Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exploited Application of Pyrosequencing in Microbial Diversity of Activated Sludge System of Common Effluent Treatment Plants

Microbial Communities are actively present in the Activated Sludge System. We have applied PCR-based Pyrosequencing to investigate the bacterial communities of Activated Sludge samples from different common effluent treatment plants. A total of 259K effective sequences of 16S rRNA gene V4 region were obtained from these Activated Sludge samples. These sequences revealed huge amount of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in Activated Sludge, that is, 1183–3567 OTUs in a sludge sample, at 3% cutoff level and sequencing depth of 16 489 sequences. Clear geographical differences among the Activated Sludge samples from effluent treatment Plant No.1 and No.2 were revealed by (1) cluster analyses based on abundances of OTUs or the genus/family/order assigned by Ribosomal Database Project (RDP) and (2) the principal coordinate analyses based on OTUs abundances, RDP taxa abundances and UniFrac of OTUs and their distances. In addition to certain unique bacterial populations in each Activated Sludge sample, some genera were dominant, and core populations shared by multiple samples, including two commonly reported genera of Zoogloea and Dechloromonas, three genera not frequently reported and three genera not well described so far. Pyrosequencing analyses of multiple Activated Sludge samples in this study also revealed the minority populations that are hard to be explored by traditional molecular methods and showed that a large proportion of sequences could not be assigned to taxonomic affiliations even at the phylum/class levels.
Expression analysis of four flower-specific promoters of Brassica spp. in the heterogeneous host tobacco

The 5’-flanking region of ca. 1200 bp upstream of the translation start site (TSS) of a putative cell wall protein gene was cloned from Brassica campestris, B. chinensis, B. napus and B. oleracea, and transferred to tobacco via Agrobacterium-mediation after fused to promoter-less beta-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene. Histochemical GUS staining and fluorometric quantification of the transgenic tobacco showed that all four promoters conferred GUS expression in petal, anther, pollen and stigma of the flower, not in any vegetative organs or tissues of the plants. A series of 5’-end deletion of the promoter from B. napus disclosed that the region -104 to -17 relative to TSS was sufficient to confer flower-specific expression, and the region -181 to -161 played a key role in maintaining strong driving power of the promoter. Besides, several enhancer and suppressor regions were also identified in the promoter.
Marketing Entrepreneurship: Linking Alertness to EntrepreneurialOpportunities with Strategic Orientations

Marketing and entrepreneurship have long been recognized as two key responsibilities for firms. Research efforts, however, have generally considered the two separately or examined integration only in specific contexts. This paper, building upon Austrian economics and marketing perspectives, presents marketing and entrepreneurship as synonymous and explores the means by which a firm’s marketing function may fulfill its entrepreneurial role. Strategic orientations, it is suggested, serve to alert marketing entrepreneurs to opportunities by focusing attention on aspects of the firm’s environment. Testable propositions linking alertness to opportunities, strategic orientations, and market maturity are presented. Both managerial and research implications are discussed.
Deep Gaussian Processes for Large Datasets

Big data and Bayesian non-parametric modelling constitute two of the most important foci of modern machine learning research. In this preliminary work we propose a neat solution for combining the aforementioned domains into a single principled framework based on Gaussian processes. Speficically, we invistigate algorithms for training deep generative models with hidden layers connected with non-linear Gaussian process (GP) mappings. Building on recent developments on (stochastic) variational approximations, the models are fitted on massive data and the hidden variables are marginalised out in a Bayesian manner to allow for efficient propagation of the uncertainty throughout the network of variables.
Exchange of Carbon Dioxide Between the Atmosphere and the Maize Field Fertilized with Digestate from Agricultural Biogas Plant

The aim of the research was to determine the exchange rate of carbon dioxide between the atmosphere and the maize field fertilized with the digestate from an agricultural biogas plant. The studies considered both the amount of net carbon dioxide emission which is the difference between the amount of this gas absorbed by vegetation and its amount emitted from the whole ecosystem of the field as well as the emission resulting only from the changes occurring in the soil. The CO2 emission from the entire field was measured by the eddy covariance method with a set of LI-7500A analyzer (LI-COR Biosciences, USA) for measuring the CO2/H2O concentration in air and 3-axis WindMaster ultrasonic anemometer (GILL, UK). The data from the analyzers were recorded at 10 Hz, while the CO2 streams were calculated using the EddyPro 5 software. The soil emission was determined with the chamber method using the automated ACE measurement system (ADC BioScientific, UK). Until the maize reached maturity, the study was carried out once a week, at 10.00 – 14.00. During each measurement day, the basic meteorological parameters were measured as well. The obtained results showed a clear relationship between the plants development phase and the size of the net CO2 exchange. The negative values of carbon dioxide streams, indicating the absorption of this gas from the atmosphere, were observed already in the case of plants with a height of approx. 25 cm, while the maximum values were reached after the release of panicles by maize. The carbon dioxide emission from soils, measured at the same time, was maintained throughout the entire research period at a similar low level, undergoing only slight fluctuations associated with variable soil moisture. The study showed that the maize field, almost throughout all growing season, can be treated as a sink of atmospheric carbon dioxide, reducing its emission from agriculture.
Systematic study of adsorption of single atoms on a carbon nanotube

We studied the adsorption of single atoms on a semiconducting and metallic single-wall carbon nanotube from first principles for a large number of foreign atoms. The stable adsorption sites, binding energy, and the resulting electronic properties are analyzed. The character of the bonding and associated physical properties exhibit dramatic variations depending on the type of the adsorbed atom. While the atoms of good conducting metals, such as Cu and Au, form very weak bonding, atoms such as Ti, Sc, Nb, and Ta are adsorbed with relatively high binding energy. Most of the adsorbed transition-metal atoms excluding Ni, Pd, and Pt have a magnetic ground state with a significant magnetic moment. Our results suggest that carbon nanotubes can be functionalized in different ways by their coverage with different atoms, showing interesting applications such as one-dimensional nanomagnets or nanoconductors and conducting connects, etc.
A novel generation of 3 D SAR-based passive micromixer : efficient mixing and low pressure drop at low

This study introduces a novel generation of 3D splitting and recombination (SAR) passive micromixer with microstructures placed on the top and bottom floors of microchannels called ‘’Chain mixer’’. Both experimental verification and numerical analysis of the flow structure of this type of passive micromixer have substantiated to evaluate the mixing performance and pressure drop of the microchannel respectively. We propose here Chain micromixer of two typesChain 1and Chain 2and compare their mixing performance and pressure drop with other micromixers, T-, oand Tear-drop micromixers. Experimental tests carried out in the laminar flow regime with a low Reynolds number range, 0.083 ≤ Re ≤ 4.166, and image-based techniques are used to evaluate mixing efficiency. Also, CFD code, ANSYS FLUENT-13.0 has been used to analyze the flow and pressure drop in the microchannel. Experimental results show that the Chain and Tear-drop mixer’s efficiency is very high because of the SAR process: especially, efficiency up to 98% can be achieved at tested Reynolds number. Also results show that Chain mixers have lower required pressure drop in comparison with Tear-drop micromixer.
Challenges in Heterogeneous Die-Stacked and Off-Chip Memory Systems

Die-stacking technology has the potential to provide significant relief from the Memory Wall by providing a large amount of memory with a high-bandwidth, low-power interconnect. Past studies have mostly assumed that enough DRAM can be stacked to supply the entire system’s main memory. Unfortunately, most systems will not be able to economically integrate enough DRAM to provide all of main memory. As such, systems will have a heterogeneous memory space consisting of both in-package and conventional off-chip DRAM. In this paper, we present a simple design study to illustrate some of the potential benefits of such a heterogeneous memory organization. Our results show that using stacked memory under system software control could provide greater benefit than a hardware cache arrangement. Using our example, we also highlight challenges with the approach and use these as a call for more research efforts to help unlock the full potential of die-stacked memories.
Classification Project : Overview and Preliminary Results

Electronically formatted Arabic free-texts can be found in abundance these days on the World Wide Web, often linked to commercial enterprises and/or government organizations. Vast tracts of knowledge and relations lie hidden within these texts, knowledge that can be exploited once the correct intelligent tools have been identified and applied. For example, text mining may help with text classification and categorization. Text classification aims to automatically assign text to a predefined category based on identifiable linguistic features. Such a process has different useful applications including, but not restricted to, E-Mail spam detection, web pages content filtering, and automatic message routing. In this paper an overview of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) Arabic Text Classification Project will be illustrated along with some preliminary results. This project will contribute to the better understanding and elaboration of Arabic text classification techniques.
Post-Heat Treatment and Mechanical Assessment of Polyvinyl Alcohol Nanofiber Sheet Fabricated by Electrospinning Technique

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) sheets based nanofibers were produced by electrospinning technique. Postheat treatment of the produced PVA sheets with temperatures both below and above Tg to improve the mechanical properties of this material is conducted. The morphology, microstructures, and thermal degradation of the nanofibers sheets produced were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). Produced nanofibers are compact, and entangled with each other, with diameters from around 150 to 210. Some mechanical characteristics of the successfully produced PVA sheets, and heat-treated, are then conducted and assessed employing uniaxial tensile tests at different speeds ranging from 1 mm/min to 100 mm/min. The tensile test results obtained show that the PVA sheets are strain rate sensitive with increasing strength as the speed (i.e., strain rate) increases. The yield tensile stress ranges from 2.411 to 6.981 MPa, the ductility (i.e., elongation percent) from ∼21 to 60%, and Young modulus ranges from 103 to 0.137 KPa. However, for heat-treated samples, it is found that the yield strength increases almost by ∼35–40% more than the values of untreated cases with values reaching up to about 3.627–9.63 MPa.
Overall Equipment Effectiveness for Cigarette Equipments Based on Data Mart and Data Mining

1In the basis of building data mart, this paper uses data mining clusters and association rule algorithms from people, machines, materials, regulations, environments and measurement systems to excavate the key influencing factors which influence the overall equipment effectiveness for cigarette equipments. It has a great significance for equipment management decision support, optimizing the equipment management assessment mechanism and enhancing the level of equipment management.
Improved Thermal Ablation Efficacy Using Magnetic Nanoparticles: a Study in Tumor Phantoms

Magnetic heating used for inducing hyperthermia and thermal ablation is particularly promising in the treatment of cancer provided that the therapeutic temperature is kept constant during the treatment time throughout the targeted tissue and the healthy surrounding tissues are maintained at a safe temperature. The present study shows the temperature increment produced by different concentrations of magnetic nanoparticles (ferrofluid and magnetoliposomes) inside a phantom, after irradiating tissuemimicking materials (phantoms)with a minimally invasive coaxial antenna working at a frequency of 2.45GHz. This frequency was chosen because maximum dielectric loss of water molecules begins at 2.4GHz and because this is an ISM (industrial, scientific and medical) frequency. Temperature sensors were placed inside and outside the tumor phantom to assess the focusing effect of heat produced by nanoparticles. Results have shown that the temperature increments depend on the nanoparticles concentration. In this way, a temperature increment of more than 56◦C was obtained with a ferrofluid concentration of 13.2 mg/mL, whereas the increment in the reference phantom was only of ≈ 21◦C. Concerning the magnetoliposomes, the temperature achieved was similar to that obtained with the ferrofluid but at a lesser concentration of nanoparticles. These results Received 1 February 2012, Accepted 27 March 2012, Scheduled 30 May 2012 * Corresponding author: Joan Estelrich (joanestelrich@ub.edu). 230 Garcia-Jimeno et al. demonstrate that it is possible to achieve higher temperatures and to focus energy where the nanoparticles are located.
SALMONELLA LEVELS IN TURKEY NECK SKIN, BONE, AND SPLEEN IN RELATION TO GROUND TURKEY PRODUCTION by

The objective of this study was to determine Salmonella levels (presence and numbers) in turkey drumstick bone, spleen, and neck skin samples in relation to Salmonella contamination levels in ground turkey. Three hundred samples of each turkey part were collected after evisceration and tested for Salmonella using most probable number (MPN) and enrichment methods. The flocks were classified into targeted and non-targeted groups based on the farm/flock historical Salmonella contamination data in ground product. Overall Salmonella prevalence in bone, spleen, neck skin and ground turkey samples was 9.3%, 6.7%, 42.0%, and 14.5%, respectively. When Salmonella was present in spleen and/or bone (at MPN > 1 log10), and in neck skin (MPN > 2 log10), the ground turkey lot was Salmonella-positive. Our findings suggested Salmonella presence at high levels in neck skin may indicate a highly contaminated flock that results in ground turkey contamination. INDEX WORDS: Salmonella, ground turkey contamination, neck skin, spleen, bone SALMONELLA LEVELS IN TURKEY NECK SKIN, BONE, AND SPLEEN IN RELATION TO GROUND TURKEY PRODUCTION
Relationship between antioxidant capacity Proanthocyanidin and Anthocyanin content during grape maturation of touriga nacional and Tinta Roriz grape varieties

To investigate antioxidant capacity in seeds and skins during grape maturation and its relationship with anthocyanin and proanthocyanidin content, two Portuguese red grape varieties, Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz (Vitis vinifera L.) were studied. Two analytical methods were used for antioxidant capacity analysis: the DPPH and ABTS methods. Proanthocyanidins from seeds and skins were separated into monomers, oligomers and polymers, while 13 individual anthocyanins from the skins were also evaluated by HPLC. For both grape varieties studied, antioxidant capacity from the skins and seeds was characterised during grape maturation by a general decrease, mainly in the first weeks after veraison, followed by stabilisation and a slight increase in the values in the last three weeks of ripening. A similar tendency was observed for the amount of all the different proanthocyanidin fractions quantified. Our results also showed that seeds are an important source of proanthocyanidins with respect to the grape berry skins. Seeds were also the grape berry fraction with the highest antioxidant capacity when compared to the antioxidant capacity content of the skins. For the 13 individual monomeric anthocyanins quantified during grape maturation, evolution was generally characterised by a continuous increase in the values. However, for some of the individual anthocyanins, the continuous increase was followed by stabilisation or a decrease in the values in the last weeks of ripening. Finally, there was a positive relationship between the different proanthocyanidin fractions and antioxidant capacity of both grape varieties studied; while a negative relationship during grape maturation was obtained for individual anthocyanins.
Taxonomic Study of Suborder Calcaxonia (Alcyonacea: Octocorallia: Anthozoa) from King Sejong Station, Antarctic

Some gorgonians in the families, Primnoidae and Isididae within the suborder Calcaxonia were collected from subtidal zones between depths of 10 and 45 m in the coastal regions of King Sejong Station (62°13′S, 058° 47′W), Korea Polar Research Institute of Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute (KORDI) by SCUBA diving from 2009 to 2011. Three species in the Primnoidae, Arntzia gracilis (Molander, 1929), Thouarella (Thouarella) antarctica (Valenciennes, 1846) and Onogorgia nodosa (Molander, 1929), and also one species in the family Isididae, Tenuisis microspiculata (Molander, 1929) are newly recorded to octocorallian fauna in Marian Cove and Potter Cove of King George Island. These four species have been described in detail.
Running Head : WORLD AND OBJECT DESIGNS FOR VIRTUAL EVIRONMENTS 1 World and Object Designs for Virtual Environments

Three dimensional displays such 3D television, Oculus Rift, and Sony Project Morpheus, provide a virtual reality gaming capabilities in the home. However, broad interface guidelines for developing applications for these systems are limited. In particular, object size and three dimensional world structures in virtual reality are in earlier stages of interface design. Serious games will be unable to leverage the immersive qualities of these systems if interfaces are confusing and lead to disorientation or cybersickness. We reviewed two dimensional guidelines, past applications using virtual reality systems, and observation in our own virtual reality system to offer guidance on what performs well in these systems. We offer suggestions as to minimum object size and world design that consider the limitations of accurate navigation in immersive virtual reality.
Modularization and Structured Markup for Learning Content in an Academic Environment

This paper aims to present a flexible component model for modular, web-based learning content, and a simple structured markup schema for the separation of content and presentation. The paper will also contain an overview of the dynamic Learning Content Management System (dLCMS) project, which implements these concepts. Content authors are a key factor for the successful application of these concepts. To support the authors creating modular contents the learning unit development guidelines were developed as part of the dLCMS project. An evaluation of the dLCMS and the guidelines from the point of view of learning content authors in an academic environment and a student evaluation of learning units which are composed of small, self-contained learning components is presented.
Development of the Relation Between Civil Rights and State Power in the New Media Era

In general, the relation between civil rights and state power is moderate in modern society. However, the arrival of the new media era has undoubtedly added such moderate relation some new content. In the new media era, citizens and state organs have realized benign interaction between civil rights and state power. On one hand, the influence of civil rights on public decision and the supervision of state power operation continue strengthening; on the other hand, state power actively cooperates and protects the execution of civil rights by using self-restricting mechanism and response mechanism.
Fabrication process development for silicon micro and nanosystems

Micromechanical devices have been fabricated out of silicon for decades, but only recently even smaller structures nanodevices have become experimentally possible. Traditionally silicon devices are fabricated using separate lithography and various etching methods. This thesis work concentrates on developing fabrication techniques for silicon micro and nanostructures. The goal was to achieve nanometer-scale feature size and simultaneously significantly speed up the most time consuming phases. For testing purposes also functional devices were designed and fabricated. Main discoveries are related to the use of ion beam writing in a nonstandard manner. Instead of direct milling, methods were developed to directly use the beam to replace time consuming lithography step by the substrate treatment by ions. As a result, several silicon-based fabrication techniques were developed that require only a few processing steps and therefore can be realized in less than one day. The main achievement is in overcoming some of the limitations of serial writing methods such as those required in electron beam lithography or focused ion beam processing. High aspect ratio (laterally small, but tall) structures were successfully obtained using both technologies for the pattern transfer. Fabrication techniques, described in this thesis, open up an opportunity for the developers to almost instantly test their ideas using functional components by altering the way nanosystems are developed. The presented methods cannot easily be extended to mass production but are appropriate in basic research and prototyping.
Characteristics and Purification of Soybean Milk Curdling Enzyme-Producing Yeast Saccharomyces bayanus SCY003

Soybeans and the processed food, soybean milk, have important health functions. A cheese-like food produced from soybean milk resembles casein protein in its mouthfeel and physical properties. The intracellular soybean milk curdling enzyme-producing Saccharomyces bayanus SCY003 strain was screened. The curdling enzyme is an intracellular protease, a 45 kDa monomer protein that degrades soy protein subunits, produced by this strain. The optimum temperature and pH of enzyme activity are 50°C and pH 7.5, respectively. The protease degrades β-conglycinin and parts of glycinin in soy protein to α’, α and β subunits. The rheological characteristics of the resultant curd were assessed, and revealed that elasticity differed from curd produced by glucono δ-lactone, which is used in tofu production. A new soy protein food having health-supporting functions will be developed using this protease.