Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
DOI 10.1007/s00425-004-1215-8 ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Phosphorylation by protein kinase CKII modulates the DNA-binding activity of a chloroplast nucleoid-associated protein Abstract Plastid DNA, like bacterial and mitochondrial DNA, is organized into protein–DNA complexes called nucleoids. Plastid nucleoids are believed to be associated with the inner envelope in developing plastids and the thylakoid membranes in mature chloroplasts, but the mechanism for this localization is unknown. MFP1 is a DNA-binding, coiled-coil protein associated with the thylakoid membranes of mature chloroplasts. It is also a component of nucleoids, suggesting a function at the interface of the chloroplast genome and the photosyn-thetic membranes. Several thylakoid proteins are phos-phorylated by a protein kinase CKII-like activity and the alpha subunit of a chloroplast-located CKII has recently been identified as a component of the chloro-plast transcription complex. Here, we show evidence for the phosphorylation of MFP1 in purified chloroplasts from tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.). We demonstrate that the DNA-binding domain of MFP1 is a substrate for CKII and that phosphorylation by CKII inhibits DNA binding. Using site-directed mutagenesis, we identify a conserved twin CKII site in the DNA-binding domain that is required for the inhibition of DNA binding. Phosphorylation of MFP1 by chloroplast CKII as a possible means to modulate its DNA-binding activity is discussed.
Identification of biomarkers for ischemic cardiomyopathy based on microarray data analysis.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to explore the biomarkers and potential mechanism underlying ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM). METHODS Using the GSE42955 Affymetrix microarray data accessible from the Gene Expression Omnibus database, the differentially expressed genes between 12 ICM tissue samples and 5 normal controls were identified. To investigate the function changes in the course of disease progression, Gene Ontology (GO) annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis were performed on the differentially expressed genes, followed by analysis of the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network and modules. RESULTS A total of 50 up-regulated and 179 down-regulated genes were identified. The biological processes of immune response, response to virus, and cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) were significantly altered by the differentially expressed genes. The PPI network revealed certain hub nodes such as CXCL10, IRF1, STAT1, IFIT2, and IFIT3. CONCLUSIONS Candidate biomarker genes such as CXCL10, IRF1, STAT1, IFIT2, and IFIT3 may be suitable therapeutic targets for ICM. Further study of the CAMs pathway and immune response biological processes will be helpful in understanding the pathogenesis of ICM.
The Performance of Mesotrophic Arrhenatheretum Grassland under Different Cutting Frequency Regimes for Biomass Production in Southwest Germany

Biogas production is a key renewable energy pathway for a more sustainable future bioeconomy. However, there is a crucial trade-off between biomass productivity and social-ecological sustainability of available biogas cropping systems. Permanent grassland has been frequently promoted as a promising perennial cropping system for biomass production. Three- and four-cut regimes are usually the highest-yielding and thus preferable for biogas production. A three-year field trial in southwest Germany investigated biomass yield and biochemical composition of mesotrophic Arrhenatheretum grassland under three cutting regimes (two-, three- and four-cut). For the three-cut regime, a preliminary biogas batch test was conducted. The three-cut regime had the highest annual accumulated dry matter yield (11.8–14.8 Mg ha−1), an average specific methane yield of 0.289 m3N kg−1 volatile solids−1 and an accumulated annual methane yield of 3167–3893 m³N ha−1. The four-cut regime performed least favorably due to a lower dry matter yield than the three-cut regime, the highest ash content and the highest nitrogen content. Thus, the three-cut regime promises the best yield performance, whereas the two-cut regime can potentially provide more ecosystem services such as biodiversity conservation and wild-game protection. Consequently, the two-cut regime could help improve the social-ecological sustainability of biogas crop cultivation.
Electromagnetic analysis on propagation characteristics of CRLH waveguide loaded with double ridge corrugations

The propagation characteristics of a composite right/left-handed (CRLH) waveguide loaded with air-filled double ridge corrugations (DRCs) is studied intensively in this paper. It is analyzed from the perspective of electromagnetic (EM) fields other than equivalent circuit method used by many other CRLH structures. First, the EM fields inside the CRLH waveguide are derived theoretically based on the EM fields in the rectangular waveguide and the DRC, as well as the boundary conditions on the interface, respectively. Then the propagation characteristics of the CRLH waveguide including the dispersion relation, surface current and transmitted power are determined according to the EM fields. The properties of the surface current are focused on for analyzing the application possibility of this CRLH waveguide to the leaky-wave antennas (LWAs). The transmitted power of the CRLH waveguide is calculated to demonstrate the high power capacitance of this CRLH waveguide. All the theoretical results are verified through full-wave simulations.
Islam on the Move: The Tablighi Jama'at in Southeast Asia

Dit uitgebreide onderzoek naar de opkomst van de Tablighi Jama'at plaatst deze massale islamitische missiebeweging in het grotere perspectief van de wereldwijde ontwikkelingen binnen de moslimgemeenschap. Noor vergelijkt het spirituele kader van de beweging met de opvattingen van de politieke en religieuze autoriteiten in de landen van herkomst van de aanhangers, en met de westerse 'securocratische' benadering.
Volcanic ash from the 1362 A.D. Oræfajokull Eruption (Iceland) in the Greenland Ice Sheet

A continuous record of electrical conductivity measurements (ECM) was made on site during the drilling of a 200 m ice core at Summit, Greenland and was used to identify horizons in the ice that might be linked to volcanic eruptions. In one detailed section that we studied a large peak in the number of particles, two orders of magnitude above the background, was measured. The particle peak was not associated with an ECM peak, however. The particles were identified as volcanic ash on the basis of both particle morphology and chemical composition. The ash composition suggests an explosive rhyolitic eruption and is believed to have originatedfrom Oraefajokull in Iceland in 1362 A.D.
Subjective Assessments, Participatory Methods and Poverty Dynamics: The Stages-of-Progress Method

The Stages-of-Progress methodology helps examine households’ movements out of poverty and into poverty. More important, it helps uncover the reasons responsible for these movements, thereby feeding directly into policy formulation. I present the steps in this methodology, discussing briefly some results from applications carried out with colleagues in 236 diverse communities of India, Kenya, Uganda, Peru and North Carolina, USA, examining the pathways traversed by a total of more than 25,000 households. Next, I discuss how reliably this recall-based, participatory and community-driven methodology works in practice. Strengths and weaknesses of the method are examined in conclusion.
P‐Delays from Floating Seismometers (MERMAID), Part I: Data Processing

We present methods of data analysis adapted to Mobile Earthquake Recorder in Marine Areas by Independent Divers (MERMAID) seismograms, obtained with hydrophones mounted on moving underwater floats. If the MERMAID float comes immediately to the surface after recording an earthquake signal, the seismogram location is obtained from the first Global Positioning System (GPS) position, using a correction for the surface drift of the float. In the case of earthquakes recorded without an immediate surfacing, the location is estimated using a linear interpolation between GPS positions. We performed a Bezier interpolation of the GPS positions to estimate a location error. In 67% of the cases, the distance between the two trajectories was less than 500 m. We tested the method on six months of data acquired in the Ligurian basin (Mediterranean Sea). To validate the (manually) picked onset times for P waves, we performed a preliminary tomographic inversion beneath the Ligurian basin of MERMAID data together with a much larger volume of picks from nearby land and ocean‐bottom seismometer stations. After inversion we found that 67% of MERMAID data have a misfit between ±0.17 s, but the distribution of misfits is not Gaussian and shows outliers. We conclude that floating seismometers are an excellent and accurate means for covering oceanic areas for P‐wave tomography.
Industrial Ecology Approaches to Improve Metal Management

A linear model of consumption − produce-use-dispose − has constantly increased the pressure on the environment in recent decades. There has been a great belief that technology will solve the problem, but in many cases it is only partly contributing to the solution. For a full solution, the root causes of problems need to be identified. The drivers-pressures-state-impact-response (DPSIR) framework allows the drivers of a specific problem to be identified by structuring the causal relations between humans and the environment. A state/ impact-based approach can help identify pressures and drivers, and make what can be considered an end-of-pipe response. Rather than that mainstream approach, this thesis adopts a pressure-based driver -oriented approach, which could be considered a proactive approach to environmental resource management. In physical resource management, material flow analysis (MFA) is one of the tools used for communication and decision support for policy response on resource productivity and pollution abatement. Here, element flow analysis (EFA), a disaggregation of MFA for better mass balance, was applied in pollution control and resource management. The pressure-based driver -oriented approach was used to model element flows and thus identify the drivers of problems in order to improve pollution control and resource management in complex systems. In one case study, a source-storage-transport model was developed and applied in five lakes in the Stockholm region to identify the drivers of copper pollution by monitoring the state of the environment through element flow modeling linking diffuse sources and fate in the lakes. In a second case study, a system dynamics modeling approach was applied in dynamic element flow modeling of the global mobile phone product system to investigate the drivers for closing the material flow loop through a sensitivity analysis. In a third case study, causal loop diagram modeling was used for proactive resource management to identify root causes of a problem in a complex system (product systems of physical consumer goods) by qualitatively analyzing unintended environmental consequences of an improvement action. In the case study on lakes in the Stockholm region, the source-transport-storage model proved capable of predicting copper sources through monitoring the sediment copper content in the heavily copper-polluted lakes. The results also indicated how the model could help guide policy makers in controlling copper pollution. The system dynamics study proposed an eco-cycle model of the global mobile phone product system by tuning the drivers, which could lessen the pressures on resources by decreasing the resource demands for production and increasing resource recovery at product end-oflife. The causal loop diagram study showed that a broader systems approach is required to understand and identify the drivers for proactive resource management in a complex system, where improvement actions can lead to unintended consequences.
Effects of counting rate and resolution time on a measurement of the intensity correlation function

Non-photon-number-resolving single-photon-counting modules (SPCM's), also called on-off photon detectors, have been used in quantum optics for investigating the properties of various light fields based on the Hanbury-Brown-Twiss (HBT) experiment. However, for different incident light fields the experimental conditions can affect the measured photon statistics. In this paper, the second-order degree of coherence g{sup (2)}, known as the important factor for quantitying a single-photon source, is experimentally investigated by means of the HBT scheme consisting of two SPCM's. By comparing the results of coherent field with that of the thermal field, we show that the measured g{sup (2)} is affected by the photon-counting rate and the resolution time from pulsed to continuous wave fields. The proper counting rate and resolution time for characterizing the exact photon statistical properties of input fields are determined.
Interseismic fault strengthening and earthquake-slip instability: Friction or cohesion?

The slip instability of an earthquake and its abrupt energy release depend primarily on the intensity of strength drop during accelerated fault slip. This process is typically attributed to changes of frictional resistance between two sliding blocks. Here we show that friction changes alone cannot explain observed strength variations of artificial fault zones. Sandstone samples with saw-cut faults and gypsum gouge zones were subjected to many cycles of hold-slide loading. Samples with water-saturated gouge display (1) systematic, time-dependent increase of gouge strength; (2) unstable failure of gouge with large stress drops; and (3) lithification of gouge by crack sealing, recrystallization, porosity reduction, and grain bonding. All these features are absent in identical tests with dry gouge. These observations indicate that gouge particles are cemented by chemical processes during hold periods and suggest that the cyclical strength variations are controlled by cohesion strengthening rather than by friction changes. We further hypothesize that crustal fault zones could be lithified during the interseismic stage, and this lithification would control earthquake-slip instability.
On the Theory of an Optimal Environmental Policy

Many economists have been using economic analysis to advocate their use of either standard or effluent charges as strategies for protecting the environment. Recently a number of economists have begun to question the ability of these economic tools to accomplish the job. These economists argue that, at best, economic analysis will achieve an environmental policy which is no better than the one an ecologist could set. At worst, the economic analysis might abuse the environment and cause costly economic as well as ecological damage. This paper reexamines the theoretical approach in setting an optimal environmental policy. In this paper we find that society ought to use economic analysis in dveloping any environmental policy. Society must know the net marginal benefits of production and the marginal damage of an effluent before embarking on any environmental strategy. Such knowledge would allow society either to choose an optimal effluent standard or optimal effluent charge.
Sensemaking in Visual Analytics: Processes and Challenges

Since Visual Analytic systems support human sensemaking it is essential that such systems are designed with characteristics of this process in mind. Drawing on our previous work with lawyers and reports from experienced fraud investigators we describe the nature of the cognitive work to be supported. We describe the cognitive work domain in terms of its data characteristics, and develop a model of the sensemaking as basis for discussing a distinction between ‘naturalistic’ and ‘normative’ sensemaking with a particular emphasis on inference types and the potential for bias. We also report results from a questionnaire-based case study designed to elicit memorable incidents from fraud investigators’ experiences. Given the legal context the case study exemplifies skills and strategies that are necessary in order to achieve normative and defensible sensemaking under pressure of high volume datasets.
On the welfare effect of retail electricity subsidy in Vietnam

PurposeThis research investigates how subsidy programs in Vietnam's residential electricity market affect consumers' well-being.Design/methodology/approachTwo perspectives are employed: cash transfer and quantity-based subsidy. The effectiveness of cash transfer is measured in three ways: benefit incidence, beneficiary incidence and materiality. The quantity-based subsidy is established under the increasing block rate pricing, with the first two block rates being lower than the marginal cost. To improve the quantity-based subsidy, the research examines the consumer surplus under four proposals.FindingsThe results show that both types of subsidies are ineffective in supporting the poor.Research limitations/implicationsIn order to achieve a more equal distribution among households, the subsidy program should remove all subsidized blocks and reflect the full marginal cost. Changes should be made to the price structure regarding both marginal price and intervals.Practical implicationsTo mitigate the impact of the quantity-based subsidy, the government should improve the cash transfer by reducing extortion and improving targeting efficiency, especially for poor households living in rented houses.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to discuss the welfare effect of the electricity subsidy in Vietnam. First, it comprehensively evaluates the cash transfer subsidy in Vietnam. Second, it suggests a modification in the residential electricity tariff.
Empirical Study on Regional Industrial Carbon Emissions Performance and Its Factors in China

This paper attempts to use the DEA Model,which contains undesirable output,to build static performance index of industrial carbon emissions and the dynamic performance index of industrial carbon emissions,so as to measure China's 30 provinces and municipalities' industrial carbon emissions performance and analyze the factors affecting the industrial carbon emissions performance.The results show that: the overall industrial carbon emissions performance of China is at a low level,and the performance of inter-regional is in the state of imbalance in the sample period;the whole country's industrial carbon emissions performance is on the rise;industrial development level,industrial scale structure,property right structure,proportion of heavy industry,industrial energy structure,industrial energy intensity etc.have significant effects on industrial carbon emissions performance,but some factors vary differently in terms of regional levels.
Two Paradigms in Management Epistemology

The dichotomy presented in this article is not the only possible way of ordering epistemology. However this approach is deeply rooted in the awareness of specialists from the area of management. Some perceive the scientist’s role as that of a researcher for tangible, quantitative, “hard” results, while the others stay in the circle of qualitative results, interpretative and “soft” ones. The opportunity to exceed the manicheism of such perspective on management is the negation of apparent obviousness of their own vision of the organisational world, leading to the formation and interpretation of other cognitive positions. On this stage sciences of management need epistemological reflection which will lead to the development of the researchers’ self-awareness.
Taking “Pandemic” Seriously: Making the Black Death Global

Abstract:This essay introduces the inaugural issue of The Medieval Globe, “Pandemic Disease in the Medieval World: Rethinking the Black Death”. It suggests that the history of the pathogen Yersinia pestis, as it has now been reconstructed by molecular biology, allows for an expanded definition of the Second Plague Pandemic. Historiography of the Black Death has hitherto focused on a limited number of vector and host species, and on Western Europe and those parts of the Islamicate world touching the Mediterranean littoral. Biological considerations suggest the value of a broadened framework, one that encompasses an enlarged range of host species and draws on new archeological, genetic, and historical researches to look for the presence of plague in the premodern Indian Ocean basin and East Africa, areas where it has previously not been suspected.
Beyond the Self in Self-Regulation—Reaching Beyond Technologies: The Importance of Others and Relationships to Individual Well-Being

As technologies become increasingly integrated in all aspects of culture, we may be losing our therapeutic pulse on how important true face-to-face and heart-to-heart relationships are to our personal and collective well-being. Social isolation and excessive utilization of i-technology appear to contribute to the development or maintenance of anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders, and ADHD. Human engagement risks being eclipsed by the novelty and excitement of the digital age. Current practice indicates that there are potentially positive and even therapeutic applications of technologies for betterment and healing, but that we should be selective in our applications.
Improvements of Acoustic Features for Speech Separation

Acoustic features chosen from the input utterances play crucial roles in speech separation. In this paper, we propose a novel complementary feature approach that performs speech separation by combining five promising features, including Gammatone filterbank power spectra (GF) and multi-resolution cochleagram (MRCG) proposed recently especially for speech separation, as a super-vector fed into deep neural network (DNN). Additionally, based on the complementary features, we do experiments with two DNN training strategies, which are restricted Boltzmann machine (RBM) pre-training and dropout combined with Rectified Linear Units (ReLU), to optimize the performance of DNN. The experiment results, obtained in IEEE and TIMIT corpora using four different noises at low SNR levels of 0dB and -5dB, indicate that complementary features and RBM model improve all evaluation metrics. By contrast, dropout combined with ReLU system specializes in noise suppression and objective intelligibility more.
Dual-Cap Mushroom-Like Metasurface Used in CP Reconfigurable Monopole Antenna for Performance Enhancement

A dual-cap mushroom-like metasurface (MS) is proposed. The proposed MS is called dual-cap mushroom-like MS because each unit cell has a simple patch with a centered via on one side of the substrate and a meandered slot on the other side, while conventional mushroom-like MS has one side of the substrate being a plain conducting plate. The meandered slot on the other side of the substrate introduces inductive effects to lower down the operating frequency and increases the operating bandwidth of the unit cells. Comparison is made with other unit cells. The proposed MS is then used as a reflector in the design of a planar circular-polarization reconfigurable (CPR) monopole antenna for the global navigation satellite system (GNSS). Simulation results show that, by placing at only 0. 0λ90 from the antenna, the MS can increase the boresight gain and the operating bandwidth from 0.4 to 6.6 dBi, and 1.46-1.79 GHz to 1.42-1.88 GHz, respectively.