Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Deficits Associated With Loss of STIM1 in Purkinje Neurons Including Motor Coordination Can Be Rescued by Loss of Septin 7

Septins are cytoskeletal proteins that can assemble to form heteromeric filamentous complexes and regulate a range of membrane-associated cellular functions. SEPT7, a member of the septin family, functions as a negative regulator of the plasma membrane–localized store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE) channel, Orai in Drosophila neurons, and in human neural progenitor cells. Knockdown of STIM, a Ca2+ sensor in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and an integral component of SOCE, leads to flight deficits in Drosophila that can be rescued by partial loss of SEPT7 in neurons. Here, we tested the effect of reducing and removing SEPT7 in mouse Purkinje neurons (PNs) with the loss of STIM1. Mice with the complete knockout of STIM1 in PNs exhibit several age-dependent changes. These include altered gene expression in PNs, which correlates with increased synapses between climbing fiber (CF) axons and Purkinje neuron (PN) dendrites and a reduced ability to learn a motor coordination task. Removal of either one or two copies of the SEPT7 gene in STIM1 KO PNs restored the expression of a subset of genes, including several in the category of neuron projection development. Importantly, the rescue of gene expression in these animals is accompanied by normal CF-PN innervation and an improved ability to learn a motor coordination task in aging mice. Thus, the loss of SEPT7 in PNs further modulates cerebellar circuit function in STIM1 KO animals. Our findings are relevant in the context of identifying SEPT7 as a putative therapeutic target for various neurodegenerative diseases caused by reduced intracellular Ca2+ signaling.
Three-dimensional (3D) volumetric analysis as a tool for urban planning: a case study of Chennai

With cities getting bigger, wider and more complex, urban planners are put under severe mental pressure to understand the rapid urban growth and development and accordingly plan for it. The conventional development plans make it even more challenging to visualize the growth, as most of the plans prepared are in twodimensions (2D), while the growth and development of the built-environment occurs in three-dimension (3D). Today with the latest state-of-the-art 3D tools and techniques, visualization for efficient planning and decision making is possible with 3D analysis. 3D models can be integrated with any of the following stages of urban planning process like data collection and checking, analysis, estimation and presentations, for better understanding of the real world developments. For urban planners, in this context, it is an opportunity to familiarize and integrate 3D models in the urban planning process. This paper explores the possibilities of integrating 3D models in the daily urban planning process for quantification and visualization of demand generated in physical infrastructure requirements. For effective visualization, planning, analysis and decision making, the present research considered the current development status of the study area, in accordance with master plan II of Chennai, which permits to develop up to 1.5 Floor Space Index (FSI). The current study attempts to visualize the demand of water supply and solid waste generated for varying FSI of 2.5 and 4.0. To demonstrate this concept an information-rich 3D models of the pilot study area were generated and volumetric analyses were performed using ArcScene TM . The result establishes a strong correlation between FSI and physical infrastructure requirements that are visualized and quantified using 3D volumetric study.
Europ ean ai rl i nes conduct af t e r Septemb er 11t h

This paper analyses the reorganisation that European carriers have implemented after September 11th in the transatlanticflights. We model carriers’ conduct as a mixture of short- and long-term goals where the weights depend on firm-specific variables (adjustment costs, financial situation) and subjective expectations on the crisis duration. Data provide som e supp ort to o ur c on jecture s that high adjustm ent costs in duce low fl exibility and a fo cus o n th e lo ng-term ; and that a bad fi nancial situation shifts the carries attention to short-term. Finally, the analysis of the com p osition o f s hort- a nd long-term re ac tion provid es som e insights into the carriers’ perspectives of the crisis duration.
The influence of energy certificates on market value of residential houses

The building sector consumes the largest part of common final energy consumed in the European Union and therefore this sector has a huge potential for reducing the energy consumption. Part of the strategy which aims to limit the use of energy in buildings represent in 2002 adopted Directive on Energy Performance of Buildings (2002/91 / EC) and revised EPBD Directive 2010/31 / EU which is an upgrade of the first one and sets some further strengthened requirements. Additionally to the provisions targeted to these objectives, the Directive prescribes the introduction of an energy performance certificate of building. The energy performance certificate is a document containing the information about the building energy performance including recommendations for increasing the energy efficiency. From January 1, 2015 the energy performance certificate of building is obligatory required in Republic of Slovenia when selling the entire building or a part thereof and when renting a building for a period of one year or more. The main purpose of this thesis is to examine the impact of energy performance certificates of buildings on the real estate prices in Republic of Slovenia in the period after its enforcement. The first part of diploma thesis presents the general information about the energy performance certificate of building and includes an analysis of four studies that provide key findings in the field of energy efficiency of buildings and the impact of energy performance certificates of buildings on the real estate prices in other countries. Research in other countries has shown that energy performance certificates of buildings have some impact on the real estate prices. In following part the public opinion survey by using a questionnaire is presented. By means of the questionnaire we analysed the impact of energy performance certificates of buildings on the real estate prices in Republic of Slovenia and the public attitudes towards the energy efficiency of buildings. The data obtained were analysed by using the SPSS program and some results were compared with other studies. We found that the energy performance certificates of buildings (so far) have no major impact on the real estate prices as in Republic of Slovenia the energy performance certificates of buildings do not have the tradition yet. However, the buyers of the buildings are slowly starting to consider the data on the energy classes of buildings.
Normally‐off GaN‐MISFET with well‐controlled threshold voltage

A new device structure with four epitaxial layers and a recessed gate is proposed for normally‐off operation in GaN‐FETs. Employment of this structure makes it possible to control accurately the threshold voltage without accurate control of recess etching depth. The high breakdown voltage and the low on‐resistance of the fabricated devices are also reported. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Low-Stress Resin Encapsulants for Semiconductor Devices

An innovative low-stress epoxy encapsulant was developed for large and stress-sensitive devices by the utilization of silicone modification technology. The characteristics can be explained by achieving a lower Young's modulus and thermal expansion coefficient. The low-stress level was confirmed by piezo-resistance measurement with actual results showing a definite, significant improvement against package and passivation cracks. An interesting microstructure of the new material was determined and labeled "Sea-Island" structures.
Carboxylato-Pillar[6]arene-Based Fluorescent Indicator Displacement Assays for Caffeine Sensing

In the present work, we have developed a new indicator displacement system based on pillararene for anionic water-soluble carboxylato pillar [6] arene (WP6) and aromatic fluorescent dye safranine T (ST). A large fluorescence enhancement and colour change of ST were observed after complexation with electron-rich cavity in WP6 because of host-guest twisted intramolecular charge-transfer interactions. The constructed pillararene-indicator displacement system can be applied for caffeine selective detection in water.
The Tyrosine Kinase Tec Regulates Effector Th17 Differentiation, Pathogenicity, and Plasticity in T-Cell-Driven Intestinal Inflammation

T helper (Th) 17 cells are not only key in controlling infections mediated by extracellular bacteria and fungi but are also triggering autoimmune responses. Th17 cells comprise heterogeneous subsets, some with pathogenic functions. They can cease to secrete their hallmark cytokine IL-17A and even convert to other T helper lineages, a process known as transdifferentiation relying on plasticity. Both pathogenicity and plasticity are tightly linked to IL-23 signaling. Here, we show that the protein tyrosine kinase Tec is highly induced in Th17 cells. Th17 differentiation was enhanced at low interleukin-6 (IL-6) concentrations in absence of Tec, which correlates with increased STAT3 phosphorylation and higher Il23r expression. Therefore, we uncovered a function for Tec in the IL-6 sensing via STAT3 by CD4+ T cells, defining Tec as a fine-tuning negative regulator of Th17 differentiation. Subsequently, by using the IL-17A fate mapping mouse combined with in vivo adoptive transfer models, we demonstrated that Tec not only restrained effector Th17 differentiation but also pathogenicity and plasticity in a T-cell intrinsic manner. Our data further suggest that Tec regulates inflammatory Th17-driven immune responses directly impacting disease severity in a T-cell-driven colitis model. Notably, consistent with the in vitro findings, elevated levels of the IL-23 receptor (IL-23R) were observed on intestinal pre- and postconversion Th17 cells isolated from diseased Tec−/− mice subjected to adoptive transfer colitis, highlighting a fundamental role of Tec in restraining IL-23R expression, likely via the IL-6-STAT3 signaling axis. Taken together, these findings identify Tec as a negative regulator of Th17 differentiation, pathogenicity, and plasticity, contributing to the mechanisms which help T cells to orchestrate optimal immune protection and to restrain immunopathology.
Gear Fault Diagnosis Based on Wavelet-Support Vector Machines

According to the characteristics of gear vibration noise large and fault diagnosis complex, the paper proposes the method of gear fault classification based on wavelet analysis - Support Vector Machines (SVM). This method effectively eliminates the noise interference of the gear signals. The classification model of gear diagnosis applicable to small samples is established and the result of simulation shows that the model can correctly realize gear fault.
The Impact of Pipe Material on the Diversity of Microbial Communities in Drinking Water Distribution Systems

As many cities around the world face the prospect of replacing aging drinking water distribution systems (DWDS), water utilities must make careful decisions on new pipe material (e.g., cement-lined or PVC) for these systems. These decisions are informed by cost, physical integrity, and impact on microbiological and physicochemical water quality. Indeed, pipe material can impact the development of biofilm in DWDS that can harbor pathogens and impact drinking water quality. Annular reactors (ARs) with cast iron and cement coupons fed with chloraminated water from a municipal DWDS were used to investigate the impact of pipe material on biofilm development and composition over 16 months. The ARs were plumbed as closely as possible to the water main in the basement of an academic building to simulate distribution system conditions. Biofilm communities on coupons were characterized using 16S rRNA sequencing. In the cast iron reactors, β-proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and α-proteobacteria were similarly relatively abundant (24.1, 22.5, and 22.4%, respectively) while in the cement reactors, α-proteobacteria and Actinobacteria were more relatively abundant (36.3 and 35.2%, respectively) compared to β-proteobacteria (12.8%). Mean alpha diversity (estimated with Shannon H and Faith’s Phylogenetic Difference indices) was greater in cast iron reactors (Shannon: 5.00 ± 0.41; Faith’s PD: 15.40 ± 2.88) than in cement reactors (Shannon: 4.16 ± 0.78; Faith’s PD: 13.00 ± 2.01). PCoA of Bray-Curtis dissimilarities indicated that communities in cast iron ARs, cement ARs, bulk distribution system water, and distribution system pipe biofilm were distinct. The mean relative abundance of Mycobacterium spp. was greater in the cement reactors (34.8 ± 18.6%) than in the cast iron reactors (21.7 ± 11.9%). In contrast, the mean relative abundance of Legionella spp. trended higher in biofilm from cast iron reactors (0.5 ± 0.7%) than biofilm in cement reactors (0.01 ± 0.01%). These results suggest that pipe material is associated with differences in the diversity, bacterial composition, and opportunistic pathogen prevalence in biofilm of DWDS.
A miniaturized three‐port divider/combiner

We propose a new topology based on a semi‐lumped complex impedance transformer for the design of miniaturized power dividers. Our design is based on an impedance transformer in the input branch and a loop in the output branches. The input impedance transformer is constituted by a transmission line loaded with a capacitor. A prototype has been realized using hybrid technology for a 1 GHz operating frequency. The electrical length of the device is 26.4°. This leads to a miniaturized device, more than three times shorter than a typical Wilkinson power divider. This divider exhibits insertion loss lower than 0.3 dB, return loss better than 20 dB and the isolation between the two output ports above 20 dB. Moreover, the low‐pass behavior of the input impedance transformer leads to a good rejection of the third harmonic. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 50: 72–75, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.23008
Classification of Game Demand and the Presence of Experimental Pain Using Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

Pain tolerance can be increased by the introduction of an active distraction, such as a computer game. This effect has been found to be moderated by game demand, i.e., increased game demand = higher pain tolerance. A study was performed to classify the level of game demand and the presence of pain using implicit measures from functional Near-InfraRed Spectroscopy (fNIRS) and heart rate features from an electrocardiogram (ECG). Twenty participants played a racing game that was configured to induce low (Easy) or high (Hard) levels of demand. Both Easy and Hard levels of game demand were played with or without the presence of experimental pain using the cold pressor test protocol. Eight channels of fNIRS data were recorded from a montage of frontal and central-parietal sites located on the midline. Features were generated from these data, a subset of which were selected for classification using the RELIEFF method. Classifiers for game demand (Easy vs. Hard) and pain (pain vs. no-pain) were developed using five methods: Support Vector Machine (SVM), k-Nearest Neighbour (kNN), Naive Bayes (NB) and Random Forest (RF). These models were validated using a ten fold cross-validation procedure. The SVM approach using features derived from fNIRS was the only method that classified game demand at higher than chance levels (accuracy = 0.66, F1 = 0.68). It was not possible to classify pain vs. no-pain at higher than chance level. The results demonstrate the viability of utilising fNIRS data to classify levels of game demand and the difficulty of classifying pain when another task is present.
Digital Nudging for Online Food Choices

When people search for what to cook for the day, they increasingly use online recipe sites to find inspiration. Such recipe sites often show popular recipes to make it easier to find a suitable choice. However, these popular recipes are not always the healthiest options and can promote an unhealthy lifestyle. Our goal is to understand to what extent it is possible to steer the food selection of people through digital nudging. While nudges have been shown to affect humans' behavior regarding food choices in the physical world, there is little research on the impact of nudges on online food choices. Specifically, it is unclear how different nudges impact (i) the behavior of people, (ii) the time they need to make a decision, and (iii) their satisfaction and confidence with their selection. We investigate the effects of highlighting, defaults, social information, and warnings on the decision-making of online users through two consecutive user studies. Our results show that a hybrid nudge, which both involves setting a default and adding social information, significantly increases the likelihood that a nudged item is selected. Moreover, it may help decreasing the required decision time for participants while having no negative effects on the participant's satisfaction and confidence. Overall, our work provides evidence that nudges can be effective in this domain, but also that the type of a digital nudge matters. Therefore, different nudges should be evaluated in practical applications.
Genetically Determined Low‐Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol and Risk of Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

We evaluated whether genetically elevated low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‐C) levels are associated with lower risk of intracranial aneurysms and subarachnoid hemorrhage (IA/SAH). We conducted a 2‐sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study. Our primary analysis used the inverse‐variance weighted method. In secondary analyses, we implemented the MR‐PRESSO method, restricted our analysis to LDL‐C–specific instruments, and performed multivariate MR. A 1‐mmol/l increase in genetically instrumented LDL‐C levels was associated with a 17% lower risk of IA/SAH (odds ratio = 0.83, 95% confidence interval = 0.73–0.94, p = 0.004). Results remained consistent in secondary and multivariate analyses (all p < 0.05). Our results provide evidence for an inverse causal relationship between LDL‐C levels and risk of IA/SAH. ANN NEUROL 2022;91:145–149
Common complications of hemodialysis: A clinical review

Long-term hemodialysis (HD) is the main modality used in the treatment of end-stage renal disease (ESRD). It is associated with a variety of complications such as infection, amyloidosis, anemia, undernutrition, as well as musculoskeletal, and cardiovascular system (CVS) morbidities. CVS complications and HD-related infection are the main causes of death in ESRD patients on HD. Other complications such as stroke, disequilibrium syndrome occur during or post-HD. Missing dialysis sessions may lead to amongst others; death due to sudden cardiac arrhythmias; cardiac arrest due to electrolyte disturbance and/or severe overload. This review discusses the common complications of HD as well as recent advances that are likely to impact its outcome.
A complementary cross‐coupled voltage‐controlled oscillator using differential active inductor

This letter presents a new differential active inductor voltage‐controlled oscillator (VCO), which uses the complementary cross‐coupled pairs to generate differential negative resistance. The active inductor is formed with complementary CMOS. The proposed CMOS low‐phase noise VCO has been implemented with the United Manufacture Corp. (UMC) 90nm CMOS technology and the die area is 0.575 × 0.61 mm2. At the supply voltage of 0.9 V, the total power consumption is 4.5 mW. The free‐running frequency of VCO is tunable from 1.22 to 1.86 GHz as the tuning voltage is varied from 0.0 to 0.9 V. The measured phase noise at 1MHz offset is −111.56 dBc/Hz at the oscillation frequency of 1.22 GHz and the figure of merit of the proposed VCO is about −166.75 dBc/Hz. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 54:2039–2042, 2012; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.27030
Simultaneous Flow over and under a Gate

This paper reports the results of an investigation carried out to establish the stage-discharge relationship for a flow simultaneously discharging over and under a sluice or a broad-crested gate. The stage-discharge relationship is deduced by a theoretical analysis, based on the application of the Π-theorem of the dimensional analysis and the incomplete self-similarity theory, coupled with an experimental investigation carried out by using a laboratory flume.
Use of unterminated two-port modeling technique in analysis of input filter interactions in telecom DPS systems

A methodology to model and analyze input filter-interactions in telecom distributed power systems is presented based on the use of two-port unterminated modeling technique. Switched-mode converters and input filters are modeled using G-parameter representation where the input port is represented using Norton's equivalent circuit, and the output port using Thevenin's equivalent circuit. The used approach results in a unified model applicable to any converter regardless of topology, and the mode of operation or control. The two-port models are first defined as unterminated models where the effect of load is excluded but may be easily included using the developed reflection rules.
Block teaching and active learning improves academic outcomes for disadvantaged undergraduate groups

In 2018, Victoria University adopted a new teaching delivery model, now known as the Block Teaching Model (BTM). The aim of this study focuses on how this new approach to teaching has impacted student learning and academic success, in particular for students who come from a disadvantaged background, compared with those who come from a non-disadvantaged background. In this study, disadvantage is defined by the following categories: non-English speaking background (NESB), first in family to attend university (FIF), low socio-economic status (SES), low Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) and gender (male students). Results indicate that when compared to nondisadvantaged students, the newly established BTM has achieved a significantly higher reduction in student failure rates across ATAR, SES, and NESB versus ESB and gender, while the reduction in fail rates for FIF was not reduced significantly more than NFIF. This work encapsulates the University’s central vision, “The VU Way”, which focuses on opportunity and success, and being transformational within the community in which it operates. More generally, this research lends support to the importance of active and intensive learning models in reducing disadvantage in tertiary education.