Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of Firm-Generated Content on Firm Performance and Consumer Engagement: Evidence from Social Media in China

Social media has become an important channel for firms to market and promote their brands, products, etc., but research on its marketing effect, especially the effect of different types of marketing content, is still in its infancy. Based on the dynamic capability theory, we analyzed the relationship between social media marketing, measured by firm-generated content, and firm performance and consumer engagement. Then, we validated the relationship with the panel simultaneous equation model using firm social media marketing and consumer engagement data from Sina Microblog, which is the most popular social media platform in China. The results show that firm social media marketing has a significant positive impact on firm performance. Informative and Persuasive firm-generated content have significant impacts on firm performance in direct way as well as indirect way by achieving with influencing consumer engagement. Our findings have various implications for academic research and practice.
Biomass, feed quality, mineral concentration and grain yield responses to potassium fertiliser of dual-purpose crops

ABSTRACT The effect of increasing rates of potassium (K) fertiliser was studied on a soil with base exchangeable K values ≤ 0.1 cmol(+)/ kg by assessing biomass, feed quality, mineral concentration and grain yield for wheat, triticale and canola. The crops showed variable biomass response to K rates at early plant growth stages, however at anthesis there were significant positive biomass responses to increasing rates of K. A positive K rate effect was detected on feed quality with significant increases in metabolisable energy. Irrespective of sampling time, increasing K rate resulted in significant increases in crop K concentration and mineral ratios, such as the Tetany index, but significant decreases in Ca and Mg concentrations. Final grain yield was significantly increased by K rate and there were beneficial effects on grain quality (thousand grain weight). Overall, this study highlights the importance of K to production responses and implications for the health and productivity of grazing livestock.
Quantitative prediction of enhancer–promoter interactions

Recent experimental and computational efforts provided large datasets describing 3-dimensional organization of mouse and human genomes and showed interconnection between expression profile, epigenetic status and spatial interactions of loci. These interconnections were utilized to infer spatial organization of chromatin, including enhancer-promoter contacts, from 1-dimensional epigenetic marks. Here we showed that predictive power of some of these algorithms is overestimated due to peculiar properties of biological data. We proposed an alternative approach, which gives high-quality predictions of chromatin interactions using only information about gene expression and CTCF-binding. Using multiple metrics, we confirmed that our algorithm could efficiently predict 3-dimensional architecture of normal and rearranged genomes.
Three papers in regional dynamics and panel econometrics

This dissertation includes three chapters that cover broad topics in economics. The first chapter explores how the US Government’s Capital Purchase Program, a large capital injection to local and regional banks through a stock purchase agreement, impacted local establishment dynamics such as entry, exit, employment expansion, and employment contraction following the 2008 Financial Crisis. The Capital Purchase Program dispersed over $200 billion dollars to banks hoping to prevent failure and ease tightened lending conditions. I estimate the direct effects of a county having a bank receive Capital Purchase Program funds on local business dynamics in the seven years following treatment, as well as spillover effects as entrepreneurs and business in neighboring regions travel to gain access to credit. Estimates show the CPP had no effect on establishment entry and exit, nor employment expansion and contraction. This paper establishes that the business-lending aims of the CPP were not realized in the communities and regions that received funds, and casts further doubt on meaningful pass through of CPP funds to desirable local economic activity. The second chapter develops a joint hypothesis centered Wald test over fixed effects in large N small T panel data models with symmetric serial correlation within cross sectional observations. The enables joint hypothesis tests over inconsistently estimated fixed effects, such as the traditional varying intercept model as well as models with individual specific slope coefficients. I establish two different set of assumptions where feasible tests exist. The first assumption requires that individual errors follow a stationary AR(p) process. Under this assumption all second and fourth cross product moments can be consistently estimated while allowing for individual specific hypothesis and covariates to vary across individuals and time with individual specific slopes. The second feasible test requires individuals to have coefficient slopes that are shared among all individuals in a known grouping structure under the null. This set of assumptions enables estimation of a completely unconstrained variance-covariance matrix and higher cross product moments for
Identification and Detection of Finasteride Polymorphs in Finasteride Tablets by FT-Raman Spectroscopy

A simple FT-Raman spectroscopic method was developed for identification of finasteride polymorph form in finished dosage form. Finasteride polymorph form I was used in the tablet preparation and the weight fraction of finasteride in tablet was only about 0.023. The method was successfully used to identify the polymorphic form of finasteride in tablet and also to detect up to a level of about 15% of the other polymorph of finasteride present in the solid dosage. The dosage form was characterized by different techniques i.e. powdered X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Based on literature survey, only Raman spectroscopy method is able to identify the polymorph of finasteride in dosage form.
Rapid method to obtain high quality nuclear and chromosome images directly from living cells in the Characeae

This study focused on a method based on the capacity of cationic dyes to stain only the nucleus and chromosomes in cells subjected to either acid or alkaline hydrolysis. The method and the squash were optimized for the Characeae and were described in detail. Nuclei from vegetative shoot apices and antheridial filament cells of unfixed, fixed and herbarium material of Nitella opaca were investigated using the Azure A or Toulidine Blue stains. Comparisons with some other staining methods, used in the previous studies, were also reported. The Azure A/Toulidine Blue method is useful to obtain clear images of chromosome morphology comparable or higher to that obtained with Feulgen or Aceto‐Orcein. It requires little time and a less complicated procedure in comparison with other staining methods.
Comparison of Gabapentin Monotherapy vs. Combination Therapy of Methyl Cobalamin and Gabapentin in Treating Diabetic Neuropathic Pain

Introduction: To evaluate effectiveness of gabapentin alone and combination therapy of gabapentin with methyl cobalamin with regards to decrease in pain in patients suffering from diabetic neuropathy. Method: Patients studied constituted either gender with age ranging above 18 year up to 80 years. Patients suffering from diabetic neuropathy were followed in this study. They had painful neuropathic condition and were following treatment for controlling diabetes mellitus. They were divided into two groups (1 and 2) according to the type of drug used for the purpose of neuropathic pain. Group 1 patients received Gabapentin monotherapy while Group 2 patients received combined therapy of gabapentin and Methylcobalamin. Variables such as age, gender, weight, BMI, type of drug used and pain score were noted in proformas and data was then analysed with SPSS (VERSION 16). Results: There were two groups of patients. One hundred fifty patients were receiving gabapentin (group 1). While other 150 subjects were put on the combination regimen of Gabapentin and Methyl cobalamine (group 2). On comparison of scores for pain between the two groups there was significant difference of pain decrease in the combination therapy group 2 as compared to the solo drug usage (gabapentin) in group 1. No adverse side effects of much significance were noted. Conclusion: It is inferred from this study that combined therapy with Gabapentin and Methylcobalamin can be more efficacious as compared to treatment with gabapentin alone. This combination is safe with minimal side effects.
Hypoxia-induced epigenetic silencing of polo-like kinase 2 promotes fibrosis in atrial fibrillation

Fibrosis and inflammation promote atrial fibrillation (AF) and worsen its clinical outcome. The underlying molecular mechanisms, that are relevant for effective antifibrotic drug development, are still under debate. This study deciphers a novel mechanistic interplay between polo-like kinase 2 (PLK2) and the pro-inflammatory cytokine osteopontin (OPN) in the pathogenesis of atrial fibrosis. Compared to sinus rhythm (SR) controls, right atrial appendages and isolated right atrial fibroblasts from AF patients showed downregulation of PLK2 mRNA and protein levels, which were accompanied by remarkable hypoxia-sensitive DNA-methylation of the PLK2 promotor. In an experimental setting, both, genetic deletion and pharmacological inhibition of PLK2 induced myofibroblast differentiation and reduced fibroblast proliferation. Notably, proteomics from PLK2-deleted fibroblasts revealed de novo secretion of OPN. Accordingly, we observed higher OPN plasma levels in AF patients with atrial fibrosis compared to non-fibrosis AF patients. Hence, we provide evidence for PLK2 reactivation and/or OPN inhibition as potential novel targets to prevent fibrosis progression in AF.
A Software-Based Fault-Tolerant Strategy for Modular Multilevel Converter Using DC Bus Voltage Control

A software-based method is proposed in this article to enhance the fault-tolerant capability of modular multilevel converters (MMCs). In the proposed approach, dc bus voltage is considered as a controllable parameter in a way to maximize the line-to-line voltage amplitude at the postfault condition. In comparison with the previous works, the proposed method maintains a larger line-to-line voltage in various fault states. Several drawbacks such as high amount of common-mode voltage, power-factor limitations, and electromagnetic interference problems existing in the previous works are alleviated in the proposed method. Another advantage of the proposed method is that the line-to-neutral voltages of the MMC remain balanced in the postfault condition. This feature makes it possible to utilize third-harmonic injection technique to maintain larger line-to-line voltage after the fault occurrence in the MMC. Moreover, the proposed method can be applied to both three-phase and single-phase systems. A general formulation of the proposed method is derived, and at the end, comparative simulation and experimental results are provided to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
InPPTD: A Lightweight Incentive-Based Privacy-Preserving Truth Discovery for Crowdsensing Systems

Recently, truth discovery in crowdsensing systems has received considerable attention with its appealing features for extracting truthful information from multiple unreliable data sources. However, it also poses new challenges to the issues of privacy and security. On the one hand, workers’ sensed data can be used to infer their privacy. On the other hand, workers may be selfish and lazy, especially in the Internet-of-Things environment, devices are usually resource constrained, so they may dishonestly execute the costly sensing task so as to reduce resource consumption, or even break the protocol to obtain illegal rewards. Although some privacy-preserving truth discovery schemes have been proposed, they still cannot achieve strong privacy protection while keeping efficiency on the worker side, and still has no efficient incentive mechanism to persuade workers to participate in the system operations. In this article, we propose an incentive-based privacy-preserving truth discovery framework, named InPPTD. By adopting the Paillier homomorphic cryptosystem and two noncolluding servers, InPPTD not only effectively protects workers’ sensed data information but also preserves the privacy of these workers’ weight information. Meanwhile, a weight-based incentive mechanism is introduced in InPPTD to reduce the number of lazy workers. Security and performance analysis shows that InPPTD can guarantee stronger security features, while also ensure efficiency in terms of computation and communication overhead.
Mycotoxins in Nigerian cereals and public health implications

Recent trends in the contamination of cereal grains by mycotoxins were reported with respect to public health concerns. Mycotoxins are toxic fungal secondary metabolites, poisonous to humans and animals, and having maize, guinea corn, millet and rice as candidate crops. Reports on some regulated mycotoxins such as aflatoxins, fumonisins, ochratoxin, zearalenone, and some emerging ones like moniliformin and citrinin are highlighted, with Aspergillus, Fusarium, Penicillium and Alternaria as major producers. Although high-level occurrence in cereals in Nigeria have been documented, risk assessment estimates for consumers have only been done on the major mycotoxins with more focus on individual toxins. This review represents a synthesis from a recent data collected on mycotoxin contamination of some of the grains consumed as major staples in Nigeria, and the possible health effect on consumers through the analysis of the risk assessment estimates. It also touches on the possibility of guiding government policy on international trade.
Exponential Stabilization of Delayed Inertial Memristive Neural Networks via Aperiodically Intermittent Control Strategy

This article is concentrated on the stabilization problem of inertial memristive neural networks (IMNNs) with time-varying delay. Here, removing the reduced order method, the stabilization of delayed IMNNs is directly studied under the framework of the second-order system. To decrease control cost, the aperiodically intermittent control strategy is adopted. This strategy implies that work time (with control input) alternates with rest time (without control input), and every work or rest width may be different. By constructing a suitable Lyapunov functional, some algebraic criteria are achieved to guarantee the stabilization of the considered system. Note that the obtained control gains are often larger than practical needs due to the conservatism deriving from inevitable inequality scaling. For further saving control resources, an intermittent adaptive control strategy is applied to stabilize the delayed IMNNs. Finally, a numerical example is exhibited to confirm the availability of the developed theoretical outcomes.
Managing Stress in a Time of Increased Pressure: Perspectives from University Presidents

The modern university presidency continues to become more complex, resulting in numerous personal and professional stresses placed on a president. This study explores the sources, impacts, and successful prevention and management of stress in the position. Data for the study comes from qualitative phenomenological interviews with five sitting presidents of public and private universities in the United States. Using a theoretical lens derived from executive stress theory, the authors examine the degree to which a need for personal control and stability play a role in producing stress and motivating certain stress responses. Meaningful relationships, positive mindsets, and repeatable practices of self-care and reflection are found to have a positive impact on presidents’ ability to manage stress. Greater awareness of stress management through education and training will benefit presidents and prospective presidents in navigating the position.
Conservation status of the two cryptic species of Hamatocaulis vernicosus (Bryophyta) in Sweden

Cryptic species are rarer than their combined, morphologically recognisable species. Each cryptic species may have its own habitat requirements and distribution, and each should be considered separately in biodiversity conservation. This investigation explores how well the two cryptic species of the wetland moss Hamatocaulis vernicosus (Mitt.) Hedenäs s.l. , included in Annex II of the EU Habitat Directive, are safeguarded in existing protected sites in Sweden. Further, the northern distribution limit of the southern of the two cryptic species is explored. The distributions of the two cryptic species and their intraspecific variation are judged by the nuclear ITS1 + 2 and the two chloroplast markers rpl16 and trnL-trnF for a set of 89 specimens. The genetic differences between the two cryptic species are significant, but there are no differences between the protected and non-protected subsets within the respective species. The protected areas therefore represent these two species’ genetic variation well. The populations of both cryptic species appear stable, according to their genetic signals. One of the two cryptic species occurs almost throughout Sweden, whereas the other occurs only to the south of the southern limit of the southern boreal zone, except for two finds slightly further north in climatically mild areas.
Behavioral responses and reproductive performances of cross bred dairy cows on soil and concrete bedded floors in small holders’ production system in Assam

The behavioral response to the selected micro environment is one of the important tools for scientific assessment of welfare of the dairy animals. The study was conducted in 5 number of soil bedded sheds and 5 number of concrete bedded sheds in Kamrup (Metro) District of Assam to assess the behavioral responses of the cross bred dairy cattle in small holders’ production system. From each shed 5 number of dairy cows were selected preferably of 1-2 months of lactation stage. The selected animals were observed for three occasions at 30 days interval for 3 hours daily on 12 hours basis. The time spent (Mean±SE) for rumination, resting and sleeping were recorded as 184.60±1.54, 262.70±0.87 and 53.78±1.38 minutes and 190.40±1.50, 265.60±0.72 and 49.40±1.26 respectively. There was a highly significant difference between both the types of floor (P≤ 0.01) for rumination and resting time. The overall prevalence of post parturition problems were higher (40%) in soil bedded floor than that of concrete bedded floor (20%). The animal welfare issues were compromised on the soil bedded floor type in comparison to concrete bedded floor type of shed.
Implementation of Assessment for Learning and the Need for Teachers Refreshing Trainings

A consistent continuing professional development is requisite to equip teachers with the indispensable proficiencies for their new roles as well as to keep them up to date in their job market. In this context, current study investigated the perceptions of teachers regarding the need for refreshing trainings in developing their skills for the implementation of assessment for learning at undergraduate program in public sector universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The sample comprised of randomly selected 40 teachers, 8 teachers, each of five public sector universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. To get the relevant data, semi-structured interview schedules were used and was analyzed by adopting a thematic approach. Teachers strongly signified the expanded professional development opportunities instead of relying on conventional programs. Teachers stressed that to be provided with opportunities to improve their assessment skills by doing away with customary assessment methodologies while, embracing new advanced student-centered teaching and assessment approaches. The respondents were of the view that though they have command on subject matter and also have skills of teaching but to cope with new teaching learning practices they feel the need to be equipped with essential innovative skills as the more they get the opportunities to participate in refreshing trainings and do implement such assessment strategies in real classroom environments, the more they will be in a position to comprehend the productive worth of the assessment practices on students learning.
Role of Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha (TNF-a) In Hippocampal Neurodegeneration

Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) is a proinflammatory cytokine with homeostatic and pathological roles in the central nervous system. The main objective of this dissertation is to study the impact of presence and absence of TNF-α on kainic acid (KA)-induced neurotoxicity at several time points (0.5 and 4 hr as well as 1, 3, 5, 15 and 30 days) to find out the possible mechanisms underlying its effects. KA (40 mg/kg) was given intranasally to TNF-α knockout (Ko) mice and C57BL/6 wild-type (Wt) mice. Seizure severity was scored and behavioral tests including Elevated PlusMaze (EPM), open-field, and Y-maze were performed. The hippocampal levels of cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-12, IL-10), Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), and nerve growth factor (NGF) were assessed. Hippocampal oxidative stress markers including malondialdehyde, nitric oxide, glutathione (GSH), catalase and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were evaluated. Immunohistochemical methods were used to assess neurodegeneration and glial activation. Compared with Wt-mice, TNF-α Ko mice were more susceptible to KAinduced neurotoxicity by showing rapid onset (P<0.001) and severe seizures (P<0.01). In EPM, TNF-α Ko mice showed changed risk assessment performance (P<0.01) especially at 30 days post KA. In open field test, TNF-α Ko mice showed significant hyperactivity at 3 and 30 days post KA treatment. In the Y-maze at 30 days post KA, TNF-α Ko mice showed significantly lower percent alternation compared to the respective KA-treated Wt-mice. Increased levels of proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-12) as well as decreased levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-10) were observed in both strains following KAviii treatment. KA-treated TNF-α Ko mice showed more severe oxidative stress (P<0.01), lower IGF-I levels (P<0.05), and higher levels of β-NGF (P<0.05) compared to Wt-mice. Hippocampal GSH levels were significantly elevated in Wtmice but not in TNF-α Ko mice, while, catalase and SOD activity were elevated (P<0.001) in TNF-α Ko mice. Hippocampal microglial activation and astrogliosis were significantly enhanced and persisted up to 30 days in TNF-α Ko mice compared with Wt-mice. Moreover, significant hippocampal CA3 neurodegeneration was observed 3 days post KA-treatment in both TNF-α Ko and Wt-mice compared to controls. The neurodegeneration was progressive and more significant (P<0.01) in TNF-α Ko mice compared with Wt-mice. Additionally, KA-treatment significantly up-regulated NFκB expression at 5 days post KA in TNF-α Ko mice. Taken together, our findings showed that deficiency of TNF-α worsens KA-induced neurotoxicity. These results highlighted the protective effects of TNF-α in KA-induced neurotoxicity and suggested that these neuroprotective effects may be through the regulation of microglial activation, induction of antioxidant defensive mechanisms and regulation of the NFκB signaling pathway.