Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Air Mixing in Firn and the Age of the Air at Pore Close-Off

The air trapped in the bubbles of natural ice is not the same age as the surrounding ice. This is due to the fact that the air is enclosed in isolated bubbles only at the depth of the firn–ice transition. Within the overlying porous firn layer the air is able to mix and to exchange to a certain degree with the atmosphere. The age difference between ice and air is given by the age of the ice at pore close-off, less the mixing delay. Also, there is an age distribution due to diffusive smoothing and due to the gradual enclosure of the air at the firn–ice transition. Knowledge of this age relation is necessary for the interpretation of climatic parameters measured on ice cores. This work concentrates on the effect of diffusive mixing. We report on measurements of the diffusivity of CO2 and O2 (in N2) in firn samples from Siple Station, Antarctica. It is shown that the dominant mixing process is molecular diffusion. The diffusion coefficient depends approximately linearly on the porosity. A one-dimensional diffusion model has been used to calculate the air mixing in firn at Siple Station (Antarctica), at the South Pole, and at Station Crête (Greenland). An exchange time of between 10 and 50 years is obtained.
A HISTÓRIA DO CURSO DE CIÊNCIAS CONTÁBEIS DA FACULDADE DE CIÊNCIAS ECONÔMICAS DA UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO RIO GRANDE DO SUL (UFRGS)

A o rigem do curso de Ciencias Contabeis da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) se da com a criacao da Escola Superior de Comercio, anexa a Faculdade Livre de Direito, motivada pela forca que o ensino contabil tomara com a fundacao da Escola Maua em 1901, consolidando esse tipo de formacao no Rio Grande do Sul. O estudo realizado visa analisar a historia do curso remontando sua origem com a criacao da Escola de Comercio de Porto Alegre em 1909, sua independencia e consolidacao com a criacao do curso de Ciencias Contabeis e Atuariais em 1946, e sua evolucao ate o presente momento, dando o merecido reconhecimento historico a instituicao e mencionando os fatos marcantes relacionados a evolucao do ensino contabil da Escola de Comercio ao curso superior de Ciencias Contabeis. Esta pesquisa se caracteriza como qualitativa, descritiva, bibliografica e estudo de caso. Sao apresentadas personalidades que se destacaram no desenvolvimento do curso e abordada a importância deste na atualidade, contextualizando-o em um cenario de conhecimento em constante expansao para atender a um mercado cada vez mais exigente. Assim, conclui-se que a formacao do contador na UFRGS esta voltada para o mercado de trabalho. O curso oferece uma instrucao focada, principalmente, em quatro areas do conhecimento contabil: societaria, custos, governamental e auditoria. Seu curriculo passou por varias alteracoes a fim de acompanhar o crescimento do mercado e as demandas da sociedade, adequando-se ao desenvolvimento da tecnologia, adaptando-se as alteracoes societarias, a convergencia e as normas internacionais de contabilidade, alem de incentivar a producao cientifica.
Similarity Between the Sequences of Taxol-Selected Peptides and the Disordered Loop of the Anti-Apoptotic Protein, BCL-2

The anti-cancer drug taxol is known to bind to and induce the polymerization of tubulin and has recently been shown to bind to the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2, but not to its homolog, Bcl-XL. Libraries of random peptides displayed on the surface of a bacteriophage were screened to select those exhibiting affinity for taxol. The sequences of these peptides were compared to sequences of proteins involved in mitosis and apoptosis. No significant similarities were detected between the sequences of tubulins and the taxol-selected peptides. However, a high level of similarity exists between the selected peptides and the disordered loop of Bcl-2. Conversely, there was little similarity between the sequences of the selected peptides and Bcl-XL. These results indicate that peptides displayed on the surface of a bacteriophage can mimic the ligand-binding behavior of a disordered protein loop and that comparison of the sequences of affinity-selected peptides with protein sequences can be predictive for ligand binding.
Clinical trials design: structure modifying agents for osteoarthritis. Future guidelines: areas for development.

Clinical trials guidelines should offer evidence-based recommendations, and, where evidence is lacking or absent, should reflect the considered opinion of experts in the field. Recent OsteoArthritis Research Society International (OARSI) guidelines encompass these principles and are the result of a Task Force Workshop involving representatives from academia, regulatory authorities and industry. Areas for continued development for trials of Structure Modifying Osteoarthritis Drugs (STMOAD) include patient selection, study duration, sample size estimation, outcome assessment, imaging, response definition and pharmoeconomics. As developments occur in these and related areas, guideline documents will require revision to reflect this evolution. Notwithstanding these issues, there is opportunity to identify STMOAD class agents using current methodologies.
Observation on the Geology of Northern Central Africa

The object of this lecture is to sketch the geological history of a remote continental region, much of which remains to be surveyed, between the Belgian Congo and Cyrenaica, the Nile and the French Sahara and Soudan. Only incidental reference is made to Egypt, East and South Africa, and territories where British official surveys are established. An effort is also made to review recent Belgian, French, and Italian work in this region. I am especially indebted to Mr. H. B. Maufe, who read the text and gave much valuable advice, to M. Blondel, Director of the Bureau d'Études géologiques et Minières coloniales, Paris, and to M. T. Monod, of the Muséum d'histoire naturelle, Paris, for their unstinted help. My thanks are due also to M. R. Perret for the photograph reproduced as Plate XXXII, to MM. Perret and J. Bourcart for permission to reproduce Figure 2, and to my wife for the photograph of Plate XXXIII and for much help in preparing the text and bibliography. This attempt to visualize the geology of the region as a whole is based on my field work in the critical central area. The whole of the well-known and broad coastal and marginal lands are omitted from consideration : they can be studied in official publications and in the works of Krenkel (1925–34) and other authors. Reference is made also to the Congo basin-Zambesi watershed. These rocks may be divided into an Archaean basement complex and a series of altered, often highly folded, sediments
A novel FPGA architecture supporting wide, shallow memories

This paper investigates an architecture designed to implement wide, shallow memories on a field programmable gate array (FPGA). In the proposed architecture, existing configuration memory normally used to control the connectivity pattern of the FPGA is made user accessible. Typically, not all the switch blocks in an FPGA are used to transport signals. By adding only a modest amount of circuitry, the configuration memory in these unused switch blocks (or unused paths within used switch blocks) can be used to implement wide, shallow buffers and other similar memory structures. The size of FPGA required to implement a benchmark circuit that makes use of the wide, shallow memories, is 20% smaller than a standard memory architecture. In addition, the benchmark circuit is on average 40% faster using the proposed architecture.
Non-perturbative effects and wall-crossing from topological strings

We argue that the Gopakumar-Vafa interpretation of the topological string partition function can be used to compute and resum certain non-perturbative brane instanton effects of type II CY compactifications. In particular the topological string A-model encodes the non-perturbative corrections to the hypermultiplet moduli space metric from general D1/D(-1)-brane instantons in 4d = 2 IIB models. We also discuss the reduction to 4d = 1 by fluxes and/or orientifolds and/or D-branes, and the prospects to resum brane instanton contributions to non-perturbative superpotentials. We argue that the connection between non-perturbative effects and the topological string underlies the continuity of non-perturbative effects across lines of BPS stability. We also confirm this statement in mirror B-model matrix model examples, relating matrix model instantons to non-perturbative D-brane instantons. The computation of non-perturbative effects from the topological string requires a 3d circle compactification and T-duality, relating effects from particles and instantons, reminiscent of that involved in the physical derivation of the Kontsevich-Soibelmann wall-crossing formula.
A Simple Treatment of Physical Nonequilibrium Water Flow in Soils

Water flow in soils with sufficiently large aggregate size or pore-class heterogeneity may exhibit a nonequilibrium between the actual water content and that given by the water retention curve. The result is deeper penetration of infiltrating water than predicted using classical infiltration theory. Models of this process usually divide the soil into two or more exchanging flow regions. A simpler treatment is possible by combining Richards' equation with a dynamic description of the approach to equilibrium. We present a first-order time constant equilibration model of infiltration into a hypothetical structured soil and use the model to describe published outflow responses to constant rate rainfall on six large, undisturbed cores. Using measured hydraulic properties and varying only the A and B horizon time constants, the model was fitted to cumulative outflow from one particular soil core that had measured time domain reflectometry (TDR) water contents at the 0.05- and 0.5-m depths recorded during the experiment. Cumulative outflow was fitted using time constants of 4 and 5 h for A and B horizons, respectively, and this also gave good agreement with TDR measured water contents. Cumulative outflow and runoff from a further four of the six cores was described using the same A and B horizon time constants and varying only the macropore hydraulic conductivity. The remaining core contained a decayed root, which conducted water rapidly with little opportunity for lateral exchange. A description of cumulative outflow required both the macropore hydraulic conductivity and the time constant to be altered.
The Grand Challenges to Cellular and Molecular Oncology

In the last decade, our molecular and cellular understanding of cancer has been tremendously ameliorated. It has been demonstrated that, in some cellular settings, microRNAs (miRNAs) can exert bona fide oncogenic or oncosuppressive functions (Croce, 2009) and that cancer cells often, if not always, exhibit an extensive metabolic rewiring (Kroemer and Pouyssegur, 2008); the compartment of cancer stem cells has been intensely studied (Visvader and Lindeman, 2008); the concepts of oncogene/non-oncogene addiction (Luo et al., 2009) and of immunogenic cell death (Zitvogel et al., 2010) have been founded; and novel modalities of programmed cell death have been characterized (Vandenabeele et al., 2010), just to mention a few examples. These advances in our fundament knowledge of molecular and cellular cancer biology are rapidly being translated into ever more reliable diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers as well as into a large armamentarium of novel therapeutic tools. Personalized anticancer strategies, which at the end of the 1990s held great expectations, have now turned into a clinically exploitable reality. Moreover, there is now an emerging tendency to conceive tumors as micro-ecosystems that are composed by a heterogeneous population of cancer (stem) cells as well as a plethora of distinct stromal cells, including fibroblasts and endothelial cells, which either promote or limit tumor growth at the metabolic, architectonic, trophic, and immunological levels. New knowledge generates new questions, and there also remain several old unresolved issues. For instance, do cancer stem cells occupy a physical niche within solid tumors of do they represent a functional compartment only? How can we exploit cancer stem cell biology to increase their sensitivity to therapy? How can we induce the immunogenic demise of tumor cells and hence circumvent their resistance to conventional anticancer regimens? What components of the molecular machinery for necroptosis might be exploited for the generation of novel cytotoxic agents that do not operate via apoptosis? How can we target the tumor-stroma for developing safe and efficient anticancer strategies? Will nanoparticles and other molecular targeting devices progress until clinical applications? These are only some of the great questions that will drive the work of us, as cellular and molecular oncologists, for the next few years. We must concentrate our efforts to reach an ever more precise characterization of the mechanisms that underlie the origin, survival, and therapeutic response of cancer. It can be anticipated that this will lead to the development of new, efficient approaches for the treatment of this dreadful disease.
An elastodynamic inverse scattering method for removing scattered surface waves from field data

In an earlier paper, we introduced a 3-D inverse scattering method for removing scattered surface waves from seismic data that was based on a tomographic imaging of the scattered surface waves by a data-fitting procedure that used as much of the seismic data as possible. After this imaging step, the scattered surface waves can be computed and removed for each separate source-receiver pair. We now apply the method to two field-data sets. The method requires a knowledge of the source waveform and shallow propagation characteristics, and these input requirements are estimated from the direct surface wave. We conclude that the method effectively attenuates crossline scattered surface waves without affecting deeper reflections.
A 2.4GHz LNA in a 90-nm CMOS technology designed with ACM model

As part of a Low-IF ZigBee receiver, a 2.4GHz differential common source low noise amplifier, implemented in a 90nm mixed/RF 7M CMOS process and designed in moderate inversion, is presented in this work. Design methodology and simulation results from Spectre-RF simulator are presented. With 2.5V supply voltage, the LNA achieves a noise figure of 2.5dB, an IIP3 of 1dB and gain higher than 10dB, with a current consumption of 12mA. The LNA area without pads is 720μm x 710μm.
Nerve growth cone lamellipodia contain two populations of actin filaments that differ in organization and polarity

The organization and polarity of actin filaments in neuronal growth cones was studied with negative stain and freeze-etch EM using a permeabilization protocol that caused little detectable change in morphology when cultured nerve growth cones were observed by video- enhanced differential interference contrast microscopy. The lamellipodial actin cytoskeleton was composed of two distinct subpopulations: a population of 40-100-nm-wide filament bundles radiated from the leading edge, and a second population of branching short filaments filled the volume between the dorsal and ventral membrane surfaces. Together, the two populations formed the three- dimensional structural network seen within expanding lamellipodia. Interaction of the actin filaments with the ventral membrane surface occurred along the length of the filaments via membrane associated proteins. The long bundled filament population was primarily involved in these interactions. The filament tips of either population appeared to interact with the membrane only at the leading edge; this interaction was mediated by a globular Triton-insoluble material. Actin filament polarity was determined by decoration with myosin S1 or heavy meromyosin. Previous reports have suggested that the polarity of the actin filaments in motile cells is uniform, with the barbed ends toward the leading edge. We observed that the actin filament polarity within growth cone lamellipodia is not uniform; although the predominant orientation was with the barbed end toward the leading edge (47-56%), 22-25% of the filaments had the opposite orientation with their pointed ends toward the leading edge, and 19-31% ran parallel to the leading edge. The two actin filament populations display distinct polarity profiles: the longer filaments appear to be oriented predominantly with their barbed ends toward the leading edge, whereas the short filaments appear to be randomly oriented. The different length, organization and polarity of the two filament populations suggest that they differ in stability and function. The population of bundled long filaments, which appeared to be more ventrally located and in contact with membrane proteins, may be more stable than the population of short branched filaments. The location, organization, and polarity of the long bundled filaments suggest that they may be necessary for the expansion of lamellipodia and for the production of tension mediated by receptors to substrate adhesion molecules.
Copurification of two holoenzyme-forming Calcium/Calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II isoforms as holoenzyme from porcine stomach.

Gastric acid secretion is conveyed by different signal transduction pathways, among these being the muscarinic receptor M(3)-mediated acid secretion. There is some evidence that CaMkinase II is involved in the acetylcholine-conveyed acid release. The apparent CaMkinase II-isoenzymes gamma and delta were purified as a holoenzyme from homogenate of pig gastric mucosa to apparent homogeneity. The chromatographical steps comprised cationic exchanger chromatography, calmodulin affinity chromatography, anionic exchanger chromatography, and gel filtration. The CaMkinase II showed an apparent molecular mass of 332 +/- 17.3 kDa composed of 59- and 61-kDa subunits. The latter was characterized by a polyclonal antibody directed against CaMkinase II-delta. The purified CaMkinase II showed autophosphorylation and Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent activation (K(0. 5) = 5 nM). Moreover, the enzyme showed inhibition by the potent CaMkinase II inhibitor KN-62 in a dose-dependent manner. Addition of purified CaMkinase II inhibits the endogenous phosphorylation of a 105-kDa protein in the NaCl/Nonidet P-40 soluble fraction of the microsomal fraction of pig gastric mucosa. Our results suggest that CaMkinase II may regulate other protein kinases or phosphoprotein phosphatases, possibly by controlling acid production.
The endometrium responds differently to cloned versus fertilized embryos

Although somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) cloning is more efficient in cattle than in any other species tested so far, there is a high rate of pregnancy failure that has been linked to structural and functional abnormalities of the placenta. We tested the hypothesis that these changes may originate from disturbed embryo–maternal interactions in the peri-implantation period. Therefore, we evaluated the response of the endometrium to SCNT embryos (produced from 7 different fetal fibroblast cell lines) as compared with embryos derived from in vitro fertilization (IVF). SCNT embryos and IVF embryos were cultured under identical conditions to the blastocyst stage (day 7) and were transferred to corresponding recipients, which were slaughtered at day 18 of pregnancy. The mRNA profiles of endometrium samples were obtained using a custom cDNA microarray enriched for transcripts differentially expressed in the endometrium and/or oviduct epithelium during the estrous cycle and/or early pregnancy. Overall, the variation in mRNA profiles was greater in the SCNT group than in the IVF group. Furthermore, 58 transcripts were differentially abundant in endometria from SCNT and IVF pregnancies. Prominent examples are orphan nuclear receptor COUP-TFII and connexin 43, both known to play important roles in uterine receptivity and conceptus placentation. These findings suggest that placental failure in bovine clone pregnancies may originate from abnormal embryo–maternal communication that develops during the peri-implantation period. Endometrium transcriptome profiles may serve as a tool to evaluate SCNT embryos for their ability to establish pregnancy and develop a functional placenta.
Immunohistochemical localization of tissue factor pathway inhibitor-2 in human tumor tissue

Summary The progression of neoplasms is frequently associated with thromboembolic complications. Coagulation proteins, particularly tissue factor (TF), have been shown to play a role in tumor growth and metastatic dissemination. TFPI is the principal inhibitor of TF-dependent pathway of blood coagulation, but previous studies failed to detect antigenic TFPI in cancer tissue. Recently, a second inhibitor of tissue factor dependent pathway, TFPI-2 (also known as placental protein 5 [PP5] or matrix-associated serine protease inhibitor [MSPI]), has been described. Information on the presence of TFPI-2 within the malignant tumor tissue still remains obscure, and thus the aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of TFPI-2 in loco in several different neoplasms. TFPI-2 expression was demonstrated by immu-nohistochemical procedures in neoplastic cells of laryngeal, breast, gastric, colon, pancreatic, renal and endometrial cancer, as well as glial neoplasms. The intensity of staining was not uniform, with higher intensity in more differentiated tumors. G3 breast, gastric, endometrial and colon cancer cells revealed populations of cells that were either TFPI-2 positive or negative. Gastric and renal cancer tissue exhibited the presence of TFPI-2 in tumor infiltrating macrophages. TFPI-2 was also observed in normal tissue of the breast, stomach, colon and pancreas. These data demonstrate that the expression of TFPI-2 diminishes with an increasing degree of malignancy, which may suggest a role for TFPI-2 in the maintenance of tumor stability and inhibition of the growth of neoplasms.
Wavelet analysis for the regional‐residual and local separation of potential field anomalies

A method based on the discrete wavelet transform was applied to the regional‐residual separation of potential fields and to the filtering of local anomalies. A specific space‐scale wavelet analysis, called multiresolution analysis, allowed decomposition of the signal with respect to a vast range of scales. Different analysing wavelets were applied to anomalies in both synthetic and real cases, but the more appropriate basis needed to be chosen by requiring the maximum compactness for the multiresolution analysis. Moreover, since such analysis was found not to be shift‐invariant, the same criterion was applied to choosing the best signal shift. Application of the technique to both synthetic and real cases produced an optimal space‐scale representation of the fields and a consistent regional‐residual separation. Furthermore, the space localization allowed a variety of filtered signals to be obtained, each one with a specific scale and local area content. Fourier and wavelet analyses were both applied to the filtering out of the intense Etna anomaly from the aeromagnetic field of Sicily. The wavelet method was more powerful, suppressing only the Etna volcano anomaly and leaving the rest of the map practically unchanged.