Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Protein extraction methods for the two-dimensional gel electrophoresis analysis of the slow growing fungus Undifilum oxytropis

The fungus Undifilum oxytropis produces the toxin swainsonine and is symbiotic with locoweeds, which are toxic Oxytropis and Astragalus species. The genus Oxytropisincludes perennial legumes that are widespread in many rangeland regions around the world. Consumption of locoweeds causes significant livestock poisoning and severe economic losses. Information about swainsonine synthesis by the U. oxytropis endophyte in locoweeds is limited and the interactions between the fungus and locoweed plant are poorly understood. Since U. oxytropis is a slow growing fungus that does not readily sporulate, its genetic characterization has been limited. An understanding of its proteome can be an important component in its biological characterization. The goal of this study was to develop an efficient protein extraction method for U. oxytropis. To develop an optimized protein extraction protocol for U. oxytropis, five protein extraction methods were evaluated. Of the five procedures assessed, trichloroacetic acid (TCA) in acetone was shown to be the best method for the fungus. The U. oxytropis proteins extracted using the TCA-acetone method were further characterized using two dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) followed by mass spectrometry. The high resolution of the 2-DE reference map provided a useful approach for proteomic analysis of slow growing fungi. Key words: Endophytes, mass spectrometry, protein extraction method, swainsonine, two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, Undifilum oxytropis.
When the Game Is Not Enough: Motivations and Practices Among Computer Game Modding Culture

The actual meanings computer game modders attach to their actions and practices remain heavily underresearched. This article takes a look at the attitudes and everyday practices of the people who make game modifications, with special focus on the forms and consequences of collaboration between hobbyists. The case discussed in the article is the shooter-game Operation Flashpoint (OFP) and the modding scene around it. The article proposes that there is no such thing as an average computer game modder. It is suggested that the distinctions can be drawn based on the objective of projects (missions, add-ons, mods), modder motivations (playing, hacking, researching, self-expression, cooperation), and notions on the ownership and potential commercialization of their work. Given the forecasts concerning the growing significance of player-made content, this study can offer some down-to-earth findings from the long established tradition of game modding.
Enhance the Performance of a Data Warehouse by Indexed View

the size of a data warehouse and the complexity of queries can cause decision support queries to take a very long time to complete and this delay is unacceptable. A basic condition for the success of a data warehouse is the capability to supply decision makers with both precise information and best response time. For this purpose, the concept of indexed views are used. Indexed views help to speed-up query processing and reduce the response time for tracing queries, especially for queries about past histories.
FIES: The high-resolution Fiber-fed Echelle Spectrograph at the Nordic Optical Telescope

FIES is a cross-dispersed high-resolution echelle spectrograph at the 2.56 m Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT), and was optimised for throughput and stability in 2006. The major 2006 upgrade involved the relocation of FIES to a stable environment and development of a fiber bundle that offers 3 different resolution modes, and made FIES an attractive tool for the user community of the NOT. Radial-velocity stability is achieved through double-chamber active temperature control. A dedicated data reduction tool, FIEStool, was developed. As a result of these upgrades, FIES is now one of the work-horse instruments at the NOT. ((c) 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Model Averaging and Its Use in Economics

The method of model averaging has become an important tool to deal with model uncertainty, for example in situations where a large amount of different theories exist, as are common in economics. Model averaging is a natural and formal response to model uncertainty in a Bayesian framework, and most of the paper deals with Bayesian model averaging. The important role of the prior assumptions in these Bayesian procedures is highlighted. In addition, frequentist model averaging methods are also discussed. Numerical techniques to implement these methods are explained, and I point the reader to some freely available computational resources. The main focus is on uncertainty regarding the choice of covariates in normal linear regression models, but the paper also covers other, more challenging, settings, with particular emphasis on sampling models commonly used in economics. Applications of model averaging in economics are reviewed and discussed in a wide range of areas including growth economics, production modeling, finance and forecasting macroeconomic quantities. (JEL C11, C15, C20, C52, O47).
Drive the switched Reluctance Generator with mesh load Voltage Control

This paper will present a voltage control strategy applied to the load for a triphasic variable reluctance generator 6x4. The developed strategy is based on the use of a proportional integral controller which generates a reference signal for a hysteresis controller, used to control the magnetization current. This signal is proportional to the difference between the voltage applied to the load and its reference value. This strategy uses an internal current control loop which has as its main advantage the possibility to aggregate protection routines to the control strategy. The strategy was implemented and tested through computational simulation and experimentally using the DSP platform.
Effective Parameters on Behavior and Load Capacity of Concrete Shear Wall with Regular Opening

Due to architectural reasons and constraints on the plan structure, openings such as doors, windows and installations ducts have been created on the concrete shear wall. It causes some changes in behavior, stiffness, load capacity and failure mechanism of specimens. In this paper, ABAQUS software is used for finite element modeling and investigating the parameters. In order to verify the results of this software, a scaled six stories wall with two bands of openings are modeled in ABAQUS software and compared with experimental results. After verification, parameters of opening area and position, bands of opening coupling, beam dimensions and diagonal reinforcement are investigated by non-linear finite element method using concrete damage plasticity model (CDPM) under the monotonic loading. Results further confirm that if dimensions of opening do not change the failure mechanism of the wall, the opening position will be more effective than the opening area. In specimens with two bands of opening, making a ratio of lateral pier length to middle pier length more than 50%, increases effective compressive area and coefficient correlation and thus the sample has reached its maximum load capacity. Setting the diagonal reinforcement both on coupling beam and in other compressive parts of the wall (base wall), decreases the crack propagation and augments the compressive area of the wall. It also leads to increase the load capacity of specimens by 19.6 %. The comparison of results also showed that a specimen with coupling beam height to height floor ratio of 0.52, the use of diagonal reinforcement on the coupling beam and putting up them in the base wall can be a suggestion for appropriate design of concrete shear wall with an opening. Review History: Received: 11 September 2016 Revised: 9 December 2016 Accepted: 15 January 2017 Available Online: 24 February 2017
Spatial variability of carbon (δ 13C) and nitrogen (δ 15N) stable isotope ratios in an Arctic marine food web

Stable isotopes of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) were used to examine trophic structures in an arctic marine food web at small and large spatial scales. Twelve species, from primary consumers to Greenland shark, were sampled at a large spatial scale near the west and east coasts of Greenland. There was a significant positive latitudinal effect on δ15N values, which varied by 2 to 5‰ over the sample range. This latitudinal pattern was also illustrated by the negative correlation between the productive open-water period and baseline δ15N values. At a smaller spatial scale, 8 species from the Nuuk Fjord were compared with species sampled in waters immediately offshore. All values of δ15N and δ13C (except for Calanus finmarchicus) were more enriched inshore than offshore. The use of C. finmarchicus δ15N and δ13C values as a baseline explained a portion of the spatial variability in isotopes, attributing some of the variation to physical and biological sources. Hence, significant differences in isotopic signatures on both large and small spatial scales were less related to food web structure than to different physical and biological properties of the water masses. Accordingly, the results illustrate the importance of spatial variability when interpreting trophic structure from stable isotopes.
On existence theorems of periodic traveling wave solution to the generalized forced Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equation

T uts PAPER is concerned with periodic travcling wave solutions of the generalized forced KadomtsevPetviashvili equation in the form ( u 1 + If( tt)lx + o u x.rx )"' + {3uyy = ho. The basic approach to this problem is to establish an equivalence relat ionship between a periodic boundary value problem and nonlinear integral equations wirh symrnerric kernels by using the Green's function method. The integral representations generate compact operators in a Banach space of real-valued continuous periodic functions with a given period 2T. Schauder's fixed point theorem is then used to prove the existence of no nconstant periodic traveling wave solutions.
Uncertainty of Flow Regime Characteristics of Rivers in Europe

Abstract The aim of the paper is to describe spatial differences in the uncertainty of features of the flow regimes of rivers in Europe on the basis of measures whose methodological assumptions derive from Shannon’s information entropy theory (1948). They included: the entropy of monthly flow volumes, the entropy of the flow distribution over time, and the entropy of maximum and minimum monthly flows. An analysis was made of monthly flow series for the years 1951-1990 from 510 gauging stations located on 369 rivers in Europe. It allowed a quantitative determination of the degree of uncertainty of the four regime characteristics, indirectly establishing the predictability, regularity and stability of their appearance and their spatial variability. In the procedure of identification of spatial differences among rivers concerning the uncertainty of their flow regime features, use was made of local indices of spatial dependence. On application of LISA (Local Indicators of Spatial Association) based on Moran’s local Ii statistic, a typology of rivers was obtained in terms of the kind and statistical significance of spatial associations involving the uncertainty of the flow regime variables in question.
Interactive comment on “ Redressing the balance : quantifying net intercatchment groundwater flows ” by Laurène Bouaziz

This paper covers a very timely topic and would be a nice addition to HESS. The concept of quantification of Inter-catchment Groundwater Flow (IGF) is still in its infancy, but its relevance to the modeling and process understanding regarding water quality and quantity is obvious. The study summarized in this paper applies a three step approach to quantify IGF that relies on the (1) comparison and analysis of observed water balance data within the Budyko framework, (2) applying a suite of different conceptual hydrological models and (3) remote sensing based estimates of actual evaporation. Their analyses suggest that IGF varies annually, and at the scale of the headwaters, IGF can make up a relatively large proportion of the water balance. At the same time, as detailed in the comments below, I do have some substantial concerns. After these
Conformity and Identity Threat: The Role of Ingroup Identification

Two studies investigated the impact of national (Swiss) identification, perceived threat to ingroup identity, and pro- vs. antidiscrimination ingroup norms on discrimination against foreigners. As expected, ingroup identification was positively related to discrimination when perceived threat was high, but not when it was low: those with high ingroup identification conformed to the prodiscrimination norm, but counterconformed to the antidiscrimination norm. These findings suggest that group members do not conform blindly to group norms, but that they selectively follow the norms that are in line with their personal motivations (i.e., the extent of ingroup identification) and intergroup context (i.e., perceived intergroup threat). When norms clash with group members’ perceptions and personal motivations, they can even give rise to counterconformity dynamics.
Taxation and Public Goods under Federalism Exit, voice, and federal redistribution

Many countries including Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United States, and Switzerland (among others) are federal governments with at least partially devolved tax systems. Inequalities in taxation and consequent public service provision can motivate citizens’ residential choices and are often smoothed out across localities using national equalization schemes. The computational model simulates the interplay between households’ residential decisions and local residents’ influence on their governments’ tax policies, finding emergent properties including economic residential segregation and unequal tax rates favoring the wealthy. Next, the model implements a federal equalization scheme showing that equalization can actually encourage more disparities by inducing wealthy areas to reduce their tax rates further. Results find that under the equalization scheme tested here, the federal redistribution scheme can only eciently addresses about one-third of the inequalities in tax revenues across sub-governments. The model is validated using Swiss cantonal tax data although the results have implications for any federal system using an equalization scheme.
Science with the ngVLA: Planetary Nebulae

Planetary nebulae (PNe) represent the near endpoints of evolution for stars of initial mass $\sim$1-8 $M_\odot$, wherein the envelope of an asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star becomes photodissociated and ionized by high-energy radiation from a newly emerging white dwarf that was the progenitor star's core. It is increasingly evident that most PNe are descended from binary systems. PNe hence provide unique insight into a diverse range of astrophysical phenomena, including the influence of companion stars on the late stages of stellar evolution; stellar wind interactions and shocks; the physics and chemistry of photoionized plasmas and photon-dominated regions (PDRs); and enrichment of the ISM in the products of intermediate-mass stellar nucleosynthesis. We describe specific examples of the potential impact of the ngVLA in each of these areas.
The relationship between brand association and brandequity in the brand relationship management

In this article, the paper used the different perspective of scholars studying to demonstrate these two factors of relationship that it can be produced a brand awareness to improve customers’ cognition. Based upon this view, the paper introduced a special conceptual relationship between brand equity and brand association as two varies significant factors how to interactive to improve a brand quality in the field of brand management. However, the majority of existing literatures respectively target brand equity or brand association itself function at the research filed of brand management. It is worthy of point out that these two factors should be combined with to exploring the brand influences. For an important reason is that these two factors are interactive and thus assist in providing the developing platform of the brand relationship. As a result, analyzing the relationship between brand equity and brand association is very necessary.
Analysis of the credit risk of financial development of Internet based on large data

Cost accounting experience with hitherto unknown change, this change is mainly reflected in two aspects: one is the cost accounting techniques and methods are constantly updated, the accounting computerization has been or is being replaced the manual bookkeeping, and in the establishment of the internal network (Internet) cases, real time reporting possible. The two is the application scope of cost accounting of the continuous expansion of industry, the traditional focus on cost control is not such as hospitals, computer manufacturers, air-lines and so on cost control has put more effort. In fact, whether in banks, fast-food chains, professional organizations or government agencies, cost control has become indispensable. Correlation study on the development trend of cost accounting and the Countermeasures in the paper.
Pulmonary Function and Chest Expansion in Thai Boys with Down Syndrome

Pulmonary problems in children with Down syndrome may contribute to decreased level of physical fitness, compared to healthy children. Pulmonary function in children with Down syndrome has been little known. Inadequate amount of oxygen or air volume during inspiration and expiration measured by using a handheld spirometer and limitation of chest expansion may be used to indicate the problems of pulmonary function in children with Down syndrome. Force expiratory volume in a second (FEV1) and chest expansion of 10 boys with Down syndrome was significantly different from those of 10 healthy boys. The trend of force vital volume capacity (FVC) was also reduced in boys with Down syndrome. These findings might be the result of weakness of primary and accessory respiratory muscles, particularly abdominal muscles, and narrow respiratory airway. Medical scientists and health-related staffs who work with children with Down syndrome should also focus on improving their respiratory status and preventing possible pulmonary infection. Pulmonary function and chest expansion test have potential to be an initial indicator of pulmonary problems in people with Down syndrome at a young age. Key words: Down syndrome, Pulmonary function, Chest expansion
Choice of Polymer Matrix for a Fast Switchable III–V Nanowire Terahertz Modulator

Progress in ultrafast terahertz (THz) communications has been limited due to the lack of picosecond switchable modulators with sufficient modulation depth. Gallium arsenide nanowires are ideal candidates for THz modulators as they absorb THz radiation, only when photoexcited – giving the potential for picosecend speed switching and high modulation depth. By embedding the nanowires in a polymer matrix and laminating together several nanowire–polymer films, we increase the areal density of nanowires, resulting in greater modulation of THz radiation. In this paper, we compare PDMS and Parylene C polymers for nanowire encapsulation and show that a high modulation depth is possible using Parylene C due to its thinness and its ability to be laminated. We characterize the modulator behavior and switching speed using optical pump–THz probe spectroscopy, and demonstrate a parylene–nanowire THz modulator with 13.5% modulation depth and 1ps switching speed.
Evaluation of Microsatellite Instability and Apoptosis in Gall Bladder Malignancy from Patients of a Cohort Exposed to Methylisocyanate

The molecular alterations are considered to play an important role in the both carcinogenesis and biological behavior of a variety of human malignancies. However, cancer of gallbladder is an obscured phenomenon and highly malignant with a poor survival due to underprivileged diagnosis. Tissues of 92 cases of gallbladder cancer patients (31 men and 61 women, age range 16-85 yrs, mean age 45.83 ± 1.50 yrs) were examined for microsatellite instability (MSI) of six microsatellite markers (D16S539, D13S317, D7S820, F13A01, FES/FPS, vWA) and apoptosis of malignant epithelial cells through M30CytoDEATH assay. Analysis of microsatellite markers revealed 08.7% (08/92) in gallbladder cancer, in which 10.0% (07/70) instability found in adenocarcinoma. The sensitivity of this test in adenocarcinoma, adenosquamous carcinaoma and adenoma with dysplasia was found to be 10.0%, 00.0% and 08.3% respectively suggesting its role in the multistage disease invasiveness. The immunohistochemical examination confirmed the presence of CK18 in moderately, well and poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma with the frequency of viz., 18.8%, 15.4% and 11.1% respectively showing positive sign of apoptosis. The mixed chimerism of STR loci and positive staining of caspase cleaved CK18 in epithelial cells of the gallbladder cancer tissues showed their independent and noteworthy character in the gallbladder carcinogenesis. Further investigations are in progress to undertake similar studies on archived tumor tissues of varied origins and forms. These might also provide modalities to translate forceful and reproducible strategies for defined clinical utility.
Key Lessons For Labour Market Reforms: Evidence From OECD Countries' Experience

The purpose of this paper is to distill the lessons for labour market reforms from the ? successes? and ? failures? It begins by discussing the structural unemployment indicator which the OECD has used to identify the successful countries. This is followed by a review of the cross-country determinants of structural unemployment which focuses on the role of labour market policies and certain institutional factors. One novelty is the specific attention paid to potential interactions between labour market policies and institutional features of the collective bargaining system. The paper also highlights several key lessons for labour market reforms drawing on recent OECD research. In particular, it discusses the role played by labour market insiders in the process of reform. It considers the way in which concerns about the equity effects of labour market reforms have played a role in shaping policies. Finally, it discusses the role of crises as a potential catalyst for needed reforms.
Constructing an Evaluation Function for Playing Backgammon

In this project we describe a few variations of the game backgammon. We explain different algorithms, used to play backgammon and other similar games, and develop our own rule engine and a set of players. By developing an evaluation function for playing board games, we aim to find out if it’s possible to construct a simple computerized player that outperforms other players, and which properties such a player should have. The player programs that we have developed are very primitive, but there are distinct tendencies revealing which players dominate the others. The winning player’s only strategy is to hit the opponent’s lone checkers, while protecting its own.
Coupling a small torsional oscillator to large optical angular momentum

Abstract We propose a new configuration for realizing torsional optomechanics: an optically trapped windmill-shaped dielectric interacting with Laguerre–Gaussian cavity modes containing both angular and radial nodes. In contrast to existing schemes, our method can couple mechanical oscillators smaller than the optical beam waist to the in-principle unlimited orbital angular momentum that can be carried by a single photon, and thus generate substantial optomechanical interactions. Combining the advantages of small mass, large coupling, and low clamping losses, our work conceptually opens the way for the observation of quantum effects in torsional optomechanics. 10.1080/09500340.2013. 778341-SUP0001 Supplementary data