Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cavity ring-down spectroscopy using an EC-QCL operating at 7.5 µm for direct monitoring of methane isotopes in air

A number of atmospheric pollutants and greenhouse gases have strong fundamental vibrational transitions within the spectral range of 7.5–8 µm, which marks the region as particularly important for trace gas sensing. Here, we report the development of a mid-infrared continuous-wave (cw) cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) technique coupled with an external-cavity (EC) mode-hop-free quantum cascade laser (QCL) operating at 7.5 µm. We validated the EC-QCL based high-resolution cw-CRDS system by measuring 12CH4 and 13CH4 isotopes of methane (CH4) which served as a benchmark molecule. The direct, quantitative and selective measurements of 12C and 13C isotopes of CH4 in ambient air as well as in human breath samples in the levels of parts per billion by volume were made by probing one of the strongest fundamental vibrational transitions of CH4 arising from the asymmetric bending (ν4 band) vibrations of the bonds centred at ~1327.244 cm−1 and ~1332.946 cm−1, respectively. We achieved a noise-equivalent absorption coefficient of 1.86 × 10−9 cm−1 Hz−1/2 with 100 Hz data acquisition rate for the current cw-CRDS spectrometer. The current high-resolution cw-CRDS system could be further exploited to harness the full advantage of the spectral region covering 7.5–8 µm to monitor several other trace molecular species along with their isotopic compositions.
La formación del directivo empresarial como variable estratégica de cambio

Desde una perspectiva crítica, se pretende señalar que relevantes teorías organizacionales no han sido todavía incorporadas a los currícula básicos de los directivos empresariales, así como la pervivencia de la tradicional desconexión universidad-empresa. Entre los enfoques teóricos que formarían parte de esta "distancia conceptual" se encontrarían el concepto axiológico de empresa (productora, exclusivante, de sistemas de valores) ; el cálculo de la eficiencia empresarial (o relación entre los valores producidos y medios empleados) ; el concepto de entorno al que debe adaptarse la empresa (análisis de los cambios sociales, económicos, culturales y otros) ; la concepción de la empresa como "sistema suma no cero" (lo que potenciaria o daría lugar a procesos de negociacion sinérgicos versus homeostáticos) y, por último, el diseño de un concepto de formación como correlato del plan estratégico de la empresa en respuesta a los desarios del entorno. Se apunta finalmente un proceso formativo al nivel global de empresa, que consta de ocho fases, llamado "plan estratégico-participativo de formación".
Levetiracetam in Refractory Pediatric Epilepsy

Levetiracetam, one of the newer-generation antiepilepsy drugs, is not currently approved for use in children. Given its favorable efficacy, pharmacokinetic, and, particularly, safety profile in adults, we felt that it may be a useful antiepilepsy drug for children with refractory epilepsy. We treated 39 patients (mean age 8.6 years) with open-label levetiracetam for up to 9 months. Seizure frequency, drug dosages, adverse events, and neurologic examinations were documented at baseline and routine follow-up visits. Levetiracetam, as add-on therapy, was effective in reducing seizure frequency in a variety of seizure types but was most effective for partial-onset seizures. Fourteen patients were discontinued for lack of efficacy or adverse events. Ten patients reported improvements in cognition or behavior. Levetiracetam was generally effective and well tolerated in this open-label study. Its apparent positive effects on cognition in some patients are encouraging. Large, well-controlled studies are needed to fully define levetiracetam's potential in children with refractory epilepsy. (J Child Neurol 2002;17:413-415).
Identifying Preschool Children at Risk of Later Reading Difficulties: Evaluation of Two Emergent Literacy Screening Tools

Emergent literacy skills are predictive of children’s early reading success, and literacy achievement in early schooling declines more rapidly for children who are below-average readers. It is therefore important for teachers to identify accurately children at risk for later reading difficulty so children can be exposed to effective emergent literacy interventions. In this study, 176 preschoolers were administered two screening tools, the Revised Get Ready to Read! (GRTR-R) and the Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDIs), and a diagnostic measure at two time points. Receiver operating characteristic curve analyses revealed that, at optimal cut scores, GRTR-R provided more accurate classification of children’s overall emergent literacy skills than did IGDIs. However, neither measure was particularly good at classifying specific emergent literacy skills.
A Note on Substitutional Quantification

Suppose thatL is a language with the first-order substitutional quantifiers "HI" and "X" instead of the referential quantifiers "VI" and "3". Then it is natural to offer the following definitions of validity and consequence, for a (closed) sentence o- of L: o- is valid if for each (substitutional) valuation V of L, V(o-)= T; o- is a logical consequence of a set X of sentences of L if for each valuation V of L such that V(r) = T for all r E X, V (o-) = T. In an influential paper ([1]), Dunn and Belnap show that upon these definitions strong completeness does not hold (a sentence may be a logical consequence of a set X but not provable from X), but claim that (weak) completeness does hold provided only that L has infinitely many (closed) terms. In this note I show that the claim about completeness is not quite correct: there may be valid sentences of L which are not provable, if the infinite set of terms inL is generated by finitely many constants and function letters. First, let us review the facts about strong completeness which were set out in [1]. (To give full generality, I drop the assumption thatL has infinitely many terms.) Suppose that (F is a one-place context for terms, thatX is {I t: t is a term,} and that o is the sentence (H)'Ax. Then o is a logical consequence of X but is not provable from X. By noticing that strong completeness fails even when L has only finitely many terms we can avoid any temptation to think, in cases where L has infinitely many terms, that the failure of strong completeness
Fentanyl Clearance and Volume of Distribution Are Increased in Patients With Major Burns

This study examined the pharmacokinetics of fentanyl in burned patients during the hyperdynamic phase. Twenty adults, aged 37 ± 2 years (mean ± SE), with 49 ± 3% total body surface area burn, were studied at 17 ± 2 days after the injury and compared to demographically matched controls. After a 200‐μg IV bolus of fentanyl, blood samples (n = 20) were collected for 4.5 hours. Concentration‐time curves were fitted to a 2‐compartment model. Burned patients had a higher cardiac index. Median fentanyl clearance (CL, 21.0 vs 29.4 mL/kg/min), central compartment volume (V1, 0.37 vs 0.61 L/kg), and total volume of distribution (Varea, 3.6 vs 5.8 L/kg) were higher in burned patients. Cardiac index was unrelated to CL. The increased V1 and Varea are likely due to large intravenous fluid replacement and tissue edema. Higher CL and larger V1 and Varea leading to a lower fentanyl plasma concentration may partially explain the increased opiate requirement previously observed after burn injury.
The Roles of Positive and Negative Utility in Predicting Online Wine Purchase Behavior

Abstract The transition from the old economy to the digital economy has been more challenging for some industries than others. One industry that faces many uncommon challenges is the wine industry, which has many risks to buyers and vendors beyond the ones typically found in E-Business. For example, in the United States many of the laws differ from state to state on what can be shipped from one location to another and from what type of company. Indeed, it is a felony for a winery to ship to some states. There are also legal restrictions around age verification requirements and questions regarding taxes. Taken together this legal ambiguity creates confusion in the supply chain and customer base. In addition the wine industry is far from commoditized. A great deal of variety in taste, quality and selection exists within the industry, which can be difficult for first time online wine buyers of a given product to ascertain without prior experience. This research attempts to study this unique market transition to the digital economy by building on prior research with positive and negative utility factors such as the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), perceived risk harm and likelihood, trust and related antecedents to purchase intentions.
Using RTCP to evaluate the QoS of multi-path transmission

According to current RTCP standards, the QoS of multi-path transmission could not be evaluated. A solution is purposed to solve the problem. A TLV-coded field, containing the packet routing, is added before RR/SR blocks. The kind of app-specific packet could be used to implement the solution, which makes the solution fully compatible with current RTCP standards. IP address is used to identify the transmission path, so there is a difference between IPv4 and IPv6 networks, making the solution complex. The solution could work properly, but still needs an improvement.
What you see predicts what you get - lightweight agent-based malware detection

Because of the always connected nature of mobile devices, as well as the unique interfaces they expose, such as short message service (SMS), multimedia messaging service (MMS), and Bluetooth, classes of mobile malware tend to propagate using means unseen in the desktop world. In this paper, we propose a lightweight malware detection system on mobile devices to detect, analyze, and predict malware propagating via SMS and MMS messages. We deploy agents in the form of hidden contacts on the device to capture messages sent from malicious applications. Once captured, messages can be further analyzed to identify a message signature as well as potentially a signature for the malicious application itself. By feeding the observed messages over time to a latent space model, the system can estimate the current dynamics and predict the future state of malware propagation within the mobility network. One distinct feature of our system is that it is lightweight and suitable for wide deployment. The system shows a good performance even when only 10% of mobile devices are equipped with three agents on each device. Moreover, the model is generic and independent of malware propagation schemes. We prototype the system on the Android platform in a universal mobile telecommunications system laboratory network to demonstrate the feasibility of deploying agents on mobile devices as well as collecting and blocking malware-carrying messages within the mobility network. We also show that the proposed latent space model estimates the state of malware propagation accurately, regardless of the propagation scheme. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Depletion of multiple high‐abundance proteins improves protein profiling capacities of human serum and plasma

Systematic detection of low‐abundance proteins in human blood that may be putative disease biomarkers is complicated by an extremely wide range of protein abundances. Hence, depletion of major proteins is one potential strategy for enhancing detection sensitivity in serum or plasma. This study compared a recently commercialized HPLC column containing antibodies to six of the most abundant blood proteins (“Top‐6 depletion”) with either older Cibacron blue/Protein A or G depletion methods or no depletion. In addition, a prototype spin column version of the HPLC column and an alternative prototype two antibody spin column were evaluated. The HPLC polyclonal antibody column and its spin column version are very promising methods for substantially simplifying human serum or plasma samples. These columns show the lowest nonspecific binding of the depletion methods tested. In contrast other affinity methods, particularly dye‐based resins, yielded many proteins in the bound fractions in addition to the targeted proteins. Depletion of six abundant proteins removed about 85% of the total protein from human serum or plasma, and this enabled 10‐ to 20‐fold higher amounts of depleted serum or plasma samples to be applied to 2‐D gels or alternative protein profiling methods such as protein array pixelation. However, the number of new spots detected on 2‐D gels was modest, and most newly visualized spots were minor forms of relatively abundant proteins. The inability to detect low‐abundance proteins near expected 2‐D staining limits was probably due to both the highly heterogeneous nature of most plasma or serum proteins and masking of many low‐abundance proteins by the next series of most abundant proteins. Hence, non2‐D methods such as protein array pixelation are more promising strategies for detecting lower abundance proteins after depleting the six abundant proteins.
ELMO1 Directly Interacts with Gβγ Subunit to Transduce GPCR Signaling to Rac1 Activation in Chemotaxis

Diverse chemokines bind to G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) to activate the small GTPase Rac to regulate F-actin dynamics during chemotaxis. ELMO and Dock proteins form complexes that function as guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) for Rac activation. However, the linkage between GPCR activation and the ELMO/Dock-mediated Rac activation is not fully understood. In the present study, we show that chemoattractants induce dynamic membrane translocation of ELMO1 in mammalian cells. ELMO1 plays an important role in GPCR-mediated chemotaxis. We also reveal that ELMO1 and Dock1 form a stable complex. Importantly, activation of chemokine GPCR promotes the interaction between ELMO1 and Gβγ. The ELMO1-Gβγ interaction is through the N-terminus of ELMO1 protein and is important for the membrane translocation of ELMO1. ELMO1 is required for Rac1 activation upon chemoattractant stimulation. Our results suggest that chemokine GPCR-mediated interaction between Gβγ and ELMO1/Dock1 complex might serve as an evolutionarily conserved mechanism for Rac activation to regulate actin cytoskeleton for chemotaxis of human cells.
“Fusion and binding inhibition” key target for HIV-1 treatment and pre-exposure prophylaxis: targets, drug delivery and nanotechnology approaches

Abstract More than 35 million people are living with HIV worldwide with approximately 2.3 million new infections per year. Cascade of events (cell entry, virus replication, assembly and release of newly formed virions) is involved in the HIV-1 transmission process. Every single step offers a potential therapeutic strategy to halt this progression and HIV fusion into the human host cell is one such stage. Controlling the initial event of HIV-1 transmission is the best way to control its dissemination especially when prophylaxis is concerned. Action is required either on the HIV’s or host’s cell surface which is logically more rational when compared with other intracellular acting moieties. Aim of this manuscript is to detail the significance and current strategies to halt this initial step, thus blocking the entry of HIV-1 for further infection. Both HIV-1 and the possible host cell’s receptors/co-receptors are under focus while specifying the targets available for inhibiting this fusion. Current and under investigation moieties are categorized based on their versatile mechanisms. Advanced drug delivery and nanotechnology approaches present a key tool to exploit the therapeutic potential in a boosted way. Current drug delivery and the impact of nanotechnology in potentiating this strategy are detailed.
Effect of alpha-adrenergic blockade on blood pressure, glucose, and lipid metabolism in hypertensive patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

To clarify the long-term effects of alpha-adrenergic blockade on blood pressure, glucose, and lipid metabolism, a selective alpha 1-adrenergic inhibitor (prazosin, 1.0 to 2.0 mg/day in divided doses) was administered as a single antihypertensive agent to 10 (four men and six women, aged 52 to 76 years) hypertensive patients (systolic blood pressure [SBP] greater than or equal to 150 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure [DBP] greater than or equal to 90 mm Hg) with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) for up to 20 weeks. Blood pressure, glucose tolerance and immunoreactive insulin (IRI) response to 75 gm oral glucose load, hemoglobin A1 (Hb A1), serum lipid profile, and serum apolipoprotein were examined before and after treatment. SBP and DBP were significantly reduced at 20 weeks after treatment with the selective alpha 1-adrenergic inhibitor (SBP 167 +/- 6 mm Hg versus 152 +/- 7 mm Hg; DBP 81 +/- 3 mm Hg versus 76 +/- 3 mm Hg, (p less than 0.05 and p less than 0.01, respectively). Glucose tolerance and IRI response to glucose load were not significantly changed at 4 and 12 to 20 weeks after selective alpha 1-inhibitor treatment compared with the baseline data before treatment; the level of Hb A1 was not significantly changed at 4 and 20 weeks after treatment. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The Role of CDX 2 in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

BACKGROUND Introduction The intestinal epithelium is the most vigorously self-renewing tissue of adult mammals and consists of four well-characterised types of differentiated cells: absorptive enterocyte cells (or colonocytes in the large intestine), mucus-secreting goblet cells, enteroendocrine cells and antimicrobial peptide producing Paneth cells (specialised cells in the epithelium of the small intestine) [1,2]. Three additional subtypes of intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) have been discovered recently: M cells, cup cells, and Tuft cells [3]; however, their functions remain largely unknown. The continuous renewal of the intestinal epithelium causes a number of unique challenges. Thus rates of intestinal cell production must be precisely balanced by cell loss. Perturbations in this balance will compromise epithelial barrier function or, alternatively, result in the development of intestinal disorders [4]. Cell proliferation and differentiation are thus tightly controlled in the normal intestinal epithelium. Various genes and transcription factors may take part in this process, in which some are up-regulated and others are down-regulated. One of these well-studied factors is the Caudal-related homeobox transcription factor 2 (CDX2). CDX2 is a nuclear transcription factor that is essential for regulating genes related to epithelial functions [5-11] and controlling the balance between differentiation and proliferation of IECs [12]. Thus loss of accurate control of CDX2 expression has been demonstrated to cause a serious disruption in the mucosal architecture, leading to intestinal diseases and developmental disorders. In addition, accumulated knowledge indicates that CDX2 may be pivotal in intestinal inflammation. In fact, a linkage between the key pathways involved in inflammation and regulators of homeostasis is often seen [13,14], supporting the hypothesis that there might be a connection between intestinal inflammation and CDX2 expression. This PhD thesis explores the role of CDX2 in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and investigates the impact of proinflammatory pathways on CDX2 expression and its target genes.
Mapping the uncertainty of changes in vegetation cover in and around the brussels capital region

Images from medium-resolution satellites are frequently used to study changes in urban vegetation or impervious surface cover over relatively long time periods. In this paper, we applied both “hard” and “soft” mapping methods on two images covering the Brussels Capital Region in a time span of roughly 20 years. Although soft approaches are more accurate because they take the occurrence of mixed pixels into account, errors that result from the application of sub-pixel proportion estimation methods nevertheless propagate if the maps are used for change analysis. In this paper, we propose a method to take uncertainty in sub-pixel classification into account when producing change maps.
Wer weiß, was die Zukunft bringen wird? - Prognosen als erkenntnistheoretische Herausforderung

Do we sometimes know what will happen in the future? There are two intuitively plausible answers. The prognostic thesis says that we frequently know what will happen, the agnostic thesis says that we never do. Examining the question in the light of different conditions of knowledge supports the prognostic thesis. Yet there is still room for the agnostic intuition, as an expression of our necessarily suboptimal epistemic situation with respect to the future, but also of our freedom, in principle, to shape the world as we like to.
Morphology of the oviduct of commercial egg-laying hens supplemented with organic minerals.

OBJECTIVE To analyze the morphology of the oviduct of commercial egg-laying hens supplemented with organic minerals. STUDY DESIGN A total of 2,400 Dekalb hens at 42 weeks of age were included in the study. Throughout the period of the experiment (10 months, divided into 4 periods of 10 weeks each) a supplement was administered. The animals were divided at random into 2 groups, each consisting of 1,200 hens: Group I, the control group of hens that did not receive the supplement, and Group II, the group of hens that were administered the supplement. The morphology of the oviduct was evaluated; all tests were performed from 52 to 82 weeks. After the hens were sacrificed by cervical dislocation, fragments of the oviduct were collected, 10 hens per group, which were fixed in Bouin liquid for 6 hours. Then they were processed and analyzed for light microscopy. RESULTS Analyzing the hens' oviduct, there was no change in weight of organs, but microscopy revealed that the hens' oviduct epithelium in Group II was preserved, with uniform cilia. CONCLUSION Based on our results we can conclude that the organic mineral supplementation causes an improvement in hens' oviduct morphology.
Assessing Mobile Robotic Telepresence Based On Measures of Social Telepresence

The feedbacks obtained regarding the sense of presence from pilot users operating a Mobile Robotic presence (MRP) system to visit a simulated museum are reported in this paper. The aim is to investigate how much the perception of system’s usefulness and ease of use is affected by operators’ sense of social telepresence (presence) in the remote location. Therefore, scenarios of visiting a museum are simulated and the user operators are supposed to perform some regular tasks inside the remote environment including interaction with local users, navigation and visiting the artworks. Participants were divided into two groups, those who had previous experience of operation and interaction with a MRP system and those who never had experience. Based on the results, both groups provided different feedbacks. Moreover, there was a significant association between user’s sense of presence and their perception of system usefulness and ease of use. Keywords—Mobile Robotic Telepresence, Museum, Social Telepresence, Usability test.
Pérdidas en curvaturas del estándar de fibra óptica g-657 para su implantación en la última milla

The solutions based on FTTx are in continuous expansion, parallel to their associate problematic. Due to the lack of a mathematical trustworthy model who predicts the bend losses of an optical fiber in conjunction with climatic fluctuations , in this work the characterization of special fibers for their implantation in the last mile of an hypothetical broad band system is presented; characterization that returns in essentially to guarantee his suitability in a certain environment and subject to variations. The fiber tested supports perfectly the most aggressive tests with real applicability against his structure, without exceeding the limits of the manufacturer and this way one concludes his suitability for this intention.