Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Requirements Engineering in der automotive Entwicklung - Von der Idee bis zum Produkt

Zusammenfassung Durch die Zunahme von vernetzten mechatronischen Systemen im Fahrzeug, die einen steigenden Funktionsumfang realisieren, wachst die Komplexitat in der Entwicklung von Fahrzeugen. Um systematische Fehler zu vermeiden, gewinnt ein strukturiertes Vorgehen in der Entwicklung und damit auch das Requirements Engineering an Bedeutung. Bisherige Arbeiten fokussierten sich meist rein auf die Lieferantenentwicklung. Die hier vorgestellte Sicht beschreibt eine durchgangige Betrachtung von Anforderungen beginnend in Vorentwicklung bis zur OEM-internen Serienumsetzung.
Slow acetylator mutations in the human polymorphic N-acetyltransferase gene in 786 Asians, blacks, Hispanics, and whites: application to metabolic epidemiology.

Our aim was to determine the population frequencies of the major slow acetylator alleles of the polymorphic N-acetyltransferase (NAT2) gene, whose locus maps to chromosome 8. We used allele-specific PCR amplification on 786 dried blood spots obtained from Hong Kong Chinese, U.S. Koreans, U.S. blacks, U.S. Hispanics, Germans, and U.S. whites. Our results show that four slow acetylator alleles can be detected as mutations at positions 481, 590, and 857 in the NAT2 gene. Recognized base substitutions at positions 341 and 803 need not be determined, because they were almost always associated with the 481T mutation. The known mutation at position 282 was strongly associated with the 590A mutation. The 481T, 590A, and 857A mutations accounted for virtually all of the slow acetylator alleles in Asian and white populations. The 857A mutation proved to be an Asiatic allele. The results will be useful in large-scale epidemiologic studies of cancer and other conditions potentially associated with the acetylator polymorphism.
Impact of spread spectrum emi-reduction on audio performance of filterless Class-D amplifiers

In this paper the ability of using spread spectrum clock generation (SSCG) techniques for audio applications is investigated. It is shown how this technique can be used to reduce the electromagnetic emission that is caused by the high frequency switching activity of Class-D audio amplifiers. Additionally the trade-offs when using this technique are explained. Based on measurement and simulation of the conducted common-mode electromagnetic emission and THD+N of a class D audio amplifier, it is shown how the spread spectrum technique can be used to reduce the electromagnetic emission in certain frequency ranges and how it impacts the audio performance.
A novel role for retinoids in patterning the avian forebrain during presomite stages

Retinoids, and in particular retinoic acid (RA), are known to induce posterior fates in neural tissue. However, alterations in retinoid signalling dramatically affect anterior development. Previous reports have demonstrated a late role for retinoids in patterning craniofacial and forebrain structures, but an earlier role in anterior patterning is not well understood. We show that enzymes involved in synthesizing retinoids are expressed in the avian hypoblast and in tissues directly involved in head patterning, such as anterior definitive endoderm and prechordal mesendoderm. We found that in the vitamin A-deficient (VAD) quail model, which lacks biologically active RA from the first stages of development, anterior endodermal markers such as Bmp2, Bmp7, Hex and the Wnt antagonist crescent are affected during early gastrulation. Furthermore, prechordal mesendodermal and prospective ventral telencephalic markers are expanded posteriorly, Shh expression in the axial mesoderm is reduced, and Bmp2 and Bmp7 are abnormally expressed in the ventral midline of the neural tube. At early somite stages, VAD embryos have increased cell death in ventral neuroectoderm and foregut endoderm, but normal cranial neural crest production, whereas at later stages extensive apoptosis occurs in head mesenchyme and ventral neuroectoderm. As a result, VAD embryos end up with a single and reduced telencephalic vesicle and an abnormally patterned diencephalon. Therefore, we propose that retinoids have a dual role in patterning the anterior forebrain during development. During early gastrulation, RA acts in anterior endodermal cells to modulate the anteroposterior (AP) positional identity of prechordal mesendodermal inductive signals to the overlying neuroectoderm. Later on, at neural pore closure, RA is required for patterning of the mesenchyme of the frontonasal process and the forebrain by modulating signalling molecules involved in craniofacial morphogenesis.
Alteration of Cryptosporidium parvum (Apicomplexa: Eucoccidiorida) Oocyst Antigens Following Bleach Treatment

Oocysts of the protozoan parasite Cryptosporidium parvum are passed in infected feces and subsequently ingested by susceptible hosts, thus perpetuating transmission of the infection in the natural environment. Detection of oocysts is important to the water industry, especially in treatment plants using sanitizing and disinfecting chemicals. Commercial bleach containing sodium hypochlorite is frequently used by researchers to decontaminate the surface of oocysts prior to inoculating cell cultures. The present study analyzed oocyst protein patterns and antigen profiles before and after bleach treatment. Oocysts isolated from mouse feces were treated with a 20% bleach solution at 4°C for 30 min. Treated and non-treated oocysts were frozen, thawed, and sonicated to produce a C. parvum-oocyst homogenate (CPOH), which was subjected to gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting. Coomassie blue-stained electrophoretic gels revealed 33 and 15 protein bands from non-treated and treated CPOH, respectively. On Western blotting, 15 protein bands from non-treated CPOH were identified by polyclonal antibodies (hyperimmune mouse serum), but only 10 bands could be observed following bleach treatment. Monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) 6B4 and 9D10, specific for epitopes on the intact oocyst wall, revealed different immunoblotting patterns before and after bleach treatment. Prior to treatment, Mab 6B4 reacted with 2 protein bands with molecular weights of 55 and 246 kD, while Mab 9D10 reacted with 2 bands with molecular weights of 168 and 230 kD. Following bleach treatment, both the 55 and 246 kD bands (Mab 6B4) were still visible, but bands at 168 and 230 kD (Mab 9D10) were not. The utility of polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies in detecting oocysts from different sources will depend upon the chemical sensitivities of their target epitopes.
Closure of ascites leaks with fibrin glue injection in patients with end-stage liver disease.

BACKGROUND Ascites leaks (AL) in patients with end-stage liver disease (ESLD) are associated with significant morbidity and mortality regardless if they are medically or surgically managed. PATIENTS AND METHODS In a pilot study, 14 ESLD patients with AL underwent treatment with fibrin glue injection around the leak after failing conservative therapy. The end point of this study was the cessation of AL in the short term and the maintenance of a leak-free abdomen in the long term, allowing for medical optimization of the patients. RESULTS Median age of the 10 men and 4 women was 50 (range 26-67) years. Underlying ESLDs were chronic hepatitis C (n=5), alcoholic LD (n=2), cryptogenic cirrhosis (n=2), and miscellaneous (n=5). There were six leaking incisions posthernia repair (three umbilical and three inguinal), two leaking/ruptured umbilical hernias, four leaking paracentesis sites, one leaking Jackson-Pratt (JP) drain canal, and one leaking laparoscopic trocar site. Average AL volume per day was 1000 (range 400-2000) mL. All leaks were immediately resolved with a 3-5 mL fibrin glue injection. Five recurred and required a second injection (four within 24 hours). Mental status improved in 7 patients (West Haven Criteria: grade II to I [n=6], grade III to I [n=1]). Median model of end-stage liver disease scores improved from 23 (range 8-33) to 20 (range 14-26). There were no infections, bleeds, or other injection-related complications. Average follow-up for these patients was 441.6 days (range 2-852). Five patients underwent liver transplant (LT) median 15 (range 4-270) days postinjection; 2 of them died. Another 3 patients died (2 from sepsis and 1 from metastatic cancer). CONCLUSION Fibrin glue injection for the control of AL is a simple and safe bedside procedure that quickly controls AL, allowing for patient recovery in anticipation of further care.
Hyperspectral image restoration based on spatio-spectral structure tensor regularization

We propose a regularization function for hyperspectral image restoration based on a newly-designed structure tensor. We adopt a convex optimization approach with the use of the nuclear norm of a matrix, termed as spatio-spectral structure tensor. It consists of the gradient components of a hyperspectral image cube w.r. t. the spatio-spectral domain. The proposed approach allows to penalize variations in the spectral domain as well as the spatial domain to exploit the spatio-spectral correlations. Our experiments on denoising of hyperspectral images show that the proposed regularization leads to significant improvements in restoration performance over state-of-the-art methods.
Voltage-dependence of ciliary activity in the ciliate Didinium nasutum

In the gymnostome ciliate Didinium nasutum, swimming behaviour depends upon the cyclic activity of about 3000 cilia. The normal beating mode, resulting in forward swimming of the cell, is characterized by a posteriad effective beat (18 left of the longitudinal axis) at a frequency of approximately 15 Hz. Activation of depolarization-sensitive ciliary Ca2+ channels leads to an increase in intracellular Ca2+ concentration and a change in the beating mode. Following rapid reorientation, the effective stroke is anteriad (24 ° right of the longitudinal axis) and the beating frequency is about 26 Hz, resulting in fast backward swimming of the cell. In response to minor depolarizations, and hence small increases in cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration, the cilia inactivate. Frequency increase and reversal in beat orientation share a single threshold level of membrane potential, since both changes of the beating mode occur simultaneously.
Effect of Temperature and Storage on Vitamin C Content in Fruits Juice

The amount of Vitamin C content of some fresh fruit degradaded with time was investigated; Pineapple, Orange, Watermelon and Tomato stored under difference conditions. The juices from the samples were extracted and vitamin C content in the juice was analysed at room temperature, 40 0 C and at seven (7) days storage by indophenols titration method. The result revealed that vitamin C content is more in Pineapple juice compared to Orange, Watermelon and Tomato juice as shown in Table 1 in this order; 49.38 ±1.875, 39.75 ±1.000, 27.50±1.250 and 19.13 ±1.630 mg/100ml respectively. The fresh juice were boiled at 40 0 C and vitamin C content was determined. Result shows that; there is decreased in Vitamin C content after boiling as shown in Table 1; 26.25 ±1.750, 23.00 ±1.520, 16.70±1.420 and 10.83 ±2.600 mg/100ml respectively. The fresh juices were also stored at room temperature for 7 days and vitamin C content was determined. Result revealed that; there is loss of vitamin C content in fresh juice but not as much as the boiled juice Table1; 42.13 ±0.875, 31.50 ± 1.000, 21.63 ±1.625 and 15.63±0.625 mg/100ml respectively. The rate at which vitamin C is loss during storage depend on the type of storage methods employed.
Nanocarbons for the development of advanced catalysts.

Dang Sheng Su,*,†,‡ Siglinda Perathoner, and Gabriele Centi* †Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Science, 72 Wenhua Road, Shenyang 110006, China ‡Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, Faradayweg 4-6, 14195 Berlin, Germany Dipartimento di Ingegneria Elettronica, Chimica ed Ingegneria Industriale, University of Messina and INSTM/CASPE (Laboratory of Catalysis for Sustainable Production and Energy), Viale Ferdinando Stagno, D’Alcontres 31, 98166 Messina, Italy
Reduced Chlorhexidine Tooth Stain Coverage by Sequential Administration of Monoperoxyphthalic Acid in the Beagle Dog

Extrinsic tooth stain is sometimes a side-effect observed with the chronic use of chlorhexidine-containing oral care products. This chlorhexidine (CHX)-induced tooth staining is observed both in humans as well as in experimental animals. The present study tested the hypothesis that the sequential administration of monoperoxyphthalic acid (MPA) will reduce the development of chlorhexidine-induced tooth stain coverage in a beagle dog. For this study, dogs were treated with 30 mL of mouthrinse b.i. d. for 28 days. The following treatment groups (n = 12 dogs/group) were tested: water (negative control), 1.0% MPA rinse, 0.12% CHX rinse, and 1.0% MPA rinse followed by 0.12% CHX rinse. The sequential dosing of 1.0% MPA followed by 0.12% CHX resulted in significantly (p ≤ 0.05) less tooth stain than when dogs were dosed with 0.12% CHX alone. Additionally, the sequential dosing of MPA followed by chlorhexidine resulted in a 75% reduction in plaque formation in this model, which was significantly different (p ≤ 0.05) from results with either treatment alone. A further study demonstrated that similar results could be obtained when MPA plus CHX treatments were separated by approximately a five-hour period in an AM and PM schedule. We conclude that the oxidizer, MPA, can significantly reduce tooth stain induced by CHX while enhancing its antiplaque and antigingivitis activity.
Engineered glycolytic glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase binds the anti conformation of NAD+ nicotinamide but does not experience A-specific hydride transfer.

Glycolytic glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) is a NAD-dependent oxidoreductase which catalyzes the oxidative phosphorylation of d-glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (G3P) to form 1, 3-diphosphoglycerate. The currently accepted mechanism involves an oxidoreduction step followed by a phosphorylation. GAPDH is classified as a B-specific oxidoreductase. The inspection of several crystal structures of GAPDHs indicates that the efficient hydride transfer from the hemithioacetal intermediate to the C4 position of the pyridinium si face requires optimal nicotinamidium-protein contacts for a suitable pyridinium-ring orientation. In previous studies carried out on Escherichia coli GAPDH (C. Corbier, A. Mougin, Y. Mely, H. W. Adolph, M. Zeppezauer, D. Gerard, A. Wonacott, and G. Branlant, Biochimie 72, 545-554, 1990; J. Eyschen, C. Corbier, B. Vitoux, G. Branlant, and M. T. Cung, Protein Pept. Lett. 1, 19-24, 1994), the role of the invariant Asn 313 residue, as an anchor which favors the syn orientation of the nicotinamide ring, was examined. Here, we report further investigations on the molecular factors responsible for the cofactor stereospecificity. Two single [Gly317] and [Ala317] GAPDH mutants and one double [Thr313-Gly317] GAPDH mutant were constructed on the basis of a molecular modelling study from the crystal structure of holo GAPDH from E. coli (E. Duée, L. Olivier-Deyris, E. Fanchon, C. Corbier, G. Branlant, and O. Dideberg, J. Mol. Biol. 257, 814-838, 1996). The Kd constants of [Ala317], [Gly317], and [Thr313-Gly317] GAPDH mutants for NAD are 5, 13, and 300 times higher than that of wild-type GAPDH. Transferred nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy demonstrates that the wild-type syn orientation of bound nicotinamide remains unchanged in the [Gly317] and [Ala317] mutants, whereas a conformational equilibrium between the syn and anti forms occurs in the [Thr313-Gly317] double mutant with a preference for the anti conformer. Although the double mutant preferably binds the nicotinamide ring in an anti conformation, it still exhibits B hydride transfer stereospecificity. Yet, the catalytic efficiency is much less than that of the wild type. This indicates that the holo GAPDH mutant fraction with an anti orientation of bound NAD is not capable of forming the ternary complex with G3P which would be required for an efficient A-specific catalytic process. The reasons of this catalytic inefficiency are discussed in relation with the historical and functional models which were advanced to explain the stereospecificity of NAD(P)-dependent dehydrogenases.
Bimodal regulation of protein phosphorylation by a ganglioside in mat brain membrane

Whether or not a ganglioside influences the protein phosphorylation in the rat brain membrane fraction was investigated. Phosphorylation of the 72 kDa protein was significantly affected by the addition of 80 nM GQlb in vitro, which is far below the reported concentration of gangliosides that affects protein phosphorylation in the neuronal membrane fraction. This action of GQlb was bimodal: it being not only stimulatory as to the incorporation of phosphate into the 72 kDa protein on incubation for 20 sec, but also as to the release of phosphate from or breakdown of the 72 kDa protein on incubation for more than 5 min. Eighty nM GQlb did not noticeably affect ATPase in the same fraction. These results suggest that the transphosphorylation of the 72 kDa protein is affected by the interaction of GQlb with either the responsible enzymes or the 72 kDa protein as a substrate.
Protecting attributes and contents in online social networks

With the extreme popularity of online social networks, security and privacy issues become critical. In particular, it is important to protect user privacy without preventing them from normal socialization. User privacy in the context of data publishing and structural re-identification attacks has been well studied. However, protection of attributes and data content was mostly neglected in the research community. While social network data is rarely published, billions of messages are shared in various social networks on a daily basis. Therefore, it is more important to protect attributes and textual content in social networks. We first study the vulnerabilities of user attributes and contents, in particular, the identifiability of the users when the adversary learns a small piece of information about the target. We have presented two attribute-reidentification attacks that exploit information retrieval and web search techniques. We have shown that large portions of users with online presence are very identifiable, even with a small piece of seed information, and the seed information could be inaccurate. To protect user attributes and content, we adopt the social circle model derived from the concepts of "privacy as user perception" and "information boundary". Users will have different social circles, and share different information in different circles. We introduce a social circle discovery approach using multi-view clustering. We present our observations on the key features of social circles, including friendship links, content similarity and social interactions. We treat each feature as one view, and propose a one-side co-trained spectral clustering technique, which is tailored for the sparse nature of our data. We also propose two evaluation measurements. One is based on the quantitative measure of similarity ratio, while the other employs human evaluators to examine pairs of users, who are selected by the max-risk active evaluation approach. We evaluate our approach on ego networks of twitter users, and present our clustering results. We also compare our proposed clustering technique with single-view clustering and original co-trained spectral clustering techniques. Our results show that multi-view clustering is more accurate for social circle detection; and our proposed approach gains significantly higher similarity ratio than the original multi-view clustering approach. In addition, we build a proof-of-concept implementation of automatic circle detection and recommendation methods. For a user, the system will return its circle detection result from our proposed multi-view clustering technique, and the key words for each circle are also presented. Users can also enter a message they want to post, and the system will suggest which circle to disseminate the message.
Arcas de Noé en el siglo XXI. Los bancos de semillas, entre la preservación y la apropiación de recursos naturales.

Los bancos de semillas son instituciones recientes, que comenzaron a cobrar impulso a partir de una serie de tratados internacionales, como la Convencion sobre Diversidad Biologica de la ONU y el Tratado Internacional sobre los Recursos Fitogeneticos de la FAO. Se fundamentan en la necesidad de preservar recursos naturales que podrian desaparecer ante eventuales catastrofes, representandose asi como herramientas indispensables para el conservacionismo. En Argentina, los bancos de semillas tambien se han desarrollado, bajo el amparo del Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria. Se trata de instituciones fuertemente atravesadas por el conocimiento y su utilizacion social, en la medida que alli se decide que y como hacer con las semillas, que caracteristicas de las mismas se consideran valiosas, como y por que corresponde conservarlas, como y con que actores sociales se permite el uso de los bancos de semillas. No son simplemente un deposito de semillas, sino que alli se esconde una trama compleja de actores, practicas e intereses diversos. Hay empresas que en algunos casos hacen uso de los bancos de semillas a fin de obtener alli nuevos productos que volcar al mercado. Asi, en los bancos de semillas pueden intervenir actores tan diversos como cientificos, institutos de investigacion, empresas, o comunidades locales. El presente trabajo se propone indagar en los usos que se le dan a los bancos de semillas, analizando el modo en que fueron surgiendo, la representacion que sobre los mismos se fue tejiendo, y la demanda que de ellos hacen otros actores.
The hidden and informal curriculum across the continuum of training: A cross-sectional qualitative study*

Abstract Purpose: The hidden and informal curricula refer to learning in response to unarticulated processes and constraints, falling outside the formal medical curriculum. The hidden curriculum has been identified as requiring attention across all levels of learning. We sought to assess the knowledge and perceptions of the hidden and informal curricula across the continuum of learning at a single institution. Methods: Focus groups were held with undergraduate and postgraduate learners and faculty to explore knowledge and perceptions relating to the hidden and informal curricula. Thematic analysis was conducted both inductively by research team members and deductively using questions structured by the existing literature. Results: Participants highlighted several themes related to the presence of the hidden and informal curricula in medical training and practice, including: the privileging of some specialties over others; the reinforcement of hierarchies within medicine; and a culture of tolerance towards unprofessional behaviors. Participants acknowledged the importance of role modeling in the development of professional identities and discussed the deterioration in idealism that occurs. Conclusions: Common issues pertaining to the hidden curriculum exist across all levels of learners, including faculty. Increased awareness of these issues could allow for the further development of methods to address learning within the hidden curriculum.