Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Third party approach using cord blood Tregs in allo-transplantation

Compelling data has demonstrated the fundamental role of regulatory T cells (Tregs) in immuno-regulation. In vivo animal models indicate that recipient’s CD4pos CD25pos T cells adoptively transferred can prevent or control graft versus host disease (GvHD) and allograft rejection. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that CD4pos CD25pos T cells from a third party could also be used as an adoptive cell therapy to ameliorate allo-responses. Compelling data supports that CD45RApos Tregs represent the most homogenous population among the overall Treg pool. The objective of this study is to test the "Third party approach" using CB Tregs to suppress alloresponses. Herein is shown that CB Tregs were mainly CD45RApos CD31pos (>80%), which specifically depicts RTE cells that confer a wide TCR repertoire. This study shows an optimized one-step isolation method using anti-CD25 microbeads that achieves high purity (90%) for CD4pos CD25high CD127low T cells and decreases substantially the level of effector T cells (<9% of CD4pos CD127high). Due to the low frequency of Tregs (1% from overall lymphocytes), the modality of pooling mismatch CB units for Tregs isolation was tested. The pooled CB Tregs showed constitutively potent suppression ability in vitro. Interestingly, in 40% of the cases a better suppression was seen with pCB Tregs compared to individual CB Tregs suggesting a “synergetic effect”. In summary, this study suggests that CB units fulfill the optimal properties for the isolation of bona fide Tregs, which can be isolated with the highest purity using a single step isolation method under GMP standards. Moreover, this study suggests that CB Tregs can be intentionally pooled and tailored under the required HLA matches for clinical settings.
Big-bang ERP implementation at a global company

Dead Sea Works is an international multi-firm producer of Potash and other chemicals whose sales for 1998 were about $500 million. In 1996, the Information Systems group convinced top management to pursue a big-bang ERP implementation of SAP R/3. To reduce project risk, risk management was practiced. First, only modules that matched the functionality of the thenexisting systems were targeted, avoiding as much as possible software modifications and process reengineering. Second, a steering committee was set up to handle conflict resolution and set priorities throughout the project and top users were given responsibility with implementing modules within their respective functions. R/3 went into production on July 1, 1998, six months ahead of schedule and without exceeding the $4.95 million budget.
Effective food supply chains; generating, modelling and evaluating supply chain scenarios

The research described in this thesis aimed at ! obtaining insight into the applicability of the concept Supply Chain Management (SCM) in food supply chains (SCs) from a logistical point of view, and " finding an efficient and effective method to analyse and redesign the SC to improve SC performance. Via a multidisciplinary literature research the concept of SCM was defined and a generic list of SCM redesign principles was generated. Three case studies were used to devise a research method on the generation, modelling and evaluation of SC scenarios. Central elements in this method are ! the focus on the identification and management of the sources of uncertainties in SC decision making processes, and " the use of simulation and field tests to evaluate SC scenarios. A modelling framework was developed in this research that captures the relevant concepts of the SC system needed to adequately model and simulate the dynamic behaviour of food SCs. In each case study a new SC scenario could be identified that performed considerably better than the current scenario.  2000, J.G. A.J. van der Vorst All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior permission of the author.
Air Force Contingency Contracting: Reachback and Other Opportunities for Improvement

Abstract : The Air Force's contracting career fields for both officers and enlisted personnel are under stress because of increased demands placed on them by deployments for contingency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Evidence of stress includes: a deploy-to-dwell ratio of 1:1, which currently means that contracting personnel can expect to deploy for six months, return home for six months, and then deploy again; a heavy reliance on the Air Force for contingency contracting positions, as indicated by the fact that 70 percent of the positions in the Joint Contracting Command Iraq/ Afghanistan (JCC-I/A)1 are filled by Air Force contracting personnel; the potential difficulty of retaining experienced, senior-level personnel in the career field, as indicated by a decrease in the average career length of enlisted personnel from over ten years in FY 2004 to under seven years in FY 2008, and a decline in the number of personnel in the "journeyman/craftsman" cohort of personnel with 11 to 15 years of experience. One potential approach to decreasing deployment stress on the career field is to increase the use of "reachback" for some contracting functions. This means that tasks normally accomplished by deployed contingency contracting officers (CCOs) in theater are accomplished by personnel outside the theater of operations--perhaps in the continental United States (CONUS). For example, legal review of a contract might be done by a specialist in CONUS instead of the CCO in theater. This could mean that fewer people need to be deployed or the workload of those deployed could be decreased. This report uses data from four sources--CCO after action reports (AARs), focus groups, interviews with subject-matter experts, and purchasing data recorded in the Joint Contingency Contracting System (JCCS)--to examine what CCOs do and to better understand some of the challenges they face while accomplishing their mission.
The Usefulness and Interactions of WebCT from an Accounting Student's Perspective

This chapter examines student responses to the usefulness of online course materials available through WebCT in an introductory accounting unit. Of particular importance was whether students felt that WebCT provided the key interactive opportunities for effective teaching and learning as outlined by Moore (1993). Results showed that students overwhelmingly felt that WebCT was useful and provided efficient interactions between the content and the learner. WebCT also has the potential for effective interactions between the instructor and the learner. Among learners, however, these are yet to be fully realized. Given the dearth of research in this area, the findings have implications for faculty members, students, and university administrators.
Cognitive Impairment and Dementia Data Modelling

Recently, a huge amount of data is available for clinical research on cognitive diseases. A lot of challenges arise when data from different repositories should be integrated. Since data entities are stored with different names at different levels of granularity, a common data model is needed, providing a unified description of different factors and indicators of cognitive diseases. This paper proposes a common hierarchical data model of patients with cognitive disorders, which keeps the semantics of the data in a human-readable format and accelerates interoperability of clinical datasets. It defines data entities, their attributes and relationships related to diagnosis and treatment. The data model covers four main aspects of the patient’s profile: (1) personal profile; (2) anamnestic profile, including social status, everyday habits, and head trauma history; (3) clinical profile, describing medical investigations and assessments, comorbidities and the most likely diagnose; and (4) treatment profile with prescribed medications. It provides a native vocabulary, improving data availability, saving efforts, accelerating clinical data interoperability and standardizing data to minimize risk of rework and misunderstandings. The data model enables the application of machine learning algorithms by helping scientists to understand the semantics of information through a holistic view of patient.
Human Food from an Acre of Staple Farm Products

"This bulletin is designed to give an acre-for-acre comparison of the food value of different crops and animal products. It shows that corn, on a given area, will produce more human food than any other crop commonly grown on American farms. This crop heads the list in units of energy produced per acre, and is ahead of all other crops except navy beans and soy beans in tissue-building material. In the latter element soy beans far outclass all other crops, showing nearly twice as much protein per acre as navy beans, which rank second in this regard. It shows that the dairy cow is the most efficient of farm animals in the production of human food (milk) and that the hog is the most efficient in the conversion of grain into meat, producing five times as much per acre of crops as does any other animal. The bulletin is not designed as a guide for the planning of farm operations; that is a matter to be determined by local environment, equipment, and general conditions. " -- p. 2
Impact of the year of graduation on the positioning of nutrition professionals regarding the vegetarian diet Impacto do ano de formacilo no posicionamento dos profissionais de nutricao face a dieta vegetariana

The adoption of a vegetarian diet increased over the years. In Portugal, is estimated that 1.2% of the population follows this food pattern. A cross-sectional study was carried out, including a final sample of 74 nutrition professionals to assess their position concerning the vegetarian diet (VD) according to their year of graduation (YG). The results analyses demonstrated that 23 nutrition professionals graduated between 1980 and 2009; and 51 between 2010 and 2019. There were statistically significant differences regarding the possibility of keeping a VD throughout life, since 81.1% of the participants consider it possible, most of them belonging to the group who graduated after 2009. As for supplements, 13% of the nutrition professionals who graduated until 2009 believe it possible to adhere to a VD without resorting to supplements, however, the percentage increases significantly to 39.2% in nutrition professionals trained after 2009. The percentage of nutrition professionals that approved the adherence of athletes to VD increased statistically in recent years, however, most believe this adherence is only possible with the use of supplements. Adherence to VD has increased over the past few years, however, the opinion of nutrition professionals is not unanimous regarding its safety, effectiveness in weight loss, and use of supplementation.
Design and test of DC motor drive system for agriculture electric vehicle

This research has been design a 1-seat agriculture electric vehicle modified from ATV using by DC motor 48 V 1, 000 watts. This electric vehicle has 4 batteries of 12 V 40 AH for power source. The size of the vehicle is 0.785 × 1.20 × 0.815 m, weight of about 152 kilograms. The performance test of theagriculture electric vehicle shows that the maximum speed can be achieved at average of 41.5 kilometres per hour, test by people weighting 60 kilogram. The average times for accelerated from 0-20, 0-30 and 0-40 kilometres per hour are 2.66, 4.67 and 5.84 seconds, respectively. The operating time of the electric vehicle can be used at the average of 30.50 minutes; running at an average distance of 13 kilometres with charged battery takes an average 29.88 minutes.
Stability Analysis of Unsteady MHD Rear Stagnation Point Flow of Hybrid Nanofluid

Previous studies have reported that investigating the stagnation point flow is relevant in a variety of industrial and technological processes, including extrusion and the polymer industries. Hence, the present work aims to analyse the heat transfer performance of unsteady magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) in hybrid nanofluid and heat generation/absorption impact. The multivariable differential equations with partial derivatives are converted into a specific type of ordinary differential equations by using valid similarity transformations. The resulting mathematical model is clarified utilising the bvp4c function. The results of various control parameters were analysed, and it was discovered that increasing the nanoparticle concentration and magnetic field increases the coefficient of skin friction along the stretching/shrinking surface. The inclusion of the heat generation parameter displays an upward trend in the temperature distribution profile, consequently degrading the heat transfer performance. The findings are confirmed to have more than one solution, and this invariably leads to a stability analysis, which confirms the first solution’s feasibility.
Effect of dietary new sugar cane extract on growth performance and intestinal histology in broiler chickens

The effects were investigated of feeding dietary new sugarcane extract (SCE) on the growth performance and intestinal histology of broiler chicks using two treatments and four replicates in a completely randomized design. Thirty-two newly hatched male broilers (Marshall Chunky) were assigned randomly to the two treatments: a basal diet group (control) and a basal diet supplemented with 0.1% new SCE group. There were no significant differences between the two treatment groups in feed intake, body weight gain and feed efficiency. Compared with the control, the broilers fed new SCE tended to increase in carcass percentage. Bird mortality was two in the control, and one in the new SCE group. There were no significant differences between groups regarding villus height, villus area and crypt depth in all intestinal segments, excepting the ileal villus height which tended to increase in the 0.1% new SCE group. Protuberated cells were observed on the jejunal and ileal villus apical surface in the 0.1% new SCE group. These results demonstrated that 0.1% dietary new SCE can activate intestinal epithelial cell function, especially in the jejunum and ileum segments.
Multi-Agent Issues of Interest and Their Applications to Intelligent Manufacturing Systems (IMS)

This report covers in brief many different aspects of multi-agent systems. I will talk about agents in general, before discussing multi-agent environments which covers cooperation. This is followed with a discussion covering the relationship between computers and manufacturing. Finally, I assess Intelligent Manufacturing Systems (IMS) and how they are related to intelligent systems. The goal of this report is to give an overview of agents issues as well as IMS.
High performance thin layer chromatography fingerprint and antioxidant activities of Cyclea barbata in Thailand

Cyclea barbata is a commonly used herbal and traditional plant, and its leaves contain a high level of pectin. However, different habitats, jelly extract and leaf age may affect the biocompounds in the leaves. Therefore, a high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) technique was used for preliminary screening of some active leaf compounds from various habitats along with total phenolic analysis and antioxidant activity of this plant from different sources and leaf ages (young, middle and old). The HPTLC results of methanol leaf extract revealed various chemical patterns that were indicated by retention factors (R f values) in the range 0.15–0.73; unique bands of two samples (P1 and P3) from Phetchabun province were detected under ultra-violet light (R f = 0.65 at 254 nm and R f = 0.40 at 366 nm, respectively). Additionally, alkaloid bands were not found in leaf extracts by spraying with Dragendroff’s reagent. A chemical band with antioxidant activity was only found at R f = 0.50 in old and young fresh leaves following spraying with 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl. The total phenolic contents of old, fresh leaves had the highest value (525.08 mg gallic acid/g extract), whereas the 2,2’-azino-bis 3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid diammonium salt radical scavenging activity of old, dry leaves was highest (97.7%). These results indicated that different R f values of various phytochemicals and various habitats of C. barbata could be primarily determined using HPTLC analysis. Antioxidant activities were determined using chemical bands and leaf extracts at various ages.
Membrane distillation of brine wastes

A significant proportion of potable water for rural communities is produced from brackish water sources by localised reverse osmosis (RO) operations. However, these inland RO plants typically recover only 70-75% of the feed water, the remaining 25-30% of the resource being discarded as saline RO concentrate. One possible remedy to this situation is to increase water recovery by passing the RO concentrate through an additional process like membrane distillation (MD).
Metabolic and Evolutionary Engineering of Diploid Yeast for the Production of First- and Second-Generation Ethanol

Despite a growing preference for second-generation (2G) ethanol in industries, its application is severely restricted owing to a major obstacle of developing a suitable yeast strain for fermentation using feedstock biomasses. In this study, a yeast strain, Saccharomyces cerevisiae A31Z, for 2G bioethanol production was developed from an industrial strain, Angel, using metabolic engineering by the incorporation of gene clusters involved in the xylose metabolism combined with adaptive evolution for evolving its anti-inhibitory properties. This strain outcompeted its ancestors in xylose utilization and subsequent ethanol production and manifested higher tolerance against common inhibitors from lignocellulosic hydrolysates, and also it lowered the production of glycerol by-product. Furthermore, A31Z outperformed in ethanol production using industrial hydrolysate from dried distillers grains with solubles and whole corn. Overall, this study provided a promising path for improving 2G bioethanol production in industries using S. cerevisiae.
CAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS HELP SOLVE TRANSPORTATION PROBLEMS? IN: HANDBOOK OF TRANSPORT MODELLING

About 10 years ago, a report with a similar title strongly suggested an affirmative answer to this question. But, the answer depends on the definition of the "problem". If the problems are congestion, and negative environmental externalities, then any reduction of the vehicle-miles traveled (VMT) through substitution of travel is beneficial. This paper addresses the interactions between telecommunications and travel. The use of telecommunications to enhance the efficiency of the transportation system through intelligent transport systems (ITS) is not covered. ) Information and communication technologies (ICT) are often mentioned as one of an arsenal of policy-measures design to contribute to sustainability. The paper describes the relationships between telecommunications and travel and the research approached employed in this area. The basic question addressed is whether or not transportation professionals should count on telecommunications as a significant factor in transportation planning and policy. Attempts to identify a wide-scale substitution effect were ICT substitutes for travel have generally failed. There are some marginal cases where ICT have been successful in replacing travel, such as the use of automated telling machines (ATMs) as a substitute for a trip to the bank. However, in what may be the end of the second decade of the popularization of ICT and its penetration to modern society's daily life, it is not possible to show any remedy to transport that can be attributed to ICT substitutions for travel.
Distributing Cognition or How They Don't: An Investigation of Student Collaborative Learning

In recent years, collaborative activity has become more prevalent in both the worlds of work and schooling. In the workplace, its function is generally to ensure that complex problems are solved through the combined application of various types of expertise. Industrial design teams exemplify such a process. In the development of new products, teams composed of engineers, marketers, industrial designers, and financial managers work together to bring a design concept to market. Individuals in such teams apply their particularized expertise to parts of a problem and rely largely on the project manager to make sure that the parts are pulled together in a seamless unified way. This might be thought of as the "divide and conquer" model whereby varied domains of knowledge are brought together for the purpose of complex problem-solving which culminates in the optimization and realization of a new product. This variety of collaboration is appropriate and desirable because when it works it results in the desired goal of innovative product design.
Extensions and refinements of stabilization

Self-stabilizing system is a concept of fault-tolerance in distributed computing. A distributed algorithm is self-stabilizing if, starting from an arbitrary state, it is guaranteed to converge to a legal state in a finite number of states and remains in a legal set of states thereafter. The property of self-stabilization enables a distributed algorithm to recover from a transient fault regardless of its objective. Moreover, a self-stabilizing algorithm does not have to be initialized as it eventually starts to behave correctly. In this thesis, we focus on extensions and refinements of self-stabilization by studying two non-traditional aspects of self-stabilization. In traditional self-stabilizing distributed systems [15], the inherent assumption is that all processes run predefined programs mandated by an external agency which is the owner or the administrator of the entire system. The model works fine for solving problems when processes cooperate with one another, with a global goal. In modern times it is quite common to have a distributed system spanning over multiple administrative domains, and processes have selfish motives to optimize their own payoff. Maximizing individual payoffs under the umbrella of stabilization characterizes the notion of selfish stabilization. We investigate the impact of selfishness on the existence of stabilizing solutions to specific problems in this thesis. Our model of selfishness centers on a graph where the set of nodes is divided into subsets of distinct colors, each having their own
Analisi, realizzazione e verifica sperimentale di un sistema di raffreddamento a film d'acqua per pannelli fotovoltaici

Partendo da un'analisi effettuata da un precedente lavoro, si sono analizzate le possibilita di realizzare un sistema di raffreddamento per pannelli fotovoltaici grazie alla creazione di un film d'acqua sulla superficie frontale del pannello. Si sono effettuate prove sperimentali presso il Laboratorio di Ingegneria Industriale, analisi energetiche ed economiche del sistema proposto valutando anche la possibilita del recupero dell'acqua stessa, a fine ciclo raffreddamento