Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Atmospheric Carbon Tetrafluoride: A Nearly Inert Gas

An analysis of existing thermodynamic, photochemical, and kinetic data indicates that the dominant sinks for atmospheric carbon tetrafluoride (CF4) are in and above the mesosphere. Theoretical calculations predict an atmospheric residence time for CF4 of over 10,000 years, about 100 times that for dichlorodifluoromethane (CF2Cl2) and monofluorotrichloromethane (CFC13). It is predicted that CF4 will be well mixed through the stratosphere and mesosphere; only one or two parts of hydrogen fluoride in 1012 are predicted in the high stratosphere as a result of the decomposition of CF4. Although natural sources of CF4 cannot be ruled out, there are several likely industrial sources that may account for its present concentration. The principal environmental effect of CF4 could be the trapping of outgoing planetary infrared energy in its intense bands near 8 micrometers.
Structures and mechanisms of glycosyl hydrolases The wealth of information provided by the recent structure determinations of many different glycosyl hydrolases shows

Carbohydrates show wide stereochemical variation and can be assembled in so many different fashions that there are over 1012 possible isomers for a reducing hexasaccharide [1]. Living organisms take advantage of this diversity by using oligosaccharides and polysaccharides for a multitude of biological functions, from storage and structure to highly specific signalling roles. Selective hydrolysis of glycosidic bonds is therefore crucial for energy uptake, cell wall expansion and degradation, and turnover of signalling molecules. As a consequence of saccharide diversity, there is great variety amongst the enzymes that hydrolyze glycosidic bonds, the O-glycosyl hydrolases (EC 3.2.1.x). Heritable deficiencies in glycosyl hydrolases, for example lactose intolerance [2] and a number of lysosomal storage diseases [3], are among the most frequent genetically based syndromes in man.
Design and implementation of an autonomous landing control system of unmanned aerial vehicle for power line inspection

UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) have been widely used in power line inspections, but low autonomous cruise capacity of UAVs requires strict condition for operators and site while landing during UAV power line inspections. This paper presents an autonomous landing control technique for UAVs when charging at the electric towers based on vision positioning method. The proposed system consists of three modules: visual processing, positioning estimation and landing control. The desired position and direction can be obtained by ellipse fitting and Shi-Tomasi corner detection method after the landing pad was identified by affine constant moment and Support Vector Machine (SVM) in visual processing module. Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is used for the fusion of inertial measurement with the position data estimated by camera imaging principle in positioning estimation module. A control strategy is designed to enable the UAV to land safely and reliably. The experimental results show that the position error of the landing is within 20cm, and the direction error is within 20 degrees, which basically meets the demand for autonomous landing.
Efficiency of immunization service in the Gambia: results of a stakeholder analysis.

OBJECTIVE The literature demonstrates that conducting a stakeholder analysis to better understand the immunisation context and to involve the stakeholders in the assessment improves the quality and relevance of the assessment and increases the use of results by policy makers thereby ensuring that the programme provides efficient services. This stakeholder analysis is part of a study to assess the sustainability of the expansion of the expanded programme of immunisation in The Gambia. This paper reports and discusses the results of the study on the dimension of attaining high levels of technical efficiency of immunization programmes. Methods: The study, was conducted on the Immunisation service of the Gambia in West Africa. METHODS The method used was a series of in-dept interviews with sixteen key stakeholders at the central, divisional and facility levels. A stakeholder analysis tool that incorporates key indicators of financial sustainability of the EPI was used in the interviews. RESULTS Results show that overall the majority of stakeholders strongly support the use of additional resources for implementing several actions (indicators) that can foster the financial sustainability of the EPI, including those that fall under the dimension of efficient immunisation services. Results further demonstrate that wastage is a very serious problem in the immunization system, which stakeholders generally felt is unacceptable. The causes could be grouped into four groups of factors: staff factors, resource factors, client factors and management/policy factors. CONCLUSION Inefficiencies in the immunisation system, leading to, amomg other things, wastage of resources make expenditures in the EPI system unsustainable for a country that is experiencing slow economic growth and decreasing donor support. More intensified efforts to minimise the inefficiencies are needed to bring about more significant changes for the better
Can German Vocational Training Combat Skill Shortages in Developing Countries? Evidence from Dual Training System in the Philippines

This paper examines the labor market impacts of the Philippine Dual Training System (DTS), a vocational training program that combines firm‐based on‐the‐job training (OJT) and conventional institution‐based training, using a recent survey that tracked graduates from DTS and regular institution‐based programs. The estimation results using fuzzy regression discontinuity design show a significantly positive impact on the most recent monthly earnings. The impact significantly increases with the OJT intensity, measured by the number of hours a week in OJT. The above results imply that vocational training has to be aligned with actual production technologies and work practices to narrow skill gaps and create positive returns.
Mechanisms of postsynaptic plasticity: remodeling of the junctional acetylcholine receptor cluster induced by motor nerve terminal outgrowth

Motor nerve terminal outgrowth (NTO) at neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) occurs rapidly in response to denervation changes in muscle. We have previously found that NTO can produce an elongation of the synaptic area of the NMJ as defined by cholinesterase-silver staining. In the present study, we examined the effects of NTO on a postsynaptic muscle membrane component, the usually stable cluster of acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) at the NMJ. NTO was evoked in rat soleus muscles using botulinum toxin. AChRs were demonstrated using immunocytochemistry or autoradiography of alpha-bungarotoxin binding. Our results show that NTO induces rapid elongation of the cluster of AChRs at the NMJ within 7 d of treatment with botulinum toxin. The growth in the size of the AChR clusters was accompanied by an increase in the number of AChRs/NMJ. No elongation of AChR clusters was seen following surgical denervation, suggesting that cluster growth is related to NTO and not to denervation changes in muscle per se. Growth of NMJ-AChR clusters appeared to result primarily from 2 processes: insertion of new AChRs into the NMJ membrane and, surprisingly, redistribution of preexisting NMJ-AChRs. These results show that NTO can cause rapid changes in the normally stable cluster of AChRs at the NMJ. Motor nerve terminals provide a strong and anatomically precise control of AChRs at the NMJ.
The interchangeability of the complement components of different animal species; literature survey.

Owing to the widespread use of fresh guinea-pig serum in diagnostic complement-fixation tests, more is known in regard to the constitution and general behaviour of this complement than that of any other animal species. Guinea-pig complement has been shown to be a complex of four major components (1-16), all four of which are essential in the haemolysis of sensitized sheep red blood cells. The first and second components, termed for convenience C'1 and C'2 ( 14), are globulins and have been isolated in purified form ( 15, 16) by methods similar to those developed by Cohn and his collaborators for the fractionation of human plasma (1 7). Third and fourth components, C'3 and C'4, are relatively heat-stable; C'3 is characaterized by its inactivation by yeast or snake venom (710), C'4 by its inactivation by ammonia or primary amines (11-13). Human complement has been similarly fractionated (18-22), and its four components found to be mutually interchangeable with those of the guinea-pig (23-24). In the early and more recent literature there are scattered references to fractionation of other complements (22, 23, 25-28, 59) ; the most extensive recent survey was made by Hegediis and Greiner (25), who through separate titrations of each of the four components in fresh serum from nine animal species, showed their relative content in each component to differ very considerably.
Design and analysis of AC/DC converters with interleaved Power Factor Correction

In this paper, two current sharing control schemes base on average current mode control is proposed for interleaved power factor correction (PFC) converter. The boost inductor current of each phases of interleaved PFC must be sensed to achieve current sharing and power limiting. To meet this requirement, we proposed a current transformers current sense skill which achieve current sharing and also can improve current harmonic distortion during high line operation. Finally, the Mathcad tool of calculation for the whole system stability is built up for verification.
Sleep quantity, sleep difficulties and their perceived consequences in a representative sample of some 2000 British adults

Sleep problems and sleep restriction are popular topics of discussion, but few representative data are available. We document Britain's sleep based on a nationally representative sample of 1997, 16–93 year olds, who participated in face‐to‐face interviews. Fifty‐eight per cent of respondents reported sleep problems on one or more nights the previous week and 18% reported that the sleep they obtained was insufficient on the majority of nights. Sleep durations were longest in the youngest participants (16–24 years), who slept on average 1 h longer than the 7.04 (SD 1.55) sample average. Sleep duration showed no appreciable change beyond middle age. Men and women reported sleeping similar amounts but women reported more sleep problems. Men reported sleeping less when there were more children in their household. Workers (i.e. employees) reported sleeping less on workdays than on non‐workdays, but those based at home and those not employed did not. Inability to switch off from work was related to sleep duration on non‐workdays. Across all participants average sleep duration exhibited a non‐monotonic association with quality of life (i.e. contribution of sleep to energy, satisfaction and success in work, home and leisure activities). Quality of life was positively associated with sleep duration, for durations up to 9 h, but negatively associated with quality of life beyond this. Comparison of our data with the US national sleep poll revealed that Britain sleeps as little or less, whereas a comparison with data reported 40 years ago revealed no statistically reliable reductions. Although we may not sleep less than four decades ago, when we report sleeping less we also tend to associate that lack of sleep with poor performance and quality of life.
Educational Investment, Family Context, and Children's Math and Reading Growth from Kindergarten Through the Third Grade

Drawing on longitudinal data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998–1999, this study used IRT modeling to operationalize a measure of parental educational investments based on Lareau's notion of concerted cultivation. It used multilevel piece-wise growth models regressing children's math and reading achievement from entry into kindergarten through the third grade on concerted cultivation and family context variables. The results indicate that educational investments are an important mediator of socioeconomic and racial/ethnic disparities, completely explaining the black-white reading gap at kindergarten entry and consistently explaining 20 percent to 60 percent and 30 percent to 50 percent of the black-white and Hispanic-white disparities in the growth parameters, respectively, and approximately 20 percent of the socioeconomic gradients. Notably, concerted cultivation played a more significant role in explaining racial/ethnic gaps in achievement than expected from Lareau's discussion, which suggests that after socioeconomic background is controlled, concerted cultivation should not be implicated in racial/ethnic disparities in learning.
Diversity of methanogenic archaea in freshwater sediments of lacustrine ecosystems

About half of the global methane (CH4) emission is contributed by the methanogenic archaeal communities leading to a significant increase in global warming. This unprecedented situation has increased the ever growing necessity of evaluating the control measures for limiting CH4 emission to the atmosphere. Unfortunately, research endeavors on the diversity and functional interactions of methanogens are not extensive till date. We anticipate that the study of the diversity of methanogenic community is paramount for understanding the metabolic processes in freshwater lake ecosystems. Although there are several disadvantages of conventional culture‐based methods for determining the diversity of methanogenic archaeal communities, in order to understand their ecological roles in natural environments it is required to culture the microbes. Recently different molecular techniques have been developed for determining the structure of methanogenic archaeal communities thriving in freshwater lake ecosystem. The two gene based cloning techniques required for this purpose are 16S rRNA and methyl coenzyme M reductase (mcrA) in addition to the recently developed metagenomics approaches and high throughput next generation sequencing efforts. This review discusses the various methods of culture‐dependent and ‐independent measures of determining the diversity of methanogen communities in lake sediments in lieu of the different molecular approaches and inter‐relationships of diversity of methanogenic archaea.
On the use of primal and dual knowledge in randomized constructive optimization algorithms 1

Many approximate heuristics for optimization are either based on neighborhood search or on the construction of solutions. Examples for the latter ones include ant colony optimization and greedy randomized adaptive search procedures. These techniques generally construct solutions probabilistically by sampling a probability distribution over the search space. Solution constructions are generally independent from each other. Recent algorithmic variants include two important features that are inspired by deterministic branch & bound derivatives such as beam search: the use of bounds for evaluating partial solutions, and the parallel and non-independent construction of solutions. In this paper we first give a theoretical reason of why these variants have the potential to improve over standard algorithms. Second, we confirm our theoretical findings by means of practical examples. Our results for the open shop scheduling problem clearly demonstrate the potential of using parallel and non-independent solution constructions.
Link scheduling for distributed control over synchronous TDMA network

This paper analyzes a control bandwidth, a gain margin, and a phase margin of a distributed control system over a STDMA (Synchronous Time Division Multiple Access) network. Although STDMA achieves a hard real-time communication among end-nodes, a packet-sending interval and an one-way delay depend on a STDMA table. This paper therefore analyzes the relation between a control performance and a STDMA table to find an effective design principle of STDMA tables. The validity of designed STDMA tables is verified by experiments.
Experimental Models of Acute Lung Injury

Although many various models have been improved in order to form human features of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) in animals, there is no single animal model that satisfactorily exhibits all of the histopathological components of human ARDS. Therefore, when choosing an ARDS animal model, it is important to consider the ARDS key property to be tested as a study hypothesis and choose the most appropriate model that can display that property. After mentioning the reasons and physiopathology of ARDS briefly, the purpose of this review is to summarise the most common experimental animal models and the features of these models.
Assessing the influence of self-reported requirements importance on the perceived quality of proposed software products

Customer satisfaction is highly associated with product quality.The perceived quality of products serves as a driver for the loyalty of customers and also promotes high profitability, viability of products and return on investment. Therefore, understanding the importance of requirements as it is associated with the satisfaction of users or customers when their requirements are fulfilled is worth the stress considering.So many studies have been done on customer satisfaction in relation to the importance of requirements, but the correlation between customer satisfaction coefficients of the Kano model and users or customers reported requirements importance have not been sufficiently examined. In this study, an attempt is made to investigate the influence of customer reported requirements importance on the perceived quality of proposed software products. The result of the study indicates a significant relationship between the reported requirement importance and perceived quality of proposed software products. Since customer satisfaction (perceived quality) is directly related to the reported requirements importance, it is therefore essential to give adequate place to user or customer satisfying the requirements (features) all through the software development lifecycle as this enhances the products perceived quality.
Blue-Enriched Morning Light as a Countermeasure to Light at the Wrong Time: Effects on Cognition, Sleepiness, Sleep, and Circadian Phase

Light during the day and darkness at night are crucial factors for proper entrainment of the human circadian system to the solar 24-h day. However, modern life and work styles have led to much more time spent indoors, often with lower daytime and higher evening/nighttime light intensity from electrical lighting than outdoors. Whether this has long-term consequences for human health is being currently investigated. We tested if bright blue-enriched morning light over several days could counteract the detrimental effects of inadequate daytime and evening lighting. In a seminaturalistic, within-between subject study design, 18 young participants were exposed to different lighting conditions on 3 evenings (blue-enriched, bright orange, or dim light), after exposure to 2 lighting conditions (mixed blue-enriched light and control light, for 3 days each) in the mornings. Subjective sleepiness, reaction times, salivary melatonin concentrations, and nighttime sleep were assessed. Exposure to the blue-enriched morning lighting showed acute wake-promoting effects and faster reaction times than with control lighting. Some of these effects persisted until the evening, and performance improved over several days. The magnitude of circadian phase shifts induced by combinations of 3 different evening and 2 morning lighting conditions were significantly smaller with the blue-enriched morning light. During the night, participants had longer total sleep times after orange light exposure than after blue light exposure in the evening. Our results indicate that bright blue-enriched morning light stabilizes circadian phase, and it could be an effective counterstrategy for poor lighting during the day and also light exposure at the wrong time, such as in the late evening.
Structure and function of milk allergens

Proteins (CMP) involved in milk allergy are numerous and heterogeneous, with very few structural or functional common features. This heterogeneity is complicated by their genetic polymorphism, resulting in several variants for each protein. These variants are characterized by point substitutions of amino acids or by deletions of peptide fragments of varying size or by post‐translational modifications such as phosphorylation or glycosylation. All of these modifications may affect allergenicity. No common molecular structure can be associated with allergenicity, although some homologous regions such as casein phospho‐peptides can explain an IgE cross‐reactivity. Three‐dimensional structure is an important feature in CMP allergenicity but denatured and linear epitopes are also involved. Epitopes are numerous and widely spread along the CMP molecule. They may be located in hydrophobic parts of the molecule where they are inaccessible for IgE antibodies in the native conformation of the protein but become bioavailable after digestive processes. Peptides as short as ca. 12–14 amino acid residues may account for a significant part of the allergenicity of the whole molecule, which justifies the need to be careful before proposing any CMP hydrolysate for highly allergenic children.
Metabonomics in pharmaceutical R & D

This minireview is based on a lecture given at the First Maga Circe Conference on metabolomics held at Sabaudia, Italy, in March 2006 in which the analytical and statistical techniques used in metabonomics, efforts at standardization and some of the major applications to pharmaceutical research and development are reviewed. Metabonomics involves the determination of multiple metabolites simultaneously in biofluids, tissues and tissue extracts. Applications to preclinical drug safety studies are illustrated by the Consortium for Metabonomic Toxicology, a collaboration involving several major pharmaceutical companies. This consortium was able, through the measurement of a dataset of NMR spectra of rodent urine and serum samples, to build a predictive expert system for liver and kidney toxicity. A secondary benefit was the elucidation of the endogenous biochemicals responsible for the classification. The use of metabonomics in disease diagnosis and therapy monitoring is discussed with an exemplification from coronary artery disease, and the concept of pharmaco‐metabonomics as a way of predicting an individual's response to treatment is exemplified. Finally, some advantages and perceived difficulties of the metabonomics approach are summarized.