SIRIS-Lab/unlabelled-sti-corpus huggingface dataset:
Dispersions of Polymer-Modified Carbon Nanotubes: A Small-Angle Scattering Investigation

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were modified with polystyrene (PS) using self-initiated photografting photopolymerization. In order to optimize their utilization in CNT/polymer nanocomposites, a thorough characterization of their dispersions in solvents is of key importance. Using small-angle scattering, we have studied the effect of the modification on the agglomeration behavior in dilute toluene dispersions. Whereas small-angle X-ray scattering gives overall information, small-angle neutron scattering together with the use of deuterated solvents highlights the polymer shells or the CNTs. The structure of the CNTs and their agglomerates were modeled as fractal aggregates of homogeneous or core−shell cylinders for single- and multiwalled CNTs, respectively. In this way, we have characterized the dispersibility of the CNTs as well as the thickness of the shell formed by the grafted polymers in dependence on the time of polymerization.
A Prospective Clinical Study on Blood Mercury Levels Following Endodontic Root-end Surgery with Amalgam.

The purpose of this clinical study was to compare the blood mercury levels before and after endodontic surgery using amalgam as a root-end filling material.Fourteen patients requiring periradicular surgery participated in this prospective clinical study. A zinc-free amalgam was employed as root-end filling material. Blood samples were collected at three intervals: immediately before, immediately after and one week postoperatively. Mercury content of the blood was determined using gold amalgamation cold-vapor atomic absorption spectrometry. Obtained data were analyzed using analysis of variance for repeated measures and paired t-test.The mean (SD) of blood mercury levels was 2.20 (0.24) ng/mL immediately before surgery, 2.24 (0.28) ng/mL immediately after surgery and 2.44 (0.17) ng/mL one week after the periradicular surgery. The blood mercury level one week post-operative was significantly higher than both blood mercury levels immediately before (P<0.001) and immediately after (P=0.005) the surgery.Placement of an amalgam retroseal during endodontic surgery can increase blood mercury levels after one week. The mercury levels however, are still lower than the toxic mercury levels. We suggest using more suitable and biocompatible root-end filling materials.
Natural Resources in Afghanistan: Geographic and Geologic Perspectives on Centuries of Conflict (J.F. Shroder)

Natural Resources in Afghanistan: Geographic and Geologic Perspectives on Centuries of Conflict. John F. Shroder. Pp. 592. Elsevier. 2014. Hardcover. ISBN 9780128001356. Price $200.

This book is the outcome of four decades of work in Afghanistan by the author, John (Jack) Shroder. His travels and research throughout Afghanistan and his understanding of its place in regional and world history provide the foundation for this comprehensive 572-page reference. The book describes the interrelated nature of Afghanistan’s physical and political landscape over time and the role resources have, and have not, played in Afghanistan’s past and could play in its future.

The book is divided into four parts and 21 chapters. Each chapter is stand-alone with abstract and keywords and is available on-line through ScienceDirect. Shroder states that the main audience for this book is “foreign advisors” who presumably will be tasked with assisting in a variety of economic development and capacity-building activities.

Part I (chapters 2–8), “Overview of the Geology and Geography of Afghanistan,” describes the geotectonic and geomorphic evolution of Afghanistan, and how these have controlled the nature of soil and vegetation, drainage basin architecture, and natural hazards. Emphasis is much more on geography and geomorphology and less on geology. A succinct summary of the geotectonic evolution of Afghanistan, emphasizing plate tectonics and major fault zones, is presented in chapter 2. A hierarchical classification of geomorphic regions, provinces, and sections is described and illustrated in chapter 3, yet it is not always clear what criteria were used to subdivide regions into provinces and provinces into sections. The interrelationship between climate, soil, and vegetation is presented in chapter 4 and highlights how uncontrolled deforestation and grazing over the centuries, combined with natural desertification, has put flora in a delicate state and increased the effects of runoff and soil erosion. Chapter 5 provides a comprehensive review of Afghanistan’s four major drainage basins, each of which converge on a major river; the Amu Darya, the Hari Rud, …
MULTI-CHAMBERED FUEL ENRICHMENT DEVICE

A fuel enrichment device includes a body forming a first fuel chamber and a second fuel chamber. The second fuel chamber is adapted to contain a predetermined amount of enriching fuel to be provided to an engine. A normally open valve connects the first fuel chamber to the second fuel chamber. A normally closed valve for controls the provision of enriching fuel to the engine. The normally closed valve is open whenever the normally open valve is closed.
Atmospheric tides over the Pyrenees: observational study and numerical simulation

Barometric tides around the Pyrenees mountain range are analyzed by means of synoptic surface-station data recorded during one year, surface data from the Pyrenees Experiment (PYREX) and the CRA/LA Very High Frequency (VHF) wind profiler installed in the north of the range. Tides are decomposed into their diurnal and semi-diurnal components. Diurnal tides show a strong non-migrating component and are very dependent on local conditions. Semi-diurnal tides are more homogeneous and present a north-south asymmetry, also noted in the Alps. This cross-range asymmetry could be related to some interference effect caused by the mountain range in the migrating semi-diurnal tide wave. The asymmetry of the diurnal component presents a very strong seasonal variation, probably related to local diabatic effects. A three-month long simulation has been carried out with the National Center for Atmospheric Research's Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) limited-area model to try to reproduce the tide structure. The validation of the results with wind-profiler data shows reasonable agreement with the observed diurnal tide and poorer results for the semi-diurnal component. At surface level, however, the model reproduces some of the features of the observed semi-diurnal tide, and especially the cross-range asymmetry. Copyright © 2010 Royal Meteorological Society
Stem cells for cardiac arrhythmia risk assessment

Among the most significant conceptual changes in stem cell biology of the past decade has been the use of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) for disease modelling and drug development rather than solely as therapeutics. One area of major interest in this context is that of arrhythmic disorders of the heart. Cardiac arrhythmias are a leading cause of death among young people, with inherited forms affecting as many as 1 in 2000. Even more prevalent are acquired arrhythmias due to adverse responses to medication. These too have a significant heritable component. Although hundreds of mutations have been associated with both forms of arrhythmia, two outstanding issues remain: (i) it is difficult to prove the identified mutation is causal, and (ii) large differences in disease severity are seen even among patients with the same primary mutation. To date hPSC models of arrhythmogenic diseases exhibit the characteristic electrophysiological features of the respective disorders; however lack of appropriate controls and inherent variability between hPSC lines means that it is still unclear how well these models reflect the genotype-phenotype relationship. This proposal will combine hPSC disease modelling with recent advances in gene-editing, plus the wealth of genomic data associating genetic variants to disease phenotypes, to develop unique approaches that will 1) establish the sensitivity of these models and; 2) provide more accurate functional assessment of the contribution of individual variants to congenital and acquired arrhythmias. I believe that by creating panels of isogenic PSC lines differing exclusively at candidate genetic loci we can (i) predict the pathogenicity of variants; (ii) shed light on the mechanism underlying the disease phenotype, and (iii) improve individual risk stratification and patient-specific pharmacotherapy. This study will also offer a first entry into interpreting GWAS and capitalising on the value of the human genome sequencing projects.
Effect of surface treatments and cyclic loading on the bond strength of acrylic resin denture teeth with autopolymerized repair acrylic resin

Fracture of denture teeth from the denture base is a common problem associated with dental prostheses. Fractured tooth surfaces treated with chemical agents and mechanical features have the potential for improved repair strength.The purpose of this study was to compare bond strengths of denture teeth to autopolymerized repair acrylic resin after various surface treatments, before and after cyclic loading.Mandibular lateral incisor denture teeth were selected and ground on the ridge-lap portion using a standardized jig. Specimens with a ground surface were used as controls. The experimental groups included: ground plus airborne-particle abraded, ground plus diatoric recess, and ground plus an experimental bonding agent. The teeth were affixed by an autopolymerized repair acrylic resin to denture bases. Specimens (n=10) were subjected to compression testing (5 mm/min) at a 135-degree angle, before and after 14,400 loading cycles at 2 Hz and 22 N. Peak load to dislodgement was recorded and statistically analyzed (2-way ANOVA, Tukey HSD, alpha=.05). The specimens were then examined using x10 magnification, and fractures were categorized as adhesive, cohesive, or mixed.The mean bond strengths ranged from 26.3 N to 44.2 N. There were no significant differences in fatigue versus nonfatigue strength values within each group (P=.244). Significant strength differences were found (P<.001) between the ground control, diatoric recess, and bonding agent groups. Microscopic examination revealed that the bonding agent group obtained the highest percentage of mixed-type fractures.The use of a bonding agent and the placement of a diatoric recess in the denture tooth resulted in higher bond strengths than grinding alone. Cyclic loading had no significant impact on the bond strength of denture teeth to the autopolymerized repair acrylic resin.
Assembly tooling for the fast rotorcraft project

The objective of the project is to get a complete set of assembly and maintenance tooling, including auxiliary tooling. Due to the tight tolerances required in aeronautical industry, Some assembly jigs will be equipped with an optical structured light measure system that will allow the set up of the tooling and the position verification of the parts during assembly with tolerances equal or under 0.1 mm. The use of this kind of systems are spearhead in the field of precision measurement and the advantages against currently measurement systems, as laser tracker, will be shown in following paragraphs. In addition, optical systems are becoming the preferred measurement systems in automatized assembly jigs which will be the step forward in the aeronautical assembly lines.
Probing Guideline Fundamentals: An Alternate Perspective on Adherence

Guideline panels have become an integral part of the medical landscape. With their content expertise and epidemiologic resources, they are well placed to provide practitioners with credible advice. However, the advice is not always taken.

In this issue of the Journal of Travel Medicine , Duffy and colleagues present one such example of low adherence to guidelines. They conducted interviews at three major US airports with travelers bound for countries endemic for Japanese encephalitis (JE).1 The authors compared the number of individuals immunized against the disease with the number eligible according to US guidelines (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices). They found a notably low uptake of the vaccine, with many of these travelers not recalling any discussion of JE vaccine at the clinic they attended.

A gap between guideline and practice has been observed in several areas of medicine, with the discrepancy not uncommonly attributed to the health care provider. There is, however, another plausible explanation: the difficulty can lie with the guidelines themselves. If these are perceived as unrealistic or if their derivations … 

Corresponding Author: Peter Teitelbaum, MD, Riverside Travel Medicine Clinic, 411‐1919 Riverside Drive, Ottawa, Ontario K1H1A2, Canada. E‐mail: travelclinic{at}rogers.com
FABRICATION OF PATTERNED ARRAYS

Provided herein are methods and compositions for the fabrication of patterned arrays, such as nucleotide arrays. The methods and compositions are suited for the transfer and reorientation of array components.
Airborne geophysical surveys in the north-central region of Goias (Brazil): implications for radiometric characterization of tropical soils

Progress obtained in analysis aerogammaspectrometric and aeromagnetic survey data for the north-central region of the state of Goias (Brazil) are presented. The results obtained have allowed not only determination of the abundances of naturally radioactive elements but also new insights into the processes that determine the radiometric characteristics of the main soil types. There are indications that the radioelement abundances of soils are not only related to their physical properties, but also chemical characteristics of source rocks from which they are derived. For example, oxisol soils derived from the felsic source rocks of the Mara Rosa and Green stone belts have equivalent uranium (eU) values higher than 1.7 ppm, while those derived from source rocks of the relatively more basic Uruaçu Group and sediment sequences of Proterozoic age are characterized by eU contents of less than 1 ppm. Oxisol soils of the Median massif, ultisol soils of the Paranoá, Canastra and Araxá Groups, cambisol soils of the Araí Group and plintosol soils of the Bambuí Group constitute an intermediate class with eU contents in the range of 1-1.3 ppm. Equivalent thorium abundances of soil types display similar trends, the range of variation being 4-16 ppm. Potassium abundances on the other hand are rather uniform with values in the range of 1-1.3%, the only exception being the sedimentary sequences of Proterozoic age, which has a mean value of 0.7%. These observations have been considered as indicative of characteristic features of tropical soils in the study area. In this context, we point out the possibility of using results of aerogammaspectrometry surveys as a convenient complementary tool in identifying geochemical zoning of soils in tropical environments. The ratios of eU/K are found to fall in the range of 1-1.7, which is typical of common soils. The ratios of eTh/K exhibit a relatively wide interval, with values in the range of 4-16. The ratios of eTh/eU are found to have values in the range of 2-12. Also, there appears to be a rather reasonable association between the spatial distributions of positive anomalies of the radioelement ratios with the lineaments derived from the vertical derivative of the magnetic field. The map of the analytic signal of the magnetic field also reveals a similar association. Such associations imply that the processes which determine evolutionary trends of soil types are somehow related to the events that control the development of structural features in subsurface layers.
Plan de negocios para la creación de una fundación especializada en la formación integral, para personas con capacidades especiales en la ciudad de Quito

This thesis proposes the creation of a foundation dedicated to comprehensive and specialized training for the handicapped people in the city of Quito. The foundation will provide training to people with physical and sensory disabilities, in order to contribute to their personal and professional development. The chapter of Generalities identifies that approximately 1.6 million people, which means 13.2% of the population, suffers of some kind of disability, and has run down their chances of professional and personal development because of the lack of attention from the different governments in power. (Conadis, 1992). The second chapter presents information about the social services industry and its 16.9% growth which has been experienced in the last six years. Also, it analyzes the country figures, such as the 3.6% of inflation and 50% of unemployment. Market research determined that the target market will be focused on Quito where 6972 handicapped with the ability to work live (INEC, 2008). There is an acceptance of 86% handicapped people survey, respect to the establishment of a training center. A similar percentage identifies the Camara de Comercio, SECAP and language institutes as the most recognized training centers. The marketing plan defines the positioning strategies based on the user, the benefits and the use or application of the service. Sales of USD 117,600 are expected and a budget of USD 7,000 for advertising and promotion are set to reach the consumer's mind.
Grant to the company ‘Tomasz Głogosz’ to finance and ensure its day-to-day business.

The project provides for a grant to the company ‘Tomasz Głogosz’, which was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the pandemic, the company’s turnover decreased significantly, and in the period early March – the beginning of June 2020 did not operate at all. The grant will ensure the maintenance of the company’s activity and employment for a period of 3 months.
Production of a novelO-methyl-isoflavone by regioselective sequential hydroxylation andO-methylation reactions inStreptomyces avermitilishost system

Distinct isoflavone O-methyltransferases (IOMTs) from Streptomyces species were isolated and expressed using S. avermitilis host system. Previously reported isoflavone 7-O-methyltransferases (I7OMTs, E.C. 2.1.1.150) and two putative O-methyltransferases (OMTs) from Saccharopolyspora erythraea were selected by comparative sequence grouping and expressed in S. avermitilisΔSaOMT2 under the control of constitutive ermE promoter. During whole-cell biotransformation of 4',7-dihydroxyisoflavone (daidzein) by constructed recombinant strains, production of O-methylated daidzein was investigated. S. avermitilisΔSaOMT2::SeOMT3 (SeOMT3) produced 7-methoxy-4'-hydroxyisoflavone (7-OMD) with 4.5% of low conversion yield due to competitive oxidation reactions. However, SeOMT3 could produce a novel 4',7-dihydroxy-3'-methoxyisoflavone (3'-OMD) (<1%) resulted from subsequent 3'-O-methylation of 3',4',7-trihydroxyisoflavone (3'-OHD) which was a hydroxylated product catalyzed by oxygenases. Although external addition of SAM did not change the conversion yield of O-methylation reaction, co-expression of SAM synthetase gene (metK) with SeOMT3 greatly induced the regiospecific O-methylation reaction at 3'-hydroxyl group with final conversion of 12.1% using 0.1 mM of daidzein.
Wired/wireless integrated multi-screen display endoscopic system

Medical electronic endoscope has a wide range of applications in medical diagnostic. Most of the traditional medical electronic endoscopes are wired endoscopes which are unavailable in many circumstances. Considering the weaknesses of the traditional video endoscope and combining with its future development trend, we design and implement the wired/wireless multi-screen display endoscopic system. The video signal can not only be transmitted to the Liquid Crystal Display by cable, but also be transmitted to the mobile terminals via Wi-Fi. In this work, a video endoscopic system prototype was built which uses H.264 video compression to reduce the data size needed to be transmitted by the Wi-Fi transmitter. The ARM9 based video processor performs the main task of video compression and transmission, CC3100 to establish the wireless link and the camera used is analog camera.
Anode Baking Process Improvement at ALRO

Along with the partial refractory refurbishment of their three anode baking furnaces, ALRO wanted to reduce their consumption of natural gas and achieve complete combustion of the volatile compounds. Fives Solios proposed its process control expertise and up-to-date technology to upgrade the existing Firing Control System. Advanced software along with CO analysers and high velocity gas injectors were implemented for better combustion control. Port Sealing Ramp and low pressure drop dampers were provided to improve the operating conditions of the furnaces. Additionally, baking profile adjustments, based on CO continuous measurement and balance between the draft and the thermal demand in the heating zones, were jointly conducted by ALRO and Fives Solios resulting in a sustainable reduction of the energy consumption and improved combustion of the volatile compounds while maintaining a consistent anode quality.
Analysis of competing ground state channels observed in decay of Cm isotopes

The possible decay modes of even [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text]Cm parents have been analyzed to explore the relative emergence of various ground state emission mechanisms using the collective clusterization approach. Based on the collective availability of [Formula: see text], cluster and spontaneous fission (SF) experimental half-life data, we limit our study to isotopes of Cm. In view of this, the most probable decaying fragments from [Formula: see text]Cm are identified in different mass regions and a comprehensive analysis of the shell closure effect of the decay fragments corresponding to different mass domains is carried out within the methodology of Preformed Cluster Model (PCM). The isotopic analysis of the mass distributions and the related barrier characteristic quantities are investigated in view of ground state decay of [Formula: see text]Cm isotopes. The PCM calculated [Formula: see text] and SF half-lives compare nicely with the experimental data and the predictions are made on cluster and heavy-cluster decay of Cm isotopes, where experimental data is not available. It will of further interest to validate these predictions by performing corresponding experiments.
Introduction to Community Instruments 

This training course is aimed at public operators who wish to become more familiar with Structural Funds and the funding of programmes and projects intended to promote the socio-economic development of the Italian- Slovenian territory. The proposed training course takes place mainly in the classroom according to various interaction strategies between teachers and trainees. The seminars envisaged aim instead to promote individual efforts as well as collaboration through the sharing of experiences and knowledge among the participants. The project is structured in four phases: the first of a preparatory and organisational nature; the second consisting of classroom activities and seminars (on European legislation and the planning of cross-border local development); the third consisting of the analysis and assessment of the subject matters discussed through a final examination. The last phase focuses on the analysis of the operational impacts and external effectiveness of training (carried out by each public institution participating in the project). Providing Italian and Slovenian officials with the relevant knowledge on community policies, structural actions and cross-border cooperation facilitates dialogue, promoting mutual knowledge and the development of new and fruitful collaboration relations.