Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Light-Emitting Diodes: A Novel Light Source for Phototherapy

High intensity light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are being studied as possible light sources for the phototherapy of hyperbilirubinemic neonates. These power-efficient, low heat-producing light sources have the potential to deliver high intensity light of narrow wavelength band in the blue-green portion of the visible light spectrum, which overlaps the absorption spectrum of bilirubin (BR). We compared the efficacy between single LEDs of different color and then constructed a prototype phototherapy device using 300 blue LEDs. The efficacy of this device was compared with that of conventional phototherapy devices by measuring the in vitro photodegradation of BR in human serum albumin. When blue, blue-green, green, and white LEDs were compared, the blue light was the most effective in degrading BR by 28% of dark control, followed by blue-green (18% of control), and then white light (14% of control). Green light was the least effective (11% of control). The prototype device with three focused arrays, each with 100 blue LEDs, generated greater irradiance (>200 µW·cm-2·nm-1) than any of the conventional devices tested. It also supported the greatest rate of BR photodegradation. We conclude that light from LEDs should be considered a more effective treatment for hyperbilirubinemia than light from presently used phototherapy devices. Furthermore, the unique characteristics of this light source may make it especially suitable for use in safe and lightweight home phototherapy devices.
Climate Policy and the Optimal Extraction of High- and Low-Carbon Fossil Fuels

We study how restricting CO2 emissions affcts resource prices and depletion over time.We use a Hotelling-style model with two nonrenewable fossil fuels that differ in their carbon content (e.g. coal and natural gas) and that are imperfect substitutes in final good production.We study both an unexpected constraint and an anticipated constraint.Both shocks induce intertemporal substitution of resource use.When emissions are unexpectedly restricted, it is cost-effective to use high-carbon resources relatively more (less) intensively on impact if this resource is relatively scarce (abundant). If the emission constraint is anticipated, it is cost-effective to use relatively more (less) of the low-carbon input before the constraint becomes binding, in order to conserve relatively more (less) of the high-carbon input for the period when climate policy is active in case the high-carbon resource is relatively scarce (abundant).
S 4 CAST v2.0: sea surface temperature based statistical seasonal forecast model

Abstract. Sea surface temperature is the key variable when tackling seasonal to decadal climate forecasts. Dynamical models are unable to properly reproduce tropical climate variability, introducing biases that prevent a skillful predictability. Statistical methodologies emerge as an alternative to improve the predictability and reduce these biases. In addition, recent studies have put forward the non-stationary behavior of the teleconnections between tropical oceans, showing how the same tropical mode has different impacts depending on the considered sequence of decades. To improve the predictability and investigate possible teleconnections, the sea surface temperature based statistical seasonal foreCAST model (S4CAST) introduces the novelty of considering the non-stationary links between the predictor and predictand fields. This paper describes the development of the S4CAST model whose operation is focused on studying the impacts of sea surface temperature on any climate-related variable. Two applications focused on analyzing the predictability of different climatic events have been implemented as benchmark examples.
Taxonomic review of the lac insect genus Paratachardina Balachowsky (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Kerriidae), with a revised key to genera of Kerriidae and description of two new species

The genus Paratachardina Balachowsky (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Kerriidae) is revised to include nine species: P. decorella (Maskell), P. minuta (Morrison), P. mithila Varshney, P. morobensis Williams & Watson, P. silvestri (Mahdihassan), P. ternata (Chamberlin), P. theae (Green), and two new species. Tachardina lobata Chamberlin (now P. lobata) is synonymized with Tachardia silvestri Mahdihassan (now P. silvestri), based on examination of type specimens. Paratachardina capsella Wang is transferred to Albotachardina Zhang as Albotachardina capsella (Wang) comb. nov. We provide a revised taxonomic key to the genera of the family Kerriidae and to all known species of the genus Paratachardina. All Paratachardina species are redescribed and illustrated with the exception of P. mithila. One of the new species described here is the polyphagous and pestiferous lobate lac scale, which damages trees and woody shrubs in Florida, U.S.A. , the Bahamas and the territory of Christmas Island, Australia, and has been identified mistakenly as Paratachardina lobata (Chamberlin), an insect native to India and Sri Lanka. Here we recognize the lobate lac scale as a new species, name it Paratachardina pseudolobata sp. nov. and describe it based on all stages of the female (adult, second instar and first instar). In addition, a second new species, P. mahdihassani sp. nov., is described based on adult females from India.
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) The outcome of root-canal treatments assessed by cone-beam computed tomography

Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: http://uba.uva. nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible.
Local Community and Tourism Development: A Study of Rural Mountainous Destinations

Malaysia is a popular rural destination worldwide because of its natural heritage. Rural tourism is increasingly viewed as a panacea, increasing the economic viability of marginalized areas, stimulating social regeneration, and improving the living conditions of rural communities. This study explores local community involvement in rural tourism development in Kinabalu National Park, Sabah. This study aims to obtain the local community’s perception of their involvement in tourism development and to determine the benefit of tourism destination development. To address these objectives, the quantitative method was employed. A total of 378 questionnaires were returned by the respondents. The research was conducted in the villages surrounding Kinabalu National Park. Residents have positive perceptions of tourism development in the area. Local communities prefer to be involved in the tourism sector because it improves their key income resources and quality of life.
A classification system and analysis for aspect-oriented programs

We present a new classification system for aspect-oriented programs. This system characterizes the interactions between aspects and methods and identifies classes of interactions that enable modular reasoning about the crosscut program. We argue that this system can help developers structure their understanding of aspect-oriented programs and promotes their ability to reason productively about the consequences of crosscutting a program with a given aspect. We have designed and implemented a program analysis system that automatically classifies interactions between aspects and methods and have applied this analysis to a set of benchmark programs. We found that our analysis is able to 1) identify interactions with desirable properties (such as lack of interference), 2) identify potentially problematic interactions (such as interference caused by the aspect and the method both writing the same field), and 3) direct the developer's attention to the causes of such interactions.
Cost Effective Outliers Screening with Moving Limits and Correlation Testing for Analogue ICs

In order to meet the zero-defect product quality requirements on ICs by the automotive industry, new test methods are needed to screen out the outliers that give potential lifetime failures. In this paper, how to apply the combination of moving limits and multiple-parameter correlation testing to the production testing of analogue IC is discussed. Moving limits is the technique that uses the measurement results of the neighboring dies to tighten the test limits. Multiple-parameter correlation testing is the technique that uses the measurement results of the different blocks within the chip as the secondary information. Moreover, in our work, an automotive transceiver with high volume production has been used as the test vehicle to demonstrate the effectiveness of this combination approach. The collected wafer map data, failure analysis of the rejects, the reduction trend of the customer returns, the yield information and test cost information show that the proposed new test approach is cost effective and can improve the outgoing product quality
Application of Live Video Streaming over GRID and Cloud Infrastructures

Video streaming is a very demanding application in its resources. We used a previously proposed architecture, to implement a solution that will use the GRID or a Cloud infrastructure to stream video. The goal was to create an application that will allocate resources dynamically and escalate in a manner corresponding to the demand. We developed and tested the application as a proof of concept and created a prototype implementation. This paper documents our experimental methodology and findings.
Prevalence of the oqxAB gene complex in Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli clinical isolates.

OBJECTIVES To investigate the epidemiology and genetic elements of the efflux pump gene, oqxAB, in clinical isolates of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. METHODS The prevalence of the oqxAB gene in a total of 308 consecutive clinical isolates of E. coli, K. pneumoniae and other Klebsiella spp. was investigated by PCR amplification. The full-length oqxAB gene was sequenced. Conjugation experiments were carried out in oqxAB-positive E. coli strains. RESULTS Of 136 E. coli strains, 71.3% and 70.6% were non-susceptible to ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin, respectively, while 66.9% and 50.7% of the 154 K. pneumoniae were non-susceptible to these two quinolones. oqxA and oqxB were present in 6.6% of E. coli and in all K. pneumoniae strains. The oqxA and oqxB sequences of E. coli and randomly selected K. pneumoniae strains showed high similarity to the original oqxAB sequence of pOLA52. One or two amino acid substitutions were detected in the OqxA or OqxB sequences from two E. coli strains and were designated oqxA2, oqxB2 and oqxB3. oqxAB was transferred in seven of nine oqxAB-positive E. coli strains, and transconjugants showed 2- to 256-fold increases in ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin MICs relative to that for the recipient. CONCLUSIONS Variants of the oqxAB gene, oqxA2, oqxB2 and oqxB3, were identified in two E. coli strains. The oqxAB gene was present in all K. pneumoniae strains studied and is likely located on the chromosome, thus identifying the genome of K. pneumoniae as a possible reservoir of oqxAB.
Mutual Enrichment for Agents Through Nested Belief Change: A Semantic Approach

This paper focuses on the dynamics of nested beliefs in the context of agent interactions. Nested beliefs represent what agents believe about the beliefs of other agents. We consider the tell KQML performative [1] which allows agents to send their own beliefs to others. Whenever agents accept a new belief, or refuse to change their own beliefs after receiving a message, both receiver and sender enrich their nested beliefs by refining their beliefs about (i) the other agent’s beliefs and (ii) the preferences of the other agent. The main objective of nested beliefs is to improve cooperation between agents. We propose a logical formalisation of the acquisition process of nested beliefs and preferences. This acquisition process is the first step towards the elaboration of sophisticated interaction protocols.
Pre-Service Teacher’s Perspectives towards Teacher Education Programs: Multiple Case Study Analysis

This study aims to investigate problems in the 5-year pre-service teacher education programs (PTEP) and to study the solution to these problems at the three Rajabhat universities and four schools in the Northeastern region of Thailand as identified by forty pre-service teachers (PST). This study applies a qualitative research approach by using multiple case studies analysis; the setting involves 40 purposive sampling participants that were used to identify participants who had experiences of participation in the program. The study has three parts:(1) Part one identifies the problems found during the implementation of the 5 year program by individual interviews from the 12 PSTs in four main themes; students, instructors, curriculum, and learning management, (2) Part two reveals the four main outcomes concerning the needs by two focus group interviews of the 18 PSTs who attended the program, and (3) Part three deals with the collection of data by in-depth interviews from 4 participants who have graduated and are currently working in four selected high schools. Followed by a presentation of the responses in relation to the four different main aspects from the three universities and four schools; the results outcome could be concluded in three aspects which are as follows: The first aspect involves views on the problems of the program management. The second aspect deals with what is needed to improve the program. And the last aspect of the interview aims to find out from the subjects what should be improved or changed in terms of the implementation of the 5 year teacher education program. The subjects in this research specified two suggestions: Firstly, the university should consistently provide activities which support the teaching profession. Secondly, the university should encourage students to apply this professional learning in quality teaching practice. Keywords : Pre-Service Teachers, Perspectives, Teacher Education Program, Multiple Case Study Analysis
Cutting Edge: NKG2D Receptors Induced by IL-15 Costimulate CD28-Negative Effector CTL in the Tissue Microenvironment1

Unlike primary T cells in lymph nodes, effector CD8+ CTL in tissues do not express the costimulatory receptor CD28. We report that NKG2D, the receptor for stress-induced MICA and MICB molecules expressed in the intestine, serves as a potent costimulatory receptor for CTL freshly isolated from the human intestinal epithelium. Expression and function of NKG2D are selectively up-regulated by the cytokine IL-15, which is released by the inflamed intestinal epithelium. These findings identify a novel CTL costimulatory pathway regulated by IL-15 and suggest that tissues can fine-tune the activation of effector T cells based on the presence or absence of stress and inflammation. Uncontrolled secretion of IL-15 could lead to excessive induction of NKG2D and thus contribute to the development of autoimmune disease by facilitating the activation of autoreactive T cells.
J un 2 00 7 Power-law distributions in empirical data

Aaron Clauset, 2 Cosma Rohilla Shalizi, and M. E. J. Newman Santa Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Road, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA Department of Computer Science, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA Department of Statistics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA Department of Physics and Center for the Study of Complex Systems, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
Inhibition of alanine:glyoxylate aminotransferase 1 dimerization is a prerequisite for its peroxisome-to-mitochondrion mistargeting in primary hyperoxaluria type 1

Peroxisome-to-mitochondrion mistargeting of the homodimeric enzyme alanine:glyoxylate aminotransferase 1 (AGT) in the autosomal recessive disease primary hyperoxaluria type 1 (PH1) is associated with the combined presence of a normally occurring Pro(11)Leu polymorphism and a PH1-specific Gly170Arg mutation. The former leads to the formation of a novel NH2-terminal mitochondrial targeting sequence (MTS), which although sufficient to direct the import of in vitro-translated AGT into isolated mitochondria, requires the additional presence of the Gly170Arg mutation to function efficiently in whole cells. The role of this mutation in the mistargeting phenomenon has remained elusive. It does not interfere with the peroxisomal targeting or import of AGT. In the present study, we have investigated the role of the Gly170Arg mutation in AGT mistargeting. In addition, our studies have led us to examine the relationship between the oligomeric status of AGT and the peroxisomal and mitochondrial import processes. The results obtained show that in vitro-translated AGT rapidly forms dimers that do not readily exchange subunits. Although the presence of the Pro(11)Leu or Gly170Arg substitutions alone had no effect on dimerization, their combined presence abolished homodimerization in vitro. However, AGT containing both substitutions was still able to form heterodimers in vitro with either normal AGT or AGT containing either substitution alone. Expression of various combinations of normal and mutant, as well as epitope-tagged and untagged forms of AGT in whole cells showed that normal AGT rapidly dimerizes in the cytosol and is imported into peroxisomes as a dimer. This dimerization prevents mitochondrial import, even when the AGT possesses an MTS generated by the Pro(11)Leu substitution. The additional presence of the Gly170Arg substitution impairs dimerization sufficiently to allow mitochondrial import. Pharmacological inhibition of mitochondrial import allows AGT containing both substitutions to be imported into peroxisomes efficiently, showing that AGT dimerization is not a prerequisite for peroxisomal import.
Effects of photodemethylation on the methylmercury budget of boreal Norwegian lakes

Methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations in freshwater fish from southeastern Norway continue to increase, highlighting the need for a comprehensive understanding of MeHg sources, cycling, and degradation in the aquatic environment. The authors assessed the importance of photodemethylation in the MeHg budget of 4 Norwegian lakes. Photodemethylation rates were determined using incubation experiments with MeHg‐spiked natural lake water. The authors determined full‐spectrum exposure rates at all study sites and waveband‐specific rates (photosynthetically active radiation, ultraviolet‐A radiation, and ultraviolet‐B radiation) at 1 clear‐water (Sognsvann) and 1 humic (Langtjern) site. No significant differences in photodemethylation rates between the sites were found, and the authors' observed rates agreed with available literature for lake and wetland waters. The authors paired experimentally derived photodemethylation rates with lake‐specific incident irradiation, light attenuation, and MeHg concentrations to estimate MeHg loss through photodemethylation for the study sites. For Langtjern, losses through photodemethylation equalled 27% of total annual inputs, highlighting the importance of photodemethylation in the MeHg budget. Furthermore, the authors assessed how changes in terrestrial dissolved organic carbon (DOC) exported to freshwaters and climate‐driven reductions in ice cover duration may affect MeHg losses through photodemethylation. Results suggest that future increases in DOC may lead to higher aqueous MeHg concentrations in boreal lakes due to increased DOC‐associated MeHg inputs paired with significant decreases in the loss of MeHg through photodemethylation due to increased light attenuation. Environ Toxicol Chem 2015;34:1213–1223. © 2015 SETAC
Ethnic Identity, Informal Institutions, and the Failure to Elect Women in Indigenous Southern Mexico

This article argues that the low levels of descriptive representation of women in local political office in Mexico and Latin America is much more than a problem of the purported patriarchal cultures of indigenous and rural communities. We claim, based on a comprehensive survey of 466 municipal governments in the indigenous state of Oaxaca, that the underrepresentation of women is a function of institutions limiting female candidates. We test this “candidate supply” hypothesis, adapted from US-based studies, against the hypothesis that culture – as measured by indigenous ethnicity – has an independent effect on women's representation. We disconfirm that patriarchal, traditionalist cultures of indigenous communities cause underrepresentation in the election of women and instead find that a particular set of local institutions, which are more prevalent in indigenous municipalities, blocks the supply of potential women candidates. We conclude by considering the normative implications for women's representation in local politics in Mexico and Latin America.
NISTIR 6747 Validation and Modification of the 4 SIGHT Computer Program

The original version of the 4SIGHT computer program was written to facilitate the performance assessment of buried concrete structures based deterministic calculations of service life, using data supplied by the user. In an effort to ensure reliability in the results, a means of validation was required. Since the results from the calculations depend strongly on the diffusive and advective transport of ionic species, validating the transport portion of 4SIGHT was paramount. The validation of the transport portion of 4SIGHT used both reference and laboratory data. The reference data include electrolyte densities, activity coefficients, and binary salt diffusion coefficients. The laboratory experiments included diffusion experiments performed on relatively inert ceramic frits, using a range of ionic species and concentrations. The laboratory experiments were also used to confirm the fundamental assumption that multi-species transport in non-reacting systems can be characterized by two numbers, the porosity and the formation factor, regardless of the number of diffusing species. A default analysis for estimating the spacing and thickness of flexural and drying shrinkage cracks was added to 4SIGHT. The flexural cracks are calculated from a rudimentary structural analysis that assumes the roof of the vault acts as a one-way slab. The drying shrinkage cracks are estimated, in large part, from the total water content of the concrete mixture, the exposure environment, and the geometry of the slab. The subsequent predicted crack widths, crack spacings, and location of the neutral axis, are used to predict the bulk permeability of the concrete structure as a function of depth; the portion above the neutral axis being uncracked, the portion below the neutral axis being cracked. Another addition to 4SIGHT was the means to perform a Monte Carlo calculation, based on parameter uncertainty, of the duration of useful service. The service life calculation is repeated multiple times using a random number generator to calculate random deviates for the physical parameters. The results can then be used to make a probabilistic statement about the performance of the concrete structure. The resulting computer program is state-of-the-art attempt to characterize both the response of a concrete to its environment. However, there can be no assurances that the model is exact for every scenario possible, regardless of parameter uncertainty. Therefore, in cases that concern public safety, the only way to confirm the response of the concrete to its environment is through continuous monitoring and periodic testing. The computer program, in these circumstances, can also serve as a useful tool in establishing a testing monitoring protocol. The spatial and temporal distribution of the monitoring and testing protocol can be established using the computer program as a guide.