Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of B2O3 addition on structural and dielectric properties of PVDF

α-Crystalline form of PVDF doped with Boron oxide (B2O3) composite films were produced between 0.2 and 1% weight ratio via the casting procedure. This low-level doping rate did not change the crystalline structure of PVDF; however, they increased the lower and upper glass transition temperatures, which are associated with the amorphous ratio of polymer. This increment was found to be the highest for the sample 0.8% B2O3-doped PVDF as 25 and 9.7%, respectively. Because of the low specific volume occurred in the 0.8% doped sample, B2O3 molecules are closer to the side groups of PVDF and, therefore, the coordination bonds also occurred according to the interaction between them and as a result of this interaction a geometric deformation occurred on the morphology of B2O3. In consequence of this deformation, morphology of B2O3 gained net dipole moment and provided a contribution to the dipole moment density of the structure. Hence, higher dielectric constant values obtained than that of pure PVDF. At 1 kHz and 300 K, the real dielectric constant increased by 236% compared to that of pure PVDF. It was shown experimentally by the 0.8% doping level of B2O3 that decreasing porous and gap structure resulted a high dielectric constant. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 54:2536–2543, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers
Family Shuffling of Soil DNA To Change the Regiospecificity of Burkholderia xenovorans LB400 Biphenyl Dioxygenase

ABSTRACT Previous work has shown that the C-terminal portion of BphA, especially two amino acid segments designated region III and region IV, influence the regiospecificity of the biphenyl dioxygenase (BPDO) toward 2,2′-dichlorobiphenyl (2,2′-CB). In this work, we evolved BPDO by shuffling bphA genes amplified from polychlorinated biphenyl-contaminated soil DNA. Sets of approximately 1-kb DNA fragments were amplified with degenerate primers designed to amplify the C-terminal portion of bphA. These fragments were shuffled, and the resulting library was used to replace the corresponding fragment of Burkholderia xenovorans LB400 bphA. Variants were screened for their ability to oxygenate 2,2′-CB onto carbons 5 and 6, which are positions that LB400 BPDO is unable to attack. Variants S100, S149, and S151 were obtained and exhibited this feature. Variant S100 BPDO produced exclusively cis-5,6-dihydro-5,6-dihydroxy-2,2′-dichlorobiphenyl from 2,2′-CB. Moreover, unlike LB400 BPDO, S100 BphA catalyzed the oxygenation of 2,2′,3,3′-tetrachlorobiphenyl onto carbons 5 and 6 exclusively and it was unable to oxygenate 2,2′,5,5′-tetrachlorobiphenyl. Based on oxygen consumption measurements, variant S100 oxygenated 2,2′-CB at a rate of 16 ± 1 nmol min−1 per nmol enzyme, which was similar to the value observed for LB400 BPDO. cis-5,6-Dihydro-5,6-dihydroxy-2,2′-dichlorobiphenyl was further oxidized by 2,3-dihydro-2,3-dihydroxybiphenyl dehydrogenase (BphB) and 2,3-dihydroxybiphenyl dioxygenase (BphC). Variant S100 was, in addition, able to oxygenate benzene, toluene, and ethyl benzene. Sequence analysis identified amino acid residues M237S238 and S283 outside regions III and IV that influence the activity toward doubly ortho-substituted chlorobiphenyls.
A novel method for global disparity vector estimation in multiview video coding

One of the latest extensions for H.264 video coding standard is the multiview video coding (MVC), which can achieve excellent coding efficiency by not only inheriting from H.264 video standard but also incorporating new tools for interview prediction on the multi-view video sequences. A new prediction mode, motion skip mode, was considered for interview prediction as part of MVC. Motion skip mode requires estimating the global disparity vector (GDV). In MVC reference software JMVM, GDV was obtained by frame matching on neighboring views, in which the high complexity is involved. Therefore, in this paper, we present a novel method of fast GDV estimation for the motion skip mode, which is based on edge projection map between adjacent views in MVC. Experimental results show that our proposed method can reduce the complexity while keeping R-D performances on MVC anchor pictures coding.
Vibrationally Excited HC3N in NGC 4418

Luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) emit most of their radiation in the infrared region of the spectrum in the form of dust thermal continuum, with typical luminosities of LIR > 1010 L⊙. The central power source responsible for the total energy output is deeply buried in the dusty central regions of these objects and its origin still unclear. Recent studies by Spoon et al. (2007) and Aalto et al. (2007) suggest that some LIRGs might represent early obscured stages of active galaxies, either AGNs or starbursts, and thus play a fundamental role in galaxy formation and evolution.
The giant mudskipper Periophthalmodon schlosseri facilitates active NH4+ excretion by increasing acid excretion and decreasing NH3 permeability in the skin

SUMMARY Periophthalmodon schlosseri is an amphibious and obligatory air-breathing teleost, which is extremely tolerant to environmental ammonia. It actively excretes NH4+ in ammonia loading conditions. For such a mechanism to operate efficaciously the fish must be able to prevent back flux of NH3. P. schlosseri could lower the pH of 50 volumes (w/v) of 50% seawater in an artificial burrow from pH 8.2 to pH 7.4 in 1 day, and established an ambient ammonia concentration of 10 mmol l-1 in 8 days. It could alter the rate of titratable acid efflux in response to ambient pH. The rate of net acid efflux (H+ excretion) in P. schlosseri was pH-dependent, increasing in the order pH 6.0<7.0<8.0<8.5. Net acid flux in neutral or alkaline pH conditions was partially inhibited by bafilomycin, indicating the possible involvement of a V-type H+-ATPase. P. schlosseri could also increase the rate of H+ excretion in response to the presence of ammonia in a neutral (pH 7.0) external medium. Increased H+ excretion in P. schlosseri occurred in the head region where active excretion of NH4+ took place. This would result in high concentrations of H+ in the boundary water layer and prevent the dissociation of NH4+, thus preventing a back flux of NH3 through the branchial epithelia. P. schlosseri probably developed such an `environmental ammonia detoxification' capability because of its unique behavior of burrow building in the mudflats and living therein in a limited volume of water. In addition, the skin of P. schlosseri had low permeability to NH3. Using an Ussing-type apparatus with 10 mmol l-1 NH4Cl and a 1 unit pH gradient (pH 8.0 to 7.0), the skin supported only a very small flux of NH3 (0.0095 μmol cm-2 min-1). Cholesterol content (4.5 μmol g-1) in the skin was high, which suggests low membrane fluidity. Phosphatidylcholine, which has a stabilizing effect on membranes, constituted almost 50% of the skin phospholipids, with phosphatidyleserine and phsophatidylethanolamine contributing only 13% and 15%, respectively. More importantly, P. schlosseri increased the cholesterol level (to 5.5 μmol g-1) and altered the fatty acid composition (increased total saturated fatty acid content) in its skin lipid after exposure to ammonia (30 mmol l-1 at pH 7.0) for 6 days. These changes might lead to an even lower permeability to NH3 in the skin, and reduced back diffusion of the actively excreted NH4+ as NH3 or the net influx of exogenous NH3, under such conditions.
Ultrametricity of Information Cascades

Whether it is the inter-arrival time between two consecutive votes on a story on Reddit or the comments on a video shared on Youtube, there is always a hierarchy of time scales in information propagation. One vote/comment might occur almost simultaneously with the previous, whereas another vote/comment might occur hours after the preceding one. This hierarchy of time scales leads us to believe that information cascades can be modeled using ultrametricity and ultradiffusion.This paper reports an investigation into cascades of information flow underlying Reddit, Youtube and Digg. An information cascade represents the spread of information from one node to his friends, from friends to their friends of friends and so on. It might be impossible to completely perceive the entire process of information flow as some of the data pertaining to it might be hidden or inaccessible to us. However, we might be able to observe some counting process which is a consequence of this diffusion. For example, in Digg this counting process might be the temporal variation in the number of votes accrued by a story. In Youtube, it might be the number of comments received by a video with time.We study the dynamics of these votes and comments to better understand information spread.Our observations can be described by a universal function whose parameters depend upon the system under consideration. This function can be derived by using ultrametricity to describe the propagation. The parameters for the ultradiffusion process are learned from the actual observations. We demonstrate that the results predicted by simulating the ultradiffusion process are in close correspondence to the actual observations.
Inclusion of blended lipid solutions as functional ingredients to alter the fatty acid profile of beef patties.

UNLABELLED Beef patties formulated to contain beef fat, plant oil, and a rosemary extract to increase unsaturated fatty acid content and maintain desirable sensory attributes were compared to control beef patties formulated without plant oils. Treatment patties were formulated to a fat content of 10% or 20% by combining beef trimmings (6% fat) with 4% or 14% addition of a lipid blend. Blends contained 57% beef tallow, 0.3% rosemary extract, and 43% of high oleic safflower oil (SO), olive oil (OO), or corn oil (CO). Lipid oxidation, as measured by TBA values, of treatment patties were similar to control patties after 0 and 3 d of refrigerated (2 °C) storage and up to 56 d of frozen (-10 °C) storage. Cooked lipid blend patties having a fat content of 10% or 20% were similar to or higher than control patties for juiciness and were no different for other sensory attributes evaluated. At fat levels of 10% or 20%, oleic acid (18: 1) in cooked SO patties (46.1% and 50.3%, respectively) and OO patties (43.8% and 48.1%, respectively) was higher than the control (37.3% and 37.6%, respectively). Unsaturated to saturated fatty acid ratios at the 10% or 20% fat levels were higher in SO (1.37 and 1.60, respectively) and CO (1.40 and 1.48, respectively) patties than the control (0.97 and 0.94, respectively). Beef patties manufactured with varying lipid blends increased unsaturated fatty acid content and were similar in physical characteristics and sensory attributes of all beef patties formulated without lipid blends. PRACTICAL APPLICATION The development of healthier beef products that will be more appealing to consumers has long been an industry goal. The authors believe that lipid blends such as the one used in this study could be used to create such products, not only in the form of beef patties, but any number of processed meat products. Because the materials and equipment used to create the lipid blends in this study are widely available, their incorporation into meat products would represent a small capital investment. This is an important factor in bringing a reasonably priced, healthier product to consumers.
Road traffic injury—a global public health scourge: a review for World Health Day 2004 (April 7)

Objective: Globally in 2000, 1.2 million deaths resulted from road traffic injury (RTI) and about 10 times this number were injured. Because of the size of the problem, its expected growth and its preventability World Health Day 2004 (April 7) was devoted to RTI. This review highlights attention to RTI by the ANZJPH and investigates relevance to the developing world, where 90% of all RTI deaths now occur.
Static read stability and write ability metrics in FinFET based SRAM considering read and write-assist circuits

This paper evaluates the read stability and write ability metrics of the SRAM not only for the basic bitcell but also for the bitcell with read and write assist circuits. Some metrics cannot be used to properly estimate the yield and the reasons are analyzed. Based on the analysis results, we suggest the read and write metrics which can properly estimate the yield regardless of assist circuits.
Inflammatory Regulation by TLR3 in Acute Hepatitis1

TLR3 is known to respond to dsRNA from viruses, apoptotic cells, and/or necrotic cells. Dying cells are a rich source of ligands that can activate TLRs, such as TLR3. TLR3 expressed in the liver is likely to be a mediator of innate activation and inflammation in the liver. The importance of this function of TLR3 during acute hepatitis has not previously been fully explored. We used the mouse model of Con A-induced hepatitis and observed a novel role for TLR3 in hepatocyte damage in the absence of an exogenous viral stimulus. Interestingly, TLR3 expression in liver mononuclear cells and sinus endothelial cells was up-regulated after Con A injection and TLR3−/− mice were protected from Con A-induced hepatitis. Moreover, splenocytes from TLR3−/− mice proliferated less to Con A stimulation in the presence of RNA derived from damaged liver tissue compared with wild-type (WT) mice. To determine the relative contribution of TLR3 expression by hematopoietic cells or nonhematopoietic to liver damage during Con A-induced hepatitis, we generated bone marrow chimeric mice. TLR3−/− mice engrafted with WT hematopoietic cells were protected in a similar manner to WT mice reconstituted with TLR3−/− bone marrow, indicating that TLR3 signaling in both nonhematopoietic and hematopoietic cells plays an important role in mediating liver damage. In summary, our data suggest that TLR3 signaling is necessary for Con A-induced liver damage in vivo and that TLR3 regulates inflammation and the adaptive T cell immune response in the absence of viral infection.
Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage in young adults: a comparison between patients in the third and fourth decades of life.

OBJECT Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage rarely occurs in young adults. The aim of this work was to clarify the clinical characteristics of ruptured aneurysms in young adults in the third and fourth decades of life and to compare these two age groups. METHODS The authors retrospectively investigated 2493 patients who underwent surgical repair for ruptured cerebral aneurysms during a 14-year period (1988-2001). There were 25 patients (1%) in the third decade of life and 106 patients (4.3%) in the fourth decade. In general, favorable outcome was achieved in both groups. There were significant differences in the sizes and locations of aneurysms between the two age groups. Among patients in the fourth decade of life, the aneurysm was large and was located more often on the anterior cerebral artery. CONCLUSIONS In this study the authors summarize the clinical characteristics of a large series of 131 young adult patients with ruptured cerebral aneurysms. Congenital factors as well as hemodynamic stress may contribute to differences in aneurysm size and location between the two age groups.
Importance of the method of leaf area measurement to the interpretation of gas exchange of complex shoots.

Net CO(2) uptake in full sunlight, total leaf area (TLA), projected leaf area of detached leaves (PLA), and the silhouette area of attached leaves in their natural orientation to the sun at midday on June 1 (SLA) were measured for sun shoots of six conifer species. Among species, TLA/SLA ranged between 5.2 and 10.0 (x bar = 7.3), TLA/PLA ranged between 2.5 and 2.9 (x bar = 2.7) and PLA/SLA ranged between 2.0 and 3.7 (x bar = 2.2). These ratios were reflected in the ratios of net photosynthesis computed on the basis of the three measures of leaf area. The much smaller values for TLA/PLA compared with the values for TLA/SLA indicate that leaf orientation effects, or shading, or both, caused more variation in the interception of solar radiation than did variation in leaf geometry (i.e., cross-section). Silhouette leaf area of lodgepole pine, (Pinus contorta spp. latifolia) and subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa) shoots measured at the summer solstice varied almost 2-fold with diurnal changes in solar altitude and azimuth. Sun shoots of both species and shade shoots of lodgepole pine had the greatest SLA during the early morning and late afternoon. The midday decline in SLA was related to the relatively upright orientation of needles of subalpine fir sun shoots and the relatively upright orientation of both sun and shade shoots of lodgepole pine. Shade shoots of subalpine fir reached a maximum in SLA at midday and this was related to the near horizontal orientation both of the shoots and the needles on them.
Aristolochic acid and the etiology of endemic (Balkan) nephropathy

Endemic (Balkan) nephropathy (EN), a devastating renal disease affecting men and women living in rural areas of Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, and Serbia, is characterized by its insidious onset, invariable progression to chronic renal failure and a strong association with transitional cell (urothelial) carcinoma of the upper urinary tract. Significant epidemiologic features of EN include its focal occurrence in certain villages and a familial, but not inherited, pattern of disease. Our experiments test the hypothesis that chronic dietary poisoning by aristolochic acid is responsible for EN and its associated urothelial cancer. Using 32P-postlabeling/PAGE and authentic standards, we identified dA-aristolactam (AL) and dG-AL DNA adducts in the renal cortex of patients with EN but not in patients with other chronic renal diseases. In addition, urothelial cancer tissue was obtained from residents of endemic villages with upper urinary tract malignancies. The AmpliChip p53 microarray was then used to sequence exons 2–11 of the p53 gene where we identified 19 base substitutions. Mutations at A:T pairs accounted for 89% of all p53 mutations, with 78% of these being A:T → T:A transversions. Our experimental results, namely, that (i) DNA adducts derived from aristolochic acid (AA) are present in renal tissues of patients with documented EN, (ii) these adducts can be detected in transitional cell cancers, and (iii) A:T → T:A transversions dominate the p53 mutational spectrum in the upper urinary tract malignancies found in this population lead to the conclusion that dietary exposure to AA is a significant risk factor for EN and its attendant transitional cell cancer.
Antiarrhythmic drugs after ablation for atrial fibrillation: the hope, the hype, and the reality.

This editorial refers to ‘Efficacy of Antiarrhythmic Drugs Short-Term Use After Catheter Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation (EAST-AF) trial’[†][1], by K. Kaitani et al . , on page 610. With the success rate for persistent and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation stubbornly stalled, respectively, at ∼45–75%, investigators have attempted several approaches in the hope for better outcomes: using alternative energy sources,1 expansion of the lesion set in both the left atrium and other anatomic structures,2 and the use of new mapping tools.3 The EAST-AF study, published in this issue, sheds light on a strategy commonly employed by cardiologists and electrophysiologists: the use of antiarrhythmic drugs (AAD) following AF ablation.4 The principle is simple to understand. During catheter ablation there is cell death and cell damage, leading to inflammation in the left atrial (LA) and adjacent structures, such as the pericardium. AF by itself leads to activation of myofibroblasts, and release of profibrotic proteins and several pro-inflammatory cytokines.5 This inflammatory state associated with the increase in LA pressure and LA stretch that happens during AF, in particular after AF ablation, promotes a proarrhythmic milieu that contributes to the always frustrating AF recurrences early post-ablation. Since ‘AF begets AF’, attempting to suppress post-ablation AF appears obvious: more aggressive AF suppression post-ablation might lead to a better … [1]: #fn-2
Editorial. Qualitäts- und Bildungsdiskurs

Das Thema Qualitats- und Bildungsdiskurs wird in diesem Heft in sieben Beitragen aus unterschiedlichster Perspektive thematisiert. Die Beitrage sind im Folgenden in drei Unterthemen gegliedert: (1) Bildungsqualitat und Bildungsforschung (2) Qualitatsdiskurs und (3) Qualitatsdiskurs als Schulentwicklung. (DIPF/Orig.)
Effects of Cardiac Rehabilitation on Psychosocial Functioning and Life Satisfaction of Coronary Artery Disease Clients

&NA; This article details a quantitative, descriptive study that explored the effects of participation in two types of cardiac rehabilitation programs on psychosocial functioning and life satisfaction. Forty‐seven clients with coronary artery disease (CAD) were included in the study sample. Data were collected during a home visit made 6 to 8 weeks after the coronary event. All subjects completed two data collection tools: the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP), which measured clients’ psychosocial functioning, and the Quality of Life Index (QLI), which measured clients’ life satisfaction. No significant differences were found between the two treatment groups in psychosocial functioning or life satisfaction. Psychosocial functioning and life satisfaction were found to be related strongly. Further research efforts are needed to document empirically the influence of cardiac rehabilitation participation on the client's quality of life.
Software Based Biometric Liveness Detection using Convolutional Neural Network

: Identifying a person based on some set of unique features is an important task. The human identification is possible with several biometric systems in which fingerprint and sclera recognition are the promising ones because of their individuality, uniqueness and reliability. A fingerprint image consists of a pattern of the valleys & ridges on human fingertips. The sclera is the white portion in the eye. The vein pattern seen in sclera and minutiae points in fingerprints is unique to each person. However the biometrics can be easily spoofed using several means. Pre-trained networks such as convolutional neural networks (CNN) can be explored for spoof biometric detection purpose. CNNs can achieve state-of-the-art performance even by training with natural images (such as animals, car, people etc.). A software based approach is adopted in the work in which fake traits can be identified once the images are loaded and processed using software. Dataset Augmentation, process of increasing dataset, can be used to increase the classifiers (Support Vector Machine) performance. Single classifier is trained using all available dataset for improved accuracy and robustness.
Flavonoids from leaves of Mauritia flexuosa

The chromatographic fractionation of the Mauritia flexuosa L. f. , Arecaceae, leaves extract, a plant known by the name of buriti palm tree, resulted in the isolation of six flavonoids: tricin-7-O-rutinoside, apigenin-6-C-arabinoside, 8-C-glucoside (isoschaftoside), kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside (nicotii¬‚orine), quercetin-3-O-rutinoside (rutin), luteolin-8-C-glucoside (orientin) and luteolin-6-C-glucoside (isoorientin). The flavonoids were found out and previously reported as constituents of the Arecaceae family plants, but the occurrence of C-glucoside flavonoids, in the species being analyzed, is described for the first time on this study. The structural elucidations of all of the isolated compounds were performed by means of the comparison of their spectral data (1H and 13C NMR, UV and ESI-MS) with those ones of the literature.