Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of antioxidant and free radical scavenging activity of Annona muricata

The use of plant based remedies and their derived substances has been integral part of traditional medicine throughout the world with the discovery of new therapeutic agents and versatile applications. Annona muricata fruits commonly known as soursop have highest economic value and popularity. In the present study, 50% ethanolic extract prepared from the fresh leaves of soursop was screened for its antioxidant and free radical scavenging potential. Tannins (0.44+0.0013 mg/g), flavanoids (1.92+0.02 mg/g), phenolics (104.43+0.013 mg/g), carotenoids (0.302+0.001 mg/g), a-tocopherol (14.80+0.02 mg/g), reduced glutathione (7.4+0.01 mg/g), lycopene (0.34+0.01 mg/g) and Vit C (1.98+0.011 mg/g) contents were found to be present. Glutathione-S-transferase (0.740+0.0031 U/g), Peroxidase (6.8+0.101 U/g), Superoxide dismutase (104.70 ± 1.88 U/g), Catalase (2.57±0.02 U/g), Polyphenol oxidase (0.33 ± 0.002 U/g), and Glutathione reductase (35.89+0.103 U/g) activities were found. In addition, total antioxidant capacity (TAC) was found with IC50 values of 44.2474 mg/ml. Radical scavenging potentials against superoxide, nitric oxide, hydroxyl, and hydrogen peroxide were found to be effective with IC50 values 59.05+0.103, 70.12+0.023, 134.21+0.063 and 43.4+0.102 mg/ml respectively. The finding of the study reveals that hydroalcoholic extract of Annona muricata leaves could be considered as nutraceutical with potent source of antioxidants and radical scavenging activity suitable for prevention of human diseases caused by oxidative stress.
Transmission strategies for an energy harvesting Transmitter-Receiver pair

A joint transmitter-receiver energy harvesting model is assumed, where both the transmitter and receiver are powered by random energy source. Given a fixed number of bits, the problem is to find the optimal transmission power profile at the transmitter and ON-OFF profile at the receiver to minimize the transmission time. Structure of the optimal offline strategy is derived together with an optimal offline policy. An online policy with competitive ratio of strictly less than two is also derived.
Enhancing E-Transparency in Public Governance Through Social Media

This chapter is a discussion on e-transparency. It is motivated by the trend where e-governance fails to significantly distinguish itself from the traditional governance, through embracing its secretive and prolonged nature of decision making. Both service delivery, and process and event models provided a basic background on enhancing transparency in governance activities. The emphasis is to make citizens the centre of governance processes. Moreover, key areas where citizen participation is desired, are discussed. The discussion integrates the role of ICTs is maximising participation. The later section of this chapter focuses on addressing contemporary challenges of e-transparency, in governance activities. Collectively, the modern society must embrace e-transparency, in ensuring that citizens decide their fate.
Comparing Gravimetric and Real-Time Sampling of PM2.5 Concentrations Inside Truck Cabins

As part of a study on truck drivers’ exposure and health risk, pickup and delivery (P&D) truck drivers’ on-road exposure patterns to PM2.5 were assessed in five, weeklong sampling trips in metropolitan areas of five U.S. cities from April to August of 2006. Drivers were sampled with real-time (DustTrak) and gravimetric samplers to measure average in-cabin PM2.5 concentrations and to compare their correspondence in moving trucks. In addition, GPS measurements of truck locations, meteorological data, and driver behavioral data were collected throughout the day to determine which factors influence the relationship between real-time and gravimetric samplers. Results indicate that the association between average real-time and gravimetric PM2.5 measurements on moving trucks was fairly consistent (Spearman rank correlation of 0.63), with DustTrak measurements exceeding gravimetric measurements by approximately a factor of 2. This ratio differed significantly only between the industrial Midwest cities and the other three sampled cities scattered in the South and West. There was also limited evidence of an effect of truck age. Filter samples collected concurrently with DustTrak measurements can be used to calibrate average mass concentration responses for the DustTrak, allowing for real-time measurements to be integrated into longer-term studies of inter-city and intra-urban exposure patterns for truck drivers.
Contribution of Tap Water and Environmental Surfaces to Nosocomial Transmission of Antibiotic-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The medical literature was reviewed to determine whether nosocomial outbreaks due to imipenem-resistant and other antibiotic-resistant strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa could be related to environmental contamination. 1-5 The results may provide information helpful for the investigation, identification, and prevention of outbreaks in the healthcare setting caused by this bacterium. METHODS This review focuses on identifying outbreak investigations that have documented transmission of antibioticresistant P. aeruginosa via contaminated bronchoscopes and gastrointestinal endoscopes used in intensive care units (ICUs) and endoscopy suites. Measures taken to terminate these outbreaks are noted. RESULTS
An underlay system for dynamic and distributable web applications

The Web has continuously developed towards a sophisticated platform for user-centric applications characterized by a rich graphical presentation and a high degree of user interactivity. This trend has been fueled by the increasing importance and heterogeneity of mobile user devices such as smartphones, PDAs and netbooks. In this case, the Web browser constitutes the unified platform that provides a high degree of independence from the underlying hardware and operating systems. Mashups are composed Web applications that combine multiple services stemming from different 3rd party providers into a custom Web application. Web mashups can thus be considered as the Web’s service compositions. However, such mashups are created by software developers by gluing together open APIs via scripting languages, so that Web mashups expose considerable shortcomings with regard to readability and reusability of code, dynamic integration of services, and methods for a user-centric creation beyond explicit programming techniques. In this thesis, an underlay system for Web applications is introduced that features a resource-oriented view on services and data and thereby combines the advantages of classic service composition languages with the rich graphical presentation and user-centric nature of Web mashups. Here, the underlay system abstracts from concrete services and thereby can be dynamically deployed on different sets of heterogeneous devices. The underlay system possesses two key properties that will enhance dynamicity within today’s mashups. First, it can be dynamically distributed, so that each involved device is in control of its local services. This decoupling of devices increases the mashup’s offline capabilities and provides a means for a private processing of user data. Second, the underlay system can be automatically created by common end-users, so that underlay systems can be employed for the rapid creation of Web mashups on top of end-user devices in a spontaneous manner. The work on the underlay system for Web applications was a joint project of the TU Berlin and Fraunhofer FOKUS. The results have been employed within the scope of multiple national and international research projects funded by the BMBF (UST+), the European Commission (BIONETS), and industry partners (uMASH, LCAI). Parts of the work have also been patented.
RhoA/ROCK Signaling Regulates TGFβ-Induced Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition of Lens Epithelial Cells through MRTF-A

Transforming growth factor (TGF)-β-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) leads to the formation of ocular fibrotic pathologies, such as anterior subcapsular cataract and posterior capsule opacification. Remodeling of the actin cytoskeleton, mediated by the Rho family of GTPases, plays a key role in EMT. However, how actin dynamics affect downstream markers of EMT has not been fully determined. Our previous work suggests that myocardin-related transcription factor A (MRTF-A), an actin-binding protein, might be an important mediator of TGFβ-induced EMT in lens epithelial cells. The aim of the current study was to determine the requirement of RhoA/ROCK signaling in mediating TGFβ-induced nuclear accumulation of MRTF-A and ultimate expression of α-smooth muscle actin (αSMA), a marker of a contractile myofibroblast phenotype. Using rat lens epithelial explants, we demonstrate that ROCK inhibition using Y-27632 prevents TGFβ-induced nuclear accumulation of MRTF-A, E-cadherin/β-catenin complex disassembly, and αSMA expression. Using a novel inhibitor specifically targeting MRTF-A signaling, CCG-203971, we further demonstrate the requirement of MRTF-A nuclear localization and activity in the induction of αSMA expression. Overall, our findings suggest that TGFβ-induced cytoskeletal reorganization through RhoA/ROCK/MRTF-A signaling is critical to EMT of lens epithelial cells.
Efferent projections of rat rostroventrolateral medulla C1 catecholamine neurons: Implications for the central control of cardiovascular regulation

A replication‐defective lentivirus vector that expresses enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) under the control of a synthetic dopamine‐β‐hydroxylase (DβH) promoter was used to define efferent projections of C1 catecholamine neurons in rat rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM). EGFP expression was restricted to C1 neurons and filled their somatodendritic compartments and efferent axons 7–28 days after vector injection. This included the descending projections to thoracic spinal cord and a network in brainstem, midbrain, and diencephalon. In caudal brainstem, restricted terminal fields were present in the dorsal motor vagal complex, A1, raphe pallidus and obscurus, and marginal layer of ventrolateral medulla. Innervation of raphe nuclei was most dense at the level of RVLM, but rostral levels of pallidus were devoid of innervation. A sparse commissural projection to contralateral RVLM was observed, and pericellular arbors were present in the dorsal reticular formation among the projection pathway of catecholamine axons. Rostral brainstem contained a dense innervation of locus coeruleus and the nucleus subcoeruleus. A restricted innervation of the ventrolateral column of the periaqueductal gray distinguished the midbrain. Forebrain labeling was restricted to the diencephalon, where distinctive terminal fields were observed in the paraventricular thalamic nucleus; the lateral hypothalamic area; and the paraventricular, dorsomedial, supraoptic, and median preoptic nuclei of hypothalamus. Projection fibers also coursed through the tuberal hypothalamus into the median eminence. Collectively, these data demonstrate that RVLM C1 neurons modulate the activity of other central cell groups known to participate in the regulation of cardiovascular and autonomic function. J. Comp. Neurol. 499:840–859, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Splenitis in 33 Dogs

Splenitis is uncommonly reported in dogs. Herein, the authors describe its prevalence, clinical findings and outcomes, histologic patterns, and causes. Splenic samples of dogs diagnosed with splenitis between 2005 and 2013 were collected and stained with hematoxylin and eosin, Gram, green-Gram, Giemsa, periodic acid–Schiff, and Ziehl-Neelsen. Samples were processed for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect bacteria, fungi, and protozoa (Leishmania infantum, Hepatozoon canis). Thirty-three of 660 splenic samples (5%) had splenitis. Clinical findings and outcomes were available in 19 dogs (58%); 49% had weakness, 33% had fever, and 84% survived. The most frequent inflammatory patterns included purulent splenitis (27%), pyogranulomatous splenitis (24%), and neutrophilic perisplenitis (15%). One dog had a putative diagnosis of primary splenitis; in 8 dogs, microorganisms were identified histologically or by PCR in the spleen without obvious comorbidities. Twenty-four dogs (73%) had concurrent diseases; a permissive role in the development of splenitis was suspected in 21 of these cases. Histologic examination identified the cause of splenitis in 10 dogs. Bacteria were identified by PCR in 23 cases, but the bacteria were confirmed histologically in only 6 of these. Leishmania was detected with PCR in 6 dogs. Leishmania was identified in 1 dog and H. canis in another histologically, but both were PCR negative. Fungi were identified in 8 spleens by PCR and in 1 by histology. This study suggests that splenitis is uncommon in dogs and is frequently associated with systemic diseases. Prognosis is favorable in most cases. Identification of bacteria, fungi, and protozoa in the spleens of affected dogs with PCR should be interpreted cautiously, because the findings are not confirmed histologically in many cases.
Improving internet infrastructure: BGP predictability and cloud DNS performance

Khosla, Ravish. Ph.D., Purdue University, December 2011. Improving Internet Infrastructure: BGP Predictability and Cloud DNS Performance. Major Professors: Sonia Fahmy and Y. Charlie Hu. The Internet has witnessed explosive growth over the last few decades, steadily evolving into a worldwide communication medium capable of supporting myriads of applications. While several efforts have been undertaken to improve the reliability of best-effort Internet communication, their adoption has been virtually nonexistent due to the lack of incentive for change and the presence of heterogeneous networks not controlled by a single entity. Moreover, the Internet structure is rapidly evolving into a flatter one composed of large organizations or clouds which hampers any efforts of retrofitting the existing Internet. In this dissertation, we study two of the most important components of the In­ ternet infrastructure, namely Routing and Domain Name System (DNS). We aim to find predictability in Internet routing, specifically the existence of Internet routes to prefixes, collection of IP addresses. We hypothesize that the Internet under Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), the de-facto interdomain routing protocol, while seemingly unpredictable, has a structure whereby prefix similarity can be exploited to success­ fully predict availability of Internet routes and route failures. We build data mining based prediction models using real-world routing data and find that this is indeed the case and the future availability of a prefix can be predicted by observing it for a limited time period and using the learned models. We also formulate BGP molecules which are the set of Internet prefixes that have similar propensity to become un­ reachable from portions of the Internet, i.e. to fail. We use these molecules in four
USE OF BANANA LEAVES IN STEVENS‐JOHNSON SYNDROME

To the Editors: We read with great interest the article by Handley et al (1993;10:256-258) concerning the occurrence of chronic buUous disease of childhood (CBDC) in a 12-year-old girl who had had ulcerative colitis (UC) for 18 months. In 1992 we reported a 64-year-old man who suffered from UC for four years, and who developed a linear IgA disease of adults (LAD), during a relapse of his inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) (1). Although the difference between CBDC and LAD has not yet been demonstrated, the analogy between the two reported cases suggests some observations. Through a pathogenetic mechanism not yet understood, IBD may induce nonspecific immunoglobulin activation, determining IgA cross-reactive idiotype production against dermoepidermal or epidermal antigens, causing specific bullous disorders (1-3). The observation of bullous disorders, immunopathologically characterized by bnear IgA deposition along the basement membrane zone, both in the patient of Handley et al and in our patient, suggests at least a similar pathogenetic mechanism and, in our opinion, a strict analogy between these two conditions. Even if they have different clinical expressions, in as far as the cutaneous involvement and prognosis are concerned, CBDC and LAD share identical histopathologic and immunopatholo^c features (4). Furthermore, immunoblot techniques have shown that CBDC and LAD antigens are identical (5). The overlap among histopathologic, immunopathologic, and immunoblot data prompt us to consider CBDC and LAD as two different clinical expressions, age related, of a single disease. Several studies have shown that there is no evidence, in opposition to what has been observed in dermatitis herpetiformis, to support a close association between the linear IgA dermatosis and gluten-sensitive enteropathy. As stated by Handley et al, however, a possible association between IBD and bullous IgA dermatosis might be expected. Considering all the literature-reported cases (1,2), in our opinion, gastrointestinal evaluation should be performed in all patients suffering from linear IgA dermatosis.
Parents of At-Risk Students Reluctance to Using Technological Learning Platforms

Parents of At-Risk Students Reluctance to Using Technological Learning Platforms by Michelle Landley Lee MA, Walden University, 2007 BS, University of the West Indies, 2001 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Educational Technology Walden University 2018 Abstract Despite school leaders’ attempts to implement technology designed to provide resources for parent and student use at home, many parents of at-risk children are reluctant to use the learning platforms. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the meaning of human experiences as they related to parents’ reluctance to using learning management systems (LMSs). Elements from Rogers’s innovation diffusion theory, Davis’s technology acceptance model, and Epstein’s parent involvement model wereDespite school leaders’ attempts to implement technology designed to provide resources for parent and student use at home, many parents of at-risk children are reluctant to use the learning platforms. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the meaning of human experiences as they related to parents’ reluctance to using learning management systems (LMSs). Elements from Rogers’s innovation diffusion theory, Davis’s technology acceptance model, and Epstein’s parent involvement model were combined for the study’s conceptual framework. The research questions addressed the challenges parents encounter with learning platforms; parents’ experiences with teachers and schools with regard to training, orientation, and using learning platforms; and parents’ feelings about establishing a learning institute to support their LMS use. Six parent participants from a small suburban school district in Southeastern United States who self-disclosed that they used LMS less than 3 times per week and had a child that scored at the beginning level of the mandatory state test were purposefully selected for this study. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and analyzed via Moustakas’s modified van Kaam method, which uncovered 4 major themes. The findings indicated that parents avoided using LMSs for several reasons, which included parents’ lack of knowledge regarding accessing and using LMSs, ineffective orientation practices, lack of technical support, and lack of support for training. This research contributes to the existing body of literature and advances social change by illuminating parents’ challenges with implemented technology. School leaders may use the findings to devise strategic plans to facilitate training programs for parents. Parents of At-Risk Students Reluctance to Using Technological Learning Platforms by Michelle Landley Lee MA, Walden University, 2007 BS, University of the West Indies, 2001 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Education Technology
Sur les instabilités des écoulements entre un disque fixe et un disque en rotation

Ce travail experimental est consacre a l'etude des instabilites hydrodynamiques et des processus de transition vers la turbulence des ecoulements visqueux entre deux disques paralleles coaxiaux dont l'un est entraine en rotation. Nous avons etabli le diagramme de transition de l'ecoulement qui presente, dans l'espace des parametres de controle (rapport d'aspect, nombre de reynolds), les nombreuses bifurcations et instabilites qui surviennent dans l'ecoulement. Ce diagramme revele que, suivant la valeur du rapport d'aspect, differentes sequences de bifurcations apparaissent durant la transition vers la turbulence, lorsque l'on augmente le nombre de reynolds. Les caracteristiques des bifurcations et des divers regimes de l'ecoulement sont presentees. Pour les grands rapports d'aspect, la transition affecte un ecoulement avec deux couches limites separees (une sur chaque disque). Dans ce cas, les premieres bifurcations sont dues a des instabilites de la couche limite du disque fixe qui creent des structures periodiques. Une etude de stabilite de l'une de ces structures propagatives est presentee. Elle permet de mettre en evidence une instabilite secondaire de type eckhaus. Finalement, la transition observee pour les plus faibles rapport d'aspect est qualitativement decrite. Pour ces situations, l'ecoulement de base tend vers un ecoulement de type couette de torsion et nous rapportons l'observation de regimes de turbulence localisee (coexistence de domaines laminaires et turbulents).
The Rice E 3-Ubiquitin Ligase HIGH EXPRESSION OF OSMOTICALLY RESPONSIVE GENE 1 Modulates the Expression of ROOT MEANDER CURLING , a Gene Involved in Root Mechanosensing , through the Interaction with Two ETHYLENE-RESPONSE FACTOR Transcription Factors 1

Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2780–157 Oeiras, Portugal (T.F.L., T.S.S., A.M.C., N.J.M.S., M.M.O.); and Genomics of Plant Stress Unit, iBET, Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica, Apartado 12, 2780–901 Oeiras, Portugal (T.F.L., T.S.S., A.M.C., N.J.M.S., M.M.O.); and Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (S.J.S., S.G.)
Measurement of Copper Deficiency in Humans: CCS as a Novel Biomarker of Copper Status in Bariatric Surgery Patients

in nutrition science at Purdue University with a minor in biology. She spent two years in Dr. GletsuMiller’s lab where she completed an honors thesis and was part of the Transdisciplinary Obesity Prevention Research Science (TOPRS) program. Upon graduation she will continue doing research under a pediatric endocrinologist at the Indiana School of Medicine. She plans to attend medical school in the future. Nana Gletsu-Miller is currently an assistant professor of nutrition science at Purdue University. She obtained a PhD in nutrition and metabolism from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, in 1998. Her dissertation studies involved the effect of obesity on insulin signal transduction in the cell nucleus. Thereafter she was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pathology at Emory University, Atlanta, with Kenneth Bernstein, studying the transcriptional regulation of angiotensin converting enzyme. In 2002 she transitioned to focus on human studies in the field of bariatric surgery, in the Department of Surgery, Emory University, as a research instructor. In 2006 she became an assistant professor of research in surgery in the Hubert Department of Global Health. Her studies focused on the mechanisms responsible for resolution of type 2 diabetes following bariatric surgery Gletsu-Miller joined the Department of Nutrition Science at Purdue in 2011. Her studies investigate the nutritional status of bariatric surgery patients and focus on deficiencies in iron, copper, vitamin D, and essential fatty acids. MEASUREMENT OF COPPER DEFICIENCY IN HUMANS: CCS as a Novel Biomarker of Copper Status in Bariatric Surgery Patients