Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genetic variability of albumin-globulin content, and lipoxygenase, peroxidase activities among bread and durum wheat genotypes

The classical Osborne wheat proteins fraction (albumin-globulin), as well as several polypeptides from the non-gluten protein fraction using SDS-PAGE analyses were determined in the grain of five bread (T. aestivum L.) and five durum wheat (T. durum Desf.) genotypes. In addition, the activity rate of lipoxygenase (LOX) and peroxidase (POD) enzymes implicated in the antioxidant metabolism was determined. Albumins and globulins in wheat grains were characterized by rich protein pattern - the number of bands varied from 19 to 23 and they were defined by molecular weight 76.4-12.4 kDa. The great differences between bread and durum wheat polypeptide contents were found. Result pointed out that polypeptides with molecular weight of 65.6, 43.5 and 32.9 kDa could be used to differentiate the bread from durum wheat. Significant differences in the LOX and POD activity between and within two wheat species were detected. Present study showed in durum wheat a lower activities of LOX and POD enzymes for about 45 and 22%, respectively, than in bread wheat. Our results could be useful for plant breeders in screening and selecting of better raw materials with high protein quality for the flour, breadmaking and pasta industry.
Development of Worm-Rack Driven Cylindrical Crawler Unit

In Japan, since the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, attention has surrounded the development of disaster victim relief activity using robots. Development of a robot that can adapt to various environments in irregular places, rubble, and confined areas is necessary. A wheel movement type robot, a robot in the shape of a snake and a multi-leg robot are all described in the relevant literature as rescue robots that are currently studied. Among them, the tracked crawler robot can travel by traversing uneven ground flexibly with a crawler belt attached firmly to the ground surface. Although conventional crawler robots have high efficiency and/or high ground-covering ability, they require a comparatively large space to move. In this study, a cylindrical crawler robot based on worm-rack mechanism, which does not need large space to move and which has high ground-covering ability, is proposed. Experiments have demonstrated smooth operation and a forward movement of the robot by application of voltage to the motor. In addition, performance tests show that it can propel itself in confined spaces and in irregular areas. This paper reports the structure, drive mechanism, prototype, and experimental evaluation.
A Systematic Regional Trend in Helium Isotopes Across the NorthernBasin and Range Province, Western North America

An extensive study of helium isotopes in fluids collectedfrom surface springs, fumaroles and wells across the northern Basin andRange Province reveals a systematic trend of decreasing 3He/4He ratiosfrom west to east. The western margin of the Basin and Range ischaracterized by mantle-like ratios (6-8 Ra) associated with active orrecently active crustal magma systems (e.g. Coso, Long Valley, Steamboat,and the Cascade volcanic complex). Moving towards the east, the ratiosdecline systematically to a background value of ~;0.1 Ra. The regionaltrend is consistent with extensive mantle melting concentrated along thewestern margin and is coincident with an east-to-west increase in themagnitude of northwest strain. The increase in shear strain enhancescrustal permeability resulting in high vertical fluid flow rates thatpreserve the high helium isotope ratios at the surface. Superimposed onthe regional trend are "helium spikes", local anomalies in the heliumisotope composition. These "spikes" reflect either local zones of mantlemelting or locally enhanced crustal permeability. In the case of theDixie Valley hydrothermal system, it appears to be a combination ofboth.
Testing the One-Part Fractional Response Model against an Alternative Two-Part Model

This note proposes a generalized two-part model for fractional response variables that nests the one-part model proposed by Papke and Wooldridge (1996). Consequently, a Wald test allows to discriminate between these two competing models. A small scale Monte Carlo simulation demonstrates that the proposed Wald test is properly sized and equipped with higher power than an alternative non-nested P-test.
Changes in the Population Structure and Diet of the Chinese Stripe- Necked Turtle (Mauremys sinensis) Inhabiting a Disturbed River in Northern Taiwan

The population structure and diet of the Chinese stripe-necked turtle, Mauremys (Ocadia) sinensis, were investigated in the Keelung River, northern Taiwan, following severe habitat disturbances. During a 2-yr levee construction and channel dredging project, the physical characteristics and riparian vegetation of the river were dramatically altered. Compared with results obtained prior to the disturbance, sex ratios were significantly skewed toward males, and the proportion of larger females significantly decreased both during and after project construction. Moreover, fewer small-sized juveniles were found following the construction disturbance. The diet of M. sinensis also changed, with plant materials assuming greater importance than they had prior to the disturbance. Furthermore, the mean volume of food ingested decreased both during and after the project. This tendency was more pronounced in females than males. Dietary overlap indices between the sexes during (0.591) and after (0.922) the project suggest that intraspecific food competition increased throughout the duration of the study.
Impact of Punjab Rural Support Program on Poverty Alleviation: Case study of District Mandi Bahauddin

The present study is an attempt to examine the impact of micro credit facility provided by Punjab Rural Support Program (PRSP) in rural areas of Mandi Bahauddin, Punjab. A convenient sampling technique has been used to select a sample of one hundred respondents. Pre – structured questionnaire has been used to collect data related to various aspects of the program. Micro credit taken, family size, nature of employment of the respondent, and level of education are the key variables of the collected data. Income differential is used to measure the effectiveness of the PRSP’s micro finance program. It is calculated as income after micro credit and income before micro credit. Two econometrics models have been developed. Standard econometrics techniques have been used to estimate these models. The estimated results show that micro finance plays a vital role in the enhancement of borrowers’ income and hence alleviate poverty in the study area. Level of education, family size, and nature of employment are also the major determinants of income differential and poverty measures. Validity of the estimates have been checked using various econometric tests and alternate procedures are adopted wherever estimates are not in conformity to econometric rules. On the basis of the evidence collected, this study has suggested that to make the program more responsive, it is imperative that the interest rate be reduced, loan size and procedures be rationalized, product range of the scheme be diversified, and recovery procedure may be made very convenient
Whole-Genome-Based Phylogeny and Taxonomy for Prokaryotes

A faithful prokaryotic phylogeny should be inferred from genomic data and phylog- eny determines taxonomy. The ever-growing amount of sequenced genomes makes this approach feasible and practical. Whole-genome phylogeny must be based on alignment- free methodology and should be verified by direct comparison with taxonomy at all ranks from domains down to species. When the number of genomes goes into tens of thousands, the realization of the above program also presents technical challenges. The power of a long-tested Web Server named Composition Vector Tree (CVTree) will be demonstrated on examples from mega-classification of bacteria to high resolution at and below the species level.
The Integrated Inventory Management with Forecast System

Inventory Management System is very important for driving a company into better achievement. The main objective of inventory management is to keep the inventory level as low as possible and meet customers’ demand. This project centers on development of the computerized integrated inventory management and forecast system for the Guan Lee Sdn Bhd. In this project, the exponential smoothing is selected to predict demands as inputs to control the computerised inventory management system. The integrated system was written using the Visual Basic 2008. This integrated inventory management and forecast system has the ability to forecast while effectively control on inventory level with six specific features of alert, creation, inventory, transfer, search and reports. Performance of the system was analyzed with three types of forecast value (actual and adjusted forecast values). From the results, the actual forecast values tend to move toward the ideal one. Thus, the forecast system is proved to be reliable and accurate. The suggested improvements are auto recording of historical data, attachment of picture to each item, and sending notification through text message.
Research of Music Talent Cultivation Based on Practice Education

Based on the concept of music practice education, this paper designs a music talent cultivation mode from the perspective of the "credibility" of educational objective. This paper analyzes the realization strategy of music teaching and training from mutual fusion among teacher, students and training objective by modern teaching theory, learning theory and relevant educational psychology theory. By analyzing the fusion between student's individual attribute of music cognition process and the music performance, it proposes an object- oriented music teaching mode based on practice education, thus to achieve credible targets of music talent cultivation.
Type-1 diabetes risk prediction using multiple kernel learning

TYPE-1 DIABETES RISK PREDICTION USING MULTIPLE KERNEL LEARNING by Paras Garg This thesis presents an analysis of multiple kernel learning (MKL) for type-1 diabetes risk prediction. MKL combines different models and representation of data to find a linear combination of these representations of the data. MKL has been successfully been implemented in image detection, splice site detection, ribosomal and membrane protein prediction, etc. In this thesis, this method was applied for Genome-wide association study (GWAS) for classifying cases and controls. This thesis has shown that combined kernel does not perform better than the individual kernels and that MKL does not select the best model for this problem. Also, the effect of normalization on MKL as well as risk prediction has also been analyzed. TYPE-1 DIABETES RISK PREDICTION USING MULTIPLE KERNEL LEARNING
Erosive wear response of SiCp reinforced aluminium based metal matrix composite: Effects of test environments

In the present investigation, the erosive wear behaviour of a 10 wt. % SiC particles reinforced aluminium based metal matrix composite has been studied. The composite was fabricated by dispersing SiC particles of size 50-100 μm into the matrix alloy. The resulting material cast was characterised in terms of microstructure, hardness and erosive wear behaviour. The wear response was examined by the sample rotation technique using the slurry pot erosion tester. The effects of speed, sand content and slurry environment on the slurry wear behaviour have been studied. It was observed from the microstructural studies that the interfacial bonding strength between the aluminium matrix and the SiC particles was good and the particles were distributed uniformly. Moreover, in basic medium matrix alloy exhibited a minimum wear rate compared to the composite whereas in the case of an acidic and saline medium, an improved wear resistance was obtained in the case of the composite. The rate of material loss is found to be higher with the increased sand concentration due to the increased impinging action of the sand particles. Also, the rotational speed has a mixed effect on the wear rate. It can be concluded that the material loss was caused by the synergistic effect of corrosive, erosive and abrasive actions of the slurry medium although in the acidic medium, erosion was the dominant mode of material removal whereas corrosion was dominant in the case of a basic medium.
The Variance Gamma Scaled Self-Decomposable Process in Actuarial Modelling

A scaled self-decomposable stochastic process put forward by Carr, Geman, Madan and Yor (2007) is used to model long term equity returns and options prices. This parsimonious model is compared to a number of other one-dimensional continuous time stochastic processes (models) that are commonly used in ﬁnance and the actuarial sciences. The comparisons are conducted along three dimensions: the models ability to ﬁt monthly time series data on a number of diﬀerent equity indices; the models ability to ﬁt the tails of the times series and the models ability to calibrate to index option prices across strike price and maturities. The last criteria is becoming increasingly important given the popularity of capital gauranteed products that contain long term imbedded options that can be (at least partially) hedged by purchasing short term index options and rolling them over or purchasing longer term index options. Thus we test if the models can reproduce a typical implied volatility surface seen in the market.
The Populist Challenge

Populism has been on the rise for some time in Europe now, and its rise has been one of the key concerns of Peter Mair. He has linked it to the increasing erosion of the representative function of European party systems. The spectre that haunted him was ‘partyless democracy’, a democratic regime where parties had lost their representative function, which opened the door for unmediated populist protest. While largely sharing his interpretation of the overall structural trends giving rise to the populist challenges in Western Europe, the article is critical of the static character of his assessment. It suggests that there are three forms of ‘protest populism’, all of which may eventually end up transforming the West European party systems in the name of the new structuring conflicts that characterise contemporary European societies. In addition, it proposes to extend the scope of Peter’s argument to the less established democracies of Central and Eastern Europe.
Dental-Related Stem Cells and Their Potential in Regenerative Medicine

Stem cells have been opening a promising future in clinical therapies because of their two remarkable features known as self-renewal and multi-lineage differentiation. These cells can be classified in terms of their origin (embryonic, prenatal and postnatal stem cells) as well as the differentiation commitments (pleuripotent, multipotent and unipotent). Postnatal stem cells, also known as the adult stem cells (ASCs), normally exist in almost every adult tissues, including bone marrow, skin, neural tissues, and dental epithelium, acting as supportive cells by their regeneration capacity. Among different stem cell types, ASCs seem to be more applicable in stem cell-mediated therapies and regenerative medicine because these cells lack ethical concerns, and possesses less tumorgenic potency than their embryonic counterparts.
Spatial Variability of Trace Metals in Surface and Groundwater Within a Contaminated Mining Environment in Ghana

The aim of the study was to spatially assess the distribution of heavy metals within the catchment of the Tarkwa mining area using interpolation techniques in a geographical information systems environment. Water quality trends for 84 sites in Tarkwa, a mining district in Ghana, were examined for fourteen (14) parameters-pH, conductivity, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), turbidity, nitrates, sulphates, Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), total cyanides, arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni) and lead (Pb). Kriging was utilized to illustrate the spatial patterns of variables. The results showed that surface and groundwater are contaminated by As, Cd, Fe, Mn and Pb with the average concentrations exceeding World Health Organisation guideline values. The spatial dependence of the heavy metals was assessed using variogram parameters which varied from 320.30 to 4842.25 m. Significant correlations were found among heavy metals, which suggest a common origin. This is confirmed by the cluster analysis which indicated that Fe, As and Pb belonged to one group. The use of geostatistical tools in water quality assessment in this study enhances our understanding of spatial trends.
Impact of Wind Power Plants on Voltage Control of Power System

—High penetration of renewable energy sources poses numerous challenges on stability and security of power systems. Wind power plants (WPPs) of considerable size when connected to a weak grid by long transmission line results in low short circuit ratio at the point of connection. This may result in both transient voltage ﬂuctuations and poor steady-state voltage proﬁle at the point of connection. In this paper, transient and steady-state voltage support from WPPs are investigated. Low voltage ride through capability of WPP is studied for two different control modes namely, V control and Q control, during transient voltage dips. Steady-state analysis is performed for stressed system conditions. Results are validated through simulation in a detailed power system model.
Density-matrix-renormalization-group study of a one-dimensional diatomic molecule beyond the Born-Oppenheimer approximation

We study one dimensional models of diatomic molecules where both the electrons and nuclei are treated as quantum particles, going beyond the usual Born-Oppenheimer approximation. The continuous system is approximated by a grid which computationally resembles a ladder, with the electrons living on one leg and the nuclei on the other. To simulate DMRG efficiently with this system, a three-site algorithm has been implemented. We also use a compression method to treat the long-range interactions between charged particles. We find that 1D diatomic molecules with spin-1/2 nuclei in the spin triplet state will unbind when the mass of the nuclei reduces to only a few times larger than the electron mass, while the molecule with nuclei in the singlet state always binds.
Plasticity in above-ground biomass allocation in Fagus sylvatica L. saplings in response to light availability

The paper presents the production and allocation of aboveground biomass in 7-yr-old saplings of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) growing along an environmental gradient with a total light transmittance (Tot) ranging from 6% to 80%. Non-overtopped individuals, not suppressed by surrounding saplings were sampled at the end of growing season. The total aboveground biomass production on the gradient varied within 1.7-261.0. Light in the log-log linear relationship accounted for 83% of this variability. The plants growing in the shade had lower mass of aboveground compartments, lower total leaf area, higher fraction of biomass allocated in foliar mass and lower in the in the woody mass compared to the plants growing in the high-light environment. The major changes in effects of light availability on biomass allocation occurred up to about 20% of Tot. Decreasing accessible light was responsible for a non-linear increase in interceptive leaf area per unit of bio- mass and decrease in amount of biomass allocated per a unit of branch and stem length - necessary for leaf display. There was a close correlation between mass of aboveground plant compartments, documented by Pearson's r values of 0.98-0.99. Accompanied with different plant size, observed differences in biomass partitioning in response to light could be viewed as plastic adjust- ment to environmental heterogeneity in even-aged European beech saplings. Keywords European beech, saplings, light, biomass allocation.
Naringin Protects Ovalbumin-induced Asthma through the Down-regulation of MMP-9 Activity and GATA-3 Gene

The common word flavonoids is often used to classify a family of natural compounds, highly abundant in all higher plants, that have received significant therapeutic interest in recent years. Naringin is associated with a reduced risk of heart disease, neurodegenerative disease, cancer and other chronic diseases; however the molecular basis of this effect remains to be elucidated. Thus we attempted to elucidate the anti-allergic effect of Naringin in ovalbumin (OVA)-induced asthma model mice. The OVA-induced mice showed allergic reactions in the airways. These included an increase in the number of eosinophils in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid, an increase in inflammatory cell infiltration into the lung around blood vessels and airways, airway luminal narrowing, and the development of airway hyper-responsiveness (AHR). The administration of Naringin before the last airway OVA challenge resulted in a significant inhibition of all asthmatic reactions. Accordingly, this study may provide evidence that Naringin plays a critical role in the amelioration of the pathogenetic process of asthma in mice. These findings provide new insight into the immunopharmacological role of Naringin in terms of its effects on asthma in mice.
Gene Therapy Using RNAi

In the chapter, we hereby provide a brief review about RNA interference (RNAi) and elucidate its therapeutic applications. The enzymatic synthesis of double-stranded RNA in vitro will be discussed. We also describe how to design and select short interfering RNA (siRNA) sequences. In addition, we also introduce a DNA-directed RNAi (ddRNAi) system, which is designed for the generation of small hairpin RNAs in mammalian cells and is an efficient approach to allow fast and easy expression of hairpin oligonucleotides for therapeutic purpose. Moreover, various strategies for delivery of siRNA to target cells are discussed in this chapter. Under the consideration of distinct need of different diseases, use of transient or stable transfection onto living organism will be introduced. Finally, we will discuss the application of RNAi in clinical or preclinical trial. Some ongoing therapeutic models, efficacy or limitation for RNAi will be demonstrated and clarified.
The Economics and Empirics of Tax Competition: A Survey and Lessons for the EU

We survey the theoretical and empirical literature on local and international tax competition in Economics. On the basis of this survey, we discuss whether EU countries should harmonise tax policies to prevent a race to the bottom. Much of the evidence suggests that tax competition does not lead to significant reductions in tax revenues. Therefore, we conclude that tax coordination is in all likelihood unnecessary to prevent inefficiently low levels of taxation in the EU. But since the evidence against the adverse effects of tax competition is not unambiguous, we also discuss whether intergovernmental transfers might be a less invasive means than outright tax harmonisation to prevent a race to the bottom.
A NOVEL CONCEPT FOR SELF-ALIGNING GENERATORS

This paper presents a new concept for maximizing the efficiency of the power output of vibration driven inertial generators, if the excitation acceleration vector is not in line with the axis of the proof mass motion. The implementation of this concept by means of a self-alignment mechanism does not require any actuators or electronic circuits and thus works without any additional energy. The self-alignment mechanism is realized by pivot-mounting the generator at its center of gravity. For a generator of 8 cm³ with a proof mass 100 gram and a package mass of 100 gram it takes about 5 s to align to the excitation axis if the misalignment was 50°.