Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Anti-proliferation and Insulin Resistance Alleviation of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells HepG2 in Vitro by Chinese Propolis

Previous studies suggest affirmative effects of propolis on cancers and diabetes, due to its abundant flavonids. But information is rarely available with regard to its effects on hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HCC), particularly on cell proliferation and insulin resistance (IR). We measured the flavonids of ethanol extract from Chinese propolis (EEP) by HPLC. IR model of HepG2 cells were established, which were treated with different kinds and doses of propolis. The anti-proliferation and IR alleviation of HepG2 cells were studied. As result, EEP contained many flavonoids. Compared with other two solvents (PEG and DMSO), olive oil (dosage: 200 μg/mL) could significantly inhibit cell proliferation and alleviate IR of HepG2 cells. EEP dissolved in DMSO (mass ratio: 2:1; dosage: 300 μg/mL) exhibited anti-proliferative effect on HepG2 cells. When EEP was dissolved in olive oil (mass ratio: 2:1; dosage: 300 μg/mL), IR of HepG2 cells was greatly alleviated. As a conclusion, olive oil may be more suitable as auxiliary solvent of propolis as to improve its biological activities. High-dose propolis could effectively inhibit the proliferation and alleviate the IR of HepG2 cells in vitro.
The E conomic Impacts of Forest Pathogens in Washington State: A Hedonic Approach

An increase in the incidence of forest pathogens in the Western US has created new resource management issues. In this research I employ a dataset of 170,141 housing transactions in twelve Western Washington counties to quantify the impacts of parasitic forest damage on the proxy real estate market. Specifically, I estimate a set of hedonic fixed effects models to control for omitted variable bias and spatial autocorrelation. Results show statistically significant impacts on property values in the presence of species specific and aggregate defoliation, suggesting new information for forestry management and policy.
Short-Term Managerial Contracts Facilitate Cartels

This paper shows how a series of commonly observed short-term CEO employment contracts improves cartel stability compared to a long-term contract. When a manager’s short-term appointment is renewed if and only if the firm hits a certain profit target, then (a) defection from collusion results in superior firm performance and thus reduces the chance of being fired immediately, while (b) future punishment results in inferior firm performance, thereby increasing the chance of being fired in the future. The introduction of this reemployment tradeoff intertwines with the usual monetary tradeoff and weakly improves cartel stability. Studying the impact of fixed versus variable salary components, I find that fixed components facilitate collusion with a short-term contract, while not affecting cartel stability with a long-term contract. I extend the model to argue how short-term renewable contracts are a source of cyclical collusive pricing. Finally, interpreting the results in the light of firm financing shows how debt-financed firms can form more stable cartels than equity-financed firms.
Proximate and Mineral Analysis of Some Wild Leafy Vegetables Common in Benue State, Middle Belt-nigeria

The proximate analysis and mineral composition of some commonly grown and consumed leafy vegetables in the middle belt region of Nigeria were studied to determine their nutritional content. They include Ficus thonningii, Annona senegalensis, Emilia coccinea and Hibiscus sabdariffa. The proximate analyses revealed the following range of result in the fresh sample; Moisture(62.32 -93.38%),Crude Fat( 0.05-0.71%), Crude Fibre (1.30-20.15%), Ash(1.06-2.37%), Crude Protein(0.03-0.33%),Carbohydrate (4.16 -15.12%)and Energy value (17.21 to 67.02 kJ/100g) while that for dried samples were Moisture(11.33-28.58%),Crude Fat(0.57-3.43%), Crude Fibre (10.51-36.86%),Ash(4.70-12.77%), Crude Protein(0.28-1.53%),Carbohydrate (33.11-62.11%) and Energy value(120.57 to 345.7 kJ/100g). There was no significant difference between the nutrient and mineral content of the studied vegetables. The wild vegetables contain appreciable amount of essential nutrient molecules and mineral elements needed for the maintenance of good nutritional status and thus can compete favourably with commonly consumed vegetables.
Rare Disasters, Financial Development, and Sovereign Debt

We study the implications of the interaction between rare disasters and financial development for sovereign debt markets. In our model, countries vary in their financial development, by which we mean the extent to which shocks can be hedged in international capital markets. The model predicts that low levels of financial development generate a key feature of sovereign debt in emerging economies known as "debt intolerance": high credit spreads associated with lower debt-to-output ratios than those of developed countries.
Effects of stand composition on fire hazard in mixed-wood Canadian boreal forest

Surface fuels were examined in 48 stands of the Canadian mixed-wood boreal forest. Tree canopy was charac- terized with the point-centred quadrant method and stands were characterized as deciduous, mixed-deciduous, mixed- coniferous or coniferous according to the percentage of coni- fer basal area. Woody debris loadings were measured with the line intersect method and the litter, duff, shrub loads and depths or heights were sampled with various quadrats. No significant difference was found among stand types for total woody debris load, large basal diameter shrub loads and load or depth of litter and duff. However, conifer stands had signifi- cantly heavier loads of small diameter elements (twigs and shrubs) and conifer pieces were more numerous within these stands than in deciduous stands. The BEHAVE prediction system was used to evaluate the impact of these differences on the potential of fire ignition in situations where topography and weather were constant. The qualitative and quantitative changes in fuels, resulting from species replacement and fast decay rates, influence fire hazard. Simulations of fire behav- iour showed that in the mixed-wood boreal forest fires were less intense and spread more slowly in deciduous stands than in mixed or coniferous stands. Moreover, spring fires were more intense than summer fires, and differences between seasons increased with the increase of deciduous basal area.
Corporate Governance and Auditor Independence in Saudi Arabia: Literature Review and Proposed Conceptual Framework

This study aimed to propose a theoretical framework that explains the relationship between internal corporate governance mechanisms namely audit committee and board of directors, and auditor independence. It is a descriptive study that explored the Saudi corporate governance reforms and the Saudi auditing market. In recent years, Saudi Arabia has been pursuing corporate governance reforms, as evidenced by the setting up of the Capital Market Authority (CMA) in 2003 and the publication of the Saudi Corporate Governance Code (SCGC) in 2006. In the Saudi Organization for Certified Public Accountants (SOCPA), the accounting standards committee holds the responsibility of developing and reviewing accounting and auditing standards in the country. According to the agency theory, corporate governance mechanisms and external audit have a key role in improving the process of financial reporting. Basing the primary argument on the above premise, this study attempted to achieve the following objectives; 1) to explore the issue of auditor independence, and 2) to determine the extent of the effect of corporate practices in Saudi Arabia on the external audit independence. This conceptual work’s outcomes revealed that the regulatory authorities and the CMA have to expend more efforts to improve the awareness and appreciation level of effective corporate governance practices among major internal mechanisms (audit committee and board of directors) and external mechanisms (external auditors) of corporate governance in Saudi Arabia.
Correlation of platelet volume indices in coronary artery disease and control groups

Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD) stems as a consequence of atherosclerotic plaque with associated platelet rich coronary thrombus formation. Larger platelets are metabolically more active and have a greater thrombogenic potential compared to smaller platelets. Aims: The present study was designed to evaluate the platelet volume indices in coronary artery disease patients with documented angiogram abnormalities and to correlate the significance in comparison to normal controls. Materials and Methods: This was a comparative study of 128 subjects; 51 patients of CAD with angiogram evidence of single vessel, double vessel and triple vessel disease and 77 controls. Blood samples were collected in standardised EDTA tubes and analysed using a five part analyser Sysmex XS-800-I. The controls were healthy voluntary blood donors and were compared with CAD patients admitted for angiography. Results: Patients with abnormal angiogram findings had a higher MPV and PDW than the normal controls. MPV showed a statistically significant correlation between CAD and control groups with a P value of 0.001. Conclusion: Platelet volume indices, specifically Mean platelet volume can be of benefit in detecting coronary artery disease patients who may probably show abnormality in angiogram findings.
An energetic correlate between colony size and foraging effort in seabirds, an example of the Adélie penguinPygoscelis adeliae

Central-place foraging seabirds alter the availability of their prey around colonies, forming a “halo” of reduced prey access that ultimately constrains population size. This has been indicated indirectly by an inverse correlation between colony size and reproductive success, numbers of conspecifics at other colonies within foraging range, foraging effort (i.e. trip duration), diet quality and colony growth rate. Although ultimately mediated by density dependence relative to food through intraspecific exploitative or interference competition, the proximate mechanism involved has yet to be elucidated. Herein, we show that Adelie penguin Pygoscelis adeliae colony size positively correlates to foraging trip duration and metabolic rate, that the metabolic rate while foraging may be approaching an energetic ceiling for birds at the largest colonies, and that total energy expended increases with trip duration although uncompensated by increased mass gain. We propose that a competition-induced reduction in prey availability results in higher energy expenditure for birds foraging in the halo around large colonies, and that to escape the halo a bird must increase its foraging distance. Ultimately, the total energetic cost of a trip determines the maximum successful trip distance, as on longer trips food acquired is used more for self maintenance than for chick provisioning. When the net cost of foraging trips becomes too high, with chicks receiving insufficient food, chick survival suffers and subsequent colony growth is limited. Though the existence of energetic studies of the same species at multiple colonies is rare, because foraging metabolic rate increases with colony size in at least two other seabird species, we suggest that an energetic constraint to colony size may generally apply to other seabirds.
Identifying households with low immunisation completion in Bangladesh

The objective of this study was to investigate if the mothers’ demographics and household characteristics—including type of use of cooking fuel, energy and toilet facilities—have any implication for complete immunisation rates among their children. A cross-sectional data analysis of a nationally representative sample of 4925 women with at least one child was performed. Chisquared tests and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used. Immunisation coverage was positively associated with the mother’s education and with household characteristics such as toilet facility, electricity and involvement in a microfinance group. These findings indicate the need for further advocacy for increased knowledge on the importance of vaccination and affordable public immunisation programs focusing on higher risk households such as those with pit facilities, lack of electricity and no participation in a microfinance group. Such households warrant further attention and can be targeted for immunisation coverage.
Breeding for resistance to planthoppers in rice

Rice is an important cereal and a source of calories for one-third of the world population. Many diseases and insects attack the rice plant. Among the insect pests, planthoppers cause significant yield losses. Of the various strategies, host-plant resistance is the most practical and economical approach to control insect pests. Six kinds of planthoppers, brown planthopper (BPH), whitebacked planthopper (WBPH), green leafhopper (GLH), zigzag leafhopper (ZLH), small brown planthopper (SBPH), and green rice leafhopper (GRH), cause yield losses in rice to a variable extent. These hoppers are also vectors of major viral diseases, such as grassy stunt, ragged stunt, rice stripe virus, black streak, and tungro disease. A number of donors for resistance have been identified and used in breeding varieties resistant to hoppers. Genetics of resistance to planthoppers has been studied and several resistance genes have been identified from traditional landraces, including wild species. As many as 21 resistance genes have been identified for BPH, 8 for WBPH, 14 for GLH, 6 for GRH, and 3 for ZLH. Of the 21 BPH resistance genes, 15 have been mapped to different chromosomal locations. Some of the mapped BPH resistance genes have become available for use in marker-assisted selection (MAS). Similarly, a few genes resistant to other planthoppers are being mapped. In addition, QTLs have also been identified for BPH, WBPH, and GRH. Of the six hoppers, GRH is mostly found in temperate rice-growing regions. Six resistance genes for GRH have been mapped, on chromosomes 5, 11, 6, 3, 8, and 4. Near-isogenic lines have been developed in a japonica background using the MAS approach. ZLH occurs in the tropics and subtropics of Asia and has remained a minor pest of rice. One of the major challenges for plant breeders is to cope with the frequent changes in biotypes and populations of planthoppers, particularly in the context of climatic change. Future research should focus on establishing high-throughput screening protocols for field resistance, identifying new genes for resistance from diverse sources, and developing varieties with durable resistance to hoppers using MAS through pyramiding of major genes and QTLs. Furthermore, there is a need to develop gene-based markers, particularly single nucleotide polymorphism markers, to accelerate the transfer of genes into different genetic backgrounds and for breeding varieties resistant to hoppers. Characterization of insect populations/biotypes in different geographical regions is emphasized for the deployment of different genes for resistance to planthoppers.
Flexible low temperature piezoelectric films forharvesting from textiles

This paper reports new flexible low temperature PZT-polymer composites used for energy harvesting from textiles. The materials are screen-printable which gives the advantage of low-cost and suitability for mass- production. The PZT powder content was varied in three polymer binders and the resulting composites were denoted ECS-PolyPZT 1, 2 and 3. ECS-PolyPZT 2 with 45% PZT was found to be the most flexible material that achieved an initial d 33 of 22 pC/N. Following optimization of the poling parameters, the d 33 improved to 27 pC/N. This material is suitable for energy harvesting from fabrics enabling applications to be explored in the future.
Fake Discounts Drive Real Revenues in Retail

Prices in a wide variety of contexts are often presented in three parts: an original or suggested list price, a discount off that price, and the final selling price. Limited empirical evidence is available that speaks to the relative impact of each component on purchase behavior, even as theories abound. Measuring these impacts is critically important to sellers, to consumers, and to regulators who are keen on enforcing deceptive advertising guidelines against “fictitious pricing”—the practice of quoting list prices that do not truthfully reflect prior selling prices. This paper uses a large retail transaction data set that features wide variations in these pricing components within a relatively homogeneous product space. The data set has the unique feature of containing sales records from outlet stores wherein a subset of products have verifiably fictitious list prices and discounts, allowing for measurement of their impact on purchase incidence in actual retail settings. By measuring the impact of different pricing components on purchase likelihood, we find that list prices have a strong influence on purchase outcomes, with a $1 increase in the list price having the same positive effect on purchase likelihood on average as a $0.77 decrease in the actual selling price. This effect is larger for fake list prices, but smaller in longer-lived stores and stores closer to regular retail channels. In a ∗E-mail: dngwe@hbs.edu. This paper is based on a chapter of my dissertation. I am grateful to my dissertation committee members Chris Conlon, Brett Gordon, Kate Ho, Michael Riordan, and Scott Shriver for their guidance and advice. Daniel Schwam provided excellent research assistance.
The Determinants of Stock Market Volatilities in Ghana

The study aims at examining macroeconomic relationship between economic growth and stock market performance. Annual time series data covering the period 1990-2008 were extracted and interpolated into quarterly data. The ADF test statistics are used to test for stationarity in the variables. Johansen Cointegration and the error correction model techniques are employed to ascertain both short-run and long-run relationships between economic growth and stock market performance.The main findings of the study reveal that stock market performance exerts dominant effect on economic growth. Interesting also in the results is that, it takes time for this to take effect due to the presence of a lags values in the variables. The main determinants of economic growth in Ghana are identified to be lagged GDP, foreign direct investment and exchange rate. However, Inflation rate and interest rate are found to exert insignificant influence on economic growth. The main contribution of this study is its emphasis on macroeconomic relationship between economic growth and stock market performance in Ghana. Keywords : Stock market volatities, capitalization, determinants, economic growth
Analyzing Highly Dispersed Crash Data Using the Sichel Generalized Additive Models for Location , Scale and Shape

This paper documents the application of the Sichel (SI) generalized additive models for location, scale and shape (GAMLSS) for modeling highly dispersed crash data. The Sichel distribution is a compound Poisson distribution, which mixes the Poisson parameter with the generalized inverse Gaussian distribution. This distribution is particularly useful as a model for highly dispersed count data and has provided satisfactory fits in many cases where other models have proved to be inadequate. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the application of the Sichel GAMLSS for analyzing highly dispersed crash data and compare the results with the traditional Negative Binomial (NB) generalized linear model (GLM). To accomplish the objectives of the study, the NB, zero-inflated NB (ZINB) and SI GAMLSS were developed and compared using two highly dispersed crash datasets. The first dataset contains the crash data collected on 338 rural interstate road sections in Indiana. The second dataset consists of vehicle crash data that occurred on undivided 4-lane rural roadway segments in Texas. Several goodness-of-fit metrics were used to assess the statistical fit of the models. The results show that the Sichel GAMLSS can always have a better fitting performance than the NB and ZINB for the crash datasets examined in this study. Thus, the SI GAMLSS may offer a viable alternative to the traditionally used NB GLMs for analyzing highly dispersed crash datasets.
Urban agriculture in the United States : reconnecting consumers and producers Urban agriculture in the United States : reconnecting consumers and

Anecdotal evidence suggests that urban farming is becoming more common in the United States, as food based entrepreneurs seek to make money farming in the city. Urban farms are diverse operations that produce food in a variety of settings, including greenhouses, on rooftops, in raised beds and with high tunnels. Yet many urban farms are not solely concerned with food production, and consumer behavior. The mechanism for change, according to urban farmers, is that by providing the opportunity for citizens to witness the process of growing food, they will choose to buy locally or regionally produced healthy foods, such as fruits, vegetables, and animal products from smaller scale farms. Using primary data collected from a national survey of urban farmers in the United States, for the year 2012, we provide new information about the scope of urban farming, how much they produce, and their missions. A preliminary econometric analysis explores the factors related to whether an urban farm’s goal is to educate, to build community, to produce food for family or friends, to bring to market, to increase food security, or other general statements, not easily characterized, about food.
Distribution and Abundance of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Sand Settling Reservoirs and Drinking Water Treatment Plants across the Yellow River, China

Understanding how antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are distributed in drinking water treatment processes is important due to their potential public health risk. Little is known about the occurrence and distribution of ARGs in typical drinking water treatment processes, such as sand settling reservoirs (SSRs) and drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs), in the Yellow River, especially at the catchment scale. In this study, ARG profiling was investigated from water samples of influent (river water) and effluent (source water) of SSRs and finished water of DWTPs in six cities along the Yellow River catchment using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Seventeen ARGs and two mobile genetic elements (MGEs) were detected, among which aadE, strA, strB, tetA, sulII, intl1, and Tn916 had high detection rates (over 80%). The absolute abundances (gene copies/mL of water) of ARGs were reduced by the SSRs and DWTPs generally, but no reductions were observed for the relative abundances (gene copies/16S rRNA gene) of ARGs. Spatial distributions of ARGs and bacteria were not observed. The distribution of bacterial genera was clustered into four dominant patterns in different water type samples. The bacterial genera Pseudomonas, Massilia, Acinetobacter, Sphingomonas, Methylobacterium, and Brevundimonas dominated the finished water, with Brevundimonas and Methylobacterium being speculated to be potential hosts for two ARGs (strA and strB) through network analysis. The enrichment of these two genera, likely caused by selection of disinfection process, may contribute to the higher relative abundance of ARGs in finished water. This study provides insight and effective assessment of the potential risk of ARGs in drinking water treatment processes at the catchment scale.