Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Governance in the Tourism Practice

Many rural areas, even in mature economies possess an obvious yet weakly cultivated tourism potential for short stays and leisure. Even with a plurality of initiatives, the industry can remain rather fragmented. This chapter, based on quantitative and qualitative methods, provides insights into collaboration among the local entrepreneurs of such an area (case: the Flemish Ardennes in Belgium) and their willingness to participate in a regional tourism development process. It also discusses perceptions and opinions about the effectiveness of institutional actors and influential tools such as a White Paper. Though the study discerns a deep gap between collaboration discourse and common practice, it also illustrates the inauguration of a reflexive process, a change of attitudes and a clustering of activities following from a White Paper initiative.
The FRD3-Mediated Efflux of Citrate into the Root Vasculature Is Necessary for Efficient Iron Translocation1[OA]

Iron, despite being an essential micronutrient, becomes toxic if present at high levels. As a result, plants possess carefully regulated mechanisms to acquire iron from the soil. The ferric reductase defective3 (frd3) mutant of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) is chlorotic and exhibits constitutive expression of its iron uptake responses. Consequently, frd3 mutants overaccumulate iron; yet, paradoxically, the frd3 phenotypes are due to a reduction in the amount of iron present inside frd3 leaf cells. The FRD3 protein belongs to the multidrug and toxin efflux family, members of which are known to export low-Mr organic molecules. We therefore hypothesized that FRD3 loads an iron chelator necessary for the correct distribution of iron throughout the plant into the xylem. One such potential chelator is citrate. Xylem exudate from frd3 plants contains significantly less citrate and iron than the exudate from wild-type plants. Additionally, supplementation of growth media with citrate rescues the frd3 phenotypes. The ectopic expression of FRD3-GFP results in enhanced tolerance to aluminum in Arabidopsis roots, a hallmark of organic acid exudation. Consistent with this result, approximately 3 times more citrate was detected in root exudate from plants ectopically expressing FRD3-GFP. Finally, heterologous studies in Xenopus laevis oocytes reveal that FRD3 mediates the transport of citrate. These results all strongly support the hypothesis that FRD3 effluxes citrate into the root vasculature, a process important for the translocation of iron to the leaves, as well as confirm previous reports suggesting that iron moves through the xylem as a ferric-citrate complex. Our results provide additional answers to long-standing questions about iron chelation in the vasculature and organic acid transport.
Global Value Chains and the Changing Pattern of North-South Trade: Apparel, Electronics and Automotive Sectors in 2005-2014

Manufacturing production shifted to developing countries over the last decades, giving rise to global value chains (GVCs). It increased manufacturing exports from the Global South to the North, reshaping the pattern of international trade and division of labor. However, since the global economic crisis of 2007-2008, a new trend called "shifting end markets" has emerged, or the rise of the South as end markets in GVCs. Yet, economic growth began to slow down over the past few years in many emerging economies. This paper examines the changing patterns of North-South trade, focusing on three GVCs - apparel, electronics and automotive - in 2005-2014. Using bilateral trade statistics from UN Comtrade, the patterns of North-South trade are analyzed for both intermediate and finished goods in each sector. The paper confirms the rise of South-to-North manufacturing exports although the growth pattern differed significantly across the sectors. It also finds that North-South trade patterns have become stabilized since 2012 with pre-crisis dynamics moderated particularly in finished goods. Finally, the relative role of Northern and Southern countries in South-bound exports varied across the sectors, while South-South linkages appear more robust in the face of the recent slowdown in emerging market economies.
An Immunoglobulin G1 Monoclonal Antibody Highly Specific to the Wall of Cryptosporidium Oocysts

ABSTRACT The detection of Cryptosporidium oocysts in drinking water is critically dependent on the quality of immunofluorescent reagents. Experiments were performed to develop a method for producing highly specific antibodies to Cryptosporidium oocysts that can be used for water testing. BALB/c mice were immunized with six different antigen preparations and monitored for immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgM responses to the surface of Cryptosporidiumoocysts. One group of mice received purified oocyst walls, a second group received a soluble protein preparation extracted from the outside of the oocyst wall, and the third group received whole inactivated oocysts. Three additional groups were immunized with sequentially prepared oocyst extracts to provide for a comparison of the immune response. Mice injected with the soluble protein extract demonstrated an IgG response to oocysts surface that was not seen in the whole-oocyst group. Mice injected with whole oocysts showed an IgM response only, while mice injected with purified oocyst walls showed little increase in IgM or IgG levels. Of the additional reported preparations only one, BME (2-mercaptoethanol treated), produced a weak IgM response to the oocyst wall. A mouse from the soluble oocyst extract group yielding a high IgG response was utilized to produce a highly specific IgG1 monoclonal antibody (Cry104) specific to the oocyst surface. Comparative flow cytometric analysis indicated that Cry104 has a higher avidity and specificity to oocysts in water concentrates than other commercially available antibodies.
Effects of scalp nerve block on pain and emergence agitation after paediatric nevus surgery: a clinical trial

Pain is considered as being one cause of post‐operative emergence agitation (EA) from sevoflurane anaesthesia. The purpose of this study was to investigate the pure effect of post‐operative pain on EA after sevoflurane anaesthesia in preschool children undergoing excision of scalp nevi.
Renovate high performance user-level stacks' innovation utilizing commodity network adaptors

Today's data center servers are equipped with high speed and complex network adaptors, featuring an array of functions, e.g. hardware TX/RX queues, packet filters, rate limiters, etc. Recent work like IX, Arrakis, MultiStack has made us rekindle the user-level network stacks' innovation utilizing these commodity network adaptors. In this paper, we revisit the idea to move stacks' design from in-kernel shared space into user-level application-specific dedicated one, for high performance and ease of development and deployment. We provide an unified control plane TAPM to exploit and manage the hardware adaptors' resources, and a dedicated data plane hwTAP to support different user-level stacks. TAPM and hwTAP highlight the utilization of hardware features from commodity network adaptors, to support the innovation of different user-level stacks. Experiments show that the hardware switching module can keep the input rate without any overheads and costs. TAPM could configure the hwTAP dynamically. Our run-to-completion user-level stack also achieves high throughput and low latency.
A Novel Mechanism of G Protein-coupled Receptor Functional Selectivity

Many G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) possess allosteric binding sites distinct from the orthosteric site utilized by their cognate ligands, but most GPCR allosteric modulators reported to date lack signaling efficacy in their own right. McN-A-343 (4-(N-(3-chlorophenyl)carbamoyloxy)-2-butynyltrimethylammonium chloride) is a functionally selective muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) partial agonist that can also interact allosterically at the M2 mAChR. We hypothesized that this molecule simultaneously utilizes both an allosteric and the orthosteric site on the M2 mAChR to mediate these effects. By synthesizing progressively truncated McN-A-343 derivatives, we identified two, which minimally contain 3-chlorophenylcarbamate, as pure allosteric modulators. These compounds were positive modulators of the orthosteric antagonist N-[3H]methylscopolamine, but in functional assays of M2 mAChR-mediated ERK1/2 phosphorylation and guanosine 5′-3-O-([35S]thio)triphosphate binding, they were negative modulators of agonist efficacy. This negative allosteric effect was diminished upon mutation of Y177A in the second extracellular (E2) loop of the M2 mAChR that is known to reduce prototypical allosteric modulator potency. Our results are consistent with McN-A-343 being a bitopic orthosteric/allosteric ligand with the allosteric moiety engendering partial agonism and functional selectivity. This finding suggests a novel and largely unappreciated mechanism of “directed efficacy” whereby functional selectivity may be engendered in a GPCR by utilizing an allosteric ligand to direct the signaling of an orthosteric ligand encoded within the same molecule.
The molecular biology of desmosomes and hemidesmosomes: ′What's in a name?'

Desmosomes are junctions involved in intercellular adhesion of epithelial cells and hemidesmosomes are junctions involved in adhesion of epithelia to basement membranes. Both are characterised at the ultrastructural level by dense cytoplasmic plaques which are linked to the intermediate filament cytoskeleton of the cells. The plaques strongly resemble each other suggesting a relationship between the two kinds of junctions, as implied by their names. Recent characterisation of the molecular components of the junctions shows they are, in fact, quite unrelated implying that structural similarity is fortuitous. The molecular biology raises many fascinating problems relating to their structure and function.
Cerebrovascular perfusion in marijuana users during a month of monitored abstinence

Objective: To determine possible effects of prolonged marijuana use on the cerebrovascular system during a month of monitored abstinence and to assess how the intensity of current use might have influenced cerebrovascular perfusion in these marijuana users. Method: The authors recorded blood flow velocity in the anterior and middle cerebral arteries using transcranial Doppler sonography in three groups of marijuana users who differed in the intensity of recent use (light: n = 11; moderate: n = 23; and heavy: n = 20) and in control subjects (n = 18) to assess the nature and duration of any potential abnormalities. Blood flow velocity was recorded within 3 days of admission and 28 to 30 days of monitored abstinence on an inpatient research unit in order to evaluate subacute effects of the drug and any abstinence-generated changes. Results: Pulsatility index, a measure of cerebrovascular resistance, and systolic velocity were significantly increased in the marijuana users vs control subjects. These increases persisted in the heavy marijuana users after a month of monitored abstinence. Conclusions: Chronic marijuana use is associated with increased cerebrovascular resistance through changes mediated, in part, in blood vessels or in the brain parenchyma. These findings might provide a partial explanation for the cognitive deficits observed in a similar group of marijuana users.
Beyond modules and hubs: the potential of gene coexpression networks for investigating molecular mechanisms of complex brain disorders

In a research environment dominated by reductionist approaches to brain disease mechanisms, gene network analysis provides a complementary framework in which to tackle the complex dysregulations that occur in neuropsychiatric and other neurological disorders. Gene–gene expression correlations are a common source of molecular networks because they can be extracted from high‐dimensional disease data and encapsulate the activity of multiple regulatory systems. However, the analysis of gene coexpression patterns is often treated as a mechanistic black box, in which looming ‘hub genes’ direct cellular networks, and where other features are obscured. By examining the biophysical bases of coexpression and gene regulatory changes that occur in disease, recent studies suggest it is possible to use coexpression networks as a multi‐omic screening procedure to generate novel hypotheses for disease mechanisms. Because technical processing steps can affect the outcome and interpretation of coexpression networks, we examine the assumptions and alternatives to common patterns of coexpression analysis and discuss additional topics such as acceptable datasets for coexpression analysis, the robust identification of modules, disease‐related prioritization of genes and molecular systems and network meta‐analysis. To accelerate coexpression research beyond modules and hubs, we highlight some emerging directions for coexpression network research that are especially relevant to complex brain disease, including the centrality–lethality relationship, integration with machine learning approaches and network pharmacology.
Does the pancreas move with respiration?

Background and Aim: The pancreas is a retroperitoneal organ and has been classically considered to be immobile on respiration. Recent radiological studies assessing the mobility of the pancreas have challenged this traditional concept. The present study was conducted to assess the movement of pancreas with respiration using fluoroscopy, a simple and inexpensive method.
A basic study on tactile displays using velvet hand illusion

To enhance artificial tactile sensation generated by a tactile display, we focus on the velvet hand illusion (VHI), in which a person rubs his/her hands together on either side of wires strung through a frame, producing the sensation of rubbing a very smooth and soft surface like velvet. To determine the specifications of an actuator for a tactile display enhanced by VHI, we investigate the relationship between wire distance and intensity of illusionary sensation using a series of psychophysical experiments. According to the experimental results, the strength of VHI depends on the distance between two adjacent wires and saturates at around 55 mm. In VHI, although the area bounded by two wires moves relative to the hands, tangential force does not occur on either hand, causing operators to experience the illusion of touching a smooth virtual film with a zero coefficient of friction. Since the strength of VHI becomes small for a small distance between two adjacent wires, excessive tangential stimulation prevents the occurrence of VHI. Therefore, VHI control requires two actuations: one is for normal actuation on the operator's finger surface to generate a touch feeling; the other is appropriate tangential actuation to generate a moving-edge feeling on the operator's finger surface.
The simultaneous removal of calcium, magnesium and chloride ions from industrial wastewater using magnesium–aluminum oxide

In this article, a method for simultaneous removal of calcium, magnesium and chloride by using Mg0.80Al0. 20O1.10 as a Magnesium-Aluminum oxide (Mg‒Al oxide) was investigated. Mg‒Al oxide obtained by thermal decomposition of the Mg–Al layered double hydroxide (Mg–Al LDH). The synthesized Mg‒Al oxide were characterized with respect to nitrogen physicosorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scan electron microscopy (FESEM) morphology. Due to high anion-exchange capacity of Mg‒Al oxide, it was employed in simultaneously removal of Cl−, Mg+2 and Ca+2 from distiller waste of a sodium carbonate production factory. For this purpose, experiments were designed to evaluate the effects of quantity of Mg‒Al oxide, temperature and time on the removal process. The removal of Cl−, Mg+2 and Ca+2 from wastewater was found 93.9%, 93.74% and 93.25% at 60°C after 0.5 h, respectively. Results showed that the removal of Cl−, Mg+2 and Ca+2 by Mg‒Al oxide increased with increasing temperature, time and Mg‒Al oxide quantity.
Genetic association of apolipoprotein E polymorphisms with inflammatory bowel disease.

AIM To study the association of apolipoprotein E (APOE) polymorphisms with the susceptibility of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in Saudi patients. METHODS APOE genotyping was performed to evaluate the allele and genotype frequencies in 378 Saudi subjects including IBD patients with ulcerative colitis (n = 84) or Crohn's disease (n = 94) and matched controls (n = 200) using polymerase chain reaction and reverse-hybridization techniques. RESULTS The frequencies of the APOE ε2 allele and ε2/ε3 and ε2/ε4 genotypes were significantly higher in IBD patients than in controls (P < 0.05), suggesting that the ε2 allele and its heterozygous genotypes may increase the susceptibility to IBD. On the contrary, the frequencies of the ε3 allele and ε3/ε3 genotype were lower in IBD patients as compared to controls, suggesting a protective effect of APOE ε3 for IBD. The prevalence of the ε4 allele was also higher in the patient group compared to controls, suggesting that the ε4 allele may also increase the risk of IBD. Our results also indicated that the APOE ε4 allele was associated with an early age of IBD onset. No effect of gender or type of IBD (familial or sporadic) on the frequency distribution of APOE alleles and genotypes was noticed in this study. CONCLUSION APOE polymorphism is associated with risk of developing IBD and early age of onset in Saudi patients, though further studies with a large-size population are warranted.
Crowdsensing in Urban Areas for City-Scale Mass Gathering Management: Geofencing and Activity Recognition

The widespread availability of smartphones today equipped with several physical and virtual sensors allows to directly collect various information about surrounding physical and logical context for different purposes that range from detecting user's current physical activity and also user presence in a designated area, often referred to as geofencing, to determining current social pulse of individuals and entire communities. Mobile crowdsensing seems a promising solution for enabling the design/development and deployment of a wide range of advanced applications in various fields. In particular, public safety, transportation, and energy monitoring and management in urban environments can benefit from mobile crowdsensing in terms of advanced provisioned applications as well as savings of investments in the urban sensing infrastructure. However, enabling those advanced smart urban applications requires complex signal processing, machine learning, and resource management algorithms that are often beyond the skills of many mobile app developers. This paper describes the pivotal relevance of these facilities for mobile crowdsensing applications and presents our open-source solution, called Mobile Sensing Technology (MoST), for activity detection and geofencing, comparing it with the reference implementations provided by Google as part of the Google Play Services library. Experimental results within the testbed framework of a crowd-management application scenario validate MoST design guidelines and demonstrate the general-purpose, unintrusive, and power-efficient characteristics of MoST sensing capabilities.
Remote Axial Tuning in Microscopy Utilizing Hydrogel-Driven Tunable Liquid Lens

This paper presents the use of a tunable-focus thermoresponsive hydrogel-based liquid lens in combination with an objective lens to achieve remote axial focusing in conventional microscopy. The goal of this design is to eliminate image distortion due to sample vibrations caused by mechanical stage scanning. This approach reduces the mechanical complexity and power consumption due to the use of electrically tunable lenses, while achieving a twofold increase in the axial scanning range. The merits of the proposed design were demonstrated by characterizing a customized microscope system over a scanning range of 1700 μm. A lateral resolution of 2 μm was obtained consistently throughout the scanning range. Healthy Spodopterafrugiperda Sf21 insect cells imaging was used to verify the depth scanning ability and the resolution of our remote focusing microscope system.
The efficacy of a herbal-based toothpaste in the control of plaque and gingivitis: a clinico-biochemical study.

OBJECTIVE A double-blinded controlled clinical trial with parallel groups was designed to investigate the effectiveness of a herbal-based toothpaste in the control of plaque and gingivitis as compared with a conventional dentifrice. The efficacy of Colgate Herbal over Colgate tooth paste was assessed in this study. MATERIALS AND METHODS Thirty subjects with gingivitis participated in the study. All participants had at least 20 natural teeth with no probing depths greater than 3 mm and a plaque index score of 2 or more at baseline. At baseline, the clinical parameters like gingival index, plaque index and salivary pH were estimated. Paired t-test was used to compare the difference within the groups and unpaired t-test was used to compare the difference between the groups at baseline and on the 30th day. RESULTS At the end of the study, there were statistically significant reductions in the gingival index and the plaque index scores within the test group. However, there were no statistically significant differences between the test and the control groups. The salivary pH changes were not statistically significant in the test group but were displaced more toward the acidic range in the control group. CONCLUSION It was however concluded that the herbal-based toothpaste was as effective as the conventionally formulated dentifrice in the control of plaque and gingivitis.
X-Ray Imaging of Magnetic Structures

The characterization of nanoscale magnetic structures, their static properties, and fast spin dynamics with polarized soft X-rays has become an indispensable analytical tool due to the unique features of those probes. The spectroscopic magnetic response serves as a fingerprint of the specimen and can give quantitative information on element-specific spin and orbital magnetic moments. Images of magnetic domain structures at a spatial resolution down to nearly 10 nm, ultimately in all three dimensions, can be obtained with various X-ray microscopy techniques and can further be combined with stroboscopic pump-probe schemes to image the spin dynamics of spin structures, such as the motion of domain walls in nanowires or the vortex core dynamics in micropatterned magnetic elements. Next generation sources of polarized soft X-rays such as X-ray free electron lasers or high-harmonic generation laser sources hold the promise to provide nanometer spatial and femtosecond time resolution, enabling to address thus fundamental magnetic length and time scales in magnetism. This paper reviews the various X-ray imaging techniques using polarized soft X-rays by summarizing their characteristic features, recent achievements, and current limitations as well as future opportunities. A brief overview on other magnetic imaging techniques are given to set magnetic X-ray imaging techniques into context.