Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Histological Study of Azathioprine Effect on Liver in Insulin Resistant Rats

Background : Azathioprine with adverse effects on some organs, are widely used in the treatment of certain diseases. In this study, the effect of azathioprine on liver functional factors as one of the most important organs of body in mice resistant to insulin was investigated. Method: 56 Wistar rat weighing 200±20 gr were classified in 8 groups. Control (without treatment) and sham (140cc fructose 10% as a daily feeding). Groups 1 to 4 (diabetic) in addition froctose 10 % feeding, were injected (3.75, 7.5, 15 and 21) mg/kg/b.wt azathioprine interaperitoneal at 98th day. Groups 5 and 6 (adiabatic) were injected (15 and 21) mg/kg/b.wt azathioprine interaperitoneal. 24 hours after, blood samples were taken from all groups and their serum separated for biochemical analyzes. Then liver was separated and sections prepared for histological study. Data were analyzed by ANOVA and Duncan test (P<0.05). Results: The histological changes including lymphocyte invasion, hydropic changes in portal areas in diabetics treated groups with minimum does of drug and infiltration, cytoplasm granularity and necrosis of peri-portal area with the maximum dose was observed. In the control and non-diabetic treatment groups, slight changes were seen. ALP and FBS levels in all groups and and AST (dose depended) in treated diabetic groups and sham has seen a significant increase compared to control (p<0.05), but ALT and MD showed no significant change. Conclusion: Azotioprin is dose- dependent and had synergistic effects with diabetes. Therefore, diabetics are taking limits.
A Phase I/II Randomized Open-Label Multicenter Trial of Efalizumab, a Humanized Anti-CD11a, Anti-LFA-1 in Renal Transplantation

aTransplant Service, University of California, San Francisco, CA bNational Institute of Transplantation; Los Angeles, CA cDepartment of Surgery, Microbiology/Immunology, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN dDivision of Transplant Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC eDavid Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Nephrology Division, Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation, Valhalla, NY fDepartment of Transplant Surgery, Westchester Medical Center, Valhalla, NY gDepartment of Pediatric Nephrology and Transplant Surgery, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ hTulane Center for Abdominal Transplant, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA iSection of Organ Transplantation and Immunology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT jITGR, Genentech, Inc, South San Francisco, CA kXOMA (US) LLC, Berkeley, CA ∗Corresponding author: Flavio Vincenti, vincentif@surgery.ucsf. edu
Pricing Illiquidity of Corporate Bonds Through Static and Dynamic Measures

This paper studies the price impact of corporate bond illiquidity. Through dynamic panel estimation, price dispersion and resiliency, which have been used separately in extant studies, are simultaneously considered to price illiquidity. We find that the dynamic model, which has both measures, fits better than the static model that incorporates only price dispersion. We also confirm that the impact of the two measures systematically react to credit ratings of bonds. These results imply the importance of considering multiple measures to price illiquidity.
Effect of orally administered probiotic strains Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium in children with atopic asthma

Children with mild to moderate asthma (n = 46), aged 4-10 years, were randomly allocated into groups matched according to age, height and body weight (Group 1 and Group 2). Group 1 (n = 22) received Trilac capsules (1.6 × 10 9 lactic acid bacteria cells: Lactobacillus acidophilus – 37.5%, Bifidobacterium bifidum – 37.5% and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus – 25%), whilst Group 2 (n = 24) received placebo. The study was performed over 12 weeks and the results were evaluated using lung function and immunological tests. During the study period, the patients continued treatment with inhaled beta-mimetics and inhaled corticosteroids. The children receiving Trilac significantly improved their lung function and presented with less episodes of asthma exacerbations during the study period than the children receiving placebo. Similarly, the amount of bronchodilatators used was significantly reduced in the children receiving Trilac than the children on placebo. The differences were also observed in the immunological parameters studied by flow cytometry. The statistically significant increase in the expression of HLA-DR on monocytes and decrease of CD8CD45RA+ lymphocytes were observed in Trilac group, but not in the placebo group. The levels of IFN-γ (Th1) and IL-10 (Treg) cytokines were increased in both examined groups. In conclusion, a positive effect of 12-weeks administration of Trilac on the clinical course and lung function of the children with mild to moderate asthma was observed. Changes of immunological markers (increase of HLA-DR expression and decrease of CD8CD45RA+ cells) in the children treated with Trilac were also noted.
Estimating Extreme Spatial Rainfall Intensities

AbstractDetermining the impact of catchment flooding requires an estimate of extreme spatial rainfall intensity. Current flood design practice typically converts a point estimate of rainfall intensity into a spatial rainfall intensity using an areal reduction factor, assumed constant across an entire region. Areal reduction factors do not explicitly consider regional variations in extreme rainfall. Here, a new approach for spatial estimates of extreme rainfall is introduced that directly incorporates the spatial area (A) into an intensity-frequency-duration relationship (IFD). This IFDA approach uses spatial rainfall fields to overcome shortcomings of the areal reduction factor by explicitly incorporating spatial variations in the extreme rainfall intensity. The IFDA approach is evaluated for 11 case study regions in Australia, across climates (tropical to Mediterranean), areas (25–7,225 km2), durations (1–4 days), and average recurrence intervals (ARI 2–100 years). The change in extreme spatial rainfall.
Optical microstructure and viscosity enhancement for an epoxy resin matrix containing multiwall carbon nanotubes

This paper describes rheological measurements and associated optical microstructural observations of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) suspended in an epoxy resin matrix. The base epoxy resin was found to be essentially Newtonian, and the progressive incorporation of nanotubes enhanced the low shear rate viscosity of the suspension by nearly two decades. At higher shear rates, the suspension viscosity asymptotically thinned to the viscosity of the matrix alone. The low shear rate viscosity enhancement was correlated with the optical observations of interconnected aggregates of carbon nanotubes, which themselves were induced by the low shear conditions. Intermediate shear rates resulted in a reduction in the size of the aggregates. High shear rates appeared to cause near-complete dispersal of the aggregates. From these results it is conjectured that for this suspension, shear thinning is connected with the breaking of the interconnected networks between nanotubes and or aggregates of nanotubes, and not b.
Effect of four powdered spices as repellents against adults of Rhyzopertha dominica (F.), Sitophilus granarius (L.) and Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) in laboratory conditions

Studies were conducted to test the repellency of four powdered spices, black pepper ( Piper nigrum .), chili pepper ( Capsicum annuum ), cinnamon ( Cinnamomum aromaticum ) and turmeric ( Curcuma longa ), against three stored-product insects, the lesser grain borer, Rhyzopertha dominica , the granary weevil, Sitophilus granarius and the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum . The cup bioassay technique was used, to determine the response of insects to potential repellents by measuring their movement from treated grain. The device is made of galvanized screening with 2 mm perforations shaped into a cylinder of 6 cm diameter and 15 cm high, with a mesh bottom, and is placed in the centre portion of plastic container of 15 cm diameter and 15 cm high. The powdered spices were poured into 200 g of wheat mass by a long-stemmed funnel at concentrations of 0, 0.25, 0.75, 1.5 and 2.5% on (w/w) basis. Twenty adults of three species are released into the centre of the grain mass in the container through a long-stemmed funnel. The experiments were conducted at room conditions. The number of trapped insects was determined at 3 different intervals after the introduction of the insects. Results showed that all tested plant powders had repellent activity against the three stored-product insects. Adults of S. granarius repelled faster, followed by T. castaneum and R. dominica . At the highest concentrations and intervals, wheat grains treated with cinnamon powder were the most repellent to adults of S. granarius (up to 92.5% after 1 h), followed by chili pepper treatment for T. castaneum (up to 72.5% after 6 h) and black pepper treatment for R. dominica (up to 58.75% after 24 h). Keywords : Repellency, Spices, Rhyzopertha dominica, Sitophilus granarius, Tribolium castaneum
Baleen whale spatial patterns in the Scotia Sea during January and February 2003

Different species of baleen whales display distinct spatial distribution patterns in the Scotia Sea during the austral summer. Passive acoustic and visual surveys for baleen whales were conducted aboard the RRS James Clark Ross in the Scotia Sea and around South Georgia in January and February 2003. Identified calls from four species were recorded during the acoustic survey including southern right (Eubalaena australis), blue (Balaenoptera musculus), fin (B. physalus) and humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). These acoustic data included up calls made by southern right whales, downswept D and tonal calls by blue whales, two possible types of fin whale downswept calls and humpback whale moans and grunts. Visual detections included southern right, fin, humpback and Antarctic minke whales (B. bonaerensis sp.). Most acoustic and visual detections occurred either around South Georgia (southern right and humpback whales) or south of the southern boundary of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) and along the outer edge of the ice pack (southern right, blue, humpback and Antarctic minke whales). Fin whales were the exception, being the only species acoustically and visually detected primarily in the central Scotia Sea, along the southern ACC front. In addition to identifiable calls from these species, two types of probable baleen whale calls were detected: 50Hz upswept and pulsing calls. It is proposed that minke whales may produce the pulsing calls, based on their similarities with minke whale calls recorded in the North Atlantic Ocean. There was an overlap between locations of fin whale sightings and recordings and locations of 50Hz upswept calls in the central Scotia Sea, but these calls were most similar to calls attributed to blue whales in other parts of Antarctica. More study is required to determine if baleen whales produce these two call types, and if so, which species. The efficiency of acoustics and visual surveys varied by species, with blue whales being easier to detect using acoustics, Antarctic minke whales being best detected during visual surveys and other species falling in between these two extremes.
Perceptions of Learning in TE Simulations

The purpose of this study was to explore the construct perceived learning and its relationship to objective indicators of learning and also to performance. In this study, perceptions of learning were divided into ten types for measurement purposes. The study was undertaken with seniors playing a total enterprise simulation. The results showed no relationship between perceptions and objective measures of learning. In other words, those who perceived that they learned a lot did not attain either high or low objective learning scores. On the other hand, there was a positive relationship between perception of learning and performance.
Analysis of interventions in support of small tourism businesses : the case of Eden District Municipality

This article analyses interventions in support of small tourism businesses (STBs) in the Eden District Municipality (EDM). Existing research points out that due to the contribution of small businesses (SBs) to local economic development (LED), in the locality of municipalities, small business support and development has been prioritised by local government as a focal point of municipal LED programmes. Based on a case study to identify areas in which STBs in the EDM require support to access trade and economic opportunities, this article concludes that a disconnect exists between some support programmes and interventions, and the needs of STBs to access such opportunities. The first outcome of the study thus points to the need for the development of a programme evaluation model for local government programmes. Such a programme evaluation model is a critical outcome of the study recommended for future research that could mitigate the disconnect between programme responses and the needs of STBs. This disconnect negates the plausibility of support programmes and interventions. An inherent shift is therefore required in the practices of local government in which credible baseline information remains a requisite in the appropriation of suitable interventions, thus forming the basis from which programmes are derived. Its value should not be undermined but should dictate the trajectory of future development programmes. The second outcome of the study highlights the need for government to undertake research that explores contributory factors to recurring challenges that STBs experience in accessing trade and economic opportunities and how to mitigate them.
Capacitive Voltage Substations Ferroresonance Prevention Using Power Electronic Devices

This paper describes the underlying theory and model of capacitive voltage substations and its assosiated problems. This system is intended to supply electricity to rural communities directly from high voltage transmission lines. This technique leads to important cost reductions when compared with conventional alternatives. However, in several transient cases, some problems such as ferroresonance and overvoltages can occur in these substations. These transient cases are simulated in this paper and a new technique is proposed for damping of dangerous overvoltages due to ferroresonance. In this technique, by using power electronic devices, a damping resistance is switched to secondary side of the system transformer, when necessary. Several computer simulation tests are presented in the paper to highlight the usefulness of this technique. The simulation results present that overvoltages are adequately limited.
Sand banks contribute to the production of coastal waters by making a habitat for benthic microalgae in the sublittoral zone : food web analyses in Aki-Nada using stable isotopes

There are many sand banks in Seto Inland Sea, making patchy shallow zones less than 10 m deep. Due to the shallow environment, the surface sediment on the sand banks in the Hojo area, in the southern part of Aki Nada, Shikoku Island, Japan, often has a larger amount of benthic microalgae than other areas. We hypothesized that benthic microalgae contributed to the secondary production of coastal waters around sand bank areas, and investigated the food-web structure of the Hojo area using stable isotopes in early summer, mid summer and fall. Mean carbon isotopic signatures of several consumers in early summer ( 16.9 to 15.1‰ for polychaeta; 17.3 to 13.9‰ for brachyuran crabs; 17.2 to 15.3 for fish) and fall ( 16.2 to 14.3‰ for shrimps; 14.0 to 11.2‰ for brachyuran crabs) were more enriched than that of the particulate organic materials of the surface water around sand banks (mainly phytoplankton) ( 20.5 0.0‰ in early summer and 18.3 0.1‰ in fall). Organic materials attached to cobbles, representative of benthic microalgae, showed similar or more enriched signatures than consumers ( 14.7 0.0‰ in early summer and 10.3 0.0‰ in fall). These results suggest that benthic microalgae on the sand bank contribute greatly to the secondary or higher production of coastal waters in Hojo area.
Disease occurrence and fruit quality of pre-harvest calcium treated red flesh dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus)

A study aiming at increasing Ca content in red flesh dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus) via pre-harvest fruit CaCl2 spray in relations to postharvest disease occurrence and fruit quality parameters was conducted. From day 7 after anthesis, red flesh dragon fruits (H. polyrhizus) were sprayed at weekly interval for four times with different concentration of CaCl2 (0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 gl -1 ). Fruit Ca content in fruit peel (DW basis) were markedly increased with the increasing Ca concentration in the applied solution but the Ca application did not affect Ca content in flesh. The compositions of N, P, K and Mg were not affected by the treatment. The severity of anthracnose and brown rot, caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and Monilinia fructicola, respectively, of artificially wounded fruits was reduced in preharvest CaCl2-treated fruits. The concentrations of soluble solids and titratable acidity in fruit were not affected by the treatment. The firmness of fresh cut fruit was markedly enhanced at higher concentration of CaCl2. Beneficial effects of increasing Ca in fruit can be seen in the increase of fruit firmness although this did not contribute in enhancement of fruit quality-related parameters. Increased Ca content in treated fruits, together with no effects of treatment on other mineral nutrients, increased the ratio of Ca to other elements and this may contribute directly to the reduction of anthracnose and brown rot severity in CaCl2-treated fruits.
Fundamental Factors Influencing Individual Investors to Invest in Shares of Manufacturing Companies in the Nigerian Capital Market

In a bid to diversify theeconomy and shore up the revenue base of the country, the Nigerian Governmenthas shifted its attention to the manufacturing sector which it believes has thegreatest potential to realize this objective. This paper aims at identifyingthe fundamental factors that influence individual investors to invest in theshares of manufacturing companies quoted on the Nigerian capital market. Astructured questionnaire was used to obtain primary data from 130 respondentswhich were analyzed using descriptive statistical techniques employing meanscores and standard deviation to assess the relative importance of each factorthat influence investment decisions. The results showed that the five mostinfluencing factors are past performance, expected bonus issue, growthpotential, future dividend and the profitability of the company. Five principalfactors were extracted using factor analysis which showed that accountinginformation and company growth potential accounted for the larger percentage ofvariance. This study has shown that investors place more importance on thoseeconomic factors which are commonly classified in literature as wealthmaximizing criteria. High price of manufacturing shares and lack of access toborrowed funds were found to be the most limiting factors to investing inmanufacturing shares. This reflects the low level of income in the countrywhich could have adverse consequences on the level of funds that willultimately be channeled to the capital market and subsequently made availableto the manufacturing sector which remains the most promising sector for thediversification of the economy. Keywords:Fundamental factors influencing investment, Individual investors, Manufacturingcompanies, Nigerian capital market.
Sensitivity of young water fractions to hydro-climatic forcing and landscape properties across 22 Swiss catchments

Abstract. The young water fraction Fyw, defined as the proportion of catchment outflow younger than approximately 2–3 months, can be estimated directly from the amplitudes of seasonal cycles of stable water isotopes in precipitation and streamflow. Thus, Fyw may be a useful metric in catchment inter-comparison studies that investigate landscape and hydro-climatic controls on streamflow generation. Here, we explore how Fyw varies with catchment characteristics and climatic forcing, using an extensive isotope data set from 22 small- to medium-sized (0.7–351 km2) Swiss catchments. We find that flow-weighting the tracer concentrations in streamwater resulted in roughly 26 % larger young water fractions compared to the corresponding unweighted values, reflecting the fact that young water fractions tend to be larger when catchments are wet and discharge is correspondingly higher. However, flow-weighted and unweighted young water fractions are strongly correlated with each other among the catchments. They also correlate with terrain, soil, and land-use indices, as well as with mean precipitation and measures of hydrologic response. Within individual catchments, young water fractions increase with discharge, indicating an increase in the proportional contribution of faster flow paths at higher flows. We present a new method to quantify the discharge sensitivity of Fyw, which we estimate as the linear slope of the relationship between the young water fraction and flow. Among the 22 catchments, discharge sensitivities of Fyw are highly variable and only weakly correlated with Fyw itself, implying that these two measures reflect catchment behaviour differently. Based on strong correlations between the discharge sensitivity of Fyw and several catchment characteristics, we suggest that low discharge sensitivities imply greater persistence in the proportions of fast and slow runoff flow paths as catchment wetness changes. In contrast, high discharge sensitivities imply the activation of different dominant flow paths during precipitation events, such as when subsurface water tables rise into more permeable layers and/or the river network expands further into the landscape.