pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
Antimicrobial peptides in oyster hemolymph: the bacterial connection.

International audienceWe have explored antimicrobial compounds in oyster hemolymph and purified four active peptides with molecular masses of 4464, 3158, 655 and 636 Da. While no exploitable structural elements were obtained for the former three, a partial amino acid sequence (X-P-P-X-X-I-V) was obtained for the latter, named Cg-636. Due to both its low MM and the presence of exotic amino acid residue (X), we suspected a bacterial origin and tracked cultivable hemolymph-resident bacteria of oyster for their antimicrobial abilities. Supernatants of 224 hemolymph resident bacteria coming from 60 oysters were screened against 10 target bacteria including aquaculture pathogens. Around 2% (5 strains) revealed antimicrobial activities. They belong to Pseudoalteromonas and Vibrio genera. Two closely related strains named hCg-6 and hCg-42 have been shown to produce Bacteriocin-Like Inhibitory Substances (BLIS) even in oyster hemolymph. We report herein first BLIS-producing bacteria isolated from bivalve hemolymph. These results strongly suggest that hemolymph resident bacteria may prevent pathogen establishment and pave the way for considering a role of resident bacteria into bivalve defense
Synthesis, studies and fuel cell performance of “core–shell” electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction based on a PtNix carbon nitride “shell” and a pyrolyzed polyketone nanoball “core”

This report describes a new class of "core-shell" electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) processes for application in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs). The electrocatalysts are obtained by supporting a "shell" consisting of PtNix alloy nanoparticles embedded into a carbon nitride matrix (indicated as PtNix-CN) on a "core" of pyrolyzed polyketone nanoballs, labeled 'STp'. ST(p)s are obtained by the sulfonation and pyrolysis of a precursor consisting of XC-72R carbon nanoparticles wrapped by polyketone (PK) fibers. The ST(p)s are extensively characterized in terms of the chemical composition, thermal stability, degree of graphitization and morphology. The "core-shell" ORR electrocatalysts are prepared by the pyrolysis of precursors obtained impregnating the STp "cores" with a zeolitic inorganic-organic polymer electrolyte (Z-IOPE) plastic material. The electrochemical performance of the electrocatalysts in the ORR is tested "in situ" by single fuel cell tests. The interplay between the chemical composition, the degree of graphitization of both PtNix-CN "shell" and STpS "cores", the morphology of the electrocatalysts and the fuel cell performance is elucidated. The most crucial preparation parameters for the optimization of the various features affecting the fuel cell performance of this promising class of ORR electrocatalysts are identified
Stress Intensity Factor Error Index for Finite Element Analysis with Singular Elements

An error index for the stress intensity factor (SIF) obtained from the finite element analysis (FEA) results using singular elements
is proposed. The index was developed by considering the facts that the analytical function shape of the crack tip displacement is
known and that the SIF can be evaluated from the displacements only. The advantage of the error index is that it has the
dimension of the SIF and converges to zero when the actual error of the SIF by displacement correlation technique converges to
zero. Numerical examples for some typical crack problems, including a mixed mode crack, whose analytical solutions are known,
indicated the validity of the index. The degree of actual SIF error seems to be approximated by the value of the proposed index
Polymer field-effect transistors by a drawing method

We demonstrated the polymer field-effect transistors (FETs) utilizing regioregular poly(3-alkylthiophene)s (P3AT) films prepared by a drawing method. The P3AT film exhibited large optical dichroic ratio, which originated in the polymer backbones aligned to the drawing direction. In-plane anisotropy and enhancement of FET characteristics have been observed that are caused by molecular alignment. In the case of poly(3-dodecylthiophene), the hole mobility along the drawing direction was enhanced by a factor of 25 compared with that of spin-coated film
Noise and Dissipation on Coadjoint Orbits

We derive and study stochastic dissipative dynamics on coadjoint orbits by incorporating noise and dissipation into mechanical systems arising from the theory of reduction by symmetry, including a semidirect product extension. Random attractors are found for this general class of systems when the Lie algebra is semi-simple, provided the top Lyapunov exponent is positive. We study in details two canonical examples, the free rigid body and the heavy top, whose stochastic integrable reductions are found and numerical simulations of their random attractors are shown
Optically-enhanced performance of polymer solar cells with low concentration of gold nanorods in the anodic buffer layer

In this work, the effect of gold nanorods on the performance of poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl):[6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric-acid-methyl-ester bulk heterojunction solar cells was investigated. Gold nanorods were introduced into the anodic buffer layer by simply blending them with the solution of poly(3,4-ethyl enedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate). Even with a fairly low density of the nanorods, the resulting devices showed a remarkable 21.3% enhancement in the power conversion efficiency and a 13% enlargement in the short circuit current. By examining the absorbance profiles of active films made with different conditions,\ud
such enhancements can be related to the localized transverse and longitudinal plasmon resonance modes in the metallic nanoparticles. Gold nanorods helped as well in reducing the device series resistance by up to 36%, which also contributed to the global enhancement in the efficiency
Experimental study on the attenuation of pressure waves in a cavity induced by flow boiling

The experimental work presented in this article deals with the study of low-frequency high-amplitude pressure wave attenuation in a cavity when boiling takes place on the inside. The working fluid was HFE7100. Regarding the flow regime, the study considered two different situations: pool boiling and flow boiling in the low to moderate Reynolds number regime. Regarding the operating parameters, the study considered: (a) the type of evaporator, (b) the temperature of the evaporator, and (c) the frequency of the pressure waves. Three different types of evaporators were manufactured and tested: a flat one and another two based on a micro pin fin structure. Pin fin sizes for these two evaporators were 500 lm x 500 lm x 500 lm and 1000 lm x 1000 lm x 1000 lm respectively. The temperature of the evaporators was varied between 40ºC and 80ºC. Frequency of the pressure waves changed between 35 Hz and 75 Hz. An additional isothermal reference case (no boiling) was used for comparison purposes. The typical order of magnitude of the peak-to peak applied pressure amplitudes was 0.2 bar. Regarding the results, it was found that boiling causes a significant attenuation of the peak-to-peak amplitude of the pressure waves in the cavity. The main parameter acting on this attenuation was the temperature of the evaporator (related to the input electrical power), while the actual micro-structure of the evaporator played a nearly negligible role. Also, it was found that while a small electrical power input of about 5 W achieves an attenuation factor of about 0.5, four times as much power (20 W) is needed to halve again the attenuation factor to 0.25. This suggests a scaling law relating attenuation and power which could be used for engineering design purposes
Rhetorical Classification of Anchor Text for Citation Recommendation

Wouldn?t it be helpful if your text editor automatically suggested papers that are contextually relevant to your work? We concern ourselves with this task: we desire to recommend contextually relevant citations to the author of a paper. A number of rhetorical annotation schemes for academic articles have been developed over the years, and it has often been suggested that they could find application in Information Retrieval scenarios such as this one. In this paper we investigate the usefulness for this task of CoreSC, a sentence-based, functional, scientific discourse annotation scheme (e.g. Hypothesis, Method, Result, etc.). We specifi-cally apply this to anchor text, that is, the text surrounding a citation, which is an important source of data for building document representations. By annotating each sentence in every document with CoreSC and indexing them separately by sentence class, we aim to build a more useful vector-space representation of documents in our collection. Our results show consistent links between types of citing sentences and types of cited sentences in anchor text, which we argue can indeed be exploited to increase the relevance of recommendationspublishersversionPeer reviewe
Thermal and vibrational characterization of human skin

For a better understanding of the molecular and organizational changes in human dermis, biophysical methods were tested. The aim of this study was to find suitable and reproducible biomarkers for further clinical studies on intrinsic and extrinsic aging of dermis. Thermoporometry, hydric organization and thermal transitions of fresh and frozen skins were determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to identify the absorption bands of the dermis especially in the 1800–1000 cm−1 zone and to discriminate between the different secondary structures of proteins. A widening of the pore size distribution is evidenced with freezing, but there is no significant difference between the hydric organization and the endothermic collagen denaturation of fresh and frozen skins. The global FTIR spectra and the second derivative spectra in the scanned zone are also identical in fresh and frozen dermis, validating the storage protocol. DSC and FTIR are well-suited techniques to characterize human skin, giving accurate results with high reproducibility. The acquisition of thermal and vibrational biomarkers of the skin at the mesoscale and nanoscale contributes to its better knowledge and is promising for further studies on skin aging
Comparison of sequential and integrated optimisation approaches for ASP and ALB

Combining Assembly Sequence Planning (ASP) and Assembly Line Balancing (ALB) is now of increasing interest. The customary approach is the sequential approach, where ASP is optimised before ALB. Recently, interest in the integrated approach has begun to pick up. In an integrated approach, both ASP and ALB are optimised at the same time. Various claims have been made regarding the benefits of integrated optimisation compared with sequential optimisation, such as access to a larger search space that leads to better solution quality, reduced error rate in planning and expedited product time-to-market. These benefits are often cited but no existing work has substantiated the claimed benefits by publishing a quantitative comparison between sequential and integrated approaches. This paper therefore compares the sequential and integrated optimisation approaches for ASP and ALB using 51 test problems. This is done so that the behaviour of each approach in optimising ASP and ALB problems at different difficulty levels can be properly understood. An algorithm named Multi-Objective Discrete Particle Swarm Optimisation (MODPSO) is applied in both approaches. For ASP, the optimisation results indicate that the integrated approach is suitable to be used in small and medium-sized problems, according to the number of non-dominated solution and error ratio indicators. Meanwhile, the sequential approach converges more quickly in large-sized problems. For pure ALB, the integrated approach is preferable in all cases. When both ASP and ALB are considered, the integrated approach is superior to the sequential approach
Differences in Quality of Life Estimates Using Rents and Home Values

Implicit values of amenities and the quality of life in an area can be measured by differences in “real wages” across areas, where real wages are computed as nominal wages adjusted for the cost of living.  Computing cost of living differences involves several important issues, most important being how housing prices should be measured.  Previous researchers typically have used some combination of rental payments and homeowner housing values.  This paper examines differences in quality of life estimates for U.S. metropolitan areas using, alternatively, rents and housing values.  We find that the two measures of quality of life are highly correlated.  Value-based estimates, however, are considerably more dispersed than rent-based estimates, likely because of the recent bubble in the housing market and because housing values often provide an imperfect measure of the present user cost of housing.  Researchers should be cautious in using housing values to construct quality of life estimates.
Room-temperature ultraviolet luminescence from ƴ-CuCl grown on near lattice-matched silicon

We have probed the luminescence properties of a wide-band-gap, direct band-gap optoelectronic material, grown on closely lattice-matched silicon substrates, namely, ƴ-CuCl on Si. This material system is compatible with current Si or GaAs-based electronic/optoelectronic technologies. Polycrystalline epitaxy of CuCl can be controlled such that it maintains an orientation similar to the underlying Si substrate. Importantly, chemical interactions between CuCl and Si are eliminated. Photoluminescence and cathodoluminescence results for CuCl, deposited on either Si (100) or Si (111), reveal a strong room-temperature Z3 excitonic emission at ~387  nm. We have developed and demonstrated the room-temperature operation of an ultraviolet electroluminescent device fabricated by the growth of ƴ-CuCl on Si. The application of an electrical potential difference across the device results in an electric field, which promotes light emission through hot-electron impact excitation of electron-hole pairs in the ƴ-CuCl. Since the excitonic binding energy in this direct band-gap material is of the order of 190  meV at room temperature, the electron-hole recombination and subsequent light emission at ~380 and ~387  nm are mediated by excitonic effects
Code wars: steganography, signals intelligence, and terrorism

This paper describes and discusses the process of secret communication known as steganography. The argument advanced here is that terrorists are unlikely to be employing digital steganography to facilitate secret intra-group communication as has been claimed. This is because terrorist use of digital steganography is both technically and operationally implausible. The position adopted in this paper is that terrorists are likely to employ low-tech steganography such as semagrams and null ciphers instead
Computer-assisted language learning (CALL) for dyslexic students

This paper outlines the analysis, design, development, deployment and evaluation stages of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) software aimed at dyslexic learners. CALL is traditionally aimed at second language acquisition. The research presented here is different because the target group are students with first language difficulties. Dyslexia is a specific learning disorder, which affects roughly eight percent of the population in Ireland [5]. This research identifies the lack of support for dyslexic teenagers in Irish secondary schools and establishes their particular needs. The paper describes CALL courseware development in progress, which aims to aid the reading, organisation and exam skills of dyslexic students through the use of online authentic Junior Certificate history curriculum texts. The final evaluation phase of the project will assess the efficacy of the software and investigate the question of whether dedicated software can improve the reading skills of teenage dyslexic students at word, sentence and text level
Three waves of semi-presidential studies

This article reviews the scholarship on semi-presidentialism since the early 1990s. We identify three waves of semi-presidential studies. The first wave focused on the concept of semi-presidentialism, how it should be defined, and what countries should be classified as semi-presidential. The second wave examined the effect of semi-presidential institutions on newly democratized countries. Does semi-presidentialism help or hinder the process of democratic consolidation? The third wave examines the effect of semi-presidential institutions on both recent and consolidated democracies.  Third-wave studies have been characterized by three questions: to what extent does the direct election of the president make a difference to outcomes; to what extent does variation in presidential power make a difference; and what other factors interact with presidential power to help to bring about differential outcomes? The article argues that the concept of semi-presidentialism remains taxonomically valid, but that the empirical scholarship on countries with semi-presidential institutions needs to respond to broader developments within the discipline if it is to remain relevant
Segmentation of the glottal space from laryngeal images using the watershed transform

The present work describes a new method for the automatic detection of the glottal space from laryngeal images obtained either with high speed or with conventional video cameras attached to a laryngoscope. The detection is based on the combination of several relevant techniques in the field of digital image processing. The image is segmented with a watershed transform followed by a region merging, while the final decision is taken using a simple linear predictor. This scheme has successfully segmented the glottal space in all the test images used. The method presented can be considered a generalist approach for the segmentation of the glottal space because, in contrast with other methods found in literature, this approach does not need either initialization or finding strict environmental conditions extracted from the images to be processed. Therefore, the main advantage is that the user does not have to outline the region of interest with a mouse click. In any case, some a priori knowledge about the glottal space is needed, but this a priori knowledge can be considered weak compared to the environmental conditions fixed in former works
The hidden link between supercontraction and mechanical behavior of spider silks

The remarkable properties of spider silks have stimulated an increasing interest in understanding the roles of their composition and processing, as well as in the mass-production of these fibers. Previously, the variability in the mechanical properties of natural silk fibers was a major drawback in the elucidation of their behavior, but the authors have found that supercontraction of these fibers allows one to characterize and reproduce the whole range of tensile properties in a consistent way. The purpose of this review is to summarize these findings.\ud
After a review of the pertinent mechanical properties, the role of supercontraction in recovering and tailoring the tensile properties is explained, together with an alignment parameter to characterize silk fibers. The concept of the existence of a mechanical ground state is also mentioned. These behaviors can be modeled, and two such models–at the molecular and macroscopic levels–are briefly outlined. Finally, the assessment of the existence of supercontraction in bio-inspired fibers is considered, as this property may have significant consequences in the design and production of artificial fibers
A proposal for the metrological characterization of circular features with digital optical machines

This paper aims to analyze the different adjustment methods commonly used to characterize indirect metrology circular features: least square circle, minimum zone circle, maximum inscribed circle and minimum circumscribed circle. The analysis was performed from images obtained by digital optical machines. The calculation algorithms, self-developed, have been implemented in Matlab® and take into consideration as study variables: the amplitude of angular sector of the circular feature, its nominal radio and the magnification used by the optical machine. Under different conditions, it was determined the radius and circularity error of different circular standards. The comparison of the results, obtained by the different methods of adjustments used, with certified values for the standards, has allowed us to determine the accuracy of each method and its scope
Low-thickness high-quality aluminum nitride films for super high frequency solidly mounted resonators

We investigate the sputter growth of very thin aluminum nitride (AlN) films on iridium electrodes for electroacoustic devices operating in the super high frequency range. Superior crystal quality and low stress films with thicknesses as low as 160 nm are achieved after a radio frequency plasma treatment of the iridium electrode followed by a two-step alternating current reactive magnetron sputtering of an aluminum target, which promotes better conditions for the nucleation of well textured AlN films in the very first stages of growth. Solidly mounted resonators tuned around 8 GHz with effective electromechanical coupling factors of 5.8% and quality factors Q up to 900 are achieved
Common motifs in scientific workflows: An empirical analysis

Workflow technology continues to play an important role as a means for specifying and enacting computational experiments in modern science. Reusing and re-purposing workflows allow scientists to do new experiments faster, since the workflows capture useful expertise from others. As workflow libraries grow, scientists face the challenge of finding workflows appropriate for their task, understanding what each workflow does, and reusing relevant portions of a given workflow.We believe that workflows would be easier to understand and reuse if high-level views (abstractions) of their activities were available in workflow libraries. As a first step towards obtaining these abstractions, we report in this paper on the results of a manual analysis performed over a set of real-world scientific workflows from Taverna, Wings, Galaxy and Vistrails. Our analysis has resulted in a set of scientific workflow motifs that outline (i) the kinds of data-intensive activities that are observed in workflows (Data-Operation motifs), and (ii) the different manners in which activities are implemented within workflows (Workflow-Oriented motifs). These motifs are helpful to identify the functionality of the steps in a given workflow, to develop best practices for workflow design, and to develop approaches for automated generation of workflow abstractions