa proteins was not reduced following
The Influence of GSTA1 Polymorphism to the Response to Intravenous Cyclophosphamide Therapy in the Lupus Nephritis Patients

Variations of clinical response of cyclophosphamide (CTX) treatment in lupus nephritis (LN) could still be recognized. LN patients with a GSTA1mutation (CT heterozygous) had a risk of none-response (P=0.005). Pharmacokinetics data indicated that patients with a GSTA1 heterozygous variant had a lower exposure to 4-OHCTX compared to wild-type patients (P=0.023). And clinical efficacy was significantly related to higher exposure to 4- OH-CTX (P=0.038). In conclusion, LN patients with GSTA1 heterozygousgenotypes had poor CTX treatment response due to less exposure to activated 4-OH-CTX.
Induction of somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration in the reed grass ( Phragmites communis Trin.)

An in vitro culture system for the large-scale propagation of Phragmites communis Trin. (reed) was established by optimizing culture conditions for callus induction and differentiation together with plant propagation using regenerated plantlets. Callus was induced from stem segments with callus induction medium containing auxin: 4-fluorophenoxyacetic acid (4-FA) or 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D). A high frequency of callus induction was observed at relatively low concentrations (0.5 and 1 mg L -1 ) of
Photo Traveler: A System for Exploring Photos in 3D

This paper presents a system Photo Traveler for exploring large photo collections of a scene with a visceral 3D sense. Based on 3d-reconstruction, Photo Traveler managed to rearrange those photos in 3D scene, enabling the user to explore photos as if looking through the real cameras, and move between photos as if strolling the scene. Photo Traveler lays emphasis on highdensity reconstruction of scene geometry at low cost of time. Towards this goal, a novel approach is proposed to obtaining reliable relationship between two images.
Instability and morphology of polymer solutions coating a fibre

Abstract We report an experimental study on the dynamics of a thin film of polymer solution coating a vertical fibre. The liquid film has first a constant thickness and then undergoes the Plateau–Rayleigh instability, which leads to the formation of sequences of drops, separated by a thin film, moving down at a constant velocity. Different polymer solutions are used, i.e. xanthan solutions and polyacrylamide (PAAm) solutions. These solutions both exhibit shear-rate dependence of the viscosity, but for PAAm solutions, there are strong normal stresses in addition to the shear thinning effect. We characterize experimentally and separately the effects of these two non-Newtonian properties on the flow on the fibre. Thus, in the flat film observed before the emergence of the drops, only the shear-thinning effect plays a role, and tends to thin the film compared to the Newtonian case. The effect of the non-Newtonian rheology on the Plateau–Rayleigh instability is then investigated through the measurements of the growth rate and the wavelength of the instability. Results are in good agreement with linear stability analysis for a shear-thinning fluid. The effect of normal stress can be taken into account by considering an effective surface tension, which tends to decrease the growth rate of the instability. Finally, the dependence of the morphology of the drops on normal stress is investigated, and a simplified model including the normal stress within the lubrication approximation provides good quantitative results on the shape of the drops.
A New Analysis of Verbal Irony

This article contributes a new analysis of verbal irony to the literature. It presents the main analyses of verbal irony – and the main criticisms of these analyses – found in both older and modern literatures as part of its attempt to build a new account for verbal irony. Thus, this paper discusses traditional, echoic and pretense accounts of irony and the limitations of these analyses. In traditional account, verbal irony is analyzed as a type of a trope or a figurative, in which the speaker communicates the opposite of the literal meaning (see Utsumi (2000)). In echoic analysis, verbal irony is assumed to be an echoic interpretation of an attributed utterance or thought (see Wilson and Sperber (1992)). As for pretense account of verbal irony, it views the ironist as pretending to be an injudicious speaker talking to an uninitiated hearer (see Clark and Gerrig (1984)). The three analyses of verbal irony attract some criticism in the literature (see Kreuz and Glucksberg (1989) and Utsumi (2000)). This paper argues for a new analysis, suggesting that there are multiple types of verbal irony that should be examined under more than one analytical approach based on their meanings. This paper suggests that ironic verbal expressions that communicate the opposite of their literal meaning should be analyzed as a type of metaphor with two oppositional subjects in which the ironist pretends to believe that they resemble one another.
Valuing Consumer Preferences with the CUB Model: A Case Study of Fairtrade Coffee

D'Elia and Piccolo (2005) have recently proposed a mixture distribution, named CUB, for ordinal data. The use of such a mixture distribution for modelling ratings is justified by the following consideration: the judgment that a subject expresses is the result of two components, uncertainty and selectiveness. The possibility of relating the parameters of CUB models to covariates makes the formulation interesting for practical applications In this case study, a sample of 224 fair‐trade coffee consumers were interviewed at stores. With this data‐set, CUB model split consumers, according to their preferences, in two different segments: one showing high price elasticity, and one with a low price elasticity. As regards the potential of the CUB model, it showed a considerable integration capacity with stochastic utility models, namely latent class models. Indeed, by using the segmentation factors emerging from the CUB as covariates of segmentation in a latent class model and setting the number of classes equal to those emerging from the CUB, it was possible to estimate a model which not only validated the findings of the CUB but also allowed estimation of the WTP for the fair trade characteristic in the different groups.
Influences of Vorticity to Vertical Motion of Two-Dimensional Moonpool under Forced Heave Motion

Potential (inviscid-irrotational) and Navier-Stokes equation-based (viscous) flows were numerically simulated around a 2D floating rectangular body with a moonpool; particular emphasis was placed on the piston mode through the use of finite volume method (FVM) and boundary element method (BEM) solvers. The resultant wave height and phase shift inside and outside the moonpool were compared with experimental results by Faltinsen et al. (2007) for various heaving frequencies. Hydrodynamic coefficients were compared for the viscous and potential solvers and sway and heave forces were discussed. The effects of the viscosity and vortex shedding were investigated by changing the gap size, corner shape, and viscosity. The viscous flow fields were thoroughly discussed to better understand the relevant physics and shed light on the detail flow structure at resonant frequency. Vortex shedding was found to account for the most of the damping. The viscous flow simulations agreed well with the experimental results, showing the actual role and contribution of viscosity compared to potential flow simulations.
Non‐Normal Real Estate Return Distributions by Property Type in the UK

Investment risk models with infinite variance provide a better description of distributions of individual property returns in the IPD UK database over the period 1981 to 2003 than normally distributed risk models. This finding mirrors results in the US and Australia using identical methodology. Real estate investment risk is heteroskedastic, but the characteristic exponent of the investment risk function is constant across time – yet it may vary by property type. Asset diversification is far less effective at reducing the impact of non‐systematic investment risk on real estate portfolios than in the case of assets with normally distributed investment risk. The results, therefore, indicate that multi‐risk factor portfolio allocation models based on measures of investment codependence from finite‐variance statistics are ineffective in the real estate context.
Rapid identification of Meloidogyne chitwoodi, M. hapla, and M. fallax using PCR primers to amplify their ribosomal intergenic spacer.

Summary - Primers used to amplify the InternaI Transcribed Spacer (lTS) were reoriented divergently and used to amplify the genomic rDNA intergenic spacer erGS) region of M. chuwoodi via the polymerase chain reaction. The location of the IGS within the resulting 5.8 kilobase pair DNA fragment was identified by subcloning individual restriction fragments and sequencing their terminal regions. Additional primers were constructed which could amplify the IGS with only minimal flanking sequences of the 28S and 18S rDNA. Agarose gel electrophoresis of amplified fragments obtained from PCR amplification of DNA from M. chuwoodi, M. hapla, and M. fallm: demonstrated size polymorphisms. Direct identification of nematodes based On size polymorphisms of an amplified product is more efficient than the usual procedure of amplification followed by digestion with restriction endonucleases. Resume -Identificationrapide de Meloidogyne chitwoodi, M. hapla et M. fallaxpar utilisation d'amorces d'amplifi­ cation en chaine par pol)t1nerase en vue d'amplifier leurs espaces intergeniques - Des amorces servant a amplifier la region interne transcrite de l'espaceur (lTS) ont ete reorientees de maniere divergente pour amplifier par reaction en chaine par polymerase (PCR) "espaceur intergenique erGS) de l'ADNr genomique de Meloidogyne chuwoodi. La position de l'IGS dans le fragment d'ADN obtenu de 5,8 Kb a bien ete identifiee en sous-clonant individuellement des fragments de restriction et en sequencanr leurs regions terminales. Des amorces additionnelles ont ete construites pour amplifier l'IGS avec un minimum de sequences des genes 28S et 18S de l'ADNr. Les fragments amplifies par PCR de j'ADN de M. chuwoodi, M. haplaet de M.fallm: ont montre des tailles differentes par electrophorese sur gel d'agarose. L'identification directe des nematodes a partir de differences de raille des fragments amplifies est plus efficace que la methode usuelle d'amplification suivie de digestion a l'aide d'enzymes de restriction.
Towards Adaptive user Interfaces for Mobile-Phone in Smart World

All applications are developed for context adaptation and provide communication with users through their interfaces. These applications offer new opportunities for developers as well as users by collecting context data and adapting systems behavior accordingly. Particularly, in mobile devices, these mechanisms provide usability increment tremendously. Rigid and non-adaptive interface blocks the features of context awareness. In this paper, we study methods, technologies and criteria which have been proposed specifically for adaptive interfaces. Based on these guidelines, we elaborate the intelligence of adaptivity and usage of context according to user mental model. Further, we have proposed a model to develop user context ontology (UCO) and adaptive interface ontology (AIO) to optimize the use of adaptive mobile interfaces in the context of user preferences. These ontologies organize the perceptions and thoughts of user. The philosophy of User Centered Design (UCD) is proposed to analyze the usability and validity of mobile device interfaces according to user contexts.
TOWARDS ONTOLOGY-BASED MANAGEMENT OF DISTRIBUTED MULTI-MODEL PROJECT SPACES

Collaboration between clients and contractors in construction projects is still poorly supported by ICT due to the lack of a common modelling framework and open service platforms that can enable interoperability and decision making on various management levels. In this paper we present the development of a semantic service environment, elaborated within the frames of the German research project Mefisto. A focus of will be the management of information containers with multiple interrelated information models, which will be illustrated by a use-case scenario. A central challenge of the platform is the management of a distributed multi-model spaces for construction projects where model-based information from various project participants needs to be adequately transformed, exchanged and managed horizontally among different participants and various discipline-specific representations, longitudinally in their temporal development along the project phases and vertically on different levels of abstraction to support different levels of decision making.The information backbone of the platform is developed in anticipation of the fact that not all relevant project data can be structured in a single, all-encompassing schema. It features a layered ontology-based modelling framework comprising selected data model schemas for e.g. building information and construction site modelling, scheduling and process management as well as respective cost and resource controlling. To exchange and manage the respective information models an information container is defined, that provides for encapsulating the models, their interdependencies and corresponding semantic annotations. It represent a logical envelops for handling distributed, yet inter-related model views as single information resources.Complementing the data model framework the multi-model logistics and the operability of the whole platform are grounded on the consistent use of an project collaboration ontology which defines the multi-model information resources on a macro-level as well as the respective organisational entities and the software services needed to create, interpret and exchange these resources.
Does accredited professional development for academics improve teaching and learning in Higher Education

This Chapter examines the extent to which we can assess whether accredited professional development programmes for academics have improved teaching – and students’ learning – in higher education. A review of the literature will be presented, along with new research undertaken in our home institution. The authors are part of a team delivering accredited programmes in teaching at tertiary level, and have collaborated to examine the impact of their work and that of the team over more than ten years in this area. Our findings from both the literature and our most recent research within our own institution indicate a range of benefits for higher education in providing and supporting accredited programmes for educators. However, we have also identified methodological issues in measuring these benefits and impact overall. The Chapter will discuss this work and connect it with the broader themes of this book. We emphasise the importance of effective teaching in the midst of the many complex changes influencing higher education at this time. INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES Since the early 1990s, academic professional development has emerged as a formal activity in most third level institutions in the UK, Ireland, Australasia and the US (Gosling, 2009). This trend led to the inception of centres for academic development, including the Learning, Teaching and Technology Centre (LTTC) at Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) in Ireland. Since 2000, the LTTC has provided accredited academic development programmes and short courses for academics within and externally to the Institute. DIT spans a number of sites in Dublin city, with some 20,000 students from apprentice to doctoral levels. Disciplines are organized into four Colleges: Arts and Tourism, Business, Engineering and the Built Environment, and Sciences and Health. Given the range of staff attending, the longevity of our programmes, and the many challenges now facing higher education, we sought to re-examine our provision and to evaluate the impact of accredited courses over some years. The value of teaching as a professional area of activity in higher education has only relatively recently been identified and studied (Hanbury, Prosser & Rickinson, 2008; Kandlbinder & Peseta, 2009). The past two decades have seen concerted efforts made to develop teaching as a formal professional activity in higher education in many parts of the world (Fink, 2013; Kandlbinder & Peseta, 2009). A strong trend for professional development programmes has emerged, particularly for new staff, and many universities have developed postgraduate qualifications in higher education (Chalmers & Thompson, 2008). Critical reflection on practice in higher education has emerged as potentially an important means to develop teaching practice (Bamber & Anderson, 2012; O’Connell & Dyment, 2006).
An Investigation into the Test-Retest Reliability of the Scale of Accurate Personality Prediction with a Six Week Interval

iii Overview.iv List of Tables.vii Acknowledgements.viii Literature Review.1 Methods.33 Results.36 Discussion.42 References.47 Appendix A.52 Appendix B.54 Appendix C.57
Modeling organic aerosol concentrations and properties during winter 2014 in the northwestern Mediterranean region

Abstract. Organic aerosols are measured at a remote site (Ersa) on the cape of Corsica in the northwestern Mediterranean basin during the winter campaign of 2014 of the CHemistry and AeRosols Mediterranean EXperiment (CharMEx), when high organic concentrations from anthropogenic origins are observed. This work aims to represent the observed organic aerosol concentrations and properties (oxidation state) using the air-quality model Polyphemus with a surrogate approach for secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation. Because intermediate and semi-volatile organic compounds (I/S-VOCs) are the main precursors of SOAs at Ersa during winter 2014, different parameterizations to represent the emission and aging of I/S-VOCs were implemented in the chemistry-transport model of Polyphemus (different volatility distribution emissions and single-step oxidation vs multi-step oxidation within a volatility basis set – VBS – framework, inclusion of non-traditional volatile organic compounds – NTVOCs). Simulations using the different parameterizations are compared to each other and to the measurements (concentration and oxidation state). The highly observed organic concentrations are well reproduced in all the parameterizations. They are slightly underestimated in most parameterizations. The volatility distribution at emissions influences the concentrations more strongly than the choice of the parameterization that may be used for aging (single-step oxidation vs multi-step oxidation), stressing the importance of an accurate characterization of emissions. Assuming the volatility distribution of sectors other than residential heating to be the same as residential heating may lead to a strong underestimation of organic concentrations. The observed organic oxidation and oxygenation states are strongly underestimated in all simulations, even when multigenerational aging of I/S-VOCs from all sectors is modeled. This suggests that uncertainties in the emissions and aging of I/S-VOC emissions remain to be elucidated, with a potential role of formation of organic nitrate and low-volatility highly oxygenated organic molecules.
Innovation and Distribution in Modelling an Inequality Trap: Availability of Data

Growing literature assesses inequality would drag effective demand in the economy, acting as a main causation factor of the contemporary economic recession cycle. The debate would remain open because such causation would remain hidden within the current macroeconomic representation and underneath the aggregation of the available statistical data. The aim is to investigate an alternative framework intended to contribute in disentangling such hidden dynamics. This considers total factor productivity and the level of inequality as macroeconomic factors of production and demand, rather than capital and labour. The analysis discusses an inequality trap and availability of statistical data appropriate to the modelling proposed. This would provide considerations for extracting inequality data conform to the modelling and show finding certain data for such equations is challenging.