Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multi-level lobbying in the EU: The case of the Renewables Directive and the German energy industry

This study examines the lobbying strategies employed by the interest organizations of Germany’s energy industries in the process leading up to the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive. How did they lobby, and what does this reveal about their perceptions of power relations in the EU? This report focuses on the most controversial part of the Directive: legal prescriptions for support mechanisms to increase the production of renewable energy in Europe. The utilities and the renewables industries disagreed deeply, with the utilities industry favouring an EU-wide green certificate scheme, while the renewables industry pressed for national feed-in tariffs. Nine interest organizations representing these sectors, five German and four at the EU level, serve as cases in this study. Expectations as to lobbying behaviour based on the two theories/theory perspectives of liberal intergovernmentalism (LI) and multilevel governance (MLG) are formulated and tested in a most-likely case design. Result: observations are better described by the MLG perspective than by LI.
Trade Expansion of China and India

By exploring the export performances and specialization patterns of China and India, we assess their trade competitiveness and complementarity vis-a-vis each other as well as with the rest of the world. Our analysis indicates that (i) India faces tough competition from China in the third markets especially in clothing, textile and leather products; (ii) there is a moderate potential for expanding trade between the two countries; (iii) China poses a challenge for the East Asian economies, the US, and most of the European countries especially in medium-technology industries; (iv) India appears to be a competitor mainly for its neighbouring South Asian countries; and (v) complementarity exists between the imports of China and India, and the exports of the US, some European states and East Asian countries, especially Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, implying opportunities for trade expansion; and finally (vi) the export structure of China is changing with the exports of skill intensive and high-technology products increasing and those of labour-intensive products decreasing gradually. This suggests that challenges created by China in traditional labour-intensive products might reduce in the long run.
Mood Symptoms during Corticosteroid Therapy: A Review

&NA; Corticosteroids such as prednisone are commonly prescribed for a variety of illnesses mediated by the immune system. This paper reviews the available literature on mood symptoms during corticosteroid treatment. Few studies have used well‐recognized measures of symptoms or clearly defined diagnostic criteria to characterize such mood changes. The limited data available suggest that symptoms of hypomania, mania, depression, and psychosis are common during therapy. Symptoms appear to be dose dependent and generally begin during the first few weeks of treatment. Risk factors for the development of mood instability or psychosis are not known. The similarities of the psychiatric symptoms resulting from corticosteroid treatment to the symptoms of bipolar disorder are discussed.
Non-invasive 3D dynamic object analysis

A non-invasive system is required to obtain three-dimensional subject extraction and description for recognition by gait. Of current three-dimensional systems, multi-view approaches appear to be the most suitable. To handle not only concavities, but also noise and occlusion, the volume intersection approach has been formulated as an evidence gathering process for moving object extraction. Results on synthetic imagery show that the technique does indeed process a multi-view image sequence to derive parameters of interest as such giving a suitable basis for development as a marker-less gait analysis system.
The aging of tungsten filaments and its effect on wire surface kinetics in hot-wire chemical vapor deposition

Wire-desorbed radicals present during hot-wire chemical vapor deposition growth have been measured by quadrupole mass spectrometry. New wires produce Si as the predominant radical for temperatures above 1500 K, with a minor contribution from SiH3, consistent with previous measurements; the activation energy for the SiH3 signal suggests its formation is catalyzed. Aged wires also produce Si as the predominant radical (above 2100 K), but show profoundly different radical desorption kinetics. In particular, the Si signal exhibits a high temperature activation energy consistent with evaporation from liquid silicon. The relative abundance of the other SiHx species suggests that heterogeneous pyrolysis of SiH4 on the wire may be occurring to some extent. Chemical analysis of aged wires by Auger electron spectroscopy suggests that the aging process is related to the formation of a silicide at the surface, with silicon surface concentrations as high as 15 at. %. A limited amount (2 at. %) of silicon is observed in the interior as well, suggesting that diffusion into the wire occurs. Calculation of the relative rates for the various wire kinetic processes, coupled with experimental observations, reveals that silicon diffusion through the silicide is the slowest process, followed by Si evaporation, with SiH4 decomposition being the fastest.
Norovirus pathogenesis: mechanisms of persistence and immune evasion in human populations

Summary: Noroviruses are important human pathogens known to cause epidemic outbreaks of severe gastroenteritis in communities, military barracks, cruise ships, hospitals, and assisted living communities, resulting in over 267 000 000 annual infections worldwide. Diversity within the norovirus genus allows this virus to persist in human populations, although a single genocluster, the GII.4 noroviruses, currently accounts for ∼80% of all infections. Noroviruses bind to the polymorphic histoblood group antigens (HBGAs), which act as the putative cellular receptor, and strains from different genoclusters bind various HBGAs. Human challenge studies using viruses from different genoclusters have demonstrated that norovirus immunity is complicated and probably confounded by pre‐existing exposure histories and variable immune responses. Evidence for both short‐term and long‐term immunity has been demonstrated, but the molecular mechanisms mediating differential immune responses in the face of infection remain unclear. Studies with virus‐like particles from the GII.4 genocluster demonstrated that variation in and around the receptor‐binding domain results in differential HBGA binding and altered antigenicity. These observations suggest that the norovirus capsid evolves to evade the memory immune response while retaining its ability to bind any of several HBGAs. In this review, we discuss how evolution within the capsid drives receptor switching and allows escape from herd immunity.
Application of Unscented Kalman Filter for the State Estimation of Anti-lock Braking System

Extended Kalman filter (EKF) has been widely accepted as an important tool in the state estimation of nonlinear systems. However, defects of EKF such as biased estimation, computational complexity and inefficacy when analytical derivatives (Jacobians or Hessians) can not be calculated also affect its application in many fields. In this paper, unscented Kalman filter (UKF) was employed as an alternative to estimate the vehicle velocity and wheel angular speed of the anti-lock braking system (ABS). Simulation results show that the UKF can provide more accurate and efficient performance than the EKF for the state estimation.
Reflecting on a critical incident within the workplace

Reflection is a vital aspect of any healthcare worker's routine. Reflecting effectively and using it to identify future learning needs takes time and practice. Using Mezirow's Transformational Learning Theory (1991) and Berlo's Model of Communication (1994) as a structure can ensure this is consistent and successful. Reflection is particularly important when dealing with critical incidents in the workplace; this model can be used as the basis for discussion and evaluation and to identify future learning opportunities.
Purification and Characterization of Dimethylsulfide Monooxygenase from Hyphomicrobium sulfonivorans

ABSTRACT Dimethylsulfide (DMS) is a volatile organosulfur compound which has been implicated in the biogeochemical cycling of sulfur and in climate control. Microbial degradation is a major sink for DMS. DMS metabolism in some bacteria involves its oxidation by a DMS monooxygenase in the first step of the degradation pathway; however, this enzyme has remained uncharacterized until now. We have purified a DMS monooxygenase from Hyphomicrobium sulfonivorans, which was previously isolated from garden soil. The enzyme is a member of the flavin-linked monooxygenases of the luciferase family and is most closely related to nitrilotriacetate monooxygenases. It consists of two subunits: DmoA, a 53-kDa FMNH2-dependent monooxygenase, and DmoB, a 19-kDa NAD(P)H-dependent flavin oxidoreductase. Enzyme kinetics were investigated with a range of substrates and inhibitors. The enzyme had a Km of 17.2 (± 0.48) μM for DMS (kcat = 5.45 s−1) and a Vmax of 1.25 (± 0.01) μmol NADH oxidized min−1 (mg protein−1). It was inhibited by umbelliferone, 8-anilinonaphthalenesulfonate, a range of metal-chelating agents, and Hg2+, Cd2+, and Pb2+ ions. The purified enzyme had no activity with the substrates of related enzymes, including alkanesulfonates, aldehydes, nitrilotriacetate, or dibenzothiophenesulfone. The gene encoding the 53-kDa enzyme subunit has been cloned and matched to the enzyme subunit by mass spectrometry. DMS monooxygenase represents a new class of FMNH2-dependent monooxygenases, based on its specificity for dimethylsulfide and the molecular phylogeny of its predicted amino acid sequence. The gene encoding the large subunit of DMS monooxygenase is colocated with genes encoding putative flavin reductases, homologues of enzymes of inorganic and organic sulfur compound metabolism, and enzymes involved in riboflavin synthesis.
Prevalence of Peripheral Arterial Disease in a Cohort of Diabetic Patients

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of peripheral diseases in diabetics of different age groups, the role of color Doppler in peripheral arterial disease in diabetics, and to compare the prevalence of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in diabetics taking different therapy modalities. Methods: In a hospital-based prospective study conducted over 19 months, we screened 100 consecutive type 2 diabetic patients and 50 consecutive nondiabetic patients matched for demographics and ethnicity. History, physical examination and color Doppler results were analyzed. The degree of stenosis in PAD was graded according to Jager's criteria. Result: The prevalence of PAD was 8% in controls and 24% in diabetics. There were 60 subjects (60%) greater than 50 years of age in the diabetic population and 36 (72%) subjects in the nondiabetic group. There was male preponderance with 70% of diabetic patients and 60% of nondiabetic patients being male. According to mode of therapy, the prevalence of PAD was found to be 20% in diabetics taking oral hypoglycemic agents and insulin, 27.2% on oral hypoglycemic agents, and 25% on insulin therapy. Conclusion: This study suggests that there is a higher prevalence of PAD in diabetics as compared with controls. The prevalence of PAD is directly proportional to the duration of diabetes and age of the person. The prevalence of PAD is not a function of treatment modality. The stenosis associated with PAD in diabetics is generally infrapopliteal.
Nimodipine: Cognition, Aging, and Degeneration

Summary: Over the years, it has become apparent that many cytotoxic events employ a common pathway in destroying cells, namely the disruption of calcium homeostasis. Further studies show that the aging process is also accompanied, perhaps even partly caused, by changes in cellular calcium regulation. Finally, initial evidence has appeared in the literature showing that the Alzheimer &bgr;‐ amyloid protein also interferes with calcium homeostasis. In these situations, the use of calcium antagonists, such as nimodipine, is expected to prevent part of the damage resulting from disrupted calcium regulation. Indeed, studies with nimodipine show that the compound reduces neuronal degeneration in a variety of toxic conditions. In addition, the compound has a functional effect in that it increases spontaneous neuronal firing of aged neurons, presumably by reducing the agedependently increased afterhyperpolarization. Nimodipine also reduces agerelated perivascular anomalies and increases cerebral blood flow. A combination of these effects is probably why the substance is found to improve cognition in aged animals and in aged humans with impaired brain function.
Palmitate Inhibits Insulin Gene Expression by Altering PDX-1 Nuclear Localization and Reducing MafA Expression in Isolated Rat Islets of Langerhans*

Abnormalities in lipid metabolism have been proposed as contributing factors to both defective insulin secretion from the pancreatic beta cell and peripheral insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes. Previously, we have shown that prolonged exposure of isolated rat islets of Langerhans to excessive fatty acid levels impairs insulin gene transcription. This study was designed to assess whether palmitate alters the expression and binding activity of the key regulatory factors pancreas-duodenum homeobox-1 (PDX-1), MafA, and Beta2, which respectively bind to the A3, C1, and E1 elements in the proximal region of the insulin promoter. Nuclear extracts of isolated rat islets cultured with 0.5 mm palmitate exhibited reduced binding activity to the A3 and C1 elements but not the E1 element. Palmitate did not affect the overall expression of PDX-1 but reduced its nuclear localization. In contrast, palmitate blocked the stimulation of MafA mRNA and protein expression by glucose. Combined adenovirus-mediated overexpression of PDX-1 and MafA in islets completely prevented the inhibition of insulin gene expression by palmitate. These results demonstrate that prolonged exposure of islets to palmitate inhibits insulin gene transcription by impairing nuclear localization of PDX-1 and cellular expression of MafA.
Searching for medical information online: a survey of Canadian nephrologists.

BACKGROUND Physicians often search for information to improve patient care. We evaluated how nephrologists use online information sources for this purpose. METHODS In this cross-sectional study (2008 to 2010), a random sample of Canadian nephrologists completed a survey of their online search practices. We queried respondents on their searching preferences, practices and use of 9 online information sources. RESULTS Respondents (n=115; 75% response rate) comprised both academic (59%) and community-based (41%) nephrologists. Respondents were an average of 48 years old and were in practice for an average of 15 years. Nephrologists used a variety of online sources to retrieve information on patient treatment including UpToDate (92%), PubMed (89%), Google (76%) and Ovid MEDLINE (55%). Community-based nephrologists were more likely to consult UpToDate first (91%), while academic nephrologists were divided between UpToDate (58%) and PubMed (41%). When searching bibliographic resources such as PubMed, 80% of nephrologists scan a maximum of 40 citations (the equivalent of 2 search pages in PubMed). Searching practices did not differ by age, sex or years in practice. CONCLUSIONS Nephrologists routinely use a variety of online resources to search for information for patient care. These include bibliographic databases, general search engines and specialized medical resources.
PLANNING IN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL

An experiment was conducted to examine the planning activity of en route air traffic controllers. Controllers were placed in the role of planners and verbalized a plan for controlling traffic to a tactician who implemented it. Planning, which is typically tacit, was thereby made explicit by distributing it across these two individuals. Verbalizations from the planner to the tactician were coded and summarized. The direction of plan management and the degree of plan systematics were influenced by the phase of the planning process and the predictability of the problem/environment. For the more predictable problems, planning began with a bottom-up picture building phase followed by a top-down plan development phase. The less-predictable problems also began as a bottom-up process, but management of the subsequent phases was characterized by equivalent bottom-up and top-down contribution. In addition, planning was more systematic for the more-predictable problems. This understanding of the planning activities of controllers can serve as an antecedent to the development of computer tools to aid planning.
Vaccine Safety Resources for Nurses.

Nurses are on the front lines of health care delivery, and many of them routinely administer immunizations. The authors describe the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) vaccine safety monitoring systems, explaining how nurses can access inquiry channels and other immunization information resources. Examples of recent vaccine safety inquiries are also provided.
The role of advertising in the legitimization of CSR actions: propositions and a conceptual framework

Corporate Social Responsibility communication is an emerging field, with research focusing on corporate social disclosure mainly through websites and corporate reports. However, less is known about CSR advertising and further research is needed. Our paper aims to address this research gap to make a contribution by developing a set of propositions and conceptual framework to explain how corporations publicise their CSR print advertisements to legitimize their CSR actions. This provides future researchers with theorized propositions and framework to test and evaluate in an empirical study of CSR advertisements.
Respiratory response of humans exposed to low levels of ozone for 6.6 hours.

Recent evidence suggests that prolonged exposures of exercising men to 0.08 ppm ozone (O3) result in significant decrements in lung function, induction of respiratory symptoms, and increases in nonspecific airway reactivity. The purpose of this study was to confirm or refute these findings by exposing 38 healthy young men to 0.08 ppm O3 for 6.6 h. During exposure, subjects performed exercise for a total of 5 h, which required a minute ventilation of 40 l/min. Significant O3-induced decrements were observed for forced vital capacity (FVC, -0.25 l), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1.0, -0.35 l), and mean expiratory flow rate between 25% and 75% of FVC (FEF25-75, -0.57 l/s), and significant increases were observed in airway reactivity (35%), specific airway resistance (0.77 cm H2O/s), and respiratory symptoms. These results essentially confirm previous findings. A large range in individual responses was noted (e.g., percentage change in FEV1.0; 4% increase to 38% decrease). Responses also appeared to be nonlinear in time under these experimental conditions.
Iodine status of pregnant women in South Australia after mandatory iodine fortification of bread and the recommendation for iodine supplementation.

Mandatory iodine fortification of bread was introduced in 2009 in Australia in response to the reemergence of iodine deficiency. The aim of this study was to assess iodine intake, urinary iodine concentration (UIC) and their correlation in pregnant women (n = 783) recruited from South Australia 2 years following mandatory iodine fortification. Total iodine intake (food and supplements) and UIC were assessed at study entry (<20 weeks') and at 28 weeks' gestation. Mean (±SD) total iodine intake at study entry and 28 weeks' gestation was 307 ± 128 μg/day and 300 ± 127 μg/day, respectively. Overall, 85.9% of women met the estimated average intake (≥160 μg/day) for iodine in pregnancy, but only 44.5% met the estimated average intake from food alone. The main food sources of iodine were dairy foods and iodine-fortified bread. Median (interquartile range) UIC at study entry and 28 weeks' gestation was 189 μg/L and 172 μg/L, respectively. At study entry, median UIC was higher in women taking supplements containing iodine ≥150 μg/day compared with those containing iodine <150 μg/day (221 μg/L vs. 163 μg/L, p = .003) and those not taking supplements containing iodine (221 μg/L vs. 159 μg/L, p < .001). At 28 weeks' gestation, the median UIC for the groups was 187, 152 and 141 μg/L, respectively (each of the two comparisons yielded p < .001). Total iodine intake (food and supplements) from all women was positively, though weakly, correlated with UIC (r = .23, p < .001). In conclusion, pregnant women in South Australia are iodine sufficient postmandatory iodine fortification of bread. However, without iodine supplementation, it may be difficult to achieve a UIC >150 μg/L.
Relativity analysis between resting-state fMRI signal and tumorous possibility of brain tissues

fMRI is widely used to investigate the spontaneous activity of the brain. In this paper, a quantitative analysis method is proposed to describe the relationship between the BOLD features of resting-state fMRI and the tumorous growth of brain tissues. In our method, a map of tumorous possibility degree is detected from tissues structural images of MRI and co registered into the functional space. After extracting the BOLD features, further analysis is done to reveal the relationship between functional signal and tumor growth. The average value of BOLD signal is found as a significant feature of tumorous tissues and resultantly presents a positive correlation with the degree of tumorous possibility. The same method is also applied in the analysis of the most commonly used BOLD features include ALFF and ReHo. In the results the two features show a negative correlation with the tumorous possibility degree. The method proposed in our study is based on multimodal signal combination of tissues structure and functional features. It should be a valuable method and serve as a basic understanding for explaining how the tumor influences brain function and further for rebuilding the functional network.
Testing Human Otolith Function Using Bone‐Conducted Vibration

Bone‐conducted vibration of the forehead, in the midline at the hairline (Fz) causes linear acceleration stimulation of both mastoids and results in an ocular vestibular‐evoked myogenic potential (oVEMP), recorded by surface electromyogram (EMG) electrodes just beneath the eyes. The early n10 component of the oVEMP is symmetrical in healthy subjects, absent in patients with bilateral vestibular loss, and in patients after unilateral vestibular loss (uVL) n10 is small or absent on the side contralateral to the uVL, but of normal amplitude on the side contralateral to the healthy ear. The n10 component probably reflects mainly otolithic function, since in the guinea pig, primary otolith irregular neurons are selectively activated by bone‐conducted vibration (BCV) at low intensities (0.1 g), whereas semicircular canal primary afferents are not activated even at high intensities (10 g).