Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of the Essential Oil of Dipsacus japonicus Flowering Aerial Parts and its Insecticidal Activity against Sitophilus zeamais and Tribolium castaneum

Water-distilled essential oil from the aerial parts of Dipsacus japonicus Miq. (Dipsacaceae) at the flowering stage was analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Forty-six compounds, accounting for 96.76% of the total oil, were identified and the main compounds of the essential oil were linalool (11.78%), trans-geraniol (8.58%), 1,8-cineole (7.91%), β-caryophyllene (5.58%), α-terpineol (5.32%), β-selinene (5.15%), and spathulenol (5.04%). The essential oil of D. japonicus possessed contact toxicity against two grain storage insects, Sitophilus zeamais and Tribolium castaneum adults, with LD50 values of 18.32 μg/ adult and 13.45 μg/adult, respectively. The essential oil of D. japonicus also exhibited pronounced fumigant toxicity against S. zeamais (LC50 = 10.11 mg/l air) and T. castaneum adults (LC50 = 5.26 mg/l air). Of the three major compounds, 1,8-cineole exhibited stronger fumigant toxicity than the crude essential oil against S. zeamais and T. castaneum adults with LC50 values of 2.96 mg/l air and 4.86 mg/l air, respectively
Autoconcepto de Estudiantes Universitarios Chilenos con Discapacidad. Diferencias en Función del Género

El presente estudio tuvo como proposito determinar la existencia de diferencias en el autoconcepto de universitarios chilenos con discapacidad visual o motora frente a universitarios sin ella; conocer si existian diferencias en alguna(s) de las dimensiones del autoconcepto de acuerdo a la discapacidad presentada (visual o motora) y analizar diferencias en autoconcepto en funcion del genero y presencia de discapacidad. La muestra estuvo compuesta por 80 participantes (39 estudiantes con discapacidad y 41 sin discapacidad), pertenecientes a diversas titulaciones y universidades de la Region del Bio Bio. Los instrumentos utilizados fueron la escala AF5 (Garcia y Musitu, 1999), que evalua cinco dimensiones del autoconcepto (academica, social, emocional, familiar y fisico) y una ficha de variables sociodemograficas. Se realizaron distintos MANOVA, mostrando primeramente que los universitarios con discapacidad tienen un autoconcepto fisico mas bajo que sus pares sin dificultades. Al analizar la variable genero en el grupo de estudiantes con discapacidad, se hallaron mejores puntuaciones en la dimension academica/laboral en mujeres respecto a hombres. Finalmente se analizo el genero por tipo de discapacidad (visual o motora), encontrandose diferencias en la dimension academica a favor de mujeres con discapacidad visual; en el caso de universitarios con discapacidad motora, no se hallaron diferencias
Impact of User Training and Support on Video-Conferencing Usage in Organizations in Jordan using Structural Equation Modelling Analysis Approach

Information and communication technology is known for its impact on organization's competitive edge. However, no studies have been undertaken to research on video-conferencing in Jordan. This study seeks to identify the impact of user training and support on video conferencing usage in Jordan. A quantitative approach was used, employing questionnaire to collect data. A total of 1,800 questionnaires were distributed but only 434 were returned. Finally, 357 questionnaires were valid and thus, analysed using SPSS and AMOS. The findings show that user training and support can directly affect video conferencing usage and indirectly affect via user's perceived ease of use, but not their perceived ease of video conferencing usage. Thus, video- conferencing adoption in organizations in Jordan is impacted by user training and support, as a significant predictor.
Evaluation of banks insolvency using artificial neural networks

Bankruptcy prediction has been an important and widely studied topic. The goal of this study is to predict bank insolvency before the bankruptcy using artificial neural networks, to enable all parties to take remedial action. Artificial neural networks are widely used in finance and insurance problems. Generalized Regression Neural Network (GRNN) is used to evaluate the predictor variable used to predict the insolvency. The most important predictor variable influencing insolvency is consistently having the largest regression. Results showed that the most affecting factor in banks insolvency evaluation is the net income, total equity capital, cost of sales, sales, cash flows and loans. The Feed-forward back propagation neural network is used to predict the bankruptcy. The results of applying Feed-forward back propagation neural network methodology to predict financial distress based upon selected financial ratios show abilities of the network to learn the patterns corresponding to financial distress of the bank. The percent correctly classified in the training sample by the feed-forward back propagation network is approximately 91 percent. Artificial neural networks show significant signs for providing early warning signals and solvency monitoring. The proposed neural network is evaluated using confusion matrices.
The relationship between marital conflict and marital commitment of married couples in Ayatollah Amoli Azad University

Introduction: The current study aimed to analyze the relationship between marital conflict and marital commitment of married couples in Ayatollah Amoli Azad University. Method: Research method used is correlational which was carried out by field work. Statistical population included all married couples in Ayatollah Amoli Azad University. The sampling technique used for this research is purposive sampling and 312 questionnaires in total were answered and delivered. Adam and Jones (1997) marital commitment questionnaire and Barati and Sana’ee (1996) marital conflict were used. Validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by 6 psychology professors and its reliability was reported 0.82 for each questionnaire using Chronbach’s alpha. Results: The findings of current research and results of regression showed that 18.6 per cent of variance of married students’ marital commitment in Ayatollah Amoli University is related to subscales of marital conflict. There is also an inverse meaningful relationship between marital conflict and marital commitment (35.0=p ، 185.0- =r). Conclusion: Based on the findings of this research, it is necessary for couples to maintain a balance between different types of relationship in life consistent with their spouses’ desires, inform one another of all financial aspects of their lives and avoid creating conflicts and disputes in order to strengthen their life and mutual commitment.
Rapid Interactions between the Ventral Visual Stream and Emotion-Related Structures Rely on a Two-Pathway Architecture

Visual attention can be driven by the affective significance of visual stimuli before full-fledged processing of the stimuli. Two kinds of models have been proposed to explain this phenomenon: models involving sequential processing along the ventral visual stream, with secondary feedback from emotion-related structures (“two-stage models”); and models including additional short-cut pathways directly reaching the emotion-related structures (“two-pathway models”). We tested which type of model would best predict real magnetoencephalographic responses in subjects presented with arousing visual stimuli, using realistic models of large-scale cerebral architecture and neural biophysics. The results strongly support a “two-pathway” hypothesis. Both standard models including the retinotectal pathway and nonstandard models including cortical–cortical long-range fasciculi appear plausible.
The Influence of Large-Scale Airborne Particle Decline and Traffic-Related Exposure on Children’s Lung Function

Between 1991 and 2000, ambient air pollution in East Germany changed to resemble West German pollution levels: The concentration of total suspended particles (TSPs) decreased on a broad scale while traffic increased. During that time, we analyzed total lung capacity (TLC) and airway resistance (R(aw)) of East and West German children. We tested children 5-7 years of age (n = 2,574) with cooperation-independent body plethysmography in repeated cross sections. We used random-effect models to determine the mutually adjusted association between lung function and short-term and chronic particle exposure and its interaction with living near a busy road. Annual averages of TSPs declined from 77 to 44 microg/m2; averages on the day of investigation declined from 133 to 30 microg/m2. Differences in lung function between East and West German children vanished during the investigation time. The association of TSPs with R(aw) and TLC was stronger in children living > 50 m away from busy roads. East German children from this group had an R(aw) 2.5% higher [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.0-5.1%] per 40-microg/m2 increase of daily TSP averages. TLC decreased by 6.2% (95% CI, 0.04-11.6%) per 40-microg/m2 increase in annual mean TSPs, and this effect was equally pronounced in East and West Germany. TSP exposure decreased on a broad scale between 1991 and 2000. Lower concentrations of TSPs were associated with better measures of lung function in 6-year-old children. For children living near busy roads, this effect was diminished.
Brain Is to Thought as Stomach Is to ??: Investigating the Role of Rostrolateral Prefrontal Cortex in Relational Reasoning

Brain imaging studies suggest that the rostrolateral prefrontal cortex (RLPFC), is involved in relational reasoning. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies involving Raven's Progressive Matrices or verbal propositional analogies indicate that the RLPFC is engaged by tasks that require integration across multiple relational structures. Several studies have shown that the RLPFC is more active when people must evaluate an analogy (e.g., Is shoe to foot as glove is to hand? ) than when they must simply evaluate two individual semantic relationships, consistent with the hypothesis that this region is important for relational integration. The current fMRI investigation further explores the role of the RLPFC in reasoning and relational integration by comparing RLPFC activation across four different propositional analogy conditions. Each of the four conditions required either relation completion (e.g., Shoe is to foot as glove is to WHAT? hand) or relation comparison (e.g., Is shoe to foot as glove is to hand? yes). The RLPFC was engaged more strongly by the comparison subtask relative to completion, suggesting that the RLPFC is particularly involved in comparing relational structures.
Ca2+ enrichment in culture medium potentiates effect of oligonucleotides

Antisense and RNAi-related oligonucleotides have gained attention as laboratory tools and therapeutic agents based on their ability to manipulate biological events in vitro and in vivo. We show that Ca2+ enrichment of medium (CEM) potentiates the in vitro activity of multiple types of oligonucleotides, independent of their net charge and modifications, in various cells. In addition, CEM reflects in vivo silencing activity more consistently than conventional transfection methods. Microscopic analysis reveals that CEM provides a subcellular localization pattern of oligonucleotides resembling that obtained by unassisted transfection, but with quantitative improvement. Highly monodispersed nanoparticles ∼100 nm in size are found in Ca2+-enriched serum-containing medium regardless of the presence or absence of oligonucleotides. Transmission electron microscopy analysis reveals that the 100-nm particles are in fact an ensemble of much smaller nanoparticles (ϕ ∼ 15 nm). The presence of these nanoparticles is critical for the efficient uptake of various oligonucleotides. In contrast, CEM is ineffective for plasmids, which are readily transfected via the conventional calcium phosphate method. Collectively, CEM enables a more accurate prediction of the systemic activity of therapeutic oligonucleotides, while enhancing the broad usability of oligonucleotides in the laboratory.
Interactive Time Series Exploration Powered by the Marriage of Similarity Distances

Finding similar trends among time series data is critical for applications ranging from financial planning to policy making. The detection of these multifaceted relationships, especially time warped matching of time series of different lengths and alignments is prohibitively expensive to compute. To achieve real time responsiveness on large time series datasets, we propose a novel paradigm called Online Exploration of Time Series (ONEX) employing a powerful one-time preprocessing step that encodes critical similarity relationships to support subsequent rapid data exploration. Since the encoding of a huge number of pairwise similarity relationships for all variable lengths time series segments is not feasible, our work rests on the important insight that clustering with inexpensive point-to-point distances such as the Euclidean Distance can support subsequent time warped matching. Our ONEX framework overcomes the prohibitive computational costs associated with a more robust elastic distance namely the DTW by applying it over the surprisingly compact knowledge base instead of the raw data. Our comparative study reveals that ONEX is up to 19% more accurate and several times faster than the state-of-the-art. Beyond being a highly accurate and fast domain independent solution, ONEX offers a truly interactive exploration experience supporting novel time series operations.
Abdominal Adipose Tissue was Associated with Glomerular Hyperfiltration among Non- Diabetic and Normotensive Adults with a Normal Body Mass Index

Glomerular hyperfiltration is recognized as an early marker of progressive kidney dysfunction in the obese population. This study aimed to identify the relationship between glomerular hyperfiltration and body fat distribution measured by computed tomography (CT) in healthy Korean adults. The study population included individuals aged 20–64 years who went a routine health check-up including an abdominal CT scan. We selected 4,378 individuals without diabetes and hypertension. Glomerular filtration rate was estimated using the CKD-EPI equation, and glomerular hyperfiltration was defined as the highest quintile of glomerular filtration rate. Abdominal adipose tissue areas were measured at the level of the umbilicus using a 16-detector CT scanner, and the cross-sectional area was calculated using Rapidia 2.8 CT software. The prevalence of glomerular hyperfiltration increased significantly according to the subcutaneous adipose tissue area in men (OR = 1.74 (1.16–2.61), P for trend 0.016, for the comparisons of lowest vs. highest quartile) and visceral adipose tissue area in women (OR = 2.34 (1.46–3.75), P for trend < 0.001) in multivariate analysis. After stratification by body mass index (normal < 23 kg/m2, overweight ≥ 23 kg/m2), male subjects with greater subcutaneous adipose tissue, even those in the normal BMI group, had a higher prevalence of glomerular hyperfiltration (OR = 2.11 (1.17–3.80), P for trend = 0.009). Among women, the significance of visceral adipose tissue area on glomerular hyperfiltration resulted from the normal BMI group (OR = 2.14 (1.31–3.49), P for trend = 0.002). After menopause, the odds ratio of the association of glomerular hyperfiltration with subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue increased (OR = 2.96 (1.21–7.25), P for trend = 0.013). Subcutaneous adipose tissue areas and visceral adipose tissue areas are positively associated with glomerular hyperfiltration in healthy Korean adult men and women, respectively. In post-menopausal women, visceral adipose tissue area shows significant positive association with glomerular hyperfiltration as in men.
Sorting in Few Rounds on the Broadcast Communication Model

The main contribution of this work is to present a simple, fast ranking and sorting algorithms in the broadcast communication model (BCM, for short). At the heart of our algorithm is a new and elegant sampling and bucketing scheme. The main feature of our sampling scheme is that the resulting buckets are well balanced, making costly rebalancing unnecessary. The resulting algorithm uses only 2 n k + o(n k) broadcasting phases for ranking and 3 n k + o(n k) broadcasting phases for sorting on a k-channel n-processor BCM if k q n log n. These bounds are fairly tight, compared with the trivial lower bound n k broadcasting phases necessary to broadcast n items through k communication channels.
Mapping Cropland in Ethiopia Using Crowdsourcing

The spatial distribution of cropland is an important input to many applications including food security monitoring and economic land use modeling. Global land cover maps derived from remote sensing are one source of cropland but they are currently not accurate enough in the cropland domain to meet the needs of the user community. Moreover, when compared with one another, these land cover products show large areas of spatial disagreement, which makes the choice very difficult regarding which land cover product to use. This paper takes an entirely different approach to mapping cropland, using crowdsourcing of Google Earth imagery via tools in Geo-Wiki. Using sample data generated by a crowdsourcing campaign for the collection of the degree of cultivation and settlement in Ethiopia, a cropland map was created using simple inverse distance weighted interpolation. The map was validated using data from the GOFC-GOLD validation portal and an independent crowdsourced dataset from Geo-Wiki. The results show that the crowdsourced cropland map for Ethiopia has a higher overall accuracy than the individual global land cover products for this country. Such an approach has great potential for mapping cropland in other countries where such data do not currently exist. Not only is the approach inexpensive but the data can be collected over a very short period of time using an existing network of volunteers.
Regulation of Human Recombinant P2X3 Receptors by Ecto-Protein Kinase C

The whole-cell patch-clamp technique was used to record current responses to nucleotides and nucleosides in human embryonic kidney HEK293 cells transfected with the human purinergic P2X3 receptor. When guanosine 5′-O-(3-thiodiphosphate) was included into the pipette solution, UTP at concentrations that did not alter the holding current facilitated the α,β-methylene ATP (α,β-meATP)-induced current. ATP and GTP, but not UDP or uridine, had an effect similar to that of UTP. Compounds known to activate protein kinase C (PKC) acted like the nucleoside triphosphates investigated, whereas various PKC inhibitors invariably reduced the effects of both PKC activators and UTP. The substitution by Ala of Ser/Thr residues situated within PKC consensus sites of the P2X3 receptor ectodomain either abolished (PKC2 and PKC3; T134A, S178A) or did not alter (PKC4 and PKC6; T196A, S269A) the UTP-induced potentiation of the α,β-meATP current. Both the blockade of ecto-protein kinase C activity and the substitution of Thr-134 or Ser-178 by Ala depressed the maximum of the concentration-response curve for α,β-meATP without altering the EC50 values. Molecular simulation of the P2X3 receptor structure indicated no overlap between assumed nucleotide binding domains and the relevant phosphorylation sites PKC2 and PKC3. α,β-meATP-induced currents through native homomeric P2X3 receptors of rat dorsal root ganglia were also facilitated by UTP. In conclusion, it is suggested that low concentrations of endogenous nucleotides in the extracellular space may prime the sensitivity of P2X3 receptors toward the effect of subsequently applied (released) higher agonistic concentrations. The priming effect of nucleotides might be attributable to a phosphorylation of PKC sites at the ectodomain of P2X3 receptors.
Managing Conflicts in Goal-Driven Requirements Engineering

A wide range of inconsistencies can arise during requirements engineering as goals and requirements are elicited from multiple stakeholders. Resolving such inconsistencies sooner or later in the process is a necessary condition for successful development of the software implementing those requirements. The paper first reviews the main types of inconsistency that can arise during requirements elaboration, defining them in an integrated framework and exploring their interrelationships. It then concentrates on the specific case of conflicting formulations of goals and requirements among different stakeholder viewpoints or within a single viewpoint. A frequent, weaker form of conflict called divergence is introduced and studied in depth. Formal techniques and heuristics are proposed for detecting conflicts and divergences from specifications of goals/requirements and of domain properties. Various techniques are then discussed for resolving conflicts and divergences systematically by the introduction of new goals or by transforming the specifications of goals/objects toward conflict-free versions. Numerous examples are given throughout the paper to illustrate the practical relevance of the concepts and techniques presented. The latter are discussed in the framework of the KAOS methodology for goal-driven requirements engineering.
The Role of the Dissertation in Music Education Doctoral Programs

This survey study was designed to determine attributes of, and attitudes toward, the doctoral dissertation. Of particular interest was music education faculty awareness and implementation of project-based dissertations as alternatives to traditional dissertations. Respondents, music education program heads at doctoral granting institutions (N = 46, 85% return), agreed strongly that the dissertation should make a contribution to knowledge and that the outcome of doctoral programs should be skilled researchers, but indicated that less than half of recent graduates published a research or practitioner article based on the dissertation. Only eight participants responded that their students had an option for completing their doctoral dissertation in any format other than the traditional dissertation. Only 53% of respondents were familiar with the project-based doctoral dissertation, which may explain the relatively neutral responses to questions related to the appropriateness of this format. Faculty were only moderately interested in the format, but almost all estimated stronger interest on the part of their doctoral students.
REGULAR HYPERMAPS OVER PROJECTIVE LINEAR GROUPS

Abstract An enumeration result for orientably regular hypermaps of a given type with automorphism groups isomorphic to PSL(2,q) or PGL(2,q) can be extracted from a 1969 paper by Sah. We extend the investigation to orientable reflexible hypermaps and to nonorientable regular hypermaps, providing many more details about the associated computations and explicit generating sets for the associated groups.
Incubation and cueing effects in problem-solving: Set aside the difficult problems but focus on the easy ones

Evidence for incubation effects in problem-solving is increasing, but the mechanisms that underlie incubation are unclear. An experiment tested two hypotheses about incubation: Spreading activation and opportunistic assimilation. Participants solved easy or difficult remote associates tasks without incubation period, or with an incubation period filled with high or low cognitive load tasks. A lexical decision task with cue and neutral words was given either before or after a second problem attempt. When solving difficult problems, the low-load incubation group benefitted more from the presence of a cue than the high-load incubation group, and the opposite was found with easy problems. Neither incubation nor an initial problem attempt affected lexical decision times to cue words. The results favour opportunistic assimilation as an explanation of incubation effects. They also suggest a differential role for attentional allocation depending on problem difficulty, easy problems benefitting from focused attention and difficult problems benefitting from diffuse attention.