Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activities of the species Silene inflata Sm

This study is devoted to the estimation of total phenolic content and the evaluation of in vitro antioxidant and antibacterial activities of crude extracts (petroleum ether, ethyl acetate and methanolic) obtained from the species Silene inflata Sm. The total phenolic content of the obtained extracts was estimated spectrophotometrically by the Folin-Ciocalteu method, the antioxidant activity was determined by scavenging of the free radical DPPH. Furthermore, the antibacterial activity was assessed by agar disk diffusion assay against four bacterial strains. The results of the phytochemical screening of crude extracts revealed the presence of several types of secondary metabolites including steroids, alkaloids, tannins, polyphenols and saponins. The ethyl acetate extract recorded the highest content of polyphenols (8.60 ± 0.01 μg GAE/mg of plant extract) followed by the methanolic and petroleum ether extracts respectively. The results of the antioxidant activity showed that all the tested extracts had the ability to scavenge the free radical DPPH and possess antioxidant activity in a dose-dependent manner. The methanolic extract has a strong antioxidant activity with an IC50 value of 23.53 ± 0.15 μg/ml. The crude extracts (petroleum ether and ethyl acetate) had no antibacterial effect against all the tested strains compared to penicillin and gentamicin as positive controls. While the methanolic extract revealed an antibacterial effect only against the clinical strain Staphylococcus albus with a value of the minimum inhibitory concentration at 0.5 mg/ml. In conclusion, the species Silene inflata Sm. could be an important source of new therapeutic agents against pathological damage due to free radicals and microbial infections.
TO THINK FROM LATIN AMERICA IN DIALOGUE WITH THE ORGANIZATION OF DECOLONIAL SOCIAL STRUGGLES: EXPLORING POSSIBILITIES

The proposition of thinking about the Organizational Studies from Latin America (LA) is based on the acknowledgement that epistemology is political and that there exists an epistemology of domination inseparable from its material foundation. First, this essay discusses the meaning of LA, arguing that it is both a geopolitical space and a category of analysis. Then, it analyzes Organizational Studies in LA from a Brazilian perspective. Finally, it emphasizes the importance of knowledge based on a critical ethics that contributes towards making organizational processes that confront the multiple concrete expressions of coloniality visible, which is also relevant to struggling communities and collectives.
Multiphysics modelling and numerical simulation of GTA weld pools

It is well reported in the literature that the characteristics of the weld joint and the heat transfer at the solid/liquid interface are highly dependent on the fluid flow in the weld pool. In the present work, we numerically investigate the effects of welding parameters on GTA weld pools developments. A 2D model including the cathode, arc plasma and anode domains is developed to study in-depth stationary GTAW. This also permits to quantify the effects of the chemical composition of the shielding gas, and to study new welding techniques such as GTAW with alternate supply of shielding gases. The study of moving GTAW with filler metal is performed using a hybrid 2D-3D approach. The numerical simulations conducted for horizontal-position welding reveal a huge asymmetry of the weld towards the opposite gravity direction, which is numerically found to be the effect of buoyancy-induced flows and asymmetrical free surface deformation. This defect can be significantly reduced in dissimilar sulfur content welds by placing the low sulfur plate at the bottom.
Effects of Exchange Rate Volatility on Economic Growth: Evidence from West African Monetary Zone WAMZ Countries

This study examined the effects of exchange rate volatility on economic growth in four WAMZ countries. The study uses the pooled ordinary least squares, fixed effects and random effects models, and obtains a robust standard error estimate of the model by applying xtreg, cluster()fe. The empirical analysis shows that the effect of exchange rate volatility on economic growth is insignificant. Also, the results show a positive correlation between exports and economic growth. This fact implies that policies aimed at increasing exports through an appropriate exchange rate may be beneficial to the countries. In addition, the analysis also shows a positive and significant link between imports and growth rates. Therefore, this confirms that the countries actually benefit from imports resulting from the competitive pressure generated by the import of consumer goods and professional knowledge, and also from the transfer of technology embodied in the import of goods by producers. Hence, the policy of removing import barriers will benefit the countries. Furthermore, the results show that there is a positive correlation between the nominal exchange rate and economic growth rate. Thus, this shows that the nominal exchange rate depreciation policy can play an important role in improving the growth of the countries. However, the research results show that there is an inverse relationship between the real exchange rate and growth. Considering the importance of the real exchange rate, this finding suggests the introduction of a common currency in the WAMZ economies to reduce the negative effects on growth. Prudent exchange rate via monetary policy can be developed and implemented to promote growth.
THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT Organizational Performance and Employees’ Participation in Decision Making

into goods and services(Brewster et al.2007). Every organization aims at maximizing profit and minimizing lost, but this can only be done with the support and commitment of the employee (Boadu, 2011). The level of satisfaction and Abstract: The study sought to assess the significance of employees’ influence on organizational performance and how restricted is the employee participation in decision making in the Rural Banking system in Ghana. The study highlights employees’ expectations of management and their participation in decision making for high productivity and organizational harmony. We used mix methods in this study and collected data through questionnaires and interviews. We targeted eighty (80) participants with ten (10) from management. However, only seventy-two (72) respondents were voluntarily participated with six (6) from management representing 90% of the total respondents. We found that Financial Institutions employed very well qualified individuals, had long serving personnel, and stand the chance of increasing production when these calibres of workers’ views are considered in decision-making process. The study noticed a direct relationship between employees voicing and productivity. Management confirmed the impact of employee’s voicing on productivity, and that if employees’ voicing is fairly treated, it may bring about affirmative behaviour of employees which in turn motivates employees to give up their best at work, that is increasing returns to scale. The study, however, revealed that employees’ dissatisfaction affects productivity negatively, because they relax their efforts to work harder when they are denied of their right to be part of decision-making process. We noticed in our analysis, management to an extend supports the idea of employees’ full participation in decision making process as the entire members interviewed within management saw economic progress of organizations in the hands of the employee, and over 60% of the employees that took part in the study said same. This could be linked to McCabe & Lewin (1992) findings that Employees’ voice is a kind of valuable information that reduces potential organizational conflict while increasing organizational efficiencies and productivity. However, 30% of their colleague interviewed agreed to the fact that employee’s participation in decision making process will neither increase nor reduce organizational productivity.
Investment activities in the U.S. secondary woodworking industry

—The U.S. secondary woodworking industry has shown signs of improvement after the steep losses in sales volume associated with the housing crisis that began in 2007. Employment in several sectors has begun to increase, suggesting that companies that survived the downturn are positioning to increase sales growth. It is likely that investment plans to improve firm-level productivity or capabilities are also gaining momentum. The objective of this paper was to ascertain investment activities in the secondary woodworking industry based on a survey of “Woodworking Network” magazine subscribers conducted in 2015. The survey was the latest of a 6-year series that tracked firm performance and activities annually since 2008, with an added recent focus on investment plans. Respondents provided information regarding their planned investment levels, areas in which they planned to invest, and the most important current drivers of investment plans. While responses showed a general increase in planned investment levels over the next 3 years for large firms (65 percent planned to invest more in 2015 than in 2014), a plurality of smaller firms (42 percent) were uncertain of their investment plans. Furthermore, a higher percentage of large firms indicated they planned to invest compared to small firms in nearly every category investigated. There were some differences between small and large firms in what was driving company investment plans. The results suggest that overall investment activity might be expected to increase in the near term, but the business environment still remains somewhat uncertain for many smaller firms.
Genetic Polymorphisms in Turkish Patients with Lumbar Disk Herniation

Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) defined in the early 1930s and has since been treated, is the most common disease group in which neurosurgeons have dealt with and performed operations. The pathogenesis of this disease is still unknown. The study aimed to evaluate any potential contribution of disease-associated single nucleotide gene polymorphisms (SNPs) in LDH etiology. Male and female volunteers with LDH participated in the study. All variants (SOD1 IVS3+35 A>C); SOD2 c. *3409T>A; c. *441A>G; MTHFR p.Ala222Val (c.677C>T), and PAI-1-844G>A) were analysed using polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR–RFLP) method. In MTHFR 677C>T, “T” additive model and “T” dominant model, CC vs. CT (OR:5.69 Cl: 2.4-13.4 p<0.001) and CC vs. TC+TT(OR:5.69 Cl: 2.4-13.4 p<0.001) increased the risk of LDH almost 6-fold, “C” recessive model, CT+TT vs. CC (OR:5.68 Cl:2.4-13.5 p<0.001) reduced the risk of LDH almost 6-fold while others were not associated with LDH. In a paired analysis of MTHFRc.677C>T/PAI-1-844G>A genotypes, it was determined that AG genotype increased the protective effect of CC genotype (CC+AG vs others) of the MTHFR gene (OR: 8.4 Cl:2.2-3.1 P<0.001) while reducing the negative effect of the TC genotype of MTHFR gene(TC+AG vs others) in LDH risk(OR: 4.4 Cl: 1.5-12.1P=0.005). A similar result was not determined for the investigated SOD1 and SOD2 variants. For the first time, in our study groups, MTHFR677C>T polymorphism was found associated with an increased risk of LDH.
Kinetic Properties of “Soluble” Adenylyl Cyclase SYNERGISM BETWEEN CALCIUM AND BICARBONATE*

“Soluble” adenylyl cyclase (sAC) is a widely expressed source of cAMP in mammalian cells that is evolutionarily, structurally, and biochemically distinct from the G protein-responsive transmembrane adenylyl cyclases. In contrast to transmembrane adenylyl cyclases, sAC is insensitive to heterotrimeric G protein regulation and forskolin stimulation and is uniquely modulated by bicarbonate ions. Here we present the first report detailing kinetic analysis and biochemical properties of purified recombinant sAC. We confirm that bicarbonate regulation is conserved among mammalian sAC orthologs and demonstrate that bicarbonate stimulation is consistent with an increase in the Vmax of the enzyme with little effect on the apparent Km for substrate, ATPMg . Bicarbonate can further increase sAC activity by relieving substrate inhibition. We also identify calcium as a direct modulator of sAC activity. In contrast to bicarbonate, calcium stimulates sAC activity by decreasing its apparent Km for ATP-Mg 2 . Because of their different mechanisms, calcium and bicarbonate synergistically activate sAC; therefore, small changes of either calcium or bicarbonate will lead to significant changes in cellular cAMP levels.
Primary and Secondary Cell Death in Human Melanoma Xenografts following Hyperthermic Treatment1

The response to hyperthermic treatment (42.5Â°Cfor 60 min) of 5 human malignant melanomas grown in athymic mice (BALB/ c/nu/nu/BOM) was studied. Local hyperthermia was given by immersing the tumor-bearing leg of the mice into a thermostati cally regulated water bath. Growth delay studies indicated that the melanomas were different in heat responsiveness. The dif ferences were confirmed by measuring the fraction of clonogenic cells in the melanomas as a function of time after treatment. The latter experiment showed that some tumor cells were inactivated during the treatment, while others lost clonogenicity first after completion of the treatment. Examinations of histological sec tions from tumors fixed 1 h after treatment revealed considerable vascular occlusion in all 5 melanomas. This indicates that the observed delayed cell death might be due to a number of factors, e.g., insufficient supply of oxygen and nutrients, increased tumor acidity, and accumulation of toxic metabolic products. It is con cluded that at least two different mechanisms govern the overall heat response of the melanoma xenografts: the primary cell death, induced during treatment, is due to direct cytotoxic effects of the heat; the secondary cell death, induced after completion of treatment, is due to heat-induced vascular damage. The differences among the melanomas in overall heat responsiveness appeared mainly to be a consequence of differences in secondary cell death. The secondary cell death was shown to be least pronounced for those melanomas in which most of the larger vessels were embedded in broad bands of connective tissue.
PALEO, 23 | 2012

Magdalenian archaeological sites often contain grooved polishers used to polish other implements (for example, Capitan and Peyrony 1928). These objects are generally made from sandstone but a few are made from pumice. Bibliographic research revealed that only four sites have yielded pumice stone polishers (fig. 1, fig. 2, tab. 1). These are the sites of Gourdan (Piette 1873), Isturitz (Passemard 1944), Aitzbitarte IV (Barandiaran 1965) and Arancou (Chauchat et al. 1999). Several polishers were found in the Duruthy rock-shelter, Sorde-L'abbaye, Landes. Most of these polishers are in sandstone (fig. 3) but one of them is different and has the appearance of pumice (fig. 4). The textural study and geochemical analysis (fig. 5, fig. 6, tab. 2) of this polisher indicate that it was made from rhyolitic pumice. The geochemical characteristics of this material indicate that it is not a product of French volcanism. The fact that all the sites where pumice polishers were found are located near the Atlantic Ocean suggests that floated pumices may have been collected along the ocean shores. Such rhyolitic pumices could have been produced during the eruption of a volcano on an island in the Atlantic Ocean. Although we have not yet identified the volcano responsible for this eruption, this remains the most likely hypothesis. In this respect, these artefacts offer a new approach to the study of the exploitation of the littoral zone by the last Palaeolithic hunters in southwest France and northern Spain.
OVEREXPRESSION OF HER2/NEU ONCOGEN, P53 AND ESTROGEN RECEPTOR IN ENDOMETRIAL HYPERPLASIA AND CARCINOMA

Background: Endometrial hyperplasia with its two types (simple and complex hyperplasia with or without atypia) is one of the most important endometrial lesions. The probability of progression of endometrial hyperplasia to carcinoma is related to the degree of architectural and/or cytological atypia. There are two fundamentally different pathogenic types of endometrial carcinoma: type I (estrogen related, endometrioid type) and type II (non-estrogen related, non-endometrioid type). Recently, various biomarkers detect prognostic factors in endometrial carcinomas, such as Her2/neu, P53 as well as Estrogen Receptor (ER). Materials and Methods: During the period from November 2015 to May 2016, 101cases (as blocks) were collected from the archive of different Laboratories. There were 52 cases of endometrial hyperplasia; the other 49 cases were endometrial carcinoma. All the cases were revised histologically (using Hematoxylin and Eosin stain) to identify the types of hyperplasia and carcinoma, as well as the grade of carcinoma and the degree of myometrial invasion. Three markers were applied (Her2/neu, P53 and Estrogen Receptor) by using automated immunohistochemistry staining. Results: The predominant cases of the endometrial hyperplasia were in the 5 th decade with a mean age (44.6) years. The majority were simple hyperplasia without atypia. The endometrial carcinoma cases were predominant in the 6 th decade with a mean age (55.5) years. The majorities were of the classical type (65.3%) and grade II (48.9%). Her2/neu expression significantly increased in positivity (p=0.001), while P53 did not show significant changes with disease progression (p= 0.1). Estrogen Receptor immunoreactivity was decreased significantly from simple hyperplasia to carcinoma (p= 0.001). There were no correlation between these triple markers and increasing grade. Although, the number of cases showed more positivity of Her2/neu and P53 with the increasing of myometrial invasion and expression of Estrogen receptor decreased but the relation was statistically not significant (p= 0.9). Among the studied cases, there were 18.2% and 50% of complex hyperplasia without atypia and atypical hyperplasia respectively transmitted to carcinoma, while none of the simple hyperplasia cases showed transmission to carcinoma. Conclusions: Cases of the endometrial hyperplasia were more prevalent at pre and perimenopausal period while endometrial carcinoma was more prevalent in postmenopausal women. Her2/neu showed more immunoreactivity with progression of the pathological change (increasing morphological and cytological complexity) from endometrial hyperplasia to carcinoma in contrast to Estrogen Receptor expression which showed converse relationship with progression of the disease. Expression of P53 was seen to have more immunoreactivity with high grade and highly invasive tumor.
Event-related potentials and item recognition in depressed, schizophrenic and alcoholic patients

Auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) to pure tones and performance on a measure of item recognition were compared in 20 controls, 14 alcoholics, 20 depressed and 21 schizophrenic patients. Compared with normal controls, P2 and N2 were delayed and of diminished amplitude in the psychopathological groups. Increased amplitude of Pl in alcoholics, diminished Nl in depressed patients, increased latencies of Nl in schizophrenics and N2 in alcoholics were pathology-specific. Unusual patterns of response in the item recognition test (elevated intercept and flattened slope) and its relationship with ERPs distinguished the diagnostic groups from the controls. Support for the preferential involvement of the left hemisphere in schizophrenia and of the right hemisphere in depression was found. Disinhibition of CNS activity in the response of alcoholics (increased Pl and delayed P3) was indicated. The findings suggested that discriminant analysis of auditory ERPs to simple, pure tones, in conjunction with psychometric data significantly differentiated pathologic groups from each other and from controls.
Edinburgh Research Explorer A critical review of closing-in

When performing complex actions, like graphic copying or imitation of gestures, some patients may perform these actions very close to, or directly on the top of the model. This peculiar behaviour, known as Closing-in, is the focus of the present literature review, which will provide a critical picture of the research in this field, highlighting the difficulties in defining and assessing Closing-in and the contrasting results about the nature and the characteristics of this phenomenon. Most importantly, we will discuss the two hypotheses proposed to explain Closing-in, namely the compensation and the attraction account, in light of most recent works. This critical review will provide substantial evidence that Closing-in represent a primitive default tendency in which movements are attracted towards the focus of attention. On the other hand, the possibility that this interpretation might not be fully exhaustive and that different components of Closing-in might exist will also be discussed.
Elucidating care for families with multiple problems in routine practice

Families with multiple problems (FMP), also de ﬁ ned as multiproblem families or multistressed families, face multiple, severe, chronic and intertwined problems in di ﬀ erent areas of life. Content and provision of interventions targeting FMP in routine practice may largely deviate from guidelines in intervention manuals. The aim of this study was to identify practice and program elements provided to FMP in routine practice, including the intensity, manner of provision, and recipients, per intervention phase (starting-, care- and end phase). We se- lected interventions with at least moderate ( d ≥ 0.5) e ﬀ ect sizes in the Dutch context, yielding eight interventions. Practitioners of 26 Dutch organizations systematically registered information on practice and program elements, intensity, manner of provision, and recipients, using the taxonomy of interventions for FMP. Within 474 trajectories we found that elements regarding activation of the social network of FMP were provided least often (in less than 48 – 77% of the families). Elements were provided mainly through psycho-education (25 – 33%) and instruction (21 – 24%). Interventions focused more on parents (53 – 62%) than on children (26 – 32%). Program elements hardly changed between phases of interventions, although the number of visits decreased (from an average of six visits a month during the starting phase to four visits during the end phase). An inventory of elements that make part of interventions for FMP allows studying the e ﬀ ectiveness of these interventions in a more detailed way. This yields information that may help to identify the optimal sequence, intensity and duration of elements and enables to better understand outcomes of interventions for FMP. Our study showed that systematic collection of information on the content of care in interventions for FMP reveals what practitioners actually do in practice. Such information can be a ﬁ rst step towards identifying the optimal sequence, intensity and duration of elements within interventions for FMP, and can provide new possibilities to explain the e ﬀ ectiveness of interventions. It also suggests new ways to set up supervision of practitioners, eventually leading to better quality of care for these families.