Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Expression of MYB transcription factor gene ZmMYB59 affects seed germination in Nicotiana tabacum and Oryza sativa

Background: MYB transcription factors are involved in many biological processes, including metabolism, development and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. In our previous work, a new MYB transcription factor gene, ZmMYB59 was induced by deep sowing and down-regulated during maize seed germination via Real-Time PCR. However, there are few reports on seed germination regulated by MYB proteins and the functions of ZmMYB59 remain unknown.Results: In this study, to examine its functions, Agrobacterium-mediated transformation was exploited to generate ZmMYB59 transgenic tobacco and rice. In T2 generation transgenic tobacco, germination rate, germination index, vigor index and hypocotyl length were significantly decreased by 25.0~50.9%, 34.5~54.4%, 57.5~88.3% and 21.9~31.3% compared to wild-type (WT) lines. In T2 generation transgenic rice, germination rate, germination index, vigor index and mesocotyl length were notably reduced by 39.1~53.8%, 51.4~71.4%, 52.5~74.0% and 28.3~41.5%, respectively. On this basis, relative physiological indicators were determined. The activities of catalase, peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, ascorbate peroxidase and proline content of transgenic lines were significantly lower than those of WT, suggesting that ZmMYB59 reduced their antioxidant capacity. As well, ZmMYB59 expression extremely inhibited the synthesis of gibberellin A1 (GA1) and cytokinin (CTK), and promoted the synthesis of abscisic acid (ABA) concurrently, which implied that seed germination was repressed by ZmMYB59 in hormone levels. Furthermore, cell length and cell number of hypocotyl/mesocotyl in transgenic tobacco and rice were notably decreased. Conclusions: Taken together, it proposed that ZmMYB59 plays a negative regulatory role during seed germination in tobacco and rice, which also contributes to illuminate the molecular mechanisms regulated by MYB transcription factors.
Diagnostic value of cystatin C in patients with drug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis receiving palliative care

Матеріали та методи. Пацієнтів основної групи, які перебувають на паліативному лікуванні, поділили на 2 групи залежно від індексу маси тіла (ІМТ): основна група 1 – 26 хворих з ІМТ ≤18,1 кг/м2, основна група 2 – 26 хворих з ІМТ >18,1 кг/м2. У групу порівняння увійшли 29 пацієнтів, які отримують антимікобактеріальну терапію за категорією 4 відповідно до профілю медикаментозної резистентності. Дослідження рівня цистатину С у сироватці крові проводили методом твердофазного імуноферментного аналізу на приладі імуноферментний рідер Sirio S, застосовуючи набір «Human Cystatin C ELISA BioVendor Research and Diagnostic Products» (Czech Republic), (нг/мл). Результати дослідження опрацювали на персональному комп’ютері, використовуючи статистичний пакет ліцензійної програми Statistica, версія 13 (Copyright 1984–2018 TIBCO Software Inc. All rights reserved. Ліцензія No JPZ8041382130ARCN10-J).
Increasing the Structural Engineer’s Influence Over Sustainability By Using Integrated Design Teams

Sustainability is quickly becoming a “buzz word” in todayʼs environmentally conscious world from political leaders to building professionals to design experts to consumers as they rethink their impact on current healthy, efficient indoor/outdoor environments as well as long term benefits to future generations. This thesis seeks to investigate ways to increase the structural engineerʼs influence over the sustainability of the building industry by using integrated design teams. It explores current practices within the building industry, in particular the housing industry and the ways in which the integrated design team differs from most current practices. It strives to promote the positive impact an integrated design team with structural engineers on board from the onset has on the design process as far as time, cost, and environmental concerns are considered. This thesis continues by establishing methods for measuring the success of an integrated design team, its effects on sustainability, and how the structural engineer was involved. The focus of this thesis is the New Norris House class project: its background and the integrated design teamʼs process as it differs from the traditional design concept. The results of the project including the LEED and HERS rating and material efficiency and the impact of the structural engineerʼs inputs from the onset will be discussed. The thesis ends with a discussion of the differences between the educational and professional community and how integrated design teams are an efficient and cost effective way to achieve high levels of sustainability.
Aloe vera - A miracle plant for dentistry

The plant Aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis) belongs to the Liliaceae family. Aloe is derived from the Arabic term “Alloeh,” which means “shining bitter substance,” and “vera,” which means “truth” in Latin. It is high in minerals and vitamins. It is a medicinal plant that is been around for a long time. A. vera ’s health advantages are well-known, and the plant’s dental applications are numerous. Researchers are becoming more interested in the utilization of this plant. A. vera has been shown to have antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and antifungal effects in studies, and its use has been proven to be beneficial. This plant has been shown to be non-allergic and beneficial to the immune system. A. vera is gaining favor in dentistry since it is 100% natural and has no recorded negative effects. The aim of this paper is to provide a review of the usage of this miraculous plant, as well as its applications in dentistry.
The application of the dynamic stiffness method for the acoustic fatigue analysis of aircraft engine nacelle structures

The subject of acoustic fatigue first came to prominence with the advent of using jet engines on commercial aircraft in the 1950’s. Despite the period of time which has elapsed since then and the work carried out to help develop our understanding of the response of structures subject to high intensity noise, acoustic fatigue problems still occur. The novel contributions which this thesis makes to knowledge in the area have been in the application of the dynamic stiffness method which has been used to predict stress and strain response due to acoustic loading. The dynamic stiffness method can under certain circumstances provide very accurate results for natural frequency and displacement. Indeed for certain configurations it can provide exact solutions. It is largely independent of the number of degrees of freedom necessary to give an accurate result unlike the finite element method. The thesis documents how the dynamic stiffness method can offer a very favourable alternative to available analysis techniques. An alternative method of formulating the dynamic stiffness method is presented and is further extended to the analysis of orthotropic plates. The response of actual structures is discussed and previously unpublished data is also presented.
DESIGN OF A CAM-ACTUATED ROBOTIC LEG

This paper presents a concept for a single-degree-of-freedom robotic leg, where the lower and upper leg are each controlled by a cam. The two cams are mounted on a common shaft, and are rotating at the same speed. The relevant equations for the mechanism’s kinematics are first developed, to express the position of the foot in terms of the cam’s angular displacement and various design parameters such as link lengths. Next, the design problem is formulated as an optimization, where the objective is to minimize an error metric that compares the foot position to the desired trajectory of the foot. The constraints in the optimization problem include important parameters such as the pressure angle of the cams, as well as a set of constraints to ensure that the leg will fit on an appropriately sized legged robot. Finally, the results are discussed, with a focus on what the advantages and disadvantages of this leg design might be as compared to other types of robotic leg designs.Copyright © 2014 by ASME
Next Generation CAD/CAM/CAE Systems

This document contains presentations from the joint UVA/NASA Workshop on Next Generation CAD/CAM/CAE Systems held at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia on March 18-19, 1997. The presentations focused on current capabilities and future directions of CAD/CAM/CAE systems, aerospace industry projects, and university activities related to simulation-based design. Workshop attendees represented NASA, commercial software developers, the aerospace industry, government labs, and academia. The workshop objectives were to assess the potential of emerging CAD/CAM/CAE technology for use in intelligent simulation-based design and to provide guidelines for focused future research leading to effective use of CAE systems for simulating the entire life cycle of aerospace systems.
Using a Multiobjective Approach to Balance Mission and Network Goals Within a Delay Tolerant Network Topology

Abstract : This thesis investigates how to incorporate aspects of an Air Tasking Order (ATO), a Communications Tasking Order (CTO), and a Network Tasking Order (NTO) within a cognitive network framework. This was done in an effort to aid the commander and or network operator by providing automation for battlespace management to improve response time and potential inconsistent problem resolution. In particular, autonomous weapon systems such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were the focus of this research This work implemented a simple cognitive process by incorporating aspects of behavior based robotic control principles to solve the multi-objective optimization problem of balancing both network and mission goals. The cognitive process consisted of both a multi-move look ahead component, in which the future outcomes of decisions were estimated, and a subsumption decision making architecture in which these decision-outcome pairs were selected so they co-optimized the dual goals. This was tested within a novel Air force mission scenario consisting of a UAV surveillance mission within a delay tolerant network (DTN) topology. This scenario used a team of small scale UAVs (operating as a team but each running the cognitive process independently) to balance the mission goal of maintaining maximum overall UAV time-on-target and the network goal of minimizing the packet end-to-end delays experienced within the DTN. The testing was accomplished within a MATLAB discrete event simulation. The results indicated that this proposed approach could successfully simultaneously improve both goals as the network goal improved 52% and the mission goal improved by approximately 6%.
Handwritten Digit Recognition from Digital Image

This paper presents an overview of feature extraction methods for off-line recognition of segmented (isolated) digit/chratchter. Selection of a feature extraction method is probably the single most important factor in achieving high recognition performance in character recognition systems. Different feature extraction methods are designed for different representations of the digit/characters, such as solid binary characters, skeletons (thinned digit /characters), or gray level sub images of each individual character. Latest research in this area has been able to grown some new methodologies to overcome the complexity of Guajarati digit writing style. The recognition of handwritten digits which are written in proper way to easily readable. The problem is human can write digit in different styles so it is not identified by the computer but the some feature extraction methodologies like end point, junction point; straight lines etc. For features identification and character classification studied different algorithm and technique
The intercalated disc-associated Xin family of proteins in cardiac development and function

Intercalated discs (ICDs) are cardiac-specific structures located at the longitudinal termini of cardiomyocytes. Classically, the functions assigned to ICDs include mechanical and electrical communication among adjacent cardiomyocytes. More recently, it has been increasingly realized that ICDs also function in signal transduction and regulation of the surface expression of ion channels. Accordingly, defects of ICD components are shown to cause a number of human cardiac diseases and changes of ICDs are associated with cardiomyopathy, arrhythmias, and heart failure. The expansion of our knowledge about the development, function and maintenance of ICDs is promoted by identification, cataloging and characterization of the molecular components of the ICDs. In this thesis, I characterize a family of Xin repeat-containing proteins, which are striated muscle-specific and localized to the ICDs in the cardiomyocytes. This thesis provides novel insights into the mechanism of the maturation, maintenance and functions of ICDs. Our previous studies showed that the Xin repeat-containing proteins play critical role in cardiac morphogenesis and cardiac function. Knock down of the Xin gene in chicken embryos collapses the walls of developing heart chambers and leads to abnormal cardiac morphogenesis. In mammals, paralogous genes, Xinα and Xinβ, exist. Ablation of the mouse Xinα (mXinα) does not affect heart development. Instead, the mXinα-deficient mice show late-onset cardiac hypertrophy and cardiomyopathy with conduction defects. The ICD structural defects in mXinα-null mice occur postnatally between 1 and 3 months of age and progressively worsen with age. The mXinα-deficient hearts up-regulate mXinβ, suggesting a partial compensatory role of mXinβ. In this thesis, I focus on two questions. First, what are the molecular mechanisms of mXinα’s functions that account for the observed phenotypes in the mXinα-deficient hearts? And second, what are the functions of mXinβ? Through biochemical methods and electron microscopy, I demonstrated that mXinα binds and bundles actin filaments. In
Characterization of Periodic Disturbances In Rolling Element Bearings

The objective of this research is to observe and characterize periodic fluctuations in friction force of ball-element bearings that occur during velocity tracking motion. It is proposed that this periodic fluctuation in friction force is caused by the motion of the balls. We hope to show this relation by demonstrating that the frequency of the periodic fluctuation is equal to the frequency of the balls passing a position in the race. To illustrate the relation between the fluctuating friction force and the motion of the balls, a testbed has been built to measure friction force, ball passage rate, and velocity error during velocity tracking motion. The velocity error will be calculated from the measurement of position, and may show how the periodic fluctuations in friction force act like a periodic disturbance to the velocity. This paper will discuss the design and fabrication of the testbed, and the resulting measured signals that will be processed to determine their periodic content and to show how they are correlated. However, before inspecting the test results, some qualitative analysis of the system and models of the measured signals will be discussed to give insight into what we may expect from the results of the velocity tracking tests. An optical sensor has been designed and built to detect the motion of the balls in the race. The optical sensor measures the light reflected off the surface of a ball as it passes the sensing fiber. It was necessary to make some adjustments to the initial design of the sensor to correct for an instability in the signal. These adjustments, and the cause of the instability, will be discussed in this paper. Some ball bearings display an odd sticking behavior, where the friction force greatly increases beyond the approximated static friction force. This sticking behavior will be discussed, and how it relates to the motion of the balls in the race will be illustrated. It will also be discussed how the spectral density of friction force can be used to evaluate the performance of a bearing.
Economic valuation of natural resources : a handbook for coastal resource policymakers

Professionals who are responsible for coastal environmental and natural resource planning and management have a need to become conversant with new concepts designed to provide quantitative measures of the environmental benefits of natural resources. These amenities range from beaches to wetlands to clean water and other assets that normally are not bought and sold in everyday markets. At all levels of government — from federal agencies to townships and counties — decisionmakers are being asked to account for the costs and benefits of proposed actions. To non-specialists, the tools of professional economists are often poorly understood and sometimes inappropriate for the problem at hand. This handbook is intended to bridge this gap. The most widely used organizing tool for dealing with natural and environmental resource choices is benefit-cost analysis — it offers a convenient way to carefully identify and array, quantitatively if possible, the major costs, benefits, and consequences of a proposed policy or regulation. The major strength of benefit-cost analysis is not necessarily the predicted outcome, which depends upon assumptions and techniques, but the process itself, which forces an approach to decision-making that is based largely on rigorous and quantitative reasoning. However, a major shortfall of benefit-cost analysis has been the difficulty of quantifying both benefits and costs of actions that impact environmental assets not normally, nor even regularly, bought and sold in markets. Failure to account for these assets, to omit them from the benefit-cost equation, could seriously bias decisionmaking, often to the detriment of the environment. Economists and other social scientists have put a great deal of effort into addressing this shortcoming by developing techniques to quantify these non-market benefits. The major focus of this handbook is on introducing and illustrating concepts of environmental valuation, among them Travel Cost models and Contingent Valuation. These concepts, combined with advances in natural sciences that allow us to better understand how changes in the natural environment influence human behavior, aim to address some of the more serious shortcomings in the application of economic analysis to natural resource and environmental management and policy analysis. Because the handbook is intended for non-economists, it addresses basic concepts of economic value such as willingness-to-pay and other tools often used in decision making such as costeffectiveness analysis, economic impact analysis, and sustainable development. A number of regionally oriented case studies are included to illustrate the practical application of these concepts and techniques.
Using Multiple MEMS IMUs to Form a Distributed Inertial Measurement Unit

Abstract : MEMS IMUs are readily available in quantity and have extraordinary advantages over conventional IMUs in size, weight, cost, and power consumption. However, the poor performance of MEMS IMUs limits their use in more demanding military applications. It is desired to use multiple distributed MEMS IMUs to simulate the performance of a single, more costly IMU, using the theory behind Gyro-Free IMUs. A Gyro-Free IMU (GF-IMU) uses a configuration of accelerometers only to measure the three accelerations and three angular rotations of a rigid body in 3-D space. Theoretically, almost any configuration of six distributed accelerometers yields sufficient measurements to solve for the translational and angular acceleration. In reality, however, sensor noise corrupts the measurements and good sensor geometry is necessary to obtain an accurate estimate of the translational and angular accelerations. Determining the optimal configuration of accelerometers is an exercise in geometry. This thesis investigates the optimal geometry of an INS constructed of multiple networked IMUs and develops the accompanying mechanization and error equations. Simple simulations are run to test and validate the basic design principles.
Rethinking the Reading Stand to Maximize Visual Efficiency

In the field of low vision rehabilitation, there exists a plethora of devices to assist with visual reading that are critical to reading success and customization for persons with low vision (along with other education and rehabilitation considerations). In addition, visual efficiency skills and ergonomics are oftentimes prerequisite or corequisite to the accurate execution of continuous reading tasks at near distance (Corn & Koenig, 2002; Stelmack et al., 2008; Watson, Ramsey, De l’Aune, & Elk, 2004), with or without assistive devices. Granted, many individuals with low vision may use additional nonvisual sensory channels for completing longor short-term reading tasks or both, and this practice perspective does not attempt to detract from those strategies. Instead, it proposes innovations to common devices used in lowvision rehabilitation to maximize visual efficiency for reading tasks—the reading stand, the X-Y table, and the tablet. Reading stands, slant boards, clipboards, tablet stands, and similar nonoptical devices offer alternatives for positioning reading material to make reading tasks more accessible, comfortable, and ergonomic for readers with low vision (Jose, 1983; Presley & D’Andrea, 2009; Watson & Berg, 1983; Watson et al., 2004). Printed material may be clipped onto a clipboard, allowing the reader to bring the material closer to their eye or eyes while remaining seated in an upright position. For those who require a hands-free setup, a clipboard on a swing arm can achieve a similar ergonomic; and reading stands or slant boards can be used to prop up reading materials, though often at slightly different viewing angles, with a slightly different and less flexible viewing angle.
To share or to shaft: Towards a civil society

The rise of racism (Pauline Hanson’s ‘One Nation’ party) since the mid 1990’s ? The mean-spirited attitude to both asylum seekers and reconciliation by the current Government since 1996 despite the recent budgets increases in the numbers allowed ? The Federal Labour party’s cynical support for the coalition’s position on asylum seekers during the Federal election campaign in late 2001 ? The Government’s refusal to process within Australia’s territorial waters those asylum seekers picked up by the cargo vessel, Tampa in late 2001 ? The current Governor-General’s questionable response to child sexual abuse claims while he was Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane between 1990 and 2001 – and the silence since then on this issue ? The Government’s manipulation of the ‘children overboard’ affair and their vilification of asylum parents by claiming they threw their children overboard and sewed their children’s lips together – especially during an election campaign.