Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analgesic effect of α-terpineol on neuropathic pain induced by chronic constriction injury in rat sciatic nerve: Involvement of spinal microglial cells and inflammatory cytokines

Objective(s): Neuropathic pain is a prevalent and debilitating neurological disorder. Ample evidence indicates that microglial cells and inflammatory cytokines are involved in the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain. Alpha-terpineol is a monoterpenoid alcohol with inhibitory effect on inflammatory cytokines. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of α-terpineol on neuropathic pain in rats. Materials and Methods: Chronic constriction injury (CCI) model was utilized to induce neuropathic pain in male Wistar rats. The rats were randomly divided into control, sham, α-terpineol, and gabapentin groups. Normal saline, α-terpineol (25, 50, and 100 mg/kg), and gabapentin (100 mg/kg) were administered intraperitoneally in the above-mentioned groups once daily for 14 days post-CCI. Behavioral tests, including Von Frey, acetone, and Hargreaves were used to assess mechanical allodynia, cold allodynia, and hyperalgesia in rats. Iba1 immunostaining and ELISA procedures were used to assess the activation of microglial cells and inflammatory cytokines level. Results: The results showed that α-terpineol (50 and 100 mg/kg) significantly attenuated mechanical allodynia, cold allodynia, and hyperalgesia in the neuropathic rats. The analgesic effect of α-terpineol (100 mg/kg) was comparable with that of gabapentin as a standard antineuropathic pain drug. In addition, α-terpineol (25, 50 and 100 mg/kg) significantly decreased the number of Iba1-positive cells and diminished the concentration of IL-1β and TNF-α in the spinal tissue. Conclusion: It was ultimately attained that α-terpineol attenuates neuropathic pain through the suppression of the microglial cells and reduction of inflammatory cytokine levels in the spinal cord of rats.
Callus Culture for the Production of Therapeutic Compounds

Plant-derived compounds retain a special place in the treatment of various diseases across the world. Their application cuts across every class of disease, where they are found to be often equal or of greater potency, safer and cheaper than so-called "orthodox" medicines. These advantages have led to great interest in the use of callus culture as a biotechnological tool for the harnessing of these useful therapeutic compounds. Callus culture techniques aim to increase the yield of active constituents in cultured plant cells and to produce novel products on a large scale. These techniques have been applied to produce various classes of therapeutic compounds from diverse plant species through empirical determination of ideal culture conditions and other methods. This review presents at a glance the recent advances being made in the field of callus culture for the production of therapeutic compounds, with the aim of showing that it is time for the full potentials of callus culture to be exploited on a scale that will prove a useful weapon in the arsenal of clinical therapeutics.
PRODUCTION OF BIODIESEL USING WASTE FAT FROM ROASTED CHICKEN

Fossil fuels are non-renewable sources of energy which generate pollutants and are linked to global warming and climatic change. In order to overcome these problems, there is a need for an alternative for fossil fuels. The most common renewable fuel is biodiesel which is produced from vegetable oils, animal fat wastes and poultry. The aim of the present work was to study the transesterification of liquid fat resulted from chicken roasting. This fat was esterified with methanol and NaOH as a basic catalyst. Product yield of chicken fatty acid methyl Ester (CFME) was 79.1 % for liquid fat resulted from roasting. All quality control parameters for biodiesel produced (B100) were generally in agreement with ASTM standards. It can be concluded that chicken fat resulted from roasting is suitable for low cost feed stocks for biodiesel production.
The Use of Starch Matrix-banana Fiber Composites for Biodegradable Maxillofacial Bone Plates

Starch based green composites have been studied as potential materials to be used in several biomedical applications. This paper explores utilizing starch based composites reinforced with pseudostem banana fibers in fabricating biodegradable maxillofacial bone plates. Corn starch plasticized by 30 wt. % glycerin and 20 wt. % distilled water was used as a matrix. The produced thermoplastic starch (TPS) matrix is reinforced with pseudostem banana fibers at different weight fractions using hot pressing at 5 MPa and 160ºC for 30 minutes. Our experimental results showed that increasing the banana fibers weight fraction progressively improved the mechanical properties reaching a maximum at 50 wt. % fibers. The improvement in the mechanical properties of starch/banana fibers composite was attributable to the strong interaction between fibers and the starch matrix, as evidenced by a series of scanning electron micrographs of the fracture surface. Furthermore, experiments investigating thermal properties and water uptake also showed that the best results are achieved at the 50 wt. % banana fibers. The experimental results show that the starch matrix-banana fiber composites satisfy the maxillofacial bone fixation requirements.
Risk-Shifting, Fuzzy Capital Constraint, and the Risk-Taking Channel of Low interest Rates

We construct a model where nancial asset overpricing due to risk shifting can be moderated by capital requirements. Imperfect information about the level of capital per unit of risk, however, introduces uncertainty about the risk exposure of intermediaries. Overestimation of the level of capital of nancial intermediaries, or the extent of regulatory arbitrage, may induce households to infer that higher asset prices are due to a decline of risk. This mechanism can explain the low risk premia paid by US nancial intermediaries between 2000 and 2007 in spite of their increasing exposure to risk. Moreover, the underestimation of risk is larger the lower the level of the risk-free interest rate. JEL Codes: G14, G21, E52
Self- Management Guidelines: Effect on Awareness of Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythmatosus

Systemic Lupus Erythmatosus (SLE) is a prototypic autoimmune disease with a diverse array of clinical manifestations, which is characterized by the production of antibodies to components of the cell nucleus. It is a complex multi system disease difficult to monitor. Good self-management is essential to managing lupus; as individuals with SLE can improve their prognosis by learning about many aspects of the illness as well as closely monitoring their own health with their care providers. Aim of the study: the study was aimed to assess the effect of self-management guidelines on awareness of patients with SLE. Study design: a quasi-experimental study was utilized in this study. Setting: the study was conducted at the Rheumatology unit at Cairo University Hospital. Subjects: a purposive sample of 75 Adult patients with age from 18 to 45years old and diagnosed with SLE. Data collection: data were collected by two tools as follows: Health Need Assessment Questionnaire and SLE awareness's quiz. Results: More than two thirds of the studied patients had satisfactory awareness level post implementation of self-management guidelines. The study concluded that: More than two thirds of the studied patients had satisfactory awareness level, post implementation of the self-management guidelines. Moreover, there was statistical significant relation between patient’s levels of awareness pre and post implementing of self-management guidelines. The study recommended that An Arabic guided booklet about SLE should be distributed for each newly admitted patient diagnosed with SLE. An Egyptian Lupus Organization should be developed to be in contact with the problems of these patients.
Earnings Quality and Book-to-Market in the Cross Section of Expected Returns

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether earnings quality contributes to the book-to- market’s predictive power in the cross section of stock returns. Earnings quality is embedded in the value-growth effect given that retained earnings is a key part of the book value of equity. Earnings quality reflects the effects of managerial discretion on reported earnings, which has been shown to be associated with both risk and behavioral biases in asset pricing. Our results affirm the existence of a value premium and show that the value premium is more pronounced within poor earnings quality stocks. Moreover, we find that poor earnings quality contributes to the value premium mainly through the pricing of growth stocks. Our results suggest that the quality of reported earnings has an incremental role in shaping expected returns of value versus growth stocks.
Preferred Learning Styles among Ophthalmology Residents: An Iranian Sample

Abstract Purpose This study was performed to assess the learning styles of a sample of Iranian residents through Kolb's and VARK questionnaires. Methods In this descriptive-analytical study, 45 ophthalmology residents of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences were enrolled. Kolb's and VARK questionnaires were provided, and residents were oriented and guided on how to complete them. Results Forty-three out of the forty-five ophthalmology residents completed the questionnaire (95.5% response rate). The preferred learning style among ophthalmology residents was assimilative (51.2%), followed by convergent (37.2%), accommodative (7.7%), and divergent (4.7%), based on Kolb's questionnaire. According to the results of the VARK questionnaire, most ophthalmology residents were auditory learners (34.9%), followed by multimodal learners (30.2%). In addition, there was no significant relation between genders, stage of residency, and Kolb's and VARK learning styles (P > 0.05 for all). Conclusion The most preferred learning styles of ophthalmology residents were assimilative and auditory. Considering the dominant learning styles of learners and incorporating various teaching methods are recommended to enhance the learning among residents.
Application of Constructed Wetland for Treating Runoff from the Dairy Cattle Farm Yard

Constructed wetlands (CWs) are becoming a popular solution for the treatment of rainwater discharged from hardened surfaces, because their construction and maintenance does not require large expenditures. The research on the effectiveness of treating runoff from the dairy farm yard was carried out using constructed wetland. The studied wetland was built in the form of two connected reservoirs with an area of 30 m2. In the first deep reservoir, sedimentation of suspended matter occurred, while in the second shallow reservoir, six species of aquatic plants were planted in order to assimilate nitrogen and phosphorus compounds. In the years 2014–2018, the water samples from the inflow and outflow of the constructed wetland were collected. The pH and electrical conductivity values, as well as nitrate nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen, phosphates phosphorus and chlorides concentrations were determined with electrochemical and photometric methods. The obtained results were statistically analyzed using the Statistica v. 7 software. In the majority of the runoff samples from the farmyard, abnormal concentration of ammonium nitrogen (90% of samples) and phosphate phosphorus (100% of samples) occurred in relation to the requirements for surface waters. The values of ammonium nitrogen concentration exceeded the acceptable norms for domestic sewage discharged into waters in 31% of samples and in the case of phosphate phosphorus – in 67% of samples. The concentration of chlorides exceeded the limit values for surface water in 36% of samples. The average concentration of nitrate nitrogen did not exceed these standards. There was a high correlation between the concentration of ammonium nitrogen and the concentration of phosphate phosphorus and chlorides. The efficiency of runoff treatment from the dairy cattle farm yard was very high in the initial period of research, reaching 85.4% for ammonium nitrogen and 68.3% for phosphate phosphorus, but showed a downward trend over time for the entire period.
A control strategy for two-level systems with optimization in the feedback loop

In this paper the case of a linear decentralized large scale system (LSS) which consists of N linear subsystems S/sub 1/,S/sub 2/,. ,S/sub N/ in lower hierarchical level, interconnected through a common linear subsystem S/sub 0/, in a higher hierarchical level, is considered. The N subsystems are not connected to each other, thus leading to a matrix A having a block arrow structure (BAS). The continuous state space model and controlling algorithm of such a system is presented. We describe the optimization of the feedback gain using a gradient type algorithm for the adaptation of the gain in the constrained space of the SAS feedback gains. Thus a near optimal solution is obtained, which keeps all the BAS appealing characteristics and is closer to the optimal solution than any other previous approach. <<ETX>>
Prevalence of Plasmodium and Salmonella Species from Patients Attending University Clinic and Hospital in Nigeria

Background: Since 2013 till date, Malaria and Typhoid fever has been the major cause of fever for consultation in health centers. Epidemiological, Cultural and Drug Sensitivity Prospective study spanning 4 years was conducted in Unijos Health Services, this study purposed to describe and document the findings of the epidemiology and drug sensitivity pattern of Plasmodium species and Salmonellosis as evidence base data for the eradication of Malaria and Typhoid fever in Nigeria and the world at large.Method: Two hundred and fifty patient’s blood and stools samples were diagnosed; age, gender, microscopy, culture and sensitivity were the variables, the drug effects of P-Alaxin, Artemether Lumefantrine and Artesunate Amodiaquine was determined. Similarly, the in-vitro effects of ciprofloxacin, cefuroxime and azithromycin and their synergic activities also determined. Result: The prevalence of Plasmodium and Salmonella species studied, unveiled the malaria positive cases of 193 (77.2%) while cases of Typhoid recorded 59 (23.6%). The age group of 16-26 years reviled highest incidence in both cases. Conclusion: Fever caused by malaria and typhoid was highest among female young adult, these representing strong evidence in addition with microscopic and cultural results obtained. Artemether Lumefantrine and ciprofloxacin were discovered to be the most effective, even exhibiting drug curative synergistic action. The ANOV reviled significant statistical difference (P < 0.05) among the drugs used.
Study of pre-flowering foliar spray of plant growth regulator on quality parameters in sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) cv. Pusa Deepti under protected condition

The present investigation was carried out during the year 2013-2014 at Hi-tech horticulture unit of Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, RVSKVV, M.P. The experiment comprised of nine treatments viz. GA3 (10 and 50 ppm), NAA (10 and 50 ppm), CCC (5 and 10 ppm) and Triacontanol (5 and 10 ppm) and treatments were laid in Completely Randomized Block Design with three replications. Tricacontanol treatment has produced maximum ascorbic acid content of fruit (61.39 mg per 100g), whereas high capsaicin content of fruit (0.98%w per w) was found in application of GA3 @ 50 ppm compared to the control.
Oscillatory Solitary Waves in Dispersive Media

Steady solutions of a generalized Korteweg-de Vries equation which has an additional fifth order derivative term are investigated on the basis of a numerical calculation. It is found that either compressive or rarefactive solitary waves are possible to exist according as the dispersion is negative or positive and that the solitary waves take the oscillatory structure when the coefficient of the fifth order derivative term dominates over that of the third order one.
Fungal contamination of rice from south Vietnam, mycotoxinogenesis of selected strains and residues in rice

Fungal development in alimentary substrates can lead to different detrimental effects : alterations of aspect and technological properties, modifications of nutritive value, development of mycosis and allergy agents, and production of refuse factor and zootoxic compounds [20]. Indeed, among more than 100.000 fungal species able to contaminate feeds and foods, some have the ability to synthesise molecules toxic for human and animals : the mycotoxins.
Rothamsted Repository Download

Expert opinion is increasingly being used to inform Bayesian Belief Networks, in particular to define the conditional dependencies modelled by the graphical structure. The elicitation of such expert opinion remains a major challenge due to both the quantity of information required and the ability of experts to quantify subjective beliefs effectively. In this work, we introduce a method designed to initialise conditional probability tables based on a small number of simple questions that capture the overall shape of a conditional probability distribution before enabling the expert to refine their results in an efficient way. These methods have been incorporated into a software Application for Conditional probability Elicitation (ACE), freely available at https://github.com/KirstyLHassall/ACE (Hassall, 2019).
The Family Life Cycle and Banking Relationships

Switching costs generate customer inertia, locking customers in to their existing financial services provider. Perceptions of switching costs have been found to vary between life cycle groups. This paper enhances the understanding of switching costs in banking by exploring the link between the family life cycle and the nature of the banking relationship, as well as the variation in perceptions of switching costs related to the nature of the banking relationship. Three aspects of the banking relationship are considered: the size, the spread and the complexity. The data used is from a larger study of switching costs in banking, comprising 955 responses that were received to a mail survey. Both size and complexity of the banking relationship are found to be related to the family life cycle, while both spread and complexity are found to be associated with perceptions of switching costs. The conclusion drawn is that the differences in complexity of the banking relationship associated with the family life cycle helps explain the differences in perceptions of switching costs.
OTT_A_194153 4721..4728

1Guanghua School of Stomatology, Institute of Stomatological Research, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stomatology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2The Oral Medicine Clinical Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, People’s Republic of China Abstract: The microbiota inhabiting the oral cavity is a complex ecosystem and responsible
Reading Skills and Earnings: Why Do Doing Words Good Hurt You’re Wages?

In a reading comprehension test administered to American youth in 1980 by the National Longitudinal Survey, a one standard deviation increase in reading scores is associated with a 1.5% decrease in later wages after conditioning on the youths’ other scores on math, science, and personality tests. This goal of this paper is to explain this negative conditional relationship between the reading test score and wages, which I call the reading penalty. In the first section of the paper, I consider and reject a number of statistical objections to the existence of the reading penalty. In the second section, I construct a simple generalized Roy model that offers two distinct economic explanations for the reading penalty. The first explanation is the starving artist, where reading skills are a proxy for preferences for low-wage jobs, while the second is the bad sign, where high reading test scores proxy for a lack of other productive attributes. In the final section, I use the NLSY data and the identification from the model to determine which economic explanation of the reading penalty is most plausible. I find weak support for the starving artist hypothesis. On the other hand, I find evidence in favor of the bad sign explanation: higher reading comprehension scores may signal a lack of organizational skills. JEL Codes: J24, I21, J31 ∗Department of Economics, Washington University in St. Louis. carlsanders@wustl.edu Thanks to David Rivers, Lance Lochner, Ronni Pavan, Shintaro Yamaguchi, and seminar participants at McMaster University and the University of Western Ontario for helpful comments and suggestions.
Surgical Management of Morbid Obese Patients Roux-En-Y Gastric Bypass Versus Sleeve Gastrectomy

Background: Nowadays obesity considered as a disease. Obesity is complex and poorly understood and the causes of this disease likely include a combination of genetic and environmental factors, but it also includes behavioral, psychological, and other factors. Aim of Study: Comparative study between the laparoscopic Roux-en-y gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy in management of morbid obesity. Patients and Methods: Study included 20 morbidly obese patients, 10 patients subjected for laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy and 10 patients for laparoscopic Roux-en-y gastric bypass. Results: There was significant difference in % Weight Loss (WL) between the LSG and LRYGB at 12-month with greater % WL in the LRYGB group than the LSG group. However, there was no significant difference between LSG and LRYGB in WL at 6-month follow-up. Overall postoperative morbidity was higher after LRYGB group compared with LSG. Concluion: LRYGB and LSG are effective procedures for treatment of morbid obesity. Both can be performed very safely in an experienced hand, but LSG is a simpler and safer procedure with no significant disadvantage compared to LRYGB. Objective: Comparative study between the laparoscopic Roux-en-y gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy in management of morbid obesity.
Gone with the Wind: Consumer Surplus from Renewable Generation

I use a supply function equilibrium framework to show how increased renewable generation can increase electricity generators’ incentive to withhold capacity. As a result, strategic behavior from conventional generators attenuates the impact of low marginal cost generation on the market price. Taking advantage of detailed data on the largest wholesale electricity market in the United States, I provide direct evidence that horizontally integrated firms that own wind turbines and conventional generation will withhold their conventional generation when their own wind turbine is generating electricity. As a result, over 30% of wind generation is replacing withheld units suggesting a decrease in potential consumer surplus of 3.3 billion US Dollars from 2014 to 2016. JEL classification codes: L13, Q42, D44