Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antibacterial effect of Jordanian propolis and isolated flavonoids against human pathogenic bacteria

Propolis is a natural product widely consumed in folk medicine. The present study was carried out to investigate the antibacterial activity of Jordanian propolis, collected from two locations with two different dominant floras (Type1; Pine trees and Type ll; Oak trees). Zones of inhibition and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were determined on methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), multidrug resistant Escherichia coli and standard strains of both bacteria. Propolis Type I and Type II showed antibacterial activity against MRSA (MIC 4.69 and 18.75 μg ml, respectively). Crude propolis from Type I showed higher antibacterial activity than Type II against the tested bacteria. Three pure phenolic compounds (three flavonoids) namely, pinobanksin-3-O-acetate, pinocemberin and chrysin, were isolated from fractions I-2 and I-4, and screened in vitro for antibacterial activity. Pinobanksin-3-O-acetate and pinocembrin exhibited antibacterial activity especially against MRSA, while chrysin was only active against standard S. aureus. This is the first report that shows in vitro antibacterial activity of isolated flavonoids from Jordanian propolis against standard and resistant strains of E. coli and MRSA. Overall, results of this study highlight the important role of propolis botanical source on the antibacterial activity of such natural material which might affect its medical applications.
Crude glycerin in anaerobic co-digestion of dairy cattle manure increases methane production

Anaerobic digestion of crude glycerin (CG) along with animal waste has been an excellent option for increasing the production of biogas and methane to achieve efficiency in the treatment of both residues. This study aimed to evaluate improvements in specific productions of biogas and methane, reductions in solid and fibrous components in substrates prepared with dairy cattle manure and CG (containing 14 % glycerol). With these residues, experimental substrates were prepared and placed in 25 batch digesters. Initial content of the TS in the influent was 4 % and CG was added in increasing doses (0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 % relative to total solids (TS) of the influent). Results were submitted to ANOVA and orthogonal contrasts to assess the effects of linear and quadratic order and thereby estimate the optimal CG doses through the adjusted models. The highest values for specific production of methane (0.19 and 0.26 L g−1 of TS and volatile solids (VS) added, respectively) were reached with the CG inclusions of 6 and 8 %, respectively. Total production of biogas with the inclusion of 6 % CG was 11 % higher when compared to the control treatment. The largest reduction in VS (48 %) was achieved with the addition of 4 % CG. Addition of CG at levels between 3 and 8 % improved the efficiency of the process of anaerobic digestion with dairy cattle manure.
The other road to serfdom: The rise of the rentier class in post-Soviet economies

This article offers a moral economic critique of the transition to a market economy in the post-Soviet space. In a reversal of the classical ideal of a ‘free market’ (a market free from land rent, monopoly rent and interest), neoliberalism celebrates and promotes rent extraction, sometimes over wealth creation (Hudson, 2017). In freeing markets from government regulation, neoliberalism enables powerful economic actors to extract income by mere virtue of property rights that entitle them to a stream of income from their ownership and control of scarce assets (Sayer, 2015). Neoliberalism has created and expanded the role of rent and unearned income in post-Soviet economies (Mihalyi & Szelenyi, 2017). This article will show the diversity and significance of rent in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan that go beyond natural resources and illicit public and private rent-seeking. Using three case studies on finance, real estate and the judiciary in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, this article will examine how property relations, rentier activities and unearned income have been morally justified and normalized. Despite its moral legitimation, rentiership has been harmful and damaging. It has produced social inequalities and suffering, and has resulted in plutocracy and corruption.
Oscillating cascade aerodynamics at large mean incidence

The aerodynamics of a cascade of airfoils oscillating in torsion about the midchord is investigated experimentally at a large mean incidence angle and, for reference, at a low mean incidence angle. The airfoil section is representative of a modern, low aspect ratio, fan blade tip section. Time-dependent airfoil surface pressure measurements were made for reduced frequencies of up to 1.2 for out-of-phase oscillations at a Mach number of 0.5 and chordal incidence angles of 0° and 10°; the Reynolds number was 0.9×106. For the 10° chordal incidence angle, a separation bubble formed at the leading edge of the suction surface. The separated flow field was found to have a dramatic effect on the chordwise distribution of the unsteady pressure. In this region, substantial deviations from the attached flow data were found with the deviations becoming less apparent in the aft region of the airfoil for all reduced frequencies. In particular, near the leading edge the separated flow had a strong destabilizing influence while the attached flow had a strong stabilizing influence.Copyright © 1996 by ASME
ANALYSIS OF WILLINGNESS TO LEND IN PEER-TO-PEER LENDING APPLICATIONS

Peer-to-Peer Lending (P2P) applications were developed as an alternative funding solution, mainly for small-medium enterprises. P2P can also be a promising alternative investment instrument. The significant gap between the number of lenders and borrowers is as a major issue that has been identified in the P2P of Indonesia. Therefore, the analysis of factors affecting willingness to lend in P2P lending needs to be done. The purpose of this study is to identify the socioeconomic characteristics of lenders, lenders perspective on familiarity, service quality, security protection, borrowers’ reputation, borrowers’ information, perceived benefits, perceived risk, trust to the borrower, trust to the intermediary, and willingness to lend in P2P lending applications. A total of 109 respondents filled out online questionnaires distributed through several media with the criteria of Indonesian citizens with investment experience in P2P. Descriptive and crosstab analysis was applied in this study. Based on the result, the impression that the borrowers will keep their promises (TB3), the system/ policy applied in the P2P platform to protect the interest of lenders (TI 2), the sense of security upon making transactions in P2P (SP 1), more attractive investment returns (PB 3) and quality assurance of prospective borrowers (SQ 4) are the most important factors affecting lenders willingness to lend.
Forging ahead with innovation: the importance of institutions and factor markets to the continued development of the BRICS

Over the next 50 years, Brazil, Russia, India and China – the BRIC economies – could become a much larger force in the world economy. We map out GDP growth, income per capita and currency movements in the BRIC economies until 2050. The results are startling. If things go right, in less than 40 years, the BRIC economies together could be larger than the G6 in US dollar terms. By 2025 they could account for over half the size of the G6. Of the current G6, only the US and Japan may be among the six largest economies in US dollar terms in 2050. (Wilson and Purushothaman, 2003: 1)
Cross‐shore suspended sand and bed load transport on beaches

Simple formulas are developed to predict the time-averaged rates of cross-shore suspended sand and bed load transport. The net suspended sand transport rate is expressed as the product of the depth-averaged current and the suspended sediment volume per unit bottom area with a reduction factor that accounts for the correlation between the time-varying fluid velocity and sediment concentration. The net bed load transport rate under nonlinear waves is assumed to be onshore and proportional to ? U3 where ? U is the standard deviation of the horizontal velocity. The probabilities of sediment movement and suspension are introduced to account for the initiation of sediment movement and suspension. Simple functions are proposed to account for the effects of a steep bottom slope on the bed load and suspended sediment transport rates. The proposed formulas are found to be in agreement with three data sets within a factor of about 2. The proposed formulas are shown to be consistent with existing simple formulas. The formulas are incorporated into a time-averaged wave model and the continuity equation of bottom sediment to predict the beach profile evolution. The numerical model is compared with seven small-scale tests including berm erosion tests and seven large-scale tests including dune erosion tests. The numerical model predicts the overall beach profile evolution including the berm and dune erosion but does not always predict the fairly subtle profile changes including bar migration accurately.
Turán inequalities and zeros of Dirichlet series associated with certain cusp forms

The "Turan inequalities" are a countably infinite set of conditions about the power series coefficients of certain entire functions which are necessary in order for the function to have only real zeros. We give a one-parameter family of generalized Dirichlet series, each with functional equation, for which the Turan inequalities hold for the associated 4-function (normalized so that the critical line is the real axis). For a discrete set of values of the parameter the Dirichlet series has an Euler product and is the L-series associated to a modular form. For these we expect the analogue of the Riemann Hypothesis to hold. For the rest of the values of the parameter we do not expect an analogue of the Riemann Hypothesis. We show for one particular value of the parameter that the Dirichlet series in fact has zeros within the region of absolute convergence. 1. RIEMANN'S INTEGRAL REPRESENTATION FOR THE (-FUNCTION One approach to the study of the zeros of the Riemann zeta-function begins with the integral representation for Riemann's 4-function. The (-function is given by ~(S) = Is(s_l)f-s21F(s/2)C(s) where 4 is Riemann's zeta-function and s = a + it is a complex variable. The Mellin transform of 4 involves the theta-function: H(z) = , e n z 2 n=-oo where e(z) = exp(27riz). We have '-s/2F ()4 ()= A00 V(X)XS/2 2 Jox where U)= e-2= 0(iu) I yIku)-/ e-n 2 n=1 Using the transformation formula for H H(-l/z) = z1/26(z) Received by the editors April 10, 1992. 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification. Primary 1 1F66; Secondary 30C1 5. Research of the second author supported in part by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Research of both authors supported in part by a grant from the NSF. (? 1994 American Mathematical Society 0002-9947/94 $1.00 + $. 25 per page
Multivariable High-Frequency Input-Admittance of Grid-Connected Converters: Modeling, Validation, and Implications on Stability

Modern grids are facing a massive integration of power electronics devices, usually associated to instability issues. In order to assess the likelihood and severity of harmonic instability in the high-frequency region, this paper develops a multivariable input-admittance model that accurately reflects the following aspects: 1) the discrete controller frequencies are defined inside a spectrum region limited by the Nyquist frequency and 2) the physical system aliases are transformed into lower frequency component inside the discrete controller. The proposed model shows that dynamic interactions are not theoretically band-limited; however, the control action tends to be strongly limited in a low-frequency range, due to the natural low-pass filter behavior of acquisition and modulation blocks. This is reflected in a reduced resistive part (either positive or negative) of the input-admittance in the high-frequency range. More specifically, considering the input-admittance passivity criterion, the excursions into the nonpassive area are very smooth at high frequencies, where the input-admittance is well-described by simply its inductive filter. Comprehensive experiments are conducted on a lab scale prototype, which includes measurements beyond the Nyquist frequency and alias identification. The experimental results well-match the theoretical model.
Analysis of ASTER Multispectral Stereo Imagery to Produce DEM and Land Cover Databases for Greek Islands: The REALDEMS Project

High accuracy determination and visualization of topography of the Earth's surface is very important for local level environmental applications, however Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) of usable details are still not available for much of the Earth. Land cover is one of the most important products of remote sensing and it is a primary input of hydrologic models. While there are land cover maps in global and regional levels, there is lack of these products in many localized areas. In this study, early results of the project REALDEMS (REmote sensing Application for Land cover and DEMs Service) are presented. This project aims at providing accurate DEM and land cover databases for Greek islands, capable of being used in local studies. ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) images are used in combination with Global Positioning System (GPS) data and field observations. A digital stereo correlation approach is applied to produce DEM from ASTER stereo pairs, whereas supervised and hybrid classification techniques are applied for land cover mapping. Three main stages have been planned in REALDEMS: In the first stage, ASTER images will be pre-processed and the field measurements and observations will be performed. The second stage includes all remote sensing analysis tasks, whereas the third stage is related to GIS analysis and validation of results in terms of application of produced DEM and land cover for watershed characterization. This type of application has been selected because of the great importance of water resources for Greek islands. Thus, REALDEMS also aims at introducing satellite remote sensing data and methodologies in support of local level watershed management providing also valuable information to hydrological modelling. Nektarios Chrysoulakis, et al.
Knowledge-Intensive Business Services as Credence Goods—a Demand-Side Approach

Knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) constitute a major source of innovative knowledge for small- and medium-sized enterprises. In regional innovation systems, KIBS play a crucial role in distributing innovations and improving the region’s overall innovative capacities. While the specific properties and effects on client firms and sectors have been comprehensively discussed, the internal perspective of client firms, i.e., the processes and problems in selecting, using, evaluating, and recommending KIBS, has been neglected to date. Using a qualitative approach, we describe the internal mechanisms and problems of SMEs cooperating with various KIBS and discuss the implications for regional innovation systems from a policy-making perspective. We find that all stages of cooperation of SMEs and KIBS are characterized by strong information asymmetries, distrust, and uncertainty about the effects of using external know-how, which yields the interpretation that SMEs perceive KIBS as credence goods. While informal networks are used to reduce information barriers, they regularly prove counterproductive by disseminating worst-case examples. Regional policy aiming at developing instruments for fostering innovative cooperation could thus strengthen formal networks that primarily create trust between KIBS and SMEs to systematically reduce mutual suspicions and information asymmetries.
Deep State-Space Model for Noise Tolerant Skeleton-Based Action Recognition

SUMMARY Action recognition using skeleton data (3D coordinates of human joints) is an attractive topic due to its robustness to the actor’s appearance, camera’s viewpoint, illumination, and other environmental conditions. However, skeleton data must be measured by a depth sensor or extracted from video data using an estimation algorithm, and doing so risks extraction errors and noise. In this work, for robust skeleton-based action recognition, we propose a deep state-space model (DSSM). The DSSM is a deep generative model of the underlying dynamics of an observable sequence. We applied the proposed DSSM to skeleton data, and the results demonstrate that it improves the classiﬁcation performance of a baseline method. Moreover, we conﬁrm that feature extraction with the proposed DSSM renders subsequent classiﬁcations robust to noise and missing values. In such experimental settings, the proposed DSSM outperforms a state-of-the-art method.
Characterization of resistance to all bollworms and Spodoptera litura (Fab.) in different Bt transgenic events of cotton

Cotton, Gossypium hirsutum (L.) expressing Cry 1Ac endotoxin of Bacillus thuringiensis (Ber.) Bt has been reported to be highly effective against bollworm complex of cotton.Though BGIBt cotton expressing Cry 1Ac are effective against bollworms slowly it is being replaced by BG-II expressing dual genes (Cry 1Ac+Cry2Ab) as IRM strategy. Bollgard-II cotton expressing ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 3 Number 3 (2014) pp. 594-600 http://www.ijcmas. com
Parental report of cognitive and social-emotionality traits in school-age children with autism and Williams syndrome

The majority of the research examining children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Williams Syndrome (WS) focus on the social domain while few have examined cognitive style and emotionality. Accordingly, this current study assessed the day-to-day cognitive and behavioral functioning of school-age children with ASD, WS, and neurotypical development (ND) through caregiver-report inventories to further delineate commonalities and disparities in cognitive and social-emotional traits. Two caregiver-report inventories, the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire and the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire were employed to assess the day-to-day functioning of children ages 7–14 years. Participants included 64 caregivers of children, of these, 25 were caregivers of children with high functioning autism (HFA), 14 with WS, and 25 with ND. Multivariate analysis of covariance was computed to assess between-group differences for each subscale within a questionnaire. Covariates included age and full-scale IQ. For cognitive traits, group differences were observed across two categories while seven were present within the social-emotional categories. The majority of the group effects reflected differences in social-emotional traits between ND and both neurodevelopmental groups, while limited distinctions were found between the two clinical groups. This brief report provides additional evidence that HFA and WS may show similarities in cognitive traits but more divergent social-emotional tendencies, despite controlling for age and intellect. This study highlights the large social-emotional differences that supports prior phenotypic descriptions of both neurodevelopmental groups. Future research in these domains are needed to determine focused interventions to address social impairment.
The study on tsetse fly (Glossina species) and their role in the trypanosome infection rate in Birbir valley, Baro Akobo River system, western Ethiopia

The study was conducted in Birbir valley of Oromia Regional State, Western Ethiopia from November, 2009 to July, 2010 to determine the trypanosome infection rate ofGlossina species and to relate with season tsetse population density and epidemiology of bovine trypanosomosis. A total of 384 flies of four species were dissected. The overall infection rate of Glossina species was 5.98% among which 4 (1.04%) was male and 19 (4.94%) were female flies. The prevalence was significantly higher (c2 =26.04; P = 0.00) in female flies than male flies. Higher infection rates (5.46%) were observed in the morsitans group (Glossina pallidipes and Glossina morsitans) than the palpalis group (0.52%), (Glossina fuscipes and Glossina tachinoides). In determination of tsetse flies population density, flies were trapped using baited stationary traps and apparent density; species of tsetse flies and other biting flies were estimated in relation to season, altitude levels, vegetation types and traps in selected sites of the study area. Higher proportion of tsetse flies was caught in the riverine vegetation type followed by savanna, forest, bush, and cultivated areas. Designing and implementation of tsetse control should be targeted on the major cyclical vectors of the savannah tsetse flies (G. morsitans and G. pallidipes) rather than controlling the whole species, hence the cost of tsetse control and the time of operation will be reduced. Key words: Cattle, epidemiology, Glossina species, infection rate, trypanosomosis, Western Ethiopia.
Integrating Tourism with Rural Development Strategies in Western Kenya

Tourism being one of the most intriguing sustainable development themes has become popular economic development tool in many countries today. Tourism related activities are widely regarded as key-tools for rural development, especially in developing countries. Villages are today some of the places, attracting the attention of tourism planners more than ever before. Those villages with specific natural or social-cultural appeal have strong potential for attracting tourists from close or far off areas and this can have significant role in rural development if well planned and integrated. This research sought to find out ways through which tourism can be integrated with rural development strategies in Western Kenya and what the resultant benefits of the integration could be in the long run to the local communities studied. Qualitative method was used to collect and analyze data for the study. In particular, three focus group discussions consisting of 27 key stakeholders (9 individuals in hospitality and tourism enterprises in the region, 9 individuals from community based organizations (CBOs), and 9 participants from Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) concerned with rural development in Western Kenya) were conducted. The study identified several integration approaches that can be adopted in rural development through tourism.
Surface and Interface Microstructures of Coatings Systems and Their Implication on Service Life

The surface and interface properties have a strong influence on the adhesion and service life of polymer coatings applied to plastics and metals. However, both the surface and interface chemical composition and microstructure of coated materials are affected by the surrounding environments and processing conditions during film formation. In this study, the surface and interface properties of several coatings have been characterized with nanoscale resolution using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Specimens were prepared by applying thick films of coatings on the substrates. Both the cross-sections and surfaces that were in contact with the substrates during curing were used for the interface characterization. Interpretation of AFM results was aided by data collected using attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and contact angle measurements. Curing conditions and stoichiometry have a strong influence on the interface region. Further, microstructure and chemical composition of the film surface adjacent to the substrate are different from those of the surface exposed to air. The implications of these differences on the wettability, weatherability, and adhesion of coated systems are discussed.