Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Detection of a gonococcal endo-beta-N-acetyl-D-glucosaminidase and its peptidoglycan cleavage site

Neisseria gonorrhoeae contains several hydrolases which may be responsible for gonococcal cell lysis. One of these enzymes, an endo-beta-N-acetyl-D-glucosaminidase, has been extracted from supernatants of sonicated gonococci and partially purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation and affinity and ion-exchange chromatography. This enzyme has a different specificity than egg white lysozyme and cleaves the beta 1 leads to 4 glycosidic linkage between N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetylmuramic acid in gonococcal peptidoglycan.
Influence of process conditions and particle dispersion on the ac breakdown strength of polyethylene-aluminium oxide nanocomposites

The voltage level in power transmission systems is increasing in order to transmit energy more efficiently and this requires efficient insulating materials. The dielectric breakdown strength of polymers used as electrical insulation can be increased by the addition of inorganic nanoparticles. A uniform particle dispersion is however important; large agglomerates may have a negative effect on the breakdown strength. The effects of temperature, screw rotation velocity and processing time in a microextruder on the dispersion of neat aluminium oxide nanoparticles in LDPE were studied, and it was possible to obtain an essentially agglomerate-free particle dispersion at optimum extrusion conditions. Smaller particle agglomerates (<; 3 μm) had no significantly negative impact on the AC dielectric breakdown strength. Composites with higher filler fractions (≥ 3 wt.%) containing larger particle agglomerates (>15 μm in diameter) showed a significant reduction in the breakdown strength compared to the neat polymer.
Oral Tolerance and Pyruvate Dehydrogenase in Patients with Primary Biliary Cirrhosis

Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is a chronic cholestatic liver disease characterized by the immunological destruction of intralobular bile ducts and serum anti-mitochondrial antibodies (AMA). Based upon previous work of oral tolerance and autoimmunity, we hypothesized that feeding the mitochondrial autoantigens of PBC would alter the clinical course and the level of antimitochondrial antibodies. The bovine pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC) was purified and 5 mg fed in gelatin capsules to 6 patients with early stage PBC for 6 months. Antimitochondrial antibodies and liver biochemistries were measured at every 3 months for 12 months. The clinical trial was completed for all patients except for 1 who showed deterioration of pre-existing skin rash during treatment, which disappeared within 2 weeks after treatment was discontinued. However, after 1 year, neither the titers of AMAs nor liver biochemistries were significantly changed by this treatment. This is the first trial to test the efficacy of oral tolerance induction in PBC. However, the data, which limited in scope, did not demonstrate efficacy and further highlights the difficulties in showing continuing evidence of tolerance induction in autoimmunity.
A frequent Y chromosome b2/b3 subdeletion shows strong association with male infertility in Han-Chinese population.

BACKGROUND Azoospermia factor c (AZFc) subdeletions were reported to be significant risk factors for spermatogenesis. In this study, we assessed the occurrence of classical AZF deletions and AZFc subdeletions and their impact on male infertility in a Han-Chinese population. METHODS This study analysed a population of 699 subjects, including 451 idiopathic infertile patients with a range of fertility disorders and 248 fertile controls, using a retrospective design. Deletions were identified by multiplex PCR. RESULTS The prevalence and phenotypes of the classical AZF deletions were similar to previous studies. Subdeletions of the AZFc region in patients showed similar overall frequencies in all sperm concentration categories of gr/gr (7.0%) and b2/b3 (8.9%). For controls, these subdeletions were also found with a prevalence of gr/gr (7.7%) and b2/b3 (3.2%). b1/b3 deletions were not found either in the patients or in the controls. CONCLUSION Our data showed a higher frequency of deletion events in this Han-Chinese population than in populations elsewhere in the world. The classical AZF deletions were the primary genetic factors for spermatogenic failure, while no significant association was found for AZFc subdeletions with sperm concentration. However, the b2/b3 subdeletion was significantly associated with idiopathic male infertility (odds ratio, 2.93; 95% confidence interval 1.34-6.39) (P = 0.005), indicating a potential impairment of male fertility.
Neurotoxicity of glia activated by gram-positive bacterial products depends on nitric oxide production

The present study examined the mechanism by which bacterial cell walls from two gram-positive meningeal pathogens, Streptococcus pneumoniae and the group B streptococcus, induced neuronal injury in primary cultures of rat brain cells. Cell walls from both organisms produced cellular injury to similar degrees in pure astrocyte cultures but not in pure neuronal cultures. Cell walls also induced nitric oxide production in cultures of astrocytes or microglia. When neurons were cultured together with astrocytes or microglia, the cell walls of both organisms became toxic to neurons. L-NAME, a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, protected neurons from cell wall-induced toxicity in mixed cultures with glia, as did dexamethasone. In contrast, an excitatory amino acid antagonist (MK801) had no effect. Low concentrations of cell walls from either gram-positive pathogen added together with the excitatory amino acid glutamate resulted in synergistic neurotoxicity that was inhibited by L-NAME. The induction of nitric oxide production and neurotoxicity by cell walls was independent of the presence of serum, whereas endotoxin exhibited these effects only in the presence of serum. We conclude that gram-positive cell walls can cause toxicity in neurons by inducing the production of nitric oxide in astrocytes and microglia.
Impact force reduction for hopping robot

In controlling a hopping robot, reducing reaction force from the ground is important. We propose a method for a hopping robot to reduce impact force at the instant of touchdown. Our method is based on the idea of the soft-landing trajectory and optimal approach velocity. By applying our method to a robot system, a robot can suppress the impact force at the instant of touchdown and press the ground with constant force continuously. Furthermore, selection ratios of position and force are introduced to achieve a smooth transition from force control to position control during the landing phase. It is important for a hopping robot to achieve a desired position when the position of the COG (center of gravity) is the lowest; because the robot have to prepare for a next hop. With this method, the impact force at touchdown is suppressed and the robot can track the desired trajectory. The method is applied to a robot which is constrained to move only vertical direction. Validity of our method is confirmed by numerical simulations.
Phosphorus nuclear magnetic resonance studies on the effect of duration of contraction in bull‐frog skeletal muscles.

1. Contraction and recovery of bull‐frog skeletal muscles were studied using 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), with a time resolution of 16 s, at 4 degrees C. The muscles were stimulated tetanically for various periods (0.2‐10 s) at a sarcomere length of 2.4 microns. Changes in the concentrations of inorganic phosphate (Pi), phosphocreatine (PCr) and other metabolites were studied for repeated cycles of contraction and recovery. 2. In resting muscles, bathed in a solution gassed with 95% O2 and 5% CO2, the concentration of Pi was 1.15 +/‐ 0.21 mmol kg‐1 wet weight (mean +/‐ one S.D., n = 12), that of ATP was 3.32 +/‐ 0.15 mmol kg‐1 (mean +/‐ one S.D., n = 12) and that of sugar phosphates was less than 0.5 mmol kg‐1. The intracellular pH (pHi) was 7.22 +/‐ 0.01 (mean +/‐ one S.D., n = 12). These results are averages for fibres which probably have different values. 3. On stimulating the muscles pHi shifted in the alkaline direction and subsequently recovered. The extent of the alkaline shift was linearly related to the contraction duration (0.2‐10 s) with a rate of 0.01 pH unit s‐1. 4. The increase in Pi with stimulus duration was biphasic, consisting of an early burst, 0.38 +/‐ 0.10 mmol kg‐1 (+/‐ 1 S.D., n = 5), complete within about 0.2‐0.5 s, followed by a slower steady‐state increase. The steady‐state rate of Pi increase was 0.33 +/‐ 0.02 mmol kg‐1 s‐1 (+/‐ 1 S.D., n = 5) in agreement with the results of previous studies involving chemical analyses. 5. The time course of Pi recovery was well described by a single exponential. Intensities of ATP, sugar phosphates and the peaks in the phosphodiester region did not change during a 2 s tetanus. 6. The amount of PCr hydrolysed (‐delta PCr), associated with contractions of various durations, coincided well with Pi increase (delta Pi). This was found during the whole recovery period except for the initial few minutes following relaxation when ‐delta PCr was significantly smaller than delta Pi. The difference was 0.35 +/‐ 0.03 mmol kg‐1 (mean +/‐ 1 S.D., n = 3) immediately after a 2 s tetanus. 7. In contractions of 2 s or longer, the extent of the temporal separation between delta Pi and ‐delta PCr was almost the same, but in contractions of less than 2 s it was significantly reduced. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Service-Learning: A Case Study Approach to Understanding Cross-Age Tutoring with Junior High Students At-Risk for Behavioral and Emotional Disabilities

SERVICE-LEARNING: A CASE STUDY APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING CROSS-AGE TUTORING WITH JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AT-RISK FOR BEHAVIORAL AND EMOTIONAL DISABILITIES Megan Susanne Pratt Department of Counseling Psychology and Special Education Educational Specialist in School Psychology The purpose of this case study was to investigate the effects a service-learning tutorship had on the Social and Personal Responsibility Scale scores of middle school students identified as at risk for emotional and behavioral problems and enrolled in a one hour class that focused on social skills, self-management, and emotional resilience. Eight students identified through school-wide screening measures as at-risk for emotional and behavioral problems were involved in a pre/post quantitative survey, pre/post exploratory interviews, and a post focus group to analyze their level of growth in relation to social and personal responsibility. Currently, there is a limited amount of research identifying the influence service-learning has on students at risk for emotional and behavioral problems. This case-study found that service-learning is an effective tool at helping students increase their level of competence in relation to social and personal responsibility. Limitations of this study are addressed, suggestions for future research are noted, and implications for execution of future service-learning ventures are discussed.
Principle and Performance of TTI Bundling For VoIP in LTE FDD Mode

Limited transmission power and short TTI length impose a bottleneck on LTE UL performance in a coverage-limited scenario. This paper presents an effective coverage enhancement mechanism called TTI bundling to boost uplink VoIP performance in LTE FDD mode. Performance evaluation for TTI bundling with VoIP traffic is carried out by semi-static system simulation, and the impact from different bundling options with different bundle size and packet delay budget is investigated. The simulation analysis proves that with proper bundle size, TTI bundling can enhance the coverage performance for LTE FDD effectively.
Combining semantic web and IoT to reason with health and safety policies

Monitoring and following health and safety regulations are especially important — but made difficult — in hazardous work environments such as underground mines to prevent work place accidents and illnesses. Even though there are IoT solutions for health and safety, every work place has different characteristics and monitoring is typically done by humans in control rooms. During emergencies, conflicts may arise among prohibitions and obligations, and humans may not be better placed to make decision without any assistance as they do not have a bird's-eye-view of the environment. Motivated by this observations, in this paper, we discuss how health and safety regulations can be implemented using a semantic policy framework. We then show how this framework can be integrated into an in-use smart underground mine solution. We also evaluate the performance of our framework to show that it can cope with the complexity and the amount of data generated by the system.
Temporal resolution adaptation in real-time bitrate estimation from packed sampled traffic

Packet sampling can greatly reduce traffic measurement overhead in high-speed networks. At the same time, this operation introduces estimation errors that have to be carefully handled to ensure a reasonable measurement accuracy. Recently, a frequency-based approach has been proposed to catch the impact of such errors in bitrate estimation of IP flows at various time-scales. In particular, a closed-form expression for the signal-to-noise ratio has been derived as a function of the packet sampling probability, the bin size, and some basic information about the flow (i.e., first and second order moments of the packet size, and long term average packet-rate). In this work, we adopt this model to design a real-time algorithm that properly tunes the temporal resolution of bitrate estimates available at a router, with the goal of assuring a target measurement accuracy. The effectiveness of the proposed approach has been demonstrated by computer simulations, carried out using real packet traces.
Sclera Pattern Recognition for Identification

In this paper a delineate the new human identification method is proposed: sclera recognition technique. Due to the uniqueness of the sclera pattern, it can be used as identification in place of code, fingerprint, face recognition and voice recognition. To distinguish different patterns, some tonal and illumination corrections are performed to get a clear sclera area without disturbing the vessel pattern structure[8]. This paper aims at developing a new method for sclera segmentation which works for both color as well as grayscale images. The blood vessel structure of sclera is different for different people and it lies in the region of the visible wavelengths, therefore it can be used for the human identification method (ID). To obtain shape and structure of a sclera vessel kernel functions are used in order to separate out the magnitude and phase plots. Gabor wavelet filter is a bi-dimensional Gaussian function which separates the R & G plane of the scanned image and due to its 2D nature, the B plane is difficult to plot as well as recognize (mathworks). Also lot of people has blue iris which is difficult to identify, hence plotting the graph of R and G only would be easy.
CorLayer: a transparent link correlation layer for energy efficient broadcast

Wireless communication essentially occurs in a broadcast medium with concurrent receptions. Recent works [34, 41] have shown clear evidence that wireless links are not independent and that transmissions from a transmitter to multiple receivers are correlated, a phenomenon that has profound implications for the performance of network protocols such as broadcast, multi-cast, opportunistic forwarding and network coding. In this paper, we show how link correlation can significantly impact broadcast. We present the design and implementation of CorLayer, a general supporting layer for energy efficient reliable broadcast that carefully blacklists certain poorly correlated wireless links. This method uses only one-hop information, which makes it work in a fully distributed manner and introduces minimal communication overhead. The highlight of our work is CorLayer's broad applicability and effectiveness. Our system effort is indeed significant. We integrate CorLayer transparently with sixteen state-of-the-art broadcast protocols specified in thirteen publications [1, 3, 18, 19, 23, 25--27, 32, 36, 38--40] on three physical testbeds running TelosB, MICAz, and GreenOrbs nodes, respectively. The experimental results show that CorLayer remarkably improves energy efficiency across a wide spectrum of broadcast protocols and that the total number of packet transmissions can be reduced consistently by 47% on average.
A simulation study assessing the efficiency of deriving evoked responses using high stimulus rate

This study investigates the effects of stimulus rate on the recording efficiency of evoked-response scenario using a computer generated data simulating auditory evoked potentials (AEPs). We examine AEPs derived from three paradigms: 1) Conventional stimuli for ensemble averaging; 2) continuous loop averaging deconvolution (CLAD); and 3) maximum length sequence (MLS) stimuli, in which deconvolution techniques are incorporated to retrieve the overlapped responses. The performance is evaluated by correlation coefficients between the ideal and the derived responses. The results show that there is no distinct improvement of SNR for high rate stimulation paradigms, suggesting that the techniques of deconvolution in high rate will not provide more efficient recording approach. Further, responses from the CLAD paradigm tend to deteriorate compared to the other two methods due to the lower jittering arrangement of the sequence.
Listening and Learning from Gender-Nonconforming Children

The twenty-first century brings to our clinical doorsteps increasing numbers of children exploring and questioning their gender identities and expressions. This paper begins with a reassessment of the psychoanalytic thinking about gender and then outlines a clinical and developmental model of gender adapted from D. W. Winnicott's concepts of true self, false self, and individual creativity. The underlying premise is that gender nonconformity, when the core psychological issue, is not a sign of pathology but rather a reflection of healthy variations on gender possibilities. Working from that premise, composite clinical material from the author's practice as a psychoanalytic gender specialist is presented of a gender-nonconforming child transitioning from female to male, to demonstrate the psychoanalytic tools applied, including listening, mirroring, play, and interpretation, with the goal of facilitating a child's authentic gender self. Emphasis is placed on learning from the patient, working collaboratively with the family and social environments, and remaining suspended in a state of ambiguity and not-knowing as the child explores and solidifies a True Gender Self.
Pupil Dilation Signals Surprise: Evidence for Noradrenaline’s Role in Decision Making

Our decisions are guided by the rewards we expect. These expectations are often based on incomplete knowledge and are thus subject to uncertainty. While the neurophysiology of expected rewards is well understood, less is known about the physiology of uncertainty. We hypothesize that uncertainty, or more specifically errors in judging uncertainty, are reflected in pupil dilation, a marker that has frequently been associated with decision making, but so far has remained largely elusive to quantitative models. To test this hypothesis, we measure pupil dilation while observers perform an auditory gambling task. This task dissociates two key decision variables – uncertainty and reward – and their errors from each other and from the act of the decision itself. We first demonstrate that the pupil does not signal expected reward or uncertainty per se, but instead signals surprise, that is, errors in judging uncertainty. While this general finding is independent of the precise quantification of these decision variables, we then analyze this effect with respect to a specific mathematical model of uncertainty and surprise, namely risk and risk prediction error. Using this quantification, we find that pupil dilation and risk prediction error are indeed highly correlated. Under the assumption of a tight link between noradrenaline (NA) and pupil size under constant illumination, our data may be interpreted as empirical evidence for the hypothesis that NA plays a similar role for uncertainty as dopamine does for reward, namely the encoding of error signals.
Middle School Climate, Faculty Trust, and Effectiveness: A Path Analysis.

To analyze the relationship among supportive principal behavior, faculty collegiality, faculty trust, and effectiveness, a set of bivarate relationships was developped and examined and two rival causal models were proposed and tested. Data were collected from 2777 teachers representing 87 middle schools and aggregated at the school level. Although both faculty trust in the principal and faculty trust in teachers were important links to effectiveness, the sources of faculty trust followed different paths. Supportive principal behavior, not teacher behavior, promoted trust in the principal; while teacher collegiality, not principal behavior, fostered trust among colleagues
Design of an Enhanced Fairness Algorithm for the IEEE 802.17 Resilient Packet Ring

The fairness algorithm of the Resilient Packet Ring IEEE 802.17 standard suffers from throughput degradation under an unbalanced overload. This paper designs an enhanced aggressive mode of fairness algorithm to resolve this throughput degradation and discusses its performance. Under the enhanced aggressive mode, upstream nodes set their allow_rates as their maximum values when a congested node advertises congestion alleviation to them. The congested node decides its congestion alleviation once its STQ length goes below a threshold. A new fairness packet of type 3 is used for the congestion alleviation advertisement.
Voltage profile and loss assessment of distribution systems with fixed speed wind generators

Wind generators are increasingly being integrated into high voltage transmission systems as well as low or medium voltage distribution systems. The increased penetration of wind generators into power grid may significantly change the system voltage profile, losses and other operating characteristics. This paper investigates the effects of wind generators on voltage profile and losses of a distribution system. To make the investigation more realistic, time varying system load and historical wind speed data are used. Randomly generated wind speeds through Weibull probability density function are also used. For a given wind speed, the turbine power is determined through a polynomial obtained from power data supplied by the manufacturer. The system voltage profile and losses are obtained through repetitive power flow solutions with varying load and wind speed data. The exact equivalent circuit of a wind generator is directly incorporated in power flow calculations. The above technique is then applied to two distribution systems consisting of 33 and 69 buses with a number of embedded wind generators. The results obtained are carefully analyzed and discussed.
Deviant and Criminal Behavior in the Workplace

Part I : Introduction1 Conceptual Foundations: Insights from Criminology and the Sociology of WorkPart I I : Employee Characteristics Associated with D viant Workplace Behavior2 Emotions and Deviance3 Born to Be Deviant? An Examination of the Relationship between Workplace Deviance and Employee Personality4 The Role of Occupational Stress in Workplace DeviancePart I I I : Organizational Influences on Deviant Workplace Behavior5 Accounting in Organizational Environments: Contextualizing Rules and Fraud6 Human Resource Management and Deviant/Criminal Behavior in OrganizationsPart IV : The Rol e of ( In) Justice and Social Power in Deviant Workplace Behavior7 Hazards of Justice: Egocentric Bias, Moral Judgmentsand Revenge-Seeking8 The Role of Social Power in Sexual Harassment and Job DiscriminationPart V : Violence in the Workplace9 When Employees Turn Violent: The Potential Role of Workplace Culture in Triggering Deviant Behavior10 Workplace Violence: Prevention and Aftermath