Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EFFECT OF DIFFERENT L-ARGININE CONCENTRATIONS ON IN VITRO BUFFALO SEMEN FERTILIZING POTENTIALS

Sperm capacitation and acrosome reaction are essential for fertilization. L-Arginine plays an important role in the physiology of spermatozoa and has been shown to enhance their metabolism and maintain their motility. This study investigated the effect of L-arginine on cryopresreved buffalo sperm capacitation, acrosome reaction and the in vitro fertilizing potentials of the cryopresreved buffalo spermatozoa. Frozen-thawed buffalo spermatozoa have been incubated in TALP medium with different concentrations of L-arginine (5, 10 and 20 mM) and the percentages of capacitated and acrosome reacted spermatozoa have been determined by silver nitrate stain. L-arginine induced both capacitation and acrosome reaction. The optimum concentration that induced capacitation and improved in vitro fertilizing potentials appeared to be 10 mM. The data presented suggested the beneficial effect of L- arginine in cryopresreved buffalo sperm capacitation and acrosome reaction .
Dividend policy as a multi-purpose mechanism; the case of conventional and Islamic banks before and after the 2008 crisis

: Dividend policy and its association to firm value is still a concern for researchers. Empirical research provided evidence that it is relevant in various forms including signaling, pecking order, and agency. The aim of this study is to investigate the dividend policy of Islamic banks versus conventional banks in response to a major financial crisis. By studying the mixed banking industry of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, known for negligible taxation systems, we provide evidence that conventional and Islamic banks use dividend payouts as a multi-purpose mechanism. At times of economic prosperity, conventional banks use them as signaling and pecking-order instruments, while it is used as an agency problem protection instrument during downturns. For Islamic banks, however, dividend policy is a pecking order mechanism before and after the crisis. Discussions on theoretical and empirical implications are provided. a panel data regression model fixed effect test results reveal at times of economic prosperity (before the 2008 crisis), CBs used dividend payout as a signaling instrument and a pecking-order instrument. At times of economic instability (after the 2008 crisis), they used it as an agency-protection instrument. A logical interpretation of this result is that CBs realized that agency problems during the time of economic instability is more damaging to the value of the firm calling for more controlling measures. For IBs, the results indicate that dividend policy is used in the form of pecking-order mechanism irrelevant to the status of the economy. It is interesting to note that, only at the time of economic stability, IBs used dividend payout as an instrument against agency problems. A possible interpretation of this result is that IBs have realized the agency problem during this period and acted sooner to mitigate its effects. The absence of this instrument after the crisis may be due to the significant decrease in IBs’ growth of earnings compared to CBs as discussed earlier.
Chapter 7. Conventionality in visual metaphor

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AMPK activation increases glucose uptake, decreases apoptosis and improves pregnancy outcome in embryos exposed to high IGF-1 concentrations

Objective: While evidence exists that metformin reduces this risk, the mechanism is unknown. This study tests the hypothesis that AMPK activation with metformin directly improves insulin signaling within the blastocyst leading to improved pregnancy outcomes. Research Design & Methods: Murine embryos were exposed to 200nM IGF-1, similar to the concentrations which can occur during Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). Resulting blastocysts were compared to embryos co-cultured with excess IGF-1 plus metformin, and embryos cultured in control media for the following: AMPK phosphorylation, insulin-stimulated glucose uptake, and apoptosis. Study and control blastocysts were also transferred into control animals. On embryonic day 14.5 resulting fetuses were examined for size, and rates of fetal implantation and resorption. Results: Compared to control blastocysts, blastocysts exposed to high concentrations of IGF-1 showed a decrease in AMPK activation and insulin-stimulated glucose uptake, and an increase in number of apoptotic nuclei. Blastocysts co-cultured in metformin and excess IGF-1 performed as well as controls in all studies. AICAR, another AMPK-activator, also prevented the effects of excess IGF-1 on blastocysts. Implantation rates and fetal size at day 14.5 were significantly lower among IGF-1 exposed embryos transferred into control mothers as compared to control embryos transferred into control mothers. Both these parameters were reversed by co-incubation with metformin and IGF-1 prior to transfer. Conclusions: Activation of embryonic AMPK may be the mechanism responsible for the improved pregnancy outcomes seen in PCOS patients taking metformin.
Soil Contamination by Refined Crude Oil Using Lumbricus terrestris as Toxicity Indicator at a Petroleum Product Depot, Ibadan, Nigeria

Refined petroleum products may contain toxic compounds as additives causing environmental pollution, with adverse effects on living organisms. The study assessed the ecotoxicological effects and level of soil contamination of the tank farm area at Surface soils (0-15 cm) and earthworms (Lumbricus terrestris) were sampled at four different tank areas; petroleum motor spirit (PMS), regular motor spirit (RMS), automotive gas oil (AGO) and dual purpose kerosene (DPK) as well as control site without prior petrochemical activities. Concentrations of heavy metals and total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) were determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) and gas chromatography mass spectrophotometer (GC-MS). Earthworm’s lysosomal membrane stability, a biomarker was also determined using the neutral red retention time (NRRT) assay. The results showed that soil lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) concentrations significantly (P<.05) varied from 831.9 to 2055.8 mg/kg and 0.8 to 6.3 mg/kg respectively while Pb and Cd concentrations in earthworms varied from 101.3 to 328.8 mg/kg and 0.08 to 0.26 mg/kg respectively. The average NRRT observed at AGO, DPK and RMS tank farm areas were 28.3, 38.3 and 46.7 minutes respectively, implying a possible compromised state of the sampled earthworm’s lysosomal membrane. Soil-and earthworm-accumulated Pb significantly correlated with NRRT (r 2 =-0.65, P<.05; r 2 =-0.94, P<.01 respectively). A naphthalene compound (2.4%) was found in soil samples around the PMS tank area. Generally, soil Pb concentration of the study area exceeded the USEPA permissible concentration (400 mg/kg) and detected naphthalene indicated soil contamination with potential harm to humans and soil organisms. This also, suggests possible importation into Nigeria of petroleum products still containing Pb.
Empirical evaluation of Indian Dental Practitioners perceptions of dimensions of Ethical Principle of Autonomy

: Purpose of the study was to evaluate the dimensionality of ethical perceptions of principle of autonomy with Dental Practitioners in Delhi NCR in India. A cross sectional survey was conducted by non-probability purposive sampling method to ensure pro rata representation of all categories of practicing dentists of 500 DPs in Delhi NCR from a list available at Dental Council of India available online. 340 DPs responded to the 11 item questionnaire on the three dimensions of ethical principle of Autonomy. The three dimensional structure was extracted by exploratory factor analysis and validated through confirmatory factor analysis thus providing support for the component dimensions of Patient involvement, Informed consent and Patient Records and Confidentiality. The results of post hoc analysis show that Dental Practitioners s age, education level and work experience have significant effect on ethical perceptions of specific dimensions of Informed consent and Patient Confidentiality and records. The study addresses the paucity of studies on this theme and provides guidance by identifying the ethical perception gaps to be addressed by the Profession for better delivery of quality and standards. The study also contributes by identifying the factors influencing ethical perceptions of DPs which can be addressed by the regulatory authorities
Expanded knowledge on silk assembly for development of bioactive silk coatings

i Sammanfattning . ii List of publications . iii Public defense of dissertation . vi Abbreviations . vii
CIA_A_249223 595..607

Siyuan Yang 1 Yunmei Zhang Shiqi Xie Yanhan Chen Dengbi Jiang Yetao Luo Qinghua Zhao Bing Yang 2 1Nursing Department, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, Yuzhong District, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Nursing, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, Yuzhong District, People’s Republic of China; 3Community Health Center of Daxigou, Chongqing, Yuzhong District, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health and Management, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, Yuzhong District, People’s Republic of China Purpose: Perceived social support (PSS) is closely linked to health outcomes in dementia patients. However, its continuous benefits are unclear. This mixed-methods study examined the impact of social support perceptions and differentiation among patients and carers during disease progression. Patients and Methods: Persons with dementia (PWDs), family caregivers, and community family physicians were recruited from nine community health centers. Semi-structured interviews conducted with 12 PWDs (7 PWDs in mild dementia and 5 in moderate dementia), 12 family caregivers, and 6 community family physicians and conventional content analysis were used to explore social support perspectives at different dementia stages. A total of 470 PWDs were divided into mild (n=224), moderate (n=190), and severe (n=56) groups. Demographic, physical, and psychological factors related to PSS were examined by the group using multiple regression analysis. The group-based characteristics were entered into three prediction models. Results: In the qualitative study, three themes of social support were identified: two viewpoints refer to social support; different needs and preferences in each stage; non-personalized support services. Quantitatively, the mild group scored lowest in perceived social support, while the severe group scored highest (χ=64.70, P<0.001). The mild group PSS was predicted by depression (β=−0.07, P=0.04), cognitive capacity (β=−0.18, P<0.001), and instrumental ability (β=−0.78, P<0.001), which differed from the moderate and severe groups. Conclusion: This study provided comprehensive insight into PSS from PWDs’ perspective at different stages of the disease. Results indicated the need for a stratified care approach and direction for further research on intervention.
Accessibility in User Reviews for Mobile Apps: An Automated Detection Approach

Accessibility in User Reviews for Mobile Apps: An Automated Detection Approach Murtaza Tamjeed Supervising Professor: Dr. Mohamed Wiem Mkaouer In recent years, mobile accessibility has become an important trend with the goal of allowing all users the possibility of using any app without many restrictions. Recent work demonstrated that user reviews include insights that are useful for app evolution. However, with the increase in the amount of received reviews, manually analyzing them is tedious and time-consuming, especially when searching for accessibility reviews. The goal of this thesis is to support the automated identification of accessibility in user reviews, to help practitioners in prioritizing their handling, and thus, creating more inclusive apps. Particularly, we design a model that takes as input accessibility user reviews, learns their keywordbased features, in order to make a binary decision, for a given review, on whether it is about accessibility or not. The model is evaluated using a total of 5326 mobile app reviews. The findings show that (1) our approach can accurately identify accessibility reviews, outperforming two baselines, namely keyword-based detector and a random classifier; (2) our model achieves F1-measure of 90.7% with relatively small training dataset; however, F1measure value improves as we add to the training dataset.
Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 Predicts the Metabolic Syndrome and Diabetes Type 2 Mellitus in Caucasians

OBJECTIVE d The incidence of the metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is rising worldwide. Liver-derived ﬁ broblast growth factor (FGF)-21 affects glucose and lipid metabolism. The aim of this study was to analyze the predictive value of FGF-21 on the incidence of T2DM and the metabolic syndrome. recall study includes 440 individuals. Glucose metabolism was analyzed using an oral glucose tolerance test, including insulin measurements. FGF-21 was measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Primary study outcome was diabetes and the metabolic syndrome incidence and change of glucose subtraits. RESULTS d During a mean follow-up of 5.30 6 0.1 years, 54 individuals developed a metabolic syndrome, 35 developed T2DM, and 69 with normal glucose tolerance at baseline pro- gressed to impaired glucose metabolism, de ﬁ ned as impaired fasting glucose, impaired glucose tolerance, or T2DM. FGF-21 predicted incident metabolic syndrome (lnFGF-21 odds ratio [OR] 2.6 [95% CI 1.5 – 4.5]; P = 0.001), T2DM (2.4 [1.2 – 4.7]; P = 0.01), and progression to impaired glucose metabolism (2.2 [1.3 – 3.6]; P = 0.002) after adjustment for age, sex, BMI, and follow-up time. Additional adjustment for waist-to-hip ratio, systolic blood pressure, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and fasting glucose did not substantially modify the predictive value of FGF-21. apparently healthy Caucasians. These results may indicate FGF-21 resistance precedes the onset of the metabolic syndrome and T2DM. ami- notransferase; g -GT, g -glutamyl transpeptidase; HOMA-IR, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance.
Contributions of the AmpC b -Lactamase and the AcrAB Multidrug Efﬂux System in Intrinsic Resistance of Escherichia coli K-12 to b -Lactams

The roles of the AmpC chromosomal b -lactamase and the AcrAB efﬂux system in levels of intrinsic resistance and susceptibility of Escherichia coli to b -lactams were studied with a set of isogenic strains. MICs of ureidopenicillins, carbenicillin, oxacillin, and cloxacillin were drastically reduced by the inactivation of AcrAB, whereas those of the earlier cephalosporins were affected mostly by the loss of AmpC b -lactamase. The b -lactam antibiotics act by inhibiting penicillin-binding proteins. However, MICs seen with wild-type strains of gram- negative bacteria are usually signiﬁcantly higher than the con-centrations needed to bind and inhibit the penicillin-binding proteins because the access of b -lactams to the targets is hin-dered by the presence of the outer membrane barrier and by their hydrolysis via the chromosomally coded AmpC-type b -lactamase (20). This increase in MIC is called “intrinsic resistance” throughout this paper, although the absolute values of MIC for many compounds fall into the susceptible range for the purpose of clinical use. AmpC class C (2) or group 1 (5) in the classiﬁcation -lactamases.
OTT_A_252043 6699..6707

The First Affiliated Hospital and College of Clinical Medicineof Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, Henan 471003, People’s Republic of China Introduction: Ribosome binding protein 1 (RRBP1) is reported to be correlated with tumor formation and progression. However, the role of RRBP1 in bladder cancer is unclear. In this study, we aimed to investigate the expression of RRBP1 and its influence on cell proliferation in bladder cancer. Methods: Quantification real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were used to detect the expression levels of RRBP1 in 138 bladder cancer and matched adjacent normal bladder tissues. Then, the clinical significance of RRBP1 in bladder cancer was evaluated. The effect of RRBP1 on cell proliferation and its potential mechanism were further explored. Results: Results show that the mRNA levels of RRBP1 in bladder cancer were significantly higher compared with those in normal tissues (P< 0.001). IHC results show the highexpression rate of RRBP1 in bladder cancer was 68.8%, which was significantly greater than those in normal tissues (40.6%, P< 0.001). RRBP1 high-expression was significantly associated with differentiation, T stage and lymph node metastasis in bladder cancer (P< 0.05). The overall survival time of patients with RRBP1 high-expression was significantly reduced compared to those with RRBP1 low-expression. Moreover, RRBP1 overexpression significantly promoted cell proliferation, which was correlated with Smad1/Smad3/TGF-β1 signal pathway. Conclusion: RRBP1 high-expression correlates with prognosis and promotes cell proliferation in bladder cancer, which could be a potential biomarker.
Exhuming the Meso e Cenozoic Kyrgyz Tianshan and Siberian Altai-Sayan: A review based on low-temperature thermochronology

Thermochronological datasets for the Kyrgyz Tianshan and Siberian Altai-Sayan within Central Asia reveal a punctuated exhumation history during the Meso e Cenozoic. In this paper, the datasets for both regions are collectively reviewed in order to speculate on the links between the Meso e Cenozoic exhumation of the continental Eurasian interior and the prevailing tectonic processes at the plate margins. Whereas most of the thermochronological data across both regions document late Jurassic e Cretaceous regional basement cooling, older landscape relics and dissecting fault zones throughout both regions preserve Triassic and Cenozoic events of rapid cooling, respectively. Triassic cooling is thought to re ﬂ ect the Qiangtang e Eurasia collision and/or rifting/subsidence in the West Siberian basin. Alternatively, this cooling signal could be related with the terminal terrane-amalgamation of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. For the Kygyz Tianshan, late Jurassic e Cretaceous regional exhumation and Cenozoic fault reactivations can be linked with speci ﬁ c tectonic events during the closure of the Palaeo-Tethys and Neo-Tethys Oceans, respectively. The effect of the progressive consumption of these oceans and the associated collisions of Cimmeria and India with Eurasia probably only had a minor effect on the exhumation of the Siberian Altai-Sayan. More likely, tectonic forces from the east (present-day co-ordinates) as a result of the building and collapse of the Mongol-Okhotsk orogen and rifting in the Baikal region shaped the current Siberian Altai-Sayan topography. Although many of these hypothesised links need to be tested further, they allow a ﬁ rst-order insight into the dynamic response and the stress propagation pathways from the Eurasian margin into the continental interior. University. and
Analysis of Electric Vehicle Purchaser Satisfaction and Rejection Reasons

This study used a matched data set drawn from more than 1 million new vehicle postpurchase consumer satisfaction surveys to test for differences in satisfaction and reasons for vehicle choice and rejection between conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles and plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). The Wilcoxon signed rank test and the McNemar and chi-square tests were used to evaluate consumer satisfaction and reasons for rejecting considered vehicles, respectively. Results show that PEV purchasers and considerers—people who considered purchasing a specific type of car (Editor’s note: This term is the authors’.)—were less satisfied with their overall purchase experience, but those who considered and rejected a PEV were less likely than those who considered and rejected an ICE to cite the dealer’s attitude as the reason for rejection. Price and value were the most cited reasons and were similarly important for both groups. Reasons related to model availability and vehicle attributes were more often a concern for PEV considerers than for ICE considerers. These results suggest that even with existing incentives, the limitations of the current technology (e.g., price and range) and the variety of available vehicles are the most important challenges to market expansion.
Programmed Cell Death Remodels Lace Plant Leaf Shape during Development

Programmed cell death (PCD) functions in the developmental remodeling of leaf shape in higher plants, a process analogous to digit formation in the vertebrate limb. In this study, we provide a cytological characterization of the time course of events as PCD remodels young expanding leaves of the lace plant. Tonoplast rupture is the first PCD event in this system, indicated by alterations in cytoplasmic streaming, loss of anthocyanin color, and ultrastructural appearance. Nuclei become terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase–mediated dUTP nick end labeling positive soon afterward but do not become morphologically altered until late stages of PCD. Genomic DNA is fragmented, but not into internucleosomal units. Other cytoplasmic changes, such as shrinkage and degradation of organelles, occur later. This form of PCD resembles tracheary element differentiation in cytological execution but requires unique developmental regulation so that discrete panels of tissue located equidistantly between veins undergo PCD while surrounding cells do not.
Absolute Continuity of Fuzzy Measures and Convergence of Sequence of Measurable Functions

: In this note, the convergence of the sum of two convergent sequences of measurable functions is studied by means of two types of absolute continuity of fuzzy measures, i.e., strong absolute continuity of Type I, and Type VI. The discussions of convergence a.e. and convergence in measure are done in the general framework relating to a pair of monotone measures, and general results are shown. The previous related results are generalized.