Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optical properties of gold and aluminium nanoparticles for silicon solar cell applications

The optical properties of metal nanoparticles are explored as a function of lateral size, shape, aspect-ratio and metal type. Simulations based on the discrete dipole approximation are compared with experimental measurements of arrays of metal nanoparticles fabricated by electron-beam lithography. Careful selection of experimental parameters ensures minimization of far-field and near-field coupling, and inhomogeneous broadening, thus allowing comparison with single particle simulations. The optical properties of Au nanoparticles are compared with similar Al nanoparticles for each particle type. For solar cell light-trapping applications, we require metal nanoparticles that exhibit extinction peaks near the band-edge region of the absorbing material, as well as low absorption and large optical cross-sections. Al nanoparticles are shown to be of interest for amorphous silicon solar cells, but their applications for polycrystalline solar cells is limited by the presence of an interband region in the near-inf.
Three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain analysis of nonlinear self-focusing in air

Through using a three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain (3D-FDTD) scheme, we analyze nonlinear self-focusing in air as a Kerr medium. For sufficiently intense laser beams, the gaseous medium can behave as a strong positive lens which tends to focus the beam. Our simulationspsila major focus is on the propagation characteristics of an intense continuous-wave laser beam. Necessary relations have been introduced into the conventional FDTD formulation to account for the nonlinear behavior of air. The results clearly indicate that sufficient amounts of optical intensity may lead to self-focusing immediately in front of the laser aperture.
Boundary value analysis for non-numerical variables: Strings

The purpose of boundary value analysis is to concentrate effort on error prone area by accurately pinpointing the boundaries of condition. Boundary value analysis produces test inputs near each sub domain’s to find failure cause by incorrect implementation of boundary. The major limitation of boundary value analysis is that it fails to test non-numerical variables. This paper focuses on as an antidote to enter the string values.
LIFE AT THE CROSSROADS : NEW DATA FROM PUSILHA , BELIZE

Recent excavations at the site of Pusilha, Belize have revealed a diverse material culture assemblage that raises intriguing questions concerning the occupational history and development of the Southern Belize sub region, located in the southeastern periphery of the Maya lowlands. Here, we describe significant findings from investigations conducted in 2004, as well as the major components of a provisional ceramic typology. The majority of ceramic material excavated so far date to the Late Classic period and reveal clear links to contemporary complexes from various parts of the Maya area, as well as to non-Maya regions in Honduras.
Perceptions of strategic management of technology in small high-tech enterprises

Strategic management of technology is a necessity for wealth creation in society, but also in corporations as members of that society. Emergence of new economical order enabled by global competition and proliferation of information involves increasingly rapid changes in technologies which causes major competitive challenges to enterprises to manage their technological capabilities. In the absence of commonly agreed management of technology frameworks this study discovers perceptions and current state of management of technology in high-tech SMEs. Theoretical background of this study is based on a conceptual framework of strategic management of technology originating from large enterprise practices. The elements are classified with respect to structures, objectives and company internal and external impacts. Conceptually entire field is perceived to be complex and there is contingency and immaturity in practices deployment in SMEs. As a conclusion it is suggested that SMEs should consciously develop management of technology practices, and the presented structures elements of strategic management of technology framework would provide a frame of reference when constructing the practices in enterprises. It is also proposed that strategic management of technology should be evolved as a distinguishing functional and managerial domain that enhances the management paradigm of multifunctional strategic orientation in enterprises.
Intratumoral Anti-CTLA-4 Therapy: Enhancing Efficacy While Avoiding Toxicity

Systemic administration of the checkpoint blockade antibody anti-CTLA4 results in severe autoimmune toxicity, limiting its clinical efficacy. Fransen and colleagues show here that peritumoral delivery of low doses of this immunomodulatory drug can trigger a systemic antitumor immune response while preventing the toxicity against other organs. Clin Cancer Res; 19(19); 5261–3. ©2013 AACR.
The Management of Sellar Masses: Not All Pituitary Tumours Require Surgery for Diagnosis and/or Therapy

It is often assumed that the presence of pituitary enlargement on imaging, especially if associated with focal imaging abnormalities and/or focal neurological or endocrine signs, is necessarily caused by a pituitary tumour, requiring surgical intervention. However, it is important that such patients have a pre-operative endocrine assessment in order to exclude those who do not require surgery for either diagnosis or therapy.
Bioelectrochemical changes during the early stages of chalcopyrite interaction with Acidithiobacillus Thiooxidans and Leptospirillum sp.

A bioelectrochemical study of charge transfer in the biofilm–chalcopyrite interface was performed to investigate the effect of surficial reduced sulfur species (RSS), in the form of non-stochiometric compounds or polysulfides (Sn2−) and elemental sulfur (S0) on a biofilm structure, during the earliest stages (1, 12 and 24 h) of chalcopyrite biooxidation by Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans alone and adding Leptospirillum sp. The surface of massive chalcopyrite electrodes was exposed to the bacteria, which were analyzed electrochemically, spectroscopically, and microscopically. At the studied earlier times, charge transfer and significant differences in the biofilm structure were detected, depending on the presence of Leptospirillum sp. acting on A. thiooxidans biofilms. Such differences were a consequence of a continuous chalcopyrite pitting and promoting changes in biofilm hydrophobicity. A. thiooxidans modifies the reactive properties of RSS and favors an acidic dissolution, which shifts into ferric dissolution when Leptospirillum sp. is present. A. thiooxidans allows H+ and Fe3+ diffusion, and Leptospirillum sp. enables to surpass the charge transfer (reactivity) barrier between the mineral interface and the ions. The observed changes of hydrophobicity on the interface are associated to ions and electrons activity and transfer. Finally, a model of S0 biooxidation by A. thiooxidans alone or with Leptospirillum sp. is proposed.
To ∼P or Not to ∼P? Non‐canonical activation by two‐component response regulators

Bacteria sense and respond to their environment through the use of two‐component regulatory systems. The ability to adapt to a wide range of environmental stresses is directly related to the number of two‐component systems an organism possesses. Recent advances in this area have identified numerous variations on the archetype systems that employ a sensor kinase and a response regulator. It is now evident that many orphan regulators that lack cognate kinases do not rely on phosphorylation for activation and new roles for unphosphorylated response regulators have been identified. The significance of recent findings and suggestions for further research are discussed.
Dynamic mobile agent migration in Wireless Sensor Networks

Computing paradigm plays an important and fundamental role in collaborative processing in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN). The client/server based paradigm and the mobile agent based paradigm are two popular computing models used to facilitate collaboration among sensor nodes. We study the key problem of determining mobile agent itinerary for collaborative processing and models the Dynamic Mobile Agent Planning (DMAP) problem. We then present two itinerary planning algorithms with the goal of maximising the information extracted while keeping resource usage to a minimum. The ISMAP determines the itinerary before dispatching the mobile agent while the IDMAP algorithm selects the route on the fly. We design three metrics (energy consumption, network lifetime, and the number of hops) and use simulation tools to quantitatively measure the performance of different itinerary planning algorithms. Simulation results show considerable improvement over the ISMAP using the IDMAP itinerary algorithm.
Phenomenology as a Philosophical Orientation for Understanding the Transformative Experience of Disabling Illness

Abstract Kaufman’s ground-breaking work in the 1980s introduced the phenomenology of disability. In my commentary, I describe phenomenology as a philosophy of understanding the world around us and as a methodology for understanding the lived experiences of patients with life-changing disabilities. Like Kaufman, my focus for the use of phenomenology in health care is to capture the existential and transformative experience of illness. As such, I agree with Kaufman that phenomenology can help health care professionals expand their understanding of patient experiences to provide a fuller and richer, holistic response to care.
Toward a Problem-Focused Understanding of Prejudice

In his target article, Henry (this issue) reminds us ofa criticism that is often lodged against social psycho-logical research. The claim that too much research isderived from a college student sample is unassailable,especially in light of the summary data that Henryprovides from the ﬁeld’s top basic and applied jour-nals. It also seems undeniable that our ﬁeld’s biasedsampling practice would be a problem for the psycho-logical study of prejudice. But in this commentary, wewould like to argue that the focus on college samples isnot the primary issue of concern in prejudice researchbut is rather a symptom of a larger problem with ourempirical approach to this topic. The larger problem isthat we rarely study prejudice as if it is a problem tobe solved.As Henry points out, the study of prejudice is oneof the jewels in the crown of social psychology. It’sa topic that drew many of us to the discipline in theﬁrst place. And more so than many topics, prejudiceis clearly a problem in society throughout history andaround the globe, but what percentage of our scientiﬁcinquiry has really been focused on ﬁnding solutions? Several years ago, I (ﬁrst author Toni Schmader) at-tended a Claremont Symposium focused on the topicof Reducing Prejudice. As a graduate student inter-ested in stigma, discrimination, stereotyping, and bias,I was eager to hear what the ﬁeld’s leading scholarshad to say about how prejudice could be reduced.I must admit, however, that by the end of the dayI was a bit disappointed. Most speakers trotted outtheir talks
Haemolysins in Vibrio species

Many Vibrio species are pathogenic to humans, and/or marine vertebrates and invertebrates. The pathogenic species produce various virulence factors including enterotoxin, haemolysin, cytotoxin, protease, lipase, phospholipase, siderophore, adhesive factor and/or haemagglutinins. Haemolysin, which is an exotoxin that lyses erythrocyte membranes with the liberation of haemoglobin, is arguably the most widely distributed toxin among pathogenic vibrios and exerts various roles in the infection process. Haemolysins act on erythrocytes membranes thus lysing the cells which leads to the freeing up of the iron-binding proteins namely haemoglobin, transferrin and lactoferrin. This iron can then be picked up by various siderophores, and is subsequently taken up through receptors in the cell membrane. In many cases, the pore-forming activity of haemolysin is not restricted to erythrocytes, but extends to a wide range of other cell types including mast cells, neutrophils, and polymorphonuclear cells, and enhances virulence by causing tissue damage. There are four representative haemolysin families in Vibrio spp. , including the TDH (thermostable direct haemolysin) family, the HlyA (E1 Tor haemolysin) family, the TLH (thermolabile haemolysin) family and the d-VPH (thermostable haemolysin) family. Some haemolysins, for example, TDH of Vibrio parahaemolyticus and HlyA of Vibrio cholerae have been studied extensively, and are closely associated with virulence. However, the role of some haemolysins, e.g. TLH and d-VPH are unclear, and await the outcome of further research. 2. INTRODUCTION
Induction of AIDS Virus-Specific CTL Activity in Fresh, Unstimulated Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes from Rhesus Macaques Vaccinated with a DNA Prime/Modified Vaccinia Virus Ankara Boost Regimen1

The observed role of CTL in the containment of AIDS virus replication suggests that an effective HIV vaccine will be required to generate strong CTL responses. Because epitope-based vaccines offer several potential advantages for inducing strong, multispecific CTL responses, we tested the ability of an epitope-based DNA prime/modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) boost vaccine to induce CTL responses against a single SIVgag CTL epitope. As assessed using both 51Cr release assays and tetramer staining of in vitro stimulated PBMC, DNA vaccinations administered to the skin with the gene gun induced and progressively increased p11C, C→M (CTPYDINQM)-specific CD8+ T lymphocyte responses in six of six Mamu-A*01+ rhesus macaques. Tetramer staining of fresh, unstimulated PBMC from two of the DNA-vaccinated animals indicated that as much as 0.4% of all CD3+/CD8α+ T lymphocytes were specific for the SIVgag CTL epitope. Administration of MVA expressing the SIVgag CTL epitope further boosted these responses, such that 0.8–20.0% of CD3+/CD8α+ T lymphocytes in fresh, unstimulated PBMC were now Ag specific. Enzyme-linked immunospot assays confirmed this high frequency of Ag-specific cells, and intracellular IFN-γ staining demonstrated that the majority of these cells produced IFN-γ after peptide stimulation. Moreover, direct ex vivo SIV-specific cytotoxic activity could be detected in PBMC from five of the six DNA/MVA-vaccinated animals, indicating that this epitope-based DNA prime/MVA boost regimen represents a potent method for inducing high levels of functionally active, Ag-specific CD8+ T lymphocytes in non-human primates.
SEM Approach to Teen Influence in Family Decision Making

The primary purpose of this paper is to provide an empirical design on teen influence and its predictors in the context of family decision making. Structure equation modeling (SEM) is employed to test the proposed conceptual model on teen influence and its predictors. The SEM approach also provides for the construct validity of the key measures. Results indicate that teenage children in urban Indian households significantly influence purchase-related decisions in the family. The findings from the empirical data suggest that peers, shopping and the Internet are significant predictors of teen influence in family purchases, although the media’s role is marginalized (as a predictor) to the influence that teenagers have in family decision making. This study is significant, as great scholastic interest is placed on such contemporary research, which aims to discern the role of a variety of factors that impact teen influence in the family. This study also addresses the problem of construct validity of key measures, which has been somewhat overlooked in the past research.
Heterogeneous sensors alignment on ART for map construction

This paper proposes a common platform called Automatic Robot Toolkit (ART), which offers a message stream dispatch mechanism and system development toolkit for robots. Composing a robotic system requires several heterogeneous components that are different hardware, algorithms and software. Each component is integrated into a well designed robotic system. Those systems are designed based on a particular system and it can be hard to have integration with or within other systems. Nowadays, robotics are more and more complex and intelligent. A common platform could be used to integrate those components according to the object concept. Therefore, the best way is to develop a common platform to integrate the already existing or developing techniques. The proposed common platform offers the message channels for each technique component to subscribe and publish the component's information. The common platform is designed based on the message oriented middleware (MOM) concept which effectively abstracts a multi-channel message transport layer to enable asynchronous exchange of data and event notification. Using this middleware toolkit, one can develop the control, identification, or intelligent algorithms without coding platform constraint.
Probe Production for In Situ Hybridization by PCR and Subsequent Covalent Labeling With Fluorescent Dyes

A simple procedure for fluorescent labeling of probes just before in situ hybridization is provided. Aminoallyl-dUTP is introduced during probe production by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The aminoallyl-dUTP functions as a reactive site for subsequent labeling of the probe. Activated fluorescent dyes such as fluorescein are covalently attached to the probe through the formation of a stable amide bond. Labeled probes are purified by size-exclusion gel chromatography to remove unincorporated dye. Target genes used to demonstrate the efficacy of this technique with in situ hybridization are rat Y-chromosome and rat granulocyte colony-stimulating factor receptor. PCR amplicons containing aminoallyl-dUTP were produced in high yield. Probes obtained after labeling with activated fluorophores demonstrated high intrinsic activity within in situ hybridizations. The introduction of aminoallyl-dUTP into the PCR reaction enables the production of “unlabeled” probes by PCR having a shelf life, which is not limited by the storage and stability challenges of fluorophore-labeled probes. Subsequent labeling of the probes with activated fluorescent dyes just before use allows one step in situ hybridization with high activity and minimal background staining.
Effects of on-demand versus fixed-interval schedules in the treatment of chronic pain with analgesic compounds.

The effects of fixed-interval and on-demand administration of analgesic medication in chronic pain patients were compared in a cross-over design. It was hypothesized that each analgesic schedule would have a different effect on subjective pain experience, mood experience, and physical activity. A fixed-interval analgesic schedule was found more effective than an on-demand analgesic schedule in reducing subjective pain and elevating mood. No differences were found between the two conditions on measures of physical activity. The medical approach to the treatment of pain assumes that pain is a specific sensation, with pain intensity directly proportional to nociceptive sensory input or extent of tissue damage. This assumption of a simple one-to-one relation between a stimulus and a sensation (one cause, one pain) has led to the expectancy that if the cause of the pain is eliminated, the pain itself will vanish (Sanders, 1979). This strategy works well enough in some situations; however, it is frequently observed that intensive medical and surgical approaches to chronic pain neither reveal the cause of the pain nor reduce the subjective experience of pain. For instance, Beecher (1959) noted that morphine, a potent narcotic analgesic drug, is only effective in about 70% of the cases. It also appears that morphine, when effective, mainly acts to reduce anxiety, fear, worry, and other emotions that are usually intermingled with pain. During the last decade, pain research has distinguished between respondent and operant pain. Fordyce (1976) defined respondent pain as pain resulting from stimuli arising from body damage. Operant pain may or may not be associated with body damage. The most important characteristic of operant pain is that pain behavior may be reinforced either through social attention and medication (attention and induced euphoria provide positive reinforcement) or through reduction of tension, anxiety, or fear (negative reinforcement). In a recent analogue study, Linton and G&estam (1985) showed that pain responses could be operantly reinforced and that responses remained after relief of the nociceptive stimulus. Fordyce (1976) argued that medication positively reinforces pain behavior and that pain patients learn that medication will
The low-affinity component of Saccharomyces cerevisiae maltose transport is an artifact

It has been reported by several laboratories that maltose transport in Saccharomyces cerevisiae consists of two components with high- and low-affinity constants for maltose. We have investigated the characteristics of the low-affinity component and have found that it shows an abnormal behavior without similarity to any transport mechanism described in this organism. The results strongly indicate that this apparent transport activity is due not to a genuine transport process but to nonspecific binding of maltose to the cell wall and plasma membrane.
MR-LDA: An Efficient Topic Model for Classification of Short Text in Big Social Data

Latent Dirichlet AllocationLDA is an efficient method of text mining,but applying LDA directly to Chinese micro-blog texts will not work well because micro-blogs are more social, brief, and closely related with each other. Based on LDA, this paper proposes a Micro-blog Relation LDA model MR-LDA, which takes the relations between Chinese micro-blog documents and other Chinese micro-blog documents into consideration to help topic mining in micro-blog. The authors extend LDA in the following two points. First, they aggregate several Chinese micro-blogs as a single micro-blog document to solve the problem of short texts. Second, they model the generation process of Chinese micro-blogs more accurately by taking relationship between micro-blog documents into consideration. MR-LDA is more suitable to model Chinese micro-blog data. Gibbs sampling method is borrowed to inference the model. Experimental results on actual datasets show that MR-LDA model can offer an effective solution to text mining for Chinese micro-blog.
Current and Future Wet-Mate Connector Technology Developments for Scientific Seabed Observatory Applications

This paper will review wet-mate connector technologies being deployed by current cabled seabed observatory projects as well as look forward to technologies under development to further enable connectivity of observatories. The goals of these new technologies include increasing bandwidth, system voltage and operating depth as well as reducing complexity. Projects such as MARS (Monterey Accelerated Research System), VENUS (Victoria Experimental Network Under the Sea), ALOHA (A Long-term Oligotrophic Habitat Assessment) and NEPTUNE (North-East Experimental Network Under the Sea) are using a range of technologies and system architectures to meet the specific project requirements and constraints. Wet-mate connectors provide subsea serviceable connections between the backbone cable-to-shore and the observatory or node. At the node, wet-mate connectors allow for the regular interchange of scientific packages. This paper will provide a summary of the connector technologies used in the observatories mentioned above. This includes the unique development of a high voltage (10 kVDC) connector, adaptation of the standard Nautilus connector to transmit 100Base-T Ethernet and development of a compact medium voltage hybrid electric/optic connection system for deployment in >5,000 meters of water