Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cloning of OLR1 gene in pig adipose tissue and preliminary study on its lipid-accumulating effect.

In this study we cloned and characterized a novel lipid-accumulating gene, the oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor 1 (OLR1), which is associated with lipogenesis. We analyzed the gene structure and detected the mRNA transcriptional expression levels in pig adipose tissues at different months of age (MA) and in different economic types (lean type and obese type) using real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR. OLRI expression profile in different tissues of pig was analyzed. Finally, we studied the correlation between OLRI and lipid metabolism related genes including peroxisome proliferator-activated receptorγ2 (PPARγ2), fatty acid synthetase (FAS), triacylglycerol hydrolase (TGH), CAAT/enhancer binding protein α (C/EBPα) and sterol regulatory element binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c). Results indicated that the OLR1 gene of the pig exhibited the highest homology with the cattle (84%), and the lowest with the mouse (27%). The signal peptide located from amino acid 38 to 60 and the domain from amino acid 144 to 256 were shared by the C-type lectin family. The expression level of OLRI in pig lung was exceedingly higher than other tested tissues (p<0.01). In pig adipose tissue, the expression level of OLRI mRNA increased significantly with growth (p<0.01). The expression level of OLR1 mRNA in obese-type pigs was significantly higher than that of lean-type pigs of the same monthly age (p<0.05). In adipose tissue, the expression of OLR1 correlated with PPARγ2, FAS and SREBP-1c, but not TGH or C/EBPα. In conclusion, OLRI was highly associated with fat deposition and its transcription, as suggested by high correlations, was possibly regulated by PPARγ2 and SREBP-1c.
Endophytes of Serapias parviflora Parl. and Spiranthes spiralis (L.) Chevall. (Orchidaceae): description of endophytes of S. parviflora, and in vitro symbiosis development in S. parviflora and Spiranthes spiralis

Hongos endofitos fueron aislados de raices de Serapias parviflora (Orchidaceae). Fueron descritos y clasificados parcialmente bajo el microscopio de luz luego de ser cultivados en PDA. Dos de ellos presentaron caracteristicas de simbiontes: la Cepa-A-1, un ascomicete, y la Cepa-B-1, u n b a s i d i o m i c e t e . A l m i s m o t i e m p o m u c h a s p l a n t a s d e S . p a r v i f l o r a y S p i r a n t h e s s p i r a l i s f u er o n obtenidas asimbioticamente por esterilizacion de semillas y cultivo en un medio Frosch modificado. Luego de transplantarlas a un medio simbiotico (Oats modificado), las plantas fueron inoculadas con los hongos aislados. Serapias parviflora fue utilizada como control y S. spiralis lo fue para estable- cer especificidad entre hospederos y endofitos. Los dos hongos fueron capaces de inducir simbiosis in vitro en raices de S. parviflora , mientras que solo la Cepa-B-1 indujo simbiosis in vitro en raices de S. spiralis . Concluimos que la especificidad in vitro entre estos hongos y las dos especies de orquideas estudiadas es diferente, posiblemente apoyando la hipotesis de una especificidad ecologi- ca potencial.
Loughborough University Institutional Repository Investigating the contribution of Demand Responsive Transport to a sustainable local public transport system

Various studies have advocated the potential for Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) services to deliver sustainable local public transport. This paper investigates the sustainability credentials of DRT services using evidence from UK-based research. More specifically, six potential DRT market niches were identified, including those which offer potential commercial opportunities (e.g. airport surface access) and those that meet social needs (e.g. non-emergency hospital trips). Mode share of these DRT services, against car or bus travel, was simulated from mixed logit models within a panel data modelling framework estimated from survey data. The survey was conducted of over 400 respondents in urban (Rochdale, Manchester) and rural (Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire) areas. Experience shows that it is particularly difficult to make DRT services financially viable. Of the DRT services investigated, those targeting airline or train passengers offer potential. However, they are in direct competition with the car, and so their success depends on the cost and availability of parking spaces. Some of the DRT schemes explored meet social needs, such as to access shopping facilities or hospitals, but they face cost challenges. In addition, institutional barriers for new DRT schemes need to be overcome in order to develop a sustainable local public transport system. © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
Validation of Interpersonal Stances Expressed by Virtual Suspect Characters in a Police Interview Setting

This work is a follow-up of the project by Michel Lamore et al. who has made a 3D animation of a suspect character for the police interview game PIENTER. In the Research Topics, behavioral and expressive features that characterize the perceived stances when acted out by human actors have been identified. Those features were used to create animation of four categories of interpersonal stances for the virtual suspects. In this project, graphical 3D virtual suspects were created that act out four attitudes as defined in Leary’s theory of interpersonal stance: dominant, submissive, friendly and hostile. The system is capable of generating body posture and facial expression in real-time. An experiment was carried out to evaluate if human judges recognize the intended stances acted out by the virtual suspect.
Aerosol Optical Thickness and PM10 Study by Using a Handheld Spectroradiometer Over Penang

Knowledge of the parameters that are related to the optical properties of atmospheric aerosols is essential for the determination of their climatic effects, development of techniques for remote sensing of aerosol from space or the necessary correction of atmospheric effects in satellite imagery (Sanchez, et al., 1998). The AOT values were derived from the measured transmittance. AOT, τ, is a measure of aerosol loading in the atmosphere (Christopher, et al., 2002). Generally, a higher AOT value indicates higher column of aerosol loading and therefore low visibility (Wang and Christopher, 2003). Atmospheric components (aerosol and molecules) scatter and absorb solar radiation. This study investigated the use of a handheld spectroradiometer for the retrieval of atmospheric optical thickness (AOT) values over Penang Island. A set of spectroradiometer measured transmittance data was used to derive the aerosol optical thickness (AOT) in the atmosphere. The transmittance values were measured in spectral region from 350nm to 1050nm at the earth surface. The locations were determined with a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. We selected the values at 550nm for the present analysis. This study introduces an economical and a simple technique for retrieval of AOT for remote sensing application. The transmittance values were measured around the PenangIsland. Particulate matters of size less than 10 micron (PM10) were collected simultaneously with the acquisition of the transmittance measurements. The results of the analysis indicated that the AOT values were linearly correlated with the PM10 readings. The objective of this study was to explore the relationship between aerosol optical thickness (AOT) derived from the spectroradiometer transmittance measurements and the correlation of particulate matter less than 10 micron (PM10). PM10 values were colleted simultaneously with the transmittance measurements. This study showed that there was a good correlation between the derived AOT and the measured PM10. In this study, we present results from ground-based measurements for PM10 mapping. Many researchers have conducted satellite monitoring of the AOT [Husar, et al., (1997) and Liu, et al., (2002), Jiang, et al., (2007) and Guo, et al., (2009)]. In this study, we present a method for air quality mapping from ground-based measurements. Typically, ground based measurements were made with a device of sun photometer. In this study, our purpose is to generate AOT and PM10 maps over Penang Island, Malaysia by using a handheld spectroradiometer. The transmittance values were measured using a handheld
An Infrared-Aided Lighting Control System For Physically Impaired

In recent years the need to provide greater convenience for the physically impaired community is a challenging issue: the reason being that more reliable and cost effective system are required. This paper proposes a cost effective infrared-based solution for automatic control of electrical circuitry and systems in a residential building to aid easy access for physically impaired and/or elderly people. This electronic system has been designed to meet the need of users such that it switches ON the lighting circuits on the detection of entry into a room and switches OFF the circuit as soon as the room is empty. One of the most important features of this design is the ability to automatically adjust the power consumption on the basis of human presence in a room. The device is simple both in its functionality and implementation. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.11591/ijece.v3i5. 3627
PRICING OF IPOS: FURTHER EVIDENCE FROM SOUTH AFRICA

We examine the long-term performance of 225 IPOs listed on the Johannesburg Securities Index (JSE) during the period from 1996 to 2006. The buy-and-hold abnormal return (BHAR) method and the calendar time portfolio (CTP) approach have been employed to measure the long-run performance of IPO stocks. The findings reveal that IPOs are highly underpriced when the abnormal returns are estimated by BHAR methodology. However, the use of control firm approach instead of market index for measuring abnormal performances significantly reduces the magnitude of this underpricing reported in previous studies on South African IPO stocks. Our major contribution to the literature is that we apply –for the first time-the calendar time portfolio approach to assess the aftermarket performance of IPOs listed on the JSE. In addition, we use control firm approach instead of market index to estimate the abnormal returns. These are the two significant cases which were not documented in previous research on measuring long-term performance of South African IPO stocks.
Energy transfer during intense geomagnetic storms driven by interplanetary coronal mass ejections and their sheath regions

The interaction of the solar wind and Earth's magnetosphere is complex, and the phenomenology of the interaction is very different for interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) compared to their sheath regions. In this paper, a total of 71 intense (Dst <= -100 nT) geomagnetic storm events in 1996-2006, of which 51 are driven by ICMEs and 20 by sheath regions, are examined to demonstrate similarities and differences in the energy transfer. Using superposed epoch analysis, the evolution of solar wind energy input and dissipation is investigated. The solar wind-magnetosphere coupling functions and geomagnetic indices show a more gradual increase and recovery during the ICME-driven storms than they do during the sheath-driven storms. However, the sheath-driven storms have larger peak values. In general, solar wind energy input (the epsilon parameter) and dissipation show similar trends as the coupling functions. The trends of ion precipitation and the ratio of ion precipitation to the total (ion and electron) are quite different for both classes of events. There are more precipitating ions during the peak of sheath-driven storms. However, a quantitative assessment of the relative importance of the different energy dissipation branches shows that the means of input energy and auroral precipitation are significantly different for both classes of events, whereas Joule heating, ring current, and total output energy display no distinguishable differences. The means of electron precipitation are significantly different for both classes of events. However, ion precipitation exhibits no distinguishable differences. The energy efficiency bears no distinguishable difference between these two classes of events. Ionospheric processes account for the vast majority of the energy, with the ring current only being 12%-14% of the total. Moreover, the energy partitioning for both classes of events is similar.
Comparison of Digit Recognition Techniques

This paper describes the implementation of two isolated digit recognition techniques and is a comparison between the algorithms implemented. Any digit recognition comprises of mainly two stages feature extraction and similarity evaluation. Here, two feature extraction techniques, namely linear predictive cepstral coefficients (LPCC) and mel frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCC) are implemented and the similarity evaluation is done using Euclidean distance and Dynamic Time Warping (DTW). The results obtained for these algorithms are perused and conclusions are drawn.
When Does Decentralization Deliver? 'The Dilemma of Design'

Decentralization since early 1990s has become one of the buzzwords of the development paradigms. Among all ingredients of decentralization, the fiscal component of it has a special significance. Not surprisingly the literature unanimously recognizes that it is the regulation of intergovernmental relationships in the fiscal arena that can strike the right balance among different objectives of each level and resolve tensions between them. Thus, the fiscal decentralization is in vogue. The trend that began in 90s has only gained momentum at the turn of the century. Yet the outcome of adopting similar policies has not been uniform across the globe. Some have succeeded, some are stumbling and some others have failed. In fact, the success of decentralization depends on its design. The paper looks into various questions associated with the dilemma of designing decentralization instruments for the success of fiscal decentralization These include the question of designing the right mix of policies, the questions of sequencing and synchronization, the question of pace and that of balancing the contrasting forces of centralization and decentralization. The paper offers the insight to the policymakersthat while designing fiscal decentralization they should not try to replicate any ‘idealtype’ solution. Though the ideal types can be powerful analytical tools, yet they do not lead to solutions for specific situations Real world fiscal arrangements rarely follow the idealized model; they are loaded with historical developments and political ad hocsolutions. It is simply not realistic to start from tabula rasa. The paper emphasizes that there is no “one size fits all” type answer to decentralization question. All systems will have to work out their own style of going about decentralization and restructuring of intergovernmental relations depending on the context and conditions peculiar to their own situation. The paper also argues that any attempt towards fiscal decentralization must be firmly grounded in the basic principles of fiscal federalism, irrespective of the fact whether the country in question is an officially declared federal state or not. Thus while implementing decentralization policies, the need isto ‘bring the federal back in’.
Segmenting bacterial and viral DNA sequence alignments with a trans‐dimensional phylogenetic factorial hidden Markov model

Summary. The traditional approach to phylogenetic inference assumes that a single phylogenetic tree can represent the relationships and divergence between the taxa. However, taxa sequences exhibit varying levels of conservation, e.g. because of regulatory elements and active binding sites. Also, certain bacteria and viruses undergo interspecific recombination, where different strains exchange or transfer DNA subsequences, leading to a tree topology change. We propose a phylogenetic factorial hidden Markov model to detect recombination and rate variation simultaneously. This is applied to two DNA sequence alignments: one bacterial (Neisseria) and another of type 1 human immunodeficiency virus. Inference is carried out in the Bayesian framework, using reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling.
Nowhere-zero flows and structures in cubic graphs

Wir widerlegen zwei Vermutungen, die im Zusammenhang mit Kreisuberdeckungen von kubischen Graphen stehen. Die erste Vermutung, welche kubische Graphen mit dominierenden Kreisen betrifft, widerlegen wir durch Erweiterung eines Theorems von Gallai uber induzierte eulersche Graphen und durch Konstruktion spezieller snarks. Die zweite Vermutung, welche frames betrifft, widerlegen wir durch Betrachtung der Frage nach der Existenz von speziellen spannenden Teilgraphen in 3-fach zusammenhangenden kubischen Graphen. Weiters ubersetzen wir Probleme uber Flusse in kubischen Graphen in Knotenfarbungsprobleme von planaren Graphen und erhalten eine neue Charakterisierung von snarks. Schliesslich verbessern und erweitern wir Resultate uber Knotenfarbungsprobleme in Quadrangulierungen. Zu Ende stellen wir neue Vermutungen auf, die im Zusammenhang mit Kreisuberdeckungen und Strukturen in kubischen Graphen stehen.
All-optical switching in silicon photonic waveguides with an epsilon-near-zero resonant cavity [Invited]

Strong nonlinearity of plasmonic metamaterials can be designed near their effective plasma frequency in the epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) regime. We explore the realization of an all-optical modulator based on the Au nonlinearity using an ENZ cavity formed by a few Au nanorods inside a Si photonic waveguide. The resulting modulator has robust performance with a modulation depth of about 30 dB/μm and loss less than 0.8 dB for switching energies below 600 fJ. The modulator provides a double advantage of high mode transmission and strong nonlinearity enhancement in the few-nanorod-based design.
Robust Direct Aperture Optimization Methods for Cardiac Sparing in Left-Sided Breast Cancer Radiation Therapy

Designing conformal and equipment-compatible radiation therapy plans is essential for ensuring high-quality treatment outcomes for cancer patients. Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is a commonly-used method of radiation delivery for cancer patients, wherein beams of radiation are individually contoured to cover a patient’s tumour cells while avoiding healthy cells and organs. In IMRT for left-sided breast cancer, the goal is to irradiate all cells in the breast tissue while avoiding the neighbouring, and extremely radiation-sensitive, heart cells. To add to the complexity of this treatment, the entire dose must be delivered while the patient is breathing, causing the location of the heart and target organs to move and deform unpredictably. The search for a plan that is of the highest quality for a specified set of parameters is called treatment plan optimization. One method of treatment plan optimization that provides an optimal radiation distribution, even under the worst-case realization of a patient’s motion uncertainty, uses a framework called robust optimization. A drawback of using this robust optimization framework, however, is that it does not immediately output physically deliverable IMRT plans. Rather, a subsequent, non-trivial post-processing phase must be applied to the output intensity distributions in order to generate an equipment-compatible plan; a process which can substantially degrade the treatment quality. In this thesis, a holistic approach that combines enforcement of delivery constraints with robust optimization is introduced. The process for creating deliverable plans is called direct aperture optimization (DAO), and the combined model is called robust DAO (RDAO). Novel modelling strategies for integrating the DAO requirements into a robust framework are presented, leading to a large-scale difficult-to-solve mixed integer programming problem. To contend with the complexity of the problem, additional modelling approaches are suggested for improving solution efficiency. These approaches include a hybrid heuristicoptimization technique, which provides good quality, but non-optimal treatment plans. Clinicians may use the output of this hybrid technique as is, or apply it as a warm start for the RDAO model. The models are implemented in C++ and CPLEX and results are presented, first using a one-dimensional phantom, and then a three-dimensional clinical patient dataset. While the full RDAO model is quite time-consuming to run, high-quality plans are ultimately produced. These plans are both clinically deliverable and mitigate the risk of underdosing a patient’s cancerous cells under motion uncertainty, demonstrating their value over plans that did not account for motion uncertainty.
Corporate Expenditures and Pension Contributions: Evidence from UK Company Accounts

This paper examines how corporate behaviour is related to financial pressure, where the financial pressure is on account of pension contributions to the company pension scheme. Using a large panel of quoted non-financial UK firms from 1983-2002, we estimate generalised methods of moments models for dividends and investment. Our results suggest that dividends are reduced in response to higher pension contributions. There is only weak evidence of any impact on investment. Companies that seek to tackle underfunding of defined benefit pension schemes by raising their contributions could pay lower dividends than they would have otherwise.
A Comparative Analysis on Visualization of Microarray Gene Expression Data

The Visualization of biological data is one of the most challenging processes, and, visualization of the computed biclustered data still remains an open issue. Biclustering has become one of the most popular method for classifying the data. There is no standard visualization technique for biclustered data. Visualization of multiple biclusters is very harder to implement because of the overlapping property. For the efficient analysis of the vast gene expression data it is better to visualize it in 3D.
The Lifeworld of Leadership: Creating Culture, Community, and Personal Meaning in Our Schools

The Lifeworld at the Center. School Character, School Effectiveness. Competence and Caring in Action. Community in a Diverse Society. Layered Standards and Shared Accountability. Whole Child, Whole School, Holistic Assessment. Teachers: Keys to School Improvement. Deep Change and the Power of Localism. Leadership, Democracy, and the Lifeworld.
A Solution for the Bi-Objective Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows Using Local Search and Genetic Algorithms

This paper deals with the vehicle routing problem with time windows (VRPTW). The VRPTW routes a set of vehicles to service customers having two-sided time windows, i.e. earliest and latest start of service times. The demand requests are served by capacitated vehicles with limited travel times to return to the depot. The purpose of this paper is to develop a hybrid algorithm that uses the modified push forward insertion heuristic (MPFIH), a λ-interchange local search descent method (λ-LSD) and a genetic algorithm to solve the VRPTW with two objectives. The first objective aims to determine the minimum number of vehicles required and the second is to find the solution that minimizes the total travel time. A set of well-known benchmark problems are used to compare the quality of solutions. The results show that the proposed algorithm provides effective solutions compared with best found solutions and better than another heuristic used for comparison.