Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
OP-BRAI160014 1036..1044

Progressive encephalopathy with oedema, hypsarrhythmia and optic atrophy (PEHO) syndrome is a rare Mendelian phenotype comprising severe retardation, early onset epileptic seizures, optic nerve/cerebellar atrophy, pedal oedema, and early death. Atypical cases are often known as PEHO-like, and there is an overlap with ‘early infantile epileptic encephalopathy’. PEHO is considered to be recessive, but surprisingly since initial description in 1991, no causative recessive gene(s) have been described. Hence, we report a multiplex consanguineous family with the PEHO phenotype where affected individuals had a homozygous frame-shift deletion in CCDC88A (c.2313delT, p.Leu772 ter). Analysis of cDNA extracted from patient lymphocytes unexpectedly failed to show non-sense mediated decay, and we demonstrate that the mutation produces a truncated protein lacking the crucial C-terminal half of CCDC88A (girdin). To further investigate the possible role of CCDC88A in human neurodevelopment we reexamined the behaviour and neuroanatomy of Ccdc88a knockout pups. These mice had mesial-temporal lobe epilepsy, microcephaly and corpus callosum deficiency, and by postnatal Day 21, microcephaly; the mice died at an early age. As the mouse knockout phenotype mimics the human PEHO phenotype this suggests that loss of CCDC88A is a cause of the PEHO phenotype, and that CCDC88A is essential for multiple aspects of normal human neurodevelopment.
OPTIMISATION OF MICROENCAPSULATION OF CITRUS HYSTRIX L. OIL SUB AND SUPERCRITICAL CO2 USING RESPONSE SURFACE METHODOLOGY

Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimise the microencapsulation process of Citrus Hystrix L. Oil (CHO) by depressurization of an expanded liquid organic solution (DELOS) sub and supercritical CO2. The particle size and yield (%) was studied with considered to three key factors variables including pressure (30-80 bar), temperature (40-60˚C) and resident time (10-60 minutes) on the microencapsulation process. The optimum result from RSM is 549.4 nanometer for the particle size and 38.193% yield at optimum pressure 54.14bar, temperature 59.65˚C and resident time 58 minutes. The results clearly show that the interactions between pressure, temperature and time have a significant effect on the microencapsulation process. Thus, the microencapsulated formulation has potential to be applied to other volatile compounds.
Statistical analysis of grapevine mortality associated with esca or Eutypa dieback foliar expression

Esca and Eutypa dieback are two major wood diseases of grapevine in France. Their widespread distribution in vineyards leads to vine decline and to a loss in productivity. However, little is known either about the temporal dynamics of these diseases at plant level, and equally, the relationships between foliar expression of the diseases and vine death is relatively unknown too. To investigate this last question, we surveyed the vines of six vineyards cv. Cabernet Sauvignon in the Bordeaux region, by recording foliar symptoms, dead arms and dead plants from 2004 to 2010. In 2008, 2009 and 2010, approximately five percent of the asymptomatic vines died but the percentage of dead vines which had previously expressed esca foliar symptoms was higher, and varied between vineyards. A logistic regression model was used to determine the previous years of symptomatic expression associated with vine mortality. The mortality of esca is always associated with the foliar symptom expression of the year preceding vine death. One or two other earlier years of expression frequently represented additional risk factors. The Eutypa dieback symptom was also a risk factor of death, superior or equal to that of esca. The study of the internal necroses of vines expressing esca or Eutypa dieback is discussed in the light of these statistical results.
Synthesis of PbS Nanoparticles and Its Potential as a Biosensor based on Memristic Properties

Quantum dots are nearly spherical nanocrystals that have unique optical property which are in intermediate in size between bulk semiconductor and individual atom. Lead sulphide (PbS) nanoparticles are synthesized by the reaction between lead nitrate and sodium sulphide. This paper proposes a detection method of bacterial sample based on memristic properties of semiconductor quantum dots. In this case, PbS nanoparticle is considered for its good fluorescent property. PbS nanoparticle were synthesized and characterized by UV –visible spectroscopy, PL, XRD, SEM and HRTEM. The antimicrobial activity of Pbs and CdS quantum dots are observed in this paper. The potential application of these quantum dots as a biosensor is examined by conjugating bacterial stain E. coli and S. aureus and examining the current –voltage characteristics with E. coli.
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics 1 Computational Analysis of the G-III Laminar Flow Glove

Under NASA’s Environmentally Responsible Aviation Project, flight experiments are planned with the primary objective of demonstrating the Discrete Roughness Elements (DRE) technology for passive laminar flow control at chord Reynolds numbers relevant to transport aircraft. In this paper, we present a preliminary computational assessment of the Gulfstream-III (G-III) aircraft wing-glove designed to attain natural laminar flow for the leading-edge sweep angle of 34.6 o . Analysis for a flight Mach number of 0.75 shows that it should be possible to achieve natural laminar flow for twice the transition Reynolds number ever achieved at this sweep angle. However, the wing-glove needs to be redesigned to effectively demonstrate passive laminar flow control using DREs. As a by-product of the computational assessment, effect of surface curvature on stationary crossflow disturbances is found to be strongly stabilizing for the current design, and it is suggested that convex surface curvature could be used as a control parameter for natural laminar flow design, provided transition occurs via stationary crossflow disturbances.
A Case Study of Natural Frequency of the Tram Rail Due to Vibration Using Wavelets

Many vibration signals of tram rails due to tram movement are non-stationary and have highly complex time-frequency characteristics. The vibration signal of a rotating wheel involves condition monitoring and fault diagnosis. Many signal analysis methods are able to extract useful information from vibration data. In this paper, we were able to correlate non-linear independent signal acquired using acceleromets at different spots across the city and extract tram rail vibration noise and model the effect of signal noise to identify the frequency characteristics of the rail by characterizing the spectral content of the noise signal using parametric distribution and then by applying non parametric filters to characterize the signal power spectral density using Wavelet Transform (WT) and Parseval’s theorem. The fault can be detected from a given level of resolution. For this purpose, Parseval’s theorem is used as an evaluation criterion to select the optimal level. Associated to envelope analysis, it allows clear visualization of fault frequencies. on the inner rail of the railway line. The time-frequency contour map can easily show the power distribution of signal in time and frequency domain. Moreover, it is a good way to identify the rail track faults involving a breakdown change. The simulative results show that time-frequency contour map have the capabilities to identify the difference of those faults of vibration monitoring. In conclusion, the faults along the rail track can be classified by time-frequency contour map for frequency decomposition. We hereby decompose the high frequency detail of the signal without decomposition after wavelet transform, so as to improve the frequency resolution.
What We Learnt - Recruiting Prenatal Mothers to an RCT Addressing the Prevention of Overweight in Early Childhood?

Objective: To identify and explore the experiences of recruiting prenatal women into a randomised control trial which involves a family focused early intervention program addressing the prevention of overweight and obesity over the first two years of life. Design: A number of open ended brainstorming sessions allowed the research nurses to self reflect on their recruitment experiences. These sessions were used to explore factors that impacted on recruitment. Setting: Recruitment for the trial took place in the antenatal clinics of two hospitals in south west Sydney (NSW Australia) from March 2007 March 2008 one of the most socially and economically disadvantaged areas of Sydney. Main Outcome measures: To gain insight into the issues surrounding recruitment of prenatal women and to identify the main themes that facilitated or impeded recruitment. Results: Findings suggested that recruitment to a randomised control trial in the prenatal period resulted in particular barriers. Three theme clusters were identified; engaging participants, content of informational material and organisational issues. Conclusion: Fostering stronger communication between research staff and clinical staff would have enabled easier identification of the target group and having access to the target population at earlier stages of pregnancy would have been beneficial. Recommendation: Having a rigorous recruitment plan, and evaluating recruitment strategies in future studies of this nature, would be central to understanding why prenatal women involve themselves in research trials. Obtaining the assistance of clinical and administration staff with recruitment strategies would also be strongly recommended.
Electrospun Poly(Ethylene Oxide) Fibers Reinforced with Poly (Vinylpyrrolidone) Polymer and Cellulose Nanocrystals

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter Abstract Green poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)/cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs)/poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) composites were prepared via electrospinning technique. The use of PVP and/ or CNCs improved the overall thermal stability and mechanical properties of the PEO fibers. A strong synergistic reinforcing effect was achieved when PVP polymer and CNCs were combined in the composite. This synergistic reinforcement was accompanied with the formation of unique fiber-bead-fiber morphology. The beads were elongated and orientated along the applied force direction during tensile testing, providing an energy dis - sipation mechanism and a positive reinforcement effect. The combination of CNCs with PVP induced special chemical interactions, and distracted the interactions between PVP and PEO. As a result, the crystallinity of PEO was increased in the system, which also helped enhance fiber properties. The approach developed in this work offers a new way for reinforcing electrospun PEO-based composite fibers for sustainable green composite development. cellulose nanocrystals, reinforcing mechanisms, poly(ethylene oxide), poly(vinylpyrrolidone), green composites more applied energy and therefore resulted in improved mechanical performance of the composites. This work demonstrates a new approach for reinforcing electrospun PEO-based composite fibers for sustainable green composite development.
Methods and constraints for the correction of the error beam pick-up in single dish radio observations

The beam pattern of a single dish radio telescope is given by the main beam and additional components at larger angles, usually called error beam or stray pattern. The latter have relatively small peak amplitudes (typ. below −25 dB), depending on the rms surface error of the primary reflector. However, because of their large angular extent, they are sensitive to extended sources, and a significant fraction of the observed intensity can result from error beam pick-up. For (sub-)mm observations suffering from error beam pick-up we introduce a new temperature scale for the corrected data, the corrected main beam brightness temperature Tmb,c, which provides a better approximation to the intensity detected by the main beam than the commonly used antenna temperature and main beam brightness temperature. We consider two different correction methods. The first method uses complementary observations obtained with a smaller telescope. Smeared to the angular resolution of the error beam pattern they provide an estimate of the error beam pick-up in the observations of the large telescope. For the second method, the error beam pick-up is de-convolved from the observed map in Fourier space. The requirements for both correction methods and their advantages and limitations are discussed in detail. Both correction methods require additional observations, unless the full spatial extent of the emission is observed. We find that the deconvolution method is attractive for the correction of fully sampled maps with an angular extent much larger than the error beam pattern. For smaller maps and more sparsely sampled observations, the subtraction method is favorable, because the additional observations with a small telescope are less time consuming.
Skill acquisition in blended learning courses: influence on student performance

E-learning platforms are a powerful tool that provides substantial improvements in the academic performance and constitute an important support for the acquisition of skills. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether the usage of online resources in blended learning courses influences their performance. The data comes from a Business Administration course (256 students). We use regression analyses to explain how Moodle platform usage influences academic performance in terms of both types of skills (theoretical and practical). The intensity of resources usage and their variety influence learning outcomes. This influence is higher in theoretical skills than in practical, thus recommending using online resources for both types of knowledge and complementing the latter with offline resources. Keywords: skills assessment; academic performance; blended learning course; knowledge acquisition; knowledge application
A possible solution for the problem of estimating the error structure of global soil moisture data sets

In the last few years, research made significant progress towards operational soil moisture remote sensing which lead to the availability of several global data sets. For an optimal use of these data, an accurate estimation of the error structure is an important condition. To solve for the validation problem we introduce the triple collocation error estimation technique. The triple collocation technique is a powerful tool to estimate the root mean square error while simultaneously solving for systematic differences in the climatologies of a set of three independent data sources. We evaluate the method by applying it to a passive microwave (TRMM radiometer) derived, an active microwave (ERS‐2 scatterometer) derived and a modeled (ERA‐Interim reanalysis) soil moisture data sets. The results suggest that the method provides realistic error estimates.
Optimizing Zone-dependent Two-level Facility Location Problem

This paper considers a problem of locating both distribution centers and retailers in a zone-dependent two-level distribution network where either a distribution center or a retailer should be located in each zone. Customer demands of each zone should be satisfied directly from either its own distribution center or its own retailer being supplied from a distribution center of another zone. The objective of the proposed problem is to minimize total cost being composed of distribution center/retailer setup costs and transportation costs. In the analysis, the problem is proved to be NP-hard, so that a branch-and-bound algorithm is derived for the problem. Numerical experiments show that the proposed branch-and-bound algorithm provides the optimal solution efficiently for some small problems.
Natural and Quasi- Experiments in Economics

Using research designs patterned after randomized experiments, many recent economic studies examine outcome measures for treatment groups and comparison groups that are not randomly assigned. By using variation in explanatory variables generated by changes in state laws, government draft mechanisms, or other means, these studies obtain variation that is readily examined and is plausibly exogenous. This paper describes the advantages of these studies and suggests how they can be improved. It also provides aids in judging the validity of inferences they draw. Design complications such as multiple treatment and comparison groups and multiple pre- or post-intervention observations are advocated.
Invasive Fungal Pathogens: Current Epidemiological Trends

Patient characteristics, antifungal prophylaxis, and other factors appear to have contributed to a change in the spectrum of invasive fungal pathogens. Infections with Candida glabrata, Aspergillus terreus, and non-Aspergillus moulds appear to be on the rise, at least among certain populations. These species are resistant or less susceptible to some commonly used antifungal agents. Non-Aspergillus moulds are particularly lethal. This article reviews the spectrum of invasive mycoses and risk factors for infection with these pathogens.
Exploring Factors that Contribute to Individual Indebtedness among Young Muslims

This research was aimed at exploring the factors that contribute to individual indebtedness among young Muslims. A total of 350 questionnaires were distributed to the target group within the age range of 25 and 45 years old who are facing debt problems and undergoing financial counselling from AKPK in the Northern region of Malaysia, which encompasses the states of Perak, Pulau Pinang and Kedah/Perlis. Of the 350 questionnaires distributed, 149 were usable as the level of debt of the respondents was 40% and above of the total monthly income. The results revealed that the factors contribute to individual indebtedness are personality extraversion, personality neuroticism, lifestyle impulsive buying, purchasing for lifestyle, parental guidance, religious practice and religious principal.
Developing Collaborative Profiles of Attackers: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract : We implemented a new content anomaly detector, Anagram, which models a mixture of high-order n-grams (n > 1) designed to detect anomalous and "suspicious" network packet payloads. For both Anagram and previously developed anomaly detector, Payl, we explored possible ways in which payload-based correlation can be applied, so that the alerts generated by both sensors can be included in our "collaborative security" infrastructure, called Worminator. Worminator is designed to exchange information securely, privately and in real-time between sites in order to reveal an accurate view of external threats, especially stealthy ones. To address the need for efficient alert correlation, we introduced the notion of network scheduling: the controllable formation and dissolution of relationships between nodes and groups of nodes in a network. Our network scheduling mechanism is a procedure for coordinating the exchange of information between the members of a correlation group. The mechanism is controlled by a dynamic and parameterizable correlation schedule. We performed a longitudinal study which is designed to demonstrate the proposed Worminator hypothesis, that collaborative intrusion detection not only enables detection of worm spread but also scanning behavior as precursors to an attack. There are three key longitudes for analysis: over time, over geographical and network space and by target.
Performance Issues in U.S.—China Joint Ventures

Based on an in-depth study of U.S.-China joint ventures, this article offers some insights into the performance of such international business relationships. While the conventional literature treats government as an amorphous aspea of the political-legal environment, in this case government is an active participant and influence in the performance of international joint ventures (UVs). It has both a constraining and enabling effect on LJV structure, strategy, and performance. For example, limits can be placed on ownership shares of joint ventures and on prices of the output. At the same time, government can cooperate with LJVs and foreign parent companies by creating partners for foreign parent companies, acting as major customers, and improving financial performance by lowering taxes.
Patterns of contraceptive use at the edge of fertility transition in Zimbabwe.

The family planning program in Zimbabwe has been seen as one of the successful models in Sub-Saharan Africa. The program has largely depended on community-based distributors (CBDs) of contraceptives in rural areas and the utilization of stationary facilities in urban areas. The paper examines how the service availability environment has affected contraceptive use among different groups of women. The study uses multilevel models to examine the relationship between service factors and contraceptive use. The most important finding is that in clusters where CBDs operate women are more likely to use modern contraceptives. Most of the women in rural areas depend on CBDs for their contraceptive supplies while those in urban areas get their supplies from stationary facilities that is clinics and pharmacies. The study has also demonstrated the need to sustain the current outreach program in rural areas because a large proportion of the women in rural areas commercial farms small towns and resettlement areas depends on contraceptives being distributed to their doorsteps. (authors)
Presence of proline in salinized nutrient solution re-enforces the role of this amino acid in osmoregulation and protects lipid membrane peroxidation in Arabidopsis thaliana

Very little is known about the effect of proline addition on the accumulation of inorganic solutes (Na+, K+, Mg2+ and Ca2+) and soluble sugars in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to assess the effect of 10 mM proline (P) supply in the culture medium on water status and solute accumulation of Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings exposed to 50 mM NaCl (S). The decrease of leaf osmotic potential was more pronounced in P+S as compared to S plants, indicating that former plants were able to accumulate more compounds involved in the osmotic adjustment process. Leaf potassium concentration was reduced by 15, 21 and 25% in P, S and P+S plants respectively, as compared to the control. When compared to S or P treatments, leaf proline and soluble sugar were more accumulated under P+S treatment. Under saline conditions, exogenous proline increased leaf Na+, Ca2+ and Mg2+ concentrations by 27, 281 and 252%, respectively, as compared to the control. Interestingly, proline addition mitigated significantly the deleterious effects of salt on lipid membrane peroxidation. Regarding the contribution of soluble sugars to osmotic adjustment (OA), it amounted to 6% in S or P+S, plants. For proline, its contribution to OA did not exceed 3.4% under salinity (S), whereas in (P+S) treatment, it increased to 14.7%. As a whole, the positive effect of proline exogenous application under saline conditions could be partly explained by the enhanced role of this organic compound in osmoregulation and its likely protective effect against membrane lipid peroxidation.