Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dual evaluation of some novel chalcone annulated pyrazolines as anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial agents via in-silico target study on cyclooxygenase-2

A novel series of chalcone bearing pyrazoline moieties were (P1 to P7) synthesized and characterized by various analytical techniques. The anti-inflammatory studies showed the compounds P1, P2, P5, and P6 have produced the noteworthy inhibition on protein denaturation (81.39 - 96.57 %) when compared to standard 98.17% whereas, the antiproteinase activity was in the range of 84.55- 90.44 % when compared to the standard, 95.95 %. The compounds, P1, P2, P5 (2-Cl, 4- Cl & -NO2 substituent) bearing electron-withdrawing groups and the compounds P3 & P6 (4-N(CH3)2 & -OH substituent) possessing electron-donating group in its phenyl ring system exhibited the prominent activity. Further, to explore the molecular mechanism, the in-silico docking study against COX-2 enzyme was performed. The compounds were also screened for their antibacterial activities. Among them, the compounds P1, P2, P3, P5 and P6 showed the significant antibacterial activity against both gram-positive and gram-negative pathogen such as, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Serratia marcescens and Staphylococcus typhi with maximum zone of inhibition within the range of 12-14 mm and 19-25 mm for 100 and 200 µg/ml concentrations respectively when compared to that of standard drug Gentamycin, whose ranges between 15-18 mm and 25-28 mm correspondingly.
On the Case of Equalities in Comparison Results for Elliptic Equations Related to Gauss Measure

In this paper, we deal with a Dirichlet problem for linear elliptic equations related to Gauss measure. For this problem, we study the converse of some inequalities proved by other authors, in the sense that we study the case of equalities and show that equalities are achieved only in the “symmetrized” situations. In addition, under other assumptions, we give a different form of comparison results and discuss the corresponding case of equalities.
Dietary Habits of Students Enrolled in Faculties of Health Sciences: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction It is often presumed that students of health sciences are more vigilant about their diet. This study assessed the prevalence of unhealthy dietary habits and identified its associated factors among students enrolled at a large university for health sciences in the Middle East. Methods A cross-sectional study, using a set of pre-validated and anonymous dietary tools, was conducted in 2018. The self-reported students’ characteristics and prevalence of 10 unhealthy dietary habits were collected. Results Males were significantly more likely have irregular meal times (β = 0.425, adjusted [adj.] odds ratio [OR] = 1.5) and insufficient seafood consumption (β = 0.55, adj. OR = 1.7) compared to females, adj. P = 0.046 and adj. P = 0.012, respectively. Students in their third year and above (β = 0.857, adj. OR = 2.2) reported more insufficient water intake compared to students in the first and second years, adjusted P = 0.003. Obesity in students was a significant associated factor with fast food consumption (β = 0.48, adj. OR = 1.8), night-eating habits (β = 0.27, adj. OR = 1.3) and skipping meals (β = 0.41, adj. OR = 1.5) compared to normal weight students, adjusted P = 0.002, adj. P = 0.004, and adj. P = 0.003, respectively. Conclusions Compliance with healthy dietary habits among students was less than optimal. Special consideration should be paid to gender and obesity that have been associated with insufficient water intake, irregular meal times, skipping meals, night-eating habits, and fast food consumption.
A Deep Reinforcement Learning Method for Model-based Optimal Control of HVAC Systems

Model-based optimal control (MOC) methods have strong potential to improve the energy efficiency of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system. However, most existing MOC methods require a low-order building model, which significantly limits the practicability of such methods. This study develops a novel model-based optimal control method for HVAC supervisory-level control based on the recently-proposed deep reinforcement learning (DRL) framework. The control method can directly use whole building energy model, a widely used flexible building modelling method, as the model and train an optimal control policy using DRL. By integrating deep learning models, the proposed control method can directly take the easily-measurable parameters, such as weather conditions and indoor environment conditions, as the input and controls the easily-controllable supervisory-level control points of HVAC systems. The proposed method is tested in an office building to control its radiant heating system. It is found that a dynamic optimal control policy can be successfully developed, and better heating energy efficiency can be achieved while maintaining the acceptable indoor thermal comfort. However, the “delayed reward problem” is found, which indicates the future work should firstly focus on the effective optimization of the deep reinforcement learning.
lambda-Net: Reconstruct Hyperspectral Images From a Snapshot Measurement

We propose the λ-net, which reconstructs hyperspectral images (e.g., with 24 spectral channels) from a single shot measurement. This task is usually termed snapshot compressive-spectral imaging (SCI), which enjoys low cost, low bandwidth and high-speed sensing rate via capturing the three-dimensional (3D) signal i.e., (x, y, λ), using a 2D snapshot. Though proposed more than a decade ago, the poor quality and low-speed of reconstruction algorithms preclude wide applications of SCI. To address this challenge, in this paper, we develop a dual-stage generative model to reconstruct the desired 3D signal in SCI, dubbed λ-net. Results on both simulation and real datasets demonstrate the significant advantages of λ-net, which leads to >4dB improvement in PSNR for real-mask-in-the-loop simulation data compared to the current state-of-the-art. Furthermore, λ-net can finish the reconstruction task within sub-seconds instead of hours taken by the most recently proposed DeSCI algorithm, thus speeding up the reconstruction >1000 times.
Syncope in children clinicoetiological correlation

Background: Syncope is the abrupt cessation of cerebral blood flow leading to temporary loss of consciousness. Identification of etiology is utmost important as any syncopal event may be life threatening. Aim was to correlate the clinical and etiological causes of syncope in children and to note their investigational profile.Methods: Among 40 patients presenting with syncope and presyncope were studied. History of the event, precipitating factors were noted. They were investigated with the help of blood pressure, Electrocardiogram (ECG), 2D Echocardiogram and Electroencephalogram (EEG). Results: Out of the 40 patients of syncope 65% were above the age of 10 years with male preponderance (60%). Vasovagal syncope (57%) was the most common cause of syncope followed by orthostatic hypotension (15%), neurological (15%), and cardiac etiology (6%). In the neurological etiology the EEG showed diffuse slow background with occasional sharp bursts in right frontal area in 2 patients while in 4 patients sharp bursts were present in the centero-temporal region. 17% were classified as presyncope, 60% as mild and 22% as having severe syncope. There was a significant correlation of etiology of syncope with duration of hospitalization of more than 4 days and with recurrence of syncope. There was significant correlation of Evaluation of Guidelines in Syncope (EGSYS) score >3 with cardiogenic syncope. On follow up, neurological syncope patients had significant decrease in the number of syncopal episodes as they were immediately started on antiepileptics.Conclusions: Electrocardiogram, 2D Echocardiogram and Electroencephalogram are important tools for the early management and treatment of cardiac and neurological etiology of syncope.
Dormancy breakage and germination in Sapindus saponaria L. seeds as a function of temperature and germination substrate

The objective of this study was to evaluate different pre-germination treatments, histochemical characteristics and physiological performance of Sapindus saponaria L. seeds as a function of temperature and the germination substrate. The S. saponaria seeds were collected in the municipality of Rio Verde, GO, and analysed through the execution of 2 tests (dormancy breakage and germination tests). Test 1 consisted of 10 treatments for overcoming dormancy, whereas test 2 consisted of a 35-day evaluation of germination on several substrates (paper and sand) under the following 4 temperature conditions: 20, 25, 30°C and alternating 20-30°C (± 0.5°C). The results of the dormancy breakage and germination tests were submitted to analysis of variance (ANOVA), and the means were compared by the Tukey test. Scarifying S. saponaria seeds with concentrated sulfuric acid for 90 min provided a relatively high speed and percentage of emergence, without causing anatomical damage. Pre-germination treatments using high- (42 °C) or low-(10 °C) temperature stress caused cellular damage in the endosperm region of S. saponaria seeds. The greatest percentage of S. saponaria seeds germinated on a paper substrate at 30°C.
EFFECT OF SOME NATURAL EXTRACTS, INDOLBUTIRIC ACID AND NAPHTHALENE ACETIC ACID ON ROOTING OF PICUAL OLIVE CUTTINGS

This study was carried out during 2014 and 2015 seasons in a private plastic green house at Belbies District, Sharkia Governorate, Egypt in an attempt to replace the traditional olive cutting rooting synthetic growth regulators by some auxin releasing natural extracts. Cuttings of Picual olive cv. were prepared on November of each season (about 15 cm long and7-9 mm in diameter), cutting were dipped in concentrations of indole-3-Butyric acid (IBA) at 4000 ppm and naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) at 500 ppm solution for 5 seconds or soaked in the natural extracts for half hour. The results revealed that the maximum rooting percentage (81.44 and 85.60%), number of roots/cutting (14.84 and 14.90 root/cutting), shoot number/ transplant (2.74 and 2.17 shoot/plant), leaf number/plant (6.49 and 6.61 leaf/plant) and bud sprouting percentage (48.46 and 48.14 %) respectively were recorded for cuttings dipped in IBA at 4000 ppm in comparison with those dipped in moringa extracts, which gained the lowest values of the considered parameters during the two seasons. The highest cutting survival percentages were recorded for IBA and NAA treatments, garlic at 10 or 20%, liquorice at10 g and algae at 2.5 or 5 cm in both seasons without significant differences between them. Total carbohydrates percentages in the roots and shoots were gradually increased with the advance in planting months, and reached the highest values after seven months, but total soluble phenols in the roots were decreased after six months then increased in the seventh month in both seasons. The algae, garlic and liquorice treatments were considered the best natural extracts compared to yeast and in turn can be used as an alternative of growth regulators for rooting Picual olive cuttings.
Product market regulation, knowledge frontier and efficiency

This paper estimates efficiency in knowledge production across OECD industries by means of a Stochastic Frontier Approach (SFA), and investigates the role of upstream product market regulation (PMR). PMR is found to influence R&D efficiency not directly, but only with second-order effects, i.e. by interacting with the functioning of the technology, labour and the financial market. High levels of PMR are associated with poor efficiency performance where intellectual property protection is strong, whilst they are beneficial in the presence of scarcely regulated financial markets and stringent employment protection. In this sense, PMR appears to channel frictions arising from the regulation of other markets.
Drug Utilization with special Reference to Antimicrobials in a Sub-health post in Western

Introduction Antibiotics are a group of drugs with the most potential impact on morbidity and mortality in the developing world. Misuse of antibiotics is a crucial factor in the genesis of microbial resistance. Objectives The present study was carried out to obtain information on demographic characteristics, morbidity patterns, prescribing patterns, percentage of encounters with an antibiotic prescribed and to calculate the mean ± SD cost of drugs per prescription. Methods A retrospective analysis of outpatient records over a five-month period (15.08.2002 to 14.01.2003) was carried out at the Armala sub-health post, Kaski district. Percentage of drugs prescribed from the Essential drug list of Nepal was calculated and the prescribing patterns were analyzed. Results 1375 patients made 1464 visits to the sub-health post; 732 patients were male. Acute respiratory infections [277 patients (20.14%)] were the most common illness. 2198 drugs were prescribed; 75.6 percent of drugs were prescribed from the Essential drug list of Nepal. A total of 1395 drugs (63.5%) were prescribed by generic name. An antibiotic was prescribed in 877 encounters (59.9%), the common indications being acute respiratory infections, injuries, skin infections and enteric fever. Mean ± SD cost of drugs was 54.2 ± 38.6 Nepalese rupees with antibiotics accounting for 58.1 percent of the cost. Problems were noted in 138 prescriptions (9.4%). Conclusions The percentage of drugs prescribed from the Essential drug list should be increased. Use of antibiotics in predominantly viral infections should be discouraged. Further studies are required.
How Trade-Restrictive Is Standardized Packaging? Economic and Legal Implications of the WTO Panel Reports in Australia–Tobacco Plain Packaging

Abstract The lengthy and long-awaited WTO Panel Reports in Australia–Tobacco Plain Packaging contain a host of material for reflection, particularly in relation to the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. While two of the Panel Reports proceed to appeal, we consider with respect to the two adopted Panel Reports the Panel's reasoning in relation to Article 2.2 of the TBT, focusing on the meaning of trade-restrictiveness. This concept central to WTO law has been under-examined to date, and these Panel Reports demonstrate some of the complexities in identifying trade-restrictive measures, particularly where they are non-discriminatory. The Panel found that Australia's measures restrict trade because they contribute to their objective of reducing tobacco consumption. Therefore, any equally effective alternative will similarly restrict trade. This curious result under TBT Article 2.2 may be particular to non-discriminatory measures that target ‘socially bad’ products such as tobacco.
The return variance of the EMU equity markets and spill over effects from short-term interest rates

This paper examines the spillover effects from the short term interest rates market to equity markets within the Euro area. The empirical study is carried out by estimating an extended Markov Switching GJR in mean model with a Bayesian based Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methodology. The result indicates that stock markets in the Euro area display a significant two regimes with distinct characteristics. Within a bear market regime, stock returns have a negative relationship with the volatility, and the volatility process responds asymmetrically to negative shocks of equity returns. The other regime appears to be a bull market regime, within which the returns have a positive relationship with the volatility, and the volatility is lower and more persistent. We find also that there is a significant impact of fluctuations in the short term interest rate on the conditional variance and conditional returns in the EMU countries. Such impact is asymmetrical, and it appears to be stronger in the bear market and when interest rate changes upward. JEL classification : C10, C11, C13, G12, G19 . MCMC, Markov Switching, GJR-M, EMU stock markets, Short term interest rates ∗The author thanks for the Bankforskningsinstitutet (the Swedish Institute of Banking Research) providing the fund for this project
Assessment of Biventricular Function in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Atrial Fibrillation: A Cross-sectional Study Using Two-dimensional Speckle Tracking Imaging

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSA) is a common but often under diagnosed condition. According to literature, OSA prevalence in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients varies from 21 to 85%. OSA is increasingly recognized as a risk factor for biventricular dysfunction. The present study aimed to compare left and right ventricular functions, assessed by conventional echocardiographic parameters and speckle tracking imaging, in non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) patients with and without severe OSA. Methods: A cross-sectional analytic study was conducted. Forty successive patients with NVAF were included. All of them had a clinical screening for symptoms suggestive of OSA and underwent polysomnographic study. Patients were divided into two groups (group 1: without severe OSA with an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) < 30 events per hour (e/h), and group 2: having severe OSA with an AHI ≥ 30 e/h). Echocardiography was performed in all patients. Left and right ventricular function parameters were measured including global longitudinal strain (GLS) and myocardial performance index (MPI). Results: OSA was diagnosed in 90% of NVAF patients. The average AHI was 22.1 ± 13 e/h. Eleven patients (27.5%) had mild OSA, 9 patients (22.5%) had moderate OSA, and 16 patients (40%) had severe OSA. General clinical characteristics were comparable between groups. A statistically significant association was demonstrated between severe OSA and impairment of left ventricular GLS (-17.3 ± 4.5 vs. -14.9 ± 3%, in group 1 and 2 respectively, p = 0.02) and left ventricular MPI (0.37 ± 0.09 vs. 0.49 ± 0.13, in group 1 and 2 respectively, p = 0.01). Right ventricular lateral wall strain was non significantly lower in group 1 compared to group 2 (-22.5 ± 8.4 vs. -18.4 ± 5.8%, in group 1 and 2 respectively, p = 0.15). On multivariate logistic regression analysis, left ventricular GLS impairment (> -18%) and MPI > 0.37 were independent predictors of severe OSA. Conclusion: Severe OSA was diagnosed in 40% of NVAF patients. Impairment of left ventricular GLS and left MPI were statistically associated with severe OSA.
Improving the Development of Safety Critical Software

The importance and requirements of certifying safety critical software is today more apparent than ever. This study focuses on the standards and practices used within the avionics, automotive and medical domain when it comes to safety critical software. We identify critical problems and trends when certifying safety critical software and propose a proof-of-concept using static analysis, model checking and incremental SAT solving as a contribution towards solving the identified problems. We present quantitative execution times and code coverage results of our proposed solution. The proposed solution is developed under the assumptions of safety critical software standards and compared to other studies proposing similar methods. Lastly, we conclude the issues and advantages of our proof-of-concept in perspective of the software developer community.
Heat and Learning

We demonstrate that heat inhibits learning and that school airconditioning may mitigate this effect. Student fixed effects models using 10 million PSAT-retakers show hotter school days in years before the test reduce scores, with extreme heat being particularly damaging. Weekend and summer temperature has little impact, suggesting heat directly disrupts learning time. New nationwide, school-level measures of air-conditioning penetration suggest patterns consistent with such infrastructure largely offsetting heat’s effects. Without air-conditioning, a 1◦F hotter school year reduces that year’s learning by one percent. Hot school days disproportionately impact minority students, accounting for roughly five percent of the racial achievement gap. JEL: J24, I20, Q50
Evaluation of the effect of smoking on periodontal disease and its response to non-surgical treatment: a randomized controlled trial

This prospective clinical study was designed to evaluate clinically the effect of smoking on periodontal disease and its response to non-surgical treatment. Fifty patients fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria were divided into Group 1 with 25 smokers, and Group 2 with 25 non-smokers (control). At baseline all the subjects received periodontal examination. Supragingival and subgingival scaling using ultrasonic tips and root planing using curettes were performed at the initial visit. The following clinical parameters were selected for the evaluation at baseline, 1 month, 2 months and 3 months: Probing Depth (PD), Gingival Recession (GR), Plaque Index (PI), Gingival Index (GI) and Gingival Crevicular Fluid (GCF) volume measurement. The results showed that: 1. smokers had significantly greater PD, GR and PI as compared to controls, 2. smokers had significantly lesser GI scores than controls indicating suppressed inflammation, 3. smokers had lesser GCF scores than non-smokers indicating suppressed inflammation. In conclusion, due to deleterious effects of tobacco on periodontal tissues, it seems important that tobacco cessation therapy should be emphasized to smokers and tobacco chewers requiring such treatment.
MINIMIZING STRAWBERRY MINERAL FERTILIZATION AND ENHANCING WATER USE EFFICIENCY BY USING MAGNETIZED IRRIGATION WATER

This study was carried out at Al-Kanater Research Station, El-Kaluobia Governorate during the two successive seasons of 2012-2013 and 2013-2014, to investigate the effect of magnetized water on minimizing strawberry mineral fertilization. Four treatments were used i.e., tap water plus 100 % NPK (control), magnetized water plus 50 % NPK, magnetized water plus 75 % NPK and magnetized water plus 100 % NPK of the recommended mineral fertilization rates. Data were recorded on some vegetative growth characters, early and total fruit yield, some physical and chemical fruit quality parameters and macro and micro elements in leaves. Results indicated that irrigation with magnetized water plus 50% NPK of the recommended fertilization rate showed the highest values of total chlorophyll, total carbohydrates, early and total yield, fruit firmness, total soluble solids in fruits and water use efficiency as compared with control. Moreover, magnetized water plus 75% NPK of the recommended rate of mineral fertilization showed the highest values of NPK and manganese contents. In general ascorbic acid was decreased by using magnetized water. The study recommend using 50 % of the recommended NPK fertilization rates plus magnetized water to increase yield and quality of strawberry.
Plasmodium falciparum, Schistosoma mansoni and Amebiasis Co-Infections: Synergetic and Antagonistic Effect on Anemia in Cameroonian School Children. -

School children aged 3-15 years were enrolled in a cross-sectional study in Yoro village, of the Central region of Cameroon. Stool samples were examined for Schistosoma mansoni eggs using Kato Katz technique. The formol ether technique was used to identify protozoan cysts. Blood samples were examined for malaria parasites and hemoglobin concentrations using the Giemsa stain and Haemoque methods, respectively. Out of 254 children examined, 161 (63.4%) were infected with any parasites (P. falciparum, S. mansoni, E. histolytica and E. coli) among whom, 120 (74.5%) had single infection while 41 (25.5%) had multiple infections. P. falciparum parasitaemia was significantly higher in males compared to females (P