Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sustaining Growth in Developing Economies Through Improved Taxpayer Compliance: Challenges for Policy Makers and Revenue Authorities

The existing body of literature on taxpayer compliance has developed over some 30 years or more and has predominantly emanated from developed economies including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Over the same period many developed economies have made considerable investment in legislative tax reforms, taxpayer education programs, tax enforcement strategies, and increasingly sophisticated systems of tax administration using new technologies. Undoubtedly there are lessons to be learnt from studying best practice in developed economies. However, compared to their counterparts in developed economies, policy makers and revenue authorities in developing economies face quite different challenges and constraints that require careful consideration in designing appropriate and effective tax systems. In particular, the tax system in a developing economy must foster sustainable economic growth, ensuring that the necessary revenue collections are made to provide for political stability, investment in infrastructure and improved standards of living. Typically developing economies have both limited administrative resources and expertise. Tax administration is generally weak, with widespread evasion, corruption and coercion. Further, taxpayers tend to have low levels of literacy, low tax morale and negative attitudes towards government. The cash economy, and its inherent opportunities for engagement in fraud and tax evasion, often plays a major role in developing economies. This paper explores these challenges and constraints in developing economies. It uses Nigeria as a case study, and identifies the strategies considered to be most effective in improving both personal and corporate taxpayer compliance and the necessary steps to implement them in order to achieve sustainable economic growth.
Prototyping and Transforming Facial Textures for Perception Research

Transforming facial images along perceived dimensions (such as age, gender, race, or health) has application in areas as diverse as psychology, medicine, and forensics. We can use prototype images to define the salient features of a particular face classification (for example, European female adult or East-Asian male child). We then use the differences between two prototypes to define an axis of transformation, such as younger to older. By applying these changes to a given input face, we can change its apparent age, race, or gender. Psychological investigations reveal a limitation with existing methods that's particularly apparent when changing the age of faces. We relate the problem to the loss of facial textures (such as stubble and wrinkles) in the prototypes due to the blending process. We review the existing face prototyping and transformation methods and present a new, wavelet-based method for prototyping and transforming facial textures.
Dual mechanisms for the inhibition of E2F binding to RB by cyclin-dependent kinase-mediated RB phosphorylation

The growth suppression function of RB is dependent on its protein binding activity. RB contains at least three distinct protein binding functions: (i) the A/B pocket, which binds proteins with the LXCXE motif; (ii) the C pocket, which binds the c-Abl tyrosine kinase; and (iii) the large A/B pocket, which binds the E2F family of transcription factors. Phosphorylation of RB, which is catalyzed by cyclin-dependent protein kinases, inhibits all three protein binding activities. We have previously shown that LXCXE binding is inactivated by the phosphorylation of two threonines (Thr821 and Thr826), while the C pocket is inhibited by the phosphorylation of two serines (Ser807 and Ser811). In this report, we show that the E2F binding activity of RB is inhibited by two sets of phosphorylation sites acting through distinct mechanisms. Phosphorylation at several of the seven C-terminal sites can inhibit E2F binding. Additionally, phosphorylation of two serine sites in the insert domain can inhibit E2F binding, but this inhibition requires the presence of the RB N-terminal region. RB mutant proteins lacking all seven C-terminal sites and two insert domain serines can block Rat-1 cells in G1. These RB mutants can bind LXCXE proteins, c-Abl, and E2F even after they become phosphorylated at the remaining nonmutated sites. Thus, multiple phosphorylation sites regulate the protein binding activities of RB through different mechanisms, and a constitutive growth suppressor can be generated through the combined mutation of the relevant phosphorylation sites in RB.
Looking AT versus Looking THROUGH: A Dual Eye-Tracking Study in MOOC Context

We report the results from an eye-tracking study to show the differences in gaze patterns across the MOOC learners, while they watch a lecture individually as well as when they collaborate on an add-on activity. 98 university students took part in a study where they watched the MOOC video individually and later they collaboratively constructed a concept map. In both phases the gaze data was recorded. We compute two gaze measures: (1) with-me-ness, to quantify how much students follow the teacher during the video lecture, (2) gaze similarity, to quantify how much the pair looks at the same set of objects while collaborating. The analysis shows that both of the measures correlate significantly with the learning outcome. We argue that these results, conforming to our previous findings, indicate that the proposed gaze measures give a fairly accurate proxy to learners’ engagement and performance.
[Prostaglandin analogues reduce the ibopamine provocative test specificity in glaucoma].

PURPOSE To evaluate the ibopamine provocative test for the diagnosis of glaucoma in glaucoma patients using antiglaucomatous drugs. METHODS Two 2% ibopamine eyedrops were instilled 5 minutes apart in one eye selected at random in both glaucoma and normal subjects. The intraocular pressure (IOP) was assessed prior to the drops and 30, 60 and 180 minutes after instillation. The test was considered positive when there was an intraocular pressure increase of greater than 4 mmHg at any one of the time-points. The amount of intraocular pressure change was compared to the types of medical treatment. RESULTS Fifty-eight eyes were included (38 glaucoma patients and 20 normal individuals). The intraocular pressure rise was significantly higher in glaucoma patients (p<0.001 at all times). The sensitivity and specificity of the ibopamine test were 68% (87% if we exclude eyes using prostaglandin analogues) and 95%, respectively. Glaucoma patients using prostaglandin analogues did not present a significant intraocular pressure elevation. CONCLUSION The ibopamine provocative test may be an auxiliary test in glaucoma diagnosis. Despite the small sample size, concurrent use of prostaglandin analogues apparently reduces the test's sensitivity.
Platelet-derived exosomes of septic individuals possess proapoptotic NAD(P)H oxidase activity: A novel vascular redox pathway*

ObjectiveVascular dysfunction in sepsis may involve apoptosis of vascular cells through redox signaling mechanisms, which are still poorly investigated. Platelets have been shown to produce reactive oxygen species and to release microparticles, related to thrombotic and inflammatory processes. The present study was undertaken to investigate whether, in severe sepsis, platelet-derived microparticles could produce reactive oxygen species through a phagocyte-type nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase and if such particles may induce vascular cell apoptosis through a reactive oxygen species-dependent mechanism. DesignExperimental study. SettingMolecular and cell biology laboratories related to tertiary hospitals. SubjectsMicroparticles obtained from septic patients and from healthy individuals were investigated concerning their biochemical properties and their effects on vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cells in culture. InterventionsMicroparticle surface antigens were studied by flow cytometry and the presence of NADPH oxidase subunits by Western blot analysis. Microparticle reactive oxygen species generation was investigated through superoxide dismutase-inhibitable cytochrome c reduction and 5 &mgr;M lucigenin chemiluminescence. The effects of microparticles on vascular cell apoptosis rates were analyzed by immunofluorescence microscopy based on annexin V-fluorescein 5(6)-isothiocyanate assay. Measurements and Main ResultsFlow cytometry analysis of microparticles obtained from septic patients and healthy individuals showed a surface antigenic pattern similar to exosomes and strongly suggestive of platelet origin. Those microparticles also displayed the p22phox and gp91phox subunits of phagocyte-simile NADPH oxidase and exhibited intrinsic reactive oxygen species production. Incubation of endothelial and vascular smooth muscle cells with microparticles enhanced apoptosis rates. Reactive oxygen species generation and apoptosis-inducing activity were markedly greater with exosomes from septic individuals than with exosomes from healthy subjects. These effects were diminished by the addition of superoxide dismutase or the NADPH oxidase inhibitors diphenylene iodonium and phenilarsine oxide. ConclusionsPlatelet-derived exosome NADPH oxidase activity seems to contribute to vascular cell apoptosis and may represent a new vascular redox-signaling pathway involved in the pathophysiology of sepsis.
Detecting Fraudulent Behavior on Crowdfunding Platforms: The Role of Linguistic and Content-Based Cues in Static and Dynamic Contexts

Abstract Crowdfunding platforms offer founders the possibility to collect funding for project realization. With the advent of these platforms, the risk of fraud has risen. Fraudulent founders provide inaccurate information or pretend interest toward a project. Within this study, we propose deception detection support mechanisms to address this novel type of Internet fraud. We analyze a sample of fraudulent and nonfraudulent projects published at a leading crowdfunding platform. We examine whether the analysis of dynamic communication during the funding period is valuable for identifying fraudulent behavior—apart from analyzing only the static information related to the project. We investigate whether content-based cues and linguistic cues are valuable for fraud detection. The selection of cues and the subsequent feature engineering is based on theories in areas of communication, psychology, and computational linguistics. Our results should be helpful to the stakeholders of crowdfunding platforms and researchers of fraud detection.
Current waveform for noise reduction of switched reluctance motor in magnetically saturated condition

A novel method is proposed to derive the current waveform reduce noise and vibration of a switched reluctance motor in magnetically saturated region. Principle of noise and vibration reduction is based on reducing the variation of the radial force sum. To realize the minimum variation in the sum of radial forces, radial force expression for each phase should be derived. Radial force expression is approximated with Fourier series. With the proper approximation of radial force, the current waveform is derived to minimize the variation of the radial force sum. The proposed current waveform is consist of DC, fundamental, second, and third harmonic components. Finite element analysis and experiment result are included to show the validity of the proposed method.
Targeting Inflammatory Pathways by Triterpenoids for Prevention and Treatment of Cancer

Traditional medicine and diet has served mankind through the ages for prevention and treatment of most chronic diseases. Mounting evidence suggests that chronic inflammation mediates most chronic diseases, including cancer. More than other transcription factors, nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) and STAT3 have emerged as major regulators of inflammation, cellular transformation, and tumor cell survival, proliferation, invasion, angiogenesis, and metastasis. Thus, agents that can inhibit NF-κB and STAT3 activation pathways have the potential to both prevent and treat cancer. In this review, we examine the potential of one group of compounds called triterpenes, derived from traditional medicine and diet for their ability to suppress inflammatory pathways linked to tumorigenesis. These triterpenes include avicins, betulinic acid, boswellic acid, celastrol, diosgenin, madecassic acid, maslinic acid, momordin, saikosaponins, platycodon, pristimerin, ursolic acid, and withanolide. This review thus supports the famous adage of Hippocrates, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”.
A simple model for electrical charge in globular macromolecules and linear polyelectrolytes in solution

We present a model for calculating the net and effective electrical charge of globular macromolecules and linear polyelectrolytes such as proteins and DNA, given the concentration of monovalent salt and pH in solution. The calculation is based on a numerical solution of the non-linear Poisson-Boltzmann equation using a finite element discretized continuum approach. The model simultaneously addresses the phenomena of charge regulation and renormalization, both of which underpin the electrostatics of biomolecules in solution. We show that while charge regulation addresses the true electrical charge of a molecule arising from the acid-base equilibria of its ionizable groups, charge renormalization finds relevance in the context of a molecule’s interaction with another charged entity. Writing this electrostatic interaction free energy in terms of a local electrical potential, we obtain an “interaction charge” for the molecule which we demonstrate agrees closely with the “effective charge” discussed in charge renormalization and counterion-condensation theories. The predictions of this model agree well with direct high-precision measurements of effective electrical charge of polyelectrolytes such as nucleic acids and disordered proteins in solution, without tunable parameters. Including the effective interior dielectric constant for compactly folded molecules as a tunable parameter, the model captures measurements of effective charge as well as published trends of pKa shifts in globular proteins. Our results suggest a straightforward general framework to model electrostatics in biomolecules in solution. In offering a platform that directly links theory and experiment, these calculations could foster a systematic understanding of the interrelationship between molecular 3D structure and conformation, electrical charge and electrostatic interactions in solution. The model could find particular relevance in situations where molecular crystal structures are not available or rapid, reliable predictions are desired.
Proximal Knowledge-based Classification

Prior knowledge over general nonlinear sets is incorporated into proximal nonlinear kernel classification problems as linear equalities. The key tool in this incorporation is the conversion of general nonlinear prior knowledge implications into linear equalities in the classification variables without the need to kernelize these implications. These equalities are then included into a proximal nonlinear kernel classification formulation (G. Fung and O. L. Mangasarian, Proximal support vector machine classifiers, in Proceedings KDD-2001: Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining, F. Provost and R. Srikant (eds), San Francisco, CA, New York, Association for Computing Machinery) that is solvable as a system of linear equations. Effectiveness of the proposed formulation is demonstrated on a number of publicly available classification datasets. Nonlinear kernel classifiers for these datasets exhibit marked improvements upon the introduction of nonlinear prior knowledge compared with nonlinear kernel classifiers that do not utilize such knowledge. Copyright © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Statistical Analysis and Data Mining 1: 000-000, 2009
Immunogenicity of MHC Class I Peptides Derived from Leishmania mexicana Gp63 in HLA-A2.1 Transgenic (HHDII) and BALB/C Mouse Models

Background Leishmania is an intracellular parasite infecting humans and many wild and domestic animals. Recent studies have suggested an important role for cytotoxic T cells against Leishmania. Peptide-based vaccines targeting short sequences derived from known immunogenic proteins have been shown to elicit cellular immune responses against disparate pathogens. Methods We predicted four HLA-A2 peptides derived from L. mexican/major gp63 and tested these in HHD II mice, as well as four peptides for mouse MHC class I from the same proteins tested in BALB/ mice. Results The results revealed immunogenicity for three of the four peptides predicted for HLA-A2. Immunisation with these peptides, along with IFA, induced CTL responses detected by standard 4-hour cytotoxicity assay and significantly upregulated the production of IFN-γ. When HHDII mice were injected IM with L. mexicana gp63 cDNA and splenocytes were restimulated with blasts loaded with the immunogenic peptides, two of the peptides were able to induce significant level of IFN-γ detected by ELISA. None of the peptides predicted for Balb/c mouse MHC class I elicited CTL activity or significantly upregulated the IFN-γ. Conclusion The results may help in developing a peptide-based vaccine, which can be applied alone or in combination with drugs against Leishmania.
Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus-Induced Alterations of Baby Hamster Kidney Cell Macromolecular Biosynthesis: Inhibition of Ribonucleic Acid Methylation and Stimulation of Ribonucleic Acid Synthesis

The kinetics of ribonucleic acid (RNA) and protein synthesis and RNA methylation were examined after foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) infection of baby hamster kidney cells. The synthesis of RNA extracted from the whole cells was stimulated two- to threefold above the control level of synthesis. This increased rate was attributed to viral RNA synthesis. The inhibition of host RNA methylation was concomitant with but more pronounced than protein synthesis inhibition. The methylation of transfer RNA was initially inhibited by virus infection, but rose to within 70 to 80% of the control level just prior to the production of maximal amounts of virus-specific RNA polymerase. Cycloheximide studies showed that rapid cessation of protein synthesis did not result in the immediate cessation of RNA methylation. A comparison between the kinetics of inhibition of these processes by cycloheximide and FMDV infection suggests that FMDV selectively inhibits RNA methylation.
Diffusion approximation of near critical branching processes in fixed and random environment

Abstract We consider Bienaymé-Galton-Watson and continuous-time Markov branching processes and prove diffusion approximation results in the near critical case, in fixed and random environment. In one hand, in the fixed environment case, we give new proofs and derive necessary and sufficient conditions for diffusion approximation to get hold of Feller-Jiřina and Jagers theorems. In the other hand, we propose a continuous-time Markov branching process with random environments and obtain diffusion approximation results. An averaging result is also presented. Proofs here are new, where weak convergence in the Skorohod space is proved via singular perturbation technique for convergence of generators and tightness of the distributions of the considered families of stochastic processes.
Viral content propagation in Online Social Networks

Information flows are the result of a constant exchange in Online Social Networks (OSNs). OSN users create and share varying types of information in real-time throughout a day. Virality is introduced as a term to describe information that reaches a wide audience within a small time-frame. As a case, we measure propagation of information submitted in Reddit, identify different patterns and present a multi OSN diffusion analysis on Twitter, Facebook, and 2 hosting domains for images and multimedia, ImgUr and YouTube. Our results indicate that positive content is the most shared and presents the highest virality probability, and the overall virality probability of user created information is low. Finally, we underline the problems of limited access in OSN data. Keywords: Online Social Networks, Virality, Diffusion, Viral Content, Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, ImgUr, YouTube
Blepharitis: Always Remember Demodex

Purpose: To determine the incidence and density of Demodex species on the eyelashes of subjects with normal eyelids, anterior blepharitis (AB), meibomian-gland dysfunction (MGD), and mixed blepharitis (MB). Materials and Methods: One hundred and fifty consecutive patients diagnosed with AB, MGD, and MB were recruited. An additional 50 individuals were recruited who were free of lid and margin disease to serve as a control group. All patients underwent a standard eye examination. Data on ocular symptomatology were gathered. Digital photography was performed of the lid margins. Lash sampling was performed by epilating the lashes and the lashes were checked for Demodex based on morphology using light microscopy. The total number of mites were tabulated for each eye. Comparison between the affected eyes and the control eyes was performed. Data were analyzed using the Chi-square test. Results: A total of 200 patients were included. Twenty percenth had AB, 40% had MGD, and 40% had MB. The incidence of Demodex infestation was 90% in cases of AB, 60% in MGD cases, and 90% in MB cases. The incidence of Demodex in control subjects was 18%. Conclusions: The incidence and density of Demodex infestation was highest in patients with AB and MB. Lid irritation and presence of cylindrical dandruff were indicative of a high-density infestation. These signs should alert the clinician to treat concomitant Demodex infestation.
COMPARATIVE STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF NITRIC OXIDE, CHROMIUM AND EDTA ON OXIDATIVE STRESS RESPONSES IN AGATHI (SESBANIA GRANDIFLORA L. PERS)

Heavy metal contaminations are a major cause of global environmental pollutions. The release of heavy metals into the environment has increased the threat of serious health issues for living organism. Among the known heavy metals, chromium is released into the environment by various anthropogenic activities causing various ill effects on the life forms. Hence in the present study which was carried out in Vellore Institute of Technology, Tamil Nadu, India and the phytoextraction of chromium enhanced with metal chelator ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid was studied in Sesbania grandiflora in VIT, India. To asses this, various treatments were prepared with combinations of chromium and chelator. The antioxidant enzyme activities such as Superoxide dismutase, Catalase, Ascorbate peroxidase and Glutathione reductase activity were determined in the presence of metal and chelator. The results showed an increase in all the antioxidant enzymes in the presence of metal and chelator due to the increased metal uptake. To reduce the stress levels created by the metal and chelator, sodium nitroprusside a nitric oxide donor was exogenously sprayed on to the plants and a comparative study was made in the presence and absence of sodium nitroprusside. The results indicated that the presence of sodium nitroprusside had a positive role in combating the stress created by the metal and chelator which was evident by the reduced antioxidant enzyme levels in spite of metal uptake. Hence sodium nitroprusside could be considered for its wider application against metal stress conditions to combat oxidative stress. The plant Sesbania grandiflora showed higher withstanding capacity to the heavy metal stress and was effective in extracting the metal out of the contaminated soil.