gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Alternative Food Networks in Piedmont: determinants of on-farm and off-farm direct sales by farmers (2014)

Direct sales are a widespread and important typology of the so-called Alternative Food Networks. The direct links between producers and consumers can take two basic forms: consumers going to buy agricultural products at the farm (on-farm sales), and farmers selling their products in urban areas. These practices are an alternative to traditional organizations of the agro-food chains, that typically involve several operators between producers and consumers. It is therefore important to analyse the reasons pushing farmers to adopt this new organization of their marketing chain. This research aims at analysing the territorial distribution of direct links between urban consumers and farmers in Piedmont (Italy), and to assess the main determinants of their choice. Firstly, the territorial distribution of direct sales practices (on-farm or elsewhere) is analysed. This is made possible by the access to micro-data from the 2010 Agricultural Census for Piedmont, a region whose agriculture is characterized by a strong emphasis on quality products. The farms that chose direct sales, both on- and off-farm, are mostly concentrated in specific clusters, such as the hilly wine-growing areas of Langhe and Monferrato, the hilly belt surrounding Torino, and some low Alpine valleys. Secondly, we analyse the determinants of the choice to sell directly to consumers, separately for on-farm and off-farm sales, with probit models. Explanatory variables comprise the structural characteristics of the farms (farm size, type of farming, etc.), the personal characteristics of the operators and of the farm households, and the proximity to urban and commercial areas. Operators’ and farm characteristics are found to affect the choice of selling directly, but rather weakly. The most important factors affecting these choices are farm location and, for on-farm direct sales, the complementarity with agro-tourism and recreational activities.
Effects of recombinant bovine somatotrophin, insulin-like growth factor-I and insulin on bovine granulosa cell steroidogenesis in vitro (1994)

Our previous studies have demonstrated that physiological concentrations of metabolic hormones, including recombinant bovine somatotrophin (BST), insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and insulin, can significantly stimulate the proliferation of bovine granulosa cells cultured under serum-free conditions. In this study we investigated the effects of these factors on bovine granulosa cell steroidogenesis using the same culture system. Bovine granulosa cells were obtained from antral follicles classified into three size classes: small, < 5 mm; medium-sized, 5-10 mm and large, > 10 mm in diameter. Whilst not affecting steroidogenesis by granulosa cells from small and medium-sized follicles, BST (10-1000 ng/ml) stimulated the secretion of both oestradiol and progesterone by granulosa cells from large follicles in a dose-dependent manner. Insulin (1-1000 ng/ml) and IGF-I (10-1000 ng/ml) stimulated the secretion of oestradiol and progesterone by granulosa cells from all three size categories of follicles in a dose-dependent manner. FSH (200 ng/ml) alone increased progesterone secretion by granulosa cells from all three size classes of follicles, but had no effect on oestradiol secretion by granulosa cells. Both IGF-I (200 ng/ml) and insulin (30 ng/ml) acted in synergy with FSH (200 ng/ml) to stimulate steroidogenesis by granulosa cells from all three size categories of follicles, but no such interaction was observed between BST (50 ng/ml) and FSH (200 ng/ml). In conclusion, BST, IGF-I and insulin significantly influence the steroidogenic activity of bovine granulosa cells cultured under serum-free conditions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Optical time domain reflectometry on optical amplifier systems (1989)

Optical amplification is being investigated to increase the performance of high-capacity long-distance fiber-optic transmission systems and also to extend the range of broadcast mode and WDM networks. Experimental results are presented which demonstrate that the fault location by optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR) can be extended to such transmission systems with inline optical amplifiers.
Nanostructured Peptidotoxins as Natural Pro-Oxidants Induced Cancer Cell Death via Amplification of Oxidative Stress (2018)

Melittin (Mel), one of the host defense peptides derived from the venom of honeybees, demonstrates substantial anticancer properties, which is attributed to augmenting reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. However, little has been reported on its pro-oxidation capacity in cancer oxidation therapy. In this study, an ROS amplifying nanodevice was fabricated through direct complexation of two natural pro-oxidants, Mel and condensed epigallocatechin gallate (pEGCG). The obtained nanocomplex (NC) was further covered with phenylboronic acid derivatized hyaluronic acid (pHA) through the ROS-responsive boronate ester coordination bond to produce pHA-NC. Upon undergoing receptor-mediated endocytosis into cancer cells, the inner cores of pHA-NC will be partially uncovered once pHA corona is degraded by hyaluronidase and will then escape from the lysosome by virtue of cytolytic Mel. The elevated ROS level in the tumor cytoplasm can disrupt the boronate ester bond to facilitate drug release. Both Mel and pEGCG could synergistically amplify oxidative stress and prolong ROS retention in cancer cells, leading to enhanced anticancer efficacy. This ROS cascade amplifier based on selective coordination bond and inherent pro-oxidation properties of natural ingredients could detect and elevate intracellular ROS signals, potentiating to move the tumor away from its homeostasis and make the tumor vulnerable. Compared to previously reported chemosynthetic pro-oxidants, the ROS self-sufficient system, fully composed of natural medicine, from this study provides a new insight in developing cancer oxidation therapy.
<i>In vitro</i> virucidal activity components of a forming medication (1988)

This study evaluated the in vitro virucidal activity of soluble components of a topical film-forming medication, Zilactin, against Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). Using a standard plaque reduction assay, a 1:10 dilution of the experimental liquid resulted in total destruction of infectious HSV-1. The phenomenon could not be explained by ethanol concentration or lowering of pH, both of which had no effect on control samples. As employed in this assay, Zilactin diluted 1:10 did not demonstrate cyctotoxicity to the cell monolayer system. The implications of these findings on the design and implementation of clinical trials are discussed, with special reference made to the restrictions imposed by the natural history of clinical lesions caused by HSV-1.
Effect of Biocontrol Agent Pseudomonas fluorescens 2P24 on Soil Fungal Community in Cucumber Rhizosphere Using T-RFLP and DGGE (2012)

Fungi and fungal community play important roles in the soil ecosystem, and the diversity of fungal community could act as natural antagonists of various plant pathogens. Biological control is a promising method to protect plants as chemical pesticides may cause environment pollution. Pseudomonas fluorescens 2P24 had strong inhibitory on Rastonia solanacearum, Fusarium oxysporum and Rhizoctonia solani, etc., and was isolated from the wheat rhizosphere take-all decline soils in Shandong province, China. However, its potential effect on soil fungal community was still unknown. In this study, the gfp-labeled P. fluorescens 2P24 was inoculated into cucumber rhizosphere, and the survival of 2P24 was monitored weekly. The amount decreased from 10(8) to 10(5) CFU/g dry soils. The effect of 2P24 on soil fungal community in cucumber rhizosphere was investigated using T-RFLP and DGGE. In T-RFLP analysis, principle component analysis showed that the soil fungal community was greatly influenced at first, digested with restriction enzyme Hinf I and Taq I. However, there was little difference as digested by different enzymes. DGGE results demonstrated that the soil fungal community was greatly shocked at the beginning, but it recovered slowly with the decline of P. fluorescens 2P24. Four weeks later, there was little difference between the treatment and control. Generally speaking, the effect of P. fluorescens 2P24 on soil fungal community in cucumber rhizosphere was just transient.
Spectral-Based Ink Selection for Multiple-Ink Printing II. Optimal Ink Selection (1999)

An algorithm is described to select a set of six inks from a given ink database for a spectral-based six-color printing system which minimizes metamerism. Since there are C(n, 6) ink combinations for an ink database containing n inks, the number of ink combinations is a geometric figure when n is large. There are obviously impossible ink combinations which can be removed analytically.Vector correlation analysis is first employed to remove the infeasible combinations. Utilizing the statistical primaries of a given spectral image requiring reproduction as the basis information, the ink-selection algorithm then searches for similar inks through a given ink database to obtain a few highest correlated inks for each statistical primary. Second, the ink-selection algorithm estimates the colorimetric and spectral accuracy of candidate ink sets in an empirically derived color mixing space which approximates the color formation of a halftone printing process. The candidate ink set with the highest spectral accuracy will be designated as the optimal ink set for a six color printing process thereby achieving the least metameric color reproduction.
Color temperature control of quantum dot white light emitting diodes by grafting organic fluorescent molecules (2014)

White-light emitting single compounds were synthesized by grafting blue-fluorescent molecules onto yellow emitting CdSe/ZnS quantum dots and white light emitting diodes were demonstrated. Facile adjustment of color temperature was also demonstrated by controlling the size of quantum dots and the amount of grafted organic blue-emitting molecules.
Carbon dioxide adsorption in graphene sheets (2011)

Control over the CO2 emission via automobiles and industrial exhaust in atmosphere, is one of the major concerns to render environmental friendly milieu. Adsorption can be considered to be one of the more promising methods, offering potential energy savings compared to absorbent systems. Different carbon nanostructures (activated carbon and carbon nanotubes) have attracted attention as CO2 adsorbents due to their unique surface morphology. In the present work, we have demonstrated the CO2 adsorption capacity of graphene, prepared via hydrogen induced exfoliation of graphitic oxide at moderate temperatures. The CO2 adsorption study was performed using high pressure Sieverts apparatus and capacity was calculated by gas equation using van der Waals corrections. Physical adsorption of CO2 molecules in graphene was confirmed by FTIR study. Synthesis of graphene sheets via hydrogen exfoliation is possible at large scale and lower cost and higher adsorption capacity of as prepared graphene compared to other carbon nanostructures suggests its possible use as CO2 adsorbent for industrial application. Maximum adsorption capacity of 21.6 mmole/g was observed at 11 bar pressure and room temperature (25 ºC).
Amine Coupling Through EDC/NHS: A Practical Approach (2010)

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is one of the leading tools in biomedical research. The challenge in its use is the controlled positioning of one of the components of an interaction on a carefully designed surface. Many attempts in interaction analysis fail due to the non-functional or unsuccessful immobilization of a reactant onto the complex matrix of that surface. The most common technique for linking ligands covalently to a hydrophilic solid surface is amine coupling via reactive esters. In this chapter detailed methods and problem discussions will be given to assist in fast decision analysis to optimize immobilization and regeneration. Topics in focus are different coupling techniques for small and large molecules, streptavidin-biotin sandwich immobilization, and optimizing regeneration conditions.
A Guide for Developers and Users of Observation Systems and Manuals (1975)

To guide users and developers of observation systems and manuals, a set of criteria was developed. The criteria were collected and revised during the construction of a system, the System for Analysing Lessons 2, and revised during its use in the field. Thirty-three criteria which observation systems should meet were identified and sorted into three main types: identifying, validity, and practicality criteria. Identifying criteria enable users to select the correct instrument for their purposes. Validity criteria, which include criteria pertaining to the degree of inference, context, reliability and validity, relate to the accuracy with which the instrument represents the observed events. Practicality criteria provide information about the ease of administration and dissemination of results. Examples are provided.
Real-time approximate sorting for self shadowing and transparency in hair rendering (2008)

When rendering materials represented by high frequency geometry such as hair, smoke or clouds, standard shadow mapping or shadow volume algorithms fail to produce good self shadowing results due to aliasing. Moreover, in all of the aforementioned examples, properly approximating self shadowing is crucial to getting realistic results. To cope with this problem, opacity shadow maps have been used. I.e., an opacity function is rendered into a set of slices parallel to the light-plane. The original Opacity Shadow Map technique [Kim and Neumann 2001] requires the geometry to be rendered once for each slice, making it impossible to render complex geometry into a large set of slices in real time. In this paper we present a method for sorting n line primitives into s number of sub-sets, where the primitives of one set occupy a single slice, in O(nlog(s)), making it possible to render hair into opacity maps in linear time. It is also shown how the same method can be used to roughly sort the geometry in back-to-front order for alpha blending, to allow for transparency. Finally, we present a way of rendering self shadowed geometry using a single 2D opacity map, thereby reducing the memory usage significantly.
Principles in Motor Protection (2011)

This article discusses the fundamentals of motor protection principle. A brief overview of the existing protection philosophy for asynchronous motors is reviewed with a special consideration of thermal protection of motors. Because large synchronous motors are used in the cement industry, a review of additional functions required for protection and control of synchronous motors is given.
Multiple kernel learning for heterogeneous anomaly detection (2010)

The world-wide aviation system is one of the most complex dynamical systems ever developed and is generating data at an extremely rapid rate. Most modern commercial aircraft record several hundred flight parameters including information from the guidance, navigation, and control systems, the avionics and propulsion systems, and the pilot inputs into the aircraft. These parameters may be continuous measurements or binary or categorical measurements recorded in one second intervals for the duration of the flight. Currently, most approaches to aviation safety are reactive, meaning that they are designed to react to an aviation safety incident or accident. In this paper, we discuss a novel approach based on the theory of multiple kernel learning to detect potential safety anomalies in very large data bases of discrete and continuous data from world-wide operations of commercial fleets. We pose a general anomaly detection problem which includes both discrete and continuous data streams, where we assume that the discrete streams have a causal influence on the continuous streams. We also assume that atypical sequences of events in the discrete streams can lead to off-nominal system performance. We discuss the application domain, novel algorithms, and also discuss results on real-world data sets. Our algorithm uncovers operationally significant events in high dimensional data streams in the aviation industry which are not detectable using state of the art methods.
An intelligent info-structure for composing and pushing personalised healthcare information over the Internet (2002)

Provides a technology-enriched solution to Web-mediated patient empowerment initiatives via the implementation of an intelligent information structure that features (1) the dynamic composition of personalized healthcare information (PHI) conforming to an individual's EMR (electronic medical record) based health profile; and (2) proactive Internet-based delivery of PHI. Healthcare information personalization is achieved via profile-specific selection and template-specific aggregation of multiple, fine-grained, pre-authored, generic, topic-specific healthcare information content. The use of intelligent constraint satisfaction techniques ensure the medical correctness of the dynamically composed PHI document. The application of Internet-based push technology allows the PHI document to be pushed to the individual's e-mail account, thus guaranteeing the timely availability of high-quality health maintenance information.
National mobility week (2005)

In this month's assembly section, Paula Hammond encourages children and parents to be environmentally responsible when doing the school-run
Bandwidth Constraints Models for Differentiated Services (Diffserv)-aware MPLS Traffic Engineering: Performance Evaluation (2005)

Differentiated Services (Diffserv)-aware MPLS Traffic Engineering
Requirements, RFC 3564, specifies the requirements and selection
criteria for Bandwidth Constraints Models. Two such models, the
Maximum Allocation and the Russian Dolls, are described therein. This
document complements RFC 3564 by presenting the results of a
performance evaluation of these two models under various operational
conditions: normal load, overload, preemption fully or partially
enabled, pure blocking, or complete sharing. This memo provides
information for the Internet community.
Senescence in cut carnation flowers: Temporal and physiological relationships among water status, ethylene, abscisic acid and membrane permeability (1986)

Changes in water status, membrane permeability, ethylene production and levels of abscisic acid (ABA) were measured during senescence of cut carnation flowers ( Dianthus caryophyllus L. cv. White Sim) in order to clarify the temporal sequence of physiological events during this post‐harvest period. Ethylene production and ABA content of the petal tissue rose essentially in parallel during natural senescence and after treatment of young flowers with exogenous ethylene, indicating that their syntheses are not widely separated in time. However, solute leakage, reflecting membrane deterioration, was apparent well before the natural rise in ethylene and ABA had begun. In addition, there were marked changes in water status of the tissue, including losses in water potential (ψ w ), and turgor (ψ p ), that preceded the rise in ABA and ethylene. As senescence progressed, ψ w continued to decline, but ψ p returned to normal levels. These temporal relationships were less well resolved when senescence of young flowers was induced by treatment with ethylene, presumably because the time‐scale had been shortened. Thus changes in membrane permeability and an associated water stress in petal tissue appear to be earlier symptoms of flower senescence than the rises in ABA or ethylene. These observations support the contention that the climacteric‐like rise in ethylene production is not the initial or primary event of senescence and that the rise in ABA titre may simply be a response to changes in water status.
A Monocular Stereo System Based on a Viewpoint Switching Iris Mechanism(Mechanical Systems) (2010)

This paper introduces a monocular stereo system that can switch its viewpoint 1000 times or more in a second by using a high-speed viewpoint switching iris mechanism. To measure three dimensional shapes of moving objects correctly, the temporal displacement in capturing two different viewpoint images was designed as a short inverval within 1/1000s in our developed system. Actually several experiments were performed for moving objects, and the effectiveness of our monocular stereo system was verified by measuring their three dimensional shapes at a high-speed frame rate.
Windowed Image Registration for Robust Mosaicing of Scenes with Large Background Occlusions (2006)

We propose an enhanced window-based approach to local image registration for robust video mosaicing in scenes with arbitrarily moving foreground objects. Unlike other approaches, we estimate accurately the image transformation without any pre-segmentation even if large background regions are occluded. We apply a windowed hierarchical frame-to-frame registration based on image pyramid decomposition. In the lowest resolution level phase correlation for initial parameter estimation is used while in the next levels robust Newton-based energy minimization of the compensated image mean-squared error is conducted. To overcome the degradation error caused by spatial image interpolation due to the warping process, i.e. aliasing effects from under-sampling, final pixel values are assigned in an up-sampled image domain using a Daubechies bi-orthogonal synthesis filter. Experimental results show the excellent performance of the method compared to recently published methods. The image registration is sufficiently accurate to allow open-loop parameter accumulation for long-term motion estimation.
RNA Interference of Dual Oxidase in the Plant Nematode <i>Meloidogyne incognita</i> (2005)

RNA interference (RNAi) is a powerful tool for the analysis of gene function in model organisms such as the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Recent demonstrations of RNAi in plant parasitic nematodes provide a stimulus to explore the potential of using RNAi to investigate disruption of gene function in Meloidogyne incognita, one of the most important nematode pests of global agriculture. We have used RNAi to examine the importance of dual oxidases (peroxidase and NADPH oxidase), a class of enzyme associated with extracellular matrix cross-linking in C. elegans. RNAi uptake by M. incognita juveniles is highly efficient. In planta infection data show that a single 4-h preinfection treatment with double-stranded RNA derived from the peroxidase region of a dual oxidase gene has effects on gene expression that are phenotypically observable 35 days postinfection. This RNAi effect results in a reduction in egg numbers at 35 days of up to 70%. The in vitro feeding strategy provides a powerful tool for identifying functionally important genes, including those that are potential targets for the development of new agrochemicals or transgenic resistance strategies.
Cationic ring‐opening polymerization of lactones in the presence of alcohol (1991)

Abstract Cationic ring‐opening polymerization of e‐caprolactone using triethyloxonium hexafluorophosphate initiator in the presence of alcohol to produce low molecular weight polyester glycol was examined. The polymerization proceeded by an activated monomer mechanism; thus the polymer molecular weight increased directly with the monomer conversion. Polymerization of lactones other than ϵ‐caprolactone were also examined, and the overall rate of polymerization was in the order δ‐valerolactone> ϵ‐caprolactone>> β‐butyrolactone> diketene> γ‐butyrolactone.