Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF NITROGEN FIXING BACILLUS SUBTILIS STRAIN AS-4 FROM AGRICULTURAL SOIL

The present study was conducted with the goal of isolation, screening and characterization of most potential nitrogen fixers from the agricultural soil. Five bacterial isolates were isolated and characterized from rhizosphere of ground nut plant. The potential isolate was identified as Bacillus subtilis strain AS-4 based on the morphological, biochemical, cultural and 16s rDNA identification. The organism grew well in SM basal salt medium and nitrogen-free semi-solid LGI medium, tolerated 10-15% salt concentration and the optimum growth was found at 27°C and pH 7.0. The present investigation proves that the soil isolate Bacillus subtilis strain AS-4 is salt tolerant, free living nitrogen fixing bacteria that could be exploited as soil inoculants and can be used for nitrogen fixation in soil with high concentration of salt, which is of long run, eco-friendly and cost ineffective.
A survey on tourism experiences by Hungarian travellers: towards guest satisfaction.

In the 21st century experiences got great significance in the every-day life and in tourism as well. Human popularity can achieve very good and happy moments e.g. by shopping (complex experience in shopping centres) by common spare time activities in the nature and in towns, also by having vacation at a special destination. Animation/entertainment is a sphere of hotel services that is to help the guests sparing their free time on holidays in a good atmosphere, by providing experienceful programs. Good memories of a tourism service can make guests satisfied and build a returning clientele sphere. That is why it is awaited to map the (potential) guestsâ€™ expectations and observations of services. This paper discusses Hungarian touristsâ€™ experiences conducted in Hungary aiming to reveal the need for professional services focusing on the not-so-spread area, Animation. The experiential dimensions of every-day life and tourism was studied by an own-edited questionnaire (N = 1000) in the half-year period of 1st August 2010 â€“ 31st January 2011. This study was extended by quality of life since summer 2011 and I am going to compare the results of these two surveys with the aim of development suggestions in order to achieve a main level of guest satisfaction and a loyal sphere of clientele.
In vitro schistosomicidal effects of aqueous and dichloromethane fractions from leaves and stems of Piper species and the isolation of an active amide from P. amalago L. (Piperaceae)

Abstract Dichloromethane and aqueous fractions from leaves and stems of Piper arboreum Aubl. , P. aduncum L. , P. amalago L. , P. crassinervium H.B. & K. , P. diospyrifolium Kunth, P. hispidum Sw. and P. xylosteoides (Kunth) Steud. were tested against adult worms of Schistosoma mansoni. The in vitro activity was evaluated in terms of mortality, number of separated worms and number of worms with reduced motor activity. Most dichloromethane fractions from all Piper species showed moderate schistosomicidal activity, but aqueous fractions were not active. The dichloromethane fraction of P. amalago leaves (at 100 μg/ml) showed the highest activity, resulting in worm mortality, the separation of worm pairs and reduced motor activity. Chromatographic fractionation of the dichloromethane fraction of P. amalago leaves led to the isolation of its major compound, which was also tested against adults of S. mansoni. The isolated piperamide N-[7-(3′,4′-methylenedioxyphenyl)-2(Z),4(Z)-heptadienoyl] pyrrolidine, at 100 μ m, resulted in the mortality of all adult worms after 24 h of incubation. The findings suggest that species of Piper are potential sources of schistosomicidal compounds.
A Low-Complexity Detector for Very Large MIMO

We present a low complexity algorithm for detection in large MIMO systems based on Hopfield neural network (HNN) algorithm. Our algorithm achieves near Maximum Likelihood performance for high number of antennas. It has much lesser computational and algorithmic complexity compared to ML decoding and lesser computations for each searching step compared to conventional Likelihood Ascent Search (LAS) algorithm. No conditional evolution, comparison to multiple thresholds and multi-level quantizations are necessary for updating in the search stage. We present simulations confirming that, with simpler evolution and lesser computations, our algorithm yields comparable results to LAS algorithm.
DOES FDI SPUR PRODUCTIVITY, INNOVATION AND KNOWLEDGE FLOWS TO INCUMBENT FIRMS? EVIDENCE FROM MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY IN ESTONIA

Does FDI affect productivity growth, innovation, and knowledge sourcing activities of domestic firms? This study employs detailed firm-level panel-data from Estonia s manufacturing sector to investigate different channels through which FDI can affect domestic firms. I use instrumental variables approach to identify the effects. I find no evidence of an effect of FDI entry on local incumbents TFP and labour productivity growth in the short term. The effect on productivity does not depend on the local firms distance to the productivity frontier. However, there are positive spillovers on process innovation. The results show significant positive correlation between the entry of FDI in a sector and the more direct measures of spillovers in subsequent periods. This is consistent with the view that FDI inflow to a sector intensifies knowledge flows to domestic firms.
Recent Advances in Thermochemical Conversion of Biomass

The chapter focuses on recent trends of biomass conversion into valuable energy, chemicals, gaseous and liquid fuels. Biomass is presently the largest source of renewable energy and the primary bioenergy resource in the world. A comprehensive discussion on different types, sources and compositions of biomass is presented. The most abundant biomass on the earth is lignocellulose and it represents a major carbon source for chemical compounds and biofuels. The chapter presents a thorough review of lignocellulosic biomass and the importance of biomass as a renewable source. It then reviews biomass classification and composition. It introduces the analysis of biomass feedstock. Biomass is converted to energy, chemicals and clean fuels using various conversion techniques such as thermochemical, chemical and biochemical. The chapter provides a thorough examination of thermochemical conversion processes that use high temperatures to break down the bonds of organic matter. It briefly introduces combustion and gasification, followed by a comprehensive review of different pyrolysis techniques.
Multi-agency training for quality: reflections and recommendations

Clinical governance within the National Health Service (NHS) and best value across local authorities in England have emphasised the need for decisions and actions being demonstrably evidence based. In an attempt to progress these related initiatives and facilitate a closer working relationship between NHS Trusts and local government departments, a multi-agency and interprofessional training event on evidence-based practice (EBP) was organised across three boroughs within Tyne and Wear. While there are advantages to different agencies learning and working in partnership to develop quality systems for health improvement, the reality of introducing EBP concepts and creating an evaluative culture within and across public sector organisations represents a major challenge. This article has adopted a case study approach to describe the key lessons learnt through critically reflecting on the planning and delivery of this training event, and it is hoped that it will be of value to others attempting similar projects in the future.
Low‐density cells isolated from the rat thymus resemble branched cortical macrophages and have a reduced capability of rescuing double‐positive thymocytes from apoptosis in the BB‐DP rat

Biobreeding‐diabetes prone (BB‐DP) rats spontaneously develop organ‐specific autoimmunity and are severely lymphopenic and particularly deficient in ART2+ regulatory T cells. A special breed, the so‐called BB‐diabetic‐resistant (DR) rats, are not lymphopenic and do not develop organ‐specific autoimmunity. The genetic difference between both strains is the lymphopenia (lyp) gene. Intrathymic tolerance mechanisms are important to prevent autoimmunity, and next to thymus epithelial cells, thymus APC play a prominent part in this tolerance. We here embarked on a study to detect defects in thymus APC of the BB‐DP rat and isolated thymus APC using a protocol based on the low‐density and nonadherent character of the cells. We used BB‐DP, BB‐DR, wild‐type F344, and F344 rats congenic for the lyp gene‐containing region. The isolated thymus, nonadherent, low‐density cells appeared to be predominantly ED2+ branched cortical macrophages and not OX62+ thymus medullary and cortico‐medullary dendritic cells. Functionally, these ED2+ macrophages were excellent stimulators of T cell proliferation, but it is more important that they rescued double‐positive thymocytes from apoptosis. The isolated thymus ED2+ macrophages of the BB‐DP and the F344.lyp/lyp rat exhibited a reduced T cell stimulatory capacity as compared with such cells of nonlymphopenic rats. They had a strongly diminished capability of rescuing thymocytes from apoptosis (also of ART2+ T cells) and showed a reduced Ian5 expression (as lyp/lyp thymocytes do). Our experiments strongly suggest that branched cortical macrophages play a role in positive selection of T cells in the thymus and point to defects in these cells in BB‐DP rats.
Stigma in the HIV/AIDS epidemic: a review of the literature and recommendations for the way forward

Although stigma is considered a major barrier to effective responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, stigma reduction efforts are relegated to the bottom of AIDS programme priorities. The complexity of HIV/AIDS-related stigma is often cited as a primary reason for the limited response to this pervasive phenomenon. In this paper, we systematically review the scientific literature on HIV/AIDS-related stigma to document the current state of research, identify gaps in the available evidence and highlight promising strategies to address stigma. We focus on the following key challenges: defining, measuring and reducing HIV/AIDS-related stigma as well as assessing the impact of stigma on the effectiveness of HIV prevention and treatment programmes. Based on the literature, we conclude by offering a set of recommendations that may represent important next steps in a multifaceted response to stigma in the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Green supply chain management and organizational performance

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to explore green supply chain management (GSCM) practices and their relationship with organizational performance. More specifically, this research explores the effect of GSCM efforts and other organizational factors on firm performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that serve as suppliers to large customer firms in the electronics industry.Design/methodology/approach – This study developed a research model relating GSCM practice and business performance through three organizational variables (employee satisfaction, operational efficiency, and relational efficiency) as moderators. Statistical analyses were based on the data collected, through survey questionnaires, from 223 SMEs in the electronics industry in Korea. Reliability, validity, and goodness‐of‐fit of the research model were tested by the widely accepted statistical tools. To test the hypotheses relating GSCM practice implementation and business performance, structural equation modeling was used.Fin.
The Investigation of the Relationship between Institutional Ownership and Investment Strategies in Firms Listed in Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) - TI Journals

Abstract: The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between institutional ownership and investment strategies in firms listed in Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). Institutional ownership is considered as independent variable and investment strategies as dependent variable. Investment strategies are proxies for investment instruments namely cost of capital, liquidity, firms size, investment in capital assets and financial leverage. Using financial statements of firms listed in TSE to draw required data for the period between 2000 and 2011, the hypotheses are tested utilizing multivariable regression model. The results indicate that only firms size as investment strategy proxy matters in institutional ownership and other investment strategies including cost of capital, liquidity, investment in capital assets and financial leverage do not matters.
Improved Threshold Secret Sharing Distributed License Authorization System

The demand for digital rights management (DRM) in P2P mode is increasing accordingly along with rapid popularity of the P2P networks. The key points in DRM are the management and issuance of digital content licenses. The traditional centralized authorizations have certain limitations in security and efficiency. This paper presents an improved distributed license authorization system which divides P2P network nodes into six kinds of roles in accordance with their functions. The role of authoritative peer is introduced in order to lighten the burden on the content provider existing in previous systems. The adoptions of threshold secret sharing mechanism and independent synthesis peer in delivering and synthesizing the digital content licenses effectively improve the security of the license in the P2P network environment. Keywords-P2P; DRM; RSA; threshold secret sharing mechanism;
Telomerase Activity as a Potential Diagnostic Marker for Triage of Abnormal Pap Smears

Objectives. To determine whether there is an association between high levels of telomerase and premalignant cervical disease and to provide a preliminary analysis of telomerase activity as a potential triage strategy. Materials and Methods. Premenopausal women were invited to participate in the study during routine gynecologic visits as well as visits where colposcopy was performed. Samples were taken from the cervix using a broom device and placed in cold phosphate-buffered saline. A total of 92 samples were evaluated. Cells were counted and lysed, and a semiquantitative measure of telomerase activity was determined using a commercially available telomerase enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. The presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18 was assessed by polymerase chain reaction analysis. One-way analysis of variance was used to test for the association of telomerase activity with cytology, HPV type 16 or 18 status, and colposcopy and/or biopsy findings. Results. When telomerase levels were analyzed according to Pap smear results, there were no differences among four groups of cytology findings (normal, atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance, low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion, and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion). When colposcopy and/or biopsy results were considered, significantly higher levels of telomerase were detected in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 2,3 samples than in normal Pap smear samples and CIN 1 samples (p = .035). There was no significant difference in telomerase levels between samples that tested positive for HPV type 16 or 18 and those that did not (p = .111). Conclusions. Telomerase levels were significantly higher in cytologic samples from women with biopsy-proven CIN 2,3 than in samples from women with normal cytology results or CIN 1. These results warrant larger studies to determine whether telomerase activity may be a useful triage tool for abnormal cytologic findings.
Generalized algorithm of building summation codes for the tasks of technical diagnostics of discrete systems

A detailed analysis of error controlled divisible codes' building techniques was carried out, aimed at error detection in data vectors, which relate to summation codes' class. Summation codes classification was suggested, covering the whole diversity of modification methods of the existing classical and modular summation codes. New methods of summation codes modification were specified making it possible to build codes with different characteristics. A universal algorithm of building poly-modulus summation code was developed, capturing all the existing building techniques of summation codes. An algorithm of selecting a building technique of a code was developed, when organizing a concurrent error-detection (CED) system of a logical unit with the given topology. The presented results make it possible to broaden the selection field of encoding variant in the process of reliable discrete systems' synthesis.
Familial resemblance for bone mineral mass is expressed before puberty.

Genetic factors are known to explain a major proportion of peak bone mineral mass variance. Whether the influence of these genetic factors is expressed before the pubertal bone mineral mass accrual and whether there is tracking of bone mineral mass during pubertal growth, however, are not clearly established. We prospectively investigated correlations for bone mineral content (BMC), density, and bone size between prepubertal daughters and their premenopausal mothers. Height, weight, lumbar spine (LS), femoral neck (FN) and mid-femoral diaphysis BMC, bone area (BA), areal bone mineral density (aBMD), and volumetric bone mineral apparent density (BMAD) were evaluated in 138 mothers (mean age +/- SD, 40.0 +/- 4.0 yr) and their daughters (8.1 +/- 0.7 yr), who were then remeasured at yearly intervals for 2 yr. Eight-year-old prepubertal daughters had reached 78% and 44% of their mothers' height and weight, respectively. At the various skeletal sites, they had reached 33-43% of their mothers' BMC, 47-69% of their BA, 59-78% of their aBMD, and 75-105% of their BMAD. All body size and bone traits (age-adjusted Z-scores) were significantly correlated between prepubertal daughters and their mothers (r: 0.22-0.36, P < 0.01), except midfemoral diaphysis BMAD. Heritability estimates (1/2 h2), after adjustment for body size and dietary calcium intake, showed that 18-37% of bone traits were directly determined by maternal descent. During the next 2 yr, growth was accompanied by a marked increase of BMC, aBMD, and BA, whereas BMAD changed very little. In contrast, during this period, there were only minor changes in body size or bone trait Z-scores (i.e. < 0.5 Z-scores), which were thus highly correlated between consecutive measurements (r: 0.75-0.92, P < 0.0001). Accordingly, mother-daughter correlations remained unchanged over that period. Although more than 60% of peak bone mineral mass is gained during puberty (mostly at the expense of an increase in bone size while volumetric bone density slightly changes), familial resemblance for most bone traits is already present between daughters and their mothers before puberty. In the girls, moreover, yearly measurements were highly correlated, suggesting tracking of bone traits during pubertal growth. These results indicate that genetic susceptibility to osteoporosis may already be detectable in early childhood.
Shaping the CD4+ memory immune response against tuberculosis: the role of antigen persistence, location and multi-functionality

Abstract Effective vaccination against intracellular pathogens, such as tuberculosis (TB), relies on the generation and maintenance of CD4 memory T cells. An incomplete understanding of the memory immune response has hindered the rational design of a new, more effective TB vaccine. This review discusses how the persistence of antigen, the location of memory cells, and their multifunctional ability shape the CD4 memory T cell response against TB.
Noise tolerant circuit techniques for high performance feedthrough logic

Feedthrough logic (FTL) improves the performance of arithmetic circuits as compared to static and dynamic logic. This paper presents a circuit design technique to improve noise tolerant of FTL. However the noise tolerant of feedthrough logic is less as compared to static CMOS circuits. The ANTE (average noise threshold energy) metric is used for the comparison of noise tolerance of proposed circuit with the existing FTL logic. A 2-input NAND gate is designed by the proposed technique. Simulation results for a 2-input NAND gate using 0.18 μm. 1.8 V CMOS process technology shows that the proposed noise tolerant circuit achieves 2.3X ANTE improvement along with the reduction in leakage power and at 90nm the ANTE is improved by 2.1X.
Computational Models for Estimating Liver Iron Overload with the Magnetic Iron Detector

An accurate measurement of the liver iron overload is essential for the management of diseases such as thalassemia and hemocromathosis. The Magnetic Iron Detector is a susceptometer, which measures the total iron overload in the liver and has been used on more than 800 patients of Galliera Hospital (Genoa, Italy) since February 2005. The iron overload is obtained by calculating the difference between the measured magnetization signal and the patient’s background signal, which is the magnetization signal that would be measured for that patient with a normal iron content. This study describes two models for calculating the background signal using the measurements and the anthropometric features of 84 healthy volunteers. The first model introduces a statistical correction to the signal computed from the body shape of the subject assuming it to be made of water. The second model is based on statistical learning and learns from the volunteers’ data a mapping from the anthropometric features to the background signal. We present two approaches to combine the models. The assessment of the models on the 84 volunteers show that the performances of the models are comparable and that we can confidently estimate the background signals of patients. The model sensitivity (0.9 g) allows the physicians to monitor the iron overload variations due to the therapy. These models are currently in use at the Galliera Hospital. Keywords-Medical Computation; Liver Iron Overload; Magnetic Iron Detector; Thalassemia; Statistical Learning; Kernel Methods; Forward Problem.
Intensification of Treatment for Angiosarcoma of the Breast with Accelerated Hyperfractionated Radiation, Hyperthermia, and Surgical Resection

Angiosarcoma (AS) of the breast is a rare malignancy most commonly encountered as a secondary malignancy after the treatment of breast cancer with or without adjuvant radiation. The prognosis for secondary AS is poor, with reported five-year overall survival rates ranging from 10%-43%. The establishment of local control is vital to prognosis, yet patients often die with locally progressive disease. Multiple local therapies have been employed including surgery alone, surgery followed by radiation, and concurrent radiation and hyperthermia. Here, we report a case of secondary AS that occurred after breast conserving therapy and adjuvant radiation for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). After initial surgical excision and subsequent local recurrence, our patient was treated with a novel treatment intensification strategy including neoadjuvant, accelerated hyperfractionated radiation with concurrent hyperthermia, followed by total mastectomy and flap reconstruction. The final pathologic evaluation demonstrated a near-complete response to induction thermoradiotherapy.