Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Natural antioxidants of the Jaffna variety of Moringa Oleifera seed oil of Indian origin as compared to other vegetable oils

The Moringa oleifera crop is grown all over India for its nutritious pods, leaves and seeds. M. oleifera seeds are endowed with a high oil content (~39%) which resembles olive oil because of its high oleic acid content (~65-75%). The objective of the present study was to evaluate the natural antioxidants of crude seed kernel oil from the Jaffna variety of M. oleifera (MSO). Natural antioxidants like tocopherols and phenolics as well as minor compounds such as sterols and carotenoids present in MSO and its radical scavenging activity were measured in comparison to dried coconut kernel (copra) crude oil (CNO), crude sesame oil (SESO), crude niger seed oil (NSO), crude palm oil (CPO), crude rice bran oil (RBO) and commercially refined groundnut oil (GNO). MSO contained 88 ppm of total tocopherols with α- tocopherol (56.2 ppm) being the major tocopherol. MSO also contained 117.9 ppm of total phenolics with gallic acid (48.5 ppm) being the major phenolic. MSO contained fair amounts of sterols (1700.8 ppm) and carotenoids (17.9 ppm). MSO showed an IC 50 value of 35.5 mg mL –1 . This study indicates that MSO has antioxidant characteristics which are better than CNO and comparable to those of GNO.
Using a Nutritional Screening Tool to Evaluate the Nutritional Status of Patients With Colorectal Cancer

We assessed which nutrition evaluation method [subjective global assessment (SGA); malnutrition universal screening tool (MUST); nutritional risk index (NRI)] provided the most efficacious combination of high validity, low cost, and ease of use to examine and improve the status of malnutrition for colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. The SGA, MUST, and NRI scales were used to analyze the preoperative status of malnutrition for 45 CRC patients in a medical center in Taiwan. Differences in the reliability of the 3 methods were compared using the kappa (κ) coefficient of agreement. Lengths of hospital stays were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test to examine the effect of malnutrition in CRC patients. The SGA κ coefficient was higher with the MUST than with the NRI. Preoperative and postoperative weight losses were significantly different on the NRI, and the longer the length of the hospital stay, the greater was the weight loss. Although the SGA had a higher validity and lower cost than the NRI, we recommend using the MUST method for a routine nutrition evaluation because it is easier to use and is less expensive than the SGA and the NRI.
Update on Influenza Diagnostics: Lessons from the Novel H1N1 Influenza A Pandemic

SUMMARY The menu of diagnostic tools that can be utilized to establish a diagnosis of influenza is extensive and includes classic virology techniques as well as new and emerging methods. This review of how the various existing diagnostic methods have been utilized, first in the context of a rapidly evolving outbreak of novel influenza virus and then during the different subsequent phases and waves of the pandemic, demonstrates the unique roles, advantages, and limitations of each of these methods. Rapid antigen tests were used extensively throughout the pandemic. Recognition of the low negative predictive values of these tests is important. Private laboratories with preexisting expertise, infrastructure, and resources for rapid development, validation, and implementation of laboratory-developed assays played an unprecedented role in helping to meet the diagnostic demands during the pandemic. FDA-cleared assays remain an important element of the diagnostic armamentarium during a pandemic, and a process must be developed with the FDA to allow manufacturers to modify these assays for detection of novel strains in a timely fashion. The need and role for subtyping of influenza viruses and antiviral susceptibility testing will likely depend on qualitative (circulating subtypes and their resistance patterns) and quantitative (relative prevalence) characterization of influenza viruses circulating during future epidemics and pandemics.
Cerebrovascular reactivity , IMT and nephropathy presence in patients with type 1 diabetes

This is an uncopyedited electronic version of an article accepted for publication in Diabetes Care. The American Diabetes Association, publisher of Diabetes Care, is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it by third parties. The definitive publisherauthenticated version will be available in a future issue of Diabetes Care in print and online at http://care.diabetesjournals. org. Diabetes Care Publish Ahead of Print, published online February 19, 2009
Analysis of ICT Strategic Alignment in a Public Organisation

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Epidemiology and aetiology of basal cell carcinoma

Basal cell carcinoma is the most common malignancy among caucasians worldwide. Accurate epidemiological data can be difficult to obtain, but does suggest that the overall incidence is increasing. Risk factors include skin type, prior skin cancers and immunosuppression. Research in free radical‐mediated cellular injury and innate defence mechanisms, and ultraviolet radiation‐induced genetic mutations have improved our understanding of the development of this disorder.
International Mergers with Financially Constrained Owners

This paper proposes a cross-border M&A model with financially constrained owners in which the identity of the buyer and seller can be determined. We show that policies blocking foreign acquisitions to protect the domestic industry can be counterproductive. Foreign acquisition can increase the domestic owner’s investment in growth industries by reducing their financial restrictions. This calls for a ”financial” efficiency defense in the merger law. We also show that cross-border M&As are not only driven by effects on the merged entity, but also driven by the seller’s alternative investment opportunities.
Modulation of human vestibular‐evoked postural responses by alterations in load

The effects of body loading and unloading on human postural responses elicited by 1 mA bilateral, bipolar galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) were investigated. Subjects stood symmetrically, and in separate experiments were either loaded by 16, 33 and 50 % of their body weight with weights attached to the trunk, or unloaded by 10, 20 and 30 % using a whole‐body harness that partially lifted the body but was free to translate horizontally. Randomised blocks of stimuli for each loading/unloading condition were compared to a non‐loaded control condition. The rate of lateral reaction force development over the period 200–350 ms poststimulus increased in both legs with loading and decreased with unloading. The rate of force development was always larger from the leg on the side of cathodal stimulation. Vertical force responses were equal and opposite in the two legs, increasing on the side of the cathode and decreasing on the side of the anode. The rate of vertical force development over the period 200–350 ms after stimulus onset was increased with loading and decreased with unloading. In the frontal plane, the rate of head and trunk tilt in space was increased and decreased with loading and unloading, respectively. However, the relative rate of head tilt with respect to the trunk was not affected by loading conditions. These experiments provide further evidence that load‐related afferent feedback influences the processing of vestibular information for the control of balance.
Elevated Homocysteine Levels in Patients with Slow Coronary Flow: Relationship with Helicobacter pylori Infection

Background and objective: Elevation of plasma homocysteine (Hcy) level has been implicated in the pathogenesis of slow coronary flow (SCF) as it can severely disturb vascular endothelial function. Helicobacter pylori chronically infect the human stomach and causes malabsorption of vitamin B12 and folate in food, leading ultimately to an increase in circulating Hcy levels.
Task-directed software inspection technique: an experiment and case study

Research in software inspection has led to the development of inspection techniques focused on providing structure and guidance to the individual inspector, with the goal of improving effectiveness. This paper defines and investigates a new inspection technique, task-directed inspection, specifically developed for inspecting complex computational code, but capable of being applied in other software domains. Students from the Royal Military College of Canada and Queen's University in Kingston, as participants in an experiment, applied two task directed techniques and an industry-standard non-structured inspection technique to a civil engineering code in use in military applications. Results from the experiment were analyzed with a new Orthogonal Defect Classification for computational code developed for this research. Based on this small sample group, the task-directed techniques help software inspectors more thoroughly examine and understand software code. This research also points out the differences between experienced and inexperienced inspectors, and opens up several possibilities for further research.
Coexceedance in the US and the UK Stock Markets: An Analysis of Contagion During the 2007-2009 Financial Crisis

In this paper, we empirically analyze the effect of the credit crisis of 2008 by adopting coexceedance as a contagion measure. We assess the effect of news of governmental intervention and the collapse of firms during the period from 2007 to 2009 on the coexceedance. Our approach involves transforming two time series of stock returns into one, based on their commonalities in up (positive returns) and down (negative returns) markets. The new, transformed times series reveals the shared value or magnitude in which the two markets move. This is subsequently used in a quantile regression framework as a dependent variable. The model is then estimated to investigate the extent to which the coexceedance is affected by the news of governmental intervention and the collapse of firms during the period of credit crisis. Using the related news from the UK and the US as reported in the “Global recession timeline” from 2007 to 2009, we observe that the news from the UK had some contagion effects on the lower quantiles of the distribution of the coexceedance throughout the period for most of the countries that it was paired with. Further analysis of the news announcement reveals that the effectiveness of the UK government in rescuing the troubled banking sector may have exacerbated this contagion effect. Establishing this, however, remain an area for future research since it would require an extensive analysis of the asymptotic dependence properties of the UK and US markets with their respective stock market pairs.
Consumer Characteristics and Views Regarding Farmers Markets: An Examination of On-Site Survey Data of Alabama Consumers

This study examined the characteristics and views of farmers market consumers in Alabama using data generated from 222 consumers randomly selected from two farmers markets. The survey was designed to solicit relevant information necessary to facilitate the study and to provide information on socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of the clients. Data were summarized and tabulated using descriptive statistics. Results show that when buying fruits and vegetables, consumers are interested in freshness, appearance, variety and selection of produce, availability of locally grown items, price and atmosphere of the store. These results are consistent with the results using the general state sample.
Contractual Wages and the Wage Cushion under Different Bargaining Settings

How does a typically European bargaining system, with collective bargaining and national minimum wage, coexist with low unemployment and high wage flexibility? A unique data set on workers, firms, and collective bargaining contracts in Portugal is used to analyze the determinants of both the contractual wage and the wage cushion (difference between contractual and actual wages). The results indicate that the wage cushion stretches the returns to worker and firm attributes, whereas it shrinks the returns to union power. Therefore, firm‐specific arrangements partly offset collective bargaining, granting firms certain freedom when setting wages. Contractual wages reflect trade unions' egalitarian policy.
Exploring Adaptivity in Service Development: The Case of Mobile Platforms

View Full Article (HTML) Enhanced Article (HTML) Get PDF (198K) Together with the developing technologies of a fast-evolving Web environment, computers, and handheld devices, human�computer interaction is gaining more importance. User interface, as the interactive layer between user and information systems, has a great role in system adoption. Based on a technology acceptance model, acceptance of a system can be explained as a function of perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU). Because several external variables have impact on PU and PEOU, the content and interface design of every single application should be addressed accordingly in a way that enhances the consumer's attitude about using the system by considering the impact of external variables through system usage. The objective of this study was to uncover potential external variables that may influence PEOU and PU, and indirectly influence behavioral attitude in mobile service acceptance and to explore the effects of those variables, primarily adaptivity and the relationships of all the variables among each other, through the limited interface of a mobile platform. Thus, developers will be able to relate the tuning of product features to the adoption of the products they are developing based on a platform.
Effects of topical aldose reductase inhibitor CT-112 on corneal sensitivity of diabetic rats.

PURPOSE To investigate whether the loss in corneal sensation observed in human diabetics could be duplicated in diabetic rats and if this abnormality could be prevented by topical instillation of an aldose reductase inhibitor (ARI), CT-112. METHODS Rats were made diabetic by injection of streptozotocin. Some of these rats were treated with eye drops of CT-112 while others were treated with the same vehicle solution without ARI. Normal rats served as controls. Corneal sensitivity was measured by means of a Cochet-Bonnet aesthesiometer, using the blink reflex as an objective sign. Corneal changes in ultrastructure in diabetic rats were also observed. RESULTS The corneal sensitivity of diabetic rats was significantly decreased and this change was prevented by ARI treatment. Ultrastructurally, degenerations of axons and mitochondria of the corneal nerve were seen in the diabetic rats and the ARI treatment prevented these morphological changes. CONCLUSIONS It is clear that corneal hypesthesia occurs in diabetic rats as it does in human diabetics, and treatment with an ARI prevents this change. Along with the functional abnormality, the ultrastructural changes of corneal nerve also occur in diabetic rats, and they are prevented by ARI. These results strongly suggest that aldose reductase is involved in corneal hypesthesia and ultrastructural changes of corneal nerve in diabetic rats. These defects are ameliorated by aldose reductase inhibitor.
The effect of organizational hierarchy on loan rates and risk assessments

We examine whether loan decisions are affected by the internal decision structure of the bank. Banks typically grant decision rights on straight-forward loans entirely to individual loan officers. For more risky loans these officers have to seek ratification for their loan proposals at higher hierarchical levels within banks (e.g., a credit committee). As banks typically provide loan officers with incentives to make loans, loan officers can increase the likelihood of loan approval by communicating the risk-return characteristics of the loan request favorably. Using internal records from a bank, our sample consists of approved loan requests coming from small firms. Our evidence suggests that loan contracts approved at higher hierarchical levels vis-a-vis those approved by loan officers feature lower loan rates and a greater likelihood of an adverse risk re-classification one year after the loan approval.
Unemployment, Wages, and the Impact of Active Labour Market Policies in a Regional Perspective

textabstractIn a globalized world, products are highly mobile. Transportation costs are low, production is no longer determined by natural resources, and, as a result, economic activity is also mobile. Companies choose their location on the basis of multiple criteria in order to maximize their profitability. Infrastructure and geographical proximity to competitors are two important criteria; another criterion is well-educated, highly qualified, and experienced employees, particularly with the ever growing importance of knowledge in informationbased economies. Because companies make decisions about their own locations on the basis of these criteria, economic activity within industrialized countries is not evenly distributed but rather characterized by a high degree of regional agglomeration disparities. These regional agglomerations are not necessarily consistent with national borders or with regions as defined by administrative bodies. Some regions are economically stronger than others, and substantial differences in economic performance can be observed within any particular country.
Susceptibility of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I- and MHC class II-deficient mice to Cryptosporidium parvum infection

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I-deficient and MHC class II-deficient mice lack functional CD8 T cells and CD4 T cells, respectively. These mice were evaluated for infection following oral administration of 10(7) Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts. MHC class II-deficient (but not MHC class I-deficient) mice dosed with C. parvum oocysts at 3 to 5 days of age remained infected 8 weeks postexposure. MHC class II-deficient mice exposed to C. parvum oocysts at 5 to 6 weeks of age were significantly more susceptible to infection than control mice (P < 0.0001).
Vertical Restraints and Parallel Imports with Differentiated Products

A monopoly selling in two countries can use exclusive or competitive retailers to distribute its product. A low wholesale price in one country might induce a retailer to resell the good for profit in the other country, generating thereby parallel imports which compete with the authorized sales. Assuming that consumers consider the authorized good to be of higher quality than the parallel import, we show that it is often in the interest of the manufacturer to encourage the availability of parallel imported goods. We study equilibrium price strategies for the manufacturer as reflected in the chosen vertical contracts. We show that when the arbitrage cost is relatively low and the authorized good and the parallel import are poor substitutes, manufacturer's profits can be higher when parallel imports are allowed.
Infrastructure investment and policy management of water resources for small-scale irrigated agriculture

We investigate the options for enhancing the welfare of small farmers in Thailand through subsidies of irrigation infrastructure. Enhanced water storage and irrigation can significantly improve yield and the welfare of the farm community by providing a more reliable water supply during growing periods. Generally speaking, such enhancements require subsidies from the government or other organizations since farmers are not able or willing to finance infrastructure development themselves. In order to maximize the effectiveness of such subsidies it is important to understand how farmers will react to alternative policies. We develop a two-tier approach to this problem. First, we use a government-level optimization model to identify the set of subsidies and water pricing policies that maximizes a stated measure of aggregate social welfare. This government-level model relies on a farm-level model that determines how individual small farmers will react to the policy alternatives. The farm-level model combines hydrologic, economic, and agronomic features since it considers how hydrologic variability affects crop yield, which in turn affects the farmer’s utility. Policy decision variables considered in the government subsidy/pricing model include 1) water price and the number of farms served by public storage facilities (i. e. a water supply reservoir and enhanced in-stream storage), 2) maximum sizes of on-farm ponds paid for by the government, and 3) amounts of direct cash subsidies paid to the farmer. The objective is to maximize the aggregate welfare of all farmers served subject to a limit on the total subsidy as well as constraints designed to limit inequities and urban migration. The problem is solved with a deterministic nonlinear programming algorithm. Decision variables considered in the farm-level model include 1) whether or not to accept a government-subsidized on-farm pond (which reduces land available for cultivation), 2) how much to consume in each year, 3) whether to devote time to agriculture or off-farm employment, 4) type of crop and irrigation technique, and 5) amount of water purchased from communal storage facilities. The problem is solved using a finite-horizon discrete-time stochastic programming algorithm. Our modeling approach is tested on a study site in Saraburi Province, Thailand. This site serves as a suitable prototype because of its existing irrigation infrastructure, relatively welldeveloped market institutions, secure land-use rights, and weak endowment of water resources. To achieve an economic optimum in which the farmers’ aggregate utility of consumption is maximized, the government must provide some farmers with free reservoir water. The remaining
A Possible Link between the Weddell Polynya and the Southern Annular Mode

Abstract Shortly after the advent of the first imaging passive microwave sensor on board a research satellite an anomalous climate feature was observed within the Weddell Sea. During the years 1974–1976, a 250 × 103 km2 area within the seasonal sea ice cover was virtually free of winter sea ice. This feature, the Weddell Polynya, was created as sea ice formation was inhibited by ocean convection that injected relatively warm deep water into the surface layer. Though smaller, less persistent polynyas associated with topographically induced upwelling at Maud Rise frequently form in the area, there has not been a reoccurrence of the Weddell Polynya since 1976. Archived observations of the surface layer salinity within the Weddell gyre suggest that the Weddell Polynya may have been induced by a prolonged period of negative Southern Annular Mode (SAM). During negative SAM the Weddell Sea experiences colder and drier atmospheric conditions, making for a saltier surface layer with reduced pycnocline stability. T.