Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
High-resolution melting curve analysis on the LightCycler ® 480 PCR system

Principles of MCA for genetic variation analysis Post-PCR MCA has become a robust and well-established method to characterize amplicons, for applications that include microbiological identification or the detection of mutations and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). In the case of SNP studies, the goal could be to detect the presence of different allelic variants of a given SNP in a sample set or to identify polymorphic positions at which previously unknown SNPs occur without prior knowledge of the exact allele. This latter approach is especially useful as a screening technique to reduce the number of sequencing reactions required to detect new variants 1 . The LightCycler 480 System (instrument for 96- and 384-well plates; Fig. 1) implements a modular approach toward hardware, software and reagents that allows users to answer both types of questions by using a broad range of detection chemistries and data analysis algorithms according to the user’s specific research needs. Known SNPs present in PCR amplicons can be investigated with sequence-specific, labeled probes that bind with different strength to the different alleles or allele combinations in the SNP-containing region, depending on whether they fully match the target sequence or contain mismatches. Another detection principle makes use of special DNAbinding dyes (for example, LC Green Plus) whose binding characteristics allow them to be used at high concentrations without inhibiting PCR. Because of their saturating, homogeneous staining of PCR products, these dyes give sharp, unique melting profiles that allow differentiation between homo- and heterozygous samples, and often even between different homozygous genotypes 2 .
Human Resource Management: Career Development

This paper mainly emphasizes on career development which is gaining much importance in recent times in order to retain skilled, competent and result oriented people in the organization. This paper invites special attention in this area of organizations. Journal of Nepalese Business Studies Vol.1(1) 2004 pp.99-100
To Sell or Not to Sell? Telecommunications Policy in Britain and France

ABSTRACT Using Kingdon's agenda setting model and broadening it to the entire policy formation process, I offer an explanation of why the British privatised their telecommunications authority but the French did not. Privatisation is brought about by coupling three streams or factors in critical moments in time: available alternatives generated in policy communities, high government borrowing needs, and party politics. The findings illuminate the usefulness of Kingdon's model beyond its original application in the United States, and have implications for broader theoretical debates in comparative policy research.
LGBTQA Students on Campus: Is Higher Education Making the Grade?

As D’Augelli and Grossman note “educational researchers have overlooked the development of sexual orientation among adolescents and youth. ” Certainly, those working in higher education have, in many cases, overlooked lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and ally (LGBTQA) students’ needs and not provided sufficient resources to address their issues and concerns on campus (Rankin, 2003). This climate of exclusion certainly creates a campus environment that marginalizes LGBTQA students. But, what have we learned from researchers who have studied both LGBT and other minority students’ experiences of their campus environment and its influences on both learning and developmental outcomes? What role does their perception of campus climate play on these students’ educational outcomes and what are the differences among students from different social groups? And, finally, how can this frame our future research efforts?
Custos de bem-estar da inflação no Brasil pós-real

Este trabalho investiga o comportamento da demanda por moeda no Brasil de forma a derivar os custos de bem-estar da inflacao pos-Plano Real. Os resultados, para um periodo de dezessete anos, corroboram a forma funcional log-log que mostra significativos ganhos de bem-estar relativos aos custos sociais anteriores ao Plano Real. Para uma inflacao de aproximadamente 4,5% a.a. , tem-se custo de bem-estar entre 0,15 e 0,20% da renda. Conclui-se, como esperado, que o pais deve direcionar suas politicas para alcancar tanto um patamar de inflacao menor quanto para obter um nivel de taxa de juros real de estado estacionario de paises desenvolvidos.
Learning-Based Sub-Pixel Change Detection Using Coarse Resolution Satellite Imagery

Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data are effective and efficient for monitoring urban dynamics such as urban cover change and thermal anomalies, but the spatial resolution provided by MODIS data is 500 m (for most of its shorter spectral bands), which results in difficulty in detecting subtle spatial variations within a coarse pixel—especially for a fast-growing city. Given that the historical land use/cover products and satellite data at finer resolution are valuable to reflect the urban dynamics with more spatial details, finer spatial resolution images, as well as land cover products at previous times, are exploited in this study to improve the change detection capability of coarse resolution satellite data. The proposed approach involves two main steps. First, pairs of coarse and finer resolution satellite data at previous times are learned and then applied to generate synthetic satellite data with finer spatial resolution from coarse resolution satellite data. Second, a land cover map was produced at a finer spatial resolution and adjusted with the obtained synthetic satellite data and prior land cover maps. The approach was tested for generating finer resolution synthetic Landsat images using MODIS data from the Guangzhou study area. The finer resolution Landsat-like data were then applied to detect land cover changes with more spatial details. Test results show that the change detection accuracy using the proposed approach with the synthetic Landsat data is much better than the results using the original MODIS data or conventional spatial and temporal fusion-based approaches. The proposed approach is beneficial for detecting subtle urban land cover changes with more spatial details when multitemporal coarse satellite data are available.
Report: Workshop on Object-Oriented Re-engineering (WOOR'97)

mixed approach between CBR and OO techniques. He used the area concept and representative object concept to index the cases in a library. Gomez, who came from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain, presented a reuse model called reasoning by analogy or Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) in his talk titled "A Cognitive Approach to Software Reuse applying Case-Based Reasoning to Mutant Cases. " The approach that applies CBR to a specific domain, emulates the most relevant features of the experts' approach, i.e., representation of the experience of a software component called a case. In order to reuse past experiences , the reuser references a surface knowledge that is a very small and specific pieces of knowledge and is based on analogies in different domains, and a deep knowledge that the reuser gains more experience and creates larger and more abstract pieces of knowledge. A reusable component is presented as a case that consists of a hierarchy ofsubcomponents that behave as independent cases. The advantage of this approach is that it does not require the manual adaptation of the component. That is, adaptations are made in two ways by using parameters or altering topology of hierarchy (e.g., adding a new component that alters the input or output of an existing component. Penix, who came from the University of Cincinnati, USA, presented a formal framework for component adaptation based on interface specifications and architectures in his talk titled "Towards Automated Component Adaptation. " The framework allows reusers to capture the relationship between what components are potentially reusable and how they can be properly adapted. Identification of reusable components is performed using formal interface specifications and specification matching. The architecture theories that allow users to declaratively specify a system structure, are used for adaptation of a component. The speaker illustrated how architecture theories can be used effectively to implement component adaptation. He is currently investigating control mechanisms for automating component adaptation using architecture theories .
Assessment of Tariff Equivalents for Services Considering the Zero-Flows

Measuring trade barriers in services is complex due to all the non-tariff barriers. In this paper, we rely on the quantity measures using gravity equation. In order to take into consideration a well-known issue: the presence of zero-flows in the database, we use a sample selection model. Then, we use the results of both stages of the model to derive tariff equivalents based on the distribution of the estimated residuals corrected by the trade partner probabilities. Applying this methodology on the Eurostat database, we obtain tariff equivalents for a large number of countries and for eleven services sectors. Our main conclusions are: i) the protection is not homogeneous among sectors for a country ii) the openness is not directly linked with the level of development iii) the method is not really sensitive to the specification of the regression vi) OLS estimations over estimate the commercial openness of the countries with many zero flows and vii) the elasticity of substitution affects the magnitude of the tariff equivalents but does not modify the ranking amongst the countries, which is the more reliable and the more important information.
Effects of dietary threonine supplementation on intestinal barrier function and gut microbiota of laying hens

&NA; The effects of supplemental dietary threonine (Thr) on laying performance, expression of intestinal mucin 2 (MUC2) and secretory IgA (sIgA), and intestinal microbiota of laying hens fed a low CP diet were investigated. A total of 240 Lohmann Brown laying hens, 28 wk of age, was allocated to 3 dietary treatments, each of which included 5 replicates of 16 hens. Hens were fed a control diet (16% CP), a low CP diet (14% CP), or a low CP diet supplemented with 0.3% L‐Thr for 12 weeks. Chemical analyses of the diets for Thr are 0.49, 0.45, and 0.69%, respectively. Lowering dietary CP impaired egg production and egg mass of laying hens. Dietary Thr supplementation to the low CP diet increased (P < 0.05) egg production and egg mass. In addition, ileal sIgA contents and MUC2 and sIgA mRNA expression were increased (P < 0.05) by dietary Thr addition. Dietary CP reduction reduced (P < 0.05) intestinal bacterial diversity, whereas dietary Thr supplementation to the low CP diet recovered the bacteria diversity and significantly increased the abundance of potential beneficial bacteria. In conclusion, dietary Thr supplementation to a low CP diet could affect intestinal health and hence productivity via regulating intestinal mucin and sIgA expression, and microbial population of laying hens.
RELAÇÃO ENTRE AS DIMENSÕES DAS CAPACIDADES DINÂMICAS E O PROCESSO DE INOVAÇÃO: ESTUDO DE CASO DE UMA EMPRESA DO SETOR DE SERVIÇOS DE VALOR AGREGADO

O objetivo do presente artigo e analisar a relacao entre as dimensoes da capacidade dinâmica das organizacoes (Teece, 2007 e 2009) e o processo dinâmico de inovacao de uma empresa de servicos de valor agregado, com base nas distintas fases do modelo dinâmico do processo de inovacao proposto por Abernathy e Utterback (1978). Para atingir os objetivos propostos para o presente artigo foi adotado o metodo de pesquisa qualitativa de estudo de caso de uma empresa de Servicos de Valor Agregado (SVA). Com base no referencial teorico e no estudo de caso e possivel propor que as dimensoes deteccao, apreensao e reconfiguracao da capacidade dinâmica das organizacoes tem diferente relevância nas distintas fases do processo de inovacao (fluida, transitoria e especifica).
Distributed Fascinating Knowledge Over an Online Travel Community

EDWARD C. S. KU*Travel Management, National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism, Kaohsiung City, TaiwanABSTRACTThe research goal of this study was to investigate how website design quality and website service quality affect participation behavior in theonline travel community by moderating tacit knowledge and commitment.The design of the questionnaire linked it to the invitation message on the three travel communities, of which 235 were returned completed.The ﬁnding of the study shows that an online travel community that allows quick manipulation capabilities is likely to attract its members.To succeed, online travel communities have to rethink the way in which they embrace a new art of dialog and collaboration with their mem-bers. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The International Flows of Industrial Exports from U.S. Regions

Abstract It is widely recognized that increasing global economic integration plays a significant role in the industrial restructuring of many regional economies in the U.S. Yet the absence of information on trade flows between component regions of the U.S. and foreign destinations has hampered meaningful research on the impacts of international trade on specific regions. A matrix of export flows for the manufacturing sector is constructed by merging two Census Bureau data series. These data demonstrate pronounced bi-coastal and north-south tendencies in the export flow patterns of nine U.S. regions. We present a model of regional trade flows that builds upon previous research on the geography of international trade. The results support the empirical validity of spatial interaction models of international trade at the regional scale, while also lending support to hypotheses focusing upon overlapping demand structures, political and cultural factors, and foreign direct investment ties. An identification of .
Health technology assessment and public health: a commentary

This article reviews the developments in HTA in four countries, France, The Netherlands, Sweden, and United Kingdom, in relation to public health. It emphasizes that the majority of assessments made are concerned with individual clinical care rather than with the optimization of health. Possible reasons for the neglect of public health issues are that these are inherently more complex than the assessment of individual procedures or drugs. They are usually multisectoral, politically charged, and often considered mundane and “common sense” and, thus, not requiring evaluation (although when evaluations are done they are often counterintuitive). Unless more emphasis is given to the development and evaluation of public health measures, it is unlikely that there will be any major advances in health status. Possible areas for future assessment should include such issues as smoking, drug and other substance misuse, nutrition, and health inequalities. However, it is unlikely that these major areas of concern will be included in the future unless the methods of choice for priorities of development and assessment are changed to include measures that improve health status rather than only clinical services.
Thermal degradation management in a Fault-tolerant active NPC converter

Fault-tolerant operation of power converters has been a challenge for engineers and designers. Although several schemes have been proposed in recent years, they are typically restricted in terms of their capability to recover from successive failure events. The recently proposed Fault-tolerant ANPC converter has been shown to be able to deal with multiple failure events due to its flexible and reversible reconfiguration capability. In this paper, it is introduced a new thermal degradation management strategy, based on the FT-ANPC reconfiguration capabilities. Through an analytical lifetime estimation model, it is shown that the FT-ANPC converter can be available more than twice as much as an ordinary NPC converter. A metro-system application is studied to demonstrate the efficacy of the thermal degradation management of the FT-ANPC for mission-critical profiles.
Running with ‘wolves’ or waiting for a happy release? Evaluating routes to gender equality

This article examines contemporary thinking about viable ways forward for gender equality at work. It questions both the lingering attachment to feminization in popular commentary and the renewed interest in positive discrimination within academic circles. Focusing on pay disparities in the public sector, it argues that greater attention should be given to the frontline agency of disadvantaged women and the material conditions that affect equality activism. Tensions in equality bargaining are highlighted, along with contradictory pressures on trade union intervention. ‘No-win-no-fee’ lawyers are considered to be neglected third party agents with greater relevance for representation and mobilization than the literature typically acknowledges, some proving to be highly effective in politicizing pay inequality.
The Influence of Institutional and Task Environment Relationships on Organizational Performance: The Canadian Construction Industry

This study compared the influence of organizations' relationships to the institutional versus task environment on organizational performance in the Canadian construction industry. This industry is characterized by both intense institutional regulation and strong market competition. Regulatory stringency and resource stringency were proposed as key determinants of the relative importance of institutional versus task environment relations in predicting organizational profitability and productivity. Results favoured the contribution of task environment relations to organizational success in support of an economic or strategic perspective on organizations. However, under highly stringent conditions, institutional relations were shown to be associated significantly with performance, suggesting that future research needs to consider both institutional and task environment effects on organizational performance and success.
Food sovereignty in Canada: creating just and sustainable food systems

century Brazil and others are challenging them in agriculture. And the importers of Brazil’s agricultural output include core countries but are increasingly periphery countries also – including, in substantial amounts, China – making the coreperiphery distinction increasingly difficult to maintain. In a world with changes like this occurring, what is the role of Britain’s ‘green and pleasant land’? Is it to be a productivist competitor in the globalized food system, perhaps by combining high-tech, high-input mechanized farming with the European Union’s generous subsidies? Or is it, rather, to generate traditional vistas and agro-environmental amenities for the urbanized leisure classes, producing for those who tour rather than for those who eat? After millennia of supplying Britons their daily bread, is the land now only to provide their yearly holiday? And if so, where will that bread come from? Winter and Lobley’s book doesn’t have an answer, perhaps because it does not clearly pose the question. The last century’s understanding of the global food system – including the role of peasants – may have increasing difficulties interpreting, let alone predicting, its course in this one. The future of the land remains as uncertain as that of the world’s peasants.
Parameter reduction of nonlinear least-squares estimates via the singular value decomposition

Abstract This paper proposes a technique for reducing the number of uncertain parameters in order to simplify robust and adaptive controller design. The system is assumed to have a known structure with parametric uncertainties that represent plant dynamics variation. An original set of parameters is identified by nonlinear least-squares (NLS) optimization using noisy frequency response functions. Based on the property of asymptotic normality for NLS estimates, the original parameter set is re-parameterized by an affine function of the smaller number of uncorrelated parameters. The correlation among uncertain parameters over NLS estimates from different plants is detected by the singular value decomposition. A numerical example illustrates the usefulness of the proposed technique.
Inclusion or Dualization? The Political Economy of Employment Relations in Italian and Greek Telecommunications

Recent literature argues that trade unions in restructuring service industries have responded to the challenges of the post-industrial era by accepting different forms of labour market dualization. This article examines two case studies from Italy and Greece, in which unions adopted divergent responses to intensified market pressures unleashed by the liberalization of national telecommunications markets. In the Italian case, collective bargaining was successfully centralized, resulting in the inclusion of traditional labour market ‘outsiders’. In contrast, bargaining centralization failed in Greek telecommunications, leading to intensified dualization. These different paths of institutional change are explained as resulting from differences in ideological cleavages among unions and distinct legacies in employers’ associations.
A broadband dual-polarization slot antenna based on substrate-integrated cavity

The advantages of broad band and high efficiency make CBSA (cavity-backed slot antenna) a potential alternative for modern SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) systems. Therefore, a broadband CBSA is proposed for dual-polarization SAR system. By adopting double-layer wide slots and strip-lines feed, dual-polarization is achieved while still maintaining broad bandwidth. To enhance the antenna integration, substrate-integrated technology is also introduced to form a cylindrical cavity. The simulation results demonstrated that the return loss is below -10 dB within the whole X band. And the bandwidth of port isolation, which is below -15 dB, is extended to 35.9%. The antenna gain is almost 5.5 dBi over the most band.