Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
IL-17A in Asthma - A Question of Severity

Allergic asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the lung driven by aberrant responses to normally innocuous environmental allergens. Disease is characterized by excessive IgE synthesis, eosinophilic pulmonary inflammation, mucus hypersecretion, and airway remodeling, and airway hyperresponsiveness - all leading to the clinical features of disease - reversible episodes of coughing, shortness of breath and wheezing. While the excessive production of cytokines like IL-4, IL-5 and IL-13 by allergen specific-Th2 cells is sufficient to explain most features of allergic asthma, increasing evidence suggests that the Th2 paradigm does not explain the full spectrum of disease severity. In particular, severe asthmatics represent a small subset of asthmatics, in which disease is associated with more severe airway reactivity, a mixed eosinophilic/neutrophilic infiltrate, and insensitivity to treatment with corticosteroids. Thus, severe asthmatics are not only more susceptible asthma-related complications; they are underserved by currently available therapies. Recent evidence suggests that the development of severe disease may be associated with the development of a mixed Th2/Th17 response. Herein, we will assess the data from human and animal models suggesting a link between a mixed Th2/Th17 response, and the development of severe asthma. A greater understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the development of severe asthma may allow the development of efficacious therapeutics for the treatment of this intractable form of disease.
Smart Metering Consumer Behavior Study in the Republic of Ireland: Further Analyses on the Consumers' Electricity Consumptions and Usage Perceptions

With the disclosure of the conclusions of the Republic of Ireland’s Smart Metering Trials, this report intends to summarize the experience and the Consumer Behavior results. I also complement the Irish report by examining the effect of demographic and attitudinal variables in the change of electricity consumption during the trial and by studying the accuracy of the participants’ perception of the change in their consumptions and bills during the experience. The main conclusion is that the participants were not able to take full advantage of the potentiality of the Time-of-Use tariffs to reduce bills and did not have a clear perception of their consumptions and spending, which may have prevented them of achieving better results.
The Endeavour ASV : Hardware , Sensor & Software Overview Queensland University of Technology

This paper provides an overview of the hardware, sensor and software systems of the Endeavour Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV) developed by the Queensland University of Technology for entry in the 2014 Maritime RobotX Challenge. The design features include a modular sensor and computing hardware arrangement to facilitate rapid assembly and transportation between field sites, and a unique dual electric propulsion system. A minimal, yet capable sensor suite and software architecture built on the Robotic Operating System (ROS) has been developed to allow completion of all five of the challenge tasks. The ASV’s control, mapping and task specific vision and acoustics-based algorithms have been evaluated in both simulation and through field experiments with results presented demonstrating their capabilities.
The Role of Metal Ion Dopants in Quantum-Sized TiO2: Correlation between Photoreactivity and Charge Carrier Recombination Dynamics

A systematic study of metal ion doping in quantum (Q)-sized (2-4 nm) TiO_2 colloids is performed by measuring their photoreactivities and the transient charge carrier recombination dynamics. The presence of metal ion dopants in the TiO_2 crystalline matrix significantly influences photoreactivity, charge carrier recombination rates, and interfacial electron-transfer rates. The photoreactivities of 21 metal ion-doped colloids are quantified in terms of both the conduction band electron reduction of an electron acceptor (CCl_4 dechlorination) and the valence band hole oxidation of an electron donor (CHCl_3 degradation). Doping with Fe^(3+), Mo^(5+), Ru^(3+), Os^(3+), Re^(5+), V^(4+), and Rh^(3+) at 0.1-0.5 at. % significantly increases the photoreactivity for both oxidation and reduction while Co^(3+) and Al^(3+) doping decreases the photoreactivity. The transient absorption signals upon laser flash photolysis (λ_(ex) = 355 nm) at λ = 600 nm are extended up to 50 ms for Fe^(3+)-, V^(4+)-, Mo^(5+)-, and Ru^(3+)-doped TiO_2 while the undoped Q-sized TiO_2 shows a complete "blue electron" signal decay within 200 μs. Co^(3+)- and Al^(3+)-doped TiO_2 are characterized by rapid signal decays with a complete loss of absorption signals within 5 μs. The quantum yields obtained during CW photolyses are quantitatively correlated with the measured transient absorption signals of the charge carriers. Photoreactivities are shown to increase with the relative concentration of trapped charge carriers. The photoreactivity of doped TiO_2 appears to be a complex function of the dopant concentration, the energy level of dopants within the TiO_2 lattice, their d electronic configuration, the distribution of dopants, the electron donor concentration, and the light intensity.
Rural Waste Management Issues at Global Level (Introductory Chapter)

This chapter intends to draw attention to solid waste management sector toward rural areas where bad practices and public health threats could be avoided through traditional and integrated waste management routes. The expansion of waste collection services across rural municipalities should be a priority for many countries. Agricultural and municipal waste diversion from wild dumps and open burning practices must be avoided through smart solutions at the local level which are cost-efficient particularly in developing countries. The book further examines, on the one hand, the main challenges in the development of reliable waste management practices across rural regions and, on the other hand, the concrete solutions and the new opportunities across the world in dealing with rural solid waste.
Research on the Isolation and Biological Reaction of Nano-Wear Debris from Artificial Joint

When artificial joint is abrased, it produced nano-wear debris, which can not only lead to aseptic loosening, decreasing the artificial joint service life, but also brings about biotoxicity, amyotrophy and neurotrophy around artificial joint. This study introduces a process of extracting nano-wear debris from human body repaired synovial fluid and experiment synovia fluid and analyses its advantages and disadvantages, furthermore, it makes a systematic summary of the research on biological response of nano-wear debris up to date.
Investigation of Oligosaccharides for Prebitoic Action on Vaginal Lactobacilli

Objective: Vaginitis is a very common gynaecological problem in women of all age groups resulted in millions of visit to physician. Decrease in vaginal Lactobacilli is one of the reasons of Bacterial vaginitis. Approach that could improve decreased level of Lactobacilli and inhibit growth of pathogenic bacteria can be alternative to antibiotic therapy. Oligosaccharides influence the growth of Lactobacilli species and benefits vaginal ecosystem. The present study was designed to evaluate prebitoic potential of oligosaccharides in vaginitis. Methodology: The potential of oligosaccharides to stimulate the growth of three selected vaginal Lactobacilli strains was studied by optical density, pH, titrable acidity and dry mass after 48 h of incubation. The antimicrobial effect of vaginal Lactobacilli in presence of oligosaccharide against pathogenic bacteria E. coli and C. albicans was studied by agar diffusion method. Vaginal irritation test was studied on female Swiss albino mice. Results and Discussion: Increased lactic acid production and lowering of pH by Lactobacilli strains in presence of oligosaccharides confirmed that oligosaccharide can stimulate the growth of selected Lactobacilli species. Optical density and dry biomass was also increased during 48 h of incubation. Higher zone of inhibition was observed in presence of prebiotic compared to control (without prebiotic). Vaginal irritation study showed no significant changes. Conclusively, oligosaccharides supported the growth of selected strains and could restore bacterial environment. Key words: Lactobacilli , Fructo-Oligosaccharide (FOS), Galacto-Oligosaccharide (GOS), Prebiotic, Vaginitis.
Episodic burial and exhumation in NE Brazil after opening of the South Atlantic

It is a common assumption that elevated passive continental margins have remained high since rifting and breakup. Here, we show that the Atlantic margin of NE Brazil has undergone a more complex history. Our synthesis of geological data, landscape analysis, and paleothermal and paleoburial data reveals a four-stage history: (1) After Early Cretaceous breakup, the margin under went burial beneath a thick sedimentary cover; (2) uplift episodes in the Campanian and Eocene led to almost complete removal of these deposits; (3) the resulting large-scale, low-relief erosion surface (peneplain) was deeply weathered and finally reburied at the Oligocene-Miocene transition; and (4) Miocene uplift and erosion produced a new, lower-level peneplain by incision of the uplifted and re-exposed Paleogene peneplain. Previous studies have identified aspects of this interpretation, but we have defined the absolute timing and magnitude of discrete events of burial and exhumation that followed Early Cretaceous rifting and Eocene–Oligocene peneplanation. We suggest that a late sedimentary cover protected Paleogene weathering profiles until the present day. The uplift phases in Brazil are synchronous with uplift phases in Africa and the Andes. The Andean phases coincided with rapid convergence on the western margin of South America, and the Campanian uplift coincided with a decline in spreading rate at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Consequently, we suggest that both vertical movements and lateral changes in the motion of the plates have a common cause, which is lateral resistance to plate motion.
Triple play as a separate market? Empirical findings and consequences to broadband market definition

Double and triple play bundled offers are common phenomena in many national communication markets. However the overall market context, technological background of provision, the level of facility based platform competition and strategic role of the bundled offers seems to be different in national markets. There is clear challenge to the current European regulatory approach to broadband markets, which is treated as a separate market on its own. If there was a separate market for the bundled product, the whole market analysis and remedy system had to be adapted to this market reality. Testing the (triple play) bundle the market hypothesis is the logical and necessary first step to address this issue. We designed and conducted an empirical study supported by the Hungarian Competition Authority in order to address these questions. A special, situation adaptive questionnaire design was applied in order to get the possibly best informed and adequate stated preference reactions to a 10% price change. We used the cri ical loss test for market definition, testing whether there is a separate market for triple play bundles. Results indicates that the market definition question whether bundle has to or could be considered as a separate relevant market can be answered using well designed survey techniques. Many clues support the hypothesis that the triple play bundle in 2010 indeed was a separate relevant market.
Fractionation and anti-inflammatory effects of polyphenol-enriched extracts from apple pomace

Bioactive polyphenols are the predominant ingredients in apple pomace, an agro-industrial byproduct in apple juice processing. The present work focused on fractionation of ethanol extract of apple pomace using macroporous absorbent resin chromatography and HPLC analysis of all fractions recovered from polyphenol-enriched extract and their inhibitory effects on cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression in lipo-polysaccharides (LPS) -induced mouse RAW 264.7 cell line. Six fractions API-VI were achieved through fractionation eluting with aqueous alcohol. HPLC analysis indicated that APIII eluted by 40% ethanol had the highest content of total phenolics, which was 148.1 ± 3.11 mg gallic acid equivalents per 100 g of dry apple pomace. Anti-inflammatory assays showed that APIII had the strongest activity against COX-2 expression at 5 ? g mL -1 and procyanidin B2 and quercetin exhibited positive correlation with their anti-inflammatory effects. Our data suggested that phenolics could be prepared from apple pomace and applied in the management of inflammatory diseases.
A behavioural approach to feeding broilers

Les poussins utilisent leur bec des la naissance pour briser la coquille de l'oeuf et picorer est l'une de leurs premieres activites de vie autonome. Le picorage est un ensemble cordonne d'actions precises modulees par les caracteristiques physiques visuelles et tactiles des particules alimentaires. L'identification d'un aliment se construit par association de ses caracteristiques sensorielles avec ses effets post-ingestifs nutritionnels qui sont memorises. Quelques interactions entre facteurs nutritionnels (equilibres du regime en acides amines et energie, rationnement) et environnementaux (temperature, lumiere) sont discutes a partir de travaux recemment publies. Par exemple, le poulet peut s'adapter en plusieurs jours a des concentratiens energetiques tres differentes du regime, si les aliments sont granules (1 950 a 3 212 kcal.kg -1 ), en revanche, en climat chaud il reste incapable d'ajuster son ingere energetique quelle que soit la teneur en acides amines de l'aliment. Le bilan energetique est la base de regulation de l'ingere mais l'equilibre en acides amines indispensables a plusieurs effets sur l'ingere qui ne semblent pas explicables par la production de chaleur metabolique. Les poulets de chair ajustent leur budget temps en fonction des caracteristiques physiques et de la valeur nutritionnelle de l'aliment en equilibre avec d'autres contraintes environnementales comme le climat. Par exemple, les rythmes d'activite des poulets dependent de l'equilibre en acides amines indispensables de l'aliment mais aussi de la durete des granules et des fluctuations de la temperature. Dans les conditions de l'elevage, les caracteristiques biochimiques du regime sont calculees pour etre nutritionnellement equilibrees et permettre une croissance musculaire rapide et efficace, Les caracteristiques physiques optimales des particules alimentaires sont connues avec moins de precision et l'observation du comportement des animaux pourrait conduire a des ajustements technologiques pour, par exemple, mieux controler le temps passe a la mangeoire des animaux ou faciliter les transitions entre deux livraisons d'aliment. De meme, les techniques de distribution des aliments (heure, rythme) peuvent faciliter l'adaptation des poulets aux contraintes climatiques. Par exemple, un retrait de l'aliment avant les heures les plus chaudes de la journee couple a un eclairement nocturne, limite la mortalite en finition, Dans ces deux domaines, technologie et rythmes de distribution de l'aliment, l'utilite des methodes d'etude du comportement doit etre validee au niveau de l'elevage. Cela necessite un developpement des interactions entre essais de laboratoire et mesures de terrain.
ITEM-BASED COLLABORATIVE FILTERING RECOMMENDER SYSTEM

Recommendation algorithms are best known for their use on e-commerce Web sites, where they use input about a customer's interests to generate a list of recommended items. Many applications use only the items that customers purchase and explicitly rate to represent their interests, but they can also use other attributes, including items viewed, demographic data, subject interests, and favourite artists. Collaborative filtering is one of the most important technologies in electronic commerce. With the development of recommender systems, the magnitudes of users and items grow rapidly, resulted in the extreme sparsity of user rating data set. Traditional similarity measure methods work poor in this situation, make the quality of recommendation system decreased dramatically. Poor quality is one major challenge in collaborative filtering recommender systems. Sparsity of users’ ratings is the major reason causing the poor quality. To address these issues we have explored item-based collaborative filtering techniques. Item based techniques first analyze the user-item matrix to identify relationships between different items, and then use these relationships to indirectly compute recommendations for users. This approach predicts item ratings that users have not rated, and then uses Pearson correlation similarity measurement to find the target items’ neighbors, lastly produces the recommendations. The experiments are made on a common data set using different recommender algorithms. The results show that the proposed approach can improve the accuracy of the collaborative filtering recommender system.
Supervisory Control for Power Management of an Islanded AC Microgrid Using a Frequency Signalling-Based Fuzzy Logic Controller

In islanded ac microgrids consisting of renewable energy sources (RES), battery-based energy storage system (BESS), and loads, the BESS balances the difference between the RES power and loads by delivering/absorbing that difference. However, the state of charge and charging/discharging power of the battery should be kept within their design limits regardless of variations in the load demand or the intermittent power of the RES. In this paper, a supervisory controller-based on fuzzy logic is proposed to assure that the battery power and energy do not exceed their design limits and maintaining a stable power flow. The microgrid considered in this paper consists of a PV, battery, load and auxiliary supplementary unit. The fuzzy logic controller alters the ac-bus frequency, which is used by the local controllers of the parallel units to curtail the power generated by the PV or to supplement the power from the auxiliary unit. The proposed FLC performance is verified by simulation and experimental results.
Next Generation Networks and Communications

Over the decades, due to technology limitations and regulatory restrictions, information services have been delivered to subscribers through multiple service providers. In recent years, however, the advancement of digital communication technology, the passing of the 1996 Telecommunications Act in the U.S., and the emergence of the Internet are driving network convergence. As a result, the industry is calling for the consolidation of an integrated Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) in the customer’s premises to provide integrated services, such as multi-media, voice, and data services. However, the ever-changing network standards and competing technologies not only confuse carriers, but also prevent them from committing to massive CPE deployment. In this paper, the problems carriers face in the deployment of integrated services over broadband are first described. In order to remove these deployment obstacles, and also to create new value-added services, service models are investigated and an open CPE architecture is proposed that will support the wide range of broadband access technologies and ever-changing network standards. For your reference, an Appendix of acronyms used in this paper is included.
Changes of tree-ring δ13C and water-use efficiency of beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) in north-eastern France during the past century

We investigated variation in intrinsic water-use efficiency during the past century by analysing δ 13 C in tree rings of beech growing in north-eastern France. Two different silvicultural systems were studied: high forest and coppice-with-standards. We studied separately effects related to the age of the tree at the time the ring was formed and effects attributable to environmental changes. At young ages, δ 13 C shows an increase of more than 1‰. However, age-related trends differ in high forest and coppice-with-standards. Changes in microenvironmental variables during stand maturation, and physiological changes related to structural development of the trees with ageing, could explain these results. During the past century, δ 13 C in tree rings shows a pattern of decline that is not paralleled by air δ 13 C changes. Isotopic discrimination has significantly decreased from 18.1 to 16.4‰ in high forest and varied insignificantly between 17.4 and 16.9‰ in coppice-with-standards. As a consequence, intrinsic water-use efficiency has increased by 44% in high forest and 23% in coppice-with-standards during the past century. These results accord with the increased water-use efficiency observed in controlled experiments under a CO 2 -enriched atmosphere. However, other environmental changes, such as nitrogen deposition, may be responsible for such trends.
Preliminary phytochemical screening and in vitro evaluation of anti-inflammatory, antiarthritic, and thrombolytic activities of ethanolic leaf extract of Bauhinia purpurea

Aim: The aim of the present study is to carry out the preliminary phytochemical screening followed by an investigation of the in vitro anti-inflammatory, antiarthritic, and thrombolytic activity of ethanolic leaf extract of Bauhinia purpurea. Methods: Phytochemical screening was done to find the presence of various secondary metabolites of the plant. The anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated by human red blood cell (HRBC) method. Using hypotonic solution-induced human erythrocyte lysis model, membrane-stabilizing activity was examined by considering aspirin as standard. Thrombolytic activity was evaluated using the in vitro clot lysis model. Egg albumin and bovine serum albumin (BSA) were used to evaluate the antiarthritic potential. Results and Discussion: Phytochemical tests of ethanolic leaf extract of B. purpurea indicated the presence of flavonoids, alkaloids, steroids, terpenoids, lignin’s, carbohydrates, proteins, tannins, saponins, and glycosides. In case of anti-inflammatory activity, the maximum percentage stabilization of HRBC membrane was observed as 59.2% at 500 μg/ml concentration. The maximum percentage inhibition by BSA method and egg albumin method was observed as 82.2% and 94%, respectively, at 500 μg/ml concentration for antiarthritic activity. During assay for thrombolytic activity, it revealed that 91.02 ± 2.6% lysis of clot, while standard streptokinase and water used as positive and negative controls, demonstrated 72.835 ± 5.702% and 2.725 ± 0.983% lysis of clot, respectively.Conclusion: The present outcomes highlight the role of ethanolic leaf extract of B. purpurea for its anti-inflammatory, antiarthritic, and thrombolytic activities. It reveals that the phytochemical constituents are responsible for these activities.
On Type II Hybrid-ARQ with Decode and Forward Relay using Non-Binary Rate-Compatible Punctured LDPC Code on MIMO SC-FDMA up-link

In this paper, Non-Binary Rate-Compatible Punctured Low Density Parity Check (NB RCP LDPC) code is designed over the extended Galois Field. The designed NB RCP LDPC code is applied to the type II Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) with Decode and Forward (DF) relay on Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Single Carrier-Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) up-links. The designed code enables us to decrease the coding rate with incremental redundancy for each retransmission in HARQ. The retransmission is done from the DF relay after the successful decoding in the relay. We have verified through computer simulations that the proposed type II HARQ scheme with DF relay greatly improves the throughput and average retransmission characteristics compared with the scheme without DF relay. Multiple relay cases are also considered. Keywords-NB RCP LDPC code; Hybrid-ARQ; Decode and Forward Relay; MIMO SC-FDMA; Symbol-LLR.