Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tropical forest landscape dynamics: population consequences for neotropical lianas, genus Passiflora

When populations occur in ephemeral patches, such as treefall gaps, rapid changes in patch quality may affect colonization processes. I asked what effect patch quality dynamics and propagule dispersal would have on colonization by Passiflora vines that establish in canopy gaps in lowland rainforests of Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica. Passiflora vine recruitment required high patch quality, exceeding 3 hours of direct sunlight at ground level. Models of patch quality showed that canopy opening size and slope were significant factors associated with vine recruitment. Within 6 years of initial opening, seedling recruitment ceased as gap quality decreased by 13% per year due to canopy closure, and 8% per year due to understory regrowth. This ephemeral-patch system had low densities of new patches with sufficient lighting, and patch quality decreased rapidly resulting in a narrow temporal window for seedling establishment. Colonization by seed dispersal (80%) was constrained by patch quality and isolation, while clonal growth from dormant plants (20%) was limited to an infrequent appearance of adjacent patches. These results suggest that more realistic models of ephemeral-patch metapopulations should include distributions and transitions of patch quality based on organism requirements rather than simplistic assignments of patch suitability.
Anticancer and Antioxidant activity of Gold Nanoparticles Biosynthesized using Acinetobacter baumannii

In the current study, gold nanoparticles were made using Acinetobacter baumannii broth culture. UV-vis, FTIR, XRD, FESEM, AMF, and zeta potential measurements were also used to study the properties of the Ab-AuNPs. The average was 66 nm, ranging from 20 to 90 nm. The examination results proved that the Ab-AuNPs are semi-spherical and varied from 20 to 90 nm, with an average of 66 nm. MTT assay on the breast cancer cell line MCF-7 confirmed the anticancer activity in vitro. Cancer cells showed an important cytotoxic activity of Ab-AuNPs. The breast. Cancer cell. Line.MCF-7 but ineffective against the normal.cell line.MCF-10. The IC50 values of Ab-AuNPs were at 11.45 μg ml-1. The results proved that Ab-AuNPs have DPPH scavenging activity, which increases with increasing concentration of Ab-AuNPs, where the concentrations (3.1, 6.25, 12.5, 25, and 50) mg/m gave DPPH scavenging activity with the following values 37.87%, 50.13%, 59.33%, 75.55%, and 85.13% respectively. The present study concludes that gold nanoparticles synthesized using A. baumannii broth culture are easy to prepare, inexpensive, and non-toxic to normal cells. Meanwhile, they possess antioxidant and anticancer activity. So, it can be used as an alternative treatment.
New particle formation in the continental boundary layer: Meteorological and gas phase parameter influence

New particle formation in the polluted continental boundary layer was studied, based on 1.5‐year observations of the particle size distribution, meteorological and gas phase parameters. Events of new particle formation involving significant ultrafine particle number concentrations (>104 cm−3 in the size range 3–11 nm) were observed on 20% of all days, pointing out that a frequent particle production from gaseous precursors can occur despite the relatively high pre‐existing particle surface area in the area of investigation. The maximum in the observed particle size distributions was mostly above 3 nm, suggesting the actual particle nucleation to take place upwind of the measurement site. A particle growth analysis yielded 2.3±1.4 h as an upper limit of the time for the particles to grow from the critical cluster size till the observation of the peak in ultrafine number concentration. On 80% of the significant events of new particle formation (though not on all), SO2 concentrations increased considerably (by an average factor of 7), most likely by entrainment from aloft. Particle surface area was, on average, higher on event days compared to non‐event days, indicating only a weak competition between condensation onto the pre‐existing particle surface area and the new particle formation process. The highest statistical correlation was found between the events of new particle formation and solar radiation, indicating a high degree of meteorological control.
UNIVERSITA’ DEGLI STUDI DI TORINO

4 Introduction . 5 The centrosome . 5 The centrosome cycle and its regulation . 9 Interrelationship between centrosome cycle and cell cycle.15 Centrosome aberration and the development of cancer . 16 Trafficking proteins and cell cycle progression . 21 Rab5, a master regulator of endocytosis.23 Rabex5, the best characterised guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) for Rab5.28 RN-tre acts as a Rab5-GAP and concurrently as a Rab5 effector . 29 The Kinesin motor protein KIF3A . 33 Results . 36 Rab5 and its regulators localise at the centrosome.36 RN-tre and GFP-Rabex5 are novel components of the centrosome . 36 Rab5 localises at the centrosome in a cell cycle dependent manner . 44 Rab5 and its regulators affect centrosomes separation . 47 Excess of Rab5 causes centrosome splitting . 47 Rab5Q79L promotes centrosome separation at G2 and centrioles splitting at the onset of mitosis.52 Rab5 depletion inhibits centrosomes separation at G2.57
Masters Thesis: Trajectory Optimization for Autonomous Navigation in Dynamic Environments

Motion planning for Autonomous Ground Vehicles (AGVs) in dynamic environments is an extensively studied and complex problem. State of the art methods provide approximate solutions that make conservative assumptions to provide safety and feasibility. We aim to outperform current methods by following a trajectory optimization-based approach, providing a Local Model Predictive Contouring Control framework. Our method allows AGVs to execute reactive motion while tracking a locally parametrized reference path, anticipating on the predicted evolution of the environment. Given the static environment configuration in an occupancy grid map and dynamic obstacles represented by ellipses, we formulate explicit collision avoidance constraints. Well-informed planning decisions are made through a cost function with trade-offs between competing performance variables such as tracking accuracy, maintaining the reference velocity, and clearance from obstacles. An efficient implementation of the method is presented that satisfies the real-time constraint of online navigation tasks. Furthermore, we present an implementation of a complete navigation system to emphasize our ability to deal with real sensor data and onboard processing. We show that the general definition of the framework applies to both unicycle and bicycle kinematic models, commonly used to represent mobile robots and autonomous cars, respectively. Simulation results for a car and experimental results with a mobile robot show that our method is a feasible and scalable approach. Proposed improvements of the method include 1) considering obstacle velocities and positioning with respect to the AGV in the penalty term that creates clearance, 2) incorporating prediction uncertainty of obstacles, and 3) improving our method that deals with infeasible solutions of the optimal control problem. Master of Science Thesis B.C. Floor
Masters Thesis: Hybrid Adaptive Integrated Chassis Control

Extensive advancements in the field of mobility and safety in transportation in last few decades have acted as a catalyst for the expansion of automobile industry. The research for the evolution of new technologies, vehicle safety regulations and specifications and the market requirements has given this progress a greater push. The passenger cars these days are equipped with ample collection of active safety systems such as Anti-lock Braking Systems (ABS), Electronic Stability Program (ESP), Active Front Steering (AFS) and many more. The amalgamation of these active safety systems in the vehicle chassis allows the vehicle to accomplish the desired stability. Both academia and industry understood the requirement of more research in the field of vehicle industry. This leads to the comprehensive enhancement in the field of research and development with respect to integrated chassis control (ICC). The new research delivered some remarkable advantages to this industry, such as cost reduction of the complete system, multi-objective performance growth, hardware entanglement, fault-tolerant capability and system plausibility. Despite the huge diversity in research of integrated chassis, there are certain adaptive design methods which can be used to enhance the ICC performance. This dissertation intends to provide a methodology to fully exploit the nonlinear dynamics of the vehicle concerning the forces in between tire and road surface and to discuss the integration of AFS and ESP. It establishes a novel adaptive control approach in order to attain asymptotic tracking for switched affine vehicle models with parameter uncertainties and disturbances acting on the model. This, therefore, will help to attain the desired performance. Further, comparison with strategies that merely exploits the linear region of the vehicle dynamics are discussed, and performance improvements of the proposed methodology are assessed. Finally, analytically the endurance of the prospective control strategy is proven and simulations are conducted to validate the theoretical analysis.
INSIGHT DESERTIFICATION PROCESS : BIO-PHYSICAL AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC DRIVERS IN ITALY COMPRENDERE I PROCESSI DI DESERTIFICAZIONE IN ITALIA: IL RUOLO DELLE VARIABILI BIO-FISICHE E SOCIO-ECONOMICHE

Since some decades, land degradation and desertification became one of the most severe threat for environment and human survival. In the World nearby 70% of useful drylands for agriculture has suffered soil erosion and degradation. In more than 100 countries, nearby 17% of world population is affected by desertification, forcing people to leave their farms or their villages. By now many other Countries, like Italy, although do not suffer explicit consequences, show environmental fragility induced by bio-physical (especially climate) and socio-economic causes. CRA-CMA took part in Country efforts to evaluate this issue and specifically to develop an objective methodology of land vulnerability assessment. By using several elementary variables, environmental indicators (climate characteristics, soil qualities, human pressure, economic activities), setting up through statistical methods (multidimensional analysis), and GIS tools, CRA-CMA has implemented a synthetic index, defined Land Vulnerability Index (LVI) which follows DPSIR scheme. LVI classifies the national territory in terms of exposure to land degradation and desertification risk.
PROGRESS IN THE STUDYING OF THE HANMUSHAN GROUP IN THE LONGSHOU MOUNTAINS OF GANSU PROVINCE

The Hanmushan Group in the Longshou Mountains in Gansu Province includes the Shaohuotonggou Formation and the overlying Caodaban Formation.The age of the Caodaban Formation has been in dispute.Some geologists regard it as Cambrian in age , whereas others place it in the Cryogenian-Ediacaran because of the presence of glacial diamictite in the lower Caodaban Formation.In our recent geological survey , we have found Calathium (? ), crinoids , and poriferan fossils in the Caodaban Formation of the Hanmushan Group at the Heigou section in Jinchuan , Gansu Province.Thus , the Caodaban Formation is likely of Cambrian to early Ordovician in age.The underlying glacial diamictite of the Shaohuotonggou Formation can be correlated with the Zhengmuguan Formation in the Helanshan Mountains.
A Direct Ridership Model for Rail Rapid Transit in Canada

Rail rapid transit forms the backbone of many public transportation systems in cities globally moving people at both high speed and at high capacity. As cities seek to alleviate problems of congestion and environmental pollution many are constructing or expanding urban and suburban rail networks including in Canada where in 2015 numerous projects were underway or recently completed. Traditionally travel choices have been considered to be products of time and monetary cost academics and researchers have resented strong evidence also linking travel behaviour to factors including the built environment, station amenities, and street networks. This thesis links local station level factors, including built form, street network, station amenities and service, and socioeconomic characteristics, and rail rapid transit ridership in Canada. A direct ridership model (DRM) approach is used with OLS, robust, and two-stage least squares regression and bootstrapping is used to enhance the models. Data was collected for from 342 station locations in Canada’s five largest metropolitan areas with an average weekday ridership of over 3 million. Average weekday station boardings were used as the dependent variable and 53 socioeconomic, built environment, and system attributes were chosen as potential explanatory variables that were chosen after a review of the DRM and travel demand literature. The study yielded three sets of models with an adjusted r-squared values ranging between 0.650 and 0.864. Canadian rail rapid transit stations were tested together and separately as urban and suburban service types. The most important factor identified in the models was the supply of transit service, followed by inter-modal connections (bus stops for urban stations and primarily parking for suburban stations), and residential population density. Socioeconomic factors of the population in the area surrounding stations were not found to be significant. The absence of socioeconomic variables in the final model indicates that planners and policy makers have significant scope to exert influence over transit use through land use planning, design, and service features.
Enhancing child safety and online technologies : final report of the Internet Safety Technical Task Force to the Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking of State Attorneys General of the United States

Many youth in the United States have fully integrated the Internet into their daily lives. For them, the Internet is a positive and powerful space for socializing, learning, and engaging in public life. Along with the positive aspects of Internet use come risks to safety, including the dangers of sexual solicitation, online harassment, and bullying, and exposure to problematic and illegal content. The Attorneys General Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking asked this Task Force to determine the extent to which today s technologies could help to address these online safety risks, with a primary focus on social network sites in the United States. To answer this question, the Task Force brought together leaders from Internet service providers, social network sites, academia, education, child safety and public policy advocacy organizations, and technology development. The Task Force consulted extensively with leading researchers in the field of youth online safety and with technology experts, and sought input from the public. The Task Force has produced three primary documents: (1) a Literature Review of relevant research in the field of youth online safety in the United States, which documents what is known and what remains to be studied about the issue; (2) a report from its Technology Advisory Board, reviewing the 40 technologies submitted to the Task Force; and (3) this Final Report, which summarizes the Task Force s work together, analyzes the previous documents as well as submissions by eight leading social network sites regarding their efforts to enhance safety for minors, and provides a series of recommendations for how to approach this issue going forward. Enhancing Child Safety and Online Technologies contains the Task Force s Final Report and appendices of the Literature Review and the Technology Advisory Board report.
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) HIV-1 in the RNA world : Transcription regulation , miRNAs and antiviral RNAs

Short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) are widely used for gene knockdown by inducing the RNA interference (RNAi) mechanism. The shRNA precursor is processed by Dicer into small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and subsequently programs the RNAi-induced silencing complex (RISC) to find a complementary target messenger RNA (mRNA) for post-transcriptional gene silencing. Recent evidence indicates that shRNAs with a relatively short basepaired stem bypass Dicer to be processed directly by the Ago2 nuclease of the RISC complex. We named this design AgoshRNA as these molecules depend on Ago2 both for processing and subsequent silencing activity. This alternative AgoshRNA processing route yields only a single active RNA strand, an important feature to restrict off-target effects induced by the passenger strand of regular shRNAs. It is therefore important to understand this novel AgoshRNA processing route in mechanistic detail such that one can design the most effective and selective RNA reagents. We performed a systematic analysis of the optimal base pair (bp) composition at the top and bottom of AgoshRNA molecules. In this study, we document the importance of the 5’ end nucleotide (nt) and a bottom mismatch. The optimized AgoshRNA design exhibits improved RNAi activity across cell types. These results have important implications for the future design of more specific RNAi therapeutics. Introduction The RNAi mechanism is widely conserved among vertebrates and invertebrates and uses microRNAs (miRNAs) to control cellular gene expression. Recent studies have reported an increasing number of miRNA classes that use alternative processing routes. The canonical route for miRNA processing employs the nuclear Drosha enzyme to convert the primary miRNA transcript into the precursor miRNA and subsequently the cytoplasmic Dicer endonuclease to create the mature miRNA duplex. One strand of this miRNA duplex is preferentially loaded into the Ago protein to form the RISC complex that targets partially complementary mRNAs for translational suppression and/or destruction. Additional layers of complexity were added to miRNA-regulated gene expression by the recent description of non-canonical RNAi pathways, most notable Drosha-independent RNA classes like “mirtrons” and tRNA precursors [1-3], and Dicer-independent miRNAs of which miR-451 is the prototype [4]. We will discuss the latter miR-451 class in more detail as it relates to recent developments with man-made shRNA reagents [5]. Although Dicer is essential for the processing of most miRNAs, some notable exceptions have recently been reported. The first indication came from studies showing that RISC does accommodate pre-miRNAs in the absence of Dicer [6,7]. A direct involvement of the Ago2 protein in processing of Dicer-independent miRNAs was suggested by the specific disappearance of miR-451 in mice with a genetic Ago2 defect [8]. This miRNA is well conserved among vertebrates and has some unusual features, most prominently the short stem of only 9
Displacement response of a concrete arch dam to seasonal temperature fluctuations and reservoir level rise during the first filling period: evidence from geodetic data

The present study evaluates the dynamic behaviour of the Ermenek Dam, the second highest dam in Turkey, based on conventional geodetic measurements and Finite Element Model (FEM) analyses during its first filling period. In total, eight periods of measured deformation are considered from the end of construction until the reservoir reached its full capacity. The displacement response of the dam to the reservoir level and to seasonal temperature variations is examined in detail. Time series of apparent total displacements at the middle of the crest of the dam exhibits periodicity and linear trends. Correlation analysis revealed that periodic and linear displacement responses of the dam are related to variations of seasonal temperature and linearly increased reservoir level, respectively, indicating a relation between temperature, water load and dam deformation. It is also concluded that measured deformations based on geodetic data show good agreement with the predicted deformation obtained by the FEM analysis.
FUNDAÇÃO GETULIO VARGAS ESCOLA DE ECONOMIA DE SÃO PAULO BRUNO GARCIA CAMPOS PEER EFFECTS AND TEACHER ABSENCES

Teacher quality is of critical importance in student achievement. In addition to previous training, experience and teaching methodologies, teacher assiduity plays a pivotal role in pupils' development. In this paper, we investigate how teacher absences are influenced by their colleagues at work. More specifically, we try to answer if there are peer effects behind teachers’ behavior. We resort to a model of instrumental variables to isolate the causal impact from potential identification problems arising from endogenous group formation and estimate a positive, significant peer effect of teacher absences on those of their colleagues. Additionally, we explore how teachers under different contract regimes are affected, and show peer effects are not linear – what suggests the existence of an optimal allocation of teachers that minimizes collective absences. Furthermore, we show teachers exert discretion on absences, and that this kind of absences are what mainly drives our results. Key-words: Peer Effects, Behavior Economics, Education Economics, Labor Economics, Teachers Labor, Instrumental Variables. Summary
Tourmaline: an ideal indicator of its host environment

Tourmaline-supergroup minerals are ubiquitous accessory minerals in rocks of the Earth’s crust. They can adjust their composition to suit a wide variety of environments, and therefore display a remarkable range in stability in terms of pressure, temperature, fluid composition, and host-rock composition. Because of this compositional sensitivity, tourmaline is an excellent indicator of the environmental conditions in its host. This is further enhanced by negligible diffusion up to high temperatures and a strongly refractory character during subsequent host-rock alteration and weathering, as well as mechanical transport of grains. Whereas most prior research on tourmaline has focused on chemical and crystallographic characterizations and systematics of the tourmaline-supergroup minerals, recent studies are shifting the focus to a quantitative reconstruction of environmental conditions in the host using a combination of structural, compositional and crystallographic characteristics of the tourmaline. This thematic issue, which follows a special session at the 2009 GAC–MAC–AGU meeting in Toronto, highlights these exciting advances; here we discuss some of the obstacles that will need to be overcome to insure the practical applicability of tourmaline. The papers presented in this thematic issue of The Canadian Mineralogist show that we are standing on the brink of a major breakthrough in the use of tourmaline as a quantitative indicator of the chemical and physical properties of its host environment these properties may well make tourmaline the prime mineral for this purpose.