Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Taking the Crowd by the Hand – The Intermediary Role of Crowdfunding Platforms

We exploit a policy change at a leading reward-based crowdfunding platform, Kickstarter, that presumably led to a considerable influx of low-quality projects. In fact, we observe an increase of about 50% of technology projects per week following Kickstarter’s decision to abandon due diligence prior to a project’s launch. We further find that this policy change had no immediate effect on the number of funders, but led to a decline in the average project description length and the financing rate of projects. Conditional on being financed, projects launched without due diligence are subject to a lower reward delivery rate and receive more negative feedback from funders. Our results suggest that funders fall short in distinguishing projects of different qualities. This gives platform governance a vital role in preventing information-related market failure and in establishing crowdfunding as a viable alternative for the financing of new ventures and innovation.
University of Dundee Structure of PINK 1 and mechanisms of Parkinson ' s disease associated mutations

Mutations in the human kinase PINK1 (hPINK1) are associated with autosomal recessive early-onset Parkinson’s disease (PD). hPINK1 activates Parkin E3 ligase activity, involving phosphorylation of ubiquitin and the Parkin ubiquitin-like (Ubl) domain via as yet poorly understood mechanisms. hPINK1 is unusual amongst kinases due to the presence of three loop insertions of unknown function. We report the structure of Tribolium castaneum PINK1 (TcPINK1), revealing several unique extensions to the canonical protein kinase fold. The third insertion, together with autophosphorylation at residue Ser205, contributes to formation of a bowl-shaped binding site for ubiquitin. We also define a novel structural element within the second insertion that is held together by a distal loop that is critical for TcPINK1 activity. The structure of TcPINK1 explains how PD-linked mutations that lie within the kinase domain result in hPINK1 loss-of-function and provides a platform for the exploration of small molecule modulators of hPINK1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.29985. 00
Digitalization in the Financial Services Industry: Fostering Innovation Through Fintechs and Blockchain Technology

Digitalization is forcing organizations to continuously evaluate and innovate their business models (Bharadwaj et al. 2013). In particular, digital innovation is leading to fundamental changes in the financial services industry (Barberis and Chishti 2016). Agile and innovative financial technology startups (fintechs) are known as a driver of these changes, since they address emerging customer demands by developing innovative technology-based solutions with user-centered approaches (Ansari and Krop 2012; Christensen 2013). Further, experts attribute a fundamental impact on the financial services industry to blockchain technology as an emerging disintermediating digital innovation (Beck et al. 2016; Wright and Filippi 2015). Fintechs and blockchain represent not only threats and sources of disruption for incumbent organizations, but also opportunities for collaboration and enhancement of their innovativeness (Economist Intelligence Unit 2015). For instance, various financial services institutions have initiated cooperations with fintechs, have launched blockchain research projects, and have expedited prototypical blockchain implementations (Fridgen et al. 2018b; Holotiuk et al. 2018; Kaaru 2018). Although the financial services industry is key to almost every economy (McKinnon 1973; Odedokun 1996; Schmitt 1974), the research has lagged behind in comprehensively analyzing the phenomenon of digitalization in the financial services industry, with a particular focus on fintechs and blockchain technology. To date, neither the cooperation patterns between incumbents and fintechs nor blockchain technology and its characteristics and applications have been thoroughly analyzed or evaluated. In this thesis, I address this research gap by applying a multimethodological approach, structured in four research essays. Essay 1 identifies and evaluates the design parameters of bank-fintech cooperations and proposes a taxonomy for the classification of real-world cases. This scientifically validated taxonomy will allow one to strategically plan, analyze, and enter cooperations along the design dimensions and characteristics. Essay 2 examines blockchain technology and its potential to disintermediate existing structures, with a specific focus on crowdlending. Particularly, the results show that blockchain represents an alternative to existing IT infrastructures and can enable otherwise unsustainable (social) business models, mainly by replacing intermediaries. Essay 3 analyzes initial coin offerings (ICOs) as a disintermediated
The Physiology and Biochemistry of the Digestion System of Termites from the Genus Anacanthotermes Jacobson, 1904

A variety of morphological and functional features of the digestive system of termites is associated with their nutritional adaptation. Wood is mostly the food of termites’ adult larvae, workers and young nymphs. The salivary and intestinal enzymes play an important part in this process. The physiology and biochemistry of the digestion system of termites from the genus Anacanthotermes is still not fully studied. In the present research, we studied the activity of some carbohydrases in termites’ salivary glands. Our data show that the activity of exocellulase in adult termites is 1.5 times more that in young individuals and 3 times more active than in nymphs, while the exocellulase in soldiers remains inactive. Moreover, the activity of celluloses in the intestine of A. turkestanicus is still not fully studied. We observed that exocellulase is involved in the digestion of food polymers in the castes of termites-workers, nymphs and soldiers. Thus, cellulase activity in the intestinal tissue (intrinsic) is manifested at a very low level in all termites’ castes we studied. However, the activity of exocellulase in the intestinal cavity (symbiotic) increases 3.5 times in workers, 3.0 times in nymphs and 2.4 times in soldiers compared to that in intestinal tissue. In addition, the intrinsic activity of this enzyme differed little in all three castes of termites, whereas the symbiotic activity in workers and nymphs was more showed than in soldiers.
Global stabilization of the PVTOL aircraft with lateral coupling and bounded inputs

This thesis focuses on the global stabilization of the Planar Vertical Take-Off and Landing (PVTOL) aircraft. Such a system has a complex dynamics that renders difficult the design of controllers oriented to solve the global stabilization problem. This is mainly due to its under-actuated nature. In addition, other limitations are considered in this study: the positive (unidirectional) character of the thrust and the bounded nature of the inputs. A first approach that solves the global stabilization problem, taking the mentioned restrictions into account, was proposed by A. Zavala-Ŕıo, I. Fantoni, and R. Lozano in 2003; however the lateral coupling parameter ε was neglected due to the small value that it usually has in practice, simplifying the system dynamics. Nevertheless the simulation results that were performed to corroborate the efficiency of the proposed scheme, show that the control objective is achieved even taking positive values of ε. On the other hand, recent works have proposed solutions to the global stabilization problem considering the whole system dynamics, but they depend on the exact knowledge of ε. Thus, in this thesis, it is analytically proved that the control scheme initially proposed by A. Zavala-Rı́o, I. Fantoni, and R. Lozano in 2003 under the above mentioned input restrictions, considering ε = 0, achieves the global stabilization objective even when ε > 0, provided that ε is small enough but without the need to know its exact value.
The Way to Define the Polysemic Words in a Chinese-English Dictionary An Approach Based on the Generative Lexicon *

This paper has carried out a study of the semantic extensions of the verb ài (‘love’) in Chinese from a sub-lexical perspective within the theoretical framework of Generative Lexicon. In particular, we have proposed a sublexical definition of the verb ài (‘love’) for a Chinese-English dictionary as a consequence of a lexicological analysis. Our results have indicated that taking the advantage of this semantic representation model, dictionary users are able to choose semantic structure based on the type of object that ài (‘love’) combined. This definition model can help foreign language learner to understand and use the verb thoroughly and flexibly. Keywords—lexicographic model; Generative Lexicon; lexical combination
Toxicity of 4-chlorophenol under cometabolic conditionsdepending on the bacterial cell wall structure?

A b s t r a c t 4-chlorophenol belongs to the group of xenobiotics that exhibits their toxicity independently of the environment and kind of organism. This monochlorophenol is found to be very hazardous to various organisms, and still new attempts are made to find the cheapest and the safest way to remove it from the polluted environments. Biological methods using the degradation potential of natural habitants of temporary polluted niches are preferentially used. Since not each organism is able to survive in the presence of even low 4-chlorophenol concentration level the influence of additional source of carbon and energy on its toxicity to bacteria was verified. In this research phenol, benzoate, 4-hydroxybenzoate, 3,4-dihydroxybenzoate and glucose were used as the nutritious substrates for Gram-negative Stenotrophomonas maltophilia KB2 and Gram-positive Planococcus sp. S5 strain. It was found that phenol, benzoate and glucose lowered the toxicity of 4-chlorophenol to Stenotrophomonas maltophilia KB2 strain while benzoic acids with one or two hydroxyl groups as well as glucose diminished toxic effects of this chlorophenol on the cells of Gram-positive strain Planococcus sp. S5.
THE LEVEL OF VISUAL AND MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS AMONG OFFICE WORKERS IN PALESTINE

Visual and Musculoskeletal Disorders (VMSD) are one of the occupational diseases prevalent among office workers in the globe. Many studies have been devoted to examine such disorders in developed countries. However, few studies have recently been initiated in developing countries. Among them is this study which aims to assess the prevalence of VMSDs among office workers in Palestine. To this end, a self-reporting questionnaire was designed and distributed to 501 respondents from office workers working in public and private organizations in West Bank, Palestine. The collected data were statistically analyzed performing, ANOVA and Multiple Linear Regression. The results showed that about 62.5% of the sampled workers suffered from the development of at least one VMSD symptom, and about 17% indicated they have one permanent symptom. Besides, gender and age of office workers showed significant statistical differences in the prevalence of VMSD’s symptoms. The results of the MLR showed significance in modeling the VMSD’s symptoms prevalence. The findings of this study could help the relevant stakeholders in taking engineering and administrative interventions to alleviate the adverse effects of VMSD on office workers’ occupational health, safety and job performance.
Utilisation of whey fermentation products for antimicrobial modification of biodegradable polymers

5 ABSTRAKT . 5 INTRODUCTION. 6 1. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND . 7 1.1 Biodegradable polymers . 7 1.2 Whey and potential of its use . 12 1.3 Bacteriocin nisin . 17 1.4 Antimicrobial modifications of polymers . 21 1.5 Polymer systems modified by bacteriocin nisin . 24 AIMS OF WORK . 27 2. EXPERIMENTAL PART . 28 3. SUMMARY OF RESULTS . 30 3.1 Effect of polyethylene glycol plasticiser on long-term antibacterial activity and the release profile of bacteriocin nisin from polylactide blends . 30 3.2 Thermal stability of bacteriocin nisin in polylactide-based films . 32 3.3 Core-shell PLA-PVA porous microparticles as carriers for bacteriocin nisin.34 CONCLUSIONS . 36 CONTRIBUTIONS TO SCIENCE AND PRACTICE . 37 REFERENCES . 38 LIST OF FIGURES . 49 LIST OF TABLES . 50 LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS . 50 CURRICULUM VITAE . 52 LIST OF PUBLICATIONS . 54
Aalborg Universitet Danish respiratory society position paper palliative care in patients with chronic progressive nonmalignant lung diseases

Background: Chronic non-malignant lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and interstitial lung diseases (ILD) result in reduced quality of life (QoL), a high symptom burden and reduced survival. Patients with chronic non-malignant lung disease often have limited access to palliative care. The symptom burden and the QoL of these patients resembles patients with cancer and the general palliative approach is similar. However, the disease trajectory is often slow and unpredictable, and the palliative effort must be built on accessibility, continuity and professional competences. The Danish Health Authority as well as the WHO recommends that there is access to palliative care for all patients with life-threatening diseases regardless of diagnosis. In 2011, the Danish Health Authority requested that the national medical societies would to formulate guidelines for palliation. Methods: In 2015, a group of members of the Danish Respiratory Society (DRS) was appointed for this purpose. It was composed of experienced ILD and COPD researchers as well as clinicians from different parts of Denmark. A literature review was made, a draft was prepared, and all recommendations were agreed upon unanimously. Results: The Danish version of the position paper was finally submitted for review and accepted by all members of DRS. Conclusion: In this position paper we provide recommendations on the terminology of chronic and terminal lung failure, rehabilitation and palliative care, advanced care planning, informal caregivers and bereavement, symptom management, the imminently dying patient, and organization of palliative care for patients with chronic non-malignant lung diseases. ARTICLE HISTORY Received 3 June 2018 Accepted 25 September 2018
TESIS PARA OPTAR AL GRADO DE DOCTOR EN INGENIERÍA ELÉCTRICA CLAUDIO FELIPE JARUFE TRONCOSO PROFESOR GUÍA: FAUSTO PATRICIO MENA MENA MIEMBROS DE LA COMISIÓN: LEONARDO BRONFMAN AGUILO NICOLAS REYES GUZMAN

This work presents the design, construction and characterization of devices for radio astronomy receivers in the Q (30-50 GHz) and W (80-110 GHz) bands. On one hand, the device developed for the Q band is of interest for band 1 of the Argentinian-Brazilian telescope LLAMA (Long Latin American Array). On the other hand, the W band components can be used in the band 3 of LLAMA or in a possible upgrade of the Southern Millimeter Wave Telescope (SMWT) which is maintained by our group. For the Q band, a low noise ampli er was designed and constructed using a hybrid scheme: integration of a high electronic mobility transistor (HEMT) and a commercial monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC). With this ampli er, noise temperatures less than 20 K and gain greater than 30 dB can be obtained. In the W band several components have been developed. First, commercial MMIC ampliers from the OMMIC and HRL companies were packaged. When measured at 15 K, these low noise ampli ers have noise temperatures below 100 K and gains above 17 dB. Given their commercial availability they are suitable to be used as a second ampli er in a receiver. Secondly, using commercial Schottky diodes, sub-harmonic mixers have been manufactured. Development techniques have varied from the use of discrete components to the design of MMICs to reduce the size of the mixers. The aforementioned components have been assembled in a small compact module that can be used as a down-conversion stage. This module has a noise temperature lower than 800 K and gain greater than 2 dB at room temperature. Finally, a slot antenna whose pro le has been optimized to improve its main characteristics (re ections, bandwidth, cross polarization and beam symmetry) was built. Among the antennas of its type, this is the only one that has an optimized pro le which has permitted to obtain the best performance achieved so far.
Optimal Cable Laying Across an Earthquake Fault Line Considering Elliptical Failures

Whether it be a road, railway track, pipeline or fibreoptic cable, achieving a low probability of “cable” damage is important for the proper operation of modern infrastructure. This paper considers the fundamental problem of how to connect two points with a cable that crosses an earthquake fault line. We first develop a model, under certain general assumptions, for the cable break probability. Then we formulate a multiobjective optimization problem, with cable cost and probability of cable break being the two objectives. For two important and meaningful sets of cable shape alternatives, the Pareto front is determined for these two objectives. All the analytical results are verified by simulations.
PROTEOME ANALYSIS OF MILK THISTLE ( SILYBUM MARIANUM L . ) CELL SUSPENSION CULTURES IN RESPONSE TO METHYL JASMONATE AND YEAST EXTRACT ELICITORS

Elicitors cause biosynthesis and accumulation of secondary metabolites by inducing defense responses. In this study, we treated the cell suspension cultures of Silybum marianum L. with MeJA (methyl jasmonate) (100 μM) and YE (yeast extract) (0.1 w/v) as elicitors and measured the content of Silymarin accumulation by HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography). Accumulation of Silymarin significantly increased after 48 h of MeJA and YE application. In order to investigate the effect of abiotic (MeJA) and biotic (YE) stresses on expression of proteins in S. marianum cell suspension cultures, we employed high resolution two-dimensional gel electrophoresis coupled with MALDI-TOFTOF (matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time of flightetime of flight) mass spectrometry. At least, 249 protein spots showed reproducible and significant changes in the gel. Spots were up or down regulated upon MeJA and YE treatments. Ten protein spots were identified using MALDI-TOF-TOF-MS. The identified proteins belong to different functional categories. The proteins were classified based on carbohydrate metabolism (spots 6 and 22), Nitrogen metabolism (spot 20), storage protein (spot 29), transport process (spot 12), protein modification and chaperones (spot 8), pathogenesis related (spot 1 and 2) and secondary metabolism (spot 3 and 53). The potential role of these proteins in the biosynthetic pathway of flavonoids and the finding of proteins in non-sequenced plants such as S.marianum requires further research.
Incentivizing Safer Sexual Behavior : Evidence from a Lottery Experiment on HIV Prevention

We investigate the effect of a financial lottery program in Lesotho with relatively low expected payments but a chance to win a high prize conditional on negative test results for sexually transmitted infections. The intervention resulted in a 21.4 percent reduction in HIV incidence over two years. Lottery incentives appear to be particularly effective in targeting individuals with ex ante risky sexual behavior, consistent with the hypothesis that lotteries are more valued by individuals willing to take risks. JEL: I12, I15, O15
Analysis of phenolic compounds : which factors to consider ?

Phenolic compounds are of special interest as antioxidants and shielding compounds accumulated in response to ultraviolet-B radiation (UVB; λ = 280-315 nm) and other abiotic factors. The majority of phenolic compounds are based on phenolic acid or flavonoid aglycones (Schmidt et al. 2010a), but mainly occur in plants as glycosides (Calderon-Montano et al. 2011) and some of these compounds are acylated (CalderonMontano et al. 2011; Schmidt et al. 2010b). Additionally, in case of flavanols, polymerization leads to tannins, also known as proanthocyanidins (Gadkari and Balaraman 2015). The compounds can vary from simple to highly complex structures, which makes their identification and quantification challenging. To date, there are three main approaches to measure phenolic compound concentrations in plants.
SPATIAL MODELING OF BLACK CRESTED MACAQUE ( Macaca nigra Desmarest , 1822 ) HABITAT SUITABILITY ( Model Spasial Kesesuaian Habitat dari Macaca Nigra )

The remaining habitat of Black Crested Macaques in Sulawesi is limited only in conservation areas, and therefore it is an urgent need to map its habitat suitability model. This work can be achieved by application of Geographic Information System (GIS). Data observation was conducted in Tangkoko Nature Reserve and Batuputih Nature Recreation Park from July to September 2009. The model was then extrapolated to Tangkoko Nature Reserve, Duasudara Nature Reserve, Batuputih Natural Recreation Park, and Batuangus Nature Recreation Park. Modelling of Black Crested Macaque’s habitat was conducted by spatial identification of their encounter points toward habitat and disturbance factors. Habitat suitability model of Black Crested Macaque was Y = (2.399xFcroad) + (2.399xFcriver) + (2.399xFcNDVI) + (2.399xFcelevation) + (1.142 xFcbuilding) + (0.957xFcslope). Cumulative score was divided into threeclasses namely high suitability habitat, medium suitability habitat, and low suitability habitat. Tangkoko Nature Reserve has highest rate of high suitability habitat whereas Duasudara Nature Reserve has lowest rate of high suitability habitat. Tangkoko Nature Reserve forms the best suitable habitat for Black Crested Macaque whereas both Duasudara Nature Reserve and Batuangus Nature Recreation Park are the least suitable habitat for species.
University of Dundee Crystal structures of cyanine fluorophores stacked onto the end of double-stranded RNA

The indodicarbocyanine fluorophores Cy3 and Cy5 are extensively used as donor-acceptor pairs in fluorescence resonance energy transfer experiments, especially those involving single molecules. When terminally attached to doublestranded nucleic acids via the 50 phosphate group these fluorophores stack onto the ends of the molecule. Knowledge of the positions of the fluorophores is critical to the interpretation of fluorescence resonance energy transfer data. The positions have been demonstrated for double-stranded (ds) DNA using NMR spectroscopy. Here, we have used x-ray crystallography to analyze the location of Cy3 and Cy5 on dsRNA, using complexes of an RNA stem-loop bound to L5 protein determined at 2.4 Å resolution. This confirms the tendency of both fluorophores to stack on the free end of RNA, with the long axis of the fluorophores approximately parallel to that of the terminal basepair. However, the manner of interaction of both Cy3 and Cy5 with the terminus of the dsRNA is significantly different from that deduced for dsDNA using NMR. The fluorophores are stacked on the terminal basepair such that their indole nitrogen atoms lie on the major groove side, and thus their pendant methyl groups are on the minor groove side.
BIOMETRIK POLA SUARA DENGAN JARINGAN SARAF TIRUAN

Method man with Biometric identity recognition, based on its physical characteristics. The introduction of a biometric voice pattern that has a low cost. This study designed a biometric use voice patterns. Voice input signals in the form of recorded sound with a duration of approximately two (2) seconds on the system and signal decomposition using discrete wavelet transform. Verification system using characteristic extraction Sub Band Coefficient Based cepstral parameters (sbc) by using the number of coefficients