Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Accumulation of amino acids by Saccharomyces cerevisiae Y185 with phospholipids enriched in different fatty-acyl residues: a statistical analysis of data

SUMMARY: Saccharomyces cerevisiae Y185, grown anaerobically in media containing ergosterol and palmitoleic, oleic or linoleic acids, synthesized phospholipids extensively enriched in the exogenously supplied fatty acid. A study was made of the effect of solute concentration on rates of accumulation of nine amino acids by organisms enriched in different fatty-acyl residues. Data were fitted using computer-aided statistical analysis to three equations to derive kinetic constants for accumulation. Analysis of data for two of the amino acids, namely L-threonine and L-histidine, showed different kinetics in organisms enriched in different fatty-acyl residues. Woolf-Hofstee plots for accumulation of L-threonine, as well as L-serine, showed abrupt changes in curvature at low concentrations with differently enriched organisms. Data for accumulation of both amino acids gave a significant fit to the model describing accumulation by one transport system without diffusion. Data for accumulation of L-histidine as well as L-aspartic acid best fitted a model describing accumulation by one transport system and diffusion. Values for K T and the diffusion constant, but not V max, differed only for accumulation of L-histidine in organisms with different fatty-acyl enrichments. A third model, describing accumulation by two separable transport systems, best fitted data for accumulation of L-glutamic acid and L-methionine. Data for accumulation of L-leucine, L-isoleucine and L-valine could not be fitted to any of the models. Woolf-Hofstee plots for accumulation of L-leucine and L-isoleucine by organisms enriched in oleyl or linoleyl residues were superimposable, although similar plots for accumulation of L-valine differed in shape.
Sovereign Wealth Funds and Domestic Investment in Resource-Rich Countries: Love Me, or Love Me Not?

Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) represent a large and growing pool of savings. An increasing number of these funds are owned by natural resource, exporting countries and have a variety of objectives, including intergenerational equity and macroeconomic stabilization. Traditionally, these funds have invested in external assets, especially securities traded in major markets. But the persistent infrastructure financing gap in developing countries has motivated some governments to encourage their SWFs to invest domestically. Is it appropriate to use SWFs to finance long-term development needs? Does it matter whether such investments are domestic or foreign-held assets? This note considers these issues, particularly the controversial question of using SWFs to finance domestic projects, motivated partly by SWFs' perceived importance for development.
Design of An Error-robust Memory-based VLC Decoder for Dual-mode Video Decoding

This thesis proposed entropy decoder which can support dual-mode video format (H.264/AVC and MPEG-2) decoding and improved memory efficiency. The entropy decoder adopts multi-table merging (MTM) algorithm and is programmable. First, for a coding table, all codewords are separated into different groups and only the most significant information of each group is stored in memory. The decoding can be completed by looking up information needed and arithmetic computation such that the symbol address is known. Under this type of decoding, memory space can be reduced compared to conventional VLC decoder. For multiple tables, the redundancies between group information of each table are further exploited and only different parts are stored in the memory. By the modified MTM algorithm, the proposed can store information needed for the standards with higher memory efficiency and less memory space. This thesis also proposed a scheme which can stop error propagation without transmission of extra data helping stop error propagation, i.e., no additional bandwidth overhead. In this method, the stopping error propagation module is activated when the bit reliability coming from FEC is low enough. The error resynchronization information is stored in the memory and block boundary prediction is achieved with the information. Once the block boundary, the following block can be correctly decoded and error propagation can be restricted. The searching of information used group-based VLC decoding algorithm to determine if prediction is finished. In the algorithm level, the method is combined with conventional group-based VLC decoding; in the viewpoint of hardware implementation, the complexity is low. Owing to stopping error propagation from this scheme, video quality is improved drastically.
Optimal Corporate Investment and Financing Policies with Time-Varying Investment Opportunities

Bolton, Chen and Wang (2009) propose a model (the BCW model) of dynamic corporate investment, financing, and risk management for a financially constrained firm. In the BCW model, corporate risk management is a combination of internal liquidity management, financial hedging, investment, and payout decisions. However, Bolton et al. (2009) assume that the firm's investment opportunities are constant over time, which is unrealistic in many situations. I extend the analytical tractable dynamic framework of Bolton et al. (2009) for firms facing stochastic investment opportunities. My extended model can help financially constrained firms to optimally choose external financing (equity or credit line), internal cash accumulation, corporate investment, risk management and payout policies in an environment subjective to time-varying productivity shocks. The differences of policies from the BCW model and my extended model, as well as the optimal and non-optimal policies are also compared. Thesis Supervisor: John E. Parsons Title: Senior Lecturer, Sloan School of Management
Rainfall Anomaly SSTA

Using global rainfall and sea surface temperature (SST) data for the past two decades (19791998), we have investigated the intrinsic modes of Asian summer monsoon (ASM) and ENSO co-variability. Three recurring ASM rainfall-SST coupled modes were identified. The first is a basin scale mode that features SST and rainfall variability over the entire tropics (including the ASM region), identifiable with those occurring during El Nifio or La Nifia. This mode is further characterized by a pronounced biennial variation in ASM rainfall and SST associated with fluctuations of the anomalous Walker circulation that occur during El Nifio/La Nifia transitions. The second mode comprises mixed regional and basin-scale rainfall and SST signals, with pronounced intraseasonal and interannual variabilities. This mode features a SST pattern associated with a developing La Nifia, with a pronounced low level anticyclone in the subtropics of the western Pacific off the coast of East Asia. The third mode depicts an east-west rainfall and SST dipole across the southern equatorial Indian Ocean, most likely stemming from coupled ocean-atmosphere processes within the ASM region. This mode also possesses a decadal time scale and a linear trend, which are not associated with E1 Nifio/La Nifia variability. Possible causes of year-to-year rainfall variability over the ASM and sub-regions have been evaluated from a reconstruction of the observed rainfall from singular eigenvectors of the coupled modes. It is found that while basin-scale SST can account for portions of ASM rainfall variability during ENSO events (up to 60% in 1998), regional processes can accounts up to 2025% of the rainfall variability in typical non-ENSO years. Stronger monsoon-ENSO relationship tends to occur in the boreal summer immediately preceding a pronounced La Nifia, i.e., 1998, 1988 and 1983. Based on these results, we discuss the possible impacts of the ASM on ENSOvariability via thewestPacificanticycloneandarticulateahypothesisthatanomalous wind forcingsderivedfrom theanticyclonemaybeinstrumentalin inducingastrongbiennial modulationto naturalENSOcycles.
Motivating Online Publication of Data

Despite policies and calls for scientists to make data available, this is not happening for most environmental- and biodiversity-related data because scientists' concerns about these efforts have not been answered and initiatives to motivate scientists to comply have been inadequate. Many of the issues regarding data availability can be addressed if the principles of “publication” rather than “sharing” are applied. However, online data publication systems also need to develop mechanisms for data citation and indices of data access comparable to those for citation systems in print journals.
Urban Form and Social Context: Cultural Differentiation in the Uses of Urban Parks

The paper examines four case studies of neighborhood parks in socially and ethnically diverse communities of Los Angeles in order to explore similarities and differences of their uses and assigned meanings. More specifically, the study utilizes structured field observations and surveys of users in order to examine sociocultural patterns of park use, the relevance of past models of park design, and the level of fit between current park form and contemporary user needs.
cXcl 12 suppresses cisplatin-induced apoptosis through activation of JaK 2 / sTaT 3 signaling in human non-small-cell lung cancer cells

and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/). By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms (https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php). OncoTargets and Therapy 2017:10 3215–3224 OncoTargets and Therapy Dovepress
R 9 Physical and Chemical Characteristics Related to Handling and Storage of DDGS Introduction

COMPARED TO OTHER FEED INGREDIENTS, DDGS HAS SOME UNIQUE PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS that affect storage and handling characteristics. The use of DDGS in livestock, poultry, and aquaculture feeds has created challenges in several stages of the ingredient handling, transport, storage, and manufacturing including dif culty unloading rail cars, containers and bulk vessels; dif culty with moving and storing DDGS using conventional feeder screws and storage bins; pellet quality and production rates (discussed in detail in Chapters 17, 22 and 25), and managing nutrient variability to avoid the risk of compound feeds not meeting desired nutrient speci cations (discussed in detail in Chapters 7, 21 and 24).
Anti-hepatotoxic Effect of Root Ethanol Extract of Cyclea peltata against Acetaminophen Induced Oxidative Stress in Wistar Rats and in vitro Primary Hepatocyte Culture

Cyclea peltata (Poir.) Hook. f. & Thoms. (Menispermaceae) locally called ‘Padathaali’ or ‘Padakkizhangu’ is used in traditional medicine of Kerala to treat jaundice. The Kurichiya tribe of Kerala, India uses the tuberous roots of this plant along with a little salt to treat gastric pain. In the present study the root ethanolic extract of C. peltata (CP) was scientifically evaluated for in vivo acetaminophen (APAP) induced liver damage in Wistar rats, in vitro free radical scavenging, in vitro primary hepatocyte culture and estimation of tetrandrine using high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC). The Results showed that pretreatment with CP 250 and 500 mg/kg produced significant reduction of serum biochemical parameters (alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), bilirubin (SB) and cholesterol in APAP treated rats which was almost comparable to the standard drug silymarin (100 mg/kg). Histopathological studies also substantiated the biochemical findings. Both the doses of CP significantly decreased the malondialdehyde (MDA) and increased the reduced glutathione (GSH) levels of APAP treated rats in a dose dependent manner. In vitro primary hepatocyte culture with 10mM APAP+CP showed significant increase in cell viability and decrease in ALT, AST leakage into the culture medium. In vitro antioxidant studies with CP showed significant antilipid peroxidative and free radical scavenging (hydroxyl, superoxide and DPPH) effects. Thus results of the present study shows that hepatoprotective property of C. peltata may be due to reduction of lipid peroxidation, prevention of GSH depletion and hepatocyte membrane stabilizing effects.
Supply-Chain Coopetition

This paper addresses the power struggle among supply chain partners. It is asserted that when firms are collaborating to deliver value in the market; the creation of critical asset requires more than just monopoly ownership of supply of a resource over competitors. A critical asset can only be truly owned and/or controlled effectively to leverage value if there is a dominance of one party in an exchange relationship over another. The implication is that to better understand the rent-earning capability of any supply chain resource, the relative power attributes of both buyer and supplier must be understood. Specifically these rents are earnings in excess of the firm's costs of production that are not eroded in the long run by new market entrants. In economic terms, rents persist in long-run equilibrium while profits tend towards zero.
Electromagnetic Modeling and Design of Medical Implants and Devices

This thesis covers two topics in biomedical electromagnetics: pacemaker lead heating in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and optimization of sensor positions in magnetic tracking. The electromagnetic part of pacemaker lead heating during MRI is a resonant phenomenon which is complicated by, among other factors, the wide range of length scales involved in the problem. In this work, the multi-scale part of the problem is taken into special consideration during the modeling process. The model incorporates a radio frequency coil, a human body phantom,and a highly detailed model of a pacemaker system with a bipolar lead that features helix-shaped conductors. Several configurations of pacemaker systems exposed to MRI are modeled and the results clearly show the importance of detailed lead modeling. Furthermore, modeling of resonant structures is investigated by a comparison between different modeling techniques. In addition, a meshing scheme for thin-wire approximations of helices is proposed, evaluated, and found to have improved convergence properties as compared to the conventional meshing approach. In recent years, magnetic tracking has been applied in many biomedical settings due to the transparency of the human body to low-frequency magnetic fields. In this work, the sensor positions of a magnetic tracking system are optimized by exploiting an analytical model where the transmitting and sensing coils of the system are approximated by magnetic dipoles. In order to compare different sensor array layouts, two performance measures based on the Fisher information matrix are discussed and compared for the optimization of the sensor positions of a circular sensor array. Furthermore, the sensor positioning problem is formulated as an optimization problem which is cast as a sensor selection problem. The sensor selection problem is solved for a planar sensor array by the application of a convex relaxation. Several transmitter positions are considered and general results are established for the dependence of the optimal sensor positions on the transmitter’s position and orientation.
Investigation of Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Findings in Patients with Absence Status Epilepticus

Ad dress for Cor res pon den ce/Ya z›fl ma Ad re si: Zeynep Aydın Özemir MD, İstanbul University İstanbul Faculty of Medicine, Department of Neurology, Division of Clinical Neurophysiology, İstanbul, Turkey Phone: +90 505 803 21 26 E-mail: drzeynepaydin@yahoo.com Re cei ved/Ge lifl Ta ri hi: 10.11. 2015 Ac cep ted/Ka bul Ta ri hi: 11.02. 2016 Objective: Absence status epilepticus (ASE) has been well recognized for many years, but its pathophysiology has not yet been illuminated and there are speculations about GABAergic mechanisms. We aimed to study the etiopathogenesis of ASE by using magnetic resonance-spectroscopy (MRS), which gives in vivo information about neuronal loss and/or dysfunction by correlating the results with ageand sex-matched normal healthy controls (HC). Materials and Methods: Four patients with genetic generalized epilepsy (GGE), which was diagnosed in accordance with the International League Against Epilepsy criteria, with recurrent ASE were investigated. The control groups consisted of ten ageand sex-matched patients with HC and ten patients with GGE. MRS measurements of N-acetylaspartate (NAA), choline-containing compounds (Cho), and creatine (Cr) were performed in the frontal lobes and thalamus bilaterally with a voxel size of 20x20x20 mm, the values of the patients were compared with those of the controls using appropriate statistical tests. Results: In patients with ASE, NAA/Cr levels were decreased when compared with those with HC and GGE in the frontal lobes and thalamus. Moreover, frontal lobe Cho values and Cho/Cr ratios were elevated in all patients with GGE, and more pronounced in patients with ASE comparison with those with HC. There was a positive correlation of ASE with the frontal Cho/Cr ratio and a negative correlation with NAA/Cr ratios in patients with GGE (p=0.002, z=-0.745). The presence of absence seizures related negatively to the thalamic NAA/Cr ratio and NAA levels. Prognosis showed a negative correlation with thalamic NAA levels (p=0.026, z=-0.591) and the NAA/Cr ratio (p=0.013, z=-0.645). Conclusion: Although our sample size was small due to the rarity of the condition, this first MRS study in patients with ASE showed that neuronal dysfunction in frontal lobes and thalamus was more pronounced when compared with those with GGE and related to poor prognosis. Our study suggested that the dysfunction in thalamocortical circuits might underlie ASE attacks.
Generative Shape Optimization of Soft Pneumatic Actuators Using Cloth-Simulation

Soft robotics has shown a lot of great promise in recent years. However, most of the soft muscles/actuators used today often rely on designs developed in the 1950s and requires the use of different materials to achieve actuation. In this thesis the generative design paradigm was used to design such soft inflatable actuators, using a single thickness, and a single material. This thesis, in particular, focuses on optimizing the surface shape of such actuators, in order to make them contract as much as possible when inflated. A variety of different search spaces were explored, first by using a basic sine function. An optimal amplitude was found, and further results in these experiments indicated that several actuators in series were beneficial for contraction. Evolutionary algorithms were also used to find an optimal number, and magnitude of b-spline control points, to design a soft actuator for optimal contraction. In the simulation, an optimal shape was found, with a fitness exceeding that of the sine-function based actuators. Then these optimal actuators were tested, with external forces applied to both sides, simulating stretch. It was found that the area between the individual vertices in the mesh greatly impacted the stretch of each actuator and that this test not necessarily gave a good indication of the strength. However, by visual inspection some useful conjecture could be derived, in that, the more uniform shapes seemed to stretch less than the more complex shapes.
Kinetics of HIV-1 Uncoating in C20 Microglial Cells

Uncoating is a poorly understood yet required step of HIV-1 replication that is defined as the disassembly of the viral capsid structure. The goal of this project is to characterize uncoating in C20 microglial cells. These cells are a natural target of HIV-1 that are infected to establish latent viral reservoirs and HIV-associated neurological disorders. A stable C20 cell line that expresses TRIM-CypA was established to study the kinetics of uncoating with the CsA washout assay. The expression of TRIM-CypA was confirmed by western blot and the functionality of the protein was confirmed by a viral infectivity assay. Using this cell line, uncoating was found to have an average half-life of 63.3 min. Viral fusion assays determined the kinetics of viral fusion in C20 cells compared to uncoating. The average half-life of viral fusion was found to be 40.9 min. To characterize the effect of CsA on HIV infectivity in C20 cells a viral infectivity assay was performed in the presence and absence of CsA. It was discovered that HIV infectivity was slightly lower in the presence of CsA. The study of uncoating kinetics in microglial cells will give more insight on how HIV establishes infection in brain cells which contributes to a larger goal of developing better therapies, a vaccine, and ultimately, a cure to HIV.
Nucleation kinetics , growth and studies of diglycine magnesium sulfate crystals

A semi-organic crystal viz. diglycine magnesium sulfate crystal has been grown by solution method with slow evaporation technique. The solubility of the sample was carried out by gravitational method at various temperatures. Nucleation parameters were evaluated at different values of supersaturation ratio. The grown crystal was subjected to single crystal XRD studies to find the lattice parameters. Microhardness was measured by using a Vickers microhardness tester at different applied loads. The grown crystal does not show second harmonic generation (SHG) behavior. Functional groups of the sample have been identified. Complex impedance values were measured at different frequencies and temperatures and the results are discussed.
The Measurement, Evaluation, and Performance of Managers and Employees in Kosovo’s Enterprises

In the market economy and in terms of an increasing competition, enterprises try to use as effectively as possible all of their sources. Therefore, in such competitive environment, in order to develop the organization, it is necessary to manage human resources with various methods and techniques. Human resources that are motivated and well selected are considered as a competitive advantage for the enterprise. Training the managerial staff and employees helps in increasing business’s performance. A strategic and integrated approach to provide stable success for the enterprise is the improvement of performance for the people that work there by developing the practical and individual skills of the team. One of the elements that has been tried to be treated in this paper is the management of performance, the management of performance systems, the methods of evaluating the performance and the importance of measuring workers performance for the enterprise. This paper contains empirical data, collected through questionnaires and interviews, and also secondary data based on the existing literature about issues that have to do with the management of performance. Therefore, through this research we intend to analyze the measurement and evaluation of managers and workers’ performance in Kosovo enterprises by using comparative reviews. In order to be clear, we have first compiled a questionnaire which will help us in developing the contact. The implementation of the questionnaire, the methodology and the formation of the sample is realized by analyzing the determining factors that affect the measurement and evaluation of managers and workers performance. The research was realized with owners, managers and workers of enterprises in Kosovo. The sample is intentional (not probable). Having very little literature in this field, we hope to have helped at least a bit for everyone interested in this field.