Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The role of Interleukin-6 in nervous regeneration and functional recovery in organotypic hippocampal slice cultures

Le point commun des pathologies affectant le systeme nerveux central (SNC) des mammiferes adulte est qu'elles aboutissent toutes a des pertes de fonction causees par des dommages qui sont le plus souvent irreversibles. Nous savons a present que l'incapacite du SNC a recouvrer une activite fonctionnelle est principalement liee au fait que les pathologies conduisent souvent a une section des axones qui ne parviennent pas a regenerer. Par consequent, l'etude et la comprehension des mecanismes de la regenerescence axonale constitue une thematique centrale de la neurobiologie. Le present manuscrit s'inscrit dans cette perspective generale. Parmi ces mecanismes, la surproduction de l'interleukine-6 (IL-6) est tres frequemment correlee aux traumatismes et maladies degeneratives du SNC. C'est la raison pour laquelle elle a fait l'objet de nombreuses etudes. Les conclusions de ces investigations sont loin d'etre homogene (voire contradictoire), tant et si bien que l'on parle "d'epee a double tranchant" pour evoquer cette cytokine. Toutefois, peu d'etude ont tente de connaitre le role direct d'IL-6 sur la regenerescence axonale et le recouvrement fonctionnel de tissus leses ce qui constitue precisement l'objectif precis de la presente these. Pour ce faire nous avons utilise comme modele les tranches organotypiques d'hippocampe de souris et avons montre qu'IL-6 exerce une action benefique sur la repousse axonale et le recouvrement d'activite fonctionnelle.
Numerical study of a turbulent jet flow issued from lobed diffuser

Numerical simulations of turbulent free jet issuing from a six-lobed diffuser, using the shear stress transport k-ɷ model have been carried out. The three-dimensional calculations have been done on a tetrahedral mesti with 1.7 million cells. The numerical predictions have been compared with PIV measurements. This comparison shows reasonable agreement, principally, in terms of centreline longitudinal velocity, volumetric flow rate, longitudinal mean fluctuating velocity and streamwise vorticity. With these results, the shear stress transport k-ɷ model can be considered for future studies as an efficient mean for quickly optimizing lobed diffuser design and analyzing exit Reynolds number effect on the mixing performance of this three-dimensional flow for HVAC application. http://dx.doi. org/10.5755/j01.mech. 17.2. 333
Quantifying long-term risks to sea otters from the 1989 'Exxon Valdez' oil spill: Comment on Bodkin et al. (2012)

Bodkin et al. (2012; Mar Ecol Prog Ser 447:273�287) assessed the frequency at which sea otters Enhydra lutris might encounter subsurface oil residues from the 'Exxon Valdez' oil spill. They concluded that a pathway exists for exposures of sea otters to residual oil in the intertidal zone, and imply that this pathway has delayed recovery of sea otters. We agree that the potential exposure pathway exists, and the Bodkin et al. (2012) estimates of the frequency of encountering subsurface oil residues (4 to 10 times per year) comport with our previously published studies (2 to 7 times per year). However, we disagree that this pathway constitutes a significant risk to sea otters. We discuss results from our quantitative ecological risk assessment using an individual- based model that specifically simulated this pathway of exposures to a population of 500 000 sea otters. This conservative model predicted that assimilated doses of polycyclic aromatic hydrocar- bons in subsurface oil residues to the 1-in-1000 th most-exposed sea otters would be 1 to 2 orders of magnitude below the chronic effects thresholds that we established using USEPA data and methodology. When we artificially increased the rate of encountering subsurface oil residues, it required 4 to 10 encounters per day to reach effects levels. We conclude that the subsurface oil residues from the oil spill could not plausibly be responsible for any individual- or population- level effect on the sea otters at northern Knight Island.
Determinants of Business Intelligence Systems Adoption in Developing Countries: An Empirical Analysis From Ghanaian Banks

Keen competitions among banks to attract and maintain clients, together with issues such as risk management, and loss prevention are some of the common phenomena in the banking sector recently. As a result, Business Intelligence (BI) technologies which can be used to analyze and detect fraud, predict and understand the behavior of clients have come to the rescue of the banks. This study explores the factors that influence Ghanaian banks to adopt BI Systems and also determines the extent of its implementation. This was done with the development of a structural model through the lens of the Diffusion of Innovations Theory, Technology-Organization-Environment framework, and the Institutional Theory. A sample data from 130 Bank executives were subjected to partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results showed that technological factors (Relative Advantage and Complexity), organizational factors (Presence of Champion and Organizational Readiness), and environmental factors (Regulatory Body) account for BI Systems adoption in Ghanaian banks. Also, the analysis revealed that Ghanaian banks have reached a high level in terms of BI Systems implementation. This study contributes to enrich the Information Systems (IS) literature by identifying the contextual factors that organizations especially in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries should focus on with their BI Systems implementation effort. Other implications are also discussed.
Collisionally regenerated dark matter structures in galactic nuclei

We show that the presence of a {rho}{approx}r{sup -3/2} dark matter overdensity can be robustly predicted at the center of any galaxy old enough to have grown a power-law density cusp in the stars via the Bahcall-Wolf mechanism. Using both Fokker-Planck and direct N-body integrations, we demonstrate collisional generation of these dark matter 'crests' (collisionally regenerated structures) even in the extreme case that the density of both stars and dark matter were previously lowered by slingshot ejection from a binary supermassive black hole. The time scale for collisional growth of the crest is approximately the two-body relaxation time as defined by the stars, which is < or approx. 10 Gyr at the centers of stellar spheroids with luminosities L < or approx. 10{sup 9.5}L{sub {center_dot}}, including the bulge of the Milky Way. The presence of crests can robustly be predicted in such galaxies, unlike the steeper enhancements, called 'spikes,' produced by the adiabatic growth of black holes. We discuss special cases where the prospects for detecting dark matter annihilations from the centers of galaxy halos are significantly affected by the formation of crests.
An investigation on the role of brand equity on electronic acceptance

Article history: Received July 28, 2013 Received in revised format 20 November 2013 Accepted 4 January 2014 Available online January 6 2014 This paper presents an empirical study to investigate the effect of brand equity on customer’s adoption of electronic banking. The proposed study uses a standard questionnaire for measuring brand equity, which consists of five items including brand associate, brand awareness, quality perception and brand loyalty. The study also uses another questionnaire, which measures electronic acceptance and both questionnaires are designed in Likert scale. Cronbach alphas for brand equity and electronic acceptance are measured as 0.83 and 0.75, which are above the acceptance level of 0.70. Therefore, we can confirm the validity of both questionnaires. The study is implemented among 384 regular customers of one of Iranian banks, randomly and using Spearman correlation ratio as well as stepwise regression techniques, the study has detected a positive and meaningful relationship between brand equity and customer’s adoption on electronic banking.
EFFECTIVE PROCESSING OF LOW-GRADE IRON ORE THROUGH GRAVITY AND MAGNETIC SEPARATION TECHNIQUES

This study investigates the effectiveness of gravity and magnetic concentration techniques for the beneficiation of a Sudanese iron ore, the newly discovered Wadi Halfa iron ore deposit. It is a low-grade type of ore with high silica content, more than 45% SiO2, and an average iron content of about 35% Fe. Based on the fact that there are appreciable differences in specific gravity and magnetic susceptibility between the desired iron minerals and the gangue minerals, it was suggested that gravity separation and/or magnetic separation may be useful to concentrate this type of ore. These two techniques were adopted for the beneficiation of the Wadi Halfa low-grade iron ore. As a result of the fine dissemination of the iron minerals and the most abundant gangue mineral, quartz, the optimum degree of grinding is around 150 micrometers. The rougher tests of both the gravity separation and magnetic separation produced concentrates of about 44% Fe. Each of these two concentrates was cleaned in a second stage of processing using high intensity magnetic separator. Final iron concentrates, assaying about 64% Fe at a recovery of about 70%, were achieved.
Bio-Ecological Diversity vs. Socio-Economic Diversity: A Comparison of Existing Measures

This paper aims to enrich the standard toolbox for measuring diversity in economics. In so doing, we compare the indicators of diversity used by economists with those used by biologists and ecologists. Ecologists and biologists are concerned about biodiversity: the diversity of organisms that inhabit a given area. Concepts of species diversity such as alpha (diversity within community), beta (diversity across communities) and gamma (diversity due to differences among samples when they are combined into a single sample) have been developed (Whittaker, 1960). Biodiversity is more complex than just the species that are present, it includes species richness and species evenness. Those various aspects of diversity are measured by biodiversity indices such as Simpson’s Diversity Indices, Species Richness Index, Shannon Weaver Diversity Indices, Patil and Taillie Index, Modified Hill’s Ratio. In economics, diversity measures are multi-faceted ranging from inequality (Lorenz curve, Gini coefficient, quintile distribution), to polarisation (Esteban and Ray, 1994; Wolfon, 1994, D’Ambrosio (2001)) and heterogeneity (Alesina, Baqir and Hoxby, 2000). We propose an interdisciplinary comparison between indicators. We review their theoretical background and applications. We provide an assessment of their possible use according to their specific properties.
Numerical simulation of 3D turbulent bend flow based on unstructured grids

Received: 9 February 2018 Accepted: 12 June 2018 Focusing on the continuous bends in Shapotou section of the Yellow River, this paper probes into the water level variation, planar flow field variation, longitudinal flow variation and secondary flow in the continuous bends. Specifically, a mathematical model for 3D turbulent flow was discretized by the finite-volume method based on unstructured grids, a numerical solution equation was set up under the unstructured grids, and the model was solved by the SIMPLE algorithm using unstructured non-staggered grids. Then, the calculation area was meshed into triangular grids, the grids were densified for the bends, and the vertical direction was divided into multiple layers by the equidistant layering method. The simulated results agree well with the measured value. The convex bank generally had a lower water level than the concave bank. In the first bend, the water level of the concave bank was 0.02m higher than that of the convex bank; in the second bend, the water level of the convex bank was 0.04m higher than the convex bank. The mainstream flow rate was biased towards the concave bank in the continuous bends. With the increase of the central angle in the second bend, the mainstream gradually moved to the convex bank and reached the bank at the tip of the bend. Besides, the surface-bottom vortex on the convex bank became increasingly obvious and intense, the short transition area between the two bends was significantly affected by the high flow rate area of the first bend, and scouring occurred near the convex bank at the inlet and the convex bank at the outlet. These results prove that the proposed model can accurately simulate the 3D bend water flow of natural rivers with complex boundaries; apart from planar spiral flow, the proposed model could simulate the sectional distribution of mainstream flow rate.
Measuring the Edwards-Anderson order parameter of the Bose glass : a quantum gas microscope approach

We thank D Cassettari, A Daley, S Denny, J Keeling, P Kirton and A Trombettoni for insightful discussions and assistance. Computations were performed on the EPSRC CDT Computer Cluster and the University of St Andrews School of Physics & Astronomy computer cluster. SJT acknowledges studentship funding from EPSRC under grant no. EP/G03673X/1. GDB acknowledges support from the Leverhulme Trust RPG-2013-074.
Microsatellite Marker for Cross-Species Amplification: Study Case for Indonesian Sundaland Python (Serpentes: Pythonidae)

The python of Indonesian Sundaland has been traded for its distinct skin colour and patterns. The need for rapid method in cross-species amplification for Indonesian Sundaland python is useful to contribute in management of sustainability harvesting system. In this research, we screened 10 microsatellite primers which are previously used for Australian, New Guinean, Chinese and Burmese pythons and 7 potentially amplifiable primers for African and Asian reptiles. Python breitensteini showed a greater number of alleles (2-8 alleles) than Python bivittatus (1-3 alleles) and Python brongersmai (1-2 alleles). The observed and expected heterozygosity for all species were ranged from 0 to 1.00 and 0 to 0.79, respectively. According to the high cross-species amplification rates, 15 out of 17 primers were useful in assessing the genetic diversity and conservation genetic of Indonesian Sundaland python. Among the 15 primers, MS3 generated the highest number of allele for P. breitensteini (8 alleles), P. bivittatus (3 alleles), and P. brongersmai (2 alleles). We proposed MS3 locus as a suitable marker for Indonesian Sundaland python. Keywords: microsatellite, Python, Sundaland.
Structural evolution of the Madden‐Julian Oscillation from COSMIC radio occultation data

[1] The atmospheric temperature and specific humidity profiles derived from 4 years of Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) radio occultation (RO) measurements during the boreal winter (November thru April in 2006–2010) were employed to study the large-scale vertical structure of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO). In a composited MJO cycle, both RO temperature and moisture anomalies propagate eastward along with the enhanced MJO convection over the Indo-Pacific region. In the same region, the RO temperature anomaly is positively correlated with the convection (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) rainfall) anomaly in the middle and upper troposphere (800 hPa–200 hPa) and negatively correlated in the lower troposphere and at the tropopause. A positive RO moisture anomaly has a westward tilt below 300 hPa and is well associated with the convection anomaly. RO bending angle and refractivity anomalies show vertical structure similar to that of temperature MJO anomaly above ∼300 hPa and to that of the moisture anomaly below that. These salient MJO features agree well with those revealed by global reanalysis data and meteorological satellite observations, such as the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), even though RO anomalies exhibit sharper structure at the tropopause region due to the higher vertical resolution of the RO. Investigation of the cold-point tropopause anomaly indicates that the enhanced convection is preceded by cooling of the tropopause and followed by lowering of the tropopause height. The MJO moisture structures during two boreal winters, November 2007–April 2008 (La Nina) and November 2009–April 2010 (El Nino), are individually presented to demonstrate the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) effect on the MJO structure.
On Anomalies of Electrical Conductivity in Antistatic Plasticized Poly(Vinyl Chloride) Films

In plasticized poly(vinylchloride) (PVC) films, representing system of two chemically non-interacting insula- tors, PVC and plasticizer, at monotonous increase of concentration of one of the insulators (plasticizer) sharp transition insulator-semiconductor to a "high" conductive state is found out, which is accompanied by similar transition back to state with low conductivity at further increase of plasticizer concentration. The observed concentration range with a "high" (semiconductor) level of electric conductivity permits us to measure the resistance-thickness dependence for relatively wide films thickness set (20-200 µm), which is close to simple exponential. A phenomenological model that allows to interpret the observed phenomena as "direct" and "inverse" percolation transitions in two-phase medium with charge-transfer by nano-scale kinetic segments of macromolecules mainly along the borders between PVC-clusters and plasticizer is proposed.
An Improved Transit Measurement for a 2.4 R⊕ Planet Orbiting A Bright Mid-M Dwarf K2–28

We present a new Spitzer transit observation of K2–28b, a sub-Neptune (Rp = 2.45 ± 0.28 R⊕) orbiting a relatively bright (Vmag = 16.06, Kmag = 10.75) metal-rich M4 dwarf (EPIC 206318379). This star is one of only seven with masses less than 0.2 known to host transiting planets, and the planet appears to be a slightly smaller analogue of GJ 1214b ( ). Our new Spitzer observations were taken two years after the original K2 discovery data and have a significantly higher cadence, allowing us to derive improved estimates for this planet’s radius, semimajor axis, and orbital period, which greatly reduce the uncertainty in the prediction of near future transit times for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations. We also evaluate the system’s suitability for atmospheric characterization with JWST and find that it is currently the only small ( ) and cool (<600 K) planet aside from GJ 1214b with a potentially detectable secondary eclipse. We also note that this system is a favorable target for near-infrared radial velocity instruments on larger telescopes (e.g., the Habitable Planet Finder on the Hobby–Eberly Telescope), making it one of only a handful of small, cool planets accessible with this technique. Finally, we compare our results with the simulated catalog of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and find K2–28b to be representative of the kind of mid-M systems that should be detectable in the TESS sample.
Self-Selection and Selection Transition from Secondary to Tertiary Education in Hungary*

By law, students in Hungary, if they wish to study at the tertiary level, must submit a formal application (every year in February) and then must take an entrance exam (in June/July). When they pass this exam they are eligible to be- gin their studies (in September). This procedure divides the transition to tertiary education into two stages: self-selection (applying) and selection (passing the exam). Some of the recent literature in educational mobility claims that students make calculations before they deciding on whether to continue their studies, and this decision is affected by their social origin. This paper investigates the two stages of educational selection, with the assumption that the act of applying is more strongly determined by social origin than success, among those students who have applied, in passing the exam is. In the study, about 60 000 secondary school students were interviewed in a self-administered questionnaire in the spring of 1998, inquiring into whether they had submitted an application or not. The applicants were then identified in the autumn of 1998 in terms of whether they met the requirements of the exam and accepted into the tertiary level of ed- ucation or not. The data contain basic information on the parents' occupation and education and the school performance of the students. These variables are used for predicting two dependent variables: application, and a successful exam among those who applied. The models were fitted by taking gender differences into consideration and were controlled for two types of secondary school: gym- nasium and technical secondary school. The results show that self-selection is more strongly affected by social origin; the effect of the parents' characteristics drops if success in the exam is predicted among self-selected students. Sociologický casopis/Czech Sociological Review, 2003, Vol. 39, No. 3: 325-349
Representation of English front vowels by Malay-English bilinguals

This paper presents the results of a study conducted to investigate the representation of English vowels among Malay-English bilingual speakers. The study focused on five front vowels of English. There is a tense-lax contrast in high- and mid-vowels in English (Davenport and Hannahs, 2005; Fromkin, Rodman and Hyams, 2003), but this contrast does not exist anywhere in Malay (Nik Safiah et al., 2008). Thus, a forced choice identification task is constructed with PRAAT (Boersma and Weenick, 2009). Stimuli for the experiment were synthesized using the AT&T text-to-speech demo programme available from AT&T Labs. The values of the first and second formants of the vowels were checked to make sure that they were within the range given in the literature. Fifty-two Malay-English bilingual undergraduates participated in this study. The results showed that Malay-English bilinguals have only three categories of contrast for the front vowels. These results show that the vowel representation of the second language in Malay-English bilinguals is similar to the representation of vowels in the first language.
The Influence of Agricultural Land Use on Household Food Security Situation in Kisii Central Sub-County, Kenya

Food security is a situation where people have access to sufficient, stable and safe food to meet their dietary needs for an active and healthy life. The aim of this paper is to determine the influence of agricultural land use on household food security situation in Kisii Central sub-county, Kenya. A sample of 209 households was picked from three sub-Locations within the three main agro-ecological zones of the study area. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the required data from household heads. Assessment of household food security status was based on experienced-based method. Agricultural land use was categorized into food crop, cash crop, fruits and vegetables and natural pasture and/or napier grass. The influence of agricultural land use on household food security situation was analyzed using the Pearson’s Chi-square test. Data analysis showed that 77.5% of the sampled households were food secure while 22.5% were not. About (65%) of the agricultural land was allocated to food crops, 25% to cash crops and the remaining proportion was left for other agricultural land uses. Cash crop (0.000) and natural pasture and/or napier grass (0.002) were found to have a significant influence on household food security while food crop (0.228) and fruits and vegetables (0.192) did not. The study recommends that more efficient ways of utilizing the land resource through increased use of high quality seeds and fertilizers to increase productivity. Investment in projects that enhance commercialization of small-scale farming in order to generate household income should be promoted. Keywords: Agricultural land use, Household food security, Kisii Central