Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mechanical properties of bioplastic form cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) mangosteen peel using glycerol as plasticizer

The environmental problem due to plastic waste had become serious because it could not be recycled neither be degraded naturally by microbe in land. Thus, in the present study, a bioplastic was produced based on cassava starch as the matrix and cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) from Mangosteen peel as reinforcing filler. The CNC was added into the bioplastic with varied concentration at 1 g (BP2), 2.5 g (BP3), 5 g (BP4) and without CNC as BP1. The isolation of CNC followed series of steps (delignification, bleaching, hydrolysis and sonication) before added to the matrix. The effect of CNC addition towards mechanical properties was determined using universal testing machine (UTM) and analyzed using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Results showed that the FTIR analysis confirmed an absorption pattern of cellulose in the starch/CNC bioplastic matrix whereas the effect in tensile strength, tensile modulus and elongation at break were compared to the pure bioplastic without CNC. The highest tensile strength peaked at 1.93 MPa while Young’s modulus at 26.82 GPa was observed for BP1. On the contrary, the addition of CNC fillers to the bioplastics increased the elongation at break and the density while the elongation at break reached the lowest percentage is 13.93% and the lowest density value is 952.5 kg/m3. Based on overall observation, this study proved that the addition of CNC on the other hand the mechanical properties showed the different result.
Entrepreneurial learning under uncertainty: exploring the role of self-efficacy and perceived complexity

ABSTRACT The entrepreneurial learning literature remains underdeveloped and lacks a clear understanding of the learning process. Building on an in-depth case study of four Scandinavian gourmet restauranteurs, we argue that learning to act on entrepreneurial tasks involves opening-up and focusing processes. We propose a process model that specifies how changing perceptions of complexity and self-efficacy influence an individual’s preference for experimentation (opening up) and modelling (focusing) when acquiring new experience. Specifically, in situations perceived as complex, individuals will likely opt for modelling; however, individuals who feel highly self-efficacious will likely rely more on experimentation.
Evaluation of Different Aspects of Janani Suraksha Yojna in Indore District, Madhya Pradesh -

Results: Total 42.8% of beneficiaries had three antenatal checkups. ASHA motivated 49% of beneficiary for institutional delivery.60% of ASHA received training within last 6 months only. 24.8% of beneficiaries received cash just after the delivery. ASHA is the main source for creating awareness about JSY in 90% of beneficiaries in peripheral areas. ASHA accompanies beneficiaries to health centre in as much as 47% in PHC & CHC.
Foreign Ownership, Return Volatility, Trading Volume, and Risk of Stocks in Indonesia

This study examines the relationship between foreign ownership and return volatility, trading volume, and risk of stocks at the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). Panel data of selected companies listed on the LQ45 index of the IDX was employed for the period between 2011 and 2017. Foreign ownership was found to positively affect stock return volatility, trading volume, and risk. Hence, more substantial foreign ownership of stocks meant more drawbacks to Indonesian stocks. Therefore, there is a need for the Indonesian government to limit and regulate foreign shareholders in Indonesia.
Machine + Man: A Field Experiment on the Role of Discretion in Augmenting AI-Based Lending Models

Abstract We assess the role of human discretion in lending outcomes using a randomized, controlled experiment. The lenders in our sample utilize a third party, machine-generated credit model as an input in their decision. We design a new feature for the credit-scoring platform – the slider feature – which invites lenders to incorporate additional discretion in their decision by adjusting the machine-based recommendation. We compare the loan outcomes for treatment lenders that randomly get the slider, relative to a control group. The treatment group’s adjustments are predictive of forward looking portfolio characteristics – they show larger declines in future portfolio-level credit risk and larger increases in future sales orders, relative to the control group. The effects of our intervention are more pronounced when borrowers do not have social media accounts and in competitive markets. Our study provides insights about the role of human decisions, given the rapid evolution of machine-based lending models.
Collaborative Performance and Swift Trust in Tourism Industry of Thailand: Role of Big Data Analytics Capability and External Supply Chain Management

Building trust among different stakeholders of the business and collaborative performance are two most desired organizational outcomes. Such across the board relations largely based on big data exists about these relationships which help to sort out the conflicts. Through the very same big data, manufacturing industry can also look after its external supply chain management practices too. This study has checked the impact of Big Data Analytics Capability (BDAC) on swift trust and collaborative performance in Thailandâ€™s manufacturing sector. Moreover, study has also analyzed the mediating role of external supply chain management in relationship between BDAC and swift trust and BDAC and collaborative performance. Data has been collected from managerial level employees of 39 manufacturing firms of Thailand equipped with big data capability. Questionnaire based data was then analyzed through SPSS and AMOS. BDAC was reflected as a significant predictor of swift trust and collaborative performance in results. Indirect role of external supply chain management was also flagged significant in results. This study is novel due to inclusion of external supply chain management as mediator and it will have its implications for manufacturing sector which can improve their collaborative performance through BDAC driven supply chain management.
EFFECTS OF NICOTINE EXPOSURE ON METHAMPHETAMINE ORAL SELF-ADMINISTRATION, EXTINCTION, AND REINSTATEMENT IN ADOLESCENT RATS

iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . v LIST OF TABLES . x LIST OF FIGURES . xi CHAPTER ONE: DRUG ADDICTION Introduction . 1 CHAPTER TWO: ADOLESCENCE Introduction . 5 Adolescence and Drug Addiction . 7 CHAPTER THREE: ACETYLCHOLINE Introduction . 10 Acetylcholine Synthesis, Release, and Catabolism . 10 Acetylcholine Receptors and Subtypes. 12 Acetylcholine Innervation . 14 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Development . 14 CHAPTER FOUR: MONOAMINE NEUROTRANSMITTERS Introduction . 16 Dopamine . 16 Dopamine Synthesis, Release, and Catabolism . 17 Dopamine Receptors and Subtypes . 19 Dopamine Innervation . 20 Dopaminergic System Development . 21
Therapeutic Drugs Targeting 2019-nCoV Main Protease by High-Throughput Screening

2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is a virus identified as the cause of the outbreak of pneumonia first detected in Wuhan, China. Investigations on the transmissibility, severity, and other features associated with this virus are ongoing. Currently, there is no vaccine or therapeutic antibody to prevent the infection, and more time is required to develop an effective immune strategy against the pathogen. In contrast, specific inhibitors targeting the key protease involved in replication and proliferation of the virus are the most effective means to alleviate the epidemic. The main protease of SARS-CoV is essential for the life cycle of the virus, which showed 96.1% of similarity with the main proteaseof 2019-nCoV, is considered to be an attractive target for drug development. In this study, we have identified 4 small molecular drugs with high binding capacity with SARS-CoV main protease by high-throughput screening based on the 8,000 clinical drug libraries, all these drugs have been widely used in clinical applications with guaranteed safety, which may serve as promising candidates to treat the infection of 2019-nCoV.
A study of clinical and laboratory profile of febrile children presenting with thrombocytopenia

We come across a large number of cases, both as inpatients and outpatients presenting with fever with thrombocytopenia. Thrombocytopenia is defined as a platelet count less than normal range usually below 1,50,000 per micro-litre. Reduced platelet count caused by EDTA is a common laboratory phenomenon and leads to pseudo thrombocytopenia. Sometimes non-infectious causes such as primary haematological disorders may also present with febrile thrombocytopenia.
Damping Method of High-Frequency Resonance for Stator Current Controlled DFIG System Under Parallel Compensation Grid

High-frequency resonances (HFR) is a subsistent issue in a doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) system when it connects to a parallel compensation grid, due to the insufficient phase margin between the impedance of DFIG and grid. The occurrence mechanism and damping methods for the HFR in the rotor current controlled DFIG have been investigated in the existing literatures, while the appearance and solutions of HFR for the stator current controlled DFIG (SCC-DFIG) have not been studied yet. Based on the impedance of SCC-DFIG, this article analyzes the occurrence mechanism of the HFR in the SCC-DFIG. Thereby, an impedance reshaping method based on stator voltage feedforward controller (SVFC) is proposed. By employing the proposed SVFC, SCC-DFIG can avoid HFR in a wide frequency range, which signifies that HFR with varied resonance frequency caused by the change of compensation degree can be damped well. More importantly, compared to the existing solutions for HFR damping, the impedance reshaping effect of the proposed SVFC for SCC-DFIG is irrelevant to the parameters of DFIG, so that the HFR damping controller can be valid for different DFIG systems without redesigning controller parameters. Theoretical analysis and experiments are given to illustrate the effectiveness and practicability of the proposed method.
Establishment of predictive model for patients with kidney cancer bone metastasis: a study based on SEER database

Background Bone is a common metastatic tissue of kidney cancer. Accurate prediction of the prognosis of patients with kidney cancer bone metastasis (KCBM) can help doctors and patients choose a further appropriate treatment. Methods During the period from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2015, screening patients with kidney cancer diagnosed with bone metastases from the SEER database. Summary of demographic, pathology, number of other metastatic organs, and treatment for KCBM patients. All prognostic factors were plotted for Kaplan-Meier survival curves and log-rank test. Prognostic factors of P<0.001 in the log-rank test were chosen and used to establish nomograms of OS and KCSS. We used C-index, ROC curve, and calibration plot to test the prediction accuracy of two nomograms. Results A total of 4,234 KCBM patients were included in the study, and patients were diagnosed between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2015. The model establishment group included 2,966 KCBM patients and the validation group included 1,268 KCBM patients. We have established nomograms for OS and KCSS respectively. These two nomograms included factors such as age, marital status, insurance status, histological type, grade, T stage, N stage, number of extra-bone metastatic organs, surgery, RT, and CT. The C-index of nomograms of OS and KCSS was 0.733 and 0.752, respectively. In all ROC curves, all AUC values were greater than 0.7, proving that the nomograms of both OS and KCSS have achieved medium prediction accuracy. The calibration plots of the model establishment group and the validation group showed good consistency between the predicted nomograms of OS and KCSS. Conclusions In this study, nomograms of OS and KCSS were established based on the published data of KCBM patients in the SEER database, and the model was validated internally and externally. The prediction accuracy of nomograms of OS and KCSS achieved satisfactory results. At present, this model has the ability to predict the prognosis of KCBM patients and can be used in clinical work.
A combined viscoelasticity-viscoplasticity-anisotropic damage model with evolving internal state variables applied to fiber reinforced polymer composites

Abstract A thermodynamically-consistent large strain viscoelasticity-viscoplasticity-damage Internal State Variable (ISV) constitutive material model integrated with a mixture theory combining each individual constituent is formulated to describe the highly nonlinear, rate-dependent thermomechanical behavior of Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composites. The model is formulated in an intermediate configuration where unloading the specimen is viscoelastic. In our model, a rate-dependent yield surface is employed to identify initial yielding of the material. At small deformations, which occurs before yielding, the viscoelastic behavior of FRPs is described using the generalized Maxwell model, while at large deformation, three physically based evolving ISVs are used to capture the hardening and softening behaviors caused by their polymeric constituents. The complicated damage state of the FRPs is captured by a second rank tensor, which is further decomposed to model the subscale damage phenomena of microvoids/cracks nucleation, growth and coalescence. Finally, the mixture theory in combination with certain homogenization procedures are adopted to formulate the overall stress, strain, and damage of the composite in terms of the individual constituents. To demonstrate the model’s usage, two examples are presented. First, the ISV model is calibrated to a Polyamide 6,6 reinforced with glass fibers with the aim of showing its capacity to predict the viscoelastic and damage coupled behaviors of a composite. Second, a glass fiber reinforced epoxy with the purpose of describing the temperature dependence and the interphase effect is illustrated.
Iron deficiency anemia among preschool children (2–6 years) in a slum area (Alexandria, Egypt): an intervention study

Objective The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia (IDA) among preschool children in a slum area of Alexandria governorate. Background According to the WHO, anemia due to iron deficiency is the most common nutritional disorder in the world. Two billion people – over 30% of the world's population – are anemic, mainly due to iron deficiency. Participants and methods A cross-sectional comparative study was carried out on 90 children living in a slum area in the east district of Alexandria governorate. Results Mother's age, mother's education, socioeconomic standard, and family size were significantly different between healthy and anemic children. Parasitic infestations were significantly higher among anemic children than among healthy children. Conclusion Prevalence of IDA among preschool children was 52.2%. Prevalence of IDA was higher in girls than in boys but did not reach a significant level. On the other hand, there was a significant association between the prevalence of IDA and mother's age and family size.
Some Potential Biological Predictors of Hypertension in Obese Male Rats

Obesity is a leading preventable cause of death worldwide. Patients with obesity are susceptible to hypertension which is a risk factor for all clinical manifestations of atherosclerosis, heart failure, coronary artery disease, stroke and renal disease. The aim of this thesis was to study some potential biological predictors of hypertension in obese male rats. Material and methods: 60 male albino rats were included in this study and classified into 2 main groups. Group 1(control group, n=30) and group 2 (obese group, n=30). Induction of experimental obesity was by feeding rats with high fat diet till reaching Lee index > 0.3. Lee index (cubic root of body weight (g) X 10 / naso-anal length (mm). All the following were measured at 3 months-interval ( at the beginning of the experiment, after 3 months, after 6 months): systolic blood pressure (mmHg), serum adiponectin (μg/ml), serum uric acid (SUA) (mg/dl), HsC-reactive proteins (HsCRP) (μg/ml) and triglyceride (TG) (mg/dl). Results: Obesity resulted in significant increase of systolic blood pressure and significant decrease of adiponectin. It also induced a significant increase of SUA, HsCRP, and TG. There is significant negative correlation between adiponectin and body weight (r=-0.06 & P < 0.05) in obese group. Conclusion: Serum adiponectin, SUA, HsCRP, and TG are biological predictors of hypertension in obese male rats. [Hemmat M. Khloussy; Hanan A. Mubark; Ahmed D. Badawy and Abdullah R. ElSwerrky. Some Potential Biological Predictors of Hypertension in Obese Male Rats] Life Science Journal. 2011;8(4):171-176] (ISSN: 1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite. com.
Cancer Scenario In India

India is a developing country. The present population is 1.35 bil-lion of which 1.4 million Populations are diagnosed with cancer ev-ery year. A total of 2.25 million cases are prevalent at a given time, mortality from cancer is as high as 1.2 million. Cervix and Breast are leading cancers among females and head neck and lung are leading cancers among males. Due to poverty and illiteracy there is lack of awareness which leads to presentation at advanced or metastatic stage. The treatment in most of cases is palliative. Though now the awareness about cancer has increased and urban population is very conscious about the disease (Figure 1).
A new scenario for stability of nonlinear Bresse‐Timoshenko type systems with time dependent delay

In this paper, we study the asymptotic behavior for a Bresse‐Timoshenko type system with time‐dependent delay terms. Our results follow a recent approach given by Almeida Júnior and Ramos (Zeitschrift f ü r angewandte Mathematik und Physik. 68, 1‐31. 2017) where they showed that the viscous damping acting on angle rotation of the classical Bresse‐Timoshenko model eliminates the damage consequences of the so called second spectrum of frequency. Moreover, for Bresse‐Timoshenko type systems which are free of these consequences the assumption of equal wave speeds is not necessary anymore to get the exponential stability. Here, by introducing an appropriate Lyapunov functional we prove the exponential stability for time dependent delay cases regardless of any relationship between wave propagation velocities.
Chlorite and Epidote Mineral Chemistry in Porphyry Ore Systems: A Case Study of the Northparkes District, New South Wales, Australia

Propylitic alteration, characterized by the occurrence of chlorite and epidote, is typically the most extensive and peripheral alteration facies developed around porphyry ore deposits. However, exploration within this alteration domain is particularly challenging, commonly owing to weak or nonexistent whole-rock geochemical gradients and the fact that similar assemblages can be developed in other geologic settings, particularly during low-grade metamorphism. We document and interpret systematic spatial trends in the chemistry of chlorite and epidote from propylitic alteration around the E48 and E26 porphyry Cu-Au deposits of the Northparkes district, New South Wales, Australia. These trends vary as a function of both distance from hydrothermal centers and alteration paragenesis. The spatial trends identified in porphyry-related chlorite and epidote at Northparkes include (1) a deposit-proximal increase in Ti, As, Sb, and V in epidote and Ti in chlorite, (2) a deposit-distal increase in Co and Li in chlorite and Ba in epidote, and (3) a pronounced halo around deposits in which Mn and Zn in chlorite, as well as Mn, Zn, Pb, and Mg in epidote, are elevated. Chlorite Al/Si ratios and epidote Al/Fe ratios may show behavior similar to that of Mn-Zn or may simply decrease outward, and V and Ni concentrations in chlorite are lowest in the peak Mn-Zn zone. In comparison to porphyry-related samples, chlorite from the regional metamorphic assemblage in the district contains far higher concentrations of Li, Ca, Ba, Pb, and Cu but much less Ti. Similarly, metamorphic epidote contains higher concentrations of Sr, Pb, As, and Sb but less Bi and Ti. These chlorite and epidote compositional trends are the net result of fluid-mineral partitioning under variable physicochemical conditions within a porphyry magmatic-hydrothermal system. They are most easily explained by the contribution of spent magmatic-derived ore fluid(s) into the propylitic domain. It is envisaged that such fluids experience progressive cooling and reduction in fs2 during outward infiltration into surrounding country rocks, with their pH controlled by the extent of rock-buffering experienced along the fluid pathway.
The Impact of Mobile Money on the Financial Performance of the SMEs in Douala, Cameroon

Often financially excluded by the traditional banking system, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in many developing countries have found in mobile money services (MMS) a sustainable alternative. Despite its potential in propelling inclusive growth, the use and adoption of mobile money (MM) by SMEs has generally been low in developing countries, and one of the reasons has been limited data that supported its impact on financial performance. As a result, there was a need to investigate the impact of the mobile money payment and receipt services on the financial performance of the SMEs in Cameroon. This paper implemented a mixed research paradigm with data collected through the administration of a survey questionnaire and from one-on-one in-depth interviews. A sample of 285 SMEs responded to the survey, while 12 owners/managing directors were purposively selected to participate in the personal interviews. Version 25 of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used to analyse the quantitative data, while the qualitative data was analysed along themes. The results were, after that, triangulated for credibility reasons. The concluding findings indicated that the mobile money payment and receipt services contributed of the order of 73% of the total variance in the turnover of the SMEs in Douala after they had begun to use the technology. By confirming the positive relationship between the use of mobile money services and the financial performance of businesses, it is hoped that all the relevant stakeholders will see this as a possible solution to the financial challenges that SMEs face in developing economies.