Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lauric acid alleviates inflammation and structural changes in the lungs of type II diabetic male Wistar rats

Lauric acid is a medium-chain fatty acid that has been reported to possess anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antibacterial properties. Diabetic complication in the lungs is characterized by infiltration of inflammatory mediators and structural alteration of the lung parenchyma. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of lauric acid on leucocytes infiltration in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), concentration of tumor necrosis factor-α and lung histology of type II diabetic male Wistar rats. A total of thirty-five male Wistar rats were randomly divided into seven groups of five rats each as follows: Group I served as normal control; group II were normoglycemic rats, administered 125 mg/Kg bwt lauric acid. Group III served as diabetic control. Groups IV, V, VI and VII were diabetic Wistar rats treated with 125 mg/Kg bwt, 250 mg/Kg bwt, 500 mg/Kg bwt lauric acid and 100 mg/Kg bwt metformin respectively. The results obtained, showed a significant (P ≤ 0.05) increase in total white blood cell count and differential count of lymphocytes, neutrophils and macrophages in blood and BALF of the diabetic control compared to the normal control. However, there was a significant decrease in total and differential white blood cell count in blood and BALF of the diabetic groups treated with lauric acid compared to the diabetic control (P ≤ 0.05). The concentration of TNF-α was significantly higher in the lungs of diabetic rats compared to the normal control, but the concentration was significantly reduced after treatment with lauric acid (P ≤ 0.05). Lauric acid also reversed the reduced alveolar spaces in diabetic lungs. These results indicate that lauric acid reduced inflammation and reversed the histoarchitectural alterations in the lungs of type II diabetic male Wistar rats. Keywords: Lauric acid, Type II diabetes, Hyperglycemia, Lungs, Pneumopathy, Leucocytes infiltration, Inflammation, Wistar rats
Cost-Effective Prognostics of IGBT Bond Wires With Consideration of Temperature Swing

This article presents a cost-effective prognostic method for the bond wires in the insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT). Consider that the crack propagation in the wire bond leads to the bond wire liftoff, the corresponding state equation is established from the fracture mechanics theory, with the consideration of the uneven distribution of the temperature swings. Hence, the proposed model can work under different loading conditions. With the fact that the <sc>on</sc>-state voltage <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$(v_{{\rm{ce,on}}})$</tex-math></inline-formula> of the IGBT shifts with the crack propagation, the history <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$v_{{\rm{ce,on}}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> is used to predict the remaining useful lifetime (RUL), through which numerous power cycling tests are avoided, and low economical cost for doing prognosis is fulfilled. In this article, the functional relationship between the increase of <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$v_{{\rm{ce,on}}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> and the crack length of each bond wire is obtained through finite-element simulation, while the effects of the temperature variation and metallization degradation to the <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$v_{{\rm{ce,on}}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> are compensated. Thus, the output equation can be obtained. Then, the unknown parameters of the aforementioned equations and the current crack length can be estimated by the particle-based marginalized resample-move algorithm. Finally, the RUL can be predicted effectively by evolving the particles obtained in the algorithm. The proposed method has been validated by the power cycling test.
Management of Thyroid Dysfunction During Pregnancy and Postpartum

갑상선 질환은 보통 여성에서 이환율이 높으며 임신 시 분비되는 호르몬에 의해 임신전과 비교해 차이가 있으므로 이런 생리적 변화를 알고 갑상선기능검사를 해석하는데 주의해야 한다. 갑상선 기능저하증에 대해서는 임신전보다 더 엄격하게 조절이 필요하며 갑상선 기능항진증에 대해서는 산모의 갑상선 기능이 갑상선저하로 되지 않도록 한다. 이런 갑상선 기능을 잘 조절하기 위해서 임신 초기에는 자주 갑상선 기능을 평가하는 것이 필요하다.
From deer abundance to soil properties : a case study in the forests of Haida Gwaii

L’augmentation recente et spectaculaire de l'abondance des cerfs en Amerique du Nord et en Europe occidentale a entraine de profonds changements dans la structure des forets temperees. Si ces changements sont aujourd'hui bien caracterises, les effets de cette forte abondance sur le sol restent cependant mal compris. Les cerfs peuvent interagir avec le sol par le rejet de feces et d’urine, le pietinement et la reduction de la quantite et de la qualite de la litiere par le broutage preferentiel des plantes appetantes. Quelles sont les consequences de ces interactions pour le sol ? Pour repondre a cette question, nous avons etudie la reponse des sols a la colonisation et a l'elimination du cerf de Sitka (Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis) dans les forets d’Haida Gwaii. Nous avons constate que les cerfs ralentissaient la decomposition en reduisant la qualite de la litiere. La structure de la communaute microbienne et sa capacite a decomposer le carbone etait impactee par la compaction du sol du au pietinement. Nous avons egalement constate que les effets des cerfs a court et moyen termes n’avaient que peu ou pas d'effet sur le sol, remettant en question les conclusions des etudes actuelles basees sur de plus court terme.
Transposon mutagenesis and characterisation of the selenite reduction pathway in Methylosinus trichosporium

This study aimed to identify genes responsible for remediation of selenite pollution in the methane-oxidising bacterium Ms. trichosporium OB3b. It was proposed to achieve this by making a library of mutants inactivated in different genes and screening these mutants to see which were deficient in the remediation reactions and hence identify genes that are involved. The pSAM_Rl plasmid, which contains the mariner transposon and was developed for use in the Rhizobiaceae, was introduced into Ms. trichosporium by conjugative transfer of the plasmid from E. coli SM10 λpir. The progeny from the conjugation were kanamycin (Km) resistant (strongly suggesting they contain the plasmid) and resistant to nalidixic acid (confirming removal of the E. coli donor strain). The presence of the transposon and its distribution around the chromosome were confirmed by genome sequencing of 18 randomly selected clones. To make a transposon library suitable for screening, single colonies were picked from the conjugation plates onto a regular 6  8 grids on fresh plates to allow transfer of the library into 96-well plates with a Microplate Replicator. The individual clones of the library were stored in NMS medium with 30% glycerol at -80oC in 96-well plates. 5,500 clones prepared in this way were screened on NMS agar with Km and selenite, to identify any mutants that were unable to reduce selenite to red elemental selenium. Screening of the library identified a mutant with liminished selenite-reduction activity. This mutant was inactivated in one of two gene copies of pmoB, encoding the largest subunit of the particulate methane monooxygenase involved in oxidizing methane to methanol. Hence, it may be impaired in selenite reduction due to a general deficiency of reducing equivalents within the cell. Parallel experiments investigating the cellular localization of selenite-reducing activity indicated that the cytoplasmic selenite-reducing activity is likely to be due to a small molecule, because when the proteins of cytoplasm were digested the cytoplasm still reduced selenite.
Effect of Green Practices on Organizational Performance: An Evidence from Pakistan

This research examines the effects of green supply chain (SC) practices including recycling techniques, green logistics (G2), environmental protection trainings and programs, and green manufacturing. A data sample of 339 manufacturing firms was collected from the industrial area of Punjab, Pakistan. By using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), the findings indicated that except GL, the remaining green practices (GP) have significant and positive association with the organizational performance. In addition, GL have insignificant effect on firms’ performance due to government non seriousness, no financial subsidies on green technologies, heavy import duties, scarcity of green technologies/vehicles in Pakistan and that most firms import green vehicles from European and Western countries which incur huge costs into SC system in terms of long lead time. This study will help the policymakers and SC managers to understand the problems and current situation of GSCM in the manufacturing firms of Pakistan. Further, we also discuss research limitations, areas for future research.
Discussion on improved method of turbulence model for supercritical water flow and heat transfer

The turbulence model fails in supercritical fluid-flow and heat transfer simulation, owing to the drastic change of thermal properties. The inappropriate buoyancy effect model and the improper turbulent Prandtl number model are several of these factors lead to the original low-Reynolds number turbulence model unable to predict the wall temperature for vertically heated tubes under the deteriorate heat transfer conditions. This paper proposed a simplified improved method to modify the turbulence model, using the generalized gradient diffusion hypothesis approximation model for the production term of the turbulent kinetic energy due to the buoyancy effect, using a turbulence Prandtl number model for the turbulent thermal diffusivity instead of the constant number. A better agreement was accomplished by the improved turbulence model compared with the experimental data. The main reason for the over-predicted wall temperature by the original turbulence model is the misuse of the buoyancy effect model. In the improved model, the production term of the turbulent kinetic energy is much higher than the results calculated by the original turbulence model, especially in the boundary-layer. A more accurate model for the production term of the turbulent kinetic energy is the main direction of further modification for the low Reynolds number turbulence model.
Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure, Tax Aggressiveness and Sustainability Report Assurance: Evidence from Thailand

This study aims to examine the association between disclosure of social responsibility and tax aggressiveness in developing countries, namely Thailand. This is due to the increasing trend of disclosure of social responsibility in developing countries, even though this disclosure of information is still voluntary. On the other hand, developing countries have low taxation rate and investor protection infrastructures that allow the disclosure of social responsibility to be used opportunistically as a tool to fool the attainment of interests. This study also examines the role of assurance on the association between corporate social responsibility disclosure and tax aggressiveness. The assurance aims to provide confidence that the disclosure of social responsibility by the company is valid. This research builds an index to measure the disclosure of social responsibility based on the rules issued by the innovative Global Reporting. The results of the study are based on a sample of publicly traded companies in Thailand, which showed a positive association between disclosure of corporate social responsibility and tax aggressiveness, but it was further discovered that these results were mitigated by the existence of assurance against disclosure of corporate social responsibility. The results of this study indicate that the disclosure of corporate social responsibility can show that the company cares about the issue of social responsibility but does not automatically make the company as one that holds ethical values in its business practices. Keywords—Corporate Social Responsibility disclosure, tax aggressiveness, sustainability assurance, business ethics.
The Impact of Financial Leverage on Shareholders’ Systematic Risk

This paper tests the degree to which a sustainable relationship exists between financial leverage and the systematic risk of shareholders under the following capital market imperfections: corporate and personal taxes as well as risky debt and bankruptcy costs. This beta-leverage relationship has not yet been examined empirically in prior studies nor compared with the theoretical parameter values implied by well-known formulations in the literature. Using data from publicly traded American industrial firms, we found that risky debt models, rather than their corresponding risk free debt models, are more sustainable and appropriate for describing the link between equity beta and financial leverage. Our findings imply that estimating betas or unlevering betas based on risk free debt models might lead to unsustainable and inaccurate estimates of key corporate parameters such as the cost of capital, and may consequently lead to inappropriate capital budgeting decisions. In this respect, the results of this study might have consequences to the recently growing area of sustainable finance in the sense that investment decisions made by different bodies and institutions in the country are more consistent with market imperfections that exist in the economy. In other words, our findings can be in line with a sustainable financial marketplace that contributes to the economic efficiency in the long run and can be related to social well-being.
Spatial patterns of climatic variability and water budget over Sudan Savannah Region of Nigeria

The study examined the effect of climatic variability on climatic water balance over Sudan Savannah, Nigeria. Temperature and Rainfall data were collected for the period 1943-2012 from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency. The data were divided into two climatic years 1943-1977 and 1978-2012. On the whole, rainfall amount decreased from a very high mean value of 981.5 mm in Yelwa (Lat. 10.88 N; Long. 4.75 E) to a very low value of 656.1mm in Katsina (Lat. 13.02 N; Long.7.68 E). This pattern reveals gradual/potential extension of dryness from the Lake Chad area in Nigeria in northeast, towards the Sudan savannah, northwest of Nigeria. Annual temperature, PET, moisture deficit distributions revealed very strong evidence of upward trend at α<0.01 with corresponding decrease in rainfall in the second climatic period, an indication of changing climate. However, in Yelwa, Sokoto and Gusau, there was little evidences of significant downward trend in annual rainfall distribution at α =0.10, but rather a quasi–periodic pattern, even though there were signs of statistical rise in temperature. The general pattern of deviation in PET from the first climate period were 1.4, 3.7, 2.7, 1.9% for Yelwa, Sokoto, Gusau and Katsina respectively, while moisture deficits were 5.0, 4.2, 4.0 and 7.9% for Yelwa, Sokoto, Gusau and Katsina respectively. This general observation may suggest that water balance parameters during the second climatic period deviated from patterns Observed in the first climatic period (1943-1977). Repetition of drought within the present climate regime could be expected and should be planned for. For temperature, there is strong evidence of increasing trends for all the stations in the region which agrees with global trend. This has implications for socio-economic development of the study area especially coupled with the attendant consequences of increasing population and economic activities in the region. There is thus need to plan for and design sustainable water resources management techniques in different sectors-agriculture, irrigation and dams, water supply to adapt to the quasi-periodic patterns of rainfall fluctuation. Key words: Thornthwaite, Sudan Savannah, water balance, climate change, rainfall and temperature.
Predicting genotypic values associated with gene interactions using neural networks: A simulation study for investigating factors affecting prediction accuracy

Genomic prediction has been applied to various species of plants and livestock to enhance breeding efficacy. Neural networks including deep neural networks are attractive candidates to predict phenotypic values. However, the properties of neural networks in predicting non-additive effects have not been clarified. In this simulation study, factors affecting the prediction of genetic values associated with gene interactions (i.e., epistasis) were investigated using multilayer perceptron. The results suggested that (1) redundant markers should be pruned, although markers in LD with QTLs are less harmful, (2) predicting epistatic genetic values with neural networks in real populations would be infeasible using training populations of 1000 samples, (3) neural networks with two or fewer hidden layers and a sufficient number of units per hidden layer would be useful, particularly when a certain number of interactions is involved, and (4) neural networks have greater capability to predict epistatic genetic values than random forests, although neural networks are more sensitive to training population size and the level of epistatic genetic variance. These lessons also would be applicable to other regression problems in which interactions between explanatory variables are expected, e.g., gene-by-environment interactions.
Widespread conservation and lineage-specific diversification of genome-wide DNA methylation patterns across arthropods

Cytosine methylation is an ancient epigenetic modification yet its function and extent within genomes is highly variable across eukaryotes. In mammals, methylation controls transposable elements and regulates the promoters of genes. In insects, DNA methylation is generally restricted to a small subset of transcribed genes, with both intergenic regions and transposable elements (TEs) depleted of methylation. The evolutionary origin and the function of these methylation patterns are poorly understood. Here we characterise the evolution of DNA methylation across the arthropod phylum. While the common ancestor of the arthropods had low levels of TE methylation and did not methylate promoters, both of these functions have evolved independently in centipedes and mealybugs. In contrast, methylation of the exons of a subset of transcribed genes is ancestral and widely conserved across the phylum, but has been lost in specific lineages. Remarkably the same set of genes are likely to be methylated in all species that retained exon-enriched methylation. We show that these genes have characteristic patterns of expression correlating to broad transcription initiation sites and well-positioned nucleosomes, providing new insights into potential mechanisms driving methylation patterns over hundreds of millions of years. Author Summary Animals develop from a single cell to form a complex organism with many specialised cells. Almost all of the fantastic variety of cells must have the same sequence of DNA, and yet they have distinct identities that are preserved even when they divide. This remarkable process is achieved by turning different sets of genes on or off in different types of cell using molecular mechanisms known as “epigenetic gene regulation”. Surprisingly, though all animals need epigenetic gene regulation, there is a huge diversity in the mechanisms that they use. Characterising and explaining this diversity is crucial in understanding the functions of epigenetic pathways, many of which have key roles in human disease. We studied how one particular type of epigenetic regulation, known as DNA methylation, has evolved within arthropods. Arthropods are an extraordinarily diverse group of animals ranging from horseshoe crabs to fruit flies. We discovered that the levels of DNA methylation and where it is found within the genome changes rapidly throughout arthropod evolution. Nevertheless, there are some features of DNA methylation that seem to be the same across most arthropods-in particular we found that there is a tendency for a similar set of genes to acquire methylation of DNA in most arthropods, and that this is conserved over 350 million years. We discovered that these genes have distinct features that might explain how methylation gets targeted. Our work provides important new insights into the evolution of DNA methylation and gives some new hints to its essential functions.
Detection and characterization of Clostridium difficile infections tracking the trends of Clostridium difficile culture

Objectives: In this study, we examined the validity of Clostridium difficile culture results as a proxy measure of Clostridium difficile infection, and inferred the epidemiologic characteristics of Clostridium difficile infection by tracking the trends of Clostridium difficile culture results. Methods: We reviewed the medical records to figure out the actual possibilities of Clostridium difficile infection of those with positive or negative results of Clostridium difficile culture during the time span from January 2012 to March 2012. We calculated the positive and negative predictive value of Clostridium difficile culture results for Clostridium difficile infection. Furthermore, epidemiologic characteristics of Clostridium difficile infection in a tertiary general hospital in 2012 were analyzed. Result: The estimated positive predictive value of Clostridium difficile culture tests for Clostridium difficile infection was 100%, and the estimated negative predictive value was around 94.4~99.3% depending on the cutoff value of possibility of Clostridium difficile infection. A total of 622 cases were identified as Clostridium difficile infection in a tertiary general hospital in 2012 and there were 4.9 patients with Clostridium difficile infection per 1,000 inpatients. Conclusion: In conclusion, we identified that Clostridium difficile culture results can be used as a proxy measure of Clostridium difficile infection.