SIRIS-Lab/unlabelled-sti-corpus huggingface dataset:
Characterizing the Infrared Bands of Aqueous Soluble Silicates

A systematic study of the transition in silicate solutions from a solution containing a highly complex mixture of silicate species to one dominated by a single symmetric cubic octamer has been completed. Infrared and NMR results have been analyzed and compared with each other and literature values. The FT-IR band locations are dependent on many factors, particularly the dominant band near 1000 cm(-1). The analysis supports Dent Glasser's hypothesis that silica polymerization results from changes in distribution between the larger colloidal silica and intermediate sized anionic fraction rather than the continuous stepwise growth seen with organic polymerization. A constant value of silica monomer seen in all solutions independent of the complexity of the species or their distribution suggests equilibrium between the monomeric form and larger anions and polymers that is independent of their structure. No evidence is uncovered for specific silicate species dependent IR band assignments.
Effects of ulinastatin in treatment of invasive candidiasis

Objective To investigate the effects and mechanism of Ulinastatin (UTI) combined with antifungal agents in treatment of Invasive Candidiasis (IC). Method Sixty Kunming mice were randomly assigned to control group, low-dose group and high-dose group (each n=20). The model of IC was reproduced by intraperitoneal injection of White monilial suspension after CTX pretreatment. Mice in control group were treated with antifungal agents. Mice in low-dose group and high-dose group were treated with UTI (104U/kg or 5×104U/kg)and antifungal agents. Survival rate, cytokine in liver tissue and blood lymphocyte subsets were compared among these groups. Results There was significant difference in survival rate between control group and high-dose group [30% (6/20) vs. 70% (14/20), p =0.011]. There was no significant difference in survival rate between other groups ( p >0.05). There were significant differences in IL-10 among three groups [94.1±9.11 vs. 93.9±4.91 vs. 82.5±14.0, p <0.05]. There were significant differences in CD3+ rate, CD4+ rate and CD8+rate between control group and high-dose group [22.5±5.24 vs. 26.4±3.63, 14.6±1.26 vs. 16.7±2.19, 6.60±1.51 vs. 4.50±0.97, p <0.05]. There were significant differences in CD4+/CD8+ rate among three groups [2.32±0.59 vs. 2.90±0.87 vs. 3.82±0.82, p <0.05]. Conclusions High-dose UTI could improve survival rate in mice with IC through improving cellular immune and reducing immunosuppression.
Research on Micro-grid Optimal Economy with Micro-Turbine

In order to research the economy of the micro- grid with micro- turbine,the economic optimization model based on maximizing comprehensive benefits was set up on the premise of satisfying the constraintson system operation and demands of loads. At island model and grid-connected model,optimization models were developed in the micro-grid taking into account equipment depreciation cost,operation and maintenance costs,cost of fuel,power purchase cost and reduced environmental cost. The swarm optimization algorithm was used to solve this model,comparing and analyzing the comprehensive cost in the running mode with and without micro-turbine and the output of distributed generation. The results show that the model can ensure the reliability of electricity and the power configuration scheme with micro-turbine can ensure best economy. That provides a theoretical basis for the planning of micro-grid.
Lipid-based nanoparticles containing cationic derivatives of PTA (1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane) as innovative vehicle for Pt complexes: Production, characterization and in vitro studies

The aliphatic phosphine PTA (1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane) is a promising ligand for metal complexes designed and developed as innovative inorganic drugs. In the present paper, an N-alkylated derivative of PTA, (PTAC16H33)X (X=I, C1, or X=PF6, C2) and its platinum coordination complex cis-[PtCl2(PTAC16H33)2](PF6)2, C3, were considered as components of cationic lipid nanoparticles (CLNs). Particularly, CLN1, CLN2 and CLN3 were obtained by adding derivatives C1, C2 or C3 during nanoparticles preparation, while CLN2-Pt were obtained by treating preformed CLN2 with Pt(II). It was demonstrated that CLN1, CLN2 and CLN3 can be produced with technological conventional methods. However, among the two here proposed protocols, the one based on the treatment of preformed nanoparticles appears more advantageous as compared to the other since it allows a quantitative association yield of Pt. As determined by ICP-OES, a content of P and Pt 2.2-fold and 2.5-fold higher in CLN2-Pt than in CLN3 was evidenced. For the first time was demonstrated that properly functionalized preformed nanoparticles can be efficiently used to obtain a post production Pt(II) complex while maintaining a cytotoxic activity toward cultured cells. In fact, the antiproliferative activity shown by CLN3, CLN2-Pt on the three model cancer cell lines was substantially similar and comparable to that of complex C3 in dmso solution. Thus N-alkylated-PTA derivatives in CLNs could be proposed as innovative biocompatible and water dispersible nanoparticles carrying lipophilic Pt complexes becoming an interesting and improved system with respect to dmso solution.
Multi-Tubular catalytic reactor for flexible production of fine chemicals

Small scale continuous synthesis in catalytic flow reactors is recognized as one of the major technologies that would enable and even boost process intensification and it would allow to develop substantially cleaner, safer and more energy efficient chemical processes. The leading fine chemicals companies are already implementing restructuring programs targeted at the reduction of large scale chemical manufacturing and eliminations of large chemical plants. The scalability of the catalytic flow reactors remains a challenge due to (i) technical difficulties to coat a large number of parallel channels with a catalytic coating in a reproducible way and (ii) to equally distribute multiphase flow over a large number of channels. These problems have been addressed and solved in the related ERC project. 

In this PoC project, I will combine these two concepts to develop a multichannel capillary catalytic reactor which would be able to increase production rate up to a kg/day scale. A “plug-and-play” platform for small-scale distributed synthesis of fine chemicals will be constructed and the commercial potential of the new reactor concept will be explored. The market analysis will examine the market drivers, market gaps, market share between different market segments across the world. Potential industrial partners will be selected such as contract research manufacturing, licensees and potential customers. The outcome of this PoC project will be an exclusive licence of the patent application to a contract research manufacturing company that has the expertise and resources to further develop and commercialise the reactor prototype towards a fully-licensed industrial apparatus. The performance of the apparatus will be evaluated by an end user company. By commercialising the device, this project will facilitate small-scale production of fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals via environmentally benign catalytic routes.
Restoration of natural killer cell activity by pegylated interferon-alpha/ribavirin therapy in chronic hepatitis C patient

The combination therapy of pegylated interferon-α and ribavirin (PEG IFN/RBV) is one of the effective treatments for chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients. Natural killer (NK)-cell activity was reported to be impaired in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV). The aim of this study was to examine whether PEG IFN/RBV therapy could restore NK activity in CHC patients.In 19 CHC patients, PEG IFN/RBV therapy was performed. Just before (0M), at 3 months of the therapy (3M) and at 6 months after completion of the therapy (6M), NK activity and the frequency of NK cells, CD56(dim) NK cells and CD56(bright) NK cells in peripheral blood was estimated by creatinine release assay and flow cytometry. Statistical analysis was performed by anova and Mann-Whitney U-test.anova showed that NK activity significantly improved at 6M (vs 0M, P < 0.05) in the patients studied and in the patients with sustained virological response (SVR). It also showed that frequency of CD56(bright) NK cells was significantly increased at 6M (vs 0M, P < 0.05) in the patients studied and in the SVR group. However, no significant change in NK activity and frequency of CD56(bright) NK cells were detected in non-SVR group. Furthermore, NK activity ratio (6M/0M) in the SVR group was revealed to be higher compared with that in the non-SVR group by analysis using Mann-Whitney U-test (P < 0.05).PEG IFN/RBV therapy in CHC patients could improve NK activity by increasing the frequency of CD56(bright) NK cells in SVR patients. Our study also revealed that eradication of HCV could restore NK-cell activity.
Training course for personnel involved in emergency towing operations

This paper presents development of and experience from a simulator based training course for personnel in Norwegian emergency response operations. As a response to governmental white papers on emergency preparedness and safety at sea in Norwegian waters, it was decided to develop a simulator based training course with focus on emergency towing operations. The first part of the paper describes work done by a group of subject matter experts appointed by the Norwegian Coastal Administration. This group assisted the Ship Manoeuvring Simulator Centre to specify the content of a three days training course for deck officers on emergency response vessels. Two test courses were run in the summer of 2006. Feedback from these courses was used to update and extend course content for the first ordinary courses that took place later that year. The second part of the paper reviews course experience and feedback from course participants. The final part of the paper describes the links between the simulator based course and the research and development activities in the R&D project Arctic Emergency Operation involving partners from France, Germany, Japan, Norway and the United Kingdom.
Giant electric-field-induced strains in lead-free ceramics for actuator applications – status and perspective

In response to the current environmental regulations against the use of lead in daily electronic devices, a number of investigations have been performed worldwide in search for alternative piezoelectric ceramics that can replace the market-dominating lead-based ones, representatively Pb(Zr
 x
 Ti1-x
 )O3 (PZT)-based solid solutions. Selected systems of potential importance such as chemically modified and/or crystallographically textured (K, Na)NbO3 and (Bi1/2Na1/2)TiO3-based solid solutions have been developed. Nevertheless, only few achievements have so far been introduced to the marketplace. A recent discovery has greatly extended our tool box for material design by furnishing (Bi1/2Na1/2)TiO3-based ceramics with a reversible phase transition between an ergodic relaxor state and a ferroelectric with the application of electric field. This paired the piezoelectric effect with a strain-generating phase transition and extended opportunities for actuator applications in a completely new manner. In this contribution, we will present the status and perspectives of this new class of actuator ceramics, aiming at covering a wide spectrum of topics, i.e., from fundamentals to practice.
Silver and the origins of the viking age

This project will address one of the enduring questions of medieval studies - the origins of the Viking Age (c. 750-1050 AD) - through an interdisciplinary (archaeological, archaeometric and numismatic) study of silver from early Viking-Age Scandinavia.  In doing so, it will provide the first large-scale, systematic and empirically-based answers to the outstanding questions of where, when and why the Viking Age began, casting vital new light on what is widely recognised to be a pivotal episode of cultural expansion in Eurasia.

As the only surviving physical evidence from the spoils of Viking expansion, silver has unique potential to elucidate the early development of the Viking Age. Its geographic origins can reveal where Viking activity was concentrated (Western Europe vs. Baltic/ Russia); its uses can indicate why the Vikings were prepared to risk their lives acquiring it (social vs. monetary function); and its chronology can unlock the timings of the main periods of expansion (ninth century, as widely believed, vs. a century earlier). Yet, due to its poor characterisation and the lack of scientific approaches to its study, silver has never before been harnessed to address these fundamental topics.

This project will build an entirely new dataset of the ninth-century ‘silver record’ from a combination of access to museum collections and fresh artefact and coin identifications made by the project team. We will analyse this material in new ways. First-hand archaeological and numismatic study will be combined with pioneering methods in archaeometric analysis, the enormous potential of which for revealing Viking silver sources has recently been demonstrated by the PI. The PI has negotiated unprecedented permissions from national museums to extend scientific analyses to early Viking silver objects from across Northern Europe. There is now a tremendous opportunity to transform understanding of one of Europe’s most significant cultural movements.
Precautionary saving or denied dissaving

Abstract Precautionary saving in response to uninsurable income risk can in principle explain the stylized fact that aggregate saving increases with the variance of income, but it is controversial how much of the observed variation in incomes is, in fact, unpredictable. Borrowing constraints offer an alternative explanation that does not require consumers to be uncertain about their future income. This paper employs a three-cohort, overlapping generations model with quadratic utility and no capital to show that, if agents are patient enough, heterogeneity alone can account for more than half the decrease in the equilibrium interest rate caused by a borrowing constraint. The possibility of facing a binding borrowing constraint in the future induces saving, and this saving increases with the cross-sectional variation in income. Another channel that pushes down the interest rate is the direct effect caused by currently constrained agents not being allowed to dissave. For patient agents, the two channels have roughly the same impact on the interest rate.
The Geography of LGBTQ Internet Studies

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) Internet studies have grown exponentially during the last 10 or 15 years. Apart from original book-length contributions by single authors (Campbell, 2004; Enteen, 2010; Fox, 2012; Gray, 2009; Kuntsman, 2009; Mowlabocus, 2010), a number of special journal issues (Alexander, 2002; Comella & Sender, 2013; Fotopoulou & O’Riordan, 2014; Kuntsman & Al-Qasimi, 2012), and edited books (Berry, Martin, & Yue, 2003; O’Riordan & Phillips, 2007; Pullen & Cooper, 2010) have all contributed to the advancement of our knowledge of this diversifying field. In this short article, I offer a review of three edited books, recognizing their important collective contributions to LGBTQ Internet studies. The three volumes are surely not the very latest publications in the field and they have already been reviewed by a number of scholars (e.g., de Ridder, 2012; Erni, 2009; Hamming, 2008; Scott, 2008). However, in this review I would like to take one more look at the articles published in those books with a particular focus on what contexts they are anchored in and to what extent they acknowledge the importance of the contexts. In doing so, I aim to critically reflect on the geography of LGBTQ Internet studies.
Role of the swi/snf complex in the androgen receptor cistrome regulation

The significance of epigenetic deregulation is a very hot topic in current prostate cancer (PC) research. New mutations have been identified in several epigenetic regulators known for their interaction with the AR. In fact, the role of chromatin remodeling factors facilitating enhancer-promoter cooperation in the formation of the AR transcriptional complex has long been demonstrated. Accordingly, the marked redistribution of AR binding sites (cistrome) during tumorigenesis is arguably the most recurrent genetic or epigenetic alterations in PC. Thus, this MCSA project aims at elucidating the role of the SWI/SNF chromatin-remodeling complex in the emergence of resistance to anti-AR signaling inhibitors. This is of utmost importance as resistance to AR signaling inhibition is arguably the principle hallmark of lethal prostate cancer. To this end, I aim at (i) investigating the SWI/SNF dependent chromatin accessibility and AR cistrome; and at (ii) assessing the actionability of SWI/SNF interacting partners in castration resistance prostate cancer (CRPC). In short, this MSCA proposal will help to define the repertoire of SWI/SNF coregulators in CRPC and to determine the extent of AR cistrome remodeling to envision new therapeutic strategies and help predict treatment response.
Improving dynamic proximity sensing and processing for smart work-zone safety

Abstract Equipment/vehicles striking workers is one of the most frequent accidents that occur in roadway workzones. As a means of prevention, a number of active technologies have been developed to provide proximity sensing and alerts for workers and equipment operators. However, most of these systems are based on the distance/proximity level between workers and equipment and neglect the variations caused by different settings and environmental conditions, such as equipment types and approaching speeds, which can result in inconsistency and delay of the systems. As of yet, previous research has insufficiently investigated these issues. This research addresses the issues by utilizing the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)-based proximity sensing and alert system developed by the authors. This paper discusses the development and assessment of parameter adjustment and adaptive signal processing (ASP) methods. The research conducted field trials in various dynamic conditions and settings to assess the performance of the system. The test results showed that the parameter adjustment function reduced the inconsistency of the alert distances resulting from different types of equipment, and that the ASP method reduced the time delay resulting from high approaching speeds. The developed proximity safety alerts system provides stakeholders with better understanding of dynamic spatial relationships among equipment, operator, workers, and a surrounding work environment; thus, improving construction work zone safety.
Equation of state and phase diagram of strongly interacting matter

Abstract In this work progress on the phase structure and the dynamics of strongly correlated matter with continuum methods is reviewed. First we discuss the set-up of functional approaches to correlation functions in QCD. Particular emphasis is put on the discussion of the mechanisms of confinement and chiral symmetry breaking in such an approach, as well as the embedding of low energy effective theories. Then, results are discussed concerning the confinement–deconfinement and the chiral phase transition at finite temperature and density. The present correlation function approach also allows to compute real-time correlations, including pole masses, decay constants, spectral functions and transport coefficients.
Linking the textual worlds of chinese court theater, ca. 1600-1800

Court theater was a core part of Chinese court and performance culture for centuries, yet its texts have never been amply studied. There are several reasons for this: their low status in Chinese literary history as ‘authorless’ performer’s texts; the vast (20,000+) quantity of texts and the difficulty of accessing them; and the lack of an existing analytic framework to study anonymous Chinese performance texts on such a large scale. Chinese court drama thus remains a ‘closed’ textual world, neglected in literary history. The lacuna is especially glaring given the quantity and richness of the extant texts: performance practices and other aspects of material culture are preserved alongside dramatic content. Furthermore, court theater was among the most ‘outward facing’ of all Chinese genres, shown to foreign ambassadors. Many visitors recorded what was often their only impression of Chinese theater culture.

Chinese court theater thus contains a complex series of closed, disjointed textual worlds. To re-link these textual worlds, this project will build the first digital archive of court drama scripts and related foreign records. Based on this resource, the project will trace internal links between scripts in the textual web of court drama; draw external links to individuals, occasions, and artefacts; and consider cross-cultural links to situate Chinese court drama in its global context.
The project will produce the first textual studies of Chinese court drama, including a court drama textual database, a series of monographs and publications on extended text-based research topics, and an anthology of English translations for the general reader. These outputs will remedy the lack of textual studies on Chinese court drama, contributing towards our understanding of Chinese theater history and world court cultures. The methodology the project develops to study a large corpus of authorless texts could be applied to other Chinese genres such as folk tales and dialect songs.
Does the Presence of Transposable Elements Impact the Epigenetic Environment of Human Duplicated Genes?

Epigenetic modifications have an important role to explain part of the intra- and inter-species variation in gene expression. They also have a role in the control of transposable elements (TEs) whose activity may have a significant impact on genome evolution by promoting various mutations, which are expected to be mostly deleterious. A change in the local epigenetic landscape associated with the presence of TEs is expected to affect the expression of neighboring genes since these modifications occurring at TE sequences can spread to neighboring sequences. In this work, we have studied how the epigenetic modifications of genes are conserved and what the role of TEs is in this conservation. For that, we have compared the conservation of the epigenome associated with human duplicated genes and the differential presence of TEs near these genes. Our results show higher epigenome conservation of duplicated genes from the same family when they share similar TE environment, suggesting a role for the differential presence of TEs in the evolutionary divergence of duplicates through variation in the epigenetic landscape.